DramatistDreamer

Yes, the United States is already in decline. Like many of us have been saying, this pandemic has exposed structural weaknesses that had been hiding in plain sight for decades. At least other countries no longer bother to look to America for any kind of leadership, the terrible mismanagement of the U.S. response to COVID-19 has put a stamp on that aspect. https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/sadness-and-disbelief-from-a-world-missing-u-s-leadership/

Then again, what works for Ghana is unlikely to work in the U.S., even though Ghana is simply using drones to deliver testing to areas where access is a challenge. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/connecticut-town-reverses-course-on-pandemic-drones-amid-privacy-concerns/ar-BB136EDF

The trailer for the documentary about the women accusing Russell Simmons of sexual assault has been released.

The so-called Paycheck Protection Program. With Trump at the helm, I knew this would be a huge windfall for the already rich and everybody else would get scammed. Why would anyone think differently?

We all knew that this was going to happen, no?

Symbolic of the ultimate jumping the shark for this show. I've always said if I had the writer's pen, two characters that I would bring back are Bryant and Jennifer. If anything, I would've erased Danielle's infamous affair with Craig (which, thankfully I've never seen, only heard) and brought her back too. Written a proper breakup between Bryant and Jen that didn't involve that gross story with Craig and had Bryant transition to a friendship turned full-on love affair with Danielle (reminiscent of Craig and Sierra). I agree about Holryod being wasted and the worst version of Dusty that I've seen.

Also, so. much. this! They got rid of Holroyd just as Paul was starting to show traces of complexity. Then Holroyd gets dumped and we get Howarth's tomfoolery and clownery as Paul. Make no mistake, at least 70 percent of that foolishness was baked into the writing.

This! And that has had lasting consequences on the genre.

That McConnell "tell-all" book by his first wife would make for some interesting reading, I bet.

And I just came across this article. https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/markets/coronavirus-pandemic-death-of-the-department-store-very-few-are-likely-to-survive/ar-BB131abl?li=AAgfW3S

I've always loathed malls and a very big part of me has always believed that the shopping mall has not helped, but in fact, chipped away at the health of retail, the way that the likes of Home Depot chipped away at the local mom and pop hardware store. The shopping mall, for me, was a place of last resort, if I couldn't get what I needed anywhere else. It was a place to get in and out of as quickly as possible. I much preferred a good shopping district where I could duck in and out of stores, get fresh air in the meantime and didn't have to smell the overwhelming odors wafting in from the food court while trying on clothes.

There is an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times by Dr. Levitan about this topic.

So, what is the truth??

It's floating around since I didn't even see Tur's social media and had no idea she had tweeted this. I wouldn't put it out there publicly either.

There are rumors that Kim is brain dead. It's weird that his sister has been spotted around more than ever lately--guess this explains why.

Laura Harrier (Destiny Evans, TOLN/One Life To Live) is co-starring in Hollywood, a Netflix series.

Reading this story in the paper this morning was heart-rending. Those fools who are protesting for the "right" to infect and spread to other people surely don't care about beautiful little children like Skylar Herbert.

Not on the planet where the rest of us live, clearly.

Wow, Naomi Campbell is doing a livestream with Venus and Serena!

Ew, they did that? I remember the backlash at the redesign but I didn't know that the designer behind the Apple store was behind it? Why would anyone think that was a good idea?? Lord & Taylor has already been facing hard times. They have had to downsize their flagship store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and in contrast to the big splashy window displays that they used to do for Christmas, this past year, they had to settle for something far less ornate. Saks Fifth Avenue has bought the license to recently liquidated Barney's New York, just so they can sell off-loaded merchandise and stick the Barney's label on there. So far, Bloomingdales and Nordstrom are probably the only brands that haven't had to downsize or downscale in some way (at least, that I know of). It's hard times all around, that's for sure, which always makes me irritated that Y&R botched what could've been a really compelling story with Fenmore's decline.

Anti-Netanyahu protests in Israel.

For some reason, I immediately thought of Sophia mentioning Neiman Marcus when I saw this too. It made me giggle. I think people have been waiting for JCPenney to be forced to liquidate for about a decade. JCPenney was never fancy fare but it used to be a place where you could at least, get the basics. Years ago, I remember venturing in there on the hunt for a crisp white shirt/blouse and couldn't find one. I knew this store was headed for trouble. JCPenney and Macy's started bleeding out at about the same time but everyone was focused on Macy's struggles due to their prominence. Then everyone started to focus on Sears because of the pathetic state of their stores. All during those times, few had noticed that JCPenney had become a zombie retailer with little to offer inside its walls.