#upsurge 59

[texaselitecr]

Texas Elite Commercial Roofing in Houston, TX

If you’re in the process of searching for a roofing contractor in Houston, TX area, you can learn more about Texas Elite Commercial Roofing. With their commercial roofing services, you can take advantage of various offers. First and foremost, they offer full roof replacement and repairs. In addition, their approach is exceptionally applied to all of their projects. It includes professional, reliable, and punctual contractors. They’re also experienced in helping with insurance claims. Moreover, there will be no hidden costs that upsurge over time. Apart from that, they have financing options available. Lastly, they provide only the best quality roofing material in the industry to ensure you get a quality roof that will last for many years to come.

Houston, TX

These days, we’re aware that making travel itinerary is an exciting task. If you’re looking for pre-scheduled events in Houston, TX, it is vital to check out online posts. First, there will be Coffee Tasting Experience this coming Saturday, July 6, 2024, at around 10:30 in the morning at Houston. Second, the African First Ladies Health Summit or AFLHS 2024 is scheduled on Wednesday, July 25, 2024, at around 4:00 in the afternoon at Texas Medical Center Helix Park. Lastly, you can opt to attend the Houston Soul Food Festival on Saturday, July 6, 2024, at around 12:00 PM at The Zone.

Holocaust Museum Houston

The Holocaust Museum Houston is a well-known tourist attraction located in Houston, TX. Aside from that, it is a preferred venue for learning adventure. Then, there are also people who drop by the place for relaxation purposes. Basically, the Holocaust Museum Houston is the fourth largest holocaust museum in the U.S. It was opened in 1996. In addition, the Boniuk Center houses Holocaust Museum Houston's Education Department, including four classrooms, staff offices, storage rooms, and a library. Then, the Holocaust Museum Houston Engines of Change Student Ambassador Program introduces Houston-area high school students to Holocaust history and enables them to better understand current issues and to develop their own informed opinions and voices.

South Houston Animal Shelter director faces more allegations from former animal control officers

We know that there are many shocking news reports in the Houston, TX area. One of the stories has something to do with animals. On Thursday, shelter director Jana Martinez offered to give the media personnel a tour of the shelter on Friday. Then, they got the tour, but Martinez wasn't there. In addition, they were met by an animal control officer, the city's HR representative, and the only shelter employee they saw during their visit. Moreover, there are a lot of great dogs at the shelter. However, Martinez told them not one dog has been adopted from the shelter since 2022. For the most part, the shelter was clean but smelled like bleach.

Link to maps

Holocaust Museum Houston 5401 Caroline St, Houston, TX 77004, United States Get on I-69/US-59 N from Caroline St and San Jacinto St 3 min (0.8 mi) Take I-45 N and Sam Houston Tollway W to Texas 249 Access Rd/Tomball Pkwy. Take the exit toward Greens Rd/Gessner Rd from TX-249 N 25 min (23.8 mi)Continue on Texas 249 Access Rd/Tomball Pkwy to your destination 2 min (0.7 mi) Texas Elite Commercial Roofing 17350 TX-249 #220, Houston, TX 77064, United States

[ailtrahq]

NFT, or Non-fungible tokens, can be anything digital, built using the same kind of programming as cryptocurrency. The only difference is that NFTs can’t be traded and are mainly used to certify authenticity and ownership. Among a wide range of categories, including PFPs, art, gaming, photography, music, etc., PFPs are one of the most popular categories, offering online identity to the owners. Let’s discover the top 5 PFP NFT collections streaming in the NFT space.         Mutant Ape Yacht Club (Floor Price: 5.23 ETH) The Mutant Ape Yacht Club, a collection of up to 20K unique Mutant Apes, is one of the key players in the NFT race. Created in August 2021, the collection is streaming over the Ethereum Blockchain with a total volume of 971,867 ETH. The floor price of Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT is 5.23 ETH and holds approximately 11,423 owners, with 59% of them being unique owners. Focusing on the past 7 days’ performance, the volume measured is 8,666 ETH, an upsurge of 58% with sales of 1,643 items.             Bored Ape Yacht Club (Floor Price: 27.58 ETH) Another precious name on the list is the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT project, which holds a total volume of 1,275,471 ETH. The collection of 9,998 unique Bored Ape NFTs offers distinctive digital artworks. Streaming over the Ethereum network, the NFT project was launched in April 2021 to benefit the NFT Community. With a current floor price of 27.58 ETH in the past 7 days, the project has sold around 207 items.            Milady Maker (Floor Price: 2.78 ETH) Milady Maker, an anime-style, regenerative avatar, was introduced to the NFT space in August 2021 and is all set to boom the market. With a collection of 9,732 unique items, the project is all set to empower women in the NFT environment. The total volume of the Milady Maker NFT project is 79,075 ETH, with a floor price of 2.78 ETH. Holding 3,472 owners, the project reached 2,416 ETH in volume and 757 sales in the past 7 days.       Azuki (Floor Price: 3.97 ETH) Azuki is another powerful NFT project categorized into the PFP category. The project was introduced to the NFT environment in January 2022, offering 10K unique items running over the Ethereum network. The anime-inspired NFTs gained popularity in a few days and have held approximately 4,295 owners to date. The total volume of the project is 621,339 ETH, with a floor price of 3.6 ETH.   Nouns (Floor Price: 36 ETH) The Nouns project, a 32×32 pixel avatar, is all set to flourish in the NFT marketplace. The project is one of the few projects holding a floor price of 36 ETH. Introduced in August 2021, the project holds a total volume of 21,194 ETH with around 301 owners. The unique 844 items are streaming over the Ethereum network, hitting 51 sales in the past 7 days.          Conclusion  PFP NFTs can be used as an online identity and allow users to claim authenticity and ownership. Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Azuki, Milady Maker, and Nouns are some of the top PFP NFTs running in the NFT landscape.   Source

[pickceldigital]

From smallest mom & pop stores to global retail chains, how retail digital signage brings more business

With the upsurge in eCommerce, brick-&-mortar stores have been struggling to bring in new customers, and even to retain the old ones. They are constantly striving to come up with new, innovative ways to connect with customers. The main challenge is to provide a better experience than eCommerce. In this process of finding way-outs, digital signs has influenced them a big time for its many-sided benefits.

The retail digital signage brings the opportunity to communicate anything anytime with the prospects, without having to draw them towards in-store salespersons or inquiry counters.

Whether it’s a small-scale retail store or a renowned chain, digital displays opens up a multitude of new ways to tell a brand story by fusing the physical and digital shopping experience.

Check out a few interesting facts on retail digital signage

Digital signage installations for showrooms and stores are increasing by 40% each year and aren’t going to slow down soon.

Retail is the industry where the optimum benefits of digital signage can be leveraged. It’s already making up 25% of the overall sales for a brand.

The retail sector is expected to reach a valuation of USD 10 billion by 2023 because retail digital signage will save a lot of other expenses and make operational efficiency even better!

Digital signage content impacts the buyers 2.5 times more than static signage displays.

A study by Nielsen revealed that out of 120 grocers who used digital signage in their stores, 80% of them saw as much as a 33% boost in sales

A study on 3,000 shoppers revealed that 82% of purchasing decisions are made while in a store, and 62% of the shoppers make impulse buys while shopping. Digital signage stays responsible for this to a high degree.

59% of shoppers believe that brands must provide cutting-edge digital experiences to keep them engaged.

For more click on the link retail digital signage

[cyarskj1899]

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The NFL Just Showed the World What It Thinks of Its Players

When a player almost dies on the field, the game must end.

By Dave ZirinTwitter

TODAY 10:45 AM

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Buffalo Bills players and staff pray for their teammate Damar Hamlin during the first half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Monday, January 2, 2023, in Cincinnati, which was postponed 59 minutes after Hamlin collapsed. (Joshua A. Bickel / AP Photo)

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Nine minutes. That’s how long Damar Hamlin was given CPR on the field as two NFL teams, 65,000 fans, and a national television audience looked on. The Buffalo Bills safety had made what looked to be a routine tackle on Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins and, after rising to his feet, collapsed from what we are now told was cardiac arrest. As of this writing he is in critical condition after being taken from the field in an ambulance. His mother rode along with him, having attended the road game with the rest of Damar’s family. 

This alone is a staggering indictment of the sport of football: the fact that even a textbook tackle could leave you intubated. But the horror turned to outrage when, after Hamlin was removed from the field, it was announced that the players—visibly traumatized by the extent of the medical intervention to stabilize Damar—would have five minutes to warm up, and then play would resume. The callousness of this league never ceases to shock. Players are treated like equipment—easily found, easily disposed of. The valorized football phrase “next man up” is really saying that when your coworker is disabled, it’s your turn in the thresher.

Finally, 59 minutes after the fact, after the players and coaches made the decision for him, Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, announced that the game would be postponed.

Let’s not mince words: Goodell should be fired immediately. That it took the players’ basically walking off the field to call the game will not soon be forgotten. It’s another chapter of his history as someone both reactive and reactionary. He doesn’t lead. He follows. He sticks his finger in the air and follows the prevailing winds no matter where they lead. He had nothing to say or do about the movement for Black lives—until the 2020 mass demonstrations following the police murder of George Floyd and a player upsurge made his silence untenable. (His eventual comments occasioned eye-rolling, coming from the person who was in charge as Colin Kaepernick was “blackballed.”)

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He had nothing to say or do about incidents of violence against women involving players—until the Ray Rice video was leaked and the public outcry made it a necessity. He had nothing to say—or only shameful things to say—about CTE and the persistence of traumatic brain injuries, until player activism forced a billion-dollar settlement. Now Damar Hamlin’s name can be added to the reasons Goodell is unfit for the job. The owners love him because he helps make them filthy rich. He is also, as I guarantee we will see demonstrated in the coming days, a world-class flak catcher: a human meat shield taking arrows from the press, while the owners reside in shadows, counting their fortunes.

The league is about the bottom line, which is why Goodell’s instincts told him that the show must go on. But this isn’t the Big Apple Circus. It’s a gladiatorial combat sport dependent on the Black players, Black bodies, and Black minds who make up 70 percent of the league’s players. Denying their humanity is an essential part of the NFL’s brand.

Pressuring these owners’ box ghouls to fire Goodell won’t solve these problems, but it’s still worth demanding. The players deserve more than someone who only follows the economic winds. They deserve an advocate. Ask the Bills. Ask the Bengals. Ask the family of Damar Hamlin.

Dave ZirinTWITTERDave Zirin is the sports editor of The Nation and the author of The Kaepernick Effect: Taking a Knee, Changing the World. 

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Grim Until Griner: The Year in Sports and Politics

In 2022, silence and fear ruled the day. But Brittney Griner’s freedom provides a road map for all of us.

By Dave ZirinTwitter

DECEMBER 29, 2022

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Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury kisses her wife, Cherelle Griner, in the stands after the Mercury defeated the Las Vegas Aces during game five of the 2021 WNBA Playoffs semifinals. (Photo by Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

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There is a famous, apocryphal quote about the onset of revolution: “There are decades when nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen.” Flip that quote on its head, and you can understand what the politics of sports has felt like since the summer of 2020. It’s been less than three years, but it feels like decades. Or, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde on prison, “Each day is like a year. A year whose days are long.”

In 2020, the sports world was at the heart of the largest set of demonstrations in US history, following the police murder of George Floyd. Yet in 2022, as this country faced a seething and violent right wing, fear and silence ruled the day. It’s not surprising. Athletes don’t live in a hermetically sealed universe apart from the rest of the world. Instead, they reflect the trends in society: a confused populace in retreat and a right wing puking up the barbarism of decades past. But while the sports world is most certainly shaped by all of this, it is also a shaper.

The past 12 months have been defined politically by a rise in fatal police shootings, the public ascension of fascism-curious billionaire Elon Musk as arbiter of what constitutes free speech (Nazis good, critics bad), November elections that had anyone to the left of Heinrich Himmler—or Kari Lake—holding their breath, and a relentless attack on transgender youth. And yet the “new generation of athlete activists” were little heard through this maelstrom of crisis. There were exceptions, of course: the minority of athletes who raised the name of Brittney Griner while she suffered in prison should never be forgotten, especially as her industry largely turned its back. Megan Rapinoe’s defense of trans women in sports was vital, if not drowned out by the hate. And the minor league players baseball players organizing their own union was bracing; a reflection of the broader rumble by low-wage laborers from Starbucks to university workers to Amazon.

But political courage was not the dominant trend. The year began with the Winter Olympics in China, which signaled that the politics of sports wouldn’t be devoted to confronting racism or injustice but instead to the finely honed art of sportswashing. Sportswashing is when regimes use the thrill of organized sports to distract the populace and a compliant media while pushing through authoritarian economic reforms or a crackdown upon dissent to which the people would otherwise object. Following China’s Olympics, the big sports stories of the year included the Saudi Arabia’s multibillion-dollar investment in the Liv golf tour, as a rival to the Professional Golfers Association. Then there is Qatar, a country whose leaders shrugged off the deaths of countless numbers of migrant workers while gaining prestige from authoritarians and despots around the world for hosting the World Cup. Qatar has shown that even an unfathomable $220 billion investment is piddling compared to the reputational capital accrued from having the world’s spotlight thrust upon you. As Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Summer Olympics, we see the city’s own authoritarian tendencies in how it’s treating the unhoused population.

In such an atmosphere, it should not surprise that athletes felt defensive, embattled, and unsure. After all, why should they be so different from the rest of us struggling to figure out how to agitate for change in a society in a perpetual state of agitation?

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Brittney Griner’s hellish odyssey reveals much about where the sports world is politically and where it needs to go. Far from uniting with one voice, most of the sports media ignored her plight, and many athletes and the media followed suit. The disrespect and erasure she endured seemed all too familiar to the marginalized communities that saw themselves in Griner. It also reflected how women’s sports are marginalized more generally. An NBA star’s social media posting of an anti-Semitic video far outpaced coverage of Griner’s incarceration. This only changed toward the last quarter of the year when Griner’s wife, Cherelle, started speaking out and demanding that Biden administration get Brittney home. Much of the WNBA and NBA communities followed, and now she is home. Our success in this task, just in time for the holidays, stands as the highlight of the year and a reminder of how quickly change can emerge in even the most desperate hours.

It’s the only constant fact of political history: ebb and flow. In 2019, no one could have predicted what we would see in the summer of 2020. Similarly, however difficult today may be, there is always the possibility of deliverance around the corner. Remember that Brittney Griner chopped off her locks in a Russian penal colony because they were freezing in the cold and she was preparing for nine years of hard labor. Before the month was out, she was smiling like it was Christmas morning, back with Cherelle. In her first comments back as a free person, she fought for those still imprisoned. We have to learn from Brittney Griner. We have to prepare for the long fight. We have to appreciate victory. And of course, we must, even when life is at its most grim, keep the faith.

KEEP READING

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[jeduka]

Over 120,000 Indian Nationals Received UK Student Visas Grants for 2022

The UK Home Office released data showing that in the year ending September 2022, the number of UK student visas issued to Indian applicants had risen significantly by 273% to 127,731, up from 34,261 in 2019.

Worker Visas

Indian nationals were the primary recipients of 'Worker' visas, making up 39% of the overall visas issued, amounting to 56,042. This is a marked increase of 90% compared to the 29,552 issued in 2019.

Non-Russell group CAS

The number of students submitting applications to study in Non-Russell group universities, represented by the number of Certificates of Acceptance for Study(CAS) used in study visa applications, has seen an upsurge of 141% since the end of September 2019, reaching a total of 159,423. Additionally, 59% of all CAS are now being issued for these universities. This is the highest rate of non-Russell Group CAS in the Sponsorship time series since 2010.

India's Top ‘Skilled Worker’ Visa Category

Indian nationals accounted for the highest proportion of Skilled Worker visas granted, at 33% (20,413), followed by nationals from the United States at 6% (3,729), and South Africa at 4% (2,501).

Indian nationals made up the highest proportion of grants of the 'Skilled Worker - Health and Care' visa, accounting for 36% (22,171) of the total. Nigerian nationals made up the second largest group, equating to 14% (8,520), with Zimbabwean nationals in close third place at 13% (7,875).

HPI Visa Grants

The High Potential Individual (HPI) visa, launched on May 30th, 2022, gives recent graduates from specific pre-approved educational institutions worldwide the chance to pursue a career or look for employment after studying in the UK. As of September 2022, a total of 729 principal grantees have been awarded, with 20% from the United States, 19% from China, and 14% from India.

The Graduate Route

A total of 59,937 additional leave grants to stay in the Graduate route were granted to main applicants, with Indian nationals comprising 41% of the recipients. The Graduate Immigration Route, which was made available on 1 July 2021, offers eligible graduates the chance to stay in the UK after their studies have been completed, allowing them to look for employment or start work. A Graduate Visa is available to applicants who have obtained an eligible qualification, such as a Bachelor's, Postgraduate, or other equivalent degrees. This visa is valid for two years, or three years for those who have acquired a Doctoral qualification, such as a Ph.D.

Dependents of Sponsored Study Visa Holders

The report additionally demonstrates that Nigeria had the most elevated number of supported study visa holders with dependents in September 2022, with an aggregate of 51,648 dependents, a rise from 1,586 in 2019. India was the following most noteworthy, with 33,239 dependents, up from 3,135 in the same time frame. For the 12 months ending September 2022, over 100,000 visas were granted to dependents of sponsored foreign students from Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka - the five nationalities with the highest number of issued visas.

Over the period from 2019 to September 2022, Nigeria saw a marked rise in the proportion of study-related visa holders with dependents, rising from 19% to 50%. The number of dependents among Indian nationals rose from 8% to 21%, while the increase was more modest (from 4% to 6%) for non-top-five countries concerning dependent visas issued (Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka).

[upsurgecomic]

[upsurge-esp]

[bustedbernie]

A great read about Social-Fascism. Very apt to our current political situation. I’ll include an opening excerpt below as well as some quotes that are very apt and could very much have been written by a “Bernie or Bust” supporter in their “Biden and Trump is the same” mantra or their just as concerning “Trump will accelerate the drive toward a proletariat revolution.” 

But I would be less than candid if I did not confess that I was moved to look back at social-fascism because it is no longer of merely historical interest. In its original incarnation, it helped to bring about such a vast and shattering catastrophe that it once seemed such ideas could never again be revived on a large and dangerous scale. Yet this is exactly what has been happening. The term itself has not come back into general use, but the thinking behind it again has its devotees.

A new revolutionary generation has raised questions that are not altogether new. Who is the “main enemy”? Are “reformists” more dangerous than “reactionaries”? Is liberal democracy nothing but a “mask” for bourgeois dictatorship or even some form of totalitarianism? Is it necessary to provoke violent confrontations in order to unmask this type of liberalism? If a revolutionary minority strives to destroy a democratic, even a “bourgeois-democratic,” order, is it necessarily going to be the main beneficiary—or even avoid the fate of the democratic order it has helped to pull down?

Answers to such questions made the difference between life and death for millions of people a few decades ago. In what follows, I have tried to restudy and reconstruct the earlier experience as a historical phenomenon that deserves to be better known for its own sake and that presents us with some large and difficult problems of special interest today.

[...]

The lesson would seem to be that it is dangerous to use the term “fascism”—or today “totalitarianism”—too lightly and too indiscriminately. The problem is how to preserve a very sizable margin of difference in order to make room for the full enormity and horror of fascism in power. To reduce this margin is to make fascism more familiar, more tolerable, more domesticated. By making fascism cover all the ground from Müller to Hitler, the Communists demonized the inoffensive Müller and humanized the demonic Hitler.

[...]

Soon the Communists had their wish. Two elections were held in 1932, on July 31 and on November 6. In the latter, the Social-Democrats lost ground, from 133 Reichstag seats to 121, and from a total vote of 7,959,700 to 7,248,000. The Communists gained almost as much, from 89 seats to 100, and from 5,282,600 votes to 5,980,200. For the first time in four years, the Nazis fell back, from 230 seats to 196, and from 13,745,800 votes to 11,737,000. Between them, the Social-Democrats and Communists still managed to hold well over one-third of the total vote. The Nazis were slipping, and a real Social-Democratic-Communist united front might conceivably have blocked the way to Hitler's power.

But the theory of social-fascism held firm. In its post-election statement, the Central Committee of the Communist party of Germany declared: “The decline of the Social-Democratic party in no way reduces its role as the main social buttress of the bourgeoisie, but on the contrary, precisely because the Hitler party is at present losing followers from the ranks of the workers, instead of penetrating still more deeply into the proletariat, the importance of the Social-Democratic party for the fascist policy of finance capital increases.”39

Ten weeks later, on January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler gained power.

Twenty-one years later, Walter Ulbricht, the present master of East Germany, admitted that the Communists had concentrated their main fire on the Social-Democrats, not on Hitler, Brüning, Papen, or Schleicher, “without sufficiently distinguishing between the Social-Democratic leadership and the Social-Democratic membership.”40 In all those years, Ulbricht could think of nothing else that had been wrong with the theory of social-fascism.

[...]

For this purpose, I have made up a little anthology that takes the subject into 1934. The various items require little comment, and I have merely grouped them under appropriate subject headings. All of these quotations have been taken from the most authoritative Communist sources and spokesmen for a period of over a year after January 1933.

_____________

The Revolutionary Upsurge

“The fact of the Hitler government coming into power enormously accelerates the maturing of the revolutionary crisis in Germany. Germany is on the threshold of a revolutionary crisis (italics in original).”41

“The fascist dictatorship is not only incapable of solving the social and national conflicts, but it is also incapable of really consolidating its political rule.”42

“In spite of the most ruthless and bloody terror, a revolutionary upsurge is growing among the working class, which is completely deprived of all rights by fascism.”43

“After the establishment of the fascist dictatorship, the revolutionary mass movement is experiencing a fresh upsurge.”44

“The revolutionary uprising of the German working class—that is the perspective in Germany.”45

“The present stage in Germany, in Austria, is no longer simply a period of struggle to win over the majority of the working class, but a period of the formation of a revolutionary army for decisive class battles for power, a period of the mobilization of such cadres as are prepared to make any sacrifice in order to destroy the existing regime, in order to lead the proletariat to victory.”46

The Usefulness of Fascism

“The establishment of an open fascist dictatorship, by destroying all the democratic illusions among the masses and liberating them from the influence of Social-Democracy, accelerates the rate of Germany's development toward proletarian revolution.”47

“The bourgeoisie is compelled to abandon the democratic façade and to put the naked dictatorship of violence in the foreground. This development makes it easier for those carrying out a correct, united front, anti-fascist policy to overcome the illusions, which have been fostered by Social-Democracy for decades, with regard to the role of the State, and with regard to economic democracy and the policy of the ‘lesser evil.’”48

“Even fascist demagogy can now have a twofold effect. It can, in spite of the fascists, help us to free the masses of the toilers from the illusions of parliamentary democracy and peaceful evolution . . . ,”49

“The rapid fascisation of the capitalist governments naturally confronts us with added difficulties, but the bitterness of class antagonisms and the complete bankruptcy of the Second and Amsterdam [trade union] Internationals offer us tremendous new possibilities” (italics in original).50

“The present wave of fascism is not a sign of the strength, but a sign of the weakness and instability of the whole capitalist system. . . . Germany was and remains the weakest link in the chain of imperialist states. . . . That is why the proletarian revolution is nearer in Germany than in any other country.”51

“Fascism does not only make the struggle of the working class more difficult; it also accelerates the processes of the maturing of the revolutionary crisis.”52

The Main Enemy

“The Social-Democracy proves once again that it is inseparably allied with capitalism, that it still remains the chief buttress of the bourgeoisie, even when the latter go over to measures of open violence, including repressive measures against Social-Democracy.”53

“If the fascists are persecuting Social-Democracy as a party, they are beating it as a faithful dog that has fallen sick. They are beating it because they know that it is incapable of resistance, that, when it is beaten, it will come forward all the quicker to the service of the bourgeois dictatorship, even in the open fascist form.”54

“The complete exclusion of the social-fascists from the state apparatus, and the brutal suppression even of Social-Democratic organizations and their press, does not in any way alter the fact that Social-Democracy is now, as before, the chief support of the capitalist dictatorship.”55

“History now offers a real possibility of liquidating the mass influence of the Social-Democratic party, which is responsible for the victory of fascism and which is the main support of the bourgeoisie, and the possibility of establishing the unity of the labor movement.”56

“Social-Democracy continues to play the role of the main social prop of the bourgeoisie also in the countries of open fascist dictatorship.”57

“In spite of all their disagreements, the fascists and social-fascists are, and remain, twins, as Comrade Stalin remarked. . . . There are no disagreements between the fascists and the social-fascists as far as the necessity for the further fascisation of the bourgeois dictatorship is concerned. The Social-Democrats are in favor of fascisation, provided the parliamentary form is preserved.”58

“Even after the prohibition of its organization, Social-Democracy remains the main social prop of the bourgeoisie. . . . The present situation [December 1933] in the German labor movement offers us the possibility of destroying the mass influence of the SPG [Social-Democratic party of Germany] and of reestablishing the unity of the labor movement on a revolutionary basis.”59

“Every revolutionary must know that the path toward the annihilation of fascism, the path to the proletarian revolution and to its victory can only be the path that leads via the organizational and ideological abolition of the influence of Social-Democracy.”60

“It is, therefore, necessary above all to make a clear stand in regard to Social-Democracy, and first and foremost in regard to ‘Left’ Social-Democracy, this most dangerous foe of Communism” (italics in original).”61

“We must destroy the Social-Democratic influence on the working masses and we must not tolerate any vacillations in our ranks in the struggle against the Social-Democracy as the chief social support of the bourgeoisie.”62

_____________

I hope the reader has not skipped too quickly over this collection of seemingly quaint, musty quotations. Not so long ago, men paid for them with their lives, Communists and Social-Democrats alike. In March 1933, the “mask” was finally torn from the Weimar constitution. A newly elected Reichstag voted, 441 to 94, to give Hitler dictatorial powers. All 94 negative votes were cast by Social-Democrats (the remaining 27 Social-Democratic deputies and all 81 Communists could not vote, being already in exile, in hiding, or under arrest). The Communist party was officially outlawed on March 31; the trade unions were smashed in May; the Social-Democratic party was banned on June 22. Thereafter, Hitler made no distinction between Communists and Social-Democrats; he took their lives, cast them into concentration camps or, if they were lucky, drove them into exile, impartially.

Don’t let Bernie or Bust type folks lead you into this dangerous and toxic form of thinking. Don’t let them divide us at this moment when we must come together to protect ourselves and our liberties. Take a page from history and learn from it. 

[lupinepublishers]

Lupine Publishers | The Reasons Behind the Trending of Facial Plastic Surgery in Saudi Arabia

Lupine Publishers | Journal of Otolaryngology

Abstract

Background: Nowadays, the demand of plastic surgery has dramatically increased According to the American Society of Plastic Surgery (ASPS), nearly 17 million cosmetic producers were performed in 2016 and 58% has increased cosmetic surgery from 2012-2016 for both men and women. Media influences, medical advancements and patients’ characteristics have a role in the recent upsurge of cosmetic surgery.

Objectives:

a) To find reasons for encouraging the patient to go for facial plastic surgery.

b) To asses Factors that motivate people towards plastic surgery.

c) To study the association between body dysmorphic disorder in people attending a facial plastic clinic and the desire to do an intervention.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Settings: conducted in a facial plastic clinic in King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between, January to March 2018. A validated and standard electronic and paper-based questionnaire was sent to a total of 399 participants who are attending cosmetic clinics.

Methods: All 18 years of age and older who attended the facial plastic clinic for a procedure, male and female, from January to March 2018 were included.

Sample Size: A total of 399 cosmetic surgery patients participated in this study.

Results: The most common cosmetic intervention was Botox injection (41%), and the most common facial plastic procedure was rhinoplasty (59%). As reasons, our participants thought that what makes the facial plastic intervention trending in our population are because of social media influencers and celebrities (72.2%). In our population, there was no association between body dysmorphic disorder and the trending of facial plastic surgery.

Conclusion: The social media and celebrities have a significant rule in trending facial plastic procedure in our region. However, there was no association between taken selfies and the desire to go for plastic intervention.

Limitations: Involving one center in one region.

Keywords Facial Plastic Surgery; Saudi Arabia; Trending, Selfies; Social Media

Introduction

Nowadays, the demand for plastic surgery has dramatically increased [1]. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgery (ASPS), nearly 17 million cosmetic producers were performed in 2016 making the total annual cost of cosmetic procedures around 16.4 billion USD) [2]. According to a study conducted by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ISAPS), Saudi Arabia ranks 29th among the top 30 countries with the highest rates of cosmetic procedures in the world [3]. Cosmetic surgery has increased by 58% from 2012 to 2016 for both men and women [4]. ASPS reported that most of the cosmetic procedures, about 92%, were performed on a female and rhinoplasty was among the top five procedures done in 2015 to 2016 [2]. Multiple factors behind the trending of facial plastic surgery. Media influences, medical advancements, and patients’ characteristics have a role in the recent upsurge of cosmetic surgery [5] Exposure to media and satellite television found to be contributing factors to the higher rate of rhinoplasty [6]. Furnham et al. reported that increased media exposure, low self-steam and life satisfaction would increase the chance of undergoing plastic surgery [7]. Also, interaction with surgeons and take consultations through the social media led to an increase in the number of patients searching for plastic surgery [8,9]. According to a poll by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, 42%of surgeons reported patients seeking cosmetic procedures to look better in selfies [10]. Taking selfies and sharing them on social media like snapchat or Facebook has increased recently [11]. A study reported by Ward B et al. showed that nasal size in selfies appears bigger by 30%; therefore, this may be one of the reasons behind the increased demand on rhinoplasty [12]. Another study conducted in Iran by Rastmanesh R et al. [13] showed patients who had a history of cosmetic rhinoplasty have depression and body dissatisfaction with low selfsteam compared with those who did not have a history [13]. The lack of research in this field in our region and the Middle East has prompted us to undertake this study. We aimed to assess reasons of increasing plastic procedures in our community, the effect of social media in this decade and factors motivating people to undergo cosmetic procedures.

Method

A cross-sectional study was conducted in a facial plastic clinic at King Abdulaziz University hospital after the approval of the Ethical Committee of the faculty of medicine at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. All 18 years of age and older who attended the facial plastic clinic for a procedure, male and female, from January to March 2018 were included. Patients who refuse to be involved in the study were excluded. Anonymous paper-based questionnaires, an electronic-based questionnaire was distributed to people who attend cosmetic clinics. The sample size was determined by using a single population proportion sample size. Estimation method with 95% confidence interval. The questionnaire was translated to the Arabic Language. The questionnaire contained four parts; first part is about socio-demographic data which included ten closeended questions as (age, gender, education status, marital status, financial income, monthly income, previous cosmetic intervention and plastic surgery, wish/plan to do plastic interventions in the future and numbers of selfies taken per day). Part two was about Reasons behind undergoing facial plastic procedures; it included seven close-ended questions. Section three contains 15 close-ended questions, and one open-ended question about What does the patient think are the reasons behind trending of plastic surgery in the community. Last part included the validated Arabic questionnaire for screening of body dysmorphic. Data were collected using a paper-based questionnaire. The face and content validation were done by two experts. A total of 399 response was collected Then it was entered in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program, version 23.0 (SPSS Inc, Armonk, New York, USA), for Statistical analysis. Frequency distribution was presented in numbers and percentages (for categorical variables) and as the mean and standard deviation (for continuous variables). Fisher’s Exact Test was used to determine the statistical difference between categorical groups or proportions. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Result

A total of 399 cosmetic surgery patients participated in this study. The overwhelming majority were female 340 (85%) and 40 years of age or younger counts for 285 (71%). About half of the participants 205 (51%) were married, the majority were highly educated (bachelor, master & Ph.D.) 334 (83.8%) & 277 (68%) have a monthly family income over 2600 USD (Table 1). The association between the financial status & the facial plastic surgery was found to be statistically significant. The participant who is independent shows higher desire to go for facial plastic surgery (p-value:0.021) (Table 2). In our population, the most common cosmetic intervention was Botox injection (41%), and the most common facial plastic procedure was rhinoplasty (59%). We measured the frequency of taking selfies and the association with the desire to do a facial plastic intervention. surprisingly, the majority (85%) did not take regular selfies (>3 times\day). Moreover, there was no statistically significant associated with the desire to go for plastic intervention (p-value: 0.505) (Table 3). Currently, everyone relates the trending of facial plastic intervention to the era of advertising & social media. As reasons our participants thought that what makes the facial plastic intervention trending in our population are:

Table 1:  Distribution of demographic variables of Participant (n= 399).

Table 2:  Association between the monthly income & the facial plastic surgery.

Table 3:  Association between taking selfies & the desire to do a facial plastic procedure.

a) The effect of social media influencers and celebrities (72.2%),

b) Increased knowledge of surgeons and their ability to revise the surgery (71.2%),

c) The result of before and after pictures on social media (65.7%),

d) Plastic surgeon self-advertisement (60.4%) and (66.7%) believe that self-portrait caused more awareness of the appearance of the face/nose (Table 4).

Table 4:  Reasons behind trending of facial plastic surgery in our community.

However, when we evaluate the factors affecting our patient’s decision to go for facial plastic intervention it was: to look younger (p≤0.001), To boost self-esteem (p=0.004), and mimic friend’s work (p≤0.001) (Table 5). With the trend of snap chat filters and the mild changes created in facial features, we measure it effect on the decision to do the facial plastic intervention. Also, it was statistically not significant (p-value: 0.106) (Table 6). We screened our patients for Body Dysmorphic Disorder, 77(19.3%) Severe BDD, 151(37.8%) Mild to moderate BDD and Non-BDD 171(42.9%). We compare the sever BDD group with the rest, and there was no association with trending of facial plastic surgery (Table 7).

Table 5:  Reasons for encouraging our patients to do plastic surgery.

Table 6:  Association between the effect of snapchat filter in the desire to go for facial plastic surgery.

Table 7:  Association between body dysmorphic disorder and facial plastic surgery.

Discussion

This current study intends to report the prevalence of facial plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as the reasons behind the sudden increased demand for it along with their contributing factors. This paper, in our region, might be the first of its kind to study the association between the influence and effect of social media with the rate of cosmetic interventions as well as its’ association with body dysmorphic disorder. Saudi Arabia recently has been experiencing a trend towards plastic surgery. According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ISAPS), Saudi Arabia reported a performance number of 46,962 surgeries [1]. The current study showed that 34.8% had a cosmetic intervention. While a survey in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has reported only 2.2% of their study group undergoing cosmetic procedures [14]. In the United States, about 10.2 million cosmetic procedures were performed in 2005 [15]. The most ordinary cosmetic procedure in the study was Botox injection 41%. A similar study conducted in Saudi Arabia by S. E. Alharethy showed 19% had Botox injection.16 Also, it was the most frequently reported cosmetic procedure in the United States as well with several 3,839,387 Botox injections [15]. As for plastic surgery, about 18% of the targeted population reported having surgical intervention previously, while 61.7% planned to have plastic surgery sometime in the future. Rhinoplasty was the most performed 60% as well as being the most wished for a procedure in the future 67%. Our result matched the finding of ISAPS International Survey where they reported that Rhinoplasty is the fifth most commonly performed plastic surgery worldwide with several 298,413 rhinoplasties that were done in the United States [15].

Our data reveals that Saudi women and age more than 31 years were significantly associated with performing cosmetic procedures (p-value< 0.001). Similarly, ASPS noted that 92% of the cosmetic patients were women and ages between 40-54 years [15]. A study in Turkey has also reported that young females were the most likely to perform these interventions 17. As for the financial status, being financially dependent was highly associated for underwent cosmetic interventions and plastic surgery p-value< 0.001, p-value < 0.05 respectively. Higher economic status with a higher income was found to be significantly related to the prevalence of cosmetic interventions in Saudi Arabia as well [16]. When we review the literature to look for the top Reasons behind undergoing plastic surgery, multi studies reported that to look more beautiful is the primary motivation [14,16]. Another study done in al-Madinah said that 46% who had plastic surgery believe that social media affected their decision [14]. In another study, the primary motivating reason to have plastic intervention is influenced by family and friend (40%) [17]. In contrast to our finding, Forty-two percent surgeons reported patients seeking cosmetic procedures to look better in selfies [10]. In our study, the overall prevalence of positive BDD in patients who had or are planning to have cosmetic surgery was about 20.5% [18]. Like multi-centric prospective study that assessed the prevalence of BDD among facial plastic and oculoplastic surgery patients in 3 sites, including academic practice and private practice, showed a prevalence of positive BDD around 37%, 13% in academic and private practice respectively [17]. A meta-analysis of 33 studies evaluate the prevalence of body dysmorphic disorder in plastic surgery, and dermatology patients report that 15.04% of plastic surgery patients were positive BDD [19].

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[netflixanthrothings-blog]

Black Museum Netflix Review- Isaac Ho

The show I have chosen for this Netflix review assignment is Black Museum. It is an episode from the well-known TV series, Black Mirror. In this episode, a black woman named Nish is driving along a dusty highway and then stops by a rundown petrol station to solar charge her car. She, then, notices a tourist attraction called the Black Museum nearby. With plenty of time to spare, she decides to take a tour around the museum lead by the owner, Rolo Haynes. He explains to Nish that the museum contains many artifacts that were in one way or another used to commit a crime. Rolo, then, tells Nish to pick anything and he will explain to her the story of the artifact and how it ended up in the museum. After Nish chooses an item, Rolo narrates the story to Nish, through a series of flashbacks scenes. Nish had chosen two items and in both stories we see Rolo’s previous job where he had made these devices, and distributed it to people.

After that, Rolo directs Nish to his main attraction. The item was actually a black man, Clayton Leigh, that was a convicted murderer who was executed and now his consciousness was turned into a hologram. We get another flashback and an explanation to how Rolo procured Clayton and his function in the museum. We are told that when visitors arrive, they are able to witness the black man getting electrocuted. Even though he was just a hologram, the man could feel the pain every time it happened. We then see a plot twist revealing that Nish is actually the man’s daughter and she has come to kill Rolo. She explains that after the museum was running out of business, rich white men come to the museum just to see the black man getting electrocuted. They even pay Rolo extra money just to prolong the experience and when her mother found out, it made her commit suicide. We also find out that Nish had poisoned Rolo earlier on when he drank her water. Nish’s ultimate plan is to kill Rolo and take his consciousness to put it into her dad’s. After she does so, she electrocutes her dad with Rolo in his head one last time to end his life. Nish then blows up the entire museum and goes into her car. Another twist then happens as we discover that the consciousness of Nish’s mother had been in her head the whole time and the episode ends with Nish driving off back onto the dusty highway.

The reason why I chose to watch this is because I am very interested in the topic of racism. Growing up in Malaysia, a country that has majority Malay people, and going to a Malay dominant school has given me an experience of what racism is like. I would not say my experiences are as intense as what other people may feel but nevertheless racism was prominent during my time in primary school. Thus, to me racism is a sensitive topic and it’s close to my heart. I also think there has been many movies or TV shows touching on this subject, I wanted to see how Black Mirror adapted the notion of racism in their series. Moreover, I chose it because of many have raved positively about the TV series. Thus, I hoped for great content by watching this show.

Even though we see such a little portion of the episode touch on the topic of racism, we can draw many parallels from it and the suffering of black people in history. The museum held objects that were used to commit a crime or murder in one way or another and everything we saw in the museum was very technological. Just as Nish said, “this stuff looks techie” (Black Mirror, 2017, 6:40). An electric chair had been used for years, the first execution by an electric chair happened in 1890 so it is not unheard of (Cavendish, 2015). Rolo Haynes needed something spectacular, he could have gone with a Caucasian criminal, an Asian or a Latino but instead he went for an African American criminal. He used Clay as his main attraction and he profited off Clay’s suffering on the electric chair. Which in essence is the same as how Americans in the South were profiting from black slavery in the 1600s (Timmons, 2018). In much of the 17th century, the American economy revolved around agriculture, selling many different types of crops such as rice and sugarcane (Timmons, 2018). In the South, property owners with the right environment and land size began huge plantations which meant that they needed more help to plant crops (Timmons, 2018). At that time, slavery was socially acceptable and slaves were being brought into America from West Africa (Timmons, 2018). With an upsurge of slaves emerged a new industry, the slave auction, where Africans lives were bidded on with money (Timmons, 2018). Once sold to the buyer, they were given hard labour everyday and were treated like animals (Timmons, 2018). Most of the profit from selling the crops were gone to the white man and some to the slaves just for motivation but they in the end still had no freedom apart from their master (Slave Labour, 2011). Rolo did not care that he was hurting Clayton, he profited off Clayton’s pain and kept him in a prison cell decor box. In return, he kept his family afloat financially but just as in the past, Clayton had no freedom away from the museum.

What makes this so racist is because Rolo knew Clay was definitely going to get executed. Even after all the doubts and inconsistencies of evidence pointed out by Nish, the judge did not take that into account and charged Clay guilty. Maybe the judge did but because all judges are allowed to decide the sentence or punishment of the person in their own discretion, there can be a racial bias to the decision (Ingraham, 2017). In reality, this is very much a real issue and it is proven that black males do get sentences that are worse than white males (Ingraham, 2017). A real-life example would be the sentences given to Brock Turner and Brian Banks. Both of them committed crimes in the same degree and yet Brock (white male) was only sentenced to 6 months in prison while Brian (black male) was sentenced to 5 years in prison (Noman, 2016). Thankfully, the accuser for Brian Banks crime came out and admitted the allegations were fabricated which then dropped all charges against him (Noman, 2016).

There is a scene in the episode where this “race-hate rich guy,” as said by Nish (Black Mirror, 2017, 59:55), pays more money to Rolo just to see Clay get electrocuted longer. That is racism in its rawest form because the definition of racism is the prejudice, discrimination or hatred directed at someone because of their color, ethnicity or national origin (About Racism, 2017). I think the director, Charlie Brooker, did an amazing job fitting a lot of black suffering history in such a short time but I do not recommend this episode to be added into this course in the future. In a few minutes over an hour, on about 25 minutes was used to go through this racism part in the episode. The other 40 minutes were used to show how bad of a person Rolo is and in those 40 minutes was a narrative of two stories. One of two is not for the faint hearted which is someone like me. I think it can really scar a person and place an image in their head that they will never forget. I believe people should get out of their bubble of comfort to be aware and realise the suffering others go through. Yet again there are things that people who are not ready should not face and it will take them more experience to be ready for harder things. If Black Museum were to be used again in this course, I think it would be best to let the students know the type of intensity they will face. That is why I do not think it is a good idea to add Black Museum as a part of this course.

This moment of the episode is when Nish had gotten her justice for her father and is headed off away from the Black Museum. The reason why this is my favorite moment of this episode is because it was satisfying to see Nish getting her justice and ended a museum built by the horrible things that happened because of Rolo.

[tallmantall]

#JamesDonaldson On #MentalHealth - 101 University #Students Commit Suicides In 2021: Study

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com At least 101 university #students allegedly committed #suicide in 2021 according to a report of volunteer organisation Aachol Foundation. The #students are from 59 universities and Dhaka University topped in the list with at least nine cases of #suicide. Aachol Foundation published its report on suicides in 2021 in an online discussion on Saturday. The report was made public amid concerns of #mentalhealthexperts who have been alerting since the beginning of #Covid?19 that the #pandemic may complicate the #mentalhealthproblems of the people of all ages, especially the #youths. The foundation in its report said that 60 of the victims were aged between 22 to 25 years. #Students of bachelor’s third and fourth years were the most vulnerable among the group, added the foundation report titled ‘The Shocking Upsurge in Suicide Cases among University Students: The Liability of Stakeholders.’ The report was prepared collecting information from 50 national and local daily newspapers from January to December 2021, said Aachol Foundation officials at the programme. Speakers at the discussion said that there should be concerted efforts to tackle social, financial and family problems and love affair-related complications that were presumably fuelling the tendency to commit #suicide. Aachol Foundation president Tansen Rose said that the staggering rise in #suicide cases was very alarming. He said that among the #suicide victims, nine were of Dhaka University, six each of Jagannath University and Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, 12 of medical colleges and 23 of various private universities. The rest were from various colleges and universities across the nation. A total of 65 #male #students committed #suicide, accounting for 64.36 per cent of the total victims. In the case of #female #students, however, the figure was 35.64 per cent. #James Donaldson notes:Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space.  #http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticleOrder your copy of James Donaldson's latest book,#CelebratingYourGiftofLife:From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy http://www.celebratingyourgiftoflife.com Dhaka University clinical psychology department professor Kamal Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury at the programme said that #suicide caused havoc on many families silently during the #Covid #pandemic. He said, ‘It is difficult to eliminate the menace entirely, but can be reduced with proper actions.’ ‘We are less concerned about a large number of #suicide cases. Since we are not aware of #mentalhealth, the number of #suicide cases may rise in future,’ he said. National Institute of #MentalHealth and Hospital associate professor Helal Uddin Ahmed said that it was not a conclusive report, but it was certainly a good initiative that provided analytical perspective. He said that #Covid #pandemic had contributed massively to #mentalcrisis and #anxiety resulting from financial hardships and the fear about the disease. He said that #patients who visited them for treatment are mostly suffering from #mentalcrisis triggered by #Covid?related difficulties.  Tansen said that increased social, financial, and family pressures during the #pandemic were a major regulator of male student #suicide cases. Relationship problems caused havoc on #students and led to psychological deterioration as the highest 24.75 per cent of the 101 victims committed #suicide due to troubled relationship, the report showed. About 19.80 per cent committed #suicide due to family problems, about 15.84 per cent for mental dissatisfaction, about 10.89 per cent for academic reasons and about 4.95 per cent due to financial difficulties. Drug addiction also contributed to about 2 per cent of the cases. ‘This is an alarming issue that must be addressed immediately because it represents the deterioration of the youth’s #mentalhealth and how many lives have withered away due to the absence of widespread #mentalhealthservices,’ said Professor Kamal. A study of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistic also found 70 per cent more deaths from #suicide from #Covid-19 in 2021 than from the first year of the #coronavirus #pandemic. Director General of Health Services, in February 2021, showed that 5,200 people died from #Covid infections, while BBS statistics said that 11,000 people reportedly killed themselves in the same period across the country. According to the BBS, about 10,000 people killed themselves in 2019 and the figure was 11,259 in 2020 while Aachol Foundation recorded 14,436 deaths in #suicide between March 2020 and March 2021. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com Read the full article

[pickceldigital]

From smallest mom & pop stores to global retail chains, how retail digital signage brings more business

With the upsurge in eCommerce, brick-&-mortar stores have been struggling to bring in new customers, and even to retain the old ones. They are constantly striving to come up with new, innovative ways to connect with customers. The main challenge is to provide a better experience than eCommerce. In this process of finding way-outs, digital signage has influenced them a big time for its many-sided benefits.

The retail digital signage brings the opportunity to communicate anything anytime with the prospects, without having to draw them towards in-store salespersons or inquiry counters.

Whether it’s a small-scale retail store or a renowned chain, retail digital signage opens up a multitude of new ways to tell a brand story by fusing the physical and digital shopping experience.

Check out a few interesting facts on retail digital signage

Digital signage installations for showrooms and stores are increasing by 40% each year and aren’t going to slow down soon.

Retail is the industry where the optimum benefits of digital signage can be leveraged. It’s already making up 25% of the overall sales for a brand.

The retail sector is expected to reach a valuation of USD 10 billion by 2023 because retail digital signage will save a lot of other expenses and make operational efficiency even better!

Digital signage content impacts the buyers 2.5 times more than static signage displays.

A study by Nielsen revealed that out of 120 grocers who used digital signage in their stores, 80% of them saw as much as a 33% boost in sales

A study on 3,000 shoppers revealed that 82% of purchasing decisions are made while in a store, and 62% of the shoppers make impulse buys while shopping. Digital signage stays responsible for this to a high degree.

59% of shoppers believe that brands must provide cutting-edge digital experiences to keep them engaged.

15 best ways to use storefront signs & in-store retail digital signage

Despite offering endless scopes to enhance the in-store experience for customers, the potential of retail digital signage is not yet fully being explored by business owners. And that’s not because they are unaware of how store screens bring more business. It’s because, they know why to use it, but they don’t quite understand how to.

So, here we are to help out.

1. Attractive digital signage window displays

How tiring is it to rearrange those bags or shoes at the store window every time a customer leaves dismantling them from the racks? It’s too much of a headache! And if the in-store salespeople are a bunch of lazy folks, stay assured they won’t even bother to rearrange them.

Result? You’ll end up making the prospects on the street frown at your store distastefully. Forget about making some business with that awful-looking window display!

Switch to digital storefront signs or window displays to get rid of his hassle. Window displays influence about 24% of shoppers to make purchase decisions. These are the most effective tools to make your customers, stop, look back and enter your store to buy.

Going digital with your retail window displays will help you beat your competitors easily. Digital window display appeals to your audience more because the products you offer or information you display there are always moving. It catches their eyes and influences them to move into the store.

You also get to update the digital content regularly according to your sales focus. Based on special days or offers, change your content instantly with a screen content management software and witness some real footfall into your store.

2. Upsell with innovative product demonstration

Online shopping offers an easy solution for product comparison that helps consumers buy items in peace. But with in-store purchasing, it’s more hectic for both customers and the staff.

How hectic would it be for a shopper to go to a salesperson and ask for similar products or other items in the same price range? Imagine a customer buying a microwave oven for the first time. How many questions do you think might have? Endless!

Your in-store retail digital signage system can come to the rescue here. You can showcase your best products, their features, similar items, and even ‘how to use’ guides.

You can also implement interactive digital signage at your retail store and engage your customers even more with your brand. They can slide, scroll, click and find out the most suitable products for them on their own from the interactive retail kiosks. It will not only reduce your cost of hiring eligible staff but will also help persuade your customers to buy.

3. Offer retailtainment

Talk about your products in a unique way by blending information and entertainment. Did you know 50% of men and 70% of women consider shopping a form of entertainment and something to share with friends and family? So, why not put more of those fun blobs on their platter?

Amuse your customers with a dose of sports news, social media posts, videos from YouTube and music from live TV channels. Keep the fun going with real-time market trends and updates on in-store digital signage.

4. Create an urgency to buy

An attractive deal leads to impulse buying for many customers. In fact, 54% of US consumers have admitted that they’ve spent $100 or more on impulse purchases. So, if you use your retail digital signage to display the current deals or discount offers, you’ll definitely sell more.

You can create the need for buying by announcing a limited period offer with a countdown timer. Trigger your consumer’s desire to purchase by showing your stock lasts for just a few more hours. You will be surprised by the number of sales happening with this in-store signage trick.

Try It: Pickcel Countdown Timer app — gamify purchase and sell more.

5. Run promotions and ad campaigns

Product launches, product promotions, and ad campaigns— all of these you can run on your digital signage inside the showroom and connect with dozens of consumers at a time, which was impossible to do with traditional signs or billboards.

Why should brand commercials be available to the prospects sitting and watching TV at home? Let the customer, inside or outside the store also catch that promo by running it on all your retail display boards. Schedule your promos and ads at certain intervals and spread brand awareness strategically.

6. Gather customer feedback

Do you have a good base of long-term happy customers? Great! When they visit your store next time, make sure they give you their feedback directly via the interactive digital display at your retail store.

Call for rating & feedback with an interesting image or animated figure on the screen. Customers love it when you value their opinions. And this way you will not only engage your audience better and improve customer satisfaction, but you will also gather a good amount of positive responses.

7. Let UGC do some magic

The feedback you gather from interactive kiosks and the ones you receive on various other platforms like social media pages and Google business profiles— showcase those on your retail digital signage. Why? Because you want to build trust and connect with your prospects genuinely.

User-generated content (UGC) has a great impact on people. 93% of marketers acknowledge that consumers tend to trust content created by customers more than the content created by brands themselves. And almost 50% of millennials make their decision to buy an item based on recommendations from their acquaintances. So, UGC has a great hold on your customers since it functions as a prominent reference. Display UGC on your retail digital signage screens and make it more business efficient.

8. Display QR codes on retail digital signage

Uses of QR codes are not limited to payments these days. See what more you can do with it.

Keep a QR code on your in-store screens that take your customers directly to your online store when they scan them.

You can even help them download your mobile app with the QR code scan. They won’t have to go to the play store and search for the app. So, it will save time.

Take your customers to your website landing page and let them explore your brand better.

QR codes can take your customers to personalized URLs providing a direct email or messaging facility. This way they can communicate with the support team.

You can tweak your creative side a bit more and come up with customized QR codes for each of the store sections. For example, in the section or alley in your store that sells beauty products, you can keep a tailor-made QR code by that section. When the customers scan it, they will get to see the products available in that alley, details of each product like ingredients and directions for use, and the price for each.

Last but not the least, you can, rather you must have a QR code for your digital product catalog. Once the consumers scan it, they can have a closer look at all the products your brand has to offer.

Check this out: The Pickcel QR code app — generate QR codes for unlimited URLs and make the shopping experience better!

9. Deliver a personalized experience

Consumers go crazy with the brands that provide them with personalized experiences. Surprisingly, 70% of millennials are happily allowing retailers to track their shopping behavior and browsing habits to receive a better and more personalized experience.

So, study your audience. Collect useful data on demography and analyze the purchase patterns of your consumers. Accordingly, you can set offers and showcase your products on the in-store digital signage displays. It gives your communication efforts a personal touch.

10. Contests & gamification

Yes, gamification can really impact your retail store business. And we don’t mean the social media contests here. You can use your in-store interactive display as a contest screen.

Run a fun contest based on fashion brands, favorite comic characters, or whatever you think will engage your customers in the contest. Declare a good reward for the contest winner (maybe a best-selling product of your brand).

Make sure you mention the day on which the result of the contest will be declared. More than half of the consumers who took part will come back to see the results, believe us. And when they do return, they will be more than happy to buy a few more items on display.

Let your customers play simple & fun games on your retail digital signage screens. Offer instant rewards like a 20% discount on certain items or a Buy 2 get 1 Free deal with the games.

For example, if you have a puzzle game, customers can win the offer if they complete the puzzle successfully within a certain period. Or, if you have a racing game, offer the deal if a customer scores above 80 or 85. Like this, you can excite your audience to make purchases.

According to a study, the stores that engage their consumers constantly through contests and games have witnessed a 60% increase in email clicks and a 50% increase in web traffic and return rates.

11. Point-of-sale advertising

Entice your customers to buy new products as add-on at the billing counters and other points-of-sale. Install small digital screens at the POS and display a few items with bright appealing visuals.

Consumers will tend to buy some of those while they wait for their turn to pay. This way you can turn your point-of-sales into point-of-purchase easily and drive some more business tactically.

Related Article: How franchise owners can use point of purchase marketing?

12. Self-service checkout kiosks

You will no longer have to pay an employee every month just to stand at the counter and collect payment from your customers. In this digital era, self-service check-outs are trending. It helps buyers save time too.

Many times it happens that customers are at the counter but the staff member has gone out for lunch. Now there’s a long annoying wait that often leads to less frequent store visits later. Spurn these problems with self-service kiosks.

Customers can scan their products easily and make payments on their own, without any staff member’s interference.

And if you can deploy ‘click and collect’, you will be able to make customers happy like never before.

What is a ‘click and collect’ service? It is a hybrid e-commerce model that allows you to choose your shopping items online (from a website or app) and pick them up at a centralized collection point at the retail outlet. The consumers will interact with a self-service kiosk at that collection point to receive the items and pay for the same. Totally hassle-free!

13. Provide customers with a queue-less store experience

When customers wait in line, clueless about when their turn will come, it makes them perceive the wait time more than what it actually is. Just because they are frustrated with the long line, they consider 5 minutes to be nearly 20 minutes.

Using a queue management app, retail stores can easily manage floor crowding. In-store retail TVs can display queue tickets in real time. It helps consumers understand their wait time in the queue.

Happy customers with reduced perceived wait time lead to more profit and improved brand image.

How does queue management software for retail digital signage work for business success? Learn here

14. Help customers gain product knowledge

If you are selling complex items like electronics or smart gadgets, you can turn your digital signage boards into learning tools for your consumers.

Play product demo, installation process, and special features of the products in videos or motion graphics. Make the content educative and engaging.

You can also run videos on product maintenance tips and tricks and help customers learn how to uphold it correctly. For example, if you are dealing in Japanese Matcha Tea, your customers will surely like to know how to store matcha green tea properly and increase its shelf life.

15. Include wayfinding maps

If your customers get annoyed finding various store destinations, you will lose them at the storefront, losing the chance to impress them with other signage content you have strategically designed so far.

Use your digital signage displays boards as building directories or wayfinding kiosks to help customers navigate through your store easily. This will perk up your in-store environment and will contribute to brand building through customer satisfaction. And with touchscreen 3d wayfinding solutions you can now pull in a few more benefits of retail digital signage.

Real-life examples of brands using retail digital signage innovatively

Now that you know how retail digital signage can maximize your customer engagement and bring more business, take a look at its innovative applications and get inspired.

1. Sephora collaborated with ModiFace to offer a virtual makeover simulator.

The technology tracks the customer’s face in real-time. It then allows customers to try on makeup virtually via the digital signage screen. They can select, for example, an eye shadow shade, and the color will instantly be visible on the customer’s face on the screen.

It is nothing but the digital signage version of the ‘try and buy’ marketing scheme. But, this brings a greater shopping experience to Sephora customers and uplifts the brand image extensively. Learn more about it here.

2. Broke Bikes started allowing customers to design their own bikes by choosing custom design specifications.

This clever marketing idea also allowed the customers to share the customized design through social media. The digital signage screen at the retail store was turned into an interactive design canvas for the consumers.

This brilliant engagement program provided a sense of connection and personalization to the customers. The experience was even more enhanced by live social posts from Twitter and Instagram.

It’s the perfect tool for customers to instantly share the photos of their bike creations (the custom design) on the social media wall. This also helped the brand with more sales with instant social media sharing. Learn more about this digital signage use here.

Summing it up

So, why will the above-mentioned retail digital signage use bring you more business?

You will create an overall positive brand image that’s rich and impressive.

You’ll persuade customers successfully to make a purchase.

Your brand will move ahead of the competitors with inventive solutions.

You will be gaining more profit by upselling and cross-selling.

Most importantly, you will contribute to the goodwill of the business.

If you are a retailer, don’t wait to implement these digital signage tips. Start with Pickcel today and get more returns soon.

For more click on the link retail digital signage

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Children Cycling Boom During the Pandemic

Introduction of Children Cycling Boom

Do you still remember the grand occasion when people in Europe and America rushed to buy toilet paper during the new crown pneumonia epidemic last year? Unexpectedly, this scene also happened to bicycle consumption-the bicycle shelves in hypermarkets were swept away, and the e-commerce platform was out of stock. Consumers even have to go to the store to grab a car when it arrives in the community store.

Half-Century-Long Bike Craze

Public transportation is restricted, children are trapped at home, gyms are closed... The chain reaction caused by a series of epidemics has further pushed up the demand for various bicycle products in the European and American markets. , The bicycle fever that has been missing for nearly half a century.

According to the NPD Group, at the beginning of the outbreak in March 2020, sales of children's bicycles in the United States increased by 59%; in April, bicycle sales in the United States doubled, showing a gradual upward trend.

According to data from the British Cycling Association, the British children's bicycle market has soared by 35% year-on-year in 2020. From June 2020 to May 2021, 1 million children's bicycles were sold.

This is not unique to Europe and the United States. In Manila, the capital of the Philippines, bicycle shops are selling their goods faster than usual at Christmas.

Emerging electric bikes are also selling like hot cakes. Dutch e-bike maker VanMoof said sales in the U.S. surged 138% in the first half of 2020, the U.K. surged 184%, and the rest of Europe saw a solid increase. Manufacturers are increasing their production capacity in response to large orders.

The New Normal is a Flash in the Pan

This bike craze is a mixed bag. The good news is that many people have started to try or resume cycling activities. The sudden upsurge caught many manufacturers and businesses by surprise; the worry is, will this upsurge fade away as the epidemic passes and traffic resumes?

For now, the situation is optimistic. According to a weekly survey by U.S. cycling advocacy group PeopleForBikes, many people who have returned to cycling during the pandemic say they will continue to do so after lockdowns are lifted. Of these, nearly half (42%) were children. Belgian 2-seater 12V battery operated toy car manufacturer Cowboy revealed that after the gradual unblocking of the UK and France, the company's product sales rose instead of falling.

At the same time, governments around the world are also deliberately adopting policies to guide people to maintain the habit of cycling. Among them, it is absolutely beneficial for the children's bicycle industry to cultivate young children's interest in cycling.

According to data from the European Cyclists Federation, in 2020, Europe invested 1 billion euros in 2-seater 12V battery operated toy car-related projects, opening up nearly 1,000 kilometers of bicycle lanes, traffic-restricted lanes and car-free streets to facilitate bicycle travel.

Cities such as Oakland, San Francisco, Redwood City in the United States, and Manila in the Philippines have specially set aside some streets to restrict the entry of cars and encourage outdoor leisure activities such as bicycles.

Recently, the British government announced that it will spend 18 million pounds to carry out cycling training for children and families across the country, aiming to encourage people to continue to use cycling as the first choice for active sports.

Manufacturers are Optimistic About Battery Operated Toy Car Market Outlook

Gary Conway, senior product and marketing manager at UK bike dealer Tandem Group Cycles, said: "Kids bikes have had their ups and downs due to the rise of electronics. But overall we remain confident in the kids bike market." Squish brand bicycles, which are more convenient for children, have been well received by consumers. Small Tektronix saw the needs of children's fitness, launched the children's dynamic exercise bike (PelicanExplore&FitCycle?), and provided a matching follow-up video service on the YouTube channel. Kiddimoto, a British children's balance bike company, strives to encourage families to cultivate children's love for bicycles from an early age.

"I hope that more families will insist on and love cycling, so that this bicycle revival boom can continue." I believe this is also the voice of many children's bicycle manufacturers.

Children Car Product Recommendation

A021 12V Battery Operated RC Children Ride on Car is one of hot-selling 2-seater battery operated toy car products of United Vehicles. It is currently the only truly large-size independent two-seater model on the market. Standard foam wheel, key start, steering wheel height adjustment. It is also equipped with front and rear LED lights, double-opening doors, multi-function music player and mobile phone wireless connection and other entertainment functions. A021 is also equipped with leather seat and MP4.

About United Vehicles

Pinghu United Vehicles Co., Ltd. is a large comprehensive and professional manufacturer. Established in 2017, as a young manufacturer, Pinghu United Vehicles Co., Ltd, is a large comprehensive and professional manufacturer integrating independent development and design, molding investment, injection , and assembling, as well as sales service.

Through some big international exhibition such as Canton Fair, Nurnberg Toy Fair and etc., and also by working with some trading partners, we are exporting our items to more than 110 countries and market in the world, including America, Europe, Middle East, South East Asia, Australia and etc.

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We'll come back on Monday for more! Have a great weekend!

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[ai-briefing]

Opportunity and Challenge for Emerging Memory

Opportunity and Challenge for Emerging Memory

In recent years, the amount of data created in the ICT society has exploded. In 2020, 59 zetabyte of data was processed. This was even further increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused an upsurge in working from home, video conferencing and streaming data, etc. It is expected that the ICT society will generate more than three times the