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☆ In China, It’s Time to Splurge Again, and the Luxury Industry Is Relieved
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Elizabeth Paton | Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This time last year, Shanghai — China’s capital of fashion and luxury — was in the throes of a ruthlessly enforced Covid lockdown. The city’s glittering high-end malls and avenues lined with flagship stores stood practically empty. Ms. Zhang, who works for a consulting firm, used to buy six handbags a year. “I change my handbag every day,” Ms Zhang added. “I felt that everything was meaningless during the Shanghai lockdown, so we should enjoy the present moment in time.”

☆ Abraham Verghese’s Sweeping New Fable of Family and Medicine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Andrew Solomon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

THE COVENANT OF WATER, by Abraham VergheseAbraham Verghese occupies a curious place in the modern literary landscape. A doctor who decided midcareer to train at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he has gone on to achieve distinction in both fields. His last novel, “Cutting for Stone,” spent more than two years on this newspaper’s best-seller list. By projecting his own best self, he hopes to coax out the best selves of others. The lack of ill intent or even ambivalence among the book’s many heroes can become cloying.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff gave executives lavish gifts including Cartier watches. Its marketing chief was given an Aston Martin, while another executive got an electric BMW. Marc Benioff pulls out all the stops when it comes to buying gifts for some executives. Insider revealed last week that the Salesforce CEO has generously given some watches costing five figures and cars costing well into six figures. Benioff is known for handing out $10,000 Cartier watches at Salesforce executive meetings.

☆ Meet Harlan Crow, Clarence Thomas' vacation pal, GOP megadonor, and billionaire Texas real estate magnate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Texas real estate magnate Harlan Crow provided lavish vacations to Justice Clarence Thomas. Born in 1949 in Dallas, Texas, Crow is a 74-year-old real estate developer and the chairman of Crow Holdings, a Dallas-based real estate development and investment firm that was started by his father, Trammell Crow. Before his death in 2009, Trammell Crow was once one of the nation's most prominent real estate developers and landlords. What's his relationship with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas? He also donated $105,000 to Thomas' alma mater, Yale Law School, for the "Justice Thomas Portrait Fund."

☆ How to afford the big price tag of your lifetime 'bucket list'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Chris Taylor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The 36-year-old public relations professional has an opportunity to check something off his life 'bucket list': Seeing his favorite band, Metallica, play live. Whether Beyonce tickets, Super Bowl weekends or dream vacations after years of COVID restrictions, our bucket lists carry big price tags that seem to be rising every year. So how can we fund our bucket lists, without being totally irresponsible? One solution for this is to save for your bucket list item in a separate account. “There is one item I see on bucket lists that is actually getting less expensive – education,” says Brandon Welch, an investment advisor in La Mesa, California.

☆ Anti-LGBTQ+ protests are at an all-time high. A Proud Boys war on drag is a big reason why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Once a week on average in 2022, Proud Boys joined or led anti-LGBTQ+ protests held across the US. Proud Boys joined in seven anti-LGBTQ+ protests in September, 10 in October and 6 in November. In December, they protested at 13 anti-LGBTQ+ protests, more than in any other month last year, ACLED data shows. And the group's anti-LGBTQ+ push is continuing, said Kaufman, who tracks the Proud Boys' estimated 119 chapters in 46 states. Proud Boys are turning up these days at nearly half of all anti-LGBTQ+ activity across the country, she told Insider.

☆ Stars flock to Dakar for All-Africa Music Awards
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DAKAR, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Musical heavyweights gathered in Dakar, Senegal on Sunday for the eighth All-Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) that aim to celebrate and promote the continent's best veteran and cutting-edge musicians. Globally recognised stars including Senegalese maestro Youssou Ndour, and Nigerian artists P-Square and Tiwa Savage are among those set to perform during the main awards ceremony at the 15,000-seat Dakar stadium. Companies are cashing in on rising global interest in African music. Last June, Universal Music Group (UMG.AS) launched a label for independent African labels and artists, while music streaming platforms, including Spotify (SPOT.N), have sought to expand their offerings by African artists. Reporting by Bate Felix and Ngouda Dione Writing by Alessandra Prentice Editing by Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ ‘A Dangerous Business’ Review: Widow Out West
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Joanne Kaufman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Eliza McCracken doesn’t want to marry Peter Cargill, the extravagantly well-mannered and apparently well-connected man her parents have foisted on her. But the year is 1849, and Eliza’s preferences matter not a whit. The McCrackens get their daughter nicely settled, or so they think; and Peter gets a servant and connubial rights in one tidy packet. This transaction propels the plot of Jane Smiley’s quirky historical novel “A Dangerous Business” and sets the table for the many transactions that follow. Fortunately for Eliza (and for the novel), Peter isn’t around long.

☆ Conscious spending: Personal finance that's smart and fun
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

You don’t have to think or feel this way, thanks to a flexible personal finance approach called conscious spending. “Conscious spending is all about spending extravagantly on the things you love, as long as you cut costs mercilessly on the things you don’t. But a conscious spending plan allows you to say, “Yes, I want to go on vacation. Rewiring your spending habitsThe term “conscious spending” implies that people experience unconscious spending, said Bradley Klontz, a financial psychologist and associate professor of practice at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business in Omaha, Nebraska. Or should I not?’”If you want to give conscious spending a shot, try it for a month.

My parents retired in their early 60s and enjoyed a comfortable retirement for more than 25 years. They had multiple streams of retirement income, including a rental property and investment accounts. Invest in a recurring source of incomeNow that I handle my mom's finances, I understand that retirement income comes from a variety of sources. Most of us will not be able to retire on Social Security benefits, so it's important to have other sources of recurring income. But those houses, which have been mortgage-free for many years, provide my mother with an important source of recurring income.

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