"It"s A Nightmare" - Chinese Bureaucrats Are Killing The Victoria"s Secret Fashion Show

The marketing brass at L Brands are probably starting to regret their decision to hold this year’s Victoria’s Secret fashion show - expected to have the largest audience in the show"s history - in Shanghai.

As the New York Post reports, the fashion show, which takes place in two weeks and will feature  Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio and Karlie Kloss, among other internationally recognized supermodels, is transforming into an international diplomatic crisis.

Chinese government officials are refusing to work with the show’s producers and grant the necessary expedited visas so fashion bloggers and other media types who’re supposed to cover the show, according to the New York Post.

Bureaucrats have also stubbornly resisted other seemingly routine requests, like approving shooting locations for the TV crew.

We’re told fashion bloggers booked to cover the glitzy event are canceling their trips because the Chinese government won’t give them visas; TV producers are grappling with bureaucrats over permission to shoot outside the Mercedes-Benz Arena, where it’s being held (“If you’re going to China, you want to show that you are in China!” fumed an insider); and Victoria’s Secret staffers in China can’t send out press releases because they have to be approved by government officials.

 

“It’s just a nightmare for all the media trying to cover [the show],” said a jet-setting insider. “These TV companies are spending a fortune on it, and they don’t even know what they can shoot when they get there."

 

We’re told that producers charged with coordinating the coverage for various outlets are “on the verge of nervous breakdowns."

The show, which will be broadcast on CBS, has mostly been held in the US since 2001, but the popular purveyor of ladies’ undergarments has had a run of bad luck in the past few years since trying to host the show overseas, the Post reports. Last year’s show (which was held in Paris) was also plagued with production issues caused by a terror attack and Kim Kardashian’s high-profile robbery.

For that event, every journalist covering the event had to submit to background checks and provide government ID, and security was so tight that cars dropping off VIP guests were only allowed to stop momentarily outside the venue, so celebrities had to circle the block before being dropped off.

This year, they’d be lucky to get a visa.

Spot The Difference

US equity markets have rebounded aggressively off their opening plunge on the heels of a sudden magical bid...

Can you guess where from...

Now that Europe is closed - what happens next?

How Times Have Changed

From the Slope of Hope: One of my favorite little books is called Hey Skinny! Great Advertisements from the Golden Age of Comic Books, which pretty much describes the contents exactly. It is a hodgepodge of cheesy ads from the mid 1940s to late 1950s for all manner of junk, and it"s eye-opening to see via these come-ons just how much has changed in merchandising. I thought I"d provide a sampling for your amusement, not edification.

First up is the "Lucky Grab Bag", in which children would send in their precious cash in exchange for a bag of..........stuff. God only knows what stuff would come back, but I suspect it was whatever overstock items happened to be laying around the office........ballpoint pens, sanitary napkins, swizzle sticks. I suspect an entire generation of kids learned the meaning of disappointment from the receipt of these parcels o" crap.

Next up is the most amazing sun watch in the world. The fact it was the only sun watch in the world probably helped. Evidently it was a watch with a triangle sticking out of it (helpful for accidentally cutting yourself) which, if you aimed it precisely right on a sunny day, could give you the time within two hours of accuracy. This allowed you to tell time "the truly scientific way". It wasn"t just a watch, though - - this product claimed to have nine functions, including "weather forecaster", which I suppose meant if you couldn"t tell what time it was, it was either cloudy or already raining on your dumb ass.

Now we step into the yesterday of political incorrectness with rubber masks. There"s Satan, an "Idiot", and......umm........a Minstrel. This advertisement, only partly shown, suggests that wearing one of these masks was a great way to bag the ladies, since they found it terribly amusing. In the parlance of the day, you could "panic a party" (whereas today you could "earn a lawsuit.")

This next one is, for me, the most appalling of all. It seems there was a company back in the 50s whose sole purpose in life was to create photo enlargements. In exchange for giving their sales information to twenty of your friends, they would send you.........brace yourself........a monkey. How they shipped it to you or managed to keep it alive during the shipment (or, indeed, kept it from committing monkey suicide out of terror en route) is beyond me. It"s hard for me to believe that the good people of the U.S. had much success with miniature monkeys shrieking and throwing poo around the house across the suburbs of our once-great republic.

For nascent crimestoppers, there is the "new toy gun" which, it seems, fires off pieces of potatoes. No big deal. What I find intriguing is the story they lay out in in the ad, in which a couple of young chaps stop a bank robbery cold (and are immediately paid for doing so by Mr. Bank Manager). It takes some serious suspension of disbelief to think hardened bank robbers would be stopped in their tracks by some ten year old holding what appears to be the letter "L" from Sesame Street in his hand, but that"s how the story is told. One can only hope the kids of the 50s didn"t seek out to emulate this behavior by hanging out in rougher parts of town with their weapon, waiting for their payday.

The ads weren"t all just for kids, though. There were ads aimed at adults as well, and judging from the ad, there must have been plenty of desperate, disillusioned dads in America. Allow me to lay out what was being advertised here, as the story is told: (1) a guy pulls up in his driveway in a new car under the gaze of his envious neighbor, who puzzles over how he could afford such a luxury (2) the car owner states he is pulling down the big money by selling shoes door-to-door (3) Instead of laughing hysterically, the neighbor implausibly inquires as to how he can muscle in on this kind of action (4) the neighbor evidently signs up to be a new salesman for Mason Shoes, and he is provided a catalog and, yes, a sample air cushion which is the distinctive edge of Mason that makes them better than other shoes (5) the poor bastard pesters his neighbors, co-workers, and anyone else with feet to buy these shoes, and he does well enough that Mason sends him some sample shoes, sparing him the continue embarrassment of having nothing more than a soft insole as his only selling aid.

We finish our journey with an ad specifically targeted to adult women (why they would be reading Archie comic books is beyond me, but there we are). The ad portrays a town whose women are having their engagement and wedding rings stolen from their homes. Mary has been robbed too, but she"s chill. How could this be? After all, the diamonds were worth at least a thousand dollars! That"s easy - - because Mary has her actual jewelry locked up in a safe where no one can see or enjoy it. What she"s been wearing on her fingers day after day are a set of rings that cost $2.98, and apparently no one could tell the difference. Nice going, Mary. I bet they look fabulous.

Well, that"s it for our trip down memory lane. Perhaps you were expecting an article on trading. But ask yourself - - how much value have you received from all the articles you"ve been reading about trading for the past eight years? Yeah, that"s what I thought.

Is the Mainstream Igniting Pedophilia with ‘Victoria Secret’-Style Lingerie Show Featuring 5 YO Girls?

Photo: australscope

It’s no secret, pedophilia has been a topic of conversation in a big way over the last year. With the rise of investigations into elite pedophile rings, including the popularization of PizzaGate, many have begun to ask questions about how big of a problem this is in politics, government and hollywood.

In this new show that took place in China, we see 5 year old girls dressed in lingerie walking down the runway, looking quite uncomfortable. I’m not about to say putting a girl in lingerie at a fashion show is the same as pedophilia, but we need to ask why we are sexualizing young girls like this.

It becomes a very fine line between acts like this and pushing the envelope to further see children as sex symbols.

FreeThoughtProject reports: The latest movement within media and Hollywood pop culture seems to be an agenda to normalize pedophilia and the sexualization of children. The latest example of this was a fashion show that many feel crossed the line from – with scantily clad girls, who appear to be as young as five-years-old, walking the runway in a Victoria’s Secret–style show.

The show, held at a shopping mall in China, revealed shocking images of young girls wearing nothing but lingerie, costume wings, and headpieces. This comes on the heels of Kim Kardashian sparking controversy last month after she posted images of her new children’s line, which included a bikini and lace slip dress.

“I’m not dressing my 4-yr-old daughter in a leopard n lace slip dress Kim Kardashian Kids Line,” one disgruntled parent replied.

Photo: australscope

What you see talking place is simply the latest manifestation of what is, without question, a creeping agenda within the mainstream of pop culture to normalize and force public acceptance of pedophilia.

FreeThoughtProject previously reported on the constant drive within pop culture to normalize pedophilia:

“In the current age of political correctness, some sects of society know no limits as to how far they will go to force acceptance to avoid offending others. In one extreme case of forcing such political correctness, Salon magazine implies that society must be accepting of pedophiles. In two separate articles, Salon refers to pedophilia as an ‘alternate sexual preference’ and suggests that society should embrace these differences by insinuating that this poor man is just misunderstood.

The article and video on Salon deal with pedophiles known as ‘non-offending’ — meaning while these individuals admit they are sexually attracted to prepubescent children, they claim they’ve never acted on it. However, the subject of one Salon article, Todd Nickerson admitted to seeking out jobs as a babysitter and noted that he “fell in love” with a five-year-old whom he babysat.”

The U.S. corporate mainstream media is, without a doubt, the most sophisticated propaganda operation in the history of humankind, according to political philosopher Noam Chomsky, author of Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of Mass Media.

The mainstream media works diligently to alter and shape our perceptions and values. It seems clear that the propagandists are attempting to engineer a society that is accepting of pedophilia as a normalized behavior.

Both Elijah Wood and Corey Feldman have publicly discussed the fact that Hollywood is a den of pedophilia – noting that numerous powerful moguls and others within the Hollywood scene prey on the vulnerable like “vultures.”

Revealing exactly how the normalization propaganda operates, the New York Times published an op-ed proclaiming that pedophilia is “not a crime” – instead sympathetically characterizing pedophilia as a “disorder” that “these people [pedophiles] are living with.”

The sell is that people who rape, or who fantasize about exploiting or raping children are portrayed as victims living with a condition that they have little choice over. The article goes on to insert tidbits about “recent studies,” which is an appeal to authority meant to imply that the author’s normalization agenda is backed by science.

Thus, claims such as: “Men with pedophilia are three times more likely to be left-handed or ambidextrous, a finding that strongly suggests a neurological cause,” leaving readers to discern the credibility of the author’s opinion based on an unprofessional interpretation of the actual study.

Essentially, the idea being forwarded is that people who want to have sexual relations with children are suffering from a “disorder,” and thus are not subject to a moral evaluation, but instead are in need of compassion. The idea that pedophilia is a “condition,” rather than an internal mental process involving desires and attitudes, leaves the pedophile blameless.

It’s clearly a sign of the times when the New York Times devotes more time to making excuses for pedophilia than it does defending innocent and victimized children!

Interestingly, the CEO of the New York Times, Mark Thompson, was involved in the cover-up of cases involving British child rapist Jimmy Saville — who raped as many as 500 children over the coarse of his career – while being protected by media moguls and celebrities alike.

Further revealing the nefarious agenda, when recent news broke of a massive pedophile ring being busted in Norway, numerous mainstream outlets deleted published reports on it – including the Washington Post, ABC News, and the New York Times.

Actions such as these give pause as to what exactly is the agenda of these major media outlets engaging in such actions.

Elijah Wood & Corey Feldman Speak Out Again About Hollywood Pedophilia

“I Was Literally Surrounded By Them When I Was 14” – Corey Feldman Exposes Hollywood Pedophilia

A Hot New Fashion Trend Has Men Dressing In Skirts, Dresses And 8 Inch Heels

How would you feel if a man walked into a business meeting wearing a skirt and 8 inch heels? 20 years ago that would have been absolutely unthinkable, but if one American designer has his way that may soon become the norm. When I saw photos on Facebook of Thom Browne’s latest line for men, I have to admit that I was floored. If you have not seen what I am talking about yet, you can do so here and here. Personally, I believe that men should dress like men and women should dress like women, but much of society is moving in the exact opposite direction.

In recent years we have been hearing a lot about “gender fluidity”, and this is yet another example of that phenomenon. The distinctions between men and women are being blurred, and there are many that would like to eliminate them altogether.

Given enough time, could we eventually get to the point where it is just as acceptable for men to wear skirts and heels as it is for women? Apparently Thom Browne wants us to have these kinds of conversations…

Gender fluidity in style is no longer a thing for only women, but men too. Thom Browne, an American designer seems to think men should embrace the trend too and rock a few pieces ‘borrowed from the girls’. His spring summer collection presented at the ongoing Men’s fashion week had a slew of dress shirts, tunics, maxi dresses and skirts all worn with pointy toe heels.

Who says what a man should and shouldn’t wear? The collection seems to drive a conversation many of us never want to have. And, if a woman can wear a pantsuit, why can’t a man wear a skirt suit? Probably, this is what the designer wanted to us to talk about.

For Browne, he figures that since we all wore similar clothing as babies that we should be able to do the same thing once we reach adulthood. The following quote from Browne comes from Vogue…

“I like the idea that when you are a baby you wear pretty much the same clothing as your brothers and sisters. And I think that culture dictates which way and what kind of clothing you wear—but it is nice that you can pretty much do whatever you want.”

Doing whatever is right in our own eyes may make a lot of sense for Browne, but a society without gender would be complete chaos. God created both men and women for a reason, and trying to eradicate masculinity and femininity would be a tragic mistake.

In particular, there seems to be a tremendous effort in our society today to feminize men. By now just about everyone has heard about the “metrosexual” trend, and more recently there has been a push to make “rompers for men” fashionable…

For too many years, men have suffered from a lack of options in the fashion realm. So, four Chicago-based business school buds sought to rectify this injustice by introducing to the world (for better or for worse) the male romper — er the RompHim.

“Turn heads and break hearts when you take your RompHim for a spin,” reads the product description. “Is it a romper specifically designed for men? Sure, but it’s also so much more.”

When I see men dressed in rompers, part of me wants to laugh, but another part of me wonders where all of this is heading.

Instead of “male” and “female”, are we ultimately headed for a “genderless” era where most people will fall on a “spectrum” somewhere between the two genders? Even now, some major stars in the entertainment industry are fully embracing the “genderless” label. For example, just consider what Miley Cyrus had to say during one recent interview…

“I think I’m weird because that I feel very genderless; I feel ageless; I feel like I’m just a spirit soul, not even divided by human being, or I treat the animals the same or, hopefully, treat the planet with as much respect as possible,” Cyrus saidduring an interview on Lorraine, a U.K. morning show.

“I feel very much like there’s no ‘us’ and ‘them’. There’s no ‘me’ and ‘you’. I feel like I’m kind of just — I want to be everything, and I want to be also kind of nothing. I just want to be able to be myself,” she continued.

That is just weird.

But tens of millions of young people around the globe absolutely adore Miley Cyrus and look up to her as a role model.

So as Miley Cyrus embraces a “genderless identity”, it is inevitable that large numbers of other young people will follow in her footsteps.

This is yet another example that shows that we need to be very careful about what we feed into our minds. The average American consumes approximately five hours of television “programming” a day, and it is inevitable that all of that “programming” is going to have a dramatic impact on how we all see the world.

After thousands upon thousands of hours of “programming”, many of us may be ready to accept just about anything – and that includes men dressing in skirts and heels.

Prada Is Selling A $185 Paper Clip

We finally have some good news for the distressed US retail industry.

In light of recent deteriorating spending trends within the luxury segment, with Bank of America internal card data showing a relentless decline in retail spending among the wealthiest segment...

... one would perhaps think that the conspicuous consumption excesses that marked the peak of the last bubble were long behind us.

One would be wrong: first there was Balenciaga selling a $2,145 handbag that was a spitting image of an IKEA tote sold for $1 at the iconic store, and now, there is the $185 Prada paper clip.

According to Business Insider, the Italian-made clip sold by Barneys New York, is 6.25 centimeters in length and 2.25 centimeters wide, is made from silver and has the Prada logo embossed on its side. It"s supposed to be used as a money clip, although one wonders why nouveau riche Millennials would use a Prada paper clip to hold their money (especially if much of it is in cryptocurrencies) when a, well, money clip should suffice perfectly. Then again, we can only assume Prada did their market research, and this is what it came up with:

Of course, one can buy roughly 300 similar-looking paper clips on Amazon for around $5.50, which comes out to around $0.02 per paper clip, but hey, they are not silver Prada paperclips. 

The social media response, as noted by Mashable, suggests that the new product may not be the smash hit that Prada envisioned:

$185 for a paperclip? This thing better be able to hold my life together.. pic.twitter.com/IunW9Aiy25

— FREDDY (@FreddyAmazin) June 22, 2017

mood: being wealthy enough to have a $185 Prada money paperclip pic.twitter.com/P774DcQAOr

— VENUS (@DEVILDIOR) June 22, 2017

who is gonna buy a Prada paper clip

— (Lin-Manuel) Miranda (@unholydmitri) June 23, 2017

On the odd chance that $185 is out of your budget, and if you can live without the Prada logo on your silver paper clip, Barneys sells a similar product for only $150.

"Try Before You Buy": Amazon Launches Assault On Clothing Retailers With Prime Wardrobe

On Tuesday, in its attempt to corner the last elusive space of the retail market - clothing -  Amazon announced the launch of Prime Wardrobe, "A New Fashion Platform" which will be included in current and future Prime memberships, Amazon said on its website. Essentially Prime Wardrobe will allow users to try clothes on before they buy and receive discounts.

This is how Amazon"s latest service, currently in beta, will work according to TC:

• Buyers will pick at least three items from over a million Amazon Fashion options including clothes, shoes, and accessories for kids and adults to fill up your Prime Wardrobe box. Brands available include Calvin Klein, Levi’s, Adidas, Theory, Timex, Lacoste, and more.


• Once the Amazon Prime Wardrobe box arrives, you can try on the clothes for up to seven days. Then you either schedule a free pick-up or drop the resealable box with its pre-paid shipping label at a nearby UPS to return whatever you don’t want. Keep three or four items from the box and get 10% off everything, or keep five or more for 20% off. You only pay after for what you keep, with no charge up front. Amazon Prime Wardrobe is free for Prime members with no extra fees.

While we can see extensive ways how this "goodwill" arrangement between Amazon and its millions of clients can be abused, the logic behind the new launch is simple: by taking the hassle and regret out of returns for clothing, the same way Zappos did before it bought it, Amazon hopes to make people more comfortable pulling the trigger on an online apparel purchase, especially when including the bonus discount. Meanwhile, a poor choice only costs you a trip to UPS. The move could be quite lucrative for Amazon, as apparel’s share of all digital spend has grown for the past three years straight from 15.4% in 2013 to 17% in 2016, according to comScore.

Unlike similar services, such as Stitch Fix and other fashion delivery services where you are shipped a box of clothing you don’t choose which is targeted at people who don’t like shopping (especially men) Prime Wardrobe allows customers to pick and choose what they want rather than delivering a random grab bag. Tech Crunch muses that if Wardrobe tests well, Amazon would consider acquiring Stitch Fix, TrunkClub, or another boxed fashion delivery service to instantly boost its scale.

Prime Wardrobe will also aligns with the Amazon Echo Look that takes full-length photos of you to review your day’s clothing choices and uses the Amazon StyleCheck app feature to have AI score your fashion decisions. In other words, Jeff Bezos will first help you pick your clothes for you, and then sell them.

Eventually, Prime Wardrobe will also integrate with the Amazon Fashion vertical that features upscale clothing.

As Jeff Bezos said a decade ago, “In order to be a $200 billion company we’ve got to learn how to sell clothes and food.” Of course, while central banks have helped Amazon surpass this particular bogey long ago, nailing the clothing ecommerce experience which has been rather elusive for the online retail giant will further expand Amazon’s monopoly on the complete retail experience. Which is all great news for AMZN shareholders, it is terrible news for existing clothing retailers who will suffer even greater sales and margin erosion, leading to more store shutdowns, and even more bankruptcies.

As a reminder, according to Moody"s here is a list of the most distressed US retailers...

... and the carnage, as discussed recently, has already resulted in a record number of annualized store closures. This number is set to explode if Amazon"s new offering gains traction.

Rahm Emanuel Tells Democrats To Stop Crying, Bend Over For "Long Haul" - Then Offers Subversive Advice On Dirty Politics

Apparently Stanford University is putting on a week of elite liberal inspirationalists to help the tender psyches of turtleneck wearing "compliant and unawares" recover from the depths of despair. I imagine that miserable couple on the plane to Portland were in attendance - both wearing jeans and faux-buckle loafers with no socks. In a sermon to the fractured cult of Jobs on Monday, Justice Ginsburg put down her antique ivory ear-trumpet to let the world know she wants to eradicate the electoral college, and people need to be more charitable. Credible sources within earshot say many tears of inspiration were shed.

In stark contrast to Ginsburg"s feel-good appearance, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel took a big check to show up on the Palo Alto campus - where he effectively called tantruming democrats whiny children, telling them to put on their big boy/girl/it pants and move on.

Our party likes to be right, even if we lose. If you win, you then have the power to go do what you need to get done. If you lose, you can write a book about what happened. Great. That"s really exciting [Sarcastic Rahm eye roll].

He then went all Harkonen apprentice, talking about plans within plans and biding time:

You also gotta know, you can"t beat something with nothin" - that was Bill Clinton"s always lesson. You have to have an alternative. You have to give people your vision. And I would also be honest, it took us a long time to get this low - it ain"t gonna happen in 2018. Take a chill pill, man. You gotta be in this for the long haul. If you think it"s gonna be a quick turnaround, like that - it"s not.

Of course while waiting to regain power, the most effective thing congressional Democrats can do for the country is stop infighting - and then divide, divide, divide! Here"s Rahm"s advice:

• "Democrats don"t have the power to swing at everything, so we have to pick what is essential."

 

•  B - Wedge: "wherever there is a disagreement among Republicans, I"m for one of those disagreements. President wants Russia, I"m for John McCain and Lindsey Graham, I"m for NATO. Why? Wedge. Schisms have to be wedges, wedges have to be divides."

 

• Third: "We gotta lower the President, why? Because they are strong enough to get him in [against?] us. We"re not strong enough."

How about "don"t cheat during the primaries with a candidate whose fake charity took tens of Millions of dollars from our enemies?"

Video here:

Sweden's Infamous "Bikini Cop" Quits Amid Growing Police Crisis

Back in August Mikaela Kellner became Sweden"s most famous police officer when she took a short break from sunbathing in the park to tackle and arrest a pickpocket.  Pictures of the event quickly rose to international fame and nearly broke the internet.

I bet this guy was trying to get caught. Bikini-clad Swedish cop makes arrest while sunbathing https://t.co/EuxnrYpis2

— Neil Combee (@NeilCombee) August 6, 2016

Swedish cop in bikini tackles ‘lucky" homeless crook https://t.co/NjNdhEmNnQ

— TomoNews US (@TomoNewsUS) August 3, 2016

Spread of the news instantly gained the fit cop nearly 30,000 instagram followers.

Now, after 11 years on the force, the famed officer has decided to turn in her badge in protest to her department"s recent reorganization that, according to Kellner, has resulted in personnel being treated unfairly.  Per Sputnik:

"The main reason is that I"ve not felt comfortable with the recent [police] reorganization. I do not think that personnel are being treated fairly, as they should."

"[Being a police officer] has become a bit like a second identity, and I feel bad about not doing a good job."

Though Kellner didn"t mention it, Sweden"s police force has recently been plagued by understaffing and a rapid rise in violent crime that seemingly corresponded with the arrival of thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Northern Africa.  The level of violence within certain areas rose to such a level that police abandoned efforts to control the streets, leading to the establishment of 55 "no-go zones" (something we discussed in further detail here:  "Sweden Creates 55 "No-Go Zones" As It Loses Control Of Refugee Crisis").

All in all, Sweden"s police force has been plagued by severe understaffing, underpayment and low crime detection — despite the allocation of billions of extra kronor in backup. A report published earlier this year suggested as many as 80 percent of Swedish police officers were considering pursuing a different careers due to the danger they face in the field. In recent months, Sweden was plagued by ballooning criminality in the form of sex attacks, burglary, murder, vehicular arson and violence toward the police in blighted suburban areas.

Much of the crime, however, is linked to specific suburbs in urban communities populated by migrants, where police rarely venture outside police stations for fear of being attacked by locals — a fact that the Swedish authorities are loath to admit. In light of the Swedish practice to conceal the identity of the perpetrators, many suggest that the authorities and police conspire to cover up migrant crime to whitewash the country"s immigration policy.

While we hate to see someone with her particular "talents" get pushed out of the force, we wish Ms. Kellner the best of luck with her personal training career.