Margret Chola

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2ylzj54yxo Grandma with chunky sunglasses becomes unlikely fashion icon Nov 16, 2024 Penny Dale, Journalist A grandmother in rural Zambia has become an style icon and internet sensation - after agreeing to play dress-up and swapping outfits with her fashionista granddaughter. Margret Chola, who is in her mid-80s, is known to the world as "Legendary Glamma" - and adored by 225,000 Instagram followers for her striking and playful fashion photographs. "I feel different, I feel new and alive in these clothes, in a way that I’ve never felt before," Ms Chola tells the BBC. "I feel like I can conquer the world!" The fortnightly Granny Series was created in 2023 by her granddaughter Diana Kaumba, a stylist who is based in New York City. She came up with the idea when she was visiting Zambia to mark the second anniversary of the death of her father - the person she says inspired her passion for fashion because he always dressed well. During that visit Ms Kaumba had not worn all her carefully curated outfits, so she asked her grandmother - or "Mbuya" in the Bemba language - if she wanted to try them on. "I wasn’t doing anything at the time, so I just said: 'OK. If that’s what you want to do let’s do it - why not?'" Ms Chola said. "You will miss me when I die and at least this way you will be remembering me." Ms Kaumba wore Mbuya’s top and "chitenge" - a piece of patterned cloth wrapped around the waist. And Mbuya’s first outfit was a silver pantsuit. "I thought it would be nice to dress up Mbuya in high fashion and then take photographs of her in her natural habitat," Ms Kaumba tells the BBC. That natural habitat is a farm in the village of 10 Miles, just north of the Zambian capital, Lusaka. Most often Ms Chola is photographed in all her glamour outside - often sitting on an elegant wooden chair or lounging on a leather sofa. https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/d4a9/live/362d9b30-a2ba-11ef-8ab9-9192db313061.jpg.webp Could sofa surfing get more glamorous? In the background are exposed brick buildings with corrugated iron roofs, ploughed fields, mango trees and maize crops. "I was so nervous when I posted that first photo. I left my phone for 10 minutes and in those 10 minutes there were 1,000 likes," Ms Kaumba says. "My mind was blown. The comments were flying in and people were asking for more." It was in April 2024 that the Granny Series really took off - after Ms Kaumba posted a series of photos of her grandmother in a red Adidas dress, several chunky, golden necklaces and a glittering jewelled crown. "It surprised me to hear that so many people around the world love me," Ms Chola says - who does not know her exact age because she does not have a birth certificate. https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/bd68/live/52fa3fc0-a2bf-11ef-a4fe-a3e9a6c5d640.jpg.webp Margret Chola, who is not entirely sure of her age, is happy to try funky styles "I didn’t know I could make such an impact at this age." Ms Chola poses in clothes that are a mix of vibrant colours, textures and styles. From a green American football jersey, combined with a layered frilly red dress styled as a skirt - in the colours of the Zambian flag to pay homage to 60 years of independence. To a blue, black and green sequined top, complete with a golden snake necklace and bracelet. https://c.files.bbci.co.uk/assets/7c3d4e82-f491-4eab-93cf-bd7fa352cf4a And Mbuya’s personal favourite - jeans, a graphic T-shirt with her image on the front and a blonde wig. "I had never worn jeans or a wig before - so I was happy, and I was dancing." Ms Kaumba, who has been a stylist since 2012, says that her grandma has "courage, grace - and nails every look". All the looks reflect her maximalist-chic aesthetic - which celebrates the joy of excess, eclectic combinations, the big and the bold, and clashing patterns and colours. At the heart of it all are eye-catching accessories - bold sunglasses, oversized hats, necklaces, bracelets, pendants, rings, gloves, bags, blonde wigs, crowns. That influence has come directly from her grandmother, who has "always been a lover of pearls and bangles". In one particularly playful scene called GOAT - short for greatest of all time - Ms Chola appears with a goat - that is decked out in Mbuya’s beloved pearls. https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/1e4a/live/daf6c6b0-a2b9-11ef-8ab9-9192db313061.jpg.webp A nanny nod to Margret Chola's love of pearls Other accessories also reflect Chola’s personality and story. In some shots Mbuya is holding the beloved radio that she carries around all day and takes to bed with her. Or she’s clutching an "ibende" - a long wooden stick that over the years she has used to pound millet or cassava or maize. She is smoking a pipe or holding a metal cup full of tea, and hanging off the edge of the chair arm is an "mbaula" or charcoal brazier that Zambians often use for cooking - especially now that the country is plagued by severe power cuts. https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/331b/live/ffd9fed0-a2bd-11ef-bdf5-b7cb2fa86e10.jpg.webp The "ibende" represents the hard labour of life in rural Zambia Ms Kaumba hopes that the Granny Series will highlight that older people still have a lot to offer - and making memories together is an important way to "leave footprints for the next generation". "Do not write them off, love them just the same till the end because remember we will be just like them one day." As a result of Mbuya’s photo shoots, Ms Kaumba’s been hired by four granddaughters to style their grandmothers - aged between 70 and 96. https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/fae6/live/fc68a2a0-a2b9-11ef-8ab9-9192db313061.jpg.webp The more pearl bling the better Ms Chola hopes that the Granny Series will inspire people "to live their lives and not worry about being judged by society". She urges people to "always forgive yourself for whatever mistakes you made. You can never change your past - but you can change your future". The photo shoots have brought granddaughter and grandmother closer - and through their special bond Ms Kaumba has learnt so much more about her Mbuya’s often difficult life. https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/beac/live/f403e480-a2b9-11ef-8ab9-9192db313061.jpg.webp Margret Chola had to leave school at the age of 12 or 13 Ms Chola was raised by her grandparents, went to school until she was 12 or 13 and then, because of economic reasons, was forced to marry a man in his 30s. She had three children, ended up drinking heavily and eventually escaped the marriage. https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/a3cd/live/c3591760-a2b9-11ef-8ab9-9192db313061.jpg.webp The charcoal brazier is something all Zambians will recognise these days because of the power cuts plaguing the country at the moment That trauma still haunts her - but her unexpected global fame has given her a new lease on life. "I’m now able to wake up with a purpose knowing that people around the world love to see me," Chola says. https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/2325/live/c89d7e80-a2c0-11ef-bdf5-b7cb2fa86e10.jpg.webp "Legendary Glamma" has found that age is no barrier to style or garnering Instagram likes "Legendary Glamma" in Zambia's national colours https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/2741/live/d13b2b20-a2b9-11ef-a4fe-a3e9a6c5d640.jpg.webp Fashion has created a bond between grandmother and granddaughter https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/cd69/live/eaf15a30-a2b9-11ef-a4fe-a3e9a6c5d640.jpg.webp ------ Penny Dale is a freelance journalist, podcast and documentary-maker based in London.

How climate change worsens heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and floods

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58073295 How climate change worsens heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and floods November 15, 2024 Mark Poynting and Esme Stallard BBC News Climate & Science 1. More extreme rain https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/C08C/production/_133229294_watercycle-2x-nc.png.webp 2. Hotter, longer heatwaves https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/14549/production/_119737238_bell_curve_640-2x-nc.png.webp https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/997C/production/_133229293_heat_dome-2x-nc.png.webp 3. Longer droughts https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/FF15/production/_132410356_amazon_drought_map_layout-2x-nc.png.webp https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/697F/production/_133170072_gettyimages-1200189367.jpg.webp Many countries in southern Africa experienced a prolonged dry period in the early part of 2024 4. More fuel for wildfires https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/8EAB/production/_130232563_a22373f324b3cbcbfd2dc339af79bc8f228aaa620_0_4966_32511000x655.jpg.webp Canada experienced by far its worst wildfire year on record in 2023 https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/3bb6/live/9051b110-9de1-11ef-809c-ad883d7d63f7.jpg.webp Firefighters battle flames as they work to contain a wildfire near a village in northern Spain https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/202e/live/62e09280-9dde-11ef-809c-ad883d7d63f7.jpg.webp What does COP stand for? COP stands for “Conference of the Parties”. "Parties" refers to the countries that have ratified a treaty called the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). That document was signed back in 1992, by almost 200 countries. The COP is the decision-making body linked to that agreement, and representatives of these countries meet every year to negotiate the best approaches to tackling the root causes of climate change. Sources: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58073295 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2k0zd2z53xo

Incidents after the 2024 election

https://www.voatiengviet.com/ Những mục tiêu kinh tế của ông Trump trong nhiệm kỳ tt thứ hai https://www.voatiengviet.com/a/my-triet-pha-mang-luoi-do-iran-chi-dao-am-muu-am-sat-ong-trump/7857847.html Mỹ triệt phá mạng lưới do Iran chỉ đạo âm mưu ám sát ông Trump https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy9j8r8gg0do https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx24gze60yzo Who's in the frame to join Trump's new top team? 30 minutes ago Sam Cabral, Amy Walker and Nadine Yousif ….Robert F Kennedy Jr RFK Jr, as he is known, is an environmental lawyer by trade, a vaccine sceptic by fame and the nephew of former President John F Kennedy. He is on a shortlist to run the heath and human services department, multiple people close to the president-elect's campaign told CBS News, the BBC's US news partner. Despite having no medical qualifications to his name, Kennedy, 70, is expected to become a kind of "public health star" in the Trump administration. Democratic Party attacks on Kennedy's credentials are not likely to carry much weight, as control of the US senate is in the hands of Republicans and confirming Kennedy to any cabinet-level post will not require Democratic support. Besides a new job at the health and human services department, Kennedy could also influence policy at the agriculture department, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Safety Administration (FDA). Elon Musk The world's richest man poured millions of dollars into re-electing Trump and critics fear he will now have the power to weaken or entirely shape the regulations that impact his companies Tesla, SpaceX and X. Both he and Trump have focused on the idea of him leading a new "Department of Government Efficiency", where he would cut costs and streamline what he calls a "massive, suffocating federal bureaucracy". The would-be agency's acronym - DOGE - is a playful reference to a "meme-coin" cryptocurrency Musk has previously promoted. But Musk, 53, could also play a role in global diplomacy. He participated in Trump's first call with Ukraine's Zelensky on Wednesday. https://www.nguoi-viet.com/tin-chinh/chuyen-gi-se-xay-ra-tu-bay-gio-cho-den-ngay-ong-trump-nham-chuc/ https://www.nguoi-viet.com/nvtv-tin-tuc/tv-breaking-news/he-qua-trump-thang-cu-hang-trieu-nguoi-my-co-the-mat-bao-hiem-y-te-nam-2026/ https://www.nguoi-viet.com/hoa-ky/10-nguoi-bi-dam-vo-co-o-pho-tau-little-saigon-seattle/ https://www.nguoi-viet.com/hoa-ky/fbi-dieu-tra-vu-nguoi-my-da-den-bi-gui-tin-nhan-ky-thi-chung-toc/ https://www.npr.org/2024/11/07/g-s1-33340/racist-text-messages-african-americans-splc-fbi https://www.npr.org/2024/11/07/nx-s1-5181581/2024-election-trump-capitol-riot-pardons https://www.npr.org/2024/11/08/g-s1-33370/judge-biden-program-immigrant-spouses-deportation

Phật Tử và Bầu Cử Năm 2024 ở Mỹ

https://thuvienhoasen.org/p122a41865/nguoi-phat-tu-my-goc-viet-truoc-cuoc-bau-cu-tong-thong-hoa-ky ....Theo Phật giáo thì mọi sự vật đều vô thường, ngay cả những tình huống chính trị dường như không thể cứu chữa được. Cố Hòa thượng Thích Thánh Nghiêm, một vị cao Tăng thời hiện đại thường nói rằng mọi việc không diễn ra như mong đợi là điều hết sức bình thường và hiếm khi mọi việc diễn ra suông sẻ. Vậy nên “Hãy đối mặt với mọi thứ bằng một tâm trí bình thường,”. Một tâm trí bình thường, là một tâm trí không bị xáo trộn, bối rối bởi những phiền não và những quan điểm sai lầm, không hề nản lòng khi đối mặt với những khó khăn. Tại sao không nản lòng? Bởi vì vạn sự vạn vật đều vô thường, bất cứ thể chế chính trị nào cũng mang tính vô thường và vì thế không thể tồn tại mãi được và nếu con người không ý thức điều này, cho mọi thứ là thường còn thì sẽ gánh chịu khổ đau. Chế độ phong kiến hàng ngàn năm thống trị và ăn sâu vào tư tưởng nhân loại cũng phải sụp đổ. Chủ nghĩa phát xít không thể kéo dài mãi và đời sống của nó thật ngắn ngủi. Chế độ cộng hòa non trẻ của miền Nam Việt Nam chỉ tồn tại 20 năm. Chế độ cộng sản Liên bang Xô Viết chỉ tồn tại 70 năm. Riêng nước Mỹ có một nền dân chủ tương đối lâu dài trên thế giới. Mặc dầu cứ mỗi 4 năm một lần người dân quyết định bầu chọn người lãnh đạo mới để duy trì nền dân chủ nhưng không ai biết chắc nền dân chủ Mỹ sẽ biến thể. Biến thể như thế nào, thành xã hội chủ nghĩa, thành cộng sản hay thành phát xít như Đức Quốc Xã thời xưa? Không ai dám bảo đảm rằng Hoa Kỳ sẽ không theo thể chế cộng sản hay Trung Quốc sẽ không theo thể chế tư bản. Dĩ nhiên, một chế độ mới, không phải tư bản cũng không phải cộng sản, hoặc tốt đẹp hơn hoặc xấu xa hơn sẽ ra đời. Không ai biết được nhưng có một điều chắc là nó sẽ thay đổi vì vạn sự vạn vật trên thế gian này là vô thường. Vô thường là sự biến đổi, là không thường còn, không mãi ở yên trong một trạng thái nhất định mà thay đổi từ trạng thái nầy sang trạng thái khác, từ hình thành đến phát triển rồi tan rã. Tất cả những hiện tượng dù thuộc tâm lý hay ngoại cảnh tự nhiên đều vô thường. Ngay cả yêu thương và ghét bỏ, hôm nay mới nói lời yêu thương nhưng ngày mai đã chia tay, ly dị, căm hờn. Nhà chính trị mới hồi sáng vừa bắt tay nhau, nói cười rộn rã nhưng buổi chiều đã mạt sát nhau, nói những lời không phải tiếng của người văn minh. Lòng người thay đổi như chong chóng, thậm chí chóng mặt hơn cả chong chóng. Cũng vậy, không có gì là ngạc nhiên khi bầu trời sáng nắng chiều mưa, có lúc vừa mưa vừa nắng. Cho nên hãy biết rằng không có gì là mãi mãi, mà luôn có sự thay đổi. Hoa Kỳ trước đây là kẻ thù của Việt Nam nay hai nước là bạn thân thiết của nhau, đã cùng sánh vai nhau nâng lên mức đối tác chiến lược toàn diện. Nhưng ai biết được ngày mai?! Giáo lý vô thường duyên sinh của Phật giáo dạy rằng không một vật nào tồn tại độc lập và không vật nào thường còn, tất cả đều nương vào nhau, cái này sinh thì cái kia sinh, cái này diệt thì cái kia diệt…. Học thuyết chính trị cũng không phải là chân lý bất di bất dịch và khó tránh dị bản. Triết học Marx-Lenin mà người ta nghiên cứu và áp dụng ngày nay chưa hẳn là điều hai ông này muốn nói đến. Thời đại thay đổi nên chủ nghĩa cộng sản cũng thay đổi theo. Tương tự như vậy với chủ nghĩa tư bản. Chế độ tư bản ở Anh không hoàn toàn giống với lần đầu tiên xuất hiện tại đất nước này. Nước Mỹ bây giờ cũng đã và đang thay đổi. Đảng Cộng hòa không phải là đảng Cộng hòa thời Washington, thời Reagan. Mọi thứ đều tạm thời hay giả tạm, kể cả bản thân mỗi người, bản thân nhà chính trị và nền chính trị. Vô thường là định luật tự nhiên của vũ trụ, giống như luật nhân quả, chi phối đời sống con người và vạn vật một cách tự nhiên, không ngấm ngầm mà biểu hiện đầy dẫy từng khoảnh khắc ngắn ngủi của thời gian. Con người phải chấp nhận nó, không muốn cũng không được. Vô thường không mang đến đau khổ mà mang đến hạnh phúc. Mắc kẹt vào thường, khổ đau sẽ hiện diện triền miên. Trước cuộc bầu cử tổng thống ở Hoa Kỳ, người Phật tử Hoa Kỳ gốc Việt bầu chọn cho ai thì cứ việc bầu chọn theo chính kiến của mình nhưng xin hãy đừng ép buộc người khác, kể cả vợ chồng, anh em và con cái của mình trong gia đình. Hãy xem tất cả chỉ là tạm thời. Mọi sự việc sẽ qua đi và 4 năm nữa sẽ lại thay đổi. Biết được như thế, con người giữ được bình tĩnh thản nhiên trước cảnh đổi thay bất ngờ. Hãy quán chiếu Luật Vô Thường, hãy quán chiếu thế gian như mộng để có một tâm hồn thanh thản theo lời dạy của Phật trong Kinh Kim Cang: Nhất thiết hữu vi pháp Như mộng, huyễn, bào, ảnh Như lộ diệc như điện Ưng tác như thị quán. (Tất cả các pháp hữu vi. Như mộng huyễn, như bọt ảnh, Như sương mai, như điện chớp. Nên quán xét đúng như vậy.) Hay như Cư sĩ Bàng Long Uẩn nói “Chỉ xin coi những cái hiện hữu là không, và cũng đừng coi cái không là thật. Tất cả thế gian này đều như bóng, như vang”. (“I beg you just to regard as empty all that is existent and to beware of taking as real all that is non-existent. Fare you well in the world. All is like shadows and echoes.” Ban Biên Tập Thư Viện Hoa Sen

The Dark Side of Online Shopping

In 2023, UK-based Reddit user “pacacinnoscafe” wrote that they endured chemical burns after reordering their usual sunscreen from Amazon. Chemical burns cause symptoms that are similar to those of a first-degree burn: red, swollen, and painful skin that may develop blisters. Although the product appeared legitimate, it turned out to be a fake. Pacacinnoscafe was wondering what recourse they had, if any, given their excruciating pain. Fake products have become a feature of digital environments. In 2017, twenty Toronto police officers gathered $2.5 million worth of fake goods: makeup that caused rashes, fake Thomas the Tank Engine toys, a Bluetooth headset that overheated, and a Magic Bullet blender that smoked when turned on. When shopping online, sometimes you just get ripped off, but other times, your skin might get seared. The gap between what we believe we’re purchasing and the reality of what finally lands on our doorsteps has become a celebrated expectation-versus-reality meme. Hilarious examples of misshapen Halloween costumes, flimsy fashion, or furniture better suited for a dollhouse are shared online for a laugh. These are often framed as “online shopping fails.” But this mismatch shouldn’t be normalized or blamed on shoppers duped by fake reviews and convincing images. Too often, a counterfeit knock-off is masquerading as the real thing, and these imitations can have grave consequences. Take the examples of fake tourniquets on Amazon, fake oven gloves that can’t withstand heat, or an airplane safety harness for kids that claimed to be approved by the US Federal Aviation Administration. Amazon has shipped expired baby formula and other past-their-due-date foods. The liabilities involved go beyond copyright and trademark infringement, making real harm not just a possibility but a guarantee. People increasingly can’t, and shouldn’t, trust what they see when shopping online. Consumer scams and rip-offs have soared with the rise of e-commerce juggernauts like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy. The now-popular structure of digital platform marketplaces has been called a boon to counterfeiters. An estimated $2 trillion worth of counterfeit products are sold each year in the United States, and counterfeits are now the top illicit trade in the world. A recent CBC Marketplace investigation purchased products from AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and Wish (a personalized shopping platform) and found that more than half of them were suspected fakes. In its efforts to curtail counterfeits, Amazon says it found, seized, and discarded more than 7 million fraudulent products globally in 2023, according to its most recent Brand Protection Report. Consumer protection issues are relevant to competition policy, because the Competition Bureau enforces against deceptive marketing practices. Under the Competition Act, it is against the law to advertise in a way that is false or misleading. False claims influence purchasing decisions; lying to a prospective customer to win their business is clearly anti competitive. While monitoring for these tactics occurs independently of the size of a firm, it is the largest e-commerce gatekeepers that are ground zero for this problem. Digital market companies, from Amazon to Uber, promised to be a neutral gateway between buyers and sellers, often fighting regulation by claiming that they were simply platforms. But, instead, they became private regulators, organizing online markets in their favour when it bolstered their interests, while behaving as absent cops on the beat when it was more convenient to ignore gnawing problems. Counterfeit products and fake reviews have proliferated online because major platforms are not incentivized to deal comprehensively with the problem. A major contributor to revenue for e-commerce platforms is advertising, and they’re often willing to offer ad space to any seller who’s buying, regardless of whether they’re a scam. Counterfeit products often win top placement on the sites, because they are cheaper than authentic products. In the absence of stronger regulatory oversight, it’s all too easy to dump the navigational burden on the consumer, who is forced to gamble every time they purchase a product. And while companies like Amazon have implemented some measures to combat this problem, the aggressive expansion of their e-commerce platforms is prioritized over safety and public interest. The platforms have proven unwilling or unable to police these problems—similar to how they have fared in their struggles with content moderation. In the case of counterfeits, the millions of packages arriving into the United States each day now overburden law enforcement and customs and border protection agencies. Legitimate third-party sellers are hesitant to give even more competitive information and data to Amazon, often their biggest competitor, to substantiate that they are real businesses. Again, it wasn’t always this way. The market globalization that coincided with the e-commerce boom initially seemed promising for shoppers. Suddenly, we weren’t constrained by factors like geography and available transit, or reliant on the curation of major catalogues to have access to a wide variety of products. From the comfort of our homes or while on the go, thanks to broadband connectivity and the ubiquity of mobile devices, we could scroll and shop, skim customer reviews, and compare prices with just a few glances. There was a sense of empowerment as the internet started to change how, where, and when we made purchasing decisions. But that renewed autonomy created a false sense of control that has since deteriorated. What initially made e-commerce so great—primarily, the ability to quickly search for product comparators across a range of stores and geographies, compare price, and be informed by reviews—has become unnecessarily difficult and disorienting. It’s not just counterfeit products. It’s getting harder to make the best possible choice when you shop, because firms of all sizes do sneaky things like give preference to their own products, make inflated claims through undisclosed influencer marketing, secretly change the shape and size of their products, degrade product quality, or rush you to buy things online through deceptive hurry-up design. Our trust is being manipulated and exploited, and the tactics used by firms to take advantage of consumers are making markets less knowable and more confusing. One answer to unreliable marketplaces and sluggish productivity has been the battle cry of more competition, with an emphasis on the raw number of firms competing in a particular place or the number of products in a category. But just adding a couple of competitors won’t do enough to address a deeper underlying issue: a growing mistrust of marketplaces that frequently deceive shoppers. This unreliability isn’t worth a cheaper sticker price. Companies are increasingly shameless in employing deceitful tactics to pad their profits. For instance, our grocery purchases have recently been declining in weight or volume while the price stays the same or even grows. Selling less of a product for the same price is referred to as “shrinkflation.” A chip bag that is two-thirds air but costs more than it used to is a common example. “Price pack architecture” is a euphemism that corporate leaders have used to refer to the practice of shrinkflation. This refers to a company’s strategy of offering products in various packaging sizes and price points. While this activity can provide more choice to consumers, it also makes price comparisons more challenging and potentially leads to higher costs per unit for smaller packages. Similarly, corporate advice to use more of a product per serving so that it gets replaced or repurchased faster is called “usage-flation.” This has been documented with Gatorade and such foods as yogurt, Nutella spread, pasta, soup, cheese, coffee, and instant oatmeal. “Skimpflation” occurs when cheaper ingredients have been substituted but the price stays the same. This trend has been noted most often with palm oil as a substitute in milk chocolate. These tactics are particularly alarming in an inflationary period, when people are already feeling squeezed. Many consumers have reallocated household spending toward discount retailers with a greater focus on deals. But even the best deals can be a mirage. Walmart’s checkout machines have allegedly been inflating the weight of groceries. The corporate giant settled, for $45 million, a class-action lawsuit which accused it of falsely inflating the weight of certain grocery items, mislabelling the weight of bagged produce, and overcharging for sold-by-weight clearance products, forcing customers to pay more for them than their lowest advertised price. Talk about a raw deal. Many other profit-maximizing schemes are similarly difficult, if not impossible, to detect, like self-preferencing, which occurs when a firm favours its own products in search. Coupled with the reality of the largest firms owning hundreds of private-label brands, it can be a powerful way to nudge customers toward purchasing the platform’s own products at the expense of competitors. Independent sellers on Amazon, for example, can end up spending large amounts of revenue on advertising to improve their search rankings. They must shell out big money to Amazon to even have the opportunity to compete. Firms don’t have to be dominant to engage in these kinds of tricks. Many companies are making these adjustments without any notice. However, given that the largest retailers and e-commerce platforms now command a majority of consumer spend, dominance and consumer manipulation often go hand in hand. Companies also manipulate the price of goods in ways that consumers may not realize. Today, the prices of most goods are not set by humans but by automatic processes—algorithms. The use of these systems and their terms are not disclosed to shoppers, although the aim is often to extract the highest possible price from them. Using intrusive personal data, sometimes acquired directly through interactions with consumers and more often bought by third-party data brokers, companies now know our intimate spending habits and can calculate our maximum willingness to pay. For example, research from Mozilla and Consumers International found that Tinder users could be charged up to thirty-one different prices for the same subscription service, and that older users were typically charged more. Stores from Staples to Target to grocers all employ this technique today. As our digital footprints continue to grow, uniform prices may be a thing of the past. Steve Burd, former CEO of Safeway, has said, “There’s going to come a point where our shelf pricing is pretty irrelevant because we can be so personalized in what we offer people.” Economists will say that this is simply an exercise in pricing optimization. When companies offer different prices based on consumer willingness to pay, it can enhance market efficiency. It is true that not all price discrimination is inherently anti competitive; it depends on context and impact. Discounted prices for seniors, students, and children, for example, are common and accepted. The key is discerning when pricing strategies cross the line between a savvy business practice and anti-competitive behaviour, a challenge that requires vigilant oversight and nuanced regulation. But online personalized pricing is a different beast. It requires the use of highly invasive data collection and personal identification techniques. This kind of sophisticated price calibration is happening more often, without any sort of consumer consent, disclosure, or labelling. Market power is a necessary precondition for personalized pricing. If consumers had multiple options for products and could find the same item more cheaply elsewhere without incurring high switching costs, personalized pricing would be less effective. In consolidated sectors, companies don’t need to court or maintain our trust anymore, because they aren’t actually competing for it. This disappointing reality was dubbed the “Golden Age of User Hostility” by technology journalist Charlie Warzel in The Atlantic. He referred to this new reality combining add-on fees and personalized pricing as a “game you can’t win” and characterized it as “pricing hell.” Junk fees are another now-ubiquitous price-related tactic. Unnecessary, hidden, and often illegal fees are added onto a bill. Junk fees mask themselves with a myriad seemingly believable aliases, including service fees, convenience fees, administrative fees, and other official-sounding terminology that lends credibility to ultimately bogus charges. At their core, unjustified junk fees are a form of “exploitative innovation,” a kind of lazy man’s innovation. When firms don’t have to compete, they are incentivized to develop new bogus fees and pricing tricks instead of improving their products. A report from the consultancy North Economics found that Canadians are overpaying bank fees by billions of dollars annually compared to consumers in the United Kingdom and Australia. The firm calculated that the big five Canadian banks earn $7.73 billion in “excess” annual profits from retail banking fees alone, equivalent to around $250 per Canadian. Fees for basic chequing accounts, non-sufficient funds, overdrafts, and using other banks’ ATMs were found to be dramatically higher than in peer countries. These kinds of unnecessary fees impact lower-income households in outsized ways and exacerbate affordability challenges. They’ve become normalized because our banks, long-time oligopolists, can mimic each other’s bogus fee structures without having to compete for customers’ business. These shifts and tricks by companies have forced us to become more vigilant and even defensive when shopping. Considered together, misleading marketing, counterfeit products, deceptive pricing architecture, and other tactics speak to the significant information asymmetry between consumers and companies. This power imbalance is made significantly worse by the absence of real competition. It takes traditional consumer vulnerability to a whole other level. When such tactics are noticed, businesses have occasionally been shamed by consumer protection groups, viral Reddit threads, or vigilant individuals with a platform. But these problems go well beyond the ability of a consumer to read every label in detail or verify the weight of a product at checkout. Consumers can’t be expected to police every market every day. Too much of the new economy relies on individuals to provide near-constant mini checks on corporate power. The ongoing erosion of trust between firms and purchasers is less about a false choice between free or regulated markets—it’s a question of how to turn manipulated markets into trustworthy ones. It shouldn’t be too much to expect markets to operate in fair, transparent, and reliable ways. We can turn that expectation into reality. ---- Excerpted from The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians. Copyright © 2024 Denise Hearn and Vass Bednar. Reprinted by permission of Sutherland House Books. Vass Bednar Vass Bednar is the executive director of McMaster University’s master of public policy in digital society and a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. Denise Hearn Denise Hearn is a resident senior fellow at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment at Columbia University.

The Beauty of Minimalism

1/ Minimalism is not just a visual aesthetic—it’s a specific lifestyle choice that’s also an emotional appeal. Minimalists feel more at peace and in charge of their surroundings. No additional pressure. Life is messy, hectic, and often out of our control, so there’s no point giving ourselves additional pressure to behave in a certain way. 2/ Minimalism can help you save money. Buying and furnishing choices hinge on a question: Does this matter and does this make me free? Do I really need it or want it? 3/ Minimalism can help you save time and energy. Cutting out the unnecessary things in life to focus on what really matters, which ultimately can mean less work for you. It’s gratifying to be able to control and manage all the things you have at home —their care, their placement, maintenance and repair, etc. Liberating yourself by clearing out things you no longer want or need. Getting rid of clutter at home. Saying no to commitments that drain your time and energy. 4/ Learning to appreciate and to feel grateful for what you have in life. When you live with just the things you really need and love, you don’t take anything for granted. Source: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/what-s-it-really-like-to-live-with-only-the-essentials-4-minimalists-sound-off?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us What’s It Really Like to Live With Only the Essentials? by Rebecca Deczynski

Shadows and Echoes

Cư sĩ Bàng Long Uẩn: “Xin hãy xem mọi hiện hữu là không, và cũng đừng coi không là thật. Tất cả chỉ là bóng ảo và âm vang”. “I beg you just to regard as empty all that is existent and to beware of taking as real all that is non-existent. Fare you well in the world. All is like shadows and echoes.” Source: thuvienhoasen.org