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What happens when you show up at Costco without a membership card, according to employees (COST)

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Costco shop shoppers members employee worker

  • Costco members are usually asked to show their membership cards at the door.
  • Business Insider spoke to seven Costco employees about what happens when a Costco member can't — or won't — show them their card.
  • They said that if you ever forget your membership card on a Costco run, bring your ID to the membership desk in order to snag a replacement.

It's an aggravating scenario for any Costco member — arriving at the warehouse only to find that you've forgotten your membership card.

Because Costco is a members-only warehouse club, members are expected to show their cards upfront. Typically, Costco locations have an employee or two situated at the store's entrance, to ensure that only members gain access to the warehouse.

But what happens when someone shows up without a card — or even refuses to show their card?

"Members would be asked to go to the membership department where we can supply them a new membership card or temporary pass," a Costco spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement. "There are no known issues with members refusing this, as it is part of the Terms and Conditions when members sign up."

Business Insider asked seven Costco employees about how they're instructed to handle members — or people who claim to be members — who show up sans card. 

A Costco employee from Minnesota said that it's often "tough," because "people typically flash their cards at us" without "giving us a chance to see the picture on the back."

"They come through that door so fast and furious that, if you had to look at the back of each card, you'd have a major traffic jam," a Nebraska-based employee told Business Insider. "Picture anywhere from 300 to 400 members coming through the entrance every half hour, plus their family members or 'guests.' There just isn't a way to police this. You just be cordial and keep them moving."

And an employee from Illinois told Business Insider that the most important verification comes later.

"At the door, the members just flash the card from a distance," the employee said. "Verification isn't needed until the member gets to the register."

But what happens if a visitor says they've forgotten their card — or even outright refuses to show their membership card — at the door?

According to the employees, that might depend on the warehouse.

Read more:13 tips for getting the best deals on wine at Costco

"When a member refuses to show their membership at the door, they're asked to leave," a Pennsylvania-based employee told Business Insider. "Same thing if they show a card not belonging to them."

That's not enough to stop some shoppers, though.

"When I work the door, nobody enters without showing their card," a Washington-based employee told Business Insider. "Many have tried, but nobody does. I have heard that a few female employees have been buffaloed by some male members who have refused to show a card. In those cases a manager is called to intervene and the situation is quietly resolved."

But, according to employees, other Costco locations are less stringent about allowing access to the warehouse.

"We pretty much let them through," an employee from Kentucky told Business Insider. "We are not going to physically restrain someone."

In some cases, employees are actively discouraged from intervening. 

"One of my coworkers got written up because a member complained about being asked to show their membership," the Costco employee from Nebraska said. 

costco membership

If the individual flashes a card that clearly doesn't belong to them, the employee from Kentucky said that employees will ask them "if the cardholder is with them."

"If they answer yes, we ask them to wait for the cardholder," the employee said. "If they ignore the question or keep walking into the store, most likely the cashier will notice at check-out and call a supervisor over to explain to the person that only the member can use the card as membership is non-transferable."

So if the policy apparently varies across warehouses, why does Costco even bother asking people to show their membership cards at the door?

Employees say the card policy serves to prevent problems from arising down the road, namely at check-out.

"Basically it's our first line of defense — and technically our only line of defense," a Costco employee from Canada told Business Insider. "It prevents non-members from filling a whole buggy with items, only to get to the cash register and find out they need a membership. We've had this happen so many times."

And if the frustrated shopper ends up storming out, that leaves employees to return the "$400 worth of frozen and freshly cooked items" to where they belong in the warehouse, accdording to the employee from Canada.

costco card

The employee from Illinois said that, while the warehouse will often refuse to sell to non-members, management sometimes caves if the customer throws enough of a fit.

"The supervisor will allow them to pay cash or debit," the employee said. "That comes with a firm warning that the cards are non-transferable, but no one really listens to rules anyways. There are lots of cashiers that don't enforce those rules — that's why the non-members feel they can get away with it so many times."

But if you are a legitimate Costco member who shows up without your card, you do have one method of recourse.

"If the member doesn't have their card, they just need to swing by the membership desk with ID and we print them either a temporary card or a brand new card," the employee from Minnesota told Business Insider. "There's no limit on how many times you can get a new card or a temporary."

"I don't think there is a specific protocol, you try to handle each situation as it comes," an employee from Nebraska said. "Most members are pretty upfront if they forgot their card. They will go right to the member service desk."

SEE ALSO: Costco employees share 31 things they'd love to tell shoppers but can't

DON'T MISS: From entire lawn sets to used toilets, these are the most ridiculous returns employees from Costco, Walmart, and Target say they've ever gotten

SEE ALSO: Costco sells millions of pumpkin pies every year — and the recipe has apparently been the same since 1987

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NOW WATCH: Sneaky ways Costco gets you to buy more


MORGAN STANLEY: Big asset managers are facing 'intensifying headwinds' with fees under pressure and market volatility on the upswing

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Larry Fink

  • Traditional asset managers' stocks struggled in 2018, falling 20% through the end of November.
  • A new report from Morgan Stanley said this year's pressures could worsen in 2019.
  • Two firms, however, stand out for their long-term growth potential.

Asset managers' stocks tumbled this year, and 2019 doesn't look much better due to "intensifying headwinds", a new report from Morgan Stanley said.

A group of 11 traditional asset managers' share prices fell 20% through November 30. Hamilton Lane was the only manager out of its peers to show positive performance, with its stock up 7%. Fund managers Invesco and WisdomTree Investments took the biggest hit, with stock down 44% this year for both companies.

While BlackRock's stock was down this year, Morgan Stanley is still bullish on the world's largest asset manager, writing that the firm is "best positioned among peers for long-term growth."

The report also said T. Rowe Price Investment Management is "priced for growth."

With markets poised for more volatility, 2019 will see many of the traditional asset managers' pressures "persist and perhaps intensify." The firms rely on market-sensitive revenue — the management fees they earn on assets under management — which is threatened by poor returns and a lack of net new capital.

Fee rates are also under pressure, with capital flowing out of active funds in favor of lower-fee, passive products. Morgan Stanley cautioned that there are no signs "that passive threats are slowing."

Read more:Investors are fleeing active funds in the worst month for managers in nearly 2 years

"Market uncertainty and volatility should continue to dampen net flows, and operating margin pressure will further weigh on valuation multiples," the firm wrote.

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NOW WATCH: Here's how easy it is for the US president to launch a nuclear weapon

'Avengers: Endgame' director says he doesn't let expectations distract him: 'We can't predict if people are going to like it'

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avengers endgame

  • Anthony Russo, co-director of "Avengers: Endgame," said he doesn't let expectations distract from "making a movie that excites us."
  • "We can't predict if people are going to like it, we just know whether we like it," he said.

 

Joe and Anthony Russo have directed Marvel's biggest movies with this year's "Avengers: Infinity War" and its follow-up, "Avengers: Endgame," which comes to theaters in April. There are a lot of expectations for the movie, but according to Anthony, they don't let that distract them.

"When Joe and I got hired to direct 'Winter Soldier,' that movie was many multiples larger than anything we'd ever done before as filmmakers," Anthony told Business Insider during its Ignition conference this week. "But the way we work as filmmakers is we have to satisfy ourselves first and foremost. If we're making a movie that excites us, that's the best we can do."

READ MORE: The 'Avengers: Endgame' directors think the Oscars are disconnected from audiences, and need a 'change in perspective'

The Russos went from directing television sitcoms like "Arrested Development" and "Community" to helming "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" in 2014. That landed them the sequel "Captain America: Civil War," and then their "Avengers" movies. A swift rise like that comes with new challenges, but the brothers work best when they focus on the task in front of them, Anthony said.

"We can't predict if people are going to like it, we just know whether we like it," he added. "That's how we've made every one of our Marvel movies and it's how we're making this one. For all of the anticipation and anxiety about it, nothing serves Joe and I better than staying focused on the story we're trying to tell and telling it the best way we can."

"Avengers: Endgame" comes to theaters April 26.

Read Business Insider's full interview with the Russo Brothers here.

Watch the "Avengers: Endgame" trailer below:

SEE ALSO: 'Avengers: Endgame' will be released in April and that's a smart move by Disney

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NOW WATCH: The inside story behind the Marvel movie you were never supposed to see

BlackRock now has a higher percentage of technologists than JPMorgan, and it says a lot about the future of the money-management industry

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Larry Fink

  • About a quarter of BlackRock's 14,000 employees work as technologists, the firm's chief financial officer said Wednesday.
  • That's a higher percentage than at JPMorgan.
  • Like its peers, BlackRock is betting on technology as a growth driver.

BlackRock's chief financial officer just disclosed a key figure that illustrates the importance of technology to the world's largest asset manager.

About a quarter of BlackRock's 14,000 employees, or 3,500 people, work as technologists, BlackRock CFO Gary Shedlin said at an investor conference on Wednesday.

That's a higher percentage than the 20% of JPMorgan's 250,000 employees who work in technology functions, but it still lags the 30% of Fidelity's 40,000 employees who work in tech.

Like its peers, BlackRock, which oversees $6.4 trillion in assets, is betting on technology as a growth driver. BlackRock's signature technology product is Aladdin, an investment-management platform that touches $18 trillion of assets globally. Though technology services makes up just 6% of the firm's revenue, which is largely dependent on fees paid for assets under management, the segment jumped 18% year-on-year for the third quarter to $200 million.

The increase reflected "an outsized number of new clients sourced in 2017 and successfully implemented in the current year," Shedlin said, noting that the firm was targeting low- to mid-teens growth for the technology business in the long term.

Read more: Big asset managers are facing 'intensifying headwinds' with fees under pressure and market volatility on the upswing

The firm has also picked up minority stakes in numerous financial-technology companies, including iCapital, Scalable Capital, and Acorn. Last week, the firm said it would buy a small interest in Envestnet, which will expand its reach in the financial-adviser community.

BlackRock is spending about $1 billion annually in technology and data, Shedlin said.

Earlier this year, JPMorgan Chase's chief information officer said the firm was spending about $10.8 billion on technology, while Citigroup is dedicating about $8 billion. Morgan Stanley spends about $4 billion.

Meanwhile, Fidelity spends about $2.5 billion annually on technology, research, and design, according to the firm's website.

A BlackRock representative declined to comment further on the firm's tech spend.

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'Everybody thinks they're going to make billions overnight': Mexico's former president says the cannabis industry isn't a gold rush

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Vicente Fox

  • Former Mexican President Vicente Fox is a big booster of the nascent cannabis industry, but he warns against "excessive optimism."
  • "Everybody thinks they're going to make billions overnight," Fox told Business Insider in an interview. "No, they're not. It's a new industry. You have to build brick-by-brick."
  • Fox sits on the board of Khiron Life Sciences Corp, a Canadian cannabis company with significant operations in Colombia. He was in New York speaking with investors. 

Former Mexican president Vicente Fox is a big booster of the nascent cannabis industry — but he warns that it's not a "gold rush."

"Everybody thinks they're going to make billions overnight," Fox told Business Insider on Tuesday at the Four Seasons hotel in New York City. "No, they're not. It's a new industry. You have to build brick-by-brick."

Fox led Mexico's government between 2000 and 2006. He now sits on the board of Khiron Life Sciences Corp, a Canadian medical marijuana company with significant operations in Colombia.

While Fox said that the cannabis industry does offer attractive risk-adjusted returns, he compared building a cannabis business to his oft-stated favorite beverage brand, Coca-Cola.

"Nobody liked that drink when it came out of the pharmacy, everybody thought it was awful," Fox said. But over time, Fox said, the company put in the work, developed attractive packaging, and became one of the most well-known brands on the globe.

Read more: Big law firms are building out specialized pot practices to chase down a red-hot market for weed deals

For cannabis, Fox said, the story's the same. The companies that develop their products carefully and methodically will be the long-term winners. 

"Markets need education," Fox said. "You have to have a strategy, you have to develop a product. You've got to have research and development. You've got to produce."

'Money's flowing in by the billions'

For his part, Fox was in New York meeting with top-tier investors, playing the role of matchmaker between hedge funds, family offices, high net-worth individuals and Khiron.

"Money's flowing in by the billions," Fox said, adding that when Khiron needs the capital, he doesn't foresee any problems raising "$50 or a $100 million or whatever is needed." 

Though most US institutions remain on the sidelines of the cannabis industry— it is still federally illegal — Fox said investors are eager to get in.

"More and more I see them open their eyes and they see a return," Fox said. But, he remains realistic. 

"In a way, we have to be conservative," Fox said. "Because if anything this industry could have wrong, it's this excessive enthusiasm."

That enthusiasm has only ramped up since Mexico's new president— the far-left Andrés Manuel López Obrador — took office on December 1. After Mexico's Supreme Court legalized non-commercial recreational marijuana on October 31, Obrador has made full-scale marijuana legalization one of his chief objectives for his first few months in office.

Read more: Big asset managers like BlackRock are sitting on the sidelines of the $75 billion US marijuana industry because of one big pain point

Khiron is positioning itself to aggressively to enter the Mexican market and dominate the larger Latin American market, which Fox said has close to 500 million people. 

"We have a plan A, a plan B, and a plan C," depending on how the laws are written, Fox said. And though Fox said the new government will be a "positive" for the cannabis industry, he worries about the economy as a whole under his one-time political rival.

"There's a lot of doubts there," Fox said. "But those doubts do not exist on the cannabis space or the cannabis spectrum. And I'm very clear on that." 

After all, Fox compared the fledgling cannabis industry to one of Mexico's most famous exports.

"It's very solid," Fox said. "As solid as berries, or as solid as producing corn, or as solid as producing tequila."

SEE ALSO: Mexico's former president says legalized marijuana is a paradigm shift, but greed could take the industry down a dangerous path

Join the conversation about this story »

Big law firms are building out specialized pot practices to chase down a red-hot market for weed deals

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lawyers

  • With the rapid spread of marijuana legalization in the US, big law firms are discovering that the tangled web of regulations guiding the rapidly growing industry is a boon for business.
  • As cannabis companies grow, merge, and start getting the attention of Fortune 500 corporations as acquisition targets, they need more sophisticated advice.
  • Numerous big law firms have built out specialized cannabis practice groups to serve the nascent industry.

When Joshua Horn and his wife traveled to Colorado about five years ago, they thought they'd check out one of the state's new marijuana dispensaries for fun.

"The 'budtender' says, 'What I can do for you?'" Horn, the cochair of Fox Rothschild's Cannabis Law Practice, told Business Insider in an interview. "We actually didn't buy anything — we just wanted to see what one of these looked like."

After the two left Colorado and returned home to Philadelphia, Horn's wife said he should think about cannabis law as Pennsylvania began moving toward legalizing medicinal marijuana.

Read more: Big asset managers like BlackRock are sitting on the sidelines of the $75 billion US marijuana industry because of one big pain point

"Five years later, I'm the cochair of a national cannabis practice," Horn said. "And we have clients all over the world."

With the rapid spread of marijuana legalization in the US, once reluctant big law firms are discovering that the tangled web of regulations guiding the rapidly growing industry is a boon for business.

Following the midterm elections, some form of cannabis is now legal in 33 states, and many in the industry say it's only a matter of time before legalization sweeps the nation.

And big money, naturally, has followed.

states where marijuana legal map

From boutiques to big law

As cannabis companies grow, merge, and start getting the attention of Fortune 500 corporations as acquisition targets, they need more sophisticated advice on financing, tax planning, and corporate structure.

"It's one of the few emerging markets with a multibillion-dollar potential," said Seth Goldberg, a partner at Duane Morris who heads up the firm's cannabis practice.

While some boutique firms have served the cannabis industry since Colorado legalized the drug in 2012, most small law shops may not be able to negotiate complicated joint ventures or merger agreements, lawyers say.

For Christopher Barry, a longtime capital-markets lawyer who is the chair of Dorsey & Whitney's Canada Practice Group, that's exactly what piqued his interest.

A few years ago, Barry, who's based in Seattle, picked up the phone and had a representative of a multibillion-dollar Asian investment group on the line.

The representative said he was looking at evaluating marijuana investments in the US. But when he went to the fund's regular counsel — a large, white-shoe law firm — the firm turned them down.

"So the person said, 'We did a bunch of research about who could do the work and who could provide the level of service we're used too,'" Barry said. "Well, that got my attention."

Since then, Dorsey has built up a cannabis practice group across its offices in Denver, Seattle, and Toronto, with about 20 to 25 lawyers.

Barry has since helped well-known US cannabis companies like MedMen and Green Thumb Industries execute cross-border mergers — in these instances, firms that went public in Canada by merging with a publicly traded shell company.

The market for these cross-border mergers is red-hot. According to data from Dealogic, the number of US companies pursuing reverse mergers in Canada has more than doubled in the past five years, to over 16 this year from just 7 in 2013, with cannabis companies leading the charge.

Read more: Marijuana companies are using a 'backdoor' strategy to tap the public markets — and it's fueling an M&A boom

Ben Reznik, a partner at the Los Angeles-based Jeffer Mangels who has spent much of his career working on land-use issues, said he started taking work from cannabis companies in Southern California on an "ad hoc" basis.

Many partners at his firm, however, were reluctant to get in with the specter of federal illegality hovering over the industry. "So we didn't jump right into this by any means," Reznik said. He said that as the firm debated the issue internally, about 10% of the partners were "naysayers."

"They were more about, why take the risk?" Reznik said. "Do we really want to do that?" Ultimately, Reznik said Jeffer Mangels was an "entrepreneurial firm."

"There was just a tremendous need for our services," Reznik said. Now, like Dorsey, the firm earlier this year established a cannabis group.

wall street

Getting in on the ground floor of a global industry

For younger lawyers, cannabis is a way to get in on the ground floor of what is set to be a global industry.

Neeraj Kumar, a New York-based associate at Duane Morris, started his career as a corporate-securities lawyer around partners who had been practicing law for over 20 years.

Because cannabis is such a new industry — no lawyers have more than five or six years of experience in the field — "it definitely presents a unique opportunity to be a thought leader," Kumar said.

"At least in my career, there hasn't really been an industry with that opportunity," he said.

Rachel Gillette, a Denver-based partner at Greenspoon Marder, was one of the earliest practitioners of cannabis law.

In 2010, right when Colorado first started regulating medical marijuana, she quit her job as a tax attorney. "I borrowed a little money from my mom and started my own practice focusing only on representing cannabis businesses," Gillette said. "I was probably one of the first attorneys in the nation to do something like that at the time."

When she emailed her favorite law professor to tell her about opening her own practice, her professor responded curtly: "She was like: 'You're going to be disbarred.'"

Fast forward to 2018, Gillette is now a partner at Greenspoon Marder. That same professor recently reached to invite Gillette to teach a class on cannabis law.

"A few years ago, you couldn't find a large law firm to touch the area with a 10-foot pole," Gillette said. "But now I'm cool."

'More fun than a barrel of monkeys'

While many law firms have quickly built up cannabis practices, the biggest white-shoe firms aren't quite there yet. Some of the lawyers Business Insider spoke with speculated that some big firms might steer clear purely for reputational reasons.

Others said it's not worth the risk for firms with blue-chip clients.

It boils down to this: Recreational marijuana isn't yet legal in New York state, where most of the largest firms are headquartered. Though that may change in 2019, the cannabis industry may still be too small for the largest firms to take the risk of dealing with an industry that's federally prohibited, the lawyers said.

Read more: Beverage giants like Heineken and Constellation Brands are duking it out in the billion-dollar market for marijuana-infused drinks

But if the federal government removes cannabis from the list of controlled substances — or if Congress passes legislation like the bipartisan States Act — then "the floodgates will open," Reznik said.

"I think there'll be a flood of lawyers getting into the field at that point," Reznik said. "It'll be a free-for-all." And when that happens, those who are already experts in the field hope they'll have the first-mover advantage.

In any case, being at the forefront of a brand-new, exciting field is just plain fun.

"This is more fun than a barrel of monkeys," said Barry, the Dorsey & Whitney partner. "Look, I'm 71 years old. I've been practicing for over 40 years — if I weren't having so much fun with this, I'd be retired."

SEE ALSO: The top 12 venture-capital firms making deals in the booming cannabis industry that's set to skyrocket to $75 billion

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NOW WATCH: The legendary economist who predicted the housing crisis says the US will win the trade war

Why the doctor who cofounded CityMD opened an urgent-care clinic in Queens even though he knew it'd lose millions

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where to go when you need medical care 4x3

  • CityMD cofounder Richard Park wanted to open up an urgent-care location in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens, New York, but knew it would be a tough sell.
  • In the end, CityMD lost more than $5 million, Park told Business Insider.
  • Even so, the experience led CityMD to open more sites in lower-income areas of New York, and the Jackson Heights location is still open today.

Richard Park knew it was going to be a tough sell.

Park, the CEO and a cofounder of CityMD, wanted to set up an urgent-care site in Jackson Heights, an ethnically diverse neighborhood in Queens, New York, not far from where he grew up. The idea was to have a less expensive alternative to the emergency room where a mother with two kids under the weather could go.

Park didn't have any contracts lined up with Medicaid — the joint federal-state health program that provides coverage for low-income people — and he let his board know that he expected to lose money opening the clinic. But his employees were excited: many were from the neighborhood and didn't have access to CityMD clinics without traveling to other parts of New York City.

"It doesn't make sense when people don't get basic care," Park said. The clinic opened in 2014.

It was a big step: Before then, CityMD had set up urgent-care clinics in more affluent neighborhoods, like the Upper East Side of Manhattan and out in the suburbs. The new location started under a different brand name, HEAL, short for Health, Education, Access and Love.

"Everyone told us they can't coexist, you can't take care of billionaires next to the Medicaid patient," Park said.

Read more: The doctor who founded CityMD and sold it for $600 million explains how a new kind of medical clinic is changing how Americans get healthcare

In the end, CityMD lost north of $5 million at the location. But the pilot was a success. The site in Jackson Heights led CityMD to open locations in other lower-income areas of the city, including the South Bronx.

Since then, the company has managed to ink contracts with Medicaid health plans, and Park said about 15% of CityMD's visits come from patients who get their health coverage through Medicaid.

As for the Queens location? After six months, the clinic returned to the name CityMD, and it's still open today.

To date, CityMD has more than 100 locations in New York, New Jersey, and Washington state. And in April 2017, private-equity firm Warburg Pincus took a majority stake in CityMD in a deal that reportedly valued the urgent-care company at $600 million.

"We have sites in the South Bronx because of that experience," Park said. "You don't just go from the Upper East Side to the South Bronx. There is a learning curve."

Join the conversation about this story »

Trump mocks Emmanuel Macron as rioters set Paris ablaze in a second week of anti-government protests

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Trump thumb

  • Donald Trump quipped on Saturday that "The Paris Agreement isn't working out so well for Paris."
  • He was referring to violent protests in France which saw fires in the capital, and police using tear gas and water cannons.
  • The message was part of a deepening feud between the US president and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
  • Trump has claimed that the protesters are on his side, and agree with his objections to the Paris Agreement on climate change.

President Donald Trump continued mocking his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, as Paris was swept by violence and rioting for a second weekend.

Trump observed in a tweet on Saturday that "The Paris Agreement isn’t working out so well for Paris," referring to the angry protests rocking the French capital, which were originally sparked by fuel taxes linked to France's climate change policy.

Paris Yellow Vests December 8

According to the Associated Press, groups of demonstrators from the Yellow Vest protest movement set fires and launched flares at police on the streets of Paris.

Officers responded with crowd control measures, including barricades, water cannon, and tear gas. Much of Paris was locked down in advance, in anticipation of more violence.

Trump's message was a continuation of his feud with Macron, which Trump has tied to their policy disagreement on the Paris climate change pact.

trump macron

France spearheaded the international agreement, and the US was due to join as well before Trump decided to pull the plug on American involvement.

The pact is obliquely related to the Yellow Vest movement's campaign against Macron's government.

It was born of objections to a steep new tax on diesel, designed to make the French economy more green, in line with the Paris Agreement's aims. The protests have since widened to a broader anti-government agenda, but have the fuel policies at their core.

During the week, Macron abandoned the tax rise in a bid to appease the protesters.

Around the time Macron was making the U-turn, Trump tweeted"I am glad that my friend @EmmanuelMacron and the protestors in Paris have agreed with the conclusion I reached two years ago. The Paris Agreement is fatally flawed..."

Read more:70 yellow vest protesters detained after rallies spread to Belgium and the Netherlands

He renewed this line of attack on Saturday, writing: "The Paris Agreement isn’t working out so well for Paris. Protests and riots all over France. People do not want to pay large sums of money, much to third world countries (that are questionably run), in order to maybe protect the environment."

He also said that the Paris protesters were chanting "We want Trump!", a claim for which Business Insider has seen no evidence.

Trump and Macron once enjoyed a relatively warm rapport, particularly when Macron hosted Trump in Paris for a grand state visit in 2017, a favor which Trump returned in early 2018.

trump macron eiffel tower

But the relationship hit a low point in recent weeks. 

Macron delivered a public (albeit veiled) rebuke to Trump on home soil, at a speech in Paris marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One, taking aim at Trump's "America First" policy.

Macron said: "Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism. By saying our interests first, who cares about the others, we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what makes it great and what is essential: its moral values."

In the following days, Trump lobbed a series of insults at Macron, mocking France's military, its wine, and Macron's personal approval ratings, all of which foreshadowed his apparent pleasure at the violence engulfing Paris.

SEE ALSO: France is delaying a divisive fuel tax after days of violent protest from Yellow Vest movement that killed 3

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Lindsey Graham once warned there would be 'holy hell to pay' if Trump fired Jeff Sessions


22 work-appropriate yet thoughtful gifts for your boss — all under $50

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The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

hydro flask $29.95

You spend the majority of your day with your coworkers, and if you like them enough, you might even plan on getting them a gift as a thank-you for all the good times in and out of the office. 

Another person you're probably thinking about gifting is your boss. Though not always easy to come by, a good boss makes a big difference for how you approach daily work activities and grow professionally. 

Since they're your manager, it's important that your gift maintains professionalism — but still gets the message across that you appreciate their hard work. 

These 22 affordable gifts for your boss do just that. 

Looking for more gift ideas? Check out all of Insider Picks' holiday gift guides for 2018 here.

SEE ALSO: 31 clever stocking stuffers they’ll actually use — all under $10

DON'T MISS: All of Insider Picks' holiday gift guides, in one place

READ MORE: 55 creative and unexpected gifts for her that are all under $50

A fun desk toy

Speks Blocks, $24.95, available at Amazon

The makers of our favorite magnetic desk toy have a new way to reduce stress and keep your boss entertained. With these colorful magnetic blocks (which also come with a travel bag), they can take a mental break or use the opportunity to refocus their mind as they build creative sculptures. 



A gift card to a popular women's workwear shop

Gift Card, $50, available at MM.LaFleur

Popular women's workwear brand MM.LaFleur makes excellent pants and blazers that are definitely an investment, but worth the price. Its Bento Box contains these stylish and comfortable wardrobe staples to take the headache out of getting dressed in the morning. 



A set of cool memo books

Field Notes Coastal: East Special Edition Grid Memo Books, 3-Pack, $28.95, available at Amazon

These small books are the perfect size for jotting down quick notes and the coast lines on the cover are embossed in a pretty holographic foil. West Coast fans, Field Notes didn't leave you out



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There's a growing debate over who qualifies as a 'person of color' — who is and isn't included?

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Protesters Police Violence

  • There's a growing debate online over who qualifies as a "person of color."
  • Some are questioning whether Asians should be considered "people of color."
  • The definition of "person of color" in the 21st century has been less about skin color and more about marking those that have been affected racism and white supremacy, but some argue that the effects of racism for Asian Americans has been less significant than for other populations.
  • Others say that a "person of color" is defined simply as someone who simply has physical characteristics that set them apart from white people.

"East Asians arent people of color," read one tweet from @barderingscardi.

"Asians are NOT people of color and never were. Don't even try it," read another from @Nj_Grizz.

"Did I miss the memo where we decided Asians were people of color?" asked @zacfromsac.

The tweets, all included in a viral post from Filipina student Martina Salamero, represent a growing debate online over the term "people of color"— a phrase that has moved from social justice parlance into the collective vernacular of most Americans. 

"We are mocked, fetishized, discriminated against, and yet you won't let us call ourselves this? We have been called yellow for far too many years to be put in the same place as white people," Salamero said about the tweets.

According to The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style, the term "person of color" was first noted in 1796 edition of The Oxford English Dictionary. Like "colored," the phrase was originally used to differentiate people of mixed African and European heritage from "full" Africans.

Post Civil War, "colored" came to be used as a ubiquitous term for black people, until eventually coming to be understood as offensive, but describing people or groups as "of color" has become an acceptable and often-used catchall for all non-white people. Now, the Oxford English Dictionary defines"person of color" as "a person who is not white or of European parentage."

But what started as a way to positively identify everyone who hasn't benefited from a culture of white privilege has turned into a divisive flashpoint online, where race-specific spaces used to chat and organize have thrived.

The shades of color

Those who have drawn a division between "people of color" and Asian people made their arguments from multiple perspectives. 

Some have argued a difference in skin color. On Twitter, @talkthatfenty asked, "Honest question: who are people of color? Is it based on ethnicity or the color of your skin?...i know some asian people who look white because of their skincolor (white)."

Vivian Louie, director of the Asian American Studies Center at Hunter College, says that skin color is irrelevant in the designation "person of color," which she defines as someone who simply has physical characteristics that set them apart from white people.

"Asian Americans have other physical characteristics that do set them apart from whites... such as speaking a home language other English, hair texture, ancestry, etc.," she said.

Functionally, the definition of "person of color" in the 21st century has been less about skin color and more about marking those that have been affected racism and white supremacy, but some argue that the effects of racism for Asian Americans has been less significant than for other populations.

"East Asian and South Asian people are not being harassed and killed," @tedandrew2 wrote on Twitter, comparing the struggles of Asian Americans to black Americans.  

Read more: There appears to be a huge gap between what black and white people see on social media

While recent data documented increased levels of crime against Asian people in America, it touches on the central question of privilege. According to the census, in 2017, median annual household income of households headed by Asian Americans outstripped that of the average American household by $19,460, while black Americans fell behind the average by $21,114.

Louie argues that despite the economic privileges of Asian Americans, they still face discrimination that sets them apart from white people, noting, "there is evidence suggesting that Asian Americans are seen as forever foreigners, regardless of citizenship status and how many generations one is from the immigrant ancestor."

According to a 2017 report from Harvard University and NPR, 27% of Asian Americans report being discriminated against when applying for a job, while 32% say they've had racial or ethnic slurs directed at them.

While income suggests a higher level of opportunity for many Asian Americans, other experiences point to an experience with a different type of discrimination.

"All minority groups in the United States have their own historical and contemporaneous experiences with exclusion," said Louie. "That includes Asian Americans."

Patrice Coullers Black Lives Matter

More than one color

While some have argued about who fits under the umbrella of "people of color," others have chosen their own terms.

Black Lives Matter (BLM), one of the most prominent race-based activist group in the US, has organized specifically around black people because they've been left out of other conversations that fell under the banner of "people of color," BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors said.

While openly agreeing that all non-white people qualify as people of color, Cullors took issue with the term itself.

"I think when the term ['people of color'] became problematic, was when I started to see instances of black people not being in people of color formations, so you could use ppl of color but not actually talk about anti-black racism," said Cullors. 

"The term POC was able to be used because they had Latinx communities or Asian communities, but it didn’t translate into black communities," continued Cullors. "People get afraid to specify blackness."

According to Cullors, that specificity is why they chose the group's name.

Chanel West, a black English teacher from Chicago who has frequently posted about the term "people of color" on her Instagram, has had similar frustrations with the identifier.

"[The term] does nothing to openly identity then unique struggles and ethnic identities of the group's within the umbrella term," West said over email. "I don't like it because it is a form of erasure of my unique ethnic identity and brand as just a person of color."

West said that instead, she prefers more specific identifiers: "I'm a fan of ethnic identifiers such as African-American, Latino, South East Asian, Asian, Hispanic, Hebrew, Korean, Pacific Islander etc... These allow the speaker and audience to have a clear understanding of that person's ethnic and cultural identity while also demanding respect."

race protest nfl take a knee

The future of 'people of color'

Despite certain groups opting for more specific identifiers in their activism, most people I spoke to still say there's a place for the term "people of color."

Salamero, the poster of the viral meme, said that she'd like to see the continued use of the term because it creates a sense of security and camaraderie: "Like all of us aren't alone in these issues of hate and discrimination. There's someone out there with the same experiences as you, and would we willing to lend a hand or an ear."

"In these times, we need allies and support more than ever, and its sad that we are being pushed back again and again," Salamero said.

Cullors said that despite her organization's specific focus on black people, she believes that the term "people of color" is more important than ever for creating unity.

"The universality of the word is incredibly important for the movement, especially under this moment," she said.

"If I'm talking about this current administration that has literally attacked all communities of color it becomes really useful for example, but we also can’t stop there, we should specify what has happened in each community."

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The science of why human breasts are so big

The Nintendo Switch is the hottest game system this holiday — here are its 20 best games

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Super Mario Odyssey

The Nintendo Switch is approaching its second birthday, and there's already a killer line-up of games available.

Whether you're looking for Nintendo staples like "Mario" and "Zelda," fast-paced first-person shooters like "DOOM", or narrative-driven indie RPGs like "Golf Story," there's something for everyone on the Switch.

Good news! We've put together a list of the best games to enjoy on Nintendo's latest console:

SEE ALSO: The 31 best Nintendo Switch games under $20

1. "Super Mario Odyssey"

The pure joy of playing "Odyssey" is hard to convey. It's the best Mario game in years, and easily one of the best Mario games ever made. It's certainly the best game on the Nintendo Switch, which is really saying something.

Read our review of "Super Mario Odyssey" right here.



Check it out in action right here:

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2. "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild"

"The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" is a rare gem.

It's the kind of game that changes player expectations — what they expect of themselves and what they expect from games.

Read our review of "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" right here.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

11 tips for introverts who are already freaking out about holiday party season

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  • We're quickly coming up on perhaps one of the most dreaded times of the year for introverts: The holidays.
  • That's because just about every company is throwing holiday parties.
  • Here's are 11 tips for introverts and shy folks to help them deal with the onslaught of party invites.

 

Most introverts gain energy from being alone, while extroverts tend to thrive while socializing in large groups of people.

Unfortunately for the former category, who comprise around a third to one half of the population, holiday party season is coming up. That means huge crowds of unfamiliar folks, a lot of mingling, and probably not the sort of in-depth, one-on-one chats that introverts tend to enjoy.

Still, introverts can survive holiday parties aplenty — and they might even enjoy them.

Here's your survival guide: 

SEE ALSO: 17 tips for surviving your office holiday party

DON'T MISS: Even if you're dreading your office holiday party, you still have to go. Here's your survival guide

Show up

You might be tempted to skip. Don't do it.

To show that you're committed to the company, make sure you show up for at least 30 minutes. Always assume company gatherings are "must attend" events.

"If you never show up at company events, you lose brownie points," Karen Wickre, author of the recently published "Taking the Work Out of Networking: An Introvert's Guide to Making Connections That Count,"previously told Business Insider.

Read more: Even if you're dreading your office holiday party, you still have to go. Here's your survival guide



Think of it as a fun challenge — not the bane of your week

Deciding ahead of time that you're dreading your holiday party is a top introvert mistake, said Dr. Alice Boyes, author of The Healthy Mind Toolkit and The Anxiety Toolkit.

Instead of thinking of the party as something to totally dread, mentally frame it as an interesting challenge to which you can apply your skill set and that you can overcome. 

"Anything that doesn't come naturally to you, you can pull off temporarily if you apply your other strengths to solving the problem,"Boyes told Business Insider. "For example, someone who has a love of learning, can learn some conversation skills. If you're a naturally helpful person maybe you apply that skill by helping out the host. If you love children, maybe you entertain the kids at the party. Use whatever strengths you have."



Brainstorm some conversation topics

Before the party, think up a few icebreaker lines to keep in your back pocket — like asking folks if they're local, a quip about the food, or their hobbies. 

"This is something people can easily test to see if they find it helpful or not," Boyes said. "Sometimes people find it helpful to briefly think about potential conversation topics, as long as it doesn't lead to being rigid or overtalking about a topic other people aren't as intensely interested in."

You might even plan to talk to a senior manager or another person you're interested in building a connection with, said Alexandra Dickinson, careers expert and membership strategy lead at SoFi.

"Take a few moments to prepare by thinking about what topic you might like to raise with them and what you can ask or say that makes your message unique," Dickinson said. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

This entrepreneur left Wall Street to count the world’s calories. Now she’s warning of a global food disaster equal to the financial crisis.

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  • Entrepreneur Sara Menker traded in her Wall Street gig to help solve the world's mounting food crisis. 
  • In the next decade, she warned, the world's food shortage could rival the financial crisis or dot-com crash in terms of its threat to government stability and economic safety.
  • Menker's company, Gro Intelligence, aims to create a universal language that helps companies, countries, and industries earn money and eliminate food shortages.

When it comes to feeding every person on the planet, the world could fall short of demand by 214 trillion calories per year in less than a decade. That's more Big Macs than McDonald's has ever sold, said Sara Menker, the founder and CEO of the software company Gro Intelligence

Menker often uses this reference to help people understand the extent of the global food crisis — a disaster she believes is imminent. 

At Gro, she collects all sorts of data about the world's agricultural system, from what types of coffee beans are most lucrative to the rise of avocado exports in Mexico. Her company then uses that data to uncover major patterns, like the fact that grain prices tend to follow trends in the oil market.

Read more:A controversial technology could save us from starvation — if we let it

The global food shortage is often defined by the weight of crops needed to feed all citizens. But the words "kilogram" or "ton" haven't done much to convey the threat of food scarcity around the world.

What matters more, according to Menker, is calories — the actual thing that keeps people from going hungry. But even this metric can be confusing.

"It becomes this massive problem that is physically not possible for a human being to process," said Menker.

Menker said her team floated countless comparisons, including the weight of elephants, before landing on the Big Mac. The anecdote made its way into her 2017 TED Talk, which has been viewed nearly 1.5 million times.

From Wall Street to counting calories

Menker's path to counting the world's calories is a bit unorthodox. Before Gro, she was a vice president at Morgan Stanley, where she worked in commodities trading.  While there, she went from trading sacks of potatoes for gold to investing in farmland. 

Like any good Wall Street exec, she started off looking for the best deal. 

She soon realized that the best purchase wasn't a $1 per acre plot in a developing country, but a $15,000 to $20,000 per acre plot in the Midwest. That's because investing in the cheaper farmland required borrowing money, obtaining crop insurance, paying for her own trucking service, building her own roads, and leveling her own land.

coffee farming

The process was inefficient. Governments and investors hadn't taken the time, or devoted the resources, to figure out how to grow smarter in these areas. With Menker’s help, they can learn how how to fix the system, and begin investing in it.

At Gro, Menker said, "our greatest challenge is actually getting clients to look at all the data."

Climate data, she said, has been particularly difficult for people to understand, since it "has always sat in the hands of the scientific community."

By presenting information in a way that clients can digest, Gro has created something of a universal language in agriculture.

Food security involves everyone

Gro not only makes it easy for people like Wall Street traders to understand weather patterns and temperature trends, but it also demonstrates why these trends matter, according to Menker.

"You can't really tackle trade without understanding climate risk," she said.

Mexico Michoacan avocado farmer farming farm forest

Gro has an altruistic component as well. Consider a grain like quinoa, which has become increasingly popular in Europe and the US. As the global demand for quinoa rises, farmers who grow the crop can no longer afford to purchase it.

Gro allows companies to find areas that yield similar grains, which helps to feed communities. West Africa, for instance, produces a grain called fonio that Menker described as a "quinoa equivalent."

In this way, her company makes the case for emerging markets — and new companies to go along with them. 

Traditional agriculture isn't going away 

The practice of vertical farming has risen in popularity as Menker's company has grown. Since founding Gro in 2014, Menker has started to anticipate the question: Why care about climate when some farms make it possible to grow massive amounts of crops indoors?  

The answer, she said, is that vertical farming is limited to certain crops — mainly leafy greens, which, despite their health benefits, aren't very caloric.

“The economics work to move leafy greens from outdoor to indoor," she said. "But you're not going to solve your rice problem through vertical farming."

plenty vertical farm

Menker said the process is also geared toward solving food problems in wealthy communities. 

"We're talking about feeding the world the basics, let alone the fanciest lettuce or basil," she said. "Getting a leafy green that's as close to your home as possible is a privileged economic decision."

"There are lots of great impacts," said Menker. "But it won't solve our looming global food crisis."

The most viable solution, she said, isn't to overhaul the world's agricultural system. It's to make it more efficient. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Drinking too much water could be surprisingly hazardous to your health

China has threatened the US with 'further action' if Huawei's CFO isn't freed

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Meng Wanzhou

  • China has upped the pressure on the US over the arrest of a Huawei executive in Canada.
  • Its foreign ministry summoned the US ambassador on Sunday to register its "strong protest" at the detainment of CFO Meng Wanzhou.
  • China wants the US to withdraw its arrest warrant.
  • Meng was arrested in Canada on December 1 on US orders, over concerns that Huawei violated sanctions on equipment sales to Iran.

China has upped the pressure on the US over the arrest of a senior Huawei executive in Canada, threatening "further action" if she is not released.

China's foreign ministry summoned US ambassador Terry Branstad on Sunday to lodge a "strong protest" over the detainment of Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, and said the United States should withdraw its arrest warrant.

Further measures will depend on US actions, vice foreign minister Le Yucheng told the US ambassador, China's foreign ministry added.

Meng was arrested in Canada on December 1 and faces extradition to the United States, which alleges that she covered up her company's links to a firm that tried to sell equipment to Iran despite US sanctions.

The executive is also the daughter of the founder of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei. She has spent the weekend in jail pending a decision on bail.

Meng's arrest sent shockwaves through the global markets, with fears that her detainment could escalate the trade war between the US and China. Huawei, which makes telecommunications kit and smartphones, is the poster child of China's technological and economic boom, and recently overtook Apple as the world's second biggest smartphone seller behind Samsung.

Its founder, Ren, was an engineer in China's military, and his ties to the Communist Party have triggered international concerns that Huawei's telecommunications kit may be compromised. Huawei has always denied it has been asked to spy for China's authorities.

Join the conversation about this story »

Employers are searching high and low for people with Google Cloud skills, says new report (MSFT, AMZN, GOOG, GOOGL)

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Women in tech

  • Searches for roles related to cloud computing and employer interest in "cloud engineers" has been quickly rising, according to a new report from Indeed.
  • Regular software engineering positions are also starting to list "cloud" as a required skill.
  • The report also shows that employers are looking for candidates who are proficient in using Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud. 
  • Google Cloud is the skill that's seeing the fastest-growing demand. 

If you're looking to take your career to the next level, it might be time to make a big bet on the cloud.

As the cloud computing market consolidates around three major players — Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud—  job listings that included keywords about these cloud providers have risen over the past year, according to a report from job-hunting site Indeed.

According to that report, there's been a 5.51% increase in job listings that include "Amazon Web Services" or "AWS" in the post, a 16.24% increase in listings with "Microsoft Azure," and a whopping 66.74% increase in listings with "Google Cloud."

The effect is even more pronounced over a longer span of time: Over the last three years, job listings with "Google Cloud" have skyrocketed 1082%, compared to a rise of 107.15% for AWS and 165.9% for Microsoft Azure.

By 2021, cloud computing will become a $300 billion business, according to analyst firm Gartner. So it's no that cloud skills could be the next big skill employers are looking for. In fact, employer interest for "cloud engineers" has risen 31.24%, according to Indeed.

Job seeker interest in this field is quickly growing, too. In just the last three years, searches for roles related to cloud computing rose 107.8%. These searches include phrases like "cloud infrastructure,""cloud security,""cloud architect," and "cloud engineer," according to the report. 

Read more: Wall Street says Amazon and VMware are teaming up to take down Microsoft in the cloud wars

Amazon Web Services has dominated cloud computing in terms of market share, even as the cloud industry is still growing. And as companies like Microsoft, Google and IBM look to catch up to Amazon in the cloud wars, they will be looking to hire more engineers with cloud computing skills.

That goes beyond major cloud providers, too, as more startups are pouncing on opportunities in the cloud space.

Even if job seekers aren't focused on cloud, it's still becoming an increasingly important skill. Today, 7.92% of software engineer positions and 6.71% of senior software engineer positions on Indeed include "cloud" skills in their descriptions.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This 13-year-old scientist invented a safer way to treat pancreatic cancer, and he hasn't even started high school yet


A school in Rhode Island hired a collection agency to recoup lunch debts, and this isn't the first time it's happened

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school lunch

  • Cranston Public Schools notified parents that in 2019, debts owed on lunches would be turned over to a debt collection organization that would act on debts above $20.
  • Cranston says current debts for the year total $45,859.
  • 43% of students in the district are eligible for free or reduced lunch.

A Rhode Island school district has taken 'give me all your lunch money' to another level, hiring a collection agency to recoup lunch debts owed by parents.

NBC reports that the Cranston Public Schools notified parents that in 2019, debts owed on lunches would be turned over to a debt collection organization that would act on debts above $20. Lunch in the district costs $2.50 per day for elementary school students and $3.50 per day for middle and high school students.

"In an effort to reduce our unpaid balance, the District has retained the services of a collection agency. The company is Transworld Systems and they will begin their collection efforts effective January 2, 2019," wrote the school's chief operating officer Raymond Votto Jr. in a letter addressed to parents.

Read more: 'We can't spend money on programs just because they sound good': Trump budget would slash funding from program that feeds 2 million seniors

Votto claimed that in the last two years, the school district lost $95,508 from lunch debt. He says the debt for the current school year is $45,859.

The move has raised questions about the effect on struggling families in the district, where 43% of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, according to a Rhode Island report from February.

Lois Clemens, who has a grandson at a Cranston elementary school told NBC, "Yeah, $45,000 is a lot of money for the school district to not have, but then on the other hand I know what it’s like not to have enough money."

The school reportedly plans to still feed kids the same meal regardless of whether or not their parents owe money. Previously, the district fed kids who owed money a different meal.

Cranston isn't the first district to send lunch debt to collections. In 2012, an Ohio district sent $900,000 in lunch debt to a collections agency, according to HuffPost. In Davidson County, North Carolina, a 2011 policy ordered debts above $37.50 be sent to collections. In Missouri, Columbia Public Schools began debating a proposal in November that would send debts above $25 to a collection agency.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The science of why human breasts are so big

20 companies dominate the world's fashion industry. Here's who makes the list.

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  • 20 major companies lead the global fashion industry right now, according to the McKinsey Global Fashion Index. These companies account for 97% of global economic profit in the sector. 
  • Nike, Adidas, and H&M are among the well-known names on the list. 
  • According to the report, mid-market players are increasingly losing out to luxury and value brands.

The global fashion market is dominated by 20 companies, according to new research from management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company.

In its "Global Fashion Index," released last week, McKinsey ranked the top fashion companies across the world by economic profit, which it defines as "a measure for value-add created by businesses, whereby opportunity costs are deducted from revenues earned."

Dubbed the "super winners," these companies currently account for 97% of global economic profit in the retail sector and own some of the biggest and best-known brands in the business, including Nike, H&M, and Zara. 

"The lesson from 2017 is that size continues to matter," the report said. "There is a demonstrable advantage to scale. The one caveat is that if you can't be big, be nimble."

Noticeably absent from this list are online players and US department stores — the latter dominated the list 10 years ago, according to the report. The companies are ranked by economic profit, which is net operating profit, less adjusted taxes minus capital charge.

Find out which companies made the top 10 list below:

SEE ALSO: These are the biggest clothing companies in America

10. Kering — Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga

Economic profit: $943 million 

Luxury conglomerate Kering has some of the best-known high-end labels in its empire. They include Gucci, Alexander McQueen, and Balenciaga, among others. 

Gucci has exploded in popularity in recent months, especially among millennial and teen shoppers. It was ranked the second-hottest brand on a recent survey by Lyst and was ranked as the 10th most popular apparel brand in a survey of teen spending in April. Sales grew 46.6% in the first quarter of 2018 at Gucci and were up 35.1% in its most recent quarter, according to Kering.

Read more:Gucci has become hugely popular with teens and millennials. We visited a store and saw why they love it despite the high price tags.



9. Adidas

Economic profit: $1.06 billion 

German athletics brand Adidas continues to be one of the leading global fashion companies. 

In recent years, it has been doubling down on the US market and has seen positive results because of this, capturing more market share and reporting 30-40% gains.

Read more:Adidas CEO reveals how the company pulled off a startling American turnaround, what he thinks the future of sportswear will be, and why Kanye West is still good for business



8. Ross Stores

Economic profit: $1.06 billion 

Off-price retailer Ross Stores is known for offering a wide selection of well-known brands at discounted prices and providing customers with a treasure-hunt shopping experience that's hard to replicate online. It has been hailed as a "retail treasure" by analysts.

Read more:The chain hailed by Wall Street as a 'retail treasure' runs the most disastrous store we've ever seen



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The record-breaking year of deadly fires in California was stoked by distinctly devilish winds — here's how they work

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santa ana winds stoke wildfires

  • Fierce Santa Ana winds that blow into the Los Angeles area can make California wildfires tough to fight.
  • The winds' strength has to do with where they develop in the mountains and how they travel down to the coast.
  • The Santa Anas are typically fiercest in the fall, before the first rains of the season arrive. That's when they can stoke especially deadly fires like the November Woolsey Fire.

California endured another record-breaking fire season this year. Dry, hot winds stoked deadly flames that have killed more than 85 people to date. 

The Santa Ana winds, which blow into Southern California during the fall and winter months, proved especially brutal this year. They brushed the Woolsey Fire across nearly 100,000 acres of Los Angeles and Ventura counties; those flames killed two motorists who were stranded in a car and another person whose remains were found in a burned home.

The Woolsey Fire and the devastating Camp Fire in Northern California have both been extinguished, and all affected residents are now allowed to return home (though for many there's little left). 

Part of the reason the flames spread so quickly and were so hard to contain this year has to do with the winds that fueled them. In the north, they're called Diablo winds, while in the south they are referred to as the Santa Anas.

Angelinos sometimes like to wax poetic about how the dusty, hot winds can change people. Legend has it the warm gusts make people moody, violent, and prone to migraines, fights, or even suicides. 

"I have neither heard nor read that a Santa Ana is due, but I know it, and almost everyone I have seen today knows it too," Joan Didion wrote in her Los Angeles Notebook. "We know it because we feel it. The baby frets. The maid sulks. I rekindle a waning argument with the telephone company, then cut my losses and lie down, given over to whatever it is in the air. To live with the Santa Ana is to accept, consciously or unconsciously, a deeply mechanistic view of human behavior." 

Scientists who have studied these winds have determined that there's probably no special relationship between positive ions born from hot winds and our mood (though some limited data from Spain suggests that hot, windy days may spark more panic attacks than others.) 

But here's what we know for sure.

Where the strong winds come from

High above the California coast in the Great Basin that extends across Nevada, Utah, and other Rocky Mountain states, the winds that will eventually become Santa Anas and Diablos start out as colder breezes. 

In the fall, as the desert lands cool down, the high-altitude basin develops chilly, high-pressure winds. All that air in the basin looks for a breezy, convenient escape route. 

santa ana winds california

Santa Anas then heat up on their way downhill. It's a similar process to the Fohen winds of the Alps, the Chinook of the Pacific Northwest, and the Zonda winds in Argentina. These are all called katabatic winds because they move high-density air downslope. 

As the winds funnel through narrow mountain passes, they gather speed and heat, becoming stronger and warmer as they descend towards the coast. The phenomenon is similar to what happens when air is compressed inside a bike tire: it quickly heats up.

UCLA meteorology professor Robert Fovell wrote in an online FAQ about the Santa Anas that winds warm at rate of near 30 degrees Fahrenheit per mile.

"That means if you take a piece of air located a only mile above your head, and brought it down to your feet, it would wind up 30 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than when it started," he said.santa ana winds travel to coast stoke fires

Rain and the Santa Ana winds

The Santa Ana winds are most strong and able to stoke wildfires in the fall. California has distinct wet and dry seasons, so if the winds arrive before the first rain, that can lead to a high risk of fire.

California's dry periods have been getting longer and more severe in recent years, Federal Meteorologist Tom Di Liberto pointed out in a blog posted on the Climate.gov website. That makes the Santa Anas even more dangerous than usual.

"A dry start to the current water year in October came on the heels of an even drier-than-average summer," Di Liberto wrote. "The resulting dried grasses and vegetation provided plenty of fuel for wildfires to grow exponentially should a fire be lit. And in November 2018, those wildfire powder kegs exploded in both northern and southern California."

Atmospheric scientist John Abatzoglou told Business Insider that he agreed with that assessment.

"Realistically, a lot of the large Santa Ana fire years on record end up being years where we have a delay in the onset of fall rain," he said.  

Though less scientific, perhaps the most memorable definition of a Santa Ana wind is the one that's personified in the television show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. 

"I'm a hot, hot breeze that originates from high-pressure air masses" the male chorus version of Santa Ana wind sang in an episode in the show's second season. "Technically, I'm known as a katabatic wind, that's science for: a pain in your asses."

 

SEE ALSO: Wildfire evacuees are returning to the destroyed California town that's ‘like moving back into a funeral home.’ See the wreckage in a 360-degree video.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch a US Navy helicopter squadron fight the California wildfires by dropping huge barrels of water

My husband and I are taking a 3-year 'mini-retirement' in our 30s. Here's what a week of spending looks like for our family of 7

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  • Jillian Johnsrud lives in Montana with her husband Adam and their five kids; they're currently on a mini-retirement.
  • Their income is comprised of Adam's military pension, rental property income, and investment income for a total of $41,400 a year. They earn an additional $50,000-$75,000 a year doing freelance work.
  • For Business Insider's "Real Money" series, Jillian tracked the family's spending for a week.
  • Want to share a week of your spending? Email yourmoney@businessinsider.com.

Three years ago my husband and I became financially independent at the ages of 37 and 32.

Life had been a bit of a whirlwind in the years leading up to that. We had adopted a sibling group of three, bought and renovated three homes, and were both working full time. I found out we were expecting a second biological child and I decided it was time for another mini-retirement. It would be our fifth mini-retirement and our longest, lasting two-and-a-half years.

The goal of this new mini-retirement was fairly simple. Fill it with rest, family time, and adventure, and start figuring out what we wanted life to look like now that we no longer needed to earn income.

What was our ideal day or week? Did we want to volunteer or work part time? How much do we enjoy traveling? What was the perfect mix for us as individuals and as a family?

Here's a look inside a typical week for us:

SEE ALSO: I'm a Bay Area local earning 6 figures with plans to retire at 40 — here's how I spend my money in a typical week

DON'T MISS: After retiring from tech in my 30s, I travel the world with my family on $65,000 a year — here's what we spend in a typical week

Spending for our family of seven averages about $30,000 a year.

This is largely due to the fact that our fixed monthly bills (cell phone, taxes, insurance, dental, utilities, etc.) are under $700 a month, plus about $400 a month for childcare, which we started in September. The $30,000 includes our six to 10 weeks of travel and vacations a year. Our kids are currently ages 2-11. We also donate an additional $5,000-$20,000 each year.

Our passive income comes from a military pension ($1,450 plus healthcare), rentals ($1,200) and investments ($800) for a yearly income of $41,400. That is enough to cover all our regular costs because we don't pay a mortgage, car payment, or have any debt.  

During our mini-retirement we had the freedom to pursue things we loved and were passionate about. We ended up creating some part-time freelance work that earns us $50,000-$75,000 a year working part time. Because we don't need that income to pay the bills, we get to just focus on work that enriches our lives.



We spent a total of $228 this week.

It's been almost three years since we became financially independent and left our 9-to-5 jobs. Weeks like this are about how it goes.

Lots of fun, adventure and friends. Mishaps, appointments, and chaos. A bit of writing and coaching fit in to keep things sane. 



On Sunday, Adam took the kids to run a few errands before we went on a hike at Glacier National Park.

I love slow Sunday mornings. When I have to do a bit of reading, reflecting, and planning. All the kids are home and it's a nice mix of them playing together so Adam and I can chat and the constant but brief bids for our attention. Pictures are being drawn and games are being invented that we need to bear witness to. For a few minutes before they are off to go create some more.

After a few hours of controlled chaos, Adam took the kids to run a few errands: a trip to the dump, buy two sheets of sheetrock to finish my new scheming and dreaming cave, and a few groceries.

He dropped me off at the local coffee shop to be able to write for an hour. As an introvert mom to five young kids, an hour of quite and time alone with my thoughts is a magic balm for my sanity.

We live in Montana near Glacier National Park. It was a  sunny, perfect hiking temperature Sunday when the tourists are gone and the fall colors in full swing. So we headed into the National park for the afternoon. We played along the famed Trail of the Cedars in the crisp fall air along with sparse fellow hikers. Although a family of deer seemed to trail us closely peeking out from every corner. Hunting season had just opened and the deer in Glacier National Park have an extra air of confidence in their safe harbor.

Lake McDonald was like glass so we stopped to eat Nutella sandwiches and skip rocks. We have a pine tree called a Tamarak that fills Glacier National Park and the surrounding mountains. In the Fall it turns a bright yellow and when the sun hits it on a bright day, it's like gold flake in the mountainside.

After a long afternoon in the mountains, we ate a bit of dinner and all slept well.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Trump lashes out on Twitter after James Comey's testimony: 'All lies!'

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Donald Trump James Comey

  • President Donald Trump lashed out at James Comey on Twitter Sunday morning to accuse the former FBI director of lying to Congress in testimony he delivered Friday.
  • House committee leaders released a redacted transcript Saturday of Comey's private testimony concerning his role in investigating Hillary Clinton's email server and the Trump campaign's potential ties to Russia. 
  • Trump said key points of Comey's testimony were "all lies," in his latest hit at the ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign's possible collusion with Russia in the 2016 US election. 

President Donald Trump lashed out at James Comey on Twitter Sunday morning to accuse the former FBI director of lying to Congress in testimony he delivered Friday.

Comey delivered private testimony to the House Judiciary Committee and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee concerning his role in investigating Hillary Clinton's email server and the Trump campaign's potential ties to Russia. 

Committee leaders released a transcript of the proceedings on Saturday.

"Leakin’ James Comey must have set a record for who lied the most to Congress in one day. His Friday testimony was so untruthful!" Trump tweeted. "This whole deal is a Rigged Fraud headed up by dishonest people who would do anything so that I could not become President. They are now exposed!"

Trump also took aim at the recorded instances where Comey said he couldn't remember certain specifics, or could not answer questions because of ongoing investigations.

Read more:James Comey told lawmakers that he's 'not friends' with Mueller, despite Trump's claims

It was widely reported that Comey stated he opened investigations on four Americans, none of whom were Trump, in the FBI's counterintelligence probe into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump tweeted that this statement, and that Comey didn't know former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, were "all lies!" 

"On 245 occasions, former FBI Director James Comey told House investigators he didn’t know, didn’t recall, or couldn’t remember things when asked. Opened investigations on 4 Americans (not 2) - didn’t know who signed off and didn’t know Christopher Steele. All lies!"

Trump offered no further explanation. 

Comey took to Twitter after leaving the hearing Friday, saying House Republicans were not conducting a "search for the truth," but executing "a desperate attempt to find anything that can be used to attack the institutions of justice investigating this president." 

This is the latest in Trump's hits on Twitter against Comey and the investigations into the Trump campaign's possible collaboration with Moscow to tilt the 2016 race in Trump's favor.

Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation released new filings Friday that most notably recommended "substantial" prison time for Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who the filings say committed campaign finance violations "in coordination with and at the direction of" a code-named figure believed to be Trump. 

SEE ALSO: James Comey says the Russia investigation initially focused on 4 Americans

DON'T MISS: Here's everyone who has been charged and convicted in Mueller's Russia probe so far

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Lindsey Graham once warned there would be 'holy hell to pay' if Trump fired Jeff Sessions

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