Inspire Your City @PetersStreetStation

Video by @mikeniceatl

Black History Month Day 20: Double Dutch (from PBS by David Hoffman https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006MXD7O/)

Sesame Seeds

Cranberry

Pineapple

Peanut

Cashew

Pistachio

Brussel Sprouts

Cacao

Vanilla

Saffron

Kiwi

Pomegranate

Love ❤️ yours

Private equity’s favorite shell game is to take over profitable businesses, sell off their assets, con banks into loaning them hundreds of millions of dollars, cash out in the form of bonuses and dividends, then let the businesses fail and default on their debts.

The result is the retail apocalypse, where predatory giants like Walmart and Amazon are able to topple their vulture-capitalist-weakened prey, creating a feedback loop that enriches the shareholder class and destroys American businesses, leaving workers high and dry.

The (current) poster child for this con game is Toys R Us, whose private equity owners borrowed more than $5 billion to buy the company (with a $400 million annual debt service plan). The new owners quickly took the company into bankruptcy, defaulting on that giant debt, after paying themselves $200 million (including tens of millions in performance bonuses to the C-suite in the same year the company declared bankruptcy).

Now the company has announced that it will also default on all severance payouts to the company’s 30,000 employees, including employees who worked at the company for decades, skipping Christmas and Thanksgiving with their families to staff the stores, now slated to get literally not one penny.

How long until materials decompose in the Ocean?

Private equity’s favorite shell game is to take over profitable businesses, sell off their assets, con banks into loaning them hundreds of millions of dollars, cash out in the form of bonuses and dividends, then let the businesses fail and default on their debts.

The result is the retail apocalypse, where predatory giants like Walmart and Amazon are able to topple their vulture-capitalist-weakened prey, creating a feedback loop that enriches the shareholder class and destroys American businesses, leaving workers high and dry.

The (current) poster child for this con game is Toys R Us, whose private equity owners borrowed more than $5 billion to buy the company (with a $400 million annual debt service plan). The new owners quickly took the company into bankruptcy, defaulting on that giant debt, after paying themselves $200 million (including tens of millions in performance bonuses to the C-suite in the same year the company declared bankruptcy).

Now the company has announced that it will also default on all severance payouts to the company’s 30,000 employees, including employees who worked at the company for decades, skipping Christmas and Thanksgiving with their families to staff the stores, now slated to get literally not one penny.

Here’s When to Vote in the 2018 Primary Elections

Alabama - June 5

Alaska - August 21

Arizona - August 28

Arkansas - May 22

California - June 5

Colorado - June 26

Connecticut - August 14

Delaware - September 6

Florida - August 28

Georgia - May 22

Hawaii - August 11

Idaho - May 15

Illinois - March 20

Indiana - May 8

Iowa - June 5

Kansas - August 7

Kentucky - May 22

Louisiana - November 6

Maine - June 12

Maryland - June 26

Massachusetts - September 4

Michigan - August 7

Minnesota - August 14

Mississippi - June 5

Missouri - August 7

Montana - June 5

Nebraska - May 15

Nevada - June 12

New Hampshire - September 11

New Jersey - June 5

New Mexico - June 5

New York - September 13

North Carolina - May 8

North Dakota - June 12

Ohio - May 8

Oklahoma - June 26

Oregon - May 15

Pennsylvania - May 15

Rhode Island - September 12

South Carolina - June 12

South Dakota - June 5

Tennessee - August 2

Texas - March 6

Utah - June 26

Vermont - August 14

Virginia - June 12

Washington - August 7

West Virginia - May 8

Wisconsin - August 14