The Cannabis Industry Is Not as Green as You'd Think | Let's Talk Rat Poison

The Cannabis Industry Is Not as Green as You'd Think | Let's Talk Rat Poison

Even as the legal cannabis industry booms, the black market persists with competitive prices and a lack of red tape on its side. As Jodi Helmer reports for JSTOR Daily, illegal growers set up an estimated 14,000 grow sites on federal and private lands in 2018—and that was just in Humboldt County, California.

Illegal cannabis growing operations pose a huge threat to the ecosystems of public forests, Eric Westervelt reports for NPR. Without any sort of regulations, illegal growers can use banned insecticides and other chemicals to shield their crops from pests. Using these substances excessively can have devastating consequences for nearby wildlife and water supply.

At one illegal growing site in California’s Shasta-Trinity National Forest, ecologists and law enforcement agents found evidence of toxicants like Bromethalin, a rat poison, and carbofuran, an insecticide that is banned by the Environmental Protection Agency. Speaking about carbofuran, wildlife ecologist Greta Wengert of the Integral Ecology Research Center (IERC) tells NPR, "It is incredibly toxic. A quarter teaspoon could kill a 600-pound black bear. So obviously just a tiny amount can kill a human. It remains in an ecosystem for a long period of time."

MarteMei van Haaster in Jonathan Anderson by Viviane Sassen for AnOther FW 2019

MarteMei van Haaster in Jonathan Anderson by Viviane Sassen for AnOther FW 2019

Marte Mei van Haaster is styled by Katie Shillingford in the FW2019 issue of AnOther Magazine. Viviane Sassen captures the fashion artistry from Jonathan Anderson’s fall collection. Susannah Frankel profiles the 35-year-old Northern Irishman who wears two design hats.

On his own label, Jonathan Anderson is renown for his experimenting, innovative approach to design, his creativity financed by LVMH’s minority position in the label. Anderson, a product of London College of Fashion, has been Creative Director at LVMH label Loewe since September 2013.

Said to be pleased with the label’s financial growth, Bernard Arnault champions Anderson’s approach of strengthening Loewe’s values of craft, tradition and technique. The socially-conscious designer has partnered with Doutzen Kroes’ initiative #KnotOnMyPlanet in support of The Elephant Crisis Fund in special projects at Loewe. Read the entire Jonathan Anderson fashion article overview at AnOher Magazine.

LVMH Announces Acquisition of Tiffany & Co for $16.2 Billion | Biggest Deal Ever in Luxury

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury company, led by Bernard Arnault, founder, chairman and largest shareholder of LVMH, announced on Monday that his proposed acquisition of Tiffany & Co has been accepted. The $16.2 billion deal makes it the largest ever in the luxury sector and represents an increase over LVMH’s opening bid of $14.5 billion.

“Tiffany is an American icon and was on the list of brands for a long time we thought was a good potential match,” Mr. Arnault told the New York Times in a telephone interview from Paris.

“We expect this to be the starting gun for a further round of industry consolidation in the luxury sector over the next 12 to 18 months, with the significant polarization we continue to see between the stronger and weaker brands,” said Swetha Ramachandran, an investment manager at GAM Global Luxury Brands Fund.

The acquisition marks the second major move into the American luxury market by LVMH this year. In a major innovation move, LVMH created a new luxury house Fenty, with Rihanna earlier this year. That major launch was also accompanied by the LVMH announced acquisition of Belmond luxury travel group late in 2018, along with a significant investment in Stella McCartney, that left the designer with majority control. McCartney also became a chief adviser to LVMH on sustainability issues.

Arnault stressed that taking Tiffany & Co into the LVMH family will remove the brand from the stress of Wall Street’s demands for consecutive quarter profits.

“We will focus on building long-term desirability,” he said. “When you are an independent brand listed on the American stock exchange, your goal has to be the next quarter profit. We can free them to have a different state of mind in the company.”

When LVMH bought Belmond late last year, AOC asked if Bernard Arnault will save the elephants. Given Tiffany & Co’s ongoing. commitment to elephant conservation, through superwoman Doutzen Kroes’ Knot On My Planet foundation, we will up the ante on the question. There’s a synergy building here for elephants and Africa, and I have a very good feeling about it. LOEWE, another LVMH luxury brand, is also involved with Doutzen and Knot On My Planet. Watch this space. Belmond is deeply invested in sustainable safaris in Africa. ~ Anne

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Willy Vanderperre Captures Indya Moore for AnOther Magazine FW 2019

Willy Vanderperre Captures Indya Moore for AnOther Magazine FW 2019

American actor, activist and model Indya Moore of ‘Pose’ fame is styled by Olivier Rizzo in an all Louis Vuitton fashion story for AnOther Magazine’s Fall/Winter 2019 issue. Willy Vanderperre captures Moore, who was honored this fall with inclusion in the TIME100. / Makeup by Kanako Takase; hair by Hos Hounkpatin

Read AnOther Magazine’s: Cover Story: ‘Indya Moore, an Icon for a New Era’.

Tory Burch Glamour Visionary Woman of the Year Acceptance Speech, Holiday Campaign

Anna Wintour and Tory Birch at 2019 Glamour Woman of the Year Awards

Tory Burch Holiday 2019 Campaign

Tina Barney Captures Amber, Fei Fei, Franci + Tory Burch Holiday 2019

Photographer Tina Barney captures models Amber Valletta, Fei Fei Sun, Franci Santos, Julia Betyakova and Nora Attal for Tory Burch Holiday 2019. If you’re not familiar with Tina Barney’s photography, ArtNet shares an introduction.

Tory Burch: Glamour Woman of the Year

“It’s amazing isn’t it, how difficult it can be for a woman or a girl to simply be ambitious?” “The Walking Dead’ and ‘Black Panther’ star Danai Gurira said as she presented designer Tory Burch with her 2019 Glamour Woman of the Year Visionary award on Monday, November 11. “To have her eye on the prize without apology. How many times do we diminish ourselves, our voices, our abilities, even our opportunities, to stay comfortably within the status quo? To not ruffle any feathers or draw attention unto ourselves? How much greatness has been lost through this pervasive type of oppression?”

She continued, “Tory is unapologetic with her brand. The bold way she adorns women with class, flair, and fun all at once, and with the way she is working to leave no woman or girl behind. To popularize feminine ambition. From the millions of dollars she invests in female entrepreneurs to her awareness campaigns, arming people with education on the grotesque gender gap that still exists in so many ways. Tory is a champion for change, using the fruits of her ambition to nurture and empower the ambition of others.”

In her acceptance speech, Tory Burch share a founding story that resonates deeply today. ““When I was first launching the company, I presented my business plan to a group of men; they were the investors. I told them I was going to build a business that focused on purpose. They very concretely said to never mention the words business and social responsibility in the same sentence,” Burch said in her speech. “Of course, that only furthered my resolve. What they called charity work, I called a business plan.” Read the rest of Tory Burch’s speech at Glamour Magazine.

Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) Wins Chair of House Oversight Committee

Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), flanked by Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) Photo: Chip Somodevilla via Axios

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) will become the first woman to chair the House Oversight Committee, winning the important assignment by defeating Gerry Connolly (D-VA) with 133 votes against Connolly’s 86.

Maloney has been acting as the committee's chair since the Oct. 17 death of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.). Her gavel will immediately thrust the Congresswoman into the limelight, with the Oversight’s key role in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

Rep. Jim Jordan, (R-OH) is known to be a particularly abrasive, heavy-hammer, take-no-prisoners Republican leader on the committee, prompting Connolly to run on the quiet platform that dealing with Jordan is a man’s job.

Given his uninformed, pure badgering performance in this week’s intelligence committee impeachment hearings, Maloney’s supporters dismissed the argument as sexist. Supporters insisted that it was key to have a female voice alongside the two other white men leading the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.

Maloney secured endorsements from top Democrats like House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), who is also the most powerful black member in Congress. Her promise to focus on important issues beyond investigating Trump was welcome news for moderates “squeezed by the ongoing impeachment furor”, writes Politico.

Frida Kahlo 'Portrait of a Lady in White' Sells for $5.8 Million at Christies Latin America

Frida Kahlo, Portrait of a Lady in White (c. 1929). Courtesy of Christie's Images Ltd. via ArtNet

Frida Kahlo’s ‘Portrait of a Lady in White’ (c. 1929) carried a pre-auction estimate of $3 -$5 million. The painting sold Wednesday at Christie’s Latin American art sale in New York for more than $5.8 million, making it the second-highest price ever paid for a Frida Kahlo painting. Her ‘Dos Desnudos en el Bosque (La Tierra Misma)’ (1939) sold for over $8 million at Christie’s in 2016

A visitor looks at “Portrait of a Lady in White” at the Frida Kahlo Retrospective at Martin-Gropius-Bau on April 29, 2010 in Berlin. Courtesy of Sean Gallup via ArtNet.

The painting has been maintained in private collections, most recently the collection of Dr. Helga Prignitz-Poda, a Kahlo scholar. One of Kahlo’s few oil paintings, “Recent research suggests that the subject of the portrait is Kahlo’s high school friend Elena Boder, a Russian émigré and an influential doctor. It was previously believed that the sitter was Kahlo’s American friend Dorothy Brown Fox.” writes Forbes.

Lauren Wasser's Bionic Beauty by Isaac Anthony for Paper Magazine

Lauren Wasser's Bionic Beauty by Isaac Anthony for Paper Magazine

Bionic woman Lauren Wasser is styled by Jenny Haapala in images by Isaac Anthony for Paper Magazine’s Winter issue. Laura Pitcher narrates what began as Lauren’s Cinderella story of a high-cheekbones baby modeling in Vogue Italia at age two.

Wasser continued to model, even after losing both legs to TSS (Toxic Shock Syndrome) at age 24. Wasser, the 5’11” daughter of model parents, first shared her story with VICE in 2015, explaining that she feels a duty to stand for TSS survivors without a platform.

"If men's dicks were falling off, this wouldn't be an issue," Wasser says. "But because it's a women's health issue, we're not recognized, and that's why I'm fighting for us."

Wasser is also working with H&M and Savage x Fenty.

Rihanna+Jahleel Weaver vs Victoria's Secret: Embracing Women

Rihanna's Savage x Fenty Xtra VIP Campaign Rings In A New Day in Lingerie Leisure

Rihanna rings in the holiday season, sharing her Savage x Fenty three VIP boxes in a campaign lensed by Dennis Leupold. Designs were handpicked by Rihanna’s stylist, creative collaborator and best friend Jahleel Weaver. Talking with British Vogue, Weaver describes the VIP boxes as representing everything the lingerie brand represents: “Expressing the truest version of yourself and celebrating how different and unique we all are.”

From the “Truth or Dare” package to “Still Watching?” and “XXX”, Weaver wanted to include as many lingerie styles as possible for Fenty’s expansive following, writes British Vogue. “The pieces I chose all have their own unique Savage twist and show personality – a mix of strength and sensuality,” Weaver tells Vogue. “I love it when people take risks with their clothes. It’s always so obvious when you can see that a person is having fun with fashion.”

Paolo Roversi Flashes Saoirse Ronan in 'Kindred Spirit' for Dazed and Confused Winter 2019

Paolo Roversi Flashes Saoirse Ronan in 'Kindred Spirit' for Dazed and Confused Winter 2019

Actor Saoirse Ronan is styled by Robbie Spencer in ‘Kindred Spirit’, a Paolo Roversi fashion editorial for Dazed and Confused Winter 2019./ Hair by Malcolm Edwards; makeup by Lauren Parsons

Saoirse Ronan joins Laura Dern in conversation for ‘When Laura met Saoirse’ in advance of a new movie about “America’s most fiercely loved literary heroine in Greta Gerwig’s ‘Little Women’.

Atlantic Magazine Seeks New CEO As Laurene Powell Jobs Strengths Commitment to Journalism

Laurene Powell Jobs via Wiki Commons

On Wednesday night, Atlantic Media chairman David Bradley sent a memo announcing that he’ll remain chairman but will step away from executive responsibilities following the selection of a new president/CEO for The Atlantic. He said he’ll continue to help where useful, in areas such as “recruiting, retention, matters of culture” and “Washington entertaining,” writes Politico.

David Bradley speaking at the 2013 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Doctor Who", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Image via Gage Skidmore

Bradley bought the 162-year-old media institution in 1999, moving it from Boston to Washington, where it became a fixture among the political and media elites. The memo — expected since the July 2017 announcement of the purchase of The Atlantic by Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective. At the time AOC reported the sale, Bradley expected to continue as chairman operating partner for three to five years, with Emerson Collective moving to increase its ownership of The Atlantic from 70 percent to 100 percent with five years.

In Wednesday’s memo, Bradley said his minority ownership of The Atlantic would continue for at least five years from the date of the 2017 sale, “but maybe longer.” Bradley characterized his partnership with Powell Jobs as “uncommonly happy” and a “pure privilege.”

While she isn’t seen frequently at The Atlantic, Powell Jobs has added more than 100 employees — 50 in the newsroom alone — since 2017. The magazine is no longer profitable, according to WSJ, but The Atlantic is instituting a paywall.

Besides The Atlantic, Powell Jobs’ seeks to make further investments in journalism, writes Vox Recode.. Her Emerson Collective, described by C Net as “equal parts think tank, foundation and venture capital fund”, has also acquired majority stakes in Axios and Pop-Up Magazine Productions. Add on large stakes in several Hollywood production companies like Concordia Studio, Anonymous Content and Macro. It has also invested in podcast maker Gimlet Media. Emerson Collective is equally committed to nonprofit journalism organizations , including ProPublica, Mother Jones, Marshall Project, Committee to Protect Journalists and the Texas Observer.

Lucy Hughes' Bioplastic Made From Fish Scales Just Won the James Dyson Award

Most people look at fish guts and think, “eww.”

Lucy Hughes looked at the bloody waste from a fish processing plant and saw opportunity.

Then a student in product design at the University of Sussex, Hughes was interested in making use of things people normally throw away. So she arranged to visit a fish processing plant near her university, on England’s southern coast.

She came away a bit smelly—“I had to wash even my shoes,” she says—but inspired. After tinkering with various fish parts, she developed a plastic-like material made from scales and skin. Not only is it made from waste, it’s also biodegradable.

The material, MarinaTex, won Hughes this year’s James Dyson Award. The £30,000 (nearly $39,000) award is given to a recent design or engineering graduate who develops a product that solves a problem with ingenuity. Hughes, 24, beat out 1,078 entrants from 28 different countries.

Hughes, who grew up in suburban London, has always loved to spend time near the ocean. As a budding product designer—she graduated this summer—she was disturbed by statistics like 40 percent of plastic produced for packaging is only used once, and that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the sea by weight than fish. She wanted to develop something sustainable, and figured the sea itself was a good place to start, given that the University of Sussex is outside the beach town of Brighton.

“There’s value in waste, and we should be looking towards waste products rather than virgin materials if we could,” Hughes says. Read more about Hughes’ project Smithsonian.com.

Firearm-Makers May Finally Decide It’s in Their Interest to Help Reduce Gun Violence After Sandy Hook Ruling

Kylie Jenner Sells 51% of Kylie Cosmetics to Coty, Making Her the Richest Kardashian

Kylie Jenner, who recently unseated Mark Zuckerberg as the world’s youngest billionaire, is selling 51% of her stake in Kylie Cosmetics to Coty Inc. for $600 million.

"This partnership will allow me and my team to stay focused on the creation and development of each product while building the brand into an international beauty powerhouse," Jenner said.

The young mogul’s team will continue to manage her creative and communication efforts, a critical component of the deal because Jenner is one of the most-followed people on social media. Jenner delivers an audience of 150 million followers on Instagram and 30 million on Twitter.

“On social media, Kylie has over 270 million followers,” Coty Chief Financial Officer Pierre Andre Terrise said in a conference call. . “To put this in perspective, with a single post, she’s able to reach more than double the number of people who watch the Super Bowl every year.”

With Coty suffering turbulent times in an industry reeling under the success of brands like Jenner’s, the deal benefits from Jenner being a stable, prime mover of beauty products. Coty launched a $3 billion write down in value of brands it acquired in 2015 from Procter & Gamble, that included Clairol and CoverGirl. The deal also establishes Coty with another player in the younger women, direct-to-consumer sales channel. For 22-year-old Jenner, the all cash deal is a brilliant business move.

Coty CEO Pierre Laubies said in the release that the deal is "an exciting next step in our transformation and will leverage our core strengths around fragrances, cosmetics and skincare, allowing Kylie's brands to reach their full potential."

We note that some Wall Street analysts expressed skepticism over the deal, while admitting that reliable brands like Estee Lauder, Loreal and Sephora are suffering, as the industry enters choppy waters. “Brands tied to a celebrity have a unique risk in that their popularity can ebb and flow with the popularity of the celebrity,” said Rebecca Scheuneman, an analyst with Morningstar. “That’s one risk we don’t care for with the deal.”

Hang Tight, America: The Redcoats Are Coming | Shag Haircuts Unite

Hang Tight, America: The Redcoats Are Coming | Shag Haircuts Unite

Rule number one of the little bit of grunge, a little rock, rigorously disheveled shag haircut is that the woman should be seriously rebellious and not faking it when choosing to get shaggy. Shags are not for imposters and poll readers. Rather, the shag haircut is for leaders like 70s’s women Jane Fonda and Debbie Harry, who are activists to the core decades later.

‘Shag’ is a 16th-century word, possibly from an Old English term for “rough, matted hair or wool. Men primarily, but some women also, have adopted their own definition of ‘shag’ and it has a strongly sexual connotation, as in “S(he) is a great shag.” There’s typically a ‘but’ that follows, as in “She’s a great shag but a total airhead.”

Shags are generally considered to be nonconforming, sexy haircuts, willfully embraced by their owners. Besides Fonda and Harry, the shaggy bob is also tagged to Meg Ryan and more recently Taylor Swift and Alexa Chung. Vogue Italia breaks down all the shag haircut details and shares celebs with their shags.

Jane Fonda, Still Flexing Shag Muscle

The return of shags — now a year-old trend in the US — gets new cred with female resistance. We all know that American women Democrats, Independents and increasingly, educated Republican women are exercising serious shag credentials.

Christine Blasey Ford Honored in ACLU LA As Handmaids Protest Kavanaugh at Federalist Society

Christine Blasey Ford speaks at the ACLU of Southern California's Annual Bill of Rights Dinner in Beverly Hills on Nov. 17, 2019.Richard Shotwell / via NBC News

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, professor of psychology at Palo Alto University and a research psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine, made a surprise and rare public appearance Sunday night at an event with the ACLU of Southern California in Beverly Hills.

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was greeted by protesters dressed as the reproductive slaves in the dystopian novel "The Handmaid's Tale" while Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's Senate testimony was played on a large video screen outside the Federalist society venue. via Jennifer Bendery Twitter.

Ford, who famously accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of having sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers, accepted the Rodger Baldwin Courage Award, saying that she had a responsibility to the nation to speak out about the alleged assault during a small party of teenagers in suburban Maryland in 1982. Ford explained that her knowledge of Anita Hill’s testimony against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas helped persuade her that she must step forward during Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings.

"When I came forward last September, I did not feel courageous. I was simply doing my duty as a citizen," she said. “I was simply doing my duty as a citizen, providing information to the Senate that I believed would be relevant to the Supreme Court nomination process. I thought anyone in my position, of course, would do the same thing.”

Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh has kept a low profile since his confirmation, rarely appearing in public. The judge addressed the Federalist Society, a conservative legal foundation, in Washington DC on Friday November 15. Kavanaugh was greeted by protesters dressed as the reproductive slaves in the dystopian novel "The Handmaid's Tale" while Ford's Senate testimony was played on a large video screen outside the venue.

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was greeted by protesters dressed as the reproductive slaves in the dystopian novel "The Handmaid's Tale" while Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's Senate testimony was played on a large video screen outside the Federalist society venue. via Jennifer Bendery Twitter.

Michelle Obama Is Schiaparelli Goddess of Strength and Energy at Smithsonian Fundraiser

Michelle Obama with Schiaparelli Creative Director Daniel Roseberry. © Paul Morigi/Invision/AP/Shutterstock via British Vogue

Michelle Obama loves yellow, and she achieved true goddess stature wearing a custom Schiaparelli gown to the American Portrait Gala. Obama attended the event to support her friend Lin-Manuel Miranda, now a permanent fixture on the wall of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, in artwork by Mark Seliger.

“What I love most is that [Lin] believes it’s his duty to lift up those around him, especially the next generation,” the beloved former First Lady said of the ‘Hamilton’ creator. “He’s someone who has, in melody and rhyme and connection, painted as honest a portrait of our country as I’ve ever seen. Love this guy.”

Speaking of Michelle Obama’s dress, Schiaparelli Creative Director Daniel Roseberry commented on the design: “The inspiration for the shape originally came from the crinoline which is often found underneath couture gowns, but the real starting point for the overall look was the colour. The acidic tone echoes Elsa Schiaparelli’s signature shocking pink, and we also felt that it matched the strength and energy of Mrs Obama. It was such an honour to make this special gown for her.”

Roseberry waxed lyrical about Madame Schiaparelli when he took the creative reins at the house in April. “She was a master of the modern; her work reflected the chaos and hope of the turbulent era in which she lived,” he said. “Today, we find ourselves asking similarly big, identity-shaping questions of our own: What does art look like? What is identity? How do we dress for the end of the world?” via British Vogue.

Besides Lin-Manuel Miranda, other honorees included Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold, Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee band Earth, Wind & Fire, former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi.

The event raised more than $2 million in support of the Smithsonian museum’s endowment for exhibitions, with more than 700 guests in attendance. The Washingtontonian provides photos galore.