The sending of good wishes and greetings during this season is an accepted tradition in most western countries and corporate giving can be a huge factor in marketing at this time of year.

The selection recognizes Nancy A. Marino's commitment to excellence in the Retail industry and Consulting/Advisory sector.

Stocking everything from original Scotch whisky to interesting blends from Ireland, Japan, Canada and the United States, Whisky Marketplace is a one stop destination to research and purchase the best brands in time for the holidays.

GiftWorksPlus offers an extensive line of custom wood picture frames that can be engraved with names, dates, messages, and more at no extra charge.

Wags-n-Whiskers-Giftbaskets.com showcases a wide range of gifts and gift baskets dedicated to pet lovers concerned with the health and welfare of their four-legged companions.

Harris Seeds is offering sweetheart deals with the launch of its Valentine's Day Shop at www.harrisseeds.com.

Collection's European and Asian antiques have remained in private hands for 60+ years

Mr Garrett Weldon of Weldons jewelers Dublin announced a new arrival in stock of a very interesting antique Irish silver salver, made in Dublin circa 1740, by Samuel Walker.

Make it the best Easter ever. Decorate with style, entertain with ease and give beautiful unique gifts to create a memorable EGGCELLENT holiday. It is about Family, Eggs and Bunnies of course.

Bronze grapevine sculptures to inspire during luxe event April 4-7.

Online pawn shop PawnUp.com made another announcement about increasing their list of accepted items. This positive move is aimed at letting more people cash in on their valuables in 2013.

A wide variety of brand-new coupon codes and discounts is now available at e-coupons.vn for customers to enjoy.

Harmon Brothers is the name of the social media ad agency that created the unforgettable Squatty Potty video spot. They've cranked out a number of other ads that also went viral (Poo-Pourri, Purple mattresses, Chatbooks, Lume deodorant), helping propel those businesses into multimillion dollar companies.

To help product companies that are struggling during the downturn, Harmon Brothers has announced they're giving away, sweepstakes-style, a $100,000 video marketing campaign. As long as you've got "a product or service that solves a real problem for real people," you're eligible to apply to their "$100K Poop to Gold Giveaway," as it's called.

Ten semifinalists will be chosen, and the Grand Prize winner gets the free campaign. But the other nine aren't left to hang: They get free coaching and/or a year of free access to the online Harmon Brothers University, where they've distilled their formula for going viral into online lessons.

Here are the details of how to enter:

Pandemic-time party pioneers in Germany have been holding social-distance-obeying drive-in raves. The cars line up in rows and no one gets out of the cars, so presumably your dancing is limited to whatever you can pull off in a seated position. Also, since all cars have built-in noisemakers, attendees aren't shy about using them.

I'm sure it was fun for the people who went, but between the honking, the flames and whatever that music is, it looks and sounds like a living hell to me. But I recognize I'm not the target market, and I hope this helps attendees blow off steam.

Handrail manufacturers often weld straight pipes to elbow connectors, then must grind the welds smooth. To speed this task, some use contraptions like this MB 650 RV product by German power tool manufacturer GeBrax, which attaches to an angle grinder to turn it into a flexible strip sander:

Other German companies, like Flex Tools and Fein, make dedicated pipe sanders:

There are also a host of sketchy-looking "As Seen on TV"-type companies flogging their own angle grinder attachments…

…but I think I'd stick with the reputable German brands.

Climbing coconut and arecanut trees to harvest their prizes is strenuous, dangerous work, and requires a young body. But in Dakshina Kannada, India, "there is a substantial migration of well-educated youngsters to the cities for white collar jobs," K. Ganapathi Bhat told India's The News Minute. "There is a huge scarcity of employment in labour-intensive sectors like agriculture, especially those skilled in climbing trees."

"Having been born in a family with an agricultural background, it was painful to see the ripe coconut and arecanut either eaten by birds or falling across the fields," Bhat says. At 60 years of age, he's too old to climb the trees himself. But unlike most farmers, he has a Bachelors of Science in Physics, Chemistry and Maths. Thus he cobbled this together:

The bike-based contraption runs on gas, using what appears to be a chainsaw motor. After testing it out for two years on roughly 2,000 arecanut trees on his own farm, Bhat reckons the "mileage" is 90 trees per liter of gas (360 trees/gallon), and that the machine can carry an 80kg (175-pound) person to the top of a 30-meter (98-foot) tree in 30 seconds--safely. If the brakes fail, a backup brake kicks in to jam the wheels in place. As long as your tree isn't mushy and algae-covered (he tested those, too, and found the performance unsatisfactory), you're in business.

Here's more footage of the machine in action, including Bhat jumping up and down on it, to demonstrate that it safely stays in place:

Although he's been approached by several manufacturers, Bhat has turned them down, as he's not interested in profit. "I wish to partner with an organisation that would help me share the technology with the farmers to benefit them," he says. "I do not wish to seek royalties for such a venture. But I want to make sure that this product reaches as many farmers as possible, so that, in some way, it helps in the development of the overall agricultural scenario of the country."

Dutch restaurant ETEN, which is part of Amsterdam's Mediamatic Arts Centre, is trialing an innovative approach to social-distancing dining. As reported by Reuters, a series of small greenhouses (max. capacity: 3) has been constructed along the waterfront outside of their restaurant.

Servers wear gloves and facemasks.

Food is served on long planks, so the servers can slide them onto the tables without entering the greenhouses.

Ditto for busing the dishes afterwards.

If I can point out one flaw, it's that the tables need those server-summoning buttons they have in Asia. In the photo below, you can clearly see the two dudes on the right are desperate for refills.

And while the solution is Dutch, the marketing contains a bit of French. "Organisers call the project 'Serres Séparées' (Separate Greenhouses)," Reuters reports, "because they say it sounds better in French."

Disclosure: The links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission  if you click through and make a purchase. It’s how I get paid! Thank you!! Registration is now open!  … Continue reading →

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Have you ever heard someone say, “I welcome constructive criticism” and wondered how on earth they can feel that way? It seems a little unnatural that anyone would enjoy hearing someone tell them what they are doing wrong, or what… Read More

The post How to Handle Criticism at Work appeared first on Anders CPAs.

Dave M. Finklang, CPA/CGMA, MBA, tax partner at Anders, has been named a Best Accountant in St. Louis by Small Business Monthly (SBM). Each month, SBM polls readers and asks them to help identify the best in the region in… Read More

The post Anders Partner Dave Finklang Named a Best St. Louis Accountant appeared first on Anders CPAs.

As a firm, we strive to inspire people to be the best they can be, both personally and professionally. To help empower our employees’ overall health and well-being, each year Anders has a Wellness Initiative that focuses on helping improve… Read More

The post How Anders is Focused on a New Decade of Wellness in 2020 appeared first on Anders CPAs.

In light of the unprecedented changes happening in higher education, we want to accommodate students in any way possible to provide opportunity for career experience. With that being said, Anders is offering a Virtual Interview Day for potential Discover Anders… Read More

The post Join Us at Discover Anders – Virtual Interview Day on April 15 appeared first on Anders CPAs.

My DIY project for the weekend is to build a planter box with trellis to support a climbing vine, and I think I’ll stain it black. Last year I built some vegetable trellises and before that a criss cross wall trellis. I still have them both and they still function and look amazing! April is

Do the new Distress Oxide colors have you asking “what is the difference between the original Distress ink and new Distress Oxide ink?” Let’s test it!

Between the planner and journal trend, the rise of mixed media, and growing interest in painting itself, there’s more and more interest in travel watercolor sets. They are an affordable way to invest in a basic set of watercolors for someone who is still learning to paint, as well as a great for taking along […]

Is your company prepared to support the imminent demand for remote work options caused by the coronavirus? Take this quick Remote Work Assessment to identify potential issues in your technology environment and avoid problems later when deploying a Work from… Read More

The post Is Your Company Equipped to Implement a Work from Home Policy? Take the Remote Work Technology Assessment appeared first on Anders CPAs.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) recently approved a revised accounting standard intended to provide more information about an employer’s financial obligations to multiemployer pension plans. The revised standard, which the FASB expects to finalize in September 2011, will require… Read More

The post Employer Disclosures for Multi-employer Pension Plans Approved by FASB appeared first on Anders CPAs.

The Missouri Department of Revenue has announced the 2019 individual income tax year changes, effective for the tax year beginning January 1, 2019, which will be reflected on 2019 Missouri individual income tax returns.
Income Tax Brackets
The income tax… Read More

The post Missouri Announces Individual Income Tax Changes for 2019 Tax Returns appeared first on Anders CPAs.

Federal and state tax credits and incentives can help fund new business ventures and offset project expenses, saving your company time and money. Whether your company is adding jobs, investing in new technology or expanding its footprint to additional locations, there are credits designed to help fund these projects. Below we have outlined relevant tax...

The post A Guide to Tax Credits and Incentives for Missouri Businesses appeared first on Anders CPA.

The Situation Where service goes, Meg Stagina will follow. After all, as Executive Director of the Greater St. Louis Dental Society, the recognized professional resource for dentists in both their business and in their patients’ care, she knows a thing or two about how exceeding service standards leads to patient acquisition and retention for her...

The post Following Top-Tier Service to Navigate Change for the Greater St. Louis Dental Society appeared first on Anders CPA.

The Situation The St. Louis Surge is St. Louis, Missouri’s professional women’s basketball team. In 2019, the team begins its eighth season with five Regional Championships and two National Championships under its belt. Suffice it to say that the Owner and General Manager, Khalia Collier, who purchased the elite team in 2011, commits herself 110% to success.  A...

The post Proactive Plays Make for a Winning Relationship with the St. Louis Surge appeared first on Anders CPA.

GagliardiPhotography/Shutterstock

• As spring passes by under lockdown, many Americans are wondering if it's safe to visit their mom for Mother's Day this year. 
• Claudia Finkelstein, a doctor and associate professor of family medicine at Michigan State University, says that if either you or your parent have a chronic illness, are over the age of 65, or live in an urban area, it's unwise to plan an in-person visit.
• If you are able to visit your mother, however, try to meet outdoors and avoid physical contact — which may be challenging if you have children.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As a physician, mother, daughter, and socially responsible human, I'm finding Mother's Day to be complicated for me this year, as it is for millions. Questions of whether and how to see my adult children and my own elderly mother present medical and ethical quandaries. As an associate professor of family medicine with a focus on wellness, as Mother's Day approaches, I'd like to share with you my thinking about this using some tools to aid discernment.

Wouldn't it be great if choosing time with parents or offspring were ever an easy decision to make? However, the answer is rarely that simple. This year, in the midst of a global pandemic and the need to continue to practice social distancing, the decision is even more complex than usual.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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• 14 countries that are paying their workers during quarantine — and how they compare to America's $1,200 stimulus checks
• This is the most common zodiac sign among the world's richest billionaires

SEE ALSO: 5 ways for parents to motivate their kids and avoid tantrums at home during the coronavirus, according to a parenting expert

READ MORE: There's such a thing as having a 'social allergy' to someone you dislike. Here's how to keep the peace, no matter what situation you're in.

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• The storied investment bank is seeing leadership shakeups under CEO David Solomon and a slew of partner departures. 
• Goldman has been moving away from high-risk businesses like trading and is making pushes into more stable areas like consumer lending, wealth management, and transaction banking. 
• There have been big cultural changes, too. Solomon is looking to create a more transparent workplace, while new tech execs are taking cues from Silicon Valley heavy-hitters. 
• At Business Insider, we are closely tracking the latest developments at Goldman. You can read all of our Goldman coverage on BI Prime.

Storied Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs is going through some massive changes under CEO David Solomon.

It's taken big steps involving transparency and inclusion to change up its culture. It has seen a slew of partner departures — many in the securities division. And it's making big pushes into businesses like wealth management and transaction banking.  

The latest people moves

• Goldman Sachs just hired Kurt Hoffman, an expert in distressed situations and bankruptcy, to join a trading unit known for some of the bank's most lucrative deals
• Goldman Sachs' top tech exec explains how a fresh slew of senior hires are transforming the bank's approach to building products
• Read the full memo Goldman Sachs just sent naming 4 execs to lead its private-equity investments across the merchant-banking division

Culture and talent

• Read the full memo Goldman Sachs just sent to staff announcing its new head of regulatory affairs. The former White House counsel will be tasked with helping clean up the bank's 1MDB drama.
• Goldman Sachs just hired 2 senior recruiting execs focused on luring top talent from other firms —and it's a huge departure from the firm's traditional promote-from-within mentality
• Read the full memo David Solomon just sent to 38,000 Goldman Sachs employees explaining why he's moving his management team out of stuffy offices and into open seating
• Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and his management team are ditching their stuffy offices and moving to an open floor plan closer to the people so they can feel the buzz of New York headquarters
• Goldman Sachs just unveiled a new gender pronouns initiative as part of a broader inclusion push at the Wall Street firm
• Read the memo Goldman Sachs just sent to its employees unveiling a new pronouns initiative

Coronavirus response

• Inside a 38,000-person remote work rollout at Goldman Sachs: sleepless nights, assembly lines, and an Amazon-like hub on a Manhattan trading floor
• How a massive New York hospital secured 130,000 N95 masks from China with help from a senior partner at Goldman Sachs, private jets, and a call to Warren Buffett
• Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon just sent a firm-wide voicemail about the coronavirus crisis. Here's what he told employees.
• Goldman Sachs and Bank of America just updated their WFH policies — again. Here's what they're telling employees about the latest steps aimed at combating the spread of coronavirus.
• Read the full memo Goldman Sachs top brass just sent detailing the firm's coronavirus contingency plans, including separating employees into 'blue' and 'white' teams to alternate working from the office and home

Consumer push, transaction banking, wealth management

• Goldman Sachs just announced its first partnership for transaction banking as it looks to build a new $1 billion business moving money around the world
• Goldman Sachs is sending much less mail to potential Marcus customers. A senior exec lays out the reason why.
• A Goldman Sachs exec explains why the bank isn't sweating concerns over the Apple Card's profitability
• A Wall Street firm crunched the numbers around how much Apple will make from its new credit card with Goldman Sachs
• Here's why Goldman Sachs just did its biggest deal in nearly 20 years as part of a pivot to less wealthy clients
• Goldman Sachs execs are opening up about their plans for Marcus, and they think it can do to banking what iTunes did to the music industry
• Goldman Sachs' partnership with Apple could move it a step closer to being 'a bank branch in your pocket'
• Human resources is the next battleground for Wall Street wealth advisers as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs jockey over new turf
• Goldman Sachs has a novel method for predicting the next economic slump, and it's at the heart of its hot new business

Technology

• JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are finally beginning to embrace fintech startups. Here's how they test the waters before committing to working with them.
• We talked to the execs behind Bloomberg's new data partnership with Goldman Sachs. Here's why they think it's a sign of Wall Street's future.
• Goldman Sachs is putting its own Marquee app on Amazon's cloud in a pitch to lure more fintech developers
• Goldman Sachs is embracing open-source code and its chief data officer says it's part of a "new world" of software
• Read the memo the new Goldman tech chief sent to the firm's 9,000-plus engineers where he urges them to ditch presentations in favor of Amazon's famous narratives
• A new Goldman Sachs tech exec hired from Amazon is taking a page from the Jeff Bezos playbook by urging engineers to ditch PowerPoint and write memos
• Goldman Sachs' new CTO shares his strategy for attracting outside developers to work more closely with the bank, giving a glimpse into the future of how Wall Street will work
• A Verizon executive is joining Goldman Sachs as chief technology officer as the Wall Street bank reshuffles its ranks
• Marty Chavez is retiring from Goldman Sachs. We chatted with him about the bank's tech transformation, why now is the right time for him to step down, and what he's planning next.
• Goldman Sachs tech guru Marty Chavez is retiring from the bank
• Goldman Sachs' CEO just warned that the bank's big tech bets might not pay off as quickly as people hope
• Goldman Sachs is scrapping a homegrown email app it once touted — and it's a sign the bank is moving away from building tech in house
• Goldman Sachs is exploring plans to create a Netflix for data, and it marks a new frontier for Wall Street
• Goldman Sachs' internal idea factory hatched a plan for the Google of Wall Street, and it's now looking for the next big thing to disrupt the bank
• Goldman Sachs' big bet on the future of Wall Street had a rocky start. Here's the inside story of the bank's struggle to grow its next business and an exclusive look at its plans

Trading

• Bank of America is shaking up its global markets division and poached a Goldman Sachs exec to fill a key new role
• Goldman Sachs' massive quant business now rivals AQR and Two Sigma. We talked to the bank's top quant about asset growth, finding data sources, and why critics of computerized trading are wrong.
• Goldman Sachs' CEO tells us the bank is winning over quant clients. That helped it outpace rivals like JPMorgan last quarter.
• Goldman Sachs is cutting about 5% of sales and trading staff after senior equities leaders delivered a tough town-hall talk
• Goldman Sachs is moving away from a tool championed by its former CFO as it pushes its traders to see clients where they once saw quick wins
• Goldman Sachs is shuffling its top stock trading executives as the business tries to claw back market share from Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan
• Goldman Sachs's bond trading unit is still trying to find its way — and it represents a key challenge for new CEO David Solomon

Alternatives

• Read the full memo Goldman Sachs just sent naming 4 execs to lead its private-equity investments across the merchant-banking division
• Goldman Sachs is making targeted hires for a 'storefront' for alternative investments that's modeled after firms like KKR and Blackstone
• Goldman Sachs' push into private equity is ruffling feathers at Blackstone — and it might be a sign of big client skirmishes to come
• Goldman Sachs execs are jockeying for control of the firm's lucrative private investing units after a plan to merge it — and the stakes couldn't be higher
• Meet the Goldman Sachs execs tasked with building the firms' new Blackstone-esque private-investing unit — and pumping up the bank's flagging stock price
• 'It's good to be Rich': Meet the Goldman Sachs banker who has built a private investing empire that goes head-to-head with Blackstone — and you've probably never heard of him
• Goldman Sachs is considering a shakeup of its alternative investing units as part of a plan to simplify the bank's strategy

Deals

• Goldman Sachs is assembling a team of senior bankers focused on middle-market private equity. Here are the key hires and the playbook they'll use to land new clients.
• Goldman Sachs unloaded some of its WeWork shares before its investment bankers pitched investors on what it once considered a $60 billion-plus IPO
• Goldman Sachs just revealed it sold part of its Uber stake to SoftBank and it helped boost a $4.5 billion business
• A senior Goldman Sachs fintech banker was about to join JPMorgan — but then got lured back —and it's another sign of the fierce battle for M&A talent
• Goldman just promoted a star tech banker close to Tesla and Microsoft to co-head one of its most profitable businesses, as incoming CEO Solomon makes his mark
• Goldman Sachs just announced a shakeup of its leadership — and it signals the rise of bankers over traders
• A tug-of-war between Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan over a top banker highlights Wall Street's $1 trillion battleground

Investor day 2020

• Inside Goldman Sachs' first investor day, where avocado toast and crab apples were served with tech talk, 3-year plans, and a surprising trading mea culpa
• Goldman Sachs just revealed a new wealth brand at its first-ever investor day. It shows how the bank is trying to reshape its strategy — and image.
• Goldman Sachs just unveiled hundreds of slides laying out the future of the company. Here are the 10 crucial slides that show how it plans to transform into a bank for everyone.
• Goldman Sachs is rethinking how it makes private-equity bets with its own money – and one analyst thinks that shift will be a big driver of its stock price

Careers 

• Goldman Sachs is now hiring high-school graduates for roles in Salt Lake City, one of the company's 'high value' locations
• Goldman Sachs has lost at least 54 partners since David Solomon became CEO. We're keeping a running list — and compiling details from insiders about how the exits are being celebrated.
• Read the full memo Goldman Sachs' top brass just sent to staff announcing 2 heads of the bank's private-investing arm are out as it's gearing up to raise billions
• 2 coheads of Goldman Sachs' private-investing business are retiring, in a blow to David Solomon's fundraising plans
• A Goldman Sachs partner who just resigned is leaving behind a job overseeing $2 billion for a London VC with a leading stake in neobank Revolut
• Read the memo announcing the departure of Adam Korn, the Goldman Sachs exec who was 'instrumental in building and championing' innovations like the bank's Marquee platform
• Another Goldman Sachs partner is out. HR chief Dane Holmes is the latest key player to leave the Wall Street bank in a matter of days.
• Goldman Sachs is offering buyouts to encourage partners to leave as CEO David Solomon works to shrink one of the most elite clubs on Wall Street
• Goldman Sachs is making renewable energy a big priority based on its hiring strategy. It's a sign that its ideas incubator is working.
• The David Solomon era at Goldman Sachs kicked off with 43 words Lloyd Blankfein would never say
• Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon shares his best leadership advice
• Goldman Sachs is shaking up the way it stocks one of the most elite clubs on Wall Street — and it shows how banks are back to making money again
• Goldman Sachs' 1MDB problems are eating into employee morale, and insiders worry the firm will use its legal woes as an excuse to scrimp on bonuses
• Goldman Sachs is about to move dozens of jobs out of pricey New York to Utah as Wall Street turns to cheaper cities

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See Also:

• Goldman Sachs just hired Kurt Hoffman, an expert in distressed situations and bankruptcy, to join a trading unit known for some of the bank's most lucrative deals
• With retailers like J. Crew and Neiman Marcus floundering, top restructuring bankers are seeing a surge in work. Here's how firms like Lazard, Evercore, and Moelis are staffing up.
• A startup that uses AI to scan Wall Street chats is flagging more people for cursing and complaining — and it could be a sign of bigger compliance issues while people work from home

Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

• San Antonio City Council in Texas has unanimously voted to label terms including "Chinese virus" and "kung-fu virus" as hate speech.
• It was responding to a growth in racist and antisemitic incidents in the city, triggered by the coronavirus crisis.
• "Unfortunately, during times of crises, we do see the best of humanity and sometimes we also see the worst," said Mayor Ron Nirenberg. 
• Senator Ted Cruz called the decision "nuts," saying that the city council was "behaving like a lefty college faculty lounge." 
• It comes after Trump faced criticism for his use of the term "Chinese virus" at a White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The city of San Antonio in Texas has unanimously passed a resolution condemning the use of terms such as "Chinese virus" and "kung-fu virus" as hate speech.

It also encouraged residents to report "any such antisemitic, discriminatory or racist incidents" to the relevant authorities following several incidents in the city since the pandemic began, reports San Antonio's WOAI-TV.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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• Shanghai Disneyland cast members told to wear face masks and avoid guest contact ahead of next week's reopening as China emerges from pandemic
• Half of all Brooklynites are white, but 97.5% of the borough's social distancing arrests were of people of color
• Russia is fast becoming a coronavirus epicenter, with health workers still reporting PPE shortages. Putin is already thinking about reopening.

Jorge Silva/Reuters

• As some countries have started to lift their lockdown measures, public places have been making changes to adapt to government-issued social distancing measures. 
• More public places are using tape, floor markers and plastic dividers to help people comply with social distancing guidelines. 
• Photos show how people are trying to adapt to a new way of life during the coronavirus pandemic.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As some countries begin to lift their coronavirus lockdown measures, public places have been getting creative to adjust to social distancing guidelines.

From waiters wearing personal protective equipment to schools using plastic dividers between children, these photos show the world is adjusting to life under the coronavirus pandemic.

As countries begin to slowly lift their lockdown measures, many changes have to be made to public life in an effort to prevent second waves of COVID-19.

One of the places that have to adapt the most is restaurants. Some have been coming up with creative ways to enforce social distancing measures, including putting up dividers on tables.

But in some places, a plastic divider is not enough. Diners in this Bangkok restaurant, for example, have been asked to sit diagonally from each other to maximize their distance.

See Also:

• Shanghai Disneyland cast members told to wear face masks and avoid guest contact ahead of next week's reopening as China emerges from pandemic
• A West Virginia worker told us what it was like living at his factory for 28 days to help make PPE, and says he would 'absolutely' do another 'lock-in' to help
• These photos show thousands flocking to New York's parks over the weekend after Mayor de Blasio said that good weather 'is very much a threat to us'

SEE ALSO: LA's skies are smog-free and peacocks are roaming the streets of Dubai. Photos show how nature has returned to cities shut down by the coronavirus pandemic.

Matthew DeBord/Insider

• I tested a roughly $33,000 Polaris Slingshot R, a three-wheeled "autocycle."
• The three-wheeler category includes vehicles from Can-Am and Harley-Davidson, offering a motorcycle experience in a less demanding package.
• My Slingshot R had a new, Polaris-developed, 203-horsepower engine and an automatic transmission.
• In all but three US states, no motorcycle license is required to operate the Slingshot (New York, Massachusetts, and Alaska continue to require the motorcycle certification).
• The Slingshot is insanely fun, with a modest learning curve — it's a great alternative to a two-wheeler, although the price is definitely steep for the Slingshot R.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Motorcycles are cool, but they aren't for everybody. Fortunately, there are some alternatives out there that offer an equally compelling, open-air experience.

One of the most popular is the the Polaris Slingshot, manufactured by the Minnesota-based powersports company. Until recently, Slingshots were available only with manual transmissions and GM-sourced engines, but for 2020, Polaris has updated the autocycle with an in-house motor and an automatic.

The automatic transmission in particular really broadens the Slingshot's potential. So I was excited to sample the machine, which I first saw about five years ago.

Polaris was kind enough to loan me a tester for a few weeks. Here's how it went:

The Polaris Slingshot is a three-wheeled autocycle/motorcycle that Polaris industries has produced since 2014. My 2020 Slingshot R tester cost about $33,000 and was outfitted in a menacing red-and-black paint job.

The cheapest Slingshot is about $20,000.

This wasn't my first crack at a Slingshot. Polaris brought the vehicle to Insider's New York offices when the vehicle first launched.

And I generally have a gander at the Slingshot when I visit the annual New York motorcycle show.

See Also:

• All the coolest features of every Tesla vehicle ever made or unveiled, ranked
• Here are 20 cars you can drive off the lot new for less than $20,000
• How Tesla's cargo capacity stacks up against other iconic front trunks in the car industry: From Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, and more

FOLLOW US: On Facebook for more car and transportation content!

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

• The federal government on Saturday announced initial plans for distributing a promising coronavirus drug, remdesivir.
• The drug, manufactured by Gilead Sciences, was authorized for emergency use last week, but doctors and hospitals weren't sure how they were going to get it.
• The Department of Health and Human Services now say the drug is first being distributed to health departments in some hard-hit states, and the departments can distribute it to hospitals as they see fit. 
• Eventually, HHS expects the drug to be delivered to all 50 states, terrorities, the Veterans Health Administration and the Indian Health Service. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The federal government released its initial distribution plans today for the promising coronavirus drug, remdesivir, which was approved for emergency use last week. 

The drug, donated by manufacturer Gilead Sciences, "will be used to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients in areas of the country hardest hit by the pandemic," the US Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) said in a press release.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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See Also:

• The coronavirus drug remdesivir was OK'd for emergency use a week ago. The plan to get it to patients is still mired in confusion.
• Dispensed: Hospitals are stuck waiting for a promising coronavirus treatment
• 'It's hard to pay off your medical school loans in this kind of a job': Doctors who can protect the world against pandemics are in short supply

Reuters

• House lawmakers on Friday demanded five large, publicly traded companies return the $10 million loans they received that were meant for small businesses. 
• Only one company, MiMedx, said it would return the $10 million Paycheck Protection Program loans.
• Just 48 public companies of the 387 that received PPP loans have returned the money. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

US representatives blasted five publicly traded companies for taking Paycheck Protection Program loans means for small businesses, leading at least one to return the money.

The House subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis sent letters] to MiMedx, Quantum, EVO Transportation & Energy Services, Gulf Island Fabrication, Universal Stainless, and Alloy Products on Friday demanding they return loans received from the treasury. MiMedx said late Friday it was repaying its $10 million loan.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Lisa Larkin MD & Associates

• Ultrawealthy and sometimes asymptomatic Americans are using concierge doctors to access COVID-19 tests amid a nationwide shortage.
• The doctors, whose monthly fees can range up to $10,000 a month and don't accept insurance, can offer coronavirus antibody test results in as little as two hours; results for the general public can take days.
• Even some concierge doctors question the ethics of offering tests to their wealthy clientele that aren't available to the general public.
• Both concierge doctors and their clients told Business Insider that America's health care system is dysfunctional, and that patients are healthier operating outside it.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Jamie Gerdsen, the 46-year-old CEO of Cincinnati-based construction company Apollo Home, wanted his 200 employees to know how seriously he was taking the coronavirus pandemic. To prove it, he decided to get tested in April. 

For Gerdsen, the process was simple. All he had to do was call his doctor, set up an appointment time for him and his wife, and get to his doctor's drive-through testing center. At the center, they showed their IDs, answered a few questions, and got their fingers pricked, all without getting out of their car. The results came into Gerdsen's email inbox two hours later. 

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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• Airbnb has laid off 25% of its staff. Meet CEO Brian Chesky, who cofounded the company in 2008 to help pay his San Francisco apartment's rent and is now worth $4.1 billion.
• Here's how the 1% are getting their booze during the pandemic, from wine concierge services to online premium liquor retailers that sell $10,000 bottles of whiskey
• Elon Musk and Grimes just welcomed their baby boy. Here's how the eccentric CEO makes and spends his $38.2 billion fortune.

SEE ALSO: 

DON'T MISS: 

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• The White House reportedly plans to go ahead with a plan to institute temperature screenings at 20 US airports in order to instill confidence that air travel is safe, according to USA Today.
• According to leaked emails, a top CDC official said that such a strategy was ineffective and asked that the agency be excluded from the plan.
• Temperature checks do not account for asymptomatic COVID-19 cases, pre-symptomatic cases, or people with COVID-19 who do not have a fever.
• The report comes one day after an Associated Press report found that the White House had buried CDC guidance for re-opening businesses, schools, and churches.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Trump administration reportedly ignored guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over temperature screenings at airports and plans to go ahead with them, even though they were ineffective in initially preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the US.

The move, which would require temperature screenings at 20 US airports, was detailed in leaked documents reported by USA Today on Saturday. In an email to officials at the Department of Homeland Security, Dr. Martin Cetron, the director of global mitigation and quarantine at the CDC had argued "thermal scanning as proposed is a poorly designed control and detention strategy as we have learned very clearly." 

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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• A French doctor says a sample shows the country had its first coronavirus case in December, a month earlier than previously thought
• The coronavirus could kill 3,000 Americans per day by June 1, according to leaked projections from the Trump administration
• Oklahoma city immediately dropped its face mask order after residents threatened violence against employees who were enforcing the rule

Netflix

• This week's most popular movies on Netflix include its original thriller "Dangerous Lies" and "Den of Thieves."
• Netflix introduced daily top lists of the most popular titles on the service in February.
• Streaming search engine Reelgood keeps track of the lists and provides Business Insider with a rundown of the week's most popular movies on Netflix every Friday.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Netflix action movie "Extraction" is pacing to be the streaming giant's biggest movie premiere ever, but it was dethroned this week as the service's most popular movie. Another Netflix original, "Dangerous Lies," stole the crown.

Netflix introduced daily top 10 lists of its most viewed movies and TV shows in February (it counts a view if an account watches at least two minutes of a title).

Every week, the streaming search engine Reelgood compiles for Business Insider a list of which movies have been most prominent on Netflix's daily lists that week. On Reelgood, users can browse Netflix's entire movie library and sort by IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes ratings.

This week's list also includes "Den of Thieves," another movie starring Gerard Butler after his "Angel Has Fallen" enjoyed a few weeks on the list.

But the real winner this week is Netflix itself, as five of the seven movies on the list are Netflix originals. 

7. "The Willoughbys" (2020 — Netflix original)

Netflix description: "Four siblings with horribly selfish parents hatch a plan to get rid of them for good and form a perfectly imperfect family of their own."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 89%

What critics said: "Though the film-makers are indebted to Edward Gorey and Lemony Snicket — and pay musical homage to Mark Mothersbaugh's work on The Royal Tenenbaums — they find their own voice, when it counts." — London Evening Standard

6. "Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story" (2020 — Netflix original)

Netflix description: "After 16-year-old Cyntoia Brown is sentenced to life in prison, questions about her past, physiology and the law itself call her guilt into question."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 75%

What critics said: "A moving reflection of what criminal justice reform means in personal terms." — New York Times

5. "Arctic Dogs" (2019)

Netflix description: "When he stumbles upon evil Otto Von Walrus's scheme to melt the Arctic, ambitious delivery fox Swifty assembles a ragtag crew to protect the planet."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 13%

What critics said: "There's really not much to recommend about this film: the animation lacks texture, the score is overwrought, the plotting is scattershot, and the character design is uninspired." — AV Club

See Also:

• The top 19 TV shows people have started watching while social distancing, from 'Schitt's Creek' to 'Breaking Bad' and 'Ozark'
• Nicolas Cage will play Joe Exotic of 'Tiger King' in a scripted TV series
• The top 5 TV shows returning in May, from 'Homecoming' to 'Dead to Me'

SEE ALSO: Insiders say major questions hang over DC Universe as its parent company prepares to launch Netflix rival HBO Max

Scott Halleran/Getty Images

• College sports won't return this fall if colleges remain closed, the NCAA president Mark Emmert said in an interview May 8. 
• While if, how, and when schools reopen remains to be seen and will surely vary across campuses, the goal is keeping students, including student-athletes, safe. 
• It will be a "very unusual school year," Emmert said, and the NCAA will need to adapt accordingly.  
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

No one knows for sure what college campuses will look like in fall 2020, but it's clear students won't be kicking off their higher education in large auditoriums for convocation, initiating brothers at fraternity parties, or flirting with dormmates in mess hall buffet lines. 

Now, there's a good chance many won't be cheering for their sports teams — even remotely — either, NCAA presient Mark Emmert said in an interview with NCAA's college basketball correspondent Andy Katz May 8.  

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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• Fox News hosts Jeanine Pirro and Brian Kilmeade received priority treatment for PPE requests from Kushner's coronavirus team, according to a new report
• The White House hopes Americans will suddenly stop dying of coronavirus
• NY Gov. Cuomo picks daughter Mariah as 'informal advisor' for coronavirus mask wearing campaign