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Black Friday 2021: The stores closed (and open) on Thanksgiving Day

October 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Last year, Thanksgiving and Black Friday looked a little different, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While holiday shopping has increasingly shifted to online in recent years, the pandemic led to an e-commerce boom.

But this year, many retailers will also focus on in-person shoppers, as in seasons past. This holiday season, industry watchers say consumers may opt to shop in stores because of shortages and supply chain issues, and reports of slower mail service.

While you can still get a lot of deals online, if you are ready to hit the stores, you’ll want to know what’s open on Thanksgiving Day and what time you can score in-person savings on Black Friday. Of course, there are plenty of earlier opportunities to get big savings, such as Amazon’s already-released Black Friday-worthy deals, but if you’re ready to shop ’til you drop, we’ll help you stay on top of what’s happening this holiday season with this list of major retailers and their plans for closures and sales.

Stores closed on Thanksgiving

Walmart

Just like last year, one of the country’s largest retailers plans to close on Thanksgiving Day. It’s the second time in Walmart’s history it’s closed on Thanksgiving.

Stores will operate with normal hours on Nov. 24 and the retail giant plans to roll out its online Black Friday Deals for Days in early November.

Target

One of Walmart’s top competitors, Target, also announced plans to close on Thanksgiving this year.

While shoppers won’t be able to shop the aisles during the holiday, Target’s Black Friday Now sales will be available through Black Friday.

Bed Bath & Beyond

The home and kitchen giant will close on Thanksgiving Day but reopen on Black Friday. Deals will become available online and in-stores earlier in November.

Best Buy

While customers can still enjoy deals online and via Best Buy’s app, physical stores will be closed on Thanksgiving this year.

Beginning Nov. 26, shoppers can enjoy huge savings through a variety of sales events.

Kohl’s

Kohl’s announced plans to close for the second Thanksgiving Day in a row on June 17. It will reopen for Black Friday.

Bix box retailers

Big box retailers such as Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s have traditionally closed on Thanksgiving and resumed normal hours on Black Friday. This year is no exception as all three retailers plan to close on Thanksgiving 2021.

Top retailers open on Thanksgiving

Some of the most popular retailers that will remain open include CVS, Walgreens, RadioShack, Big Lots and Bass Pro Shops.

What the appointment of 98 female judges to Egypt’s State Council means for women’s rights

October 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(GIZA, Egypt) — Seventy-two years of Egyptian women’s rights activism paid off this week as the State Council, an important independent judiciary body in the country, appointed 98 female judges for the first time.

Iman Sherif, one of the appointed judges, described the move as “historic” during the swearing-in ceremony, saying she was over the moon, according to state-run Al-Ahram Newspaper.

“We pledged to live up to our responsibilities. I can’t describe my happiness,” she added.

“It is very important, not only to see the long resistance came up with this result, but also how much it means to the new generation,” Nehad Abu El Komsan, head of the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, told ABC News. “It is a step ahead for the younger generation to believe there can be no restrictions in their dreams.”

The recent appointment of 98 judges to Egypt’s State Council has considerable implications.

The State Council — established in 1946 — is an independent judicial body and one of the pillars of the judicial authority in Egypt. It has its own courts and hierarchy, like the civil and criminal justice systems.

According to the National Council of Women — which is a state organization — the very first female judge in Egypt was appointed in 2003 in the Constitutional Court. Later, in 2007, 31 more female judges joined the judiciary in 2008 and 2015.

However, what distinguishes the recent hiring of women judges by the State Council is that this body has mounted the stiffest resistance against women judges joining the judiciary over the last decades.

“That’s exactly where the conflict was. The institutions which were supposed to defend and support the citizens’ rights were resisting against women’s rights within themselves,” Abu El Komsan explained. “That is why we celebrated this last move by the State Council.”

According to the last official statistics released in 2015 and published by the National Council of Women, women shaped less than half a percent of the total number of judges working in Egypt’s judiciary system. While there were only 80 female judges, there were around 12,000 male ones.

“It was and still is a male-dominated field, and even with the new 98 judges the percentage is still less than half a percent,” Abu El Komsan said.

The State Council decision of hiring women judges came after a recommendation that the justice ministry made public. The justice ministry said on March 8 that President Fattah Al-Sisi had called on them to appoint female judges in the State Council and Prosecution as he marked the International Women’s Day.

To Abu El Komsan, this recommendation was a result of years of women’s rights activism and civil demands for a change, rather than a gesture.

However, not all women’s rights activists share the same stance.

“Al-Sisi needs to just show the world that Egypt does not have any problem with women. But they really do,” Reda Eldanbouki, a lawyer and the executive director of the Women’s Center for Guidance and Legal Awareness, told ABC News.

“We have had great women judges who did want to join the State Council, but their applications were rejected because [they were] not necessarily aligned with the system. It did not matter how much they pursued their cases through legal paths, it still did not work,” Eldanbouki said.

“Actually, gender doesn’t matter. Male or female, you need to obey the system,” he added.

Eldanbouki and Abu El Komsan believe these newly appointed judges were not chosen from the graduates of the law schools, but rather the Council “promoted” or simply “relocated” the women judges who were already working at different positions or departments of the judiciary.

“They [the State Council] still have not opened the doors to the female graduates of the law schools. Most of them work as lawyers,” Abu El Komsan said. “We still have to push for breaking the glass ceiling.”

Jon Pardi’s “Head Over Boots” for “Tequila Little Time,” a tune he “shelled out” with in an hour

October 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

When Jon Pardi can’t think of anything else to do, he likes “Tequila Little Time.” And it helps if he has Thomas Rhett‘s dad, singer/songwriter Rhett Akins, around.

You see, Jon’s latest hit came to life on the final day of a writing getaway for his latest album, Heartache Medication.

“It’s a fun song,” Jon says of “Tequila Little Time.” “I love how it’s just the sleek little title that Rhett Akins came up with.”

“He was laying on the couch,” Jon recalls. “It was the last day of our retreat and we… just couldn’t think of anything. I mean, it was like silent for maybe 20 minutes, and… just out of nowhere, he’s like ‘Tequila little time, man!’ And we wrote the song in an hour.”

Jon has a theory about songs like that — one that’s true of his first number one.

“Usually there’s something special about songs you can shell out in an hour,” he explains. “‘Head Over Boots’ was one we shelled out in an hour. And it just fell out of us.”

“It was just kind of like picking up somebody when they’re down, having a shot of tequila and dancing and having fun,” he says of the idea behind his new song.

“And right now, I feel like everybody wants to have a shot of tequila and have fun if they’re drinking,” he laughs.

Scoreboard roundup — 10/21/21

October 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
LA Dodgers 11, Atlanta 2 (Atlanta leads series 3-2)

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Atlanta 113, Dallas 87
Miami 137, Milwaukee 95
Golden State 115, LA Clippers 113

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Columbus 3, NY Islanders 2 (OT)
Washington 4, New Jersey 1
Carolina 4, Montreal 1
San Jose 2 Ottawa 1
Florida 4, Colorado 1
Calgary 3, Detroit 0
Winnipeg 5, Anaheim 1
NY Rangers 3, Nashville 1
Vancouver 4, Chicago 1
Edmonton 5, Arizona 1

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Cleveland 17, Denver 14

TOP-25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
FSMU 55, Tulane 26

Back for more cheap thrills: Sean Paul & Sia reunite for “Dynamite”

October 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Five years ago, Sia scored her first U.S. number-one hit with “Cheap Thrills,” her collaboration with Sean Paul. Now, the two have reunited for a new single, “Dynamite” — and Sean Paul says working with Sia again was “magic.”

Sean Paul says he always knew he and Sia would do something else together, but he tells ABC Audio that it took them this long because it needed to be the right song. Sean says he had the initial idea and rhythm for the track, but Sia took it to the next level.

“It was like the bones of the song, and she kind of added the soup!” he laughs. “She got it cooking. When she wrote that hook, I was like ‘Ohhh!!!’ But again, with her voice, you know, everything she sings [is great].”

He adds, “But for me, it was just magic.”

Sean says he’s looking forward to the video for the song, due out in a few weeks, which will show his hometown of Kingston, Jamaica, “in the future.” “There’s cars flying and there’s big buildings, a lot of crazy stuff!” he says, laughing.

For now, though, Sean is just satisfied to be able to release “a very feel-good song, something to get people on the dance floor and to just sort of forget about the worries that’s all in the Earth right now.”

“I think that’s what my music is and has been for people over the years,” he explains. “You know, there’s problems every day…You see it on news every day. I like to tell people that whenever there’s anything wrong with my life, there’s always one song that’ll get me in a better mood. And so I’m happy to be able to provide people with that type of music, especially this one.”

Don McLean’s classic “American Pie” song and album celebrate their 50th anniversary on Sunday

October 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Don McLean‘s classic anthem “American Pie” and album of the same name were released 50 years ago this Sunday, October 24.

With “American Pie,” which was the album’s lead track and centerpiece, McLean used the tragic 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper — referred to in the tune as “the day the music died” –as a launching point to metaphorically trace the history of rock ‘n’ roll through the turbulent 1960s, while also reflecting on the loss of innocence America experienced during the era.

“American Pie” spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1972, while the album topped the Billboard 200 for seven weeks around that time. American Pie also featured a second hit, the acoustic ballad “Vincent,” an homage to painter Vincent Van Gogh that peaked at #12 on the Hot 100.

“American Pie,” of course, has become among the most enduring songs of its time.

“It’s been a hit record on steroids,” McLean tells ABC Audio. “[O]ther hits have been forgotten that were around or…if you listen to them now, they sound silly…This song is majestic and it continues to grow.”

Reflecting on the song, Don says, “[I]t’s entertaining on a number of levels…I had a blast writing it and thinking about it and laughing and thinking, ‘Oh, this is funny, I’ll do this,’ or ‘I won’t do that.'”

As for “Vincent,” McLean notes with a laugh, “I hear people saying that the song has actually made [Van Gogh] famous, more famous than he was before. That makes me feel funny…because he was already a god, really, in [the realm of art].”

As previously reported, McLean will launch a 50th anniversary American Pie tour this January in Honolulu.

‘The Story Of Marvel Studios: The Making Of The Marvel Cinematic Universe’ book includes “personal stories,” authors say

October 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Got Marvel? The first fully authorized, all access history of Marvel Studios is in bookstores now!

The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a two-volume hardcover collection that details the rise of the studio into an cinematic force, chronicling all 23 films that make up the beloved “Infinity Saga,” featuring talks with the actors, producers and creatives — including Marvel Studio head Kevin Feige.

Feige, who started as an associate producer on X-Men, shared the invaluable lessons he learned during his early days.

He tells ABC Audio one of those takeaways was decision-making, and recalled some of the “risks” X-Men took, “like casting a six-foot-three Hugh Jackman to play the five-foot-two Wolverine and ultimately saying…embodying the spirit of the character that is more important than getting your ruler out and matching it perfectly to the comics.”

Feige also learned the importance of having the right filmmaker for the job, despite experience level, because “they have a story to tell and a vision of how to tell it in a unique and different way.”

The Story Of Marvel Studios was a years-long effort by co-authors Tara Bennet and Paul Terry — but don’t think this is just a book chronicling the exploits of on-screen superheroes.

“There’s so many personal stories,” Terry said. “We see the spectacle of the movies but these are human beings with ideas! And those ideas evolve and become the MCU that we love.”

Speaking of Marvel, Bennet pointed out that what makes Marvel Studios different is their ability to retain and grow talent.

“This is a place where people have stayed,” she said, noting how people who “started out from getting people coffee… [to] now being an EP on Endgame.”

Common reveals Tiffany Haddish’s special quality: “It’s that child-like spirit that you love”

October 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Common and Tiffany Haddish made their relationship public in August 2020, and now, 14 months later, their special bond is growing stronger.

“She keeps me laughing. It’s that child-like spirit that you love,” the rapper/actor tells Essence about the Night School star. “She also possesses an authenticity that I love. I’m gonna know what’s on her mind. I’m gonna know what she’s feeling about me or somebody else or something. I like the way she communicates — that’s important to me. “

The 49-year-old entertainer adds, “Along with that, the way she treats her family and loved ones is real cool. I’m attracted to that. Tiffany is a good-hearted human being, and I love that about her.”

Common also feels that the pandemic has brought the two stars even closer as they have spent more time together.

“It makes you reflect on, ‘If things was ending now, who do I want to be around?'” he says. “Naturally, Tiffany and I just spent a lot of time together, just really enjoying life and being grateful for life and not putting too much pressure on our relationship, just really being present with each other and supportive and having fun.”

The Oscar and Grammy winner was previously in high profile relationships with Serena Williams and Erykah Badu, and he says Black women have always motivated him.

“Some of the Black women that I’ve dated, been in relationships with, are crazy talented people, so that’s inspiring in itself,” Common says. “You see the work that they put in, and then how they can still go out and be good family people. That’s been very influential on my personal life, but it also comes through in my art.”

Why Do We Love A Good Scare?

October 22, 2021 by John Tesh

Do you love roller coasters, horror movies, and haunted houses? You’ve got a lot of company. The fact is, most people like a good scare. At least, when they know – deep down – that they’re not in any real danger.

Behavioral scientist Dr. David Rudd says that most adults and teens can realistically gauge how dangerous something is, whether it’s a roller coaster, or a zombie in a haunted house. They understand they might have nightmares afterward, but they still feel relatively safe. So, instead of experiencing real fear, they feel excitement instead. That’s also one reason people scream when they’re make-believe scared by a movie, or a Halloween attraction, and then laugh immediately afterward. Because the enjoyment is bubbling right below the surface.

But not everybody enjoys being scared. Some adults and most young children can’t tell whether something is scary-fun, or genuinely scary. It’s because they have less experience gauging how dangerous things are, whether it’s a monster in a movie, or a skeleton on someone’s lawn that screams as they walk by. So, they’re more likely to feel like they’re in real danger.

That’s why kids get scared so much more easily than adults. And why they may not find the scarier-parts of Halloween enjoyable at all.

Give Your Bank Account A Boost

October 22, 2021 by John Tesh

Why is it that so many people choose NOT to save money? It has very little to do with your income and expenses. Researchers at Dartmouth and Harvard Universities studied people with lower incomes who easily outsaved higher-income earners – by an average of $100,000 as well as people with huge incomes who didn’t save a dime.

So what did they learn?

For one, some people simply check out. The researchers say many of us don’t save because it’s easy to spend in our culture, and we’re on autopilot. We don’t think of money management as something we need to do. We’ll schedule things like laundry and movie night, but neglect to sit down and focus on our finances.

Also – we procrastinate. We know that someday we’re going to need money, but our lives are so hectic and things are so expensive, that we keep putting it off until things settle down – which, as we know, never happens. Or we’re convinced that our “million dollar idea” – that business we’re going to start or the novel we’re going to write – is going to take care of our retirement needs. When it comes to money, we have to be more practical than that.

So, ready to give your bank account a boost? Here are a couple of tips:

Bank your raise. Mary Hunt is a financial expert and author of Live Your Life For Half the Price, and she says the next time you get a raise, or a bonus, save at least half of it. Let’s say your raise gives you an extra $200 a month. If you save half of that – $100 a month – at 6% interest for 10 years, that money will grow into more than $16,000! You won’t miss it, because you never saw it in the first place.
Save the payment. When you pay off something, like a car loan or a credit card, take the amount of money you were paying each month and add it to your savings instead. A $330 monthly payment to yourself over five years turns into more than $23,000! Enough to buy your next car with CASH.

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