The Secret to Ending Political Vitriol Is Found in Hallmark Movies
But as my cousin laughingly informed me last year, Hallmark movies no longer dwell solely in the realm of winter wonderlands. There are fall Hallmark movies, spring Hallmark movies, Christmas in July Hallmark movies, and Hallmark movies for just about any reason in between. Even other non-Hallmark companies produce knock-off Hallmark movies!
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
‘We are still here': Centuries before colonists, a tribal celebration began in R.I.
Advertisement and welcome people from different tribal nations. Tribe members begin with a cleansing ceremony to remove any negative energy before the celebration starts, Foster told the Globe. 'There are different events throughout the US and people are choosing to come here,' Foster said. 'We want to honor them with a song from our host drum. We do a Calumet Dance that is a dance to welcome our guests as well as a form of prayer. ... It's a song for those coming into our lands; it's giving thanks.' Powwows are also a competition. The categories include traditional, grass/fancy, and eastern war dances for men, and traditional, fancy, jingle dress, and eastern blanket dances for women. Winners receive up to $300. Advertisement Foster said the fancy dance is the most modern dance at powwows, popularized over the last century beginning with 'It was done as a means of entertaining the crowd,' Foster said. 'There are acrobatics involved.' Grass dance is a Plains Indian-style dance that is slow and rhythmic, according to Foster. 'Men would perform the dance to flatten grass down to form their village.' According to Foster, the 'biggest thing' about a powwow is reminding the public 'we are still here,' and celebrating Native American history. 'When it comes to powwow there is a huge misconception,' Foster said. 'It's not a ceremony like other stuff we participate in. It's more like a pop culture/hybrid ceremony. There is a ceremony that takes place at powwows beforehand, where we welcome guests that include non-Native American. But most powwows that aren't traditionally run powwow are just competitions. They showcase tribal heritage.' The Narragansett Pow Wow is more traditional because it highlights tribal heritage, while other powwows are just for competition, Foster said. 'I think the significance is it's a long milestone for the tribe,' he said of the 350th event this year. 'It shows our culture and history is still alive despite numerous attempts by colonists, British, and later Americans to exterminate or assimilate us in their own culture and their own history. It marks not only a milestone of achievement despite challenges and trepidations, but also to show that despite everything we are still thriving. No matter what we are always going to be here.' President Joe Biden formally apologized to Native Americans in 2024 for the US government's role in operating Indian boarding schools for 150 years that attempted to assimilate Native children by tearing them away from their families and cleansing their languages and culture, according to the Advertisement 'The federal government has never formally apologized for what happened until today. I formally apologize,' Biden said. 'It did take place. Darkness erases nothing. Some injustices can't be buried. We must know the good, the bad, the truth. We do not erase history; we learn from history, and we remember.' From 1819 to 1969, 'the US government operated or paid churches and religious groups to run more than 400 federal Indian boarding schools in 37 states,' according to the Washington Post. 'Those schools weren't even a thing of the past,' Foster said. 'The last one closed in 1998 (in Canada). That's less than 30 years ago. There are family members I don't know because they died in boarding schools in the 1960s. Great uncles and aunts I never got to meet because they died long before I was born.' This weekend's powwow will be a time to celebrate and honor the past, present, and future of Native American people, Foster said. Some modern enjoyment includes food trucks and craft vendors. Foster reminds guests to be respectful of dancers by asking permission to take photos and not touching the dancers' clothing. 'I say this a lot at powwow, but it's important not to touch dancers' feathers and regalia,' he said. They have cultural and spiritual value. Some items dancers carry are items they use to pray with. The beadwork can be delicate at times." Advertisement Carlos Muñoz can be reached at
Indianapolis Star
2 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Buy now, return later, money back guaranteed. How America scores free stuff
When Tom Haverford goes camping with coworkers in a 2011 episode of the NBC comedy 'Parks and Recreation,' he tricks out his tent with an Xbox, fondue pot, panini press, soft-serve ice cream maker, DJ roomba, even a real bed. 'How do you afford all this stuff?' he's asked. 'I just return it the next day and claim it was defective,' replies Haverford, played by actor Aziz Ansari, while sprawled in a hammock enjoying an electric scalp massage. 'The key is crying a lot. No one likes to hear a grown man cry.' Like most sitcom material, the antic is borrowed from real life. Liberal return policies have inspired sketchy behaviors such as 'wardrobing' – when people buy expensive outfits for a special occasion and tuck the tags out of sight so they can return them the next day. Now, in a practice known as 'weekend rentals,' shoppers take home a leaf blower or a hedge trimmer only to return it when they're done with it. With high inflation and tight budgets, Paco Underhill, author of 'Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping,' says this 'rent the runway' mindset is only spreading. People are 'renting' and returning more things: Plants for open houses, outdoor tables and chairs for a party and giant televisions to watch the Super Bowl. Pressure washers and paint sprayers are discarded after home-improvement projects. Some people even bring back the ladders they used to string holiday lights from their rooflines. 'So many of the things that we buy are based on some form of immediate need and often, when that's over, it's just over,' Underhill said. Retail staffers who process returns at big-box stores frequently grouse online about 'rentals through the returns desk' or the 'service desk rental program.' And they say they can predict product returns by the seasons. At Costco, where a "risk-free 100% satisfaction guarantee" gives members an unlimited grace period to bring back most purchases, snowblowers flood the returns area after the last winter storm, portable generators and chainsaws after hurricane season and air conditioning units after the summer heatwave. A Costco employee who has worked with the company in multiple states says trees, inflatables and other holiday decor get stacked seven feet high after Christmas. Some members fly Old Glory only to return the American flag after July 4, according to the staffer who also spoke on the condition of anonymity. Others 'rent' jewelry for black-tie events, including one customer who returned three $2,000-plus necklaces in one summer. And just this month, the employee processed a return for $500 worth of meat, cheese and dip left over from a wedding with fewer guests than expected. A couple of years ago at a Connecticut warehouse, a Costco member showed up at the returns desk in early November lugging an animatronic scarecrow, a 10-foot-tall witch and bags of candy from a haunted tractor ride. With no room at home to store his Halloween haul, he demanded a full refund. The store's manager explained that Costco isn't in the rentals business but processed the return anyway, an employee told USA TODAY on the condition of anonymity for fear of losing her job. When the same member turned up in early January with thousands of dollars worth of inflatable snowmen, reindeer yard decor and string lights from a winter wonderland-themed tractor ride, Costco turned him down. Other returns, the employee said, that have been accepted at her warehouse: massage guns after the member worked out a muscle knot and a fully assembled gingerbread house because 'it looks bad.' They returned dirty toilets and rugs. Then came the backlash. Shoppers who abuse return policies often excuse their behavior as a one-off or say they're just doing what everyone else is. After all, they say, what's the harm in swindling a megabucks corporation? 'Consumers often justify their actions by believing that the benefit to them outweighs the harm to the company,' said Ayelet Fishbach, professor of behavioral science and marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. The money-back guarantee dates back at least as far as the mid-1700s when an innovative small-town English potter Josiah Wedgwood used the gimmick to lure customers and close sales in the fine china market, according to USA TODAY research. In America, businessman Potter Palmer embraced the concept a century later when he encouraged well-heeled customers of his dry goods store in Chicago to take home merchandise on approval. Marshall Field, who took over from Palmer, carried on that legacy with his namesake department store's no-questions-asked return policy. The policy soon caught on elsewhere. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Sears catalogs were printed with the slogan: 'Satisfaction guaranteed or your money cheerfully refunded.' With successive generations of merchandising legends, from James Cash Penney of JCPenney to Sam Walton of Walmart, 'the customer is always right' became an article of faith. But the returns free-for-all really took off with the advent of internet shopping as e-commerce companies jockeyed for shoppers' eyeballs and their wallets. The competitive pressure forced more brick-and-mortar establishments to loosen their return policies, too, according to Zac Rogers, an associate professor of operations and supply chain management at Colorado State University. Zappos' customer-centric return policy was so successful that eventually Amazon bought out the retailer for $1.2 billion. 'What e-commerce has done is reset consumer expectations for the ways that retailers should behave,' Rogers said. But goosing sales with lenient returns quickly turned into a logistical and costly headache for retailers. Returns were projected to reach $890 billion in 2024, according to a report by the National Retail Federation and Happy Returns, a UPS company. Retailers estimated that nearly 17% of their annual sales in 2024 would be returned. The vast majority (93%) of retailers point to retail fraud and other exploitative behaviors as a major issue for their business, citing the increased operations expenses to process returns and increased shipping costs. "They created this monster that they now have to deal with,' Rogers said. With so much merchandise headed for liquidation centers or landfills, many retailers have responded by shrinking their refund windows or by charging return fees. Despite the high costs, retailers are still cautious about how much they rein in liberal return policies, worried that discouraging returns will discourage people from making the purchases in the first place. But they aren't the only ones stuck footing the bill. 'As a vendor, we are required to accept 100% of the returns of our products, no questions asked, regardless of the reason,' an executive for a vendor told USA TODAY on the condition of anonymity because he feared losing business from Costco and other big-box stores. Return rates can run as high as 20% or more depending on the product, he said. It's not just lost sales vendors have to absorb. They have to cover the cost of shipping returned products back to the warehouse and all other associated fees. A few years ago, Costco briefly considered narrowing the return window to 90 days on outdoor power equipment, but management rejected the proposal, according to the executive, and vendors have paid the price. When he worked for a company that sold lawnmowers to Costco, the lawnmowers would fly out the door in the spring, only to fly back in come October. 'We would get used lawnmowers back and they were not even our brand,' he said. 'People would go buy a new mower, put their old mower in the box and return it.' That behavior 'is not the norm,' he said. 'But it's not the exception either.' Neil Saunders, a retail analyst at the research and analytics firm GlobalData, said he expects to see more retailers crack down on bad behavior. Home Depot, sometimes referred to as "Rent a Depot" or 'Returns Depot' because of returns abuses, recently instituted a 7-day return policy on pressure washers, dehumidifiers, window and portable air conditioners and generators. A spokeswoman denied that frequent returns were behind the policy shift. 'We added the 7-day return policy for categories that our customers need in the event of a natural disaster,' Beth Marlowe said in a written statement. 'By shortening the return window, we can have more inventory on hand to quickly move to the communities where these products are needed most.' Whatever the motivation, the new policy has slowed returns in these product categories, according to store employees. A Home Depot worker in Virginia, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job, said he used to watch customers return window AC units typically within two to three weeks. After the new policy took effect in June, he overheard some customers saying they planned to buy an air conditioning unit to cool off during a heatwave. When they approached him, he pointed out the new policy and they left without buying one. But what about customers with legit returns? When Josh Powell, a 31-year-old organ transplant coordinator from Sherwood, Arkansas, fired up the pressure washer he bought online from Home Depot to clean the siding on his new house, it began belching black smoke. So he packed up the big box and crammed into his compact SUV for the 10-minute drive to his local store. With a full refund in hand, he bought another pressure washer on the spot, but this was before the 7-day policy went into effect. Now, Powell worries what will happen if he has a problem outside that window. Too often, he says manufacturers make it difficult to return defective goods. Will he get stuck with a $500 lemon? 'People are always looking for the best benefit for them and they will take advantage of any policy they can find, so I understand why certain retailers are cracking down,' he said. At the same time, he says he would go 'full Karen' if a retailer refused to return a faulty product.
New York Post
14 hours ago
- New York Post
How Seth Rogen pulled double duty with ‘The Studio' and ‘Platonic': ‘Hard work pays off'
Seth Rogen doesn't take his job lightly. The star, 43, was so invested in both of his Apple TV+ shows that he pulled double duty while filming. Rogen currently stars as Matt Remick in the Emmy-nominated dark comedy, 'The Studio,' and also portrays Will on the dramedy series, 'Platonic.' 11 Luke Macfarlane attends the season two premiere of 'Platonic.' Apple TV+ via Getty Images His 'Platonic' co-star, Luke Macfarlane, revealed how the actor was able to pull it off. 'Going into season two, you know, Seth had just finished filming 'The Studio,'' he exclusively told The Post. 'So we were very curious what 'The Studio' was going to turn into. And now, of course, we know what 'The Studio' turned into.' Macfarlane, 45, added, 'It is this incredible, brilliant, beautiful show. That he was, by the way, working on while he was filming Season 1 of 'Platonic.' Which is also, just as an actor, an incredible sort of reminder that hard work can pay off.' 11 Luke Macfarlane talks to Alexandra Bellusci of the Post. 11 Seth Rogen in 'The Studio.' The Hallmark star reminisced about how Rogen would juggle both roles at the same time. 'He was literally finishing scenes on 'Platonic' and going in his trailer and typing away,' continued Macfarlane. 'So it's delightful to come back and do a second season of the show. I think we all had a tremendous amount of time. It also feels like a lot of people that enjoy working together, and getting to work together again.' Looking back at filming the second season, one memory in particular has stuck with the 'Bros' vet. 11 Seth Rogen as Matt Remick in 'The Studio.' Apple+ 'Seth really respects what everyone does,' Macfarlane said. 'You know, Seth did an amazing thing once, actually. Somebody on set who kind of shouldn't have said this told me to do something.' He explained, 'I was wearing a lav, a microphone, and I brought my hand to my lav, and I covered the lav in the scene. And somebody said something to me like, 'Oh, don't do that with your hand, you'll cover your lav.'' Rogen made sure that was the end of stepping in where you shouldn't. 11 Luke Macfarlane in 'Platonic.' 'And Seth actually said to that person, 'Don't tell an actor what to do. That's not your job,'' Macfarlane shared. 'Just watching somebody look out for his fellow actors – that's what he does.' 'He's got integrity,' Macfarlane gushed. 'He knows how to look out for his actors. He really cares about an actor feeling comfortable.' Rogen also made sure to keep the laughs coming. 11 Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne in 'Platonic.' 'Seth is very famous for a lot of things. I think he's really famous for that laugh, you know?' Macfarlane mused. 'And I will say, working with Seth, you always want to get him to do that laugh. It makes you very happy when you make Seth laugh. So I will say the most Seth Rogen thing you can get him to do is laugh.' Rogen wasn't the only one who hit Macfarlane's funny bone. 'Rose makes me laugh a lot,' he dished about his on-screen wife. 'I think we're filming a scene where I was, like, popping in and out of a doorway, and of course, the timing was hilarious. So we were just making each other laugh because I felt like I kept on missing the entrance.' 11 Luke Macfarlane, Rose Byrne, and Seth Rogen speak at Apple's 'Platonic' Los Angeles event. Getty Images for Today at Apple 'It's something early in the season where I'm sort of like, you know, doing the sticking my head [in], and I just kept on sticking my head in at the wrong time. So that made us both laugh quite a bit.' These days, the Canadian hunk is focused on bringing Season 2 to the masses. 'Platonic' follows former best friends, Sylvia (Byrne) and Will (Rogen), who reconnect after a years-long rift. The second season drops on Wednesday, August 6, with Macfarlane describing what fans are in store for. 11 Carla Gallo, Luke Macfarlane, Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen. Getty Images 'Friendship, chaos, and comedy,' he stated. Macfarlane's Charlie, meanwhile, is trying to navigate his partner's reignited friendship. 'This second season is different for my character, because in the first season, my character is the rock,' he detailed. 'This season, he's definitely the character that is, oof, a little bit sort of lost. Lost in the weeds. So it was fun to kind of explore this other side of him where he's a little bit more sort of floundering in the universe.' 11 Seth Rogan in a scene from 'The Studio.' Apple+ But Macfarlane is happy to step back into Charlie's shoes for such a hilarious and sweet series. After all, he is 'most comfortable [in] comedy.' 'I get to wear sort of the most normal clothes,' elaborated Macfarlane. 'I like doing comedy. That's what I feel the most comfortable in.' 11 Seth Rogan looks upset in a scene from 'The Studio.' Apple+ Rogen is serving all sorts of comedy playing Remick – the newly appointed head of Continental Studios. He is juggling corporate demands, talent, and his own ambitions, all while trying to keep movies relevant. In June, Rogen opened up about what he wanted to portray with the show, which many people in the industry have related to in a very real way. 'I mean, I don't know if our specific goal was to trigger a trauma in people,' he told The Playlist, 'but it was meant to capture our own experiences with it as viscerally as possible. And that was a word we used a lot.' 11 A still from the 2025 drama 'The Studio.' 'So yeah,' he went on. 'I think the idea that people who have experienced similar things have a visceral reaction to it, I think it does mean that it is a good expression of our experience and what we were trying to put out there.' Rogen noted: 'But yeah, it's based on a lot of traumatic things I've experienced, so…'
