The history and breakdown of Black Friday

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Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving, and it’s one of the major shopping days of the year for the people of the United States -falling anywhere between November 23 and 29. While it’s actually not recognised as an official American holiday, many people enjoy a day off -except those working in retail.

So where did this tradition come from, and is Black Friday really that big a deal?

The origins

Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an official national holiday during the Civil War, establishing it as the final Thursday in November – a designation that lasted for 70 years. But in 1939, for the second time in six years, the last Thursday in November fell on the 30th. Distraught over a shorter Christmas shopping season, retailers approached President Franklin D. Roosevelt and asked him to change the date.

The term “Black Friday” was coined in the 1960’s to mark the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. There are many different beliefs about how the name actually came about

A popular idea is that “Black” refers to stores moving from the “red” to the “black,” back when accounting records were kept by hand, and red ink indicated a loss, and black a profit. Ever since the start of the modern Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been known as the unofficial start to a bustling Christmas shopping season.

In a non-retail sense, it also describes a financial crisis of 1869: a stock market disaster, set off by gold spectators who tried and failed to corner the gold market, causing the market to collapse and stocks to plummet.

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Huge discounts on the biggest shopping day

As retailers began to realise they could draw big crowds by discounting prices, Black Friday became the day to shop, even better than those last minute Christmas sales, or even those in January. Some retailers put their items up for sale on the morning of Thanksgiving, or email online specials to consumers days or weeks before the actual event. The most shopped for items are electronics and popular toys, as these may be the most drastically discounted. However, prices are slashed on everything from home furnishings to clothing.

Interestingly, the day after Thanksgiving has only recently become the biggest shopping day of the year. Between 1993 and 2001, it ranked between fifth and tenth on the list of the busiest shopping days. In fact, for years, the busiest shopping day was usually the Saturday before Christmas.

But things changed in 2002. That was the year Black Friday took the lead, and it has remained the busiest shopping day of the year ever since, with the exception of 2004 when it was second. Experts speculate that shopping on the day after Thanksgiving has become more popular because many people have the day off, stores offer extended hours, and almost every store seems to have a sale on the day after Thanksgiving.

Shopping brutality

In 2008, the first death attributed to Black Friday fanaticism was recorded at a Walmart in Valley Stream, New York. Stampeding shoppers trampled an employee to death. Consumers refused to stop their rush when store employees tried to help their co-worker, ultimately contributing to the man’s demise. Shoppers also buffeted the police officers who arrived to help.

These days, however, you have other shopping options to avoid the turmoil. Many retailers begin offering deals on Thanksgiving Day or earlier.

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Photos by: Laurie, Frank TascheColony of Gamers.

Will Processed Meat Cause You To Get Cancer?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) have recently claimed that processed meats such as bacon, sausages and ham can cause you cancer.

The report claimed that consuming more than 50g of processed meat a day – which equates to around 2 slices of bacon – increased the change of people developing colorectal cancer by 18%.

This is in fact a real finding but what should we make of it?

The main thing is to remember that although this is a real finding, it’s a narrow finding that hasn’t just come to the surface. In fact links between certain types of meat and some forms of cancer – notably bowel cancer – isn’t ‘new’ news. The evidence surrounding this study has been building for decades, and is supported by a lot of careful research.

First of all, it’s important to understand the definition of what the study is saying.

Cancer Research have highlighted the difference between the meats highlighted in the study, and their definitions are as follows:

‘Red’ meat is (as you might expect), any meat that’s a dark red colour before it’s cooked –  this obviously means meats like  beef and lamb, but also includes pork.

‘Processed’ meat is meat that’s not sold fresh, but instead has been cured, salted, smoked, or otherwise preserved in some way (so things like bacon, sausages, hot dogs, ham, salami, and pepperoni). But this doesn’t include fresh burgers or mince.

The WHO’s study didn’t claim that if you eat any sort of meat then you can cause yourself to get all or any kinds of cancer. And it also didn’t claim that processed meat is just as, or even more dangerous than smoking, or anything else linked to cancer. The conclusions from the study were a lot narrower in that they have to do with cancer (mainly colon and rectal cancers) and meat.

According to Cancer Research,  in 2011 scientists estimated that around 3 in every hundred cancers in the UK were due to eating too much red and processed meat (that’s around 8,800 cases every year). This compares against 64,500 cases every year caused by smoking (or 19 per cent of all cancers).

They’ve also said that none of this means that a single meat-based meal is ‘bad for you’. What it does mean, however, is that eating large amounts of red and processed meat, over a long period of time, is probably not the best approach if you’re aiming to live a long and healthy life. Meat is fine in moderation. Cancer Research have said that it certainly is a very good source of some nutrients which you need – including protein, iron and zinc.  It’s just about being sensible, and not eating too much, too often.

So fear not, you’re free to eat a bacon sandwich every once in a while without worrying about the long-term state of your health.

 

Photo by: Kjetil Ree

 

 

The Big Names In The Republican Presidential Race

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The amount of people running for the Republican makes the debate stage look more like a marathon line-up, but who are the possible winners and where do they come from?

1. Donald Trump –  26.8% voted him best in the polls

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The outspoken Businessman is actually leading the polls, even beating dynastic former governor Jeb Bush in popularity.

2.Ben Carson – 22%

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The dark horse of the contest,  the former neurosurgeon still holds second place, despite some controversial claims about the recent Oregon school shooting.

3. Mark Rubio – 9%

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The senator in Florida is sneaking up to become the new favourite for the candidacy.

4. Jeb Bush – 7%

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Jeb yes-that-Bush was seen as a possible winner at the start. It’s almost as if having a extremely controversial brother harms your chances of becoming president!

5. Ted Cruz – 7.2 %

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The senator for Texas is the more right-wing choice for leader

6. Carly Fiorina – 5.8%

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Former head of Hewllet-Packard, Republicans hope she can manage the country better than her company.

7. Mike Huckabee – 3.8%

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Former governor of Arkansas. Might overtake some politicians as Fiorina loses momentum

8. Rand Paul – 3.4%

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Senator from Kentucky and son of former republican congressman Ron Paul.

9. John Kasich – 2.6%

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Governor of Ohio, was a businessman in the 1990’s.

10.Chris Christie – 2.4%

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Governor of New Jersey, known mostly for the Fort Lee lane closure unfortunately.

Bonus round: Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum, George Pataki and Lindsey Graham all have under 1% of the vote therefore don’t debate alongside the other nominees.

Photots by Gage Skidmore, Iprimages, US Government, Michael Vadon, Gage Skidmore (Huckabee image), Michael Vadon (Fiorina image), Donkey Hotey.

 

Poll numbers come from official surveys of random samples of the American public conducted by official bodies.

Why Canada’s Recent Election Is Such A Big Deal

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Canada’s recent election was won by Justin Trudeau who is the leader of the Liberal party in Canada. Like many people, you’re probably wondering why a Canadian election is such a big deal. Well the centre-left party jumped from only 36 seats in 2011 to 184 seats in 2015. In real terms, that would be the equivalent to the Liberal Democrats in the UK winning an election outright.

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But it’s not just that which is the cause for this media coverage. It’s policy. The previous ruling party, The Conservative Party of Canada share more than a name with their UK counterparts. Being a low-tax, low-welfare led party, many parallels can be drawn with the British Conservative party. This makes the results even more astounding as the policies championed by Trudeau are the antithesis of the ideology held by the Conservatives:

  • Cut income taxes for middle-class Canadians while increasing them for the wealthy
  • Run deficits for three years to pay for infrastructure spending
  • Do more to address environmental concerns over the controversial Keystone oil pipeline
  • Take in more Syrian refugees, and pull out of bombing raids against Islamic State while bolstering training for Iraqi forces
  •  Legalise marijuana

For Justins Tredueas party to not only win, but win by quite a large amount speaks volumes on the stances Canadians take on social and political issues. But let’s be honest, why does this matter to the rest of the world?

Firstly, a large western country choosing to opt out of operations in Syria could affect other countires foreign policy. Similarly to French opposition to the invasion of Iraq, this policy could be said to have a impact on how the conflict will be viewed retrospectively. Also, Canada taking a humanitarian stance on the refugee crisis (despite the fact it doesn’t directly affect them) could set a precedent on how other countries react to the crisis.

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Successfully legalising marijuana could have a knock on effect on America and the UK as the Liberal Democrats are already pushing for decriminalisation, using Colorado and Washington (where cannabis has been fully legalised) as examples of how it can be successful.

Successfully Legalising Cannabis Could Change Drug Policy Around The World
Successfully Legalising Cannabis Could Change Drug Policy Around The World

 

Lastly, the left-leaning ethos of the party could serve as an example to other western nations of how higher taxes and increased spending can benefit an economy more so than austerity. This is particulary significant with the rise of prominent left-wing politicians Bernie Sanders of America and Jeremy Corbyn of the UK. Looking at Canada as a case study could prove to be hugely influential to the West and the UK.

Photos by BBC, Chuck Grimmet and Joseph Morris