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These last few parts have taken a lot longer for me to write than I thought. A lot of shit has gone down in the last two months, and a lot of it, frankly, is kind of a blur. But I figure, if you've stuck with me this long, then you deserve to know how it all ended up so I'm going to try my best to remember every detail of what happened.
Me? I've spent every free hour I've had, just lying in bed. I've got a lot of healed wounds that still hurt me pretty damned badly.
Blood loss from multiple gunshot wounds and then drowning in the East River, dying and then being brought back while still human, incidentally, takes a lot out of a guy.
But… I'm getting way ahead of myself.
Where were we, again?
Oh yeah, that's right. The funeral without caskets, inside of a Ukrainian restaurant just off the boardwalk in Brighton Beach. That's where I left off at.
()()()
Antoni's corpse and I had spoken together for a while longer, about Beccs and their baby, actually, sitting there in the floor in front of the three empty bathroom stalls. The next moment, as usual, he was… just gone.
It took a while to slow the bleeding, and it took even longer to try and clean myself up with just hand soap and paper towels and the water from the sink. Nobody came into the bathroom again, and as I left, I saw why. There was a sign on the door that read 'Out of Order' with something printed below it in Cyrillic that I imagined probably said the same thing as the English.
My new winter coat had been left on the floor in front of the door and the Emergency Exit at the end of the hall had its alarm disabled and had been left propped open with a brick.
I took that as a clear message that they didn't want me rejoining the party, so I exited into the alley and sat on a milk crate chain-smoking until 2 PM when the funeral ended.
The weather app on my phone said it was 10 degrees outside, but oddly enough the cold air felt soothing on my bruised face. My eyes were nearly swollen shut, and every now and again I had to pull some of the toilet paper out that I'd stuffed in my pocket to wipe another trickle of blood from my nose when I sniffed a little too hard and moved the clots loose.
At 1:57, I started to hear people exiting the restaurant, so I moved onto the sidewalk to wait for Becca. The people leaving the funeral only glanced at me for a second and then looked away with a bored expression, like I wasn't even there. Finally, only Becca and Toni's immediate family were still inside.
Tatiana gave Becca a hug, Igor, a gentle handshake, and Antoni Sr. bent down, cupped his hands around Becca's face and pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead. I could see that his right hand was bandaged and he was holding it straighter than his left. Good. I hoped the fucker had broken it when he'd punched me in the jaw.
As Becca exited, I could tell she was angry even before she stomped over to me and shoved me three times in quick succession. Like Jimmy, Becca was a lot stronger than she looked, but now I knew why. I couldn't do much but ball up and take the hits.
"Where the fuck did you go? You just took off and left me there by myself. 'He wouldn't have left without saying goodbye if he had a choice.' You knew, you cocksucker, you knew, you knew he was dead!"
"Yeah, I knew! Antoni was in the news. But we gotta get the fuck out of here, Beccs, you're making a scene, another one, and I gotta get outta this neighborhood before something worse happens to me."
The high color of anger in her cheeks dropped away immediately into a pallid white. She'd been so pissed she'd never once registered the state of my face.
"Jesus Christ, Tony, what the fuck happened to you?"
"Your little Polish sausage's Daddy Dearest just beat the fuck out of me in the men's bathroom, that's what the fuck happened."
"Why would he do that?" Becca asked, but I didn't answer. She looked back to Skovorodka, following my gaze. Antoni Sr. was still standing there, just inside the front door, watching me with narrowed eyes, his hands folded neatly behind his back like a soldier at ease. It reminded me a lot of how Antoni used to stand while we were waiting for the train together.
"Fuck," she muttered, then "Shit," and grabbed me by the arm. "Come on."
"Why would he do that?" She asked me again as we climbed the stairs to the train platform.
"Antoni was Mob, Becca, Bratva. His whole goddamned family is. Him and his brothers and his father and his fucking Russian uncle, and I'd say your Mama Tatiana probably isn't in the dark about what her brother and her hubby and his sons do to make a living, either. I don't know why the Zabrowskas were on the Avenue, but suffice to say it was probably for nefarious reasons, and Jimmy found out about it and took care of business.
"Only I don't think he realized exactly who he was taking out at the time he did it, or else he never would have put the body in the River for somebody to find. And then the other three showed up to avenge their brother, only two of 'em never made it past Bianchi any farther than Antoni did."
"The fuck are you trying to say?" Her tone says she already understands just fine and doesn't want to.
"I'm saying your dear sweet Mamma killed your boyfriend, Becca. She removed all the identifying marks from his body, ate what she wanted, then pulled all his teeth out and chewed off his hands and his feet. They dumped the body in the East River and they found him about 5 days ago, floating off of Battery Park."
"Oh God. That's why. I asked Tatiana where Antoni was going to be buried and she told me in the public cemetery on Hart Island. They're not claiming the body because they don't wanna go to the cops. For the last week I been cussing him for everything he was worth, and he's been laying in the fucking morgue." She pressed her hand to her mouth, and I saw her bloodshot eyes filling with tears again.
"Please don't cry, Becca, cause I'm gonna start crying again and I've cried enough for today."
She sniffed back her tears and swallowed hard.
"But I don't understand, Tony, what the fuck does that have to do with you?"
"They knew, Beccs, they knew how the Zabrowskas died, who killed them, and they knew I helped Moretti get rid of the bodies afterwards. That's why Antoni's father went after me. The uh… the fucking Pakhan thought Jimmy sent me there to rub it in their faces that they weren't going to be able to bury any of their boys."
"How the fuck would they know that?" She barked at me.
"Somebody's feeding them information and not some asshole on the street, somebody from inside the Camorra."
"Who would do that?"
I saw her eyes darting about wildly as she tried to think of the answer to her own question.
"I don't know, uh, the driver that brought Moretti, he didn't look like he was too fond of Bianchi, maybe he's a fucking option."
"Frankie? I mean, him and Ma have never gotten along. He's never liked her and the feeling's mutual but… that doesn't make any sense, Frankie's always been loyal to the Camorra. Rossi always said he practically muttered the Omerta in his fucking sleep, that he was a soldato down to the bones."
"I have no idea, Becca, but it gets worse," I said quietly. If it didn't hurt so goddamned bad, I would've squeezed my eyes shut.
"How the fuck could it possibly get worse, Tony?"
"First you gotta promise you're not gonna hit me again."
Her hand balled into a fist, and I couldn't help but flinch.
"I'm gonna knock you the fuck out right now if you don't stop wasting my time, Cipriani."
"I sold her out, Becca. Bianchi. I told them where she lives and how to find her tonight."
"You what!?"
"I had to! He was gonna cut my fucking fingers off, and I don't know if he was going to take all four or just three but I wasn't about to fucking find out. I kind of need those fingers seeing as I'm a fucking southpaw!"
I held my left hand out to her, curled my fingers inward, but the third finger just… stayed straight. "Ah, fuck, I didn't even notice that."
"Jesus Christ, the tendon's been cut," she whispered, and when she pressed her hand to her mouth again she looked less like she was swallowing back tears and more like she was trying to swallow back vomit. I couldn't really blame her. I felt pretty nauseous myself.
"You know, I'm, I'm not worried about Ma," she said, finally. "It wouldn't be the first time somebody's tried to take her out. She's harder to kill than they think."
"Would, uh, would cutting her head off work? Cause if so I think they're already pretty aware of how to get the job done. They… they know Bianchi's not human, Becca."
Her face got paler, if that was even possible, and her eyes were the size of saucers.
"This is a goddamn nuclear disaster. Jesus fuck."
We stood the last few minutes waiting for the train in silence. As the doors slid shut and we sat down, Becca began laughing wildly.
"So you're in hysterics for real, huh?" I asked.
"You're gonna have to forgive me, I'm a little slow on the uptake today, but I just got it, Polish sausage… only, he wasn't little, you know, he was hung like a fucking horse, and it's a goddamn tragedy for women everywhere that the man isn't on this earth anymore. And he knew how to use it, too. Best sex I ever had in my life… only sex I ever had in my life, but that's not the fucking point." A short, barking sob tore out of her.
I groaned. "You know, that is way, way more information than I ever wanted to know about you and Antoni's sex life. You couldn't, uh, you couldn't let that one pass by, huh?"
"I never pass up the opportunity to make a good dick joke. And he had Good Dick."
I laughed and regretted it as it tightened muscles in my stomach that were still a little angry about being used as Antoni Sr's personal punching bag.
"Touché, Miss Rebecca, touché."
"The two-faced bastard, I gotta give the motherfucker that much, you know, it's a uniquely personal way to say Fuck You to the Underboss, getting his teenaged daughter pregnant. I am so, so goddamned tired of being a pawn in other people's games. He's lucky he's already dead or I'd kill the bitch myself," she whispered.
"It wasn't a game, Becca, what happened between you and Antoni," I whispered back. I knew because Antoni's corpse had told me as much. "Don't ask me how I know, cause I don't wanna talk about it, but it wasn't a game. You didn't know about him and he didn't know about you and it was a big, fucked up coincidence. You loved him, and he really, truly loved you... he worshiped the ground you walked on." Actually, he had said he worshiped the boots she walked in, but I figured it was a translation issue. "It was a regular old Romeo and Juliet: Brooklyn Edition."
She squeezed her eyes shut, snorted and at the same time choked on another sob.
"Yeah, but Romeo and Juliet ended in a double suicide, not a murder and a single mother." Her tiny hand went to her mouth again, and she wasn't able to hold back the tears this time. "I miss him, Tony, I miss him so fucking much."
"You know, Beccs, I miss him, too." I miss him when he was alive, not looking like a walking nightmare, and talking my goddamned ear off half the time, but I wasn't about to tell her that. "He was the first friend I made down here."
"It's fucking stupid. I still remember every single thing he said to me those first few times I met him."
"Odd as it is, I do too, Beccs. He was that kind of guy, I guess, he didn't have to work hard to make an impression on people. It was, uh, three days after I moved in, I think. I was in the basement, getting ready to do my laundry that morning, fighting with the stuck knob on that machine down at the end? And he walks in with his clothes basket balanced on his hip and reaches past me and just… turned the fucking thing, like it wasn't even stuck to begin with. 'It has an attitude, but it likes me,' he says, and I say, 'I can see that.'
"And he, he told me his name. 'Zabrowska,' he says, 'Antoni.' And I laughed and said, 'Nice to meet you, Toni, I'm Tony.' 'Really?' he says, and I say 'Yeah. Really. Antonio Alessio Gioele Cipriani, the third, if you please.'"
"Goddamn, that name is painfully Italian. No wonder you tell everybody 'Just call me Tony,'" Becca snorted.
"Thank you, Miss Rebecca, I can assure you I didn't pick it myself. But, 'Ah,' Toni says and kind of taps his hand in the center of his chest, 'Junior.' And I laughed again and said 'Our parents were goddamned creative when it came to the baby naming, right?' And he laughed, too, and shook my hand.
"And uh, a few days after that he showed up outside of my apartment and asked me if I wanted to go watch a game with him and his brothers at the sports bar down the street. It was Poland vs Korea. I still don't know shit about soccer, I've always been more of an American football kind of guy, but I did learn quite a few Polish swear words that day. Apparently they'd all bet money on the home team winning that game."
"I bet you did. Poland kept catching red cards that whole game. I bet on Korea, of course, and altogether I won 8 grand from four extremely pissed off Polish dudes when we stomped their ass all over the pitch. I had no idea how seriously the four of them took soccer. Antoni wouldn't even talk to me for three days. Probably didn't help I made an ass of myself laughing at all of them. Course, I woulda bet more if I'd known they were good for it. Dry cleaners, my ass," Becca spat.
"Well, in Antoni's defense, he probably did work at a dry cleaners like he told us, just like you work at a bodega, and Jimmy and me work at a restaurant, and Pops works at a hardware store. We all got day jobs. You know, I hate to bust your balls, Becca, but did it… never occur to you to ask Antoni if the tattoos meant something?"
"No," she said weakly. "I mean, I knew they were prison tats but Jesus Christ, half the people I know have been to prison. You've been to prison, half of my cousins have been to prison, hell, Pops has been to prison. You weren't here then, but all of 2016 to 2020 I was wearing a 'Free Rossi' t-shirt everyday, a lot of people in this neighborhood did. Ma got him off on the Murder 1 charges but numbers are numbers, and she couldn't get him out of the Tax Evasion. But I figured, if Antoni didn't wanna talk about it, then it was none of my business what had happened before we met each other."
She'd minded her own business a little too hard this time.
"What did you and Antoni talk about, Becca?"
"Everything! And anything, and nothing, all at the same time. He'd complain about living with his brothers, about Misiu always leaving hair all over the bathroom, and how Ciech always left sugar all over the kitchen counter after he made his coffee. And I'd complain about having to pick up all the empty bottles of makgeolli after my Dad in the morning. I'd help him wash all the dishes his dirty ass brothers would leave piled in the sink, and fold everybody's clothes.
"We got along well, me and Antoni, we were actually very compatible, we were both neat freaks when it came to our housekeeping. We even folded our towels the same way. And he'd bitch about how Igor could never balance the register correctly at the end of the day, and I'd bitch about how my Dad never checked our invoices correctly, and I was always having to cuss out the distribution reps for shorting us on our deliveries myself.
"And we'd watch TV together. He always made fun of me for the lame ass old Chuck Lorre sitcoms I loved to watch, and I'd make fun of him for all the stupid cop dramas he watched, every Law and Order known to man, and Blue Bloods and shit. We just… talked to each other, like we were two regular people, just living our lives. It was simple and it was easy, and it was enough, it was goddamned enough for me. Our relationship was the one normal thing I had going in my fucked up life."
She cracked at the end, sobbing brokenly. She turned her head to the side, pressed her face into my bicep as she wrapped both arms around mine. Tears filled my eyes, as well, and now I was wiping snot out of my nose as well as blood. I felt goddamned sorry for the kid, and I felt like she had a right to cry, but I had to distract her, for my own sake.
"So tell me, when was the first time you talked to Antoni? Was that the same day he asked you out?"
"No, there was some time between the two. He'd been there about a week, I guess, after they moved in. They got there back in like April. I'd fucked with him the first day, you know, asked him where the hell the accent came from, and he said Poland, and I told him welcome to America cause I felt like being a dick. And he said that he'd already been in country five years and I laughed at him and told him, goddamn, I couldn't tell cause he still sounded like he was fresh off the boat. And he got this look on his face, like he was trying to decide if he needed to be offended or not, so I told him I was just fucking with him, that he was doing better than my Mom, God rest her, cause it was seven years after she got here from Seoul before she even learned a word of English and my Dad was the one that had to teach her."
"Makes sense. I moved in in June, Toni mentioned he'd only been in the building about two months hisself."
She nodded, I could feel the movement in the sleeve of my coat where her cheek was pressed to my arm.
"Him and his brothers started coming in every day after that and you know, I kind of had my eye on him from the first time I talked to him. He was goddamn gorgeous, quite literally the walking definition of 'tall, dark, and handsome.' He had those incredibly blue eyes, and that fucking accent, man, shit put me in knots everytime he came in. I learned them all pretty quick, and Antoni was easy. He got the same thing everyday, box of Newport 100s and a pack of Russian Cream Backwoods with a large slushy. You know I gotta keep the cups behind the counter because motherfuckers'll fill it up and walk out when I get busy. I saw him when he came in, and went over to the ATM, so I had his shit sitting on the counter waiting for him."
Becca had a talent for memorizing all of the regular's orders, it wasn't unusual to see a long line of cigarettes, blunts, medicine, sometimes even crack pipes and Chore Boys, and anything else she kept behind the counter, set up neatly next to the register. She also had a talent for running both registers at the same time when the line got overly long and she was there alone. Sometimes I had no idea how she kept up with it all, but that was just Becca.
"And this drunk asshole came in, right after, he didn't even belong in the neighborhood, he stayed in Bed-Stuy, but he was with his cousin, and his cousin I knew and he was shooting me apologetic looks so I was already on guard. I was in a bad goddamn mood that day, anyway. And the drunk bitch, he walked over to the bathroom and tried to open it."
"Key's behind the counter," I said, and she nodded.
"And the key costs five dollars cause people make a fucking mess in the bathroom and I ain't cleaning that shit everyday for free. Well, drunk fuck got pissed and started talking a bunch of shit and threw his five dollars down on the counter, and you know, I can't stand that. You don't throw money at me, I ain't a goddamned stripper, you can put that shit in my hand or you can get the fuck out my store. And, I said 'Naw, son, for you it's gonna cost ten, five dollar Drunk Dick surcharge for being an asshole and cutting my line.' And the motherfucker… he called me a fucking stupid little bitch, and he told me people like me needed to be sent back to my own country."
I made a sound of disapproval, already seeing where this was headed.
"I hate that stupid shit. Where the fuck am I getting sent back to? The fucking hospital in Manhattan where I was born? Everybody in the store just kind of stopped and stood there, and dude's cousin? He just shook his head at me and walked right out the store and left him there."
"He wasn't gonna get involved, huh?" I asked.
"Fuck no. He wasn't stupid. I… uh, I was seeing red by that point so I balled up his money and I threw it across the store and told him to get the fuck out. I don't even remember half the shit I said to him, but I was yelling and he was yelling back and all of a sudden Antoni was… just there. I never even noticed him walking up. He was a big motherfucker, but goddamn he was quick and quiet when he wanted to be."
Becca laced her fingers through the fingers of my right hand and I gave them a squeeze as she readjusted her head against my shoulder. I turned mine to press a kiss to her hair. She was short enough that I didn't have to worry about bumping my nose. As I turned back, I noticed that there was a puddle of water on the seat across from us, and a pit formed in my stomach immediately. My face felt cold as the blood drained from it. The puddle of water made me more than just a little nervous to see it.
I had new enemies stacking up quick, and the last thing I needed was a pissed off, jealous ghost because his grieving fiancée was getting a little handsy with me. But… Antoni never showed himself, so I could only assume he approved of my offering her comfort in her time of need. Either that or he was waiting till I was alone to express his displeasure.
"'Is there a problem here?' was all he asked and the drunk bitch turned around and he got even more pissed. He goes 'Man, fuck you, white boy. Mind your own goddamned business.' And Antoni kind of got in his face, and goes, 'I have made it my business. She told you to leave. Either remove yourself or I will remove you.'
"And the liquor must've given him a bigger set of balls than he actually had, cause he took a swing at him. And Antoni, he just kind of… leaned back a little to avoid the swing and then leaned back in and… he knocked that bitch out cold with one punch. And then he picked him up, literally picked him up, and threw his ass out on the sidewalk, and kind of dusted his hands off afterwards."
"Well, if he's anything like his father then he could throw a hell of a right cross."
Becca laughed weakly.
"Yeah, his Dad boxes, they all did, you know, from when they were young. Antoni told me he got in his Dad's face once when he was about 16, and Old Papa Zabrowska coldcocked him in the kitchen, and when he woke up on the couch, his Dad dragged him out back in the alley and beat him bloody. Told him if his little grown ass thought he was a man, then he was grown enough to get his ass stomped like a man."
That made me feel a little better, to be honest. At least I wasn't the only one I knew who had caught an ass kicking from Antoni Sr.
"I bet he didn't talk shit to his Pops again after that, huh?"
"I asked him that exact question, he said 'Oh no, no, never again. I learned my lesson.' Toni and his brothers, though, were always getting in fights, even when I knew them. He told me it was hard on their Mama, back in Kraków, having four hormonal, teenaged boys with just shy of a year between each of them, you know cause… us fucking Roman Catholics ain't too fond of any method of contraception."
"I didn't know you was Catholic, too, B."
"Of course. Rossi is a devout Catholic, and that's how he raised me, and Nia, she's an Angel, you know, a Fallen One, that's what they call themselves, but she's even got real wings. A little more leathery and less feathery, but… same thing. She goes to Mass daily, turns out demons are actually very religious. Both of my parents were atheists, and that's how they raised me, but after some of the shit I've seen, you know, it ain't too unbelievable that there's a Big Guy upstairs."
She sniffed again, wiped at her nose and I offered her a bit of toilet paper from my pocket.
"That's how it all got started, the War in Heaven. God created Adam, the first living human body, and he told all the spirits in Heaven to kneel to him. And at least half of them weren't too fond of that idea, and the Morning Star stepped up as representative and said they wouldn't kneel to anyone but God. And they, uh, they lost the War, and He banished them all to Earth, to wander without bodies of their own while the other side got to come to Earth one at a time, to live their lives.
"But… then there was the first murder, Abel. Cain beat him to death with a rock, and the blood on the ground, the first human blood ever shed in violence, it called to God, but He wasn't the only one it called to. The blood, it gave him a way inside of a body. Lucifer. He was the First One. He's still here, you know, I've met him. He has a particular fondness for Nia, he calls her Young One, cause according to him 1607 wasn't all that long ago."
"I guess it isn't when you're that old."
"But, back to what I was saying about Toni, all of them were packed into one place together like fucking sardines, the four boys sharing one bedroom in a two bedroom apartment, and all having vastly different personalities. Tatiana is little, like me, and I don't imagine she could do much to break them up when they got to fighting about everything from who ate all the leftovers to who got the top bunks on the beds."
"Probably not," I answered.
"I mean, I could practically smell the testosterone in their fucking apartment whenever I walked in, and it was probably even worse back then. And apparently, that had been their Dad's method of keeping them from tearing up his wife's house all the time. Whenever a problem inevitably developed, he'd just take them down to the gym and throw them in the ring without any gloves and tell them to fucking handle it, and whoever was still standing at the end was the one that won the argument.
"Uh, but, uh, when Toni hit the guy, all, all I could do was stand there with my mouth hanging open like a fucking fish. I mean, I was in love, right that fucking second, standing there. The hormones were running on overdrive, my head was practically spinning with how fast all the blood rushed south, you know? Everybody was still standing there and Antoni tried to get back in line and I said, 'Uh-uh. Take your shit and go on.' And he goes," Beccs began laughing again, laughed so hard there were tears in her eyes once more.
"He goes, 'Am I in trouble?'''
I had to wrap my left arm tight around my stomach because I couldn't stop myself from laughing either. The makeshift bandage on my left hand that I'd wound out of paper towel had soaked through, I was going to have to change it soon.
"He didn't say that, Becca."
"Yes the fuck, he did. And I went, 'No, you dumbass, it's on the house, and in case I gotta translate, that means it's free. Small price to pay for a security detail.' And he just kind of blinked at me for a second, before he nodded his head and grabbed his things off the counter, went and filled his slushy up."
"You probably scared the piss out of him for that second, he probably thought he'd been found out. That's what they call it, what he was, Obshchak, Security Group."
"He stopped before he left, and told me thank you. And I said 'No, dziękuję', thank you. And then I winked at him and said 'Miłej nocy, piękna.'" She straightened up as the train began to slow for our stop.
"And what did that mean?"
"Have a good night, gorgeous." She said with a watery grin.
"Smooth, B, real smooth. Nothing quite like hitting on a man in his native language. "
"I mean, you know us, Tony, we got Southern Hospitality down here. As long as you're not an asshole, I do everything I can to make sure everyone feels welcome when they come inside. That's why there's a sign on the door that says 'DMZ.' They might have beef on the streets but don't nobody take that shit inside my store. And that means asking the Mexicans down the street if they need a bolsa, and making sure I ordered Farid's miswaks so he didn't have to walk all the way down to the Pakistani store, and sometimes it means learning a little bit of Polish so I could flirt with the new guy downstairs the next time he came in."
We exited the train, made the switch, and stood on the platform waiting for the next to take us back to Avenue U. As I glanced to the side, I could see a puddle forming on the platform next to me, drip by drip. It was already freezing around the edges. As it turned out, I wasn't the only nosy fuck around here.
"And apparently the flirting was well received by our dearly departed half-Russian friend."
"Apparently, cause about a week later I was having a busy fucking Friday night and my Dad had already gone home, and I was trying to shut her down but motherfuckers kept coming inside right up until 11. I made DeAndre from downstairs stand at the door and tell people we were closed and that he was the last customer for the night and after I rung him up I told him to flip the sign on the door and I'd lock it when I finished my cigarette count… only, I forgot to ever lock it, and DeDe's traitorous ass, he fucking set me up. He knew I had a thing for Antoni, and when he saw him coming down off the platform and rushing down the sidewalk, he let him in and told him he was the last customer for the night and to flip the sign on the door."
She closed her eyes for a moment.
"It took me… exactly 16 minutes to notice he was there. I know, cause after I was done pissing myself when I figured out I wasn't alone, the Polish smart-ass showed me his watch. He'd set a timer when he realized I wasn't paying any attention to him, and then just stood there, waiting to see how long it would take. I had my earphones in, and it took four songs," she held up her hand and ticked them off with her fingers. "'Savage Like', 'Money, Sex, Drugs', 'Proud' and 'Only.'
"I turned around and screamed like a little bitch when I saw him. And then I got pissed, cause I was embarrassed, I'd been singing along to all the songs cause I thought I was alone in the store. I started screaming at him. 'What the fuck, you can't read? The sign says Closed.' And he goes 'No, it didn't. It still said Open. I turned it myself.' I hadn't counted down my register yet, so I just went ahead and grabbed his shit and rung him up, cussing DeDe the whole time and I asked him how long he'd been standing there, and he showed me his watch. And he says, 'You shouldn't wear those, it's dangerous,' talking about my headphones, and I said, 'What are you, my fucking father?' And he got kind of a funny look on his face."
I released a weak snicker, holding my stomach tight again. I couldn't resist fucking with them both a little bit.
"He kinda had a point, Becca. Although, I can tell you he was probably less concerned about being your father and more concerned about becoming your Daddy."
"Oh, so now you got the dirty jokes," Becca said flatly.
"What can I say, B, you're a bad influence on me."
"Eh," she said after a moment, "You wouldn't be the first. You know, months later he told me that he'd stood there that long because he didn't think he'd have the nerve to ask what he wanted to ask the next time if he left, which, you know, what the fuck? What am I, scary?"
I couldn't help but laugh again.
"Yes, Becca, you are, you're fucking terrifying half the time. You might be a short fuck but dynamite comes in small packages, you know? He was probably afraid you'd tell him to suck your dick and ban him from the store for a month like every other poor motherfucker I've seen ask you out, and he probably didn't want to go through your particular brand of ridicule in front of an audience, on top of that, with all the other customers laughing him out of the store."
"It ain't my fault I'm this size," she said after a moment, shooting me a perturbed look.
"No shit, Sherlock. It's genetics."
"It ain't even that. It's the blood. I mean, my parents were both tall, you know, for Koreans, anyway, my Mom was 5'6. I probably would've been too if I'd had the chance, but, you know, the blood it… stops things. Why do you think Jimmy looks the way he does? I mean, Pops believes in 'aging gracefully,' as he says, but old Giacomino is a vain fuck, and he's got more of a taste for 'the Stuff' than Rocco ever had. He turned 65 this year, he's only two years younger than Pops, he was already 34 years old when he met Nia for the first time. He tells people he's got a good plastic surgeon, when they ask. And the same thing happened to me. My body wanted to stay 8 years old, forever.
"Rossi had to get hormones, fucking estrogen and progesterone and HGH, off the black market to force my body to start puberty and to fucking grow. It's not like we could go to a doctor and explain why I needed the prescription. I mean, these tits aren't even mine. Ma bought 'em for my sixteenth birthday so I wouldn't feel so goddamned self-conscious. Nia's not exactly flat-chested, as you know, neither was my Mom, and it kind of gave me a fucking complex when I was growing up."
"I mean, is she? I haven't really noticed," I replied, evasively.
"Yes, you have, you lying fuck. There isn't a straight or bisexual man, or a lesbian or bisexual woman for that matter, that comes within fifty feet of Appolonia Bianchi that doesn't notice all of her unnatural charms. It made for some interesting 'family' trips during the summer when we'd leave the city, lemme tell you. I asked Pops once, you know, if he ever got jealous when she'd show up with some random dick she'd run across, cause I used to think it was pretty shitty of her.
"I said she could've at least kept things on the downlow and not throw it in Rocco's face every few days. But he told me no, he loved her, he understood her nature very well and he'd accepted what she was years before I was even born, and that she loved him too, and more importantly, respected him. She always introduced the men to him because that was what he'd asked of her. That it was the one aspect of control he had in the situation, giving his 'permission' for her little liaisons. That it made him feel better to let them know they might be getting a piece, but she'd be ending every night lying in his bed, regardless of what they did."
I nodded. "I guess I can kind of see his point."
"But, the blood, that's how I ended up pregnant. I mean, I'm not a dumbass, I know how babies are made, but I wasn't worried about using condoms with Antoni, neither of us wanted to. I told him if he gave me anything I'd cut his dick off, and he knew I was serious, too, and he considered it a proportional response. I didn't even think I could get pregnant.
"I stopped the birth control when I was 16 because it was making me gain weight and my cheer coach bitched me out in front of fucking everybody, and Rossi's guy said I needed to keep taking it to keep my hormone levels even. So I told Antoni I didnt want to get into my medical history, but suffice to say I was probably fucking sterile anyway, so he didn't have to worry about it, and he told me he wasn't worried about it at all. But apparently my fucking parts work better than I thought."
"Or maybe he had some damned determined swimmers, who knows."
"I don't know why I was even concerned about not using condoms anyway. Technically we were all excommunicated as of 2014. Pope said the mafiosi lifestyle isn't compatible with the Catholic one. You know, I wonder how Antoni would feel about all this, I wonder if he'd be pissed, think I lied to him about not being able to get pregnant."
"You're just gonna have to take my word for it, B, but he's not angry in the least, he's pretty fucking proud of hisself." I'd say his chest was stuck out but he didn't have much of a chest left these days, so I just kept that part to myself. "Pretty sure he said he wasn't worried about it because he was hoping you were wrong about being sterile."
Beccs gave me a strange look but the train arrived at just that moment. The people exiting did quite a bit of staring, unlike the people leaving the funeral, but I just tucked my arm around Becca and shouldered my way past them and found us a seat. The drops of water followed us into the train.
"What's with the present tense, Tony? Is that some kind of cliche 'he's lookin' down on you' bullshit?"
I snorted and wiped the bubble of blood from my nose, staring at the puddle of water that was starting to form in the seat next to us. I could feel the cold emanating from Antoni all along my left side. Oddly enough, it was easing the intense ache in my nearly severed ring finger.
"He ain't looking down on us, B, I can tell you that much."
"So it's a Hell joke?"
"No, not really. But then again, I'm pretty sure we're all in Hell right this second, Miss Rebecca, so yes, yes it is."

Derrick White (born July 2, 1994)[1] is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played three years of college basketball in Division II for the UCCS Mountain Lions before transferring to the Division I Colorado Buffaloes for his final season.
White was selected 29th overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2017 NBA draft. In February 2022, he was traded to the Celtics & became a key contributor for the team when they reached the NBA Finals.
White was the first graduating class of his high school, as it was brand new. As a result, there were no upper classmen on the basketball team when he was a freshman.[3] A 2012 graduate of Legend High School in Parker, Colorado, White was a six-foot combo guard at the time of his graduation. On 2/17/2023 Legend High School retired Derrick White's High School Number
White was lightly recruited out of high school, receiving no scholarship offers from any four-year institutions. At the time of his high school graduation, which fell about two months before his 18th birthday, he was barely 6 feet tall—after growing two inches during his senior year.[4] The only head coach at a four-year school who showed sustained interest in White was Jeff Culver, then the head coach at the Denver campus of Johnson & Wales University, a non-scholarship NAIA member better known for its culinary program. By the time White was preparing to make his college decision, Culver was hired as head coach at NCAA Division II UCCS, and offered White a room and board stipend for his freshman season.[5] Culver was only expecting White to become a starter late in his college career. He was aware that White's father had a late growth spurt in college, and also knew that doctors had projected White to potentially reach 6'5".[5] As it turned out, White reached that potential height by the time he enrolled at Colorado–Colorado Springs.[4] With his newfound size and athleticism, White became a star at UCCS, starting every game of his three-year career and left as the school's career leader in points (1,912) and assists (343). In his junior season, he averaged 25.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.2 assists for the Mountain Lions, leading the team to the 2015 NCAA tournament.[6] He was named an All-American.
Following this season, White opted to transfer to Division I Colorado to play for Tad Boyle and to test his skills in the Pac-12 Conference, one of the top college leagues in the country.[7] After sitting out the 2015–16 season per NCAA rules, White excelled in his lone season with the Buffaloes, averaging 18.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. He was named first-team All-Pac-12 and a member of the five-man All-Defensive team.[8]
White was one of 60 NBA prospects invited to the 2017 NBA Draft Combine.[9] He was one of only 15 combine invitees who had not been Rivals top-150 prospects in high school, and one of only three who did not sign with Division I programs out of high school. In addition, according to Yahoo! Sports writer Jeff Eisenberg, he was also "the only one who will use part of his first NBA contract to pay off student loans he accumulated paying for tuition at UCCS as a freshman."[5]
The San Antonio Spurs drafted White with the 29th pick of the 2017 NBA draft.[10] White was later included in the Spurs' 2017 NBA Summer League roster.[11] On July 6, White signed with the Spurs.[12]
On October 18, 2017, White made his NBA debut, coming off the bench in a 107–99 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.[13] On October 31, 2017, he was sent along with Dāvis Bertāns to the Austin Spurs of the NBA G League.[14] White suffered a fractured right wrist during a G League game against the Texas Legends. He was then recalled to San Antonio several days later.[15][16] On March 12, 2018, White scored a career-high 14 points along with four rebounds, one assist, and a block in a 93-109 loss to the Houston Rockets.[17]
On April 14, 2018, White made his NBA playoffs debut, coming off the bench with seven points, an assist, a steal, and a block in a 92–113 loss to the Golden State Warriors in game 1 of the series.[18]
On October 12, 2018, White was revealed to have a left plantar fascia tear.[19] On November 7, White made his season debut recording one rebound and three assists in a 95–88 loss to the Miami Heat.[20] On December 31, White scored his career-high 22 points with three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal in a 120–111 win over the Boston Celtics.[21] On January 10, 2019, White scored another career-high 23 points with eight assists, five rebounds, two steals and a block in a double-overtime 154–147 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.[22] On January 30, 2019 against the Brooklyn Nets, White then recorded a then career-high 26 points.[23] On April 18, 2019 against the Denver Nuggets, White recorded another career-high of 36 points to give San Antonio a 2–1 lead in the first round of the 2019 playoffs.
On December 21, 2020, the Spurs announced that they had signed White to a reported four-year, $73 million rookie scale extension.[24][25] On April 1, 2021, White hit a career-high 7 three-pointers in a 129–134 double overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks.[26]
Boston Celtics: Flourishing off-the-bench role (2022–present) Edit On February 10, 2022, White was traded to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, a 2022 first-round pick and the rights to swap 2028 first-round picks.[27] White played his first game with the Celtics a day later and finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
In Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat, White scored 22 points on 7-for-14 shooting, alongside 5 assists and 3 steals, in a 111–103 loss.[28] The Celtics would go on to eliminate the Heat, earning White his first Finals appearance in his career.[29] In Game 1 of the Finals, he logged 21 points and three assists in a 120–108 win over the Golden State Warriors.[30] The Celtics went on to lose the series in six games.
On February 13, 2023, White was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week, after averaging 24.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists as a starter in place of the injured Marcus Smart.[31] At the end of the season, White was named for the first time to the NBA All-Defensive Second team.[32]
On May 27, 2023, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, White made a buzzer-beating tip-in shot as time expired to beat the Miami Heat 104–103 to force a Game 7, saving the Celtics from elimination.[33][34]
On August 24, 2019, White was included in the US national team's final roster for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.[35]

Are you worried that the ground beef you just purchased is no longer fresh and safe to eat? Having knowledge of how to effectively tell if the ground beef in question has gone bad can help put your worries at ease. With a few easy steps, it’s not hard to learn how to tell if the ground beef has spoiled so that you can avoid foodborne illnesses or any unfortunate kitchen disasters down the line. Read on for a detailed guide on what signs and tests will prove whether or not your ground beef is still good.

3 Ways to Tell If Your Ground Beef Is Bad

1. Check the Color: When it comes to ground beef, a bright red color is generally an indication that the beef is still of good quality. If you notice any brownish or gray hues in the meat, chances are it’s no longer safe to eat and should be discarded immediately.
   
2. Smell Test: The smell test is an easy way to tell if your ground beef has gone bad. Fresh ground beef will have a mild aroma while spoiled beef will give off a pungent odor that can be hard to miss. If you detect anything strange from your package of ground beef, discard it right away before further investigation.
   
3. Touch and Texture: A major indicator for spoiled ground beef is a slimy texture. This is because as the ground beef begins to spoil, bacteria will grow in the package and give off an unpleasant slime residue. Additionally, if you notice any hard or dry areas on the meat itself, it’s also likely that it has gone bad.
   

3 Ways to Tell If Your Ground Beef Is Bad

What Happens When You Eat Bad Ground Beef?

Food poisoning is a serious risk for those who eat spoiled ground beef. The bacteria in the meat can cause a variety of unpleasant symptoms, such as vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, and fever. In some cases, food poisoning from bad ground beef can even lead to more severe health complications. Therefore, it’s important to make sure that you always check the freshness of your beef before consuming it.

How to Handle Ground Beef?

When it comes to handling ground beef, there are a few key safety tips that should be followed. Firstly, make sure you always store your meat in the refrigerator or freezer as soon as you get home from the grocery store. Ground beef can spoil quickly when exposed to warm temperatures and should never be left sitting out for too long. Secondly, when reheating cooked ground beef, make sure that it reaches an internal temperature of at least 160°F before serving. This will help kill off any bacteria present in the meat and ensure that it’s safe to eat. Finally, always keep raw ground beef separate from other food items to avoid cross contamination.
How to Handle Ground Beef?

Side effects of eating bad beef

can be severe, so it’s important to always check the freshness of your ground beef before consumption. Following these simple steps and performing one or more of the tests outlined above should give you an accurate idea as to whether or not the ground beef is still safe to eat.

How to safely handle and store beef?

When it comes to handling and storing ground beef, there are a few important safety tips that should be followed. Firstly, make sure you always store your meat in the refrigerator or freezer as soon as you get home from the grocery store. Ground beef can spoil quickly when exposed to warm temperatures and should never be left sitting out for too long. Secondly, when reheating cooked ground beef, ensure that it reaches an internal temperature of at least 160°F before serving. This will help kill off any bacteria present in the meat and ensure that it’s safe to eat. Finally, always keep raw ground beef separate from other food items to avoid cross contamination.
How to safely handle and store beef?

FAQ: Ground Beef

How can you tell if ground beef is spoiled?

Accurately detecting if meat has gone bad is crucial in ensuring your health. With this simple test, you'll be able to swiftly determine if your raw or cooked ground beef is safe for consumption. Although the odor of fresh ground beef may be negligible, spoiled meat has a notable, unpleasant smell. Once the meat has gone bad, it's advised to avoid eating it to avoid potential health consequences.

What does bad ground beef smell like?

As ground beef approaches its expiration date, it may develop a faint odor. However, if the scent becomes overwhelming and off-putting, it's time to discard the meat. Keep an eye out for beef that emits a foul, rancid or sour smell, as it is past its prime and should not be consumed.

Can ground beef smell a little but not expired?

Fresh ground beef is expected to have a pleasant odor. However, the presence of spoilage bacteria can lead to a noticeably unpleasant smell. It is essential to note that pathogenic bacteria may not necessarily produce a bad odor. It is crucial to ensure that the beef is safe for consumption.

Is it OK to eat expired ground beef?

Guidelines for consuming ground beef: avoid consuming it beyond its expiration date. However, if it has been frozen, it can last for up to four months. It is crucial to always read the label of the product before purchasing ground beef.

Does ground beef expire in fridge?

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, ground beef in its package can be safely refrigerated for up to 48 hours after purchase. After that, it's recommended to either freeze it or cook it to ensure freshness and safety. Freezing it is an excellent option for long-term storage, as it can last for several months in the freezer.

Conclusion: How To Tell If Ground Beef Is Bad

Ground beef is a great source of protein, but it can spoil quickly if not handled and stored properly. To ensure its freshness and safety, always check the color, odor, and texture of your ground beef before eating or cooking it. Additionally, make sure to refrigerate or freeze the product within 48 hours of purchase and never leave it sitting out for too long. Following these simple steps will help you avoid any foodborne illnesses or kitchen disasters down the line.
#HeartLandMiami #HeartLandMiami #HeartLandMiami

Introduction
Here's another effortpost on Brazil! This time I'll be talking about why the Brazilian economy stagnated, and what we can expect from Lula in terms of economic policy (I've talked about this in the past but now I'll go into more detail).
Between 1920 and 1980, Brazil was a clear economic success story. For 60 years, our GDP grew at an average of 4% a year. This 'golden age' ended in a hyperinflation crisis, which made the 1980s become known as a 'lost decade', and since its resolution in 1994 with the Plano Real, our economy has experienced minimal growth: from 1980 to 2020, the average GDP growth rate was only 0.7%.
Evolution of the Brazilian per capita product, at 2010 prices, from 1900 to 2021. The scale of the graph is logarithmic in base 2.
In this post, I'll try to explain the reasons for Brazil's low growth in the last four decades and what Lula's plans are to address them.
The debate
Before delving into the actual causes of the "semi-stagnation", I would like to explain the economic debate in Brazil. This debate revolves around two major groups of economists: the "developmentalists" and the "liberals." The term "developmentalism" may be unfamiliar to many people here, but it is very present in Latin America. A decent explanation for it could be "dirigisme with Latam characteristics."
In short, liberalism in this context is associated with economic orthodoxy and a pro-market orientation in economic policy, while developmentalism leans towards economic heterodoxy and advocates for direct state interference in the economy. This debate is, in theory, separate from the traditional right versus left political divide, as we have had governments from both ends of the political spectrum adopting policies aligned with either school of thought. For instance, Lula I (2003-2007) represented a left-wing liberal government, while Geisel (1974-1979) presided over a right-wing developmentalist government. However, in practice, liberalism is associated with the right-wing while developmentalism is associated with the left-wing.
One area of major divergence between those two groups is full employment. Liberals argue that the Brazilian economy generally operates at full employment, which means that there are well-defined supply-side limits and restrictions in the economy, whereas developmentalists believe it tends to operate below that level. This implies that the economy's natural state is one of perpetual aggregate demand deficiency, and thus the government could just increase spending to mobilize idle production factors and stimulate economic growth.
Furthermore, liberals typically view direct state intervention in the economy with distrust, opposing increased public investments in infrastructure and most forms of industrial policy. Their preference generally leans towards reducing government spending and relying on a 'crowding in' effect, together with supply-side reforms. Conversely, developmentalists perceive state intervention as a necessity to stimulate the economy, favoring a robust industrial policy and increased public investments.
Those are significant oversimplifications, and many economists do not align themselves with either group. In any case, I would say this categorization reasonably represents the current debate.
It's a tradition in Brazil to divide ministries between liberals and developmentalists to ensure a balance between the two. The current Finance Minister, Fernando Haddad, believes in a middle ground approach, with some of his secretaries (e.g., Guilherme Mello) leaning more towards developmentalism, while others (e.g., Bernard Appy) lean more towards liberalism. Planning Minister Simone Tebet and Industry and Commerce Minister Geraldo Alckmin are firmly in the liberal camp. However, due to the nature of his ministry, Geraldo Alckmin will probably concede more to developmentalist policies (as he's already doing). Aloizio Mercadante, the President of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), is considered the leader of the developmentalist branch of the government, along with Workers' Party President Gleisi Hoffmann (some people jokingly refer to her as the main opposition to Fernando Haddad and the 'Twitter Shadow Finance Minister' due to some of her tweets).
Without further ado, let's get to the causes of Brazil's stagnation.
Guido Mantega (Finance Minister between 2006 and 2014) and Antônio Palocci (Finance Minister between 2003 and 2006). Mantega is associated to developmentalism and Palocci to liberalism.
Education
First of all, the significant growth of the 20th century left a terrible educational legacy. Brazil only began to have a somewhat consistent educational policy in the 1990s and 2000s, when basic education was universalized. To put it into perspective, in 1990, the average number of years of schooling in Brazil was 3.8 years. Even Sub-Saharan African countries like Congo, Zimbabwe, and Zambia had higher average schooling levels than ours. Approximately a quarter of the population were illiterate.
The key change came with the 1988 Constitution, which decided that Brazil would try to become an European-style social democracy. Since then, considerable progress has been made, but clearly not enough. The main educational bottleneck lies in Elementary School II, which typically spans the ages of 12 to 15. It is during this stage in Brazil that the discrepancy between age and the appropriate grade level drastically increases, leading to higher rates of grade repetition and students falling behind in their education.
This problem is probably related to the transition from a single teacher trained in pedagogy in Elementary I to several specialists teaching only one subject. This transition also occurs at the onset of adolescence, which is naturally a turbulent phase already, with the introduction of drugs, alcohol and various forms of prejudice being normal. The result ends up being a distancing of the student from school.
Two Brazilian states, which have been governed by center-left parties for many years, serve as examples in Brazilian educational policy: Pernambuco and Ceará.
A highlight in Ceará is the Programa de Afabetização na Idade Certa (Program of Alphabetization in the Right Age), which aims to ensure that all students in the state's public school systems achieve literacy by the age of 7. The plan was based on the following pillars: (1) the elaboration of a specialized literacy curriculum that was adopted in all the municipalities, with structured materials for teachers and students containing a daily routine of classroom activities and homework assignments; (2) pedagogical practices to encourage reading in the classroom; (3) financial incentives for the municipalities that achieve better results in education; and (4) evaluation and monitoring of the program, with a census and diagnostic test that is applied at the beginning of every semester.
Pernambuco has implemented a Full-Time High School system that stands out. The system is based on the following pillars: (1) the introduction of a subject called "life project," which encourages students to create plans with goals and objectives for their lives; (2) guided study, providing a space for autonomy in learning and fostering self-directed learning skills; (3) hands-on, practical classes that combine theory and practice; (4) youth clubs, where collective interests of young people are pursued; (5) tutoring, where teachers (tutors) interact with students to support their development; and (6) full-time education, of course.
Both plans have been tremendous successes and could be implemented nationwide. The Member of Parliament Tabata Amaral has proposed the program "basic education like Ceará's, high school like Pernambuco's." We might see that put in practice. Izolda Cela, the mind behind Ceará's basic education plan, is the Executive-Secretary of the Ministry of Education, and the current Minister of Education is Camilo Santana, the governor of Ceará between 2014 and 2022.
Izolda Cela (Executive-Secretary of the Ministry of Education) and Camilo Santana (Minister of Education).
Public Investments
Furthermore, there is a general consensus that the significant decrease in public investment since 1980 explains part of the problem. During the Golden Age of Brazilian growth, public investment mounted to about 6% of GDP, whereas it currently stands at approximately 4% since the lost decade. Liberal economists tend to attribute this to the expansion of the welfare state, that came with a substantial increase in the tax burden (from 25% of GDP in the 1970s to 35% in 2000). On the other hand, developmentalist economists point to the decline in public savings due to the privatization of state-owned enterprises in the 1990s.
In his second government, Lula created the Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento (PAC) (Growth Acceleration Program), whose objective was precisely to expand public investments. Unfortunately, the plan ended up with highly controversial results, primarily due to the low administrative capacity of the Brazilian State and corruption (some like to call the plan the Corruption Acceleration Program!).
But now the Workers' Party has gained new experience. Many of its state governments became famous for extensive investment programs in partnership with the private sector, delivering positive results. Chief of Staff Rui Costa, in particular, had a successful experience with public-private investments during his tenure as the governor of Bahia. He is now expected to lead the "New PAC", which will probably be announced at some point between today and July. (The project still has no name and is provisionally being called "New PAC").
Here's what Rui Costa has said about the project: "We will have, in an unprecedented way, investments with Public Private Partnerships (PPIs) at the federal level. Many states, including Bahia, have made PPI projects. [...] We are negotiating with the Ministry of Finance the conditions for guarantees so that we can leverage these projects."
Lula wants to meet with the 27 state governors to determine which state projects the Union should prioritize for its investments. In recent weeks, Costa has held individual meetings with the state governments to define which projects will be included in the new PAC. In all, eight governors have already been heard.
In a speech on the May 1st holiday, Lula said the following about the project: "We are inviting foreign businessmen to invest in Brazil and we are showing them the great projects that we are going to present in the third PAC. It will be the largest infrastructure project in this country."
Former Governor of Bahia (2014 - 2022) and current Chief of Staff Rui Costa.
Deindustrialization
Another problem is the early deindustrialization that is taking place in Brazil: we are losing our industry before becoming rich. In the beginning of the lost decade, the industry accounted for one-quarter of the Brazilian GDP, whereas today it represents around one-tenth. The reason for this process is complex, and once again, economists disagree. Liberals point to the new form of production organization that emerged with globalization, where the manufacturing of goods was fragmented into different stages, each executed in different countries. According to this line of thinking, Brazil failed to adapt to the new industrial configuration and remained stuck in an unrealistic autarkic dream. On the other hand, developmentalist economists usually argue that after the end of hyperinflation, Brazil fell into a trap of having an overvalued currency and high interest rates, demolishing the industry's competitiveness. (I am more inclined towards the first thesis, although it is a fact that the Brazilian exchange rate was detrimental to the industry after the Real Plan).
Now I want to talk a little bit about the Brazilian industrial bourgeoisie and its problems. In the 1960s, the then sociologist and future president Fernando Henrique Cardoso published his thesis on the Brazilian industrial entrepreneurs. Based on his research, he concluded that Brazilian industrialists did not have any national project, and (1) "only cared about their personal interests when speaking on behalf of the class" and (2) "[their] political action consists of personal participation in the patrimonialist game." Brazil has a serious problem related to what we call 'patrimonialism,' which refers to the capture of resources from the Brazilian state to benefit private interests.
Unfortunately, industrial policy in Brazil often results in tax exemptions, subsidies, tariff protections, etc., for an inefficient, patrimonialist, and somewhat broken industry that was developed in the 20th century. The Workers' Party itself fell into this outdated corporatism while in power, especially during the first Rousseff administration (2011-2015). It is a shame that advocating for greater state involvement in the economy ends up becoming a defense of those interest groups.
In this sense, I find myself opposed to both liberals and developmentalists. While the latter end up promoting an agenda that only benefits private interests, albeit with good intentions, the former dismiss any state planning, believing in an 'economic abiogenesis.' Since 2016, we have been reducing the role of the state and waiting for a crowding in effect, but with no success. We need strong a industrial policy, but it has to be transparent and not perpetuate the old game of patrimonialism.
In the words of the brilliant economist Laura Carvalho: "We want a State that identifies ways to stimulate technological innovation and product development in partnership with the private sector. But this policy cannot become hostage to the existing private sector. We have remnants of our industry of the 20th century, for example the automobile industry, and when we do industrial policy, we end up just giving incentives to them. This is a state that does not choose winners, but rather is chosen by losers. Those who are struggling in the industry try to eat the resources of the state to survive."
Unfortunately, the signals from the new Lula government are quite negative. Industry and Commerce Minister Geraldo Alckmin recently announced a plan of incentives for the automobile industry, which is essentially the same program that has failed several times in the past. There are positive things coming from his ministry, but few of them have much to do directly with a well-made industrial policy. It's a shame.
His plans beyond industrial policy appear positive, as shown in the following excerpt, at least: "Brazil had an early deindustrialization. Europe also deindustrialized, but ours was precarious and severe. More than reindustrializing, we need a neo-reindustrialization. A central issue is the competitiveness agenda. There is a principle in medicine that says: suppress the cause and the effect ceases. We have to act on the causes of low growth. Our tax model generates an absurd cost for companies. It is not fair. We have an absurd judicialization that leads to legal insecurity and hinders exports. The whole world has a VAT (value added tax. I defend it. I think Haddad is doing well and I am a great enthusiast of the tax reform."
Probably more than any other politician of expression today, Haddad positions himself as a republican and talks about reducing the patrimonialist distortions of the Brazilian public budget. He talks about "closing the drains of what is called Brazilian patrimonialism" and "ending a series of abuses that have been committed against the fiscal base" of the country. He says that many sectors have been "overly" benefited "with rules established over the decades and that have not been reviewed by any outcome control. Many have expired from the point of view of efficiency, and need to be revoked."
Former Governor of São Paulo (2001 - 2006; 2010 - 2017) and current Vice-President of Brazil and Minister of Industry and Commerce Geraldo Alckmin.
Business Environment
Brazilian productivity has been stagnant for decades. What is causing this? The main suspect is the Brazilian tax system. There is an enormous complexity in the various indirect taxes (ISS, ICMS, PIS/Cofins, and IPI), which forces every company to have an excessively large department dedicated to tax payment. Additionally, numerous divergences of interpretation arise between the Federal Revenue, state authorities, and businesses. On every corner of our cities, there is a specialized tax law office to assist companies in dealing with the extremely high level of litigation in our taxation system. To make matters worse, our indirect taxes discourage investment in locations with higher social returns, as the tax complexity and special tax regimes artificially alter the profitability of investments and production. A general simplification of these taxes, with the adoption of a Value Added Tax, could have an impact on the economy's efficiency equivalent to the Plano Real, which ended hyperinflation.
Even beyond the tax issue, the Brazilian business environment is terrible. According to the World Bank's Doing Business 2020 report, which measures the ease of doing business in 190 countries, Brazil ranks 124th. This problem is related to excessive bureaucracy, unexpected judicial decisions, loopholes in regulatory frameworks, and disrespect for contracts.
The Tax Reform is going to be the government's main priority after the approval of the New Fiscal Anchor. Planning Minister Simone Tebet summed up the reform as follows: "The Tax reform is the only silver bullet that we have to save Brazil."
And here's what Finance Minister Fernando Haddad has said about it: "There is no way to grow Brazil's productivity with this tax system [...] We are developing a tax reform that is even more modern, because it introduces in the national tax system a Value Added Tax that solves a good part of the flaws of the current system that, in my opinion, is the great villain for the low growth rates of our productivity." The idea is to approve the Tax Reform still this year (Haddad talks about doing it in the first semester!).
Special Secretary for Tax Reform Bernard Appy.
Economic Isolation
Brazil has a very closed economy. Among the 160 countries analyzed by the World Bank, the Brazilian economy is only less open than that of Sudan. The average protection applied by Brazil to capital goods is 14 times higher than in Chile and 25 times higher than in Mexico. This is probably the most expressive cause of the low productivity and deindustrialization in Brazil, together with the tax system. Here, I quote the brilliant economist Edmar Bacha: "[The closure of the Brazilian economy during the Geisel government (1974 - 1979)] caused a tremendous drop in the economy's productivity and an increase in the cost of capital goods. And this, I believe, is what lies at the root of our stagnation after the so-called economic miracle (1968-1974). Our industry became unable to compete internationally. And we were forced, because the industry has this extraordinary lobbying capacity, to prevent the redesign of the Brazilian industry to participate in global value chains."
Bacha's argument makes sense: the collapse of GDP growth coincides with the collapse of capital accumulation (the growth rate of the capital stock) after Geisel's government. Why did capital accumulation collapse? Bacha explains that using a decomposition of the investment = savings relationship: K' = s(1/p)v - δ, where K' = capital accumulation, s = savings rate, p = relative price of investment, v = output-capital ratio, and δ = depreciation rate.
Between 1950-1980, the "golden age" of Brazil, K' grew at nearly 9% per year. Between 1981-2014, this number was 3%. Why? Looking at the historical series, the difference is not in savings or depreciation. What happened was that the output-capital ratio fell by about one-third, and the relative price of investment increased by one-third. In other words, the capital requirement per unit of output increased significantly, and at the same time, the price of investment goods rose significantly. According to Bacha, this process occurred between 1973 and 1983, a period in which the Military Government pursued an autarkic economic policy.
The ideal scenario for Brazil would be to open its economy and have an export-oriented industry. The industry we have developed is heavily reliant on our domestic market, without external competition. In the words of economist Nelson Barbosa: "Brazil cannot produce ships, but it can produce airplanes. Brazil does not have car manufacturers, but it has bus manufacturers. Brazil cannot have a domestic production of microelectronics, but it has a good domestic production of electric motors. So we need to study what worked in these sectors to see if it can be replicated in other sectors. All these successful sectors, Embraer, Weg, Marco Polo, are sectors that are competitive in Brazil and in the world. Here is the first clue: correct industrial policies create domestic production that competes domestically and internationally. They are integrated products that import and export extensively. Value chains."
However, an open trade policy without a plan may not be positive either. In Nelson's words: "Development always means increased productivity. Opening the economy can stimulate productivity, but it can also lead to a negative specialization. You can open your economy and become a country that only exports commodities, with an inflated services sector that only sells domestically, with a significant portion of your population relying on informal jobs. Which is what happens in Brazil. So I think trade openness is inevitable, more developed countries are more open, but thinking that just opening up will automatically lead to development is naïve and something we shouldn't do in the 21st century. I believe that strategic trade integration is crucial and necessary for development. Unilateral openness, without any plan, will only reinforce the specialization we already have today."
In any case, it is certain that the current excessive protectionism cannot be maintained. Opening up would allow broader access for companies to (1) cheaper and higher-quality inputs and (2) foreign-produced capital goods and technology, (3) create significant competition effects to invigorate the economy, and (4) create a 'selection effect' that would eliminate losers and favor winners.
But this is the agenda that I am least hopeful about. Trade openness is a topic that faces strong opposition from the Brazilian left and would likely only occur under a moderate center-right government. I hope, at least, that some trade agreements can be reached to open up the economy. The European Union-Mercosur trade agreement would have a significant impact and would be very important but I'm not very hopeful that it'll be approved.
Haddad is still optimistic, though! He said that a more emphatic diplomatic effort will be made starting in the second semester, in a movement that will take advantage of Brazil's leadership in Mercosur and Spain's leadership in the European bloc.
Simone Tebet (Planning Minister) and Fernando Haddad (Finance Minister).
Interest Rates
Interest rates in Brazil are much, much higher than the global average. Our credit is scarce and dysfunctional. Lula likes to repeat that Brazil is a capitalist country without capitalism because there is no credit.
Brazil has the second-highest bank spread in the world, second only to Madagascar. This means that banks in Brazil charge very high interest rates for lending money. To give you an idea, Brazil's bank spread is higher than the average observed in countries at war. There are several reasons for this, but some stand out: (1) savings in Brazil have historically been very low (around 20% of GDP), (2) the government consumes a significant portion of savings to finance itself, and (3) the Brazilian banking sector is extremely concentrated, with a few banks dominating the entire sector.
The other issue in this discussion is the current policy interest rate set by the Central Bank. Brazil currently has the highest real interest rate in the world, at around 9%. The debate about whether this interest level is correct or not is quite active in Brazil, with its proponents arguing that the current Brazilian inflation is demand-driven and pointing to inflation in the services sector and core inflation, while its critics argue that inflation is not demand-driven, pointing to the fact that Brazil has had a negative output gap since 2015 and that supply shocks can explain the inflation in services.
This debate is complex, and it is hard to determine definitively which side is right. Nevertheless, the Central Bank is strongly adhering to the first thesis.
The current Chairman of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto (RCN), is the grandson of an economist of the Military Dictatorship and was appointed by Bolsonaro. He will remain in his position until 2024 due to the new autonomy granted to the Central Bank in 2021. In this scenario, Lula engaged in a public war against RCN, urging him to lower interest rates. The situation became tense, but Lula never showed any willingness to take effective action to remove him, remaining only in rhetoric. Throughout the conflict, Haddad positioned himself as a moderate, playing a certain "good cop, bad cop" game with Lula and gaining trust in the financial market. Apparently, Lula intends to nominate former executive-secretary of the Finance Ministry Gabriel Galípolo to replace RCN in 2024. He was recently appointed as director of monetary policy at the Central Bank, and is widely identified as a heterodox economist.
Haddad's current plan is to stabilize Brazil's deficit to allow for a monetary loosening. Here's what he said: "We are not at a point where fiscal expansion is going to help the economy. If there is room for any stimulus, it will be monetary. If we know how to make the transition, there is room for a lower interest rate, you just have to give security to the monetary authority." He does not seem to be concerned about banking concentration, though.
Chairman of the Central Bank Roberto Campos Neto.
TL;DR
The Brazilian economy has seen very little growth since the the lost decade in the 1980s. One of the primary factors contributing to this stagnation is the economy's low productivity. There are several reasons behind this low productivity, including:

1. Inadequate infrastructure and insufficient investments in its development.
2. A significant delay in comparison to other countries in terms of investing in education.
3. Unreasonable economic protectionism.
4. Private groups exerting undue influence and capturing the Brazilian state (patrimonialism).
5. Failure to adapt our industry to a globalized world.
6. Excessively high bank spreads.
7. A terrible business environment, particularly due to the tax system.

There are other reasons for sure, but I'd say most people would agree those are the most important ones. Also, here's my effortpost on the Workers' Party, in case you haven't read it.

This helps DRSGME.org and whyDRS.org to spread outside of Reddit so give his article link some love.
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https://www.thestreet.com/memestocks/gme/what-does-gamestops-director-compensation-say-about-the-company

What Does GameStop's Director Compensation Say About the Company?

Unlike the majority of executives, GameStop's directors are compensated primarily with stock awards.
^{Bernard Zambonin May 25, 2023 5:39 PM EDT}
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How a company pays its executives can provide valuable insight into a company's priorities. GameStop pays its non-employee executives primarily with stock-based awards. This is generally a sign that the interests of the company's directors align with those of its shareholders.

How Will GameStop Pay Its Directors This Year?

According to GameStop's 2023 proxy statement, the company plans to award each of its named executive officers with a base pay of $200,000 in the form of restricted stock units (RSUs).
These RSUs are comprised of shares equivalent to a $200,000 dividend at the average closing price of GameStop's stock for 30 trading days before the annual shareholder's meeting. This year, the meeting is scheduled for June 15.
As usual, Chairman of the Board Ryan Cohen was the only director who opposed receiving any compensation for his services. Through his holding company RC Ventures, Cohen currently owns about 12% of all outstanding GameStop shares.
GameStop's Proxy Statement
Ryan Cohen has already made it clear that he is a big fan of this stock-based compensation structure. According to the GameStop chair, the directors of a company must be made up of owners who have bought shares with their own money. Moreover, stock-based compensation can encourage non-employee directors to maximize the value of the company's shareholders.

GameStop Rewards Its Store Employees, Too

Since September 2022, GameStop's management has been rewarding certain employees with stock.
Some of the senior employees who manage the company's brick-and-mortar stores have been rewarded with as much as $21,000 in stock, which will vest over three annual installments.
Additionally, GameStop has given some senior staff pay raises. This employee compensation model is part of the company's strategy focused on achieving profitability through its traditional business.

The Bottom Line

GameStop's non-employee executive compensation structure, which is based on stock awards, sends a very clear message that the company prioritizes shareholder value.
Thus, it is very unlikely that GameStop will opt for dilutive stock offerings to raise capital.
Also, when a company offers stock-based compensation to its executives or employees, it demonstrates a belief that the company's shares have the potential to appreciate in the future.
I believe GameStop's governance structure and the way it compensates its key players is a major factor behind the stock's popularity with shareholders. In the last three years, GME has shown returns of over 1,980%.

Cowin Wireless Earbuds are a great option for those looking for a comfortable and affordable pair of wireless earbuds. They offer a long battery life, clear sound quality, and a secure fit.Cowin Wireless Earbuds are a great option for those looking for a comfortable, affordable, and reliable pair of wireless earbuds. If you are looking for a great pair of wireless earbuds at a great price, I would highly recommend Cowin Wireless Earbuds.
Here are some of the key features of Cowin Wireless Earbuds:

• Long battery life: The earbuds offer up to 6 hours of playtime on a single charge, and the charging case provides an additional 30 hours of battery life, for a total of 36 hours of listening time.
• Clear sound quality: The earbuds produce clear and balanced sound, with deep bass and crisp highs. They also have a built-in microphone for making phone calls.
• Secure fit: The earbuds come with three different sizes of ear tips to ensure a comfortable and secure fit. They are also IPX5 water-resistant, making them perfect for workouts or running in the rain.

Cowin Ky02 Wireless Earbuds

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The KY02 True Wireless Earbuds are a great choice for anyone in search of high-quality audio and ultimate freedom from wires. Designed to be used during physical activities, these earbuds offer a range of features intended to fit the needs of people with an active lifestyle. In this review, we will take a closer look at the KY02 True Wireless Earbuds and explore their design and build quality, performance, charging and recharging capabilities, as well as their pros and cons.

Design and Build Quality:

One of the first things you will notice about the KY02 True Wireless Earbuds is their sleek and modern design. The earbuds come in black or white colors, with a minimalist appearance that appeals to many users. They have a slightly angled shape that fits comfortably in your ears, and come with three different sizes of silicone ear tips for a secure and comfortable fit.
The earbuds are made from high-quality materials, which makes them durable and long-lasting. They are also sweat- and water-resistant, which means they can withstand even the most intense workouts without any damage. Additionally, they are lightweight and portable, which makes them easy to use on-the-go.
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Performance:

In terms of performance, the KY02 True Wireless Earbuds deliver exceptional sound quality. They have a dynamic speaker system that produces clear and crisp sound without distortion or interference. The earbuds feature Bluetooth 5.0 technology, which ensures a stable and reliable connection with your mobile device up to 33 feet away.
The earbuds also come with touch controls that allow you to manage your music playback, answer phone calls, and activate your phone's voice assistant without having to use your device. The controls are intuitive and easy to use, and you can customize them according to your preferences.

Charging and Recharging:

The KY02 True Wireless Earbuds come with a compact charging case that provides up to six full charges for the earbuds. Each charge provides up to four hours of playback time, which means you can enjoy up to 24 hours of continuous playback on a single charge.
The charging case is easy to use and features LED indicators that show you how much battery life is remaining. The case itself can be charged using a USB-C cable, which provides fast and efficient charging times.
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Pros:

1. Excellent sound quality with clear and crisp output.
2. Bluetooth 5.0 technology for seamless connectivity.
3. Comfortable fit with soft silicone ear tips in three sizes.
4. Long battery life with up to four hours of continuous playback and additional charges from the case.
5. Waterproof design with IPX7 rating.
6. Intuitive touch controls for easy operation.
7. Compact and portable charging case.

Cons:

1. The earbuds do not come with noise-canceling features, which may be a drawback for some users.
2. The touch controls may require some getting used to, and accidental activation can occur.

Conclusion:

Overall, the KY02 True Wireless Earbuds are an excellent choice for anyone who wants high-quality audio and comfortable wireless earbuds designed for physical activities. They offer exceptional sound quality, reliable connectivity, a variety of sizes of silicone ear tips to ensure a perfect fit, long battery life, and intuitive touch controls.
Additionally, they are sweat- and water-resistant, making them durable and suitable for use during intense workouts or outdoor activities. Although they do not come with noise-canceling features, the overall performance and affordable price make them a great buy for people who prioritize functionality over extra features. If you're looking for a pair of reliable, high-quality wireless earbuds, the KY02 True Wireless Earbuds are definitely worth considering.
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COWIN Apex Pro Active Noise Cancelling True Wireless Earbuds

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If you're in the market for earbuds with top-notch noise-cancelling capabilities, look no further than the Cowin Apex Pro. These true wireless earbuds boast active noise cancellation technology that can block out a significant amount of external noise, making them perfect for use during commutes or in noisy environments. But noise cancelling is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the features and performance offered by these earbuds.

Design and Build Quality:

The Cowin Apex Pro earbuds are sleek and modern in design, with a black matte finish and small, compact size. Each earbud features an ergonomic shape that fits comfortably in the ear and provides a secure fit, even during movement. The earbuds come with three different sizes of ear tips to ensure the perfect fit for any user. The earbuds are also sweat and water-resistant, which means they can withstand intense workouts and outdoor activities without fear of damage.
One unique feature of the Cowin Apex Pro earbuds is their touch control operation. The earbuds feature touch-sensitive panels that allow users to control music playback, adjust volume, take phone calls, and activate voice assistants with a simple tap or swipe. This feature is intuitive and easy to use, making it a standout feature of the earbuds.
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Performance:

The Cowin Apex Pro earbuds deliver excellent sound quality, thanks to their 10mm dynamic drivers. The earbuds produce a balanced sound profile, with crisp highs, rich mids, and deep bass. The sound quality is impressive, even in noisy environments, thanks to the active noise cancellation technology. The earbuds also feature Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, which allows for quick and stable pairing with smartphones, tablets, and other devices.
The active noise cancellation on the Cowin Apex Pro earbuds is top-notch. The technology is capable of blocking out a significant amount of external noise, including background chatter, traffic noise, and other environmental sounds. This makes the earbuds ideal for use during commutes, flights, or in busy offices.

Charging and Recharging:

The Cowin Apex Pro earbuds offer an impressive battery life of up to 7 hours on a single charge. The charging case provides an additional 30 hours of playback time, which means users can enjoy music and phone calls all day without worrying about running out of battery. When it comes time to recharge the earbuds, they can be fully charged in just 1.5 hours, thanks to the fast charging technology.
The charging case also features a USB-C port for quick and easy charging, as well as wireless charging capabilities. This allows users to charge the earbuds on-the-go, without needing to carry around a charging cable.
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Pros and Cons:

As with any product, there are pros and cons to consider when it comes to the Cowin Apex Pro earbuds. Here are some of the most notable:

Pros:

• Excellent active noise cancellation technology
• Sleek and modern design
• Touch control operation is intuitive and easy to use
• Impressive battery life and fast charging capabilities
• Sweat and water-resistant for workouts and outdoor activities

Cons:

• Some users may find the touch controls too sensitive
• The earbuds may not fit comfortably in all ear shapes and sizes

Conclusion:

Overall, the Cowin Apex Pro earbuds are an excellent choice for anyone in need of high-quality true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation technology. The sleek and modern design, along with the touch control operation, make these earbuds stand out from the competition. The sound quality is impressive, even in noisy environments, and the battery life and charging capabilities are top-notch. While there may be some minor drawbacks, such as sensitivity with the touch controls or possible fit issues for some users, the pros of the Cowin Apex Pro earbuds far outweigh any cons.
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Cowin Apex Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds

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If you're looking for a reliable and affordable pair of wireless earbuds with active noise cancelling technology, the Cowin Apex earbuds may be just what you need. These earbuds offer a sleek design, impressive sound quality, and long battery life at a fraction of the cost of other high-end models. In this review, we'll take a closer look at the Cowin Apex earbuds and evaluate their performance in key categories.

Design and Build Quality:

The Cowin Apex earbuds have a simple, understated design that is both sleek and modern. They come in black or white, with a matte finish and metallic accents. The earbuds themselves are lightweight and compact, making them easy to carry around. They fit comfortably in the ear and come with multiple sizes of ear tips to ensure the perfect fit for any user.
One potential drawback to the design of the Cowin Apex earbuds is that they don't feature touch controls. Instead, users must control music playback and phone calls using physical buttons on the earbuds. While this isn't as intuitive as touch controls, it's a minor inconvenience given the affordable price point of the earbuds.
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Performance:

The Cowin Apex earbuds deliver impressive sound quality, thanks to their 6mm dynamic drivers. The earbuds produce clear and balanced audio, with crisp highs, detailed mids, and punchy bass. Additionally, the earbuds offer active noise cancelling technology that blocks out external noise to create an immersive listening experience.
The noise cancelling technology on the Cowin Apex earbuds is effective, but not as powerful as some higher-end models. It does a good job of blocking out background noise, such as traffic or chatter in a coffee shop, but may struggle with extremely loud environments. However, given the affordability of the earbuds, the noise cancelling capabilities are impressive.
When it comes to connectivity, the Cowin Apex earbuds use Bluetooth 5.0 to provide stable and fast pairing with smartphones and other devices. The earbuds also feature a built-in microphone that allows for clear phone calls and voice assistant control.

Charging and Recharging:

The Cowin Apex earbuds offer up to 5 hours of battery life on a single charge, which is impressive given their compact size. The charging case provides an additional 15 hours of playback time, bringing the total battery life to 20 hours. When it's time to recharge the earbuds, they can be fully charged in just 1 hour, thanks to the fast charging technology.
One potential drawback of the Cowin Apex earbuds is that they use micro-USB instead of USB-C for charging. While this isn't a major issue, it may be an inconvenience for users who prefer the newer USB-C standard.

Pros and Cons:

As with any product, there are pros and cons to consider when it comes to the Cowin Apex earbuds. Here are some of the most notable:

Pros:

• Affordable price point
• Impressive sound quality and active noise cancelling technology
• Lightweight and compact design
• Fast charging capabilities

Cons:

• No touch controls
• Noise cancelling technology may not be as powerful as higher-end models
• Charging case uses micro-USB instead of USB-C

Conclusion:

Cowin Apex earbuds are an excellent choice for anyone looking for affordable wireless earbuds with active noise cancelling technology. While they may not have all the bells and whistles of higher-end models, they deliver impressive sound quality and decent noise cancelling capabilities at a fraction of the cost. The lightweight and compact design makes them easy to carry around, and the long battery life and fast charging technology ensure that you won't run out of juice during the day. While the lack of touch controls and use of micro-USB for charging may be minor inconveniences, they're a small price to pay for such an affordable and effective pair of wireless earbuds.
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Cowin Apex Elite Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds

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Wireless earbuds have become increasingly popular over the years, with more and more people opting for the convenience of wireless headphones. Cowin has been one of the leading brands in this space, producing a range of affordable yet high-quality wireless earbuds. In this review, we'll take a closer look at the Cowin Apex Elite Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds and evaluate their performance in key categories.

Design and Build Quality:

The Cowin Apex Elite earbuds have a sleek and modern design that is both stylish and functional. They come in black or white, with a matte finish and metallic accents. The earbuds themselves are lightweight and compact, making them easy to carry around. They fit comfortably in the ear and come with multiple sizes of ear tips and ear wings to ensure the perfect fit for any user.
One standout feature of the Cowin Apex Elite earbuds is their touch controls. Users can control music playback, phone calls, and access voice assistants using intuitive touch gestures on the earbuds. This makes it easy to adjust settings without having to reach for your phone or fumble with physical buttons on the earbuds.
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The earbuds also feature active noise cancelling technology that blocks out external noise to create an immersive listening experience. The noise cancelling technology is effective, but not as powerful as some higher-end models. It does a good job of blocking out background noise, such as traffic or chatter in a coffee shop, but may struggle with extremely loud environments.

Performance:

When it comes to sound quality, the Cowin Apex Elite earbuds deliver impressive results. They use 10mm dynamic drivers to produce clear and balanced audio, with crisp highs, detailed mids, and punchy bass. Additionally, the earbuds offer active noise cancelling technology that blocks out external noise to create an immersive listening experience.
The Cowin Apex Elite earbuds also feature Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, which provides stable and fast pairing with smartphones and other devices. The earbuds also have a built-in microphone that allows for clear phone calls and voice assistant control.

Charging and Recharging:

The Cowin Apex Elite earbuds offer up to 7 hours of battery life on a single charge, which is impressive given their compact size. The charging case provides an additional 28 hours of playback time, bringing the total battery life to 35 hours. When it's time to recharge the earbuds, they can be fully charged in just 1 hour, thanks to the fast charging technology.
One potential drawback of the Cowin Apex Elite earbuds is that they use micro-USB instead of USB-C for charging. While this isn't a major issue, it may be an inconvenience for users who prefer the newer USB-C standard.
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Pros and Cons:

As with any product, there are pros and cons to consider when it comes to the Cowin Apex Elite earbuds. Here are some of the most notable:

Pros:

• Sleek and modern design
• Intuitive touch controls
• Impressive sound quality and active noise cancelling technology
• Lightweight and compact design
• Fast charging capabilities

Cons:

• Noise cancelling technology may not be as powerful as higher-end models
• Charging case uses micro-USB instead of USB-C

Conclusion:

Overall, the Cowin Apex Elite Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds are an excellent choice for anyone looking for a high-quality pair of wireless earbuds. With their sleek and modern design, intuitive touch controls, and impressive sound quality, they offer everything you could want in a pair of wireless earbuds. The lightweight and compact design makes them easy to carry around, and the long battery life and fast charging technology ensure that you won't run out of juice during the day. While the noise cancelling technology may not be as powerful as higher-end models, it's still effective enough to block out most external noise. The use of micro-USB for charging may be a minor inconvenience, but it's a small price to pay for such an affordable and effective pair of wireless earbuds.
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Cowin BT618 Wireless Earbuds

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The Cowin BT618 Wireless Earbuds are an impressive addition to the wireless earbud market, offering active noise cancelling technology and a sleek design. In this review, we will delve into the design and build quality, performance, charging and recharging capabilities, as well as the pros and cons of these earbuds.

Design and Build Quality:

The Cowin BT618 Wireless Earbuds boast a sleek and modern design that is both stylish and compact, making them perfect for on-the-go use. The earbuds come with three different sized ear tips to ensure a comfortable and secure fit. The ear tips are made from soft silicone material which provides a comfortable fit and helps to block out external noise.
The earbuds themselves are lightweight and easy to wear for extended periods of time. They have a matte black finish which adds to their overall aesthetic appeal. The earbuds also feature touch controls on the surface which makes it easy to control music playback, answer calls, or activate the voice assistant.
The charging case of the Cowin BT618 Wireless Earbuds is also quite impressive. It has a slim and compact design that can easily fit into a pocket or bag. The case has a matte black finish which complements the earbuds nicely. It is easy to open and close and has a magnetic closure which ensures that the earbuds do not fall out.
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Performance:

The Cowin BT618 Wireless Earbuds offer active noise cancelling technology which helps to block out external sounds. The noise cancelling feature is quite effective in muffling ambient noise, making it easier to focus on your music or podcast. During our tests, we found that the noise cancelling feature worked well for low-frequency sounds such as traffic noise, but struggled to block out higher frequency sounds like voices.
In terms of sound quality, the Cowin BT618 Wireless Earbuds offer a rich and balanced sound. The bass is punchy and deep without overpowering the other frequencies. The mids and highs are clear and detailed, making it easy to distinguish individual instruments in a song. Overall, the sound quality of these earbuds is impressive and should satisfy most users.
The Cowin BT618 Wireless Earbuds also feature Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity which ensures a stable and reliable connection between the earbuds and your device. We did not experience any dropouts or connectivity issues during our testing.

Charging and Recharging:

The Cowin BT618 Wireless Earbuds come with a charging case that provides up to 24 hours of total playtime. The earbuds themselves offer up to 6 hours of playtime on a single charge. The charging case can recharge the earbuds multiple times before needing to be recharged itself.
The charging case features a USB-C port for quick and efficient charging. It takes approximately 1.5 hours to fully charge the earbuds from empty and approximately 2 hours to fully charge the charging case from empty.
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Pros and Cons:

Pros:

• Sleek and modern design
• Effective active noise cancelling technology
• Rich and balanced sound quality
• Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity
• Comfortable and secure fit
• Charging case provides up to 24 hours of total playtime

Cons:

• Noise cancelling struggles with higher frequency sounds
• Touch controls can be finicky at times

Conclusion:

Cowin BT618 Wireless Earbuds are an excellent choice for anyone in the market for a pair of wireless earbuds with active noise cancelling technology. They offer a sleek and modern design, effective noise cancelling technology, and rich and balanced sound quality. While the noise cancelling could be better for higher frequency sounds and the touch controls can be finicky at times, these minor drawbacks do not detract from their overall performance. We highly recommend the Cowin BT618 Wireless Earbuds to anyone in need of a reliable and high-quality pair of wireless earbuds.
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