The California sports betting bill proposed by Senator Bill Dodd has been pulled due to tribal opposition, according to Legal Sports Report.
The bill to legalize California sports betting in person and online through Indian gaming casinos and racetracks won't be placed on the 2020 election ballot in the state, but could be resurrected for the 2022 statewide election.

I think it is time I make a DD post that has nothing to do with a meme stonk. I am unable to use emojis off my laptop so please excuse me for not having enough rocket ships but I promise you this rocket ship is fueling up and we are a couple months away from blast off if not sooner.
Why should you trust me?
I am an economics major with a concentration in entrepreneurship and a minor in sales. I love money more than hookers love blow and I intend on making a lot of money so I can afford the hookers that like blow. I go to a pretty prestigious university and I love how WallStreetBets can connect "smart" money with "autist" money. I am 100% all in on APHA with my entire life savings because as Warren Buffett would say, " "Diversification is a protection against ignorance," "[It] makes very little sense for those who know what they're doing." and I know what I am doing so I full sent it.
​
Why APHA?
They are conservative with their spending is what got me hooked first. Compared to other marijuana companies like ACB or Tilray, they aren't riddled with debt right off the back. (i'll get to the Tilray merger in a bit). This company has the cash on hand to purchase a MSO (multi-state operator) as soon as the US legalizes and my bet is that they are going to go for a MSO that has a heavy presence in Florida as the CFO stated in an AMA on reddit that Florida is where the market is, not California. The difference between APHA and any MSO or other LP is the fact that APHA merging with Tilray creates the first MCO or Multi-country operator. This means the company will be taking a piece of the cake from multiple cakes. You don't need to be #1 in America or Canada whenever you are directly engaged in multiple operations all over the world that increase your market share to be #1 worldwide.
​
With APHA and Tilray merging... which stonk do you buy? Easy, APHA.
The arbitrage play has APHA being changed to .83 of 1 Tilray share.
Currently tilray trades at 24.95 x 0.83 = 20.708
The current APHA price? 15.25.
This means that the gap has to close before the merger but is Tilray going to go down with all the pro marijuana news coming out? No, APHA has to go up to close the gap and today alone APHA is up 17.92% based on pro marijuana legalization news. BUT WAIT! Tilray is up 22.98% which means the GAP IS ONLY GETTING WIDER just like your wife's pussy after letting her 5 boyfriends have a turn since you've been so busy focusing on your GME stonk going down due to market manipulation.
​
The financials of APHA are strong, they FINALLY posted a profit of 0.01 EPS which may seem like little bitch shit but in reality most cannabis companies haven't hit profitability yet so they are ahead of the game. The one great thing about their financials is that Sweetwater Brewing wasn't factored into the earnings report which is AWESOME (Insert hellllaaa rocket emojis here). They are already turning a profit and THEN they are going to be adding more profits from a brewery that has strong revenue growth and turns a profit onto their balance sheet. While other companies have to figure out how to keep demand up after the holiday season, APHA has a raft to float on since Sweetwater provides a great level of float to the company. (I will post all relevant news articles at the end). The merge with Tilray makes this combined company a player in, Canada, Portugal, France, and then Sweetwater gives them US brand recognition. How does a beer company give US brand recognition? Look up the Sweetwater brand and you will see that this is a beer company for stoners and that is exactly what APHA needed. Right now the stock is stilling at $15 which is still relatively low, I can see this hitting anywhere from $50-75 EOY and like I said, I have my entire life savings in this stonk because I know the end of prohibition means the chance for the next Anheuser Busch which APHA is best positioned to become.
There's even more reasons to invest but I'm sure you get the point. This is going to be huge and if you're looking for a play in the marijuana sector this is your best option. Go on the weedstocks subreddit if you want even more verification or to see some alternative opinions. I made this post as a throwback to the good ole days to when WSB wasn't only about GME and AMC but also new emerging sectors. This is a great stock and I wouldn't have taken the time out of my busy schedule unless the time to blast off was fast approaching. Listen or don't I am gonna make tendies, I just want to share the wealth.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrisroberts/2021/02/01/top-senate-democrats-well-legalize-marijuana/?sh=e722562215eb
https://investorplace.com/2020/11/apha-stock-aphria-sweetwater-brewing-deal-details/
https://technical420.com/cannabis-article/the-aphria-tilray-merger-will-make-the-combined-entity-a-major-european-cannabis-market-participant/
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126005149/en/Tilray%C2%AE-Selected-by-French-National-Agency-to-Supply-GMP-Certified-Medical-Cannabis-Products-in-France
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210201005184/en/Tilray%C2%AE-Receives-the-First-and-Only-Market-Authorization-to-Offer-Medical-Cannabis-Products-in-Portugal
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210121005247/en/SweetWater-Brewing-Company-Reaches-New-Heights-Launching-Statewide-in-Colorado-February-1
Sweetwater is actually a very big deal that is overlooked. They are expanding into more states which is simply creating a distribution chain for APHA/Tilray to distribute their product through. Imagine already having warehouses, sales reps, and shipping routes established before the US legalizes. APHA is going to be an MSO and MCO. The only thing that scares me is that democrats have said they don't want big companies coming in to sweep up market share whenever minorities have been directly impacted by the war on drugs. Could go both ways but Sweetwater provides somewhat of a foundation for the balance sheet and then the intrinsic value of the relationships/brand recognition that will already be established before any other LPs can get into the market will have APHA/Tilray the clear cut winner of the LPs. I strongly urge anyone that wants to get further into the marijuana investing space to visit the sub reddit Weedstocks rather than spamming WSB with these types of posts whenever their is a different sub dedicated to it. I have been a member of WSB and Weedstocks for over a year and both subs have their pros and cons.
​
https://www.newcannabisventures.com/investors-in-this-cannabis-stock-are-leaving-800-million-on-the-table/
READ THIS FOR INFO ON ARBITRAGE PLAY

TL;DR - we taught a computer to make up indie perfume names and descriptions. It was hilariously bad at it.
Inspired by this post about AI-generated candle descriptions, my brother and I decided to try training the gpt-2 (an AI computer that's available for people to tinker with) on indie perfume names and descriptions. Neither of us are experts (he does some coding for his engineering job; I barely passed one CS class in college) but it turns out that people who know much more than we do have been working to make artificial neural networks accessible, and it actually wasn't too bad.
To train a computer, you need data. Lots of it. Thankfully, this sub came through for me, with this spreadsheet of over 1500 perfumes compiled by the amazing u/vanityclaire (Sadly it's outdated for shopping, but still good for this.)
Then we had to train the ANN. We thought we had an instant success when it began giving us names like "Banana Peel in a Graveyard," but it turned out we were simply underestimating the enduring weirdness of BPAL names.
(Incidentally, I think BPAL should release a perfume called The Enduring Weirdness Of BPAL Names. Just for fun.)
However, eventually we succeeded. We found that the models that generated creative names were mostly the ones that generated boring descriptions and vice versa, so I'm giving them mostly separately. Feel free to match them up, or suggest names or notes for them :)

CGI Names

• The Hummingbird of Love
• Brimstone and Broom
• The One Under The Bed
• The Last Basilisk
• The Poorest Florist
• Unmuffled Whispers of Nature on Musk And Wood With White Musk And Blue Musk And Black Musk And Blue Musk And Woods And Carcass (according to the generated notes, it smells like apples and has no musk!)
• Shadower
• Midnight Vaporize
• Black Bee
• Spiced Tomatogram
• Barked Potato
• Scandal of You
• Normally Spiced Nutcrack
• Radical
• Blackburn's Bowmaster
• Blackburn's Beer Float
• Bubbled Cranberry
• Window of Doom
• Leatherndress
• Lament of Three
• Lush Guano
• Killer Kitten
• The Last of the Wild Boars
• House of 1000 Corpses
• Take Me Apart By Myself
• Calla Her
• Fairy Curd
• The Rise & Fall of Sun Quan
• Chamomile & Mushroom Mist
• Jack & The Divine Jam & Mallow
• Salty Beer
• Disney Tuna
• Tea Cotton & Bark
• Silent But Deadly
• Hivemind Tea
• Gelatin Spice Latte
• Louis III and Eric
• Ex-Human

And finally, the computer would like to suggest that if there are Rose Mallow, Violet Mallow, and Cocoa Mallow perfumes, then there is no good reason not to create Cherry Mallow, Banana Mallow, Cobalt Mallow, and Python Mallow. Obviously.

CGI Descriptions

And then there were the descriptions, which ranged from normal to......I have no idea what some of these are about. Here's a selection:

• "Dab a bit of black pepper on your hand, and voila! You have now mastered the art of pepper playing pranks on your fellow man! You can wear this one as a necklace or carry it as a wild card in your life (there is no telling which way things will turn out from here)"
• Alienation, torture, and the horrible, dark arts. Inspires vengefulness, patience, kindness, and a deep awareness of one's fellow man.
• "In honor of the official patron Goddess of Foodies and Foodies, I am proud to present to you The Saint of Food. The scent for my fantasy girlfriend would be one with no name, no place to be, no idea how she is supposed to look or behave. Divinely sophisticated and perfect for a night out at the opera in the heat of summer with friends, followed by a long (but not uncomfortably romantic) nap." (It's like a perfume/witchy/niceguys crossover!)
• "A tart, romantic dupe of Earl Grey Tea: red currant, black cinnamon, and sweet patchouli."
• Evil incarnate: this is a perfume sacred to the satyrs — ravens, storks, moths, and locusts. Their scent is a blend of ancient Egyptian and Greek Myrrh, with a touch of bright, crisp linen.
• An intoxicating blend, a game of musical chairs: plumeria, orange blossom, orange blossom, pear, orange blossom, orange blossom, and anise.
• Roll-ups, mildewed raincoat, and duct tape.
• The ultimate, audacious, and incredibly risky scent. The blackest of the blackest of the black. (Is it patented by Anish Kapur?)
• Hair of the Dog, feline and canine.
• Fizzy pear, peach and/or coconut.
• Molly - A true wet martini waiting to happen when you drop it into the black stream bubbling beneath the surface. Like sipping on a forest fire and smelling the forest for the first time you realise why it was there in the first place and that's the 100% real forest smell. Wettest of all to those that have smelled the effervescent hazelnut you instantly know how to behave when you are at a 10% ABV gathering. Very very very pretty and not very foody.
• "Alfred Hitchcock's Texas Chain Saw Massacre is both a psycho and a horror story. A plantation romance, the couple is accused of murdering one another and stealing bride and dance from the beautiful, innocent, innocent, beautiful, little-known "Red Woman". They are said to be close to reconciliation, but their troubles are far from over. They have one more thing in common: they both starred in horror films. (Cameo by dandyboy1911. An elegant blend of elegant chamomile, bay rum, and attar of rose.)
• Amelesia - Fabulous layered citrus and musk, full of citrus, and musk given the edge of life. Amelesia is freckled, gaunt, and suffering from the effects of post-traumatic stress with long slow comings and goings.
• World War Z - California, dust, and jelly beans. This is what World War Z smells like. Scent and rampaging madness.
• Celadon Noir - Deep mucus and golden violets.
• An immaculately scented blend of Vanilla, Sandalwood, Amber, Tonka Bean, Fragrant Remains, and a tiny hint of Kosher Hieroglyphics.
• "A delicate, enchanting blend of delicate pekoe tea cakes dipped in warm, juicy cherry pie."
• Winters Whore 1 - This fragrance embodies a scent of the cold, winter air sweeping over dark alleys and winding through the backstreets of the poor women. A warm scent with a delicate hint of green and a wild note that you could swear was frumpy but was actually made to match your scent, it was the scent of the coldest and most beautiful winter decorations that was placed down at night on the front porch. Named for the woman on whose house it was placed, who was murdered by a rich, powerful man and who was buried with his wealth as an inheritance. Upon seeing it appeared, the man went into a rage and threw the pillbox in a dumpster, the lady who was with him sped away in a carriage with her children and was strangled to death by her own husband, and the children were taken and made into an act of prostitution and the rich man was hung and after being shot and killed by a gang of gallows men. Upon his hanging, the ex-potentate declared that the flower should be used as an aphrodisiac and the bullet should be placed in the flower, after which the balloon should explode with the rich man's name written all over it, and he would be granted a new life. The original recipe said that the flower should be used for seduction and that the bullet should be placed in the flower, but with the old lady's body being strewn with flowers, that hasn't worked out so well, and now it's just used as perfume for the sheer loveliness of it all. This elixer base is made with a tea rose accord and consists of: (1) 100% pure tea resins and leaves (2) tea rose essential oil
• Vamp - A sharp, dirty scent: black musk, tanning lotion, grapefruit, tonka bean, balsam pine, tobacco flower, amber, and soot-covered black armpit.
• Shadower - A scentedored variation of the standard shantymaker's scentedored variation of "bathtub gin". A lavender fougere, a hint of lilac, and a touch of lilac persimmon.
• GRAPE SODA - crunchy black agar & crisp white peppermint
• Dirty Laundry: The scent of a laundry-free home, in addition to the scent from your favorite brand of laundry detergent.
• Dirty Laundry 2: A full moon, a rich oud wood, and a few wildflowers. It is the perfect fit for any day of the week.
• Under a thick layer of black licorice, a layer of purulent, rancid skin – pure and lovely. Underneath, a layer of frankincense, a layer of myrrh, and a tiny drop of patchouli.
• This is a blend of my personal scents, very bright. It's very floral and earthy, very perfect. Just perfect for fall. (If Trump were a perfumer)
• Chypre which isn't chypre, but a blend of chamomile, chamomile, lemon peel, chamomile, honey, and vanilla
• The Holy Roman Empire, also called the Byzantine Empire, was a geopolitical entity in Europe and Asia, spanning the Eastern Mediterranean, Central Asia and the Arabian Peninsula. Its princes and administrators ruled over empires, trading centers, and slave markets. Their spices, town flowers and incense were the principal sources of pleasure in their households. Sweet Arabia was the dominating sweetener in their oude and they used it in their legal codes and official documents, too. Although technically the same product, Holy India is a very syrupy blend of subtle Himalayan and African fruits and spices that have been oxidized and given a thick, refined taste. Although the Eastern Orthodox Church historically used the spice in their liturgy, it is in no way a synonym for the Greek word "Christ," and it is not a synonym for the Roman numeral "one," either

CGI successes?

And then there's a few that I think the computer got more or less right! I bet these would sell:

• A deliciously perverse and sinister blend, imbued with power and grace. The scent of a perfect lover, a scent that has no equal. Thick black currants with a hint of leather and ginger, spiced with vanilla, cinnamon and allspice.
• The scent of an elite assassin, trained to such a degree that only a mere mortal would dare approach. A virginal, sweet scent, imbued with power and grace. (Okay, this doesn't have notes, but it should. I vote for florals and resins.)
• Tsunami is the scent of an oceanic treatment. The ghostly and sorrowful beauty of submerged coral, and a warm tingling of citrus. The exotic and the familiar on the verge of dissolving into each other. The crisis and the triumph of hope.
• Crimson and Black - This is the scent that earned the Grim Reaper his reputation as the most terrifying man in history. This is that scythe-wielding, black-clad Grimm who roamed the land as a wild scent. Crimson and Black musk blends with frankincense, cedar and oakmoss to create a haunting and sultry blend reminiscent of a haunted cemetery. A piquant yet comforting, comforting and comforting.
• Hellfire and the Dark Side of Evil: A long dead and powerful blend of three potent and deadly opiates: opium resin, honey, and smoke. (Yeah, pretty sure I'd buy this!)
• White Tea, Mandarin, Lemon, Orange-Juice, Opium, Rich with Sheng Pine Tar and Ghost bamboo. (This too! Anyone have a dupe?)
• Pure, sweet, and ferocious. A malevolent yet charming blend of Vanilla, Sandalwood, Amber, Lavender Bergamot, Lavender Essential Oil, Lavender Cauldron Smoke, and a Vanilla Accord (okay, the notes need adjustment, but Lavender Cauldron Smoke sounds amazing)

So. That's the post. Favorites? Least favorites? Any that you want to make up notes or names or descriptions for?
Also, you can find the unfiltered dump of all our results here - feel free to go looking at everything I didn't include!

DD on $APHA
DD on APHA My current position is 1.5k shares at average cost of 7.51. I hold no options.
I think it is time I make a DD post that has nothing to do with a meme stonk. I am unable to use emojis off my laptop so please excuse me for not having enough rocket ships but I promise you this rocket ship is fueling up and we are a couple months away from blast off if not sooner.
Why should you trust me?
I am an economics major with a concentration in entrepreneurship and a minor in sales. I love money more than hookers love blow and I intend on making a lot of money so I can afford the hookers that like blow. I go to a pretty prestigious university and I love how WallStreetBets can connect "smart" money with "autist" money. I am 100% all in on APHA with my entire life savings because as Warren Buffett would say, " "Diversification is a protection against ignorance," "[It] makes very little sense for those who know what they're doing." and I know what I am doing so I full sent it.
Why APHA?
They are conservative with their spending is what got me hooked first. Compared to other marijuana companies like ACB or Tilray, they aren't riddled with debt right off the back. (i'll get to the Tilray merger in a bit). This company has the cash on hand to purchase a MSO (multi-state operator) as soon as the US legalizes and my bet is that they are going to go for a MSO that has a heavy presence in Florida as the CFO stated in an AMA on reddit that Florida is where the market is, not California. The difference between APHA and any MSO or other LP is the fact that APHA merging with Tilray creates the first MCO or Multi-country operator. This means the company will be taking a piece of the cake from multiple cakes. You don't need to be #1 in America or Canada whenever you are directly engaged in multiple operations all over the world that increase your market share to be #1 worldwide.
With APHA and Tilray merging... which stonk do you buy? Easy, APHA.
The arbitrage play has APHA being changed to .83 of 1 Tilray share.
Currently tilray trades at 24.95 x 0.83 = 20.708
The current APHA price? 15.25.
This means that the gap has to close before the merger but is Tilray going to go down with all the pro marijuana news coming out? No, APHA has to go up to close the gap and today alone APHA is up 17.92% based on pro marijuana legalization news. BUT WAIT! Tilray is up 22.98% which means the GAP IS ONLY GETTING WIDER just like your wife's pussy after letting her 5 boyfriends have a turn since you've been so busy focusing on your GME stonk going down due to market manipulation.
The financials of APHA are strong, they FINALLY posted a profit of 0.01 EPS which may seem like little bitch shit but in reality most cannabis companies haven't hit profitability yet so they are ahead of the game. The one great thing about their financials is that Sweetwater Brewing wasn't factored into the earnings report which is AWESOME (Insert hellllaaa rocket emojis here). They are already turning a profit and THEN they are going to be adding more profits from a brewery that has strong revenue growth and turns a profit onto their balance sheet. While other companies have to figure out how to keep demand up after the holiday season, APHA has a raft to float on since Sweetwater provides a great level of float to the company. (I will post all relevant news articles at the end). The merge with Tilray makes this combined company a player in, Canada, Portugal, France, and then Sweetwater gives them US brand recognition. How does a beer company give US brand recognition? Look up the Sweetwater brand and you will see that this is a beer company for stoners and that is exactly what APHA needed. Right now the stock is stilling at $15 which is still relatively low, I can see this hitting anywhere from $50-75 EOY and like I said, I have my entire life savings in this stonk because I know the end of prohibition means the chance for the next Anheuser Busch which APHA is best positioned to become.
There's even more reasons to invest but I'm sure you get the point. This is going to be huge and if you're looking for a play in the marijuana sector this is your best option. Go on the weedstocks subreddit if you want even more verification or to see some alternative opinions. I made this post as a throwback to the good ole days to when WSB wasn't only about certain meme stonks but also new emerging sectors. This is a great stock and I wouldn't have taken the time out of my day to post this. Listen or don't I am gonna make tendies, I just want to share the wealth.
Over at weedstocks lots of people pump MSOS because they have direct access to the US when legalization happens but in reality these companies will sellout to a bigger corporation should the chance present itself. Also with Sweetwaters 420 fest, aphria has direct in roads for brand recognition which is something no one else has. SHOULD THE WORLD GO TO SHIT people turn to drugs and alcohol and that is seen with the increase of revenue that lots of dispensaries are having due to the COVID pandemic. People are staying home bored so what do they do? They smoke! Kids are having to be stoners around their parents and this is causing wider acceptance. Trust me. I smoked with my mom for the first time ever due to this. Everything is lining up for this to be a huge play and you’ll either be apart of it or not.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrisroberts/2021/02/01/top-senate-democrats-well-legalize-marijuana/?sh=e722562215eb
https://investorplace.com/2020/11/apha-stock-aphria-sweetwater-brewing-deal-details/
https://technical420.com/cannabis-article/the-aphria-tilray-merger-will-make-the-combined-entity-a-major-european-cannabis-market-participant/
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126005149/en/Tilray%C2%AE-Selected-by-French-National-Agency-to-Supply-GMP-Certified-Medical-Cannabis-Products-in-France
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210201005184/en/Tilray%C2%AE-Receives-the-First-and-Only-Market-Authorization-to-Offer-Medical-Cannabis-Products-in-Portugal
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210121005247/en/SweetWater-Brewing-Company-Reaches-New-Heights-Launching-Statewide-in-Colorado-February-1
Sweetwater is actually a very big deal that is overlooked. They are expanding into more states which is simply creating a distribution chain for APHA/Tilray to distribute their product through. Imagine already having warehouses, sales reps, and shipping routes established before the US legalizes. APHA is going to be an MSO and MCO. The only thing that scares me is that democrats have said they don't want big companies coming in to sweep up market share whenever minorities have been directly impacted by the war on drugs. Could go both ways but Sweetwater provides somewhat of a foundation for the balance sheet and then the intrinsic value of the relationships/brand recognition that will already be established before any other LPs can get into the market will have APHA/Tilray the clear cut winner of the LPs. I strongly urge anyone that wants to get further into the marijuana investing space to visit the sub reddit Weedstocks rather than spamming WSB with these types of posts whenever their is a different sub dedicated to it. I have been a member of WSB and Weedstocks for over a year and both subs have their pros and cons.
https://www.newcannabisventures.com/investors-in-this-cannabis-stock-are-leaving-800-million-on-the-table/
READ THIS FOR INFO ON ARBITRAGE PLAY

My fellow autists. Are you looking for a big brain play that will smooth even the deepest of brain wrinkles? If so, I recommend UBER puts for earnings. So why bet against UBER? They sold off the driverless portion of the business that cost them so much money and bought Drizzly this past quarter!
Follow the fucking money
The CEO trimmed 18% of his position in January. The chief legal officer has been slowly trimming his position throughout the year but jumped up to 10% in December and another 17% in January. Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in earnings this quarter if the top brass is taking profits now. It is also notable that Goldman Sachs dumped 38 million shares in January too.
Open Insider UBER
Goldman Sachs Sale
Canary in the Coal Mine: GRUB
Huge miss on earning by food delivery/order service GRUB. UBER’s most profitable sector during COVID has been food delivery. GRUB revenue growth looks like it flattened out between Q3 and Q4. Are those customers going elsewhere or is the market for food delivery slowing down? I see conflicting information out there about brand loyalty being non existent, and people using the subscriptions to save on delivery costs. Someone is going to have to break this down for my smooth brain. Either way if there is brand loyalty or not, if the revenue is flatting with GRUB, we should expect other companies to report similar results. Either the same customers are sticking to ordering with their subscriptions, or they are jumping around to whoever offers the best deal. Also there was more insider selling, though the history doesn’t make this to be as big of a flag like UBER.
GRUB Earnings
Open Insider GRUB
Driverless ATG Sale
In December UBER sold its driverless division to Aurora. Perhaps this was seen as bullish as it was clear that UBER was not going to win the driverless race and they can save on that R&D. However, the real question remains how will they become profitable long term? The end game was always for them to get rid of drivers in favor of robotaxi’s. Now they cashed that chip. I’m a bit of a finance r’tard, but they are investing 400 million into Aurora. Seems like they are just moving where they money is being spent from in house R&D to an external investment.
Press release
Drizzly Acquisition
Probably means nothing for this earnings. But still recent news worth mentioning. I personally don’t see how or why they didn’t integrate this into Postmates.
Gig Worker fight not over
California previously had AB5, for those that don’t know that was the law that required gig workers to be treated as full time employees. Anyways this is not in UBER’s interest. They have been fighting this in court, but they had a huge win with California Prop 22 in November. Prop 22 basically solidified that drivers are independent contractors and would have limited benefits. This caused the stock to pop after elections. Well the fight will soon go national. The Biden Admin supports the ideas behind AB5 that classified independent contractors as actual employees. Also these past few days, his labor secretary Marty Walsh has been confirmed and has a strong union background. Apparently he also had a hand in a similar fight with construction workers being classified as contractors back in the day, but I cannot find any verified sources. Finally, the PRO Act has been reintroduced to congress on Thursday. One of the things the this act will do is institute the ABC test for independent contractors, IE the same idea behind AB5.
This is not related to earnings, but should be something that would spook investors if they bring it up on the call.
Biden Admin AB5 Plans
Marty Walsh
Pro Act
Summary This shit is going down like the titanic. Upper management has sold and gotten on their lifeboat. It is likely that their eat sales are slowing in growth and still not profitable. Then UBER decides to sell off the driverless division, so why are we still pricing them like a growth stonk? They aren’t a tech company anymore. They are failing to innovate and have resorted to buying out/or attempting to buy out the competition to try to grow their delivery footprint. They are now essentially a delivery business with shitty margins, whose business model is at risk to labor reform. Perhaps all of this won’t materialize over this earnings call, but I think it still will be a miss. After years of reading DD and shit posting on WSB I figured it was time to give back. I’ve never done a super deep dive in any company before, so definitely disregard everything you read as I actually have no idea what I’m talking about and this DD is just about worthless. Also I currently have no UBER positions, yet. I developed this thesis over the weekend and I don't really play FD's anymore. However I might grab some puts for this one.
TLDR
UBER miss, FD 2/12 puts.
*Edit, positions now 2/19 52P and 2/26 59P

tl;dr: Fox News host Tucker Carlson claims that a source mailed him massively incriminating documents about Joe Biden's son that would totally sway the election for Trump, but unknown actors stole the only copies of the proof from his mail. Even the sub Conservative is skeptical about this story, with some saying it's evidence that spies are frantically suppressing the truth, or it's a Tucker ruse to force Biden to a misstep; others saying it's the most obvious "my dog ate my homework" in political history.
UPDATE: allegedly UPS found the missing package of “evidence” today, and Tucker immediately announced that everyone should leave Hunter alone because Hunter is just a sad dude with drug problems.
Background: for anyone who hasn't been following the news, a week and some ago the New York Post broke the story that Hunter Biden, son of former VP and current presidential candidate Joe Biden, has been linked to serious crimes (at minimum corruption and bribery) by a laptop of his acquired under somewhat confused circumstances. Questions have emerged about the story, as supposedly it involves the California multi-millionaire Hunter dropping off several water-damaged Apple laptops at a tiny repair place at a strip mall in Delaware near Joe's home. The story is too complex to go into, but suspicious aspects include the shop owner is legally blind and can't guarantee it was indeed Hunter who dropped off the laptop, among other people he sent copies of the hard drive to Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, lots of odd twists.
So those who are skeptical allege that in actuality, hackers (possibly foreign) stole legit emails and photos from Hunter's iCloud for credibility and then mixed in fake incriminating materials and then loaded them onto a hard drive so as to have a plausible background story without admitting to the hacking. On the opposite end, those who believe it's real are convinced this is the "nuclear bomb" that destroys Joe Biden and wins the election for Trump, and the story on fringe media and discussion has rapidly expanded from the HD showing evidence of corruption and bribery (including kickbacks to Joe), photos/videos of Hunter with sex workers and using drugs (which nobody denies he's done in the past), and moved deeper and deeper into claims the HD shows Hunter molesting his underage niece, and allegations it shows Hunter literally cannibalizing Chinese children.
NOTE: do not do not do not link directly to any Hunter materials from Reddit, as at bare minimum they involve stolen personal intimate images, potentially show illegally-acquired hacked materials, and (probably not true but just to be safe) allegedly show crimes against minors. People linking to Hunter content from Reddit have been immediately and permanently banned, don't do it.
For further context, just to address a common argument about Hunter (as neutrally as possible), while opponents say Hunter has received high paying jobs from foreign governments despite zero qualifications, to be fair he's a graduate of Yale Law School, was Executive VP at a US financial firm, worked on e-commerce programs at the US Department of Commerce, was appointed to the board of directors of Amtrak by President George W. Bush and became vice chairman, and has done a bunch of lobbying and investment activities. So it's totally fair to question the degree to which Hunter has leveraged his birth advantage, but it's also not like he was flipping burgers for crack money prior to this.
On to the popcorn: Fox News initially declined to cover the "Hunter Biden bombshell" or "hard-drive from hell" because Rudy Giuliani wasn't providing the metadata to confirm the contents are real. But some Fox News hosts were willing to report on the fact that the New York Post is talking about it. Tucker Carlson claims his sources in Washington DC obtained absolutely verifiable documents and mailed them to his Los Angeles office, and the package was intercepted and the documents removed. Conservative falls to debating how plausible this story is over a number of posts tonight:

• I'm kind of upset at TuckeFox for sitting on this. Since we know that they have copies, they must be published now! Too many people are already voting. We need to make sure the voters who have yet to vote have all the information on the Biden's so that they don't end up regretting their vote, as many already are!
• I really don’t mean this negatively, but have you considered they might just be misrepresenting how damning this evidence is? I of course have no more information than you, I just genuinely don’t see another explanation for why everything has been so vague and slowly leaked regarding this.
• I think Tucker was playing things cute because he's in the #1 slot, so why not stir up some more drama.
• Not only do they have copies but they also have the witness to authenticate them
• Mod Comment on removed thread: This is misleading. Neither Tucker in his on-air statement, nor Fox News in its news report, stated that the missing set of documents was the only copy. Nonetheless, this has given rise to claims that the missing set of documents meant Fox News does not have a copy. Jonathan Chait at New York Magazine has headlined his reporting with such a claim, as have many on Twitter who are asserting that Carlson is using “the dog ate my homework” excuse. We have learned from an extremely reliable source in a position to know that Fox News did in fact keep a copy of the documents.
• Liberals think the smartest man in DC would send the only copy. He sent it to multiple people. If you listened to him, he said that when the company searched for the contents after losing them Fox sent them a picture of what they were looking for. You have to have something to take a picture of it.
• Lol the liberals going crazy calling all of us stupid for believing Tucker and so many people talking about being former Republican voters but are now switching to permanent democrat voters and how so many republicans have been turned to permanent democrats after Trump. The idiots. This huge scandal of corruption is literally sitting right in front of their eyes, but they’re calling us stupid? This is what the next 4 years promise the country if you’re voting for Biden, and you just keep big old fat doing it anyway. How.... just how.... I bet you we’ve stolen more from their side then they’ve stolen from ours. People leaving the left are seeing reality. People leaving for the left are buying into delusions. I really just fucking hate all of it. The stupidity. It’s actually infuriating.
• The headline is completely Fake News. Other people have copies. But it is strange that a copy of incriminating documents appear to be stolen in transit.
• Why even come out with this info at all? It just makes them look like amateurs if they didn't make any copies and even makes them lose a bit of credibility for this little 'tease'
• If they managed to lose the "only copy" of the supposed bombshell documents they're beyond incompetent and their work should be questionable on that premise alone. tucker's been screaming to high heaven about how easy it is to tamper with mail wrt voter fraud but he (or his team) just casually tosses these bombshell super important documents in a priority express envelope and give it to the kid working in the mail room?
• He doesn't say it's the only copy and by the way he's talking, it seems more like a ploy to show how far Biden is going to hide and cover up his crimes - but who really knows at this point. Article linked seems like some progressive journo anyway so..
• I'm sorry is the implication some nefarious actors did something with the documents or that the fox news team is hilariously incompetent or does it mean this is all a load of bullcrap and this is an attempt at saving face?
• Or that it's all complete bullshit, and Tucker's "They opened the package and stole the documents" is a smokescreen for "It never existed in the first place". "Oh, the documents were soooooo bad for Biden. Now, we can't show them to you, and we didn't make a copy, but trust me: It could totally take him down for good! Like, for real. I promise." This is Seymour Skinner 'The Aurora Borealis is happening in my kitchen" levels of bullshit.
• The Tuck-Man! Tuckerooski, Baron von Tuck, makin’ copies!
• Nah, the mainstream media has been actively denying evidence for weeks now so most people will never ever be shown ANY evidence from this no matter what comes out. They covered Hillary's emails in 2016 and were viciously attacked for it and blamed for Hillary's loss. They will not make the same mistake twice and are willing to sacrifice journalistic credibility to do that.
• Yeah..this seems fishy...however... I’ve played poker a fair bit, and there’s a tactic called The Reverse Bluff or The Reverse Tell, where you act like you got something really good to make people think your hand is good, but your tell is so obvious that they think you can’t possibly have a good hand. They call your bluff and BOOM you suck em in and hit em with a full house. WHAT IF Tucker and Fox News are doing the reverse tell on all the lefties and the lefty media, who they know are going to call this shit out as obviously BS and suck em all into covering how dumb and fake Fox News is blah blah blah, and then BOOM hit em with the real damning documents and watch everyone lose their fucking minds. Man, that would be so awesome. It’s wishful thinking, but that would be so much fun. This is TV after all.
• They have a spy in the office or their phones are bugged. Also, sending originals is foolishness. Why not just PDF and email them. I’m really disappointed with Tucker.
• I think this was a setup by tucker tbh There is exactly zero chance that those were the only copies maybe they were the original documents but he even said he sent photographs to the mailing company to help identify the documents that were lost There’s a game being played that we don’t have full knowledge of
• There must be copies. We can only assume this is to bait the left. The point is to catch them trying to squash the story all while saying there is no story. This only adds more attraction to his own show as well.
• Tony Bobulinski is a former business partner with Hunter Biden. He has confirmed these emails himself. There’s no way this laptop and emails are not even a little true.
• Right.. it really did feel like a thinly-veiled “we have this but we can’t show it” statement. FOX is good most of the time but is still technically MSM, and Tucker still tends to buck against the pressures of that... so he’s gotta have something. He may be a far-right commentator but I don’t see him stooping to fabrication.
• Whatever happened to Hillary's 30,000 missing emails? We were promised that too a month ago or so. I think we all know, even the dems power structure know Joe profited having his family sell his name. But until there's smoking gun evidence, this is all smoke. I don't mind putting the story out there, it should be investigated. Just stop with the "Breaking news!!! Tune in at 8:00, this is the big one!!"
• He doesn’t seem as enraged as one would be if they just lost the only copy of damning evidence :/
• Him mentioning this seemed a little strange. They could have made copies (and I hope they did) and scanned them and emailed them to him when he was in LA yesterday as backup. I am hoping this is some sort of trap op.
• It's not about the documents. They were copies to begin with. Its about HOW DID SOMEONE KNOW TO STEAL THE SHIPMENT??
• I'm sorry but anyone who believes any of this is an absolute moron. We're less than a week from election day. There is historic levels of mail-in and early voting going on right now. There is absolutely no reason to be waiting on any known "surprise upset" information any longer because you would be losing swing votes right now by doing it. This never existed to begin with, or was so dubious and untrustworthy they decided to bury it. Any known "surprise" upset information would be out today. If it isn't out already, it either doesn't exist or is fake. Please, someone. Someone try to explain what logical reason there could be to wait on releasing any of this "super damning for serious guys we have it" information any longer. There's too much early voting for it to make any rational sense.
• Call me crazy but hear me out. Tucker has been in this business for awhile, and I think he is a chess player. I highly doubt he would risk anything like this, AND then come forward with the mistake. He is thinking a few moves ahead. My theory is that this is a test of the media and coverage, seeing that it has hit trending and also MSM outlets tonight. This will prove their case of the media blackout of facts, and how they are skewing things to appear like it’s all a hoax. He will come back on the air this week showing how they fell right into this trap.
• I have to assume Fox has copies. I have to assume their source has copies. There are likely a dozen people who have copies. I also assume anyone smart enough to track down and steal this package knows this. What probably happened is these were stolen to get ahead of the story. This opens up a ton of questions about what's happening behind the scenes. Most notably, is Fox being spied on? How about the half dozen other people claiming to have the hard drive? Yeah, it may be a little early to jump to those conclusions, but this is part of a much larger and horrifying pattern. Journalists were spied on and charged with crimes under Obama. Then we all know about Nunes, Gulianni, Solomon, Bongino, and others getting spied on last year. Where does it stop, and who has the assets to do this? Is this still FBI and CIA? If so, who the hell inside of the Trump administration is telling him not to fire Wray and Haspel? If we know those two are still working for the resistance, how is this not definitively known within the administration?
• If there’s one man you can trust, it’s Tony Babu. He’s a navy man and comes from a line of naval intelligence officers. Edit: if you don’t think you can trust the man who bravely came forward with evidence of Biden malfeasance, go ahead and change my mind. I’d love to hear your take on this.
• Be honest, if CNN claimed to have a bunch of documents that they said would ruin Trump's candidacy, then announced that the documents were stolen, you'd automatically assume the documents never existed. That's definitely what the left is going to say about Carlson's story.
• ·Stupidest story of the day. Biggest political scandal story ever and someone sends the originals? The originals wouldn't be in a safe for such a big story? Documents not important enough to be handcuffed to a courier's wrist and sent on a plane? Had to send originals, couldn't email them?? More holes than Swiss cheese.
• Yeah it truly is the beginning of something huge IMO. People are smart enough to notice things like this and the media’s credibility will never be able to recover from it I don’t recognize this country anymore. It’s impossible to get a real understanding of what reality even is anymore. Shit is getting crazy

This was posted in WSB without any love, so I figured I would bring it here. We have another crazy day ahead of us based on pre-market trading, so I thought I'd offer up a little DD.
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After a great day on the market today with Cannabis stocks, I figured I would put this out there. Be careful with the cannabis stonks, but they could be a great opportunity to make compounding money by essentially day-trading and riding the peaks and valleys. Since following these stocks, I have seen incredible volatility, and often times it's greatly unfounded.
This is not much different from the last two weeks with $GME. Many first time investors hopping into Cannabis, and hopping out with losses and new lessons, as quickly as they jumped in. Right now, there's a fair amount of talk about TLRY and APHA and their merger. I owned TLRY in 2018, for a short time before it vaulted to ~$145 a share. If I remember correctly, there was talks of a Class Action Lawsuit, and there was some panic (mine included) right before the slingshot. (Or perhaps it was Cronos, but for whatever reason, I spooked on TLRY too). I paper handed. It was one of my first Cannabis stocks, and there was too much hype around the fact that it's still a controlled 'drug' and legalization was teetering more on the 'No' side, than 'Yes' side.
Canada and Europe cannot make the cannabis market go boom without the US. They markets simply aren't impulsive enough. And many of these cannabis companies bet hard and early that the US would come along more quickly as they could. Many have incurred significant losses because of it. Backtracking, selling warehouses, or land that was due to eventually house warehouses or production facilities.
I will say, this is where things get dangerous. I am not a financial advisor. I have however likely checked the stock ticker 5-10 times a day since January 3rd, 2018. The first day I took the plunge. Since, I have been forced to diamond hand my way through some pretty scary shit. At least for me.
A few notes on what I hold, and why I do;
- CGC - Canopy Growth. 618 shares / $22.46 avg. 2/9/2021 Close: $49.09. Why? I work in the wine industry. I had been reading about cannabis stocks for a while since beverage behemoth Constellation (STZ) invested in a minority stake of 9.9% and $245 million in October of 2017. The is the controlling party of Corona, Modelo, Meiomi, Kim Crawford, Robert Mondavi, The Prisoner, and High West Whiskey. It is very infrequent that when STZ gets their hands on a brand, that it doesn't turn to gold. In August of 2018, they more than doubled down. They invested $4 Billion USD, to now hold roughly 37% of CGC. They have options to buy a third tranche for majority control, by November 1, 2021. The only caveat; Constellation board members stood by the fact that CGC could not enter the US market until legalization. Since, during Covid, they have lightened a bit, but still not far enough. Recently, they've inked deals with Martha Stewart and CBD products for pets. And we all know what the pet industry can churn out. Lastly, they've already made commitments to purchase Acreage Holdings, Inc. (ACRDF), upon US Legalization. For now, they wait in the shadows, with the fourth largest 12 month net revenues behind recent dandies Green Thumb (GTBIF), Trulieve (TCNNF) and Curaleaf (CURLF). You won't see any information on those here, as they came a little later to the game, and too much of my portfolio is in Cannabis, and I can't simply put more in. So I have made the decision to not really learn a ton about them... Yet.
- APHA - Aphria Inc. 322 shares / $8.03 avg. 2/9/2021 Close: $23.75. This stock is on a tear. I'm a little worried about this one, but after a little extra reading, I'm actually loving this stock. It is likely well known now, that APHA and TLRY plan a merger. APHA, although bigger than TLRY, will change their name due to Tilray's past exposure. This merger should merge in the second quarter of 2021, forming the largest cannabis company in the world, with $870 million in sales. The next closest would be Green Thumb, the current leader, at $610 million. Without diving into the numbers, I do feel they're outkicking their coverage at the moment. Cannabis has seen crazy swings. They tiniest bit of news, people blindly dive, or quickly bail. Much like GME. Any - like I said above. I work in wine. My original interests in APHA, was for one reason. Their distribution. On March 17th, 2018, Southern Wine and Spirits (the largest beverage distributor in the world - operating as Great North Distributors in Canada) had announced a exclusive partnership to distribute cannabis across all of Canada. Huge news. HOWEVER, there is something I just noticed that I like ALOT. Stay with me here. Green Thumb's sales are $610MM. Canopy Growth, $477.4MM in fourth. TLRY is sixth with $269.2MM. APHA is ninth with $239MM. WAIT ONE SECOND YOU APE - YOU SAID ABOVE THAT APHRIA WAS BIGGER THAN TILRAY?? Well. It's because of one thing! Distribution. Aphria's distribution revenue was $361.4MM! That's a game changer. Adding the above revenue, plus their distribution revenue, and this really pleases my smooth brain. Keep an eye here. This could explode. Between the 51% shorts on TLRY right now, the news, any news of a Cannabis merger, plus two very strong and established companies? To the moon? Or at least to one of the layers of the Ozone for sure.
MJ - ETFMG - 167.354 shares / $30.75 avg. 2/9/2021 Close: $28.90. There are a couple of ETF's out there for cannabis now, but the world's largest, and first, is MJ. Supposedly, it's passively managed, but I like the recent swing I'm seeing. In looking a bit deeper, they're hot on the merger of TLRY and APHA. 13.76% of the MJ is APHA. 12.56% TLRY. GW Pharma is another name making some waves lately, with 7.96% and Canopy Growth with 7.76%. Other names include Aurora, Grow, Cronos, and others. But my favorite part about this, and why I prefer it to YOLO, the supposed 'more actively managed ETF', is that it pays a moderately healthy dividend in 3.46%. Reinvesting, and watching this boom, this is one of the safest places in the cannabis sector.
ACB - Aurora Cannabis, Inc. 122 Shares / $57.07 avg. 2/9/2021 Close: $15.61. This one stings. ACB was well capitalized on the outset, and expanded very quickly. They targeted the premium medical side, and had little interest in recreational. They also proudly stood among the rest, while other companies were merging or consuming each other, Aurora's decision was to forge ahead without partnership. I believe this may now, with the help of Covid, been a regrettable decision. While at one point, Aurora, if fully operational, could have produced more that 650,000kg per year. They had contracts with over 12 other countries to push their supply. But delays, plus slow Canadian rollout hurt a company walking a very fine tight rope. They have been forced to liquidate many of their assets and production is roughly a fifth of what it could have been. On May 11th, 2020, they were forced into a pretty rare event. In order to avoid NYSE delisting, as ACB was hovering for far too long sub-$1.00/share, they needed a reverse stock split. 12-1. With hopes the fluctuation may breathe some life back into the company. I wish I had a better outlook for ACB, but I'm pretty much expecting my investment is lost.
MMNFF - Medmen Enterprises - 4080 shares / $1.39 avg. 2/9/2021 Close: $.963. Medmen came out of the gates swinging. Opening in 2010, Medmen grew into three states in both production facilites, and retail outlets. In 2018, while operating locations in California, Nevada, and New York, with plans for 20+ in Florida, MMNFF announced a $682MM acquisition of PharmaCann, which would create the largest cannabis company in the world. Shortly one year later, it was announced the deal was null and void. The price went in the toilet and has hovered in the fistful of pennies for some time now. The 52week low, $.09. While they have held strong, the last few days have seen a surge. Perhaps a rising tide lifts all boats. Perhaps this is a dice roll to get in very low. But it's been almost 30% growth over the last three days. They now own over 29 stores, and 6 production facilities, and 60+ on the way. Perhaps life is coming back to Medmen.
Well.. I felt like I should just put some of my experience and some of my knowledge of the stocks I should throw it out there with some of the excitement that's been happening with new investors. Let me know what you think? My first sort of DD. Hope this cuts the mustard.
Reminder: I am a smooth brain. This is not financial advice. More of my thoughts and beliefs of what happened and what is to come.
TLDR: My experience and findings on a couple of Cannabis stocks. Notably: CGC, APHA, MJ, ACB, and MMNFF.

Once again, the Calvary comes to the rescue. Americans can now heave a sigh of relief after months of having to watch their fate hang in the balance as both Democrats and Republicans sparred over stimulus. After foot-dragging and name-calling for several months, Congress decided to approve a $600 stimulus package. However, the incoming Biden administration has promised an additional $1,400 making the total of $2000 in stimulus to be received by Americans.
As expected, some of that money would find its way into the stock market. The explosion of retail trading made possible by apps such as Robinhood and Etoro has meant that more people can trade in stocks for zero or little commission. Flush with cash from the government, people are trying to the stock market to increase their money.
Based on the prevailing macro-economic conditions, financial valuation, and social trends, we have compiled a list of stocks you should be spending your $2000 stimmy on.
DraftKings
As more states become amiable towards online gambling, one of the stocks which would benefit from expected legislation would be DraftKings. The expanding legalization of digital sports betting is an emerging trend. The November election results showed voters in several states largely approved ballot measures that legalized sports betting and other gaming expansion measures.
On the revenue side, DraftKings saw a 98% year-over-year surge to $132.8 million in the latest quarter, reported on Nov. 13. In the quarter, the company raised its full-year 2020 revenue range to $540 million-$560 million, which equates to 25%-30% annual revenue growth.
DraftKings also introduced 2021 revenue guidance of $750 million to $850 million, which equates to 45% year-over-year growth using the midpoints. The resumption of major sports such as the NBA, MLB, and the NHL in the third quarter, as well as the start of the NFL season, has generated tremendous customer engagement and revenue which implies that this stock would definitely see some significant upside.
Square
2020 was a very good year for Square. The company’s share price soared above 250% last year and was one of the pandemic winners in the market. Given the company’s fundamentals, Square's stock price will repeat the type of growth it saw in 2020. The services that Square provides -- particularly its Cash App, which allows people to send and receive money without physical contact -- have become more necessary during these times of social distancing and working from home. Revenue for the Cash App was up a whopping 574% year over year in the third quarter.
The company is also invested in bitcoin having out in seed capital in acquiring bitcoin. With bitcoin estimated to cross the $40,000 mark and possibly running as far as $146,000, this would shore up the company’s reserves.
GM
One reason why investors have been wary of the EV sector is the mounting debt and huge cash burn. This has made investors question the profitability of stocks in the electric vehicle space. With more EV stocks coming through the market through SPACS, investors are already mulling the idea that this may be a bubble. However, one company that many believe to have potential in the EV space is GM. Apart from having the infrastructure necessary to build cars, the company is can leverage its brand to ensure loyalty from customers. In addition, while other EV stocks such as Tesla and NIO may be fully stretched, share prices of General Motors are cheap, plus the company is been raking in profits.
In November, GM announced it plans to invest $27 billion in EV and autonomous vehicles through 2025. GM also plans to release 30 EV models globally by 2025. For comparison, Tesla currently has exactly four EV models. Earlier this week, the company signed a deal with Microsoft for its autonomous vehicles. GM continues to execute well on its Core and Future businesses and remains one of the best-positioned companies in our coverage over the long run. The stock is a good buy for the long haul.
AMD
As the digitalization of the world continues at an astronomic pace, microchips would continue to play a more prominent role. Already, there is a shortage of chips worldwide which means demand and prices would surge. One company poised to benefit from this growing demand is AMD. The company has managed to chip away at Intel's CPU dominance thanks to its superior product line, which is based on a smaller manufacturing node, allowing it to deliver better computing performance and reduce power consumption. The use of chips would continue to grow as more people are drawn to cryptocurrency mining, online gaming, and data center storage. AMD was one of the biggest winners in2020, and the trend is expected to continue well into this year. It is also one stock that may not be affected by the rotation into value as microchips would continue to be in demand.
TSM
Taiwan Semiconductor is a dedicated foundry that manufactures semiconductors for other companies. It aims to lead in both semiconductor technology and manufacturing, providing an open collaboration platform to build enduring trust with its customers.
The core strategy of Taiwan Semiconductor is its flexible business model. TSM does not need to design its own chips and prove its performance against the competitors; it only has to provide the technology and base for producers looking to make the best and fastest chips suited to their products' needs. By maintaining high-quality manufacturing processes and offering a collaborative platform to its customers, Taiwan Semiconductor ensures that it caters to producers across the spectrum even as technology rapidly evolves.
The company has experienced strong growth: From 2015 to 2019, net revenue increased by a solid 26.9%, while net income increased 12.7%. However, as smart technology has become ever more central to lives the company's growth has begun to heat up. In Q3 2020, the company boosted its net revenue by 21.6% year over year, while net income increased by 35.9%.
ETSY
Etsy provides an online e-commerce platform where creators of arts and crafts, vintage items, and other unique goods go to sell their products. Etsy has something that many high-growth companies don't -- a profitable business model. It boasts a trailing-12-month operating margin of 16%, making this unique online marketplace a buy today even at its premium valuation. It has outmaneuvered eBay (EBAY), avoided the Amazon (AMZN) crush, and dodged competition from Overstock.com (OSTK) and Wayfair (W).
When it reported third-quarter results on Oct. 28, Etsy reported a 128% leap in revenue to $451 million, well above Wall Street estimates of $412.7 million. Adjusted earnings came in at 70 cents, vs. estimates of 57 cents. In addition, gross merchandise sales jumped 119% to $2.6 billion.
Sunpower
Interest in renewable energy sources has soared immensely and continues to rise with each passing day. Two key forces are behind this surge: Increased awareness and urgency to address climate change, and falling costs of generation using renewables. Among renewable sources, solar energy looks most promising, due to its more predictable generation pattern. Solar's share in electricity generation is expected to rise from roughly 3% currently to more than 20% by 2050. SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR) is one stock poised to benefit from these trends.
With a huge government push, California leads the way in solar adoption. Still, only 9% of homes in California have solar installations, representing a huge untapped market. In the new homes segment, SunPower has headway, having already worked with 18 of the top 20 builders in California. The company captures more than half of California's new homes market.
Its low-cost model positions it well to compete on pricing. The company can leverage its vast customer base to sell its storage products. Moreover, its leading position in the commercial and California's new homes market provide SunPower an edge over others in these segments.
PLUG
Plug power provides hydrogen fuel cell turnkey solutions to electric mobility and stationary power markets. The company continues innovating end-to-end hydrogen fuel solutions by harnessing its unique capabilities and is the largest buyer of liquid hydrogen in North America.
Though the company has not posted any profit, many hedge funds are bullish on the stock, with analysts having high recommendations. The company’s $1.5bn deal with South Korean conglomerate SK Group into American hydrogen company has certainly drawn a lot of attention, with many investors gauging the company’s profitability.
Plug Power’s core business is providing fuel cell-powered forklifts for commercial customers. However, it has expanded to hydrogen production following its acquisition of two hydrogen companies.
These acquisitions expand the plug’s addressable market which has already exceeded $30 billion. The resulting vertical integration of the acquisitions makes Plug Power an even stronger company as can now provide the hydrogen that powers its vehicles.
This definitely allows Plug to leverage on its already existing customer base which includes some of the best companies in the country. Plug Power raised its 2024 guidance to $1.2 billion in revenue and $200 million in operating income. Shares of PLUG have risen by 111% in the last month.
Tesla
Returning to the green-energy theme, Tesla is one stock that has significant upside. The company is positioned to benefit from the clean energy drive of the Biden administration. Apart from that, Tesla is the leader in its sector and continues to increase its delivery numbers. Tesla is now the most valuable auto company in the world. It has recently surpassed Facebook (FB) by market capitalization. The stock has recently received upgrades from analysts and if the EV market continues to evolve, Tesla would continue to be in the pole position, which gives it significant market share and of course revenue.
GrowGeneration Corp.
For those looking at balance sheets and income statements, GrowGeneration Corp is one highly profitable marijuana stock to watch in 2021. The company has the largest chain of specialty hydroponic and organic garden centers in the U.S. with 36 storefront locations. In essence, the company supplies products necessary for growing cannabis and works closely with major marijuana companies in the U.S. market.
Shares of Grow Generation returned a whopping 880.98% in 2020, posting the fastest-growing quarterly results in the industry. It is expected that the company would continue its momentum this year. The shares of the company have so far risen by 20% this year.
Additionally, the company continued strategic acquisition and expansion plans in the quarter, giving GrowGen more growth potential for 2021. It was easily one of the best performing cannabis stocks for 2020. In essence, GRWG stock showed greater market stability than other pot stocks in the U.S. in 2020.
Thanks for reading!
Checkout Afroxyz's page for more.

TL;DR - There's a massive opportunity in cannabis. It's just not in Canada.
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I've been struck by how much buzz there has been about Canadian cannabis companies lately.
Yes, Canada has the world's largest cannabis companies currently Yes, Canada is the largest "Nationally Legal" cannabis market; and Yes, Canadian companies are poised to dominate the global market for cannabis.
BUT...
1) Most Canadian companies have already experienced their "legalization bump". That happened between 2017 and 2019 when the market was frothy about the outlook for the Canadian market.
2) At their peak, ALL the Canadian LP's were wildly overvalued. They raised too much capital. The built too much capacity. They expanded too fast globally. And after going on a two-three year bender, woke up to realize:
a) Canadian legal market growth was abysmal due to regulatory potholes,
b) It would be YEARS before the market needed all that capacity they had built for and
c) That the global markets were moving far more slowly than they had expected. (Legalizing may be easy, but creating effective regulations in developing countries that serve the interests of Western operators is a nightmare)
3) Even if the Canadian market was cooking with gas, it's a 30MM population market. There are more cannabis consumers in California than in Canada. At its largest, the Canadian market will be at best, about the same size as California's current market. There just isn't that much room for domestic growth.
This sober reality forced the Canadian LP's into layoff, market exits, shuttering facilities, and deep retrenchment. It will take them another couple of years at least to get their ships righted as their dreams of massive global growth are still far from realized.
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These are just some of the reasons why I wouldn't invest in the Canadians right now, unless you are planning on a 5+ year hodl. Could they ultimately become the "supplier to the globe"? Maybe. But the longer it takes for Europe and Asia to establish legal import markets the more time it gives Colombia, and Uruguay, and Thailand, and Australia (and every other developing country that wants to become the 'low cost supplier to the world' time to build their own export capacity, learning from the lessons (and mistakes) of the Northmen. (see Lebanon, and Uganda, and Zimbabwe, and Panama, and Jamaica, and St. Vincent & Grenadines, and....)
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Despite this, the news that the U.S. Senate is fast-tracking federal Cannabis reform has a lot of people convinced that Canadian companies are now positioned to start exporting into the U.S.
I do not believe this is true. There will be cross-border deals (mergers and acquisitions) that allow Canadian companies to capitalize on companies already operational in the U.S., but the idea that we are suddenly going to see a flood of Canadian products on U.S. dispensary shelves is not realistic.
1) Even after federal reform passes, getting to a regulatory structure for cannabis imports will be a mountain to climb. Determining the import qualifications will be the first hurdle. Overcoming state-level resistance will the second. Given the decimating impact that COVID has had on a lot of state economies, I can't imagine many state lawmakers will be keen to have one of their few bright spots in their state economies (for both jobs and tax revenue) taken away by foreign imports.
Furthermore, all the companies that have spent millions building production capacity in each state are not going to idly watch that investment get flushed down the loo by a flood of cheap imports. Expect law suits, protracted regulatory deliberations, and challenges going up to both the state and federal supreme courts. Just look at the lawsuits that plagued the launch of Florida's medical market, and amplify that for a market worth billions, not hundreds of millions of dollars
Will the Canadian companies eventually be able to import? Yes. But it won't be quick. And it won't come cheap.
2) It's still not clear if federal reform will be in the form of legalization or decriminalization - each with significant implications for how the market will grow. Suffice it to say, there's years of legal work ahead before we have an operational national framework for international cannabis commerce.
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Despite all this, I believe there is still HUGE opportunity in cannabis. It's just not in Canada.
The U.S. operators, especially the multi-state operators (MSO's - companies which have operations in multiple legal markets) are uniquely positioned to capitalize on the growth opportunities ahead.
1) The US is going to be the world's most exciting (and fastest growing) legal cannabis market for the next 5-10 years
2) It is far easier for the MSO's to enter new markets through acquisitions that is it for the Canadian companies to play in this market
So, what's the outlook for the U.S. market.

1. Current estimates suggest legal sales were $20 billion in 2020, growing to over $40 billion by 2025 and that's just in the states where it is currently legal. Demand is massive in every state where legal cannabis is available (and well regulated).
2. We are about to see another wave of states legalizing via legislatures in 2021-22. NY, CT, PA, VA, via legislature, FL (by ballot in 2022) are all poised to legalize adult use and TX is the last major holdout for medical use. If these states all pass new laws in the next two years, that $40 BN by 2025 could increase another 50%-70%, depending on how quickly they operationalize.
3. Medical cannabis is now a settled issue with Americans. 90% believe medical cannabis should be legal, and an nearly equal number believe it works. The adoption rate for Medical cannabis, and it's displacement of pharmaceuticals will increase significantly in the coming years.
4. COVID has fundamentally changed our national relationship with cannabis. People are WFH home, consuming more often, and finding more expansive ways to integrate cannabis into their lives. COVID-spiked demand may decline slightly once we are vaccinated and begin our new normal, but demand and spending will never go back down to pre-pandemic levels.
5. With the flood of capital rushing into the cannabis economy right now, American companies are going to be highly liquid, and I believe we are about to see a renaissance of cannabis innovation across the supply chain. We will have a flood of new, groundbreaking products hitting the market over the next few years, and that's going to get lot more non-consumers interested in exploring "the cannabis experience".
6. IF federal reform passes, and IF cross-border business is permitted, the Canadian primes will look at BUYING existing operators not building their own capacity. The US MSO's are the the most logical candidates for those deals (See Canopy Growth->Acreage) which means upside for shareholders in the acquired companies. Acquiring MSO's also makes sense if imports are allowed because it dramatically simplifies the distribution process. Trying to broker deals with individual dispensaries would not be cost effective on a national basis.

The near term upside for the US MSO's is a magnitude of order greater than that of the Canadian companies, but they are trading at a fraction of the LP valuations. And, unlike the Canadian LP's the US MSO's are operating in a legal market that still has has still only captured a fraction of the total addressable market.
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So, is there opportunity in cannabis? Yes. And it's massive. It's just not in Canada. American MSO's and strong American consumer brands are where I'm betting my money.
Disclaimer. I'm a smooth brained ape who knows nothing, let alone how to give financial advice.

My dear son,
I am writing you to express my love for you and the pride that I feel for the man you have become. You need to know that I accept you and love you dearly just for who you are and I am immensely proud of the wise choices you made with regard to your education and your career.
As I write you this heartfelt letter, I pray that you will read it entirely and give it your careful consideration. You are now a grown man with a mind of your own to decide what you wish to do with the rest of your life regardless of what any one else may think or has to say. You hold within your hands complete control over the choices you make from this point forward, and no one has the right to exercise any authority over you unless you willingly give them that right. If it is truly your decision to give others such authority over you, I will respect your decision. But I need to be satisfied that such is really your decision.
My dear son, if I were to ask you what evidence you have seen with your own eyes that the religion which was chosen for you and which you embraced under coercion is really the truth, as you have been told, you could not show me one bit of evidence. I know that, and I know that you know that. However, I can show you solid and irrefutable evidence that it is not the truth. You have been misled, just as I was misled for the greater part of my life. The difference is, I allowed myself to be misled, as I will explain later. Is your faith in what you have been coerced to believe strong enough, unshakable enough to risk considering the evidence I want to show you?
The evidence of which I speak is not from apostate sources, but is from Watchtower publications and from the Bible. You see, we were carefully taught a false good news. The good news we learned and preached as JWs is not the good news which Jesus and the first century Christians preached. Watchtower’s interpretation of the scriptures has been completely exposed and discredited by its own published writings, by its documented actions, and by its organizational policies. Jesus told the false religious teachers of his day, “By your words you will be condemned.” (Matt. 12:37) Those words of Jesus have been fulfilled in the case of the Watchtower Society. Light has exposed the darkness of the religion in which I was raised and in which I raised you.
JWs are taught that it is their God-given responsibility to expose religious error and hypocrisy wherever it is found. In fact, one’s eternal salvation depends on one’s doing so, according to Watchtower’s interpretation of Ezekiel 3:17-21. Yet, any JW who points out erroneous Watchtower teachings is ostracized, disfellowshiped as an apostate, and shunned. Watchtower has a long history of disfellowshiping sincere Christians who point out faulty Watchtower teachings, then turning around and embracing the viewpoint of the one who was disfellowshiped. For example, in 1980, Edward Dunlap, Watchtower’s Gilead School registrar and teacher, suggested in a private conversation with two governing body members that it appeared to him that the governing body was the faithful and discreet slave. For privately expressing that viewpoint which contradicted Watchtower teaching at that time, Dunlap was disfellowshiped as an apostate. As you well know, the governing body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has declared itself to be the faithful and discreet slave, which is exactly what Ed Dunlap was disfellowshiped for suggesting in a private conversation.
My first realization that the Watchtower Society was not teaching Bible truth was in 1982, and it was an emotionally traumatic experience for me, the degree of which would be revealed to me by a therapist some 20 years later. Knowing what would result from questioning Watchtower teachings, I made a conscious decision to simply become inactive as a JW, or to stick my head in the sand, so to speak. At that time, I had no way of knowing the detrimental
psychological effects that such a decision would have on the rest of my life. However, now that I have learned the detrimental psychological effects of choosing to believe and to proclaim as true something which I knew was not true, I cannot live with myself if I do not warn you about that which I learned the hard way. I can help you to avoid the mistakes I discovered only after I had wasted the best years of my life. If, after considering this letter, you decide to make the same decision I made to remain in a false religion, I will forever respect your decision, and, if you wish, I will never contact you again. Let me begin by sharing an overview of failed Watchtower prophecies.
Beginning in 1879, the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society began preaching that Christ’s second coming had occurred invisibly in 1874; that Christ had begun ruling in heaven in 1878; and that God’s kingdom would destroy all human governments and all religions in 1914, resulting in the reestablishment of paradise conditions on earth. Watchtower’s founder and first president, Charles Taze Russell, died in 1916 knowing that his 1914 prophecy had failed miserably.
In 1918, Watchtower’s second president, Joseph F. Rutherford, began preaching, “Millions Now Living Will Never Die.” According to Rutherford, the end which had not occurred in 1914 would occur in 1925, and faithful men of old, including Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, would be resurrected and begin ruling as princes of God’s kingdom on earth. Rutherford’s 1925 prophecy failed as miserably as had Russell’s 1914 prophecy.
Undeterred by reality, Rutherford ordered the construction of a sprawling mansion in San Diego--ostensibly to house Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and other resurrected ones--and named it Beth Sarim, meaning “house of princes.” Rutherford made full use of the mansion as well as of two 16-cylinder automobiles throughout the Great Depression and until his death in 1942.
Regarding this ostentatious mansion (built and paid for with donated Watchtower funds), page 76 of the book Jehovah’s Witnesses: Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom says: "At the time it was believed that faithful men of old times...would be resurrected." It fails to mention that it was believed because it had been proclaimed as a certainty by Rutherford in Watchtower publications. Rather than holding Rutherford accountable for such a failed prophecy, the Nov. 15, 1955, Watchtower (page 698) stated that "Jehovah caused to be preached from 1918 the startling public message, 'Millions Now Living Will Never Die.'" Can you imagine Watchtower blaming God for Rutherford’s failed prophecy?
The adage that those who forget the past are bound to repeat it seems apropos in view of the hopes regarding the end coming in 1975 which were built up in the hearts of Jehovah’s Witnesses who sincerely viewed the Watchtower Society as Christ's handpicked representatives on earth. Failed Watchtower prophecies regarding 1914 and 1925 had been proclaimed with the same certainty as the following statements published in 1969 when I was 17 years old:
"If you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things. Why not? Because all the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years. Of the generation that observed the beginning of the 'last days' in 1914, Jesus foretold: 'This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.' (Matt. 24:34.)
“Therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers. If you are in high school and thinking about a college education, it means at least four, perhaps even six or eight more years to graduate into a specialized career. But where will this system of things be by that time? It will be well on the way toward its finish, if not actually gone!
“That is why parents who base their lives on God’s prophetic Word find it much more practical to direct their young ones into trades that do not require such long periods of additional schooling. And trades such as carpentry, plumbing and others, will be useful not only now, but perhaps even more so in the reconstruction work that will take place in God’s new order." (Awake, May 22, 1969, p.15)
I was 17 years old when that Watchtower prophecy was published. As I write this, I am 67 years old. I was promised that I would never grow old in this system of things, but I have.
Moving closer to 1975, the April 1, 1972 Watchtower featured an article titled, “They Shall Know That a Prophet Was Among Them,” which said: “So, does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to declare things to come? These questions can be answered in the affirmative. Who is this prophet?…This prophet was not one man, but was a body of men and women. It was the small group of footstep followers of Jesus Christ, known at that time as International Bible Students. Today they are known as Jehovah’s Christian witnesses.” Yet, Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot point to one Watchtower prophecy which has ever come true.
What does the Bible say about prophets whose prophecies fail to come true?
“A prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say...must be put to death. If what a prophet claims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true...that prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.” (Deuteronomy 18: 20-22.)
Rather than admit that such prophecies failed, JWs say that the light simply got brighter. But the record shows that JWs are always the last to get the so-called “new light.”
Example #1: Watchtower founder, Charles Taze Russell despised organized religion, and preached that all one needed to serve God was the Bible and Jesus Christ. After Russell’s death, so-called “new light” caused Joseph Rutherford to realize the financial benefits religions enjoyed, and he began placing greater emphasis on the organization, claiming that it was the only true religion.
Example #2: The January 8, 1947 Awake featured the article, “Are You Also Excommunicated?” It denounced the Catholic hierarchy’s doctrine of excommunication, saying that “it finds no support in these scriptures,” that “it is altogether foreign to Bible teachings,” and that is was of pagan origin. It stated that “as the pretensions of the Hierarchy increased, the weapon of excommunication became the instrument by which the clergy attained a combination of ecclesiastical power and secular tyranny that finds no parallel in history.”
Yet, just five years later, “new light” caused Watchtower to embrace a more severe form of excommunication called disfellowshiping. Excommunication merely limited spiritual fellowship with family members and others, whereas disfellowshiping actually severs family ties, since Watchtower mandates the shunning of family members who leave the religion for conscientious reasons, such as unscriptural Watchtower teachings and practices.
Example #3: The study article, “Their Refuge–A Lie!” in the June 1, 1991, Watchtower, paragraphs 1, 10, & 11, denounced as apostate religions which were accredited to the United Nations as non-governmental organizations (NGO). Yet, before the end of 1991, the Watchtower had also become accredited to the UN as an NGO. NGOs were obliged to serve as publicity agents for the UN, publishing articles each year outlining UN goals and achievements. Watchtower volunteered to serve in this capacity and, over the next 10 years, published articles each year which appeared to many readers to be favorable to the UN. Watchtower reapplied each year to serve as an NGO in spite of the fact that it had denounced as apostate other religions which had done so. This is what is called a double standard. (When the Guardian newspaper exposed the hypocritical alliance in October of 2001, Watchtower immediately withdrew its membership at the UN and tried to cover it up. See the Facebook page, “Jehovah’s Witnesses & the United Nations.”)
Example #4: Watchtower has always boasted that there is no clergy class among JWs. My father regularly witnessed to prisoners in Fort Worth’s Tarrant County Jail. On one occasion, a new inmate approached my father and asked if he was a clergyman. Knowing what the man meant, my father answered yes. The ministerial servant accompanying my father reported that exchange to the local elders, and my father received a written reproof from Watchtower headquarters saying that by identifying himself as a clergyman, he was making himself a part of Christendom. Just last year, in a court case involving Watchtower’s handling of reported child sexual abuse within its congregations, Watchtower attempted to plead clergy privilege while maintaining that JW elders are not clergymen. When it became clear its lawyers had not convinced the court, Watchtower stated publicly that JW elders are, in fact, a clergy class. The legal tactic failed, however, because there had been no confidentiality, since the JW elders had made the facts of the sexual abuse allegations known to many other people.
Do you see what I mean about Watchtower being the last to receive the so-called “new light?” Watchtower has a long history of criticizing other religions for doing certain things, then turning around and doing the very same thing while claiming “new light.”
Another glaring example of a double standard can be seen in the June 2013 Awake. The following quote is from the article, “How To End the Silent Treatment”:
“WHY IT HAPPENS: Manipulation. Some use the silent treatment as a means to get what they want. For example, imagine that a husband and wife plan a trip and the wife would like to take her parents along. The husband objects. “You’re married to me, not to your parents,” he says. He then gives his wife the silent treatment, shunning her in the hope that she will break down and concede to his wishes.”
Compare that with this quote from the article “Let Jehovah’s Discipline Mold You” in the same magazine:
“Robert was disfellowshiped for nearly 16 years, during which time his parents and siblings firmly and loyally applied the direction in God’s Word to quit mixing in company with wrongdoers, not even greeting such ones. Robert has been reinstated for some years now and is progressing well spiritually. When asked what moved him to return to Jehovah and His people after such a long time, he replied that the stand that his family took affected him. ‘Had my family associated with me even a little, say to check up on me, that small dose of association would have satisfied me and likely not allowed my desire for association to be a motivating factor to return to God.’ ”
Are you able to discern the double standard presented in those two articles? In the first article, shunning is presented as manipulation. In the second article, shunning is presented as a
loving thing. Shunning based on a gross misinterpretation of scripture is never a loving thing! Any organization which mandates the shunning of loved ones who have done nothing more than leave a high control religion for conscientious reasons is despicable and evil! Watchtower is particularly evil because it poses as a benevolent religion while hiding its evil side from outsiders. Read on.
The article, “Is It Wrong to Change Your Religion?” in the July 2009 Awake made the following statement: “No one should be forced to worship in a way that he finds objectionable or be made to choose between his beliefs and his family.” Any non-JW who read that excellent article would think it was very reasonable. But non-Jws don’t know the whole story.
When I first read that article, I felt that a change in Watchtower policy regarding the treatment of disassociated ones was imminent, and I encouraged your mother to read it. You see, I can remember when, prior to 1981, JWs could socialize with ones who had simply resigned as JWs for conscientious reasons. My father had several friends who had previously been JWs but who had left the Watchtower over doctrinal differences. In 1981, Watchtower mandated that disassociated ones be treated the same as those disfellowshiped for wrongdoing. After reading the July 2009 article, your mother told me that the aforementioned quote applied to those changing religions to become a JW, but not the other way around. I was shocked that she would say such a thing, and I told her it had to apply both ways or else it would be a double standard. And so it is to this day. The Watchtower doesn’t tell its readers that the above statement doesn’t apply when a JW leaves the Watchtower religion. Watchtower’s lawyer even told the Canadian Supreme Court that disfellowshiping only restricts spiritual fellowship but does not limit social interactions. Any JW watching that on the internet knows that it is a lie!
Watchtower is notorious for printing and publishing certain predictions, and when those predictions fail, Watchtower takes steps to cover over its failed predictions. For example, paragraph #10 on page 20 of the first study article in the January 1, 1989, Watchtower stated: “[The apostle Paul] was also laying the foundation for a work that would be completed in our 20th century.” However, when it became obvious that the 20th century would end before Armageddon occurred, Watchtower revised that 1989 Watchtower article to read: “[The apostle Paul] was also laying the foundation for a work that would be completed in our day.” How despicable that Watchtower would attempt the alter the record of what it had printed and published worldwide as truth coming from God himself!
Did you know that the Watchtower admitted in print that Jehovah is not really God’s name? Page 23 of the foreword to The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures made the following statement: “While inclining to view the pronunciation Yahweh as the more correct way, we have retained the form Jehovah because of people’s familiarity with it since the 14th century.” (New World Bible Translation Committee, February 9, 1950, New York, N.Y., 1969 edition.)
If Yahweh really is “the more correct way,” it follows that Jehovah is not really God’s name. I have shared this quote with many JWs over the years, and they are always shocked to see it. But, here is the real shocker: Later editions of this book changed the original quote to read: “While many are inclined to view the form Yahweh as the more correct way…” Changing a quote to conceal what had originally been printed and published by the New World Bible Translation Committee is a level of dishonesty which should shock and outrage all lovers of truth!
Incidentally, people were familiar with the form Jehovah since the 14th century because that is when that form was created by Catholic monk, Raymundus Martini. (Look up that name on the Watchtower CD-ROM or do a Google search.) So, the name Jehovah did not even exist before the 14th century.
So, why does Watchtower place so much emphasis on that name? Could it be because its followers were named Jehovah’s Witnesses by Joseph Rutherford in 1931? I submit to you that the names Watchtower and Jehovah are interchangeable, that Jehovah is merely the Watchtower, and vice versa. I offer the following as evidence:
By leaving the Watchtower religion, one does not leave one’s belief in God, or in Christ Jesus, or in the Bible as God’s Word. Yet, JWs will say that one has left Jehovah. And, when inviting ones to return to the Watchtower religion, JWs say “Return to Jehovah.” So, by their own words, JWs prove that Jehovah merely means the Watchtower.
Many sincere believers in God and Christ Jesus have left the Watchtower because of many teachings and practices which conflict with the Bible. For example, consider the following:
Look up the word ‘sanctuary’ in the book Insight On the Scriptures, and notice the definition, “divine habitation.” In Jesus’ day, the Jewish people worshiped at the temple in Jerusalem, and that temple prefigured the spiritual arrangement for worshiping God today. Within the temple was the temple sanctuary containing two chambers, the Holy and the Most Holy which represented heaven itself where God resides. The two chambers were separated by a curtain.
While people could move about the temple, only Levite priests could enter the Holy
chamber of the temple sanctuary, and only for the purpose of offering sacrifices on behalf of the people. For example, look up Luke 1: 9, 21 in The Greek Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, noting the literal translation of the Greek word translated there as ‘sanctuary.’ You’ll see the term “divine habitation.”
Now look up Revelation 7: 15, which discusses the great crowd, and note the literal translation of the Greek word translated there as ‘temple.’ Again, you’ll see the term “divine habitation.” So, according to God’s Word, the great crowd worships God day and night in the temple sanctuary, or the divine habitation, of God’s spiritual temple. Thus, the great crowd is a priestly class of Christians who serve God under Christ Jesus along with the figurative 144,000, spoken of in verses 4-8 of that chapter.
Incidentally, the Watchtower used to say that the great crowd served in the outer courtyard, not even in the temple. Recently, they have conceded that the great crowd is in the temple, but they stop short of saying that they are in the temple sanctuary, which is where the Bible places them. Why is the Watchtower taking so long to admit what the Bible says?
What is signified by serving God in the Holy chamber of the temple sanctuary?
To find the answer to that question, look up the word ‘temple’ in the same volume of Insight On the Scriptures. In the third paragraph under the subheading “Jehovah’s Great Spiritual Temple,” it states: “Consistently, the Holy (temple sanctuary) represents their condition as spirit-begotten sons of God, with heavenly life in view, and they will attain to that heavenly reward when their fleshly bodies are laid aside in death.” Thus, according to the Bible and Watchtower publications, the great crowd is a priestly class of Christians who are spirit anointed with heavenly life in view.
But, this is not what Watchtower teaches, is it? We were taught that only 144,000 are spirit anointed with heavenly life in view. Clearly, in the light of scripture, that is not true!
Did you know that, prior to 1935, the Watchtower taught that all Christians were spirit anointed with heavenly life in view? Where did the concept of two classes of Christians having separate hopes originate? Who came up with the idea that only 144,000 Christians go to heaven? It was the brainchild of Joseph Rutherford, the same Watchtower president who prophesied that Armageddon would occur in 1925 and who, even when that prediction failed, instigated the building of the sprawling mansion, Beth Sarim, which still stands in San Diego.
Shortly before his death, Rutherford admitted to a small group of confidants, including Nathan Knorr, Fred Franz, and Hayden Covington, that he had made an ass of himself. Now, it is abundantly clear that his unscriptural theology has made an ass of Jehovah’s Witnesses as well.
Colin, you have been misled, and I bear a huge responsibility for that, since I chose to remain in a religion which I knew was not teaching Bible truth. You never exhibited an interest in spiritual things or in discussing Bible topics. That is not a criticism, just a stating of fact. No one was interested in discussing spiritual things or the Bible except at the Kingdom Hall where it is a very controlled discussion, in that the Watchtower provides all the questions as well as the approved answers to those questions. The Kingdom Hall is not a place for asking independent questions, but is simply a place where indoctrination takes place. People merely parrot the answers they’ve been given. Until you became interested in a girl who was baptized, you had no desire to get baptized. I knew you had no idea what you were getting involved in. Once you got baptized, it was too late. The Watchtower cult is like the Hotel California: You can check out any time you like (become inactive), but you can never leave (disassociate) without dire consequences. One can never question Watchtower dogma. I would rather have questions I cannot answer than answers I cannot question!
In his book, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, Pulitzer-prize winning author Lawrence Wright wrote: “People have the right to believe whatever they choose. But it is a different matter to use the protections afforded a religion by the First Amendment to falsify history, to propagate forgeries, and to cover up human-rights abuses.” As my letter has made clear, Watchtower is every bit as guilty of these offenses as is Scientology. Have you watched Leah Remini’s A&E series about the aftermath of leaving the Church of Scientology? One cannot watch it without seeing the many similarities between Scientology and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
I often recall a scripture from Isaiah 30:21 which says, “Your own ears will hear a word behind you saying, This is the way. Walk in it.” I heard that word in my life when I was 30 years old, but I disregarded it, fearing what would result if I followed its direction. I have lived to regret that decision. However, when I finally listened and followed that word–which for me meant getting out of the Watchtower cult and leaving all its craziness behind–my life has been one amazing experience after another. My life since moving to New Braunfels has been incredible, and I have met so many wonderful people and made so many new friends who seemed to have been just waiting for me to get here. I have not lost one thing that hasn’t been replaced many times over. I am happier than I have ever been in my life. The same thing has happened for your sister, and she is happier than she has ever been also. Your brother has experienced the same thing as well.
Take a look around you, Colin. Look at the lives of the JWs you know personally. They are not a happy people. There is a lot of judgment and constant upheaval and drama in their lives related to just being a JW, not from outside the organization, as in the case of persecution, but from fellow JWs inside the organization! You know that to be true, and that should tell you something! I know that you are not able to be your genuine self as long as you remain among the JWs in Abilene. And no matter how much you do for Jehovah (Watchtower), it is never enough. If you haven’t figured it out yet–and I’m betting that you have–every JW you know is living a double life. The face they show when attending the Kingdom Hall is not who they truly are. I knew that when I was still a JW, but I had no way of knowing everything that was going on right under my nose. There is no way I can tell you everything I would like to tell you in this letter. If you could ever arrange to come visit your sister and me, we could have a long talk and you could see for yourself what it means to be completely free to embrace your genuine self and to be loved unconditionally without being judged at every turn.
You know that you can call me at any time if you ever wish to talk about anything I have written herein or about anything at all.
With all my love,
Your father

TL: DR at bottom
Hi everyone. I posted this story a while back but recently became privy to some vital information. What I learned, confirmed that I am neither crazy nor did I overreact when I roasted this beast into oblivion.
I previously wrote about this person here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
If you would like to have better context on what a horrible person she is, I suggest you read either any or all of the linked posts.
I had once referred to feckless waste of oxygen as “Karen,” but have since chosen “Molly” for her alias as its meaning is: unfortunate or ill-fated. If you choose to read this in its entirety, you will see that it makes perfect sense.
About this story: all names contained herein are fictitious hence the quotation marks around them.
Our cast includes:
Me: Writer, quirky creative movie geek
Molly: Thieving, entitled wannabe “actress” who is as talented as she is honest
Judy: My now-retired former mentor
Don: My graphic web designer friend and still photographer
Tom: Film producer
Jim: Film director
Lana: Actress, Tom and Jim's friend
Andrea: My caustic, yet lovable roommate.
Onto the story.
I was once a young, naive and perhaps a little too trusting aspiring writer. I met “Molly,” mid-forties, blonde, blue-eyed and Caucasian (relevant to the story), through, “Judy,” my mentor, when I was trying to get my first screenplay, a murder mystery, produced into a feature film. Being green, I had never worked in the business before and I trusted Judy implicitly. She was gold, a wonderful person and, as it would turn out, the polar opposite of Molly.
By the time I met Molly, a spoiled toddler trapped in a 40-something woman's body and self-proclaimed ‘20-year theatre veteran,’ my work had been copyrighted for six months (PSA: it's imperative to protect your creative property and me doing just that saved my butt). Judy had previously worked with Molly on a prior film and suggested her for a dayplayer role in my murder mystery. For those who don't know, a dayplayer is an actor with approximately half a dozen lines and can usually film their part in a day or less. I trusted Judy's judgment so I messaged Molly and sent her the entire script. My first mistake. PSA: Never send your entire script, only script sides (sample dialogue), and a bio/description of the character. You'll save yourself a lot of headaches, both physical and legal.
I ended up having several conversations with Molly. She seemed quite lovely. I will give her that she definitely had her phone etiquette down pat. Little did I know, she was just getting me to lower my walls before she went in for the kill. Molly had accepted the role in the tentative production and we talked virtually daily after that. She was quickly becoming one of my go-to confidants. My second mistake. As Molly and I grew closer, Judy and I grew further apart.
One day, Molly wrote and asked me if I needed my script proofread. I told her there was no such need for that as it was already copyright protected including any errors that might be present. This becomes relevant later. She practically begged me and claimed she ‘just wanted to help.’ I told her, if she took it upon herself to do that, she would not be paid as there was no money and her efforts were pointless. Her behavior struck me as odd. How this seemingly, strong and confident woman had bizarrely behaved like a child, begging her daddy for candy, didn't make any sense.
About a week had passed, Judy wrote me and asked if I was able to speak on the phone. I told her I was available and she called me. She greeted me and promptly got to the point. She inquired why Molly was now claiming she was the cowriter of my script. I was floored. I told her I didn't know what she was talking about. I thanked her, ended the call and immediately phoned Molly. Being continually unemployed, all Molly did was chain-smoke in her bathrobe and surf the net all day while her saintly husband worked a hard-labor job. She answered on the first ring. I asked if she knew anything about what Judy had told me. She paused before answering then tried to pass it off as ‘a misunderstanding.’ I decided to play my hand and bluff that other people had told me the same thing. Busted, she caved.
Molly: “Well, I did help you correct everything.”
Me: “Volunteering to copyedit my script does not make you the cowriter. You did a poor job, by the way. My work was already copyright protected in my name six months before I met you. This constitutes plagiarism.”
Molly: “No, it doesn't!“ She paused then, “What's plagiarism?”
I was dumbfounded. The fact that she denied being guilty of something without knowing the meaning of the word was perplexing.
Me: “Look it up. Delete your copy of the script right now. You will only get a new one when and if I choose to cast you.”
By the time I ended the call, it was obvious she was angry. Her pride had been wounded and I should have anticipated her retaliation. Again, hindsight.
The next time I was over at her house, I went on her computer when she wasn't looking. On a hunch, I checked her hard drive and there it was: my script. I deleted it. She later finagled a new copy from a well-meaning cast member and repeated the whole illegal rewrite. It was then that I found out, she was not only claiming to have written the entire script herself, but was also going to have the leading role. Both counts were easily debunked as:

1. I had the copyright certificate to prove I was the sole writer
   
2. The female lead is a 23-year-old woman of Puerto Rican descent (Molly is white, blonde-haired, blue eyed and, at the time, was in her mid-forties)
   
3. Molly’s writing was absolutely terrible bordering on indecipherable.
   

The fact that she was insisting she’d written anything, other than a bad check or a grocery list, was laughable. Despite her claim of having a four-year college degree, she made countless careless, lazy mistakes, that to a casual observer, would suggest she dropped out while in elementary school.
Examples include everything ranging from: run-on sentences consisting of only lowercase letters, failure to capitalize proper nouns, using ‘and’ in the same sentence more than once, using commas as end punctuation, misspelling simple grade school-level words, mixing up her homonyms, using clumps of periods to break up her sentences, etc. All of which completely contradicted her claim that she had written a 100 plus page pristine screenplay. In addition to a highly-embellished typo-filled résumé, she tried passing off an overly filtered camera phone photo as a headshot and had no material for an acting demo reel. Anyone with ‘20 years in the business’ would have had all of these things and more. It should go without saying: if you can't prove something, do not put it on your résumé.
Thanks to the efforts of “Lana,” Molly had gotten into the good graces of, “Jim,” the noted award-winning director. Lana was the big-hearted other lead actress and his close friend. Molly had spun one of her infamous tales of woe i.e. poor me, my life sucks which led Lana to stick up and vouch for her. Molly's entitlement and complete lack of professionalism was duly noted by Jim. Despite her questionable spotty résumé, he only tolerated her for two reasons: she was the ‘writer’ and he felt professionally obligated to as a favor to Lana. I later came to learn, Jim was just biding his time until Molly either shaped up or until she failed her audition and he shipped her out. The role Molly wanted required a very strong actress which she was not. Failing her inevitable screen test, would have given Jim the grounds to have her replaced and, more accurately, fired. This wasn't his first rodeo.
In the meantime, Jim knew Lana could keep Molly in line. I don't fault Lana at all for buying into Molly's tall-tales, as she excelled at emotional manipulation and tugged at people's heart-strings to get her way. This, however, was the beginning of the end. Molly immediately threw her weight around like she was, in her words, ‘the second coming of Meryl Streep’ and ‘being the writer’ demanded a producer credit as well. Her narcissism had reached new heights. Think Faye Dunaway’s portrayal of Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest and you'll get the idea. Unfortunately, for her, Jim was quickly losing his patience.
Upon learning that Molly was now claiming she wrote the entire script, I sought out Judy for advice. Regrettably, Judy hated conflict and had long-since grown tired of playing referee between me and Molly. She dropped out of the production. I was left to fend for myself. Retrospectively, I realize her exit caused me to have to put on my big boy pants and confront my dilemma. On one hand, I was this close to spear-heading my first feature film. I wasn't a greedy person. All I wanted was my writing credit and a walk-on role in it. On the other hand, the working script bore little to no resemblance to my original source material. It had practically been taken over by a talentless wannabe ‘produceactress’ whose stiff acting would have looked out of place in an adult film. It was clear, the costs of being associated with Molly far outweighed the next-to-nonexistent benefits. I was on the fence, but knew what I had to do. I was backed in to a corner and was about to break out my secret weapon: my copyright certificate.
It would later turn out, Judy was the first of several people to leave referring to Molly as ‘unprofessional,’ ‘a crazy bitch,’ ‘an amateur,’ ‘a pain in the butt’ and everything in between. I had heard whispers, but I wouldn't become aware of much of the internal conflict, with her as the cause, until after the fact. Molly, of course, always had an answer for everything, including why people kept dropping out i.e. schedule conflicts, production delays, etc. It all seemed feasible, because these things do happen in the film world. Then, one day, I got a message from, “Don,” the California-based graphic web designer, with a copy of the conceptual video done based on my screenplay. This was news to me. Lo and behold, guess who was in the leading role? If you guessed Molly, you get a cookie. The entire storyline had been completely changed. In the credits she was listed as the writer. My name was nowhere to be found.
Her excuse for why I was not in any way involved with the shoot for the promotional video? There was ‘no time’ to get me involved. My name being mistakenly absent from the credits? A clerical error she promised to have fixed (it never was). I brought up that, Don, had been flown in from across the country to be the still photographer, yet I, who lived less than 60 miles away from the filming location, was left out of the loop. She ignored my question and blew me off.
It felt like my soul had been crushed. My labor of love, my first screenplay had been absconded with by this...no-talent, phony! I was caught between tears and rage for a while. It was around the same time I decided to enact my revenge, that I received a panicked phone call from Molly. She had a habit of calling at the most inopportune times. I could have been on a date, sleeping, working, etc. This instance was no exception. After both my landline and cell phone rang multiple times, I finally picked up the landline from which I gave her an aggravated greeting.
The following conversation is mostly from memory and paraphrased as it was a long time ago:
Me [annoyed]: “What do you want?”
Molly: “No time (insert emotional rant as she beat around the bush in an attempt to justify her despicable, entitled behavior all the while maintaining she was just an innocent bystander yet acting guilty as sin).”
Me: “Who did you piss off this time?”
Silence.
Me: “You overstepped your bounds again.”
More silence.
It turns out Molly had tried to play the big boss and no one was having it. She copped an attitude with “Tom,” the producer, stating ‘her orders were the director's orders.’ Her power-play backfired when Tom called Jim to confirm. Jim saw red and had effectively went on strike with Tom following suit. Between Tom and Jim, they had a combined 60 years experience in the business whereas Molly had virtually none. I later learned, Lana apologized profusely for bringing Molly into the fold and had reluctantly played mediator between her two friends. She tried, in vain, to prevent Tom and Jim from quitting, but they had made up their minds. Neither of them wanted anything to do with Molly. The ultimatum was brought down: either Molly went or they went. Them leaving would have created a domino effect and led to the production being halted. That is why Molly was flipping out, not because she was about to be outed as the cause of the whole mess. By this point, I knew her too well and saw right through her drama queen antics.
Me: “What right did you think you had to do that, Molly? Keep in mind, I know more than you think I do. If you lie, I will know. ”
After a long pause she shakily answered.
Molly: “Because I'm the cowriter.”
Me: “No, you're not. I'm so sick of you saying that. It's not only untrue, it's fraud.”
Molly: “But I made changes to it.”
Me: “Unauthorized changes. You just admitted to plagiarism and copyright infringement. Can you bring forth documented proof that you were given permission from me to rewrite my entire script? You can't. What you did was highly unethical and illegal.”
Molly: “But...”
Me [raised voice]: “I'm speaking! You're listening. I'm not gonna keep going in circles with you on this. If I have to scan my copyright certificate and put it on the net for everyone to see, I will.”
Dead silence. I turned my printescanner on and scanned a blank document. It had the desired effect as she totally freaked out when she heard it. She was caught in her tangled web of deception and her brain was short circuiting as she kept trying to come up with convincing lies.
Me: “You did know my work was copyright protected, didn't you? If you did and I know you did, that doesn't just make you a criminal, it makes you a stupid criminal. You knowingly committed willful copyright infringement. I have a lawyer on retainer and the means to pursue a lawsuit. Believe me, when I tell you, I have more than enough solid evidence to prove my case if I choose to sue you.”
Molly: “Don't do that!”
Me [patronizing]: “You're right. I'm not gonna waste my time dragging you into court when the court of public opinion is so much more effective.”
Molly [stunned]: “What?”
Me: “I have a file ten inches thick: screenshots, text messages, e-mails, all detailing the subterfuge and dubious tactics you employed to try to screw me out of my creative property. I also have the plagiarized hard copies containing your distinctive moniker on the title page in place of my name. All have time stamps. Add all that to my original hard copy of my script and my copyright certificate? I swear, I'll crucify you. All people have to do is Google your name and they see you're full of it. Being a wannabe is one thing, but you'll never be able to shake the reputation of being labeled a liar and a thief. If this gets out, you'll be unemployable. It's not like people are beating down your door with job offers. Stick a fork in you. You're done.”
Dead silence.
Me: “What? No retort? No spin doctor explanation? Go on. Lie. It's what you do best. Of course, you could always shock the hell out of me and give the truth a whirl.”
Molly [meekly]: “I'm sorry.”
Me: “Why? Because you're wrong, because you're caught or because now everyone knows you for the scam artist that you are? Maybe all of the above. Either way, it's absolutely clear you have nothing even remotely resembling a conscience. Your pride and ego are too big to leave room for one.”
Molly: “I'm really am sorry.”
Me: “Ooh. Not yet, but you will be.”
Molly [horrified]: “What are you gonna do?”
Me: “‘What am I gonna do?’ What am I gonna do? Hmm. Well, for starters I'm going to use the ‘F’ word. Fired. You're fired.”
Molly: “You can't fire me! I...”
Me: “I'm speaking! I can do whatever I want. I own the copyright to (script name). I'll say it again in case you weren't listening. I own the rights to (script name).”
Molly: “I know.”
Me [yelling]: “Then why did you do it?! Did you honestly think you’d get away with trying to usurp my work and turn it in to your own little vanity project?“
Silence.
Me: “You know what? It doesn't matter anymore. Now, starting now, your name is off of this project. That's my call. The writing credit you think you deserve because you plagiarized my script? Gone. The leading role that you retooled to fit someone of your age and appearance? Gone. The producing credit you demanded you receive for illegally rewriting my script? Gone.”
Molly [fake crying]: “Why do you hate me?”
Me: “Spare me the crocodile tears. If you put the energy you wasted conning people in to actually going out on auditions and booking jobs, you’d be a working actress right now. Instead, you're a nobody that no one wants to work with, let alone be around. You're just a bored housewife chasing a pipe dream. Make no mistake. I'm not calling you a has-been. You're a never-was.”
Silence.
Me: “Seriously, how many people, have to go no-contact with you before you realize that you're the problem? Even your own daughter doesn't talk to you because you're a vile bitch and you can expect your son to do the same when he goes off to college. You're a compete failure as a professional, a horrible excuse for a human being and not worth any more of my time.”
Molly [no longer fake crying, pleading]: “You don't have to talk to me like that. I can change. I promise I can change.”
Me: “Cut the bullshit! Save your empty promises for someone who cares, because I have no more fucks left to give. You better hope Lana can do some fancy footwork and prevent Tom and Jim from quitting. I won't blame them if they do. They're professionals. They don't need to put up with this crap. You also seem to have forgotten, the entire cast and crew was recruited at their invitation. Once they abandon ship, word will spread like wildfire and everyone will mutiny. With them gone, I guarantee you everyone will walk off the set. If this whole thing ends up dead in the water, you can bet your butt, I'll make damn sure to point the finger at you as the reason why. If that happens, I swear on my father's grave, in every way that it matters I'll be done with you. Do you understand?”
Silence.
Me [shouting]: “Do you understand?!”
Molly: “Yes.”
Me: “You see, Molly, I haven't trusted you for quite some time. Now I just don't like you. Get a life. One that doesn't involve me.”
When I ended the call, I was raging hot. The entire conversation was cathartic and liberating. Unlike Molly, I keep promises. I sent all of my documented evidence to Don who then forwarded it to Jim, Tom and the other producers. One by one, all of them publicly quit. They made detailed posts on their Facebook pages. Molly wasn't called out by name specifically, but anyone remotely connected to the production knew the identity of the ‘unprofessional individual’ they alluded to.
The production ultimately ended up being canceled. It eventually came out that I was the only writer and the script presented to them was plagiarized by none other than Molly herself. Those who were unaware of the behind the scenes drama, started blowing up her social media demanding an explanation. Molly, who always had something to say and craved attention, had finally gotten her wish granted by karma. All eyes were on her, just not in the flattering way she wanted. It should come as no surprise, Molly offered up no satisfactory answers to any questions asked and took no responsibility for her monumental screw up. Unable to take the heat, she, in a demonstration of her trademark cowardice, tucked her tail between her legs and went off the grid. Even though, by then everyone knew of her dirty deeds, Molly never did admit she was the reason why everything went to hell in a handbasket. Shocker.
For several months after that, Molly left me alone. Considering she used to stalk me online, I find it amusing she didn't notice when I blocked her on all my social media. I changed cellphone providers shortly thereafter. I also made certain that she never got my new number. I kind of wish I could have seen the epic tantrum she, no doubt, threw when she realized I had gone no-contact with her.
About a month after purging the leech of a fake bitch, known as Molly, out of my life, I got a call on my landline from an unfamiliar number with an out of state area code. I didn't answer but, “Andrea,“ my roommate listened to the voicemail. It was Molly calling to inform me that Jim, the director, had passed away due to a heart attack. I didn't listen to the message. Andrea gave me the gist. Molly sounded panicked and, in her typical entitled fashion, turned the tragedy into a story about herself:
Molly: “Great. Now the movie's never going to get made.”
What a cold-hearted bitch. I was speechless. We were both stunned. Forget the fact that Jim's wife was now a widow or that his children were now fatherless or that his grandchildren would never know their grandfather. Her ego being stroked as a Grade B-movie actress was more important. Andrea deleted the message and I headed to work. Being that I was unable to block her number on the landline, Molly later made another attempt to get my attention with her histrionics. I was still at work when Andrea intercepted the call. A little fact about my roommate: she is a German-Jew native New Yorker with a very big mouth. She takes absolutely no crap and makes Judge Judy Sheindlin seem like a cream puff by comparison. You can just imagine how that entire call went.
Here's a snippet:
Andrea: “Molly, the man died. Does that mean anything to you, you selfish cunt?”
Upon being told off, Molly quickly tried to end the conversation but not before leaving a message to have me call her back.
Andrea: “Molly, OP blocked you on everything for reasons that are already well-known to you. Fuck. Off.”
After delivering that rebuke, which left Molly in tears, Andrea hung up. Needless to say, I never did return her call. When Andrea spilled the tea, of how she kicked Molly when she was down, I hugged her and bought her a bottle of her favorite sangria as a thank you.
It's been over six years. I haven't heard from Molly since and don't care to ever again. I'm finally starting to achieve my dreams. I recently produced and had a small role in my first short film for which I wrote the script. It was such a fulfilling and rewarding experience. The whole shoot was so overwhelming in a good way. Being a big softie, I did cry on set. I'm finally doing what I know I was born to do. In case you're wondering, yes. I still plan to produce my murder mystery without any involvement from Molly.
EDIT: For those of you who have been asking, I have since met a very talented director, who is as big of a movie geek as me, and is the complete antithesis to Molly. I don't leave a single exchange with him without feeling educated or inspired. He's a wonderful guy and he loves my murder mystery. Currently, there are plans to get it into development as soon as the coronavirus craziness dies down.
EDIT: UPDATE II: In having several in-depth conversations with Don, I learned of the catalyst that caused Tom and Jim to quit. Don is about six months younger than me and quite introverted. Molly had him under her thumb. So when she insisted that he write a letter to Tom ‘defending her honor,’ he did. What Molly didn't count on was Don being hip to her manipulative, schoolyard-bully ways: he covered his backside by copying both Lana and Jim in the e-mail as well. Naturally, being the oblivious waste of flesh that she is, Molly did not notice that her whiny, entitled rant (it was clear that they were her words, not Don’s) had been sent to the director himself. She realized she had screwed up when she received a scathing text/reply from Lana about the huge mess she had caused. This is what spurred Molly’s panicked phone call to me in which I introduced her to the concept of being murderedbywords.
EDIT: UPDATE. I reconnected with one of Molly's former friends, “Amelia,” with whom I was cordial during those days. Amelia had been friends with Molly for 10 years before cutting her off. After reuniting, my graphic web designer friend, “Don,” created a group chat between the three of us. Ever since then, Amelia has been spilling the tea left and right. It should be of no surprise whatsoever, that Molly has absolutely no performing background at all. Her flimsy claim of having ‘20 years experience in theater’ is just one of the many delusional figments of her diseased mind. It turns out, it was actually Amelia who was active in the local community theater scene. Naturally, Molly was insanely jealous of her so-called ‘best friend's’ talent and ambitious ways. Also, the cock and bull story about her being a former department store runway model when she lived up north is just that: bull. She's only 5’2”. Anyone who knows anything about fashion knows you have to be at least 5’7” to do runway. Amelia also confirmed that Molly has always been a lazy unproductive member of society and that her kids had it bad as long as she can remember. Amelia is delighted that Molly's now-grown children have escaped her clutches and have little to no-contact with their poor excuse for a mother. Upon learning that Molly's daughter doesn't let her see her only grandchild, Amelia laughed manically then said: “Karma's a bitch.” Amelia is also shocked that Molly and her husband are still together. She put it, and, I quote: “I'm surprised they haven't murdered each other yet.”
You may be wondering what led Amelia to go no-contact with Molly. If you read any of my other stories, it was similar instances of rampant entitled behavior. The last straw came when then-newlywed Amelia was expecting her first child. Being the attention whore that she is, Molly was extremely jealous that Amelia “never had time for her” anymore. She made some very cruel comments about Amelia's then-unborn son (she has a daughter now as well) and that pretty much ended their ten-year ‘friendship.’ Amelia said her stress level dropped by 99% ever since she blocked Molly out of every aspect of her life.
TL: DR: Narcissistic, wannabe “actress” tries to steal my script from me and produce it as her own little vanity project. I kept a detailed record of all her illegal, libelous, malicious deeds and turned everyone against her.