The Queen's speech at the Foreign Press Association Awards 2023

Ladies and gentlemen, it is a huge pleasure to be here with you this evening to celebrate the 135th anniversary of the Foreign Press Association and to reflect on your many achievements as the world’s oldest and biggest association of foreign journalists.  But I cannot begin without also reflecting that as we gather, journalists, photographers and their support teams are even now risking their lives.  We think particularly of those reporting from Ukraine and the Middle East in these most difficult of times. 

By joining you this evening, I am following in the footsteps of my husband, an honorary member of the FPA, who joined you at these Awards in 2008.  On that occasion, he described your role as “not only to look at the world and study the way it works, but to report what you see accurately, to explain it and indeed to interpret it.  In so doing you shape the view and define the perspective of millions of people and that is an enormous responsibility”. 

I know, second-hand, a little of the responsibility of your profession.  There are journalists in my family…and I have even been the subject of one or two stories myself over the years...  I have also had the opportunity to visit a significant number of newsrooms and have seen how tough your work is. Particularly, if I dare say so, for women, who, despite the many hurdles they have faced, have been among the bravest reporters of all. From trailblazers like Martha Gelhorn and Christiane Amanpour, to those such as Marie Colvin (an FPA Journalist of the Year) and Daphne Caruana Galizia, who have so tragically paid with their lives, their courage was matched only by their conviction that the truth matters. Perhaps this has never been more evident than in our digital age, where disinformation runs rife and where female journalists are increasingly targeted on social media.  The FPA has done much to promote and protect women throughout your long history, appointing your first female President in 1955, and, more recently, providing specialised training for women to deal with disruptive and abusive behaviour from members of the public.  For this, all your readers and broadcast audiences are in your debt.

As the late great Dame Ann Leslie wrote, it is among the sacred duties of journaliststo ‘face the glacier in the cupboard and to expose its coldness and cruelty to the bright, clear and humanising light of day.’ That is what she, and all of you, do.  This is especially true in one area of your work for which I should particularly like to thank you:  raising awareness of domestic and sexual abuse against women in every part of the globe.  The FPA was, of course, founded in 1888, when foreign correspondents came to the United Kingdom to report on the Jack the Ripper murders and decided to band together to secure better access to information and sources.  Although we might now deplore some of the more sensational approaches to those terrible events, the fact is that the FPA grew out of the need to reveal and condemn violence against women.  And this remains a key part of journalism today. You have the ability to break the corrosive silence that frequently surrounds abuse.  You bring into the open the voices of victims, you break taboos, you shine a light on these heinous crimes and you guide the public on what they can do to help. As the foreign correspondent Christina Lamb makes clear in her devastating book ‘Our Bodies, Their Battlefield’, rape and sexual abuse continue to be a pervasive and all-too-often hidden feature of conflict zones the world over.

Ladies and gentlemen, as my husband observed 15 years ago, yours is an awe-inspiring responsibility:  you question, debate and analyse and thus protect what is so easy for us to take for granted – true freedom of expression.  As I said at the London Press Club Awards in 2011, I believe freedom of expression to be at the heart of our democratic system. In this, you play a vital, if not pivotal role.

Take courage from the words of one of our greatest writers, and former journalist, Tom Stoppard:  “I still believe that if your aim is to change the world, journalism is a more immediate short-term weapon”.  May you continue to use it wisely. Thank you. 

Analysis of 'Child's Play'

Child’s Play is a 1988 horror film directed by Tom Holland, written by him, Don Mancini (whose story the film is based on), and John Lafia. It stars Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, and Brad Dourif, with Alex Vincent, Dinah Manoff, and Jack Colvin. Child’s Play gained a cult following, and its commercial success spawned a media franchise including seven sequels (with a TV series), comic books,…

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Thoughts on public shaming and cancel culture

What is the cause behind cancel culture? Why do we as people enjoy shaming others? In this post I will be diving in to the topic of cancel culture through different forms of media, and sharing some of my own thoughts!

For my ALMS course, I wanted to choose a topic I could discuss and reflect on by watching and reading content, and then giving you my thoughts on what I watched or read, as well as my personal experiences. Cancel culture seemed like the perfect theme for this!

Cancel culture is a phenomenon I have witnessed over the 10+ years I have spent on the internet, and it is a topic I have also learned about in my journalism studies. I'm planning on watching documentaries, TV shows, Ted talks or podcasts regarding the topic, to get an idea for what exactly this phenomenon intails and how it can impact people.

27.9 15 Minutes of Shame

Today I watched a documentary called 15 Minutes of Shame, a documentary on cancel culture and public shaming. Monica Lewinsky, who is an executive producer on the documentary, and who herself was a victim of public shaming back in 1998, wants to dive into the topic of public shaming and why it happens.

The phenomenon of public shaming dates back very far, to days way before the internet. As human beings, we have a desire to shame and call out others, which was interesting to learn about. Public shaming used to be done on the streets, before it was moved into tabloids and later on, the internet.

The documentary follows four different people who were victims of public shaming online, as well as interviews with experts. The stories range from getting racially harassed at a university campus, bullied over anti-Trump comments and getting fired for an alleged white supremacy handsign.

The story that touched me the most was that of Matt Colvin, an Amazon reseller. Admist the coronavirus, Colvin agreed to be part of an article for The New York Times, depicting how he had purchased nearly 18 000 bottles of hand sanitizer to resell for a profit. What followed was an article, focusing on price gouging, and ultimately painting Colvin in a bad light.

I decided to read the article, titled He Has 17,700 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer and Nowhere to Sell Them, written by Jack Nicas, to see what lead to Covin being threatened and unemployed. The article uses Colvin as an example of greed and unethical profiting during a pandemic. Quickly after resellers on Amazon raised their prices to make a profit, the sales of products like Colvin's hand sanitizers was heavily restricted, hence the bottles collecting dust in his garage.

I find the link between media and public shaming to be very interesting. In multiple of the stories highlighted in the documentary, the media picked up these stories, thereby sensationalizing them and making them even bigger than they needed to be. What follows is the wrath of an online mob, leading to negative attention for the company the canceled person works for, mental health issues and even death threats.

It especially makes me think about clickbait and using sensational stories to get more clicks, and how this can lead to people losing their livelihood or even their own lives. Being the reason for another person's suffering is not something I would personally be okay with.

I really enjoyed the documentary, and it made me think about my own role in these kinds of stories, as a potential journalist of the future. The documentary also highlights one of the dark sides of the internet, how easy it is to ruin someone's life.

5.10 Hated in the Nation

The topic of cancel culture and social media reminded me of a few Black Mirror episodes I have seen. Black Mirror is a British anthology series focusing on various topics surrounding dystopias and sci-fi. The show's Wikipedia page describes it as a speculative fiction, which I feel is very accurate.

Today I decided to rewatch an episode that sparked my interest for the topic of cancel culture: "Hated in the Nation". It is the sixth episode of the third Black Mirror season, and it came out in 2016. The episode is set in the near future, with advanced technology and most notably, a network of Autonomous Drone Insects (ADI), which are solar powered drones acting as a stand in for near-extinct bees.

The episode follows a team of police officers in the UK, investigating the death of a journalist, a celebrity and a normal woman who were all in the middle of so-called "online shitstorms". The team come to find that all victims were killed by the ADIs. Each victim was determined by the use and popularity of a #DeathTo-hashtag, with the most popular person under the hashtag being killed each day.

At the end of the episode, the person who hacked their way into the netword of ADIs and his plan are revealed - he wants people who take part in cyberbullying to pay the ultimate price. He calls it a game of consequences, where the hacked ADIs eventually end up killing all of the thousands of people who took part in using the #DeathTo-hashtag.

This episode of Black Mirror is very dark, as it shows how many people take part in cyberbullying. Not only do the people who post the hashtag unknowingly take part in the death of the person they target, they also end up paying the ultimate price as a consequence.

The episode highlights how easy it is to take part in bullying or wishing death upon someone they don't even know. It also shows how people react to being the target - the journalist puts on a brave face while the normal woman is practically having a panic attack. I find this episode to be eye-opening in many ways, and definitely worth a watch.

I'd also like to point out the use of accents in this particular episode. The lead actress Kelly Macdonald is Scottish, and it took me a second to get familiar with the Scottish accent. I decided to listen to the episode without subtitles to challenge myself to understand her, and it didn't take me very long to clearly comprehend what she was saying.

11.10 The Most Hated Man on the Internet

I decided to watch another documentary relating to public shaming and the internet, and stumbled upon a docuseries called The Most Hated Man on the Internet. The series is about a website used for revenge porn, and follows several victims who had their nude photos posted on the site.

The series mainly follows a woman called Charlotte, whose daughter had her nude photos posted on the site. The daughter had stored the images in her private email, which means that the photos posted on the site were a result of someone hacking her acount.

In the series, multiple other victims explain their stories. One victim got his photos posted while someone was using his phone, another victim tells her story of trying to use the site to promote herself (she was doing porn on other sites) but ended up losing her children for the posts. One woman ended up attempting suicide over the leaked photos.

The man who owns the site, Hunter Moore, seems to get a lot of enjoyment out of publicly humiliating people. His cult-like following bullies the victims who end up on the site and even threaten victims and people like Charlotte, who try to go against the leader.

It was interesting to watch a documentary about getting bullied and attacked on the internet for other reasons than opinions or bad choices in life, getting a glimpse of how having your private photos leaked can ruin your life too. This gave me a wider understanding of just how evil the internet can be - anything you post (or just keep for yourself) can have huge consequences.

The first part of the series also touches on legal issues, like copyright and privacy, which was interesting to learn about. These things will most likely be discussed more in the other parts, which I might watch at some point.

I think the documentary was very eye-opening. I can only imagine what I would do if I was in any of the victims' shoes. The fact that a website like this existed, where anyone could post revenge porn for the leader's followers to bully and harass, is very scary. I find the worst part to be the leader himself, who didn't seem to care about the victims' feelings at all.

La Bambola Assassina (film 1988) TRAILER ITALIANO

La bambola assassina 1988

La bambola assassina Chucky (Brad Dourif) tentando di possedere l'anima di Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) in una scena del film Titolo originale Child's Play Lingua originale inglese Paese di produzione Stati Uniti d'America Anno 1988 Durata 87 min Rapporto 1,85:1 Genere orrore, thriller Regia Tom Holland Soggetto Don Mancini Sceneggiatura Don Mancini, Tom Holland, John Lafia Produttore David Kirschner Produttore esecutivo Barrie M. Osbourne Casa di produzione United Artists Fotografia Bill Butler Montaggio Roy E. Peterson, Edward A. Warschilka Effetti speciali Kevin Yagher Musiche Joe Renzetti Scenografia Daniel A. Lomino Costumi April Ferry Toth Interpreti e personaggi Alex Vincent: Andy Barclay Catherine Hicks: Karen Barclay Chris Sarandon: detective Mike Norris Brad Dourif: Charles Lee Ray / Chucky Dinah Manoff: Maggie Peterson Neil Giuntoli: Eddie Caputo Tommy Swerdlow: Jack Santos Raymond Oliver: John "Dottor Death" Bishop Jack Colvin: dottor Ardmore Alan Wilder: Walter Criswell Doppiatori originali Brad Dourif: Chucky Doppiatori italiani Alessandro Tiberi: Andy Barclay Silvia Pepitoni: Karen Barclay Saverio Moriones: detective Mike Norris Renato Cortesi: Chucky Monica Ward: Tipo Bello Liliana Sorrentino: Maggie Peterson Carlo Valli: Jack Santos Massimo Foschi: John "Dottor Death" Bishop Franco Zucca: dottor Ardmore Logo ufficiale del film La bambola assassina (Child's Play) è un film horror statunitense del 1988 diretto da Tom Holland. Uscito nelle sale il 9 novembre 1988, ha come personaggio principale una bambola di nome Chucky, all'interno della quale un serial-killer ha riversato la propria anima in punto di morte; il suo scopo è quello di rientrare in un corpo umano, precisamente il corpo della prima persona alla quale ha rivelato la sua vera identità, ed in breve tempo, altrimenti rimarrà intrappolato per sempre nel pupazzo. Per tale obiettivo dovrà scegliere Andy, un bambino che riceve la bambola come regalo di compleanno. Sadico, crudele, astuto e determinato, Chucky riuscirà quasi nel suo intento, mietendo numerose vittime sul suo cammino.

Il film venne distribuito negli Stati Uniti il 9 novembre 1988 dalla MGM/UA Communications Co. ed incassò più di 44 milioni di dollari a fronte di un budget di produzione di 9 milioni di dollari.[1][2][3]

Il fatto che sia divenuto un cult,[4] e il successo ottenuto al botteghino, hanno generato un media franchise che include una serie di sei sequel, merchandising, fumetti, un film reboot uscito nel giugno 2019 e una serie televisiva che è iniziata nell'ottobre 2021.

Nella notte del 9 Novembre 1988, il famigerato strangolatore e serial killer di Chicago Charles Lee Ray, stanato dalla polizia, è inseguito fra le strade della città dal detective Mike Norris. Dopo essere stato ferito alla gamba, Charles tenta di raggiungere il furgone sul quale lo attende il complice Eddie Caputo ma questi, vedendo il trambusto e una macchina della polizia in avvicinamento, fugge abbandonando l'amico. Ormai privo di speranze, Charles si rifugia in un negozio di giocattoli dove Norris gli spara, giurando vendetta contro il detective e il compagno che lo ha tradito, mette in pratica un rito voodoo su un bambolotto "Tipo Bello" per trasferire la sua anima al suo interno, il rito causa una tempesta di fulmini sul negozio, che ne provoca l'esplosione, Norris sopravvive e ritrova il cadavere dello strangolatore con il bambolotto accanto.

Il mattino seguente, Andy Barclay chiede alla madre Karen un bambolotto "Tipo Bello" come regalo per il suo sesto compleanno. Essendo in ristrettezze economiche, Karen acquista un "Tipo Bello" da un vagabondo, all'insaputa di tutti, il bambolotto acquistato si rivela essere proprio quello posseduto dall'anima del serial killer il quale, dopo essersi presentato ad Andy come Chucky, miete la sua prima vittima, Maggie Peterson un'amica di Karen che stava facendo da babysitter ad Andy, facendola precipitare dalla finestra del condominio dopo averla colpita in faccia con un martello giocattolo. Sulla scena del crimine, Andy cerca di convincere il detective Norris che l'assassino è il suo bambolotto Chucky ma non viene creduto; anzi, il detective sospetta che sia stato lo stesso Andy ad aver ucciso Maggie, il che fa arrabbiare Karen, la quale lo caccia via.

Il giorno dopo, Andy marina la scuola portando Chucky con sé. Arrivato all'abitazione di Eddie Caputo, il complice che lo aveva abbandonato, Chucky lo uccide accendendo il forno, che Eddie gli spara contro facendo saltare in aria l'abitazione, perché sentiva la presenza di un intruso. La polizia decide di portare Andy all'ospedale psichiatrico infantile, dopo averlo ritrovato presso la scena del crimine; quando il bambino ripete che è stato Chucky a provocare l'esplosione, e la madre lo separa dal bambolotto. Una volta a casa, però, Karen scopre con orrore che Andy stava dicendo la verità perché si rende conto che il bambolotto funzionava senza le batterie che erano incluse da inserire, Chucky la assale e fugge dall'appartamento. Karen corre da Norris e terrorizzata gli racconta l'accaduto, ma il detective la crede pazza, anche lui però si ricrede quando il vagabondo che aveva venduto il bambolotto a Karen racconta di averlo raccolto nella stessa notte dalle macerie del negozio di giocattoli nel quale Norris aveva ucciso Charles Lee Ray. Chucky tenta di vendicarsi di Norris assalendolo in macchina provocando un incidente stradale, ma lui riesce a salvarsi e spara a Chucky, che fugge via.

Chucky fa visita a John Bishop, detto "Dottor Death", l'uomo che gli ha insegnato il voodoo e dopo averlo sottomesso usando contro di lui una bambolina voodoo con il suo stesso aspetto, gli chiede perché prova dolore fisico e sanguina per il colpo di pistola di Norris nonostante egli sia un bambolotto, John gli spiega che il suo corpo di plastica si sta vitalizzando, quindi Chucky si sta tramutando in una bambolotto umano e mortale, John rivela a Chucky che l'unico modo per sfuggire a questo destino è quello di trasferire la propria anima nel corpo della prima persona alla quale ha rivelato la sua identità, ovvero Andy; Chucky poi accoltella al cuore alla bambolina connessa fisicamente a John, e si reca all'ospedale psichiatrico. Norris e Karen arrivano all'abitazione di John il quale prima di morire, rivela ai due che per uccidere Chucky devono colpirlo al cuore.

Chucky arriva all'ospedale psichiatrico, e ucciso il dottor Ardmore con un apparecchio dell'elettroshock, e insegue Andy che si è già recato a casa sua, Karen e Norris arrivano all'appartamento per salvare Andy, che sta per essere posseduto da Chucky, Karen e Andy riescono a bruciare vivo Chucky nel camino e dopo essere stati ri-attaccati da un redivivo Chucky, Norris spara al cuore del bambolotto uccidendolo definitivamente e mettendo così fine alla minaccia, mentre l'ambulanza e la polizia arrivano in loro soccorso.

Produzione

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

#gustavopetro #colombia #DONALDTRUMP #TRUMP #BOLSONARO #DORIGHEZZI #STRISCIALANOTIZIA #FRANCESCO #RUTELLI #PROPAGANDALIVE #ELUANA #ENGLARO #ELUANAENGLARO #CRISTIANODEANDRE #twitter #facebook #skyrock #linkedin #instagram #okru #tiktok

21 answers tag game

Tagged byy @fatal-blow

ANSWER 21 QUESTIONS AND TAG 21 PEOPLE

ZODIAC- Cancer/Gemini

HEIGHT- ~5′9″

LAST MOVIE I SAW- ummm In theatres “The Boy who would be King” in general “Blackkklansmen”

FAVOURITE MUSICIANS- Hmm, My music taste varies quite a lot but I always go back to Marina and the Diamonds, Queen, Regina Spektor, Ween, The Beatles. Currently listening to a lot of indie music in general lmao - First Aid Kit and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are great!

LAST THING I GOOGLED- askfalkfjald “Free Aesthetic Background” I was updating a side blog ok!

SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD- Sunny Came Home by uhhh Shawn Colvin, Froot M&D, Hit the Road Jack (Wolfgang Lohr & Maskarade Remix) Thanks Fatal

OTHER BLOGS- @kaligulas is my main, and I have an aesthetic/feelings sideblog for when i find quotes and pictures and when im thinking about my crush/es, as well as an embarrassing fandom specific blog and a nsfw- which I made a few months before the ban :’ )

FOLLOWING- On here like uhhh 6 people on my main uhh 303!

DO I GET ASKS- When I do requests lmao

WHAT IM WEARING- THIS SHIRT designed by my bae! @goingtoregretthisseriously its so comfy and I always get tons of compliments on it when i wear it because its amazinggggg

AMOUNT OF SLEEP-  8 hours on work days , 10+ otherwise TvT

FAVOURITE FOOD- Turkey Hash - when you take all the left overs froma turkey or chicken dinner and mix and re fry it in a pan for breakfast the next morning!

DREAM TRIP-  To Prague! My grandfather is a famous sculptor who immigrated from the Czech Republic and ive always wanted to visit

DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS AESTHETIC THINGS-  umm this feels a bit awkward hah but! Faded Hair dye, worn converse, um.. fresh flowers, other...  summery aesthetic things??? im very bad at this.

RANDOM FACT-  about me? Ive had a buzzcut for 6(ish) years and today is the longest its been in almost 9 years

LANGUAGES- English and some very,,, very vague french. I understand a lot more than i know(lmao I watch a lot of france french shows and switching to quebecois media is so jarring oml.)

Tagggiiinnnnngggg UHHHHH I dont know anyone besides Fatal who likes tag games lmao. Feel free to do this and tag me though!

Social media shames 'greedy' price-gouging brothers for selling $1 hand sanitizer for up to $70 each | Daily Mail Online

Two Tennessee brothers who bought 17,700 bottles of hand sanitizer and sold some of them for as much as $70 each to profit off the coronavirus outbreak say they have received death threats after being shamed on social media.

Matt and Noah Colvin of Hixson, Tenneseee, drove 1,300 miles across the state and neighboring Kentucky earlier this month after the first coronavirus death was reported in the United States.

Seeing a lucrative business opportunity, they filled a U-Haul truck with thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of packs of antibacterial wipes that they ‘cleaned out’ from various Dollar Tree, Walmart, Staples and Home Depot locations.

In total, they spent between $10,000 and $15,000 stocking up on the items which are now in demand thanks to the global pandemic that has killed thousands and will likely infect many more.

'The bulk of it was purchased just driving around to retail stores in the Chattanooga area,' Matt Colvin told WRCB-TV. 

Matt Colvin is seen at his Hixson, Tennessee, home on Thursday after Amazon shut down his resell of more than 17,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of other cleaning products

Colvin and his brother, Noah, drove around Tennessee and Kentucky for three days and spent between $10,000 and $15,000 on the products as news of the first coronavirus deaths in the United States was being reported

Matt Colvin is seen with his wife, Brittany, and their son, Logan, at their Hixon home on Thursday

Matt Colvin then stayed at his home near Chattanooga, where he was expecting deliveries of boxes of even more sanitizer, cleansing products, and surgical masks.

Colvin told The New York Times that he began listing some of the products on Amazon - and was selling them at a considerable markup.

‘It was crazy money,’ he told the Times.

Colvin, like other online resellers, bought the items at the store for reasonably priced sums. A bottle of Purell hand sanitizer normally sells for $1 each.

On Amazon, he charged $20 for a two-pack set, according to the Times.

Colvin defended himself against accusations he was price gouging, saying that the cost of delivering it to customers as well as Amazon's commission eat into profits.

He said that anti-price gouging laws in Tennessee and elsewhere are not suitable to the current digital age.

'They’re built for Billy Bob’s gas station doubling the amount he charges for gas during a hurricane,' Colvin said of the laws currently on the books. 

'Just because it cost me $2 in the store doesn’t mean it’s not going to cost me $16 to get it to your door,' he said. 

When asked if he felt badly about turning a profit by selling products that prevent the spread of a lethal virus, Colvin countered that he was just correcting 'inefficiencies in the marketplace.' 

'There’s a crushing overwhelming demand in certain cities right now,' he said. 

'The Dollar General in the middle of nowhere outside of Lexington, Kentucky, doesn’t have that.'

Colvin then claimed that he was simply running a business that was meeting consumer demand. 

'I honestly feel like it’s a public service,' he added. 

'I’m being paid for my public service.'

Amazon, however, put a stop to it, pulling his items as well as thousands of other listings for hand sanitizer, toilet paper, and antibacterial wipes.

The online retailer warned its sellers that it would cancel their accounts entirely if they continued their price gouging.

Colvin was then left with a supply of nearly 18,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of packages of wipes and nowhere to sell them - at a time when store shelves were emptied out and people were frantically looking to buy them.

Colvin told the Times that after Amazon shut him down, he would look to sell the products locally.

'If I can make a slight profit, that’s fine,' he said. 

'But I’m not looking to be in a situation where I make the front page of the news for being that guy who hoarded 20,000 bottles of sanitizer that I’m selling for 20 times what they cost me.'

But the harsh backlash on social media prompted Colvin to reconsider. He said he would instead look to donate the products. 

Thousands of independent and third-party sellers like Colvin have bought up large quantities of cleaning products and sold them online through platforms like Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and other sites.

Those companies, however, are working to crack down on the practice.

After the Times posted its report on the Colvin brothers, social media users reacted with fury.

The avalanche of negative reaction prompted the Colvin brothers to pledge to donate the inventory they have to those in need.

The Colvins also deleted their social media accounts. Matt Colvin also posted a web site with the message: 'The Hand Sanitizer in the NYT story is being donated to a local church and first responders tomorrow.'

‘Thanks for outing this guy and hurray for public pressure,’ one Twitter user wrote to the Times reporter who posted the story.

Another resident of Hixson tweeted: ‘This morning I Tweeted I would make sure everyone in my town would know Matt & Noah Colvin’s names by the end of the day.

Matt Colvin (pictured) said he has received death threats and pizza delivery pranks after The New York Times reported his story

Colvin has pledged to donate the leftover inventory to local hospitals or churches

Colvin and his brother drove around the Chattanooga area as well as neighboring Kentucky, cleaning out the shelves of stores as news broke of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States 

The image above shows some of the packages of hand sanitizer that Colvin and his brother bought

‘I emailed the local newspaper this morning to reach out to him to do the right thing.

‘They contacted me and they have reporters on it.’

Others on Twitter who were outraged by the story doubted that the Colvin brothers were sincere about donating the unsold items.

One Twitter user blasted the brothers as ‘conmen’ and ‘snake oil salesmen’ and suggested that there was a more proper way to ‘handle’ them besides ‘suing them in court.’

Another Twitter user tweeted: ‘When you are forced to do the right thing, is it really doing the right thing?’

One Twitter user said the Colvins’ pledge to donate the unsold items was too little, too late.

‘Too late, dude just ruined his entire life,’ the Twitter user wrote.

‘Now every time he or his kid Googles his name, he’s gonna come up as the Great Value Martin Shkreli.’

Shkreli is the former 'pharma bro' who became notorious for raising the price of the anti-parasitic drug Daraprim by more than 5,000% while serving as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, now known as Phoenixus AG.

He is serving a prison sentence after he was convicted of defrauding investors in his hedge funds and conspiring to manipulate the stock of Retrophin Inc, a biotechnology company he ran. 

After facing the massive public backlash, Matt Colvin told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that he is looking to donate everything.

‘I'm trying to figure out where to donate it to,’ he said.

‘I didn't anticipate the magnitude of what was going to be happening now.’

Colvin agreed to speak to the Times and to get his story out because he believed he was among other independent vendors who were frustrated by not being able to sell their inventory.

Instead, he became the poster boy for profiteering off of the suffering of others.

‘The amount of hate has been unreal,’ he said.

‘It's been a disaster. People are tweeting guillotines at me.’

Colvin told the Times Free Press that he spent much of Saturday searching for a public health agency or hospital willing to take the products.

He says he has even had people contact him who were willing to buy them.

The reaction on social media was fierce, with Twitter users scorning the brothers for failing to complete their price gouging operation

One Twitter user blasted the brothers as ‘conmen’ and ‘snake oil salesmen’ and suggested that there was a more proper way to ‘handle’ them besides ‘suing them in court.’

‘Too late, dude just ruined his entire life,’ the Twitter user wrote. ‘Now every time he or his kid Googles his name, he’s gonna come up as the Great Value Martin Shkreli’

‘Thanks for outing this guy and hurray for public pressure,’ one Twitter user wrote to the Times reporter who posted the story

'When you are forced to do the right thing, is it really doing the right thing?' one Twitter user noted

Other Twitter users doubted that Colvin was sincere about his pledge to donate the items

A Twitter user claiming to be a Hixson resident said she sought to 'make sure everyone in my town would know Matt & Noah Colvin's name'

Times reporter Jack Nicas noted that there were currently packages of toilet paper that were being resold on Amazon for $72.43 apiece

‘I've had a dozen serious offers to buy it,’ he said.

‘I just want to get it to someone who can get it to someone who can use it.’

Colvin said that he has been a full-time online reseller for the last five years.

His online shops sell products ranging from candy, kids’ toys, and dog treats.

Colvin tries to anticipate marketplace trends and consumer demand so that he knows what to offer the public for sale.

The brothers said that they never anticipated the situation becoming so dire that they would face such intense backlash.

After the harsh backlash, Matt Colvin deleted his social media and posted a website with a message pledging to donate the hand sanitizers to a local church and first responders

‘Did any of us think we'd be where we are right now?’ he said.

‘I wouldn't be running around trying to get this stuff right now.’

The brothers managed to sell just 200 bottles of hand sanitizer before Amazon derailed their plans.

The Colvins said they just needed a few more days and they would have gotten rid of their inventory.

‘If Amazon had let us keep selling for four more days, we'd be done with it - it would be gone,’ he said.

Instead, the Colvins are being scorned publicly. Some have even gone to the trouble of calling pizza delivery services and ordering boxes of pies under their name.

‘I went viral on the web this morning and people have been playing pranks on me all day,’ he told one pizza delivery driver.

‘I'm sorry, man. Domino's and Pizza Hut called first, so maybe let them know back at the store not to come here today.’

The Tennessee attorney general threatened to take legal action against the Colvin brothers if they bought up more medical supplies

As for the items, he said: ‘If donating the product stops the death threats, it's worth it.’

The public outrage prompted the Tennessee attorney general to threaten the Colvin brothers with legal action if they kept on buying medical products.

‘We will not tolerate price gouging in this time of exceptional need, and we will take aggressive action to stop it,’ said Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III.

The coronavirus outbreak prompted Tennessee’s governor, Bill Lee, to declare a state of emergency.

The declaration automatically triggers anti-price gouging laws that forbid vendors from inflating their prices during an emergency.

Just as news of the coronavirus outbreak was being reported nationwide, Tennessee also suffered casualties from powerful tornadoes which left some 24 people dead.  

This content was originally published here.

The Jaguars only have themselves to blame for the Jalen Ramsey debacle

Jalen Ramsey has requested a trade from the Jaguars.

In the last two years, the Jaguars have made all the wrong moves and alienated their best players.

Jalen Ramsey was every bit the player the Jacksonville Jaguars hoped he’d be when they drafted him top five in 2016. But now the two-time Pro Bowler is headed to the Los Angeles Rams.

The good news for the Jaguars is that the trade ended up getting them the haul they were after. About a month after Ramsey first demanded a trade, the Jaguars relented with a trade to the Rams that nets them first-round picks in 2020 and 2021, as well as a fourth-round pick in 2021.

The bad news is that a great player — the only First-Team All-Pro they’ve drafted in the last 13 years — is gone.

His Week 2 sideline spat with Doug Marrone wasn’t the reason Ramsey requested a trade. That was just the tip of the iceberg. It was a brouhaha with a Jaguars executive after that game — reportedly executive vice president Tom Coughlin — that officially caused the cornerback to ask to be on another team.

The reality, though, is that the cornerback’s frustrations with the Jaguars were brewing for a long time. And frankly, how could they not be?

Twenty months ago, the Jaguars played in the AFC Championship against the Patriots. Had it not been for a poor officiating call in that game, the Jaguars likely would’ve gone to the Super Bowl too. In the nearly two years since, much of that roster has fallen apart.

Jacksonville did everything possible to alienate its best players and create the mess it currently has on its hands. When Ramsey asked for a trade, they had won just two of their last 14 games, and all that losing had taken its toll.

“I just want to fucking win,” Ramsey said in a press conference less than 24 hours after reports surfaced of his request. He didn’t say much else during his presser, a change of pace for a player who’s refreshingly honest — sometimes to a fault — about his thoughts. This time, he didn’t have to spell things out, though.

It’s clear Ramsey lost faith that the Jaguars are an organization capable of turning things around. If not for a shockingly strong start to the career of sixth-round rookie Gardner Minshew, the Jaguars very well may be a winless team right now. It’s not hard to understand why Ramsey wanted out.

Just one defensive player has received an extension in the last 2 years

Jacksonville’s 2017 season was a success because of its elite defense. No team in the NFL allowed fewer points, yards, plays, or time of possession per drive than the Jaguars that year. That defense forced a franchise-record 33 turnovers and finished with 55 sacks.

Six Jaguars made the Pro Bowl then, all of them defensive players: Ramsey, Calais Campbell, Yannick Ngakoue, Malik Jackson, Telvin Smith, A.J. Bouye.

Yet, the one player who was rewarded handsomely for the Jaguars’ deep postseason run was turnover-prone quarterback Blake Bortles. He signed a three-year, $54 million contract with Jacksonville that included $26.5 million in guarantees, despite finishing that 2017 season 20th in passer rating.

It, unsurprisingly, blew up in the Jaguars’ face.

Bortles didn’t magically transform into a quarterback worth that kind of money. He continued to throw too many interceptions and struggled when injuries wiped up much of the offensive talent around him in 2018. He was released after the season and the Jaguars are eating $16.5 million in salary cap space just to have Bortles off the team.

The significant investment for the Jaguars in the 2019 offseason was again at quarterback. The team dished out a four-year, $88 million deal to Nick Foles with $50 million guaranteed — bidding against themselves in the process.

Why did the #Jaguars pay so much for Nick Foles if there were no other big bidders? We discussed here. pic.twitter.com/QOiulR6dcH

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 11, 2019

It’s not the Jaguars’ fault that Foles suffered a broken clavicle less than 10 minutes into the season. It is their fault that the overpriced contract is a big reason why salary cap space is running low.

It wasn’t until the end of August when a key defensive player finally got a contract. Myles Jack — a player who wasn’t a member of the Pro Bowl sextet in 2017 — signed a four-year, $57 million contract before the 2019 season began.

But in the time between that AFC Championship run and Jack’s extension, much of the dominant defense was gutted. Defensive tackle Malik Jackson and safeties Tashaun Gipson and Barry Church were all released, defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. was traded to the Rams, and cornerback Aaron Colvin left in free agency.

Ngakoue, who tallied 29.5 sacks in his first three seasons — more than any other player in his draft class — held out from training camp in hopes of a new contract and didn’t get one. Ngakoue isn’t even half the mercurial personality that Ramsey is, but voiced his displeasure about how the negotiation played out.

#Jaguars DE Yannick Ngakoue: "They had a chance to sign me for a long-term deal but it didn't get done. It is what it is. I love football, love my teammates, and I'm here to play games." Could a deal get done before the season? "It's out of my hands. I don't even know."

— Phillip Heilman (@phillip_heilman) August 4, 2019

Ramsey also made his desire for a new contract known in 2019 and was told it wasn’t even worth asking.

Jalen Ramsey says he has been told by the Jaguars that he won’t be receiving a contract extension this year

— John Reid (@JohnReid64) June 11, 2019

That decision made sense with Ramsey under contract through the 2021 season, thanks to the fifth-year option on his rookie deal.

However, three of the four players picked ahead of Ramsey in the 2016 NFL Draft — Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, Ezekiel Elliott — have already signed lucrative extensions that make them among the highest-paid at their respective positions. Meanwhile, Ramsey is making about $3.6 million in 2019, despite having a strong argument as the top cornerback in the NFL.

While he wants a raise, Ramsey brushed off the suggestion that it’s the reason for his trade request. But he did mention that he was happy to see Jack get a contract extension, and told the media multiple times that Ngakoue deserves one too.

Ramsey’s dissatisfaction with the Jaguars’ roster-building strategy was understandable, especially when the team was terrible on the field too.

The Jaguars’ coaching is failing the talent

One of the most surprising aspects of Jacksonville’s fall from grace was the amount of coverage busts allowed by the previously dominant defense. For some reason, the Jaguars opted to play a puzzling amount of zone defense in 2018, leading to coverage lapses.

That’s been true in 2019 too. The Chiefs carved up the Jaguars in Week 1, recording 491 total yards and 40 points due to gaping holes in the Jacksonville secondary.

TWO FIRST QUARTER TOUCHDOWNS FOR SAMMY WATKINS ‍♂️ @sammywatkins pic.twitter.com/1WclllgsjN

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) September 8, 2019

The Jaguars defense has too many veteran players to make those kind of mistakes, but it’s also worth questioning why the team is playing that way. There was no secret sauce to Jacksonville’s success in 2017: It bullied teams up front and locked down receivers with a pair of top-flight cornerbacks.

Ramsey is fed up with the team not getting back to what made it great in the first place:

One of the best pure cover corners, Jalen Ramsey wants to play man-to-man and lock a WR down. One issue has been having him play zone https://t.co/7RIlT8bx4X

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 16, 2019

Doug Marrone’s decision to ignore Ramsey’s pleas for a challenge in Week 2 initially seemed like the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Jalen Ramsey is not happy, part II pic.twitter.com/FzJUJR7N3t

— Rivers McCown (@riversmccown) September 15, 2019

Ramsey denied that was the case.

“Requesting the trade was something that has kind of been building for over a little bit of time,” Ramsey told Nate Burleson. “It was more about the front office and the organization.”

According to Ramsey, it was a postgame meeting with the front office was sealed the deal. “Some disrespectful things were said on their end that made me definitely walk out and call my agent as soon as I walked out,” Ramsey added.

Alas, nearly two years of bad choices by the Jaguars led to the molehill quickly becoming a mountain.

A trade became an inevitability

This saga didn’t have to end with Ramsey getting traded this season. The Jaguars were asking for two first-round picks and change, and that’s what they got mostly because they had no sense of urgency to move him for anything less than that price.

It helped too that the whole damn league wanted Ramsey.

I'm told Jalen Ramsey is fine playing TNF tonight, but a source just told me he doesn't anticipate being a member of the #Jags next Sun. Teams like KC, BAL, MIN, OAK, PHI, SEA hv all made substantive inquiries, but my understanding is almost every team has at least placed a call.

— ig: josinaanderson (@JosinaAnderson) September 19, 2019

Owner Shad Khan advocated for keeping the cornerback. According to the Associated Press, Khan had several meetings to try to resolve the conflict and was reportedly ready to give Ramsey the contract he wanted.

But Ramsey didn’t back down on his request. He told Burleson, “I’m not sure if I’ve played my final game for the Jags yet or not, but my trade request still stands.”

Still, it seemed like a situation that could be resolved in the offseason — especially after Ramsey helped the team beat the Titans, 20-7, in Week 3. It looked like Ramsey planned to continue to play good football for the Jaguars all year. It was, after all, in his best interest to continue proving he’s worth a pricy investment.

Having Ramsey on the field was a good situation for the Jaguars to keep benefitting from. But it was also in Ramsey’s best interest to stay healthy, so when his back wasn’t quite feeling 100 percent, there was no reason in his mind to play through it. He sat out the Jaguars’ last three games and the defense struggled as a consequence.

His absence pushed the trade request into an inevitability and now he’s a member of the Rams. The Jaguars got their asking price, but before they celebrate too much, they should ask themselves how they ruined such a good thing so fast.

My Favorite Album #227 - Elizabeth Cook on Neil Young ‘Zuma’ (1975)

Sharp of tongue and deep of soul, one of Nashville’s most compelling singer-songwriters joins me to talk about an underrated Neil Young and Crazy Horse classic, ‘Zuma’.

We talk about how Elizabeth discovered the album on a road trip, the elusive concision of Young’s lyrics, how this record defines a certain version of his sound, how the album documents the end of Neil Young’s creative grieving over guitarist Danny Whitten, how Elizabeth wants to steer her future recordings in a Neil-ward direction and what it was like to be a witness to the taping of the ‘Heart of Gold’ concert film.

Listen in the player above or download the episode by clicking here.

Subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts here or search ‘My Favorite Album’ wherever you listen to podcasts.

My Favorite Album is a podcast on the impact great music has on our lives. Each episode features a guest on their favorite album of all time - why they love it, their history with the album and how it’s influenced them. Jeremy Dylan is a filmmaker, journalist and photographer. He directed the the feature music documentary Jim Lauderdale: The King of Broken Hearts (out now!) and the film Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins.

If you’ve got any feedback or suggestions, drop us a line at [email protected].

LINKS - Buy our album of the episode on iTunes here.

- Elizabeth Cook’s website, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook page and on iTunes.

- Jeremy Dylan’s website, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook page.

- Like the podcast on Facebook here.

- If you dig the show, please leave a rating or review of the show on iTunes here.

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Transformational Learning

If you’ve ever tried to teach someone something, in or out of the classroom, you might know that sense of frustration that one feels when a student ‘just doesn’t get it.’ For centuries, men have argued about the right way to impart knowledge. Some learning theories focus on the material, many on the teacher, others on the student, while some take a mixed approach.

Most great thinkers understand that education is more than a set of methods by which knowledge is transferred. One good example of this is Albert Einstein who said

“Education is not the mere learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think."

Indeed, if learning were merely about good habits, students would remember everything they ever saw written on a whiteboard or heard during a lecture. Unfortunately, accrual of deep knowledge doesn’t happen this easily. To help learners, especially adults, retain information something transformational has to take place.

Transformational Learning Builds on Adult Learning Theory

It’s a scientifically proven fact that we learn differently as adults than we did as when we were younger. According to the latest research in educational neuroscience, for adults to move from simple processing to real understanding of a concept:

1.    They need to know WHY they are learning the information. Why is the information relevant? How will this learning help them in the future? For an adult to retain something you’ve taught them, they have to know ‘what’s in it for them.’

2.    The lesson must be connected to the real world. How is this information orientated to their everyday lives? What real-world problems will it help them solve?  

3.    They must be ready and motivated to learn. Have internal pressures motivated them to seek knowledge? Are they prepared to take on the challenge? If not, it might be difficult to teach them anything. Transformational learning takes care of this part of adult learning.

Transformational Learning: A Theory

Jack Mezirow (1923-2014) understood the importance of motivating the learner. An American sociologist and professor of adult learning, Mezirow believes that to be successful, educational methods and media must persuade and inspire. They must become the catalyst which permanently improves lives. In short, Mezirow held that true and successful education must not be informational but transformational. It is out of this belief that the theory of transformational learning (AKA transformative learning) was born.

The critical thoughts of this theory are that:

•There are two types of learning: Instrumental and Communicative. The first is related to procedural and problem-solving tasks. The second focuses on the communication of feelings, needs, and desires.

• All students come into the classroom with different assumptions and expectations when it comes to learning. These are all shaped by past experiences.

• For learning to take place, a change of perspective must happen. Outlined below is the step-by-step process.

The Ten Phases of Transformative Learning:

Just like there are phases of development as a caterpillar morphs into a butterfly, there are steps that happen as a learner’s perspective is transformed. The following case of a student learning about the Civil Rights Movement serves as a good example.

1.    First, there is a disorienting dilemma. This is the fog that rolls in when a person has an experience that doesn’t make sense to them. This dilemma cannot be resolved without a shift in view that brings clarity.

Let’s take an education major enrolled in an American History course at the university level. She knows little about the Civil Rights movement other than general information like the story of Rosa Parks. This student erroneously believes that Rosa was the first woman to refuse to give up her seat on a public bus. During class, the student hears her teacher talk about Claudette Colvin, a fifteen-year-old who refused to give up her seat on a bus nine months before police arrested Rosa Parks for the same thing.

This lecture presents a disorienting dilemma that challenges what the student believes she knows about  civil rights events.

2.    Learning about Claudette leads the student to self-examination with feelings of guilt or shame. She begins to question her own belief and knowledge. Who is right, she or the professor? How could she have been so foolish not to know this information? What other wrong facts might she pass on to her own students in the future if she doesn’t learn more about the Civil Rights movement?

3.    The student critically begins an assessment of assumptions. What other information might she have misconstrued?

4.    Raising her hand shyly, the student shares her discovery with her teacher. Several other students share that they too thought that Rosa Parks was the first to refuse to give up her seat, leading to the bus boycotts. The student realizes that she shares her discontent and the process of transformation with others in the class who ashe realizes are negotiating a similar change.

5.    In phase five, there is an exploration of options for new roles and actions. The student wonders, ‘what next?”

6.    This question is answered by planning a course of action. The student might check out a book from the library that talks about Claudette Colvin or plan to Google her name once the class is over.

7.    The student’s quest for info will lead to the acquisition of knowledge and skills for implementing one���s plan.

8.    In phase eight, provisionally trying new roles, the student might discuss what she’s learned with other students in greater detail and connect the dots to other events.

9.    This will lead to the building of competence and self-confidence in the new roles and relationships. Now the student is prepared to write a paper on the unsung heroes of the Civil Rights movement.

10.    She now understands the Civil Rights Movement from a different perspective and what she has learned is reintegrated into her life.

Ways to Make Your Teaching Transformational

Transformational learning can be seen as a bridge. It helps students transition from simply accepting whatever information the teacher is presenting to a state of being a critically engaged, independent learner.

Like our history student above, when transformational learning takes place, there is a shift in internal beliefs that happens deep inside the minds and hearts of the learner. This allows the information given to them to move with them long after they leave the classroom.

To help this type of change occur, educators can:

•    Learn more about students’ backgrounds and prior knowledge so you can identify current assumptions are beliefs they are holding.

•    ‘Activate’ an event by providing a lesson that challenges their views.

•    Provide different viewpoint examples and allow students to figure out where ‘they stand.’

•    Teach critical thinking techniques that will strengthen their abilities to make sense of things.

•    Ask students to talk things through when problem-solving.

•    Encourage reflection and journaling.

•    Keep the conversation going outside of the classroom if possible.

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Social media shames ‘greedy’ price-gouging brothers for selling $1 hand sanitizer for up to $70 each

Two Tennessee brothers who bought 17,700 bottles of hand sanitizer and sold some of them for as much as $70 each to profit off the coronavirus outbreak say they have received death threats after being shamed on social media.

Matt and Noah Colvin of Hixson, Tenneseee, drove 1,300 miles across the state and neighboring Kentucky earlier this month after the first coronavirus death was reported in the United States.

Seeing a lucrative business opportunity, they filled a U-Haul truck with thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of packs of antibacterial wipes that they ‘cleaned out’ from various Dollar Tree, Walmart, Staples and Home Depot locations.

In total, they spent between $10,000 and $15,000 stocking up on the items which are now in demand thanks to the global pandemic that has killed thousands and will likely infect many more.

‘The bulk of it was purchased just driving around to retail stores in the Chattanooga area,’ Matt Colvin told WRCB-TV. 

Matt Colvin is seen at his Hixson, Tennessee, home on Thursday after Amazon shut down his resell of more than 17,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of other cleaning products

Colvin and his brother, Noah, drove around Tennessee and Kentucky for three days and spent between $10,000 and $15,000 on the products as news of the first coronavirus deaths in the United States was being reported

Matt Colvin is seen with his wife, Brittany, and their son, Logan, at their Hixson home on Thursday

Matt Colvin then stayed at his home near Chattanooga, where he was expecting deliveries of boxes of even more sanitizer, cleansing products, and surgical masks.

Colvin told The New York Times that he began listing some of the products on Amazon – and was selling them at a considerable markup.

‘It was crazy money,’ he told the Times.

Colvin, like other online resellers, bought the items at the store for reasonably priced sums. A bottle of Purell hand sanitizer normally sells for $1 each.

On Amazon, he charged $20 for a two-pack set, according to the Times.

Colvin defended himself against accusations he was price gouging, saying that the cost of delivering it to customers as well as Amazon’s commission eat into profits.

He said that anti-price gouging laws in Tennessee and elsewhere are not suitable to the current digital age.

‘They’re built for Billy Bob’s gas station doubling the amount he charges for gas during a hurricane,’ Colvin said of the laws currently on the books. 

‘Just because it cost me $2 in the store doesn’t mean it’s not going to cost me $16 to get it to your door,’ he said. 

When asked if he felt badly about turning a profit by selling products that prevent the spread of a lethal virus, Colvin countered that he was just correcting ‘inefficiencies in the marketplace.’ 

‘There’s a crushing overwhelming demand in certain cities right now,’ he said. 

‘The Dollar General in the middle of nowhere outside of Lexington, Kentucky, doesn’t have that.’

Colvin then claimed that he was simply running a business that was meeting consumer demand. 

‘I honestly feel like it’s a public service,’ he added. 

‘I’m being paid for my public service.’

Amazon, however, put a stop to it, pulling his items as well as thousands of other listings for hand sanitizer, toilet paper, and antibacterial wipes.

The online retailer warned its sellers that it would cancel their accounts entirely if they continued their price gouging.

Colvin was then left with a supply of nearly 18,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of packages of wipes and nowhere to sell them – at a time when store shelves were emptied out and people were frantically looking to buy them.

Colvin told the Times that after Amazon shut him down, he would look to sell the products locally.

‘If I can make a slight profit, that’s fine,’ he said. 

‘But I’m not looking to be in a situation where I make the front page of the news for being that guy who hoarded 20,000 bottles of sanitizer that I’m selling for 20 times what they cost me.’

But the harsh backlash on social media prompted Colvin to reconsider. He said he would instead look to donate the products. 

Thousands of independent and third-party sellers like Colvin have bought up large quantities of cleaning products and sold them online through platforms like Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and other sites.

Those companies, however, are working to crack down on the practice.

After the Times posted its report on the Colvin brothers, social media users reacted with fury.

The avalanche of negative reaction prompted the Colvin brothers to pledge to donate the inventory they have to those in need.

The Colvins also deleted their social media accounts. Matt Colvin also posted a web site with the message: ‘The Hand Sanitizer in the NYT story is being donated to a local church and first responders tomorrow.’

‘Thanks for outing this guy and hurray for public pressure,’ one Twitter user wrote to the Times reporter who posted the story.

Another resident of Hixson tweeted: ‘This morning I Tweeted I would make sure everyone in my town would know Matt & Noah Colvin’s names by the end of the day.

Matt Colvin (pictured) said he has received death threats and pizza delivery pranks after The New York Times reported his story

Colvin has pledged to donate the leftover inventory to local hospitals or churches

Colvin and his brother drove around the Chattanooga area as well as neighboring Kentucky, cleaning out the shelves of stores as news broke of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States 

The image above shows some of the packages of hand sanitizer that Colvin and his brother bought

‘I emailed the local newspaper this morning to reach out to him to do the right thing.

‘They contacted me and they have reporters on it.’

Others on Twitter who were outraged by the story doubted that the Colvin brothers were sincere about donating the unsold items.

One Twitter user blasted the brothers as ‘conmen’ and ‘snake oil salesmen’ and suggested that there was a more proper way to ‘handle’ them besides ‘suing them in court.’

Another Twitter user tweeted: ‘When you are forced to do the right thing, is it really doing the right thing?’

One Twitter user said the Colvins’ pledge to donate the unsold items was too little, too late.

‘Too late, dude just ruined his entire life,’ the Twitter user wrote.

‘Now every time he or his kid Googles his name, he’s gonna come up as the Great Value Martin Shkreli.’

Shkreli is the former ‘pharma bro’ who became notorious for raising the price of the anti-parasitic drug Daraprim by more than 5,000% while serving as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, now known as Phoenixus AG.

He is serving a prison sentence after he was convicted of defrauding investors in his hedge funds and conspiring to manipulate the stock of Retrophin Inc, a biotechnology company he ran. 

After facing the massive public backlash, Matt Colvin told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that he is looking to donate everything.

‘I’m trying to figure out where to donate it to,’ he said.

‘I didn’t anticipate the magnitude of what was going to be happening now.’

Colvin agreed to speak to the Times and to get his story out because he believed he was among other independent vendors who were frustrated by not being able to sell their inventory.

Instead, he became the poster boy for profiteering off of the suffering of others.

‘The amount of hate has been unreal,’ he said.

‘It’s been a disaster. People are tweeting guillotines at me.’

Colvin told the Times Free Press that he spent much of Saturday searching for a public health agency or hospital willing to take the products.

He says he has even had people contact him who were willing to buy them.

The reaction on social media was fierce, with Twitter users scorning the brothers for failing to complete their price gouging operation

One Twitter user blasted the brothers as ‘conmen’ and ‘snake oil salesmen’ and suggested that there was a more proper way to ‘handle’ them besides ‘suing them in court.’

‘Too late, dude just ruined his entire life,’ the Twitter user wrote. ‘Now every time he or his kid Googles his name, he’s gonna come up as the Great Value Martin Shkreli’

‘Thanks for outing this guy and hurray for public pressure,’ one Twitter user wrote to the Times reporter who posted the story

‘When you are forced to do the right thing, is it really doing the right thing?’ one Twitter user noted

Other Twitter users doubted that Colvin was sincere about his pledge to donate the items

A Twitter user claiming to be a Hixson resident said she sought to ‘make sure everyone in my town would know Matt & Noah Colvin’s name’

Times reporter Jack Nicas noted that there were currently packages of toilet paper that were being resold on Amazon for $72.43 apiece

‘I’ve had a dozen serious offers to buy it,’ he said.

‘I just want to get it to someone who can get it to someone who can use it.’

Colvin said that he has been a full-time online reseller for the last five years.

His online shops sell products ranging from candy, kids’ toys, and dog treats.

Colvin tries to anticipate marketplace trends and consumer demand so that he knows what to offer the public for sale.

The brothers said that they never anticipated the situation becoming so dire that they would face such intense backlash.

After the harsh backlash, Matt Colvin deleted his social media and posted a website with a message pledging to donate the hand sanitizers to a local church and first responders

‘Did any of us think we’d be where we are right now?’ he said.

‘I wouldn’t be running around trying to get this stuff right now.’

The brothers managed to sell just 200 bottles of hand sanitizer before Amazon derailed their plans.

The Colvins said they just needed a few more days and they would have gotten rid of their inventory.

‘If Amazon had let us keep selling for four more days, we’d be done with it – it would be gone,’ he said.

Instead, the Colvins are being scorned publicly. Some have even gone to the trouble of calling pizza delivery services and ordering boxes of pies under their name.

‘I went viral on the web this morning and people have been playing pranks on me all day,’ he told one pizza delivery driver.

‘I’m sorry, man. Domino’s and Pizza Hut called first, so maybe let them know back at the store not to come here today.’

The Tennessee attorney general threatened to take legal action against the Colvin brothers if they bought up more medical supplies

As for the items, he said: ‘If donating the product stops the death threats, it’s worth it.’

The public outrage prompted the Tennessee attorney general to threaten the Colvin brothers with legal action if they kept on buying medical products.

‘We will not tolerate price gouging in this time of exceptional need, and we will take aggressive action to stop it,’ said Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III.

The coronavirus outbreak prompted Tennessee’s governor, Bill Lee, to declare a state of emergency.

The declaration automatically triggers anti-price gouging laws that forbid vendors from inflating their prices during an emergency.

Just as news of the coronavirus outbreak was being reported nationwide, Tennessee also suffered casualties from powerful tornadoes which left some 24 people dead.  

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