Category Archives: DNA

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Here's a roundup of top stories from the world of politics, business, sports, and entertainment, which grabbed the spotlight and trended the most on various social media platforms on November 23 (Tuesday)

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DNA: Top News of the Day | November 23, 2021 - DNA India

Government said it has not attained international accreditation for DNA testing services at the Forensic ScienceCentre.

Senator and Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Clarence Rambharat, speaking on behalf of National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, in response to questions for oral answer presented by Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial, said the DNA testing lab at the Forensic Science Centre in St James has not yet obtained international accreditation.

The DNA testing lab at the Trinidad and Tobago Forensic ScienceCentre has not obtained international accreditation, however, preliminarydocuments such as the terms of reference and requests for quotations have been drafted.

Notwithstanding, through the use external services, the evidence provided by the Forensic Sciences Centre has always been accepted without any legal challenge.

In response to questions as to the total monies spent by government on DNA testing at private labs from 2020-2021, Rambharat said no money was spent on private services.

The Forensic ScienceCentre and the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) did not expend any monies on private labs during the financial year 2020-21.

When asked whether any government owed any monies to private labs, Rambharat said he didnt have the information to hand.

In 2018, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi said DNA legislation would be brought before Parliament, along with plans to operationalise the DNA database.

Read more:
Government: No international accreditation for DNA testing lab | Loop Trinidad & Tobago - Loop News Trinidad and Tobago

Stress affects up to 90% of people, and we know it harms our mental and physical well-being.

Stress can impact the activity and function of our genes. It does this via epigenetic changes, which turn on and off certain genes, though it doesnt change the DNA code.

But why do some people respond worse to stress, while others seem to cope under pressure?

Previous research has identified having strong social support and a sense of belonging are robust indicators of physical and mental health.

Social support means having a network you can turn to in times of need. This can come from natural sources such as family, friends, partners, pets, co-workers and community groups. Or from formal sources such as mental health specialists.

My new study, published today in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, shows for the first time that these positive effects are also observed on human genes.

Having supportive social structures buffers and even reverses some of the harmful effects of stress on our genes and health, via the process of epigenetics.

The findings suggest the DNA we are born with is not necessarily our destiny.

Read more: How chronic stress changes the brain and what you can do to reverse the damage

Our genes and our environment contribute to our health.

We inherit our DNA code from our parents, and this doesnt change during our life. Genetics is the study of how the DNA code acts as a risk or protective factor for a particular trait or disease.

Epigenetics is an additional layer of instructions on top of DNA that determines how they affect the body. This layer can chemically modify the DNA, without changing DNA code.

The term epigenetics is derived from the Greek word epi which means over, on top of.

Read more: Explainer: what is epigenetics?

This extra layer of information lies on top of the genes and surrounding DNA. It acts like a switch, turning genes on or off, which can also impact our health.

Epigenetic changes occur throughout our lives due to different environmental factors such as stress, exercise, diet, alcohol, and drugs.

For instance, chronic stress can impact our genes via epigenetic changes that in turn can increase the rate of mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety.

New technologies now allow researchers to collect a biological sample from a person (such as blood or saliva) and measure epigenetics to better understand how our genes respond to different environments.

Measuring epigenetics at different times allows us to gain insight into which genes are altered because of a particular environment.

Read more: Extreme stress in childhood is toxic to your DNA

My study investigated both positive and negative factors that drive a persons response to stress and how this changes the epigenetic profiles of genes.

Certain groups of people are more likely to face stress as a part of their routine work, such as emergency responders, medical workers and police officers.

So, my research team and I recruited 40 Australian first year paramedical students at two points in time before and after exposure to a potentially stressful event. The students provided saliva samples for DNA and filled out questionnaires detailing their lifestyle and health at both points in time.

We investigated epigenetic changes before and after exposure to stress, to better understand:

We found stress influenced epigenetics and this in turn led to increased rates of distress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms among participants.

However, students who reported high levels of perceived social support showed lesser levels of stress-related health outcomes.

Students with a strong sense of belonging to a group, organisation, or community dealt much better with stress and had reduced negative health outcomes following exposure to stress.

Both these groups of students showed fewer epigenetic changes in genes that were altered as a result of stress.

The COVID pandemic has created heavy psychological and emotional burdens for people due to uncertainty, altered routines and financial pressures.

In Australia, the rates of anxiety, depression and suicide have soared since the start of the pandemic. One in five Australians have reported high levels of psychological distress.

The pandemic has also made us more isolated, and our relationships more remote, having a profound impact on social connections and belonging.

My study highlights how family and community support, and a sense of belonging, influence our genes and act as a protective factor against the effects of stress.

In such unprecedented and stressful times, its vital we build and maintain strong social structures that contribute to good physical and mental well-being.

See the rest here:
Stress is a health hazard. But a supportive circle of friends can help undo the damaging effects on your DNA - The Conversation AU

New DNA evidence has given hope the 1980 murder of six-year-old Alicia OReilly may finally be solved. Video / Mike Scott

Police and scientists re-investigating the rape and murder of a young girl more than 40 years ago have made a dramatic DNA discovery which they hope will finally crack the baffling cold case.

Alicia O'Reilly, 6, was found dead in her bed in the Auckland suburb of Avondale in August 1980, while her sister Juliet, 8, slept just metres away in the same room.

The horrendous crime shocked the country and hundreds of suspects were questioned in the homicide investigation, with every home and business in the neighbouring suburbs visited by police officers.

Alicia's killer was never found.

The startling new DNA discovery has ruled out the original prime suspect but reinvigorated the investigation 41 years later.

Police are confident they'll now be able to finally solve the case and are now screening hundreds of other potential suspects in search of a DNA match.

While forensic science was rudimentary in the 1980s, and the idea of matching DNA samples was akin to science fiction, detectives working on the case decades later believed that important evidence - hair and semen left by the killer - had been inexplicably destroyed during the original investigation.

Yet in a stunning twist last year, some of the crucial swabs were discovered in an unmarked envelope in the bottom of a cardboard box in police archives.

More samples were unearthed in storage rooms of the Auckland DHB pathology department; glass slides preserving samples from the post-mortem examination of Alicia in August 1980.

The long-lost evidence was tested by scientists at ESR, the Crown research institute, who were able to extract a full DNA profile for analysis.

15 Nov, 2021 03:36 AMQuick Read

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"That was a high-five moment for us, as a team," said Detective Senior Sergeant Ngahiraka Latimer, the officer-in-charge of the investigation.

However, no DNA match has been found. This is despite the genetic code being compared to hundreds of thousands of profiles, collected from criminals or crime scenes, held in databanks in New Zealand and Australia.

DNA has been routinely collected from serious criminals since the mid-1990s. So the lack of a hit suggests that either Alicia's killer did not commit another offence, which police consider to be unlikely given the sexual nature of her death, or died before his DNA could be collected.

Another possibility is he no longer lives in New Zealand or Australia.

Despite not having immediate success with a DNA match, detectives working on the case believe they are closer than ever to identifying Alicia's killer.

This is because, prior to the discovery of the DNA profile, any person nominated as a suspect could only be eliminated from the inquiry by old-fashioned detective work to confirm their whereabouts on the night Alicia was killed.

In the 1980s, there were no digital footprints - smartphone GPS, credit card or Eftpos transactions, social media posts and security cameras - to track someone's movements.

Someone's alibi often relied solely on the word of a family member, friend or colleague and the memory of well-intentioned witnesses can be notoriously mistaken within a few days, let alone decades.

Now armed with the killer's DNA profile, a suspect can be ruled out - or the culprit identified at last - with nothing more than swabbing the inside of someone's mouth.

The police and ESR are working their way through a list of 800 suspects, with more than 140 "persons of interest" ruled out so far after giving voluntary DNA samples.

One of those eliminated was the prime suspect favoured by the original inquiry team, a 23-year-old man who lived near Alicia's home on Canal Rd. He had suffered permanent brain damage in an accident and as a result, had the mental age of an 8-year-boy.

When questioned by police in the 1980s, the young man denied any involvement but described a vivid dream in which he saw a small boy enter the house, then kill and rape Alicia.

For more than 40 years, his family carried the weight that he might have been involved in her death.

DSS Latimer says the DNA profile means the suspect has been conclusively ruled out, in news the police shared with the family in an emotional meeting.

She appealed for anyone with any information to contact the police.

"People might have thought at the time that the police had the offender, so they didn't come forward, but we don't have any suspects in mind," said Latimer.

"So we really need the public's help to share any information, however small it may be, it can still be relevant to us. The smallest piece of information can lead to the biggest breakthrough and we really want to solve this for Alicia's parents, Nancye and Barry."

Nancye O'Reilly, 68, told the Herald she was shocked when the police told her that the crime scene evidence believed to be destroyed was, in fact, discovered in storage.

Shock turned to elation, said Nancye, before she tried to keep her expectations in check."That's what I've had to do over the years. Not get too elated, or too upset about things," said Nancye, who now lives in Whakatane.

"But getting a full DNA profile is a major breakthrough."

While she questioned how such samples could be listed as destroyed in police records, then found decades later, Nancye believed there was a silver lining in the evidence being lost for so long.

If the samples had been tested for DNA back in the early 2000s when the science was in its infancy, Nancye says a full profile may not have been possible for ESR to obtain, or the evidence destroyed in the process.

"My philosophy in life is what will be, will be. And this wasn't meant to happen until now. You have to look at the positive side of it."

While excited by the possibility of finally learning who killed her daughter, Nancye says the discovery of the DNA profile has also "thrown her backwards".

"It's a very strange, surreal feeling of having one foot in 1980 and one foot in 2021 ... I'm waiting, waiting, waiting," says Nancye.

"Does it bring back the pain? Yes, it does. Does it bring back hope? Yes, it does."

If the police do find Alicia's killer more than 40 years on, Nancye says her need for revenge is now gone.

She's gone through the anger stage of the grieving process, and has forgiven the man who killed her daughter. For her own sake, not his.

She doesn't want a criminal trial, just a name to put to the "faceless monster" who has given her so many sleepless nights.

"When I was young, I was able to curb my emotions. Now I'm nearing 70, I find it very very hard. You just think, how many years have I got left? Can we please have an answer before I pass?"

A veteran detective on the case since the first day of the investigation has never given up trying.

As a rookie in the CIB, Stu Allsopp-Smith was on his hands and knees scouring the long grass outside the O'Reilly home for evidence in August 1980.

His police career progressed through working on countless murders and drug investigations, to the rank of detective inspector, although the disturbing death of Alicia O'Reilly remained burned into his mind.

His persistence behind the scenes led to the discovery of the killer's hair samples in 2019, thought to have been consumed by the blood-type testing process in Australia back in 1980.

In fact, not all the hairs had been tested, and unbeknown to the police, the spare samples had been returned to the ESR.

At Allsopp-Smith's urging, staff at the ESR searched its archives and found the long-lost hairs.

ESR scientists were unable to obtain a DNA profile from the hairs, but the discovery was enough to convince the police hierarchy to commit significant resources to solve the cold case.

A new team of detectives, led by DSS Latimer, was established to re-investigate the murder with a fresh set of eyes.

The first task was to rifle through the investigation file, 16 cardboard boxes, and manually scan thousands of pages of documents into a digital format which is easier to search.

Latimer grabbed the first box. At the bottom was an unmarked brown A5-sized envelope, which when Latimer opened, had two swabs inside plastic tubes marked "Alicia O'Reilly".

"That was another high-five moment," says Latimer.

The swabs were sent to the ESR laboratory in Mt Albert where scientists were able to extract a partial DNA profile. The genetic code was put through New Zealand's DNA databanks, both for convicted offenders and DNA found at crime scenes, but without a match.

The swabs had been recorded as "destroyed" in the police evidence logbook, a surprising decision which had been confirmed verbally by the officer-in-charge of the case in the 1980s.

This prompted another question - what else still exists?

While Allsopp-Smith had previously asked the pathology department at Auckland District Health Board to search their archives, without success, Latimer repeated the request.

This time, the pathologists found something. Extra swab samples had been taken during Alicia's post-mortem examination, which had been wiped onto a glass slide to transfer material, which was preserved under a glass coverslip.

ESR scientists soaked the slides, which had been fixed together, in a corrosive solution for four days to gently prise off the coverslip. This time, a full DNA profile was extracted. Again, there was no hit on the DNA database.

But ESR was also able to perform another DNA test to analyse the Y chromosome, which is passed down through the male side of the family.

If a nominated suspect is dead, or perhaps refuses to give a voluntary DNA sample, the police can approach male relatives for a reference sample to compare to the killer's profile. This could eliminate the suspect from the inquiry, or confirm a match for the police to investigate further.

Anna Lemalu is one of the forensic scientists at ESR who analysed the DNA profile of Alicia O'Reilly's killer. She then compared the results to more than 200,000 profiles held on the New Zealand databanks, as well as in excess of 100 voluntary samples.

Working on a cold case more than 40 years old was "out of the ordinary", said Lemalu, especially when ESR did not know how the samples were stored over that time.

However, she said DNA can last a "very long time" in the right environment and in this case ESR went beyond the standard tests, in order to obtain the full profile.

"This was great lab work, I'm very confident in the quality of the result," said Lemalu, despite the age of the sample.

If a suspect's DNA did match the profile of Alicia's murderer, Lemalu said that it is possible that the likelihood of finding the DNA left at the crime scene could be more than 100,000 million times greater if it had come from the suspect, rather than from another person selected at random from the general New Zealand population.

While the DNA profile has yet to hit a match, Lemalu said the police investigation now has the "best possible" result to compare to those of potential suspects. And, hopefully, solve a terrible tragedy.

"It's why we do what we do," said Lemalu. "We would love to be able to provide that information and help the police in their investigation."

The same thought drives Latimer, as it did for the now-retired Stu Allsopp-Smith before her.

"The thing that struck me most is that Alicia was home that evening, asleep in her bed. Other people were in the house, her sister Juliet was asleep in the bed next to her. Someone has entered that house and murdered and raped her," said Latimer.

"I can't even imagine, actually, what Alicia's parents went through ... they're amazing people, and I'm hopeful we can provide some resolution."

Anyone with information for the police can call 105 and quote either Operation Sturbridge or the case file number 800816/3613.

See more here:
DNA breakthrough: New hope in 1980 murder of 6-year-old Alicia O'Reilly - New Zealand Herald

Image credit: Brian Gage.

The American Scientific Affiliation is an association of Christian scientists who are not on the whole supportive of scientific arguments for intelligent design. Physicist Randy Isaac, the ASAs executive director emeritus, wrote acritical reviewfor the ASAs journal of our recent bookThe Mystery of Lifes Origin: The Continuing Controversy, and he conducted a quite interestingonline discussion on the subject. He spotlighted Walter Bradley (co-author of the original book,The Mystery of Lifes Origin) in the conversation, as well as philosopher of science Stephen Meyer and physicist Brian Miller who both contributed chapters to the substantially updated edition, to which I wrote the introduction.

I found Dr. Isaacs criticism to be idiosyncratic. His central contention turns upon the question of whether the information stored in DNA is abstract in nature.

The information is not encoded in an abstract code but in a code embodied in a biomolecular system. It is indeed a true code, but it can function only in its physical embodiment and not in a symbolic form. As humans, we represent and model this information symbolically, but its specificity can be determined only in nature in its physical form. No intelligence is required.

Its not abstract, he says, because the arbitrary code only functions if the organism survives and can reproduce. The origin of life therefore does not give scientific evidence of design, which would only be afforded if the code were abstract. While affirming creation and the existence of an intelligent designer, Isaac concludes that Origin-of-life research offers no compelling apologetic either for or against a Creator.

This is odd because as Dr. Meyer answers, other abstract codes such as the English language can have very real survival functions. For example, if you cry out Fire! in a burning building, and because of that people in the building are able to make their way out in an orderly manner and thereby survive, this does not undercut the obvious fact that the word fire is an instance of abstract linguistic coding. Nothing about the four letters f, i, r, and e has any physical connection at all with a state of combustion.

The observation about DNA is not peculiar to ID proponents, says Meyer. Instead, it

goes back to the sequence hypothesis of [Francis] Crick in 1957, 1958 where he realized that the nucleotide bases in DNA are functioning just like alphabetic characters in a written language or digital characters in a section of machine code, which is to say that they are not conveying information in virtue of their physical properties or their chemical properties but rather theyre conveying information in virtue of their precise arrangement in accord with an abstract symbol convention.

This seems pretty clear. In any event, it was gracious of Dr. Isaac to invite Meyer, Miller, and Bradley on to answer his critique. There is no little dramatic tension, in fact, as the conversation starts out very genially but becomes politely contentious about 43 minutes in. Its good to see important ideas tested by thoughtful critics. The exchange is worth watching in full.

Read more:
Meyer, Isaac: Is Information in DNA Abstract? - Discovery Institute

LENNON, MI -- DNA evidence placed the man who has been charged in the 1997 death of 88-year-old Mary Prieur at the scene of the crime, according to Genesee County law enforcement officials.

Michael Bur, 41, of Lennon has been charged with single counts of felony murder, first-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping in the death of Prieur.

Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson announced the charges Thursday, Nov. 11.

At a Wednesday, Nov. 17 news conference, he offered some additional details on the case.

He said testing of biological material led to Burs arrest.

Related: Suspect arrested in 1997 cold case murder of 88-year-old Lennon woman

Prieurs body was found around 2 p.m. Feb. 27, 1997, in the area of Lennon Road and M-13.

Her brother-in-law called police around noon that day after finding the door to Prieurs residence ajar and the dog inside, but no signs of Prieur, according to Flint Journal records.

Michigan State Police canine teams taking part in training in the area responded to the scene. A trooper and K-9 officer spotted her body, wrapped in a blanket, roughly two hours after her disappearance was first reported.

An autopsy revealed Prieur had been suffocated and beaten in the head.

Over the years, billboards have gone up and door hangers placed on homes in the community, as well as police finding DNA that confirmed Prieur was sexually assaulted prior to her death.

One billboard featuring a photo of Prieur read Do you know who killed me!

Signs didnt solve this, but science solved this, Swanson said Wednesday.

Swanson was assigned Prieurs case in 2002 when he was a captain at the sheriffs office.

Investigators collected and stored biological material at the time of Prieurs death, Swanson said. Over the years technology advanced and eventually was able to match that material with Burs DNA and place him at the scene of the crime.

Biological material collected is a 1 in 1.9 octillion match for Bur, Swanson said.

Thats 26 zeros for that guy, Swanson said, pointing at a mugshot of Bur.

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said it is important to remember a suspect is innocent until proven guilty in the court of law.

I think its a proper statement for me to tell you that we have that DNA evidence, Leyton said. We have evidence that I am convinced comes from the victim, comes from the accused, match up and, in fact, we will be able to present that in a courtroom.

The prosecutor noted foundational evidence is also needed to prove the evidence was taken and tested appropriately.

I believe we have probable cause and beyond a reasonable doubt that we can get there, he said.

Drag marks from the home down to the creek where the victim was found can also be used as evidence, Leyton said. A witness gave a statement a few years ago as well and is still available to testify today.

That is the evidence that was presented to me that I feel, within the bounds of ethics, that I can share with you today that led me to write my name on this warrant, charging this man with these heinous crimes. Well do the rest of our talking in court.

Ultimately, officials want closure for Prieurs family, Leyton said.

Swanson and Leyton thanked Michigan State Police Crime Lab investigators.

These folks are key players in the criminal justice system, Leyton said.

Technological advances helped get investigators to the point where charges could be filed in this case, MSP Lt. Kimberly Vetter said.

Vetter thanked the multiple departments involved in the investigation.

Co-operations between departments is critical to the success of all of us, she said.

Prieur was known as a staple in the Lennon community who was often seen walking her dog Pookie while on the way to grab some food at a local bar, according to prior reporting.

She was a regular attendee at multiple churches including St. Marys in Swartz Creek and St. Robert in Flushing.

Related: Murder of 88-year-old Lennon woman remains unsolved 21 years later

Community members rallied after Prieurs murder, putting together a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the responsible person or persons.

The money was eventually returned to those who donated after no arrest took place within a few months time.

A native of Czechoslovakia, Prieur came to the United States when she was eight years old, according to Journal records.

Prieur opened the candy business Sweet Maries after adding onto the house at Chippewa and Louisa streets in Flint she shared with her husband James.

James Prieur told The Flint Journal for a March 1997 story that his wife learned to make candy in Owosso, where she was a student at St. Pauls until dropping out in eighth grade to help put her sister and brother through school.

She was just the sweetest, kindest lady, said Gloria Schram, Prieurs neighbor, in a February 2012 Flint Journal story.

Bur is being held in the Genesee County Jail without bond. He is scheduled to appear Nov. 24 for a probable cause conference Nov. 24 in front of Genesee District Court Judge William H. Crawford.

Read more on MLive:

Jury finds Michigan man guilty of murder in overdose death of wife after cereal poisoned with heroin

Man killed in afternoon stabbing in Flint

Flint police helicopter has patrolled four times since October launch

When will I feel safe enough to go to a doctors office? Sexual assault victims speak out at sentencing of former chiropractor

Drug-free breast milk led to ruling Michigan womans death a homicide, medical examiner says

Suspect arrested in 1997 cold case murder of 88-year-old Lennon woman

See the article here:
Science solved this. Sheriff says DNA led to arrest in 88-year-old Lennon womans cold case murder - mlive.com

What to Know

Authorities used DNA to finally identify the body of a 1991 homicide victim in New Jersey known by her tattoo as Tiger Lady. However, how she died and her killer remain unknown.

Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer on Friday announced the victim is Wendy Louise Baker of Coatesville, Pennsylvania.

She was 16 years old when her body was found off Interstate 80 in Knowlton Township near the Pennsylvania border on Oct. 26, 1991. Her death was ruled a homicide, but investigators were never able to determine how she died. There were no gunshot wounds or significant trauma.

She became known as the Tiger Lady because of a tiger tattoo on her left calf.

The prosecutor says DNA extracted from her bones in 2020 helped authorities update her profile and to explore geneological databases. That led police in July 2021 to one of her uncles in Pennsylvania, who identified his missing niece.

Her mother died in 1999 and her father died in 2015. The prosecutor said she was raised by her stepmother until she was 15 years old.

DNA obtained from the Pennsylvania State Police confirmed Bruce Baker was her father.

Pfeiffer has made it a priority to use DNA technology to help solve cold case homicides since he took office last year.

See the rest here:
How Authorities Managed to ID Tiger Lady' Found in NJ as Pa. Teen After 30 Years - NBC New York

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Here's a roundup of top stories from the world of politics, business, sports, and entertainment, which grabbed the spotlight and trended the most on various social media platforms on November 19 (Friday).

Read more from the original source:
DNA: Top News of the Day | November 19, 2021 - DNA India

After posting strong second and third quarters, Bloomingdales, like its sister division Macys, is anticipating the same for the fourth quarter.

We had a great third quarter. We had a great second quarter and we plan on having a good fourth quarter, said Tony Spring, chairman and chief executive officer of Bloomingdales, in an interview Thursday following the unveiling of the retailers holiday windows and in-store performances by Bebe Rexha, the Broadway Sinfonietta, and the Broadway Inspirational Voices Choir.

Discussing the character of holiday shopping, past and present, Spring said, If 2019 was all in person and 2020 was remote, 2021 is a hybrid and that may be the best of both worldsPeople feel its time to get out a little bit. More people feel like they want to shop in stores.

I wouldnt begin to quote traffic. We dont have enough traffic counters in stores to give an accurate picture, but the stores are certainly busier week-over-week. And you are beginning to see a bit of tourism. Its been happening since the beginning of the month, both domestic and international, since the federal government said beginning Nov. 8 it was OK for international travelers to come into the U.S. provided they were vaccinated, Spring added.

One thing we learned during the pandemic is that life is short. Why not enjoy it? Thats why you are seeing this conspicuous consumption right now, Spring said. Looking at people entering our stores, you see the happiness on their faces. People feel this is a perfect time to shop, particularly after theyve opened their closets and in many cases havent much liked whats there, Spring said.

To a greater extent, they are willing to pay full price. There isnt as much sale or clearance, Spring said. The benefit, if you want to call it that, of the pandemic has been leaner inventories and I dont think thats something we are going to back away from. Customers appetite for things is at regular price and she is happy about that. The increased consumer demand, the willingness to buy at full price and leaner inventories, all that is the power of the current environment, said Spring.

I think its always better to chase [merchandise] than to load up. We dont want to have excess. We are in the business at the upper end of creating a little bit of scarcity around special product. That doesnt mean not having enough for the customer or not having options.

Spring suggested that this season, perhaps more so than recent past ones, could also see greater self-purchasing. You know the best holiday seasons are always buy one for you, two for me. So hopefully people are buying for themselves and buying for others. Its going to be a good holiday season.

Last quarter, Bloomingdales comparable sales were up 38.5 percent compared to the third quarter of 2020, and up 11.2 percent compared to the third quarter of 2019.Results were driven by strong sales of luxury handbags, fine jewelry, home, mens shoes and contemporary apparel.

There was an outperformance in Q3 against 2019 largely driven by growth in bloomingdales.com, though Spring also called out activations in stores to encourage in-person shopping. There are 12 different activations here in the flagship and its also done selectively around the country, at Bloomingdales 32 other full-line stores.

The biggest experience that will be at 59th Street over the course of the fourth quarter that you will see is a fragrance fair. It will be in all of our stores. We will bring in an engraver to make the bottles personal, or a florist who helps you find the perfect note for the person you love.

Just for the holiday season, the flagship has set up a Klarna-sponsored custom wrap station and Santaland for photos with Santa; celebrity and designer holiday table settings being auctioned to support Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS; Ralph Laurens Polo shop has been transformed into an Italian ski chalet serving hot chocolate, and theres a Coravin pop-up wine bar the first in the U.S. demonstrating wine and Champagne preservation systems. Online, Bloomingdales has a series of virtual events on holiday entertaining and holiday dressing.

Being more experiential for the holidays requires more manpower. We are certainly hiring, said Spring. We usually hire through the beginning of December, and then we will cut off holiday hiring and resume full-time hiring. Its a competitive labor market.

Bloomingdales 59th Streets six holiday windows along Lexington Avenue are whimsical, imaginative, colorful and in sync with the stores Give Happy holiday campaign. Theres a nostalgic nod with modern twists in each, like the T-Rex dinosaur wearing headphones, riding a skateboard and draped in mini-dinosaur ornaments like a Christmas tree. Or the window thats a take on a music box, with a spinning ballerina emerging from a seashell draped in sparkle and shine and activated by a lock and key. A third window is a little more down to earth, celebrating all things crochet on the walls and floor and on mannequins snuggled together in a crochet loveseat.

Of a more permanent basis, Were about to open a new mens floor in December having had success on the womens shoe floor. We know mens shoes needs to be a destination. It was always just a component of our mens sportswear offering and we want to have a destination just for mens footwear. It celebrates big brands and showcases Bloomingdales curation.

It reflects a stepped-up emphasis on growing the shoe business. Bloomingdales recently launched shoe shops for Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Valentino. Coming up in early 2022 are Versace shops for ready-to-wear, shoes and handbags.

Over the last couple of years, you see more designer content. We carry more designer brands today than we have in the past. But we are best when we go from offering the best in opening prices to the best in the designer industry, said Spring.

Bloomingdales assortment will broaden when Macys Inc. launches a marketplace, which is expected to happen in the second half of 2020 for the Macys and Bloomingdales divisions, as reported. Asked what new categories Bloomingdales could get into, Spring replied. It will be a curated marketplace. Details to follow.

Springs message is that Bloomingdales is on a roll not only because of the consumer mind-set. Its in large part due to Bloomingdales doing what its always done offer a fun, energetic environment for shopping; breadth and flexibility in assortment; playing on the power of suggestion, i.e. providing gift lists and stylists with shopping ideas, and having a cross-generational appeal.

Asked in what categories Bloomingdales put more of its holiday open-to-buy, Spring responded, The weight is in the variety. One of the advantages of a retailer like Bloomingdales is in the flexibility of our assortment, so thats both from home to fragrance to cashmere to Ugg and to the price points, be it designer diamonds, Louis Vuitton and Gucci, to Aqua, Bloomingdales private brand and opening price contemporary collection. As a destination, Bloomingdales has become more of a compelling marketplace. You can buy for more people here, for the love of your life, for your daughters teacher, your neighbor, your cousin, your aunt. There are just lots of fun items. The marketing and merchandise team did a great job in terms of creating curated ideas and gift lists for our customers, whether it was themed for people who just got married or still havent got married or for the person who has everything.

He believes theres an energy at Bloomingdales, which is lacking in other retailers. Im not saying we are Disney World. But I think there is a curation of merchandise, a curation of eventing, a curation of visual animation. I cant tell you the number of people who tell me Bloomingdales is more fun, that there is more energy in the store. Where does energy come from? Its the people, the music, the visual animation. You see a diversity of customers. You see young people. Mature people. Different ethnicities. The brand is a draw for lots of customers.

He hopes Bloomingdales nascent specialty concept, Bloomies, has a draw with its own type of merchandising and curation. The first and only Bloomies, a 22,000-square-foot site in the Mosaic District lifestyle center in Fairfax, Va., opened at the end of last August. It sells a highly curated assortment of contemporary and luxury brands and gifts for the home. Its a chance to introduce ourselves to the community with a new shopping option, said Spring.

Asked if other Bloomies are planned, he answered, It did get off to a good start. We will take it one day at a time. You dont get ahead of yourself. Its about finding the right locations.

More here:
Tony Spring on Bloomingdale's DNA and the Holiday Outlook - WWD

[Ed. note: On Thursday, Ringer Films will debut the second documentary in its Music Box series on HBO: Jagged, which looks at Alanis Morissettes career and rise to fame in the mid-90s.]

On Friday, the most lacerating and lavishly acclaimed singer-songwriter of her generation released a bonkers 10-minute version of her best and most lacerating song. And you were tossing me the car keys / Fuck the patriarchy keychain on the ground, sings Taylor Swift, with her patented, elegant wistfulness that can cut through steel, on All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylors Version), a supersized reimagining of the deep-cut highlight of her immaculate 2012 album Red. Those are the first lines that deviate from the original, and the thrill of Swift dropping yet another f-bomb is undeniable, but the true genius of this song in any form is subtler, and sadder, and can be roughly summarized thus: You seem very well. Things look peaceful. Im not quite as well. I thought you should know.

All Too Well, at any length, is a delicate and devastating post-breakup killshot nonpareil, and for dedicated Taylorologists, it is the richest text imaginable. The affable-doofus actor widely assumed to have inspired the song, who no doubt had a lovely weekend. The dazzling accumulation of lyrical detail: the scarf, the refrigerator light, the performatively sipped coffee, the autumn leaves falling like pieces into place. The delightful patriarchy-fucking scheme (Red is the second album Swifts rerecorded so shell own the masters) at this projects core. (Also, shes currently selling a a F*ck the Patriarchy keychain for $20; living well is the best revenge, but monetizing your exs disingenuousness is a close second.) If youre vain enough, this song can be about anyone, anything. Its heartbreaking, its furious, its uproariously mean. But these are the new lines Im stuck on now:

And I was thinking on the drive downAny time nowHes gonna say its loveYou never called it what it wasTill we were dead and gone and buried

You never called it what it was. The tabloid prurience and gossamer savagery of All Too Well are crucial, but what makes the song an all-timer is an honesty so relentless it feels like empathyif not toward him, now, then at least toward them, then. Call it what it was. Thats it. Thats all she wanted from him. And if Swift, now, has to drag the guy on Saturday Night Live for 10 minutes straight to call it what it was back then, thats what shell do, not so much to make him feel worse as to make herself feel better.

Swift learned that lesson, in part, from Alanis Morissette, who is for sure the most lacerating singer-songwriter of her own generation and could always use more lavish acclaim. I was not writing to punish, Morissette says deep into Alison Klaymans new documentary Jagged, which premieres Thursday on HBO as part of Ringer Films Music Box series. I was writing to express and get it out of my body because I didnt want to get sick.

Morissette is talking, of course, about her 1995 thunderbolt breakthrough album, Jagged Little Pill, which sold more than 15 million copies in the United States alone and reigns as the second-best-selling solo album by a female artist in world history (behind Shania Twains Come on Over). She is talking, more specifically, about that song, You Oughta Know, the lewd, profane, electrifying, mystery-celeb-eviscerating nuclear bomb that a quarter century later remains as radiantly angry, as viciously detailed, and above all else as extremely funny as it did the first time you heard it. When I launched a podcast about 90s songs in late 2020, I couldnt think of a better song to start with. I must have heard You Oughta Know 3,000 times in my life at least, but I still laughed out loud at the line but youre still alive when I listened to it again yesterday. The Jagged documentary (which Morissette herself has criticized) is careful to celebrate the cleansing fury of You Oughta Know and a handful of other more combative moments on Jagged Little Pillvarious music-biz shitheads are righteously clowned on Right Through Youbut the movie also wants to reject the long-standing reduction of Morissette to a mere Angry White Female, as her first Rolling Stone cover put it.

Theres a kindnessits like this velvet kindness, is how Morissette describes her circa-1995 self as the movie closes. No matter how pissed off she is. Its like, theres mercy in it. Theres empathy in it. Theres hope even when the song is hopeless. Theres a little drag of everythings gonna be OK. No matter how horrible it gets.

It is a profound compliment to You Oughta Know, truly, if it still crosses your mind whenever you hear another colossal Fuck Youtype pop song. Keliss Caught Out There. Pinks So What. Kelly Clarksons Since U Been Gone. Beyoncs Dont Hurt Yourself. Lily Allens Fuck You. Hell, CeeLos Fuck You. Hell, Rina Sawayamas STFU! Lucy Dacuss Night Shift or Brando. And of course, Taylor Swifts mighty All Too Well. (And Dear John. And Better Than Revenge. And Picture to Burn. And Mean. She calls it what it is a lot.) But dont forget that all of those songs are also hilarious, and arguably the best of them carry trace amounts of empathy, of grudging affection, of velvet kindness. Bet you rue the day you kissed a writer in the dark, seethes Lorde on her 2017 album Melodrama, which cemented her as another master of the form. But what the best Fuck You songs supply, in addition to all that infectious seethe-along rage, is just a tiny sliver of light.

And all I really want is some patience, sings Alanis Morisette on the first chorus of Jagged Little Pills first song. A way to calm the angry voice. It is easy to miss that this record is primarily the work of a mistreated but phenomenally talented singer-songwriterrelocated to L.A. and teamed up with producer/co-writer Glen Ballard after a tumultuous and scarring run as an Ottawa-born teen pop starcalming herself down. The angrier she sounds, the more powerful and centered she becomes. The album touches on what she is not (Perfect), and what she hopes to be (Forgiven), and what shell definitely never be (Not the Doctor). But Jagged Little Pills best moments are anthemic and empowering while deftly avoiding the zillions of clichs the word empowering implies, even then and especially now. The first verse of Hand in My Pocket makes Morissette sound immortal by reveling in her vulnerability and, by extension, yours:

Im broke, but Im happyIm poor, but Im kindIm short, but Im healthy, yeahIm high, but Im groundedIm sane, but Im overwhelmedIm lost, but Im hopeful, baby

Its the line Im sane but Im overwhelmed that jumped out at me today, the 2,000th time Ive heard this one. (My previous listen, it was Im short but Im healthy.) Jagged the movie underscores what Jagged Little Pill the album is happy to remind you of, anyplace, anytime: The greatness of You Oughta Know notwithstandingand I hate to bug you in the middle of dinner is one of the funniest line deliveries in pop historyit took all 12 tracks, working in glorious spiritual unison, to make this record the colossus it became. (Even in the mid-90s, one song wasnt gonna sell 10-million-plus copies of an album no matter how great it was.) So: Head Over Feet for the lovers, the legitimately heartening You Learn if youre in crisis, and the tender waltz Mary Jane if youre hoping more killer lines will suddenly jump out at you (I hear youre losing weight again, Mary Jane / Do you ever wonder who youre losing it for?). It is certainly remarkable that Ironic, dismissed at the time as a lesser single with some linguistic issues, is now the albums most-played song on Spotify: That Its like rain on your wedding day is a broad, melodramatic image doesnt keep it from being a great one.

It is inevitableand an eternal testament to Morissette herselfthat youll hear her, at random, in other songs by other people until the sun finally swallows us all. (The best Alanis Morissette album released in the past five years, with much respect to 2020s Such Pretty Forks in the Road, is the Chicks Gaslighter. Start with Tights on My Boat if youre impatient.) And so it was for me, 48 hours ago, blown away by a superior (and twice as long) version of what was already my favorite Taylor Swift song. By all means, revel in the surgical viciousness of All Too Well (10 Minute Version): The lines And I was never good at telling jokes, but the punch line goes / Ill get older, but your lovers stay my age certainly jump out at you. But the song, and the songwriter, and the Fuck You Song pantheon overall, is so much more than the Fuck You part. Never forget the kindness, or the velvet. Taylor learned that a long time ago, and long before that, Alanis taught us all.

More:
Alanis Morissette, All Too Well, and the DNA of the Eff-You Anthem - The Ringer