1 - Jacksonville Jaguars - Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson - At this point, the only way Lawrence wont go first is if the Jags somehow write the wrong name on the card.
2 - New York Jets - Justin Fields, QB, OSU - Zach Wilson vs Justin Field has become a hotter debate in recent times, with mocks seems to split 50/50 on which of the 2 will go before the other. This one will likely end up coming down to preference, but personally I prefer Field’s upside and athleticism. Still, it’ll probably end up being a close call overall.
3 - Carolina Panthers (via MIA via HOU - sends 1.08, 3.73, 2022 CAR 1st, 2022 CAR 2nd, for 1.03) - Zach Wilson, QB, BYU - This seems like a lot at first glance, but I’d bet on the Panthers being much improved next year with the return of a healthy McCaffery and Joe Brady/Matt Rhule having another year to establish their system. What that means is that if the Panthers can improve at QB, they could be a legitimate playoff contender. Teddy Bridgewater is not the answer, and IMO when you have someone as good as CMC, you need to give him a good QB. The Panthers don't want to end up like the Vikings, sticking a bunch of mediocre at best QBs next to their stud RB.
4 - Atlanta Falcons - Trey Lance, QB, NDSU - I know there’s a large portion of Falcons fans who really want to go anywhere but QB here, but how much longer can Matt Ryan play at a high level? With the 2022 QB class still full of question marks, grabbing your guy of the future right now would be a prudent move. Its instant gratification vs long term strategy. And with the success of raw QBs at the next level under proper development, Trey Lance looks like a solid bet. He’s got a great arm, and plays smart enough to only have a single interception in his college career. There’s a serious ceiling here, and he could absolutely benefit from learning from Matt Ryan for a year. Arthur Smith completely revitalized Tannehill as well, so maybe he could turn Lance into a stud.
5 - Cincinnati Bengals - Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon - Seems like it ends up working out for the Bengals, who really need to protect Joe Burrow. There’s been whispers that teams have Rashawn Slater over Sewell currently, but I partially chalk that up to prospect fatigue. IMO Sewell’s the best OT in the class, and although he’s got areas he can improve, his body of work is utterly dominant currently. If he can polish up his technique and stay healthy, he’ll be a godsend to the Bengals OL.
6 - Eagles - Ja’Marr Chase, WR, LSU - DeVonta Smith has been crazy this year, but it seems like people have forgotten Ja’Marr Chase was just as dominant last year too. Honestly, the Eagles really can't go wrong here with either WR, but IMO Chase is more of a sure thing to be dominant in the NFL, as minute of a difference as that is.
7 - Detroit Lions - DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama - After that insane performance against Ohio State, I don't think the Lions can pass up on Smith here, even as bad as their defense is. With their entire WR corps being possible FAs, they need to find replacements ASAP, especially if they cannot find a way to agree to a deal with Kenny Golladay. As for Smith well, he’s a beast. Plain and simple. Y’all saw what he did to Ohio State in just one half.
8 - Houston Texans (Via MIA via DET - Sends Deshaun Watson, 2022 HOU 3rd for 1.08, 2.50, 2022 MIA first, 2023 MIA first, Tua Tagovailoa, salary fillers) - Kwity Paye, EDGE, Michigan - The Dolphins send away Tua + a ton of picks for a shiny new franchise QB, and the Texans begin their rebuild. First up is addressing the defensive line. JJ Watt is very likely gone, Whitney Mercilus is done, and Jonathan Greenard has disappointed. They need someone who can make a serious impact, now. Kwity Paye has been one of the most dominant players in college football, with an insane pressure rate, and is a supposed athletic freak who runs a sub 6.8 3 cone at 6’4’’, 272, with some claiming it being as low as 6.37. No matter what the time ends up being, it's utterly insane for someone of his size, and he could likely play the same role that Watt does for the Texans.
9 - Denver Broncos - Micah Parsons, LB, Penn State - The Broncos do really need CB, but there’s a pretty big hole in the middle of the defense next to Alexander Johnson. Josey Jewell isnt a 3 down LB, and it's really hard to pass up on Parsons here, an elite LB who can be the tonesetter of the Broncos defense from day one. Pairing up Parsons and Johnson should give Denver two monsters in the middle of the defense.
10 - Dallas Cowboys - Caleb Farley, CB, Virginia Tech - Now that Dan Quinn’s the new DC, meaning that they’ll be running a ton of Cover 3. And with how much Quinn loves his physical/athletic CBs who can play both man and zone, Caleb Farley is the natural pick here IMO. He’s sticky as glue, with fluid hips and a size profile that NFL teams dream of, perfect for pattern-match that should be used a lot in Dallas next season. His zone coverage does need a little work, but the Cowboys will likely be doing mostly spot-drop zone, which is pretty simple to pick up, and outside of injury concerns, Farley should be a huge help for the Dallas defense.
11 - New York Giants - Jaycee Horn, CB, South Carolina - The Giants love their press man coverage, but were forced to run zone a lot last year due to how bad their cornerbacks were outside of James Bradberry. Jaycee Horn fits their preferred scheme, and also shores up that huge hole at CB2 that they have. No CB in the class is as good as disrupting WRs at the LOS as Horn is, and he’ll be a great addition to what was a surprisingly good defense last year.
12 - San Francisco 49ers - Patrick Surtain, CB, Alabama - The 49ers have 0 CBs under contract next year. They need building blocks now, especially with Robert Saleh now gone. Patrick Surtain fits into their zone heavy system perfectly. He’s got elite ball skills, is consistently disruptive, and can stick to WRs like glue. He’d be the perfect guy to replace Richard Sherman if the 49ers cant bring him back, and should be able to slot in at CB1 or CB2 immediately.
13 - LA Chargers - Rashawn Slater, OL, Northwestern - Slater’s a guy who's been getting a ton of hype in recent times, with some even putting him above Sewell. How much of that is real and how much of it is smoke? Hard to say at this point, but I do know that he’ll be an upgrade no matter where he slots in for the Chargers. Protecting Herbert should be there #1 priority right now, especially for the terrible LA OL. Slater should be a fantastic player for the Chargers from day 1.
14 - Miami Dolphins (Via Minnesota Vikings - sends 1.18, 3.82 for 1.14) - Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama - Miami goes ALL in here. With Watson now on the roster, their window is now, and they treat it with urgency, giving up some more draft capital to grab the last of the 3 main stud WRs in the class. Jaylen Waddle fits what Miami needs right now, a speed demon joystick who would be what Will Fuller was for Watson in Houston, a connection that was lethal even with Fuller being injured constantly. Watson to Waddle should be one of the deadliest partnerships in the league, turning the Miami offense into a high powered scoring machine.
15 - New England Patriots - Mac Jones, QB, Alabama - Mac Jones is a guy who’s worked his way from fringe QB prospect all the way up to R1 guy. I'm not sure if the NFL likes him as much as most people in the draft community do, but he’s a smart QB who was instrumental in leading the Crimson Tide to a National Championship. I’d say he grades out pretty well at all the important areas of being a QB, like his arm, going through progressions, that kind of thing. This only big flaw IMO is his ability to extend plays, but the Patriots have the OL to shore up that weakness. The main question here is how will Mac Jones play without any solid WRs? The Patriots receiving corps is barren, so that will be something that must be addressed soon.
16 - Arizona Cardinals - Wyatt Davis, OG, Ohio State - The Cardinals offensive line seems to consistently lose at the LOS, something that was a huge part in them not making the playoffs. With that in mind and all of the top 3 CBs long gone, they grab the mauling OG out of Ohio State, an absolute mauler who can hit hard to create space in the run game. He’s a great fit for the Cardinals run game, and should give them some of the nasty they’ve been lacking.
17 - Las Vegas Raiders - Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah, LB, Notre Dame - It's hard to say what the Raiders will go with, as Mayock has not been on the job that long, but this is a pick that I agree with Daniel Jeremiah on. The Raiders lack that dynamic linebacker who can move around and cover everything, and JOK should be able to line up all over. He’s perfect for an NFL that seems to value positionless players more, and especially for a Raiders defense that’s going to be stuck against Travis Kelce for the near future.
18 - Minnesota Vikings - Gregory Rousseau, DE/DT, Miami - When your sack leader is a guy you traded away half way through the season, there's a problem. That Vikings defense was inexcusably bad this year, even with the loss of Danielle Hunter, and basically cost their offense a shot at the playoffs. They need to add some juice to the pass rush ASAP. Gregory Rousseau would be perfect, a raw and crazy athletic player who can line up all over the defensive line to wreak havoc. Considering Minnesota turned one athletic freak into a stud, they should have confidence that they can make Rousseau great too, and he’d be a wonderful addition, especially considering the fact that the Vikings have moved around their edge rushers to exploit mismatches, most notably against the Saints.
19 - Washington Football Team - Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech - There doesn't seem to be a solid answer at QB available here for Washington, so they look to bolster up their trenches in order to replace the departed Trent Williams. Darrisaw has the size and length to be a fantastic NFL tackle, along with an extremely strong anchor and some great agility for his size. His technique needs to be cleaned up a little, but he could easily lock down the LT spot for Washington in the future.
20 - Chicago Bears - Rashod Bateman, WR, Minnesota - Allen Robinson is gone, leaving a huge hole at WR1 for Chicago. Seeing as there’s not really a great way to fix Chicago’s QB situation, they instead look to try and make the most of their closing window. Rashod Bateman should come in and be the WR1 for Chicago, a great route runner with sure hands who can snag a ball and some more yards after the catch. Hopefully Trubisky builds a much better connection with him than he did with Arob.
21 - Detroit Lions (Via IND - sends Matthew Stafford for 1.22, salary filler) - Zaven Collins, LB, Tulsa - The Lions defense really needs help at LB. Jarrad Davis is probably starting again, but Tavai really shouldnt be. Zaven Collins can step in and be the best LB in the Lions from day 1, an absolute freak athlete who can cover, can stop the run, and even has a pass rushing upside. He’s the perfect chess piece for the new Lions defense to build around, and should be an immediate impact player from day 1.
22 - Tennessee Titans - Daviyon Nixon, DT, Iowa - The Titans need pass rush in every capacity, and that includes from the defensive line. Jeffery Simmons is a monster, but he doesn't get much help. He’d pair up great with Daviyon Nixon, a freak athlete out of the B1G who excels most when he gets to pin his ears back and just attack the QB. His ability to cause issues down the middle should help alleviate the Titans pass rush issues somewhat.
23 - New York Jets (Via SEA) - Kyle Pitts, TE/WR, Florida - The Jets just need to add weapons to their team at this point. Their WR corps has little promise outside of maybe Mims, and their TE corps is equally barren. Pitts addresses both of those issues at once. Able to play all over the lineup, Pitts can work as both a huge WR and a TE, able to consistently beat coverages and get catches against defenses. He’ll be a great weapon for Fields to utilize, a truly dynamic threat who could be one of the best receivers on the Jets from day 1.
24 - Pittsburgh Steelers - Liam Eichenburg, OT, Notre Dame - A lot of the Steeler’s tackle depth, most notably starting LT Alejandro Villenueva, will be lost to FA, and Pittsburgh needs to address that ASAP. Liam Eichenburg isnt the most athletic OT with a crazy high ceiling, but he’s a solid technician who should be able to start from day 1, perfect for a contending team like the steelers.
25 - Jacksonville Jaguars (via LAR) - Samuel Cosmi, OT, Texas - The Jaguars need to protect their investment, especially with Cam Robinson a question mark to be back due to his poor play. Protecting a young QB should be the #1 priority after landing one, and Cosmi is a tantalizing prospect to add. He’s got plenty of athleticism and a frame that’s waiting to be filled out, a solid pass blocker who can deal with speed rushers really well. He’s a high ceiling prospect who could become a great LT and lock down Tlaw’s blind side for the future.
26 - Cleveland Browns - Jaelen Phillips, EDGE, Miami - Sometimes it just feels like the Browns defensive line is just Myles Garrett. That can't stand. The Browns need to give Garrett some help in the pass rush, and that's why they pick Jaelen Phillips. There’s a lot of injury concerns here, but if Phillips can stay healthy, he’s an absolute MONSTER in the pass rush, having notched 8 sacks in just 5 games this year. If he can stay on the field, he and Garrett should give opposing offensive lines some serious headaches.
27 - Baltimore Ravens - Alijah Vera-Tucker, iOL, USC - The Ravens need to bolster their offensive line more. After the loss of Marshall Yanda, the Ravens offensive line has taken a notable step back, and Ronnie Stanley’s injury certainly didn't help there. AVT’s easily BPA at this point, an interior beast who is a stone wall with excellent hand usage. He should be able to make the Ravens offensive line even better, and boost their already lethal run game to higher levels.
28 - New Orleans Saints - Kyle Trask, QB, Florida - Im sorry, I don't think Taysom Hill is an NFL level QB. Especially not for a title contender. Drew Brees is retired, and I doubt Winston will be back. That means QB is the most glaring hole in NO. Kyle Trask might never be Patrick Mahomes, but he’s a good solid player who can make accurate passes, adjusts to pressure well, and is willing to extend plays. With the Saints filled with weapons and talent, Trask should be a good enough game manager to help the Saints be contenders for the rest of their window.
29 - Green Bay Packers - Levi Onwuzurike, DT, Washington - Kenny Clark and Keke Kingsley are building blocks along the defensive line, but the Packers could afford to add some depth. Onwuzurike has been mocked in the first by DJ, and he tends to have his ear to most NFL team’s pulse. Onwuzuriki’s calling card is his length and athleticism, which combined with his explosiveness and motor results in him just running over people at times. He does need to improve his power and add more consistently, but the addition of Onwuzurike could make the Packers defensive line a force as good as the Steelers DL.
30 - Buffalo Bills - Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson - The Bills just need playmakers especially in the run game, and Etienne is one of the best pure playmakers in the class. He’s an explosive threat who must be addressed at all times, or else he could break free and gash the defensive for serious yardage. His acceleration and contact balance make him a problem to tackle, and with supposed 4.3 speed, defenders won't be able to catch him once he gets into open space. He’s no slouch in the pass game either, putting up solid production at Clemson and flashing the ability to run a few option routes. The Bills already have their Jim Kelly and Andre Reed in Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs. Time to add the Thurman Thomas of the trio, and turn Buffalo into an offense that can toe to toe with the Chiefs.
31 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Jalen Mayfield, OT, Michigan - Donovan Smith is very likely gone this year, meaning that Tampa would have a hole at one of the tackle spots opposite of Wirfs. No matter if they move Wirfs to LT or keep him at RT, Mayfield would be a great get opposite of him. Mayfield’s a dependable run blocker who has good feet, and although he's not finished just yet, if Tampa can utilize his athletic gifts to the fullest, he’d be a great compliment to their current franchise OT.
32 - Kansas City Chiefs - Joe Tryon, EDGE, Washington - Joe Tryon’s another player who is apparently well regarded according to DJ. He’s shown flashes of being a great pass rusher, but he’s really still a WIP in most areas, especially as a run defender. However, he does fit the mold of what the Chiefs want in their pass rushers, standing at 6’5 262. Kansas City does need the help on the EDGE, and they can afford to take a gamble here, considering the Mahomes led offense should be able to easily cover up any defensive deficiencies for the next few years.

NEW INFO 5 Results from share redemption are posted. Less than .2% redeemed. Very bullish as investors are showing extreme confidence in the future of PLBY.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/playboy-mountain-crest-acquisition-corp-120000721.html
NEW INFO 4 Definitive Agreement to purchase 100% of Lovers brand stores announced 2/1.
https://www.streetinsider.com/Corporate+News/Playboy+%28MCAC%29+Confirms+Deal+to+Acquire+Lovers/17892359.html
NEW INFO 3 I bought more on the dip today. 5081 total. Price rose AH to $12.38 (2.15%)
NEW INFO 2 Here is the full webinar.
https://icrinc.zoom.us/rec/play/9GWKdmOYumjWfZuufW3QXpe_FW_g--qeNbg6PnTjTMbnNTgLmCbWjeRFpQga1iPc-elpGap8dnDv8Zww.yD7DjUwuPmapeEdP?continueMode=true&tk=lEYc4F_FkKlgsmCIs6w0gtGHT2kbgVGbUju3cIRBSjk.DQIAAAAV8NK49xZWdldRM2xNSFNQcTBmcE00UzM3bXh3AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA&uuid=WN_GKWqbHkeSyuWetJmLFkj4g&_x_zm_rtaid=kR45-uuqRE-L65AxLjpbQw.1611967079119.2c054e3d3f8d8e63339273d9175939ed&_x_zm_rhtaid=866
NEW INFO 1 Live merger webinar with PLBY and MCAC on Friday January 29, 2021 at 12:00 NOON EST link below
https://mcacquisition.com/investor-relations/press-release-details/2021/Playboy-Enterprises-Inc.-and-Mountain-Crest-Acquisition-Corp-Participate-in-SPACInsider-ICR-Webinar-on-January-29th-at-12pm-ET/default.aspx
Playboy going public: Porn, Gambling, and Cannabis
!!!WARNING READING AHEAD!!! TL;DR at the end. It will take some time to sort through all the links and read/watch everything, but you should.
In the next couple weeks, Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp is taking Playboy public. The existing ticker MCAC will become PLBY. Special purpose acquisition companies have taken private companies public in recent months with great success. I believe this will be no exception. Notably, Playboy is profitable and has skyrocketing revenue going into a transformational growth phase.
Porn - First and foremost, let's talk about porn. I know what you guys are thinking. “Porno mags are dead. Why would I want to invest in something like that? I can get porn for free online.” Guess what? You are absolutely right. And that’s exactly why Playboy doesn’t do that anymore. That’s right, they eliminated their print division. And yet they somehow STILL make money from porn that people (see: boomers) pay for on their website through PlayboyTV, Playboy Plus, and iPlayboy. Here’s the thing: Playboy has international, multi-generational name recognition from porn. They have content available in 180 countries. It will be the only publicly traded adult entertainment (porn) company. But that is not where this company is going. It will help support them along the way. You can see every Playboy magazine through iPlayboy if you’re interested. NSFW links below:
https://www.playboy.com/
https://www.playboytv.com/
https://www.playboyplus.com/
https://www.iplayboy.com/
Gambling - Some of you might recognize the Playboy brand from gambling trips to places like Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Cancun, London or Macau. They’ve been in the gambling biz for decades through their casinos, clubs, and licensed gaming products. They see the writing on the wall. COVID is accelerating the transition to digital, application based GAMBLING. That’s right. What we are doing on Robinhood with risky options is gambling, and the only reason regulators might give a shit anymore is because we are making too much money. There may be some restrictions put in place, but gambling from your phone on your couch is not going anywhere. More and more states are allowing things like Draftkings, poker, state ‘lottery” apps, hell - even political betting. Michigan and Virginia just ok’d gambling apps. They won’t be the last. This is all from your couch and any 18 year old with a cracked iphone can access it. Wouldn’t it be cool if Playboy was going to do something like that? They’re already working on it. As per CEO Ben Kohn who we will get to later, “...the company’s casino-style digital gaming products with Scientific Games and Microgaming continue to see significant global growth.” Honestly, I stopped researching Scientific Games' sports betting segment when I saw the word ‘omni-channel’. That told me all I needed to know about it’s success.
“Our SG Sports™ platform is an enhanced, omni-channel solution for online, self-service and retail fixed odds sports betting – from soccer to tennis, basketball, football, baseball, hockey, motor sports, racing and more.”
https://www.scientificgames.com/
https://www.microgaming.co.uk/
“This latter segment has become increasingly enticing for Playboy, and it said last week that it is considering new tie-ups that could include gaming operators like PointsBet and 888Holdings.”
https://calvinayre.com/2020/10/05/business/playboys-gaming-ops-could-get-a-boost-from-spac-purchase/
As per their SEC filing:
“Significant consumer engagement and spend with Playboy-branded gaming properties around the world, including with leading partners such as Microgaming, Scientific Games, and Caesar’s Entertainment, steers our investment in digital gaming, sports betting and other digital offerings to further support our commercial strategy to expand consumer spend with minimal marginal cost, and gain consumer data to inform go-to-market plans across categories.”
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tMDAA1
They are expanding into more areas of gaming/gambling, working with international players in the digital gaming/gambling arena, and a Playboy sportsbook is on the horizon.
https://www.playboy.com/read/the-pleasure-of-playing-with-yourself-mobile-gaming-in-the-covid-era
Cannabis - If you’ve ever read through a Playboy magazine, you know they’ve had a positive relationship with cannabis for many years. As of September 2020, Playboy has made a major shift into the cannabis space. Too good to be true you say? Check their website. Playboy currently sells a range of CBD products. This is a good sign. Federal hemp products, which these most likely are, can be mailed across state lines and most importantly for a company like Playboy, can operate through a traditional banking institution. CBD products are usually the first step towards the cannabis space for large companies. Playboy didn’t make these products themselves meaning they are working with a processor in the cannabis industry. Another good sign for future expansion. What else do they have for sale? Pipes, grinders, ashtrays, rolling trays, joint holders. Hmm. Ok. So it looks like they want to sell some shit. They probably don’t have an active interest in cannabis right? Think again:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierhasse/2020/09/24/playboy-gets-serious-about-cannabis-law-reform-advocacy-with-new-partnership-grants/?sh=62f044a65cea
“Taking yet another step into the cannabis space, Playboy will be announcing later on Thursday (September, 2020) that it is launching a cannabis law reform and advocacy campaign in partnership with National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Last Prisoner Project, Marijuana Policy Project, the Veterans Cannabis Project, and the Eaze Momentum Program.”
“According to information procured exclusively, the three-pronged campaign will focus on calling for federal legalization. The program also includes the creation of a mentorship plan, through which the Playboy Foundation will support entrepreneurs from groups that are underrepresented in the industry.” Remember that CEO Kohn from earlier? He wrote this recently:
https://medium.com/naked-open-letters-from-playboy/congress-must-pass-the-more-act-c867c35239ae
Seems like he really wants weed to be legal? Hmm wonder why? The writing's on the wall my friends. Playboy wants into the cannabis industry, they are making steps towards this end, and we have favorable conditions for legislative progress.
Don’t think branding your own cannabis line is profitable or worthwhile? Tell me why these 41 celebrity millionaires and billionaires are dummies. I’ll wait.
https://www.celebstoner.com/news/celebstoner-news/2019/07/12/top-celebrity-cannabis-brands/
Confirmation: I hear you. “This all seems pretty speculative. It would be wildly profitable if they pull this shift off. But how do we really know?” Watch this whole video:
https://finance.yahoo.com/video/playboy-ceo-telling-story-female-154907068.html
Man - this interview just gets my juices flowing. And highlights one of my favorite reasons for this play. They have so many different business avenues from which a catalyst could appear. I think paying attention, holding shares, and options on these staggered announcements over the next year is the way I am going to go about it. "There's definitely been a shift to direct-to-consumer," he (Kohn) said. "About 50 percent of our revenue today is direct-to-consumer, and that will continue to grow going forward.” “Kohn touted Playboy's portfolio of both digital and consumer products, with casino-style gaming, in particular, serving a crucial role under the company's new business model. Playboy also has its sights on the emerging cannabis market, from CBD products to marijuana products geared toward sexual health and pleasure.” "If THC does become legal in the United States, we have developed certain strains to enhance your sex life that we will launch," Kohn said. https://cheddar.com/media/playboy-goes-public-health-gaming-lifestyle-focus Oh? The CEO actually said it? Ok then. “We have developed certain strains…” They’re already working with growers on strains and genetics? Ok. There are several legal cannabis markets for those products right now, international and stateside. I expect Playboy licensed hemp and THC pre-rolls by EOY. Something like this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/842996758/10-playboy-pre-roll-tubes-limited?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=pre+roll+playboy&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&organic_search_click=1 Maintaining cannabis operations can be costly and a regulatory headache. Playboy’s licensing strategy allows them to pick successful, established partners and sidestep traditional barriers to entry. You know what I like about these new markets? They’re expanding. Worldwide. And they are going to be a bigger deal than they already are with or without Playboy. Who thinks weed and gambling are going away? Too many people like that stuff. These are easy markets. And Playboy is early enough to carve out their spot in each. Fuck it, read this too: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimosman/2020/10/20/playboy-could-be-the-king-of-spacs-here-are-three-picks/?sh=2e13dcaa3e05
Numbers: You want numbers? I got numbers. As per the company’s most recent SEC filing:
“For the year ended December 31, 2019, and the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s historical consolidated revenue was $78.1 million and $101.3 million, respectively, historical consolidated net income (loss) was $(23.6) million and $(4.8) million, respectively, and Adjusted EBITDA was $13.1 million and $21.8 million, respectively.”
“In the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Licensing segment contributed $44.2 million in revenue and $31.1 million in net income.”
“In the ninth months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Direct-to-Consumer segment contributed $40.2 million in revenue and net income of $0.1 million.”
“In the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Digital Subscriptions and Content segment contributed $15.4 million in revenue and net income of $7.4 million.”
They are profitable across all three of their current business segments.
“Playboy’s return to the public markets presents a transformed, streamlined and high-growth business. The Company has over $400 million in cash flows contracted through 2029, sexual wellness products available for sale online and in over 10,000 major retail stores in the US, and a growing variety of clothing and branded lifestyle and digital gaming products.”
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tSHCF
Growth: Playboy has massive growth in China and massive growth potential in India. “In China, where Playboy has spent more than 25 years building its business, our licensees have an enormous footprint of nearly 2,500 brick and mortar stores and 1,000 ecommerce stores selling high quality, Playboy-branded men’s casual wear, shoes/footwear, sleepwear, swimwear, formal suits, leather & non-leather goods, sweaters, active wear, and accessories. We have achieved significant growth in China licensing revenues over the past several years in partnership with strong licensees and high-quality manufacturers, and we are planning for increased growth through updates to our men’s fashion lines and expansion into adjacent categories in men’s skincare and grooming, sexual wellness, and women’s fashion, a category where recent launches have been well received.” The men’s market in China is about the same size as the entire population of the United States and European Union combined. Playboy is a leading brand in this market. They are expanding into the women’s market too. Did you know CBD toothpaste is huge in China? China loves CBD products and has hemp fields that dwarf those in the US. If Playboy expands their CBD line China it will be huge. Did you know the gambling money in Macau absolutely puts Las Vegas to shame? Technically, it's illegal on the mainland, but in reality, there is a lot of gambling going on in China. https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierhasse/2020/10/19/magic-johnson-and-uncle-buds-cbd-brand-enter-china-via-tmall-partnership/?sh=271776ca411e “In India, Playboy today has a presence through select apparel licensees and hospitality establishments. Consumer research suggests significant growth opportunities in the territory with Playboy’s brand and categories of focus.” “Playboy Enterprises has announced the expansion of its global consumer products business into India as part of a partnership with Jay Jay Iconic Brands, a leading fashion and lifestyle Company in India.” “The Indian market today is dominated by consumers under the age of 35, who represent more than 65 percent of the country’s total population and are driving India’s significant online shopping growth. The Playboy brand’s core values of playfulness and exploration resonate strongly with the expressed desires of today’s younger millennial consumers. For us, Playboy was the perfect fit.” “The Playboy international portfolio has been flourishing for more than 25 years in several South Asian markets such as China and Japan. In particular, it has strategically targeted the millennial and gen-Z audiences across categories such as apparel, footwear, home textiles, eyewear and watches.” https://www.licenseglobal.com/industry-news/playboy-expands-global-footprint-india It looks like they gave COVID the heisman in terms of net damage sustained: “Although Playboy has not suffered any material adverse consequences to date from the COVID-19 pandemic, the business has been impacted both negatively and positively. The remote working and stay-at-home orders resulted in the closure of the London Playboy Club and retail stores of Playboy’s licensees, decreasing licensing revenues in the second quarter, as well as causing supply chain disruption and less efficient product development thereby slowing the launch of new products. However, these negative impacts were offset by an increase in Yandy’s direct-to-consumer sales, which have benefited in part from overall increases in online retail sales so far during the pandemic.” Looks like the positives are long term (Yandy acquisition) and the negatives are temporary (stay-at-home orders).
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921006093/tm213766-1_defa14a.htm
This speaks to their ability to maintain a financially solvent company throughout the transition phase to the aforementioned areas. They’d say some fancy shit like “expanded business model to encompass four key revenue streams: Sexual Wellness, Style & Apparel, Gaming & Lifestyle, and Beauty & Grooming.” I hear “we’re just biding our time with these trinkets until those dollar dollar bill y’all markets are fully up and running.” But the truth is these existing revenue streams are profitable, scalable, and rapidly expanding Playboy’s e-commerce segment around the world.
"Even in the face of COVID this year, we've been able to grow EBITDA over 100 percent and revenue over 68 percent, and I expect that to accelerate going into 2021," he said. “Playboy is accelerating its growth in company-owned and branded consumer products in attractive and expanding markets in which it has a proven history of brand affinity and consumer spend.”
Also in the SEC filing, the Time Frame:
“As we detailed in the definitive proxy statement, the SPAC stockholder meeting to vote on the transaction has been set for February 9th, and, subject to stockholder approval and satisfaction of the other closing conditions, we expect to complete the merger and begin trading on NASDAQ under ticker PLBY shortly thereafter,” concluded Kohn.
The Players: Suhail “The Whale” Rizvi (HMFIC), Ben “The Bridge” Kohn (CEO), “lil” Suying Liu & “Big” Dong Liu (Young-gun China gang). I encourage you to look these folks up. The real OG here is Suhail Rizvi. He’s from India originally and Chairman of the Board for the new PLBY company. He was an early investor in Twitter, Square, Facebook and others. His firm, Rizvi Traverse, currently invests in Instacart, Pinterest, Snapchat, Playboy, and SpaceX. Maybe you’ve heard of them. “Rizvi, who owns a sprawling three-home compound in Greenwich, Connecticut, and a 1.65-acre estate in Palm Beach, Florida, near Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg, moved to Iowa Falls when he was five. His father was a professor of psychology at Iowa. Along with his older brother Ashraf, a hedge fund manager, Rizvi graduated from Wharton business school.” “Suhail Rizvi: the 47-year-old 'unsocial' social media baron: When Twitter goes public in the coming weeks (2013), one of the biggest winners will be a 47-year-old financier who guards his secrecy so zealously that he employs a person to take down his Wikipedia entry and scrub his photos from the internet. In IPO, Twitter seeks to be 'anti-FB'” “Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia looks like a big Twitter winner. So do the moneyed clients of Jamie Dimon. But as you’ve-got-to-be-joking wealth washed over Twitter on Thursday — a company that didn’t exist eight years ago was worth $31.7 billion after its first day on the stock market — the non-boldface name of the moment is Suhail R. Rizvi. Mr. Rizvi, 47, runs a private investment company that is the largest outside investor in Twitter with a 15.6 percent stake worth $3.8 billion at the end of trading on Thursday (November, 2013). Using a web of connections in the tech industry and in finance, as well as a hearty dose of good timing, he brought many prominent names in at the ground floor, including the Saudi prince and some of JPMorgan’s wealthiest clients.” https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/technology/at-twitter-working-behind-the-scenes-toward-a-billion-dollar-payday.html Y’all like that Arab money? How about a dude that can call up Saudi Princes and convince them to spend? Funniest shit about I read about him: “Rizvi was able to buy only $100 million in Facebook shortly before its IPO, thus limiting his returns, according to people with knowledge of the matter.” Poor guy :(
He should be fine with the 16 million PLBY shares he's going to have though :)
Shuhail also has experience in the entertainment industry. He’s invested in companies like SESAC, ICM, and Summit Entertainment. He’s got Hollywood connections to blast this stuff post-merger. And he’s at least partially responsible for that whole Twilight thing. I’m team Edward btw.
I really like what Suhail has done so far. He’s lurked in the shadows while Kohn is consolidating the company, trimming the fat, making Playboy profitable, and aiming the ship at modern growing markets.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-ipo-rizvi-insight/insight-little-known-hollywood-investor-poised-to-score-with-twitter-ipo-idUSBRE9920VW20131003
Ben “The Bridge” Kohn is an interesting guy. He’s the connection between Rizvi Traverse and Playboy. He’s both CEO of Playboy and was previously Managing Partner at Rizvi Traverse. Ben seems to be the voice of the Playboy-Rizvi partnership, which makes sense with Suhail’s privacy concerns. Kohn said this:
“Today is a very big day for all of us at Playboy and for all our partners globally. I stepped into the CEO role at Playboy in 2017 because I saw the biggest opportunity of my career. Playboy is a brand and platform that could not be replicated today. It has massive global reach, with more than $3B of global consumer spend and products sold in over 180 countries. Our mission – to create a culture where all people can pursue pleasure – is rooted in our 67-year history and creates a clear focus for our business and role we play in people’s lives, providing them with the products, services and experiences that create a lifestyle of pleasure. We are taking this step into the public markets because the committed capital will enable us to accelerate our product development and go-to-market strategies and to more rapidly build our direct to consumer capabilities,” said Ben Kohn, CEO of Playboy.
“Playboy today is a highly profitable commerce business with a total addressable market projected in the trillions of dollars,” Mr. Kohn continued, “We are actively selling into the Sexual Wellness consumer category, projected to be approximately $400 billion in size by 2024, where our recently launched intimacy products have rolled out to more than 10,000 stores at major US retailers in the United States. Combined with our owned & operated ecommerce Sexual Wellness initiatives, the category will contribute more than 40% of our revenue this year. In our Apparel and Beauty categories, our collaborations with high-end fashion brands including Missguided and PacSun are projected to achieve over $50M in retail sales across the US and UK this year, our leading men’s apparel lines in China expanded to nearly 2500 brick and mortar stores and almost 1000 digital stores, and our new men’s and women’s fragrance line recently launched in Europe. In Gaming, our casino-style digital gaming products with Scientific Games and Microgaming continue to see significant global growth. Our product strategy is informed by years of consumer data as we actively expand from a purely licensing model into owning and operating key high-growth product lines focused on driving profitability and consumer lifetime value. We are thrilled about the future of Playboy. Our foundation has been set to drive further growth and margin, and with the committed capital from this transaction and our more than $180M in NOLs, we will take advantage of the opportunity in front of us, building to our goal of $100M of adjusted EBITDA in 2025.”
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201001005404/en/Playboy-to-Become-a-Public-Company
Also, according to their Form 4s, “Big” Dong Liu and “lil” Suying Liu just loaded up with shares last week. These guys are brothers and seem like the Chinese market connection. They are only 32 & 35 years old. I don’t even know what that means, but it's provocative.
https://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/1832415.htm
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mountain-crest-acquisition-corp-ii-002600994.html
Y’all like that China money?
“Mr. Liu has been the Chief Financial Officer of Dongguan Zhishang Photoelectric Technology Co., Ltd., a regional designer, manufacturer and distributor of LED lights serving commercial customers throughout Southern China since November 2016, at which time he led a syndicate of investments into the firm. Mr. Liu has since overseen the financials of Dongguan Zhishang as well as provided strategic guidance to its board of directors, advising on operational efficiency and cash flow performance. From March 2010 to October 2016, Mr. Liu was the Head of Finance at Feidiao Electrical Group Co., Ltd., a leading Chinese manufacturer of electrical outlets headquartered in Shanghai and with businesses in the greater China region as well as Europe.”
Dr. Suying Liu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp., commented, “Playboy is a unique and compelling investment opportunity, with one of the world’s largest and most recognized brands, its proven consumer affinity and spend, and its enormous future growth potential in its four product segments and new and existing geographic regions. I am thrilled to be partnering with Ben and his exceptional team to bring his vision to fruition.”
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201001005404/en/Playboy-to-Become-a-Public-Company
These guys are good. They have a proven track record of success across multiple industries. Connections and money run deep with all of these guys. I don’t think they’re in the game to lose.
I was going to write a couple more paragraphs about why you should have a look at this but really the best thing you can do is read this SEC filing from a couple days ago. It explains the situation in far better detail. Specifically, look to page 137 and read through their strategy. Also, look at their ownership percentages and compensation plans including the stock options and their prices. The financials look great, revenue is up 90% Q3, and it looks like a bright future.
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tSHCF
I’m hesitant to attach this because his position seems short term, but I’m going to with a warning because he does hit on some good points (two are below his link) and he’s got a sizable position in this thing (500k+ on margin, I think). I don’t know this guy but he did look at the same publicly available info and make roughly the same prediction, albeit without the in depth gambling or cannabis mention. You can also search reddit for ‘MCAC’ and very few relevant results come up and none of them even come close to really looking at this thing.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gOvAd6lebs452hFlWWbxVjQ3VMsjGBkbJeXRwDwIJfM/edit?usp=sharing
“Also, before you people start making claims that Playboy is a “boomer” company, STOP RIGHT THERE. This is not a good argument. Simply put. The only thing that matters is Playboy’s name recognition, not their archaic business model which doesn’t even exist anymore as they have completely repurposed their business.”
“Imagine not buying $MCAC at a 400M valuation lol. Streetwear department is worth 1B alone imo.”
Considering the ridiculous Chinese growth as a lifestyle brand, he’s not wrong.
Current Cultural Significance and Meme Value: A year ago I wouldn’t have included this section but the events from the last several weeks (even going back to tsla) have proven that a company’s ability to meme and/or gain social network popularity can have an effect. Tik-tok, Snapchat, Twitch, Reddit, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter. They all have Playboy stuff on them. Kids in middle and highschool know what Playboy is but will likely never see or touch one of the magazines in person. They’ll have a Playboy hoodie though. Crazy huh? A lot like GME, PLBY would hugely benefit from meme-value stock interest to drive engagement towards their new business model while also building strategic coffers. This interest may not directly and/or significantly move the stock price but can generate significant interest from larger players who will.
Bull Case: The year is 2025. Playboy is now the world leader pleasure brand. They began by offering Playboy licensed gaming products, including gambling products, direct to consumers through existing names. By 2022, demand has skyrocketed and Playboy has designed and released their own gambling platforms. In 2025, they are also a leading cannabis brand in the United States and Canada with proprietary strains and products geared towards sexual wellness. Cannabis was legalized in the US in 2023 when President Biden got glaucoma but had success with cannabis treatment. He personally pushes for cannabis legalization as he steps out of office after his first term. Playboy has also grown their brand in China and India to multi-billion per year markets. The stock goes up from 11ish to 100ish and everyone makes big gains buying somewhere along the way.
Bear Case: The United States does a complete 180 on marijuana and gambling. President Biden overdoses on marijuana in the Lincoln bedroom when his FDs go tits up and he loses a ton of money in his sports book app after the Fighting Blue Hens narrowly lose the National Championship to Bama. Playboy is unable to expand their cannabis and gambling brands but still does well with their worldwide lifestyle brand. They gain and lose some interest in China and India but the markets are too large to ignore them completely. The stock goes up from 11ish to 13ish and everyone makes 15-20% gains.
TL;DR: Successful technology/e-commerce investment firm took over Playboy to turn it into a porn, online gambling/gaming, sports book, cannabis company, worldwide lifestyle brand that promotes sexual wellness, vetern access, women-ownership, minority-ownership, and “pleasure for all”. Does a successful online team reinventing an antiquated physical copy giant sound familiar? No options yet, shares only for now. $11.38 per share at time of writing. My guess? $20 by the end of February. $50 by EOY. This is not financial advice. I am not qualified to give financial advice. I’m just sayin’ I would personally use a Playboy sports book app while smoking a Playboy strain specific joint and it would be cool if they did that. Do your own research. You’d probably want to start here:
WARNING - POTENTIALLY NSFW - SEXY MODELS AHEAD - no actual nudity though
https://s26.q4cdn.com/895475556/files/doc_presentations/Playboy-Craig-Hallum-Conference-Investor-Presentation-11_17_20-compressed.pdf
Or here:
https://www.mcacquisition.com/investor-relations/default.aspx
Jimmy Chill: “Get into any SPAC at $10 or $11 and you are going to make money.”
STL;DR: Buy MCAC. MCAC > PLBY couple weeks. Rocketship. Moon.
Position: 5000 shares. I will buy short, medium, and long-dated calls once available.

What's up fellas at Options. I made a tool called FD Ranker that logs the average IV of popular tickers. The tool is inclusive of almost 1,000 tickers now.
What is this tool good for
I posted in ThetaGang the list with HIGH IV options which is great for running the wheel or selling options. This list is an inverse of that list and displays tickers where IV is pretty low, thus, purchasing calls will likely be cheaper. For example, AAPL implied volatility right now is almost back to the pre-March lows. Remember a low IV can go lower and a high IV can go higher. Do your DD before entering any positions!

Low IV Tickers List

*Some of the market cap data is off, so always double check before entering any plays!
Please note this list is only inclusive of the more popular tickers mentioned around Reddit. If you want to see the full list and filter by ticker, check out the tool in the link at the top.
​

Ticker	Market Cap	Stock Price	IV (%)
SPY - SPDR S&P 500	325B	$369.00	16%
PEP - Pepsico Inc.	200B	$145.04	18%
VZ - Verizon Communications	243B	$58.84	18%
COST - Costco Wholesale Corp	161B	$364.69	20%
PG - Procter & Gamble	341B	$137.72	20%
HSY - Hershey Company	31.2B	$149.95	20%
WM - Waste Management	49.4B	$117.00	20%
WMT - Walmart	406B	$143.50	21%
HD - Home Depot.	292B	$270.92	21%
CSCO - Cisco Systems	188B	$44.55	21%
MCD - McDonald`s Corp	158B	$211.39	21%
KO - Coca-Cola Co	230B	$53.44	22%
ORCL - Oracle Corp.	191B	$64.96	22%
QQQ - Invesco QQQ Trust	151B	$309.58	22%
BMY - Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.	138B	$61.15	22%
YUM - Yum Brands Inc.	32.4B	$107.54	23%
TM - Toyota Motor Corporation - ADR	245B	$150.47	23%
FIT - Fitbit Inc - Class A	1.67B	$6.84	24%
KR - Kroger Co.	24B	$31.53	24%
SNE - Sony Corporation. - ADR	122B	$96.84	25%
NKE - Nike, Inc. - Class B	222B	$141.60	25%
V - Visa Inc - Class A	460B	$208.70	25%
LOW - Lowe`s Cos., Inc.	119B	$162.77	25%
CVS - CVS Health Corp	89B	$67.97	25%
JNJ - Johnson & Johnson	401B	$152.47	25%
DPZ - Dominos Pizza Inc	15.6B	$396.73	26%
IWM - BTC iShares Russell 2000	59.1B	$199.01	26%
T - AT&T, Inc.	204B	$28.69	26%
TGT - Target Corp	87.7B	$175.19	26%
MMM - 3M Co.	101B	$174.52	26%
GOOG - Alphabet Inc - Class C	1.17T	$1740.55	26%
DE - Deere & Co.	84.4B	$269.21	27%
GOOGL - Alphabet Inc - Class A	1.17T	$1732.03	27%
EA - Electronic Arts, Inc.	41.1B	$141.80	27%
DLTR - Dollar Tree Inc	25.6B	$108.98	27%
BX - Blackstone Group Inc (The) - Class A	43.8B	$64.99	27%
WORK - Slack Technologies Inc - Class A	20.9B	$42.65	27%
SBUX - Starbucks Corp.	119B	$101.99	28%
MO - Altria Group Inc.	77.5B	$41.72	28%
GILD - Gilead Sciences, Inc.	71.5B	$57.07	28%
ABT - Abbott Laboratories	192B	$108.35	28%
IBM - International Business Machines Corp.	111B	$124.69	28%
UNH - Unitedhealth Group Inc	323B	$340.79	28%
MA - Mastercard Incorporated - Class A	332B	$336.00	28%
CMG - Chipotle Mexican Grill	39.5B	$1412.55	28%
ADBE - Adobe Inc	240B	$499.78	29%
JPM - JPMorgan Chase & Co.	380B	$124.52	29%
MSFT - Microsoft Corporation	1.68T	$222.84	29%
DIS - Walt Disney Co (The)	315B	$173.73	29%
ATVI - Activision Blizzard Inc	70.3B	$90.94	30%
TXN - Texas Instruments Inc.	148B	$161.75	30%
HSBC - HSBC Holdings	106B	$26.05	30%
CAT - Caterpillar Inc.	97.5B	$179.56	31%
UPS - United Parcel Service, Inc. - Class B	149B	$172.19	31%
HPQ - HP Inc	31.3B	$24.26	31%
AZN - Astrazeneca plc - ADR	127B	$48.55	31%
BKNG - Booking Holdings Inc	85.5B	$2087.97	31%
GS - Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.	88.1B	$256.16	31%
QCOM - Qualcomm, Inc.	168B	$148.87	31%
BAC - Bank Of America Corp.	259B	$29.96	31%
PFE - Pfizer Inc.	207B	$37.27	32%
BK - Bank Of New York Mellon Corp	36.4B	$41.04	32%
TTWO - Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.	23.3B	$200.77	32%
AMAT - Applied Materials Inc.	78B	$85.34	32%
CRM - Salesforce.Com Inc	207B	$225.78	33%
DELL - Dell Technologies Inc - Class C	52.8B	$72.99	33%
WMB - Williams Cos Inc	25.2B	$20.74	33%
FDX - Fedex Corp	71.3B	$268.82	33%
MS - Morgan Stanley	123B	$68.09	34%
FOXA - Fox Corporation - Class A	16.8B	$28.30	34%
DB - Deutsche Bank AG	22.4B	$10.85	35%
AMZN - Amazon.com Inc.	1.59T	$3171.93	35%
DD - DuPont de Nemours Inc	51B	$69.55	35%
TSM - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing - ADR	550B	$105.97	36%
NVDA - NVIDIA Corp	322B	$520.20	36%
GOLD - Barrick Gold Corp.	40.7B	$22.90	36%
WDAY - Workday Inc - Class A	44.8B	$248.77	36%
EBAY - EBay Inc.	34.5B	$50.07	36%
LULU - Lululemon Athletica inc.	44B	$351.18	36%
XOM - Exxon Mobil Corp.	176B	$41.60	37%
WBA - Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc	34.2B	$39.58	37%
C - Citigroup Inc	126B	$60.57	37%
ZNGA - Zynga Inc - Class A	10.7B	$9.90	38%
PYPL - PayPal Holdings Inc	280B	$238.77	38%
NOK - Nokia Corp - ADR	2.55B	$3.89	38%
FB - Facebook Inc - Class A	763B	$267.18	38%
PZZA - Papa John`s International, Inc.	2.88B	$87.53	38%
INTC - Intel Corp.	193B	$47.08	38%
ULTA - Ulta Beauty Inc	14.9B	$264.80	38%
NOW - ServiceNow Inc	108B	$553.89	39%
MTCH - Match Group Inc. - New	39.4B	$151.92	39%
SPLK - Splunk Inc	29.1B	$180.09	39%
F - Ford Motor Co.	34.6B	$8.86	39%
AAPL - Apple Inc	2.24T	$132.03	39%
LOGI - Logitech International S.A.	16.1B	$92.97	39%
GM - General Motors Company	59.5B	$41.58	39%
WFC - Wells Fargo & Co.	123B	$29.84	40%
BP - BP plc - ADR	71.1B	$21.06	40%
MELI - MercadoLibre Inc	84.3B	$1689.72	40%
ARKF - ARK ETF Trust - ARK Fintech Innovation ETF	1.74B	$50.29	41%
ARKW - ARK Investment Management LLC - ARK Next Generation Internet ETF	5.33B	$151.38	41%
LVS - Las Vegas Sands Corp	43.5B	$57.01	41%
ALLY - Ally Financial Inc	12.9B	$34.54	42%
JD - JD.com Inc - ADR	131B	$84.50	43%
RH - RH - Class A	9.71B	$475.72	43%
TWTR - Twitter Inc	42.9B	$53.97	43%
EXPE - Expedia Group Inc	17.3B	$126.95	43%
LUV - Southwest Airlines Co	27.3B	$46.28	44%
ARKK - ARK Investment Management LLC - ARK Innovation ETF	17.9B	$133.03	44%
VALE - Vale S.A. - ADR	89.3B	$16.89	44%
NFLX - NetFlix Inc	227B	$513.84	45%
OKTA - Okta Inc - Class A	33.4B	$275.85	45%
PCG - PG&E Corp.	24.6B	$12.39	45%
WDC - Western Digital Corp.	15.2B	$49.92	45%
DBX - Dropbox Inc - Class A	7.79B	$24.62	46%
UBER - Uber Technologies Inc	93.3B	$52.88	46%
MU - Micron Technology Inc.	78.8B	$70.61	46%
UAA - Under Armour Inc - Class A	7.3B	$17.41	46%
BA - Boeing Co.	123B	$217.15	46%
PBR - Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras - ADR	23B	$10.97	46%
SPOT - Spotify Technology S.A.	59.4B	$328.39	47%
ESTC - Elastic N.V	13.6B	$155.99	47%
DOCU - DocuSign Inc	45.7B	$244.80	47%
SHAK - Shake Shack Inc - Class A	3.37B	$87.80	47%
DISH - Dish Network Corp - Class A	16.3B	$31.07	48%
TEVA - Teva- Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. - ADR	10.7B	$9.83	48%
TTD - Trade Desk Inc - Class A	39.1B	$931.70	48%
BIDU - Baidu Inc - ADR	66.5B	$190.86	49%
MGM - MGM Resorts International	15.2B	$30.74	49%
DAL - Delta Air Lines, Inc.	25.3B	$39.73	49%
SHOP - Shopify Inc - Class A	148B	$1225.52	49%
ZS - Zscaler Inc	27.5B	$205.25	49%
TEAM - Atlassian Corporation Plc - Class A	32B	$241.59	49%

Over the course of 34 days in the spring of 2018, three unsettling crimes played out in the city of Bakersfield, California. The families of the three victims realized their children all knew each other and ran in the same circles, and they began to suspect that all three crimes were connected. But what began as a crusade for justice among grieving parents took a shocking turn when investigators discovered that the so-called Bakersfield 3 were embroiled in a criminal underworld of black-market weapons smuggling, the Hells Angels, unspecified ties to drug cartels, torture and kidnapping, and a convicted felon nicknamed “The Boogeyman of Bakersfield.”
This is a genuinely bizarre case, and while I’ve never written up a case for this sub before, I’ve been following this story closely for the past couple years. The last time it was mentioned on here over a year ago, but there have been some huge recent developments in the last year that I thought deserved as comprehensive a telling as possible. And despite all that, it's nowhere near resolved. So without further ado...
Part 1: Missing
On March 23,2018, Micah Holsonbake, 34, went missing in East Bakersfield near the intersection of Flower Street and Mount Vernon Avenue. Micah was a clean-cut dad who worked in finance, a former high school debater who loved karaoke despite not being any good at it. He was presumed endangered missing until August 22, 2018, when teenagers swimming near a local park found an arm in the Kern River that was identified as his. The rest of his body has never been found.
On April 18, 2018, James Kulstad, 38, was murdered on a quiet block in Southwest Bakersfield. A father of two daughters, James was a serial entrepreneur described as the type of man who “could sell a dollar bill on the side of the road for a million dollars if he could just get 5 minutes with you.” His brother Ryan heard the gunshots from the next street over, but didn’t see the shooter, and he claims he held James as he died in his arms.
On April 25, 2018, Baylee Parrent-Despot, 20, disappeared from Rosedale, the upper-middle-class neighborhood in Northwest Bakersfield where she’d grown up. Baylee described herself as a “flower child” who had been born in the wrong generation. After facing a number of serious challenges, she was struggling to get her life back on track, and was said to be pregnant and trying to leave her boyfriend when she went missing. She has never been heard from again.
Local media christened Micah, James, and Baylee the “Bakersfield 3” after the victims’ families discovered that all three victims knew one another. In the wake of the links between all three disappearances coming to light, Micah’s father told a local news reporter, “Just to be blunt, something happened to Micah… and a month later something happened to Baylee, and I think it’s because she knew what happened to Micah.” And in between them, there was James Kulstad, who ran in the same drug-fueled circles as Baylee and had helped Micah move just weeks before they both were killed. Bakersfield is a city of half a million people, but on a social level, it can feel as insular as any small town — you’re rarely more than one or two degrees removed from anyone you meet — and even in a city where everyone seems to know everyone, it’s hard to buy three friends all going missing within the space of a month by sheer coincidence. But as time went on with few official developments in the investigation, it seemed like people largely lost interest in the case by late 2019.
Then, in 2020, the Kern County District Attorney’s office charged three people with a total of 34 different charges, ranging from first degree murder, torture, kidnapping, assault with a firearm, and illegal manufacturing of assault weapons. Two of the defendants were already in custody — and the third may not even be alive.
Part 2: Some Local Context
By every metric, Bakersfield is just a flat-out terrible place to live. It’s my hometown, I left for a reason, and the reason is that it sucks. Kern County suffers from a slew of serious socioeconomic and public health problems, the largest of which is probably related to economic and income inequality. A fifth of the population is under the poverty line, and crime rates are sky-high, especially drug-related ones. Opioid abuse is rampant, though it still falls second to methamphetamine, the most widespread drug in the area. There’s a significant issue with white supremacist gang violence. When I was 16, my 70-year-old next-door neighbor got stabbed in a biker gang fight at a tattoo parlor by a Hells Angel called “Delano Mike.” A high school chemistry teacher was literally arrested for trying to make meth in his classroom three months before Breaking Bad even premiered. This is a region with a lot of serious problems that go deeper than any one symptom, but suffice it to say, there’s a reason I moved away as soon as I tuned 18.
The other thing you need to know is that despite being one of the most conservative cities in California, there’s a widespread distrust of law enforcement outside of the police and courts themselves — and, frankly, for good reason. Corruption in the justice system is widespread, and basically a local tradition dating back to the tenure of longtime district attorney Ed Jagels, perhaps best known for ramming through 36 false convictions of ritual child abuse at the height of the satanic panic. (34 were eventually overtured, and the other two people convicted died in prison and never saw justice.) Jagels’ history of prosecutorial misconduct is also the subject of Mean Justice, a 600-page doorstopper by Pulitzer-winning author Edward Humes about the wrongful conviction of Pat Dunn, who is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife despite a wealth of evidence that would suggest his innocence. In 2002, Jagels’ protege, an assistant district attorney named Steve Tauzer, was murdered by a former Bakersfield police deputy, Chris Hillis, after Hillis allegedly learned that Tauzer had a sexual relationship with Hillis’ 22-year-old son, an addict in recovery; facing first-degree murder charges, he pled out to manslaughter and received a 12-year prison sentence.
In 2015, The Guardian published an in-depth exposé about how widespread corruption within the local law enforcement community led to Kern County having the highest rate of police killings in the country: the deadliest cops per capita. And over the past several years, the Kern County law enforcement community has been mired in a police corruption scandal in which members of the BPD abused asset forfeiture laws to illegally seize guns, drugs, and money from suspects, which they in turn trafficked for personal gain. All this is to say that Bakersfield cops and prosecutors have not engendered much public trust outside of their own communities. In a city with high rates of violent crime, law enforcement has consistently put its own interests above public safety, justice, or victims’ rights. That's just something to keep in mind while reading.
Part 3: Down the Rabbit Hole
Micah
In the weeks and months prior to Micah Holsonbake’s disappearance, his family could tell that something was troubling him. Lance and Cheryl Holsonbake both recalled their son behaving erratically in the days before he vanished. But none of it seemed to make any sense coming from someone like Micah, whose family described him as intelligent and hard-working. He had a comfortable upbringing in Rosedale and worked his way into a lucrative career as a financial advisor despite only one year of college. In the photo his family circulated following his disappearance, he wore the suit and tie and placid smile of someone posing for a corporate headshot. But Micah was going through a dark time following a rocky separation from his wife and family, and had been struggling with a painkiller addiction for the past two years. The year before, he’d been laid off from his job after going on disability leave due to depression.
According to court documents, Micah owed drug-related debts to members of the Hells Angels as well as “the cartel.” One friend of Micah’s told police his life seemed to be headed in a downward spiral after he lost the ability to see his son, and often got in fights with others at bars. In one witness statement, an unidentified woman told police of a prior incident when she and Holsonbake were kidnapped at gunpoint and driven to an orchard in west Bakersfield. Holsonbake bolted from the vehicle as it was moving, she told police. That account was corroborated by a friend of Holsonbake's who told police that he said he had been kidnapped at gunpoint. He told his parents that he feared for his life, frequently thought he was being followed in his car, and rambled about various people he believed were out to get him, but they mostly wrote it off.
James
Micah had been hanging around with James Kulstad for some time before he disappeared. It’s not clear when they first met, but it appears they become friendly through the drug scene. Like Micah, James first became addicted to prescription painkillers after being hit by a car, before progressing to fentanyl patches and eventually heroin. He’d been a single father to his daughters Camryn and August. His obituary characterized him as a free-wheeling surfer who held a patent for an action sports product and earned the nickname “Joe Vegas” for his love of gambling and table games. Camryn, now 19, says she and James had an especially close relationship after her mother died when Camryn was an infant, and James often warned her against getting involved with drugs and partying in a clear-headed way, which made it even harder to watch him spiral downward in the years before his death. “I felt like I lost him before I even lost him, but I worked so hard,” she told a reporter. “I was working so hard on everything I could do to make him get better… I was hanging onto hope and whoever killed him took that away from me. I don’t have that anymore, I don’t have hope.”
In the wake of her father’s death, Camryn says that a number of stories and rumors about his life surfaced, further complicating her grief. “Some of the stories I’ve heard is that he was a really bad person these last 3 years,” she said in 2019. On the night of his murder, James reportedly drove to an acquaintance’s home in Southwest Bakersfield where his brother Ryan Kulstad was hanging out. Ryan claims that the homeowner allegedly owed money to James and told Ryan that if James came over to his house, he’d “call his boys and they’d come over there strapped,” which Ryan says he didn’t interpret as a serious threat. Ryan and James reportedly argued about this on the phone, and James showed up at the house a couple hours later. Ryan says he had just returned from driving someone else home and noticed a driver in a silver sedan behaving suspiciously as he returned to the house. Moments later, Ryan and his unidentified male passenger heard gunshots on the next block: an unknown gunman opened fire on James from another car, causing him to crash into a parked trailer. The same silver sedan was seen speeding away from the scene.
The owner of the home where this all took place was Dr. Sukhjeet Bajwa, who at the time was a chiropractor with a local practice. Bajwa lived in a quiet subdivision in Southwest Bakersfield. It was an unlikely setting for a drive-by, and according to initial news reports, police were at a loss for the motive behind the killing, or what James was even doing in the neighborhood at all. Then things began to unravel: Bajwa, it turned out, had been arrested twice in 2016 and 2017 after driving while impaired, and in addition to liquid heroin, Xanax, and hydrocodone, police also found two unregistered, loaded guns in his car, an AR-15 and a .22LR semi-automatic rifle with a fake silencer attached. All of this was detailed in a disciplinary complaint filed by the California Board of Chiropractic Examiners, and after Bajwa’s name began repeatedly surfacing in connection with the shooting, a rumor began to circulate about a black-market gun and drug trafficking ring in which Bajwa was supposedly a central figure.
It was the type of conspiracy theory most people instinctively write off as too bizarre to be credible. But it must have rung a bell to Lance Holsonbake. Before Micah’s disappearance, he told his father that he was “putting together guns for people,” according to a 2019 interview. Lance said he reacted in disbelief to this confession, because the idea that Micah would risk his career by getting involved in illegal gun manufacturing just didn’t make sense. “If you’re this afraid, just stop,” Lance recalls telling him. “And he’d say, ‘I can’t do that I can’t do that.’ He was afraid he did that they would hurt his family.” He wrote it off as paranoia exaggerated by his son’s drug use, and didn’t know how much of it was real and how much was in Micah’s mind. According to Lance, Bakersfield police initially suggested that Micah had left town of his own volition after getting mixed up in criminal activity and, from what I can tell, didn’t make much of an effort to investigate. Though the family says he was last seen on March 23, 2018, Bakersfield police claimed he wasn’t reported missing until April 4, and it appears they waited until April 13, when he’d been missing for almost a month, before BPD made its first public statement regarding his disappearance. After James was murdered a few days later, the Holsonbake and Kulstad families grew increasingly frustrated with the apparent lack of interest in investigating either case, and told the media later that as they began digging into the circumstances surrounding both cases, one name kept coming up with everyone they talked to: Baylee Despot. And within a week, Baylee Despot had also gone missing in Bakersfield.
Baylee
Baylee Parrent-Despot was 20 years old when she was reported missing in April 2018, and the families say that it was her disappearance that finally motivated the police and local news to start investigating the links between all three cases, for reasons that seem obvious to anyone who has ever seen the media react to a pretty white 20-year-old going missing. Her sister, Katelyn Parrent, describes her as “a girl that’s grown up in a good neighborhood, raised by good parents, had a good childhood, could’ve had everything she ever wanted,” much like James and Micah. And beneath the surface, she was as troubled as either of the men: after graduating high school, she’d run off to Vegas to marry her boyfriend, but their rocky relationship turned into an abusive marriage that ended just a year later in 2017. In the aftermath, she wrecked her car, lost her job, and in her mother’s words, “Her life just spiraled out of control.”
In July 2017, Baylee was arrested for disorderly conduct in front of her friend Micah Holsonbake’s house. This came as a surprise to her sister, who had at one point been friendly with Micah herself — she didn’t realize he and Baylee even knew each other. But even though he was 14 years Baylee’s senior, Katelyn remembered him as a clean-cut guy who worked at a bank, and their mother, Jane Parrent, says Micah helped her get a restraining order against an abusive ex-boyfriend. They didn’t see any cause for concern. Still, Baylee’s life continued to spiral out of control. The following month, she was drugged and gang-raped at an acquaintance’s apartment complex. She disappeared for days at a time and resurfaced with “horrible stories” or pleading phone calls begging to be picked up. On one occasion, Katelyn remembers, “She had none of her belongings, no shoes… A couple nights after that there were two vehicles that came to pick her up and we could tell by the look on her face that she didn’t want to go, but if she didn’t go, we didn’t know what would happen.”
Matthew
Not long after that incident, Baylee had a new boyfriend. Matthew Queen was 43 years old, a convicted felon, and an all-around bad dude. Not much is known about his background, with one major exception: in the early 2000s, he plead guilty to one count of making a false statement to a federal firearms dealer after he used a false address, but his real name, to purchase $11,000 in guns from dealers in Indiana. Many of those guns were later recovered at crime scenes in Detroit and Chicago. If you want an idea of what type of criminal mastermind we’re dealing with here, I recommend reading just the final ruling on that case from the 7th Circuit court of appeals:

“We reject Queen's argument that gun buyers may lie about a street address so long as they live within the state where the gun is sold . . . Queen in fact had once lived in an apartment at 2072 Egret Court, but he did not live at this address when he completed the forms and bought the guns because he was evicted on December 18, 2000, for nonpayment of rent."

Great. Sounds like a great guy.
Lest you assume Matthew Queen might have hypothetically seen the error of his ways and cleaned up his act after this early foray into gunrunning, he absolutely did not. In December 2017, just a couple weeks into Matthew and Baylee’s relationship, they were arrested after police found four unmarked, unregistered, loaded assault rifles in Matthew’s car during a traffic stop. Neither he or Baylee said a word to the police, but while Matthew (who, as a convicted felon, was prohibited from carrying any guns or ammunition at all) was charged with several felonies, while Baylee pled no contest to a lesser misdemeanor and received three years probation. Later that month, she moved in with Matthew, his mother, and his estranged wife. Baylee’s family saw and heard even less from her. And in April, a month after Micah’s disappearance and just one day after she and Matthew attended a court date for the weapons charges, Baylee went missing. Her mother believed she was pregnant with Matthew’s child and was trying to leave him at the time. Matthew told police that she had connections through her father's side of the family with a Mexican drug cartel and believed they had something to do with her disappearance.
Local interest in the case reached an even greater frenzy after Micah’s severed arm was found in the Kern River in Hart Park on the east side of town, not far from from where he was last seen. It was positively identified in late December 2018. By this point, the family of the Bakersfield 3's investigation had amassed around 10,000 followers on Facebook and another 5,000 in a private group, and the story was a fixture on local news. Another curveball came around this time too, when a former friend of Baylee’s named Sara Wedemeyer, 21, filed a restraining order against Baylee’s mother, Jane Parrent. As it was reported, Sara had moved in with Matthew mere weeks after Baylee disappeared, and she was four months pregnant with his child when she attempted to take out legal action against Mrs. Parrent, whom she claimed was harassing her and her “fiancé” by hanging up missing person fliers in their neighborhood. The restraining order wasn't granted, but Queen allegedly began making disturbing social media posts about Baylee, Micah, and the Parrent family, with Mrs. Parrent as the primary target. And in mid-2019, the investigation seemed to grind to a halt.
Part 4: New Developments
On May 27, 2020, roughly two years after the first developments in the Bakersfield 3 case, the Kern County District Attorney held at a press conference to announce they believe Baylee Despot and Matthew Queen “deliberately and with premeditation" murdered Micah Holsonbake. Despot and Queen, along with a third man, Matthew Vandecasteele, were charged with the alleged kidnapping, torture, and first degree murder, as well as unlawful manufacturing of assault weapons, conspiracy relating to the murder and torture plot, and a slew of other assault and gun charges (34 in total). Queen and Vandacasteele were both in custody at the time the charges against them were filed, but even though Baylee still has not been seen or heard from since 2018, the DA’s office issued a warrant for her arrest, leading some to speculate she may still be alive.
According to court records, Matthew Queen allegedly believed that Micah Holsonbake had stolen a .44-caliber revolver from him. He and Baylee Despot kidnapped Micah, zip-tied him to a chair in Matthew Vandecasteele’s garage, and attempted to torture him in order to extract information from him. A blood stain in the garage matched Holsonbake’s DNA. Vandecasteele told police that he didn’t see or hear Micah on the night he was killed, but knew that the other two had brought him there to question him. After several hours, Baylee allegedly returned to the apartment seeming “flustered” and changed her clothes in a back bedroom. Before they left, “Queen told Vandecasteele that he had cleaned everything up and it was OK to go inside the garage.” The next day, Queen returned to Vandecasteele’s apartment and said he “needed help disposing of something” in a large black storage container in the trunk of his car. Vandecasteele claims he refused to help with disposing of the body, but according police reports, his Google history during that period of time included searches for “lye chemical formula,” “lye for sale” and “how long does it take to dissolve a human body,” as well as browsing for lye on the Home Depot and Lowe’s websites.
Queen, Despot, and Vandacasteele allegedly manufactured and sold AR-15s from gun build kits. Other witness testimony released by the courts described various kidnappings that witnesses allege Queen, known as “the boogeyman of Bakersfield,” committed. In one incident, Queen allegedly handcuffed one victim to a chair and put an electric dog collar around his neck because he believed the man had stolen a gun part from him. Another witness said that Queen and Vandacasteele showed up armed at his hotel room after the witness told Baylee where he was staying, and that he believed they intended to kill him because he’d been arrested “with a large quantity of narcotics that he was fronted or given without paying for them and the people who had gave him the narcotics could have been upset.” (According to the police report, surveillance footage from the hotel corroborates this account.)
It’s also believed that he made anonymous calls to the police tip line to misdirect the investigation away from himself: one such caller referred to Baylee as a “sugar momma,” a phrase which Queen reportedly used to describe her when he spoke to investigators in August 2019, and he also used the same pseudonym on the tip line that he did on social media. When police questioned him around this time, he denied being part of a criminal enterprise and claimed he could barely pay his bills. Then, while out on bail for unrelated gun charges in January 2019, Queen allegedly kidnapped another man at gunpoint and forced him to walk into the Kern River while Queen accused him of snitching to the cops. He’s been in custody since July of 2019 due to this kidnapping.
Part 5: No Body, No Crime
So where is Baylee Despot?
According to official statements from law enforcement, no one knows. After the warrant was issued for her arrest, a wave of speculation followed that she had faked her own death or fled to Mexico with the help of unspecified “cartel connections.” That story seems less and less likely as more details have emerged from court documents. Vandecasteele told the police that Despot was “falling apart mentally” after murdering Micah. He and Queen both suspected that she was cooperating with police on an investigation relating to the illegal weapons charges, called her a “snitch” in one interview, and told investigators he believed Queen “made her disappear.” In one interview, a female witness said Queen kidnapped her at gunpoint, took her to an orchard, and held an AR-15 to her head while he questioned her about whether Baylee was faithful to him.
When police questioned him about Baylee’s disappearance in July 2019, he said was depressed and off her medications, and she had said she wanted to die. When the investigator told Queen there had been allegations of domestic violence involving him and Baylee, some of which resulted in bruises, Queen said he never laid a hand on anyone. He told the detective she was clumsy. Despite all of this, Jane Parrent says that police have told her that they don’t consider Matthew Queen a person of interest in Baylee’s disappearance, and that there is "no known physical evidence that definitively confirms her possible death." She is now offering her own personally-funded $1000 reward for information about her daughter’s location.
The rest of Micah Holsonbake’s body has not been recovered, though according to court documents, investigators believe Queen may have buried him in the hills near Taft, a rural area about 45 minutes west of Bakersfield.
There have been no developments in the investigation of James Kulstad’s murder since 2018. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Bakersfield Police Department at (661) 327-7111, or the Kern Secret Witness program at (661) 322-4040. A reward of up to $10,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest in this case.
Ultimately, what really frustrates me about this case is that even after this avalanche of charges, so many questions remain unresolved, and not just what happened and who did it, but why. If the investigation concluded that James Kulstad’s death was unrelated to the disappearances of Baylee and Micah, who ordered his murder, and what was the reason? To what extent was the chiropractor involved with Queen and Vandecasteele’s trafficking racket? Was Sara Wedemeyer involved with Baylee’s disappearance, and if not, how’d she end up living with Matthew and expecting his child just two months after her “friend” went missing? Why did Sara and Matthew harass Baylee’s mother for months after the disappearance?
More than anything, I’m still lost as to Baylee Despot’s motivation for any of this. Did she just find herself in too deep with no way out? Did she actively make the choice to become a gunrunner? Did Matthew, looking to settle a grudge against Micah, seek out a relationship with Baylee with the intention of using her to get to him? Did he kill her because she was cooperating with the cops, because she attempted to leave him, or because he was just a sociopath who felt she was no longer useful?
Or is there a chance that law enforcement knows more than they’ve let on? When investigators told Mrs. Parrent that Matthew isn’t a suspect in her disappearance, was that an indication that she may, in fact, be alive?
Probably not. But at this point, anything is possible.
Sources:

1. Baylee’s page on The Charley Project: https://charleyproject.org/case/baylee-cheyanne-despot
2. First news story about Micah Holsonbake’s disappearance, 4/13/20: https://www.bakersfield.com/news/breaking/man-reported-missing-april-has-medical-condition-family-says/article_8af62936-3f73-11e8-a82e-4b2ef30f031f.html
3. “Baylee Parrent-Despot reported missing for more than a month,” 6/8/18: https://www.turnto23.com/news/local-news/baylee-parrent-despot-reported-missing-for-more-than-a-month
4. “The Bakersfield 3: Reward offered in Baylee Despot case,” 9/18/18: https://www.kget.com/news/the-bakersfield-3-reward-offered-in-baylee-despot-case/
5. “Bakersfield 3 mothers recall their last contact with children,” news article dated 10/24/18 https://www.bakersfield.com/news/momma-loves-you-bakersfield-mothers-recall-their-last-contact-with/article_418f70a8-d7e0-11e8-ac3c-67a7fc8df3d1.html
6. “BPD: Missing man in Bakersfield 3 believed to have been killed, and his death shares similarities with disappearance of missing woman,” 10/20/18: https://www.bakersfield.com/news/breaking/bpd-missing-man-in-bakersfield-believed-to-have-been-killed/article_fbeb8eb4-04b8-11e9-bb07-17e07813288b.html
7. “Mother of missing woman fights harassment claims stemming from her daughter’s disappearance,” 12/18/18: https://www.kget.com/news/mother-of-missing-woman-fights-harassment-claims-stemming-from-her-daughters-disappearance/
8. “Micah Holsonbake dead; DNA test confirms arm found in river his,” 12/20/18: https://bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/bpd-believes-a-man-missing-since-march-was-murdered
9. “Stories behind the Bakersfield 3,” 12/20/18: https://www.kget.com/news/homicide-news/stories-behind-the-bakersfield-3/1669785945/
10. Ryan Kulstad appearance on Dr. Phil, 1/14/19: https://www.drphil.com/videos/a-young-man-describes-what-led-up-to-him-holding-his-older-brother-in-his-arms-as-he-died/
11. “A closer look at the Bakersfield 3: Where is Baylee Despot?,” 3/5/19: https://www.kget.com/news/local-news/domestic-violence/a-closer-look-at-the-bakersfield-3-where-is-baylee-despot/
12. “A closer look at the Bakersfield 3: Who killed James Kulstad?” 3/6/19: https://www.kget.com/news/a-closer-look-at-the-bakersfield-3-who-killed-james-kulstad/
13. “A closer look at the Bakersfield 3: What happened to Micah Holsonbake?” 3/7/19: https://www.kget.com/news/a-closer-look-at-the-bakersfield-3-what-happened-to-micah-holsonbake/
14. “One year later, mothers of Bakersfield 3 continue their search for answers,” 3/23/19: https://www.bakersfield.com/news/one-year-later-mothers-of-bakersfield-3-continue-their-search-for-answers/article_528a7650-4cfc-11e9-886c-23d55ec3c32d.html
15. “One year since death of James Kulstad, one of the 'Bakersfield 3’,” 4/8/19: https://www.turnto23.com/news/local-news/one-year-since-death-of-james-kulstad-one-of-the-bakersfield-3
16. “Mother of missing Baylee Despot speaks out on arrest of kidnapping suspect Matthew Queen,” 7/15/19: https://www.kget.com/news/local-news/mother-of-missing-baylee-despot-speaks-out-on-arrest-of-kidnapping-suspect-matthew-queen/
17. “Investigating the mysteries of what happened to the Bakersfield 3,” 11/3/19: https://www.turnto23.com/news/crime/investigating-the-mysteries-of-what-happened-to-the-bakersfield-3
18. “Defendant in alleged kidnapping waives right to preliminary hearing,” 11/9/19: https://www.bakersfield.com/news/defendant-in-alleged-kidnapping-waives-right-to-preliminary-hearing/article_b5a3274c-00c4-11ea-a1e9-635cd4a35c9e.html
19. “More charges filed against accused kidnapper Matthew Queen,” 1/1/20: https://www.kget.com/news/crime-watch/more-charges-filed-against-kidnapping-suspect-matthew-queen/
20. Press release announcing charges filed against Queen, Despot, and Vandacasteele: https://www.kerncounty.com/home/showpublisheddocument?id=4595
21. “Matthew Queen makes a court appearance in connection to 'Bakersfield 3' case,” 6/12/20: https://www.turnto23.com/news/crime/matthew-queen-make-a-court-appearance-in-connection-to-bakersfield-3-case
22. “‘Bakersfield 3’ member Micah Holsonbake believed killed by Matthew Queen over alleged stolen gun, defendant says in court documents,” 6/18/20: https://www.kget.com/news/crime-watch/bakersfield-3-member-micah-holsonbake-was-killed-by-matthew-queen-over-alleged-stolen-gun-defendant-says-in-court-documents/
23. “Documents suggest Micah Holsonbake was afraid of suspect Matthew Queen; suggest Queen attempted to mislead investigation,” 6/17/20: https://www.turnto23.com/news/crime/documents-suggest-micah-holsonbake-was-afraid-of-suspect-matthew-queen-suggest-queen-attempted-to-mislead-investigation
24. “Documents detail depth of investigation into suspected murder of Bakersfield 3 member,” 6/19/20: https://www.bakersfield.com/news/documents-detail-depth-of-investigation-into-suspected-murder-of-bakersfield-3-membearticle_ac1fb9a4-b278-11ea-962b-6b8ee0b03647.html
25. “Bakersfield 3 update: Matthew Queen appears in court, pleas not guilty to all charges,” 6/11/20: https://bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/bakersfield-3-update-matthew-queen-appears-in-court-pleas-not-guilty-to-all-charges
26. “‘Bakersfield 3’ member Micah Holsonbake was afraid of murder suspect Matthew Queen, became increasingly paranoid before he disappeared, documents say,” 6/17/20
27. Appellate court decision against Matthew Queen: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/408/337/509670/
28. Obituary of James Kulstad: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bakersfield/obituary.aspx?n=james-john-kulstad&pid=188771330&fhid=6140

decThese are some of the movies I'm planning to watch [hopefully] in 2021. I'll consistently update the list with more movies, updated release dates and new trailer links for easy access. Each movie's IMDb page is also linked. I'm going to pin this to my profile page for my own convenience and anyone else that wants to follow along for recommendations on upcoming movies.
 
Movies are listed in order of US release dates, but it's safe to assume there may be further delays coming (Many of these are already reschedules from 2020)...will update accordingly.
Let me know of any others you think I may have missed, thanks.
 
My Letterboxd 2021 Horror Movies Seen/Ranked List (Under construction - Will be adding/removing movies throughout the year as more are viewed.)
 
 

• Hunted (WATCHED-Shudder): Survival horror in the vein of 'Little Red Riding Hood'. Synopsis: Eve meets what she thinks is a charming guy in a bar, but things go terribly wrong once she realizes she’s come across a psychopath. They engage in a deadly chase until she decides to fight back with the forest acting as her ally.
  Trailer (spoiler-ish): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjE3LNm48hE
  

 

• PG: Psycho Goreman (WATCHED-VOD): "PG - Rated R". Horror-comedy written/directed by Steven Kostanski (The Void). Synopsis: After unearthing a gem that controls an evil monster looking to destroy the Universe, a young girl and her brother use it to make him do their bidding.
  Trailer #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3dFm_Vm528
  Trailer #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4tizc0IAVQ
  

 

• The Queen of Black Magic (WATCHED-Shudder): Indonesian horror remake written by Joko Anwar (Satan's Slaves , Impetigore). Synopsis: A family travels to the distant, rural orphanage where the father was raised to pay their respects to the facility’s gravely ill director. But his homecoming turns into a terrifying supernatural ordeal that threatens their families’ lives: someone is using dark magic to avenge evil deeds.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uC7_PFQgCc
  

 

• The Night (WATCHED-VOD): Synopsis: An Iranian couple living in the US become trapped inside a hotel when insidious events force them to face the secrets that have come between them, in a night that never ends.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2vsYt_41Co
  

 

• Saint Maud (WATCHED-limited theaters ; Feb. 12-VOD): From A24. Synopsis: Follows a pious nurse who becomes dangerously obsessed with saving the soul of her dying patient.
  Trailer #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXs2-TY9qok
  Trailer #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP2MlPwflX4
  Trailer #3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuwDfbJF-MY
  

 

• The Funeral Home (WATCHED-VOD): Synopsis: Bernardo is an undertaker. He runs his mortuary business in the same house where he resides. In the front he has his clients. And in the back, his dysfunctional family lives among coffins, wreaths and mischievous supernatural entities that visit on a daily basis.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49qeFV6ms58
  

 

• The Reckoning (WATCHED-VOD): Latest horror movie from Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers , The Descent), starring Sean Pertwee and Joe Anderson. Synopsis: In the aftermath of the Great Plague and amidst the subsequent witch-hunts against women, a young widow grapples with the tragic death of her husband in a society completely consumed by fear and death.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR0Dj3jcCOM
  Movie clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq9RFgbUdXU
  

 

• Reunion (WATCHED-VOD): Synopsis: A pregnant woman returns to her recently-deceased grandparents' old family home to spend time with her estranged mother. What begins as a tenuous reunion slowly turns terrifying.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyAK39k2qzY
  

 

• Sator (WATCHED-VOD): Synopsis: Secluded in a desolate forest, a broken family is observed by Sator, a supernatural entity who is attempting to claim them.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e_Ij0S-sBw
  

 

• Sacrifice (WATCHED-VOD): Lovecraft inspired movie (working-titled The Colour of Madness). Synopsis: After his mother's death, Isaac and his pregnant wife return to his birthplace on a remote Norwegian island to claim on unexpected inheritance. During their visit, the couple discover dark secrets from Isaac's past. Their pleasant trip quickly turns into a nightmare when Isaac and his wife encounter a sinister cult that worships a sea-dwelling deity.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I56szLBfvUA
  

 

• Willy's Wonderland (WATCHED-VOD): They had me at: Nicolas Cage fights wave after wave of demonic animatronics.
  Teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfh8_X3sH5s
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v27rfaoB2Y
  

 

• The Vigil (WATCHED-VOD): Synopsis: A man providing overnight watch to a deceased member of his former Orthodox Jewish community finds himself opposite a malevolent entity.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7vxgt7Adv0
  

 

• Wrong Turn (WATCHED-VOD): Re-boot/sequel of the Wrong Turn film series.
  Trailer #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccaNMcPqpQ0
  Trailer #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HVFMFQGV3o
  

 

• Son (Mar. 5-theaters & VOD): Synopsis: When a young boy falls ill to a mysterious illness, his mother must decide how far she will go to protect him from terrifying forces in her past.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6n-kFcy00k
  

 

• Come True (Mar. 12-theaters & VOD): Synopsis: A socially awkward driver and a weary passenger they try to make it to their destination while being haunted by a supernatural threat.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiK9xcfElTo
  

 

• The Toll (Mar. 30-blu-ray/digital & dvd): Synopsis: A teenage runaway takes part in a sleep study that becomes a nightmarish descent into the depths of her mind and a frightening examination of the power of dreams.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UTnLCtU_Uo
  

 

• Spiral: From the Book of Saw (May 21-theaters): Director Darren Lynn Bousman returns to the Saw franchise. Executive produced by and co-starring Chris Rock, along with Samuel L. Jackson. Synopsis: A sadistic mastermind unleashes a twisted form of justice in Spiral, the terrifying new chapter from the book of Saw.
  Teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgNlWypWmtw
  

 

• The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (June 4-theaters & HBO Max): The third movie in the main Conjuring series.
  First Look Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpaAdZA5sEs
  

 

• The Forever Purge (July 9-theaters): The fifth installment of The Purge film series.
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• The Night House (July 16-theaters): Directed by David Bruckner (The Ritual , Southbound , V/H/S). Synopsis: A widow begins to uncover her recently deceased husband's disturbing secrets.
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• Old (July 23-theaters): Written/directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Currently per IMDb: Plot kept under wraps.
  Teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB1m-WogYeg
  

 

• The Green Knight (July 30-theaters): A24 dark fantasy/horror. Synopsis: A fantasy re-telling of the medieval story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoJc2tH3WBw
  

 

• Don't Breathe 2 (Aug. 13-theaters): Stephen Lang returns. Synopsis: The Blind Man returns to terrorize more unsuspecting people.
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• Candyman (Aug. 27-theaters): Soft re-boot/sequel co-written/produced by Jordan Peele.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlwzuZ9kOQU
  Teaser #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9O9_-bv5qE
  Teaser #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9uXxOxVe4w
  

 

• Resident Evil (Sep. 3-theaters): Per IMDb: The plot is being kept under wraps. A reboot of the Resident Evil films.
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• Malignant (Sep. 10-theaters & HBO Max): Giallo directed by James Wan. No other specifics yet.
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• A Quiet Place Part II (Sep. 17-theaters): Sequel written/directed by John Krasinski, starring Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEMwSdne6UE
  

 

• Halloween Kills (Oct. 15-theaters): Sequel to the Halloween 1978 and 2018 timeline.
  Teaser #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHhZDYVoV7w
  Teaser #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_NGjpJxX9c
  

 

• Last Night in Soho (Oct. 22-theaters): Directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead), starring Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Split). Synopsis: A young girl, passionate about fashion design, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters her idol, a dazzling wannabe singer. But 1960s London is not what it seems, and time seems to fall apart with shady consequences.
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• Antlers (Oct. 29-theaters): Based on the short story "The Quiet Boy", starring Keri Russell (Dark Skies). Was scheduled for February, but delayed again.
  Trailer #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEM5HW7q5dY
  Trailer #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aiYxwVuZ1o
  Trailer #3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng5eyOfL8qM
  

 

• Nightmare Alley (Dec. 3-theaters): Thriller-Noir directed/co-written by Guillermo del Toro, based on the 1947 novel by William Lindsay Gresham. Starring Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Cate Blanchett, Bradley Cooper, Rooney Mara and Ron Perlman. Synopsis: An ambitious young carny with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than he is.
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• The Northman (Release date TBA): Viking revenge saga by Robert Eggers (The Witch , The Lighthouse). Not currently classified as "horror", but according to co-stars Nicole Kidman & Anya Taylor-Joy, and cinematographer Jarin Blaschke it looks as if it may have at least some strong horror elements. Also starring Alexander Skarsgård, Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie and Björk.
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• The Banishing (Release date TBA-Shudder): Directed by Christopher Smith (Triangle , Black Death . Severance). The Banishing tells the story of the most haunted house in England. In the 1930s, a young reverend, his wife and daughter move into a manor with a horrifying secret.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0UlhkBDz1k
  

 

• Prisoners of the Ghostland (Release date TBA): Directed by Sion Sono (Exte , Tag , Suicide Club , Strange Circus) and starring Nicolas Cage and Sofia Boutella. Synopsis: A notorious criminal must break an evil curse in order to rescue an abducted girl who has mysteriously disappeared.
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• Insidious: Chapter 5 (Release date TBA): Directed by and starring Patrick Wilson. Synopsis: The film will pick up with the Lamberts 10 years after their last installment, as Dalton begins college.
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Release date TBA): Per IMDb: A reboot of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre horror film franchise.
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• In the Earth (Release date TBA): Written/directed by Ben Wheatley (Kill List , A Field in England). Synopsis: As a disastrous virus grips the planet, a scientist and a park scout venture deep into the forest for a routine equipment run. Through the night, their journey becomes a terrifying voyage through the heart of darkness as the forest comes to life around them.
  Teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh-fN-ux3lg
  

 

• The Collected (Release date TBA): Third film in The Collector series.
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• Army of the Dead (Release date TBA-Netflix): Written/directed by Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead '04). Synopsis: Following a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• Terrifier 2 (Release date TBA): Art the Clown returns.
  Teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ8cv-Rfrcw
  

 

• Bloodthirsty (Release date TBA): A werewolf movie. Synopsis: Grey is an indie singer who is having visions that she is a wolf. When she gets an invitation to work with notorious music producer Vaughn Daniels at his remote studio in the woods she begins to find out who she really is.
  Movie clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBaNXDtnG98
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• Suicide Forest Village (Release date TBA): Directed/co-written by Takashi Shimizu (creator of the Ju-on series). Synopsis: One day a mysterious box arrived and a curse began to spread all over. The source of the box is a village hidden in Jukai Forest, a suicide spot that once you enter it, you can never come out.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP34EOWt6Pk
  

 

• Post Mortem (Release date TBA): Per IMDb: A post mortem photographer and a little girl confront ghosts in a haunted village after the First World War.
  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hIlc6VULRE
  

 

• The Blazing World (Release date TBA): Synopsis: Decades after the accidental drowning of her twin sister, a self-destructive young woman returns to her family home, finding herself drawn to an alternate dimension where her sister may still be alive.
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• Run Sweetheart Run (Release date TBA-Amazon Prime): Starring Pilou Asbæk (Game of Thrones , Overlord) and Ella Balinska. Synopsis: A woman tries to get home alive after her blind date turns violent.
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• Orphan: First Kill (Release date TBA): Starring Isabelle Fuhrman and Julia Stiles. A prequel to the 2009 movie Orphan.
  Trailer to come:
  

 

• Death Rider in the House of Vampires (Release date TBA): ...And because I'm a glutton for punishment after seeing Verotika, this is Glenn Danzig’s "Vampire Spaghetti Western" starring Devon Sawa (Idle Hands , Hunter Hunter , Final Destination) and Kim Director (Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2). “Everybody in the movie is a vampire,” Danzig told audiences in Los Angeles earlier last year. “So, you won’t have to wait around to see the vampire. They’re all fucking vampires!” :/
  Trailer: Embedded in Bloody-Disgusting article
  

 
Honorable mentions: New Paranormal Activity and Scream are due out in 2022. Also, new Ari Aster film Beau is Afraid, which is still listed as "in development".
 

Your 12-minute Wednesday report in 2971 words.

November 18 timeline

Nevada's Clarke County (Las Vegas) has officially recognized the Artsakh Republic.
https://twitter.com/ANCA_Wstatus/1328753472565493761
9:37: 1700 Artsakh refugees have returned home so far. The population was around 145,000 before the war. Some 10-20% never left.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035190.html
10:09 PM Pashinyan presented the roadmap: It is time to talk about methods to overcome the current situation. I have already stated that I consider myself the number-one responsible for the situation. I am also responsible for overcoming the situation and establishing stability and security in the country.
1) Negotiations must resume in OSCE format, with the emphasis on Artsakh status and the return of Artsakh residents to their homeland.
2) Secure Artsakh residents' rights to return home. Fully restore daily life. Repair infrastructure.
3) Social aid for families of fallen soldiers.
4) Repairing infrastructure damaged in the Republic of Armenia.
5) Aid for wounded soldiers, obtaining prosthetics, educational training courses for changing professions if necessary.
6) Returning POWs and aid for their families. Clarification of the status of those who are missing, and aid for their families.
7) Rehabilitation system for those who participated in the war, and for the general public, too.
8) The beginning of reforms in the army.
9) Defeating COVID and overcoming its consequences.
10) Restoration of the environment for economic activity.
11) Activation of demographic programs.
12) Reforming electoral laws [opposition and the govt had agreed to lower the passing threshold to allow more opposition parties to enter Parliament, etc.]
13) Introduction of the Institute of Specialized Judges as the first step in establishing an anti-corruption courts. Launching the process to confiscate illegally embezzled property.
14) Conducting regular consultations with representatives of the Armenian political and civil community.
15) Consultations with diasporan institutes and individuals.
The goal is to ensure the democratic stability of Armenia and to create guarantees that nothing threatens the formation of power in Armenia through the free will of the people. For this, I'll make changes to the government team.
We will need 6 months to launch the aforementioned tasks. In June 2021, I will report to you the progress, and based on the public response, we will decide on what to do next.
Full: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035193.html
11:11: US Senator Bob Menendez called on the US government to impose sanctions on Turkey and Azerbaijan for the military aggression, and to end weapon supplies to them.
He called for a $100 million aid to Artsakh refugees.
https://youtu.be/JCh49hna7hA
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035203.html
11:42 COVID stats: +4,109 tested. +1,589 infected (down). +1,726 healed. +28 deaths. 38,082 active (down).
HealthMin Torosyan: the percentage of positive tests and the absolute numbers are declining, but the healthcare system is still under stress.
We still have 375 patients waiting for beds, 25 of whom are in serious condition. We will likely hospitalize them sometime today. A few days ago the waiting list was 800. The trend can change again with the resumption of schools.
Our main issue right now is oxygen supplies. Without it, the medication is ineffective. We'll soon receive more oxygen stations, followed by four large stations in December. We had purchased many oxygen stations during the first wave but today's large numbers, partly a result of the war, were outside of our predications.
We're negotiating over vaccines. There are agreements. They will likely arrive in mid-Spring.
We have no shortage of COVID test kits. New test labs are opening; two in the past week alone.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035206.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035232.html
11:43: earlier this year, a part of a residential apartment complex collapsed in Yerevan. The govt has issued free housing certificates to the affected residents.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035207.html
12:05: several soldiers returned from Artsakh and decided to organize a demonstration in support of PM Pashinyan. PM's office and QP party urged them to stay home and not to gather, citing the Martial Law that currently prohibits large gatherings and demonstrations.
A dozen prominent opposition figures were charged with ignoring the Martial Law and organizing demonstrations earlier. If found guilty, they are facing anywhere between a $415 fine to 2 months of jail.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035208.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035240.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035245.html , https://www.arlis.am/documentView.aspx?docid=69646 , https://news.am/arm/news/614215.html
12:27: Aznavour Foundation and the Armenian Foundation of France have launched a committee to coordinate the aid process from France. Earlier they met President Macron about humanitarian aid and Artsakh's recognition.
Links in the article: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035213.html
12:38: Parliament Speaker QP MP Ararat Mirzoyan was severely beaten by rioters on November 10th. Healthcare Minister says he will soon recover after one more surgery [which was done today].
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035215.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035236.html
12:45: German-Armenian pianist Margarit Hovhannisyan gave a solo performance to collect aid for Armenia Fund (www.HimnaDram.org). She donated $5,000 in proceeds. The German colleagues expressed support for Artsakh and Armenians.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035216.html
12:49: diasporan-Armenian singer Iveta Mukuchyan went to Artsakh's Dadivank church and performed "Sirt im sasani" (Սիրտ իմ սասանի) religious music.
Video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=845836856202879
Mukushyan released a German-language video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=782524012332940
13:50: The US will donate $5 million to Red Cross and other orgs to help those who suffered from the war.
https://factor.am/311291.html
14:02: the identification of soldiers who died in battles continues. 81 more names were published, bringing the total identified to 1586. Around 800 remain unidentified. Several hundred bodies were exchanged recently. The process continues.
MoD Tonoyan: The list of missing soldiers is shrinking; many soldiers end up being discovered alive and well. We drafted a bill to aid the families of soldiers who're missing.
Update: HealthMin Torosyan: we've examined 2425 bodies. 250 of them remain unidentified.
https://youtu.be/zrXQBUJLdK0
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035225.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035249.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035288.html
14:05 Armenia Fund (Himnadram) report: hundreds of thousands have donated. The aid was provided to Artsakh and Armenia from the first day of the war.
Diesel generators, emergency vehicles, medical products, basic consumer products, heating devices, portable gas stoves, mobile fuel stations, beds, etc. were purchased during the war. Simultaneously, 100 tons of aid was coordinated.
Himnadram will help Armenia's budget to pay for social welfare, healthcare, infrastructure repair, etc. The documents are ready. Tens of thousands of Artsakh refugees were aided.
International independent auditors will examine the finances.
 
During a Parliamentary session, the Deputy PM Mher Grigoryan confirmed that Himnadram has transferred some of the funds for humanitarian work.
In response, former regime's HHK MP Armen Ashotyan, without evidence, claimed the money is being stolen.
[Context: The former regime is mad because they were caught stealing Himnadram's donations in 2018. After the 2018 revolution, the Pashinyan administration busted HHK's Himnadram director with stealing the funds and using them on gambling. The director confessed and returned part of the stolen money. Himnadram then underwent a complete change in administration which raised the trust towards the fund. Now the former regime is sabotaging the diaspora's donation efforts for political gain.]
More: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035224.html , https://news.am/arm/news/614194.html
14:14: there are over 40 suspects charged with mass riots, attempts to forcefully seize power, and overthrowing the constitutional order, after the November 10 attack on the government buildings.
5 are arrested, 5 are told not to leave the country. 70 suspects, some of whom severely beat Parliament Speaker Mirzoyan and vandalized PM's residence, were also identified. They are on the wanted list.
Rioters who physically abused Pashinyan's spokeswoman Mane Gevorgyan, and broke into Azatutyun media outlet's office, are also wanted by police. Some were arrested.
https://youtu.be/1qA8iJ1JXmM?t=197
https://youtu.be/kSQ389vQA8U?t=3
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035226.html
14:18: Opposition LHK has its roadmap: no elections necessary, PM resigns, the ruling QP party appoints new PM, the new PM appoints ministers from various political parties. [similar to what Pashinyan did in 2018 when he appointed opposition Ministers for a brief period].
https://factor.am/311328.html
14:19: Azerbaijan earlier shot a Russian helicopter in Armenia. Two Russian pilots died and one was wounded. Armenia issued them military service medals.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035227.html
14:49: video showing more Russian peacekeepers moving to Artsakh:
https://youtu.be/o7nwWmN59d8
15:18: Italian community of Viareggio has officially recognized the Artsakh Republic.
https://factor.am/311370.html
15:55: Aurora humanitarian organization will help Artsakh residents. IDeA's first aid program will begin today. They're open to humanitarian program suggestions. Link in the article:
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035237.html
16:27: Aghdam is one of the adjacent regions that's being given/returned to Azerbaijan. Seven villages with a combined 2,000 population will be resettled elsewhere.
https://news.am/arm/news/614171.html
16:42: food prices in October YoY rose +0.6%. Consumer price index +1.3%.
https://factor.am/311385.html
16:44: the head of Military Control Service Movses Hakobyan had resigned on November 10th. It was announced today.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035242.html , https://news.am/arm/news/614169.html
17:04: will Germany follow France and ban the Turkish extremist-terrorist "Grey Wolves" organization? German Parliament will hold a discussion tomorrow. Two bills were proposed. One of them appears to be bipartisan.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035248.html
17:05 Healthcare Minister Torosyan: we need to build a new 250-bed center for wounded soldiers and their rehabilitation. We need to maximally use the existing resources; some of them require upgrades. This will cost approximately $5.2 million.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035247.html
17:09: Legatium Prosperity Index 2020 has ranked Armenia 55th in the world. That's a 23-step improvement over 2010. The strongest point was the business & investment atmosphere, with the environment being the weakest point.
Georgia 53, Armenia 55, Azerbaijan 78, Iran 120.
https://news.am/arm/news/614184.html
17:58: My Step charity foundation will double the number of wounded soldiers they help. The center will provide therapy, dental, and other services for 600 former soldiers.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035262.html
14:57: it's SNOWING in Gavar and Jermuk cities, and roads near Sevan and Aparan! Georgian roads are also snowy; the Lars transport hub with Russia is open only for large cargo trucks.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035233.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035253.html
17:38: Pashinyan was in Parliament to discuss various topics and answer questions. The opposition BHK and LHK parties boycotted and left.
Ind. MP: do you support forming a government of national accord, which could be one of the ways to find a solution out of the current situation?
Pashinyan: our task is to create an atmosphere of agreement in the country. No government can stay in power without the permission of the people. At atmosphere of agreement is not always achieved by forming [aforementioned type of govt consisted of various parties]. There is a need for agreement around two points: security and stability, and to guarantee democracy.
Ind. MP: will there be changes in the government?
Pashinyan: we are discussing it. Structural changes aren't being discussed right now.
Full: https://youtu.be/64iJuNWbk_Q
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035259.html , https://news.am/arm/news/614076.html
17:58: another video from November 4th showing battles on the outskirts of Shushi. [still believe it was "given away" without a fight? 🤔]
Hovhannes Avagyan, one of the deputy Artsakh army commanders, was killed during Shushi battles on November 7th. He received the Combat Cross medal posthumously.
https://youtu.be/yrzBbKvXFO4
https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/287858/
18:18: the 16 opposition parties resumed their demonstrations. They demand the government's and Pashinyan's resignation. The police urged them to respect the Martial Law and not to gather.
They will also hold a demonstration on Saturday and present a document, presumably their own roadmap.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035264.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035280.html
18:21 Police: body of the 27-year-old Garnik Petrosyan was found under Kievyan Bridge on November 13th. A medical examination was carried out and an investigation was launched.
The examination revealed that Petrosyan was among the rioters who broke into the govt building and caused destruction on November 10th. A felony case was launched against him and he was arrested shortly afterward.
On November 13th he was charged with multiple felony counts. The same day, at 8 pm, his 3-day detention period had expired so he was released from the police station. The same day, prosecutors asked the court to arrest him for 2 months before his trial.
Petrosyan was questioned until 9 pm. The tragic incident happened at 10:04 pm. Social media spread rumors that he was allegedly murdered and it wasn't a suicide by jumping from the bridge.
Investigation revealed a witness who was walking nearby and saw how a man grabbed a flag pole and climbed at the center of the bridge at around 10 pm. By the time the witness picked up the phone to call 911 it was too late. Immediately afterward, two other people and the witness looked down the bridge and saw the body laying on the road below the bridge.
The police arrived. The witnesses were questioned. The victim was there alone.
CCTV footages were examined. It showed how the victim went there by himself, climbed on the edge, and jumped.
It was revealed that the victim had attempted suicide in 2010 by overdosing on medications. He was registered at a special center up until 2019, where he was taking special medication. He stopped taking them in January 2019 at his own will.
[Media outlets run by the former regime, and a Telegram channel called Mediaport, had earlier circulated rumors, without evidence, that the rioter was murdered by a ruling party member Hayk Sargsyan. The latter often finds himself the target of rumors]:
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035265.html
18:22: Ara Ayvazyan is the new Foreign Minister. He is a graduate of YSU eastern studies Arabic faculty. Served in the Soviet army. Graduated from Beirut's Haykazyan college. Worked in MFA since 1995. Served as ambassador to several states in 1996-2018.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035266.html
18:56: despite being told to stay home, Pashinyan supporters gathered in front of the govt building, urging him not to resign.
"I came from Martakert outposts. I have participated in war since 1992, and so did my family members. They [former regime] should have purchased weapons instead of private islands and mansions," said one demonstrator. "By hitting the Parliament Speaker Mirzoyan you're hitting me."
PM's aide met the demonstrators and said his resignation isn't being discussed.
Pashinyan went outside to meet them and asked them to go home, "I know that there are tens of thousands of you who are ready to gather in Public Square if necessary. Thank you. I bow to all the volunteers, fallen soldiers, and their families. Go home now. If necessary, I will invite you."
The police began telling the gathered crowd to leave, citing the Martial Law.
Pashinyan goes outside: https://youtu.be/ueXhEKJhcwA
Soldiers: https://youtu.be/vgoGD89vNeA
Soldiers: https://youtu.be/KhXFjOiERY4
Soldiers: https://youtu.be/G00E049LsdY
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035268.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035271.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035279.html
18:56: Russian humanitarian envoy will help Artsakh authorities to travel around and document the damage to civilian infrastructure.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035269.html
19:01: the army published names of soldiers who committed acts of bravery during the war.
Lt. Colonel Ryurik Semyonov blew up 2 Kamaz trucks full of ammo, 2 anti-tank equipment, 3 tanks, 8 cars, 1 TR artillery unit.
Lt. Colonel Arthur Qaramyan destroyed 3 and captured another 3 tanks. He helped to save 600 soldiers from encirclement.
Private Suren Gabrielyan shot 6 armored vehicles and 2 tanks.
Lieutenant Tigran Petrosyan shot 6 tanks.
More: https://factor.am/311564.html
19:04: a soldier uploaded a video from trenches saying the army wasn't properly prepared and that the trenches have been in poor shape for 30 years. "Not deep enough to defend against explosions."
He says this Martakert position was defended during the war despite the poor condtions.
https://youtu.be/aWPzBZwk2j4
20:54: the opposition ended today's demonstration and promised to return at 2 pm on Saturday. They called for PM's resignation again. HHK Shawarmazanov said, "we won't engage in active politics if he resigns".
Opposition Arthur Vanetsyan announced plans to participate in elections if they take place now.
https://youtu.be/ZAuGcDRJ3uk
https://news.am/arm/news/614243.html , https://news.am/arm/news/614239.html , https://factor.am/311610.html
21:05: the City Council of Paris has a resolution that urges the Paris mayor to ask the French MFA to officially recognize the independence of the Artsakh Republic.
It takes into account a recent push by 15 French mayors to recognize Artsakh, Azeri-Turkish aggression and the use of hired jihadists, war crimes against Armenian civilians, destruction of 80% of infrastructure objects in Stepanakert (including schools and clinics).
Full: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035284.html
21:11: Azerbaijan's opposition National Front criticized the govt for placing Russian peacekeepers on the borders with Artsakh. They held a demonstration and chanted "Putin, leave. Turkey, come."
https://factor.am/311609.html
21:57 photos: these boys defended the borders:
https://hetq.am/hy/article/124436
Here are the tankists: https://hetq.am/hy/article/124452
22:02: the government of Armenia and Artsakh formed a joint committee to coordinate humanitarian work. 1) Social issues 2) Education 3) Healthcare 4) Business environment 5) Infrastructure repair.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035291.html
22:50: Nations League Soccer Spoiler Alert! The Armenian team defeated Northern Macedonia 1-0, after winning the match against Georgia a few days ago.
For the first time ever, the team, led by Spanish expert Joaquin Caparros, is the leader in its group.
What does this victory mean?
This tournament has four tiered Leagues: A, B, C, D. League A contains the "best" countries who compete for the champion's cup. The teams in lower leagues compete to climb up to higher leagues, with the ultimate goal of making into League A and winning the cup.
Armenia has just advanced from League C to League B.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035292.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%9321_UEFA_Nations_League
23:40: A1+ outlet wants to restore its TV broadcasting rights. They were suspended by the Kocharyan regime. They insisted it was politically motivated for their opposition views. The media outlet was targeted for covering the March 1st, 2008 events.
Several outlets are currently competing for public airway licenses. The winners will be known in January. The TV regulator said those with the best programming will receive the license.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201204
23:47: The French Senate will discuss the need to recognize the Artsakh Republic. Presidents of the five largest parties supported the idea to hold a discussion.
http://www.civilnet.am/news/2020/11/18/Ֆրանսիայի-Սենատը-որոշում-է-կայացրել-քվերակության-ներկայացնել-«ԼՂՀ-ճանաչման-անհրաժեշտության-մասին»-բանաձևի-նախագիծը/408863

You can help Artsakh & Armenia

www.1000plus.am (soldiers' medical help)
www.HimnaDram.org (for Artsakh & Armenia)
www.ArmeniaFund.org (U.S. tax-deductible)
 
Prior events:
Nov 17, Nov 16, Nov 15, Nov 14, Nov 13, Nov 12, Nov 11, Nov 10, Nov 9, Nov 8, Nov 7, Nov 6, Nov 5, Nov 4, Nov 3, Nov 2, Nov 1, Oct 31, Oct 30, Oct 29, Oct 28, Oct 27, Oct 26, Oct 25, Oct 24, Oct 23, Oct 22, Oct 21, Oct 20, Oct 19, Oct 18, Oct 17, Oct 16, Oct 15, Oct 14, Oct 13, Oct 12, Oct 11 , Oct 10, Oct 9 , Oct 8, Oct 7,Oct 6, Oct 5, Oct 4, Oct 3, Oct 2, Oct 1, Sep 30, Sep 29, Sep 28, Sep 27