Novelty & Gag Toys

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci says there is 'no doubt' we will see new coronavirus cases as the country reopens. (April 28) AP Domestic ROUNDUP, Mont. – Traffic got a little busier along Main Street, but otherwise, it was hard to tell that coronavirus restrictions were ending in the tiny central Montana town of Roundup. That's because it's largely business as usual in the town of 1,800 people. Nonessential stores could reopen as a statewide shutdown ended this week, but most shops in Roundup – the pharmacy, the hardware store, two small grocers – were essential and never closed. A florist and a thrift shop reopened Monday, apparently two of the only stores that had to shut down at all. Bars and restaurants remain shuttered and getting takeout is still the only option until May 4, when they can open with restrictions. Parts of the U.S. are starting to lift closures, and some of the quickest to ...

ROUNDUP, Mont. (AP) — Traffic got a little busier along Main Street, but otherwise, it was hard to tell that coronavirus restrictions were ending in the tiny Montana town of Roundup. That's because it's largely business as usual in the town of 1,800 people. Nonessential stores could reopen as a statewide shutdown ended this week, but most shops in Roundup — the pharmacy, the hardware store, two small grocers — were essential and never closed. A florist and a thrift shop reopened Monday, apparently two of the only stores that had to shut down at all. Bars and restaurants remain shuttered and getting takeout is still the only option until May 4, when they can open with restrictions. Parts of the U.S. are starting to lift closures, and some of the quickest to do so have been rural states like Montana, Vermont and Alaska. The effects of the pandemic in small towns can seem a world away from cities grappling with overwhelmed hospitals, packed morgues and economies pushed to the brin...

Americans abroad are asking themselves whether to risk infection by staying put, or risk infection by returning. Many Americans who had assumed they could stay overseas till the pandemic ebbed now face an unnerving choice: either prepare for the possibility of being infected and treated in foreign hospitals, or risk infection on the way back to the United States. The U.S. State Department, warning that commercial flights from overseas may end in the coming days, is urging Americans abroad to grab any opportunity to board them. Flights organized by the State Department that have so far returned 65,000 Americans from across the world are winding down. Some continue in limited numbers, in areas like the Indian subcontinent and Africa. And American diplomats have helped commercial airlines cut through foreign regulations that have restricted flights in and out of some countries during the pandemic. But there still are at least 17,000 American citizens or legal residents abroad who have ind...

On May 20, 1987, head coach Dick Motta abruptly resigned – without explanation – in the wake of a 55-27 season. On January 6, 1995, Roy Tarpley played in a game while visibly drunk. On June 26, 1996, they drafted Samaki Walker over Kobe Bryant. On February 17, 1997, newly-minted general manager Don Nelson traded away the team's top four scorers in a record nine-player deal. On April 6, 1997, they scored only two points – via free throws – in the third quarter of a loss. On July 3, 2004, owner Mark Cuban let future two-time Most Valuable Player Steve Nash walk in free agency, admitting, "It was my choice not to pay him the money." On Dec. 31, 2008, they trailed in the third quarter, 70-41, before rallying for the biggest comeback victory in franchise history. On Sept. 19, 2018, Cuban donated $10 million to various women's organizations in response to a scathing investigation that found systemic workplace misconduct in the organization covering 15 females over 20...

© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Duchess of York/PA In forthcoming journals of this plague year, I hope whoever gets to write the canonical version will make a particular note of 15 April. This was the day the Duchess of York, ex-wife of Prince Andrew and ex-host to the late Jeffrey Epstein, the child sex offender, used the crisis to relaunch herself as the lockdown kiddies' choice. Introducing Storytime with Fergie and Friends, the Duchess, surrounded by soft toys, said children needed "a little bit of magic". She was, she confided, in the Windsor home she shares with a host of novelty teapots and also Prince Andrew (whose testimony is still sought by a number of Epstein's victims), in her "favourite place ever… with children". Her horrendous reading of Hairy Maclary From Donaldson's Dairy, featuring one shriek so unhallowed that a doggie soft toy seemed, hurling itself out of shot, to prefer extinction, had already giv...

SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- License Global magazine, the licensing industry's thought leader and news source, today released its annual Top 200 Leading Licensees report which recognizes brand licensing's invaluable partners spanning an array of categories, from fashion apparel and accessories to novelty, toys and games, food and beverage, and much more. Notable new licensees to the report include Asmodee, Chinatown Market, Cubicall, Herschel Supply Co., Primitive Skate, Spin Master, and many more. To view the Top 200 Leading Licensees report, please visit here. The business of brand licensing is built upon relationships at its very core, and now more than ever do all aspects of business need to come together to meet the ever-changing needs of consumers during this unprecedented time in history. Thus, License Global expanded its annual Leading Licensees report from 150 to 200 for the 2020 edition to highlight the important role that bra...

Whether your goal is alleviating boredom or becoming a more complete sexual being, there's a sex toy out there somewhere with your name on it. There are several options to narrow the field (hey, this pandemic isn't going to last forever, right?) for singletons, cohabitants and disconnected couples alike. And if you're taking your first baby steps into the buzzing, pulsing, shiny chrome and colored plastic world of assisted loving, here's a piece of advice from the professionals: Check any self-judgment at the door. "Be there to meet yourself where you're at," said Jill McDevitt, a San Diego-based sexual wellness coach who serves as the in-house sexologist for Ontario, Calif.-based adult-novelty company CalExotics. "If you have no sexual desire right now, don't beat yourself up about that. If you want to have masturbation marathons because that's a coping strategy for you, that's OK. It's really about giving yourself permission to do wh...

© Courtesy Zahra Kassam As school closures continue to extend, parents are reevaluating how to make their time working from home - with toddlers as coworkers - more sustainable. Zahra Kassam of Monti Kids has some suggestions It's been roughly three weeks since school closures across much of the country due to the coronavirus pandemic forced parents – many of whom also now found themselves working from home – to have to figure out how to occupy their kids. Turns out, trying to provide enriching activities while simultaneously juggling work calls, emails and keeping up with the news, as well as not having access to places like playgrounds and museums, is … yep, about as challenging as it sounds. And many parents have gotten the news that closures will extend indefinitely – in many cases, until the end of the school year. Each age group of kids has a unique set of challenges, but parents of toddlers in particular have been sending up SOS flags; it's a parti...

© Instagram I want to send a big shout out to all the parents out there constructively and meaningfully utilising this time of enforced isolation to give their house a thorough spring clean, whack in the middle of autumn. Realistically, it's just an excuse to lock ourselves in our garages and spare rooms, getting a little loose on hand sanitiser fumes to a bit of old school dystopian Nirvana. Truth be told, we are simply hiding from our kids, who are on the brink of going War of the Worlds now the novelty of homeschooling has worn off and a bleak Easter holiday looms. But before you chuck another bag of memory lane in the dumpster (then reflexively pull it out and separate the contents into recyclables, organic waste, green waste and landfill), hold your horses! First, why not try out a little experiment I'm trialling? Thus far it has bought me eight hours of peace the quiet across three days, and involves neither screen time, threats, bribes or therapy ...