<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider/Hollis Johnson</span></p><p class="caption">Gap frequently runs huge sales.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/gap">Gap</a> is a discount haven, and many loyal shoppers say it's becoming increasingly unusual to buy clothing at full price in its stores. </strong></li><li><strong>Gap also has a separate program known as Gap Cash, which rewards shoppers with coupons when they make purchases. However, these coupons cannot be combined <span>with some of the store's other promotions</span>.</strong></li><li><strong>Several loyal Gap shoppers are now complaining that its promotions system is confusing and that there is little incentive to use the coupons, as the discounts are often better without them.</strong></li><li><strong><span>"You don't want a system that is so confusing that it just upsets your customers," Ivan Feinseth, chief investment officer at Tigress Financial Partners, told Business Insider.</span></strong></li></ul><p>Discount signs have become a mainstay at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/gap">Gap</a> in recent years, and it's become increasingly unusual to buy clothing at full price at the store. </p><p>Each day, it seems, there's a new deal to lure shoppers in. <span>Only last <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gap-sales-strategy-retail-mistake-2018-5">week</a>, it was offering 70% off certain products. </span></p><p>While discounts are a way to get customers in the door and drive sales, they can also have long-term repercussions for retailers, eroding profit margins and damaging the brand's image over time. Moreover, as shoppers become more addicted to promotions, they are less likely to ever pay full-price for clothing, analysts have said.</p><p>Gap Inc. CEO Art Peck, who oversees Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy, likened past discounting at Banana Republic to a<span> "</span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gap-is-struggling-with-promotions-2016-5">game of chicken.</a><span>" Still, Gap doesn't seem to be moving away from its discounting strategy. </span></p><p><span>Now, two loyal Gap customers who spoke with Business Insider, as well as many who are posting on social media, are complaining that the store's promotions system is so confusing that it's turning them off from shopping there altogether. </span></p><h2><strong>Gap Cash coupons causing issues</strong></h2><p>Gap runs a program called Gap Cash whereby shoppers can earn back rewards on purchases. Shoppers can <a href="https://www.gap.com/browse/info.do?cid=99996">earn</a> between $10 to $120 worth of coupons, depending on how much they purchase. The coupons are redeemable for a specific period after the fact. </p><p>Gap frequently sells clothing at a discount, so these coupons are perhaps less alluring than they could be, customers say. Plus, t<span>he Gap Cash coupons cannot be combined with some other promotions. </span></p><p>"<span>What's the point of Gap Cash now since you have 40% off sales all the time? Can you now combine it with other deals?" one customer wrote on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/gap/posts/?ref=page_internal">Facebook</a>. </span></p><p><span>Gap's <a href="https://www.gap.com/browse/info.do?cid=99996">terms of service read</a>, "GapCash is not combinable with select offers, promotional codes, or coupons. The following Gap Cardmember offers are combinable with GapCash on purchases made in <keyword id="6354851" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="retail">retail</keyword> stores only: Reward Cards, first purchase discount, 10% Tuesday, or 10% Welcome Savings Pass."</span></p><p><span>Customers are becoming increasingly frustrated by this system.</span><span></span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Facebook/Gap</span></p></div><p></p></div></div><span></span></p><p><span>When longtime customer Jennifer Apling went to use her Gap Cash online on April 14, she found that she was unable to use it alongside an online promotion that advertised an extra 20% off the initial 50% off. She was, however, able to use the coupon with the 50%-off promotion. </span></p><p><span>If she had chosen to use her Gap Cash instead of this added discount, her basket total would have worked out to be more expensive. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"What is the point of using the Gap Cash? It didn't make any sense to me," she told Business Insider. </span></p><p>She ended up deciding not to make a purchase after all. </p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I couldn't find any full-price products to spend it on. Everything is pretty much on discount," Apling said.</span></p><p><span>Shopper Aimee Duquette had an equally frustrating experience. She told Business Insider that on the </span>last day of the previous Gap Cash promotion period, she was sent a message that said, "<span>Gap Cash combinable with today's deal." </span></p><p><span>She thought she could finally combine the Gap Cash with the extra 20% off, she said, but that wasn't the case. </span></p><p><span>"It was a marketing tactic. Nothing had changed, but they made you think you were getting a better deal that day. I was so aggravated that I didn't make a purchase at all," Duquette said. </span></p><p><span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Analysts warn about the danger of creating a discounting system that is too complicated for customers to use.</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-weight: 400;">"You don't want a system that is so confusing that it just upsets your customers," Ivan Feinseth, chief investment officer at Tigress Financial Partners, told Business Insider. </span></span></p><p><span>Gap did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment. </span></p><p><span>The issues with Gap Cash seem to date back several years. </span></p><p><span>"Gap cash is a total and complete scam and a waste of time. If a promotion is so complicated that even your employees can't figure it out, you can guarantee the average consumer doesn't. Today, Gap has lost a Gap Silver customer. I've had enough marketing ploys that waste my time and money," one Gap customer wrote on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/gap/posts/10152062198924725">Facebook</a> in 2013.</span></p><p>This message sparked several more complaints that have spanned the past five years. </p><p><span>"I am so annoyed! They send emails every day promoting the 40% off and reminding you to use your GapCash, only to then tell you it's not combinable. What a joke," another shopper wrote on the Facebook thread in December.</span></p><h2><span>Discounting is 'like a drug'</span></h2><p><span>Heavy discounting is a problem across the retail industry. </span></p><p><span>"It's almost like a drug," Tiffany Hogan, a retail analyst for Kantar Retail, told <a href="https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/can-american-retailers-department-stores-jcrew-gap-quit-the-discounting-promotions-drug">Business of Fashion</a> in 2016. "We're on this 40% off drug that we pulse every weekend or even more frequently. What happens when you take away your promotions? Your shopper just kind of melts away because you know that you've trained them to come back on that 40% off day."</span></p><p><span>Several retailers, including Michael Kors, Coach, and Ralph Lauren, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/luxury-brand-changes-bad-news-for-tj-maxx-2018-1">have been vocal</a> about scaling back on promotions. <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/06/08/ralph-lauren-macys/">In August</a>, Ralph Lauren CEO Patrice Louvet said that discounting was threatening the company's brand image. He said shoppers would only spend money on "exciting" apparel, and "exciting isn't selling a generic product with more and more discounting."</span></p><p>For Gap, a speedier supply chain could be the solution to its problems. In an earnings call at the start of 2017, group CEO Peck said that he had cut the time it takes for certain products to go from the design board to its stores from <a href="http://www.retailwire.com/discussion/has-gap-finally-turned-its-business-around/">10 months to 10 weeks.</a></p><p>This means inventory levels and styles would be better matched to demand, giving Gap the ability to respond quickly to what customers want and don't want. That would ideally mean less leftover stock would find its way into the discount racks. Whether this will happen remains to be seen.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/we-ate-everything-taco-bell-dollar-cravings-menu-review-budget-2018-5">We ate everything on Taco Bell's Dollar Cravings Menu - here's what we thought</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Gap's constant discounts come with a hidden downside that's infuriating loyal customers

The makers of the drone '<keyword id="116774" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rancho">Rancho</keyword>' seen in the movie <keyword id="6373971" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="3-idiots">3 idiots</keyword> have created several <keyword id="6370270" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="unmanned-aerial-vehicles">unmanned aerial vehicles</keyword> that are being used by Indian defence forces and in intelligence and surveillance ops.<br />
<br />
A team of four IIT alumni - <strong>Ankit Mehta, Rahul Singh, Ashish Bhat, and Vipul Joshi</strong> - started a company called ideaForge in 2007 to give their dream wings. They were working on developing technologies back in college and had many ideas they wanted to convert into products by the time they graduated.<br />
<br />
In 2008, recognition from government came to them when they won a Micro Aerial Vehicle competition at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. Thereafter, they landed with several government projects, one of which wa NETRA – a vertical takeoff and landing UAV built on quadrotor configuration that the team developed in collaboration with Defence Research and Development Organisation.<br />
<br />
<br /> This UAV could take off from a small area and could fly over an area up to the height of 400m sending continuous real time videos of movements on the ground. It was this early prototype of NETRA that you had seen during the shoot of 3 Idiots. The movie director of 3 idiots had read about the drone and work by <keyword id="137562" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="IITians">IITians</keyword> in the newapaper.<br />
<br />
In 2009, ideaForge developed the world’s smallest and lightest autopilot drone and also came up with India’s first fully autonomous vertical takeoff and landing UAV. In this, a user feeds the GPS location of the required destination, which is then converted into command and instructions and the UAV reaches the location autonomously.<br />
<br /> The UAV's made by this team are typically easy-to-use, so they can be used easily during emergencies. So far, they have been used by the <keyword id="6354416" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Army">Indian Army</keyword> to look for survivors after the deadly Uttarakhand floods back in 2013, to map the positions of militants during defence ops, for disaster management during the Nepal earthquake, and to manage crowds during the Kumbh mela. One of ideaForge’s <keyword id="94769" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="drones">drones</keyword> also helped in tracking a man-eating tigress in Uttarakhand.

Here's the stellar work done by four IITians who built 'Drone Rancho' for the famous movie '3 idiots'

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>AFP</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>A man-eating tiger on the prowl in northern India has claimed its ninth victim, defying hunters and wildlife officials who have been trying to gun down the animal, an official said Friday.</p>
<p>Since December 29, the same big cat is believed to have been on a killing spree in a densely forested area near Jim Corbett National Park in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.</p>
<p>Salil Shukla, an official in the district of Bijnor, told AFP that the partly eaten body of a young farmer had been found on Friday.</p>
<p>"The victim was missing since Thursday and had gone into the jungle to locate his cattle," he said. "This is the ninth victim of the man-eater."</p>
<p>While tiger-hunting has long been illegal in India, the Uttar Pradesh state government has licensed six hunters to either capture or kill the tigress who has terrorized local villagers.</p>
<p>India is home to half the world's dwindling tiger population which now stands at around 3,000. A loss of their natural habitat has brought man and beast into closer proximity across the subcontinent.</p>
<p>Even conservationists say that once a tiger has tasted human flesh more than once it is almost impossible to rehabilitate it and that killing the animal is the only responsible option.</p>
<p>Although the latest spate of attacks is serious by recent standards, conservationist Belinda Wright from the Wildlife Protection Society of India said that the tigress was nothing compared to some of the legends of the past.</p>
<p>Jim Corbett, a colonial-era hunter-turned-conservationist after whom the Jim Corbett National Park is named, tells in his best-selling book the "Man-eaters of Kumaon" of tigers and leopards that killed hundreds.</p>
<p>"They do get a taste for humans," Wright explained. "But I think (attacks happen) more because we're very easy prey. As a tiger gets older, or is disabled in some way, we're just very, very easy as we bumble around on our two legs."</p>
<p>She said that conflicts between tigers and local people who live in densely populated settlements around wildlife sanctuaries "is only going to get worse."</p>
<p>In late January, forest officials in southern India shot dead a tiger suspected of killing three people, ending a three-week reign of terror which forced dozens of schools to close.</p>
<p>Live goat bait</p>
<p>Some 200 tigers live in Jim Corbett park but locals say this is the first time they can remember one of them attacking villagers.</p>
<p>The hunters have employed a variety of tricks to lure their prey, including traps and even a live goat as bait. Forest officials armed with tranquillizer guns have ridden on elephants to follow its trail through the forest.</p>
<p>AFP visited the area at the weekend and found villagers desperate for an end to the traumatic series of killings.</p>
<p>Hunter Nawab Shafat Ali Khan had warned that the tigress was hungry and would strike again soon.</p>
<p>Anand Saini, whose brother Devendra was the tiger's victim on January 26, said everyone was living in fear.</p>
<p>"It is for the first time ever that we have become conscious of the fact we have so many tigers close to us in the forest," he told AFP from his home in Bijnor district.</p>
<p>"The children in the village are now being asked not to venture too far out, particularly early in the morning or after sunset.</p>
<p>"Even the farmers who used to sleep in the fields to prevent animals like deer from destroying their crops are staying home at night."</p>
<p>Devendra was dragged to his death while erecting a fence around his farm. His stomach and parts of his thigh were missing while there was a cluster of paw marks around his body.</p>
<div class="nc_footer">
<p>Copyright (2014) AFP. All rights reserved.</p>
</div>
<p></p>

Man-Eating Tiger Still At Large In India After 9th Kill

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider/Mary Hanbury</span></p><p class="caption">Nordstrom has opened a new menswear store.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/nordstrom">Nordstrom</a> opened its first menswear-only store in New York City on Thursday.</strong></li><li><strong>Co-president Blake Nordstrom told Business Insider that the company never planned to have a separate store for menswear. The decision was made due to the store's space limitations. </strong></li><li><strong>However, this store could be a model for others like it in the future.</strong></li></ul><p><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/jwn-stock">Nordstrom</a> unveiled its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nordstrom-opens-mens-store-pictures-details-2018-4">glitzy new Manhattan store</a> on Thursday.</p><p>The new location, just south of Central Park, is decked out with high-tech digital ordering and returns systems and in-house services such as tailoring. </p><p>But it's not just these perks that make this store notable. It's also because this location is menswear-only - the first of its kind for Nordstrom. </p><p>"<span>We've been looking for a store in Manhattan for 20 to 30 years," Blake Nordstrom, co-president of Nordstrom, told Business Insider at the store opening. He explained that previous locations had fallen through in the past but that this time, they "got lucky." </span></p><p><span>"This the best place to be," he said. </span></p><p><span>It was lucky in that they found a prime spot in Manhattan, but unlucky in that it wasn't quite big enough to offer both men's and women's clothing. The 47,000-square-foot space is c</span>onsiderably smaller than the rest of its full-line stores, which are <span><a href="https://retail-index.emarketer.com/company/data/5374f24e4d4afd2bb444662a/5374f28a4d4afd824cc15ab8/lfy/false/nordstrom-real-estate">175,900 square feet</a> in size on average. This meant that the company had to split its men's and women's clothing offerings in two. </span></p><p><span>Its women's store will open across the street in the fall of 2019. </span></p><p><span>Splitting the store wasn't the company's preference, and it's unlikely there will be more of these stores, Blake Nordstrom said, explaining that in an ideal world they would have had both sections in one space. </span></p><p><span>"We felt we didn't have enough space to do everything we wanted to," he said. "We wanted to be able to give men's the selection it deserves."</span></p><p>But Nordstrom may have unintentionally stumbled across a gold mine. This smaller-scale store, with a size that's comparable to one of the company's off-price stores, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/nordstrom-rack">Nordstrom Rack</a>, is much less intimidating to shop and could be a prototype for future locations. </p><p>Large-scale department stores have increasingly come under pressure as consumer habits evolve, and the concept of shopping a limited assortment of products in smaller stores is growing in popularity. </p><p>Digitally native brands such as Bonobos and Everlane are at the forefront of this new style of shopping. These stores <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/everlane-store-nyc-what-its-like-2018-1">don't stock inventory</a> in their so-called "guideshops," but they do allow customers to try on clothing that will be shipped to them after purchase.</p><p>Meanwhile, department stores find themselves saddled with large spaces that can sometimes be a drain on resources. Many of these companies, including <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stores-closing-in-2018-2017-12">Macy's and JCPenney,</a> have been forced to close stores. </p><p>Kohl's has tried to avoid closing stores by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kohls-is-defying-the-retail-meltdown-2018-1">shrinking the size of locations</a>. It has also opened new,<span> smaller locations that are about 35,000 square feet, which is about one-sixth the size of a typical Macy's store.</span></p><h2><span>Tailored shopping experience</span></h2><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider/Mary Hanbury</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>The next big advantage of Nordstrom's new store is that it only serves one kind of customer, which means everything can be tailored to them:</span> the layout, the sales assistants' expertise, and the in-store services. </p><p>In this store, there are shoe-shining stations, on-site tailors to fit suits, and a cocktail bar to break up the shopping experience. </p><p>"Nordstrom is doing it the right way," <span>Ivan Feinseth, chief investment officer at Tigress Financial Partners, who has a "buy" position on Nordstrom, told Business Insider. </span></p><p><span>Feinseth said that the company is focusing on amenities, and this is a way to make the experience more appealing to shoppers. Given that Nordstrom is only targeting one type of shopper with this store, it can double down on this. </span></p><p><span>Feinseth said that this is a particularly smart move by the retailer, as he views menswear as an "underserved market." And it's coming at the right time, as male millennials are focusing more on clothes. </span></p><p class="tagline"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/next-frontier-in-customer-relations?IR=T&amp;utm_source=businessinsider&amp;utm_medium=ctgr&amp;utm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_content=mobile_ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_campaign=mobile_ctgr_leadgen_messaging-apps-crm"></a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cook-out-food-review-restaurant-fast-food-2018-3">Inside Cook Out, the South's most underrated restaurant</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Nordstrom's new men's-only store could be one of its best weapons to defeat the department-store curse - but it may be the only one of its kind

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Jaysin Trevino/Flickr</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>GQ has just <a href="http://www.gq.com/story/sugar-daddies-explained">published a fascinating glimpse</a> into SeekingArrangement.com, a "sugar daddy" dating website that lets older, wealthy men meet younger girls.</p><p>There's still a taboo around an older man paying lavishly for the company of a much younger woman, and the women are sometimes portrayed as either victims or prostitutes.</p><p>Writing for GQ, Taffy Brodesser-Akner has profiled a handful of SeekingArrangement users, both sugar daddies and their "sugar babies."</p><p>First, we meet the pseudonymous "Thurston Von Moneybags," an older man who once got scammed out of $800 before he even met the girl he'd been talking to on the site.</p><p>He justifies using SeekingArrangement with the argument that all relationships are, to some extent, transactional: "The whole concept of a sugar daddy intrigued me, because even if I were dating someone traditionally, I'd give them money anyway."</p><p>Then, there's "Tigress St. Fawn," an MFA student who booked a week of SeekingArrangement dates as an "immersive experience."</p><p>"I'm kind of pragmatic about the whole thing," she told Brodesser-Akner.</p><p>There are more women and men, and a couple. Largely they seem to agree on one thing: what they're doing on SeekingArrangement - meeting up and exchanging money and gifts for sex and companionship, primarily - is just another kind of relationship. Some critics have <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2010/05/seeking-arrangement-201005">compared its services to prostitution</a>.</p><p>"SeekingArrangement is like a sociology project that touches on anthropology," SeekingArrangement CEO Brandon Wade, who started the site in 2006, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/seeking-arrangement-com-sets-you-up-with-a-sugar-daddy2011-10">told Business Insider</a> a few years ago.</p><p>"People don't want to come out and say 'Women like men with money,' but it's true," he said. "Think back to when men were hunters. The man who was the most successful hunter also got the most women. Women are looking for men to take care of them."</p><p><a href="http://www.gq.com/story/sugar-daddies-explained">You can read the full GQ story here &gt;&gt;</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/map-states-most-cheating-ashley-madison-hacker-cyber-2015-8">Ashley Madison hack reveals the states where people cheat the most</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="VjcXU3dzqzL92n8kTGCOUVDuP4Ie0r_7" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

A look inside SeekingArrangement, a site for wealthy older men who want to meet much younger women

<br /> What’s common between <keyword id="8145" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Preity-zinta">Preity Zinta</keyword> and <keyword id="3540" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Angelina-Jolie">Angelina Jolie</keyword>? Or for that matter, what links Shilpa Shetty and <keyword id="28830" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kate-Winslet">Kate Winslet</keyword> or Sonali Bendre and <keyword id="16377" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Drew-Barrymore">Drew Barrymore</keyword>?<br />
<br />
Apart from the fact that all these gorgeous ladies are (or were) actresses, you would be amazed to know that all of them are of the same age; they all turned or will turn 40 this year.<br />
<br />
However, there is one thing that separates them as well. While Zinta, Shetty and Bendre have retired from active acting, their Hollywood counterparts are still keeping alive their spark of acting, while venturing into other aspects of film-making, like production and direction.<br />
<br />
Why, you might think.<br />
<br /> The fact that India has a ‘kind of’ age limit set for its actresses, after which they either don’t get movies or are seen in supporting roles, is the reason why talented and beautiful <keyword id="3012577" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="indian-actresses">Indian actresses</keyword> are not able to do justice to their talent and beauty.<br />
<br />
While Indian actors don’t get out of work even as they reach 50, why is it that the actresses have to retire from acting, and rely on reality shows, IPL teams, or fashion designing to run their homes?<br />
<br />
Take the example of Angelina Jolie; she is one of the most widely recognized actresses of the world. Having successfully fought off a cancer threat, she was still seen in <em>Maleficient</em> last year, while producing and directing <em>Unbroken</em>. This year, she would be seen in <em>By The Sea</em>, opposite husband Brad Pitt, and as the voice of Master Tigress in <em>Kung Fu Panda 3</em>.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, dimpled beauty Preity Zinta, who has given ravishing performances in movies like <em>Sangharsh</em>, <em>Veer Zaara</em>, and <em>Kal Ho Naa Ho</em>, was last seen in a major role in<em> Ishkq In Paris</em> (2013), which went largely unnoticed. Similarly, the last time we saw Sonali Bendre on screen was in 2013, and that too only in a special appearance.<br />
<br />
While there is no doubt that these Indian actresses are any less talented than their Hollywood counterparts, is it the idea of not working after marriage or having kids that stops them from living what was once their dream?<br />
<br />
What’s your take on this?<br />

Bollywood’s top heroines are losing out sorely to their Hollywood contemporaries, all thanks to one reason!

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Fox" title_caption="Expect to see a lot more of Jerome aka the future Joker on " gotham="" this="" season.="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55fc7205dd08958b3d8b46e1-960/joker-jerome-gotham%20.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP2dvpaUz8E">Fox</a></span></p><p class="caption">Expect to see a lot more of Jerome aka the future Joker on "Gotham" this season.</p></div><p></p></div></div>When "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/gotham">Gotham</a>" first premiered on Fox last fall, one of the first big questions fans had was when we would be able to see our first glimpse of Batman's arch-nemesis, The Joker, on screen.&#xa0;<p>The popular series, which follows Bruce Wayne as a child, years before he becomes The Batman, shows fans how some of Batman's iconic heroes and villains like Jim Gordon, The Riddler, and Penguin got their starts in Gotham City.&#xa0;</p><p>It won't be awhile until we get full-fledged versions of these villains - after all, Bruce isn't even a teenager yet. So, fans&#xa0;were caught off guard last season when it was revealed the future Joker had been hanging around on the show&#xa0;under the guise of Jerome, a red-haired youngster who looks far from the cackling Clown Prince of Crime fans love.&#xa0;</p><p>For reference, here's&#xa0;Jerome from season one of "Gotham":</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Fox" title_caption="Though he's gone by a few aliases like Joe Kerr (get it?) over the years, no one has ever given the character an actual name." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55fc5eb8dd0895e23d8b4732-960/screenshot%202015-07-08%2020.36.27.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>Fox</span></p><p class="caption">Though he's gone by a few aliases like Joe Kerr (get it?) over the years, no one has ever given the character an actual name.</p></div><p></p></div></div><p>And here's one of many iterations of the Joker:</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="DC Comics" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55fc5eb8dd0895e23d8b4733-960/gallerychar_1900x900_joker_52ab8edcabce71.28062812.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>DC Comics</span></p></div><p></p></div></div><p>Get ready to see a lot more of him in season 2.&#xa0;</p><p>During a conference call with Robin Lord Taylor, who plays the Penguin on the show, he told reporters the Joker's&#xa0;transformation will be one fans will be excited to see this season.&#xa0;</p><p class="p1">"Definitely what you're going to see with Jerome, who's played by Cameron Monaghan, the Joker," Lord Taylor&#xa0;said. "I think everyone is going to be thrilled, including myself to see how that progresses."</p><p class="p1">Monaghan shared a few images of himself from the show on Instagram over the past few weeks.</p><p class="p1">He definitely has that grin down.&#xa0;</p><p class="p1"><div></div></p><p>Showrunner Bruno Heller previously told ComicBook.com season two <a href="http://comicbook.com/2015/04/20/gotham-showrunner-bruno-heller-the-jokers-origin-coming-early-in/">will start&#xa0;to dive into&#xa0;The Joker origin story</a>.</p><p>"The beginning of Season Two is a big Joker-oriented, or 'how the Joker came to be' kind of story," said Heller. "The beginning of Season Two is the very earliest origins of how The Joker came to be."</p><p>Season two of "Gotham" is being touted by the network as the "Rise of the Villains" meaning fans can expect to see more on Selina Kyle, the future Catwoman, Edward Nygma, who will become the Riddler, and the further descent of The Penguin (Lord Taylor) into crime lord Oswald Cobblepot.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Jessica Miglio/FOX" title_caption="Corey Michael Smith as Edward Nygma on the first season of " gotham.="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55fc7205dd08958b3d8b46e2-960/gotham-edward-nygma.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>Jessica Miglio/FOX</span></p><p class="caption">Corey Michael Smith as Edward Nygma on the first season of "Gotham."</p></div><p></p></div></div>A few other new villains will appear on the scene this season, including Tigress (<span>Jessica Lucas</span>), <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP2dvpaUz8E">Firefly, and Mr. Freeze</a>.<p>Lord Taylor added that the transformation he's most excited to watch in season two will be Edward Nygma's turn into The Riddler, something that will be immediately recognizable on the season 2 premiere.</p><p>"My main man, Corey Michael Smith, as Edward Nygma," said Lord Taylor. "His transformation, I just love what they did with the character in the first season in that it was a very slow burn. You got to see the seeds of madness that are being planted there, and that really comes to the forefront in season two. I find Corey to be a very inspiring person to work with. I'm just thrilled to see him embrace the character and watch the character flourish."</p><p>Season two of "Gotham" premieres&#xa0;Monday, September 21 at 8 p.m. on Fox.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/batman-v-superman-comic-con-trailer-2015-7">Here's the new 'Batman v Superman' trailer that just got a standing ovation at Comic-Con</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="J1cHU1djrOW8GXPmhq842eFkN8R9cdth" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Penguin actor says you're going to be thrilled with the Joker on season 2 of 'Gotham'

<p><em><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>In this excerpt from <em><em>"<a href="http://www.amazon.com/ISIS-Inside-Terror-Michael-Weiss/dp/1941393578" target="_blank">ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror</a>,"</em></em> co-authors Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan explain how ISIS funds its nascent caliphate.</em></p><p>ISIS has married its authoritarian governance with a remarkably successful war economy.</p><p>FSA and Islamist groups that controlled oil fields in eastern Syria, for example, did dedicate some of the revenue to run schools and supply electricity, telecommunications, water, food, and other services.</p><p>Some villages and towns saw a decline in such services because ISIS distributed oil revenue to other towns under its control in Syria and Iraq, establishing its own pan-territorial patronage system.</p><p>As a result, in oil-rich areas, warlordism-a side effect of strictly localized rebel governance- dropped steadily.</p><p>ISIS also forced municipality personnel to work, unlike previous groups that had allowed Syrian state employees to continue to re- ceive their salaries (mostly from the regime) while they sat at home and did nothing, no doubt with attendant kickbacks. "The streets are cleaner now; 70 percent of the employees were not working, even though they received salaries," said a former media activist with the FSA from Deir Ezzor.</p><p>"They cancelled the customary day off on Saturday; they're supposed to make Thursday the day off instead." Regulations and price control are another area in which ISIS's governance proved successful. It banned fishermen from using dynamite and electricity to catch fish.</p><p>It also prohibited residents in the Jazira from using the chaos of war to stake new land claims, principally in the Syrian desert, where they had tried to build new homes or establish businesses, much to the chagrin of their neighbors. ISIS also limited the profit margins on oil by-products, ice, flour, and other essential commodities.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Before ISIS controlled eastern Syria, an oil well produced around thirty thousand barrels per day, and each barrel sold for two thousand Syrian pounds-eleven dollars at the current exchange rate. Local families that worked in refineries would make two hundred liras (a little more than one dollar) on each barrel they refined primitively. After ISIS took over, a barrel of oil became cheaper because it fixed the price of a liter of oil at fifty pounds (thirty cents).</span></p><p class="layoutArea">ISIS also banned families from setting up refineries close to residences under the threat of confiscation, a policy that led some families to quit the oil business altogether. Collectively, price control and regulations balanced the decline in resources and services.</p><p class="layoutArea">Subsidies from Gulf countries, where many of those who live in ISIS-controlled areas work, also helped some families afford electricity-generating engines and oil by-products.</p><p class="layoutArea">"Those in the Gulf who used to send once a month now send twice a month because they understand the situation," said the former FSA media activist. "Also, there is no big difference in value. In 2010 a kilo of chicken was 190 pounds [$1] and is now 470 [$2.60]." </p><p>Oil was a major revenue generator for ISIS until the coalition air strikes began. Before that, ISIS was thought to have earned mil- lions of dollars a month from oil in Syria and Iraq-$1 to 2 million a day. The revenue dropped significantly after the air strikes. But oil smuggling to neighboring countries such as Turkey and Jordan, and to other areas in Syria and Iraq, still makes significant revenue for ISIS.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The sharp decline in oil production affected civilians more than it affected ISIS, which could still generate wealth from other sources, but it hampered ISIS's ability to provide for the local communities, especially much-coveted materials such as gas cylinders. "I estimate that the impact of air strikes was 5 percent," said the media activist, who still lives in Deir Ezzor. "They affected oil primarily. Food is plenty, and most of it comes from Turkey or Iraq. Borders are open; if you don't like prices here, you go to Anbar. I see the situation as normal." </p><p>ISIS's oil market savvy has impressed and shocked many ob- servers, although Derek Harvey isn't one of them. "I know for a fact that the Saddamists who were smuggling the oil in the '90s, to evade UN sanctions, are now doing so for ISIS," he said.</p><p>"People are saying that they're selling it for thirty-five dollars a barrel. What we bombed recently is some of the local refineries. If you're selling it at that price, it's fifty to fifty-five dollars off the current market price. But here's what happens: these middlemen are selling it, and there's a kickback coming back in to ISIS's senior leaders. They're getting another twenty, twenty-five dollars a barrel in kickbacks, but that's not on the books or being factored in by everybody. It's going back into the kitty of financiers at the top of the pyramid. The ISIS fighters in Deir Ezzor would not be aware of that."</p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Locals in eastern Syria had learned to survive on remittances from the Gulf and local economies even before the uprising. </span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">High oil prices led many to rely less on agricultural products since the energy had to be spent pumping water from the Euphrates or Tigress rivers to their farmlands many miles away.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> After the war started, cheaper oil revived the Syrian agribusiness-smuggling and livestock trade markets began booming again.</span></p><p>When ISIS seized control of the Jazira, people were already buying their own oil for irrigation and electricity and didn't need to rely on subsidized services.</p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Germany's foreign intelligence agency,the Bundesnachrichten- dienst (BND), has cautioned against "overblown" speculation about ISIS's high oil revenue because there is a tendency to discount the massive overhead and spending inside its territories. </span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">But, as per Harvey, ISIS pockets most of this revenue, as it sometimes taxes residents for services supplied by the regime, such as electricity and telecommunication. Unlike Islamist groups that operated regime-established facilities for the local communities gratis, ISIS has developed a surcharge economy to replenish its own coffers.</span></p><p class="column">ISIS also makes millions from zakat (different forms of Islamic alms payable to the state). Zakat is extracted from annual savings or capital assets (2.5 percent), gold (on values exceeding $4,500), livestock (two heads out of 100 heads owned by a farmer), dates, crops (10 percent if irrigated by rain or a nearby stream or river, and 5 percent if irrigation costs money), and profits (2.5 percent).</p><p class="column"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p class="column">ISIS also imposes annual taxes on non-Muslims living in its territories, especially Christians (4.25 grams of gold for the rich and half of that for moderate-income individuals). It makes money by stealing dressed up as civil penalties: it confiscates the properties of displaced or wanted individuals or as punishment for fighting ISIS.</p><p class="column">This includes, of course, enormous stocks of weapons and ammunition as part of its community disarmament policies. While donations from foreign sponsors constitute a meager percentage of its treasury, deep-pocked individuals, whether foreign donors or members who have joined the group, still contribute to the group.</p><p class="column">More significantly, ghanima (war spoils, which in ISIS's definition encompasses robbery and theft) is one of the group's largest and most valuable sources of income. ISIS seized millions of dollars worth of American and foreign military equipment after it forced three Iraqi divisions to flee in June 2014, and it has also seized large stockpiles of weapons as well as equipment, facilities, and cash from Syria's regime and rebel groups.</p><p class="column"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p class="column">Artifacts are also lucrative for ISIS-one man interviewed in Turkey said trade in artifacts grew during ISIS rule,with one of his cousins smuggling into Turkey golden statues and coins found in Mari ancient ruins, eleven kilometers away from Albu Kamal.</p><p class="column"><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Michael Weiss </em><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">is the editor in chief of the Interpreter and a <em>widely published journalist with a focus on developments in Syria, Turkey, and Russia. He is the co-author of "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/ISIS-Inside-Terror-Michael-Weiss/dp/1941393578" target="_blank">ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror</a>." Follow him on Twitter: </em></em><em style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss" target="_blank">@michaeldweiss</a>.</em></p><p class="column"><em style="line-height: 1.5em;"><em>Republished with permission from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/ISIS-Inside-Terror-Michael-Weiss/dp/1941393578" target="_blank"><em>ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror</em></a> by <em>Michael Weiss</em>. Copyright © 2015 by <em>Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan</em>. Reprinted by arrangement with Regan Arts. All rights reserved.</em></em></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-headphones-tricks-2015-2">14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="o2OGM3czpWcydnvhjbkDBd6feXPuExiD" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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