It is the last of its kind.It has the most epic techno-80’s dance moves.It has more power than the energizer bunny.It is Ben’s mullet.Short, but perfect, it is the bring back of the 80’s. If you like any of these items, sign this petition:?80’s music?80’s dance?80’s anything else
And what ever you do, don’t sign the?petition?to shave off my mullet.Even if you are from the Netherlands.[No offense man, but why'd you sign it?!]
Save Ben’s Mullet
Tag Archive: Tech
On a September morning, just before dawn, ICE came knocking on Fredd Reyes’ door. It was 5 am and Fredd was asleep after a long night of studying for his exam at Guilford Technical Community College that very same day. Instead of taking his exam, Fredd was rudely awakened from his sleep, handcuffed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and taken from his North Carolina home to North Georgia Detention Center. He was then transferred to the Stewart Detention center in Lumpkin, Georgia, which is quite infamous for corrupt and inhumane immigrant detention practices.
Twenty-two years ago, Fredd’s family fled their native Guatemala in the face of death threats and persecution. Needless to say, they haven’t been back since. Despite the clear danger they faced back in Guatemala, an immigration judge denied their bid for asylum in 2000.
Fredd worked hard and earned his Associates Degree from Davidson County Community College and transferred to Guilford Tech to continue his education. As a result, he is eligible for the federal DREAM Act, which would give undocumented youth like him a pathway to citizenship, expected to come up for a vote in the House and Senate before the end of this year. Fredd aspires to utilize his acting and singing skills to become a professional actor and renowned singer, and he’s quite good (see video below). He is neither a criminal nor a threat to this country, and completely undeserving of detention, let alone deportation from the only country he calls his home.
Stephenville has banned text messaging and use of handheld cell phones while driving. The City Council considered a plan to ban all cell phone use by motorists, but rejected it during the April 6 voting. Fines will be up to $200.
El Paso prohibits texting and talking on a cell phone while driving in city limits. The City Council approved the ban on March 9 and it went into effect May 1. Hands-free cell phones OK. Fines up to $500. El Paso already outlawed use of handheld cell phones in school zones.
Galveston has banned text messaging while driving within city limits. Fines up to $500. The City Council voted to outlaw texting for motorists on Jan. 14 and the ban went into effect immediately.
Arlington%u2019s City Council refused to consider a ban on text messaging while driving.
Statistics show that driving while distracted has a higher percentage of fatalities compared to drunken drivers. A Virginia Tech study illustrates the distance required to stop while driving 35 mph and texting on a phone compared to a drunk driver stopping. A drunk driver travels an average of four feet more before stopping and the texting driver travels 25 more feet before stopping. The study also goes on to show that drunk driving increases the likelihood of causing a car crash by four times. A texting driver increases the likelihood of causing a crash by eight times.
Please join me in asking the City of Arlington to PLEASE help me and all of AISD’s bus drivers protect the children of Arlington, help us keep them SAFE by making the use of a hand held device against the law while in city limits.
Tell Arlington, TX to make txting and driving against the law!
Could your cuppa joe be undoing your diet? Yes, and the effect is four times worse in children.
In his recently published book, The Decaf Diet, which is less a diet book than an in-depth study of humans’ relationship with caffeine, Eugene Wells sets up the argument that “regular caffeine consumption encourages overeating, making weight loss and lasting leanness very difficult to achieve.”
How? Caffeine contributes to insulin resistance by spiking insulin levels when ingested. It also breaks down muscle tissue, leading to a slower resting metabolism. And caffeine’s diuretic effects rid the body of important nutrients, the absence of which causes the brain to start sending hunger signals. Finally, caffeine raises cortisol levels, which also spikes insulin and causes weight gain around the belly.
Wells is careful to point out that these effects arise mostly from long-term habitual use of caffeine, and that it is not necessary for adults to eliminate caffeine altogether to avoid its harmful effects. But he warns that earlier and heavier use of caffeine in children and young adults may cause health problems that are much harder to reverse.
Dear fellow Humans,
It is now clear, that the greatest threat to mankind and Earth itself comes from overpopulation, which is growing at an exponential rate – as underlined in a recent UN Study: Slower Population Growth To Help Environment
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j74yWpJ1atBwCsu78IVj2VOABDzg
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As we all well know, the population of a given country is to be considered in relation with the available territory, the resources, the state of, interaction with and impact on the environment, the flora and fauna, and this all with regards to the modes of social and economic productions and the standard of life, which are therethrough responsibly achieved or made potentially realizable.
This is as true as the fact, that this planet forms a rather homogeneous eco-system, wherein not only all the elements are interdependent and interconnected, but also one, in which each of these elements is equally important and necessary to the preservation of the whole.
Human societies are not exempt from these natural principles and in the current world view and international practice, whereby the notions of integration and globalization are the motto, it is practically impossible to render proper measure of overpopulation in national or regional terms or to approach it exclusively in such a context. No country is an exception.
Overpopulation is a worldwide issue.
Overpopulation is an all-human tragedy and, as such, it requires a worldwide understanding and solution.
The situation may of course differ from one country to another, but this does not substantially change the global picture, for, also the less overpopulated areas would eventually face it and taste it through immigration and the effects of overpopulation on the overall state of the climate, the environment, the resources and the globalized economy as well as on world peace and stability.
Besides, without tackling overpopulation, all measures, which would be taken to ensure the growth of the economy and provide a given population of a given country with a higher quality of life, would only be postponing, shoving the problem onto future generations?? -? as if “killing our grandchildren to feed our children.”, to quote one wise man.
Overpopulation and its consequences on our evolution and our security as well as on the sustainability of this planet?are definitely a source of great concern: there are just too many of us? -? think of the amount of garbage alone, which seven billion Humans produce! Daily.
It is also obvious, that our planet is subject to far-reaching changes.
The consequences of these changes could be catastrophic, if we do not re-adjust our ways of thinking and doing, also with regards to reproduction and population.
Our world is extremely overpopulated; our legitimate demands of food, energy, water and other goods of first necessity weigh heavily on the available resources, the environment, the flora and fauna. This is no longer sustainable.
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A worldwide, rational, responsible, democratic ( applicable and mandatory to each and all! ), scientific and rigorously monitored Birth Control is the only logical, mature and ethical answer to this unprecedented, but largely foreseen challenge.
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Some, however, speak of free energy, as the ultimate remedy to this crisis.
Truly, technology alone is not a panacea in human matters.
Lasting food security, development in sustainability thus, could hardly be realized without absorbing into the equation the determining factor of human population and its diverse legitimate demands, both of which will be growing exponentially.
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Others may still say, “multiply yourself” orders The Bible.
Genesis 1:22: “God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”.”
Well, we certainly shall argue here, that reason is also given to us, so that we can know, judge and decide when we ‘have multiplied enough’.
And again, the Commandment could have as well been: “multiply yourself with wisdom and reason and humaneness and knowledge and care and management.”
Besides, if we keep procreating the way we now do, there wouldn’t be much animals, fish, trees, “birds” left “on the earth”!
Overpopulation has indeed a deeper spiritual dimension and, besides,? the following summary makes convincingly the case for a serious struggle against overpopulation, even if one is to consider?the issue?from a solely practical point of view:
Fewer Humans = smaller petroleum demand = less carbon dioxide/monoxide produced by cars and industry
Fewer Humans = reduced food demand = fewer trees cut down for farmland (e.g. Brazilian rainforest)
Fewer Humans = reduced demand for everything which results in a reduced price/cost for everything (education, well-being, housing, energy, food…)
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We are already causing drastic climate change; species are going extinct and fellow Humans are starving to death en masse which means that the population is obviously already too high.
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Do please endorse us and most importantly, do strongly advocate a rational, democratic and scientific birth control, at home and abroad; empower Women, add your influential voice to ours, help us promote a humane and just solution to this tragedy!
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Thank you and may reason and wisdom prevail.
The Social Capital Markets Conference begins in less than a week. Already social entrepreneurs, angel investors, philanthropists and more are flying in to San Francisco from all parts of the world for meetings, reunions, and hopefully, the start of the next big thing. As the whole field converges on the city, however, it can be overwhelming to figure out what’s actually going on. Here’s ten tips for making the most of it.
1. Don’t try to do everything. SoCap is chock full of content. Like, overflowing. Like, don’t even try to see it all. The number one tip for content at any event that has so much of it is to accept that you can’t see it all.
2. Consider how you fit into the space before you arrive. SoCap is designed to be a crossroads where investors meet entrepreneurs meet philanthropists meet impact analysts meet everyone else. Knowing how you fit into that space, what you have to teach and what you want to learn before you arrive could dramatically increase your enjoyment of the event.
3. Pick a content track. One of the ways to make the large amount of content more manageable at the event is to pick one of the handful of content tracks like “Tactical Philanthropy” and focus on it. Because they’re curated by individuals, it’s likely that many of the panels with work well in the context of one another.
4. Know the 1 or 2 people who you must meet, and make it happen. One of the keys to successful event networking is figuring out who you want to meet. SoCap has made that easier with a community tool that allows you to browse other attendees in advance and discover mutual interest.
5. For everyone else, just let it happen. If making it happen matters a lot in networking, so does letting it happen. It’s extremely hard to know which of our connections are going to step up with the resources we need, but it is clear that the deeper the relationship, the more likely it is that people will have your back when you need it. Cutting off conversations that could be going somewhere fun to rush around like a head-cut-off chicken may not, in the long run, be the right strategy.
6. Engage with the community online in advance. SoCap has set up a community portal that allows attendees of the event to begin the conversations they want to have in advance of actually showing up. It’s a great way to get to know the people you’ll spend the next week with.
7. Go with the flow. Any in-person gathering is ultimately a collection of energy produced by new connections between people. Even when its great, content can get in the way and impose artificial barriers on conversations that feel like they’re only just getting started.
8. Save some for the night. At any event, the real connections happen at night over dinner and drinks. Take the time to get rest in advance in order to enjoy the best the community has to offer.
9. Lay down some roots in San Francisco (such as by visiting the Hub). For my money, the Bay Area is the informal capital of this space, and I believe that connection is going to get deeper as more tech money flows into the sector. SoCap is a great chance to lay down some SF roots in a place that is valuable to have a foot it.
10. Go to the Day 3 Unconference. SoCap veterans know that one of the most intimate, fun, and differentiated parts of the event is day three’s Unconference. Facilitated by the inimitable Jerry Michalski, the sessions are where a lot of the deepest connecting actually happens.
Photo credit: sociate
September is the month that business, school, and real-life kicks into gear for many who had enjoyed the last gasp of August summer. Important articles this week range from the education access funding to the problem of regulatory frameworks for startup growth to the comparative generosity of global citizens.
The Most Generous Countries on Earth: The Gallup World Giving Index recently released data about the most giving countries. The USA comes in at number 5. The criteria used by Gallup includes charitable giving, time spent volunteering, and willingness to help strangers. It’s hard to draw too much from the limited amount of info here, but it is interesting nonetheless.
Making the Grade: This Matthew Bishop piece in The Economist discusses how loans for education may be the next version of microfinance to make it big. He discusses up-and-coming organizations like Enzi — who are experimenting with loans correlated to a percentage of future income — and Vitanna, as well as pondering the potential of Kiva’s entry into the student loan market. Watch this space in the coming months.
Startup Visa Interviews at O’Reilly Gov 2.0: This speech and interview combo posted by Brad Feld, a venture capitalist based in Boulder, CO and one of the leaders of the Startup Visa movement, provides great background on the push. In short, the goal is to create a class of visa specifically designed for immigrant entrepreneurs who wish to build their companies and create jobs in the USA.
Schools: The Disaster Movie: I expect that education reform will be one of the most talked about issues in our field over the next year. This is in part due to the fact that the field is so ripe for disruption, and that more and more startups are being created to tackle it. But it is also in part because the filmmaker behind “An Inconvenient Truth” is back with a much-anticipated film about the deplorable state of American schools. Early reports have suggested that Teacher’s Unions come out looking pretty bad, which will be sure to poor additional fuel on an already intense flame.
Instead of IPOs, Startups Look to Be Acquired: Tomorrow I will publish a piece about new evidence that suggests that startups are the most important economic engine of job creation in the United States. This piece reinforces the point I make then about how economic policy designed to promote small business and bank reform is not necessarily the same — in fact can be down right opposite — for policy needed to allow startups to flourish. This piece shows how both too much and too little regulation has ruined the market for technology IPOs, impacting job creation and the venture industry as a whole.
Photo credit: Schlüsselbein2007
Weekend Entrepreneur Links: Global Generosity, Education, IPOs
Whether or not you’re a comic books aficionado, you’re no doubt familiar with Wonder Woman. When running down a line-up of some of those superheros who are best known among the only superficially comic-savvy public — for instance, Batman, Superman, Spiderman — hers is the only name that springs to mind as putting a “wo” in front of that “man.” And Wonder Woman costumes make quite the popular Halloween get-up.
But if you have a Wonder Woman costume left over from last year that you thought you’d don again this October, be warned that you’ll be woefully out of date, as DC Comics is presenting a Wonder Woman for the 21st century. In celebration of reaching issue number 600 of the Wonder Woman comic series, the superwoman is finally getting some pants.
That’s right: pants. (Well, leggings, if you want to get technical.) The traditional Wonder Woman, who debuted in 1941, fights crime in a leotard and legs that are bare except for high red boots. The new-and-improved Wonder Woman gets to wear black leggings and a rad motorcycle jacket (check out a drawing of her new ensemble here). Basically, she’s going to be a lot warmer during the winter months (as will be those who choose to dress up as her to go Trick-or-Treating).
She also looks a lot more like the kind of superhero who demands respect and can kick butt in the name of justice, rather than somebody who belongs in the Miss America swimsuit line-up. This is a refreshing update, even if Wonder Woman writer Jodi Picoult couldn’t convince DC Comics to ditch the bustier, of which she complained, “as a woman, I know you wouldn’t fight crime in a bustier.” While we’ll have to see how the new Wonder Woman’s sales go (and there are tales of a movie in the works), tuning in to female preferences for an empowered 21st century image might prove to be a big win for DC’s marketing plan.
Photo credit: Loren Javier
Whether or not you’re a comic books aficionado, you’re no doubt familiar with Wonder Woman. When running down a line-up of some of those superheros who are best known among the only superficially comic-savvy public — for instance, Batman, Superman, Spiderman — hers is the only name that springs to mind as putting a “wo” in front of that “man.” And Wonder Woman costumes make quite the popular Halloween get-up.
But if you have a Wonder Woman costume left over from last year that you thought you’d don again this October, be warned that you’ll be woefully out of date, as DC Comics is presenting a Wonder Woman for the 21st century. In celebration of reaching issue number 600 of the Wonder Woman comic series, the superwoman is finally getting some pants.
That’s right: pants. (Well, leggings, if you want to get technical.) The traditional Wonder Woman, who debuted in 1941, fights crime in a leotard and legs that are bare except for high red boots. The new-and-improved Wonder Woman gets to wear black leggings and a rad motorcycle jacket (check out a drawing of her new ensemble here). Basically, she’s going to be a lot warmer during the winter months (as will be those who choose to dress up as her to go Trick-or-Treating).
She also looks a lot more like the kind of superhero who demands respect and can kick butt in the name of justice, rather than somebody who belongs in the Miss America swimsuit line-up. This is a refreshing update, even if Wonder Woman writer Jodi Picoult couldn’t convince DC Comics to ditch the bustier, of which she complained, “as a woman, I know you wouldn’t fight crime in a bustier.” While we’ll have to see how the new Wonder Woman’s sales go (and there are tales of a movie in the works), tuning in to female preferences for an empowered 21st century image might prove to be a big win for DC’s marketing plan.
Photo credit: Loren Javier
Mercury levels in our oceans are increasing. Women of childbearing age and children are especially vulnerable to the serious health threats posed by mercury-contaminated seafood.
But the technology to reduce mercury emissions has been around for decades. More than a hundred chlorine plants have already made the switch to newer, cleaner, energy-efficient technology. Then why are there still a few of these plants that release hundreds of pounds of mercury each year?
It’s time to bring the last outdated plants into the 21st century! The dangerous mercury pollution that these antique plants release is fouling our oceans, threatening public health, and harming wildlife, including tuna, whales, swordfish and polar bears.
The Mercury Pollution Reduction Act will ensure that all chlorine plants use new, mercury-free technology. It’ll protect our oceans and wildlife, promote clean-energy, and help make our seafood safe. Tell your Senators mercury pollution from chlorine plants can — and should — be a thing of the past.
