At ‘Breastaurants,’ Business Is Booming

Published on Mar 21, 2013
While many restaurant chains are struggling, Twin Peaks, Tilted Kilt and others are thriving.

MEGAPOST: Cigarette and Cigar Commercials 1940s, 1950s, 1960s

1949 TV commercial from Camel cigarettes.

MEGAPOST – 1960s McDonald’s Commercials

DJ Academe is amused.

MEGAPOST – HSBC “local knowledge” ads – culture, socialization, norms

Parallel parking in Germany vs. France.

Fracking Hell? South Africa’s Gas Dilemma

Published on Feb 20, 2013
Caught between the promise of prosperity that natural gas extraction in the Karoo Basin might bring and concerns about environmental and health impacts, citizen resistance to fracking is growing in the Republic of South Africa. Earth Focus correspondent Jeff Barbee reports.

Palestinians learn to survive in divided land

Published on Feb 16, 2013
Palestinians are building thousands of new apartments in part of Occupied East Jerusalem, without Israeli approval.

It’s thanks to a quirk in the layout of the Separation Wall which splits the city.

The wall cuts off an area called Kufr Aqab – putting it on the West Bank side.

That means Palestinians who live there can keep their East Jerusalem identity cards and still get access to services in Israel.

Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston reports from Kufr Aqab.

Smartphones come to Ugandan farmers’ aid

Technology helps subsistence farmers solve issues with livestock diseases and keep track of market prices.

Published on Feb 16, 2013
Africa has the world’s fastest growing mobile phone market in the world.

Ronnie Dunn – Cost Of Livin’ (2011)

LYRICS
Everythin’ to know about me
Is written on this page
A number you can reach me
My social and my age

Yes, I served in the army
It’s where I learned to shoot
Eighteen months in the desert
Pourin’ sand out of my boots

No, I’ve never been convicted of a crime
I could start this job at any time

I got a strong back, steel toes
I rarely call in sick, a good truck
What I don’t know I catch on real quick
I work weekends, if I have to, nights and holidays

Give you forty and then some
Whatever it takes
Three dollars and change at the pump
The cost of livin’s high and goin’ up

I put Robert down as a reference
He’s known me all my life
We attend the same church
He introduced me to my wife

I gave my last job everythin’
Before it headed south
Took the shoes off of my children’s feet
Food out of their mouths

Yesterday my folks offered to help
But they’re barely gettin’ by themselves

I got a strong back, steel toes
I rarely call in sick, a good truck
What I don’t know I catch on real quick
I work weekends, if I have to, nights and holidays

Give you forty and then some
Whatever it takes
Three dollars and change at the pump
The cost of livin’s high and goin’ up

I’m sure a hundred others have applied
But rumor has it you’re only takin’ five

I got a strong back, steel toes
I’m handy with a wrench
There’s nothin’ I can’t drive
There’s nothin’ I can’t fix

I work sunup to sundown
Ain’t too proud to sweep the floors
The bank has started callin’
And the wolves are at my door

Three dollars and change at the pump
The cost of livin’s high and goin’ up

Boom in Asia’s male beauty market anything but made up

Published on Dec 9, 2012
Cosmetics companies are using fresh-faced South Korean pop stars to fuel sales of their products to Asian men, who increasingly view appearance as a vital ingredient for success.

Chicken McNuggets and Exploitation on The Wire – capitalism, conflict theory

D’Angelo Barksdale: Now you think Ronald McDonald gonna go down to the basement and say, “Hey Mr. Nugget—you the bomb. We sellin’ chicken faster than you can tear the bone out. So I’m gonna write my clowny ass name on this fat-ass check for you.”

Shit. Man, the nigga who invented them things? Still working in the basement for regular wage, thinking of some shit to make the fries taste better or some shit like that. Believe.

George Carlin – The American Dream

“You have no choice. You have owners.”

“It’s called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.”

Starbucks makes stores from shipping containers

Published on Nov 29, 2012 by CNN
CNN’s Michael Holmes explains how the world’s best-known coffee chain is moving to be an eco-friendly business.

Germany: Homeless Students

Published on Nov 29, 2012 by deutschewelleenglish
Affordable housing is becoming increasingly hard to find in Germany’s big cities. The main reason is the euro crisis; those who can afford it are buying – because property is seen as a safe investment. Big cities like Hamburg have a shortage of affordable housing. Students and trainees are hardest hit, as are low-income families. Many of those affected have no choice but to stay with their relatives, and/or are forced to commute long distances. The authorities have pledged to invest in new building projects – but finding vacant plots of land in cities isn’t always easy

Why the US Economy Needs Bees

Published on Nov 19, 2012 by linktv
Pollination is key to the US economy, but US bee keepers say that colony collapse disorder — massive bee death — is claiming up to 80 percent of us bee colonies each year. Pesticide Action Network’s Paul Towers states that “we rely on pollinators for one in every three bits of food that we eat.” Towers talks with Earth Focus about why US agriculture and economy are at stake.

Garment workers return to work in Bangladesh

Published on Dec 2, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish
A week after the nation’s worst garment factory fire left 110 workers dead, Bangladeshis are starting to return to work in factories contracted by big-name foreign clothing companies. At an annual worth of $20bn, the garment industry makes up 80 per cent of the country’s economy. The fire service is now checking all 4,000 factories in the nation to ensure safety. Despite the risks, the three-and-a-half million people who work in the industry, money of whom had held protests following the fire in in Ashulia, are slowly returning to work because they rely on the $43 a month many of them are paid. Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque reports from Ashulia.