Turning Trash into Cash: A Community Beautification Project

March 30 at 3:00 EST
Presenter: Eve Shafi

Cost: $25 (free for HandsOn affiliates and members - Contact for discount code)

Click here for full details and to register.

Ever wondered how to lead a neighborhood clean up? Come hear from HandsOn expert Eve Shafi, Director of Projects and Partnerships with HandsOn Frederick County, to learn how to mobilize and lead a county wide beautification day that also raises money for local nonprofits. Similar to a walk-a-thon, The Big Sweep participants collect donations and sponsorships for picking up trash on roads, waterways and parks throughout the County. In 2010, over 1,000 volunteers and 60 service leaders picked up over 13 tons of trash and recyclables and 344 tires and raised over $47,000 for nonprofits, school clubs, churches etc.

EEOC Files Nationwide Hiring Discrimination Lawsuit Against Kaplan High Education Corp.

Company’s Use of Job Applicants’ Credit History Discriminates Because of Race, Federal Agency Charges


CLEVELAND – Kaplan Higher Education Corporation, a nationwide provider of postsecondary education, engaged in a pattern or practice of unlawful discrimination by refusing to hire a class of black job applicants nationwide, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it announced today.

Since at least 2008, Kaplan Higher Education has rejected job applicants based on their credit history. This practice has an unlawful discriminatory impact because of race and is neither job-related nor justified by business necessity, the EEOC charged in its lawsuit.

As a result of these practices, the company has violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to the lawsuit (Civil Action No. 1:10-cv-02882) filed by the EEOC’s Cleveland Field Office in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. It is a violation of Title VII to use hiring practices that have a discriminatory impact because of race and that are not job-related and justified by business necessity.

The EEOC attempted to reach a voluntary settlement before filing suit. The EEOC seeks injunctive relief in its lawsuit, as well as lost wages and benefits and offers of employment for people who were not hired because of Kaplan Higher Education’s use of job applicants’ credit history.

“Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was intended to eliminate practices that serve as arbitrary barriers to employment because of a job applicant’s race,” said Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence of the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office, which oversees Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, Maryland, and portions of New Jersey and Ohio. “Employers need to be mindful that any hiring practice be job-related and not screen out groups of people, even if it does so unintentionally.”

Workplace discrimination charge filings with the federal agency nationwide rose to an unprecedented level of 99,922 during fiscal year 2010.

The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.

Back after a while

I am back after a while. Expect to read about my ramblings about the self, you and everyone else.

13 Super Annoying Ways People Abuse Facebook And Twitter

Ah, social networking. You’ve come a long way and everyone’s using it. But maybe it wasn’t meant for grandpa or Grandma Sue, or that person who continues to blog and re-tweet about their shiny dog’s paw bracelet. Leave it to TheFrisky.com, (www.thefrisky.com), the website covering everything that matters to women 18-34 to point out some of the most annoying ways people have abused sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Amelia McDonell-Parry, Editor-in-Chief of TheFrisky.com shares some of her entertaining (and sad but true) examples below:

1. Hint, Hint, Hint: People who use their tweets or status updates to send not-at-all-subtle messages to someone on their friend or follow list make me extremely uncomfortable. For example:

“I’m thinking about you. Yeah, you. You know what you did. And I won’t ever forget it.”

This move is not only passive-aggressive, but it’s downright weird and creepy.

2. Become A Fan (Of Me!): Here are some of the things I am a “fan” of on Facebook: Barack Obama, The Beach, Breakfast Tacos, Ryan Gosling, and I Heart Sleep. I am not a fan of my best friend from first grade or my mom or my boyfriend, so why the eff would I be a fan of you, person with no discernible talent who I don’t know nearly as well? People who create fan pages for themselves, even though they don’t do anything, make me crazy. I get a little shiver of delight every time I enthusiastically IGNORE these requests.

3. Manic And Excessive Retweeting: Really, you loved four dozen 140-character tweets by other people so much, that you had to retweet all of them within the span of an hour? I get the occasional retweet, when something someone says makes you laugh hysterically, or a link totally strikes your fancy—but seriously, do not retweet every single thing from The New York Times and your great aunt Mildred because it litters my feed, dammit.

4. Bragging: This one is a personal beef of mine, linked directly to my own jealousy. I wish I got two weeks off and went on vacation over the holiday, but I didn’t and that’s cool, whatevs. But on Monday my Facebook feed was littered with braggy, annoying messages like:

“Ugh, I SO wish I was back in Peru smooching my boo on the beach instead of at work. Can I have another month off, like, now? Guess life could be worse, right?”

Right. Screw you.

5. “Excessive” Use Of QUOTES And ALL CAPS For “Emphasis”: This was posted as a status update over the holidays by a member of my own immediate family:

“Where the hell did the last TEN YEARS go?!?! Oh well…“au revoir” ‘09…I won’t miss ya! 2010, I’ll rise again! (No, uh…not “Jesus”...ME! I’ll “rise” to meet the challenges instead of lettin’ them BEAT ME this time!)”

Being this is my kin we’re talking about, I cannot defriend him or her, though I suppose I could gift him or her with an AP Stylebook for Christmas next year ...

6. Twitter Is Not Your Fitness Diary: “Just ran five miles, off to yoga!” “Wow, can’t believe I did 20 pull-ups five days in a row!” “Ugh, so sore from yesterday’s three hour triathlon training sesh. Gonna take it easy today and just do Bikram.” Your constant tweets about how much you work out are giving the rest of us fat slobs a complex and we are unfollowing you so that we can eat cheese doodles in peace. Buh-bye.

Don’t get Scrooged in December – TrueCar releases car deals that fit in your holiday budget

Last minute holiday shoppers have nothing to fear this December. Tomorrow, the day before the deadline, Christmas Eve, is the best day of the month to buy a new car. In fact, December is the best month to buy a car this year and there are almost 60 vehicles with expected discounts over 15% off MSRP in December. Check out the complete list of new cars deals expected to sell well below sticker price.

Consumers can increase their chances of getting a great deal by buying a car from the Hottest Deals in December 2009 list on Christmas Eve, the best day of the month to buy a new car!

• Great family vehicles like the 2009 Nissan Quest, 2009 Ford Explorer, 2009 Cadillac Escalade, and 2009 Lincoln Navigator L are expected to sell more than 15% off sticker.

• Great hybrid deals are range extenders for your holiday budget; the 2009 Saturn Aura Hybrid, 2009 Nissan Altima Hybrid, and the 2009 Saturn VUE Hybrid are all expected to sell 17% or more off sticker this December. The 2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid is selling 8% under MSRP.

• GM vehicles, including Chevrolet, Saturn, Pontiac, GMC, Cadillac and Hummer, have outstanding savings. The 2009 HUMMER H3 leads with an expected discount of 28% off MSRP.

About TrueCar
TrueCar (http://truecar.com/) is the authority in new car pricing. TrueCar aggregates data from multiple sources to show car buyers and dealers how much people actually paid for a particular car in their geographic area. TrueCar is offered online, free of charge -- so anyone can know at any time what is considered a good or great price. Consumers no longer need to walk into the dealership only partially informed and fully suspicious: with TrueCar they can walk in knowing the price of a fair deal. Dealers also benefit by gaining real-time, unbiased information about marketplace pricing, helping them price their cars to increase volume of sales and gain market share from other dealers. Led by a highly experienced team from the automotive and technology industries, TrueCar is based in Santa Monica, California.

Food for Thought

A wise person once said:

You are who you are because of your parents, it's your fault if you stay that way.


There's your food for thought of the day!

The Gold Rule: Treat People the Way YOU Want to be Treated

It is as old as time, yet people seem never to remember this rule: Treat People the way YOU Want to be Treated. How hard is that. Lately, I have seen some people be edgy with each other. Granted I know that each person may have stresses of their own that they are dealing with or need to deal with.

Don't take your frustrations or anger out on other people. You may not mean it, but others won't forget.

Learn to control your emotions, channel into constructive energy, where you can use it in positive ways. Is it worth regretting something you could've controlled, but didn't?

Don't take people for granted. Appreciate what they offer and what they can offer.