Trash-collecting entrepreneur squashed in San Francisco ↵

A guy named Joe got fed up of being charged $37/week for garbage disposal. So he decided to take things into his own hands. Eventually it turned into a small but profitable business. He worked from 5am to 8am everyday, and hired a few neighbourhood kids to help out.

All was going well for Little Joe until the Big Guys found out:

When the local garbage company and its union found out about "Joe" they complained to the city. Within a year a law was passed stating that garbage service was now mandatory for all residents at the price the city's monopoly charged, which was shortly raised. And Joe? For a while he still took our recyclables until he was fined $4000, even though he had our permission. It appears our household recyclables are owned by the Garbage company, not us, as it subsidizes our low cost of garbage service!

It is clear that monopolies are bad in business or unions and monopoly unions exist to enrich a class of privileged workers at the expense of ordinary workers.

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North Korea operates several restaurants outside of the country? ↵

Aptly named Pyongyang, they operate in Cambodia, Thailand, China & several other Asian countries.

The restaurants are used to earn additional money for the government in Pyongyang—at the same time as they were suspected of laundering proceeds from North Korea's more unsavory commercial activities...

Visitors to the restaurant are ushered into an air-conditioned, flood-lit hall filled with dozens of glass-topped tables. Unlike North Korea proper, which is wracked by economic sanctions and constant famines, the food here is fresh and abundant.

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The best things in life aren't things ↵

Derek Sivers (founder of CD Baby), on why he gave away his company to charity:

I live simply. I hate waste and excess. I have a good apartment, a good laptop, and a few other basics. But the less I own, the happier I am. The lack of possessions gives me the priceless freedom to live anywhere anytime.

link ↵

Adults

Women's natural scent more seductive than perfume ↵

Study has found that men detect a woman’s natural scent at an unconscious level. In the tests testosterone levels were higher in men who smelled an ovulating woman’s T-Shirt.

If you want more incentive to just let your natural odour come through you should know that showering is probably contaminating the drinking water supply.

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What teachers make

"Taylor Mali speaks of the world of the teacher with power and grace. His voice is our voice." -- Michele Forman, 2001 National Teacher of the Year

You can also buy his book, What Learning Leaves.

The Rage Is Not About Health Care ↵

The Tea Party movement is virtually all white. The Republicans haven’t had a single African-American in the Senate or the House since 2003 and have had only three in total since 1935. Their anxieties about a rapidly changing America are well-grounded.