In the last two years, there has been a striking momentum to reduce or eliminate plastic bags in the US as more Americans become aware of the environmental hazards of these bags. While the US movement is in its infancy, much of the world has already taken action.

In 2002, Bangladesh became the first country to outright ban plastic bags. The bags were credited in large part for the massive floods in 1988 and 1998. Enormous amounts of plastic bag litter clogged sewer lines and flooded upwards of two-thirds of the country during these devastating floods.

 

The litter from plastic bags was so bad in South Africa that the Minister of the Environment and Tourism jokingly named plastic bags the national flower because so many bags decorated their trees. Free bags are now illegal and there is a 3 cent levy on all plastic bags.

 

Paris banned the bags in 2007, and all of France will follow suit in 2010. Other countries with outright bans or free bag bans include: Bhutan, Eritrea, Rwanda, Somalia, Taiwan and Zanzibar. China banned free bags last summer and estimates that it will save 34 million barrels of oil each year.

 

Countries that tax plastic bags include Ireland, which saw an immediate 90% reduction in plastic bag use after enacting its PlasTax. Ireland saves 400,000 barrels of oil each year due to the tax. In Germany, most stores charge 5 to 25 cents per bag. Hong Kong has proposed a 50 cent tax for 2009. Israel adds a surcharge for plastic bags unless they contain meat, fish, poultry or produce. Sweden also taxes the bags.

 

Spain is working on its National Plan of Integrated Waste which would include a ban in 2010.

 

In the UK, the retailers took the lead. Many have eliminated plastic bags and encourage reusable bags. IKEA and Whole Foods are two US chains that have been leaders in the reusable bag movement.

 

2008 will be remembered as the year US retailers began to regularly stock reusable bags. The mostly non-woven polypropylene bags are becoming standard fare in most stores today. However, people often forget the bags, leading to the surge in popularity of new bags that fold into a pocket so that they can be stored in purses, eliminating the need to remember.

 

Plastic bags are considered environmentally incorrect because they never fully decompose, are often littered, which causes significant harm to wildlife, and due to the staggering 100 billion used in the US each year, unnecessarily clog our landfills.

 

Surprisingly, paper bags are worse environmentally. Lack of air and moisture in the landfills prevent proper decomposition, they take more energy to manufacture and deliver, and they cost retailers, and thus consumers, significantly more to produce than plastic bags.

 

Many Americans now realize, as have many of our European and Asian neighbors, is that reusable bags are the solution to the plastic and paper bag problem.

The entertainment industry and the fashion world have been interlinked for hundreds, if not thousands of years. However, what probably started as getting dressed up for the theater has evolved into intertwined fortunes in which entertainment drives fashion, and fashion drives entertainment. Television shows, cinema and music aren't just outlets for creativity anymore, they have become outlets for fashion to such an extent that fashion, in some cases, has become the driving force behind the "creativity" of entertainment.

Obviously, one of the big stepping-stones in the evolution of this semi-symbiotic relationship was the advent of the star. Stepping out on the red carpet at award ceremonies, theater opening nights and film premiers in the latest couture dresses and tailor made designer suits meant that stars from all areas of the entertainment industry have become conduits for the delivery of the mass fashions to the mass media .

It would be a significant oversight to assume that this implies that stars and their latter day less than saints, celebrities, are merely manikins and models for the highest bidding design house, although this is partly the case. The reality is that the relationship is much more complex than this, depending on the star's or celebrity's relative worth. A-list stars and free-spirited celebrities might be in a position to choose their own fashion, directly influencing what is popular in high street stores and fashion catwalks.

Now, more so than ever before, stars and celebrities from the entertainment world are even going so far as to design their own clothing ranges, having an even more direct influence on fashion. Singers and actresses alike have their own clothing ranges, but less obvious areas like rap and rock music have also succumbed to the temptation of fashion design. Both 50 Cent and Liam Gallagher have clothing collections for sale at the moments and while they may not necessarily be all that good, they are obviously having some influence on the clothing choices of consumers.

However, fashion and entertainment have gone even further than talent interconnection, they have moved increasingly towards content interaction. America's Next Top Model, for example, is pretty much a direct collaboration between the television and fashion worlds to deliver entertainment-based content. The program makes would be fashion models stars and celebrities and the process of modeling into entertainment.

Another type of example of content interaction can be seen in Sex and the City, in which the characters' love, devotion and work for the fashion industry is one of the main focal points for the series and film plots. The stars of the show and now movies have become synonymous with the fashion world, promoting their own particular fashion tastes as well as acting as approv for interest in the fashion world in general. Plenty of other shows and films have followed suit with this interconnection, including Ugly Betty and The Devil Wears Prada, which was originally a book.

Even the lives of famous figures from the fashion industry are being used as inspiration for creative content like films, books and television shows. The life of Coco Chanel, for example, has now been transformed into a number of major motion pictures, including two starring Amélie's Audrey Tautou.

While the entertainment world and the fashion industry remain two separate entities in themselves, with many spreading disciplines, they have definitely become more and more aligned, interconnected and interdependent. How this relationship will evolve over time is hard to tell with such a huge interrelation already in place, but one thing is for sure, they are forever bound to each other through ties of fortune, mutual respect and shared interest.

Most people come Alanya and never get out of the hotel; just live in the hotel until the end of their holiday. They use the beach and pool of the hotel, restaurants of the hotel, shopping centers of the hotel, disco and animation shows of the hotel. In my opinion they are limited with the hotel because they don’t know Alanya. However Alanya is a gold mine. Historical places, natural beauties, social entertaintment places. People who comes Alanya should consider to get out of hotel and take a look around. In my article as a native of Alanya i will write you alternative beauties of Alanya.

Go to centrum of Alanya. Ask for harbour, its so close to centrum. When you go to harbour you will see red tower. You can visit Red Tower and look at Alanya from the top of Red Tower. After take some photos you can goto Fishermans Caffe near Red Tower and taste some tea. Its cheap 50 Cent in 2009. After you taste tea and breathe some sea air walk to the center of discos. They are so popular in Alanya. James Dean, Bistro Bellman, Janus, Robin Hood, Zaph Han…

When you come to Alanya its a big mistake if you leave without visiting Castle Of Alanya. You can use Bus, Taxi, Rent Scooter or Car, if you are youth or feel youth you can also walk to go to castle. There are places to eat on castle. You can try turkish pancakes called “Gozleme”. Dont forget your camera, i am sure that you will use it!

Lets goto Dim River and Dim cave. If i were you first i go to dim river, i order fish for lunch than i swim on cold waters of dim river. After eating fishes over river for lunch you can go to dim cave and see that natural beauty. While going to dim cave you will see many orange and lemon gardens. Its also worth to see.

One of the natural beauty of the Alanya is Sapadere Canyon. Huge water resource, its opened 3 years ago. There are also places to eat of drink.

You should also see cleopatra beach. Its good place to swim. Little crowded but its nice to be with people isn’t it? In cleoparta beach you will see sport centers. Basketball, football, tennis… You can use these places… Basketball is free but you should pay for football and tennis. Volleyball is also free. Damlatas Cave is alternative places to go over there.

Its time to go to yacht tour at Alanya because there are many thing to see. i will tell you where they stops. First you will see historic boathouse (tershane). Then you will see pirate cave, after that you will see lovers cave enterance. You can climb there and goto exit of lovers cave. But you should jump from 7 meters to the sea. There is no exit except this way. After that you will see phosporus cave, you will learn why its called phosphorus when you see it. You will also eat pasta and chicken grill with salad for lunch.

Another alternative activity in Alanya is Scuba Diving. There are several companies serve for this activity. Its not important if you never dive with tubes. They will teach you how to do. After some education you will be ready to discovery diving. Potential things to see under water: Mediterranean seal, Turtle, Fish, Cave, Sunk Ship. They will take photos of you under sea. Lunch menu will be probably same as yacht tour. We like chickens.

Sealanya, its opened 3 years ago, located at Turkler county. Dolphin shows, Seal shows, You can also swim with dolphins, swim with tropical fishes. I know you will like it, also your children (if you have any) like to see there. If i were child i prefer to see dolphin show rather than to see caves.

Water Planet Aqupark, located in Okurcalar, its really funny place to go, remember me when you trying white kamikaze. If you are adrenalin sport lover there is a place for you. You can do Bungee Jumping! 70 meter. You have 2 alternative “Free Fall” and “Flying”.

You can do Rafting at “5 mansion” (5 konak). You should goto some tour company to arrange this activity, when you goto centrum of Alanya you will see many of them trying to sell you that kind of activities.

You can also go fishing, most people dont know it but if you like fishing there are fishermans serves for fishing. They have boat and they know the place where you can catch fish. If you like this idea you can ask some local stores probably they know their cell phone numbers. i can give you their numbers here.

Paragliding and parasailing alternatives, you can do paragliding from hidirelles, start from the top of the hill and you see Alanya from the bird’s eye view, it finishes on the beach. You can also try parasailing, water sport company serve for this activity, many of them have parsailing option. they connect you to jet boat with rope, then you start fying with parachute.

There are places for Motocross activity on plateau of Alanya, called red area(kizil alan). There is a company rent cross motors and helps you to do that kind of motorcross activity.

You see that you can do many thing in Alanya, limited with your imagination, I call it living in Alanya! So you do not need to pay a lot of money for 5 star all inclusive all in one hotels, get a room from apart hotel which located at the centrum of Alanya. Just use your hotel to sleep. Not to live. If you want to learn these hotels in Alanya, try this site http://www.hotelsalanya.net

Online advertising. This is one of the best methods of getting your website popular to internet users. All you have to do is contact online-based advertising companies and let them do the job of advertising your site for a corresponding fee. Of course, it is relatively cheaper compared on advertising your home-based business outside the internet community.

To make advertising powerful and effective, the affiliate must use smart methods of advertising. An example of smart advertising is the re-use of one key concept of affiliate marketing – the harnessing of human resources. What this means, is that an affiliate may tap on the capacities of others to bring more visitors to the website.

The economics involved of making an affiliate marketing program beneficial can be simple, yet unquestionable. Say for instance, when a visitor ups a form to the website of the affiliate, the affiliate may be earning .50 cent from the company that he’s promoting. In a single day, he may refer ten visitors – which is equivalent to 5.00.

Keep in mind, the affiliate may increase his income by utilizing others as well. The more people an affiliate manages to recruit or get to make purchases or fill out forms, the more money that affiliate will make.

To have a significant increase in income in affiliate marketing, an affiliate can actually do three things. First of all, the affiliate must search for a profitable site. Next, he’ll need to link with companies that are generous with their leads. Last, the affiliate will need to locate a progressive and rising company online then recruit affiliates for the company.

Internet marketing can be a complicated business. There is so much to learn. Building websites, learning search engine optimization, emails, autoresponders and that is just some of it. Then you have to find your niche, research your market, dream up your product and on and on it goes.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Obie Trice’s long awaited second album is hotter than July.

It is rich of great lyrical skills and many influences. After introducing himself in Cheers, Obie opens the second chapter of his story.

24’s is a club song in which Obie flows with confidence. Nice and various instrumentals are intelligently combined with ill beats and lyrics.

Obie Trice Ballad is definitely an interesting piece of work. Starting with a slow ” Obie Trice- Obie Trice-Obie Trice ” refrain in the background, the song slowly draws Obie’s life story.

Obie reminds his listeners that he came from the bottom and will picture the harshness of hood life. Yes, young black men have it hard in the hood. Obie knows it. He’s been there too.

Catchy beats, guitar sounds, keyboards in the background spice up the well written track.

Cry Now is a wonderfully well written song where realness triumphs against fakeness. You wanted to kill him? Cry Now, enemies. Obie hits you with his words and he does it with confidence. I particularly enjoyed the instrumentals. Trumpets in the background reinforce the struggling atmosphere of Obie’s song.

Everywhere I Go is an intelligent 50 Cent-Obie collaboration that will make you fully appreciate both artists’ talent.

You could barely stay indifferent in front of the instrumental/ vocal jewel called Ghetto in collaboration with Trey Songz. The song has a wonderful gospel/ soul flavor, the vocals are touching and bring this unique black music flavor where rhythm/instrumental/ lyrics and deep feelings meet.

The song introduces into black souls’ pain in the ghetto. Obie will make you acknowledge how hard it is to live in the slums. The Detroit hood is the place where many bloody dramas and discrimination happen on a daily basis.

Ghetto is truly one of the best songs from Obie’s second album. I highly recommend it to all of you.

Also There They Go, that I first reviewed under the title D Town Boys is a great piece of work including Eminem and local Detroit talent Big Herk’s collaborations.

Kill Me A Mutha is a track aimed at annoying people you can meet in the club. Violins, keyboards and rhythmic beats make the track enjoyable.

Obie’s flow is enlightened in Lay Down. Soft violins contrast with Obie’s offensiveness.

Mama featuring Trey Songz is dedicated to Obie’s mom: Eleanor Trice.

Only mothers can see their sons cry. Only mothers know the pain and their kid’s personality. A few years ago, Obie exposed the beef that opposed him to his mom in Don’t Come Down and how he had to experience the hard side of street life in Detroit. Eleanor eventually reconciled with her son and has all reasons to be proud of him.

Violent starts with some dark piano sounds and gunshots. Flutes mixed up with violins and rhythmic beats will make the listener feel the reality of the streets.

Snitch combines Akon and Obie’s talents very well and exposes the problem of snitching that is so typical to the don’ts of the hood.

Globally, Obie Trice did some great lyrical work on his second album.

The only negative side of the CD are commercial tracks such as Jamaican Girl, They Wanna Know and All My Life. I didn’t like them that much.

However, one needs to recognize the great effort Obie Trice has put into his second album. Obie Trice, real name, no gimmicks.

Copyright©2006 by Isabelle Esling

All Rights Reserved

Hip-hop isn’t just about music. Hip-hop is about dance, art, expression, pain, love, racism, sexism, broken families, hard times, overcoming adversity and the search for God. It’s a culture, a way of life, a language, a fashion, a set of values, and a unique perspective. Hip-hop is about trying to live out the American dream from the bottom up.

Hip-Hop culture is a unique phenomenon because it does incorporate and affect so many different cultures, ages and classes. In the early 1970’s the unnamed culture known today as “hip-hop” was forming in New York City’s ghettos. Each element in this culture had its own history and terminology contributing to the development of a cultural movement. The culture was identified in the early 1980’s when DJ Afrika Bambaataa named the dynamic urban movement, “hip-hop.” Since that time “hip-hop” has served as a powerful voice and form of expression for young black audiences and has evolved into a culture with its own language, style of dress and mindset. The hip hop culture envelops not only music but also fashion and dance.

What makes hip hop’s evolution is the range of flavor the culture has to offer and what “hip-hop heads” thrive on is individuality and creativity, which is never more apparent than in hip-hop fashion. In fact, hip hop fashion is one of the top clothing industries in the world today. It is claimed to have begun in the African American community but has spread quickly into being a truly universal style for people of all ethnicities and sexes and a lynch pin of hip hop culture. Hip hop fashion is preferred by various celebrities such as 50 cent, Puff Daddy, Ja Rule and Sean Combs. It is often satirized by comedians such as Ali G. Hip hop fashion is a visible element of hip hop culture.

Hip hop dancing is evolving in many different directions today, heavily influenced by the evolution of hip hop music and its popularity in media, surrounded by heated debates on history and authenticity. Modern hip hop music gave birth to new styles of hip hop dancing partly inspired by the old school styles. Most of those styles focused on upright dancing as opposed to breakdance which is better known for its floor-oriented movements. To express one’s creative talent, hip-hop dancing is perhaps the best way in which impressions and expressions come from the soul.

Music has always played a key role in shaping minds and attitudes. Hip hop music sheds light on contemporary politics, history and race. The social influence hip hop music has on the hip hop cultural movement includes activities of dancing, associated slang, fashion and other elements. Hip hop music encompasses the written word, visual art, dance and rhythmic style with intricate beats. Music has no boundaries and no limits; anything worthy should be available through music, especially spirituality and religion. A big influence on the hip hop identity is its redeeming music.

Culture is the product of a current reality. The identity of a culture is created by the work and thought of human beings. It is the expression of a class or element of a particular class and is reflective of a certain period. The allure of Hip Hop culture as an organizing mechanism has arisen primarily because there is no existing political apparatus that adequately addresses the needs of young people and/or poor and working class communities; in a political vacuum. Culture, as a general matter, cuts to the core of how people articulate their beliefs, values and customs. Hip Hop culture is the most visible and vocal representative entity of its own identity.

Bike locks – are they for the tame, the weak, the boring; the ones afraid of getting their beloved cycle stolen? NO. Bike locks are for everyone and are absolutely vital for any biker (no matter how or how much you use your cycle). Every single cycle owner needs a lock.

And no, cycle locks aren’t just for the nerds and the faint of heart. Being a brave guy isn’t going to keep your cycle away from bad people with large vans. Park your bike unlocked next to the grocery shop, take five minutes to buy groceries for Mommy, come back out and BAM! It’s gone.

Most people don’t realize the importance of bike locks until: A. They experience it firsthand and have to go through a loss of a bicycle (which can be a very, very expensive loss) or B. They read an article like this, wise up and buy themselves a lock immediately.

Most potential cycle thieves will not even consider approaching a locked cycle, especially if it’s parked in a public area. That’s why you should have a bike lock that is prominent and visible from far.

Tips for choosing the right lock:

• Do NOT choose the $1 or 50 cent products. Believe me, this is gonna be next to nothing protection-wise. Find it in your heart to dig out an extra twenty to thirty bucks, and protect the hundreds of dollars you spent on your bicycle.
• As already stated, make sure to choose one that is prominent and easy to see from far. This helps to discourage potential thieves.
• Not all bike locks will fit all bikes (especially when the lock in question is a U-lock). Make sure that the product you consider is long enough to fit over your tire and your frame

Types of bike locks:

• cable locks (flexible)
• u-locks (metal, inflexible)

How to lock your bike:

• Find something sturdy (preferably iron or some sort of metal) like an iron railing
• If you have a cable lock, wrap the lock around the tire, the wheel and the metal frame (locking just your wheel to the railing can result in somebody loosening the wheel and walking away with the valuable frame. Locking just the frame can result in somebody loosening the wheel and walking off with that).
• If you have a u-lock, fit the U over the back tire and the bike frame and lock. Easy as pie.

Occasionally, you might see advices to buy two locks and lock your front and back. Although this is not particularly necessary, it’s a good idea for those who live in areas with high crime rates.

Bike locks are a vital accessory for your cycle. Without purchasing a bike lock, you will soon find yourself without a cycle. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Would you ever pay $535.50 for a 50 cent candy bar?

How about paying $5,355 for a $5 beer?

Doesn’t sound appealing? Then wait until you see the price comparison between a personal trainer and a monthly gym membership: 107,100% mark up! Personal training is 1071 times the price of your hourly membership cost!*

Have you ever sat down and compared the cost difference between a gym membership and a personal trainer?

I have done the math for you to make it easy.

*A few assumptions for the math:

– Personal training at a price of $75 per hour

– Monthly gym membership at a price of $50 per month

So here is the math for you:

$50/month gym membership

24 hours x 30 days = 720 hours

$50 (membership) / 720 hours = 7 cents per hour

So your monthly gym membership costs only 7 cents per hour!

Compare this to personal training (PT):

PT @ $75 per hour / 7 cents = 1071

OUCH! Personal training is 1071 times as expensive as your hourly gym membership on a per hour basis!

A short economics lesson that applies here: Basics of supply and demand. Essentially, basic economics tell us that demand (for a good) will drop as price increases. Right now, there is very little demand for personal training in much of the United States as the price is outrageously high!

Personal training is a service where price is about 10 times that of demand. As it stands right now in America, personal training is too expensive for a majority of gym members. This dilemma causes many gym patrons to walk around the gym, not receive help from gym staff, and quit out of pure frustration. We see this cycle repeat every year.

Education can prevent this cycle from occurring. It is possible with proper education, that gym members will be able to exercise without the need for expensive personal trainers.

Personal trainers are coached to de-value machines and tell new members they MUST hire a trainer to get results. These are lies. A majority of gym members need a PROGRAM, not a personal trainer. A program consists of basic concepts such as; what exercises to do, how long, how many times per week, and what schedule should be followed.

Exercise and diet fall in the behavior change category. Not all of us need a personal trainer to tell us what to do. I doubt any of us want to pay 1071 times the price of our membership to have somebody stand there with a clipboard counting reps. Granted, personal trainers are a great service to the elderly, injury prone, those new to exercise, and special circumstance individuals. For the other 98% of us, we do not need an overpriced personal trainer.

Which do you prefer: Exercise at $75 per hour or exercise at 7 cents per hour? I think the answer is a no-brainer. The true cost of exercise is what YOU make of it. Make it the 7 cents per hour and USE your gym membership! Skip the personal trainer and learn how to exercise by reading how! You were motivated enough to sign up for a gym membership, so motivate yourself to learn how to exercise! It will save you $74.93/hour to teach yourself exercise!

We need a fitness expert to show us the basics. We need instruction of how to use gym equipment or how to workout at the house. We need affordable fitness, fitness for the masses!

For years and years, a hair style known simply as 360 waves or waves has been revolutionizing the African American community. But where did 360 hair waves originate? Who were the first people to don the style? Why are they so popular now?

The first people to sport waves are unknown. The style became increasingly popular in the late 70’s and 80’s. Hair waves have a been popular style for African American people since the 1800s. Other cultures that also don waves are Native Americans and Hispanics due to the natural waviness of their hair.

Waves have become increasingly popular once again due to the hip hop era. Famous rappers and athletes have chosen to sport them as their hairstyle of choice. Well known wavers include Fabolous, 50 Cent, P Diddy, Akon, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Quentin Richardson, and Joe Johnson.

The beginning steps to getting great deep waves are simple. First you have to get a fresh hair cut. Its just easier to start from a new cut than to try to untangle a head full of hair into waves. The second step involves planning how you are going to moisturize your scalp and soften your hair. There is information available on this if you are not sure what type of moisturizers you should use for this.

The final step is to brush! Brushing your hair down is the only way to get waves. Depending on how soft you get your hair and what products you use your waves should get the way you want them in no time and you too can sport the classic classy 360 waves in your hair.

The reasons why article generated traffic are valuable and why customers are more likely to spend money with you are simple and straight forward – Articles! On the average, article-generated subscribers will spend well over $2 per month; conversely, subscribers from other sources will spend in the neighborhood of 50 cent or less. Here are the reasons why I believe that article-generated traffic spends more money:

• You are dealing with a focused, targeted audience, these are visitors to your website who are deliberately seeking information on the topic you have written about, read your article, and feel they receive value or certainly will receive value in the future from your writings, and chooses to click-through to a link that you provide. This is truly a captive audience and that’s exactly what you want.
• Statistics have shown that unlike people who might often click an advertising link or pay-per-click link, these people are clicking because they are truly looking for something specific that will either provide a solution or answer a question. People who subscribe to your lists via articles you have written are about 10 times more likely to buy from you than people who join your list from a PPC link. To further prove this process works. Start your own calculation and you will see first-hand just how effective article writing is in gaining new customers of like interest.
• Another reason why articles are so effective can be attributed to the fact that if the person reading the article does not like what you have to say or does not feel what you have provided is what they were really looking for, they can merely click out of the article without going any further. After all, these are people who are looking for specific information.
• If by chance you have written a number of articles on the same or similar subject, they might very well click on your link just to read other articles that might be more to their liking. The more you write about one topic, the more knowledge you gain about the subject, resulting in better quality articles with more substantive information for your reading audience. The end results, the more apt they are to buy what you have to offer.
• You can view article writing as a screening process, that weeds-out those who are just curiosity seekers and focus in readers who are going to take what you have written and apply it to their lives, business or whatever.
• Lastly, I believe there is a psychological connection that occurs when someone reads the article and clicks through to your web site. The premise is that your article serves as an instant rapport creator, so that when the visitor clicks into your site, they already feel as though they can trust you. Once you have gained the trust of a reader, and they feel they can believe and take what you write to heart, you have gained an instant fan, one who will seek out your articles, and spend money on the product you offer because they know you provide value.

The certain advantage to gaining the readers trust is that you can begin to sell to them even faster through your email campaign, because you are already working with some level of trust; you are building on it, not creating it.

To your article writing success