Did you know that in California, and a handful of other Western states, it's legal to require women to wear make up on the job? Thanks 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. San Diego woman, Shenoa Vild, has recently brought the law into the limelight claiming that she was fired from a waitress job for not paining her face. It's difficult to determine the truth about Vild's sacking in the sea of opinion surrounding her story, but it does bring to light a ridiculous law. In my opinion, make up is a perceived need for most women, but it's far from a necessity and not wearing it certainly doesn't impede a woman's job performance. I don't think this is a law in Alabama, but if I find out it is I'll fight for my right to remain make-up less.

Check out Vild's story here from current.com: http://current.com/items/90117764_waitress-was-fired-for-not-wearing-make-up.htm

I don't know how these people found the time to pull these over-the-top pranks on their co-workers, but their photos sure are entertaining. Whether or not you work or plan to work in an office, I think you can appreciate the creativity: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/5356419/Office-pranks.html

While her parents were sleeping last week, 3-year-old Pipi Quinlan of New Zealand tried out her new computer skills and bought a $12,700 backhoe from an Internet auction site thanks to her mom's stored financial information. Mom had been bidding on toy backhoes on the site the day before, but she received the shock of a lifetime when she read the notification e-mail the next morning. Thankfully, the seller isn't demanding payment.

Read the full story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8063769.stm

Giada De Laurentiis has saved me from crappy jarred pasta sauce yet again. Last night I prepared her "Angel Hair with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Goat Cheese" (link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/angel-hair-with-sun-dried-tomatoes-and-goat-cheese-recipe/index.html) in about 20 minutes, thanks to the fresh pasta I bought at the pasta store in front of work, and it was amazing. The creamy, tangy goat cheese perfectly compliments the sweet, flavorful tomatoes. Take that Olive Garden!

If you have $25 to lend for a year, you can help eliminate poverty and provide women in developing countries with much-needed business opportunities. Micro-loan organizations like kiva.org and promujer.org connect donors from around the world with entrepreneurs in developing countries. Many organizations focus on or work exclusively with women. Workers and volunteers in the field give the entreprenuers business training and help them create and perfect detailed business plans. After the entrepreneurs are trained, vetted and have met all the micro-loan agency's criteria, they can then apply for a small loan, usually between $100-2000.

They're business profiles and photos are then posted on the micro-loan agency's website, where anyone can donate any part of the amount to help the women (and men) meet their goals. All loans are paid back to the donor within about a year, depending on the agency's specified time frame. Pro Mujer, Pro Women in Spanish, boasts a 99% payback percentage, and Kiva provides detailed budget information about every non-profit micro-loan agency they work with. Some of the more well run organisations are self sustaining from the loan profits alone. To ensure continued success, most agencies provide continued training and support for entrepreneurs even after their loans are paid back.

Find out more about micro-loans and micro-finance from these websites: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8007909.stm , http://www.kiva.org/ , https://promujer.org/ .

Musician/producer Danger Mouse's much anticipated album "Dark Night of the Soul" was set to release in July. But according to the latest from the Mouse camp, the legal problems with the artist and his record label EMI have derailed the project. The album, which includes a 100-page book of photos from cult film director David Lynch, will be shipped to stores with a blank DVR and the message "Use it as you will." The album includes collaborations from artists of The Strokes, Super Furry Animals, The Flaming Lips, Sparklehorse, The Cardigans, Iggy Pop and more. For now, you can legally listen to it streaming on NPR's website: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104129585.

Until a few weeks ago, I thought that all the hubbub about big corporations not paying taxes was far-left conspiracy stuff. But then during an English class here in Buenos Aires, one of my students told me she frequently travels to Panama.

"Why in the world would you travel to Panama?" I asked, wondering why this fashion executive would choose to travel to a poverty-stricken, overwhelmingly unsafe and far away country. If she were looking for beautiful beaches, she would just go next door to Brazil.

"I'm the CEO of a public relations company that works with many top US fashion brands, and they all have offices in Panama because of the tax benefits. I went two weeks ago for a meeting at Tommy Hilfiger's corporate headquarters," she told me.

I nearly forgot about this until I saw an article on "The Huffington Post" titled "Intern sets Up Offshore Tax Haven in Panama." Turns out that "tax benefits" actually means, NO TAXES--in Panama or the US. The currency in Panama is the USD, and Panama has one of the biggest banking industries in the world to protect all that extra money. According to MSNMoney.com, unskilled labor cost about $6.40USD a day. Worker's rights? Ha. Corporations dodge the IRS and are free to exploit workers.

As it's not required, many companies that bank or are registered in Panama don't even have offices in the country. They have and do all of their business in the US, but just set up shell corporations to dodge paying taxes. Either way, the rich get richer, and the poor stay poor.

This short video shows you exactly how easy it is to set up an shell corporation in Panama.


Outrageous, hu? But there is something you can do about it. Look up information from Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch (http://www.citizen.org/trade/) about how to contact your senators and stay informed.