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Back Market
Between the new normal that is working from home and e-learning for students of all ages, having functional electronic devices is extremely important. But that doesn't mean needing to run out and buy the latest and greatest model. In fact, this cycle of constantly upgrading our devices to keep up with the newest technology is an incredibly dangerous habit.
The amount of e-waste we produce each year is growing at an increasing rate, and the improper treatment and disposal of this waste is harmful to both human health and the planet.
So what's the solution? While no one expects you to stop purchasing new phones, laptops, and other devices, what you can do is consider where you're purchasing them from and how often in order to help improve the planet for future generations.
<p>Typically, new device models don't feature that many noticeable advances, meaning waiting in line every September at the Apple store when a new iPhone comes out isn't necessary. A better solution is to instead buy refurbished. </p><p><a href="https://bit.ly/3kAq42B" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Back Market</a>, for example, sells all types of refurbished devices, including smartphones, computers and laptops, tablets, wearables, and more from your favorite brands. Plus, their team of experts check each device's functionality and works to restore it to the best condition possible. You can also rest easy knowing your refurbished device comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee and a one-year warranty. </p><p>Refurbished devices, while not brand new, are certified by an expert and are available at up to 70% lower prices. Not only are refurbished devices better for the environment because less waste is being generated, they're also better for your wallet. </p><p>Back Market also offers amazing deals on the items students need for <a href="https://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/clk/476024540;282046943;f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">back to school</a>, plus an <a href="https://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/clk/476250672;282110393;d" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">extra 5% off</a> the already discounted prices to those enrolled in a college or university, so there's really no excuse not to buy refurbished.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDM5NDAyNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjM3ODU0N30.Ie1AR5tXsGsRY8N2wXIzU_byVz4WuxJGZHwOmKO7gR4/img.jpg?width=980" id="329df" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="48aeb587fafc0f3e5237c31d3040e2d6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Back Market</small></p><p>While we can't reverse the damaging effects e-waste has already had on the environment, making responsible purchasing decisions can help slow down the amount being produced each year and have a lasting impact on the planet.</p><p>According to a <a href="https://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:6341/Global-E-waste_Monitor_2017__electronic_single_pages_.pdf" target="_blank">2017 Report from the U.N</a>, all the countries in the world combined generated a staggering 44.7 million metric tons, or an equivalent of 13.4 pounds per inhabitant, of e-waste in 2016. Most of this waste is going straight into the landfills.<br></p><p>The same report states that only 20 percent was collected and recycled. But even the e-waste that is recycled is often improperly handled, being exported to developing countries where people work to recover valuable materials from the devices and end up exposed to toxic chemicals, according to <a href="https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2018/08/27/growing-e-waste-problem/" target="_blank">Columbia University</a>. E-waste toxins are also known to contaminate the air, soil, and groundwater. </p><p>While concern for the environment is high, particularly among younger generations, many people don't know what e-waste is.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDM5ODA5NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNzAyMTA2MH0.XHNEy8r4LoRZXgZFJqycufXZMrFjsQ6ppM6NFrOgUWk/img.jpg?width=980" id="65650" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4e96c313ecdfa4624be0ac680dac45ad" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Vivianne Lemay</small></p><p>According to a <a href="https://www.decluttr.com/us/store/e-waste" target="_blank">survey</a>, 71% of millennials and Gen Z consider the environment to be a more important concern than the economy, but 60% of them were unfamiliar with e-waste and its impact on the environment.<br></p><p>With the effects of global warming becoming increasingly apparent, taking measures to slow down the production of e-waste is crucial.</p>
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Amy Klobuchar's masterful response to Ted Cruz's SCOTUS nomination argument is a must see
09.28.20
The recent passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg not only marked the end of an illustrious life of service to law and country, but the beginning of an unprecedented judicial nomination process. While Ginsburg's spot on the Supreme Court sits open, politicians and regular Americans alike argue over whether or not it should be filled immediately, basing their arguments on past practices and partisan points.
When a Supreme Court vacancy came up in February of 2016, nine months before the election, Senate Republicans led by Mitch McConnell refused to even take up a hearing to consider President Obama's pick for the seat, arguing that it was an election year and the people should have a say in who that seat goes to.
Four years later, a mere six weeks before the election, that reasoning has gone out the window as Senate Republicans race to get a nominee pushed through the approval process prior to election day. Now, they claim, because the Senate majority and President are of the same party, it makes sense to proceed with the nomination.
<p>It's a stunning display of hypocrisy, even by the political world's standards.</p><p>In a recent Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, Senator Ted Cruz (TX-R) attempted to paint the Democrats' objections to pushing through a SCOTUS nominee as "political theater." But Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN-D) wasn't having it. In a nine-and-a-half minute speech, Klobuchar laid out exactly why this SCOTUS nomination goes beyond political theater—and she did so with an authentic eloquence that earned her viral status. </p><div id="baa0c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d0150500128ad482505386bd5cef7674"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1310246459988557832" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">If you haven’t seen this, there is a reason why this is getting a lot of attention. https://t.co/9bwtfkGRnA</div> — Dan Rather (@Dan Rather)<a href="https://twitter.com/DanRather/statuses/1310246459988557832">1601222073.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The full transcript of her speech shared on Senator Klobuchar's <a href="https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/9/in-exchange-at-judiciary-committee-klobuchar-urges-colleagues-to-hold-consideration-of-supreme-court-nominee-until-after-election" target="_blank">website:</a></p><p><em>"Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</em></p><p><em>I sit in a position on this committee where I often follow Senator Cruz and I often have to throw out my entire plan for what I was going to say because of what he said. But I have never had an experience quite like this one. I could choose to start by taking on his interpretation of history because of the fact that the only other time that we have had a justice die this close to an election was when Abraham Lincoln—a wise wise leader—was president. What did he do?</em></p><p><em>He waited until after the election.</em></p><p><em>What is unique in your words, Senator Cruz, about this situation? People are voting right now. Democracy is happening right now and we in this room are supposed to be stewards of this democracy. What else is unique in your words about this situation? It is the precedent that was set just a few years ago by the very people sitting here, by the very leader who is still the leader of the Republican Party.</em></p><p><em>He said this—Mitch McConnell—the American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president. Those are the facts that you live with. But to me, none of those arguments even compare to what I just heard and what I must respond to. Our democracy, what's happening right now.</em></p><p><em>What this President said yesterday and Joe Biden has said he will abide by the results of this election. It is this president, President Trump who refuses to commit to make sure there is a peaceful transfer of power after the election if he is not re-elected. Instead, as he has done for months, just yesterday, he again worked to undermine confidence in our election.</em></p><p><em>He has repeatedly told people, the citizens of this country that it's not safe to vote by mail. That there's something wrong with it, except for in Florida where he has voted by mail. This is what he says almost every single day. And to have the chairman of this committee lead this discussion on this solemn day, when tomorrow the first woman in the history of the nation will lie in state and raise the fact that yes, this may end up in court and then to hear you, Senator Cruz talk about how this is because of some war game that you're talking about that I've never even heard about that this can end up in court. </em></p><p><em>Well, guess what, I will not concede that this is going to end up in court. You know why? Because the people are voting in droves right now. They are voting all over this country because President Trump is behind in states, in red states that no one even thought he could be behind in. Why? Because the people of this country are fighting back because they know what's on the line. Do I think this is a tragic death at this moment? Yes, it's tragic because we lost this woman who is an icon way ahead of her time, someone who opened doors for women at a time when so many insisted on keeping them shut.</em></p><p><em>Well, we are not keeping our democracy shut this year. This was a woman who would never as Senator Durbin explained would not take no for an answer. She literally applied for law school when there were no women hardly in her law school, when she had to go to a dinner with the dean of Harvard Law School. And he had each woman explain why they were allowing a man to be taking this seat, taking the chair of a man and taking it away from a man.</em></p><p><em>She then goes on to Columbia and graduates, number one in her class. She then comes up with theories that no one had even conjured up before to argue that women should have equal protection under the law. And when they say a man should argue it, she goes and does it herself. And she wins five out of six times setting landmark law for this country.</em></p><p><em>She then goes to the Supreme Court, is respected across the land, becomes a cultural icon with her own hashtag—Notorious RBG—in her 80s. She never gave up and I am not going to give up on this democracy. Despite these false lies about the Democratic candidate for president. It is President Trump who chose to clear out peaceful protesters and wave a Bible in front of a church.</em></p><p><em>It is President Trump who after Charlottesville said there are two sides. Well, there's not two sides when one side is the Ku Klux Klan. It is President Trump who has put out there that military and soldiers should be at the voting places in a pure attempt to suppress the vote. So don't go telling the people this committee who know better, who is the divisive person, who is the one that has been inciting violence in this election.</em></p><p><em>And even if they don't believe us in this room, the American people have seen through it. That's why just today you saw nearly 500 military leaders join together—former military leaders—and civilian national security leaders, Republicans, Democrats and independents to say that they did not support this president, because they were afraid of what was happening to our country and our democracy.</em></p><p><em>So this hearing that we are about to have is about that very democracy. And so I don't think people really care about the fights we've had about this before. I think we missed a really important ingredient in what I've been hearing my colleagues say from across the aisle and that is people are voting right now.</em></p><p><em>They are voting on health care right now. The fact that we have a court case out of Texas that is coming up for oral argument on November 10th, in which yes, pre existing conditions are on the line because the argument was made that the whole Affordable Care Act should be thrown out. You cannot just fix that when you haven't been able to even take up the Heroes Act to do something about the pandemic. Yet, in fact, we see that we've got time to ram through a Supreme Court hearing in two weeks instead of spending those two weeks to actually take up the Heroes Act and hope the people of this country. </em></p><p><em>What else is on the line? Well, civil rights is on the line when you look at the decisions and all the money that has flowed into our politics from the outside as a result of this current court's decision that is dominated by nominees put forward by Republican presidents.</em></p><p><em>Women's rights. Oh, yeah, they are on the line and as those fires were blazing on the West Coast of our country, even the right to regulate our environment and do something to protect our air and water, that is on the line. So this hearing will not be divorced from what is happening right now because this president has put it right in the middle of a political campaign.</em></p><p><em>That's his choice, not our choice. </em></p><p><em>So, I don't see this as theater as you describe, Senator Cruz. I see this as the real world. I see this deeply personally because I know that we have a President in place that knew that this virus was deadly. He knew that it was airborne and yet my family, we were just trying to clean off the surfaces all the time and wash our hands. And then my husband ends up in the hospital with COVID on oxygen because this President didn't share with us the information he had at the time. All of that is going to be on the line.</em></p><p><em>So we will look at this nominee and we will look carefully at this nominee that is our job, but we cannot get away from the fact that the process that puts her before us will be one that is not respecting the democracy that we are supposed to cherish. </em></p><p><em>So I just—I have listened to this for too long and I think the American people see through this raw use of political power. That is why they're voting in droves. So if you think you can get away from this just by trying to get this nominee through and no one's going to notice what she stands for or what her views are and how that's going to play into decisions that are made that affect people's lives. They already know. They're voting now.</em></p><p><em>Thank you, Mr. Chairman."</em></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8fcd5907d169cc66587b86b89359522f"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JqYYkTsEqBw?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Senator Klobuchar Has Had Enough</small>
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<a href="https://youtu.be/JqYYkTsEqBw" target="_blank">youtu.be</a>
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Divest/Invest
Global mayors are declaring their commitment to divest from fossil fuels and invest in a sustainable future
09.22.20
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$200 billion of COVID-19 recovery funding is being used to bail out fossil fuel companies. These mayors are combatting this and instead investing in green jobs and a just recovery.
Learn more on how cities are taking action: c40.org/divest-invest
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Dan Rather, 88, says we are in 'a moment of reckoning unlike any I have seen in my lifetime'
09.24.20
Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather has become a beloved voice of reason, knowledge, and experience for many Americans on social media the past few years. At 88, Rather has seen more than most of us, and as a journalist, he's had a front row seat as modern history has played out. He combines that lifetime of experience and perspective with an eloquence that hearkens to a time when eloquence mattered, he called us to our common American ideals with his book "What Unites Us," and he comforts many of is with his repeated message to stay "steady" through the turmoil the U.S. has been experiencing.
All of that is to say, when Dan Rather sounds the alarm, you know we've reached a critical historical moment.
Yesterday, President Trump again refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power after the election when directly asked if he would—yet another democratic norm being toppled. Afterward, Rather posted the following words of wisdom—and warning—to his nearly three million Facebook fans:
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b43c7ddff3a85bd02e222f4060064b95"><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/theDanRather/posts/10164278832490716"></div></div><p><em>"There is no more time for silence. There is no more time for choosing party over country. There is no more time for weighing the lesser of two evils. All women and men of conscience must speak or they are complicit in America lurching towards a dangerous cliff of autocracy and chaos. </em></p><p><em>This is a moment of reckoning unlike any I have seen in my lifetime. I have seen this country in deep peril, as the hungry begged for sustenance during the Great Depression, as the Nazis marched across Europe and the Japanese across Asia, as missiles were moved into Cuba, as our political leaders were murdered, as a president ran a criminal conspiracy from the Oval Office, as planes were hijacked into skyscrapers. All of these were scary times, but through it all I never worried about a president actively undermining American democracy and inciting violence to do so - even Nixon, for all of his criminal activity. </em></p><p><em>What Donald Trump said today are the words of a dictator. To telegraph that he would consider becoming the first president in American history not to accept the peaceful transfer of power is not a throw-away line. It's not a joke. He doesn't joke. And it is not prospective. The words are already seeding a threat of violence and illegitimacy into our electoral process. </em></p><p><em>I suspect he is doing this because he feels he needs to. It is the same reason he sought dirt on Joe Biden, because he is deeply afraid of losing. Losing an election could mean losing in a court of law. It could mean prison time and ruin. But I suspect Trump's motives are more instinctual. He needs to hold on to power for the sake of power. He cannot lose, even if he has to cheat to win. Even if he has to blow up American democracy. He considers little if any about 200,000 plus deaths from COVID. Why would he care about our Constitution or Bill of Rights? </em></p><p><em>There is no sugarcoating the dangers and darkness we live in. But I remain heartened that the majority of Americans do not want this. Trump is in danger of losing states that he should be winning handily. Yes, his base is energized and numerous. But so is the opposition. I have seen opposition parties in foreign countries channel the morality of their causes to bring great change. And most of those opposition movements didn't have the strength, power, and resources of those who stand against Donald Trump. </em></p><p><em>Donald Trump has himself defined the stakes of the election. This is a battle for American democracy as we've known it. We are well past warning shots. Allies across the political spectrum are ringing alarm bells. Right now, all those seeking to defeat Donald Trump know winning a close election may not be enough. The size of a victory will likely matter. Failing that, what happens? I don't know. But I would say we all should try to remain steady. Try to conserve our energy for the battles ahead. Be committed to your community, your country, and your conscience. If enough Americans of decency and courage come together, the future of this nation can be better, fairer, and more just."</em></p><p>Thank you, sir, for reminding us of the true American values that should always be kept front and center, and for keeping us from slipping into despair over what we see happening to our democracy and over how many people seem blind to the reality right in front of them. You are truly a national treasure, Mr. Rather. </p>
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Culture
Borat is coming back for a sequel and it's going to be about the Trump-Epstein relationship.
09.28.20
"Very nice!" It appears as though Kazakhstan's number one reporter, Borat Sagdiyev, is set to return to the big screen in the near future and the film's title is a sight to behold.
Reports show that the title submitted to the Writer's Guild of America, "Borat: Gift Of Pornographic Monkey To Vice Premiere Mikhael Pence To Make Benefit Recently Diminished Nation Of Kazakhstan" is even longer than the first film's, "Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan."
As the title suggests, the film is expected to feature an encounter with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence as well as President Trump's TV lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
<p>Page Six reported that Giuliani called the cops on the film's star, Sacha Baron Cohen" after he apparently entered his office wearing a pink bikini.</p><p>"This person comes in yelling and screaming, and I thought this must be a scam or a shake-down, so I reported it to the police," <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/sep/28/borat-2-sacha-baron-cohen-targets-trump-epstein-giuliani" target="_blank">Giuliani told Page Six.</a></p><p>The film is also expected to focus on Donald Trump's relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="giphy-embed" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://giphy.com/embed/1AefIDNa1G3svYrNQA" width="480"></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/1AefIDNa1G3svYrNQA"></a></p></div><p>"Borat 2" has been described as a "meta-story" that follows Sagdiyev's attempts to conceal his identity so he won't be noticed by his targets. The first Borat film was such a huge hit it turned the character into a pop culture icon, so it's nearly impossible for Baron Cohen to prank people while dressed as the character.<br></p><p>This was probably why Baron Cohen <a href="https://www.good.is/sacha-baron-cohen-trolled-a-right-wing-militia-group-into-singing-along-to-a-racist-covid-19-song" target="_blank">was spotted performing at the March for Our Rights 3 i</a>n Olympia, Washington last June dressed as a bluegrass singer. The comedian trolled a group of 500 supporters of a right-wing militia group by getting them to sing along with a terribly offensive song about the COVID-19 virus.</p><p>The song took shots at the Chinese, liberal political figures, CNN, and Bill Gates.</p><p>"Obama, what we gonna do? Inject him with the Wuhan flu," Baron Cohen sang. "Hillary Clinton, what we gonna do? Lock her up like we used to do."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d9d27e10d075f70323e48df5c22f3ed7"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wb5dQycDnPE?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Sacha Baron Cohen trolls redneck rally.</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb5dQycDnPE&feature=emb_title" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
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</p><p><br></p><p>Baron Cohen was also spotted dressed as Sagdiyev driving a truck in Long Beach, California in August.<br></p><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9bbfad6283de0bd2793f3a9d30275e75"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eLBxwQwQpeU?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Borat 2 | Filming on the streets (2020)</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=13&v=eLBxwQwQpeU&feature=emb_title&ab_channel=CATNlP" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
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</p><p><br></p><p>Borat Sagdiyev was first introduced to English television viewers in 1996 on a show called "Grandpa Television." At that time, the character was known as Alexi Krickler. The character was revived for "Da Ali G Show" which would become a hit on HBO in America.</p><p>Baron Cohen has used the fictional, satirical character to expose real-life racism and antisemitism in American and England. He's also been criticized by Kazakhstani officials as promoting negative stereotypes about their country.</p><p>Kazakhstan's Deputy Foreign Minister, Rakhat Aliyev, invited Baron Cohen to<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6066040.stm" target="_blank"> visit his country saying,</a> "His trip could yield a lot of discoveries — that women not only travel inside buses but also drive their own cars, that we make wine from grapes, that Jews can freely attend synagogues and so on."</p><p>There's no word on when the film will be released but, in America, we could really use a laugh these days. In a time of political unrest, culture wars, and a pandemic, there's never been a better time to take a good look at ourselves and few people are better at it than Baron Cohen.</p>
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