One of Twenty-five Leaders of Tomorrow-Ben Barry

Oprah Winfrey discovered him years ago, and now it's your turn. Ben Barry, named "One of Twenty-five Leaders of Tomorrow" by Maclean's, has been challenging the status quo of beauty since he was a teenager.
At age fourteen, Ben helped a friend who was told she was "too big" to be a model by sending her pictures to a magazine editor. The editor called him back, hired his friend, and with that one phone call, Ben launched his modeling agency. Today, Ben serves as CEO of the Ben Barry Agency, a model consultancy headquartered in Toronto, Canada. His company scouts and sources models of all ages, sizes, colours, and abilities for fashion and beauty brands, including Sears, Macy's, and the groundbreaking Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.
Ben has been the subject of feature interviews on Oprah, CNN, and Fashion Television and in The Guardian, The Times of India, The Financial Times, and The National Post. He is a former business columnist for the Globe and Mail and author of the bestseller Fashioning Reality: A New Generation of Entrepreneurship, hailed by Profit Magazine as "a manifesto for young entrepreneurs and a call to arms to everyone." Ben has received the CIBC Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and is the first male winner of the Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case for his leadership in advancing the equality of girls and women in Canada.
He holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Women's Studies from Trinity College at the University of Toronto and a Master's in Innovation and Strategy from Judge Business School at Cambridge University. He is currently completing his PhD on perceptions of beauty around the world at Cambridge University and is a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Business School. Ben also serves on the Board of the Canadian Foundation for Women's Health and as Chair of the Toronto Fashion Incubator, a non-profit small business incubator for Canadian fashion entrepreneurs.

speaking

Ben is a sought-after speaker on the topics of entrepreneurship, leadership, marketing, and beauty and body image. He has traveled around the world delivering workshops and keynote presentations to such organizations and associations as The International Council of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, The Government of Canada, Oxford University, Global Entrepreneurship Week, and the Alberta Women's Entrepreneurs Conference.

Reviews of Ben' Talk

"Ben Barry has the unique ability to get all types of audiences up and out of their seats when he speaks. He not only has an amazing success story as a young entrepreneur, but also exudes so much passion and enthusiasm for the causes he believes in that it is contagious."— Amy Harder, President, Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship
"Inspiration is an understated way of expressing the impact of Ben Barry on our audience. His passionate message about challenging the social norms and empowering each individual taking responsibility for contributing to social change in our society, is heartfelt and impactful. Not only does he have a story to tell, but he tells it in such a way that left our audience wanting more. All I can say is Bravo!"— Glen Padassery, Manager, New Professionals Secretariat, Ontario Public Service
"Ben is an inspirational speaker who reminds every audience that social justice is not just a dream, it is a real possibility. Whether speaking to high school students or a university academic gathering, Ben draws rave reviews for his story of passion, wit and perseverance in challenging the status quo in business and the fashion industry."— Dr. Peter Jaffe, Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Western Ontario

N.Korea threatens new nuke, rocket tests

SEOUL, April 30 (UPI) -- North Korea has threatened to test a second nuclear bomb and an intercontinental ballistic missile unless the U.N. lifts new sanctions and apologizes.

The U.N. Security Council's imposition of sanctions in response to the recent launch of a long-range rocket were "wanton provocations," North Korea charged.

A South Korea official viewed the threat as "very drastic."

North Korea staged its first nuclear test in June, 2006.

Experts believe North Korea can do a second nuclear test at any time, considering its plutonium stockpile and possession of several nuclear warheads, Chosun Ilbo reports say.

It appeared the tests would be prepared in any case. The foreign ministry said in a statement that "the first step in that process" was under way, namely construction of a light-water reactor power plant.

The statement also said technological development to secure its own supply of nuclear fuel would start "without delay."

A South Korean official said the steps being taken were unexpected.

"We assumed that the North would offer some kind of resistance (to the sanctions)," the official said, "but simultaneous threats to conduct a second nuclear test, push for a uranium enrichment program and test-launch a missile all at once are very drastic."

North Korea said further, "We already declared in the 1990s that we will consider it a declaration of a war if the U.N., the legitimate signatory to the armistice treaty, imposes sanctions against us. Such sanctions will never work on a nation that has lived under various kinds of sanctions and blockades imposed by hostile forces for decades."

A Japanese government official was quoted in the Sankei Shimbun newspaper as saying that since North Korea has begun reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods to extract plutonium it could be ready for a nuclear test within three months.

Escape the Swine flu and help your fellow traveler with new website...we're talkintravel.

Here's a new website I came across that may help anyone wanting to escape the Swine Flu with a virus free vacation. It's called WHERE I’VE BEEN™ and can be found at www.whereivebeen.com. It's a lot like facebook and twitter...another social network; like we need more, but this one should help anyone who loves to travel. Read on for more information.

Leading travel application introduces the first full integration of a stand-alone travel site and the world’s leading social networking sites
Where I’ve Been™ (WIB) (www.whereivebeen.com) announced today the launch of its new Social Travel Platform, which features a powerful combination of social networking tools and location-based information services. Where I’ve Been currently has more than 8 million users, approximately 1/2 billion travel intents and over 2 million “User Reviews,” with integration spanning the world’s top social networks including Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, hi5, Friendster and its own homepage.

The new site launch offers the ability to research and plan travel, share videos, photos, stories, as well as post and receive reviews and travel advice, all within the context of each member’s preferred networks. New features include:

§ A shift from “countries and cities” to local points of interest
§ Ability to search, review and get information on more than 30 million global data points including destinations, hotels, restaurants and bars
§ Aggregated videos, reviews, and other content from members and leading travel sites such as Citysearch, Kayak and hotelvideoreviews.com
§ Third party integration tools such as the online travel itinerary and trip planning service Tripit (www.tripit.com)
§ Travel Bucks Virtual Currency. Earn Travel Bucks to save the rainforest or feed a child in Mali or other philanthropic projects. The more actions you perform on the site, the more Travel Bucks you earn
§ “News-feed style” updates from friends, other users and trusted resources that are weighted and filtered for relevancy to each member
§ “Ask an Expert” allows members to get intimate knowledge from the community and reputable travel professionals
§ A continuously growing community on Twitter with traveltuesday.org

“We believe that Where I’ve Been™ will now be the most efficient and robust single source for comprehensive travel-planning information,” Michael Dalesandro, Co-Founder and WIB CEO. By using relevancy metrics derived from user profile content and proprietary filtering engines, our newest offering can suggest everything from local bars and restaurants, to far-away countries you may enjoy. With our new technology, Where I’ve Been is poised to dramatically expand its user base and add to a powerful relevance model to become the world’s premier social travel platform and thus increasing conversions,” continued Dalesandro.

WHERE I’VE BEEN™
Where I’ve Been (www.whereivebeen.com) is the leading social travel application that spans the world’s social networks, blogs, and homepages. With comprehensive features and functionality, its social travel and local platform lets users and communities “Find, Travel and Share”™ relevant content that is contributed by members, partners, and aggregated from the Web. Founded in 2007, WIB’s team of talented programmers and designers is based inChicago. Where I've Been thrives on providing its community with 100% high quality products that are both user-friendly and social. Enjoy!

For more info: www.whereivebeen.com and if you're interested in some of the places we've visited, check out our www.examiner.com home page site at www.examiner.com/x-5821-SF-Travel-Insights-Examiner

Obama Says Swine Flu ‘Not a Cause for Alarm’

President Obama said on Monday that the growing number of cases of swine flu in the United States and abroad was “not a cause for alarm,” but he sought to assure Americans that the government was taking precautions to prepare for the prospect of a global health pandemic.

“We are closely monitoring the emerging cases of swine flu in the United States,” Mr. Obama said, speaking at the National Academy of Sciences. “This is obviously the cause for concern and requires a heightened state of alert, but it’s not a cause for alarm.”

The remarks by Mr. Obama, which came at the beginning of a previously-scheduled speech that he delivered to scientists in Washington, marked the first time the president has personally addressed the swine flu. He said his administration was monitoring the disease and taking precautions to ward off a wider spread of the swine flu, which emerged from Mexico last week.

Mr. Obama said the swine flu outbreak underscored the need for a larger investment in scientific research in the United States. He said science should not be seen as a luxury, but rather as a key element of the nation’s security.

“Science is more essential for our prosperity, our security, our health, our environment and our quality of life than it has ever been before,” Mr. Obama said. “If there was ever a day that reminded us of our shared stake in science and research, it is today.”

Mr. Obama said federal funding for physical sciences, as a proportion of the gross domestic product, has fallen by nearly half over the last quarter century. He used the speech to bolster his argument for increasing funding to scientific research, which is a challenge given the budget shortfalls and economic condition of the country.

Google marks Samuel Morse's birthday with code logo

Visitors to the search engine's home page this morning were met with the code "–. --- --- –. .-.. ." instead of the usual Google logo.

The witty doodle is intended to honour Samuel Finley Breese Morse, the inventor of the single wire telegraph, who was born on April 27, 1791.

talented painter who was admitted into the Royal Academy, Morse only turned his hand to inventing in 1832, after meeting an expert in electromagnetism on a sea voyage.

He later patented his idea for a transmitting messages over electrical wires, which quickly became the standard method of swift long-distance communication. Every letter of the alphabet was translated into a combination of dots and dashes in the code to which he gave his name.

Google regularly releases versions of its logo to mark major world events and anniversaries. It is particularly keen to honour scientific discoveries, and has in the past produced doodles to herald the launch of the Large Hadron Collider and the birthdays of Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci.

On April 23 last week it marked St George's Day and William Shakespeare's birthday with a cartoon-style logo.

Shirtless Obama Makes Washingtonian Cover

The May cover of Washingtonian magazine features those paparazzi photos of a shirtless Barack Obama strolling the beach in Hawaii last year.

Some call him ‘President Beefcake’. Others just call the upcoming Washingtonian Magazine cover, showing a shirtless Barack Obama, embarrassing.

Forget Chavez, Ortega, and Ahmedinejad. And remember those two war zones? Iraq and, and, and…

Apparently, the American people are more interested in seeing Barack Obama shirtless. Because with the arrival of the Obamas in Washington, came a ‘celebrity aspect that has brought energy to the city and the attention of the paparazzi.’ This is all according to Garrett Graff, editor-at-large at The Washingtonian magazine, a monthly style/culture publication.

“The Obamas are the center of attention here and the whole world is looking to Washington now in a way we haven’t seen in years,” Graff said, calling it “a real golden age of Washington.”


Call me crazy but couldn’t ‘the golden age’ of Washington have been illustrated with the President of the United States fully clothed? And this certainly isn’t the normal cover the magazine usually does so is the ‘Buff Bam’ just an attempt to sell more magazines?

Of course it is.
“It’s a unique time in Washington and this photo helps capture all of the reasons why,” Graff said. “It’s not a normal way to look at a president of the United States but this is not a normal president.”

Ah. More Messiah worship with maybe a wee bit of a man crush? Graff has said the magazine used the papparazzi photo to illustrate two things: first, the president himself is hot – “you have a buff president and the paparazzi like taking shirtless photos of him,” Graff said – and second, the Obamas’ presence in Washington is “really hot.”

So there you go. Hot and really hot. Graff said they did not check with the White House before publishing and have not heard anything from them one way or another. The Washingtonian Magazine, featuring a shirtless Obama on the cover in ‘My Neighbor is Hot’, hits newsstands on Wednesday.

Longer Unemployment for Those 45 and Older

When Ben Sims, 57, showed up earlier this year for a job interview at a company in Richardson, Tex., he noticed the hiring manager — several decades his junior — falter upon spotting him in the lobby.

“Her face actually dropped,” said Mr. Sims, who was dressed in a business suit befitting his 25-year career in human resources at I.B.M.

Later, in her office, after several perfunctory questions, the woman told Mr. Sims she did not believe the job would be “suitable” for him. And barely 10 minutes later, she stood to signal that the interview was over.

“I knew very much then it was an age situation,” said Mr. Sims, who has been looking for work since November 2007, a month before the economic downturn began.

The recession’s onslaught has come as Mr. Sims and many others belonging to the baby boom generation remain years from retirement. But unemployed baby boomers, many of whom believed they were still in the prime of their careers, are confronting the grim reality that they face some of the steepest odds of any job seekers in this dismal market.

Workers ages 45 and over form a disproportionate share of the hard-luck recession category, the long-term unemployed — those who have been out of work for six months or longer, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

On average, laid-off workers in this age group were out of work 22.2 weeks in 2008, compared with 16.2 weeks for younger workers. Even when they finally land jobs, they typically experience a much steeper drop in earnings than their younger counterparts.

Older workers do hold some advantages, though. Many have avoided layoffs in this recession, and government statistics show that people 45 and older currently have a lower unemployment rate than younger workers.

Alicia H. Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, said companies were often reluctant to lose the experience of older workers, many of whom also have protections that often come with age and seniority.

Recent data, however, have shown that the advantage is deteriorating. “If you are old and have a job, you are less likely — albeit less less likely than in the old days — to be fired,” Dr. Munnell said.

The unemployment rate in March for workers ages 45 and over was 6.4 percent, the highest since at least 1948, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking unemployment on a monthly basis.

But once older workers lose their jobs, Dr. Munnell said, “then it’s horrible.” They have a much harder time finding work again than younger job-seekers do, and statistics appear to show that it is harder for them in this recession than in previous ones. During downturns in 1982 and 2001, workers ages 45 and over were unemployed an average of 19 weeks and just under 17 weeks, respectively.

Many out-of-work baby boomers have despaired as they wonder whether to trim their résumés to avoid giving away their decades of work experience, or to dye their hair.

More of them are now choosing to fight back. Age discrimination complaints were up nearly 30 percent in the 2008 fiscal year over the year before, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and that period ended just before the worst of the recession began.

But the vast majority of those complaints involved layoffs. Discrimination in hiring is often almost impossible to prove.

“Especially in this day and age when you apply online, you’re not even told why you can’t get past the first screening,” said Laurie McCann, a senior lawyer with the AARP Litigation Foundation.

Mr. Sims, in Texas, was so incensed by how he was treated that he tried to call the company’s chief executive but was unable to get through. He never seriously considered filing a formal complaint.

“I know enough about H.R. procedures and H.R. situations,” he said. “It would have never gone anywhere.”

Assessing just how pervasive age discrimination is in the job market is difficult. Certainly, older workers believe that it is rampant — an AARP survey in 2007 of workers ages 45 to 74 found that 60 percent said they had seen or experienced age bias.

Joanna N. Lahey, an economics professor at Texas A&M University, conducted a study published in 2005 in which she sent out 4,000 résumés on behalf of hypothetical job-seeking women ranging in age from 35 to 62 for entry-level jobs at companies in Boston and St. Petersburg, Fla. She changed only the applicant’s high school graduation year, an age indicator. Dr. Lahey found that workers under 50 were more than 40 percent more likely to be called for an interview.

Older workers often accumulate knowledge specific to their companies that helps protect them from layoffs, Dr. Lahey said. But that background is often less useful to other employers.

Older workers must also battle stereotypes about their energy and adaptability, as well as the reality that their health care costs are higher.

The oldest baby boomers have already begun retiring. But with retirement accounts plunging in value, more older workers than ever are trying to stay in the work force. And some unemployed boomers, frustrated after months of fruitless searching, have concluded that their only option is to turn their backs on successful careers and start over at much lower pay.