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The Incredible Story Of How White Supremacists Almost Took Over A Tiny North Dakota Town

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When Brooklyn-based filmmakers Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker first arrived in Leith, North Dakota to shoot their documentary "Leith, N.D.," "No Trespassing" signs had just popped up all around town.

"There were these 'No Trespassing' signs everywhere," Nichols told Business insider. "Chris and I were really nervous sometimes because we would be shooting B-roll, and we were worried we were inadvertently going to go on someone's property and not realize it because property there was so vast. Everyone in the town just wanted to be left alone, and they didn't want people snooping around or getting too close."

Nichols and Walker flew to North Dakota after reading a New York Times article about the war brewing in Leith between the town residents and a man named Craig Cobb, who was inviting white supremacists from around the country to stay on his swastika flag-adorned properties.

Leith Cobb's house No Weather Productions"Cobb got to the town over a year before we arrived, and was undetected for about a year," Nichols explained. "He seemed like just a sort of peaceful, quite, kind of weird guy."

Most of the residents in the tiny town of 24 thought Cobb was strange. But since he kept to himself, so did they. The only waves Cobb made were whenever he went around town asking people if they had any land to sell — even properties without any working sewer.

Then in August 2013, town mayor Ryan Schock received a call from the Southern Poverty Law Center alerting him to who Cobb really was — a well-known white supremacist.

"Schock really had no idea what a white supremacist was, he was just kind of confused," Nichols said. "But once he found out about Cobb on the internet, he started going around and telling people in the town. There is one black resident that lives [in Leith] and Schock wanted everyone to feel safe."

A "Pioneer Little Europe"

Even after the town was aware of Cobb's beliefs, a majority of the residents didn't mind as long as he didn't stir up trouble.

But stirring up trouble was exactly Cobb's agenda — on his website, he had Google images of Leith charted off with descriptions of plans to create his personal Aryan settlement.

When the residents of Leith saw the website, they finally understood: Cobb was trying to take over and set up his own "Pioneer Little Europe," as his supporters dubbed it.

Leith Sign on Cobb's property No Weather ProductionsTensions came to a head on September 22nd, when Cobb held a rally in town with Jeff Schoep, the leader of the National Socialist Movement. "We have to start somewhere," Schoep told Reuters at the time. "So if we start in small towns and spread out from there, it's sort of a test ground in that sense, where if we're able to get off the ground here, then we're able to get off the ground in other places." At the time of the protest, Cobb had already  purchased 13 lots, some for as little as $500.

Hundreds of demonstrators (many of them Native Americans from nearby reservations), along with activism group UnityND, descended upon Leith to protest the American Nazi group with signs that read, "No Hate In Our State" and "Don't let the door KKKick you on the way OUT!"

There were also around a dozen armed state troopers dressed in SWAT team gear, as well as a dozen neo-Nazis on Cobb's property with a banner that read, “Anti-racist is code for anti-white.”

The sleepy cattle-farming community was completely overrun. That's when the "No Trespassing" signs starting appearing on every property. Leith residents wanted their town back.

Leith Fights Back

By the time Nichols and Walker arrived in Leith to shoot their documentary, the residents were taking a stand.

Meanwhile, Cobb had invited dozens of white supremacists to squat on his land, with the hope that with their votes he could take over the city council, thus taking over Leith.

Leith Main Street No Weather ProductionsOutsiders thought that the town only had two options: let Cobb take over, or dissolve so there would be no city council and the town could be absorbed into the larger Grant County.

But the 24 Leith residents were not going to let that happen. The majority of them had been there all their lives, and did not want to see their town dissolved.

Instead, they created a brilliant legal strategy that would force Cobb and his sympathizers to lose their foothold.

"They hired this legal team that came up with a strategy that would force Cobb or any other people who were likely sympathizers to Cobb to have potable water on each of their properties," Nichols explained. "A lot of the white supremacists that were coming down were just sitting in Winnebagos on one of Cobb's properties. The ordinance said that Cobb had 30 days to get everything up to code, knowing that that would be a fairly expensive process. Right after that is when everything sort of fell apart for Cobb."

The Aftermath

On November 16th 2013, Cobb was taken to jail in handcuffs after allegedly "patrolling" around the town with rifles and threatening citizens, according to The Bismarck Tribune.

Cobb pleaded not guilty to the seven counts of felony terrorizing and remains in jail, facing up to 35 years in prison if convicted. "I'll be so glad to get out of the state. And I'll never come back to North Dakota," if prosecutors dropped the charges, Cobb told the Associated Press.

Mayor Ryan Schock told the AP that people in Leith want Cobb to pay for the ordeal he has put the town through. Cobb has been selling off his property in Leith, including his house, though he still owns three other properties.

Nichols and Walker are currently finishing their documentary. They hope to complete it early this spring, and focus on the travails of the town as well as the aftermath.

"[Residents are] just totally fatigued, and they're upset that all of the press about their town is about neo-Nazis and white supremacy," Nichols said. "These are people that really don't want the attention, but they're happy to get it if it means that people will have an idea of what they're going through."

For more information about donating to their "Leith, N.D." documentary, you can contact the filmmakers at noweatherproductions@gmail.com with inquiries. You can also visit their website and Facebook page for more details about the film.

Leith Welcome Sign No Weather Productions

SEE ALSO: Sriracha Fans Will Go Crazy For A New Documentary About The Beloved Condiment

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How To Supercharge Your Coffee To Give You Even More Energy In The Morning

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The old world tradition of adding butter to coffee has recently re-emerged as a performance enhancer embraced by the likes of Bulletproof Executive founder Dave Asprey and holistic health guru Andrew Weil.

Weil asserts that the often demonized saturated fat poses no risk for increased heart disease and may actually help the body "stimulate the body's fat-burning potential" in addition to boosting creativity and productivity.

Produced by Alana Kakoyiannis.

NOW WATCH: Secret Recipe For Trendy Kale Snack Revealed

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The World's Most Spectacular University Buildings

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Sharp Centre for Design, Copyright Andreina Schoeberlein, FlickrThe world's most innovative and architecturally impressive university buildings can be found on campuses from Tokyo to upstate New York.

International building database Emporis has just released a list of the most spectacular university buildings around the globe.

From a campus building in Belgium dating back to 1928 to Turino's Luigi Einaudi center, completed last year, these university buildings are worth a tour.

Biblioteca Central, home to 400,000 books at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, opened its doors in April 1956. The outside is covered in a tiled mosaic painted by Juan O'Gorman. Each wall represents a part of Mexico's past: pre-Hispanic, colonial, contemporary and the university's place in modern Mexico.



Bradfield Hall at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., is almost entirely windowless to give it the feeling of a medieval fort. It's the tallest building on its campus and opened in 1969. The building houses departments for crop and soil science, Earth and atmospheric sciences, plant breeding, and genetics.



The brand-new Campus Luigi Einaudi at Universita Degli Studi Di Torino in northwestern Italy houses facilities for 5,000 law and political science students. The design represents a modern interpretation of the traditional cloistered quadrangle.



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Moscow Is No Longer The 'Billionaire Capital Of The World'

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michael bloomberg mayor

For the first time, New York City has surpassed Moscow for the most billionaire residents, according to the latest global rich list from Hurun, a group that tracks wealth in China. 

According to Hurun, New York added 14 billionaires this year, bringing its total to 84. Moscow, meanwhile, lost a billionaire, lowering its headcount to 77. 

The U.S. is home to the most billionaires  481  followed by China, with 358 billionaires. More than half (51%) of all billionaires now live in Asia, according to Hurun.

The following table shows where the most billionaires live by country and city, and their change year-over-year:

Screen Shot 2014 02 26 at 11.45.54 AM

moscow

SEE ALSO: The 25 Richest Neighborhoods In America

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Spike Lee Attacks 'Christopher Columbus Syndrome' In Epic Rant On Gentrification

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Spike Lee

Film director Spike Lee was speaking at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn for Black History Month last night when an audience member asked for his opinion about “the other side” of the gentrification debate. 

Lee responded with a 7-minute expletive-filled rant about New York City's gentrification. He decried what he called the "Christopher Columbus Syndrome" in trendy, rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods like Harlem and Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn that wealthy white people purportedly believe they "discovered." From his rant:

Then comes the motherf---ing’ Christopher Columbus Syndrome. You can’t discover this! We been here. You just can’t come and bogart. There were brothers playing motherf---ing’ African drums in Mount Morris Park [in Harlem] for 40 years and now they can’t do it anymore because the new inhabitants said the drums are loud ...

Nah. You can’t do that. You can’t just come in the neighborhood and start bogarting and say, like you’re motherf---in’ Columbus and kill off the Native Americans. Or what they do in Brazil, what they did to the indigenous people. You have to come with respect. There’s a code. There’s people.

Lee's speech came a few days after a controversial New York Times article by a woman who wrote about being groped on the street in Crown Heights, Brooklyn but praised the "literary scene" there and a bakery where she can "banter" with the baker in French. Indeed, Lee called out the Times for playing up supposed "good of gentrification." (It's unclear what specific article he was referring to, though.)

The filmmaker suggested that places like Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy are just getting better schools and maintenance services now that white people are moving in.

“So, why did it take this great influx of white people to get the schools better? Why’s there more police protection in Bed Stuy and Harlem now? Why’s the garbage getting picked up more regularly? We been here!” said Lee.

Lee was prescient about the changing face of the city back in 1989 with his landmark movie "Do The Right Thing," which chronicles simmering racial tensions in Bed-Stuy. Check out this clip, which Lee name-checked last night:

The full audio is below, but you can check out the transcript at New York here:

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16 Strategies That Will Help You Dominate Candy Crush

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King just announced that it's going public largely because their mobile game, Candy Crush, has been such a hit.

Millions are obsessed with the game and many are willing to pour tons of time and even money into it. If you're one of those people, you probably want to know how to dominate it. Here are some tips.

WATCH ALSO: This Is Why Candy Crush Is So Addictive

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The BLT Restaurant Empire Is Celebrating Its Steakhouse's 10th Birthday With Some Serious Deals

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steak blt prime

In New York restaurant years, being around for a decade basically makes you geriatric.

So BLT Steak is having a blow out for its 10th birthday, and the entire BLT empire is getting involved.

The birthday is on Monday, and BLT Steak will be closed for a bash with its best friends. However, if you're not on that list you can still stop by one of the other restaurants under the BLT umbrella to celebrate the wonder of old age.

We'll spell it out for you, this means really cheap, good steak.

From BLT's announcement:

All BLT restaurants, including BLT Prime (111 E 22nd St), BLT Fish (21 W 17th St), BLT Burger (470 6th Ave), BLT Bar & Grill (123 Washington St), will be offering steep discounts for dinner on their regular menu items to commemorate their big day. (*Note that BLT Steak will be closed for a private celebration event)

Appetizers across the restaurants like the Caesar Salad and Grilled Double Cut Smoked Bacon will be slashed to $3.03. All sides and desserts will also be offered at this price, as well as wine, beer and specialty cocktails.

Mains like Filet Mignon and Rack of Lamb at BLT Prime, and Tasmanian Sea Trout at BLT Fish can be had for just $33.04.

Check out the menus below, they're covered in red.

You're welcome.

 

3685_001 (1) by Linette Lopez

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MAP: The Most Popular Countries In The World To Visit

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Humans love to travel, and it's fascinating to find out where people love to go.

This map from movehub shows exactly that.

France receives the most tourists, with more than 81 million visitors each year. That is 20 million more than the U.S. even though America is 15 times the size of France.

Malaysia (10), Mexico (11), Ukraine (14) also stand out (full list below the map).

Check it out: 

most popular countries 1000pxHere's the full list:

Top 50 most popular countries by visitors
RankCountryAnnual Visitors
1France81,400,000
2United States62,700,000
3China57,600,000
4Spain56,700,000
5Italy46,100,000
6Turkey34,000,000
7United Kingdom29,300,000
8Germany28,400,000
9Russian Federation24,900,000
10Malaysia24,700,000
11Mexico23,400,000
12Austria23,000,000
13Hong Kong SAR, China22,300,000
14Ukraine21,400,000
15Thailand19,200,000
16Saudi Arabia17,500,000
17Greece16,400,000
18Canada16,000,000
19Poland13,400,000
20Macao SAR, China12,900,000
21Netherlands11,300,000
22Singapore10,400,000
23Hungary10,300,000
24Croatia9,900,000
25Korea, Rep.9,800,000
26Egypt, Arab Rep.9,500,000
27Morocco9,300,000
28Czech Republic8,800,000
29Switzerland8,500,000
30South Africa8,300,000
31Indonesia7,700,000
32Ireland7,600,000
33Romania7,600,000
34Belgium7,500,000
35Denmark7,400,000
36Portugal7,300,000
37Bahrain6,700,000
38Bulgaria6,300,000
39India6,300,000
40Japan6,200,000
41Vietnam6,000,000
42Australia5,900,000
43Argentina5,700,000
44Brazil5,400,000
45Sweden5,000,000
46Norway5,000,000
47Tunisia4,800,000
48Dominican Republic4,300,000
49Finland4,200,000
50Jordan4,000,000

 

 

 

 

 

SEE ALSO: This World Map Shows Where Press Freedom Is Strongest And Weakest

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23 Sentence Diagrams That Show The Brilliance Of Famous Novels' Opening Lines

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In their magna opera, famous authors have written some of the most beautiful and well-known lines in literature. 

Elements like word order, vocabulary, and grammatical construction give these sentences their power. 

To demonstrate this, Pop Chat Lab diagrammed some famous novels' first lines. If a staunch logophile taught your seventh grade English class, you probably saw similar images.

Depending on the part of speech and function within the sentence, each word sits on a different line in a different color. 

Consider George Orwell's "1984," for example.

Famous Sentence 1

"It," a pronoun, is the subject of the first clause, as shown by the color grey. The first slot on a line always represents the subject. 

Next comes the verb "was," shown in olive green. Because "was" is a linking verb that doesn't require an object, the diagram uses a slanted line. A straight line — like the one between "were striking" and "thirteen" in the second clause (the lower line) — shows a direct object. 

Adjectives (and articles) are shown on slanted vertical lines below the word they modify. The same applies to prepositional phrases like "in April." 

In sentences with more than one clause, like Orwell's above, dotted lines connect them.

Feast your eyes on more examples of opening sentences from famous books below.

From Toni Morrison's "Beloved."

Famous sentence 2 

From Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea."

Famous Sentence 3

From David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest."

Famous sentence 4

From Gabriel Marcia Marquez' "One Hundred Years of Solitude."

Famous sentence 5

From Herman Melville's "Moby Dick."

Famous sentence 6

From David Markson's "Wittgenstein's Mistress."

Famous sentence 7

From Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451."

Famous sentence 8

From F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby."

Famous sentence 9

From Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow."

Famous sentence 10

From John Steinbeck's, "The Grapes of Wrath."

Famous sentence 11

From Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita."

Famous sentence 12

From Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

famous sentence 13

From Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice."

famous sentence 14

From Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep."

famous sentence 15

From Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar."

famous sentence missing

From Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote."

famous sentence 16

From Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis."

famous sentence 17

From H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine."

famous sentence 19

From Kurt Vonnegut's, "Slaughterhouse Five."

famous sentence 20

From Cormac McCarthy's "The Road."

famous sentence 21

From J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan."

peter pan diagram

From Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina."

famous sentence 22

Here's the full poster from Pop Chart Lab, available in a 24" by 18" print for $29

famous novels' sentences

SEE ALSO: 9 Bizarre Sentences That Are Perfectly Accurate

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13 Books That Wall Streeters Love And Think You Should Be Reading

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Over 1,000 people from around Wall Street sent their top reads to Stifel Nicolaus's Dave Lutz for his annual Spring Break reading list.

Here are the 13 books most frequently mentioned by those around the Street, from finance to fiction. The synopses are from Lutz's list.

boys in the boat cover1. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics

2. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemptionby Laura Hillenbrand

As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile.  But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

3. David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell challenges how we think about obstacles and disadvantages, offering a new interpretation of what it means to be discriminated against, or cope with a disability, or lose a parent, or attend a mediocre school, or suffer from any number of other apparent setbacks

4. The Frackers by Gregory Zuckerman

The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters - Everyone knew it was crazy to try to extract oil and natural gas buried in shale rock deep below the ground. Everyone, that is, except a few reckless wildcatters - who risked their careers to prove the world wrong

the frackers cover

5. Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell

Four US Navy SEALS departed one clear night in early July 2005 for the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border for a reconnaissance mission. Their task was to document the activity of an al Qaeda leader rumored to be very close to Bin Laden with a small army in a Taliban stronghold. Five days later, only one of those Navy SEALS made it out alive

6. The Son by Philipp Meyer

An epic of the American West and a multigenerational saga of power, blood, land, and oil that follows the rise of one unforgettable Texas family, from the Comanche raids of the 1800s to the to the oil booms of the 20th century.

7. Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen

Here is Hiaasen doing what he does better than anyone else: spinning a tale at once fiercely pointed and wickedly funny in which the greedy, the corrupt, and the degraders of what’s left of pristine Florida—now, of the Bahamas as well—get their comeuppance in mordantly ingenious, diabolically entertaining fashion.

8. Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre

First published in 1923, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator is the most widely read, highly recommended investment book ever. Generations of readers have found that it has more to teach them about markets and people than years of experience. This is a timeless tale that will enrich your life—and your portfolio.

team of rivals cover9. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

This brilliant multiple biography is centered on Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history.

10. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior.

11. The Buy Side: A Wall Street Trader's Tale of Spectacular Excess by Turney Duff

Portrays an after-hours Wall Street culture where drugs and sex are rampant and billions in trading commissions flow to those who dangle the most enticements

12. The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee

The best strategies for survival and offer a new path to prosperity. These include revamping education so that it prepares people for the next economy instead of the last one, designing new collaborations that pair brute processing power with human ingenuity, and embracing policies that make sense in a radically transformed landscape.

dave eggers the circle cover13. The Circle by Dave Eggers

When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company, she feels she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The captivating story of one woman’s ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge.

SEE ALSO: The Man Behind GSElevator Has Been Exposed — And He Never Worked At Goldman Sachs

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A New Uber Competitor Offers Black Car Service For Yellow Cab Prices

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gogreenride car service go green ride

The night before my trip with GoGreenRide, a new eco-car service in New York City, I got an email informing me my driver would be at my Williamsburg apartment at 9 a.m.

At 8:39 the next morning, I got an update, saying he would actually be there at 8:58. At 8:58, he showed up, and I got another email, plus a text message, telling me he was downstairs.

On the brief drive into Manhattan, my driver, Merrick, offered me a bottle of Voss water and chatted politely. 

He reminded me there was WiFi in the car and that I could charge my phone or watch some television, or Netflix (through my account). I turned on France 24, although the quality went in and out.

The bill came out to $21.21, about what I would have paid a yellow cab for the same trip. (GoGreenRide covered the cost.)

With the caveats that it's quite possible Merrick knew he was chauffeuring a reporter doing a story on his employer, and that I wasn't paying the bill, it was one of the most pleasant rides I've had in a while.

The JetBlue Model

The idea behind GoGreenRide, founder and CEO Yamandou Alexander told me over breakfast, was to create "JetBlue on wheels." He wanted apply the popular airline's model of providing quality service at a low price to the taxi industry.

In a space dominated by Uber and populated with competitors, GoGreenRide's unusual business model is based on four priorities. In order of importance, they are reliability, service, pricing, and environmental friendliness.

GoGreenRide customers must become members first, at no charge. They can order a car ahead of time, like a traditional black car, or call one immediately via the app. The company owns its cars and hires drivers as salaried employees.

The 40 drivers now on staff work 50 to 60 hours a week and earn between $10 and $14/hour, plus tips, Alexander said. Each wears the same uniform and is licensed by the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission. Uber drivers are also licensed, but are not employees of the company. They work when they want and must provide their own cars.

Because GoGreenRide drivers share cars (each a Prius V hybrid, covering the environmental angle), the company uses software employed by airlines to efficiently schedule shifts in its fleet of around 20 vehicles. That ensures there are car on the road at non-peak times as well as during rush hour.

All that allows GoGreenRide, which launched in 2012, to offer reliable rides with good service, Alexander said. Prices are closer to those of a yellow cab than a black car or Uber ride, and riders are informed of their fare before their trip.

The cost of my ride was on par with what I would have paid a yellow cab, and I didn't have to wander the street looking for an available car. Plus, I could charge my phone, watch a television channel of my choosing, and suck up some free WiFi.

Rapid Growth

I asked Alexander if potential customers who are used to black cars might be turned off by the idea of riding in a bright green Prius. "It's just a learning curve," he said.

In any case, membership has been climbing at a steady rate: 72% month over month, Alexander said. The company has about 5,000 members, plus some corporate accounts, and revenue is up 42% month over month.

At this point, the company isn't profitable, but that's normal, Alexander said, adding that he expects to start breaking even in October or November.

To do that, the next step is putting more cars on the road — a top request from current members, who can't always get a ride when they want one. By the end of 2014, GoGreenRide hopes to have 70 cars on the road. If they follow the rule that 3.68 drivers per car is the ideal ratio, that means hiring about 220 more drivers.

Based on a single ride, GoGreenRide provides a great service at a surprising price. If it can maintain both and put enough cars on the road to make membership worthwhile, I'd gladly become a real member.

SEE ALSO: We Wish Jaguar Would Bring Its New Station Wagon To The States

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A Former Hedge Fund Manager Is Selling His Florida Beach House For $13 Million

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wsj mansion francoAlberto Franco, emerging market expert and former hedge fund manager at Quantek Frontier, is selling his modern South Florida beach front home, the Wall Street Journal reports.

According to the listing, the 8,960 square foot residence offers an oversized dock with private boat slip — all for just a hair under a cool $13 million. 

The house is listed with Franco's real estate agent wife, Rossana Franco of Carrington Real Estate Services.

The home sits on approximately 100 feet of water frontage in the town of Golden Beach, Florida. Originally listed for $12 million, Mrs. Franco decided to raise the price this month to just under $13 million due to the strengthening local market, reports WSJ.



The owners bought the waterfront property for $3.4 million back in 2006. Both the front and back of the home features landscaped courtyard areas.



Inside, the living, dining and kitchen areas are combined in one large space with gray limestone flooring and stark white walls. The home has six bedrooms and nine bathrooms.

 



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Ben & Jerry's Just Solved The Most Annoying Thing About Eating Ice Cream

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Ben & Jerry's new ice cream packaging ensures that you get a perfect scoop every time. 

The brand's new Core flavors feature toppings in the center of the pint so eaters won't have to dig around for fudge, caramel, or fruit flavors, reports The Huffington Post

Some pints also feature two flavors of ice cream.  For example, "Hazed and Confused" features vanilla and hazelnut ice creams with a Nutella-style filling. 

ben and jerry's hazelnut core flavor

"Raspberry Jam" is a chocolate and raspberry concoction. 

ben and jerry's raspberry jam ice cream

"Salted Caramel" also looks delicious. 

ben and jerry's caramel core flavor ice cream  

It's not the first time the brand has tried the "core" model of ice cream packaging: It released a flavor called Karamel Sutra, with chocolate and vanilla ice cream surrounding a caramel core, in 2012. The new line is based on the success of that flavor, according to the company.

All of Ben & Jerry's new core flavors will hit stores this month.

SEE ALSO: Why McDonald's Doesn't Serve Breakfast All Day

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What Life Is Like In North Dakota, America's New Happiest State

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north dakota state sign

In a recent Gallup ranking of the happiest states in the U.S., North Dakota shot up the list from number 19 to number 1, ousting longtime frontrunner Hawaii.

It ranked as the top state in both work environment and physical health, and was ranked 2nd in emotional health and 4th in life evaluation.

A big reason for North Dakota's success on this year's list has been a boom in job growth. For the fifth year in a row, the Midwestern state was number 1 in employee perceptions of job creation at their workplaces in 2013, as measured by the Gallup Job Creation Index.

North Dakota has also benefitted from a surge in its oil industry (look no further than its boomtown of Williston), and has the sixth-highest per-capita personal income in America, according to a new payroll-to-population state ranking.

For the fifth year in a row, North Dakota has topped all other states with an unemployment rate below 3%, mainly due to a boom in the oil industry.

Source: United States Department of Labor



The economy there grew at five times the national average in 2012, and is grew nearly three times faster than the #2 state, Texas. A lot of workers are migrating to North Dakota looking for jobs.

Source: CNN Money



Which means home prices are insane right now due to the influx of people. According to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, North Dakota saw a 200% jump in homelessness last year, the biggest increase of any state.



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Everyone Calm Down: New York Bottomless Brunches Are Perfectly Legal

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mimosa hangover

A little-known New York State law that prohibits unlimited drinks made waves this week when outlets began reporting that bottomless brunches are illegal.

Understandably, people were upset. How can New York's favorite weekend pastime be against the law?

Thankfully, it's not.

The story was in reference to N.Y. 117-A Unlimited drink offerings prohibited law, which was created at least five years ago in response to complaints of over-serving and intoxication at bars, NYC Hospitality Alliance counsel Robert Bookman told us.

That law prohibits "selling, serving, delivering or offering to patrons an unlimited number of drinks during any set period of time for a fixed price."

It recently resurfaced after the New York City Hospitality Alliance posted a reminder on its site stating, "NYC restaurant and nightlife operators should familiarize themselves with the law." This was after receiving calls from restaurants and clients who were confused over whether or not bottomless brunches were considered illegal.

However, when we reached out to the New York State Liquor Association (SLA), we were told in an email that the law does not apply to bottomless brunches, which are instead considered "events."

According to the SLA:

Serving unlimited drinks to a patron is prohibited under the Alcoholic Beverage Control law, and instances of over serving by our licensees will be investigated and prosecuted. However, there is a limited exception in the statute when the service of alcohol is incidental to the event, such as in the case of certain brunch specials.  Even under these limited exceptions, licensees still have a legal obligation not to over serve patrons.  The SLA will continue to take a balanced regulatory approach by allowing licensees to conduct specials where alcohol is an accompaniment, while simultaneously cracking down on specials that promote excessive drinking.

Basically, bottomless brunches are considered legal but restaurants still have an obligation not to over-serve patrons and are not immune from investigation by the SLA.

Take for instance The Sunburnt Cow, a popular Australian burger hot spot in the East Village, which once offered patrons as many mimosas and Fosters beer they could drink within 90 minutes. After an SLA investigation, owner Heath St. Clair told the New York Post, “We are very responsible with our customers. We do not offer an unlimited brunch [anymore]."

For those curious, the punishment for promoting excessive drinking is up to $10,000 per violation.

In short, restaurants should be careful and New Yorkers should feel free to drink (responsibly) this weekend.


NOW WATCH: How To Supercharge Your Coffee To Give You Even More Energy In The Morning

 

SEE ALSO: The 12 Best Brunch Spots In Manhattan

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These Two Maps Prove That Living In The City Is Better Than Living In The Suburbs

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One of the major advantages of living in a city rather than in the suburbs is walkability. In a dense urban neighborhood, many services and amenities are within a short walking distance. In a less dense, suburban neighborhood, parks, stores, and neighbors might only be accessible by driving.

These two maps made by the sustainability research center Sightline Institute, which popped up on Reddit, dramatically illustrate the differences. The maps show, in blue, the range of places within a mile's walk from the central star location.

There is a much wider range of places to go and things to do within a walking mile in the city than in the suburban neighborhood. The pink lots on the map are commercial and retail spots, and there are clearly far more options available to the urban pedestrian.

 On the left is a suburban neighborhood in Bellevue, WA, and on the right is a neighborhood in Seattle. 

city suburb walkability map

Thanks to Sightline Institute for giving us permission to feature these maps.


NOW WATCH: People From Across America Reveal Their Favorite Regional Sayings

 

SEE ALSO: Here's How Much You Have To Make To Buy A House In 25 Major Cities

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15 Photos That Will Change How You Look At The Blind

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When Ruben Plasencia Caninobegan brainstorming a new photo project about prejudice, it didn't take him long to decide on a subject — the blind.

Blind people, he felt, are unique because they are subject to prejudices, but can't see other people to form their own, at least visually.

With his show "Obscure," Plasencia wanted to force viewers to look directly into the eyes of people who can't see. 

In a recent interview with Business Insider, Plasencia said he wants the photos to force viewers to confront the "incessant prejudices and stereotypes" that we project onto other people everyday.

While 39 million people in the world are blind, many of us never consider what it's like to live without sight. 

“In our society, just a small minority take the trouble to put themselves in the place of a blind person,” Plasencia told Slate. 

To begin the project, Plasencia worked with ONCE, Spain's national organization for the blind. After spending two months photographing the blind, Plasencia found himself moved by the experience, which he says, "opened my eyes, and my heart, to a whole new world of sensations.”

Plasencia shared some of the striking photos with us below, but you can see the rest (and some of his other projects)at his website.

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SEE ALSO: An Artist Made These Incredible Portraits Out Of Packing Tape

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Here's How To Use Google To Your Ultimate Advantage

The 15 Most Expensive Mansions For Sale In Silicon Valley Right Now

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fowler mansion palo alto

Prices for homes in Northern California are notoriously steep, with tech money contributing to a somewhat inflated real estate market. 

According to a recent report by real estate information service DataQuick, luxury home sales in the area continue to grow, with 2,604 homes selling for more than $2 million last year. This was a 28% jump from 2012 and the highest number ever recorded. 

The team at Point2Homes helped us gather data on the most expensive homes for sale in eight Silicon Valley cities: Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Campbell, Monte Sereno, Los Altos, San Jose, and Mountain View. 

Palo Alto — home to tech giants Tim Cook, Marissa Mayer, and Mark Zuckerberg — completely dominated the list with 7 of the 15 priciest homes on the market.

You may be surprised to see how much these homes really cost. 

This house makes for a great hilltop hideaway.

Address: 13220 Peacock Court, Cupertino

Price: $3.99 million

Situated on 6.5 acres of property, the home has a huge pool, sport court, putting green, and easy access to miles of hiking trails. 



This 13,100-square-foot home is located in a private gated community.

Address: Silver Creek, San Jose

Price: $4 million

The San Jose home boasts 8 bedrooms, full gym, bowling alley, dance studio, and parking for 7 cars.  



This Los Altos home is great for young families.

Address: 1131 Hillslope Place, Los Altos

Price: $4.298 million

The house's five bedrooms include one on the lower level that would be ideal for an au pair, according to the listing. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider
    






Here's The Brilliant New Nutrition Label That Will Make America Healthier

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If you've ever tried to puzzle out why a small bag of cashews is "three servings" or whether "Calories from Fat" is something you should care about, rejoice: Those ubiquitous "Nutrition Facts" might soon become more helpful and easy to use.

For the first time in 20 years, the FDA is proposing a major overhaul of nutrition labels that would emphasize calories, highlight added sugars, and present more realistic serving sizes.

"I really like [the changes]. I’m kind of stunned actually," Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University and the author of Food Politics, told The New York Times. "My prediction is that this will be wildly controversial."

Here's an old label (left) next to the newly proposed label, with important changes highlighted in red:

fda nutrition labels both ed3

What's different?

1. There is a more pointed focus on servings per container. Unless a consumer sees that information, the rest of the nutrition facts are mostly useless — someone could conclude they were eating a 100-calorie snack while scarfing down what's actually three servings. Some packages may have two columns for all nutrition information, showing "per package" and "per serving."

2. The new proposal would also change the serving sizes for many processed foods so that they are less aspirational and more realistic. "Twenty-ounce bottles of soda would be counted as one serving, rather than the 2.5 servings often listed now," The Times explains. "And the serving size listed on cartons of ice cream, currently a half-cup, would be increased to one cup." That means calorie counts on some familiar packages would shoot way up.

3. On the old labels, calories appeared to be no more more important than anything else. The new label's massive blow-up of the calories line underscores the significance of this information for anyone watching their weight or health. 

4. One thing that's missing on the new label? Calories from Fat. This rarely helpful line was a holdover from a time when people thought fat was the enemy and should be a major focus of the nutrition label. Research has since shown that "the type of fat is more important than the amount," the FDA noted. (Trans fat is still evil.)

5. Since things like milligrams of sodium don't mean much without any context, the new labels would move the more useful %DV (Daily Value) over to the left. This will make it easier to see, for example, that one pickle has a quarter of your recommended daily intake of sodium. The new proposal would also update the daily values for some nutrients so that they're based on more current research.

6. Fat has taken a back seat in the war on obesity, and sugar has become public enemy number one. The new Added Sugars line would distinguish between naturally occurring sugar and sugar that's added by a manufacturer. Chemically, all of this sugar is the same, but the "added sugars" line would shine a light on some of the stealth sugar that creeps into processed foods like bread, salad dressing, and soup.

7. The proposed labels would require food companies to list daily values of Vitamin D and potassium, which the FDA has observed "some in the U.S. population are not getting enough of." These are important for bone health and blood pressure, respectively, two major public health concerns in the U.S. In another switch, food companies would be allowed but not required to list Vitamins A and C.

Next steps

There will be a 90-day comment period to discuss the initial proposal. Administration officials hope to have finalized their recommendations within a year, "after which point food companies would probably have at least two years to adopt the new labels," Politico reports.

SEE ALSO: America's Obesity Crisis Is Ending — As Long As You're Not Poor

DON'T MISS: Here's How Much Hidden Sugar Is In Your Food

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