Hawaii is giving its 17,000-strong population of homeless people a one-way ticket off the islands.

It sounds a lot crueler than it actually is.

Lawmakers in the state have decided to deal with its cash-strapped welfare program by giving the homeless an opportunity to return to their home states and, hopefully, families who can help.

It's called the "return-to-home" program, which mirrors a similar (and equally controversial) plan implemented by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2007.

Hawaii lawmakers have allotted $100,000 per year to their iteration, which has been green-lit for a three-year trial run.

"It’s a controversial idea. Critics point to potential abuse of the program and view it as a Band-Aid approach to a deeply rooted problem," writes Nathan Eagle of the Honolulu Civil Beat. "But supporters see it as a win-win. The homeless get a fresh start in a supportive environment and the state can focus its limited funding on local residents." 

No doubt it will be a difficult program to implement. Each person would have to pass a background check and likely would need help to secure proper identification for travel. And there's a strange part of the law that requires them to have "sufficient personal hygiene." 

It doesn't help that the state's Department of Human Services, which will  be charged with operating the program, isn't 100% behind it.

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We asked Johanna Bjorken, merchandising director and shoe buyer for JackRabbit Sports in New York City, to clarify some of the most common footwear misconceptions.

Myth #1: You need weeks to break in athletic shoes.
"Your shoes should feel comfortable from the first run or workout. If you have to 'break them in' for them to feel good, pick a different shoe."

Myth #2: You should buy sneakers a half-size bigger than your normal shoes.
"The real test is wiggle room for your toes. Feet expand on impact to help your body absorb shock. You should have about a thumb's width (half an inch) between the end of your longest toe and the end of the shoe, and the shoes should not squeeze your foot's width. Since we often wear street shoes more snugly, don't be surprised if your sneakers end up a full size bigger."

Myth #3: You should shop for sneakers before you work out.
"It depends on when you work out. Your feet expand throughout the day and after you've worked out. If you work out in the evening, shop in the evening. If you're a jump-out-of-bed-with-the-sunrise runner, get sized early in the day. "

Myth #4: You'll stay the same sneaker size your entire adult life.
"Feet expand in length and width as you get older. Middle-age spread isn't just for waistlines and bottoms."

Myth #5: You should replace your sneakers every six months.
"If you're getting aches and pains and the miles on your shoes have climbed over 300, that might be the message that your shoes are done. Flip your shoes over and look at the space between the outsole flex grooves (you might think of it as the tread).

If you can see the midsole (cushioning foam) flush or even poking through the grooves, that's another sign your shoes should be retired. If you're doing gym activities with a lot of side to side motion, you'll also want to consider how stretched out the upper is getting, and whether your foot is sliding around in the shoe."

—The Details editors

More From Details.com:
Usain Bolt: Training Secrets of the World's Fastest Man
5 Ways to Recover From Your Workout Faster
4 Ways to Sculpt Sexy, Summer-Ready Calves

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Bucket lists have become increasingly popular in recent years.

People obsess over making these lists, feeling as though they only have a certain amount of time before they “kick the bucket,” and if they don’t see the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China and every other “must” on the planet, they won’t be able to die happy. (Nevermind that your bucket list itself might actually kill you.)

It’s an understandable urge, but the fact of the matter is that obsessing over a bucket list often means missing out on the best experiences that travel has to offer. This guy must be crazy, you say. Scratch Paris off my to-do list?!

Think about it for a moment, though. Close your eyes and go back to the most interesting or memorable travel experiences that you’ve ever had. For me, it was when I was invited to join a soccer match by the local kids on the island of Gorée in Senegal. It was gloriously hot and the pitch was rather dusty, so in no time I was completely covered with a fine layer of dust. I treated my teammates to a cold Orangina as we caught our breath in the shadow of a large baobab tree.

I did walk up to the fort afterwards - which was the reason why I took the ferry to Gorée in the first place - but I can’t honestly say that it made a huge impression.

In other words, the best part of my trip to Senegal wasn’t something that I planned on doing. It was something that just happened and immediately defined that trip for me in my mind. Now, whenever I think of Senegal, I am immediately transported. I feel the heat, I smell the dust and I taste the cold Orangina.

So now you’re wondering, if I cross everything off my bucket list, what am I left with? How will I be able to see and do all the things I want to see and do if I don’t keep a list?

The most important thing you can do when it comes to making sure you don’t miss out on the important things is to just go. In some ways, it doesn’t even matter where you go. All that matters is that you hit the road (or the rails, or the skies) and get out there.

Many people use bucket lists as a way to dream about travel that they never really plan on taking. A classic example of aspirational thinking, Pinterest’s “Travel” section is chock-full of beautiful places that people idly pin but don’t take any steps toward actually visiting. Instead of spending your time on a bucket list, get a map out. Point to a place you want to go, and then just do it. Or at least start saving up to do it.

Okay, okay, but what about once you get there? How will you make sure that you don’t miss any of the important sights?

If it’s really important to you, bookmark a few spots you know you want to hit. But make sure you don’t over-schedule or over-plan your trip. If you do, then you won’t have the chance to stumble on cool stuff like street fairs or impromptu concerts or the local bakery that hasn’t even made it on Yelp yet.

The only way you can find the spontaneous experiences that are the best part about travel is to follow your senses. Here’s how you can use them to make sure you have an awesome trip without wasting your time on a bucket list:

1. Listen

When you’re walking down the street in a new place, keep your ears open. Maybe there’s a drum circle going on right around the corner that you could jump in. Perhaps a parade is taking place two streets over. Or maybe a band is warming up for an impromptu concert that you’ll miss if you’re wandering around with your face glued to a guidebook, not listening to your surroundings. Perk up those ears and listen for the sound of spontaneous fun.

2. Look

This one’s really obvious, but you’d be surprised how much tourists miss because they are constantly buried in their lists and maps, wandering around without using their eyes to take in the surroundings. One cool way to “see more” in a new place is to do a little research on the architecture of the city. Find out how it changed through the centuries and what kinds of flourishes differentiate a 17th century building from an 18th century one. What does a minaret represent? And why are those tiles arranged like that? Learning a little bit about the architecture and history of a city can help you identify the kind of fascinating details that many tourists miss. Plus, keeping your eyes open is another great way to stumble upon fun, spontaneous events that are happening all around you (and that won’t be in your guidebook!)

3. Smell

Never underestimate the power of scent. Perhaps you have a certain perfume or cologne that reminds you of a particular time in your life or a special person. Cities have odors, too, that change from day to day and season to season. Taking the time to identify the smells around you will help you develop stronger memories of each place that you visit. I will never forget the first moment I smelled India. Fresh off the plane it hit me like a truck at full speed. A rich odeur which is an incredible mixture of the equally strong scents of local spices and rotting garbage.

Use your sense of smell to build powerful memories and to find your way to incredible experiences.

4. Taste

We say it all the time, but that’s just because it’s true. The best, best way to experience a new culture is through its food. It’s an incredibly pleasurable and fun way to imagine what it would be like to live in a different place. Try food that is “typical” of the area -- things that a local would eat for a normal weekday lunch. For example, in Nice, a kind of flatbread made of chickpeas called socca is a popular midday snack for blue collar workers. I’m always fascinated to find out what a new culture eats for breakfast. No meal varies more from country to country. In Japan, you might eat fish for breakfast. A far cry from cereal and eggs! Take the time to try out authentic local restaurants. And if you aren’t sure where to start...

5. Reach Out

This might be our favorite travel mantra: talk to the locals! We know, you don’t need their advice to find the best restaurants or bars because it’s all in your travel guide, but sometimes it’s just more fun to let a local point you to a random place and see what happens. You may end up in a place that was in your travel guide all along, but if you discovered it yourself (with the help of the locals) it will be that much more satisfying.

Now you’re well on your way to having a more memorable and authentic vacation. We bet you won’t even miss that bucket list!

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In the past couple of weeks, the issue of gay rights in Russia has gone global, with a surprisingly effective Buzzfeed listicle, a New York Times editorial, and now Dan Savage of the Stranger taking on the problem.

Savage — the man who ruined Google for Rick Santorum— has been perhaps the most proactive American advocate for Russian gay rights. He is spearheading a movement that calls for a boycott of Russian-owned vodka brands, in particular Stolichnaya and Russian Standard, hoping to hurt Russian businesses with the aim of influencing Russian domestic policy. The boycott is first targeting bars that cater to a homosexual crowd, and the widespread use of the #DumpStoli and #DumpRussianVodka hashtags on Twitter suggests the program is a success so far — the Atlantic Wire reports that bars from Vancouver to London are taking part.

It's a commendable course of action, but there may well be a better plan right under our noses.

At the very least, the boycott has been wildly successful at bringing attention to what was once an under-covered topic. Gay rights in Russia are a problem — Moscow has banned gay pride festivals for 100 years, "gay propaganda" was recently banned by the Russian Duma, and verbal and physical bullying of gay men and women in Russia appears to be shockingly accepted.

But is a boycott of Russian vodka really the best way for foreigners to influence the situation? Two good articles suggested separate reasons why it may not be:

1. Writing for Buzzfeed, Louis Peitzman calls the boycott "misguided and dangerous." Peitzman's argues that boycotting Stoli — a brand that has actually been pretty supportive of LGBT causes— implies a broad anti-Russian stance that is unproductive "slactivism" at best, and downright nationalistic at worst.
2. In Russia! Magazine, Mark Adomanis points out that the idea that Russian businessmen— such as Yuri Scheffler, the owner of the company which controls Stolichnaya — could influence Vladimir Putin or the Duma is a fundamental misunderstanding of the relationship between the oligarchs and the government in Russia. The latter controls the former, not vice versa. "Does anyone remember Mikhail Khodorkovsky?" Adomanis writes, referring to the former Yukos oligarch who has been languishing in jail for ten years. "Have we already forgotten that the Russian government doesn’t take kindly to political activism by the oligarchs?"

Both are persuasive arguments. A boycott of Russian vodka seems unlikely to hit the people who actually control legislative power in Russia. Worse still, it would play into lazy notions of nationalism — an "us-versus-them" dynamic that helps the supporters of Russia's anti-gay laws (of which there are many) portray LGBT causes as a corrupt, foreign influence.

LGBT campaigners in Russia seem to confirm this. Nikolai Alekseev, a gay rights activist who has campaigned for years to hold a Moscow Gay Pride parade, called the boycott a "symbolic gesture doomed to failure."

"To be honest, I don’t see the point in boycotting the Russian vodka,' he told Gay Star News last week. "It will impact anyone except the companies involved a little bit. The effect will die out very fast, it will not last forever."

Is there a better plan? A proposed boycott of the Sochi Winter Olympics of 2014 makes considerably more sense. The Russian government is clearly banking on using the games as a showcase for a sleek, modern Russia — hence the incredible $51 billion price-tag (twice as much as the next most expensive winter games) and Putin's personal interest in the project. Sure, this plan is also nationalistic, but it would seriously hurt Russia's ruling elite.

We also should not forget, however, that there is already a process for punishing Russian officials who hurt human rights — the Magnitsky Act. So far 18 Russian officials are known to be on the U.S. blacklist, facing visa bans and asset freezes. While many are accused of direct involvement in the trial and subsequent death of hedge fund lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, other are involved in different human rights offenses, and there's no reason that anti-gay Russian officials couldn't be added.

Some LGBT groups in Russia have voiced support for some kind of blacklist measure. "Just three or four persons on the visa ban list of the EU, USA, UK and several other countries will dissuade other Russian politicians to follow this path," Alekseev told Gay Star News last week, while Spectrum Human Rights, a group that tracks homophobia in Russia and Eastern Europe, has started a petition to add two anti-gay rights Russian officials added to the Magnitsky list (the petition currently has over 7,500 supporters).

William Browder, a key supporter of the law (and one-time employer of Sergei Magnitsky), told Business Insider, "I can't think of a more appropriate use of this legislation than to sanction Russian officials who are actively going after LGBT rights."

The Magnitsky Act clearly angered the Russian elite — likely prompting what appeared to be a retaliatory ban on adoptions of Russian orphans by U.S. parents, and Russia's very own list of sanctioned U.S. officials. It also made clear that the law wasn't about punishing Russians in general, only a select few who had abused human rights.

Ultimately, if people want to really influence domestic policy in Russia, perhaps it's time to move beyond boycotts and into real international action.

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A state appeals court has upheld the state Supreme Court's decision to strike down New York City's ban on large, sugary drinks.

Judges called the ban unconstitutional.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg pushed the law as a way to combat obesity, but the appeals court said it was an overreach of executive power. The law would have banned sodas and other sugary drinks bigger than 16 ounces.

The court's decision was unanimous, but Bloomberg can still appeal to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals. This decision came from a lower appellate division court.

In March, a judge blocked the sugary drink regulation the day before it was supposed to go into effect. Bloomberg was not happy, and said the decision was "clearly an error." 

At the time, a New York Supreme Court judge wrote that Bloomberg's new sugary drink regulations are "fraught with arbitrary and capricious consequences," because they apply to some drinks and restaurants/stores but not others.

The law was highly controversial when Bloomberg first introduced it, and movie theaters (some of which sell 50 ounce soda drinks) threatened to sue.

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Fresh from showing you the unbelievable hell of the commute from one Chinese subway stop, Beijing Cream has posted another video featuring thousands of poor people crushed together — this time in a swimming pool.

The video below was first posted to Youku a couple of weeks ago, and in that time has garnered over 850,000 views. (Warning: you have to watch till the end to see the wave machine start. The tension is unbearable).

The pool in question is a saltwater facility known as "China's Dead Sea" and located in Daying county, Sichuan province. According to Xinhua news agency, more than 15,000 tourists swam in the pool on a recent Sunday, and the pool has seen over a million visitors in a summer season before.

Here's a photograph of the pool from July 27:

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International business travel is often a necessary part of remaining globally competitive, but paying for transportation, lodging, dining, and entertainment can be expensive for companies.

Concur, a provider of travel and expense management solutions for businesses, recently released their "Expense IQ Report," which looks at the habits of business travelers.

To determine how businesses are spending money on travel, Concur processed $50 billion in expense reports last year.

Among other factors, it ranked the most expensive international cities for  business travelers, and Brisbane, Australia, ranked as the most expensive city for business travelers, with an average spending cost of $547.53 per person. Lodging in Brisbane alone costs an average of $305 per night.

Other Australian cities, including Sydney (#3), Perth (#4), and Melbourne (#7), also made the top 10 list. 

London, which took the #5 spot with an average cost of $516, also ranked as the #1 most visited international city by business travelers, proving that cost is no deterrent for business travel.

The list only looked at international cities, but had it included U.S. Cities, New York would have ranked ninth on the list, with an average spending cost of $476.

Here are the  10 most expensive international cities for business travelers:

SEE ALSO: Starbucks Is The Most Popular Restaurant For Business Travelers

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When it comes to tipping in the U.S., the bill changes with just about every region or even by state. New Yorkers are generous with 20%, while a couple down South might balk at paying anything more than 15% for average service.

But what about the rest of the world? Whether you're traveling on business or taking a vacation, figuring out how much to tip (especially if you don't know the native tongue) can be frustrating.

Here's a guide to help you out: 

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Exo, a Brooklyn-based company, is building a new kind of protein bar with a cricket-y twist.

In addition to natural ingredients like raw cacao, dates, almond butter, and coconut, the nutrient-dense snack bars each contain 6% of cricket flour, made from about 25 ground-up crickets, according to Exo founders Gabi Lewis and Greg Sewitz.

Inspired by a United Nations report that said eating insects can reduce world hunger, Lewis and Sewitz began experimenting with the bar last fall, during their senior year at Brown University.

The bars are quickly gaining buzz since Exo was posted to crowd-funding site Kickstarter on July 29 with the goal of raising $20,000 by August 28 so the product can be delivered to backers by October 13. So far, things are going well: Exo has pulled in more than $7,000 with 28 days to go.

A $25 pledge will buy you six cricket-filled bars, which seems kind of expensive in the realm of energy and nutrition bars. Lewis expects the bars to sell for $2.60 once they make their way into supermarkets, gyms, and other specialty stores.

Eighty percent of the world already eats insects. Western countries have long been the exception. And while creepy-crawlies are still far off from regularly being served to American and European diners, the recent graduates hope to make at least a few bug-eating converts with their super-healthy snack.

There is a wide net of edible insects, including beetles, wasps, caterpillars, grasshoppers, worms, and cicadas, but the large network of cricket farms within the United States (house crickets are typically sold for pet food or fish bait) made the little chirpers a practical ingredient choice.

Crickets also seemed like an easier sell than some of the larger, but more protein-rich bugs, like the dung beetle, explained Lewis.

As far as bugs go, crickets are not only high in protein, they are also a rich source of iron, calcium, and omega-3 fatty acids. Crickets are good for the environment, too. When compared to other protein-rich foods, like cows or chicken, insects use less water and produce less greenhouse gases than livestock.

Currently, the duo is making the cricket flour themselves in a space they rent in a commercial kitchen. The house crickets are trucked to Brooklyn from a cricket farm located on the east coast. The lively insects are immediately frozen, which keep them fresh, and then slowly roasted before they are crushed into a powder. "It's 100% cricket," says Lewis.

The cricket flour replaces the soy protein that you would find in most energy bars. And while the unusual ingredient doesn't taste bad on its own — it has a neutral, slight nutty flavor — the founders recruited Kyle Connaughton, the former head of research and development for Michelin-starred Fat Duck Restaurant in England, to ensure the flavor of their bar is top-notch.

The bars have been "described as tasting like a healthy brownie or having a rocky-road flavor," said Sewitz.

Exo's founders understand the psychological barrier. They are hoping a nutritionally-superior product that is also yummier compared to other bars on the market will quell some of the natural hesitancy.

In addition to the revolutionary use of protein, "the taste is better than most or all protein bars," said Lewis.

SEE ALSO: Maine's Top Chef Shows Us The Right Way To Steam And Eat A Lobster

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Former NFL defensive end Michael Strahan has sold his Bel Air mansion for $3 million profit only one year after purchasing the property, according to Trulia.com.

Currently the cohost with Kelly Ripa of "Live! With Kelly and Michael," Strahan bought the property last year at $7.9 million. Without a single renovation, he has sold the property in an off-market move for $11 million.

According to reports the home is "outdated" and the new owner plans to tear the house down and build from square one. The housing market is storming back to life in Los Angeles, with asking prices up 19 percent year-over-year.

The property has five bedrooms and 6.5 baths on an acre of land. The unknown buyer will tear down the house that was originally built in 1926. It has Mediterranean influences throughout, glass walls, a theater and bar, a home includes a gym, sauna, and swimming pool.

Check out the images:

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Actress and director Lake Bell recently told New York magazine that when a woman uses what she calls ”sexy baby voice” or “squeaky-toy voice,” it’s a major friendship deal breaker.

What is this voice, you ask? It’s when a woman employs the vocal fry — a low, staccato vibration during speech produced by a slow fluttering of the vocal cordspeaking in a creaky low register— in combination with other bad vocal habits.

The vocal fry is a linguistics phenomena made popular in the last few years mostly by younger women (I’m looking at you, Kardashian Klan). 

Bell said she has been ”personally ruptured and unsettled” by this language trend. “Not only is it pitch, so really high up, but it’s also a dialect, it’s like a speech pattern that includes uptalking and fry, so it’s this amalgamation of really unsavory sounds that many young women have adopted,” she said.

Ending a sentence on a higher note, typically done when asking a question, does connote insecurity and women do often use it.

“If women do something like uptalk or vocal fry, it’s immediately interpreted as insecure, emotional, or even stupid,” said Carmen Fought, a professor of linguistics at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif.

But, I have to ask, is the vocal fry really all that bad?

The vocal fry can sometimes be strategic.

“The truth is,” Fought said, “Young women take linguistic features and use them as power tools for building relationships.”

CNBC Senior Editor John Carney claims that Wall Street women should actually get the credit for inventing the vocal fry. “It’s ubiquitous among senior and mid-level women, and less common with junior staff,” he wrote.

New York Times Managing Editor Jill Abramson is supposedly a prime example of this vocal tick.

In 2011, University of Iowa Assistant Professor of Japanese Sociolinguistics Ikuko Patricia Yuasa published a study in American Speech that looked at women’s use of “creaky voice.” She cited past studies that have linked creaky voice to men and higher status; some researchers in the 1980s even deemed it “hyper-masculine” and a “robust marker of male speech.” Yuasa suggested that it could be a way to compete with men by taking advantage of the attributes associated with a lower-pitched voice. “Creaky voice may provide a growing number of American women with a way to project an image of accomplishment,” she said.

The vocal fry may be the way to go, but, be advised, there are those who find it quite annoying and continue to criticize women for raising the pitch of their voice and lowering it. The one rule that should always be followed? Do not, under any circumstances ever, use a baby voice. This has always been, and will always be, a no-no. Instead of altering your voice in a manner that might not be well-perceived, try these quick tips for effective communication at work:

1) Speak up: Increase your volume, but not your pitch. Speak both loudly and firmly when you want to be heard. Don’t wait to be called upon. This isn’t school. This is your career.

2) Don’t say “Yes, but”: This completely undermines whatever you’re saying.

3) Watch your body language: Don’t tilt your head and use your hands too much. It takes away from your message. Also, make very solid eye contact with the person to whom you are speaking. You can read about more tips on body language here. 

4) Get to the point: Don’t skirt around the issue with weak words and constantly asking everyone what they are thinking. Make your point known at both the opening and the conclusion of the conversation and presentation.

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"Each sort of cheese reveals a pasture of a different green, under a different sky," writes Italo Calvino.

I like to think of his words as I curl my fingers around a dusky, mellow rind of French cheese.

Whether we are conscious of it or not as we grasp the knife, slicing into such a fromage lays open the world in miniature.

Here is the placid scent of chamomile, the chime of cow bells, the sun illuminating the French countryside through wisps of cloud—all the redolent remains of the day when the cheese was born.

Such days—and such cheeses—are easy to find across France, provided you have a rental car and a sense of adventure (or at least a GPS).

Thus equipped, there's nothing stopping you from setting out for the Loire Valley, land of châteaux and chèvres.

Be sure not to miss the Chateau de Valencay, where Napoleon is reputed to have severed the top of the flattened pyramid of goat cheese known as Valençay. From there you can bump along country roads looking for signs promising vente de fromages, to farmhouses offering such tangy, goaty treasures as St. Maure de Touraine, a log-shaped chèvre that comes with apaille or "straw" down its middle.

Insider Tip: Pull the paille to see if it's imprinted with the name of its maker; it if does you have an official, AOC version of the cheese, not to mention an unusual souvenir.

Or head west of Paris into Normandy and the old pays of the Auge. There, the village of Vimoutiers still holds its market, virtually the same marché at which Marie Harel, famed creator of Camembert, once sold her cheeses. Have a gander at the stalls and check out the statue of Harel on one side of the village square, but hold off on buying a Camembert just yet.

For that, you want to head up the road past the postage-stamp village of Camembert to the farm of La Héronnière, home of François Durand, the last farmhouse maker of the cheese. Here, you can see unctuous rounds growing furry white mold and buy your egg-y, mushroom-y Camembert from Durand himself.

A bit farther afield is the village of Salers, in the Massif Central, one of the "five most charming villages" in France, or so the signs proclaim. They don't lie.

Stay at the Hotel Saluces where you can rusticate after lunch with a book on the patio amongst the climbing roses, then take the short drive down the highway to visit the Buron d'Algour for the evening milking and making of Salers, a cheese so rare even many French people haven't heard of it. Ask for a well-aged hunk and enjoy the sharp, cheddar-like bite, perhaps after a short hike up the Puy Mary, one of the ancient volcanic peaks that puncture the earth around Salers, and whose once-fiery soils are said to imbue cheeses with their zing.

From here you can dip south to the famed Roquefort caves, or head over to the Alps, where the thing to do is wander about the peaks with an itinéraire des fromages—a cheese map—looking for alpages.

These little cheese making châteaux dot the mountainsides, where they churn out a variety of stunning rounds. Nearly every valley boasts its own variety of tomme, and the truly intrepid can seek out a high elevation alpage to see Beaufort, the cheese Brillat-Savarin dubbed, the "prince of gruyères," being made much as it has been for centuries. If you're there in fall, you can catch the Retour des Alpages, held by the city of Annecy, where revelers swill beer and eat as much tartiflette geante—potatoes smothered in the sumptuous Alpine cheese known as Reblochon—as they can hold.

But wherever your French cheese wanderings may take you (even if no farther than rue Cler and the cheese-stuffed, Parisian counters of Fromagerie), one truth will remain. For French cheese is not only a pasture, or a day, it is, in the words of the famous cheese monger Pierre Androuët, "the soul of the soil." And it's a soul the French are eager to share.

SEE ALSO: How To Eat Like A Local In Greece

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A recent study by the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) concluded that by preserving 27.7% of buildings in Manhattan, “the city is landmarking away its economic future.” 

REBNY is challenging the Landmarks Preservation Commission, arguing it has too much power when it comes to planning decisions, and that by making business so difficult for developers it is stifling the growth of the city.

Yet not three days before releasing this study, president of REBNY Steve Spinola said in an interview with WNYC that “if you ask my members, they will tell you [the twelve years of Mayor Bloomberg's tenure] has been a great period of time for them.” The conclusion of WNYC is that the past decade has actually been a period of increased growth for developers, rather than a period of stagnation.

It would be easy to echo the opinion of Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council, who believes the actions of REBNY come down to greed, even comparing its members to Gordon Gekko, the anti-hero of the film Wall Street. But is greed really what's behind this attack on the Landmarks Preservation Commission?

Architecture historian Francis Morrone provides a more balanced view, saying that the growth that was enabled by Mayor Bloomberg’s policies was part of an attempt to keep pace with other global cities. But he believes this attempt has a serious flaw: instead of improving the city, this investment is pushing up prices and forcing all but the richest citizens to leave New York altogether:

“The city is going to survive. The City is going to thrive,” he cautions, however, that “Not all the people in the city are going to thrive, or even continue living here.”

This approach begs the question “what is a city for?”

Edward Glaeser’s book Triumph of the City places people at the centre of a city’s purpose. Cities provide opportunity and prosperity to the people who inhabit them, which isn’t available in rural areas. Glaeser believes that by bringing together people of diverse backgrounds with different ideas, and placing them at close proximity in dense living conditions, cities afford chance encounters and cross-seeding of new ideas, and therefore create the innovation which drives economic prosperity.

When we look at the new global cities – most notably in China and India – we see that their explosive growth over the past decade has been fuelled by an unprecedented urban migration. Furthermore, the expansion of these cities has entailed an attitude to preservation which would probably horrify most New Yorkers.

In a city such as Shanghai, the population has yet to peak, increasing by an astounding 40% between 2000 and 2010. The population now stands at over 23 million. As a city which still has its best years ahead of it, the existing buildings are willingly sacrificed, with the understanding that their replacements will be more representative of their aspirations for the future – for lack of a more precise word, the new buildings are assumed to be ‘better’.

Because New York has already been through this process, during the industrial revolution and the earlier part of the 20th century, the numbers involved are lower: the population of New York peaked just short of 8 million in 1950 – a figure which it only returned to and finally surpassed around the turn of the millennium, now reaching about 8.3 million. As a result, the majority of its significant buildings, which form part of its cultural history, date from before the 1950s, and many of these are the jewels in the crown of the landmarks commission.

Very simply, Shanghai is at a different stage in its life cycle, and when it does finally stop expanding it could conceivably be four or five times the size of New York. For the city of New York to put such an emphasis on competing with Shanghai economically at this point would be pure vanity.

This sentiment is echoed by Michael Kimmelman in a recent article about the proposal to re-zone East Midtown: “New York can surely never win a skyscraper race with Shanghai or Singapore. Its future, including the future of Midtown real estate values, depends on strengthening and expanding what already makes the city a global magnet and model. This means mass transit, pedestrian-friendly streets, social diversity, neighborhoods that don’t shut down after 5 p.m., parks and landmarks like Grand Central Terminal and the Chrysler Building.”

For New York, whose growth is to some extent restricted by a geography, infrastructure and culture which would never support 20 million or more people, a much better plan would be to stop competing and to thrive on its own terms. How could it go about doing this?

To return to the current argument between developers and preservationists, in simple economic terms, real estate developers are on the supply side of building. In a city such as New York, which is currently suffering a housing shortage, development would be expected to decrease costs as the supply of living space increases.

Preservation, on the other hand, limits new supply and also creates a ‘cultural commodity’ of preserved buildings, both of which would increase the cost of living. How is it, then, that Francis Morrone cites new development as part of the problem, rather than the solution to rising costs?

Quite simply, the members of REBNY are building the wrong type of development: where developers do get the opportunity to build without restriction, they are too often building luxury apartments that are only an option for the super-rich. This may be good for their short-term profit margins, but it is bad for the long-term vitality of the city, as those who are not astoundingly wealthy are forced to leave – and the city becomes less diverse and less productive as a result.

The Real Estate Board is right in arguing that preservation of buildings can cause stagnation and inflation, but it forgets that preservation adds value to the surrounding neighborhood and the city as a whole. What developers need to do is make this cultural commodity available to all by building a greater variety of new buildings, particularly when it comes to apartments. This will diminish their returns in the short run, but will generate gradual yet sustainable growth in New York, in turn ensuring a more sustainable revenue stream for the members of the Real Estate Board of New York themselves – and they still have 72.3% of Manhattan to do that in.

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If you're a fan of "Breaking Bad," and especially of Bryan Cranston's iconic character Walter White,  then you'll love the new exhibit "From Mr. Chips to Scarface: Walter White's Transformation in Breaking Bad" at the Museum Of The Moving Image in New York City. For those of you not in the city or able to come see it before it ends in October, here's a tour of the goodies on display. 

There are spoilers below for those that might not be current with the series. Fair warning. 

The exhibit features authentic items from the AMC TV show on loan from Sony Pictures. 

Event Details:

July 26 - October 27

Museum of the Moving Image
36-01 35 Avenue
Astoria, NY 11106

This is the Museum Of The Moving Image

The "Breaking Bad" exhibit is small, but fans will love it

You're greeted by Walter White's tighty whities

A couple bags of White's famous blue meth is kept under glass

The bear that fell from the sky in the episode where the airline exploded

Walter White's meth mixing Tyvek suit

Walter's Heisenberg ensemble

The sketch, Walter's hair, the cell phones and the poisoned cigarettes

Oh yeah, and here's Anna Gunn, AKA Walter White's wife Skyler

As a special treat, here's an hour long panel discussion we recorded of "Breaking Bad's" producer Vince Giligan talking about the show with Charlie Rose. 

Audio:

More "Breaking Bad" Check out a new teaser for the show's return

Crowdfunding websites are all the rage these days. Celebrities and entrepreneurs alike have turned to sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo to finance their next big idea with micro-donations from the public.

But we're always intrigued to hear stories of people who have found ways to pay for more practical needs as well.

Boston newlyweds Patrick and Jessica Kensky were among dozens of spectators injured during April's tragic Boston marathon bombing.

They were lucky to have survived the attack, but both sustained major leg injuries that required amputations just below the knee. They needed hundreds of thousands of dollars for medical treatment in a very short time, so family friends decided to post a profile for the couple on GiveForward.com. It's a crowdfunding site tailored for people in needed of health care funding.

The response was overwhelming. Three days after the attack, the site had raised $300,000. To date, they've raised $873,255 from more than 13,000 individual donors, making it the site's largest fundraiser.

It's the kind of success story that crowdfunders live for, but also a hint at how some sites are tailoring their services to fit a certain type of fundraiser. The Human Tribe Project is similar to GiveForward, raising money for individuals with medical needs. We also recently covered Upstart, a site entirely dedicated to helping college graduates launch businesses with crowdsourced funding from investors.

GiveFoward actually started out a lot like Kickstarter. But they "shifted to medical specific because we saw that as the greatest need," Nate St. Pierre, a company spokesperson, said. "And it did really well. It changed people's lives."

Given the typically sensitive nature of the fundraisers, St. Pierre says about 90% of donations come from friends, family and loved ones. In Patrick and Jessica's case, they received donations from people nationwide, some choosing to leave their names, others not.

To date, GiveForward has raised more than $54 million total – $20 million just this year – to help with users' medical bills. Since pages are generally set up by family and friends of the patients, the site also turns into a place to keep up to date with their progress not only in fundraising but their health as well.

"It is a gathering place [for family members and loved ones]," St. Pierre said. "We amplify what people are trying to do offline."

All funds are raised through online payment methods, such as PayPal or credit cards. When the campaign is over GiveForward physically writes and cuts the beneficiary a check for the funds that were raised.

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Before the age of seven, a girl's cognitive development is greatly affected by a regular bedtime.

Out of the 11,000 children participants in a long-term study, seven-year-old girls who didn't have regular sleep schedules had IQ scores approximately nine points lower than their peers, based on cognitive tests in reading, maths, and spatial awareness.

Boys without regular sleep schedules seem to only be temporarily affected. The group of researchers at the University College, London found that boys with irregular bedtimes were recorded as having an IQ approximately six points lower than their peers at age three, but this gap diminished by age seven. The researchers have no explanation as to why sleep affects boys and girls differently.

In the past, sleep experts have argued that an earlier bedtime is beneficial for children.

However, the study — published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health's July issue — says that it doesn't matter what time kids go to bed as long as they consistently go to bed at the same time every night.

"I think the message for parents is … maybe a regular bedtime even slightly later is advisable," Amanda Sacker, director of the International Center for Lifecourse Studies in Society and Health at University College London and a co-author of the study, told Sumathi Reddy in The Wall Street Journal. 

The researchers found that brain power is heavily affected by disruptions in the circadian rhythm during childhood years. This means that irregular bedtimes can disrupt a body's natural development and growth, which then affects the brain's ability to understand and retain information.

The authors wanted to see whether bedtimes in early childhood were related to cognitive development. All of the participants were born between Sept. 2000 and January 2002, and were visited by researchers at ages nine months and three, five, and seven years.

More than half of the children in the study went to bed between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. and the researchers also accounted for factors such as skipping breakfast or watching too much television.

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12,000 spectators traveled to Hayward, Wisconsin on Saturday to watch the annual Lumberjack World Championships. The event is one of the largest lumberjack competitions in the world and showcases a number of outrageous woodsy events. 

Each year more than 100 competitors from around the world travel to rural Wisconsin for the annual games, which test strength, agility, and coordination. The event has taken place every year since 1960 at what was once a holding pond for a major Northern Wisconsin lumber company.

Competitors participate in 21 events that range from sawing and chopping to log rolling and boom running for a shot at more than $50,000 total in prize money. It's a little-known event but has a ton of big names behind it: this year's competition was sponsored by Chobani, Mountain Dew, John Deere, Brawny and Miller Lite.

David Moses Jr. of Snoquaimie, Wash. swings a 5-pound axe into an aspen log in the "standing block chop" event.

Shana Martin of Madison, Wisconsin competes in the women's boom run event, one of the most difficult events.

Martin was later upstaged in the women's log rolling event.

Irvine, Calif. has the lowest violent crime rate among American cities with more than 100,000 people for the 9th year in a row. 

The city of 223,000 residents reported 110 violent crimes to the FBIlast year, making 2012 its safest year on record.

By comparison, Flint, Michigan, America's most dangerous city and half the size of Irvine, had 2,774 violent crimes in 2012. The FBI defines violent crime as murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.

Crime experts attribute Irvine's consistently low violent crime rate to its wealth and its demographics.

"It's basically a very affluent place with little poverty and a highly educated, often highly skilled population, many of them professionals," Elliott Currie, a criminology professor at University California-Irvine, told BI. "This isn't the population that's typically at high risk of getting involved in violent crime — quite the opposite."

The median income household income in Irvine is $85,615, which is $30,000 more than the national average. The city says 96% of its residents have a high school diploma and 66% are college graduates.

Irvine's heavily white (45%) and Asian (39%) population is also a driving force behind its low violent crime rate, says Jorja Leap, a social welfare professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"While Irvine is heavily Anglo, it is also heavily Asian. These are groups that historically 'get along' and share the same values, admire each other, and co-exist peaceably," Leap said.

The general public appears to share Leap's perception that whites and Asians make good neighbors. A recent Gallup survey of 4,300 adults found 87% described relations between Asians and whites as "good" (compared to 60% for whites and blacks).

Other cities with high populations of Asians and whits also scored well in the FBI's report. Fremont, CA (#2) is predominantly Asian (50%) and white (33%), and Plano, TX (#3) is heavily white (58%) and Asian (17%).

Irvine's design might also play into the low crime rate. The city is divided into a number of planned residential villages, some featuring schools and resort-style recreation like pools within the village boundaries.

"Irvine is a planned community and all properties built there, from its creation, have had an kind of economic selectivity," Leap told BI. "Each village has its own 'Covenants, Codes and Restrictions' which is an informal socioeconomic gatekeeper. People must have money and cherish order to buy and live here."

SEE ALSO: The 20 Safest Cities In America

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Vandal, artist, and now… Good Samaritan?

British graffiti artist Banksy reportedly saved a homeless man who was living in an abandoned water tank in California after painting on his makeshift home, according to London's The Independent.

The man, Tachowa Covington, had lived in the water tank on the Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu for years, turning it into a pseudo-apartment with lights, a TV, security cameras, and pictures on the walls.

But that all changed in 2011, when Banksy visited and painted on the phrase: "This looks a bit like an elephant."

Covington said he met Banksy when he was painting the now-famous words on the tank, according to The Independent. At the time, Covington said he thought it was funny, and had no clue who the famous British artist was.

But after the structure became a tourist attraction, a local design firm bought it from the city of Los Angeles, and Covington was forced to move from his home.

According to Covington, Banksy heard about the forced relocation of the 54-year-old former street performer, and gave him enough money to get an apartment and pay his bills for a full year.

“There ain’t no better man than Banksy,” Covington said to London's Independent. “He was an angel to me. He helped me more than anybody helped me in my life.”

Covington is now back on the street, and awaiting state-funded housing since the money has run out. He is currently the subject of a documentary called "Something from Nothing," as well as a play based on his story called "Banksy: The Room in the Elephant," according to The Daily Mail.

SEE ALSO: The 15 Greatest Masterpieces At The Met In NYC

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Congratulations to Queen Elizabeth II on the birth of her great grandchild, Prince of Cambridge George Alexander Louis, who is third in line to the throne.

Whoever comes after Elizabeth II will have big shoes to fill. Her reign of 61 years is currently the second-longest for a British monarch after Queen Victoria, her great-great grandmother, who reigned for 63 years.

Below, we have profiled the greatest kings and queens of in British, English, and Scottish history.

Alfred the Great, King of Wessex from 871 to 899, led the Anglo-Saxon resistance against Viking invasion. He was the first to adopt the title of King of the Anglo-Saxons, and his heirs would go on to be the kings of England. Alfred significantly improved the country's legal system and military structure.

Cnut the Great led an invasion of England in 1015, which ended with a treaty to let him rule part of England in 1016 and eventually all of it until his death in 1035. He also ruled Denmark, Norway, and parts of Sweden, in what was called the North Sea Empire, and was seen as an effective leader across the realm.

William the Conqueror led the Norman conquest of England in 1066 and ruled until his death in 1087. During his reign, he put down multiple rebellions and took measures to secure the kingdom, building many castles and mottes, including the infamous central keep of the Tower of London. He also ordered the first major census of England.

Edward I ruled England, Ireland, and Aquitaine from 1272 to 1307. He was known as "Edward Longshanks" for his unusual height and "Hammer of the Scots" for the brutality of his campaigns through Scotland. He reestablished the authority of the crown in the wake of his father's ineffective leadership and is credited with solidifying the authority of Parliament.

Henry V ruled England and Ireland from 1413 to 1422. During this time, he led a campaign against France in the Hundred Year's War, nearly conquering the country and signing a treaty that made him heir-apparent to the French throne. Featured in three Shakespearean plays, he is portrayed as a brave leader, crying "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more."

Henry VIII ruled England and Ireland from 1509 to 1547. His greatest victory was separating the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church, during his campaign to annul his first marriage and marry Anne Boleyn. Henry beheaded two of his six wives and divorced two others in his quest to produce a male heir.

Elizabeth I ruled England and Ireland from 1558 to 1603. The daughter of Henry VIII, the "Virgin Queen" rose to the throne at age 25 and was beloved by her subjects. Her navy famously defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588. She reigned over a golden age for art and science.

James I ruled Scotland from 1567 and England and Ireland from 1603 until his death in 1625. Trade through the British East India Company increased dramatically under his rule, and art and literature continued to flourish.

Victoria ruled Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 to 1901, the longest rule in British history. After 1867 she adopted the title of Empress of India. During her 63-year rule, the British empire made up one quarter of the earth's land. Her strict standards of personal morality came to define the era.

Elizabeth II has ruled from 1952 to the present, closing in on the longest reign in British history. She has maintained the popularity of the monarchy during a turbulent time, including vast social changes as well as the Falklands War, conflict in Northern Ireland, and several wars in the Middle East. 

MONARCHS OF THE FUTURE: 17 Royal Heirs And Heiresses Who Will Someday Rule The World

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