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Taming thick and unruly hair!
Curling hair! Or doing things with hair. All I have is a ponytail, half-up-half-down, or down. I need something else in my hair arsenal.
Vintage inspired hairstyles? Not exactly a basic, but I'd sure love some tips.
I cannot fix my hair AT ALL. Somehow I manage to mess up even putting in a headband. For real. When I see women with those ponytails with the slight bump near their forehead, I am totally mesmerized at how they do it ... Or with barrettes placed in just so? Honestly, I have no clue.
I still have no idea how to use bobby pins to do a French twist.
I will say, as a young black woman, I can NEVER get my hair to look like it looks when I come home from the Dominican hair salon. Anyone with the same problem? tips? product recommendations?
I generally use Motions products.
I don't know how to blow-dry my hair. I don't really want to learn though; the noise makes me jumpy and it's bad for your hair anyways.
Still, waiting for my hair (which is pretty long) to air dry is a pain.
I can't do my own hair at all. Seriously, I think I was in college when I finally learned how to braid my own hair (with the use of online videos). I still can't curl it, or do anything beyond ponytails and braids.
My mother is a hairdresser. Thus I never learned to do my own long, straight, boring hair besides dying it. I can barely braid (only one down my back will actually look good) and it doesn't hold curls unless I hairspray it to within an inch of its life.
I am hopelessly inept at my hair. I had pin straight hair growing up, and then in my 30s it started getting wavy and I have no idea how to handle it! I buy every product and it always turns out badly - never the same, never as planned!
I cannot style my hair. My wash-and-go (with maybe a quick swipe of the hairbrush on my morning commute) usually looks a million times better than anything I can create with blow dryers, straighteners, and curling irons. I mean, seriously, if I dry my hair, it looks limp and straight. If I let it air dry, it has body and a little bit of a wave. Fancy hair, styled hair, anything other than wash-and-go, I just can't do it and I've really, really, really, really tried.
1. How do I style fine/thin hair? How do I add volume?
2. How do I style wavy/curly hair? How do I deal with frizz?
3. How do I properly straighten my hair? How to I properly curl my hair?
4. Should I wash my hair every day? Every other day? What about conditioner?
5. How do I style it for special occasions? Vintage styles? Braiding?
6. How do I properly blow dry my hair? How do I properly use a curling iron?
7. How do I get my hair to look healthy? How do I get it to grow faster?
Think you can help? Leave your answers in the comments below, or send me an email with "Hair" in the subject line. Due to space issues, I can't use every answer, but I appreciate all of them, and your fellow commenters do, as well! A roundup of advice will be posted tomorrow afternoon.
Indians living in the Kingdom have expressed surprise over new instructions issued by Indian embassies in the Gulf that bar NRIs staying in the region from carrying large amounts of Indian currency when traveling to India.
“There have been some instances when NRIs have been found carrying large amount of cash in the form of Indian currency while visiting India and faced problems at airport. In some cases the currency being carried by NRIs has even been found to be counterfeit,” a statement released by the Indian missions in the Gulf region has said.
According to the statement, only Indian residents are allowed to carry up to Rs. 7,500 in Indian currency per person when traveling abroad or returning to India. The statement said there is misconception that NRIs are allowed to carry Indian currency back to India.
Faisal Haleem, an IT specialist who has recently arrived in the Kingdom, said the move would hurt the labor class most. “Poor laborers are not educated. They come from villages. They don’t have bank accounts,” he added.
Counties use various strategies to devise new taxes and get voters on board with them.
Nobody enjoys paying taxes, yet they are a key method counties and cities use to fund civic projects. When local governments decide to propose new or increased taxes, they often use several strategies to seek public input and outreach public education to win voters over to the idea of them.
Such campaigns can be daunting, especially when projects don’t directly impact most citizens. Wake County, N.C., faced this issue when it sought to pass a half-cent sales tax increase to fund a 10-year plan to triple bus service and add 37 miles of commuter rail throughout the county.
Increasing Wake County transit had been discussed for about 15 years, and in 2009 the North Carolina state legislature authorized the counties of Wake, Durham and Orange to institute voter-approved sales taxes to help fund regional transit, according to Hutchinson and county data.
County officials took about 15 months starting around mid-2014 to revamp its transit plan through a consultant-driven, public process, Hutchinson says. About 80 Wake County citizens representing many interests were brought in to work with consultants to design the plan, while “hundreds” of public meetings and hearings were held about the plan, he says. The planning committee was made up of professionals in business, environmental matters, unions, the AARP, real estate and the homebuilders association.
“It was an extremely transparent and extensive public process in designing this plan,” Hutchinson says.
The county used information gained from these meetings and hearings in creating the new transit plan. In June 2016 the county approved the plan and put the sales tax on the ballot, according to advocacy group Moving Wake County Forward.
Hutchinson acknowledges that advocacy and education efforts organized largely by the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce — with no input from the county — helped communicate information to the public. However, county employees visited numerous groups to educate citizens about the transit plan. Ten out of Wake County’s 12 municipalities endorsed the tax; while the two others opted not to endorse the tax, they were not opposed to it, Hutchinson says.
While some local taxpayers organized opposition to the tax, it scored a slim victory in November with 53 percent voting yes and 47 percent voting against, according to Hutchinson. The tax was set to be implemented on April 1.
Johnson County, Kan., officials faced similar issues while seeking funds to build a new courthouse and coroner’s facility in 2016.
“One of the biggest issues we had to face is that 97 percent of our population never see or never visit the courthouse,” says Ed Eilert, chairman of the Board of Johnson County Commissioners. “So in order to educate that 97 percent of our population, which needed to approve this action… that was our biggest challenge,” he says.
County officials had discussed the need for a new courthouse and coroner’s facility since the early 2000s. The over-60-year-old courthouse had numerous external and internal problems, and the county had also been using a private, outdated coroner’s facility. Public inputs had been taken and several plans proposed during this time.
A 15-member citizens’ advisory committee consisting of professionals and members of the general public was formed for the project in 2014, Eilert says. This group looked at information the county provided and presented several proposal options to the county commission. The county made the issue a priority to be funded in 2015.
Being part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, 22 percent of Johnson County’s sales taxes are collected from visitors outside the county, Eilert says. That fact combined with feedback from six public input sessions held around the county in early 2016 indicated that the public preferred sales tax funding over property tax funding, according to county officials. Having previously secured state legislature authorization for a 10-year, voter-approved, quarter-cent sales tax increase for public safety funding, the county approved a measure for using the tax to build a new courthouse and coroner’s facility to appear on the November ballot in May 2016.
At these gatherings, officials presented measure-related documents and a 10-minute county-produced video that highlighted issues with the courthouse and private coroner’s facility, Eilert says.
“People had no idea how those [coroner-related] activities work, and when they understood the type of facility that we had to operate in, they were ready to support the coroner’s facility,” Eilert says.
Utilizing the courthouse itself proved key in the measure’s victory, according to Eilert and county data. In addition to the video, county employees gave several tours of the current courthouse and held courthouse open houses and public hearings that all showed the building’s issues. County officials relied on a website and social media to spread information, too.
“What we tried to do is put [the campaign] in terms of, we’re trying to serve the public and the needs of the public, and that was the reason for this campaign,” Howe says.
Ultimately, the November vote was a close victory — 53 percent voted yes, while 47 percent voted against it, Eilert says. The tax was implemented on April 1, and construction of both buildings is anticipated to begin in 2018.
Even when a tax is proposed to fund an item used by most residents, public input and education campaigns sometimes aren’t enough to influence taxpayers’ votes in favor of new taxes. Such was the case when, in November, Clackamas County, Ore., voters shot down a seven-year, 6-cents per-gallon fuel tax to fund maintenance for Clackamas County’s nearly 1,400 miles of county roads.
Clackamas County has no independent means of road maintenance funding, and Oregon law forbids counties from using property tax revenues to fund road maintenance, according to Clackamas County Public Affairs Manager Tim Heider. Moreover, the county faced deficits as large as $17 million per year and had unsuccessfully tried to pass road maintenance taxes in the past.
Starting in early 2016, Clackamas County officials crafted the fuel tax package in a transparent public process, with the board of county commissioners discussing and listening to public testimony about the tax in several town halls and public hearings, Heider says.
Public turnout at the hearings and town halls varied, but Clackamas County also sought feedback and raised awareness of the tax through city partners, community planning organizations and a city-county summit on transportation.
Results from a May 2016 county ballot item showed that 68 percent of voters thought the fuel tax would be an appropriate November ballot measure, Heider says.
County commissioners also presented the tax issue to local chambers of commerce, community groups and “pretty much anybody that wanted to speak to them about this issue,” Heider says. People and organizations supported the tax, and Heider couldn’t name any organized opposition to the tax.
Nevertheless, the tax measure failed in November, with 63 percent voting against and 37 percent voting in favor, per Heider and county data. Road funding continues to be a priority for Clackamas County, and Heider expects the issue to be addressed again within the year.
Eilert, Hutchinson and Heider all admit that educating voters on the merits of a tax increase is difficult. But comprehensive education and citizen involvement can be invaluable to such a campaign.
As a tax attorney, I usually am on the receiving end of an audit. Over the years, I have realized that while 90% of business is small business, a much smaller percentage of small business is compliant. Helping businesses stay compliant lowers the overall tax burden on everyone. As an example, misclassifying workers as “subcontractors” when the payor is the sole source of revenue for the payee, is not really a subcontractor when the sub has no separate tax ID # and is not “really” in business. In construction, worker’s comp is charged on subcontractors automatically, unless they can show proof of their own coverage, but the business itself could be funneling tax free money to the owner’s back pocket by alleging “cash payments” which are usually paid under the table to immigrants. When immigrants drain resources at City and County levels, the burden on the rest of us is higher when the payees are paid under the table. IRS Rules allow anyone in the world to have a tax ID # ‘ITIN’ by filing a W7. Forcing parents of school age children to obtain a tax ID # that allows them to be paid legitimately “over the table” would cause a decrease in the overall tax burden. I advocate for proactive worker misclassification audits, with a large side helping of amnesty, and a good dose of Department of Commerce, it was too close to election time to be doing widespread audits. It is just a leveling of the playing field for small businesses that actually do play fair. That is what compliance really is, playing fair.
Senate hopeful Marco Rubio accused the Obama administration of "insanity" and "incompetence" in its handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, while steering from his own support of offshore drilling in a campaign stop Wednesday.
Rubio said Obama should have convened the world's leading experts in the initial days of the spill and devised a plan to stop it, and railed against federal regulatory nitpicking he says has kept containment and clean-up efforts from being more effective.
"The response has been abysmal," the likely Republican nominee from West Miami said. "What this oil spill has revealed to us is a level of federal incompetence that is intolerable."
The criticism of the federal response was met with loud applause in Rubio's appearance in the Panhandle, where beaches have seen oil wash ashore. But he stayed away of his own stance on offshore drilling, which is controversial in this tourism-dependent region.
In questioning after his appearance, Rubio reiterated his openness to considering offshore drilling in Florida's waters but said it was a "non-issue" because it is currently barred by state law.
"It has to be based on science. If the science says that drilling off Florida's waters should be safe, that's one thing. If it says it's not, that's another," Rubio said. "Legalizing drilling off our coast should be based on a cost-benefit analysis that benefits Florida and doesn't cost it ecologically or economically."
Democratic candidates Kendrick Meek and Jeff Greene both oppose drilling off Florida's coast and Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running for Senate as an independent, has come out against it since the Gulf spill.
Rubio, the former state House speaker, criticized the decision by Crist to call a special legislative session with the aim of putting an offshore drilling ban on the ballot in November. Lawmakers will meet next week to consider whether voters should be able to decide on a constitutional amendment that would prohibit drilling in state waters. Rubio said the move is "nothing but a political stunt that uses this region and its suffering as a prop for a political campaign."
Meantime, the Democratic National Committee dismissed Rubio's criticisms as a political ploy of his own.
"It's sad that Mr. Rubio would politicize this tragedy while so many families and businesses are dealing with its effects," said Joanne Peters, a DNC spokeswoman. "He's become just like other Washington Republicans who for political gain have attacked the administration for holding BP fully accountable and for supporting legislation that would ensure we are never in a position to be reliant on reckless oil companies ever again."
In his appearance Wednesday, Rubio advocated creating a "Gulf Opportunity Zone" to provide tax relief to businesses and individuals, such as was done after Hurricane Katrina. He also called for making BP claims checks tax-exempt and easing fishing regulations in the state.
2000 election was the most recent when the candidate who received the greatest number of electoral votes didn’t win the popular vote.
Q: How many times was a president elected who did not win the popular vote?
A: It has happened four times.
The 2000 election was the most recent when the candidate who received the greatest number of electoral votes, and thus won the presidency, didn’t win the popular vote. But this scenario has played out in our nation’s history before.
In 1824, John Quincy Adams was elected president despite not winning either the popular vote or the electoral vote. Andrew Jackson was the winner in both categories. Jackson received 38,000 more popular votes than Adams, and beat him in the electoral vote 99 to 84. Despite his victories, Jackson didn’t reach the majority 131 votes needed in the Electoral College to be declared president. In fact, neither candidate did. The decision went to the House of Representatives, which voted Adams into the White House.
In 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes won the election (by a margin of one electoral vote), but he lost the popular vote by more than 250,000 ballots to Samuel J. Tilden.
In 1888, Benjamin Harrison received 233 electoral votes to Grover Cleveland’s 168, winning the presidency. But Harrison lost the popular vote by more than 90,000 votes.
In 2000, George W. Bush was declared the winner of the general election and became the 43rd president, but he didn’t win the popular vote either. Al Gore holds that distinction, garnering about 540,000 more votes than Bush. However, Bush won the electoral vote, 271 to 266.
Who is Cindy Yang and how is she connected to Trump and the spa where Patriots owner was charged?
Head over heels! Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson got two tattoos inspired by his new girlfriend, Ariana Grande.
The comedian, 24, got a black bunny ears mask — which is the artwork from the singer’s Dangerous Woman album — inked behind his ear. He also got Grande’s initials — AG — tattooed on his thumb.
Another pointed out that Davidson also has a tattoo dedicated to his ex Cazzie David, who he split with in May after dating for two years.
Us Weekly confirmed on May 21 that Davidson and the “No More Tears Left to Cry” singer were dating. “It just started,” a source told Us at the time.
The pair made their relationship Instagram official earlier this week, with a Harry Potter-themed photo posted by Davidson that showed them wearing matching Hogwarts robes.
As previously reported, the Grammy nominee was in the audience on Friday, June 1, when Davidson performed his stand-up act at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The Justice Department on Monday unsealed criminal charges against a China-based company and four of its executives for conspiring to evade U.S. economic sanctions that target North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles programs.
Also Monday, the Treasury Department blacklisted the same firm, Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Company, and the individuals. The department alleged in a statement that Hongxiang has provided financial services to a North Korean firm that is already sanctioned, Korea Kwangson Banking Corporation.
International concern over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs is deepening following its fifth and largest atomic test explosion this month, its second this year. That's fueling worries that North Korea is moving closer to its goal of a nuclear-armed missile that could one day strike the U.S. mainland.
Last week, Chinese authorities said they were investigating Hongxiang, based in Dandong, a northeastern city on the North Korean border. Police and China's foreign ministry said the company was suspected of unspecified "serious economic crimes." That was an unusually explicit announcement for Beijing, whose dealings with the North are shrouded in secrecy, in a sign of growing frustration with its traditional ally.
China signed on in March to the stiffest U.N. sanctions yet that limit trade with the North. It has tightened controls on cross-border flows of goods, but that hasn't allayed suspicions that North Korea can still conduct illicit business through China. U.N. Security Council resolutions prohibit nuclear weapons development by the North and all ballistic missile activity.
Monday's action by the Treasury Department blocks any property Hongxiang and the executives — Ma Xiaohong, Zhou Jianshu, Hong Jinhua, and Luo Chuanxu — may have in the U.S., and prohibits Americans from doing business with them.
"Today's action exposes a key illicit network supporting North Korea's weapons proliferation," said Adam J. Szubin, acting Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. "Treasury will take forceful action to pressure North Korea's proliferation network and to protect the U.S. financial system from abuse," he said.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said it was necessary to take these actions to maintain the integrity of sanctions imposed by the United Nations and the United States.
"We are going to continue obviously to work with China and urge them to use their leverage, and they do have leverage over North Korea as their largest trading partner, to fully implement" all the current U.N. sanctions, Toner said.
The four Chinese nationals are charged with conspiring to commit money laundering and to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The Justice Department also filed a civil forfeiture action to seize funds from Chinese bank accounts that authorities say belong to Hongxiang and its front companies.
It wasn't immediately clear whether any of the defendants have lawyers.
A South Korean think tank, the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said in a report last month that Hongxiang supplied aluminum oxide and other materials that can be used in processing nuclear bomb fuel. Hongxiang is one of the biggest traders with North Korea and carried out imports and exports worth a total of $532 million in 2011-15, said the report, co-authored by the U.S.-based research group, C4ADS.
A South Korean newspaper reported Monday that Chinese authorities are also investigating Korea Kwangson Banking Corp. The bank was ordered closed under the U.N. sanctions imposed in March but kept operating in secret in the border city of Dandong, Joongang Daily reported, citing unidentified sources.
China's Foreign Ministry and its bank regulator did not respond to requests for comment.
"¡Viva Tolentine!" shouted a beaming State Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr. at Tolentine Senior Center last Friday.
He was there to meet and greet seniors and to formally announce what they'd all heard a few days prior: that the center, located in the basement of St. Nicholas of Tolentine church in University Heights, wouldn't be shuttered after all; that funding has been restored in the city budget at the last minute.
Espada was given a warm and enthusiastic welcome, and had a word and a hug for just about everyone. Never one to be shy, he danced with the spritely and willing, and even joined in a sing-along at one stage, shaking a pair of maracas above his head.
Tolentine's seniors are very fond of Espada, the center's director, Elizabeth Sanchez, told me. "He's been here many times," she said. "They know him." Plus, he invites them to luncheons and other events, she said, including a "senior appreciation" lunch he held in June at Eastwood Manor on Eastchester Road for about 800 area seniors.
At Tolentine, Espada gave a brief speech. "I know its easy for elected officials to try to take credit," he said. "But it was your campaign, you called our offices, you visited your city council person, you visited you assembly [member], you visited your state senator, you told the mayor, you will not close us down. And today we say, you did not close us down!"
The crowd of about 60 cheered and clapped.
Espada then took a copy of that day's NY Post, which carried an article about Gov. David Paterson's decision to veto thousands of member item requests (aka: legislative pork) from legislators.