Tattoos at Work

ART - Men and women who choose to get tattoos, piercings or any kind of noticeable body art are really wreaking havoc with their future career.

True, it may not hurt celebrities of the world like David Beckham (shown here), because their careers are already successful.

But for those people who are young and struggling in their careers having a large neck tattoo, a jungle of piercings, or a virtual art gallery on their body will find it difficult to find work.

Women I think can get away with this more. Women have a tendency to be more discreet about where they get their tattoos or piercings. Plus psychologically speaking employers are more likely to look the other way if a female has a tattoo whereas for men tattoos are associated with bad behaviour.

Lets take the South Korean military as an example. Military service for men in South Korea is mandatory. But there is ways to get out of it. One of the ways is to get a tattoo. The South Korean military believes that men with tattoos are unruly and won't follow orders, and therefore won't allow them into the military. (Which is the complete opposite of the United States military where tattoos of their units are welcomed.)

If you are a parent you have probably given your kids plenty of advice about how to get and keep a job. Not having tattoos or piercings was probably amongst your suggestions.

According to a recent study conducted by Career Builder applicants who do not follow proper job etiquette are hurting their chances - even if they are a good fit for the position.

Whether a candidate is seeking a new job or a promotion, a professional image can make a difference. According to managers who were surveyed they said the following personal attributes would make them less likely to extend a promotion include:

• Piercings
• Bad breath
• Visible tattoos
• Often have wrinkled clothes
• Messy hair
• Dresses too casually
• Too much perfume or cologne
• Too much make up
• Messy office or cubicle

Of course this really depends on the nature of the workplace. Well hidden piercings and tattoos are fairly main stream in cities these days. However there is never an excuse for poor personal hygiene unless you're a garbage collector.

Over 20% of hiring managers also said they are less likely to hire a candidate who didn’t send a post-interview thank you note. That’s because they say omitting this step shows a lack of follow through and sends a message that the applicant is not really serious about the opportunity. (We should note many young people don't even know about this unspoken rule.)

A hand written note is still the gold standard, but most managers are perfectly happy to get an emailed thank you from interested applicants. If there were multiple interviewers, each interviewer should get a personal note.

It makes you realize the number of unspoken rules the workplace these days has.

The whole thank you note thing may seem repetitive, but enthusiasm for the job is a key component for hiring people. It is also your last chance to boost your chances. (Especially if other applicants send a thank you note and you did not.)

Another big thing HR staff now check is Facebook and Google your name. Its a good idea to clean up your online reputation so that when they do take these steps they are seeing the best possible side of you.

ie. You probably won't want them seeing photos of you on a website involving "drunk people with tattoos" or any other poor behaviour.

There's even a case of a man who legally changed his name because of his old profession and bad reputation online. He now has kids and wanted 2 things: Employers to see the new him; His children to only know about the new him as well, as opposed to the old version which was very risque film work and involved his private member diving repeatedly into the dark spot between the legs of multiple women. (*cough cough*)

The end result is that men and women need to be more discreet about where they are getting tattoos and piercings if they want to have any kind of serious business career.

The same rule applies when applying to an university, running for political office, or even wanting to become a clergy member.

Tattoos, like all other forms of art, are subjective and not everyone likes particular styles of art.

Its a bit like picking out corporate art for your office. Do you pick a piece of abstract art, a landscape or a figurative nude? Probably best to go with an abstract or landscape piece just so you don't accidentally offend or distract clients.

Age of Conan at Work

ENTERTAINMENT - While I don't recommend playing it at work (too much adult content), I do recommend people check out "Age of Conan: Unchained" the online roleplaying game based on the world of Conan the Barbarian. The game is now free to download and play. (The Age of Conan store however sells bonus stuff to make the game easier.)

Male and Female Drivers at Work

CARS - Who is the best drivers? Male drivers or female drivers?

I don't think there is any difference between male and female drivers... some people are just aggressive, stupid, timid and so forth... and none of these things makes a person "a good driver".

But there is a huge difference between countries. Americans are not as good as think. Asian drivers are actually much better than people give them credit for (better than American drivers)... but nothing beats the Finns.

Finland has the best drivers in the world. Not just on the road, but on the racetrack too. Finland has a very low car accident rate per capita, and they're very good in race cars too (If you want to win, you hire a Finn!). The reason? Finland trains their drivers from a younger age and they are really more aggressive in their training methodology. See the video below and see what I mean.

Check out these videos about Finnish drivers:



Oh and while we are at it, here is the world's worst driver. A Dutchman named Pim from a reality TV show ended up hitting the acceletator when he was supposed to be stepping on the brakes. He ended up hitting the host of the TV show.

Rob Fod Vs the Gay Pride Parade

CANADA - No Rob Ford? No problem.

With an estimated crowd of over 1 million people, Toronto's Gay Pride Parade went off with its usual rainbow-esque festivities as Torontonians celebrated 31 years of Pride, despite Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's controversial absence.

Where was Rob Ford? He was hiding up north in his cottage, avoiding everything to do with the Gay Pride Parade. Homophobic? Maybe. Or more likely he is trying to win votes from the white middle class suburbanites who elected him mayor in the first place.

The record-breaking event this year was more than a massive celebration that takes over several city streets. The parade is a constant reminder that there is still a lot to do to achieve equal rights for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) communities worldwide.

And the fact Toronto's own mayor refused to go really hammers home the concept that this is an important equal rights issue, even if you're not gay and have no interest in the LGBT community.

The three-hour parade, the largest of its kind in Canada, is part of the largest gay festival in North America (which means its also one of the biggest in the world) involves a 10-day Pride Week that generates about $100 million for Toronto's economy and draws 10s of thousands of tourists to Toronto.

Rob Ford claims he skipped the parade to continue a family tradition of spending Canada Day in cottage country. He also skipped all the other Pride events held earlier in the week, including a rainbow flag raising at city hall. He avoided everything and anything to do with being gay.

Ford has already faced plenty of criticism and accusations of homophobia.

In the parade some people waved signs denouncing Rob Ford, while others poked fun at him by covering their faces or genitals with cardboard cut-outs of Ford's face.

It was the first time since 1994 that Toronto's sitting mayor didn't march in the parade. Former mayors Barbara Hall and David Miller came out to attend.

As Miller shook hands one young man shouted: "Our old mayor is better than our new one," which drew a chorus of cheers. David Miller declined to comment about Ford's absence and focused on the positive instead.

"I believe this event shows Toronto at its best," says David Miller, who was Toronto's mayor until Ford took over in fall 2010. "In our city, everybody's welcome."

Rapists at Work + Apology for all the rapists in the world

Greetings ladies and gents!

I used to have a webcam video here, but have since decided to scrap webcam activities because frankly I felt that series of videos was ill conceived and have since thought better of it. I am just not suited for webcams. No shame in admitting it.

In the video I apologized for all the *ssh*les in the world who have ever raped a woman. On behalf of all of mankind I apologize for the rapes and crimes against womenkind that rapists have committed for the entire history of humankind.

In Canada alone 1 in 3 women are sexually assaulted at some point in their life time.

99% of the women who go to the police are telling to the truth and 1% of cases are thrown out because the police are very good at detecting liars (because they keep changing their stories).

And then there is the cases with physical evidence of assault... but even those don't always end in conviction. The conviction rate for sexual assault in Canada is only 49%. That is very low when compared to other crimes and their conviction rates.

And what it really boils down to is he said vs she said.

She has bruises on her face, neck and hips. He says they just like it rough and got carried away. Who is the judge to believe?

If the evidence is "circumstantial" then its not enough for a conviction.

The system is broken.

What we need is a better way to convict criminals and determine the truth and facts of what really happening.

In Canada there are between 260,000 and 286,000 sexual assaults per year. Only 9 to 10% of sexual assaults are reported to police. The Canadian average is 26,000 reports of sexual assaults annually.

With so few convictions there has to be a better way to solve this problem.

I think scare tactics help... I am not talking about longer sentences for people convicted. No. I think more mass media topics about women vigilantes killing rapists is something that will make men think twice.

Movies like the French film "Baise Moi" where two women go on a rampage after being abused by men.

Or the music video by Rihanna "Man Down". Such things will give men pause and make them think twice. Because trials and sentencing isn't working. 260,000 sexual assaults per year in Canada is a shockingly high number. And the number is much higher in the USA. Close to 3 million annually.