According to sources, a top Chinese government-appointed expert says a new respiratory illness that has killed at least three people can be transmitted by humans. Simply put, the coronavirus has killed at least three and sickened more than 200. Unfortunately, a prominent Chinese scientist says the virus is now capable of spreading from human to human, adding even more fears to the public.

Millions of Chinese are traveling this week for the Lunar New Year holiday. Which means, adding to fears that the virus could spread swiftly and on a broader scale. Therefore, experts said the severity of the outbreak would now depend on how many people, on average, a person with virus could infect.

“There are now sufficient cases that it’s not going to die out by chance,” said Neil Ferguson, a public health expert at Imperial College London who has studied the new virus. “The real question now is, how efficiently can this virus spread from person to person?”

What are the symptoms of Coronavirus?

Fortunately, human coronaviruses are common throughout the world. Namely, seven different coronaviruses, that scientists know of, can infect people and make them sick. Also, some human coronaviruses were identified many years ago and some have been identified recently. Anyhow, human coronaviruses commonly cause mild to moderate illness in people worldwide. Two newer human coronaviruses, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV, have been known to frequently cause severe illness.

Symptoms may include

• runny nose
• headache
• cough
• sore throat
• fever
• a general feeling of being unwell

Furthermore, human coronaviruses can sometimes cause lower-respiratory tract illnesses, such as pneumonia or bronchitis. So, this is more common in people with cardiopulmonary disease, people with weakened immune systems, infants, and older adults.

Diagnosis

Simply speaking, your healthcare provider may order laboratory tests on respiratory specimens and serum (part of your blood) to detect human coronaviruses. Namely, laboratory testing is more likely to be used if you have severe disease or are suspected of having MERS.

If you are experiencing symptoms, you should tell your healthcare provider about any recent travel or contact with animals. Therefore, most MERS-CoV infections have been reported from countries in the Arabian Peninsula. Therefore, reporting a travel history or contact with camels or camel products is very important when trying to diagnose MERS.

Coronavirus in the US?

While the virus already killed 100 people, the only question left is ”Will the coronavirus spread to the US”. Luckily, we are still not familiar with the reported case of the coronavirus in the US.

However, that doesn’t have to be the case since the virus is not that easy to spot. Simply speaking, we know that it’s easily trasmitted by humans. Therefore, it’s only a matter of time when someone from the US start showing symptoms.

Also, people from Wuhan, American citizens, are on the way to the US which opens up new problems and questions.

Is someone infected?

Will they infect more people?

How can we stop this?

Well, the only thing that’s certain as of now is that American citizens from Wuhan are coming. Also, most of them will come to California on the Wednesday morning.

Source and more information located on the CDC site.

Tim Kauffman, a spokesman for the American Federation of Government Employees in Washington, confirmed Friday that a TSA officer was killed. Kauffman said the union’s information comes from their local officials in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon said the gunman pulled what he described as an ‘‘assault rifle’’ from a bag and began firing. ‘‘As you can imagine, a large amount of chaos took place in this entire incident,’’ he said.

Many customers being evacuated the airport on the tarmac have said the scene was chaotic.

The government officials confirmed that the system was functioning, but very slowly. Taking this issue into consideration, the agency released a statement saying, “We have built a dynamic system and are prepared to make adjustments as needed and improve the consumer experience.” This will help solve the problem of future occurrence of the Obamacare health insurance website overload.

According to experts, the unusually high amount of hits and the Obamacare health insurance website overload can be attributed to Obama’s televised statement on Monday where he said that the funding is already in place and that the Affordable Care Act can’t be shut down.

“The lack of a filter on Facebook last night (Monday) was apparently due to technical problems and the technological committee is investigating this issue,” Khoramabadi was quoted by Mehr news agency as saying.

“We are investigating to see which of these companies has done this,” he said, referring to the Iranian ISPs.

Since Iranian President Hassan Rouhani took office last month, there has been a muted thaw in the use of social media.

Consider the fact that there are approximately 3.5 million smokers over the age of sixty in the United States. Without this glitch older smokers would be expected to pay on average $4,500.00 more in premium costs. This Obamacare computer glitch could potentially cost the insurance industry almost 16 billion dollars in premiums for the next year.

Obamacare is the national health care plan implemented by President Obama with the goal of providing health care insurance to all Americans and to exert some control over the health insurance industry.

One aspect of Obamacare that really had an impact on the insurance industry was that insurers were forced to accept all applicants. To appease the insurance companies President Obama included a concession which allowed the companies to require smokers to pay a premium price that is fifty percent higher than nonsmokers.
Insurance companies considered this arrangement a winning proposition because of the profits that would be generated by billing older smokers more expensive premiums.
However, President Obama, in an attempt to protect the older generation and the country from being held captive by insurance companies charging excessive insurance premiums to older smokers, restricted the amount to which premiums could be raised. Obamacare has a provision which limits insurers from charging an older person who smokes anything more than triple what a younger smoker pays for insurance.

This created a conundrum because the concessions made to the insurance company and the older generation of smokers who are over sixty-five years old cannot work together. The numbers do not add up and the only way for it to be able to work is if the younger smokers and older smokers are subjected to the same penalty.

It has been estimated by many insurance experts that it will take approximately a year for the government to fix this computer glitch. The new penalties cannot be implemented onto smokers for the next year and this will result in a savings of approximately $4,500.00 in premium costs for older smokers.

The older generation of smokers can thank the federal governments computers for saving them money while the insurance companies will again complain about the inefficiency of the federal government.

The seniors will win this round of the fight but don’t be surprised if the insurance company is the eventual winner of this match.

It is believed that the FBI and the NSA are directly responsible for illegally collecting millions of pieces of information from web based companies like Goggle, Skype, and YouTube. This includes data such as pictures, voice or video chats, emails, and even Facebook status updates.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook and all of the other alleged businesses claim that they have never participated in any government based programs. Furthermore, the United States government is never surrendered any personal information unless it is deemed necessary by law.

In a rebuttal released by Zuckerberg in defense of Facebook, he strongly denied any cooperation with PRISM or other government based programs. To continue, Zuckerberg does state that there are times when the government does request data. In order for the government to be given any data, it must be within accordance to all legal protocol.

To continue, in his press release, Suckerberg ( I am sorry, Zuckerberg) even goes as far as reprimanding the United States government. Recommending that the next time that the NSA or the FBI decides they want to have a program that collects personal data that they should just be more “transparent” about any attempts to protect public safety and the free will of citizens everywhere.

Thus far, as of Friday, Facebook has been the first of any of the blamed companies to release a statement to claim their innocence. The bright,young CEO said he had never even heard of the governmental program called PRISM in his entire career.

These are some of the reasons why:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio created the “tent city jail” to save Arizona from spending tens of millions of dollars on another expensive prison complex.Inmates sleep in tents!

He has jail meals down to 20 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.

He banned smoking and pornographic magazines in the jails, and took away their weightlifting equipment and cut off all but “G” movies. He says: “They’re in jail to pay a debt to society not to build muscles so they can assault innocent people when they leave.”

He started chain gangs to use the inmates to do free work on county and city projects and save taxpayer’s money. Men work in Pink “Clean and Sober” Shirts. Their underwear is also Pink!

Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn’t get sued for discrimination.

He took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails. So he hooked up the cable TV again but only allows the Disney channel and the weather channel.

When asked why the weather channel, he replied: “So these morons will know how hot it’s gonna be while they are working on my chain gangs.”

He cut off coffee because it has zero nutritional value and is therefore a waste of taxpayer money. When the inmates complained, he told them, “This isn’t the Ritz/Carlton. If you don’t like it, don’t come back.”

He also bought the Newt Gingrich lecture series on US history that he pipes into the jails. When asked by a reporter if he had any lecture series by a Democrat, he replied that a democratic lecture series that actually tells the truth for a change would be welcome and that it might even explain why 95% of the inmates were in his jails in the first place.

With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record for June 2nd 2009), the Associated Press reported: About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed wire surrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County Jail have been given permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts.

On the Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing pink boxer shorts were overheard chatting in the tents, where temperatures reached 128 degrees.”This is hell. It feels like we live in a furnace,” said Ernesto Gonzales, an inmate for 2 years with 10 more to go. “It’s inhumane.”

Joe Arpaio, who makes his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. “Criminals should be punished for their crimes – not live in luxury until it’s time for parole, only to go out and commit more crimes so they can come back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things many taxpayers can’t afford to have for themselves.”

The same day he told all the inmates who were complaining of the heat in the tents: “It’s between 120 to 130 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents there too, and they have to walk all day in that sun, wearing full battle gear and getting shot at, and THEY have not committed any crimes, so shut your damned mouths!”

Sheriff Joe was just re-elected for the fourteenth time as Sheriff in Maricopa County, Arizona.

“It does not make sense from a prioritization point of view for us to focus on recreational drug users in a state that has already said that under state law that’s legal,” Obama told ABC News during an interview.

“At this point [in] Washington and Colorado, you’ve seen the voters speak on this issue. And, as it is, the federal government has a lot to do when it comes to criminal prosecutions.”

Still, the Department of Justice remains vigilante in informing the public that marijuana remains a controlled substance by the federal government, and when asked if Drug Enforcement Administration agents were arresting people in possession of pot, spokeswoman Dawn Dearden stated that the “DEA’s focus has always been to disrupt and dismantle large-scale drug trafficking organization – not to arrest individual users.”

Obama expanded upon legalized marijuana in Washington and Colorado by saying it’s “a tough problem, because Congress has not yet changed the law.” He went on to say that lawmakers and Congress must have a conversation about how to mesh the aforementioned states’ laws with the current federal ones.

Obama asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to examine the issue. Earlier this week Holder said, “I think we will come up with a policy that will be respective of federal law buy also will make sure we are effective in our fight against crime that truly has an impact on the American people.”

While Obama’s comments on legalized marijuana give Washington and Colorado pot users something to be happy about, the rest of the country continues pondering how this strange legal situation will play out, and if other states will legalize pot, too.

After meeting with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Hillary Clinton said, “Our concerns are that an increasingly desperate Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons, or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within Syria.”

She continues, “We have sent an unmistakable message that this would cross a red line and those responsible would be held to account.”

However, numerous Syrian activists have criticized Clinton’s fear over the possible use of Syrian chemical weapons, claiming it’s a distraction.

“I don’t think the regime will use chemical weapons – it’s just a media game for the purpose of prolonging the revolution, so the Syrian people become more divided and the regime has more time,” said Walat Ahmae, a member of the Syrian National Council based in Antakya, Turkey. “We have known that there are chemical weapons from the start, so this isn’t a new or more worrying threat.”

A report by NBC News on Thursday states Pentagon officials confirm that Assad has been arming Syrian chemical weapons with nerve gas. Other US officials told the Associated Press that Assad’s military has been moving chemical stockpiles.

This information seems to clash with the official statements flowing from Syria’s crumbling government infrastructure, as Syria’s deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, came forward to say, “I repeat for the hundredth time that even if such weapons exist in Syria, they will not be used against the Syrian people.” He added, “We would not commit suicide.”

In fact, Mekdad has gone so far as to claim that Western governments are the ones creating Syrian chemical weapons, with the intent of handing them to rebels and then blaming the Assad regime for their existence.

Whether there are or are not chemical weapons, though, it’s clear that the topic is beginning to divide parties onto separate sides, and only time will reveal how this situation develops.

<img class=”size-medium wp-image-28800″ title=”Hillary Clinton at a Nato meeting in Brussels” src=”https://socialmediaseo.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/clinton-syria-chemical-weapons-300×180.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”180″ /> Clinton speaking on the existence and use of Syrian chemical weapons.

ABC News emailed the top 10 grocery chains in America about Pink Slime and seven responded:

1. Safeway
“We rely on the federal government to help guide us on food safety issues. USDA has been clear in its judgment that Lean Finely Textured Ground Beef is a safe source of nutrition. However, we are reviewing the matter at this time.”

2. Ahold (Stop & Shop/Giant)
“Stores operated by the divisions of Ahold USA do carry ground beef made with Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings (BLBT), also called Finely Textured Beef (FTB). Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings (BLBT) is beef and is absolutely safe for consumption. To make the product, beef companies use beef trimmings, which are the small cuts of beef that remain when larger cuts are trimmed down. These trimmings are USDA-inspected, wholesome cuts of beef. This process has been an industry standard for almost 20 years. Alternatives to the conventional ground beef supply, in the form of Certified Angus Beef and Nature’s Promise ground beef products, are available to customers in stores across all of the divisions of Ahold USA. These products do not include the use of BLBT. Customers are being encouraged to ask any meat associate should they have any questions or would like to be directed to meat that does not include Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings. Our labeling is in compliance with USDA regulations. BLBT is USDA tested and approved ground beef and therefore does not require labeling.”

3. Costco
Does not use pink slime.
“Anything that we sell at Costco we want to explain it’s origins, and I personally don’t know how to explain trim treated with ammonia in our ground beef,” Craig Wilson, vice president of quality assurance for Costco, told ABC News. “I just don’t know how to explain that. I’m not that smart.”

4. Publix
“We have never allowed the use of LFTB (pink slime) in our meat. It’s 100 percent ground beef with no LFTB.”

5. H-E-B
“All our ground beef sold at H-E-B is 100% pure with no additives.”

6. Whole Foods
Does not use pink slime.

7. Kroger
“We do not use finely textured beef in our fresh ground beef. … We are routinely presented the finely textured beef as an option, but have always refused.”

By Joe Bodolai

Bacon, eggs, vag*na. Oh sure, there’s more…

Things I Think Will Happen Next Year

• Sales of Mayan Calendars up  for 2012, drop for 2013.
• Martial Law in the USA, first probably in Louisiana
• Depression greater than that of the 30’S
• More wars for Israel, our rulers. Probably Syria soon.
• War with Iran (!) for Israel may trigger WW3 conflict with Russia
• World Supply of Band Names will run out
• Americans will go along with this, but resisters will be FEMA camped.
• America the one I loved, the one my dad fought for on Omaha Beach on D-DAY, the man who helped take out the machine guns on the cliff, won’t be alive to see young men wearing uniforms and BE the enemy he fought.
• Fascism will be America. It already is. Simple definition: When government rules over corporations, that’s socialism. When corporations use government that, my friends, is fascism.
• Foreign troops may likely be used in popular insurrections.
• Snooki will have another “book”.

Stuff I Would Like to Have Seen In My Life

• Truth about 9-11. THREE buildings went down that day. Building 7 wasn’t even hit.
• Indians winning a World Series (OK, not so bad since my Jays won two in a row!)
• Browns winning a Super Bowl
• Truth about the JFK murder
• Young people mobilizing for change instead of watching E!
• USA not being Israel’s puppet bully.
• An American awards show being half as good as mine. Or, basically, getting a chance here. I can run a show. I can create a show.
• All those new girls I like naked liking me as much as I liked them
• Living in Paris or New York again

Things I Regret

• My inability to conquer my alcoholism
• The things I did because of it
• Leaving Canada
• Moving to Los Angeles
• Not fighting harder or making a better deal to stay with The Comedy Network I helped create
• Not being able to live up to the helping hand so many wonderful people offered me
• The hurt I caused in my family, friends, and maybe even strangers.
• That I am no longer able to withstand any more of life’s pain
• Most of all, the pain I have caused and am now causing my sons and the love of my life, my ex-wife Bianca, my love and connection with her is infinite
• The fact I will never get to repay the love and generosity you all deserve
•  Lisa.

Things I am Proud Of.

Or Just My Life When I was Really Alive, or just a point form autobiography

(In chronological order, not in order of priority. You decide that.)

• My two sons, who have grown into graceful, intelligent, strong, handsome, creative and loving young men.
• My twenty some years with the greatest love of my life, Bianca. I caused her pain, exasperation, but we also shared love, joy, and an indescribable special unique language of the heart that only we spoke. The greatest gift anyone could ever have. I love her in the words that really trivialize the words “I love you.” She defined that emotion for me and made my life worth living. If there is a loving god, she was my blessing.
• Never being unfaithful to any woman I was with. Although close. Very close. You know who you are ladies. Except you alluring strangers. Sorry. Phew.
• Helping my mom to read and write English after my dad died when I was ten
• Asking my priest “Can God Make Something Heavier Than He Can Lift?”  Please read this: http://wp.me/pKBYM-dP
• 1600 on my SATs and got into a good college, Allegheny in Meadville, PA a 90 minute drive. (Also got accepted to Yale, Amherst, and Johns Hopkins but couldn’t afford the travel or probably the parking fees.)
• Resisting the Vietnam War with daily activism, action, writing, demonstrating, traveling to Washington, tear gas, etc.
• Campaigning for Robert Kennedy, then feeling the shock of his murder]
• Leaving America and going to Paris after that
• All the 24/7 sex I had on the trip by ten days at sea (292 girls on board, three guys, seriously. Girlfriends all over France for the next year. Learned French.)
• Becoming involved with Parisian students in 1968 in a wider cultural movement, learning how to silkscreen posters. Getting hit by a flic’s rubber coated  lead baton

• 
  When I was Young. When I had Hope

• Deciding to return to university, going to Cambridge, talking my way in to King’s College (had the transcripts, the grades, and crushed the interview.)
• Being in the wings at Footlights and getting one line in a sketch. Python legacy. Had no idea how huge they were a year later. John effin’ Cleese!
• The idyllic but ivory tower wonder seeming evil after watching the Chicago 1968 Convention and deciding to leave for the real world and back to the fight. No more punting on the Cam to Grantchester and reading Rupert Brooke as I floated back.
• Transferring to the University of Manchester, home of the RSSF (Revolutionary Socialists Students Federation), a working class city with a “redbrick” instead of the prestige of Cambridge and a huge activist student base.
• My Art History Tutor, Alastair Smith, becoming Curator at the National Gallery in London and taking classes with him in our tutorial group (just four of us) by train every Monday to London to walk through the gallery with him. Seeing original Piero della Francesca’s fingerprints on the canvas. Wow.
• Returning to the US and becoming a very prominent small town anti-war activist. Then leaving for Canada as a draft resister, not “dodger”. (Dick Cheney and George Bush are dodgers. I resisted. I was wanted by the FBI.).
• Becoming one of the first video artists in the world, as SONY gave me and a few other artists the world’s first portable video camera and recorders. (Heavy backpacks, reel to reel, cameras bigger than today’s catered lunches.)
• Showing my work (comedy videos) at the AGO, New York, Museé d’art Contemporain in Paris, etc.
• Ted Kennedy intervening in my case to drop charges due to illegal activities by the FBI and CIA against me. (Long story. Very interesting and relevant today.)
• Helping bring Major League Baseball to Toronto by helping start the Toronto Blue Jays as first Publicity Information Director. Fifth person hired. Set Major League record for most attendance by first year expansion team despite 107 losses. Huge fun.
• Moving to New York to work for Warner Bros. in development. Reading a script and at 11:00 at night calling my head of production to send it over in a cab saying “Read this! It’s so greenlight if this goes it is to win Best Picture and if not it’s the best screenplay I’ve read since I’ve been here. Read it tonight Diane.” It was Kramer vs. Kramer. We lost it to Paramount. I was right though. (There is likely more informed info on this story but this was just my experience with it.)
• Being told by Jean Doumanian that I wasn’t “funny enough to write for SNL but you’re spoken of highly. Can you type?” Notes on a script shown to me by another writer: “make it funnier.” (This is background for the famous article in The New Yorker.
• Writing for SNL after Lorne sacked her. (Huge long story here. I discuss this on a podcast and more. Please listen:
• SNL. Wow, what fun. Wish I had been more ready for it as I was very alternative. So I was assigned to work with Andy Warhol on his few videos for the show.  I could write a lot about this. The glorious Rosie Shuster is more than I can describe. The lightning of her mind, the warm comfort of her enormous heart was a gift from a god that only exists when I think of people like her and my friends like you.
•  Becoming a very very minor “co-owner” of the Utica Blue Sox in the New York-Penn League with an unaffiliated independent team and winning the championship in like 1983. Spent the summer in low level minor league ball. Amazing fun. Real owners were Van Schley, Bill Murray, John Alexander and the bogus Roger Kahn. Long story here about this guy. Missed the whole story, wrote a book. Total fiction. What a loss. Reality was so much more.
• Coming back to Canada and working with the wonderful John Brunton, whose friendship and talent I have missed for so many years. Great hilarious speech at my wedding.
• Creating “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll!” and winning a Gemini and launching Mike Myers as Wayne and pretty much opening the door for his amazing talent.
• Lorne asking me to produce Kids in the Hall. Long story here. He didn’t tell me that HBO was going to cancel the show after the first season. I kept it alive. Honest to god. The cast and crew had no idea what I did and I didn’t either. It would not have gone to season two had I not become the me I loved. Thinking on my feet in the breakfast meeting in the HBO boardroom with Bridget Potter. The Kids have no idea. Ask John Blanchard, who was there but probably will not get what I did. I saved his job too. I f**kin’ kicked ass.
• Writing the first draft of Wayne’s World with Mike Myers. I kinda knew our draft was really a second movie, not an expository first reveal, but my heart wanted him to find his voice. He sure did. (The second movie? Nothing to do with me. Wow, did it suck.)
• My Gemini Awards. I was a writer on the first, and then produced the four highest rated shows in the history of the show. I made them comedy shows. I made news anchors do sketches. I produced the best awards shows in Canada and can kick the shit out of the worse shit they do here.
• Comics! 115 episodes, eight seasons. Designed to unleash Canadian comedy on TV.  After I took the job, offered by Sandra Faire, I was asked “how are you going to find 13 comics to do a whole series?”
• I changed the concept Sandra presented me. Instead of a documentary/reality model I said “no, don’t take cameras into clubs. Let me stage performances on a set so it looks like people would pay $50 to be there and use the b-roll budget for whatever they want to express.” It worked. When we finally got into prime time, we were over a million an episode. That’s huge.
• CBC wanted to cancel the show, which originally was buried at 11:00 and no promo. Sandra called me to give me the news. I said, “no f**king way. This is the future of Canadian comedy development.” I went into George Anthony’s office, Sandra on the couch behind me not saying a word, and I demanded that they recognize that for the little money the show cost the benefits are your entire comedy development/talent budget on a shoestring.
• I was on fire.
• I won.
• Now I had a greater mission. I wanted a channel. I felt the huge failure of comedy, such as sitcoms, on Canadian television, could only be successful if showrunners were comedy writers, not Telefilm form fillers. This is one of the proudest accomplishments I have seen come true. Mark Farrell, Brent Butt, so many more of you….
• I remember believing in Mark and teaching him silly things like “pencil not pen. Change pages? Turn the upper right corner…” Knew he was the guy.
• Ivan Fecan asked me to help him go for the CRTC bid for a comedy channel. I was fired up like you can’t believe. Made a horrible handshake deal with a guy I worked with on radio in the 70’s.
• We won. I kicked ass at the CRTC. Video here. We showed this to the CRTC. Game was over.
• https://www.youtube.com/qualityshows#p/search/0/fAnBauKcA2c
• Then surreality happened. My handshake disappeared. I got offered a deal my lawyer described as “they want you to walk away. This is an insult.” I objected. The next day they hired Ed Robinson.  I like Ed, but…
• So I was f**ked. All those years, all that good faith, and now nothing? I had offers in LA, but didn’t want to do that. I love Canada. I love Canadian comedy, the POV, the sweet pomegranate seal meat mixture of it, the lack of mean with the Robin Hood arrows, and now I created the opportunity I dreamed about… gone?

• By the way, most comics thought of me as a “CBC executive” rather than as a colleague fighting for us in the room. It’s okay. I did all right. I may not do standup or like one of you, but my mission was a lot bigger than jokes then. I hope I served you well.
• I moved to LA as it seemed I was totally f**ked by Canadian television. So…. did some great work as a “show doctor” on helping people with their pilots and sales tapes with a great company called LaunchPad. I got to work with Ryan Seacrest and Ray Romano and others. I kept an NBC strip daytime reality series on the air by just basically taking over and taking their material and re-visioning it.
• Then the two guys who owned the company split up, before Christmas. As the guy who left was on my side of the equation (creative not promos) I ended up losing at least a year of work. I can’t cut promos. I’m just not a fit for that. I loved working with writers on their shows.
• Meeting and working with the amazing gift from the comedy god that is Sarah Hyland, the funniest woman on earth. Going to her home in Louisville for Christmas and taping (yeah, remember tape?) and shooting with her and her wonderful real life character Gail, her mum. Please watch my wonderful truly improvised videos with her at http://youtube.com/qualityshows
• The gorgeosity that is Cherie. No words here. She did save my life for real in a psychic connection we have that would just make you think we are crazier than we are. We were a very odd duo. Wow though, so different me and this girly girl is one of the most beautiful women on earth. Love Unlikely actually.
• 
• So look at Canadian television comedy today. Showrunners are becoming more and more comedy writers or performers. You need to keep the fight against formfillers as “producers.” Canadian TV? It’s still f**ked up with no promos, no other industry support that can compete with the money assault of US media. Only faith in the quality and morality of it has a chance. Every Canadian comedy show is probably doomed by money. Hence, I created Comics! as a throw the dice and see who will step up. I think I am so proud of helping liberate comedy talent. Russell, you hearing me?
• Look at the list of people whose first break on TV and faith in their creative genius I believed in. Wow. I am so proud. Mark Farrell was the first Comics! we taped. I gave first TV appearances to Russell Peters on three different shows (!)as well. Ron James was there but now he has a show. Anna Gustafson sent me a tape from Lund, B.C. and now she is living her life. Bonnie McFarlane. Her podcast is so amazing you must get on this. It’s called “Bonnie and Vos” or something. I’d probably not want to be married to him either but she’s from Cold Lake, Alberta so funny obnoxious controlling Jews are probably what is down in her pants. Get on this podcast people!
• (I remember Bonnie’s Comics! episode where she wanted to do a new set and couldn’t remember it. So nervous. I said. “It’s just tape. Keep it in your pocket. If you take it out, we can edit it out. The audience will love you more knowing that you work, you write, just let them know this.” She forgot her set. We used it in her episode. One of the great cool unusual moments in a comedy performance ever. “Okay people, I forgot my set.” Pulls the paper from her tight back pocket jeans and the audience is like me. In love. Applause break. Especially since her comedy then was so dangerously dark at surprising moments mixed with observational okaycharmingness and then an anexoria joke.  And she had the t-shirt, jeans, no boobage enhancement.  At least I got them to brush her gorgeous hair.
• Cold Lake. Bonnie, you should tell Rich that’s the name of your pussy on your amazingly great podcast.
• I’m proud of my life. Not how I lived it. How some of the things I did maybe are more okay than the things people who don’t have my life did awful things.
• I feel so proud of you all. I am so proud of having worked to do some of the following things:
• Raised money and worked for Mercy Corps, IRC, OxFam, NRDC. We need to do more.  Please people, look them up. Help.
• Bristol Bay is a chemical Chernobyl we cannot let happen.  Please go to NRDC for info.
• “IF YOU DON’T LIKE GAY MARRIAGE, TELL STRAIGHT COUPLES TO STOP HAVING GAY BABIES!”
• Helped HRC with the huge campaign to win marriage equality in New York. That went viral but not mine. Just know it helped me work on some GOP support that helped. Wow, what a Friday night that was. June 24.
• So many long-suffering people. I watched a video of a mother carrying her dead infant searching for water. Somalia. MercyCorps field worker showed me. Somalia.

• SOMALIA AND DOWNTOWN LA
• THAT WAS A TIME OUT FOR TEARS. I heard the girl’s voice on the video. She was carrying her dead child. Carrying her dead baby. God, if you exist, you are f**king evil so you treat your people on earth like this?
• Tell me the difference between god and the devil.
• I don’t believe in a “loving God.” I perhaps believe in one sick superf**k evil.
• I don’t know what more visions of hell I can see, but my life seems to be providing them.
• The shelter I am volunteering in may be my new home. I call it “Shawshank Summer Camp.” 65 men on cots in one big space where sleep is victimhood.
• … and a Happy New Year.

I don’t need replies or comments or anything. I need to feel the good that I did and whatever good I have ever done for you is enough for me. May you all have the happy lives you deserve. Thank you all for being in my life.

Love,

Joe

████ ████ we do if our ████████ ███████ and ████████ on our ████████ are ████████. It’s sad to █████ ████ ████ may ████ the ███████ to ████ ████ ███████ off if ████ ████ the ████.

There’s a lot of political involvement in this decision.  Opponents tried to cut off funding for horse meat inspections, however Congress lifted the ban in a spending bill President Barack Obama signed into law Nov. 18 to keep the government afloat until mid-December.  This means there may be a slaughterhouse opening very soon.

Opponents also say  that if these horse slaughterhouses were to go live taxpayers would need to spend money since there is no allocated funding.

Of course many horse activists despise this decision, however there are some that feel the horses are being neglected due to the economy and a variety of other factors.

Cheri White Owl, founder of the nonprofit Horse Feathers Equine Rescue in Guthrie, Okla., said she’s seen more horse neglect during the recession. Her group is caring for 33 horses now and can’t accept more.

“A lot of the situation is due to the economy,” she said, “People deciding to pay their mortgage or keep their horse.”

Some also make the argument that slaughtering a horse is inhumane and a very cruel process.  I agree here, there’s no doubt that it is cruel, however what do you think happens when we slaughter cows, chickens or other animals we eat.  What do you think we did hundreds of years ago when we killed animals for food?  Do you think they worried so much about how the animals felt or did they just do what was necessary to survive?  I can’t imagine they had humane ways of slaughtering animals for food.

As Kansas Governor and former U.S. Senator Sam Brownback was speaking at the conference, Sullivan decided to tweet this during the address:

Apparently Emma Kate was just joking with friends when she tweeted this, however it was discovered by Governor Brownback’s office.  Brownback officials contacted Sullivan’s high school principal. Sullivan was then asked to apologize for her tweet, and according to Politico, the principal even instructed her to use certain talking points in the apology letter.

Here is Emma Sullivan’s response to Brownback:

“I don’t think I should write the letter, and I don’t think it would be the best move for me,” she said. “At this time, I do not think an apology would be a sincere thing for me to do.”

She also said that she would do it again.

Was Emma Sullivan’s Tweet Wrong?

Is there really anything wrong with Emma stating her opinion of Gov. Brownback?  It seems like he’s a big  baby tattle tailing on Emma for this Tweet.  I also think it’s crazy that her principal would ask her to apologize and write a letter to Brownback.  I think it’s great she’s standing up for herself regardless about who she’s tweeting about.  How can your principal tell you to write an apology letter about a tweet anyway?

#heblowsalot Twitter hashtag

The hashtag (used on Twitter as a keyword tagging system) #heblowsalot has been used around Twitter to show support for this controversy.  Anyone who has an opinion, please re-post or share this page or use the hash.

Here are some funny #heblowsalot Tweets I found on WebProNews

Groupon is actually losing more money than it’s making.  And because Groupon’s business model is such that is takes in revenue and accounts for it on their books instantly, but delays paying merchants, some have even called Groupon one big ponzy scheme.

The business model that Groupon employs is, in my opinion, the equivalent of leveraged debt.  Basically, in order to keep your business afloat, and growing even, is to have a continual stream in upfront cash.  But the payment to the debt is then spread out over time, years even – pay me now, and I’ll pay you back over the next 20 years.

And this Ponzi scheme, or leveraged debt scenario looks even more scary when you consider the fact that in 2010, Groupon’s expenses were two and a half times its gross profits.

And just like the real estate market showed us in 2007 and 2008, it doesn’t matter how big of a company you are, you’re never too big to fail.  And if money stops flowing into Groupon, or Groupon’s revenues continue to decline, then that upfront money it relies on heavily will dry up.  And no company is too big to fail.

Oh wait… the U.S. Government could come in and bailout Groupon, but something tells me the U.S. economy doesn’t hinge on the success of daily deals.

Seth Godin’s Word of the Day:  Revolution

Sentence (from Seth):  With the revolution going on all around us, there’s so much on the buffet you’re likely to just grab something convenient. Better, I think, to decide what matters first, and go do that.

Definition: (via Google)

rev·o·lu·tion/ˌrevəˈlo͞oSHən/Noun

The revolution Seth is talking about in his post today is the information, or the Internet, revolution.

Creating and launching a business today can be both free and easy.  Just take a look at Blogger or WordPress.  But deciding on what to blog about is a whole different story.

Even more to the story, and what makes all the difference in the world – what will separate you from the masses – is deciding to stay with it, not giving up, and remaining focused on your ultimate goal.

If you start changing blogs, changing topic matters, changing business ideas on a regular basis, then nothing has the time to take hold.

A group of hackers who call themselves Anonymous have made a pretty serious threat.  And that is, on November 5, 2011 they are going to, and I quote “kill Facebook, the medium of communication [we] all so dearly adore.”

Anonymous has been responsible for cyber-attacks in the past on organizations such as the Pentagon, News Corp, and other popular establishments.  Their threat to kill Facebook is, no doubt, being taken seriously by Facebook and other organizations.

Below is the full text of the warning issued by Anonymous via YouTube and posted by BI:

Operation Facebook

DATE: November 5, 2011.

TARGET: https://facebook.com

Press:
Twitter : https://twitter.com/OP_Facebook

Irc.Anonops.Li #OpFaceBook
Message:

Attention citizens of the world,

We wish to get your attention, hoping you heed the warnings as follows:
Your medium of communication you all so dearly adore will be destroyed. If you are a willing hacktivist or a guy who just wants to protect the freedom of information then join the cause and kill facebook for the sake of your own privacy.

Facebook has been selling information to government agencies and giving clandestine access to information security firms so that they can spy on people from all around the world. Some of these so-called whitehat infosec firms are working for authoritarian governments, such as those of Egypt and Syria. 

Everything you do on Facebook stays on Facebook regardless of your “privacy” settings, and deleting your account is impossible, even if you “delete” your account, all your personal info stays on Facebook and can be recovered at any time. Changing the privacy settings to make your Facebook account more “private” is also a delusion. Facebook knows more about you than your family. 

You cannot hide from the reality in which you, the people of the internet, live in. Facebook is the opposite of the Antisec cause. You are not safe from them nor from any government. One day you will look back on this and realise what we have done here is right, you will thank the rulers of the internet, we are not harming you but saving you.

The riots are underway. It is not a battle over the future of privacy and publicity. It is a battle for choice and informed consent. It’s unfolding because people are being raped, tickled, molested, and confused into doing things where they don’t understand the consequences. Facebook keeps saying that it gives users choices, but that is completely false. It gives users the illusion of and hides the details away from them “for their own good” while they then make millions off of you. When a service is “free,” it really means they’re making money off of you and your information.

Think for a while and prepare for a day that will go down in history. November 5 2011, #opfacebook . Engaged.

This is our world now. We exist without nationality, without religious bias. We have the right to not be surveilled, not be stalked, and not be used for profit. We have the right to not live as slaves.

We are anonymous
We are legion
We do not forgive
We do not forget
Expect us

The problem is the U.S. government is about to run out of money.

And if Congress can’t figure out whether to raise the debt ceiling or not, there really won’t be any money left for the U.S. government to borrow.

So what is the most powerful nation in the world to do?

Well… they could borrow money from Apple.

Apple right now has more money (on hand cash) than the United States Government.

According to BI, Apple recently declared financial results for the third quarter that showed the company had $76.2 billion (£46.8bn) in cash and marketable securities at the end of last month.

In comparison, the latest statement from the U.S. Treasury shows that the government had $73.8 billion (£45.3bn) at the end of the day yesterday.

So with Apple having more money than the U.S. Government, taking out a loan from Apple might be a good option, right?

But then I got to thinking about this scenario.  It’s actually a bit scary to me that a company like Apple would have more cash than the United States government.

After all, doesn’t our government need to pay for things like national security, medicare, and other essential elements that allow us to live in a civilized society?

What do you think about Apple having more money than the United States government?

Facebook continue on its path of domination globally as it has now beat out Microsoft as the second most popular website in the UK last month.

According to TNW, Facebook saw 26.8 million Britons visit its website in May, a new record for the social network, increasing 7% year on year. Microsoft’s MSN, WindowsLive and Bing sites saw 26.2 million visitors but Google still dominated in the UK with 33.9 million visitors last month.

In other parts of the world, Facebook is experiencing explosive growth as well.

Just recently in India, the Indian government has officially requested Facebook to continue expanding in its country as more and more users are switching from Orkut to Facebook, and also because Facebook is now building headquarters in India.

This brings the total number of Facebook users in India to 25 million.

Because of this growth, the Indian government is urging Facebook to expand its operation in the country.

Currently, Facebook employs approximately 100 people and is actively recruiting in the country, seeking user operations and sales operations staff, but also financial and recruitment specialists.

via TNW

This might be a bit of a publicity stunt from the U.S. Government since President Obama decided against releasing the Osama Bin Laden pictures of him dead, but the Pentagon has just released a series of Bin Laden videos that were captured by the Navy Seals during the mission that took out Bin Laden.

Here are three of the videos – all without audio – that were seized during the Navy Seals mission that killed Osama Bin Laden:

The FBI has seized control of online gambling sites PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker.com in a sting that has brought down two of the biggest names in online  poker in the United States.

Based on a tips, and perhaps even direct collaboration from within a suspected money laundering operating, the U.S. federal government received information on the people responsible for running these online gambling sites in the U.S.

Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, along with Janice Fedarcyk, Assistant-Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, unsealed an indictment charging the founders and payment processors for Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker with multiple illegal gambling charges.

Included in the indictment are over 75 banks throughout the United States who are suspected in helping move the funds associated with the operations.

PokerStars.com currently has an FBI / Government seizure warning message on the front page.

Interestingly though, FullTiltPoker.com is still up and running as of this writing.

For President Barack Obama, his Presidency was all about “Change”!  Change that needed to come to Washington, “Change” that was going turn around the unemployment rate, and “Change” that was, once and for all, end the politics that plagues our capital.

But with the new budget crisis, and the fact that our Federal government was about an hour away from complete shut down, does this bode well for President Barack Obama’s message of “Change”?

I have to believe, no wait… I’m convinced, that the GOP is already  fully capitalizing on this opportunity to hammer the President for his lack of leadership in Washington.

And it’s really just a matter of time – and perhaps it’s already there and I just haven’t seen it yet – before YouTube fills up with GOP attacks on the President.

So is this a reflection of Barack Obama’s lack of leadership as the President?

I believe so, yes…

While He (the President) should have been in Washington leading from the White House as the President of the United States, he was in Philadelphia talking with energy workers.  And while he should have been leading from the front with a budget for the Federal Government, he was planning a vacation with his family.

But is it all the President’s fault?

Of course not… the congress is as much to blame.

I’m just saying that it doesn’t look very good on a President who campaigned, and was elected, on the message that “Change Would Come” – when clearly it hasn’t.

image from NYTimes

With this type of leverage, it’s going to be difficult for those same politicians to take aim directly at the social networking giant on issues like privacy, commerce, and other political hotspots with tech companies.

One way Facebook is capitalizing on this leverage is by hiring Washington insiders and former powerhouse players in Washington’s political scene. Case in point, Facebook is said to be hiring Robert Gibbs, former White House Press Secretary.

Also, Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg served as Chief of Staff for the United States Department of the Treasury.  And Facebook’s General Counsel Ted Ullyot was a former government official with deep connections in the Republican Party.

So is Facebook being smart with these moves?

Is the government backing themselves into a corner that they might regret later?

What do you think?

A United States federal court has issued a subpoena to Twitter requesting for data relating to Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange.

Twitter received some unlikely news this week from a United States federal court. The feds are requesting information regarding Wikileaks, the Wikileaks Twitter feed, and the Twitter profile’s of top Wikileaks’ officials including Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

The court order was issued on December 14th from the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and it argues that the Twitter activity of the parties involved is critical to an ongoing criminal investigation.

This news confirms that the United States is conducting a criminal investigation into Wikileaks after thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables were published.

Wikileaks plans to fight the subpoena

WikiLeaks says it plans to fight U.S. government efforts to subpoena its Twitter account details. WikiLeaks says U.S. investigators have demanded the private messages, contact information and other personal details of Julian Assange and three people associated with the secret-spilling website. No comment from Twitter. U.S. officials are looking into possible charges over leaked diplomatic cables.

via MarketWatch

Google’s new public data explorer graphs out the US budget and shows that Social Security is the biggest cost right now to the government. The graph below allows you to see how the budget fluctuates depending on world events.

Last month I wrote about how the engineers at Google are working on a Google Price Index (GPI ) that in essence will allow the United States Gross Domestic Product (and inflation) to be calculated in near real time.

This is nothing short of amazing and quite frankly hurts my head to even think about.

But suffice it to say that Google is really on top of the US Government numbers game. Which is why I found the chart below so interesting as well.

Google has just release the new Public Data Explorer: Visualize the US Budget. Basically, Google is now graphing out the US budget, allowing you to see visually what analysts are always talking about, and what numbers are always listed on the White House website.

You can check out more cool Google graphs here.

But I found the US Government net outlays as a percentage of GDP particularly interesting, and the fact that Social Security is now the biggest outlay as a percentage of GDP.

via Google Public Policy blog

The image above is of Cheng Jianping, 46, who was sentenced to hard labor in China for a Twitter message (retweet actually) that she posted.

Question – how do you know you live in a communist regime?

Answer, when you get sentenced to “education through hard labor” for a message you tweet.

That’s exactly what happened to Cheng Jianping, 46, when she retweeted a message that her soon to be husband posted on Twitter which read, “Anti-Japanese demonstrations, smashing Japanese products, that was all done years ago by Guo Quan [an activist and expert on the Nanjing Massacre]”. And also, “t’s no new trick. If you really wanted to kick it up a notch, you’d immediately fly to Shanghai to smash the Japanese expo pavilion.”

And then Cheng Jianping retweeted the message with this:

Charge, angry youth.

So the Chinese government decided to step in and squash this online movement of pro-democratic banter.  And hard labor for Ms. Jianping is the sentence.

Well none of this sat well with Twitter’s CEO because he sent out his own tweet to the Chinese government that reads:

“Dear Chinese Government, year-long detentions for sending a sarcastic tweet are neither the way forward nor the future of your great people,” Costolo posted on Twitter.

via LA Times

The Motorola Droid X has been one of the best selling Android smartphones in the US since Android was released. Verizon has dominated the Android smartphone market as a result of the Motorola Droid X and the Droid 2.

The Motorola Droid X is now set to be released in Mexico as the Motoroi X sometime before the end of 2010.

The Motoroi X will be the first Android 2.2 smartphone released in Mexico, and is expected to receive the Android Froyo update sometime this month. IUSACELL will be carrying the Motoroi X and is the third largest cell phone provider in Mexico.

No pricing information is available yet.

Here’s the press release from Motorola on the Motoroi X:

Motorola and Iusacell in Mexico bring MOTOROI X: the first Smartphone with Android 2.2 and a high-definition experience

MOTOROI X offers better Internet browsing, connectivity, high definition video and business functions, all in a 4.3 inch screen

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – November 9, 2010 – Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary of Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), and Iusacell today introduced the Motorola X MOTOROI. MOTOROI X offers a better experience thanks to its ultra-fast Web browsing, 1GHz processor speed, the functionality of becoming a 3G HotSpot, excellent memory and social messaging intuitive abilities. The device is also compatible with Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 and gives access to Android Market with more than 100 000 applications, in addition to Ubicacel Copilot.

“We have a strong commitment to our customers to provide the best experience Android on the Iusacell network,” said Ernesto Alegrett, Marketing Director of Iusacell. “Thus, we have focused on bringing to Mexico currently leads Android phone the market: Motorola X MOTOROI. This equipment allows Iusacell to offer its customers a unique phone with wireless connectivity and multimedia experience in HD through the powerful Iusacell’s 3G network. ”

José Luis de la Vega, Director of Marketing for Latin America at Motorola Mobile Devices said, “With MOTOROI X, Motorola reinforces that there are no limits on innovation in Android. We break down the barriers for users to experience the Web in the manner for which it was created, sharing and viewing content as never before, either in the palm of your hand or in your home. Business users will also be amazed with the features included in MOTOROI X, such as push e-mail and widgets for calendar updates and email. ”

MOTOROI X has a high resolution display of 4.3 inches which allows the user to view the latest video. The video features X MOTOROI enable customers capture their best moments instantly, thanks to its combination of 8-megapixel camera with dual flash, HD camcorder and HDMI and DLNA connectivity to download, transmit and share high-definition personal content.MOTOROI X comes powered with Android 2.2 and Adobe Flash Player 10.1, an application that will allow mobile users to experience hundreds of sites with rich content and applications directly from your browser.

Additionally, it has the social networking service MOTOBLUR, Motorola’s unique in its version 1.5. MOTOBLUR, social networking contacts synchronized with the directory, and personal and work email also allows for optimal security to retrieve information or delete with a simple remote command.
Corporate users are able to enjoy the feature push e-mail and widgets capable of conveying messages to the home screen, widgets filtering for the differentiation of work and personal email, corporate directory and search Global together with a unified calendar enterprise-level synchronization with Google Calendar . In addition, security protocols allow remote control and elimination password via Exchange Server.

Price and Availability

Motorola MOTOROI X Iusacell will be available from the last quarter of 2010.

X has the capacity MOTOROI 3G Mobile Hotspot that turns your phone into a wireless modem to connect up to a total of five devices via Wi-Fi.
For more information on Motorola’s X MOTOROI, check www.motorola.com.mx or www.iusacell.com.mx

About Motorola

Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications and is focused on optimizing the way the world connects. From infrastructure broadband communications, enterprise mobility solutions and public safety devices wired and wireless digital communications that provide engaging experiences, Motorola is leading the next wave of innovations that enable people, businesses and governments to be more connected and more phones. In 2009, Motorola (NYSE: MOT) had sales of 22 billion dollars. For more information, visit www.motorola.com

via MobileCrunch

Boeing is looking to cash in on the future of jet fighter aircraft. The United States Air Force has released a document stating that they want, by 2030, a proposed unmanned jet fighter to be mission ready. This concept will allow fighter pilots to now operate their fighter jets from a remote location. This concept also means that jet fighters would no longer be exposed to the risks and stress of combat missions.

We already see the concept of unmanned air missions in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Drone aircraft have been running missions, from recon operations to convoy strikes, since September 11th.

I really like the concept of unmanned jet fighters. It will save lives and save the government millions of dollars per aircraft in safety mechanisms that designed to protect human pilots.

Now, I mentioned Boeing at the beginning of the article because so far, Boeing is the only manufacturer who has submitted design concepts to the USAF so far.

Some other unmanned jet fighter concepts:

Thoughts?

via Gizmodo

In a move that seems more like “controlling the population” than it does about selling cell phones, the Chinese government today ruled that anyone in China purchasing a cell phone will be required to have an ID. Some people may see this as China’s efforts to crack down on spam and other criminal activity with a cell phone. However, most see this as a way to easily track down dissidents, protesters, and anyone else that might oppose the Communist government.

What do you think about China now requiring an ID to purchase a cell phone?

via Gizmodo