Hot Trends in the News

Money Troubles Take Personal Toll in Greece

2011-05-16T20:02:00.000-04:00

ATHENS — His face contorted with anguish, Anargyros D. recounted how he had lost everything in the aftermath of the Greek economic collapse — the food-processing factory founded by his father 30 years ago, his house, his car, his Rolex, his pride and now, he said, his will to live.

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Despite Restrictions, Microblogs Catch on in China

2011-05-16T19:32:00.000-04:00

Nelson Ching/Bloomberg NewsCharles Chao’s company, Sina, has come to dominate microblogging in China with Sina Weibo.

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“On Weibo, I’m mostly interested in current events, what my friends are saying, and some information related to health and psychology,” Mr. Wang said. “Every day I log in over five times, using either my computer or mobile phone. And I stay on for two or three hours.”

Mr. Wang and Weibo’s 140 million other registered users are one big reason American Internet companies like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube want to get into China. It has the world’s biggest Internet population, about 457 million users, and they are mostly young people who spend long periods engaged in social networking, online games and electronic commerce.

But for now, they cannot enter China. Although there are no regulations that prevent American companies from operating here, the three popular American Web sites have been blocked in China for several years. Analysts say this is probably because the Chinese government wants to prevent the services from distributing uncensored information.

Meanwhile, the Chinese social networking companies are booming. Two weeks ago, shares of the Chinese social networking site Renren soared after a dazzling initial public offering on Wall Street that, for a time, gave the start-up a market value of close to $7 billion.

But Renren, despite being called China’s Facebook, is not even the leader of this country’s hottest Internet craze. That company is Sina.com, the 13-year-old online portal that has reinvented itself with Sina Weibo. Shares of Sina listed on the Nasdaq exchange have jumped about 250 percent during the last year, and some analysts estimate that the company’s microblog unit could alone be worth $5 billion.

It’s all about traffic. In the two years since microblog services became widely available in China, they have attracted more than 220 million registered users.

Now, as microblogs have a powerful effect on public discourse and advertisers start to create campaigns aimed at microblog users, other Chinese Internet companies are scrambling to develop and promote their own microblog services.

“This is a big, big category,” said Zhao Chunming, an Internet analyst at the Susquehanna International Group. “The news media and celebrities are tweeting; so are C.E.O.’s. This is changing the way people receive their news and information.”

What is striking is that microblog services are booming here despite a recent Chinese government crackdown on social networking sites in the wake of democracy demonstrations in North Africa and the Middle East. The restrictions, which typically involve deleting or censoring politically charged content, seem to be aimed at preventing microblogs and other sites from being used to foster dissent or organize antigovernment protests.

Still, young Internet users in China seem unfazed by the restrictions, in part because microblog services are a compelling alternative to this country’s more heavily censored state-run media and, perhaps more important, because microblogs are a powerful tool for self-expression.

“There are just so many talkative people on Weibo,” said Guobin Yang, an associate professor at Barnard College in New York and the author of “The Power of the Internet in China: Citizen Activism Online.” He said, “They talk about anything, from Marx and McLuhan to personal relationships and love affairs. So the real success of Weibo is that it offers a place for this kind of chitchat.”

American companies have not given up. Groupon, the online coupon giant, recently formed an alliance with Tencent, China’s biggest Internet company. And last December, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, visited Beijing and toured the offices of Sina and Baidu, China’s huge online search engine.

Facebook has dismissed rumors that it plans to enter China by teaming up with Baidu. Company executives have said only that they are exploring a way to enter China.

Analysts warn that the growth of Chinese microblogs could be curtailed if the government decided they have become too powerful a force in public opinion. But for the time being, microblog services are complying with censors and winning over new users, while social networking sites, like Renren, are struggling to keep pace, according to iResearch, an analytics firm based in Shanghai.

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Britain Set to Announce Ambitious Environmental Steps

2011-05-16T18:32:00.001-04:00

BRUSSELS — Britain is poised to announce some of the world’s most ambitious goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions — a striking example of a government committing to big environmental initiatives while also pursuing austerity measures.

Chris Huhne, the secretary of state for energy and climate change, is expected to release a statement on Tuesday that the British government will set in law a goal to cut its greenhouse gas emissions about 50 percent by 2025.

That reduction, based on 1990 levels, would be far deeper than theEuropean Union’s goal of cutting emissions 20 percent by 2020, and it would mean that Britain would make faster emissions cuts than other similar size countries, including Germany. The goal could require households to spend on new energy-saving devices for the home. It could also revive stalled government support for large projects, like those that capture power from tides and that bury carbon dioxide emissions.

A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change declined to comment before a formal announcement.

Governments in Britain and North America have broadly retreated from far-reaching pledges since the financial crisis began two years ago.

Since then, many leaders have seen sharply reduced public spending as incompatible with wholesale changes to their countries’ energy production and consumption.

That makes the pending decision in Britain, where the government is making the deepest spending cuts in decades to trim its debt load, all the more remarkable.

The expected decision has already lifted optimism among scientists and policy makers that fighting climate change remains viable even as economies continue to show, at best, feeble growth.

“This is an outstanding example of the kind of action by developed-world countries that’s needed to bring climate change under control,” said Bert Metz, an adviser to the European Climate Foundation, a group in Brussels that advocates lower emissions, and a former member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “It’s also really going to push the British economy in the direction of growth.”

Some British ministers had been wary of putting too much strain on households and companies that were already facing painful austerity measures. Manufacturers warned over the weekend that the measures would damage competitiveness and growth.

Environmental groups broadly welcomed the decision but had some reservations.

Jason Anderson, the head of European climate and energy policy at WWF, the conservation group, said that the British government appeared to have resisted making greater near-term emissions reductions, at least until other European Union countries also made such cuts. Mr. Anderson said that pursuing deeper near-term cuts would have sent a more powerful signal to the European Union about acting early, while helping ensure Britain could successfully reach the goal for 2025.

A primary reason the government is moving ahead with ambitious goals even in troubled economic times is the Climate Change Act, which took effect in 2008. The act requires Britain to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050 and requires a series of interim goals.

Britain is also moving ahead because an independent advisory body, the Committee on Climate Change, already made recommendations on how the country can best achieve its targets under the act. The recommendations were hard to ignore for Prime Minister David Cameron, who has pledged that his government would be the “greenest ever.”

Even so, the government had chosen a goal that the Committee on Climate Change described as the minimum necessary to stay on track to cut emissions 80 percent by 2050, Mr. Anderson said.

The proposed move also shows a commitment by Britain to diversify its economy and reduce its reliance on financial services after the economic crisis, and to develop a new focus on manufacturing in sectors — like wind and power grids — that show increasing promise.

“The current mood among many people in the U.K. government is, don’t get left behind in the race to develop new industries,” said Tom Burke, a founding director of E3G, an environmental consulting firm, and a visiting professor at Imperial College London.

Several big questions about the pledge remain, including how much of the cuts will come from refreshing Britain’s fleet of nuclear reactors, and how much will come from burning more natural gas and capturing some of those emissions before they reach the atmosphere.

Mr. Burke said he expected the government to continue its push for nuclear power as part of a low-carbon energy mix despite the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which knocked out reactors and led to radioactive leaks.

But Mr. Burke said that over time, natural gas would probably be a better optiwon than investing in reactors with their long history of delays, cost overruns and waste disposal problems.

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E.U. Presses Ahead With Bailout Talks Despite I.M.F. Chief's Absence

2011-05-16T18:17:00.001-04:00

BRUSSELS — Despite the absence of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, European finance ministers on Monday approved a bailout package for Portugal and debated new aid for debt-strapped Greece.

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YouTube Spits In The Face Of Its Users By Refusing To Address Their False Flagging Problem

2011-05-13T16:50:00.000-04:00

So today's post is by my guest blogger Devon Brown, who run into quite a serious problem with his YouTube account:

By: Devon Brown
http://RenegadeSuccess.com/youtube-false-flagging

Go to Google. Do a search for “YouTube False Flagging” or “YouTube False Flagging Problem”. It won’t take you long to find scores of individuals who have been affected by this issue.

So what is False Flagging? While the original meaning has more to do with deceiving an individual or group into believing something that is untrue so as to carry out an agenda (usually in a military or political context); False Flagging has a slightly different meaning with regard to the world of YouTube.

You see, YouTube is a community of users who post and share videos. As with any community (especially communities of the Social Media/Web 2.0 variety), there are inherent rules put in place to serve the best interest of the community. YouTube refers to these rules as “Community Guidelines”. Examples of community guidelines may include things like: no pornography, no hate speech, no commenting excessively on the videos of others for the sheer purpose of advertising your webpage, no spamming, no videos making threats, no predatory behavior/bullying, etc…

When one community member sees another community member who is breaking these rules (or, if a YouTube admin feels like the rules have been broken) then the video that has committed the “crime” is flagged. Once your video has been flagged you receive a warning. If it happens again (within a 6 month period of time) you’re banned from putting up videos for a period of time (usually 2 weeks). If it happens a third time, your account gets shut down.

At face value, this is a sound idea designed to help contribute to the overall wellbeing of the community. But what happens when a video is flagged that has NOT broken the rules of the community? This is what is known as False Flagging and it happens all the time.

Let me say that again. FALSE FLAGGING is when a video has NOT broken any rules, but still gets flagged; and the owner of the video gets a strike against their account, even though they’ve done nothing wrong. This might happen because some moron doesn’t like your video so they decided to flag it (this happens a lot with religious/political videos that people just don’t agree with). Or, maybe it’s your competition and they’re going around flagging all of the videos that compete with their video. Or maybe someone falsely accuses you of copyright infringement under what’s known as the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) like this douche-bag did: http://bit.ly/lKcsJo , or maybe you just caught someone on a bad day and your video was flagged just for the sake of being flagged. Whatever the reason, the FACT is that you did nothing wrong, but your video got flagged and now your account has a strike against it.

And guess what…there’s pretty much NOTHING you can do about it!

Now, you may not think this is such a big deal, but for people like me who have spent YEARSbuilding a channel that has literally hundreds of videos, hundreds of subscribers, thousands of friends, and tens of thousands of views…it represents YEARS of effort being wiped away with the push of a button.

But I’m not the only one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObsvzgKUiy4
http://bit.ly/iXIF8V (check out the discussions on the right hand side)
http://bit.ly/mf5l81
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW1xmEr3Ii4
http://bit.ly/lKcsJo

My problem with the whole false flagging thing is not only with the idiots who go around false flagging people’s videos – although they DO deserve blame, the fact of the matter is that jerks will be jerks and there are WAY too many of them to catch – my problem is also with YouTube for not providing a way to allow legitimate rebuttals/appeals of false flagging AND with not penalizing individuals who are caught false flagging so as to dissuade them from doing it anymore.

(Q.) “But Devon, can’t you just contact YouTube and ask them why the video was flagged?”
(A.) Nope…I mean, you can try…but they will NOT talk to you. Don’t believe me? Go ahead, give them a ring and see if you get through. Here’s YouTube’s phone number:
1-650-253-0000 (remember, they’re owned by Google so that’s how they’ll answer the phone)

(Q.) “So you’re telling me that I can’t appeal the flagging?”
(A.) Go ahead, give it a shot submit an appeal after they’ve flagged you and see if you get a response

(Q.) “What about emailing customer support and explaining to them that your video is clearly NOT in conflict with their community guidelines?”
(A.) Go ahead e-mail them and see what kind of response you get
support@youtube.com
copyright@youtube.com
web@youtube.com

(A.) And while you’re at it you can go here and ask them about it on their forum http://bit.ly/iroGd2

(A.) And then you can go here and try to submit a support ticket
http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/request.py?hl=en&contact_type=tou
After you’ve exhausted yourself trying to figure out why YouTube refuses to help the very people who make their site what it is; you may then ask yourself… “but what about the really elite people who have been on YouTube for years and have a bazillion views, friends, and subscribers”?

Well, there’s no course of action for them either….

How do I know? Simple, because I’m one of them. And while I don’t have a “bazillion” videos views; my 200+ videos, 700+ subscribers, 1,400+ friends, and 100,000+ video views are good enough to make my channel amongst the top 20% of YouTube channels and good enough for YouTube to give me “partner” status (which allows me to upload videos longer than 15 minutes and place advertisements on my videos if I want to)

And over the past 2 months my channel (http://YouTube.com/renegadesuccess ) has received 2 different flags. One more, and all of the work I’ve put into my channel since 2009 gets wiped out!

Why have my videos been flagged? I don’t know…no one will tell me. Here’s how my conversation went when I called YouTube to discuss the matter

Me: Hi, my name is Devon Brown and I need to talk with someone in your YouTube department regarding my video being falsely flagged

YT Chick: Sir, there’s no one here that you can talk to, but I can direct you to the website that shows our community guidelines

Me: Look lady, I’ve already been to your site and that’s the problem, its NO HELP. Can someonePLEASE just talk to me about why videos that I put up over a year ago are now magically getting in trouble?

YT Chick: Sir, there’s no one here that you can talk to, but I can direct you to the website that shows our community guidelines

Me: Woman, are you on drugs? You’re not listening to me. Screw your website and let me talk to a human being!!

YT Chick: Sir, there’s no one here that you can talk to, but I can direct you to the website that shows our community guidelines

I think you get the idea…

(Q.) “But Devon, you’re one of their “top tier members/partners”… It’s people like you and channels like yours that help get YouTube all of their traffic. Why would they spit in your face like that and not even allow you a means of even ASKING what you could do to fix your videos”

(A.) Heck if I know. But I do know enough about business to know Pareto’s Principle (a.k.a. the 80/20 rule which states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes).
In YouTube’s case, this means that about 20% of the channels (those who have achieved “partner” status) probably account for 80% of their video views; so it’s probably an especially good idea to not mistreat those individuals

(Q.) But Devon, I checked out your YouTube channel and you’re clearly in the “Home Business” industry. Isn’t that industry is bad and full of scammers?

(A.) LOL, did you just paint an entire industry with one broad brush stroke and lump everyone together? That’s like saying “Aren’t all videos put up by liberals simply designed to help the government takeover and destroy capitalism?” Or, “Aren’t all videos by conservatives just designed to crap on Non-Christians and poor people?” Besides, the question is not “Do you like my industry and/or agree with my point of view?” the question is “Does the video meet the community guidelines?” If the answer to the 2nd question is YES, then there is no need for the video to be flagged.

(Q.) But Devon, wouldn’t it just make more sense for YouTube to tell you WHAT they didn’t like about your video so that you could fix it and make sure that you don’t break the rule again?

(A.) Makes sense to me. But why they don’t operate like that is a mystery to pretty much everyone out there who has been false flagged.

My suggestion is simply this: If for some reason a video is flagged (and a strike placed against the video owner’s account) then YouTube should provide it’s users a legitimate way to dispute the malicious false flagging, AND/OR explain to the video owner WHY they were flagged so that they know not to do it again. The funny thing is that if YouTube were to simply say “here’s how to fix it” the VAST majority of us would willingly comply!

But they don’t…

YouTube would rather ignore the problem and hide from their users. As of the time of this writing, I’ve had to make back ups of ALL of my videos and start using Viddler.com to host videos for people to watch when they visit my blog. And while I realize that in the eyes of YouTube/Google; that I’m just a little ant, and that they could care less whether I use their service or not. The fact of the matter is that “little ants” like me are the ones who make up their community; and they owe it to their community of users to at least address an issue when it arises.

What YouTube needs to understand is that when false flagging occurs (and accounts get shut down) it’s not only hurting the owner of the particular video/account that got in trouble, it’s also hurting the thousands of individuals who enjoy watching videos from the person who created that account/channel.

The truth of the matter is that this problem has been going on for years. But it’s one of those problems that no one really pays attention to until it happens to them.

So, what can we do about it?

Well, you can start by going to the YouTube forum and suggesting that they fix the false flagging problem http://bit.ly/iroGd2 . You can also “Like” this facebook fan-page and keep an eye out for false flagging updates: http://on.fb.me/kWVsaj

Next, if you know anyone from YouTube then email/call them and ask them what the deal is regarding their false flagging policy. You can also use the contact information shown earlier in this article to try to contact YouTube and suggest they offer a way for legitimate channel owners to appeal false flags. Lastly, you can take this article (as long as you do NOT edit it and you leave my name/bio/information in tact) and feel free to repost it all over the internet.

A former YouTube insider told me that while he was working for YouTube, he was trained to NOThelp any users who had a problem. So, needless to say, the only way YouTube will pay attention is if enough of us start to make some noise about it.

Hopefully my little article sheds some light on the situation. The sad part is that Google/YouTube have MORE than enough money to hire the small group of people it would take to oversee this problem…and if they are short on funds, I’ll show them a few ideas on how that can make their site a little more profitable so that that can have the enough money to start treating their users with a little bit of respect; as opposed to completely ignoring us and spitting in our faces.

By: Devon Brown
http://RenegadeSuccess.com/youtube-false-flagging

Oscar Nominations 2011 List Announced

2011-01-25T12:40:00.008-05:00

Annual Oscar Nominations 2011

Overall, there are no big surprises in this year's nominees to the 83rd Academy Awards.

Below is the list of the 83rd Annual Oscar Nominations, which were announced Tuesday morning:

Best Picture
“Black Swan”
“The Fighter”
“Inception”
“The Kids Are All Right ”
“The King’s Speech”
“127 Hours”
“The Social Network”
“Toy Story 3″
“True Grit”
“Winter’s Bone”

Best Direction
Darren Aronofsky for “Black Swan”
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “True Grit”
David Fincher for “The Social Network”
Tom Hooper for “The King’s Speech”
David O. Russell for “The Fighter”

Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
James Franco in “127 Hours”
Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”

Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone”
Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone”
Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech”

Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech”
Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

Adapted Screenplay
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy for “127 Hours”
Aaron Sorkin for “The Social Network”
Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich for “Toy Story 3″
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “True Grit”
Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini for “Winter’s Bone”

Original Screenplay
Mike Leigh for “Another Year”
Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson. Story by Keith Dorrington and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson for “The Fighter”
Christopher Nolan for “Inception”
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg for “The Kids Are All Right”
David Seidler for “The King’s Speech”

Animated Feature
“How to Train Your Dragon”
“The Illusionist”
“Toy Story 3″

Art Direction
“Alice in Wonderland”: Robert Stromberg (Production Design), Karen O’Hara (Set Decoration)
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″: Stuart Craig (Production Design), Stephenie McMillan (Set Decoration)
“Inception”: Guy Hendrix Dyas (Production Design), Larry Dias and Doug Mowat (Set Decoration)
“The King’s Speech”: Eve Stewart (Production Design), Judy Farr (Set Decoration)
“True Grit”: Jess Gonchor (Production Design), Nancy Haigh (Set Decoration)

Cinematography
“Black Swan”: Matthew Libatique
“Inception”: Wally Pfister
“The King’s Speech”: Danny Cohen
“The Social Network”: Jeff Cronenweth
“True Grit”: Roger Deakins

Costume Design
“Alice in Wonderland”: Colleen Atwood
“I Am Love”: Antonella Cannarozzi
“The King’s Speech”: Jenny Beavan
“The Tempest”: Sandy Powell
“True Grit”: Mary Zophres

Documentary (Feature)
“Exit through the Gift Shop”
“Gasland”
“Inside Job”
“Restrepo”
“Waste Land”

Documentary (Short Subject)
“Killing in the Name”
“Poster Girl”
“Strangers No More”
“Sun Come Up”
“The Warriors of Qiugang”

Film Editing
“Black Swan”: Andrew Weisblum
“The Fighter”: Pamela Martin
“The King’s Speech”: Tariq Anwar
“127 Hours”: Jon Harris
“The Social Network”: Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Foreign Language Film
“Biutiful”: Mexico
“Dogtooth”: Greece
“In a Better World”: Denmark
“Incendies”: Canada
“Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)”: Algeria

Makeup
“Barney’s Version”: Adrien Morot
“The Way Back”: Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
“The Wolfman”: Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Music (Original Score)
“How to Train Your Dragon”: John Powell
“Inception”: Hans Zimmer
“The King’s Speech”: Alexandre Desplat
“127 Hours”: A.R. Rahman
“The Social Network”: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Music (Original Song)
“Coming Home” from “Country Strong” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
“I See the Light” from “Tangled” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
“If I Rise” from “127 Hours” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3″ Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Short Film (Animated)
“Day & Night”: Teddy Newton
“The Gruffalo”: Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
“Let’s Pollute”: Geefwee Boedoe
“The Lost Thing”: Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
“Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)”: Bastien Dubois

Short Film (Live Action)
“The Confession”: Tanel Toom
“The Crush”: Michael Creagh
“God of Love”: Luke Matheny
“Na Wewe”: Ivan Goldschmidt
“Wish 143″: Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Sound Editing
“Inception”: Richard King
“Toy Story 3″: Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
“Tron: Legacy”: Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
“True Grit”: Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
“Unstoppable”: Mark P. Stoeckinger

Sound Mixing
“Inception”: Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
“The King’s Speech”: Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
“Salt”: Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
“The Social Network”: Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
“True Grit”: Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Visual Effects
“Alice in Wonderland”: Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″: Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
“Hereafter”: Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
“Inception”: Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
“Iron Man 2″: Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Interesting Cyber Monday Deals 2010

2010-11-26T17:11:00.020-05:00

On Monday 29 of November 2010 you will find the greatest deals online. This Monday, following Black Friday, is widely known to be super special, as you can find highly rebated goods online. In 2009 alone, $887 million were spent online on Cyber Monday.

In order to get the most out of your money, it's advisable to search in advance for the items you are most interested in to buy, since during Cyber Monday many stores only have rebates for a short period, sometimes as short as an hour. So it's about time to make your research on the net in order to save huge amounts of money.

One word of caution: even though Cyber Monday is consumer and retailer’s day, hackers and other bad guys also are going to try to get the most off of this opportunity. Online security experts warn that many fraud websites will be launched just to provide fake Cyber Monday Deals. The only purpose of these websites is to collect your personal information, such as credit card numbers. So be advised to verify the websites you visit before giving away your personal and billing information. This can avoid you from becoming the victim of an identity fraud.

Just because there are few fake websites, it doesn’t mean that the online shopping event is not a good time to buy any stuff. Thousands of real, legit and genuine retailers are expected to offer deep discounts on Cyber Monday. Unlike previous years, Cyber Monday Deals of 2010 are as good as that of Black Friday 2010.

A large number of well known major retailers will be running Cyber Monday deals, including Target, Kmart, Overstock.com, Sears, Amazon.com, Dell, Apple, JC Penney, Home Depot, Staples and Barnes & Noble, among many others. Other sites you definitely will have to check out are:

Happy shopping!

Black Friday Best Offers

2009-11-02T15:15:00.005-05:00

If you want to grab the following Black Friday deals, I recommend you to get up super early, dress warm for the long waiting before stores open up, preferably go to the chosen stores in a group with friends or family, to be able to select your rebated products easier among the crowds.

Here is as super effective trick for cheap buying on special sales (not only for
holidays): Sweet talk managers and store employees weeks before the Black Friday sales. They will be able to alert you to unannounced discounts and even let you in earlier than the long queue of eager costumers! Eventually, they could even hide that special notebook that right now is at it's lowest selling price ever! Some store employees have options over sale items and shop earlier than the customers. If you befriend them, they will allow you to make a list of your most wanted offers! This also works for other special sales all over the year!

Below are the best Black Friday deals that have been published up to now.

Wal-Mart Online Specials:

* PlayStation 3 Blu-ray Entertainment Super Value Bundle $488
* Garmin portable GPS $128.88
* Relaxzen office massage chair just $50
* K’Nex dueling racers set all for $10
* 8 inch home décor digital picture frame w/Ipod for input $99
* Homedics super relax bubble bliss foot spa with heat $15
* Norelco Triple head shaver with additional bonus nose trimmer $50
* Micro SD memory Card $19

Toys R Us:

* Amazing Assorted Cranium Games – 30% Off
* Nicely Assorted Monopoly Board Games – 20% Off
* Full Barbie Shopping Time Cash Register – $29.99
* Crayola Beginnings Scribble & Sling Art Station – $24.99
* Gator Golf Game – $14.99
* Handy Manny Talkin’ Toolbox – $24.99
* K’NEX Big Rig Truck Sets – $14.99
* There much, much more toys. Visit
http://www.blackfriday.info/sales/toys-r-us-big-toy-book-black-friday-ad.html to see all related offers.

Walgreens :

* Aiptek High Definition 8MP Camcorder – $79.99
* Kodak EasyShare C913 9MP Digital Camera – $79.99
* SanDisk 2GB Secure Digital Memory Card – $9.99
* Norelco Cordless Electric Razor – 50% off
* Remington Code Electric Razor – 50 % off
* Remington Titanium 6-in-1 Grooming Kit – 50% off
* Shiatsu Roller Massaging Seat Cushion – $39.99
* YES to Carrots, Cucumbers or Tomatoes Body Butter – $1.99
* 17-Piece Compact Blending System – $9.99
* Buy 1 Get 2 Free Patriot Candles Jar Candle – $7.99
* Deep Fryer with 3.2-Quart Capacity – $9.99
* Electric 20″ Griddle – $9.99
* Buy 1 Get 1 Free 4′ Potted Lighted Tree – B1G1F
* Venturer 10″ Flat Panel LCD HDTV – $99.99
* Buy 1 Get 1 Free Assorted Webkins Lil’Kins Pets – B1G1F
* Hannah Montana Holiday Doll – $9.99
* Heliforce Micro Remote Controlled Helicopter – $9.99

Lowes :

* 5 x 7′2″ Oriental Weavers Rugs (Assorted Styles) – $21.98
* Dual-Port Bird Feeder – $9.98
* Germ Guardian Tabletop Air Cleansing System – $49.98
* Poinsettia w/Decorative Pot Cover – $1.49
* Crock Pot 1-Quart Double Dipper Crock Pot – $14.99
* Black & Decker Stainless Steel Toast-R-Oven – $17.99
* Rival 3.5-Qt Crock Pot – $9.99
* 100-Count Clear Mini Christmas Lights – $1.99
* 100-Count Multi-Colored Mini Christmas Lights – $1.99
* 150-Count Light Set (Clear or Multi-Colored) – $7.47
* 20 ft. Fresh White Pine Garland – $6.97
* 5 ft. to 6 ft. Fresh Cut Fraser Fir Christmas Tree – $24.97
* 6-1/2′ 400-Light Clear Pre-Lit Christmas Tree – $38.00
* 3D LED Maglite – $14.97
* Black & Decker 109-Piece Drilling & Driving Set – $9.97

K-Mart Deals :

* Virgin Mobile TNT Cell phone – $9.99
* SmartParts 5.6″ Digital Picture Frame – $59.99
* Biddeford Electric Twin Blanket – $19.99
* Essential Home Oversized Fleece Throws – $2.99
* Essential Home Manor Bath Towel – $1.99
* Eureka The Boss Bagless Vacuum – $29.99
* Pair Of Swarovski Crystal Earrings – $9.99
* Rival 5-qt Programmable Slow Cooker w/Auto Keep Warm – $19.99
* Pepsi 2-Liters – $0.88
* LOTS of different clothing items on sale (children’s, men’s and women’s)
* Various DVD’s $5.99 to $7.99 and a select few for $3.99
* Hit CD’s $9.99
* All Picture Frames, Holiday Candles, Accessories, Crafts and Decorative Baskets

B1G1F (Buy 1 Get 1 Free)
* Holiday and NFL Popcorn Tins – $5.00
* Men’s Boxed Gift – $8.49
* Memorex 26″ LCD HDTV/DVD Combo – $399.99
* Hasbro Board Games – B1G1F
* Hot Wheels or Matchbox 10-packs – 50% Off
* Hot Wheels Trick Tracks Playsets – 50% Off
* Polly Pocket Items – B1G1F
* Plus lots of other toys on sale
* 2 Pack Wii Games – $16.99
* 3 Pack PS2 Games – $9.99

I wish you good luck with your shopping!!! Oh, and by the way, if you want to make some online income practically on autopilot, check this out:

Automatically add thousands of followers to Twitter

2009-06-17T22:12:00.006-04:00

I just received the following cool tip, check it out:

Derrick Van Dyke just released this amazing software that will automatically add 1,000s of new followers to your Twitter account... And it's 100% FREE!

http://twitterlistbuilder.com/cash365

He's also giving away a free report that shows you how to generate clicks, leads, and sales from your Twitter account.

This is very cool...

http://twitterlistbuilder.com/cash365

I recommend you use this completely white hat strategy while it is still allowed by Twitter.

To your massive success,
Tom

Extremely Rare Megamouth Shark Caught And Eaten

2009-04-07T17:15:00.007-04:00

This photo taken on Monday, March 30, 2009, by Elson Aca, World Wildlife Fund – Philippines, at the shores of Donsol town, in the Sorsogon province, central Philippines, released by the World Wildlife Fund, shows a very rare dead megamouth shark. Fishermen have caught and eaten the megamouth shark, one of world’s rarest fishes, since there are only 40 others recorded, the World Wildlife Fund said.

The 4 meter (13 foot) long megamouth shark trapped on March 30 by fishers near Donsol, Philippines, was only the 41st megamouth shark ever recorded to be found, stated the WWF-Philippines office.

The strange fish, which died during its capture, was presented to local project manager Elson Aca of WWF by the fishers. Aca at once recognized it as a megamouth shark and asked the fishers not to eat it. Nonetheless, shark meat constitutes a key ingredient of some Philippine delicacies, so the 500 kilogram (1,102 pound) shark was slaughtered to cook a recipe called quinuout.

The megamouth shark was discovered in Hawaii in 1976. After the discovery, scientists had to create an entirely new family and genus of sharks. The megamouths are quiet filter-feeders with wide mouths. The shark presented a tag that said "Megamouth 41", so it was the 41st megamouth documented by the Florida Museum of Natural History. It was the eighth to be reported in Philippine seas. The shark is so uncommon that the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the megamouth species as "data deficient."

Other shark species around Donsol are appreciated for protection rather than for eating: The area has a successful ecotourism plan that permits people to swim with whale sharks, according to WWF.

Others megamouths have been encountered in California, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Brazil, Ecuador, Senegal, South Africa, Mexico and Australia.

April Fools Pranks

2009-03-30T22:55:00.006-04:00

April fools day, the first day of April, is named for the custom of playing practical jokes on that date. This practice has been observed for centuries in several countries, including France and Britain, but its origin is unknown. It is similar to the Hilaria festival of antique Rome (March 25) and the Holi celebration of India (ending March 31). The tradition of playing April Fools' jokes was brought to America by the British.

If you are looking for practical yokes you can apply on the next first of April, you can search for them on Google, or you can visit some of the sites listed below:

But before you go, a word of advice: stay away from pranks like those shown on this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4co-Bqj2inc, since they are potentially harmful!

Anonymous Prank E-mails

There are websites that allow people to send completely anonymous e-mails to unsuspecting victims. This is a great way to prank someone on April Fools Day.

If you want to send a prank with an anonymous e-mail to anyone, you can use an anonymous e-mail address at http://www.pseudomailer.co.uk/

This would be a really amusing way to play an April Fools Day prank on some friend, coworker or family member, or maybe your boss! Surely you will hear all about it as soon as they read their e-mail!

But, as said above, be aware of using this tool for legal purposes only (that is, for a good laugh!!!), since the terms of service you agree to expressly state: “Participants agree to hold hoaxMail, it's affiliates, officers, partners, and employees harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of content you submit, post, transmit or make available through the hoaxMail network...”

Great but Simple Computer Pranks

Another wide and interesting prank category is that of the computer pranks. You don’t have to be a geek to make these pranks, they are really funny and very easy to install and to remove (which obviously is very important). You will find lots of useful resources at the following site: http://techpp.com/2009/03/30/ultimate-resources-april-fools-day-pranks/

I wish you tons of fun on next Wednesday, April Fools Day!

Earthquakes in California and Alaska Today

2009-03-30T17:10:00.010-04:00

The US Geological Survey reported two earthquakes today:

The first, of a 4.3 magnitude, occurred in the San Francisco Bay Area, 25 km east-southeast of San Jose, California, on Monday, March 30, 2009 at 17:40:29 UTC, at 10:40:29 AM at the epicenter.

The second earthquake, of 5.8 magnitude, occurred more than five hours earlier in Alaska, with the epicenter in the Andreanof Islands, at 12:11:52 UTC, at 03:11:52 AM at the epicenter.

No victims were reported so far for any of the two events, but it is feared that more earthquakes may follow soon, as the geological formation known as the Pacific Rim has been active during the past days. For more information visit the 24-Hour Aftershock Forecast Map of the USGS at earthquake.usgs.gov

60 foot phallus

2009-03-27T13:18:00.011-04:00

www.bild.de

Rory McInnes Parents' House Cerne Abbas Giant

Teenager Rory McInnes, 18, painted a 60 foot penis on the roof of his parent's home, a year ago, inspired by a documentary about the satellite images on Google Earth, to make his parents home stand out from the rest. The youngster, currently on his gap year in Brazil, decorated the flat part of the roof of his parent´s 1,4 million pound mansion in Hungerford in Berkshire with giant masculine genitalia, resembling an ancient fertility symbol.

The symbol is clearly a copy of the best known feature of the Cerne Abbas Giant, an 80-foot (55-meter) outline of a nude man, which is carved into a chalk hill in Dorset, southwest England. Folklore in England says that if couples sit on his manhood, they will have a child. So many childless couples do this, particularly on equinox and solstice days. Even though web surfers could view the image on the roof from satellites, thanks to Google Earth, his parents and their other three children lived unsuspectingly underneath.

According to AFP: “the McInneses were clearly not keen on the idea of their rooftop art acting as a fertility charm. "We don’t want any more children, so the idea of sleeping under a giant fertility symbol is rather worrying," said 49-year-old Clare McInnes, while her husband added: "When Rory gets home he will be given a scrubbing brush and white spirit and he can go and scrub it off."”

So we now can brace ourselves in expectation over future decorations by teenagers to make their homes stand out for Google Earth!

Time To Legalize Pot?

2009-03-26T18:17:00.011-04:00

Today, CNN poses the latter question on its webpage, encouraging us to answer. Underneath, it says:

“Thousands have been killed in Mexico's ongoing drug war, and some are suggesting that the best way to stop the violence is to legalize drugs. What do you think? It is time to legalize marijuana, or would that create more problems?”

One way to approach this problem is with more questions:

1. Why was alcohol legalized after the Prohibition, even if there are sociological studies which show that the effects of alcohol on society are much worse even then opium?

2. Who is interested in keeping the illegality of drugs?

3. What is deadlier, a gram of cocaine sniffed voluntarily up your nose or a gram of lead (=bullet) forced into your skull?

Answers:

1. After 13 years of Prohibition, alcohol was legalized again, because the Prohibition Act was not effective: there was a lack of enforcement, hence a growth of crime, and the drinking rate increased steadily. The number of federal convicts over the course of the prohibition period increased by 561 percent! Criminals organized in powerful groups to collect the steady source of income offered by laws against victimless crimes such as drinking alcohol. As a result of the money involved in the illegal business, rivalry between gangs skyrocketed. During Prohibition, the income reason caused over four hundred murders related to gangs in a year, only in Chicago. Does this sound familiar today, if we are thinking of illegal drugs and its enforcement?

2. Speaking of those interested in keeping the current status quo: the drug business (OBVIOUSLY: NOT ONLY POT!) is in the hands of very potent people: if you have seen the fortunes amassed by Colombian and Mexican drug lords, their wealth is a pale reflection of what US drug lords possess, since they are living in the market and are selling cut down merchandise. Their lobbying is so powerful that it is more than difficult to encourage politicians to even raise the issue of legalization!

3. What is deadlier? Of course, the bullet is deadlier than the gram of cocaine! I asked this question because I have heard people in Colombia suggest their government should demand the extradition of the CEOs of US weapons industries, since their weapons entered the country illegally and are in the hands of thousands of criminals and illegal armed groups, killing scores of civilians, judges, police and military forces. What is even more ironical: Colombia is still suffering from a guerrilla war, which reaches 50 years back, but around 30 years ago this war has been heavily financed with US dollars, stemming from the regular cocaine sniffing population, which went to the rebels and drug lords. So we have not only been (and still are) financing the illegal armed forces in Colombia, but our weapons industry also has and still is providing arms to these rebels and mafiosi. No wonder Colombians are mad at us, since the war they are fighting for so long has even been deadlier than the war which now is being fought in neighboring Mexico. The irony is still deeper: on the other hand, we have been financing the Colombian government with our tax dollars in its fight against the drug lords and rebels…

So, my answer to the first question about the legalization of pot, is yes, it’s more than time, but not only for the legalization of marijuana. Cocaine, at least, must also be included, and all the rest of hard drugs, but with a parallel program for addicts, such as that realized in Great Britain.

I invite you to tune CNN tonight at 9 pm EST, when Anderson Cooper presents his “360” program about the drug war raging on the Mexican border and how it threatens the US.

Valerie Bertinelli People Magazine Cover

2009-03-25T11:57:00.010-04:00

2009 People Magazine 2007

Frankly amazing: 48 year-old actress Valerie Bertinelli, in string bikini, on People Magazine Cover! She looks great! Bertinelli, famous for her role as Barbara Cooper Royer, in the everlasting television series “One Day at a Time”, wrote all about her weight loss efforts in her honest book: "Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time." The review of her book, published on Amazon.com, states:

"We all knew and loved Valerie Bertinelli years ago when she played girl-next-door cutie Barbara Cooper in the hit TV show One Day at a Time, and then starred in numerous TV movies. From wholesome primetime in America's living rooms, Valerie moved to late nights with the hardest-partying band of the decadent eighties when she became, at twenty, wife to rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Losing It is Valerie's frank account of her life backstage and in the spotlight. Here are the ups and downs of teen stardom, of her complicated marriage to a brilliant, tormented musical genius, and of her very public struggle with her weight.

Surprising, uplifting, and empowering, Losing It takes you behind the scenes of Valerie's acting career and marriage, recalling the comforts, friendships, and problems of her television family, her close relationships with her parents and brothers, the stress and worries of being the wife of a rock star, and the joys of motherhood. Like many women, Valerie often remembers the state of her life by the food she ate and the numbers on her scale. So despite her celebrity, Valerie's voice is so down-to-earth, honest, and appealing that you'll feel as if you're talking with a girlfriend over coffee. Funny and candid, Valerie recounts her attempts to maintain a healthy self-image while dealing with social pressures to look and act a certain way, and to overcome career insecurities and relationship problems, all of which will be familiar to the hundreds of thousands of women who struggle every day with these same issues.

From marital turmoil to the joys of a new career, from being named among Penthouse's ten sexiest women in the world to overhearing whispers about her weight gain in the grocery store, this is Valerie's inspiring journey as she finds new love, raises a terrific kid, and motivates other women as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig."

Maybe you’re interested in how she lost 40 pounds and managed to keep slim for a year? Of course! You already had a hint in the last paragraph: she lost 40 pounds with the Jenny Craig diet plan and now states that she has never felt in a better shape in her whole life! What’s even a greater accomplishment: she’s kept the weight off for more than a year. This truly is a motivation to any woman with weight problems.

With this publication, People Magazine will surely do miracles for Valerie Bertinelli’s career, while she certainly will be the best spokeswoman Jenny Craig can dream of.

Jenny Craig began her program in Australia in 1983 and started U.S. operations in 1985. The diet plan is a three-level food-mind-body method to help people lose weight and keep it off.

First, the plan teaches customers how to consume the foods they want -- in small, frequent portions. Second, the plan teaches customers how to raise their energy levels by simple activities.

Third, the plan teaches customers how to balance their lives in order to maintain weight loss and a healthy diet.

The program offers several levels of support, including a 24/7 telephone line, allowing customers to get information and support when they need it. The program also offers online support, including peer-support discussion groups.

There are two Jenny Craig programs. One is built around physical Jenny Craig centers. The company counts 645 centers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Puerto Rico. For those who find it hard to get to a center, the at-home Jenny Direct program offers information by telephone and mail.

Advising Jenny Craig is a medical advisory board with certified professionals in medicine, psychology, and nutrition.

The diet plan allows you to eat anything, but it focuses on moderation, a balanced diet, and getting enough exercise.

www.webmd.com states about the diet: “If you want to lose some weight fairly quickly, Jenny Craig can get you on the right path in a short period of time. To take full advantage of the Jenny Craig method, you must make full use of the counseling support the company offers as you make the transition from packaged food to your own healthy menu planning and meal preparation. Those who are ready to commit to the kind of lifestyle change Jenny Craig offers are most likely to get full value for their diet dollar.”

New Fad: Calorie Restriction Diet Plan

2009-03-24T19:50:00.003-04:00

Much has been said about diets. Now, again, there’s this new fad of low calorie ingestion diets, known as Calorie Restriction Diet Plans. Nonetheless, this kind of diet is nothing but new: the famous Dr. Atkins’ diet, revolutionary back in 1990, helped many people to lose several pounds in few days just by substituting carbohydrates by proteins. This has the drawback of ingesting more animal fat, rich in saturated fats, which heighten the cholesterol level. Today we know that during the first few weeks of this type of diet the weight loss is due almost exclusively to water, that is, the fat tissue remains the same. Additionally, there promptly arise constipation problems, because many carbohydrates that are cut from the diet contain fibers, which help to prevent constipation.

It is incredible that even today people don´t seem to understand that to lose weight they simply have to eat less than their daily energy needs, but in a balanced way, in order to remain healthy. In other words: eat less than what your body needs per day. But there is a nice twist to this: if you exercise more (you need more energy), you even can eat the same and still be losing weight! So the overall recommendation doctors give you today is to stick to your national dietary guidelines http://www.health.gov/DietaryGuidelines/ and drink enough water and make exercise.

Just a word about exercise: cardiologists urge you to walk at least during one hour each day (with a fast pace, that is, at least at a speed of 5 km/h) in order to maintain your cardiovascular system healthy. But the only real guarantee you have against a heart attack is if you jog for one hour! Anyway, that should help you controlling your overweight, too!

Actress Natasha Richardson Dies

2009-03-18T23:16:00.000-04:00

Natasha Richardson, 45, famous actress and part of a great acting dynasty, who worked in films, TV and theater and who in 1998 earned a Tony, performing as Sally Bowles in "Cabaret," died in New York on Wednesday, March18.

Natasha Richardson who was married to Liam Neeson; daughter of renowned actress Vanessa Redgrave, had an apparently harmless fall during a skiing lesson with her private ski instructor on Quebec's Mont Tremblant, Canada, on Monday There were no visible injuries, but while resting with her instructor, about one hour after the accident, a sudden headache caused her to be transported in ambulance to a local hospital in Ste. Agathe, Quebec. Later she was transferred to the Hospital du Sacre-Coeur of Montreal. At 12:30 today, she was taken out of the hospital and left the country.

She was transported on Tuesday to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, where her husband Liam Neeson, her two boys and Lynn Redgrave, Joely Richardson and her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, gathered to accompany her.

The Los Angeles-based publicist for Neeson, Alan Nierob, established her death in a statement that did not disclose information about the cause of death. According to reports, Natasha Richardson was removed from life support on Wednesday.

A family spokesperson announced her death on Wednesday evening in New York. He said: "Liam Neeson, his sons and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone and ask for privacy during this very difficult time."

Natasha Richardson was born on May 11, 1963, in London, to Vanessa Redgrave and the late director Tony Richardson ("Tom Jones"), Richardson was surrounded by acting celebrities right from the start.
Natasha Richardson studied at London's Central School of Speech and Drama. She acted in "Hamlet" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and in Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire."

She also acted in diverse characters in television productions, such as "Suddenly, Last Summer," "Hostages" and "Zelda," in which she impersonated Zelda Fitzgerald.

Just out of drama school, Richardson confirmed her talent in 1985 in Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull", working for the first time with her mother. The London Drama Critics' Circle praised the young actress as a gifted neophyte.

Director Sam Mendes later cast her in his remake of "Cabaret" when it moved from London to New York's Roundabout Theatre in 1996. Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote about her: "What Ms. Richardson does is reclaim and reinvent a show-biz anthem that is as familiar as Hamlet's soliloquy." The stage adepts had the same opinion and awarded her a Tony, as well as a Drama Desk Award.

Her first major film appearance was as Mary Shelley in Ken Russell's 1986 film "Gothic," than she quickly engaged in the title role as the kidnapped American heiress in Paul Schrader's 1988 "Patty Hearst."

After Schrader Richardson together with Rupert Everett in "The Comfort of Strangers" in 1990, she acted as a sexually enslaved woman in "The Handmaid's Tale".

Then she joined her mother in the stage show "Evening," where the two acted as a mother-daughter pair. Richardson also worked on numerous projects with Neeson. They were married in 1994, before she had been married British producer Robert Fox.

AIG Paid Retention Bonuses To Execs Who Left

2009-03-17T17:16:00.000-04:00

American International Group, AIG, the same company that reported this month that it lost $61.7 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, making it the largest corporate loss in history, and which has benefited lately from more than $170 billion in a federal rescue, has paid more than $ 1 million to 73 of its high executives in its AIG Financial Products subsidiary, four of them receiving more than $ 4 million each. Among the receivers are 11 who no longer work at the company.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo wrote in a letter to Rep. Barney Frank, Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, that: "Again, these payments were all made to individuals in the subsidiary (Financial Products) whose performance led to crushing losses and the near failure of AIG. Thus, last week, AIG made more than 73 millionaires in the unit which lost so much money that it brought the firm to its knees, forcing taxpayer bailout. Something is deeply wrong with this outcome."

To make things worse, Cuomo had previously send a subpoena to AIG, requesting the details of the retention bonuses' payment in the Financial Products subsidiary, but in his letter Cuomo revealed that AIG didn't inform anything of who had received the bonuses.

In response to this incredibly outraging money handling, Sen. Charles Grassley promptly proposed during a radio interview in Iowa City, referring to the executives who received the bonuses, that: “Obviously, maybe they ought to be removed, but I would suggest the first thing that would make me feel a little bit better toward them if they'd follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say, I'm sorry, and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide."

Casey Mills, spokesman of Sen. Grassley, swiftly clarified the senator wasn't telling the AIG executives to kill themselves, but meant that those who had accepted tax dollars and spend them on travel and bonuses were acting irresponsibly.

Overall, the bonuses have sparked outrage on Capitol Hill and among taxpayers, who are already angry at the bailout program favoring poorly managed companies.

The White House said it searching for "all remedies" to recover the bonuses, after President Barack Obama censured the disbursements. "This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed," Obama said. "Under these circumstances, it's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay."

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