Friday, June 29, 2012

10 great ideas from Micah Solomon's High-Tech, High Touch ...

{This is an article by hospitality writer/reviewer? Josiah Mackenzie.Thanks, Josiah! }

High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service (cover) -click for free chapter

High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service by business keynote speaker, customer service consultant, and bestselling author Micah Solomon is packed with good ideas ? here are ten of my favorites after reading it last week:

  1. ?Technology needs people?and a culture that supports those people?s best efforts.
  2. ?Expect things to go wrong. Plan for this eventuality, keeping the emotional needs of your customer central.
  3. ?A well-thought-out problem-resolution process starts by active ?harvesting? of complaints?by being eagerly open to receiving input.
  4. ?For masterful companies, providing something extra is the standard throughout the customer experience. These extras are always the things the more shortsighted among a company?s stakeholders want to cut first, but without them it?s almost impossible to differentiate your service.
  5. ?Nobody ever shouts out, ?Yeehaw?I just had an incredibly satisfactory customer service experience.? But if your service truly anticipates your customers? desires and wishes, your customers will be well on their way to feeling they can?t, or certainly don?t want to, live without you.
  6. ?Any business advantage you pride yourself on can be copied by a competitor?.The culture of your company is the exception to this rule. Strong company cultures are overwhelmingly knockoff resistant.
  7. ?Ritz-Carlton?s Three Stages of Service are: 1. Warm welcome 2. Anticipation of and compliance with guest needs 3. Fond farewell
  8. ?Restaurateur Danny Meyer: the two things people want from the hospitality experience are a sense of acknowledgment and, on returning, a sense of being remembered.
  9. ?Small Error + Slow Response Time = Colossal PR Disaster. The magnitude of a social media uproar increases disproportionately with the length of your response time.
  10. ?You need technologically savvy people supporting your social media customer service work, but the people actually helming the operation and responding to customers need to be the same ones who are expert at day-to-day customer service operations and are responsible for interacting with your customers.?

And a bonus tidbit from Cornell?s Center for Hospitality Research: a 250-room hotel will have approximately 5,000 staff-guest interactions per day. As Micah says,? ?There?s no way someone in a leadership position can dictate every single one of those five thousand interactions. Rather, a leader?s only chance to get the preponderance of these interactions right is to develop a shared cultural understanding of what needs to be done?and why.?

The book is a great read for anyone looking to design and deliver better customer experiences with the help of technology. See the details here?.

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?Micah Solomon conveys an up-to-the minute and deeply practical take on customer service, business success, and the twin importance of people and technology.? ?Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder

Micah Solomon Customer Service Keynote Speaker headshot

Micah Solomon ? Author-Speaker-Strategist ? Customer Service ? Marketing ? Loyalty ? Leadership

High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service (cover) -click for free chapter

See Micah in action ? including video and free resources ? at http://www.micahsolomon.com. Or, click here for your own free chapter? of Micah?s new book,? High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service (AMACOM Books) and Micah?s #1 bestseller, Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit: The Secrets of Building a Five-Star Customer Service Organization

Micah Solomon Keynote speech (video)

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Source: http://micahsolomon.com/blog/?p=1913

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Details About Plumbing And How It Evolved | Home Improvement ...

Plumbing is referred as the organization of pipes which are installed in a structure to supply clean water for use and carry dirty water. It is also the trade of selling pipes and piping accessories. A plumber is the person that installs and repairs the fittings which include all the piping and the fixtures.

Water is a precious commodity. The demand for water is on rise especially in urban areas. Means to deliver this precious commodity has lead to the growth of pipe manufacturing business. In the mean time jobs are created and the economy of the region grows. Outlet shops are on the rise due to high demand of the conduits.

The starting point of pipe work dates back to the earlier civilization of man. The ancient pipes manufactured from soil. Asphalt was use to prevent seepage. It was mainly used to manufacture the flanges which were big in size. The conduits had markers to stop people from engaging in unlawful connections.

The pipe technology has grown slowly and it was characterized by slow progress. Urbanization has lead to the improvement of this industry and the increasing population has made the demand for water to rise. Ways on how to deal with sewage is a problem to many local governments and they are on the look on better ways to dispose.

In modern cities nowadays dirty water is channeled through underground ducts to plants where the water is treated and disinfected. It is later released either to streams or channeled back to home for watering crops or flower. The water can be put in to good use by using to farm.

Modern pipes used in plumbing systems these days are mainly plastics. The first types of conduits to be manufactured were made from lead but were later discouraged because of contamination. Then it was copper but it became expensive that is what lead to use of plastics which is cheap t produce.

Roto Rooter has plumbing. Their skilled team is ready to help you with all of your plumbing needs. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (http://www.rotorooter.com/sarasota)

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NanoLumens Strengthens Channel Management Sales Team With

To meet the growing market demand for its line of flexible and fixed LED displays, NanoLumens? today announced the appointment of Ben Sewell and Ilidio Vincente to the position of Sales Director, effective immediately, according to an announcement made today by Karen Robinson, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing.

?The appointment of Ben and Ilidio brings significant and necessary depth to our sales team,? Robinson said today. ??The market demand for NanoLumens flexible and fixed LED displays is growing rapidly in all vertical market channels.? Both Ben and Ilidio have the critical experience, skills, and commitment that will help us to continue to meet our ambitious growth targets.? They bring a winning ?can-do? spirit with them to NanoLumens that will serve them, and the company, well!?

Prior to joining NanoLumens, Ben Sewell served from 2008 as the Director of Sales/South-Central Region at Adaptive Micro Systems, LLC, based in San Antonio, Texas, where he was responsible for directing sales, business development and strategic planning functions for a diverse array of indoor and outdoor hardware and software product lines. Prior to this, he held the position of Partner and Director of Sales at SSA, LLC from 2007 to 2008, where he successfully developed and sold new product lines and services for the Texas-based sign manufacturer throughout the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico.? Sewell began his career in 2005 as an Account Associate at Motivational Systems, Inc., after being awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2004.

Ilidio Vincente comes to NanoLumens with a solid career in sales, including previous positions at Yesco Electronics, where he served as the Regional Sales Manager from 2011 to 2012, and Adaptive MicroSystems, where he held the position of Director of Sales/Northeast Region from 2008 to 2011. While at Adaptive MicroSystems, he developed the National Account program and utilized their dealer network to support all the National Accounts and OEM accounts including Jones Signs, Everbrite, Icon Solutions, AGI, Sign Resources, Visual Communications, Rockwell Automation/ Allen Bradley, GTECH Corp, WMS, and Electrometric International.

NanoLumens displays are extremely slim, ultra-lightweight, energy efficient, and feature a seamless, edge-to-edge picture quality (up to a brightness of 5,000 nits) that can be viewed from any angle or any distance without color shift or picture drop-off. The company?s patented display technology, which allows customers to select from 4mm up to 10mm pixel pitch (depending on the model), promises to transform the way marketers engage their customers in every type of trade show, retail, hospitality, stadium, arena, transportation and public event environment.

NanoLumens displays are designed and engineered with the environment in mind, and consume significantly less energy per square foot than conventional digital displays. Further emphasizing their commitment to eco-friendly technology, NanoLumens displays are composed of up to 50 percent reclaimed materials, and are completely recyclable. ?What?s more, some NanoLumens displays can be serviced from the front, making maintenance easier than ever before possible.

Designed and assembled in the United States, NanoLumens displays are available in both flexible and fixed frames in five product lines:

NanoFlex?, NanoFlex Wrap, and NanoFlex Ribbon flexible displays; NanoSlim? fixed rectangular displays; and NanoShape? fixed round, square, and triangular displays.

The company?s technology has been recognized by Entrepreneur magazine as a 2011 future-proof tech trend and was cited by The Wall Street Journal in its 2010 Technology Innovations Awards. ?NanoLumens? technology also received the 2011 Breakthrough Technology of the Year Award at the American Technology Awards.? Digital Signage Magazine awarded the NanoLumens NanoFlex a 2011 DIGI Award for ?Best New Display Device ? Non-LCD or Plasma.?

About NanoLumens:

Headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, NanoLumens, Inc. (www.nanolumens.com) is a privately held corporation engaged in the research, product development, marketing and sales of unique flexible and fixed displays that address a yawning technology gap in the $14 billion digital display industry.? Since its founding in 2006, NanoLumens has built a portfolio of more than 20 international families of issued and filed patents on its flexible display technology that effectively address the commercial market void between relatively small flat-panel displays and huge, limited application LED boards. NanoLumens technology is not constrained by standard sizes and shapes, or by the weight, noise and cost issues traditionally associated with commercial LED products.

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Superglue lands in woman's hair on United flight

By msnbc.com news services

A woman aboard a flight from San Diego to Houston said after a United Airlines maintenance worker fixed an overhead bin, superglue dripped in her hair. KPRC's Rachel McNeill reports.

A United passenger did not expect to get a haircut on board her June 14 flight from San Diego to Houston, but that's exactly what happened after an airline employee's snafu involving superglue.


A maintenance worker was gluing a piece of plastic on the overhead bin above Karen Reed who was seated on her flight, according to a report from KPRC in Houston.

The worker asked Reed to stand up, but he dripped some of the glue on her head and hands, she said.

"When the flight attendant said 'hey you got superglue in her hair,' he totally ignored the comment, wouldn't look at me, wouldn't make any comment and replaced the seat cushion and walked out," Reed told KPRC.

Reed had to cut large chunks of her hair and filed complaints with the airline and the Department of Transportation, according to KPRC.

"There's three clumps of super glue where it had to come out because it just wasn't coming out," she said.

Contacted by KPRC, a United Airlines representative said: "We are reaching out to Ms. Reed to apologize and offer compensation as an appreciation of her business."

Reed told KPRC that she is not sure whether she'll fly United in the future.

More stories you might like:

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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Portugal has puncher's chance

source: Getty Images

Crystal Ball: What Needs to Happen Next Round

Spain?s the known quantity. While there?ve been qualms about how they?ve gone about business defense, they can win this competition using the same patient, conservative, possession-sensitive approach that has got them to the semis. The approach leaves two unresolved issues: a.) Whether del Bosque will make any tweaks and finally try to limit Spain?s exposure, and b.) whether Portugal can exploit whatever exposure del Bosque provides.

Expect Portugal to play their preferred game: reserved, reactionary, reliant on Cristiano Ronaldo. In the previous two rounds, we advocated Portugal be aggressive from the get-go. Not here. Over potentially 120 minutes, Ronaldo and Nani are likely to get the chances they need. They just need to convert and allow Portugal to sit deep, keeping Spain at arm?s length.

If Germany?s going to get their much sought after major competition victory over Italy, it?s hard to imagine a better time than Thursday. Italy?s still in a regroup mode, with their semifinal appearance doing wonders to restore the national team?s place in the world soccer pecking order. Germany is the better team, and with Miroslav Klose and Marco Reus proving viable options against slower defenses, Joachim L?w has multiple ways of breaking down the Italians.

Who knows how Italy plans on beating the Germans. On paper, the game looks like a mismatch. But Italy wasn?t expected to get a result from Spain, yet they did. They?ve also never trailed in the tournament, having gotten results form three of the world?s top eight teams along the way. Is Germany so special that they aren?t subject to the same hiccups that befell Spain, Croatia and England?

PST?s Euro 2012 ?More Powerful? Rankings

Taking a long term look, toward teams? title hopes.

In:

1. Germany ? To answer the question we just posed: Yes, Germany is so special that they won?t be subject to the same issues that left Spain, Croatia and England deadlocked with Italy. The attitude that made Croatia so successful in their second half against Italy? Germany plays like that from the opening kickoff.

2. Spain ? Expect to see the real, full throttle Spain on Wednesday. To this point, they haven?t had to turn it on, and they may not need to turn it on to beat Portugal, either. But ahead of Sunday?s final, they need to find out if they still have that extra gear in them.

3. Portugal ? And if they don?t, the Seleccao can pounce. The key will be pressing for chances from the start. The worst thing that can happen for Portugal is to see early success by sacrificing their attack. Perhaps that means keeping Nani deep while having their striker (likely to be Hugo Almeida) track back on Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso, leaving Cristiano Ronaldo alone. That could get them into the second hour at 0-0, giving them only a sliver of the match to equalize after Spain gets their customary winning goal.

4. Italy ? Whatever mistakes Germany make, the Italians more are capable of exploiting them than any team the favorites have faced to this point. And as good as the Germans are, mistake-free games haven?t been their thing. As many chances as Andrea Pirlo has generated for Mario Balotelli, it?s not hard to envision Mats Hummels paving the way for at least one great chance.

Out:

5. England ? Though England showed well at Euro 2012, they leave the tournament with little to build on for Brazil 2014. Still, given where this team was at the point Fabio Capello resigned, this is a great result for Roy Hodgson and The FA.

6. Czech Republic ? The players probably would have preferred Michal Bilek employ a more aggressive approach against Portugal, but after a bad opening night against Russia, the Czechs represented themselves well at Euro 2012.

7. Greece ? Their quarterfinal loss wasn?t as close as the final score indicates, but they managed to knock off a good Russian team while give the Germans a momentary second half scare. This seventh place ranking speaks to the cliff teams like Russia, France, the Netherlands and Sweden plunged off, but given how little was expected of the Greeks, their fans should be elated with their shock quarterfinal appearance.

8. France ? By the end of the tournament, their stock had fallen farther than Enron?s.

? and PST?s Player of the Tournament Wunderlist

1. Andrea Pirlo, Italy
2. Andres Iniesta, Spain
3. Mesut Ozil, Germany
4. Sami Khedira, Germany
5. Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal
6. Fabio Coentrao, Portugal
7. Xavi Hern?ndez, Spain
8. Pepe, Portugal
9. Joao Moutinho, Portugal
10. Mario Gomez, Germany

For the first time this competion, we have somebody who?s a clear frontrunner for the Player of the Tournament. And really ? who would be upset with Andrea Pirlo winning this award?

ProSoccerTalk is doing its best to keep you up to date on what?s going on in Poland and Ukraine.?Check out the site?s Euro 2012 page?and look at the site?s previews, predictions, and coverage of all the events defining UEFA?s championship.

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For cleaner laundry, add diamonds

13 hrs.

Laundry detergent laced with teeny, tiny diamonds removes fats and dirt at lower temperatures than the blingless variety, according to new research.

The nanodiamonds -- pieces of carbon less than ten thousandths the diameter of a human hair ? were added powder detergent to see if they could scrub out grime that typically requires hot water cycles to remove.

?We found that the 5 nanometer diamonds changed the way detergents behaved at 25 degrees centigrade (77 degrees Fahrenheit), doubling the amount of fat removed,? Andrew Marsh, a chemist at the University of Warwick in England, said in a news release.?

?Even at temperatures as low as 15 degrees centigrade (59 degrees F), otherwise hard-to-remove fat could be solubilized from a test surface.?

Without the diamonds, water temperatures between 60 and 90 C (140 and 194 F) are required to get such stains out of laundry.?

The lower temperature water afforded by the bling, the team notes, should help people save on their energy bills. Of course, they may have to spend that savings on the pricier detergent.

The research appears in the journal Applied Materials and Interfaces.?

John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website and follow him on Twitter. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

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Google's Nexus 7 tablet outed before I/O 2012 (update: now with specs, price)

Google's Nexus 7 tablet outed before IO 2012 update now with specs, price

Well, it looks like the rumors are true. This morning, just ahead of 2012's Google I/O initial keynote, Android Police dug up what looks to be an official press shot of Mountain View's unannounced 7-inch tablet, aptly named the Nexus 7. As opposed to our previous sneak peek, this shot shows what is most assuredly the home screen for Jelly Bean, and comes directly from Google's servers. Glad we got that settled. Now we just need to know about the actual hardware inside -- good thing we've only gotta wait another hour or so to find out.

Update: Hoo, boy! The hits keep comin.' The good golks at Modaco managed to grab screenshots for the sale page of the Nexus 7, replete with screenshots and specs. Turns out, the tablet has a 1280x800 IPS display coated in "scratch-resistant Corning glass," which we presume is of the Gorilla variety, plus a front-facing, 1.2-megapixel camera. Within its 198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm case lies either 8 ($199) or 16GB ($249) of storage, plus 1GB of RAM, and NVIDIA's quad-core Tegra 3 SoC. Connectivity comes courtesy of GPS, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n WiFi and Micro USB, plus it's got NFC for all your Android Beaming needs. Rounding things out is a 4325mAh battery and the usual spate of sensors: accelerometer, magnetometer, and a gyroscope. Want more? A video all about Jelly Bean and the new hardware running it awaits after the break, or you can hop on over to the source to order one for yourself.

Continue reading Google's Nexus 7 tablet outed before I/O 2012 (update: now with specs, price)

Google's Nexus 7 tablet outed before I/O 2012 (update: now with specs, price) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 11:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Modaco, Android Police  |  sourceGoogle Play (1)  | Email this | Comments


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Colonoscopy Prevents Colorectal Cancer Deaths | ISMH

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer death in men worldwide.? The majority of colorectal cancers arise from adenomatous polyps, which can be detected with screening colonoscopy.? Previously, the investigators of the National Polyp Study (NPS), found that colorectal cancer can be prevented by colonoscopic removal of adenomatous polyps.? However, it has been unclear if the cancers prevented were those that had the potential to cause death.? Recently, Zauber and colleagues reported* the effect of colonoscopic polypectomy on mortality from colorectal cancer.? The researchers conducted a long-term prospective? study of the NPS cohort of patients to determine the mortality among patients with adenomas removed compared with the expected mortality from colorectal cancer in the general? population.?? The death rate of patients with adenomas was also compared with an internal control group of patients with nonadenomatous polyps.? Among 2,602 patients who had adenomas removed, 12 died from colorectal cancer over a median? period 15.8 years, compared with 25 expected deaths in the general population, suggesting a 53% reduction in mortality.? Mortality from colorectal cancer among patients with adenomatous polyps was similar to those with nonadenomatous during the first 10 years after polypectomy.? Thereafter, mortality increased for patients with adenomas, when strict surveillance was not organized by the study?s investigators.? The researchers concede several limitations of the study.? A small number of skilled endoscopists performed the colonoscopies, thus the observations may not be applicable to a community practice, for which the reported rates of colorectal cancer after polypectomy are higher than those reported in the NPS.? The results of the study may not be? representative of the general population, since the study was not a randomized, controlled trial.? In conclusion, the study?s findings further support the belief that colonoscopic removal of adenomatous polyps prevents colorectal cancer death.? The results also underscore the importance of longterm-term surveillance for patients after the initial removal of adenomatous polyps.? More randomized, population-based trials are necessary to determine the effectiveness of screening colonoscopy? on colorectal cancer mortality.

Reference: Zauber AG, et al. Colonoscopic Polypectomy and Long-Term Prevention of Colorectal-Cancer Deaths. N Engl J Med 2012;366:687-96.???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Bretthauer M, Kalager M.? Colonoscopy as a triage screening test. N Engl J Med 2012;366:759-60.

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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Licensed Portal 2 turret replica to arrive later this year, leave ammo at home

Licensed Portal 2 Turret replica to arrive later this year, leave bullets at home

If an enthusiast-built Portal 2 turret piques your interest, Gaming Heads' Valve-licensed miniature replica may very well force your wallet open. Modeled using Portal 2's in-game assets and cast in "high quality poly-stone," these mini-turrets aim to intimidate intruders with a motion activated light-up eye. In addition to the stoic and silent basic model, the company's offering an exclusive edition, which plays sounds and voice samples from the game. Only 1,100 of these hand-painted facsimiles will be produced (350 with sound, 750 without), but the company notes that other figures based on the adorable death machines are in the works. Pre-orders have already begun, so collectors will want to act fast -- provided they're ready to pony up $300-325, of course.

Licensed Portal 2 turret replica to arrive later this year, leave ammo at home originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 04:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq  |  sourceGaming Heads  | Email this | Comments


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Dymatize Nutrition Creatine Monohydrate ? The Zajac Health And ...

This product review will be one of the simpler reviews I have ever done, seeing the product only contains one ingredient. The subject of today?s review is my new favorite creatine product, Dymatize?s Creatine Monohydrate. I have already gotten a few questions on this subject and I just want to lay it to rest, yes, all creatine monohydrate is virtually the same, and creatine monohydrate does rain supreme over the other types on the market. With that said, let?s understand what makes creatine monohydrate so great.

Let?s take a look at the only ingredient on the label, which is Creatine Monohydrate, which is essential to enhancing the capacity of energy production during high-intensity workouts. Creatine has proven itself, time and time again, to improve exercise performance accounting for gains in strength, power, and repetitive speed work. Long term creatine ingestion can also lead to significant gains in muscle mass accounted for higher workout intensity, more energy availability and augmentation of myosin heavy chain expression. The harder you train, with increased myogenic regulatory factors from creatine supplementation, the more apt you are to experiencing considerable hypertrophy. Creatine Monohydrate has also claimed its remarked absorption capacity (in comparison with other forms of creatine) especially when in conjunction with the ideal carbohydrate source such as ultra-high molecular weight waxy maize starch.

So as you can see, creatine monohydrate is a great ingredient and a must-have for anyone?s supplement regiment regardless of your goals. The reason this particular product is on my recommended supplement list at this time is because you can get 1000 grams (200 servings) for $19 online. That is an unbelievable deal when you think about how it is under 10 cents a serving. I love creatine, and I notice a difference in strength, mental awareness and stamina after a few days of consistently loading creatine. I am giving Dymatize?s Creatine Monohydrate a 10/10.

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You can find Dymatize Creatine Monohydrate at the cheapest price on the internet by clicking the following link ? http://www.illpumpyouup.com/dymatize/creatine-monohydrate-1100-grams.htm

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***DISCLAIMER: THE INFORMATION POSTED ON THIS BLOG IS SOLELY THE OPINION OF THE WRITER BASED ON HIS EXPERIENCES IN THE STORE, GYM OR WITH A COMPANY WHO?S PRODUCT HE HAS TRIED OR IS CURRENTLY USING.. HE WILL NEVER SPEAK POORLY ABOUT A COMPANY, STORE OR GYM WITHOUT FIRST CHECKING IT OUT FOR HIMSELF***

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Looking for Canadian companies to interview. Any suggestions?

For more months than I'd like to admit I've been thinking about doing a podcast series on e-marketing and web-related innovation in Canada. I've worked as a journalist and concluded that I love interviewing, and e-marketing and innovation are among my favourite topics. I'm really hoping that by highlighting Canadian companies that are experiencing success on the Web, we can encourage more Canadian businesses to get into e-commerce or to leverage the Internet in other ways to build their businesses.

It is time to stop thinking about it and start doing it!

So... I'm looking for Canadian companies (especially those without huge corporate budgets) to interview. (Just to be clear: there is no charge to be profiled!)

What sorts of companies?


  • Innovative companies (including startups) that have some sort of an Internet angle?
  • Canadian companies that are experiencing success in their web efforts. They might be retailers selling online, or they could be non-Web companies who are using social media or other web tools effectively to build their brand and improve their results.
  • The series will also include a 'how to' segment, on how to do some aspect of web marketing, so I'm also looking for the best Canadian companies who offer web-related services that are affordable to small to mid-sized companies.

You? Someone else?


If you would like to be interviewed or know of a company that you think might be suitable/interesting,? please let me know, either in the comments here or by e-mail (tema@emarketingmama.com). Please mention why you think the company would be interesting, and, if you have a contact there, it would be great if you could help connect us.

Check back here regularly in the fall for the launch!?


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Monday, June 25, 2012

Egyptian president moves into Mubarak's old office

CAIRO (AP) ? The new Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi moved first thing Monday morning into the office once occupied by his ousted predecessor Hosni Mubarak and started work on forming a government even before he had a clear picture of what he could do after the ruling military stripped most of the major powers from his post.

The country breathed a sigh of relief that at least the question of who won the presidential runoff had been resolved on Sunday after the first free and fair elections in Egypt's modern history. People returned to work a day after a panic that sent many home early for fear that violence might erupt when the winner was announced. Traffic was flowing again through Cairo's Tahrir Square, the birthplace of last year's uprising and a major intersection that had been blocked for nearly a week by Morsi supporters protesting against the military's power grab.

Egypt's benchmark stock index closed with record gains of 7.5 percent in a sign of optimism after a president was named. And newspapers were brimming with upbeat headlines, after a week of rumors and scaremongering. "Morsi president on orders from the people: The revolution reaches the presidential palace," said a banner headline in independent daily Al-Shorouk.

"His priority is the stability on the political scene," said Yasser Ali, a spokesman for Morsi who said the president was in his office to consult on forming a new government and choosing his team.

Morsi, from the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood group, is the first Islamist president of Egypt. He defeated Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, in a tight race that deeply polarized the nation.

Now he faces a daunting struggle for power with the still-dominant military rulers who took over after Mubarak's ouster in the uprising.

The 60-year-old, U.S.-trained engineer comes into office knowing little about his authorities and what he can do to resolve security and economic crises and meet the high expectations from the country's first popularly elected leader.

The contours were emerging of a backroom deal between the military and the Brotherhood that led to the ruling military council blessing Morsi as president. One mediator said negotiations are still under way to hammer out political understandings.

Emad Abdel-Ghaffour, the head of the ultraconservative Islamist party Al-Nour, said in the week between the June 16-17 presidential runoff and the announcement of the winner on Sunday, many politicians tried to mediate between the Islamists and the generals to defuse a political crisis.

"There was an easing (of tension)" when the elections results came through, he said. But discussions are still under way to clarify the authorities of the president and the military. And one of the immediate sticking points is the dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated parliament by a court order, days before the presidential runoff.

As polls closed on June 17, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces announced constitutional amendments that shocked the Brotherhood and many other political activists who took part in the uprising 16 months ago.

The ruling generals gave themselves sweeping powers that undercut the authority of the president. That followed a government decision that granted military police broad powers to detain civilians. The military council, which promised to transfer power to an elected leader by July 1, said the moves were designed to fill a power vacuum and ensure that the president doesn't monopolize decision-making until a new constitution is drafted.

Two days before the runoff, a court packed with judged appointed by the Mubarak regime also dissolved the country's first freely elected parliament. The military council followed by declaring it was now in charge of legislating.

Closed-door meetings between Brotherhood members and the ruling generals as well as mediation from different groups, including pro-reform leader Mohammed ElBaradei, aimed at easing the crisis and defusing a political stalemate.

Brotherhood members said the election results, delayed for four days, were held up by authorities as a bargaining chip to reassure the generals in the face of mounting Brotherhood opposition to the military's tightening grip and the group's rise to power.

Former presidents were sworn in by parliament. But with the parliament dissolved, it was not clear where Morsi will be sworn in. Authorities say he could be sworn before the country's highest court, but his supporters are pressing for parliament to be reinstated, arguing that the court decision only disputed a third of the house's seats.

Abdel-Ghaffour said discussions with the generals centered on the Brotherhood's argument that only the disputed third of parliament be dissolved because it was that portion that was elected based on articles deemed unconstitutional. Independent and party members competed for a third of the 498-seat house, which the court said violated rules of equality between candidates.

Brotherhood lawyers say another court, Egypt's highest administrative court, is likely to back their claim.

"This is likely to happen," said Abdel-Ghaffour, whose Islamist party won 25 percent of the dissolved parliament seats in addition to the Brotherhood's nearly 50 percent. "A third of parliament can be dissolved and re-elected in 75 days."

The speaker of the dissolved parliament met with the No. 2 general on the military council, Chief of Staff Gen. Sami Anan, twice since the court decision on June 14.

Abdel-Ghaffour also said talks centered on reassurances the generals were seeking regarding the Brotherhood's control of the new government, including demands that Morsi appoint a prime minister who is a technocrat from outside the Brotherhood.

The stickier issue of drafting the constitution was also raised as well as fears over who controls the key foreign and defense ministries. The generals' new declaration ensures the military appoint the defense minister and control all issues regarding military personnel.

Before parliament was dissolved, a panel appointed by the legislature was supposed to be in charge of drafting the new constitution which would determine the role of Islam in legislation, Egypt's future political system and the role of the military.

In the recent power grab, the ruling generals gave themselves, the prime minister, judges or a fifth of the panel members the right to veto details of the constitution that will be drafted, curbing the powers of Islamists to control the process. The parliament-formed panel is expected to meet Tuesday, and Abdel-Ghaffour said it is expected to continue its work.

"Both sides want reassurances," Abdel-Ghaffour said. "But there is a will for the caravan to keep moving," he said, using an Arabic expression.

In his first speech after being named president, Morsi called for national unity and pledged he will be a "president for all Egyptians." In an effort to heal national divisions, he vowed to appoint diverse deputies including a woman and a Christian. He also has reached out to other presidential hopefuls who got significant support in the first round of elections.

His spokesman Ali said Morsi wants to form a national coalition government that will bring in technocrats and representatives of a broad variety of political factions. But that is likely to take time, Ali said.

Thousands of Morsi supporters, backed by some liberal and secular youth groups who drove the uprising, vowed to press on with their protest in Tahrir Square to pressure the ruling generals to rescind their decrees and reinstate parliament. Tens of thousands spent the night in Tahrir in joyous celebration of Morsi's win. But by morning, the crowds had thinned considerably.

But Brotherhood officials said the protests will continue until the military responds to their demands.

The military-backed government, headed by Kamal el-Ganzouri, resigned Monday, according to legal tradition. The military council asked it to stay as a caretaker government, state TV said.

Morsi faces enormous challenges of improving the economy and maintaining law and order ? both of which deteriorated in the post-Mubarak period. His victory is a stunning achievement for the Muslim Brotherhood, a shadowy organization repressed by successive regimes.

He is Egypt's first civilian president ? his four predecessors all came from the ranks of the military.

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Should I sell my iPad for a Macbook Air?

I am lucky enough to have both.

I have been using a 13" 2010 Pro until this week when my Air arrived.
I commute by motorbike, so the lighter the better.
I always used my iPad, but the Air will probably be getting more of a look in now.

I have a Zagg Solo keyboard for my iPad.
It is fine for email and writing, but I find that I need a full-size set of keys for any serious work.
Having to reach up to select text on the screen just doesn't feel right.
Steve Jobs was correct when he rejected the idea of a touch screen iMac - it just feels clumsy.

Situations where I prefer an iPad:
Web browsing.
Email, messaging, Facebook.
Writing notes and blog posts.
Watching streamed video around the house.
Casual gaming.
Some creative work such as sketching.

Situations where I prefer a laptop (or have no choice.)
Longer writing sessions.
MS Office (always been awful, but so many of my clients still use it.)
Work!
Anything that requires the use of multiple windows. I am a translator, and I need my source and target text open constantly. The iPad just doesn't do that.

Are you planning on getting an 11 or 13"?
13" screen size is sufficiently bigger than the iPad to give it an advantage.

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Bill Maher: Dick Cheney's Daughter's Wedding

THE WALL OF SHAME

"Many on the political right believe this president ought not to be there ? they oppose him not for his policies and political view but for who he is, an African American!"

--SAM DONALDSON

"I'm here to tell you if you elect me governor of this state, I will end the civil war."

--TOM BARRETT

"I would not look to the U.S. Constitution, if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012. I might look at the constitution of South Africa. That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, had an independent judiciary. It really is, I think, a great piece of work that was done."

--RUTH BADER GINSBURG

"Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now, do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?"

--ROBERT DE NIRO

"The death of Andrew Breitbart disproves the adage that only the good die young."

--JULIAN BOND

"I voted for Barack because he was black. 'Cuz that's why other folks vote for other people ? because they look like them ... That's American politics, pure and simple. [Obama's] message didn't mean [bleep] to me. When it comes down to it, they wouldn't have elected a [N-word]. Because, what's a [N-word]? A [N-word] is scary. Obama ain't scary at all."

--SAMUEL L. JACKSON

"The National Institute of Health has said that it is a danger to women's health and safety of their families that for 30 years to be exposed to the prospects of pregnancy."

--GWEN MOORE

"I think that the Tea Party have some very, very -- some quite sensible notions, actually, when -- on paper. But also that kind of seems to be an umbrella thing that just covers up a lot of real homophobia and racism."

--ALAN CUMMING

"[The terrorists] flew the plane in, but we caused it; because we were bombing them and they told us to stop."

--TONY BENNETT

"I'll put it this way, you don't deserve to keep all of [your money]. It's not a question of deserving, because what government is, is those things that we decide to do together."

--JAN SCHAKOWSKY

"[Tea Party Republicans] have acted like terrorists."

--JOE BIDEN

"Why did- Couldn't the President have said at that moment, way back in December of last year, 'no game playing. No hostage-taking. No terrorizing this country with the debt ceiling. I'm not going to negotiate with you guys. You can't play it that way.' Could he have done that?"

--CHRIS MATTHEWS

"[T]he tea-party Hobbits could return to Middle Earth having defeated Mordor."

--WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL

"I remember distinctly an image of--we were sitting on his couches, and I was looking at [Obama's] pant leg and his perfectly creased pant, and I'm thinking, a) he's going to be president and b) he'll be a very good president."

--DAVID BROOKS

"Circumcision is barbaric and stupid.... I love my Jewish friends, I love the apples and the honey and the funny little hats, but stop cutting your babies."

--RUSSELL CROWE

"I feel like calling her back and smackin' her around."

--FRED CLARK, DEMOCRAT

"The picture was of me, and I sent it."

--ANTHONY WEINER

"[I]f you go back to the year 2000, when we had an obvious disaster and - and saw that our voting process needed refinement, and we did that in the America Votes Act and made sure that we could iron out those kinks, now you have the Republicans, who want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws and literally - and very transparently - block access to the polls to voters who are more likely to vote Democratic candidates than Republican candidates. And it's nothing short of that blatant."

--DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

"You know, the numbers showed that we won and we are gratified to have that victory in hand."

--JoANNE KLOPPENBURG

"Paul Ryan: the Dr. Kevorkian of Medicare."

--PAUL BEGALA

"This is probably one of the worst times we've seen because the numbers of people elected to Congress. I went through this as co-chair of the arts caucus. In '94 people were elected simply to come here to kill the National Endowment for the Arts. Now they?re here to kill women."

--LOUISE SLAUGHTER

"The protesters have proven today that they?re not going away. It was a pretty rough night last night. You can imagine if people said, well, we just can?t fight the power. Instead, this morning, they came by tens, by hundreds, by thousands. By midday today, it was easily more than 10,000, perhaps as many as 15,000 people on the square here in Madison. Not organized by anyone, just grassroots citizens who came out just like the Minutemen in 1776."

--JOHN NICHOLS

"They're sitting on the money, they're using it for their own -- they're putting it someplace else with no interest in helping you with your life, with that money. We've allowed them to take that. That's not theirs, that's a national resource, that's ours. We all have this -- we all benefit from this or we all suffer as a result of not having it. I think we need to go back to taxing these people at the proper rates."

--MICHAEL MOORE

"I realized I was so un-self-examined I could have been a Republican, but you know, thank goodness I'm just gay. So that's much better, don't you think?"

--MEREDITH BAXTER

"Why don't we just raise the taxes and let these folks have their collective bargaining, have their union representation and go back to their jobs? Raise the taxes on the wealthy."

--DAVID LETTERMAN

"In 1933, [Hitler] abolished unions and that's what our Governor [Scott Walker] is doing today."

--LENA TAYLOR, Democrat State Senator

"So I would urge my Republican colleagues, no matter how strongly they feel -- you know, we have three branches of government. We have a House. We have a Senate. We have a president. And all three of us are going to have to come together and give some, but it is playing with fire to risk the shutting down of the government."

--CHUCK SCHUMER

"Well, when you start off with the Preamble of the Constitution, you talk about the pursuit of happiness."

--JOHN LEWIS

"I'm Rebecca Kleefisch. I performed fellatio on all the talk show hosts in Milwaukee. And they endorsed me and that's how I became lieutenant governor."

--SLY SYLVESTER

"I think [Sarah Palin's] a loon and I think she's kind of a traitor to this country because she would love to erase the line between church and state... [H]er followers are the dumbest people on Earth. ... No, but seriously, they can barely scare up a pulse. I'm serious. They're not, they are really stupid. They're stupid... The people who like Sarah Palin are all on the government dole going out there and bitching about people wanting to get on the government dole. Please. Every one of them is on the government money."

"Dick Cheney. He's never worked an honest day in his life."

--ROSEANNE BARR

"Do you think this Constitution-loving is getting out of hand? I mean, is it a nod to the Tea Party?"

--JOY BEHAR

"We can?t just leave it up to the parents."

"[Military leaders] tell us that childhood obesity isn?t just a public health issue; they tell us that it is not just an economic threat -- it is a national security threat as well."

--MICHELLE OBAMA

"Actually, I did not take part in [the assassination of Sarah Palin]. I led it."

--KATHLEEN PARKER

"[The repeal of ObamaCare is] a kind of creeping genocide."

--JESSE JACKSON

"[Obama] has to realize that Mitch McConnell has virtually said so that politically he wants to cut out his heart and throw his liver to the dogs."

--DAN RATHER

"And the instructions are not to improvise a comedy sketch, but to elect a group of unqualified, unstable individuals who will do what they are told, in exchange for money and power, and march this nation as far backward as they can get, backward to Jim Crow, or backward to the breadlines of the '30s, or backward to hanging union organizers, or backward to the trusts and the robber barons.

"Result: the Tea Party. Vote backward, vote Tea Party. And if you are somehow indifferent to what is planned for next Tuesday, it is nothing short of an attempted use of democracy to end this democracy."

--KEITH "Reagan's dead and he was a lousy President" OLBERMANN

"I gotta wonder when people are gonna start wearing uniforms. I mean they've got an army out there in Alaska of militia people. You've got these guys going around acting like street thugs. I mean it isn't far from what we saw in the thirties, where all of a sudden, political parties started showing up in uniform."

--CHRIS MATTHEWS

"[Sharron Angle] is a moron on top of being evil... I'd like to see her do this ad in the South Bronx. Come here, bitch. Come to New York and do it. I'm not praying for her. She's going to hell. She's going to hell, this bitch."

--JOY BEHAR

"So people have been hurting and I understand that. And it doesn't give them comfort or solace for me to tell them, you know, but for me, we'd be in a worldwide depression."

--HARRY REID

"And to play Dick Cheney, all I had to do was find my Dick Cheney. And you can find all the villainy in the world in your own heart, and that's what an actor's job is. I always say to kids, inside you is Hitler and Jesus. And you got to find the appropriate person and bring them out."

--RICHARD DREYFUSS

"Because I live in the District of Columbia which is so predominantly Democratic, I am a registered Democrat. But I am an avowed neutral. And to put that into practice, I take my young daughter into the voting booth and she votes for me. She's now 14. We've been doing this since she was about age 4. She's now quite informed."

--BOB WOODWARD

"Sarah Palin's an idiot. Come on. This is a remarkably, stunningly, jaw-droppingly incompetent and mean woman."

"The Democrats may have moved into the center, but the Republicans have moved into a mental institution."

--AARON SORKIN

"Perhaps the greatest threat of all is the undermining of our Constitution and the systematic attack against the inalienable rights of the citizens of this nation, rights that are guaranteed by our Constitution. At the vanguard of this insidious attack is the Tea Party. This band of misguided citizens is moving perilously close to achieving villainous ends."

--HARRY BELAFONTE

"[Christine O'Donnell is] a witch who doesn't masturbate."

--JOY BEHAR

"Ah, the Tea Party, the nativist bed-wetters who somehow control our national dialogue. Yes, I call them the Pee Party, Jay, because they're always peeing in their pants about something. They're just, they're afraid of a mosque being built in New York. They're afraid of guns. You know, they think Obama, who like every other pussy Democrat has never said a single word about gun control, but they are very sure that he and his Negro army are coming after their guns. You know what? If you think that he's coming after your guns, you need to get out of your chat room and have your house tested for lead. He's not coming after your guns or your Bible or your fishing pole or your chewing tobacco."

--BILL MAHER

"That's a trade-off society is making because of very, very high medical costs, and a lack of willingness to say, you know, is spending a million dollars on that last three months of life for that patient, would it be better not to lay off those ten teachers and to make that trade-off in medical costs. But that;s called the 'Death Panel' and you're not supposed to have that discussion."

--BILL GATES

"NOT the 'whiteman's bitch'"

--IESHUH GRIFFIN

"[If Rush Limbaugh suffered a heart attack in my presence, I would] laugh loudly like a maniac and watch his eyes bug out. I never knew I had this much hate in me. But he deserves it."

--SARAH SPITZ

"You want freedom, you going to have to kill some crackers. You going to have to kill some of their babies."

--KING SAMIR SHABAZZ

"If this was Texas, which is the state that, that is directly on the border with Mexico, and they were calling for a measure like this, saying that they had a major issue with, you know, with undocumented people flooding their borders, I would say I would have to look twice at this. "But this is a state that is a ways removed from the border. And, um, it just, it doesn't make sense to me that when you google this subject, if you put in 'Arizona S.B. 1070,' that you see a picture of the governor of Arizona meeting with President Obama in May of 2010. If you have direct linkage to the president, there are already National Guard troops on the border in Arizona."

--PEGGY WEST

"Tell [the Jews] to get the hell out of Palestine. Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not German. It's not Poland. [The Jews] can go home. Poland. Germany."

--HELEN THOMAS

"After the last eight years, it's good to have a president that knows what a library is."

--PAUL McCARTNEY

"By the way, I just want to point out I'm wearing my splash shield because I was told I was going to be in the splash zone (during Harry Smith's colonoscopy on live TV)."

--KATIE COURIC

"And that Word is, we have to give voice to what that means in terms of public policy that would be in keeping with the values of the Word."

----------------------------

"Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance or that people could start a business and be entrepreneurial and take risk, but not job loss because of a child with asthma or someone in the family is bipolar?you name it, any condition ? is job-locking."

--NANCY PELOSI

"Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as 'yellow, slant-eyed dogs' that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what's going on today?"

--TOM HANKS

"The 'White Right' is trying to set Barack up to be assassinated.... Here are Christians praying for God to kill Barack Obama."

--LOUIS FARRAKHAN

"I refuse to accept the notion that the United States of America is not going to lead the world economically throughout the 20th Century."

--JOE BIDEN

"Obama's critics keep blasting him for Chicago-style politics. So, fine. Channel your inner Al Capone and go gangsta against your foes. Let 'em know that if they aren't with you, they are against you, and will pay the price."

--ROLAND MARTIN

"TeaBagger crowd: polite. The nutjobs who were bussed to Town Halls didn't get their way paid to Sarah [Palin]'s $100,000 speech."

--ROGER EBERT

"Martha Coakley is running to fill the rest of Ted Kennedy's term, and her opponent is a far-right tea-bagger Republican."

--CHUCK SCHUMER

"I tell you what, if I lived in Massachusetts, I'd try to vote ten times. I don't know if they'd let me or not, but I'd try to. Yeah, that's right, I'd cheat to keep these bastards out. I would. 'Cause that's exactly what they are."

--ED SCHULTZ

"We also see how revved up the tea baggers are at the thought of hijacking health care reform and every chance we have at making progress in Washington."

--JOHN KERRY

"A few years ago, this guy (Obama) would have been getting us coffee."

--BILL CLINTON

"I want to say, but it's complicated, but I want to say categorically yes. I agree with you. We should not be using health care reform to provide government access to abortion. I hear what you say. And I would hope that people from whatever party won't try and go down that road and put into a bill in the dead of night and then, lo and behold, wake up the next morning and something that shouldn't have happened did happen. We should not do that."

--HERB KOHL, Liar

"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z."

--KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMMED

Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder welcomes you to New York!

"Allahu Akbar!"

--MAJOR NIDAL MALIK HASAN

"I didn't realize I had written a column defending Roman Polanski and minimized his crime - are you sure it was me? I mean, I? There is, apparently, more to this crime than it would seem, and it may sound like a hollow defense, but in Hollywood I am not sure a 13-year-old is really a 13-year-old."

--TOM SHALES

[The UN podium] doesn't smell of sulfur. It's gone. No, it smells of something else. It smells of hope."

--HUGO CHAVEZ

"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American."

--JIMMY CARTER

"Joe Wilson yelled 'You lie!' at a president who didn't. But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!"

--MAUREEN DOWD

"One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game... During the 7th inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez."

--DAVID LETTERMAN

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn?t lived that life."

--SONIA SOTOMAYOR

"We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature."

--REMBERT WEAKLAND, Archbishop of Milwaukee 1977- 2002

"You know, you might want to look into this, [President Obama], because I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker, but he was so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight."

"Rush Limbaugh -- 'I hope the country the fails.' I hope his kidneys fail."

----------------------------

"[Obama] told me I did a great job. The first lady said the same thing. I got a 'well done' from the president, I'm on cloud nine."

--WANDA SYKES

"Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less."

--COLIN POWELL

"[Tea Party goers are] just a bunch of wimpy, whiny, weasels who don't love their country."

--PAUL BEGALA

"[A]t a certain point I don't think we'll be so consumed with being the pre-eminent super-power and, you know, driven by sort of militarism and this need to export, you know, democracy and so forth."

--RON HOWARD

"I wouldn't want [gay marriage] to go to the United States Supreme Court now because that homophobe Antonin Scalia has too many votes on this current court."

--BARNEY FRANK

"Going forward, my mind will be open to every solution -- except one. We should not -- we must not -- and I will not -- raise taxes."

--JIM DOYLE, Liar

"He's a terrorist. Rush Limbaugh is a terrorist."

--JOY BEHAR

"You know, I just want to say to her (Sarah Palin), just very quickly...F--- you."

--JON STEWART

"Should I be worried about being a slave and being returned to slavery?"

--WHOOPI GOLDBERG

"I also believe that America is the greatest sin against God."

--FR. MICHAEL PFLEGER

"I'd like to tip off law enforcement to an even larger child-abusing religious cult. Its leader also has a compound, and this guy not only operates outside the bounds of the law, but he used to be a Nazi and he wears funny hats. That's right, the Pope is coming to America this week and, ladies, he's single."

"If you have a few hundred followers, and you let some of them molest children, they call you a cult leader. If you have a billion, they call you 'Pope.' It's like, if you can't pay your mortgage, you're a deadbeat. But if you can't pay a million mortgages, you're Bear Stearns and we bail you out. And that is who the Catholic Church is: the Bear Stearns of organized pedophilia -- too big, too fat."

"When the current Pope was in his previous Vatican job as John Paul's Dick Cheney, he wrote a letter instructing every Catholic bishop to keep the sex abuse of minors secret until the Statute of Limitations ran out. And that's the Church's attitude: 'We're here, we're queer, get used to it,' which is fine, far be it from me to criticize religion. But just remember one thing: If the Pope was -- instead of a religious figure -- merely the CEO of a nationwide chain of day care centers, where thousands of employees had been caught molesting kids and then covering it up, he'd be arrested faster than you can say 'who wants to touch Mr. Wiggle?'"

--BILL MAHER

"Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken. Today the reason for the Zionist regime's existence is questioned, and this regime is on its way to annihilation."

--MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD

"We'll be eight degrees hotter in ten, not ten but 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals."

--TED TURNER

"Look, [Mitt] Romney comes from a religion founded by a criminal who was anti-American, pro-slavery, and a rapist. And he comes from that lineage and says, 'I respect this religion fully.'"

--LAWRENCE O'DONNELL

[The Bush] administration has done the greatest assault on our Constitution perhaps in American history."

--RUSS FEINGOLD

"I invite you to embrace Islam... There are no taxes in Islam, but rather there is a limited Zakaat [alms] totaling 2.5 percent."

--OSAMA BIN LADEN

"Mexico does not end at its borders... Where there is a Mexican, there is Mexico."

--FELIPE CALDERON

"The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don't say, 'Well, I read a science fiction novel that told me it's not a problem.' If the crib's on fire, you don't speculate that the baby is flame retardant."

--AL GORE

"Don't fear the terrorists. They're mothers and fathers."

--ROSIE O'DONNELL

"Is America ready for a black president? Well, I say we just had a retarded one. When did being black become a bigger deterrent than being retarded?"

--CHRIS ROCK

"Shut the f--- up! Shut up if you can't take a joke [about President Bush]!"

--BARBRA STREISAND

"Right, oh, yeah, Happy 9/11! Celebrate the day, right?"

--JAMES BROLIN, Mr. Barbra Streisand

"I think President Bush very well may have signed an authorization for the 9/11 attacks."

--KEVIN BARRETT, UW-MADISON Lecturer

"I said what I said. I am not guilty."

--SADDAM HUSSEIN

"Terri will not be starved to death. Her nutrition and hydration will be taken away."

--MICHAEL SCHIAVO

"On the eve of the election last month my wife Judith and I were driving home late in the afternoon and turned on the radio for the traffic and weather. What we instantly got was a freak show of political pornography: lies, distortions, and half-truths -- half-truths being perhaps the blackest of all lies. "

--BILL MOYERS

"I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for."

--HOWARD DEAN

"The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not 'insurgents' or 'terrorists' or 'The Enemy.' They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win."

--MICHAEL MOORE

"And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the--of--the historical customs, religious customs."

--JOHN KERRY

"F---ing retarded."

"[Republicans] can go f--- themselves!"

--RAHM EMANUEL

"I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president."

--HILLARY CLINTON

"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."

--BILL CLINTON

"And let me tell you something -- for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment."

--MICHELLE OBAMA

"If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a Jew, uh, as a janitor, makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor."

----------------------------

"If you love me, you got to help me pass this bill."

----------------------------

"[F]or most of my lifetime, the United States was such a dominant economic power, we were such a large market, our industry, our technology, our manufacturing was so significant that we always met the rest of the world economically on our terms. And now, because of the incredible rise of India and China and Brazil and other countries, the United States remains the largest economic and the largest market but there?s real competition out there. And that's potentially healthy. It makes -- Michelle was saying earlier I like tough questions because it keeps me on my toes. Well, this will keep America on its toes."

----------------------------

"If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, 'We're gonna PUNISH OUR ENEMIES and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us,' if they don't see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it's gonna be harder and that's why I think it's so important that people focus on voting on November 2."

----------------------------

"We don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but THEY GOTTA SIT IN BACK."

----------------------------

"We can absorb a terrorist attack. We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever... we absorbed it and we are stronger."

----------------------------

"We're buying shrimp, guys."

----------------------------

"We are the ones we've been waiting for."

----------------------------

"We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers so I know whose ass to kick."

----------------------------

"We're not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money. But, you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if you?re providing a good product or you're providing good service. We don't want people to stop fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow the economy."

----------------------------

"It is a vital national security interest of the United States to reduce these conflicts because whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower, and when conflicts break out, one way or another we get pulled into them. And that ends up costing us significantly in terms of both blood and treasure."

----------------------------

"But I -- I think that the most important thing for the public to understand is, we're not handling any of these cases any different than the Bush administration handled them all through 9/11."

----------------------------

"One such translator was an American of Haitian descent, representative of the extraordinary work that our men and women in uniform do all around the world -- Navy CORPSE-MAN Christian [sic] Brossard. And lying on a gurney aboard the USNS Comfort, a woman asked Christopher: 'Where do you come from? What country? After my operation,' she said, 'I will pray for that country.' And in Creole, CORPSE-MAN Brossard responded, 'Etazini.' The United States of America."

----------------------------

"I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow was around, and so I want to give a shout-out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner. It's good to see you."

----------------------------

"We are God's partners in matters of life and death."

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"[T]he Cambridge police acted stupidly."

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"I am going to teach [my daughters] first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."

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"The reforms we seek would bring greater competition, choice, savings, and INEFFICIENCIES to our health care system."

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"Over the last 15 months, we?ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I?ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it."

--BARACK OBAMA

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WALL OF SHAME ARCHIVES

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