Top 10 Most Polluted Toxic Cities in the US

Who is the Most Toxic of them All?

Just for fun folks. Only because I have friends who grew up in these cities or currently live in them.

Forbes came out with 2011 Most Toxic Cities List.

What would be your first guess for #1?
Los Angeles maybe? Good guess. That is where I grew up and I miss those orange sunsets, sunrises, and… daily sky color… but LA only comes 6th on the list.

Good Ol’ Philadelphia comes in on #1, but California will not be out done as it holds 4 of the top 10 spots with #2 Bakersfield, #3 Fresno, #6 Los Angeles, and #10 Riverside.

The rankings was based on the average of five variables. Air quality, water quality, superfund sites (areas no longer in use that contain hazardous waste), Number of Days with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 100+ (higher the number the worse the air), and EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The pool was limited to the 80 largest Metropolitan Areas.

Without further delay:

America’s 10 Most Toxic Polluted Cities!

#1 Polluted Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Pollution Cities
MSA: Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa./N.J./Del./Md.
Number of unhealthy air quality days (2009): 2
Pounds of on-site toxic releases reported (2009): 11.3 million
EWG top water concern: Total trihalomethanes

#2 Befoul Bakersfield, California

Bakersfield Pollution Cities

Number of unhealthy air quality days (2009): 43
Pounds of on-site toxic releases reported (2009): 2.2 million
EWG top water concern: N/A

#3 Foul Fresno, California

Fresno Pollution Cities

Number of unhealthy air quality days (2009): 26
Pounds of on-site toxic releases reported (2009): 338,000
EWG top water concern: Nitrates

#4 Nasty New York, New York

New York Pollution Cities

MSA: New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y./N.J./Pa.
Number of unhealthy air quality days (2009): 5
Pounds of on-site toxic releases reported (2009): 4.1 million
EWG top water concerns: Total haloacetic acids; dieldrin; total trihalomethanes

#5 Bedraggled Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Baton Rouge Pollution CitiesNumber of unhealthy air quality days (2009): None
Pounds of on-site toxic releases reported (2009): 33.6 million
EWG top water concern: N/A

#6 Loathsome Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles Pollution Cities

MSA: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif.
Number of unhealthy air quality days (2009): 14
Pounds of on-site toxic releases reported (2009): 3.8 million
EWG top water concerns: Arsenic; total trihalomethanes; nitrate; total haloacetic acids

#7 Heinous Houston, Texas

Houston Pollution Cities

MSA: Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas
Number of unhealthy air quality days (2009): 1
Pounds of on-site toxic releases reported (2009): 54.8 million
EWG top water concern: Alpha particle activity

#8 Sooty St. Louis, Missouri

St Louis Pollution Cities

MSA: St. Louis, Mo./Ill.
Number of unhealthy air quality days (2009): 1
Pounds of on-site toxic releases reported: 22.3 million
EWG top water concern: Total haloacetic acids

#9 Soiled Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City Pollution CitiesNumber of unhealthy air quality days (2009): 15
Pounds of on-site toxic releases reported: 130.4 million
EWG top water concern: Total haloacetic aci

#10 Rancid Riverside / San Bernardino, California

Riverside Pollution Cities

MSA: Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.
Number of unhealthy air quality days (2009): 16
Pounds of on-site toxic releases reported (2009): 1.3 million
EWG top water concerns: Total haloacetic acids; nitrates; perchlorate

Now don’t get all worked up now, I didn’t make up this list – just the adjectives but all in good fun. I grew up in Los Angeles and visited all the other California locations as well as New York and I can say that all.. ok some… of those cities (la, riverside) are beautiful and a great place to live. Bakersfield smells tho…

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Have you seen The Daily? The New Digital Magazine

The Daily iPad Magazine

The Daily – The New Digital Magazine

Couple days ago, News Corp Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch revealed “The Daily”, a newspaper specifically created just for the iPad. This is not a newspaper or magazine modified to show on an iPad, it is a completely new magazine created just for the iPad. Rupert Murdoch, one of the most famous of CEOs cited that they invested $30million on this project. “The Daily” includes many interactive pictures, videos and other elements, all in an effort to usher in a new kind of digital magazine for the future.

Will the “The Daily” Usher a New Digital Experience?

It create a bit of buzz in the online community as it is something novel and different. No magazine has invested this much in creating a new digital experience. Newspapers have gone back and forth in how much they should invest in these new digital formats. How “The Daily” does will help determine whether there will be movement into this kind of digital medium.

Joined by Apple’s Eddy Cue, Vice President of Internet Services, the announcement was made admist a lot of curiosity in whether or not this new kind of magazine would picked up by the consumers?

Rupert Murdoch CEO
This is Rupert Murdoch

Some Notes Reported During the Annoucement

  • Two subscription options: weekly at $0.99 or yearly at $39.99 (might be worth downloading 1 to check out)
  • Interactive photographs with 360 degree images. (cool)
  • Share articles on Facebook, Twitter and Email. (makes sense)
  • Records audio comments. (hmm ok)
  • Includes links to relevant web articles, view in in-app browser. (I like how it links to more resources)
  • Twitter integrated into sections. (smart to include the buzz around the web)
  • Updated throughout the day. (now that is new)
  • Non-subscribers can see content shared on social networks for free. (oh interesting! you can be the source of extra insider news!)

Have you downloaded a copy yet?
If you have, please share your experience!

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Congressman Joe Baca wants Warning Labels on Games

Joe Baca Congressmen - Video Games Bill

Congressmen Joe Baca wants Warning Labels on Games

Congressman Joe Baca (D-Rialto, CA.) introduced a bill that calls for “all video games with an Electronics Software Ratings Board rating of Teen or higher” must include a health warning label stating:

“WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior.”

This new bill co-signed by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) called “The Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2011” and would create a new rule within the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

“The video game industry has a responsibility to parents, families, and to consumers – to inform them of the potentially damaging content that is often found in their products… They have repeatedly failed to live up to this responsibility. Meanwhile research continues to show a proven link between playing violent games and increased aggression in young people. American families deserve to know the truth about these potentially dangerous products.”

Parents Must be Warned of Potential Harm!

“We must hold the video game industry accountable and do everything in our power to ensure parents are aware of the detrimental effects that violent games can have before making decisions on which games are appropriate for their children to play… I am proud to introduce the Video Game Health Labeling Act, and am hopeful this legislation can work to stop the growing influence of violent media on America’s children and youth.”

– Congressman Joe Baca

Representative Baca cites several scientific studies from the Pediatrics Journal, University of Indiana, University of Missouri, and Michigan State University that showed a “neurological link between playing violent video games and aggressive behavior in children and teenagers.”

“Just as we warn smokers of the health consequences of tobacco, we should warn parents – and children — about the growing scientific evidence demonstrating a relationship between violent video games and violent behavior,” co-signer Rep Wolf said. “As a parent and grandparent, I think it is important people know everything they can about the extremely violent nature of some of these games.”

First Take

My take? It may pass, it may not, but it won’t do much in terms of raising awareness among the masses. People in the blogosphere, especially gamers will make rant at it, but ultimately it won’t get much attention or affect sales.

In terms of violent games affect on people: my opinion is YES it does have an effect. I am not saying playing violent games will lead people to commit massive murder or kill their parents (though that does happen…), but it does affect our sensitivity towards violence, changing our standards in terms of how we view different levels of violence. Don’t tell me a child who grows up never watching violent movies, playing games that has to do with shooting people, or games that glorify stealing cars and robbing people will have the same perception of violence as someone who grows up not viewing such things. Perhaps they may not be inclined to do those things, but when such pressures or occasions come, perhaps out of their control, how we grew up and what we are exposed to definitely has an impact in the worldview we have towards such things.

Feel free to agree or disagree, but that is my first take.

What are your thoughts?

  • What do you think?
  • Will it be helpful? Will it not work?
  • Is this too much? or the right idea?
  • Do you believe violent games may influence and encourage bad behavior?
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Ted Williams – Homeless Man with God Given Voice

Ted Williams - Homeless Man God Given Voice

Homeless Ted William’s Second Chance

Check out this clip. It speaks for itself. You’ll see what I mean. This homeless man was discovered by the Columbus Dispatch along Ohio’s I-71 HWY. With a small sign that says he has a “God-given gift of voice” this homeless man started this year as a panhandler but now has been given a second chance at life. This small clip went viral leading to a compassionate response of the masses and offers from various radio stations and gigs. Check it out.

Ted Williams – God Given Voice

His name is Ted Williams. He used to be a radio announcer who fell on hard times and also fell into the habit of “alcohol and drugs and a few other things”. He says he has been clean for 2 and a half months now and profusely thanks God that despite his formerly bad habits, still has maintained his incredible voice.

Ted Williams Homeless Radio Voice“I have a god given gift of voice. I’m an ex-radio announcer who has fallen on hard times. Please! Any help will be greatfully appreciated. Thank you and God bless. Happy holidays,” reads Williams’ roadside sign for help.

Ted Williams on CBS The Early Show

Here he appeared on the CBS’ “The Early Show”. You can’t help but to feel compassion and be excited for him. He profusely thanks God and really cherishes this second opportunity God has given him. He holds back tears thinking about all that has happened and how he will have a chance to be reunited with his mother back in Brooklyn.

A mere 24 hours after the video went public, Ted Williams have been getting numerous offers and suitors such as the NFL, MTV and the Cleveland Cavaliers. “The Cleveland Cavaliers just offered me a full-time job and a house!”

Enjoy! Let us know your impressions and thoughts below.

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Is Halloween Candy Poisoning & Blades True? Or is it Media Hype?

Halloween Poison Candy Blade

A Blade was Found in my Child’s Halloween Candy!

Everyone knows the story. Some kid found a blade in his snickers bar. Some other kid found a needle in his 3 musketeers. Now every mother and father is called to check all the candy a child receives before allowing them to eat it. Check for open packages. Check for sketchy pieces of candy. Your child’s life might depend on it!

Is it true? Was Candy Poisoned in Halloween?

Fact: During the poison candy scare in the 70s and 80s, almost every incident of blades, needles or poison in candy was found to be a hoax. A deliberate hoax by the child in question. Several experts have done extensive studies and reviews of past reports in order to determine this fact. In fact up until the year 2000, there hasn’t been a single proven incident where a child was injured by Halloween candy from a stranger.

So then what are the candy horror stories that were true?!

In 1970, a 5 year old boy in Detroit, fell into a coma after consuming his uncle’s heroin. The family tried to cover it up by claiming the heroin was in the Halloween Candy. FAIL.

Halloween Candy Corn PoisonIn 1974, Timothy O’Bryan in Pasadena, Texas died after eating a cyanide-laced Pixy Stix. But further police investigation revealed that the boy’s Father, Ronald Clark O’Bryan had premeditated this murder in order to claim life insurance money. To hide his attempt, he had also given the Pixy Stix to his daughter and three other kids. Luckily the other kids did not eat the Pixy Stix. Ronald O’Bryan was convicted of murder and executed by lethal injection.

There is a pattern here. It was not by some psycho trying to poison kids for fun. These incidences that spurred the Halloween scare were more due to their family then some random candy bar. In fact Ronald O’Bryan used the urban legend to try to cover up his own crime. Yet it’s become an urban legend, but how?

Media Hype Creates an Urban Legend

Though these incidences were clearly either false, or family neglect, or a premeditated murder, the media ate these stories up. All throughout the 1980s, these stories were circulated and given considerable attention. News outlets pumped up these stories especially during the Halloween season because it grabs everyone’s attention especially the concerned parents. Often news would break before the claims are investigated and when found to be a hoax, it was rarely followed up.
Thus it is no surprise that there was a growing concern amongst the parents and this one sided coverage created a mass panic. By 1985, a poll by ABC News/Washington Post showed that 60% of parents feared their children would be injured or killed by Halloween Candy.

Halloween Poison Candy BarSamples of Hyped up False Alarms

There are many stories out there that added to the hype. Helen Pfeil of Greenlawn, NY was a housewife who was annoyed by trick or treaters, made up joke treats to give to teenagers. She gave out dog biscuits, steel wool pads, and ant poison buttons, meanwhile telling the kids that these were joke treats. She was charged for endangering children.

Another report found traces of strychnine in a box of sunkist fun fruit dinosaurs. It was reported by the New York Times, but later the suspicious powder was found to be corn starch. New York times would later print an update to the article, but not before the manufacturer of Fun Fruits destroyed 9400 cases of the product. Unfortunately most remember the destruction of the products, not the followup.

There were several other incidences where doctors or the police announced their suspicions about tampered candy creating a mass stir and hysteria as the media warned everyone about crazy poisoners on the loose, only later to be revealed that the cause of the illness or death was due to some other means.

Trying to Debunk the Halloween Candy Myth

Below is an excerpt from 1989 Article in the Los Angeles Times. The article interviews Joel Best, a professor of sociology at California State Univeristy, Fresno who have been trying to debunk this urban legend.

“We checked major newspaper from throughout the country from 1958 through 1988…”

Well, they found a total of 78 cases and two deaths. Further checking proved that lamost all of the 78 cases were pranks. The deaths were tragically real, but they, too, were misrepresented in the beginning.

The prank, he said, were all of kids – after years of hearing similar stories – inserting needles or razor blades into fruit, not realizing (or maybe realizing) how much they frightened their whole town.

“My favorite,” Best says, “was the kid who brought a half-eaten candy bar to his parents and said, ‘I think there’s ant poison on this,’ They had it checked and, sure enough, there was ant poison on this,’ They had checked and, sure enough, there was ant poison on it – significantly, on the end he had not bitten,” Of course, the youngster had applied the poison himself.

Best has tried mightily over the years to destroy this particular myth, but obviously to no avail. “It’s the old problem of trying to prove a negative,” he says.

Urban Legend – Halloween Candy Lives On

Unfortunately despite the lack of evidence and a very low likelihood of this ever happening, the Urban Legend lives on. Having said that, because of the Urban Legend, one can’t help wonder if some psycho out might be more likely to do it…

Just becareful.

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Facebook Video, Photos Getting Bigger & Better

Comscore Statistics LogoFacebook Video Surpasses Yahoo! Video

Facebook has officially passed up Yahoo! to become the second largest video viewing site in the United States behind Google. Google owns YouTube & Google Videos.

ComScore reported that 58.6 million unique viewers on Facebook had 243 million viewing sessions. This still sits far behind Google which has 146.3 million viewers with 1.9 billion viewing sessions. Again Google owns YouTube, the clear number one in video views. Yahoo is not at third with 53.9 million viewers.

US Online Video Views (in millions)
Website Unique Viewers Viewing Sessions
Google Sites 146.3 1903.2
Facebook.com 58.6 243.2
Yahoo! Sites 53.9 229.1
VEVO 45.4 205.8
Fox Interactive 43.1 153.9
Break Media 42.4 167.1
Microsoft 39.3 219.3
NBC 32.8 65.1

Most companies are still making minimal amounts of money off of their video properties. Hulu, which is relatively small (not in the top 10 in terms of viewers) leads the industry in video advertising. Google is in fifth. Facebook and Yahoo! don’t even register in the top 10.

Facebook Photos get a Huge Upgrade

Facebook announced several upgrades to their photo product. As Facebook already has more internet traffic then Google and with 500 million active users they have tons and tons of potential in the photo space. With these new changes, Facebook is slowly positioning themselves to be a bigger player. Photo-sharing is currently dominated by sites like Flickr (Yahoo! owned).

List of Facebook Photo Improvements

Support for High Resolution Photos
The resolution for photos on Facebook was increase from 720 pixels to 2048 pixels

Facebook Photos High Resolution

New Album Layout to support High Resolution Photos
The new viewer makes it easier to view and navigate through all your photos without leaving the page. A new “light box” feature darkens the background, making it easier to focus o your photos.

Facebook Photos Viewer

Easier Facebook Photo Tagging & Uploading
Facebook has made it easier to tag multiple photos in the same album all in the same time. It is also easier to tag a person in multiple photos more quickly. Photo uploading has been rebuilt to be much more stable and reliable.

Photographers, Hobbyist, and semi-professionals can now consider sharing their high resolution photos on their facebook profile as opposed to linking out to flickr or other photo sharing sites.

Questions about Facebook Photo Policies

There are still some pending questions that aren’t very clear. Here is the biggest:

Did you know Facebook Owns You!: Or more accurately your photos. According to Facebook policies Facebook claims copyright rights to all the images you upload.

Actually Facebook has the right to license ANYTHING you upload onto Facebook.

Share your Facebook Thoughts

  • What do you think about the massive growth in Facebook Video?
  • Do you think Facebook Video will ever surpass youtube?
  • What do you think about Facebook Photo’s new pictures?
  • Will you be using it more? In what way?
  • Did you know Facebook Owns You!?

“Like” this Page and then “Like” our Facebook Page below!

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News: Delete Facebook Page Original Admin

Delete the Original Admin on your Facebook Page

Quick News for those in work in the social media world.

For over a year, Facebook Pages have been used by businesses and organizations to connect and communicate with their users. However one grave oversight was that whoever created the Facebook Page would be locked in as an admin for life.

This means if someone got fired, or left the company, the company Facebook Page would still be linked to their profile. You could add more admins, but the original administrator had the most “power” as the longest standing admin.

For over a year Facebook users were asking that this be updated through the Facebook forums but has been ignored thus far. However Facebook has finally added the ability to remove the original Facebook Page admin. Small change, but big news.

Remove Facebook Page AdminHow do I Delete the Original Admin?

  1. First make sure there is a 2nd administrator!
  2. Go to your Facebook Page
  3. Hit “EDIT PAGE” found on the top left sidebar beneath your logo.
  4. Scroll Down and look at the bottom right. You’ll see a list of administrators. Just hit “Remove Admin” as seen in the image on the right.

That’s it! Hope that was helpful!
Let us know your thoughts about this recent change in the comment section below.

Be sure to visit our own Facebook Page Links.

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Google stands against Chinese Internet Censorship

Google Chinese CensorshipIt has been no secret that the Chinese government censors the media. China has received great criticism over their internet censorship such as blocking historical content that hurts the government’s image (i.e. tiananmen square), monitoring skype message, replacing Olympic faces with “prettier” faces to enhance their image, or unfair jailing of protestors during the Beijing Olympics and lying about it.

China’s Media Control over Media

Search engines had no choice but to comply to the Chinese government’s demands in order to make inroads into China’s 1.3 billion population. Thus it is big news today that Google announced they will no longer comply and will pull out of China if needed be. This was partially a response to a sophisticated and targeted attack on their corporate infrastructure. Google found an organized attack that originated from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property. It was an attack targeting 20+ large companies from different range of businesses. However what made this attack significant was that there is strong evidence that the primary goal of the attacker was to access the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activist. They also discovered that independent of this attack, that the email accounts of these human right activist were “routinely accessed by third parties” via phishing scams and malware placed on their computer.

Chinese Censorship History

China has been heavily criticized in the past for unfairly monitoring and putting down human rights activist. In the Beijing Olympics, China communicated as if their people were free to voice their opinions but had strict and often unfair methods of jailing anyone who would protest (most protests has to do with human rights). The Chinese government is also notorious for unfairly jailing activist as well as people of faith.

Google’s Stance on Chinese Censorship over Time

When Google launched in china, they noted “we will carefully monitor conditions in China, including new laws and other restrictions on our services. If we determine that we are unable to achieve the objectives outlined we will not hesitate to reconsider our approach to China.” It seems Google has finally had it and has thrown down the gauntlet.

“These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered–combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web–have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.”

Basically, no more censorship or we bounce. The choice is up to China. Whether other search engines will follow suit is still to be determined.

This isn’t the first time Google and China butted heads. China’s CIIRC (China Internet Illegal information Reporting Center) has several times made demands for specific items to be blocked and has even blocked full sites like Google, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr when sites did not meet their demands.

Search Engine Shares in China: Google, Baidu, MSN, Yahoo

Yahoo had long ago pulled out of direct competition in China but since then took the tactic of making investments into local search players. Yahoo has been sued several times by pro-democracy advocates who claimed Yahoo gave personal information to the Chinese authorities. In November ComScore showed that Baidu had 62.2% of the Chinese search market while Google only had 14.1%, MSN at 5.1%. However Analysys International, a research firm in Beijing, said that Baidu’s share was closer to 58.4% in Q4 compared to 35.6% in Google. As of last tuesday, Baidu’s shares jumped in stock price.

How will China Respond to Google’s Stance on Censorship

How will China response? This is not just an issue between Google and China, but a political issue. Google doesn’t have the power to convince China to change it’s ways and China will not lose out on much by letting Google go, however China can’t be happy with bad press they are receiving through this ordeal and the political aftermath if Google eventually has to leave.

[UPDATE] As expected, China gave an indifferent response. Basically anyone who wants to do business in China must follow their laws. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, “The Chinese government administers the Internet according to law and we have explicit stipulations over what content can be spread on the Internet.” If Google sticks to their guns, they’ll have to simply move their way out of China. But should they?

  • What do you think? Will Google have to leave or will there be some resolution?
  • What is your position on this?
  • Will China ever blink or will they continue to hold an iron grip on it’s media?
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Power of Images in Media & Iran’s Twitter Revolution

Tiananmen Square Massacre Tank ImagePowerful Influence of Images in Media

When I say Tiananmen Square Massacre, what is the first thought or image that comes to your mind? For the vast majority of people it is the image of the young man making a stand in front of the rolling tank.

There are many such images or photographs out there that has forever influenced public perception. One can cry all you want about starving children, but nothing moves a person emotionally until they see a picture of precious young child starving without food.

This is the power of images. Whether an image of news, or the images we see on TV.

The Iran Twitter Revolution

As you may or may not know, everyone has been following the news of the turmoil in Iran through the Internet. As journalists are not allowed (or more like afraid) to officially transmit news out of that country, all the recently events have been followed through YouTube videos and twitter updates. It has been one of the most interesting phenomenons of late.

Iran Election Protest ImagesHundreds of Thousands of Iranians have been protesting the recent elections between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and 2 other candidates. The crowds are crying fraud due to multiple suspicious figures and the bias way the government conducted the elections. The following demonstrations are now being captured on YouTube videos and being twittered all around the globe. The Tehran’s leaders had taken down telephone systems, took down websites, confiscated tapes from journalists and dispatched police to beat and arrest anyone who dares to protest. The leaders have done everything they could to try to control the news coming out of Iran. Yet they completely underestimated the power of the citizen journalists and the use of social media. Iran, as a highly computer literate country, had citizen hackers working to keep media lines open while the government continually try to shut them down.

One example of Iranian Twittering about the Demonstration: Tehran Bureau

YouTube Videos of Recent Demonstrations

Protest News Coverage from Different Parts of Iran

Power of a Images in Turning Public Opinion

Recently a young woman named Neda Agha-Soltan (Neda means “voice” or “the calling” in Farsi) was shown on video being shot by a sniper’s bullet during a demonstration. As she fell to the ground, she instantly became the face of “freedom”, the symbol of the entire opposition. As this video, which was caught on a cell phone camera, spread quickly around the globe, it has strongly impacted the view of the world’s public opinion.

“[Neda] has become a global symbol of innocence destroyed by evil.” – Times Online

Below is an excerpt about the power of images by Breakpoint
Note: The Book referenced here called “How Now Shall We Live?” is one of my favorite books of all time.

Other photos have moved entire nations. As I wrote in my book, How Now Shall We live?, I’ll never forget the first time I saw the famous 1972 photo of a little Vietnamese girl, Kim Phuc, running away after a bombing, her skin burned by napalm. That photo broke my heart and the hearts of countless others, and as I would later write, it “became an emblem for an entire nation questioning its reason for being in Vietnam.”

Another photograph from Vietnam had a similar effect: the photo of South Vietnamese General Nguyen executing a Viet Cong prisoner in February 1968. The picture has often been cited as the image that “as much as any, turned public opinion against the war”—even though the photographer, Eddie Adams, who saw both sides of the story, had not intended it that way.

Adams later wrote, “The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world.”

Adams was right. For better or for worse, images shape our thinking, our emotions, and our responses to the world around us. Context is always important, for sometimes images can mislead, as Eddie Adams discovered. But sometimes images can show us the truth about ordinary people, people just like us, fighting for the same rights that we so often take for granted.

Could the video of Neda’s lifeblood pouring out on the streets of Tehran be the image that changes everything for her country?

That I don’t know. But I do know this. No matter how hard the Iranian government tries to silence the calls for freedom, Neda has given her fellow Iranians a voice that the world can’t help but hear.

  • What is your opinion about the power of images in media?
  • What does this tell us about how we should approach the intake of all media such as tv shows and movies?
  • What is your reaction to Iran’s Twitter Revolution and the role of social media?
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Michael Jackson’s Death causes Social Media Explosion

Michael Jackson Death RIPAs everyone by now knows, Michael Jackson, one of the greatest pop icons in history died at the age of 50 due to undetermined causes. He was found unconscious by Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s personal doctor. Autopsies are underway to determine what may have caused this tragedy. The news so far from the coroner’s office is that there were no signs of foul play.

What followed was a wave of online attention never seen before. The spike in traffic was so abnormal that Google thought they were being attacked by a virus or spyware application. When people searched Google News for “Michael Jackson” they would receive an “we’re sorry” error page.

Some other social media statistics related to Michael Jackson’s Death:

  • Web Usage: Jumped to 4.2 million global visitors per MINUTE. Normal is around 2 million.
  • Web Search: More than 50% of top 100 searches were related to Michael Jackson
  • Mobile Search: Saw the largest spike ever with 5 of 20 searches being about Michael Jackson
  • Yahoo: Single day record of 16.4 million visitors
  • CNN: Significantly slowed as they saw 20 million page views and saw traffic jump 5x normal levels within the first hour after the news broke.
  • AIM: Went down for 40 minutes
  • iTunes: 8 of the top 10 selling albums for download were from Michael Jackson, 8 of the top 10 music videos were also Michael Jackson related. 5 of the top 10 songs.
  • Amazon: 10 of the top 25 albums for download were Michael Jackson.
  • Amazon: For all CD sales, Jackson held 17 of the top 20 spots including all top 10 slots.
  • Youtube: “Thriller Video” currently has 43.5 million views and 185,000 comments.
  • Youtube: Fans are uploading videos in droves in memory of Michael Jackson
  • Twitter: 5,000 tweets per minute
  • Twitter: 23% of all tweets dedicated to the star.
  • Twitter: 9 out of 10 popular topics were about Michael Jackson.
  • Twitter: Celebrities expresses sorrows while followed by millions on Twitter.
  • Facebook: Groups formed to organize vigils and celebration of Jackson
  • Domains: Nearly 4,000 domain names related to Michael Jackson registered on Go Daddy within the first day
  • Rumors: In conjuction with this news was a flurry of activity with rumors of Jeff Goldblum’s death. This was later shown to be unfounded.

Michael Jackson Death RIP Facebook

AOL called it a “seminal moment in Internet History… we’ve never seen anything like it”.

Every major news station highlighted Michael Jackson’s Death with large images with multiple articles covering his history, his glorious career, his troubled past, suspicions about his death, about his family, his wealth, and more. It was the fastest and largest wave of information over one news in such a short period of time. The internet as a whole was “slow” as all the major news stations and websites were slowed by the sudden surge in traffic.

I appreciate Michael Jackson’s talents, his singing ability, his dancing ability, it all was fantastic and worth admiring for what it was. However the question I want to pose is…

What does this incredible level of attention towards a pop icon tell us about the culture we live in?

If a war broke out between two small countries, it wouldn’t attract this level of attention. Millions of starving children? Most people wouldn’t read that article, too depressing. How about the continual sex trafficking occurring all around the world? Most people are not even aware of it.

I don’t blame the news outlets, since honestly most of the articles written are just fillers about random things as journalist are trying to find something they could write about. News like this is a goldmine. However they definitely help feed the fire. See some headlines below.

  • Unravelling Michael Jackson’s Finances – Newsweek
  • Michael Jackson dead at 50: Did drugs kill the King of Pop? – Telegraph
  • 6 Random Michael Jackson Pop-culture moments – NYmag
  • The History of Michael Jackson’s Face – Anomalies Unlimited
  • Michael Jackson and the Jewish Nose – Jewish Telgraphic Agency
  • Jackson’s art trumps questionable behavior – StatesmanJournal
  • Michael Jackson’s Ex-Nanny Reveals his Drug Habits – Celebuzz

I don’t need to read about the history of Michael Jackson’s face thank you. Every angle you can think of, they wrote it. But the world has never seen this kind of explosion in interest and activity over anything in such a short period of time.

Another Question:
How does one reconcile with the thought that Michael Jackson has a long history of being accused of molesting boys… yet is celebrated and admired on a level very few ever will achieve?

First of all let’s be clear, the question says “accused” not “convicted’. Michael Jackson was found not guilty of the accusations brought before him, though he still continued to allow boys to sleep in the same bed as he did. Yet with the plastic surgeries and the bleaching of skin, Michael Jackson’s was labeled “weird” and “perverse” and his reputation took a huge hit which he never recovered from. By the way Michael Jackson had a skin conditions that would create white blotches on his skin, thus the bleaching of his skin. In case you did not know.

This question is far broader than Michael Jackson. It is a question of how in many circumstances, a celebrity (or any person for that matter) could do the worst of things, yet it is often overshadowed or overlooked simply because of what they are able to accomplish. There are so many actors, singers, sports players who are involved in all sorts of scandals and shown to have very little morals or virtue, yet all it takes is another awesome acting performance, or the memory of some incredible song we all have grown fond of, to simply push all the “bad” aside. Is that right? What does that tell us about our culture and what does that teach our children? Just a thought.

“Michael Jackson proves, in a really sort of perverse way, that maybe we’re not as offended by behavior as we are entranced by music. And think about that. Think about what level of quality you must have to attain to have somebody say, “I know that you’re accused of having molested children, but I can’t hate you for that as much as I love you for your music.”

“There’s just one Michael Jackson now. We don’t have to reconcile the Michael Jackson we love with another Michael Jackson. In a way, he has returned to pristine condition in death. We can be free now for the rest of our lives to love the Michael Jackson we used to love.”
– John Mayer

  • Do you agree with this statement?
  • Does the fact that he contributed greatly to society both in his music and the blurrying of racial lines in music, “cover over” the fact he has been accused of perverse conduct? Does a right cover a wrong?
  • Does the world’s immense reaction to his death tell us anything about our culture focus and values?

Again, just a thought. What do you think?

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Craigslist “Erotic Services” vs Henry McMaster

Craigslist Threatened by Attorney General for Erotic Services

  • Craigslist vs McMasterAre you aware that Craigslist were making headlines among the internet sphere for their battle against South Carolina’s Attorney General for the controversial “erotic services” column.
  • Were you aware Craigslist even had such a category?

Craigslist has become an household name as the place to go to find jobs, to buy and sell items anything from a used DVD to cars to houses. The service boasts 40 million classified ads posted every month. Amidst all the different categories and millions of posting, what often goes unnoticed is the “erotic services” section that is unfortunately accessible to anyone. Adults, Children- anyone can access these classified section.

The Attorney Generals of several states demanded that Craigslist shut down this service as it promotes prostitution. Craigslist chose to implement changes in response to their concerns. It adopted screening measures that were recommended and removed the “erotic service” category… kinda.

Craigslist is Protected under Federal Law Section 230

To Craigslist credit, they did this despite technically being protected under federal law for content posted by users. Section 230 CDA protects free speech online and it is often used to protect sites like Youtube from being completely shut down to do user videos that violate copyright law. If a prostitute advertises illegal services and carries it out, the prostitute is guilty but Craigslist is free of any crime.

However the Attorney General of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, believed this wasn’t enough and threatened criminal charges if Craigslist did not comply. Craigslist had recently entered into South Carolina and was quickly adapted by it’s residence. McMaster sent Craigslist an ultimatum demanding ALL sexual postings be removed from Craigslist South Carolina. He first threatened legal action if Craigslist did not comply in 10 days.

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University of Maryland presents Pornography

The University, a place of Higher Education. A source for the development of the mind, a place to practice discipline, and a training ground to build the type of skills and networks needed for the best of futures.

The University of Maryland, College Park announced that the student union would show a porno movie as a way to… wait show what?!

Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge will be shown at midnight Saturday in a campus theater usually home to tamer fare such as independent and foreign films. The distributor of the film, Digital Playground, offered it to the student union for free, so student activities fees are not being used to finance it. A student programming committee voted to screen the film, billed as a “XXX blockbuster.”

Thank goodness. Disaster averted. No student activities fees are being used for this. That would be wrong. Anything else that should be addressed though? Anything?

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