Who Is Wanda Sykes

Wanda Sykes has been called “one of the funniest stand up comics” by her peers and ranks among Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Funniest People in America.

She’s co-starring in the CBS sitcom “The New Adventures of Old Christine” with Julia Louis-Dreyfus of “Seinfeld” fame. It resumes shooting in August. She has appeared in more than a dozen movies, including “Evan Almighty,” “Monster-in-Law” and “My Super Ex-Girlfriend,” and has been heard in such animated features as “Barnyard” and “Over the Hedge.”

Wanda Sykes wife

Sykes married David Hall in 1991 and was divorced in 1998. On November 15, 2008, she made it publicly known that she is a proud lesbian. She married her partner in California on October 25, 2008, prior to the passage of Proposition 8.

"Now, I gotta get in their face," she reportedly said. "I'm proud to be a woman. I'm proud to be a black woman, and I'm proud to be gay."

To see Wanda Sykes at Jay Leno visit http://www.nbc.com/The_Tonight_Show_with_Jay_Leno/video/clips/wanda-sykes-holding-back-923/693781/

Arnold Schwarzenegger has proclaimed a state of emergency in Santa Barbara County due to fires

There are serious problems in Santa Barbara County due to Big Sur. California fires threaten Big Sur, Santa Barbara County.

Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the central California, United States, coast where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. The terrain offers stunning views, making Big Sur a popular tourist destination. Big Sur's Cone Peak is the highest coastal mountain in the lower 48 states, ascending nearly a mile (5,155 feet/1.6 km) above sea level, only three miles (4.8 km) from the ocean. (Wikipedia)

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proclaimed a state of emergency in Santa Barbara County, where a wildfire has destroyed more than 100 homes.
The governor's declaration Friday dedicates state personnel and equipment to the firefighting effort in the celebrity enclave of Montecito and the town of Santa Barbara.

The fire spread overnight to about 2,500 acres—nearly 4 square miles—prompting the city of Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara County to declare a local emergency. Officials there asked Schwarzenegger for a state declaration.

The wind-whipped blaze has forced thousands of residents to evacuate and has injured at least 13 people.

The proclamation

A PROCLAMATION OF A STATE OF EMERGENCY

WHEREAS on November 13, 2008, a wildfire started in Santa Barbara County and continues to spread; and
WHEREAS the fire has burned approximately 2,500 acres with no containment; and
WHEREAS the fire has already injured 10 people, destroyed over 100 homes, and caused loss of power in the area; and
WHEREAS the fire has required mandatory evacuations and road closures, and residents have been forced to seek emergency shelter; and
WHEREAS on November 13, 2008, I requested, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency granted, a Fire Management Assistance Grant for this fire; and
WHEREAS on November 13, 2008, the City of Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara County declared a local emergency, and requested that I declare a state of emergency; and
WHEREAS the circumstances of this wildfire, by reason of their magnitude, are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment and facilities of any single county, city and county, or city and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to combat; and
WHEREAS under the provisions of section 8558(b) of the California Government Code, I find that conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property exist due to the fire in Santa Barbara County.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State of California, in accordance with the authority vested in me by the state Constitution and statutes, including the California Emergency Services Act, and in particular, section 8625 of the California Government Code, HEREBY PROCLAIM A STATE OF EMERGENCY to exist within Santa Barbara County.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that all agencies of the state government utilize and employ state personnel, equipment and facilities for the performance of any and all activities consistent with the direction of my Office of Emergency Services (OES) and the State Emergency Plan, and that OES provide local government assistance under the authority of the California Disaster Assistance Act.
I FURTHER DIRECT that as soon as hereafter possible, this proclamation be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice be given of this proclamation.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 14th Day of November 2008.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGERGovernor of California

Post sources: http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/11019 , http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D94ERJ3G0&show_article=1, http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/04/wildfires/index.html.

Is General Motors Worth Saving?

I have found a great article today and I want to share it with you. The article is called Is General Motors Worth Saving? and it was written by Bill Saporito.

General Motors had financial problems in the past but they were fighting to win the financial freedom.

GM reported Big Losses and now bankruptcy is knocking on their door and it is obvious that GM can't survive as an ongoing entity without massive federal assistance.

But enough with my comments here is the article. Bill Saporito explains why General Motors are in big trouble.

For months, General Motors had been telling everyone who would listen that bankruptcy was not an option. It had a $30 billion cash pile and plans to restructure the company as the economy rebounded and 2007 U.S. auto sales topped 16 million units.

Then came October. Sales plummeted an astounding 45% over the same period last year, a result of a slowing economy and a dearth of financing for would-be car buyers. Total U.S. car and light-truck sales this year could come in at 13.5 million, 2.6 million fewer than last year. "That's in nobody's business plan," says Kimberly Rodriguez, an automotive specialist with Grant Thornton. "The best planning in the world cannot survive that fluctuation." It's now clear that GM can't survive as an ongoing entity without massive federal assistance. The company is burning through more than $2 billion each month. It has $16 billion left. As if they were aboard a dirigible losing altitude, GM's bosses have been frantically throwing all manner of stuff overboard — retiree health-care benefits, people, assets, new car design — to conserve $5 billion. That will get it through the year. (See pictures of the 50 worst cars of all time.)

But 2009 is the year of reckoning for GM and the rest of the domestic auto industry, if not the economy as a whole. The GM crisis is raising once again the issue of how far the government should go in rescuing banks, insurance companies, mortgage holders, credit-card issuers and now carmakers. GM has no doubts about it. "Immediate federal funding is essential in order for the U.S. automotive industry to weather this downturn," GM president Fritz Henderson admitted to investors during a conference call in which GM announced a third-quarter loss of $2.5 billion.

No one is more aware of that need than Barack Obama, who carried Michigan by a huge margin. The President-elect is committed to helping the Detroit Three, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leading a rescue party that plans to get a bailout bill in front of President Bush before Thanksgiving. So far, the President has offered only to speed through Congress an already approved $25 billion loan to help Detroit create new fuel-efficient models. But GM needs an additional $10 billion simply to pay its bills next year and $15 billion more to close plants, compensate redundant workers and dump some of its lesser-performing brands.

The issue boils down to a historic proposition: Is what's good for GM still good for the country?
"If GM were to go into a free-fall bankruptcy and didn't pay its trade debts, then the entire domestic auto industry shuts down," says Rodriguez. The system — the domestic auto plants and their interconnected group of suppliers — is far bigger than GM. It includes 54 North American manufacturing plants and at least 4,000 so-called Tier 1 suppliers — firms that feed parts and subassemblies directly to those plants. That includes mom-and-pop outfits but also a dozen or so large companies such as Lear, Johnson Controls and GM's former captive Delphi. Beyond those are thousands of the suppliers' suppliers.

Although the Detroit Three directly employed about 240,000 people last year, according to the industry-allied Center for Automotive Research (CAR) in Ann Arbor, Mich., the multiplier effect is large, which is typical in manufacturing. Throw in the partsmakers and other suppliers, and you have an additional 974,000 jobs. Together, says CAR, these 1.2 million workers spend enough to keep 1.7 million more people employed. That gets you to 2.9 million jobs tied to the Detroit Three, and even if you discount the figures because of CAR's allegiance, it's a big number. Shut down Detroit, and the national unemployment rate heads toward 10% in a hurry. (See Pictures of the Week.)

Even if just one of the Detroit Three — and GM is the most likely, as Ford is in better shape and Chrysler is much smaller — spiraled into a free-fall bankruptcy, the systemic effects, at least initially, would be huge. The whole industry would not be able to build cars in the U.S., because of the lack of parts. "Unlike the airlines or steel, when you look at the automobile industry and the fact that the whole supplier base is connected — to Ford, Chrysler, Toyota — it will have a ripple effect on the entire industry," says Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale, a bankruptcy expert at the Detroit office of Foley & Lardner, a law firm that represents some GM suppliers.

TrueThinker 2.0 Launches the Knowledge-Networking Tool

We have good news for TrueThinker fans: the Knowledge-Networking Tool TrueThinker 2.0 Launches.

According to prweb.com TrueThinker version 2.0 moves beyond social networking, instead offering users a powerful, artificial intelligence-based tool for "knowledge networking".

TrueThinker is a new tool for intelligent and easy information gathering brought to you by As It Is, Inc.

TrueThinker is a service that assists in the management of your virtual world using artificial intelligence to enhance your internet experience by helping you efficiently save, organize, and share documents and website links. TrueThinker learns by studying what you save and how you organize information.

Online tool, TrueThinker, available today in redesigned version 2.0, moves beyond social networking. Instead, it offers people or companies a powerful, artificial intelligence-based tool for "knowledge networking".

"Why network just to network?" asked William Dale Koehler, president, CEO and co-founder of As It Is, Inc., the company that created TrueThinker. "TrueThinker is a complete system for sharing, organizing and actually growing knowledge, which is then available for you and others to use. Think of it as your global mindtrust."

Some ways to use TrueThinker:
Enthusiasts or hobbyists can grow their knowledge on their favorite topics by sharing experiences, tips and techniques, news and other information with anyone who has the same interest.

Interest groups can efficiently organize, educate and share ideas locally or globally.
Businesses can offer employees one place to access "institutional wisdom" and experience, data and research, as well as forums for people to collaborate on project development, training and other activities.No clutter, no spamOther benefits:

You can access TrueThinker from any computer, making your accumulated knowledge on just about anything accessible from anywhere. Even better, TrueThinker is a membership service, so there's no advertising clutter or invasion of privacy. A year-long membership to TrueThinker costs $30. Learn more at TrueThinker Learn More. Sign up at www.TrueThinker.com.

Networking for Knowledge:TrueThinker's knowledge-management, community and organization features make creating, growing and sharing knowledge on any topic easy:
Communities: You or your organization can create private or public communities of people with the same social, business, research or other interests. There, you share ideas, resources and information, as well as documents and photos.

KnowledgeBank: You or your employees can store relevant and valued information in the private, secure and searchable TrueThinker KnowledgeBank. You can save documents, images, links, bookmarks, databases and more, organizing the information in any way you like.
Intelligent organization: TrueThinker contains patented AI technology (the "AutoGnome™") that categorizes the information you save--links, searches, documents, etc. It does this after a training period in which it learns about what information you save, and how you organize it.TrueThinker also offers a referral program, in which members earn $10 every time they refer someone who purchases a TrueThinker membership using a special invitation code.

Michelle Williams father will be extradited to US

Problems in Michelle Williams family her father will be accused for tax evasion charges and will be sent to US.

Michelle Williams father, Larry Williams who is one of the best stock market trader, agreed Tuesday to return to the United States to face tax evasion charges.





Larry Williams has been fighting extradition since he was arrested by Australian police in 2006 after flying to Sydney for a speaking tour in Australia and New Zealand. He has been free on bail.
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service wants to question the 65-year-old Virgin Islands resident about a possible $1.5 million in unpaid taxes from book royalties and earnings related to international seminars he conducted between 1990 and 2001.

Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that Williams will leave for Los Angeles on Wednesday.

"I will fight this and win," Williams said before sheriffs escorted him from court. "I will be back — I have a lot of friends here in Australia."

Michelle Williams received an Oscar nomination as best supporting actress for her performance in the 2005 film "Brokeback Mountain," playing the wife of Heath Ledger's character. Ledger, who died from an accidental prescription drug overdose in January, is the father of her 3-year-old daughter Matilda Rose, Larry Williams' granddaughter.

The source is http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081111/ap_en_mo/as_people_larry_williams;_ylt=AqOXB5D6gDh_jWG_Jbkqn9DXn414