Bill Howe Family of Companies Named Finalist in Better Business Bureau Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics for Second Year in a Row

Esteemed San Diego plumber, Bill Howe, and his wife Tina Howe, proudly accept recognition of their continued efforts towards ethical marketplace practices

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) December 18, 2012
For the second consecutive year, the Bill Howe Family of Companies has been named a finalist of the Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics. The award winners were announced during an award ceremony on December 4, 2012 at the Town & Country Resort in Mission Valley in San Diego. Plumber and businessman Bill Howe and his wife, Tina Howe, accepted the award for 2nd place finalist in the “100-249 employees” category.
In its 15th year, the BBB Torch Awards honor companies that have made a commitment to ethical excellence, integrity and support of the San Diego marketplace, despite any adversities. To be considered for the award, companies must compile a nomination that outlines and proves their commitment to ethics in categories including management practices, community and stakeholder relations, communications and marketing practices, and industry reputation. A panel of judges reviews the submissions and grades each category on a scale of 1-10. While many of the businesses that are nominated for the award are in the San Diego heating and air conditioning or plumbing business, the award is open to businesses in any industry.
“We are here to honor companies that epitomize ethics and integrity, and present them with a coveted Torch Award. But today’s gathering is about much more than that,” said Sheryl Bilbrey, San Diego BBB President and CEO, during the ceremony’s opening remarks. “Today, we honor one another for our steadfast commitment to doing the right thing for consumers in a time when so many others struggle to remain accountable.”
The Bill Howe Family of Companies started with Bill Howe Plumbing, Inc. in 1980 and now offers services in San Diego heating and air conditioning, as well as restoration and flood services. Since its inception, the company upholds their philosophy that to be successful they focus on ensuring the happiness of their employees, their customers and their community. Recently, the Bill Howe Family of Companies proved their philosophy has been a success when they moved to an office more than twice the size of the previous office, to accommodate their growing workforce.
“The Torch Award nomination process has been an incredibly rewarding experience as we looked at every aspect of our company and put all of our efforts on paper,” said Tina Howe, Vice President of the Bill Howe Family of Companies. “When you are doing business, it is not always easy to know the most ethical decision to make; sometimes it means more money, or sometimes it means we need to seek outside counsel. Whatever it takes, we strive to build our company on honest and ethical practices.

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Hurricane Sandy Victims Find Refuge on Timeshare Marketplace RedWeek.com

Timeshares are not only for fun vacation getaways, as evidenced by the story of RedWeek.com members Bob and Jody; left homeless by Hurricane Sandy last month. With the holidays approaching, Bob and Judy turned to leading timeshare marketplace RedWeek.com to secure a timeshare rental in New York City.

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) December 19, 2012
Timeshares are not only for fun vacation getaways, as evidenced by the story of RedWeek.com members Bob and Jody; left homeless by Hurricane Sandy last month.
Bob and Judy are one of the many families displaced by the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. With their Long Island home flooded and area hotels at capacity; the Bob and Judy began looking for a short-term rental property to no avail. Frustrated and exhausted, they began looking at every alternative for a place to live.
As timeshare owners, Bob and Judy knew the advantages of timesharing and had recently used leading timeshare marketplace RedWeek.com to rent out their own Aruba timeshare. Homeless and with the holidays approaching, they turned to RedWeek.com and began searching for timeshare rentals at The Manhattan Club resort in New York City.
“We decided to rent multiple units at the Manhattan Club so that we could spend the holiday all together in Manhattan,” said Jody. “When my husband and I checked in to the Manhattan Club, it was so luxurious that I actually began tearing up.”
Unlike standard hotels, timeshares offer home-like accommodations with multiple bedrooms, full kitchens or kitchenettes, and living and dining areas. Renting a timeshare directly from an owner is often cheaper than staying at a hotel, and the resorts offer the same hotel amenities such as pools, exercise facilities, reception areas, and concierge services.
“I have only good things to say about RedWeek and the Manhattan Club,” said Jody. “I plan to use RedWeek again when I need a vacation - the value and the superior accommodations were just more than I could have hoped for.”
To learn more about RedWeek.com or timesharing visit http://www.redweek.com.
About RedWeek.com:
RedWeek® is a registered trademark of RedWeek, Inc. RedWeek.com is a member-supported marketplace for timeshare rentals and resales, and also provides a full-service timeshare resale offering. You can find reviews, ratings, prices, availability, full-service exchange, and complete resort descriptions for all timeshare resorts to make vacation selection easier. Boasting an A+ Better Business Bureau rating, RedWeek has more than 1.5 million registered users and includes 5,000 timeshare resorts worldwide.

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Pure-Ecommerce.com Introduces Its New 2013 Premier Internet Business Site Collection Featuring Upgraded Designs, Larger Product Counts, and Video and Mobile Marketing

14 New Pure-Ecommerce.com Internet Businesses for Sale in the Most Popular Niche Markets in the Online Marketplace

CARY, NC (PRWEB) December 19, 2012
Pure-Ecommerce.com introduces its 2013 Premier Internet Business Site Collection. This incredible new collection of 14 internet businesses for sale has been created in some of the most popular niche markets in the online marketplace. The Collection includes: eBaseballOutlet.com, eBasketballOutlet.com, EverythingDogShop.com, BlueSkyBeachStore.com, EveryStyleGift.com, eSoccerOutlet.com, ShootandScoreSports.com, BlackandWhiteDecorShop.com, GroovyGreenToys.com, ClassActCat.com, StudioDecorBoutique.com, GlassofWinePlease.com, AllAmericanMadePets.com, and TheModernBabyNursery.com. Pure-Ecommerce.com will continuously be introducing new sites to the Collection throughout 2013. It will also be offering more “sister” sites (such as eBaseballOutlet.com, eBasketballOutlet.com and eSoccerOutlet.com) to help clients expand their brand presence in the online marketplace by owning multiple internet businesses.
All Pure-Ecommerce internet businesses for sale come with a high quality, professionally designed site, as well as a 10- step training program and 40 hours of consulting to help burgeoning ecommerce entrepreneurs each step of the way! Every product featured on this site is drop shipped so no inventory is needed. It also allows for less overhead and gives owners more flexibility in managing their business and schedule. These sites feature upgraded designs as well as the addition of larger product counts, as well as Video Marketing and a Marketing Application and Site!
Pure-Ecommerce strives to be at the forefront of technology and incorporate the latest applications in all its internet business offerings. Varner wants her small business ecommerce clients to have all the latest and greatest technologies available to large ecommerce retailers. Pure-Ecommerce CEO Jennifer Varner says, “Mobile and Video Marketing are vital to any ecommerce strategy and help the e-retailer stay competitive, increase sales, drive up SEO rankings, build customer loyalty, and much more.” According to digital marketing technology company Monetate the growth in traffic on leading ecommerce websites over the past year has grown 103% with nearly 86 million Americans now shopping on their smartphones. And Practical Ecommerce says “increasing numbers of online retailers will be using video in 2013 to increase sales, find new potential customers, and build brand relationships.” Through personalized consultation and 24/7 access to an E-Learning Library, Varner and her team help clients understand how to use mobile and video marketing and design strategies to be best positioned to capitalize on these shifting market dynamics.
Pure-Ecommerce.com celebrates its sixth anniversary in 2013 and has helped over 550 entrepreneurs in the U.S. and Canada start their own internet businesses. CEO Jennifer Varner founded Pure-Ecommerce after gaining experience and success through starting one of the largest online maternity clothing stores, BellaBluMaternity.com. After selling her company, she began helping others realize their dreams of owning a business.
Buying a business from Pure-Ecommerce.com allows a budding entrepreneur to step into the business of their dreams with minimal start-up costs and low monthly and have someone personally mentor them through all aspects of setting up, running, and then growing an online business. Best of all, it provides them the opportunity to have a flexible schedule and to work when they want, where they want. A Pure-Ecommerce business can be run on a part-time basis while someone is still working or as a full-time business, depending upon the time one puts into growing their business. Pure-Ecommerce’s turnkey sites are especially attractive to budding mompreneurs and entrepreneurs; boomers looking for additional income to supplement their retirement; people looking for work-life balance; and the unemployed wishing to be their own boss and create their own destiny.
Pure-Ecommerce has been featured in several national magazines and websites such as Entrepreneur, Forbes and WomenEntrepreneur.com, as well as in national newspapers and on TV news programs. Pure-Ecommerce has also been

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Selling flak jackets in the cyberwars

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When the Israeli army and Hamas trade virtual blows in cyberspace, or when hacker groups like Anonymous rise from the digital ether, or when WikiLeaks dumps a trove of classified documents, some see a lawless Internet. But Matthew Prince, chief executive at CloudFlare, a little-known Internet start-up that serves some of the Web's most controversial characters, sees a business opportunity. Founded in 2010, CloudFlare markets itself as an Internet intermediary that shields websites from distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS, attacks, the crude but effective weapon that hackers use to bludgeon websites until they go dark. The 40-person company claims to route up to 5 percent of all Internet traffic through its global network. Prince calls his company the "Switzerland" of cyberspace - assiduously neutral and open to all comers. But just as companies like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook have faced profound questions about the balance between free speech and openness on the Internet and national security and law enforcement concerns, CloudFlare's business has posed another thorny question: what kinds of services, if any, should an American company be allowed to offer designated terrorists and cyber criminals? CloudFlare's unusual position at the heart of this debate came to the fore last month, when the Israel Defense Forces sought help from CloudFlare after its website was struck by attackers based in Gaza. The IDF was turning to the same company that provides those services to Hamas and the al-Quds Brigades, according to publicly searchable domain information. Both Hamas and al-Quds, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, are designated by the United States as terrorist groups. Under the USA Patriot Act, U.S. firms are forbidden from providing "material support" to groups deemed foreign terrorist organizations. But what constitutes material support - like many other facets of the law itself - has been subject to intense debate. CloudFlare's dealings have attracted heated criticism in the blogosphere from both Israelis and Palestinians, but Prince defended his company as a champion of free speech. "Both sides have an absolute right to tell their story," said Prince, a 38-year old former lawyer. "We're not providing material support for anybody. We're not sending money, or helping people arm themselves." Prince noted that his company only provides defensive capabilities that enable websites to stay online. "We can't be sitting in a role where we decide what is good or what is bad based on our own personal biases," he said. "That's a huge slippery slope." Many U.S. agencies are customers, but so is WikiLeaks, the whistle-blowing organization. CloudFlare has consulted for many Wall Street institutions, yet also protects Anonymous, the "hacktivist" group associated with the Occupy movement. Prince's stance could be tested at a time when some lawmakers in the United States and Europe, armed with evidence that militant groups rely on the Web for critical operations and recruitment purposes, have pressured Internet companies to censor content or cut off customers. Last month, conservative political lobbies, as well as seven lawmakers led by Ted Poe, a Republican from Texas, urged the FBI to shut down the Hamas Twitter account. The account remains active; Twitter declined to comment. MATERIAL SUPPORT Although it has never prosecuted an Internet company under the Patriot Act, the government's use of the material support argument has steadily risen since 2006. Since September 11, 2001, more than 260 cases have been charged under the provision, according to Fordham Law School's Terrorism Trends database. Catherine Lotrionte, the director of Georgetown University's Institute for Law, Science and Global Security and a former Central Intelligence Agency lawyer, argued that Internet companies should be more closely regulated. "Material support includes web services," Lotrionte said. "Denying them services makes it more costly for the terrorists. You're cornering them." But others have warned that an aggressive government approach would have a chilling effect on free speech. "We're resurrecting the kind of broad-brush approaches we used in the McCarthy era," said David Cole, who represented the Humanitarian Law Project, a non-profit organization that was charged by the Justice Department for teaching law to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is designated by the United States as a terrorist group. The group took its case to the Supreme Court but lost in 2010. The material support law is vague and ill-crafted, to the point where basic telecom providers, for instance, could be found guilty by association if a terrorist logs onto the Web to plot an attack, Cole said. In that case, he asked, "Do we really think that AT&T or Google should be held accountable?" CloudFlare said it has not been contacted about its services by the U.S. government. Spokespeople for Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, told Reuters they contracted a cyber-security company in Gaza that out-sources work to foreign companies, but declined to comment further. The IDF confirmed it had hired CloudFlare, but declined to discuss "internal security" matters. CloudFlare offers many of its services for free, but the company says websites seeking advanced protection and features can see their bill rise to more than $3,000 a month. Prince declined to discuss the business arrangements with specific customers. While not yet profitable, CloudFlare has more than doubled its revenue in the past four months, according to Prince, and is picking up 3,000 new customers a day. The company has raked in more than $22 million from venture capital firms including New Enterprise Associates, Venrock and Pelion Venture Partners. Prince, a Midwestern native with mussed brown hair who holds a law degree from the University of Chicago, said he has a track record of working on the right side of the law. A decade ago, Prince provided free legal aid to Spamhaus, an international group that tracked email spammers and identity thieves. He went on to create Project Honey Pot, an open source spam-tracking endeavor that turned over findings to police. Prince's latest company, CloudFlare, has been hailed by groups such as the Committee to Protect Journalists for protecting speech. Another client, the World Economic Forum, named CloudFlare among its 2012 "technology pioneers" for its work. But it also owes its profile to its most controversial customers. CloudFlare has served 4Chan, the online messaging community that spawned Anonymous. LulzSec, the hacker group best known for targeting Sony Corp, is another customer. And since last May, the company has propped up WikiLeaks after a vigilante hacker group crashed the document repository. Last year, members of the hacker collective UgNazi, whose exploits include pilfering user account information from eBay and crashing the CIA.gov website, broke into Prince's cell phone and email accounts. "It was a personal affront," Prince said. "But we never kicked them off either." Prince said CloudFlare would comply with a valid court order to remove a customer, but that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has never requested a takedown. The company has agreed to turn over information to authorities on "exceedingly rare" occasions, he acknowledged, declining to elaborate. "Any company that doesn't do that won't be in business long," Prince said. But in an email, he added: "We have a deep and abiding respect for our users' privacy, disclose to our users whenever possible if we are ordered to turn over information and would fight an order that we believed was not proper." Juliannne Sohn, an FBI spokeswoman, declined to comment. Michael Sussmann, a former Justice Department lawyer who prosecuted computer crimes, said U.S. law enforcement agencies may in fact prefer that the Web's most wanted are parked behind CloudFlare rather than a foreign service over which they have no jurisdiction. Federal investigators "want to gather information from as many sources as they can, and they're happy to get it," Sussmann said. In an era of rampant cyber warfare, Prince acknowledged he is something of a war profiteer, but with a wrinkle. "We're not selling bullets," he said. "We're selling flak jackets."

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Merry Christmas, America-Haters?

When TNT was preparing its annual special "Christmas in Washington" with the president of the United States, you'd think the last star musician they would consider to join the official caroling would be Psy, the South Korean rapper. What on Earth is Christmasy about this man's invisible-horse-riding dance to his dorky disco-rap hit "Gangnam Style"? It's not exactly the natural flip-side to "O Holy Night." But TNT couldn't resist this year's YouTube sensation. This inane publicity stunt backfired when the website Mediaite reported on Dec. 7 that Psy (real name: Park Jae-sang) had participated in a 2002 protest in which he crushed a model of an American tank with a microphone stand. But that's nothing compared to the footage of a 2004 performance after a Korean missionary was slaughtered by Islamists in Iraq. These lyrics cannot be misunderstood. "Kill those f—-ing Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives ... Kill those f—-ing Yankees who ordered them to torture ... Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers ... Kill them all slowly and painfully." This isn't just anti-American. It's anti-human. Guess where this story first surfaced in the American media? CNN, from the same corporate family tree as TNT. It was posted back on Oct. 6 on CNN's iReport, an open-source online news feature that allows users to submit stories for CNN consideration. The Korean one-hit wonder put out the usual abject careerist apology, but he weirdly said, "I'm deeply sorry for how these lyrics could be interpreted." Those darn lyrics and those darn people who misinterpret lyrics about killing Yankees' mothers. It is like Barack Obama expressing regret for the awful things said about Susan Rice, ignoring the awful things said by Susan Rice. Psy is now a millionaire. As Jim Treacher wrote at the Daily Caller: "So far he's made over $8 million from the song, about $3 million of it from the people he once wanted to kill." Brad Schaeffer at Big Hollywood noted his own father fought for South Korea's independence in the Korean War: "Had it not been for 'f——-g Yankees' like my Dad, this now-wealthy South Korean wouldn't be 'Oppan Gangnam Style' so much as 'Starving Pyongyang Style.'" (Gangnam is a posh district in the South Korean capital of Seoul.) Despite the controversy, neither the Obama White House nor the TNT brass felt it was necessary to send Psy packing before the Dec. 9 taping. On Saturday, ABC reporter Muhammad Lila merely repeated, "the White House says the concert will go on and that President Obama will attend, saying that they have no control over who performs at that concert." What moral cowardice. On Monday morning, another pliant publicist, NBC correspondent Peter Alexander, calmly relayed that the White House did take control on the Psy front — on its own "We The People" website, where the people may post petitions to the president for their fellow citizens to sign. A petition asking Obama to dump Psy from the Christmas concert was itself dumped. Alexander explained: "But that petition was removed because the rules say the petitions only apply to federal actions. And, of course, the President had no say over who the private charity chose to invite." This is double baloney. The White House hasn't removed silly "federal action" petitions like the one asking to "Nationalize the Twinkie Industry," or one to "Secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016." They removed one that they didn't want people to sign. As for Obama having "no say over" who appeared on the TNT show, the president could easily declare he wasn't going to share a stage with this America-hater. Or he could have obviously placed one phone call to Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes (an Obama donor), and expressed the dismay of the President of the United States. Instead, the Obamas came and honored Psy. Yes, the president honored a man who despised America enough to want its citizens slaughtered. John Eggerton of Broadcasting and Cable magazine observed, "At the end of the taping, when the First Family customarily shakes hands and talks briefly with the performers, the First Lady gave Psy a hug, followed by a handshake from the President, who engaged Psy in a short, animated discussion — at one point Psy appeared to rock back with laughter — and patted the singer on the shoulder." I never thought I'd ever view a Christmas special featuring a hideous hater of America celebrated by the President of the United States.

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Why does Google build apps for its rival Apple's iPhone?

Why help a key competitor? Two words: Advertising and data There isn't any other way to say it: Apple and Google really don't like each other. Apple CEO Steve Jobs vowed to destroy the Google geniuses behind the Android operating system for allegedly stealing the basic mechanics of the iPhone. Apple and Google-partner Samsung are constantly at one another's throats over patents. And most recently new Apple CEO Tim Cook gave two of Google's most popular products — Google Maps and YouTube — the boot from iOS 6. Then the unthinkable happened: Fans started turning on Apple. Even the most gushy tech critic had to admit that Apple's replacement for Google Maps was a train wreck, a rare blight on the company's otherwise stainless track record (a failure, notes Zara Kessler at Bloomberg, which ironically might ultimately benefit Apple). Why, then, would Google throw its chief rival a life preserver this week and deliver Google Maps to iOS — as well as handing over Chrome and an awesome new Gmail app in recent weeks? Two main reasons: 1. Potential advertising: "Google doesn't make money off of Android which is open source; they make money when people use Google services," Joel Spolsky, CEO of Stack Overflow, tells Wired. Google Maps on the iPhone doesn't have ads yet, although the Android version does. In the end, Google's primary concern is to get its services in front of as many eyeballs as possible — even if those eyeballs are peering into an iPhone. SEE MORE: Steve Jobs' mysterious iMac-controlled yacht 2. More data with which to make its products better: Google Maps is every marketer's dream. Mapping software gives them invaluable consumer data to work with, like the city you live in, the stores you shop at, the restaurants you frequent, where you get your coffee, and much, much more. "Google needs the traffic that iOS users bring," says Casey Newton at CNET. Those millions of iPhone owners unknowingly feed Google the analytics it needs to make Google Maps the superior, celebrated product it's become. The same goes for Chrome. And Gmail. And "Google is hardly the first company to aggressively support a rival platform for selfish reasons," says Ryan Tate at Wired. Microsoft was a strong backer of Apple's Macintosh for decades because its core business was selling applications [Word, Excel, etc.], not Microsoft's competing operating system Windows… Google's willingness to ship iOS apps could look smarter as time goes on. The company trounces Apple when it comes to all things cloud, not just maps and e-mail; its social network, search engine, and highly optimized data centers could give its iOS apps an even bigger edge in the coming years.

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Samsung Smart TVs: The next frontier for data theft and hacking [video]

Smart TVs, particularly Samsung’s (005930) last few generations of flat screens, can be hacked to give attackers remote access according to a security startup called ReVuln. The company says it discovered a “zero-day exploit” that hackers could potentially use to perform malicious activities that range from stealing accounts linked through apps to using built-in webcams and microphones to spy on unsuspecting couch potatoes. Don’t panic just yet, though. In order for the exploit to be activated, a hacker needs to plug a USB drive loaded with malicious software into the actual TV to bypass the Linux-based OS/firmware on Samsung’s Smart TVs. But, if a hacker were to pull that off, every piece of data stored on a Smart TV could theoretically be retrieved. [More from BGR: Has the iPhone peaked? Apple’s iPhone 4S seen outselling iPhone 5] [More from BGR: Dell confirms it will exit smartphone business, drop Android] As if the possibility of someone stealing your information and spying on you isn’t scary enough, according to ComputerWorld, “it is also possible to copy the configuration of a TV’s remote control, which would allow a hacker to copy the remote control’s settings, and remotely change the channel.” ReVuln told The Register it hasn’t informed Samsung of the vulnerability and plans to sell the details of in hopes of “speeding up” development of a fix. A video of the exploit as proof from ReVuln follows below.

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Huge Wave of Google App Updates Hits iOS, Android

Google just brought iPhone and Android phone users a holiday gift. Google Maps has returned to the iPhone, this time in the form of its own separate app, while Google Currents -- the company's Flipboard-style online magazine app for Android -- received a substantial update as well. Besides the two big updates, about a half-dozen other apps for Android and Google TV received bug fixes and new features, according to Android Police blogger Ryan Whitwam. Here's a look at what to expect, and where the rough edges still lay. Google Maps is back It was technically never there to begin with; the iPhone simply had a "Maps" app included, which used Google Maps' data. But a few months ago, Apple switched from using Google's map data to its own, which caused no end of problems as Apple's data was incorrect much more often. These problems were sometimes hilarious, but in at least one case they were dangerous, as several motorists had to be rescued after becoming stranded inside an Australian national park (where Apple's maps said the town they were trying to get to was). Google Maps has also received a thumbs-down from the Victoria police in Australia, but is regarded as more reliable overall. It's a completely new app this time, and while it has at least one "Android-ism" according to tech expert John Gruber (an Ice Cream Sandwich-style menu button), it's reported to work well and doesn't show ads like the YouTube app does. It does, however, keep asking you to log in to your Google account so that it can track your location data. Google Currents has a new look and new features The update to digital magazine app Google Currents brings its features more in line with Google Reader, the tech giant's online newsreader app which can monitor almost any website for updates. Like Google Reader, Currents can now "star" stories to put them in a separate list, can show which stories you've already read, and has a widget to put on your Android home screen. Other added features include new ways to scan editions and stories, and filter out sections you aren't interested in. Bugfixes and updates for other Google apps Google Earth and Google Drive received miscellaneous bugfixes "and other improvements," while Google Offers (a Groupon competitor) now features a "Greatly improved purchase experience." The Google Search app received a slew of additions to its Siri-like Google Now feature, including new cards to help while you are out and about and new voice actions (like asking it to tell you what song is playing nearby). The Field Trip augmented reality app now uses less battery life, and lets you "save cards" and favorite places you visit, as well as report incorrect data to Google. Finally, Google TV Search and PrimeTime for Google TV both received performance and stability updates. Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

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Strict Gun Control - Fewer Shootings in Australia, Japan and the UK; Would It Work in US?

Six days after the tragic shooting in Newtown and one day after President Obama announced a gun control task force, hundreds of you wrote in asking about future legislation and the consequences of this new task force.
Pam Ramagano tweeted asking "What can the president really do? Doesn't he need the approval of Congress to do anything?"
Kevin Boutelle wondered "What about the support that is so desperately needed for the mentally insane?…Those that would still do harm to others regardless of the weapon they wield? Where is that "task force"?"
And @ViPearson asked "Do you think that the media is partly responsible for the violence…?"
Excellent questions, and here are the answers:
Keep the questions coming via Twitter and Facebook. I'll see you tomorrow on GMA and Sunday on This Week.

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Cricket-NZ board to meet former captains to improve communication

Dec 21 (Reuters) - New Zealand Cricket (NZC) will meet with former skippers in a bid to improve communication within the national set-up in the wake of the controversy surrounding the handling of Ross Taylor's demotion from the captaincy.
Taylor was stripped of the one-day and Twenty20 captaincy this month at the recommendation of head coach Mike Hesson following their tour of Sri Lanka and the disgruntled batsman then turned down an offer to continue as test skipper.
Former players criticised NZC for the controversy, forcing the board to make a public apology to the cricketer, who made himself unavailable for the South Africa tour.
Taylor's absence and the unavailability of former skipper Daniel Vettori due to injury meant that opener Brendon McCullum, another former captain, was handed the reins of the team.
"Former captains will be invited to attend the meeting which is intended to be an annual event designed to provide quality input from both the former captains and the players who were part of their era in cricket," NZC said in a statement.
"NZC has reached the conclusion that there was obviously misunderstanding and miscommunication between the parties involved," the board's Chief Executive David White said.
"We've already acknowledged mistakes were made on this issue and we have learned from those mistakes. Team management has given an undertaking to improve communication and to ensure nothing similar occurs again.
"The board and management of NZC make that same commitment. NZC believes it now serves no useful purpose to further rake over the events of the captaincy change. It is time to draw a line under the issue."
The Black Caps will open their campaign in South Africa with a T20 game in Durban on Friday. The tour includes two tests, three ODIs and three Twenty20 matches. (Writing by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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