The media mogul Oprah Winfrey will end her iconic daytime talk show, “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” in 2011 as she prepares to start a cable channel of her own.
A spokeswoman for Ms. Winfrey’s production company confirmed Thursday evening that Ms. Winfrey will make the announcement on her program on Friday. The plans were first reported by WABC, the ABC station in New York City.
“The sun will set on the Oprah show as its 25th season draws to a close on September 9, 2011,” WABC said.
In a statement, CBS Television Distribution said, “We have the greatest respect for Oprah and wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavors. We know that anything she turns her hand to will be a great success. We look forward to working with her for the next several years, and hopefully afterwards as well.”
Ms. Winfrey, 55, informed her talk show staff of the decision on Thursday afternoon. The news immediately rattled the television world, which had expected that she would make a decision about the fate of her program by the end of the year.
After her broadcast talk show winds down, Ms. Winfrey will concentrate exclusively on her forthcoming cable channel, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. The channel is a joint venture between her production company and Discovery Communications. Getting the channel off the ground has proved challenging amid management turnover and an uncertain advertising climate.
OWN will have its premiere on cable in January 2011, according to a person with knowledge of Ms. Winfrey’s decision who insisted on anonymity. That timeline will theoretically give Ms. Winfrey about nine months to promote her cable channel on her existing show.
“The Oprah Winfrey Show” remains the most successful talk show in syndication, reaching about seven million viewers a day. It has been vital to the success of ABC, whose local station group has been the primary home of the show since it started in syndication in 1986.
Archive for the 'Family' Category
Oprah Winfrey To End Her Show
No More Hand Helds: ITS THE LAW!
I’m extremely happy this law has finally come to pass! I’m SOOOO very against texting, calling and whatever else while driving. While this is a step in the right direction, it doesn’t eradicate the ENTIRE problem. Sure, being occupied by dialing and texting is a major issue contributing to accidents … but what about being distracted PERIOD? It’s not just the fact that you’re taking your eyes off the road, its also the fact that your judgement and perception is skewed because your attention is with whomever you are speaking to on the phone.
It’s important to understand that not all of us are people that can do two things at once. Many people cant even chew gum and walk nevermind operate a vehicle and talk on the phone.
I just hope people take this law seriously and understand the consequences. It shouldn’t take a fender bender, or worse a DEATH for someone to realize how dangerous this is. You could be the safest driver in the world but if someone ELSE isn’t paying attention you could lose your life or the life of someone you love.
PLEASE drive responsibly and don’t take this issue lightly.
An Ontario law came into effect Monday making it illegal for drivers to use hand-held cellphones, BlackBerrys and other electronic devices while behind the wheel.
Drivers are forbidden to use hand-held devices to talk, text or email while behind the wheel, or to use portable video games or DVD players.
The only exception to the ban is a 911 call.
“This law is about keeping your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel,” Transportation Minister Jim Bradley said at a news conference in Toronto Monday. “We need to prevent these unnecessary road accidents and I believe this law will do just that.”
Hands-free cellphones remain legal, and global positioning systems are allowed if they’re secured to the dashboard.
The Ministry of Transport said the ban is needed because driver distraction is a factor in 20 per cent of all road accidents. Bradley said one U.S. study found texting boosted the risk of a collision 23 times.
Starting Feb. 1, drivers could face fines of up to $500 if they’re caught violating the ban. There are no demerit points attached to the law.
‘Positive step forward’
Toronto police Insp. Gary Meisner, speaking on behalf of Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, said Monday that police are looking forward to the legislation, which he described as “a positive step forward and an important one for improving public safety.”
Police will be warning motorists for the first three months to stay off the phone instead of handing out tickets. But drivers can still be charged under existing dangerous or careless driving laws, which have fines of up to $1,000, six demerit points, a driver’s licence suspension and possible jail time.
A survey released in September showed that about 92 per cent of Ontario drivers intended to obey the law.
Newfoundland and Labrador became the first province to ban the use of hand-held cellphones in 2003, while Quebec and Nova Scotia both moved earlier this year to stop drivers from using hand-held cellphones. Similar legislation has also been introduced in British Columbia.
Saskatchewan and Alberta have also announced their intentions to table similar legislation this fall.
More than 50 countries and jurisdictions around the world have banned cellphone use while driving.
Chasing Pavement.
When we’re stationary she walks a millions circles around me over and over. It’d probably annoy the hell out of someone else but they aren’t her mom and completely adoring (and tolerant) of her.
This Word Perfect
I wrote this back on Feb 10, 2008 and posted it on my myspace. I don’t believe I ever posted it here. A quick search turned up nothing. My mindstate at the time was …. a strange one to say the least and even though my thought process on love is completely different now from what it was then, I must admit, my sentiment regarding the content of what I wrote still remains the same. Enjoy.
This Word “Perfect”
per·fect –adjective 1. conforming absolutely to the description or definition of an ideal type: a perfect sphere; a perfect gentleman.Everyone is striving for this ideal. The perfect husband, wife. The perfect body, life. It’s tiring if you ask me. I’m tired of striving for something that NO ONE can achieve. NO ONE is perfect. What we ARE is human.
I’d rather be IMperfect. Thank you very much. I’d rather be FLAWED … and beautifully so. I’d rather be simple and loved for it. Rather than perfect and hated. Perfection isnt who I am. And I’m tired of trying to please everyone.
The perfect woman isnt a woman with big breasts, a great ass and money in the bank. A perfect woman is one that accepts her flaws. Embraces them and learns from them. A perfect woman is an IMperfect woman. A woman that can admit her wrong doings and make moves to change her ways. A woman that will look forward rather than backwards in hopes of becoming a better person with each day. A woman that will accept her man’s past, present and future. She may not like what he does because it worries her but she will stand by his side no matter how hard it is. A perfect woman will talk to her man and not close up and it wont always be about her. A woman knows her fears but yet isnt afraid of them. A perfect woman will let her past go. She wont let her past dictate her future. Wont let her fears run her life. She wont allow something so right to go so wrong. And if by chance she does, she knows better for the next time around.
The perfect man isnt a man with a fast car, many women on his arm or cash flowing all around him. A perfect man is one that isnt afraid to say, I’m afraid. Isnt afraid to “man up” and say he is sorry. Or that he is wrong. A perfect man is an IMperfect man. A man that enjoys being catered to. A man that can forgive and maybe even forget. A man that will protect his family, his woman, his friends because thats what a man should do. A perfect man will never up and leave at the drop of a hat. He will hold and comfort his woman when she is scared. He will dry his woman’s tears and tell her no more sad eyes, for she has no reason to fear because HE is here now. A perfect man will take care of a perfect woman’s heart. A perfect man also has fears, however. And a perfect man will share them with those he deems worthy. He will confide his truest self into someone who will listen and not judge and he will recognize and acknowledge that.
Their perfect love will never be anything more than a constant work in progress. A love where two people will learn to grow together, through the good and through the bad. A perfect love is NOT a marriage. A perfect love is a commitment between two people who want the same things. Who want respect, loyalty, communication, trust and even great sex. A perfect love is scary and frightening. Especially for those that have experienced it and lost it and hope to one day gain it again. A perfect love is an IMperfect love. A love where you fall but get up again. Where if its something that can be fixed IS fixed. A perfect love is one where there is never a suspicion of hurt, cheating or abuse. A love where you know you can 100% trust in the person you kiss goodnight and wake up to in the morning. A perfect love is not so. I’ll take an IMperfect love anyday.
I am human. I wasnt born perfect. I will not die perfect. I will make mistakes and I will learn from some and not others. I will not say sorry when I KNOW I’m wrong but then I will realize that in itself is the worst way to be. I will beg for forgiveness more than once in my life. I will fall and be at my weakest. I will be alone more often than with someone who truly loves and cares for me. But in my darkest hour I will know one thing: I am NOT perfect. I dont HAVE to be perfect and its OK to be flawed. Because, if I was indeed a perfect being, I’d be God. And last I checked. I’m Cori. I’m me. And the person that loves me for me, with all my faults and flaws will be the person who is just like ….. me. A person that is OK with flaws and imperfection.
Give this imperfect woman an imperfect man …. and give these imperfect people an imperfect love.
It’s what they deserve.
In Sympathy
“When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.” (c) Author Unknown
Willow
I watched this last night and fell in love with it all over again. As a child this movie, along with The Neverending Story, was one of my absolute favourites. I had the biggest crush on Madmartigan – lol. What’s more is that my daughter thoroughly enjoyed it also:
Feel Him (pt.2)
“Women with kids are amazing spouses because they are experts in caring for someone besides themselves.” © Ptoda
“I Am Not Your Son”
Years ago, I used to frequent a local social networking community website called Tdotwire (or TDW as its commonly known). In my time there, the site was known as one of immaturity, exposures, gossip and rumours. I had my part in some and also had my share of scandal. When you are young you do stupid things – it got old pretty quick. One of the rumours floating around the site was that one of the members had HIV. We all knew who he was but no one could prove it and no one knew if it was simply the act of a jealous or crazy ex-girlfriend. We laughed it off but the damage was done. It would’ve sucked if this guy DIDN’T have HIV and his face was known all over the GTA as a guy that DID have it. Then this story (shown below) was brought to my attention yesterday. I looked at his face and didn’t place it AT ALL. BUT, as I sit in class and check my facebook notifications via my gmail account (Facebook is blocked at my school) I saw someone send me a comment asking if I remembered this situation from TDW. And when I looked again at the photo I DID recognize him. He looks a little different but without question thats the same guy. I didn’t know his name was Lester Felix. So all those years ago, whomever aired out his HIV status wasnt lying. It wasn’t malicious rumours or gossip. It was truth. He apparently had HIV since 2005 and that’s around the time the “rumours” started. This was already horrific for me to read but now it’s just absolutely surreal. Please wrap it up, everyone. You just really never, ever know 
…•…
Donna Hayward is a heavy woman with a kind face, a vulnerable mother of two who fell easily for the smooth-talking Lothario who seemed to look past her weight and into her giving heart.
But now he has been accused of keeping the most heinous of secrets — not just from her, but from so many of his other lovers as well.
Lester Felix, the handsome 28-year-old she has been sleeping with for more than a year, has just been charged with aggravated assault for allegedly having unprotected sex without disclosing he has HIV — a medical condition he has had since 2005.
“Police believe there may be other victims,” their release said last week.
She is one of them.
IN SHOCK
Hayward sits in her cousin’s Scarborough apartment in a heavy haze of shock and cigarette smoke, her eyes swollen by a torrent of tears, paralyzed with fear as she waits to learn if she is now infected with HIV.
“I’m not that lucky to escape it, I know that,” says Hayward, 32. “If I have this, this a death sentence for me. I just keep thinking about my kids. Last night I cried myself to sleep. I’ll never see my kids finish school; I’ll never see my kids get married. Everybody says to stay positive, but it’s hard to.”
She initially met Felix online through a Facebook group called “BBWS (big boned women) worldwide and the black men who luv them” and began their relationship several days after meeting in person last August at one of the group’s social outings at a downtown club.
She weighed more than 300 pounds at the time — she’s lost about 50 since then — but for the first time, her size wasn’t a handicap.
“I felt that nobody would be interested in me and then there’s this good-looking guy asking me out; I thought he was someone who saw past the outside … “
There will be many who will blame her for her misfortune, but no one does more than herself. Hayward wanted to use condoms, but says Felix told her he was allergic to latex and assured her he was “clean” — so she agreed to unprotected sex, a mistake she ‘ll always regret.
“You’ve got to be smart. If a guy won’t wear a condom, then don’t be with him because men will tell you anything to get what they want.”
They were together often, but Hayward was sometimes intimate with her children’s father and she was aware Felix was also sleeping with many other women he had met online. In fact, he once asked her to referee between two of his dates who had shown up at his Scarborough apartment at the same time.
She always came to his defence, she says, and even lavished him with presents. Hayward is on disability benefits because she suffers from depression, but after winning a few thousand dollars in a lottery, she gave him whatever he requested, from a cellphone to groceries.
He’s now accused of giving her the most horrible gift in return.
WARNING ISSUED
Hayward only learned of his arrest after her Facebook group issued a warning Friday urging anyone who had had sexual contact with Felix to contact police.
“I just burst into tears,” she recalls, “because he knew I had children, he met my children. I can’t believe somebody could be that cold-hearted.”
It has been almost 24 hours since then and the shock is slowly giving way to anger — anger that she might have unwittingly infected her “baby dad;” anger that her time with her two young daughters may have been cut short.
“What right did he have to play God with my life?”
This waiting for test results is torture and part of her yearns to hide until she learns her fate, but Hayward feels she has a duty to go public and encourage Felix’s other partners to get tested and speak to the police as she has.
“It’s embarrassing to come forward, to admit that I was with him, but hopefully me being strong enough to do this will help other people,” she says, her eyes filling with tears once again.
“I know there are other girls. I don’t want him to be able to do this ever again.”
Via: The Toronto Sun
Texting While Driving PSA
I believe as graphic and hard hitting as this video is, it should be seen by everyone. I, myself, have had to ask a friend of mine to not do this while I was in her car with my own child.
Please remember this IS a graphic video.
.... Says What?