Patrice O’Neal, a fixture in the New York comedy scene for two decades who was most recently seen in the Comedy Central Roast Of Charlie Sheen, has passed away according to sources close to the comedian.

Talk show host Opie of the Opie & Anthony Radio Show tweeted this morning, “Yes, it’s true that our pal Patrice O’Neal has passed away. The funniest and best thinker I’ve ever known PERIOD.”

O’Neal suffered a stroke in October after a long battle with diabetes. The announcement about his condition was made by a group of his comedian friends and peers on the popular Sirius radio show, but few details have been made known since then at the wishes of his family.

O’Neal was best known for his darkly playful sense of humor and for saying exactly what was on his mind. While O’Neal was a polarizing voice who was often as disliked as much as he was beloved, he was revered by peers and audiences alike for his fearlessness, a characteristic that was in bold relief during the Sheen Roast.

O’Neal spoke with Huffington Post following the taping back in September:

The fall of former Bad Boy artists continues.

Amir Junaid Muhadith aka Loon has been arrested in Belgium on charges of heroin distribution. According to Parlemento, the former rapper was in Brussels to give a lecture. He was detained at the request of the United States under the Patriot Act, following a May 2011 indictment that alleges he “knowingly and intentionally” possessed with intent to distribute at least one kilogram of heroin in North Carolina between early 2006 and September 2008.

A copy of the indictment was posted on the website DDotOMen on Friday November 25.

Loon enjoyed musical success between 1999 and 2003. First as a part of Ma$e’s Harlem World group before going solo. He was featured on Diddy’s hit record “I Need A Girl Pt.1″ in 2001. In 2003 he released his self titled debut album which featured the song “Down For Me.”

Born Chauncey Lamont Hawkins, Loon converted to Islam in 2008 and legally changed his name.

Federal authorities have shut down 150 websites accused of selling knock-off or pirated merchandise to unsuspecting online bargain hunters.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer announced the results of the ICE and FBI three-month investigation on “Cyber Monday,” the day that for many shoppers kicks off the online holiday shopping season.

The government seized the domain names for the sites that sold everything from fake replica NBA jerseys to replica Louis Vuitton handbags and imitation Ugg boots.

“This is straight crime,” Morton said. “This is people being duped into buying a counterfeit.”

The federal government has seized the domain names of 350 websites since first targeting online counterfeiters in June 2010. Each investigation, Morton said, has grown.

Visitors to the seized domains are now greeted with a message from federal authorities explaining that the site has been seized by the government and a warning that “willful copyright infringement is a federal crime.”

Morton and Breuer said while the domain names were registered in the United States most of the websites were run from abroad, primarily in China. No one has been charged with a crime in connection with the most recently seized domains. But Breuer said the investigations are ongoing.

Earlier this year five people were indicted in Virginia on conspiracy and copyright infringement charges for their roles in operating a website that the Justice Department said allowed people to illegally download high-quality movies and television shows.

Four people accused of running NinjaVideo.net have pleaded guilty. A fifth person is being sought.

It’s unclear how much money the seized sites have made, or potentially cost legitimate companies. Breuer said since the crackdown on counterfeit sellers started last year, Internet users have gone to the seized domains more than 77 million times.

“Typically we don’t track the volumes of sales of these particular sites,” Morton said, adding that criminal organizations often hide ill-gotten profits. “It is very large figures. Well, well above millions.”

Morton said it may seem like a trivial thing to buy a knock-off football jersey or look-alike sunglasses, but the profits seized by counterfeiters can help fund far more nefarious activities.

“This is increasingly not simply a matter of mom and pop violations at the corner of Fourth and Main,” Morton said. “We are worried about organized crime and (that profits) are going to fuel other criminal activity.”

Morton would not say if organized criminal groups are suspected of running any of the seized sites to help fund other criminal acts.

The Chinese Basketball Association is showing no inclination to let unhappy NBA players out of their contracts for the 2011-12 season, and will likely mandate they not receive clearance letters to return to the NBA until the Chinese season ends in March, sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Wilson Chandler, Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith and Aaron Brooks are the four top NBA players under contract in China, and several sources involved in those contract entanglements said escape clauses won’t be allowed with the impending end of the NBA lockout.

The Chinese Basketball Association passed a rule that its teams could sign only NBA free agents during the lockout, and it was made clear to those players they would have to play the full season to be given FIBA clearance letters to sign contracts with NBA teams.

Smith has had multiple clashes with his team, and some Chinese officials fear players becoming obstinate and purposely missing practices and games once they realize they’ll be held to their contracts.

Team officials have prepared for the possibility some players could try to force their way out of deals, but their contracts give teams the latitude to fine and suspend players without pay. Chinese teams invested heavily when they signed NBA players, also providing hotel suites, personal drivers and chefs to make the players more comfortable.

“They can play, get paid [in China] and return to the NBA in March,” one Chinese team official said. “Or they can not get paid, and return to the NBA in March.”

As a member of FIBA, the NBA needs a letter of clearance from Chinese teams to allow players to sign NBA deals. Chinese teams could face forfeiture of any games that NBA players participated in, if the players somehow end up back in the NBA before the Chinese season ends.

“If they think that they’re going to make things difficult, not play, create problems, what’s going to happen is that the teams will not release their letters of clearance they’ll need to sign in the NBA,” a Chinese Basketball Association official told Yahoo! Sports. “There’s no way out.”

CHICAGO (CBS) — A new survey ranks O’Hare International Airport the worst in the nation, and Midway doesn’t fare too well either.

As CBS 2′s Kris Habermehl reports, the “Worst Airports In America” survey by The Daily Beast ranks O’Hare dead last among 30 airports across the country. Midway is ranked seventh worst.

The report says O’Hare has the worst on-time performance, with 67.6 percent of arrivals and 70.3 percent of departures having been on time so far this year.

The survey says planes arriving at the airport are delayed an average of 18.8 minutes, while departing planes are delayed an average of 17.1 minutes. The average security line wait time is 9 minutes.

The Daily Beast also places the amenities at O’Hare at fourth worst in the country, giving O’Hare a score of 639 out of 1,000.

Midway International Airport fared slightly better, with 74.4 percent of arrivals coming in on time. But departures were just as bad as O’Hare, with 70.2 percent on-time performance.

The report says delays at Midway are not much better than at O’Hare. The average arrival delay is 14.2 minutes, while the average departure delay is 16.3 minutes. The average security line takes 7 minutes to get through.

Midway ranks toward in the middle for amenities, with a 684 out of 1,000, or No. 15 out of 32.

Holiday departure times — for President’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the winter holidays — were better than average departure times for both O’Hare and Midway. Holiday flights departed on time 72.1 percent of the time at O’Hare, and 76.4 percent of the time at Midway, the survey said.

The survey was not specific beyond the raw numbers, and thus did not specify exactly what is wrong with the amenities at O’Hare.

The rankings were determined by considering the 50 largest airports in the nation, and ranking them based on data points from the Bureau of Transportation, Flight Explorer, and the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 North American Airport Satisfaction Study.