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09-29-08 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
MULTIPLE POLLS SUGGEST OBAMA WON FIRST DEBATE: Plus, new Obama video urges importance of voting by showing McCain victory.
*A new USA Today/Gallup Poll shows 46% of people who watched Friday night's presidential debate say Democrat Barack Obama fared better than Republican John McCain, who received 34% of the vote.
Obama won 52%-35% when viewers were asked which candidate offered the best proposals for change to solve the country's problems. Three in 10 said their opinion of Obama became more favorable after seeing the debate, compared to 14% who said less favorable and 54% who said it didn't make much difference.
More than one-third of viewers, or 37%, said they had less confidence in McCain to fix economic problems after seeing the debate; 23% said more. For Obama, the survey results were 34% more confidence, 26% less.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey showed that 51% of those polled thought Obama did the better job in Friday night's debate, while 38 percent said McCain did better.
Men were nearly evenly split between the two candidates in the CNN poll, with 46 percent giving the win to McCain and 43 percent to Obama. But women voters tended to give Obama higher marks, with 59 percent calling him the night's winner, while just 31 percent said McCain won.
Obama also leads McCain in a CBS News/New York Times Poll of 500 uncommitted voters taken just after the debate. Thirty-nine percent felt that Obama won, while 24 % gave it to McCain and 37% called it a tie.
Sixty-six percent of those polled thought Obama would make the right decisions on the economy, while only 42% said the same about McCain. On Iraq, McCain won by 56% to 48%, reflecting divisions over the war and lingering doubts about Obama’s readiness to be commander-in-chief.
Nearly half, 46%, said their opinion of Obama had improved; only 32% said the same about McCain — and 21% said their view of the Republican had worsened, compared with 8% for Obama.
The vice presidential debate between Republican Gov. Sarah Palin and Democratic Sen. Joe Biden will take place on Thursday (Oct. 2) at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. The next two presidential debates will be held Oct. 7 at Belmont University in Nashville (in a town hall format), and Oct. 15 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY (with a focus on domestic policy).
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign has a new video that gives viewers a taste of how a McCain victory would feel following a hypothetical Election Day vote of 51 percent to 49 percent in the Republican's favor. The narrow margin of victory is supposed to underscore the importance of voting on Nov. 4.
The video guides viewers to www.VoteforChange.com, an Obama campaign Web site that anyone can use to check their registration status, request an absentee ballot, or find their polling station. The clip features a mock MSNBC newscast with the captions "John McCain elected 44th president" and "Voter turnout lower than expected" mixed with video footage of a smiling McCain addressing a crowd. [View clip below/here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzuIHjQYW2c]
KANYE AVOIDS FELONY CHARGES IN LAX SCUFFLE: Case referred to city attorneys for possible misdemeanor charge.
*Kanye West and his road manager have avoided felony charges for their involvement in a scuffle with paparazzi at a Los Angeles airport.
Los Angeles County District Attorney's spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons says prosecutors handed the case down to city attorneys, who'll decide whether or not to charge him with a misdemeanor, reports the Associated Press. No reason was given as to why prosecutors decided against the felony charges.
The artist was arrested on Sept. 11 for suspicion of felony vandalism after he tussled with a photographer at L.A.X. and broke his camera flash on the floor. West's road manager, Don Crowley, was also arrested on suspicion he broke the photographer's camera, as well as video equipment belonging to TMZ.com.
City Attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan says a decision on a lesser charge isn't expected until next week.
NEW BABY FOR BABYFACE: Singer/producer's girlfriend gives birth to their first child together.
*Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds has become the father of a new baby girl.
People magazine reports of his girlfriend, Nicole Pantenburg, giving birth on Sept. 9 to their daughter Peyton Nicole Edmonds. She arrived at 6:55 p.m. weighing 5 lbs., 7 oz.
"Nicole and I couldn't be happier to have a new baby girl in the family," Edmonds tells People. "And my two sons are thrilled to have a little sister."
The producer/singer is the father of Brandon, 12, and Dylan, 7, with ex-wife Tracey Edmonds.
NIECY NASH'S FOX SITCOM CANCELED: 'Do Not Disturb' becomes fall TV season's first casualty.
*After just three episodes, FOX has decided to end its freshman sitcom "Do Not Disturb," which starred Niecy Nash as the head of human resources at a hip New York Hotel.
The show averaged slightly over 4 million viewers in its three airings and a disappointing 1.6 rating among adults 18-49.
According to Zap2it.com, FOX had initially said the show was being pulled temporarily, but the network has since confirmed it will not return. The comedy will be replaced in the network's Wednesday-night lineup by repeats of its lead-in, "'Til Death," for the time being.
Seven episodes of the show were shot, but it's unclear whether the remaining four will ever be broadcast.
"Do Not Disturb," which also starred Jerry O'Connell as the hotel's egotistical general manager, centered on the upstairs-downstairs clashes between the workers.
PRINCE DISCUSSES JEHOVAH'S WITNESS DUTIES: Artist says folks 'freak out' when he shows up at the door.
*Part of being a Jehovah's Witness requires that members go from door to door spreading the religion's philosophies, which can be a little dangerous if the person toting "The Watchtower" literature is a world-famous music icon.
"Sometimes fans freak out. It might be a shock to see me, but that's no reason for people to act crazy, and it doesn't give them license to chase me down the street," says rock star Prince, who converted to the religion in
2001 and says he makes personal visits to strangers' homes.
He tells USA Today that he also carries a Bible with him to business meetings before making any deals.
"There are all kinds of possible deals artists aren't privy to," he tells the newspaper. "I love to bring the Bible to the table. I start by asking if they believe in God, then: 'What kind of business do you want to conduct: Transparent or hide the ball?' I'll do tours and albums if the deal is clean."
JAY-Z LINE 'I WILL NOT LOSE' IN LAWSUIT: Company with same name sues rapper's Rocawear for copyright infringement.
*A copyright infringement lawsuit was filed against Jay-Z and the owner of his Rocawear clothing line by a company who claims they took its trademarked name, "I Will Not Lose."
In March 2007, Iconix Brand Group bought the rights to Jay-Z's Rocawear for $204 million. However, the rapper was named in the suit because of the plaintiff's belief that he still oversees the line's product development, licensing, and marketing.
Last year, Rocawear launched an international “I Will Not Lose Campaign,” where celebs gave accounts of how they overcame personal challenges before reciting the “I Will Not Lose” phrase from Jay-Z's 2001 hit single "Change the Game."
Reggie Tucker, CEO of I Will Not Lose, LLC, claims that his company trademarked the phrase first and was subsequently ignored throughout 2007 after attempts were made to settle the matter out of court, reports Allhiphop.com.
The company's Sept. 18 filing in Georgia Northern District Court seeks an undisclosed amount of damages for the dilution of their trademark.
BUSTA ROCKS UK GIG AFTER VISA SNAFU: Rapper keeps date after briefly detained by immigration.
*Busta Rhymes made his scheduled concert appearance at London's Albert Hall Friday night after winning a court order that allowed him to stay in the country.
The rapper, whose real name is Trevor George Smith Jr., was detained by British immigration upon his arrival at London City Airport on Thursday due to "unresolved legal issues" in the United States, according to promoters of the charity concert RockCorps.
In March, a New York judge sentenced Rhymes to three years' probation for assaulting his former driver and a fan.
But High Court judge Nicholas Stadlen ultimately decided that Rhymes could stay in the country, saying he did not want to disappoint 4,000 young people who won their tickets by performing community work.
SIMPSON JURORS HEAR TAPE OF GIDDY COPS: Vegas police were reportedly recorded celebrating his pending arrest.
*Friday at the O.J. Simpson robbery and kidnapping trial, jurors were played a tape of Las Vegas police appearing to celebrate the imminent arrest of the former football star because he had been acquitted of murder charges in 1995.
The tape was made by Simpson friend Thomas Riccio, who alerted Simpson to memorabilia items of his being sold at a hotel and was in the room during the alleged robbery. He left a recorder running on top of a dresser and it was not detected by police.
The recording was played in court by defense lawyers on Friday during cross-examination of a witness as the prosecution case prepared to wind down.
According to Agence France Presse, police investigators preparing to detain Simpson were heard referring to him on tape as a "jackass" and a "dirtbag." They also made a joke about Simpson's defense team in his murder trial, quoting the line from Simpson's famed attorney Johnnie Cochran, saying: "Hey, if the glove don't fit then you must acquit."
Part of the recorded conversation between Las Vegas Metropolitan police Lieutenant Clint Nichols and LVPD crime scene analyst Clint Perkins appears in the following transcript:
Nichols: "Uh, he's gonna get arrested."
Perkins: "Who, who's gonna get arrested?"
Nichols: "O.J."
Perkins: "Oh, good."
Later, Perkins says: "You're just pickin' on him cause you're mad about the verdict (in the murder case)."
Nichols: "Yep."
Simpson, 61, faces a dozen charges of armed robbery and kidnapping that could land him in prison for life if convicted. He is accused of leading a gang of gun-toting men into a Las Vegas hotel room last September to confront two sports memorabilia dealers who were selling items Simpson claimed had been stolen from him.
'TOP MODEL' TAKES IN OXYGEN: Network picks up syndicated rights to Tyra's reality show.
*The CW's reality series "America's Next Top Model" will live on in perpetuity at the Oxygen network thanks to a new rerun deal set to launch next year.
Reuters is reporting that Oxygen has acquired exclusive cable rights to the Tyra Banks-hosted series from CBS Television Distribution.
Under the agreement, reruns currently airing on MTV Networks' MTV and VH1 will switch to Oxygen beginning in January.
Banks is also the creator and executive producer of "Top Model," along with Ken Mok and Daniel Soiseth. Oxygen has yet to announce when and how often the series will air.
LUDACRIS PREVIEWS TRACKS FROM NEW CD: Fans gather in NY to hear four songs from rapper's Oct 21 release 'Theater of the Mind.'
*Fans of rap star Ludacris were on hand at New York's Tribeca Cinemas Thursday night to hear the unveiling of four new tracks from his Def Jam album "Theater of the Mind" ahead of its Oct. 21 release.
The songs played were "MVP," produced by DJ Premier and enhanced by the producer's trademark strong drums, notes Billboard; the Clinton Sparks-produced "Call Up the Homies," featuring the Game and Willy Northpole; "Last of a Dying Breed" featuring Lil' Wayne, and the T-Pain-assisted "One More Drink."
"I did this song because when you're at a club, the more drinks you have the better them mutherf**kers look," Ludacris said of the latter.
After the listening session, the audience was ushered into a screening room to view a behind-the-scenes video of Ludacris' current single and video, "What Them Girls Like" featuring Chris Brown and Sean Garrett. It was followed by the video for another track, "Undisputed," which features boxer Floyd Mayweather as Ludacris' coach.
MTV VJ Sway moderated a Q&A exchange with Ludacris that included questions about his collaboration with former rival T.I. on the song "On Top of the World."
"We had been talking under the radar for a long time," said Ludacris of teaming with T.I. "We were just trying to figure out the right opportunity to surprise everybody. With that being said, we live in Atlanta and Atlanta is small as hell, compared to New York and we've got the same circle of friends. It was never really beef between me and him. We felt, with everything going on in the business, there was no better time to make it happen."
Luda also mentioned plans for a tour, but said details weren't finalized.
BYRON ALLEN, WIFE WELCOME FIRST CHILD: Girl born to couple Aug. 22 in Los Angeles.
*Last month, talk show host Byron Allen and his wife welcomed their first child, a daughter named Chloe Ava Allen, reports People magazine.
Allen's wife, producer Jennifer Lucas, gave birth to the 7 lbs., 14 oz. baby on Aug. 22 at 2:15 p.m. in Los Angeles.
"We couldn't be happier," says Allen of Chloe, who measured 20 inches long. "Our bundle of joy is simply amazing."
Adds Lucas: "She's absolutely precious. I'm so in love with her. We are incredibly blessed."
The couple married at the Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles last September in front of 120 guests, including Natalie Cole and Eddie Murphy. They announced they were expecting a girl in April.
HIP HOP BLING UP FOR BID: Kanye, Diddy, 50, Missy donate pieces for March auction.
*Kanye West, Diddy and 50 Cent are among a bevy of rap celebrities who have donated some of their expensive jewelry pieces to an auction house for charity, reports People.com.
Phillips de Pury & Co.'s "Hip-Hop Crown Jewels" auction next spring in New York will sell off the trinkets of rap's hottest stars to raise money for Russell Simmons' Rush Community Affairs charity, an organization that provides education and resources to over seventy NYC community development programs.
A black Jesus diamond pendant from West will be offered in the auction, which was pushed back from Oct. 1 to March 5, 2009, according to People.
Also on the auction block are Missy Elliott's diamond-and-gold turntable ring; Lil Jon's 13-lb. Crunk Ain't Dead piece, which holds the Guinness World Record as the world's largest diamond pendant; Tupac Shakur's diamond-and-ruby crown-shaped ring, which the late rapper was wearing when he was killed in 1996; a diamond star pendant worn by Jay-Z on the cover of L'uomo Vogue; and a diamond Rolex owned by the late Notorious B.I.G.
PARDON SOUGHT FOR BOXER JACK JOHNSON: Congressional resolution deals with his conviction for 'transporting white women.'
*Congress has recommended that a presidential pardon should be granted to Jack Johnson, the first black world heavyweight boxing champion.
Johnson won the title in 1908 but was later convicted of transporting white women across US state lines for immoral purposes. He served nearly one year in prison for what is now seen as a racially motivated conviction.
After his conviction in 1913, Johnson fled the US, returning in 1920 to serve his term. He returned to boxing but was unable to regain his title.
The congressional resolution urges President Bush to grant Johnson a pardon. It states that the conviction was racially motivated, prompted by his athletic success and his relationships with white women.
"He was a victim of the times and we need to set the record straight - clear his name - and recognize him for his groundbreaking contribution to the sport of boxing," said member of the House of Representatives Peter King, the author of the resolution.
A similar resolution, sponsored by presidential candidate John McCain, now goes before the Senate for consideration.
Authorities tried and failed to prosecute Johnson over his relationship with a white woman whom he later married. A second white woman then testified that Johnson had transported her across state lines in violation of the Mann Act.
'CHRISTMAS WITH THE WHISPERS' DVD UNDER TREE: HD package includes concert, interviews, and behind-the-scenes treats.
*Veteran R&B group The Whispers will celebrate the holidays this year with a new DVD entitled "Christmas with the Whispers."
Taped in high-definition video on stage in Los Angeles, the DVD features their renditions of beloved holiday classics such as “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” “White Christmas,” and “My Favorite Things,” in addition to original compositions “Funky Christmas” and “This Time Of Year.”
Behind the scenes interviews with the singers and their fans give the audience a glimpse of the band’s history and its special meaning to listeners, as well as insight into how the feature-length musical was filmed.
Group member Walter Scott, who formed The Whispers in Watts in 1963 with his twin brother Wallace (aka Scotty), Gordy Harmon, the late Marcus Hutson and Nicholas Caldwell, says, “We thought it would be fun to let fans see us performing these songs which they’ve had on our albums in their collections for so many years.”
ITTY BITTY BITS: Dupri visits Travis Barker; Kingston loses bling; Youssou Ndour documentary.
*Jermaine Dupri says his friend Travis Barker is "gonna be alright" after surviving a fatal plane crash last Friday that killed four people on board and critically injured DJ AM. "He's just got a lot of healing to do," Dupri told People Thursday, adding that he should be released from the Augusta, GA hospital in about two weeks. "He's supposed to send a message out to everybody in a couple of days to let everybody know that he's feeling better. He's definitely feeling the love from everyone." Barker is a partner in Dupri's So So Def clothing line. DJ AM was released on Friday and returned to L.A. via bus.
*Teen rapper Sean Kingston reportedly had $500,000 worth of his jewelry stolen out of a FedEx package that he had his sister send from Los Angeles to a jeweler in New York. According to TMZ.com, the package arrived a day late without the bling inside; the insurance taken out by his sister was for only $500. The L.A. County Sheriff's Department is currently investigating the case.
*The rockumentary "Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love," a portrait of the influential Senegalese musician, will be distributed domestically by Oscilloscope Laboratories, owned by Beastie Boys rapper Adam Yauch. Chai Vasarhelyi's film, set for an early Summer 2009 theatrical release in conjunction with Ndour's tour, covers two years in the life of the Muslim musician and controversy surrounding his songs about Islam, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
BLACK WOMAN'S TORTURE CASE ADDS DEFENDANT: Sixth white West Virginian pleads guilty in connection with heinous assault crime.
*The New York Times is reporting that a 6th white defendant has been charged with kidnapping a young black woman, holding her captive and torturing her in West Virginia.
Authorities said the victim, Megan Williams, then 20, was repeatedly stabbed and sexually assaulted at a remote mobile home before sheriff’s deputies rescued her.
Five of the defendants pleaded guilty to a variety of charges including kidnapping, malicious wounding and sexual assault. Their maximum sentences ranged from 10 to 40 years.
On Friday, the final defendant, Danny J. Combs, 20, pleaded guilty in a county court in Logan, W.Va., to first-degree sexual assault, assault during the commission of a felony and conspiracy to commit kidnapping. He was sentenced to imprisonment of 4 to 20 years.
According to a statement Williams gave to sheriff’s deputies in a hospital examination room, Combs was responsible for some of the worst acts against her, including raping her at knifepoint and forcing her to eat dog and rat feces.
Friends of Williams say she moved to Ohio this spring. She has made a number of public appearances, including a segment this year on Montel Williams’s syndicated talk show, where she spoke of her ordeal, and attendance at rallies held after the arrests to call for hate-crime charges to be brought.
In her statement to the police, Williams said several of the kidnappers used racist language during the attacks. But only one, Karen Burton, 46, was charged with a hate crime after admitting that she stabbed Williams in the ankle while uttering a racist remark.
EUR FILM REVIEW: Miracle at St. Anna
Bravery of Buffalo Soldiers Belatedly Acknowledged by Spike Lee’s WWII Saga
Film Review by Kam Williams
*During World War II, the United States Armed Forces were still segregated, and the government directed embedded cameramen not to film or photograph any black soldiers on the front lines.
Consequently, African-American GIs were invisible not only in official news footage, but later when it came time to write the history books and to shoot Hollywood movies.
As a Baby Boomer, I distinctly remember being virtually raised on sentimental, patriotic war flicks which invariably suggested that all of the country’s heroes had been white, misleading accounts which stood in sharp contrast to the stories simultaneously being shared with me by my father, my uncles and other honorably-discharged veterans. Regrettably, this slight against them was never corrected during most of their lifetimes.
Even relatively-recent World War II cinematic adventures, such as Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, have continued to overlook the bravery of the so-called Buffalo Soldiers. This makes Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna an important contribution simply by virtue of its being brought to the big screen at all, for it pays tribute to the service, albeit belatedly, of the long-neglected black members of “America's Greatest Generation.”
The movie was adapted by James McBride from his fact-based best-seller of the same name, a 300+ page-turner chronicling the exploits of the all-black 92nd Division stationed in Italy in 1944. This character-driven tale specifically telescopes on the plight of a quartet of enlisted men separated from their decimated unit and forced to survive by their wits in a tiny Tuscan village located behind enemy lines.
Each of the four protagonists represents a readily-recognizable archetype, starting with Aubrey Stamps (Derek Luke), the prototypical no-nonsense Staff Sergeant and highest ranking officer. Then there’s the preacher-turned-playboy Bishop Cummings (Michael Ealy), gentle giant Sam Train (Omar Benson Miller) and Puerto Rican Hector Negron (Laz Alonso), a Corporal who adds a little Latin flava’.
The movie opens and closes in New York City in 1983, courtesy of a wraparound featuring sixty-something Negron going postal just three months before his planned retirement. Was there perhaps a valid reason for his seemingly inexplicable violent outburst? The bulk of the balance of the picture is devoted to an extended wartime flashback wherein the answer ostensibly lies.
While only indirectly addressing the solution to that mystery, the multi-layered plot instead concerns itself with threading in an array of complicated sidebars. One involves Private Train’s adopting a boy (Matteo Sciabordi) orphaned by a Nazi massacre. Another pits gentlemanly Sgt. Stamps against the womanizing Bishop in a love/lust triangle for the affections of the most attractive lass (Valentina Cervi) in town. The third strand raises the question of the trustworthiness of the leader (Pierfrancesco Favino) of the local cell of the anti-Fascist resistance.
Nonetheless, the power of Miracle at St. Anna repeatedly derives from its plausibly portraying the Second World War from the heretofore unseen perspective of African-American soldiers, whether they’re shown secretly spitting into the canteen of a racist white superior, wondering why they’re risking their lives for a country where they can’t even vote, or reflecting on actually feeling more free in a foreign land than they ever have at home. An overdue history lesson about the indelible stain left by Jim Crow on the conflicted minds of black men forced to wage a white man’s war when they’d really prefer to be fighting for their own civil rights.
Excellent (3.5 stars)
R for graphic war violence, profanity, ethnic slurs, nudity and sexual content.
Running time: 160 minutes
Studi Touchstone Pictures
To see a trailer for Miracle at St. Anna, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXMVLN5rqpA
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
“You must have courage to bet on your ideals, to take calculated risk, and act. Everyday living requires courage if life is to be effective and bring happiness.” - by Maxwell Maltz
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Sept. 29: TV personality Bryant Gumbel is 60. Singer Devante Swing of Jodeci is 39.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
They say Nworcs Radio out of Atlanta is hott to death! It’s a guy out of Atlanta, GA that plays nothing but the best hip hop and R&B online. Check it out at www.NworcsRadio.com.
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
Sept. 29, 1942: First black captain of a US merchant ship, Hugh Mulzac, launches with the Booker T Washington. (Source: www.BlackFacts.com)
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