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JURORS DISCUSS O.J.'S GUILTY VERDICT: Panelists say decision influenced heavily by secret audio tapes.
*Seven jurors from the O.J. Simpson trial say their guilty verdict was influenced more by secret audio tapes and surveillance video than eyewitness accounts, reports the Associated Press.
Speaking at a press conference Sunday, the panelists said the prosecution may not have won convictions for Simpson and his co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart had those recordings not been made.
"It would have been a very weak case," said Dora Pettit. Another juror David Wieberg added, "Yes, a weak case," and other jurors nodded in agreement.
The seven jurors agreed to speak out two nights after the verdict was announced in a move to diffuse the onslaught of interview requests. They answered questions for an hour in the same courtroom where Simpson and Stewart were convicted of robbing two memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a hotel room.
The jury listened repeatedly to recordings made by collectibles dealer Thomas Riccio — the host of the hotel confrontation, who was granted immunity — and felt they heard things that had not been fully transcribed by police, juror Michelle Lyons said.
But jurors could not trust the credibility of witnesses who were given plea deals, Lyons said. "We felt we could not rely on that witness testimony," she said.
The jurors all denied they wanted to punish Simpson for past wrongs. Pettit said she prayed for him before and after the case.
"I think he's an ordinary man that made a bad decision," she said. "I prayed for him and Stewart and the attorneys. I don't have any ill feelings, and if they walked out tomorrow, so be it."
Simpson, 61, was acquitted in 1995 of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles. He was later found liable for the deaths in a civil case. He had claimed in the robbery case that he was trying to retrieve items that were stolen from him.
The jury also reacted to complaints by Simpson's lawyers that there were no blacks on the panel; both defendants are black. One juror identified herself in a court questionnaire as Hispanic.
"We've been painted as an all-white jury who hates O.J., and that's just not true," Pettit said. "The laws that were laid out were the laws. And they were clearly broken."
Simpson's lawyer Yale Galanter told The Associated Press earlier Sunday that the his client is hoping for a new trial and a strong bid to reverse his conviction. He is being isolated from other prisoners in the Clark County Detention Center for his own safety, and is allowed to see only family members and a few friends, he said.
Simpson will be held at the detention center until his sentencing on Dec. 5 and then is expected to be moved to state prison. Galanter said he will pursue a request for Simpson to be released on bond during the appeals process.
HEADMISTRESS SUING OPRAH JUST WANTED APOLOGY: More details surface about defamation lawsuit.
*A lawyer for the former headmistress of Oprah Winfrey's South African Leadership Academy for Girls says his client is suing the TV mogul for defamation because Winfrey has yet to apologize.
"We were forced to file this lawsuit because we didn't get what we wanted a year ago – a public apology," said Tim McGowan, attorney for Nomvuyo Mzamane, according to People.com.
The lawsuit is rooted in a scandal that plagued Oprah's school last year and resulted in one dorm matron, Tiny Makopo, being charged with physical and sexual abuse.
On Friday, McGowan filed a civil suit in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court claiming that Winfrey "launched what amounted to a defamatory campaign" against Mzamane last year by implying that she was "untrustworthy, failed the students of the academy, did not care about the students at the academy, knew of alleged physical and sexual abuse at the academy and participated in a cover-up of the alleged abuse."
"Before the suit was filed, all [Mzamane] wanted was Oprah to say 'I made a mistake. This lady didn't cover up any abuse,'" McGowan explained. "[Oprah] went on TV and ruined her reputation. So she wanted her to go back on TV and restore her reputation."
Mzamane was the assistant head of operations at a private school in Philadelphia until she was hired to work at Winfrey's school on Dec. 31, 2006. Since her termination, the suit claims, the 39-year-old has not been able to find comparable work and suffers from "depression, anxiety and insomnia."
McGowan said his client has had to stay with family and friends and borrow money from her family to survive because no one would hire her.
According to People, Mzamane is asking for $50,000 for each of five different claims, including defamation by innuendo and intentional inflection of emotional distress, plus unspecified punitive damages.
LAKISHA'S MINISTER HAS 'IDOL' JOKES AT NUPTIALS: Details of ceremony and honeymoon plans revealed.
*Former "American Idol" finalist LaKisha Jones tied the knot with financial adviser Larry Davis Sunday at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel before about 50 family and friends, including fellow "Idol" contestants.
The ceremony – which carried the theme of old-fashioned Hollywood glamour, was not without periodic laughter. During the exchange of vows, Jones reportedly chuckled when she was told to repeat the phrase "for richer or less richer."
The minister, Dr. Ed Montgomery of Houston, also poked fun at "Idol's" strategic commercial placements to create suspense during results shows. He said during the ceremony: "Pay attention. What I'm about to say is very important: We'll have the results right after these messages."
According to People.com, the couple kissed for more than 10 seconds after Montgomery pronounced them husband and wife. Haley Scarnato, Melinda Doolittle, Gina Glocksen and Sanjaya Malakar (sporting shoulder-length loose
curls) were among the guests in attendance.
The bride wore a strapless Alfred Angelo gown, custom crystal-encrusted shoes by Stuart Weitzman and diamond earrings, necklace and bracelet by Neil Lane. White round candles were perched on floating black stands and red rose petals dotted the floor, People reported.
The bride's 5-year-old daughter Brionne served as flower girl and cried as she walked down the aisle throwing petals from a black and white basket.
Davis met Jones through mutual friends and proposed to her in June after surprising the handbag fanatic with a Louis Vuitton purse that had belonged to his late mother.
"Inside was a card that said, 'Happy today, happy together, happy forever … '" Jones told People. "I was crying – I had [fake] eyelashes on, and they were coming off. It was crazy."
The newlyweds plan to honeymoon on Barbados.
JOHN LEGEND JOINS SPRINGSTEEN/JOEL GIG: October. 16 concert for Obama to take place day after candidates' final debate.
*John Legend will join his Columbia label mates Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel at the October 16th benefit concert for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
The show will take place at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom the day after Obama's final debate with Republican nominee John McCain.
John Legend officially endorsed Obama earlier this year and premiered his own Obama-inspired song "If You're Out There" during a set at the Democratic National Convention in August.
A call-to-action and evocation of human potential, "If You're Out There" reflects the themes of hope and change, responsibility and leadership, and commitment to a better tomorrow expressed in the principles of Barack Obama. The track may be downloaded directly at www.barackobama.com/johnlegend.
MEN WELCOME AT USHER'S 'LADY'S ONLY' TOUR: Jive spokesperson clears up any confusion.
*Usher's upcoming tour may be titled "One Night Stand: Ladies Only"
but it doesn't mean that men will be turned away at the door.
According to Billboard.com, a rep for Jive Records clarifies that although ladies may be the focus of the tour, men are more than welcome to attend the shows, which begin November 2nd in Atlantic City, N.J., and runs through November 25th in Dallas.
The 14-day tour is in support of Usher's latest album, "Here I Stand." A video for new single "Trading Places" is set to premiere this week.
Here are Usher's "One Night Stand: Ladies Only" tour dates:
Nov. 2: Atlantic City, N.J. (Borgata)
Nov. 3: New York (Hammerstein Ballroom)
Nov. 4: Washington, D.C. (Warner Theatre) Nov. 5: Philadelphia (Electric Factory) Nov. 7: Mashantucket, Conn. (MGM Grand) Nov. 8: Toronto (Kool Haus) Nov. 10: Atlanta (Tabernacle) Nov. 12: Detroit (Fillmore) Nov. 13: Chicago (House of Blues) Nov. 18: San Francisco (Warfield Theatre) Nov. 19-20: Los Angeles (Club Nokia LA Live) Nov. 21: Las Vegas (the Pearl) Nov. 24: Houston (House of Blues) Nov. 25: Dallas (House of Blues)
HASSELBECK CAUSES ANOTHER 'VIEW' ERUPTION: Whoopi, Sherri and even Barbara take issue with her obsession over William Ayers.
*With Barack Obama's link to '60s radical Bill Ayers back in the news thanks to a concerted effort by John McCain's campaign, "The View's" resident Republican Elisabeth Hasselbeck used the opportunity to pile on.
A heated exchange Monday morning took place after co-host Barbara Walters, asked Hasselbeck if it was wise for both sides to engage in "smears."
Hasselbeck snapped, "No," and went on to criticize what she called "Obama's radical connections." She also said Obama should be held accountable for the actions of Ayers, who participated in protest bombings of the Pentagon and Capitol when Obama was 8-years-old.
Co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd (Joy Behar was absent) responded with raised voices in defense of Obama – culminating in Whoopi shouting to Elisabeth, "That is such bullsh**." The Oscar winner caught herself before saying the entire word.
View the entire segment here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WGCzCma-NY
COMPLAINT FILED OVER BUSTA'S AIRPORT ARREST: Rapper's UK-based lawyer said cops went overboard.
*A lawyer for Busta Rhymes filed a complaint against the group of 15 or so airport officers in London who arrested him last month over his immigration status, reports Allhiphop.com.
Attorney Philip Trott, who also represents Sean "Diddy" Combs, 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg, was with Busta during the Sept. 25 incident at London City Airport and claims they were first met on the runway by five officers with machine guns after his flight arrived from Amsterdam.
Trott said ten more officers approached them inside the terminal using unnecessary force to take him in. Trott said he advised Busta to comply or risk being “arrested at gunpoint for obstructing a police officer.”
As previously reported, Justice Julian Flaux allowed Busta to make his scheduled Orange RockCorps charity concert, despite immigration officers who raised questions regarding his “unresolved convictions” in the U.S. as reason to denying him entry.
Justice Flaux said it was "difficult to see upon what basis" Rhymes was detained and cleared the way for his visit.
SAMUEL L. GETS COMPANY IN 'UNTHINKABLE': Routh, Bellows among quartet joining suspense thriller.
*Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Sheen are confirmed to star in the upcoming film "Unthinkable," which has just added Brandon Routh, Gil Bellows, Martin Donovan and Carrie-Anne Moss to the cast.
The suspense thriller - produced, financed and distributed by Senator U.S. – will feature Routh and Bellows as members of an FBI anti-terrorism team run by Agent Brody (Moss).
With the help of a black-ops agent (Jackson), they're assigned by an FBI director (Donovan) to interrogate an American Muslim man (Sheen) claiming to have nuclear bombs planted in three U.S. cities.
Gregor Jordan's "Unthinkable" will be one of the first high-profile projects from the new distributor run by Marco. Principal photography is set to begin Oct. 20 in Los Angeles.
JOHNNY WRIGHT VS. THE LOHANS: Music manager releases statement denying pitch to work with Ali.
*Music manager Johnny Wright has come out swinging against reports that he was interested in working with Ali Lohan, the 14-year-old younger sister of Lindsay Lohan and daughter of stage mom Dina Lohan.
The New York Post's Page Six had reported that Dina agreed to take a meeting with Wright, who has successfully steered the careers of Justin Timberlake, the Jonas Brothers and many others. But, the report wasn't true.
"Johnny Wright has never met with Ali Lohan, has never been introduced to Ali Lohan, nor has he had a meeting with Ali or Dina Lohan regarding Ali's music career," Wright's company said in a statement. "While he wishes Ali Lohan the best in all her endeavors, Mr. Wright has never had any intention of speaking with Ali Lohan regarding her career. Any story that has surfaced about such a meeting holds no merit and is completely false.
"Wright Entertainment Group has never had any interest or intention of adding Ali Lohan as an artist on the company's roster, which currently includes Justin Timberlake, Jonas Brothers, Janet Jackson and Ciara amongst others."
QUINCY SAYS WYNTON IS A HIP HOP HATER: Trumpeter admits it's a genre 'for which I don’t have much respect.'
*Quincy Jones has been trying to get trumpeter Wynton Marsalis to incorporate the study of hip hop into Jazz at Lincoln Center, the program for which Marsalis is artistic director. But, it hasn't been an easy sell.
"Wynton doesn't want to hear any other kind of music," Jones told the New York Daily News' Rush & Malloy. "He won't let students play other kinds of music."
Jones went on to say that "no trumpeter in America wants to play like Wynton in his style. Every great trumpeter - Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge, Miles - borrows from someone before him and adds his own thing. But nobody wants to play like Wynton. …Wynton knows how I feel."
Apparently not.
"We've never had that discussion," Marsalis told the columnists.
He admitted, "Hip hop is a form of music for which I don't have much respect. But I always recommend that my trumpet students play all kinds of music — funk, classical, all kinds of jazz. That's what my father taught me.
He used to say, ‘Earn your prejudices. Don't be prejudiced against something you don't know about.'
"Before [Run DMC member] Jam Master Jay got killed, he and I were talking about having a deejay academy in my House of Swing. But it's incumbent on the hip-hop community to develop their own musical initiative.
There's no need for a jazz person to be called upon to do it."
ITTY BITTY BITS: Michelle on 'Daily Show'; T.I.'s guns; kids love Obama; BET's 'Somebodies'; Rashad's 'Smart Talk'; Van Peebles casts Chasez.
*Michelle Obama will appear as a guest on the "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 11 p.m. (ET/PT), the night after attending the second presidential debate at Belmont University, Nashville, TN. This marks Mrs. Obama's first visit to "The Daily Show." Her husband, Sen. Barack Obama, has appeared on the show three times, most recently on April 21 on the eve on the Pennsylvania Primary. The Democratic nominee also appeared on Aug. 22, 2007 and Nov. 7, 2005.
*Rapper T.I. says he bought the firearms stash that led to his conviction and impending prison sentence because he "got paranoid" after the May 2006 shooting death of his assistant Philant Johnson. "Let me try to explain," he tells Giant magazine, out next week. "Someone pulls up to your car and — pop, pop, pop! If you were without weapons at the time, you would probably want to be with weapons for every other time."
*More than 1800 kids were given a chance to vote for the next president at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. this weekend by casting red or blue gumballs. Sen. Barack Obama won with 1000 blue gumballs cast to Sen. John McCain's 800 red ones. In addition to voting for their favorite candidates, kids wrote their dream for America on a star. Some of these dreams included world peace, cheaper gas, and that people of all ages could vote. All of the stars were put together to make one giant American Flag.
*BET's first scripted series, "Somebodies," moves to 10 p.m. on Tuesdays, with repeat episodes airing in the previous 10:30 p.m. time slot. The series follows the life of Scottie, an African-American undergraduate at a large university trying to figure out his place in the world. While his housemates -- Marlo, Six, Tory, and Jelly -- are preparing to transition out of college and into the real world, Scottie is set to enter yet another year as a "professional student."
*Phylicia Rashad is among a lineup of accomplished actresses, authors and athletes selected to lead "Smart Talk Connected Conversations" in cities across America. "Since 1992, we've been bringing amazing and accomplished women to thrilled audiences at premiere venues across America," said Bob Benia, Smart Talk CEO and Founder. "This year, in addition to our better than ever celebrity line-up, we are enhancing our program even more with a new name, a new look, and our newly-redesigned Web site, www.SmartTalkWomen.com." Jane Pauley, Joy Behar, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton are also part of the effort.
*Director Mario Van Peebles has cast former N'Sync member JC Chasez in his action-thriller "Kerosene Cowboys." The singer will play a pilot in the film about an elite Navy attack squadron.
EUR FILM REVIEW: Nights in Rodanthe
Richard Gere and Diane Lane Co-Star in Adaptation of Best-Selling Romance Novel Film Review by Kam Williams
*Besides J.K. Rowling, Nicholas Sparks is the only contemporary novelist to have a book remain on the New York Times best seller lists for longer than a year.
While Ms. Rowling has been publishing her phenomenally-successful series of fanciful Harry Potter children’s tales, Sparks made his fortune by cranking out over a dozen romantic tearjerkers, set mostly in the South, each punctuated with rabbit-out-of-the-hat plot twists designed to tug on his readers’ heartstrings.
Three of his works have previously been turned into movies: Message in a Bottle (1999), A Walk to Remember (2002) and The Notebook (2004).
Now, Nights in Rodanthe is the latest of his bittersweet soap operas to be brought to the big screen. Fans familiar with the source material, however, are likely to be surprised at how the original storyline has been tweaked by scriptwriter Ann Peacock (Kit Kittredge).
Directed by George C. Wollfe (Lackawanna Blues), the film reunites Richard Gere and Diane Lane who first appeared opposite each other in The Cotton Club (1984), and then again in Unfaithful (2002). Other than crow’s feet caught on close-ups during their steamy clinches, it doesn’t look time has aged either of these matinee idols much, or diminished their ability to generate chemistry.
At the point of departure, we’re introduced to Adrienne Willis (Lane), a married woman in the midst of a meltdown. We learn that just in the past few months, her father has died, her husband (Christopher Meloni) has dumped her and changed his mind, and her spoiled-rotten teenager (Mae
Whitman) has become impossible to live with.
Luckily, Adrienne’s best friend, Jean (Viola Davis), owns a bed and breakfast on Hatteras Island located right, I mean, right on the ocean along North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Needing to go to Florida on business, Jean offers Adrienne the comfy place for a little rest and relaxation on the condition that she also serve as caretaker to the only guest she’s expecting, a surgeon arriving from Raleigh for a four-night stay.
Turns out, Dr. Paul Flanner (Gere) has his own emotional baggage, being inconsolable ever since a patient (Linda Molloy) accidentally died on the operating table. He also has some issues to work out with a 28 year-old son (James Franco) he hasn’t spoken to in a year.
What happens when two troubled souls in search of a little solitude find a soul mate instead of isolation? This is Paul and Adrienne’s predicament as they conveniently fall in love at first sight at the idyllic retreat and start whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ears while sharing the proverbial candlelit meals and long walks along the shore. All this unfolds during the off-season, so there shouldn’t be any annoying disturbances on the deserted isle spoiling their heavenly hideaway, provided the approaching hurricane and the disgruntled family of Dr. Feelgood’s deceased patient decide to cooperate.
Visually-enchanting, Nights in Rodanthe is ultimately more memorable for its cinematography than for the myriad relationship dramas hastily introduced and unconvincingly resolved over the course of one very eventful weekend.
That’s the trouble with trying to condense a 250-page novel into a 90-minute movie. You tend to sacrifice character development in order to cram in all the plot points.
Another sappy soap opera for Nicholas Sparks fans satisfied by panoramic seascapes offset intermittently by lingering interludes of dysfunctional strangers locking lips and loins.
Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for sensuality, partial nudity and mild epithets.
Running time: 96 minutes
Studi Warner Brothers
To see a trailer for Nights in Rodanthe, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n1QNRDOkn0
EUR FILM REVIEW: Ballast
Mississippi Delta Serves as Setting for Monosyllabic Meditation on Gangbanging by Moped Film Review by Kam Williams
*Early on, new developments arrive fast and furiously in this contemplative character study before it gradually settles down into an examination of the difficult to ascertain motivations of James (JimMyron Ross), a very troubled 12 year-old coming-of-age black, poor and criminally-inclined in a rural region of the Mississippi Delta.
At the point of departure, we meet Lawrence (Michael J. Smith, Sr.), a middle-aged black man despondent over news of the death of his identical twin, Darius, by drug overdose.
Larry is then caught in the midst of his own suicide attempt by a kindly neighbor (Johnny McPhail) who has no idea he’s distraught enough to shoot himself in the chest.
Also grieving Darius’ demise are his monosyllabic-bordering-on-mute son, James, and his ex, Marlee (Tarra Riggs) a former substance abuser. Larry survives his self-inflicted gunshot wound, and returns form the hospital only to have his nephew darken his doorstep, literally and figuratively. For James’ unique means of mourning involves asking to hear all the gory details about how his daddy died before robbing Uncle Larry at gunpoint.
The felonious-intentioned kid then hops on his moped and uses his ill-gotten gains to kickstart a career dealing drugs. This doesn’t sit well with Marlee, even though she’s been fired from her job as a maid, which means she’s now free to wonder where she went wrong raising a son who doesn’t have a lick of sense or compassion.
As preposterous as this plot probably sounds, Ballast is actually a perverse pleasure to watch because it morphs into this ethereal mood piece with virtually no dialogue. Mostly, we’re treated to the specter of James buzzing about on his motorbike against the stark backdrop of acre after acre of sparse winter farmland. Otherwise, the picture is punctuated by his mom and uncle working out their issues, and bursts of terrifying violence, like when a couple of teenage gangstas run a car off the road to teach a lesson via a drive-by beatdown in a backwoods version of a bloody turf war.
In sum, Ballast is one of those slice-of-life adventures featuring a principal cast of non-professionals whose gritty naivete manage to imbue the production with a palpable sense of super-realism that allows an audience to forget it’s watching actors. That amounts to movie magic in my book, even if it is in service of a Bill Cosby-infuriating display of black on black dysfunction.
Very Good (3 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 96 minutes
Studi Alluvial Film Company
To see a trailer for Ballast, visit: http://ballastfilm.com/trailer
THE BRIDGE: America, Elections & Stupidity
By Darryl James
*George Bush did not steal the last election.
He simply duped America. He duped America into believing that he is a man of God and that all men and women of God should follow him.
George Bush made many people believe that his presidency was about preserving life and that John Kerry would have the nation up to it’s ankles in aborted fetuses.
He made people believe that gay men and women would line up at the altars, taking marriage vows, and in doing so, would change the very definition of marriage for heterosexuals.
George Bush appealed to people by espousing “values.” Yes, even as he bombed Iraqis into oblivion, he pontificated on abortion. As he went into a tirade against gay marriage, George Bush railed against “quotas” for Blacks, while providing billions for corporate bailout and tax breaks for the rich.
The Republicans duped America into focusing on “values” and “safety,” while forgetting that many of them are losing jobs and have no place to live. It’s like punching you in the stomach so that you can forget your headache. But sadly, many Americans, even some steeped in poverty, voted for Bush’s re-election, thinking that they were voting to preserve Christian “values.”
America spews rhetoric about the separation of church and state, but for many Americans, the church should dictate the state. And, in 2004, it appeared to have done so, stumping Democrats who thought that a president with the sorry track record Bush holds would not be able to garner a re-election.
What the Democratic party failed to examine is that one third of Americans are Evangelical Christians who will readily abandon all reason and all concern for their fellow Americans based on an appeal to their faith. When it came to hot button issues such as abortion and gay marriage, Democrats appeared hostile to their faith, while Republicans appeared to be protecting their Christian “values.”
Many of those Evangelical Christians were Blacks who voted for George Bush for no other reason than he appeared to support their faith.
Many of those were also Hispanics. One third of Hispanic voters reported being born-again Christians and close to twenty percent listed moral values as their top issue.
Religious values are a hot button issue.
The problem in the 2004 election, was that Democrats did not appear to understand that.
While the Democrats stored their hopes in the increased numbers of registered young people, union members and Blacks, the real increases came from rural and evangelical voters, both of which supported George Bush.
In the all-important states of Ohio and Florida, state ballot measures to ban gay marriage were perhaps the impetus for the surge in the Republican vote.
Yes, America was duped, but it wasn’t the first time that the nation was duped.
In the 1980’s, President Ronald Reagan declared war on Blacks in impoverished, drug-infested communities. He duped America into thinking that the problem with drugs and crime in America lay solely in the hands of the young Black men who sold and bought the drugs. He even duped many Black Americans into supporting tougher laws in fear of Willie Horton and Tryone the violent drug dealer who would bring crime, gangs and guns into their communities to sell drugs.
America has been duped into believing that Black drug dealers are worse than the covert drug trade Oliver North began in the early 1980’s, and that Black gangs are worse than the country’s military operations in sovereign nations. Many Blacks with means have also been duped, which is why they simultaneously fear, hate and attack poor Blacks, who they believe have no “values.”
In 2004, George Bush duped America, and in doing so, he duped throngs of Blacks into abandoning reason, community concerns and racial pride, in pursuit of preserving their “Christian values.”
And there is some serious duping underway in the current election.
John McCain is attempting to distance himself from Bush and all of the dirty laundry of the Republican Party.
Sarah Palin is attempting to distance herself from her non-working brain and track record of being tacitly anti-woman.
She is against abortion and in general couldn’t care less about women’s rights, unless the women involved live in her home.
The Republican Party will go to any lengths to keep their regime in office, including scaring the crap out of the American people. And the people are frightened. So frightened that many African Americans would rather vote for the Republicans than support a Democratic candidate who is highly qualified, prepared to promulgate change and happens to be Black.
Granted, Blacks in America are just like the rest of America, in that there really is no “us.” We are not a monolithic people.
For example, there are Blacks who work every day at great jobs and have seen no oppression and very little racism. For them, there is no harm in Bush’s policies. And as we saw in 2004, many Black people believed that Republican George Bush was their best bet.
My interests do not lie in party lines. I believe in Senator Barack Obama based on who he is and what he wants to do, which I believe is best for America and ultimately, best for my people.
African Americans have been duped in the past and hopefully will stanch the duping in November.
In general, Americans are stupid and easily duped.
Hopefully, this election will prove me wrong.
Hopefully, Americans won’t be stupid enough to elect McCain and Pailin.
Darryl James is an award-winning author of the new powerful anthology “Notes From The Edge.” He released his first mini-movie, “Crack,” and this year, will release his first full-length documentary. View previous installments of this column at www.bridgecolumn.proboards36.com. Reach James at djames@theblackgendergap.com.
TURNER’S TWO CENTS: PALIN’S FEARFUL LIES DOOMED TO FAIL
By Cameron Turner
*John McCain and Sarah Palin are pathetic, dishonest and completely lacking in honor. They’re also scared to death. With polls showing Barack Obama ahead with less than a month to go before election day, the McCain camp is in a panic. The majority of voters aren’t feeling them on the issues, so McCain and Palin have sunk to dirty character attacks, not realizing that this strategy is doomed to failure.
Gov. Palin (and the people who tell her what to say) knew she was lying when she accused Sen. Obama of “palling around with terrorists.” After all, the New York Times article she cited when making that stupid statement concluded that Obama and former 1970s radical William Ayers “do not appear to have been close.” The article went on to say, “Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called 'somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.' “Those same conclusions were reached previously by TIME magazine, The Washington Post, The Chicago Sun-Times, The New Yorker and The New Republic.
Sarah Palin and John McCain know that the “palling around with terrorists” claim is a load of crap. But, since everything else they’ve tried has flopped they’re now appealing openly to the nutcases and bigots who continue to promote the repeatedly-debunked lie that Barack Obama is secretly a Muslim terrorist.
This is tantamount to playing on racism since the only reason anyone ever suggested that Obama had terrorist sympathies is that he’s a black man with an Arab-sounding name. It would be socially unacceptable for Sarah Palin to call Obama a nigger (even though a lot of those conservative “base” voters she appeals to would probably cheer or let out a Rebel yell if she did), but she can lie and claim that Obama is in solidarity with terrorists who hate and want to destroy our nation. She can also tie that lie directly to the old, us vs. them paranoia by saying, as she did this past weekend, that Obama, “is not a man who sees America as you see America and as I see America." All of that is code language which gives conservative whites an excuse to vote against Obama for racial reasons without admitting so.
But these techniques cannot work. Obama is ahead in the polls because most Americans are excited by his message. We are eager for a change from the Republican program of tax breaks for corporations and rich individuals, endless war and economic chaos at home. We are energized when Barack Obama talks about ending the war in Iraq, cutting taxes for 95% of Americans, increasing funds for education, providing health care across the board, developing alternative energy and so forth. Along with that, we are inspired by Obama’s optimistic vision of an America that celebrates its diversity and unites for the progress and prosperity of all its people.
These are the reasons why Sen. Barack Obama is poised to become the next President of the United States – and why McCain and Palin’s lies, attacks, fear-mongering and race-bating will backfire.
Thanks for listening. I’m Cameron Turner and that’s my two cents.
THINK! IT AIN’T ILLEGAL…YET!
THE JOURNAL OF STEFFANIE RIVERS: Ideology vs. Reality
*While Congress was busy throwing a $700 billion lifeline to greedy white-collar business executives on Wall Street to salvage their portfolios and credit ratings, a 90-year-old woman about to be evicted from her foreclosed home tried to commit suicide. Now Fannie Mae executives say they will sign over the property to the elderly woman and forgive her loan.
So it has come to this? Do people have to attempt suicide to get the same consideration of forgiveness Congress has given to Wall Street? How could a politician agree to hand over $700 billion dollars to Wall Street executives without as much as a slap on the hand for their transgressions, but ignore everyday people unable to pay their mortgage loans? Some say it’s a matter of ideology versus reality.
Ideally some politicians (mostly republicans) believe in less government interference in people’s lives. So despite a family’s loss of wages or other misfortune, some republicans are against extending government programs such as unemployment benefits to bail out everyday Americans, and against the type of health insurance that would insure every American has the basic coverage.
Those republicans fail to realize in an ideal world there would be no need for unemployment benefits or a Wall Street bailout.
In an ideal republican world vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin would actually know the answers to the questions she was asked during the vice presidential debate last week instead of skirting the issues and shouting out her homies as a camouflage. But I digress.
Realistically, half of every dollar earned by an employee goes to pay some sort of tax, including social security tax (FICA), income tax, state tax, and sales tax. By default the government already is involved in your life. So if 50% of your income goes to pay some sort of tax that helps federal, state and local government, it’s reasonable to expect government officials to pick up the slack where families fall short. That’s reality.
Government officials should not mandate Americans to pay half their income in taxes, vote to bail out people who are in the least position to need it or deserve it and then leave those hanging with the bill who most deserve to be bailed out.
Once that door has been opened other entities want to walk through it. Case in point is California’s governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is asking Congress for a $7 billion emergency loan from the federal government to pay for “teachers' salaries, nursing homes, law enforcement and every other state-funded service" this month. What state will be next to ask for and probably receive a loan?
Where will all this money come from? Just as some people write bad checks and know there’s no money in the bank to cash it, Congress is floating bail out checks knowing full well there’s not enough money to pay. Their checks are post dated. They hope that within five years Wall Street will be doing so well Congress will receive enough profit and interest payments on the post dated bail out money – coupled with increased tax revenues – to pay for the bailout checks they’ve written. In other words, they went to Vegas with the rent money and gambled it away.
If you’ve never had a reason to care about voting or Wall Street before, there is more than enough reason now to care. It’s obvious to me most of the politicians we have in office couldn’t lead a marching band, let alone lead Americans in decisions that effect their lives for generations to come.
Steffanie Rivers is a free-lance journalist living in Dallas, Texas. For public speaking inquiries, comments or questions email her at teamtcbadvertising@hotmail.com.
POLISHED STONES ETIQUETTE: Be on time
*Everyone seems to be in a hurry these days. We just don’t seem to have enough time in the day. Our time is limited. We can’t stretch the hours and we can’t make it slow down. This makes it very important to honor the time we have been given. It is also important that we don’t steal the time that belongs to other people. Being late does just that—it steals from another person something that is very precious and cannot be replaced.
Being late is a result of poor planning. You simply did not get ready early enough or didn’t give yourself enough time when you left home. You can also be late because you don’t care about being on time. This can make you appear to be selfish and rude. In fact, lateness is really a sign of arrogance. It sends a message that you don’t care about anyone else but yourself. People may not admit to you how your tardiness frustrates them, but they will soon stop making plans with you and in many instances you may gain a reputation for being unreliable. Let’s take a look at a couple of pointers to help improve upon your tardiness.
-- Give yourself more time than you think you need to get ready. If you usually need a half hour, start getting ready one hour earlier than you need.
-- Prepare the night before. Organize your things so that you have what you need to get ready. Always put your things away the night before so that you are not running around looking for them. Have your wardrobe pre-selected and prepared the night before.
I realize that everyone is going to be late sometimes. If you are going to be more than fifteen minutes late, call and notify the waiting party. However, there are times when your tardiness could cost you important things, such as a job interview or a special date. Don’t make being late a habit. This is one of the greatest lessons of protocol that we can teach our children through our own actions. Lead them by example. Give people the respect that they deserve by being on time. Remember, people are like diamonds, they sparkle once they are polished.
Angela Carr Patterson is an etiquette consultant, founder of The Love Story Women’s Circle, an online women’s circle and the owner of Oasis Promotions, an empowerment and personal development company, and the creator of The Revival of a Love Story Women’s Experience. A popular speaker for events and conferences, Angela travels the country teaching women how to embrace passion, purpose and power for their lives.
Contact her at angela@oasispromotionsllc.com or www.oasispromotionsllc.com
PEOPLE OF NOTE: Latin Band Leaders Reunite At Lehman Center By Deardra Shuler
*Nine-time Grammy Award winner maestro Eddie Palmieri, a salsa master for over four decades will be joined by his orchestra, alongside special guest, the celebrated conguero Giovanni Hidalgo for an historic reunion at Lehman College for the Performing Arts on Saturday, October 11th at 8:00 p.m. Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is located on the campus of Lehman College at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY.
Known as “The Sun of Latin Music,” Palmieri is set to enchant the Lehman crowd with his musical brilliance as he plays his old favorites, favorites like his 1975 namesake album The Sun of Latin Music which still delights his fans and for which he won his first Grammy Award for Best Latin Album. Fans are expecting to hear some of Palmieri’s classics like “Azucar pa’ ti”, “Muñeca,” “Café” and “Si hecho pa’ lante.”
The son of the great Jose’ “Mañengue” Hidalgo, who especially handcrafted the congas that Giovanni Hidalgo began playing at age five, was born into a family of musicians. Giovanni Hidalgo is now known as one of the greatest Puerto Rican percussionist to grace Latin Jazz. What makes this performance so special is that Hidalgo played with Eddie Palmieri in New York for years. After forging a life-long friendship with Dizzy Gillespie, Hidalgo began touring in 1988 with Gillespie’s United Nations Orchestra. He also toured extensively with Tito Puente and performed with Carlos Santana and Paquito D’Rivera. So it’s a great moment to once again reunite these two exceptional Latin Jazz artists upon the stage of Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, a venue that serves a large minority community of African Americans and Latinos. There is no doubt these two Latin giants will garner a lot of excitement, sizzle, and spice while setting the stage on fire.
Also part of the playbill includes The Latin Giants of Jazz (formerly known as the Tito Puente Orchestra). Tito Puento was well known, especially in New York, as one of the giants of Latin swing. The Latin Giants of Jazz Orchestra is led by Johnny “Dandy” Rodriguez and Jose Madera, both whom played for Tito for three decades. The Latin Giants of Jazz was formed by alumni of the Tito Puente Orchestra in 2000 after Puente’s passing. Last year the Latin Giants released an album entitled “Trip to Mamboland.”
Salsa music has a long history. It began as a dance in the Spanish Courts where it made its way to the Caribbean, Haiti, Bolivia, and Cuba, whereby it was called the contradanza. It eventually came to New York wherein the Puerto Rican and Cuban immigrants added percussions and Afro-Latino poly-rhythms and tempo. Eventually, Izzy Sanabria, the Master of Ceremonies of the Fania All-Stars, coined the music Salsa due to its use of percussion, fast paced beat, and hot and spicy flavor. The mambo and son is also similar to the dance and music of Salsa. In fact, the terms Latin jazz and salsa are sometimes used interchangeably. Salsa is basically Cuban in stylistic origin. Although, its a Puerto Rican hybrid fused with African beats and other Latin styles mixed with R&B, rock, jazz and pop.
Fans are also familiar with band leader Johnny “Dandy” Rodriguez, the son of respected Latin musician, Johnny Rodriguez, who performed with Tito Rodriguez and the extraordinary Ray Barretto and Tipica as a teenager before beginning his 27-year stint playing bongos in Tito Puente’s band. Musical director José Madera, born in NYC to José “Pin” Madera, was the first arranger for the Machito Orchestra. He started playing timbales with Machito as a teenager and was Tito Puente’s conguero for 30 years. Madera was the Tito Puente Orchestra’s musical director for ten years, as well as staff arranger at Fania Records since the 1970s, and he has performed on over 100 recordings by Latin, pop, R&B and jazz artists.
These giants of Latin Music are all part of the lineup that fans can expect to see on Saturday, October 11th.
Free attended parking is available for those driving to the concert which is off the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Major Deegan Expressway. For those coming by train, Lehman Center is accessible via the D train and #4 line. Get off at the Bedford Park Blvd. stop. Tickets for Eddie Palmieri in Concert are being sold for $50, $45, $40, and $35. Callers can call the Lehman Center Box Office at 718-960-8833 (Mon. through Fri., 10AM–5PM, and beginning at 12 noon on the day of the concert), or through 24-hour online access at www.LehmanCenter.org.
GLENN'S STRATEGIES FOR WELL-BEING: Breast Cancer Awareness
*About 178,480 women were found to have invasive breast cancer in 2007. More than 40,000 died. However, it doesn't just strike women. More than 1,700 cases of breast cancer in men were diagnosed in 2007. The disease killed about 460 men.
In addition to the bright reds, oranges and yellows seen as the leaves turn this fall, PINK will be everywhere during October, which is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
If I may take the liberty, I want to offer some insight that may be helpful in further empowering women (and men) with the ability to live healthy lives.
The breasts are organs of lactation called mammaries or mammae. They form the milk that provides sustenance to infants and small children. This is why “mammae” and Mama are such similar words and why the entire category of animals is called mammals.
The main components of the breast are lobules (milk-producing glands), ducts (milk passages that connect the lobules and the nipple), and stroma (fatty tissue and ligaments surrounding the ducts and lobules, blood vessels, and lymphatic vessels).
Lymphatic vessels are similar to veins, except that they carry lymphatic fluid instead of blood. As the fluid passes through the nodes, harmful bacteria and viruses are removed. As many as 1,500 pea to bean-sized lymph nodes function as a network to filter lymphatic fluid throughout our entire body. Cancer cells can enter lymph vessels. Most lymphatic vessels of the breast lead to axillary (underarm) lymph nodes. If breast cancer cells are found in the axillary lymph nodes, they are more likely to have spread, even microscopically, to other organs of the body. This is why finding out whether breast cancer has spread to axillary lymph nodes is important in selecting the best mode of treatment.
In normal tissue, the cells lining the duct are orderly and can be easily told apart. Sometimes, extra, normal appearing cells may accumulate. This is called hyperplasia. When the cells accumulating appear abnormal under the microscope, it is called atypical hyperplasia. Atypical hyperplasia is not cancer, but it does place a woman at a higher risk for developing breast cancer.
Some of the most common things you may hear about issues with breast health are:
LUMPS:
Most lumps are NOT breast cancer. Eight out of ten lumps are benign (not cancerous). A cyst is a lump which contains fluid.
Lumps may be sore, tender to touch, or painless. Sometimes you may have had a recent mammogram that was normal. Shortly afterwards, when doing your own breast self-exam you might feel a lump. Even though you recently had a mammogram, don't wait to contact your physician and discuss this situation.
Often, in order to be sure that a lump or other change in your breast is not breast cancer, you need to have some or the entire lump removed (a biopsy). Sometimes, a needle is inserted into the lump to see if fluid can be withdrawn. This is called a "needle aspiration" and may be done with local anesthesia in the doctor's office. A pathologist (a doctor who examines a biopsy under a microscope to determine if the tissue is normal or cancerous) will then be able to make a diagnosis.
Several million breast biopsies are performed each year. The only way to make sure a lump is not cancer is to remove a small piece of tissue from that lump and look at it under a microscope.
BENIGN BREAST MASSES:
Following a mammogram, you may learn that the lump is more likely to be benign, not malignant. Benign breast tumors are abnormal growths that have not spread outside of the breast to other organs. They are not life threatening. They are easily removed and usually do not come back.
MICROCALCIFICATIONS:
Microcalcifications are very small specks of calcium that cannot be felt, but can be seen on a mammogram. They are formed by rapidly dividing cells.
Microcalcifications might be an early sign of breast cancer, when they are clustered in one area of the breast.
Microcalcifications can also be an indication of benign breast scar tissue. They can result from nursing or injury.
Microcalcifications do not reflect excess calcium in one's body. Sometimes microcalcifications can point to a suspicious area which contains cancer cells. This requires biopsy and examination under the microscope.
The hopeful news is cancer is often a preventable disease. It can be avoided through not smoking, eating healthful foods, and exercising regularly, according to a study by Harvard School of Public Health. Nearly 70% of all cancer deaths can be attributed to smoking, eating and drinking habits, or a "sedentary lifestyle."
The cancer prevention plan: Eat whole foods including "5 (or more) fruits and vegetables a day," and eliminate or significantly reduce animal protein, animal fats, hydrogenated fats, processed foods containing additives, preservatives, or pesticides. Daily aerobic exercise and stretching increases circulation and helps the body eliminate toxins stored in our tissues. For individuals whose lifestyles have included smoking, excessive drinking, poor diets, and being sedentary, extra efforts need to be taken to restore the body to its fullest health.
Foods high in chlorophyll, vitamin A, vitamin E, selenium and vitamin C will significantly increase elimination of toxins and free radicals known to cause cellular changes that are the root of cancer and other degenerative diseases.
We have come a long way in addressing this epidemic of Breast Cancer. Yes, if you are diagnosed today, you have a greater chance of surviving cancer than you did a generation ago. But let's keep our definitions straight. Early detection is not prevention.
Let us keep vigilant, and always remember: Prevention involves looking at the underlying causes of this epidemic and doing what needs to be done to stop it.
Remember, I'm not a doctor. I just sound like one.
Take good care of yourself and live the best life possible!
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended, nor implied, to be a substitute for professional medical advice.
Glenn Ellis is a Health Advocacy Communications Specialist and author of, "Which Doctor?": What You Need To Know to be Healthy.
For more good health information, visit: www.glennellis.com
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
"Learn to pause.... or nothing worthwhile will catch up to you." — Doug King
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Oct. 7: Singer Toni Braxton is 41.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
Just Us Books - Creators of Black interest books and products for young people. Get more info here: www.justusbooks.com
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
Oct. 7, 1820: The "Emancipator," the first anti-slavery magazine, was issued monthly from April 30 to October 31, 1820. It was edited and published by Elihu Embree. (Source: www.BlackFacts.com)
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