12-28-09 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE

TYLER PERRY PREPS TOUR OF NEW MADEA PLAY: 'Madea's Big Happy Family' marks character's first stage outing in five years.

        *After producing and starring in several film versions of his plays
featuring Madea, Tyler Perry is bringing his signature character back to the
stage in a new production set to tour in 2010.

       The entertainment mogul posted a message on his Web site Saturday
that said he had taken some time off in the past few months "so I could
spend my mother's final days at her side." His mother, Willie Maxine Perry,
died Dec. 8 at age 64.
      
       Perry says he will begin touring with his new play, "Madea's Big
Happy Family," on Jan. 4 in El Paso, Texas. The first leg then goes on to
Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle and Portland, Ore, reports the Associated Press.
      
        The actor says he is eager to have the gun-toting,
curse-you-out-in-a-minute character on stage for the first time in five
years.
      
GEORGE CLINTON STRUGGLES TO FINANCE MOM'S FUNERAL: Singer hopes move to
new management will generate royalty compensation.

       *Funk pioneer George Clinton has signed on with Exclusive Solutions
Management for representation after the company promised to help him regain
the intellectual property he had lost and seek restoration for him
monetarily.

       "At a time when he should be able to live off his life's work,
Clinton is struggling to provide for his family and give his mother a proper
burial," read a statement from ESM announcing the venture. His mother,
Julious G. Keaton, died earlier this month in North Carolina.

       The company says Clinton "has received little monetary gain over the
past three decades from his musical works, such as "Flashlight" and "One
Nation Under a Groove." Clinton's smash hit "Atomic Dog" is one of the most
sampled songs in history, yet Clinton does not receive any compensation from
it since he does not legally own the rights to the song.

       Clinton, 68, is also fighting back against his former business
partners and managers, Armen Boladian (Bridgeport Music, Inc.) and Nene
Montes (Tercer Mundo), who were entrusted to act on Clinton's behalf as
administrators only after the singer filed for bankruptcy in 1984.

       "There were several documents that appear to have George's signature
on them which turns most of his publishing and masters over to Boladian and
Montes, which caused Clinton to lose all rights and financial gain to all of
his songs," ESM said in the statement. "Clinton asserts that he would not be
so careless as to sign over complete rights to his music for a lifetime.
This brings to the forefront the ethical relationship between artist and the
third parties whom they entrust to take care of their business."

       Clinton, according to ESM, is determined to bring awareness to some
of the issues he and other artists face with mismanagement in the music
industry.

EMINEM TO DROP HOMOPHOBIC LYRICS FOR UK GIG: Rapper looking to avoid wrath
of gay-rights groups.

       *In advance of his scheduled appearance at next summer's Wireless
Festival in the UK, Eminem has agreed to strip his performance of homophobic
lyrics in order to avoid any threat of protest from gay activist groups,
such as OutRage!
      
       According to UK’s Evening Standard, OutRage! agreed to refrain from
picketing the concert, as long as Eminem does not use lyrics that encourage
or incite hatred against gay people.
      
       Festival spokesman David Allison said the rapper agreed to sign up
after he was assured there would be no protests at the show. In return, Slim
will censor his lyrics to avoid confrontation with the gay rights groups in
the country.
      
       OutRage! and other similar groups have actively boycotted singers
like Beenie Man and Buju Banton, who have had tours of the country
interrupted due to protests over their homophobic lyrics.
      
       The 2010 Wireless Festival will take place at London's Hyde Park in
July with additional confirmed acts Pink and The Ting Tings. More performers
are expected to be announced.
 
GRAND JURY FINDS SHOOTING OF UNARMED IL MAN JUSTIFIED: Jesse Jackson, NAACP
express outrage.

       *The NAACP and Jesse Jackson have released statements expressing
anger over a grand jury's ruling that the fatal shooting of an unarmed black
man by two white police officers at a northern Illinois daycare filled with
children was justified.
    
       The Aug. 24 killing of 23-year-old Mark Anthony Barmore at the
church-run facility in Rockford raised tensions between police and the black
community in the city, about 90 miles northwest of Chicago. Thousands
attended rallies protesting the shooting and U.S. Department of Justice
mediators were sent to ease racial unrest.     

       “The NAACP is shocked and outraged by the Illinois State Police
finding that the Rockford Police acted properly in shooting and killing Mark
Barmore, who was unarmed,” said Norma Joseph, President of the Rockford
Branch NAACP.     

       The Rockford, Illinois branch of NAACP, along with community leaders,
faith leaders and concerned citizens in the State of Illinois, have formed a
coalition which is calling for an independent investigation by the US
Department of Justice through the US Attorney General for the Northern
District of Illinois into the incident. The community-based coalition has
also called for the establishment of a citizen’s police review board with
subpoena and disciplinary power.     

       “We are seeking accountability for the law enforcement officer’s
actions,” explained Attorney Don Jackson, President of the Illinois State
NAACP. “In only five years of service, one of the officers has been involved
in four shootings, two of which resulted in fatalities.”     

       “It is a sad day in this country when two police officers with guns
drawn can charge into a church day care center, terrorize children and staff
and fatally shoot an unarmed man in the back with impunity,” stated Benjamin
Todd Jealous, NAACP President and CEO.     

       Barmore, who was wanted in connection with a domestic dispute with
his girlfriend, fled from police Aug. 24 and ran and hid inside a boiler
room inside the day care. Rockford police officers Oda Poole and Stan North
followed Barmore to the church.

       At Wednesday’s news conference, Winnebago County State’s Attorney Joe
Bruscato explained: “As the officers were standing in front of the door, the
individual came out, lunged at officer Poole, grabbing his weapon, grabbing
the barrel of his weapon, with both hands,” Bruscato said. “Officer Poole
then had the weapon pushed toward his face. Officer Poole then attempted to
push the weapon back, successfully redirecting it, and one shot was fired,
which struck Mr. Barmore in the neck.”     

       Bruscato said North fired four shots, three of which struck Barmore.
The other shot struck a water pipe.

       Meanwhile, the mother-daughter team that operates the daycare center
offer a vastly different account of the shooting, saying there was no
struggle between Barmore and Poole and that Barmore emerged from the boiler
room with his hands up before he was shot by the two officers.       

        Standing in the same spot where Barmore was killed, the Rev. Jesse
Jackson said a “miscarriage of justice” was performed by the Winnebago
County grand jury Wednesday.     

       The civil rights leader and his Rainbow PUSH Coalition are supporting
Sheila Brown, director of House of Grace Day Care, part of the Kingdom
Authority International Ministries at 518 N. Court St., and her 17-year-old
daughter, Marissa Brown.

       Both were present Aug. 24 when 23-year-old the incident took place in
their facility. The two were called to testify Wednesday to the grand jury,
but didn’t show because of previous plans to visit family in Mississippi.
Jackson said the Browns were not defying a court order, and their testimony
would have swayed jurors.

       “They made plans for the sacred season and they could not undo those
plans,” Jackson said Saturday with about 75 people in the basement of
Kingdom Authority International Ministries.  “To make it December 23, the
day before Christmas Eve, is more like manipulation than truth. We can live
with a fair outcome, but you must have all the ingredients to have a fair
outcome.”

PACQUIAO THREATENS LAWSUIT AGAINST MAYWEATHER: Manny's mad over Pretty Boy's
accusations of steroid use.

       *The road to a dream megafight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny
Pacquiao hit a major pothole in the form of a lawsuit over accusations of
steroid use.
      
       Mayweather's camp has said performance enhancing drugs are at the
root of the Filipino fighter's recent wins, and has called for Olympic-style
drug testing for their planned showdown, even though both fighters have
never been linked to any steroid use.
      
       Under Nevada regulations, boxers are generally only tested just
before the fight and in the dressing room afterward, and only urine is
given. Mayweather's camp wants blood tests that can find things urine tests
can't, such as use of human growth hormone, and they want them done by the
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency from the time the fight is signed until the fight is
held.
      
       Pacquiao's side has agreed to both urine and blood testing, but
doesn't want testing immediately before the fight because Pacquiao believes
giving blood so soon before a bout will weaken him.
      
       Both sides failed to reach an agreement about the blood testing by
Thursday, a deadline set by promoter Bob Arum. Therefore, Arum has cancelled
the planned March 13 fight.
      
       In a statement posted Friday on his Web site, Pacquiao says he is
planning to file a defamation lawsuit against Mayweather Jr., the fighter's
father, and Golden Boy Promotions over claims that his character has been
damaged and tarnished by accusations he says are untrue.
      
       "Enough is enough," Pacquiao said in the statement. "These people,
Mayweather Sr., Jr., and Golden Boy Promotions, think it is a joke and a
right to accuse someone wrongly of using steroids or other
performance-enhancing drugs. I have tried to just brush it off as a mere
pre-fight ploy but I think they have gone overboard."
      
       "These people think they are doing the sport a great service. They
are not," Pacquiao added. "To Floyd, despite all these accusations, may your
Christmas be merry and I will see you in court, soon, too."
      
       Pacquiao's Web site states that Mayweather's camp is "asking too many
unrealistic and unprecedented items on the bargaining table, including that
of an Olympic-style drug testing."
      
       "I maintain and assure everyone that I have not used any form or kind
of steroids and that my way to the top is a result of hard work, hard work,
hard work and a lot of blood spilled from my past battles in the ring, not
outside of it," Pacquiao's statement said. "I have no idea what steroids
look like, and my fear in God has kept me safe and victorious through all
these years.
      
       "Now, I say to Floyd Mayweather Jr., don't be a coward, and face me
in the ring, mano-a-mano, and shut your big, pretty mouth, so we can show
the world who is the true king of the ring."

AUDRA MCDONALD BACK IN THE 'SHADE': Tony winner staring in Utah benefit
production this summer.

       *Tickets for the benefit production of 110 in the Shade, starring
Tony winner Audra McDonald and Tony nominee Will Swenson, will go on sale to
the general public Jan. 19, 2010, reports Playbill News.
      
       The Utah production is a fundraiser for the nonprofit Hale Center
Foundation for the Arts and Education. 110 in the Shade will run June
28-Aug. 7, 2010, but only the first two weeks (through July 10) will feature
McDonald and Swenson.
      
       Tickets will begin sale to theatre donors on Jan. 5, 2010, followed
by limited phone sales to Orem residents Jan. 11 and Utah residents Jan. 14.
Online ticketing for the general public will begin Jan. 19, 2010.
      
       110 in the Shade will be staged in the round in the Hale Center's
300-seat theatre. Both McDonald, star of ABC's "Private Practice," and
Swenson (Hair, Rock of Ages) appeared in the 2007 Broadway revival of the
Tom Jones-Harvey Schmidt musical.

        HCTO is a year-round community theatre in Orem, UT, that has been in
operation since 1990.

EMT WORKERS EXPLAIN LEAVING DYING PREGNANT WOMAN: Attorney claims pair
radioed for help and stayed until they knew ambulance was coming.

       *A lawyer for the emergency medical technicians accused of refusing
to help a dying pregnant woman say his clients were never asked to examine
her or told the extent of her condition.
      
       Attorney Douglas Rosenthal said Thursday EMTs Jason Green and Melisa
Jackson were only asked to summon an ambulance on Dec. 9 when they were
taking a break in a Brooklyn Au Bon Pain eatery. He said they never saw
Eutisha Rennix, who was in the back of the store, and that other employees
didn't seem overly concerned about her condition.
      
       "There was no apparent panic," Rosenthal said in a statement.
      
       Witnesses have said the EMTs told workers to call 911, then left when
they were asked to help the 25-year-old pregnant woman. Rennix, who also was
the mother of a 3-year-old boy, died at a hospital shortly afterward. The
cause of death has not been determined. Her baby did not survive the
premature birth.
      
       Rosenthal said Jackson, a four-year veteran, was asked by an employee
to summon an ambulance because the six-months-pregnant Rennix was showing
asthmatic symptoms and was experiencing abdominal pain. Rosenthal said
Jackson radioed for an ambulance and she and Green, a six-year veteran,
stayed until they knew help was coming.
      
       "They were thanked by the employee for their response," he said.
      
       Rosenthal said "protocol, training and regulations" also kept the two
emergency workers from intervening further because they didn't have any
equipment or medications and worked as dispatchers rather than in the field.
      
       Green and Jackson have been suspended without pay. They are also
under investigation by the Brooklyn district attorney's office and the state
Department of Health, which oversees EMT training.

ITTY BITTY BITS:  Kanye, Diddy see 'Avatar'; P. Miller, Romeo deliver gifts.

       *The blog/Twitter-generated controversy over whether the new James
Cameron film "Avatar" is based on a racist premise didn't deter Kanye West
or Sean "Diddy" Combs from seeing the movie over the weekend. According to
the tabloids, West took his girlfriend Amber Rose to the film at The Grove
in West Hollywood. Diddy took his 11-year-old son Christian to see it at the
same theater.

       *Entrepreneur P. Miller and son Romeo handed out a U-Haul truck full
of Christmas gifts in Watts, Calif. in partnership with the non-profits
Reachback LA and OneMillionGifts.org. The duo supplied toys over several
hours to a line of recipients that spanned five blocks around the
Bradley/Milken Youth and Family Building, reports Allhiphop.com. Those
interested in volunteering or donating can visit www.OneMillionGifts.org or
www.ReachbackLA.org. 

LINCOLN U. SCRAPS CONTROVERSIAL HEALTH REQUIREMENT: HBCU rids policy that
made students with high BMI take fitness class before graduation.

       *In the wake of widespread criticism, Lincoln University has voted to
repeal a policy that required students with a Body Mass Index of 30 or above
to take a fitness class in order to graduate, reports Black Enterprise.
      
       Instead, all undergraduate students will be required to take a
general health class, after which the professor will recommend, but not
require, a fitness class for those students who they believe are at risk for
hypokinetic disease (obesity) based on a battery of health risk appraisals,
not just BMI (a measure of a person’s body fat based on height and weight).
      
       “In no way, form, or fashion was there any intent to discriminate or
to insinuate that we were discriminating against a group of people,” says
Lincoln University President Ivory V. Nelson of the policy that was
instituted in 2005.
      
       Some experts argue that BMI is a crude measurement that can be
inaccurate. Thomas LaVeist, director of the Hopkins Center for Health
Disparities Solutions at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health, says he applauds the school for  trying to do something proactive to
deal with a serious problem that is particularly important among African
Americans.
      
       “However I think their mistake was assuming that physical and
nutritional education should only be given to people with a BMI over 30,” he
said.

       Student Tianna Y. Lawson wrote in the Lincolnian, the school’s
student newspaper, that the policy infringed on her right of personal
choice. However, people who are overweight and obese do not have special
protection under anti-discrimination laws, says Samantha Graff, director of
legal research at the National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent
Childhood Obesity.

       Graff recommends that private institutions promote healthier
lifestyles without singling out a particular group of people. For example,
they can open stairwells and provide free access to the gym to encourage
exercise, get rid of junk food in campus vending machines, and/or sponsor a
community garden or farmer’s market.

        Read the entire Black Enterprise article here:
http://www.blackenterprise.com/business/business-news/2009/12/22/lincoln-uni
versity-repeals-controversial-health-requirement 

EUR FILM REVIEW: Up in the Air
Mile-High Sitcom Stars George Clooney as Peripatetic Hatchet Man 
Film Review by Kam Williams

      *Ryan Bingham's (George Clooney) services have been very much in demand during these dire economic times marked by downsizing and the outsourcing of jobs overseas.

      Although he euphemistically refers to his line of work as career transition counseling, what he actually does for a living is fire people for companies that don't have the guts to terminate their own employees.

      In this capacity, the heartless hatchet man finds himself on the road, or should I say "Up in the Air" over 300 days a year, crisscrossing the country on assignments as dictated by his boss, Craig (Jason Bateman), from corporate headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska.

      However, all the incessant travel is to rudderless Ryan's liking. After all, the confirmed bachelor isn't in a relationship, and he admittedly feels more at home in hotels and on planes than in the tiny apartment he very rarely uses.

      Furthermore, he puts little stock in worldly possessions beyond an obsession with racking up frequent-flyer miles in order to enjoy the conveniences which flow from upgrades in car rentals, credit cards, and first-class accommodations.

      Everything changes for Ryan the day he trades pleasantries with Alex (Vera Farmiga), a kindred spirit he encounters in an airport lounge. For, as it turns out, the striking businesswoman is ostensibly also a peripatetic loner living out of suitcases and equally-fixated on accumulating travel perks. Their ensuing, alcohol-fueled flirtation leads to an impulsive one-night stand, plus plans for further passionate rendezvous whenever their hectic itineraries intersect.

      Their star-crossed romance rests at the heart of Up in the Air, the latest offering from Jason Reitman. The film is only loosely based on the identically-titled Walter Kirn best seller which doesn't really revolve around any steamy affair. The film also introduces a totally new character not in the novel, Natalie (Anna Kendrick). She's Ryan's recently-hired
colleague who comes up with the bright idea of their firing folks via video conferencing. If her idea is adopted by their boss, it will put an abrupt end not only to Ryan's field trips but to his budding romance with Alex.

      Although this inspired, mile-high sitcom is a delightful romp, it is likely to prove to be a bit of a disappointment for Reitman fans measuring it against either Juno or Thank You for Smoking which earned the #1 spot on this critic's Top 10 List of 2006. While Clooney and Farmiga are up to the challenge of generating screen chemistry and of exchanging the
writer/director's trademark pithy banter, Anna Kendrick often comes across as unsure of herself, and thus fails to deliver her lines with the requisite terminally-hip tone.

      Fortunately, the rest of the support cast, from J.K. Simmons to Sam Elliott to Danny McBride to Zach Galifianakis, executes its dialogue with perfect aplomb, enabling Up in the Air to serve up a down-to-earth look at 21st Century dating habits in this no-strings age of friends with benefits.

Very Good (3 stars)
Rated R for profanity and sexuality.
Running time: 109 minutes
Studi Paramount Pictures

To see a trailer for Up in the Air, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok5PawKpvTI

EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE

Today’s ‘Live Better With Willie Jolley’ Tip: The Twelfth Day of Christmas –
“Share The Gift of Faith!”

St. Augustine said, “Understanding is the reward of faith, therefore seek
not to understand that you might believe, but rather to believe so you might
understand!” This Christmas, I encourage you to have faith, share faith,
livewith faith and love with faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped
for and the evidence of things not seen. In a time of constant change many
people lose hope. They are afraid to fly, afraid to drive and some are
afraid to leave home. It is in these times that you need faith. Faith in
your dreams, faith in yourself and faith in a God who will never leave you
or forsake you! The old folks used to say, “To have faith is to step out on
a sea of nothing and believe you will land on something!” As you go into
this New Year, I recommend you step out… step out on faith!!!! This
Christmas, share the gift of faith!

Visit my website at www.williejolley.com for a copy of today’s message and
make this a great day!

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS   

       Dec. 28:  Actress Nichelle Nichols ("Star Trek") is 77. Saxophonist
Charles Neville of the Neville Brothers is 71. Actor Denzel Washington is
55. Singer John Legend is 31.

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
      
       Audiblox claims to have a solution for Dyslexia and other learning
disabilities. Check them out here: www.audiblox2000.com.
        
       Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less)
description to info@eurweb.com.      

BLACK HISTORY

        Dec. 28, 1897: C.V. Richey patents Fire Escape bracket. (Source:
www.BlackFacts.com)