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Voodoo 2009: The Power of P-Funk...

by TFSnewsRoom/Offbeat.com

Voodoo 2009: The Power of P-Funk
01 November 2009 by DJ Soul Sister



[linked image]
Photo by Earl Perry

I saw George Clinton for the first time in 1986 on TV.

It was Late Night with David Letterman and Clinton, sporting his rainbow-colored hair extensions, a shiny pajama-like suit and no shoes at all, showed the world what the funk is all about. He transformed his live performance of Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker) into a party, running into the audience, jumping on chairs, screaming and challenging the seated crowd to get up off your ass. He turned that NBC studio inside out, and the crowd ate up every minute.

GC and P-Funk are still the real deal in 2009. It may be 33 years after Parliament- Funkadelic landed its first Mothership (October 27, 1976, at the Municipal Auditorium, to be exact), and 39 years after the first Funkadelic album was released, but P-Funks lasting relevancy is the truth, and its live show is the proof. More than any other band whose success was born out of the 1970s (including former labelmates Kiss), P-Funk continues to thrive in spite of its age. The group honors its tradition by continuing to feature smoking musicians and talented vocalists (including New Orleans-born Mary Griffin) without looking like a nostalgia act with a cheap costume budget. Lets face it; the group could probably afford to make a healthy living touring off its Rock n Roll Hall of Fameinductee status, playing hour-long, greatest hits medleys on the casino circuit. Instead, it constantly turns the audiences notion of what P-Funk is upside-down, the same way Clinton changed the notion of what a talk show musical guest should do at that 86 Letterman visit. They interject hip-hop, jazz, blues, even electronic elements in a show that still boasts the same energetic funk n roll anarchy that has been its trademark since 1970. Some may argue that P-Funk doesnt sound the same way they used to back in 1976. As well they shouldnt. Its a new day, so let a man come in and do the Cosmic Slop.

With that said, when you see P-Funk, youre going to see P-Funk. The groups live sound is consistently funky and always evolving, but the lineup is more classic than youd think. Nine of the bands current cavalcade of 26 (count em) band members have been in the group since 1979. Add an additional seven to that total for members who have been in the group for at least a decade. This sure beats Kool & the Gang, whose recent Gretna Fest performance, awesome as it was, boasted only two veteran members, with the rest looking younger than Lady Gaga.

George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic today, no matter how long each band member has been in the band, still stands toe to toe with all the great rock bands (yeah, I said rock). One never gets the sense that theyre on a nostalgia trip but, rather, on one of the most interesting, loudest, sometimes strangest and most danceable marathons youll ever witnessboth on and off the stage. Its like going to a Mardi Gras parade, but without the throws. Just in the audience alone youll find everyone from hardcore first-, second- and now third-generation P-Funk fans, leftover Grateful Deadheads whove adopted George as their post-Jerry leader, hip-hop heads who are looking for the source, hard rock n rollers and funk freaks, Atomic Dog-ettes, and the bands growing legion of college kids who have christened P-Funk (with the P standing for party) as their favorite band. Perhaps its the irreverent spirit of playful, funky disobedience the subversive quality from Funkadelics earliest days to its dance-in-the-face-of-the-apocalypse spirit that still attracts soldiers today.

And laying it down on stage is a parade of funk led by Gary Shider, a veteran powerhouse guitarist whose sanctified soul vocals will make you forget hes wearing a diaper. Theres Michael Kidd Funkadelic Hampton, another veteran, with lead guitar workouts that should be required viewing for anyone who thinks they know something about rock guitar. Then theres Clinton, the leader of and reason behind this whole thang. In todays musical landscape where everybodys funkin and dont know how, it is his irreverent, still fun and forever funkin approach to music and lyrics that make his and the bands show as relevant today as 30 years ago, when they claimed to rescue dance music from the blahs.

P-Funk has always been more than a concert; its an experience. Its not guaranteed that youll hear your favorite song, and its not guaranteed that the band is going to sound like what you might expect. In 2009, nothing about the P-Funk show is guaranteed, and that tradition of surprise, suspense and funky good times is what the best rock n roll is all about. Its what Parliament-Funkadelic is all about, keeping true to its promise to do you no harm, like George running around the Letterman show, shouting, jumping and barefoot.

Posted on Nov 5, 2009, 4:48 PM

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Victims, relatives prepare for sniper execution..

by TFSnewsRoom/BuffaloNews.com

Victims, relatives prepare for sniper execution
By DENA POTTER
Associated Press Writer
November 04, 2009, 10:40 PM

For those wounded by the D.C. snipers and for the relatives of those killed, the emotions leading up to the execution of the mastermind behind the 2002 attacks vary as widely as those who found themselves in the cross hairs.

Forty-eight-year-old John Allen Muhammad is set to die by injection in a Virginia prison Nov. 10, seven years after he and his teenage accomplice terrorized the area in and around the nation's capital for three weeks.

Some family members can't wait to see Muhammad take his final breath. Others plan to make the trip to Virginia but never step foot on prison grounds.

And there are those who plan to spend the night at home with their families, satisfied that Muhammad is paying for what he's done.



Posted on Nov 4, 2009, 10:47 PM

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Who Are You Calling a Narcissist, Rush?

by TFSnewsRoom/NyTimes.com

Who Are You Calling a Narcissist, Rush?


[linked image]
Maureen Dowd/The New York Times

I had a four-hour dinner once with Rush Limbaugh at the 21 Club in Manhattan, back in the days when I was still writing profiles as a reporterette, to use a Limbaugh coinage.

He was charming, in a shy, awkward, lonely-guy way. Not a man of the people. He arrived in a chauffeured town car and ordered $70-an-ounce Beluga, Porterhouse and 1990 Corton-Charlemagne.

But he was not a Neanderthal, though he did have a cold and blew his nose in his napkin. He talked about Chopins Polonaise No. 6, C.S. Lewis and how much he loved the end of the movie Love Story.

In those days, he called himself a harmless little fuzzball. Hes a lot less harmless now. I went on to columny, as my pal Bill Safire called it, and Rush went on to calumny.

As he and Sarah Palin conduct their auto-da-fé of moderate Republicans Moderates by definition have no principles, he told his radio audience on Monday Limbaugh is more than ever the face of his party, as Rahm Emanuel said.

Hes also the mouth.

Limbaugh is right that Democrats tend to dither too much. Theyre always wondering if theyre doing the right thing, indulging in on-the-one-hand, on-the-other paralysis by analysis, seeing, as James Carville put it, six sides to the Pentagon.

President Obama will have to step it up on jobs and fixing the deficit if he wants to block conservatives from stoking the anger of Americans who only see a recovery on Wall Street, especially given the Republican sweep in top races on Tuesday night.

But the tactics of Limbaugh, Palin, Cheney & Fille are more cynical: They spin certainty, ignoring their sides screw-ups, and they exploit patriotism, labeling all critics as traitors.

In an interview on Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace, Limbaugh accused the president of trying to destroy the economy yes, the same economy that W. came within a whisker of ruining.

I have to think that it may be on purpose, Limbaugh said, because this is just outrageous, what is happening a denial of liberty, an attack on freedom.

Asked about Afghanistan, another W. cataclysm that has left Obama agonizing, Limbaugh stated, I also dont think he cares much about it. Again suggesting that the president is an unpatriotic fop, the radio ranter averred: He wants to manage this rather than achieve victory.

He told Wallace that throughout the Iraq war, it was Barack Obama and the Democrat Party which actively sought the defeat of the U.S. military. Actually, rigorously examining the governments conduct of a war started on false pretenses is the best sort of patriotism.

Asked about fellow conservative George Wills contention that the United States should get out of Afghanistan, Limbaugh said, I dont have the benefit of knowledge that George Will has, so I trust the experts, and to me theyre the people in the U.S. military.

Even a chickenhawk like Rush should remember how well that worked in Vietnam, or in the early years of Iraq. The founding fathers designated a civilian as commander in chief for a reason.

Military brass have told the White House that this is the first time in eight years that they have gotten the attention and resources that theyve needed in Afghanistan.

If W. had gone to Dover in the middle of the night to salute the war dead, Limbaugh and Liz Cheney would have been gushing about his patriotism.

But since its Obama who at last showed up there to see the brutal cost of war, they simply have to dismiss the moving moment as a publicity stunt.

Years ago, when I dubbed Dubya The Boy Emperor, Limbaugh spewed a stream of personal invective about me that embarrassed even my mother, a Limbaugh fan.

But now Limbaugh calls Obama the man-child president.

The 48-year-old Obama is skinny and getting skinnier, but theres nothing childish about him. He more or less raised himself and came to terms with his Oedipal demons on his own, and he radiates a hard-won maturity.

W., on the other hand, was like a kid who knew that Daddys friends would take care of him; he was always running off to the gym or going biking, leaving the governing to his regents, Cheney and Rummy, or incompetents like Brownie.

At our long-ago dinner, Limbaugh credited his success with being one-dimensional. Im totally concerned with me, he said. And that was way before he got a contract for $400 million, so we can only imagine how one-dimensional he is now.

But on Sunday, he ripped the president for having an out-of-this-world ego, for being very narcissistic, immature, inexperienced, in over his head. (Isnt immaturity scoring OxyContin from your maid?)

It gives new meaning to pot, kettle and black.

Posted on Nov 4, 2009, 7:18 PM

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Heart Disease: A Toothless Paper Tiger That Need Never Exist..

by TFSnewsRoom/Huffingtonpost.com

Heart Disease: A Toothless Paper Tiger That Need Never Exist

"If the truth be known coronary artery disease is a toothless paper tiger that need never, ever exist and if it does exist it need never, ever progress."
So says Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, who was a researcher and clinician at the Cleveland Clinic for over 35 years. In 1991, Dr. Esselstyn served as the president of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons, and organized the 1st National Conference on the Elimination and Prevention of Heart Disease. In 2005, he became the 1st recipient of the Benjamin Spock Award for Compassion in Medicine. Dr. Esselstyn is also an Olympic gold medalist in rowing, and he was awarded the Bronze Star as an army surgeon in Vietnam.

In this series of interviews I've conducted with extraordinary nutritional researchers and medical doctors, I've sought to understand the link between diet and the most common and dreaded diseases that are prevalent in our culture. What I'm hearing over and over is that a plant based diet is both preventative and healing, whereas a diet high in animal protein is destructive to our health - this is the case with cancer, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

The great news is that there is very real hope in shifting the course of our health. What is becoming very apparent through various peer reviewed studies is that by changing our diet - eliminating that which causes havoc in the body (animal protein) and adding in plant based proteins and eating lots of vegetables, legumes, beans, and whole grains, we can not only prevent disease, but also heal from it once it is already in motion. Following is a fascinating conversation I had on diet and heart health.

KF: What exactly is coronary heart disease?

CE: Coronary heart disease is the leading killer of women and men in western civilization. It is predicted to become the #1 global disease burden by 2020.

It consists of an inflammatory buildup of blockages in arteries to the heart muscle. These blockages are made of fat, cholesterol, calcium, and inflammatory cells. Blockages can become severe enough to cause symptoms such as shortness of breath or chest pain (angina). When blockages suddenly become complete, the portion of heart muscle fed by that blocked artery is now deprived of oxygen and nutrients, thus it is injured or now dies. This is a heart attack. The patient may survive or succumb if the event is accompanied by a fatal heart rhythm.

KF: Who develops heart disease?

CE: Everyone eating the typical western diet. In autopsy studies of our GI's who died in the Vietnam and Korean wars almost 80% at an average age of 20 years, had disease that could be seen without a microscope. Forty years later in 1999, a study of young persons between the ages of 16-34 years who have died of accidents, homicides and suicides, finds the disease is now ubiquitous.

KF: What is the cause of the disease?

CE: It is the typical western diet of processed oils, dairy, and meat which destroys the lifejacket of our blood vessels known as our endothelial cells. This cell layer is a one cell thick lining of all of our blood vessels. Endothelial cells manufacture a magical protective molecule of gas called nitric oxide, which protects our blood vessels. It keeps our blood flowing smoothly, it is the strongest dilator (widener), of our blood vessels, it inhibits the formation of blockages (plaques), and it inhibits inflammation.

KF: With such natural protection, why do we ever develop heart disease?

CE: Every western meal of processed vegetable oils, dairy products, and meat (including chicken and fish) injures these endothelial cells. As individuals consume theses damaging products throughout their lives, they have fewer functioning endothelial cells remaining and thus less of the protective nitric oxide. Without enough nitric oxide the plaque blockages build up and grow creating eventually heart disease and strokes.

KF: Can it be stopped or even reversed?

CE: Yes. First we must look at the lessons learned from cultures where there is a virtual absence of coronary artery heart disease such as rural China, the Papua Highlands of New Guinea, Central Africa, and the Tarahumara Indians of Northern Mexico. Their nutrition is plant based without oil.

Beginning in 1985 I initiated a study of seriously ill coronary artery disease patients. Their nutrition became plant based without oil. Their cholesterol levels plummeted. Their angina disappeared. Their weight dropped. I have reported this study at 5 years, 12 years, and 16 years, in the peer reviewed scientific literature and again beyond 20 years in my book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. In some of the patients we had follow up angiograms (x-rays) of previously blocked arteries demonstrating striking disease reversal, which is a testament to my often quoted statement "The truth be known coronary artery disease is a toothless paper tiger that need never exist and if it does exist it need never progress." The greatest gift to these patients is the increasing recognition that they are the locus of control for their disease - not some pill or procedure. They have made themselves heart attack proof and lose the greatest fear of all heart patients and their families - when will the next heart attack occur?

KF: What about drugs, stents, and heart bypass surgery?

CE: Admittedly in the midst of a heart attack a stent or bypass may be live saving, however, for the remaining 90% studies confirm that they do not prevent future heart attacks or prolong life. They are associated with significant complications such as hemorrhage, heart attack, stroke, cognitive decline, depression, and death. The benefits erode with the passage of time as the stents and bypasses may themselves develop blockage.

Some drugs may decrease blood pressure and the heart workload. Others interfere with clotting which helps a stent remain open. Statin drugs lower cholesterol. None of these drugs or interventions addresses the basic causation of disease and not surprisingly the disease progresses with the need for more drugs, stents, and repeat bypasses.

KF: Why aren't physicians using nutrition therapy?

CE: Most physicians have no training or understanding of the power of nutrition. In a busy practice they would not have the time for it. It is my belief that physicians must accord the plant based lifestyle transition its due. Every patient with cardiovascular disease should be referred to a physician or nurse practitioner with the knowledge and expertise in these counseling skills.

KF: But I understand physicians don't believe patients will make this transition. How come?

CE: Nutrition counseling is a skill which physicians don't possess. Of all the encounters a patient with cardiovascular disease experiences, perhaps the least time and lowest priority is nutritional counseling. I see many patients with heart disease who recount that nutrition was never even mentioned. It is therefore unlikely that the patient feels that nutrition is important.

KF: What is that you do differently?

CE: In an intensive 5 hour counseling session for a group of heart patients, my first priority is to eliminate the mystery of what causes their disease. It has not been stress, or genes. It is their western diet of processed oil, dairy, and meat. Hypertension, diabetes, and smoking must be controlled but food trumps all. I spend at least an hour defining the protective role of endothelial cells and nitric oxide functioning as the ultimate guardians of our blood vessels. They quickly understand that their lifetime of ingesting these harmful products has totally overwhelmed and destroyed their endothelium to an extent where it is unable to protect them. They fully grasp that they must forever eliminate ingesting foods that will further destroy their already compromised endothelium. They understand heart disease is a food borne illness.

KF: Where is the good news?

CE: The patients understand that they can halt their disease. They are presented with my scientific articles demonstrating reversal of disease. They learn that anginal chest pain may diminish or disappear within 10-14 days in some patients while others may take longer. We share our data confirming reversal of carotid artery disease to the brain, coronary artery disease of the heart, peripheral vascular disease in the extremities, and the reversal of erectile dysfunction. They are made to appreciate how rapidly and powerfully the endothelial function may be restored. The most significant message in our counseling is patient awareness that they are empowered to be the locus of control of their disease.

KF: What is your take on the present management of heart disease through drug stents and bypass surgery?

CE: It is expensive, dangerous, and ineffective. None of these approaches addresses the factors that cause the disease. A doctor would never treat poison ivy without advising the patient to avoid exposure to poison ivy plants. Sadly the usual treatment of cardiovascular disease almost never includes hours of patient counseling so they may completely eliminate the foods which are injuring their endothelium. Stents may block, bypass veins shut down, drug doses increase, and blood vessel disease worsens. The present cost of this non-treatment of heart disease is unsustainable even in our wealthy nation.

KF: Dr. Esselstyn, are you a threat to the stenting and bypass industry?

CE: Not really. Stents and bypass surgery in an emergency setting are absolutely lifesaving. However, for non-emergency situations an intensive lifestyle trial of 3-6 months would eliminate the need for most interventions. It is of interest that when physicians and some interventional cardiologists themselves develop the disease they come knocking at my door.

KF: Why do you think this information on diet and heart disease is not more widely known? Is someone or something blocking your message?

CE: The government, drug industry, and some of my own profession. The USDA every five years produces a food triangle which promotes the very foods which guarantee that millions of Americans will perish.

The drug industry has a $21 billion dollar income from statin drugs alone. The stent manufacturers make billions more. Neither of these industries would want this epidemic resolved.

Physicians who perform stents and bypass surgery earn millions and are hardly clamoring for fewer patients.

KF: Any final thoughts?

CE: When people learn to eat plant based to eliminate heart disease it could inaugurate a seismic revolution in health. Other diseases that resolve include obesity, hypertension, stroke, heart attacks, gall stones, diverticulitis, asthma, osteoporosis, allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, and a marked decrease in the common western cancers of breast, prostate, colon, endometrial, ovarian, and pancreatic.


For more information, go to www.HeartAttackProof.com



Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/heart-disease-a-toothless_b_334285.html

Posted on Oct 27, 2009, 12:48 PM

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Ex-Wife to Jermaine: Yo' Mama Pays My Bills

by TFSnewsRoom/TMZ.com

Ex-Wife to Jermaine: Yo' Mama Pays My Bills


Jermaine Jackson's baby mama claims the singer has left her so dirt poor ... that she's been forced to accept supermarket gift cards from Jermaine's mom just so she can feed the kids.

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Alejandra Jackson filed legal documents in L.A. County Superior Court claiming Jermaine is a deadbeat dad who hasn't paid $35,550 in court-ordered child support payments for their two kids, Jermajesty and Jaffar.

In the docs Alejandra says Jermaine's own mother sees how bad the situation is and often bails her out with "gift cards to Ralphs in varying months so that I can pick up food for our children, usually between $300 and $400."

Alejandra also claims Jermaine was lying to the court when he claimed he only made $35k in 2008 -- pointing out that he lives in the same "estate home" in Calabasas, drives the same "luxury vehicles" and has the same "luxury lifestyle" he had before.

The two are due back in court to battle it out -- so far, no date has been set.


Posted on Oct 17, 2009, 9:46 AM

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Michael Jackson's ex-wife seeking $500K in lawsuit..

by TFSnewsRoom/Ap.com

Michael Jackson's ex-wife seeking $500K in lawsuit

LOS ANGELES – A Florida woman who told a television interviewer that Michael Jackson's ex-wife was only interested in getting money from the singer's family and wasn't interested in gaining custody of her two children is being sued.

In a filing last week, Deborah Rowe's attorneys said the mother of Jackson's two oldest children should be awarded $490,000 in general and punitive damages.

Rowe sued Rebecca White in July for White's comments to the television show "Extra." White hasn't responded to the lawsuit and Rowe is seeking a default judgment against the Key West, Fla. resident.

Rowe's defamation and invasion-of-privacy lawsuit sought to recoup any money that White may have been paid for the interview, which aired in July. Rowe's attorneys estimated those earnings at $100,000 on a court filing.

They are also seeking $100,000 for emotional distress, $45,000 for medical and attorney's fees and $245,000 in punitive damages.

A hearing on Rowe's petition to issue a default judgment against White is scheduled for November.

Rowe has some visitation rights with the two children under an August agreement with the singer's mother. No money is believed to have changed hands in the arrangement.

Stories aired by "Extra" were based on White's description of e-mails she said were exchanged with Rowe after Jackson's June 25 death. Rowe, 50, denies she sent any recent e-mails to White.

White was described in the segments as a "close friend" who said Rowe had emphatically stated in an e-mail exchange that she didn't want custody of Jackson's children. Rowe's attorneys have denied that White and Rowe are friends.



Posted on Oct 17, 2009, 9:33 AM

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Original KISS drummer celebrates surviving breast cancer..

by TFSnewsRoom/Cnn.com

Original KISS drummer celebrates surviving breast cancer

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By Madison Park - CNN
(CNN) -- A year after beating breast cancer, Peter Criss, a founding member of the rock band KISS, calls himself "the luckiest man in the planet."

While some men feel embarrassed because of "this macho crap," Criss said surviving breast cancer -- yes, men get it, too -- was actually a blessing. He was treated before the tumor could spread and said he's speaking about male breast cancer now -- during National Breast Cancer Awareness month -- to raise the profile of this rare disease.

Criss, who played drums for KISS and was known as "Catman," offered this advice to men who spot lumps in their breast: "Don't sit around playing Mr. Tough Guy. Don't say 'It's going to go away.' It might not and you might not see life anymore and how beautiful that is."

The 63-year-old musician is now cancer free.

Like many others, Criss wasn't aware men could get breast cancer.

"Even though we don't think of men as having breasts, they have breast tissue and are susceptible to getting breast cancer," said Dr. Sharon Giordano, an associate professor of medicine in the department of breast medical oncology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She is not involved in Criss' care.

"All men have some residual degree of breast tissue behind the nipples. It may be very small, but just like any part of the body can get cancer, that part of the body can get cancer," she said.

Male cases are rarer than female breast cancer, making up less than 1 percent of total cases.

According to the National Cancer Institute, in 2009 an estimated 192,370 women in the United States are expected to receive a diagnosis of breast cancer and about 40,170 are expected to die of the disease. Among men, there will be an estimated 1,910 new cases and 440 deaths.

"So many people must die from this," Criss said. "Somebody has to step up to the plate and say something to get them aware of how dangerous this is. Lots of men die: They wait, they don't go in, they put it off."

Criss joins a small group of men who have spoken publicly about having breast cancer. Several years ago, Richard Roundtree, the actor who played the title role in the 1970s "Shaft" films, revealed he had breast cancer.

Experts say men tend to get a diagnosis at a later stage than women, because they don't believe they can get breast cancer, and don't get routine mammograms or breast exams.

Breast cancer is "actually easier to find in men for obvious reasons. They develop an asymmetrical lump in their breast," said Dr. Stanley Waintraub, co-chief of The John Theurer Cancer Center's division of breast oncology at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. Men may ignore symptoms, such as lumps, pain in the breast or discharge from the nipples.

"A man has to know, if he has enlarged breasts, a lump, a discharge, just because he's a man, he is not immune to breast cancer," Waintraub said.

When Criss spotted a painful lump in his left breast after a workout in 2007, he didn't wait.

"I go to the gym; I've been drumming since I was a kid. So I'm very aware of my body," he said. "So when this happened I said, 'Jesus, what's this thing?' "

After consulting with his wife, who was battling a different type of cancer at the time, he sought medical attention. Criss had surgery in February 2008 to remove what the doctors thought was a harmless nodule. Later, he learned the nodule was actually breast cancer.

"I flipped out. I just couldn't believe it. It's a nightmare," he recalled. "I was angry at everything. I couldn't believe I had this. I was a really angry guy for a long time."

Doctors removed the cancer in a March 2008 surgery. Because the cancer had been caught early, Criss did not need breast reconstruction or chemotherapy.

The operation left no scars, so his doctor joked that Criss could still take his shirt off to play the drums. Criss responded with a laugh, "I'm in my 60s. Those days are over."

Criss sang lead vocal and co-wrote one of KISS' most famous songs, "Beth." He left the band in 1980. He rejoined the band for a reunion tour in the mid-1990s and stayed on, eventually leaving again in 2004.

He still plays the drums, and has started working on a record and an autobiography.

For men, "because of the lack of awareness, it can be stigmatizing to feel like they have a female disease when they're a man," Giordano said.

In the sea of pink ribbons, men who have breast cancer may feel isolated. To build a network among them, the John W. Nick Foundation started connecting male breast cancer survivors in 1996.

"They talk with one another," said the founder, Nancy Nick, whose father died of the disease. "It's the greatest thing for healing. They learn they're not alone. Second, they learn about protocol and treatment. They can compare their treatments and the care their doctor is giving them."

Criss credits his wife and his Catholic faith for pulling him through the difficult times.

Every year, he gets a mammogram; he had his checkup two weeks ago. "I left smiling like a Cheshire cat. Now, I'm coming around, I'm just so grateful," he said.

The causes of breast cancer remain unknown. But like women, men's risk of breast cancer increases if they inherit BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations.

Criss said he learned that breast cancer ran in his family, so he called his sisters, nieces, daughter and even his brother about possible risks.

"It's just important -- just go get checked out," said Criss. "It's not like you're going to lose your manhood."

All AboutBreast Cancer • Male Breast Cancer • KISS (Musical Group)



Posted on Oct 17, 2009, 9:31 AM

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Cops: Mass. couple beat man at KFC over slow order ..

by TFSnewsRoom/Ap.com

Cops: Mass. couple beat man at KFC over slow order
The Associated Press


NORWELL, Mass. — Authorities say a couple, upset over the slowness of their Kentucky Fried Chicken order, assaulted a man who asked them to stop yelling profanities for the sake of children in line. The couple was arrested Thursday after witnesses told police the couple beat the man as he was leaving the restaurant.

Police say 31-year-old Jared Garfagna of Marshfield punched the man in the head, and then Garfagna's girlfriend, 24-year-old Sara Mohn, kicked the man. The victim had cuts on his eyelid and wrists.

Mohn has been charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Garfagna has been ordered to appear in court on assault and battery charges. It's unclear whether either has hired an attorney.



Posted on Oct 4, 2009, 9:35 AM

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Jackson fans line up for 'This Is It' tickets ..

by TFSnewsRoom/ApMusic.com

Jackson fans line up for 'This Is It' tickets ..

[linked image]

LOS ANGELES Sally Rubio and dozens of Michael Jackson fans were among the first to line up for "This Is It" tickets.

The winding queue for tickets to the first public screenings of the documentary opened late Thursday afternoon in the courtyard outside the Nokia Theatre at the L.A. Live complex in downtown Los Angeles. The film features a behind-the-scenes look at Jackson preparing for the series of London shows he was rehearsing for before he died June 25.

"I've never done something like this in my life," said Rubio, 53, "but M.J. is worth it."

Tickets for the advance shows aren't scheduled to go on sale until early Sunday morning, meaning Rubio and her fellow devotees may spend days in line. The first 500 fans in line have been promised commemorative lenticular tickets designed by Jackson for the London concerts at the O2 Arena, another reason Rubio was motivated to wait in line for over 48 hours.

"I heard they are very beautiful," she said.

A total of 3,000 movie tickets will be available for the early Oct. 27 shows at L.A. Live's new Regal Cinemas Stadium 14, marking the movie theater's grand opening. It's the only screening location offering the advance shows and commemorative tickets. "This Is It" will begin its limited, two-week run at movie theaters nationwide on Oct. 28.

The Sony Pictures film, crafted from hundred hours of rehearsal footage, is directed by longtime Jackson collaborator Kenny Ortega, the "High School Musical" director who had been working with Jackson on the "This Is It" concerts. The movie will feature Jackson rehearsing a number of his songs for the show as well as interviews with his friends and family.

Several of the fans who arrived when the line opened Friday brought chairs one per person and umbrellas for the long wait ahead of them. AEG, which operates the L.A. Live complex and organized the Jackson concerts, said that no tents, alcohol, cooking or boom boxes were permitted in line. Onsite monitors would issue passes for restroom and food breaks.

"It was a last-minute decision," said Trudy Miles, who was waiting in line with her daughters. "We were getting ready to go to the park, and my daughter texted me and told me the tickets were going on sell today. We were going to see it at the theater near our house, but we thought this would be special, so we loaded up the car with stuff and came down here."



Posted on Sep 25, 2009, 9:06 PM

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Phillip Cardona Interviews DJ Nick Fresh ..

by TFSnewsRoom/MetroJacksonville.com

Phillip Cardona Interviews DJ Nick Fresh

Phillip Cardona well known for his amazing depth and breadth of musical knowledge interviews Nick Puzzo, aka NickFresh, the ubiquitous dejay of the urban core scene


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A fresh Thursday dance night has arrived on the club radar. What is this night? It is DOWATCHALIKE (do what cha like) and takes places at the Eclipse on St Johns Avenue, in Avondale. The man behind this new and vibrant night is local Jacksonvillian DJ Nickfresh, who also has a resident spot at club TSI every Friday night for Get Loose (bands play and Nick DJs). In an era when laptop DJs play requests exclusively and individuals selecting tracks on their iPods are considered DJs in certain circles, DOWATCHALIKE provides a breath of fresh air for an otherwise monotonous club scene.


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Many bars and clubs around town cater to song requests as a means to keep patrons interested or resort to playing the same cliché club bangers every week to get a floor moving. Nickfreshs musical savvy absolves him from utilizing such frivolous tactics, he has the ability to light up a dance floor and get a party started by playing the hottest tunes, old and new, obscure or mainstream. His passionate understanding of music represents what it is to be a DJ, which is authenticity. He has the ability of introducing new and old music with from across the musical spectrum. During a Nickfresh set you might hear Michael Jackson followed by a bumping Italo-disco track which might be unfamiliar to most but still grooves in its own 80s euro robotic fashion. As the cosmic musical journey ranging from early 80s Electro-Boogie followed by a four-on-the-floor bass-oriented house track moves forward, Nickfresh will always make sure to slow down it for a hot a minute, and allow the crowd to get down. Utilizing swiftness of the decks youll unexpectedly receive a pleasant dose of hip-hop, which if mainstream can be irresistible to grind to when youve been drinking all night. Let me put it this way, you and your friends asses will be shaking once youve heard him spin.


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In addition to mixing different musical genres throughout the entirety of the night, rest assured that each song will be mixed properly; awkward pauses or crude transitions which can damage the energy of the dance floor are absent from DOWATCHALIKE. Nick, just like any DJ should know, understands the importance of beat matching, a technique that matches the kick and snare of two songs to create a smooth transition between tracks that keeps the dance floor alive. Now that summer is approaching its end, fall for many of us brings a time when lifes priorities or obligations can cause anxiety or stress; I can say that dancing all night alleviates these feelings for me, and with NickFresh DJing you shouldnt have any trouble gaining the courage to tear up the floor his warm personality will encourage even the most timid individual to let loose and dance the night away. Nickfresh took time out of his schedule to answer my questions, here they are:


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At what age did you start DJing?

Age Seven.

How did you first begin DJing?

I was around music my entire life as my family is in the radio, television, and music industries. My parents had a serious record/cd/8-track collection that span throughout the house and in the garage. That led to using my Panasonic stereo system (which I got for Christmas in '90.. i was seven) being used as a "radio station" of sorts, and I started making tapes for family members and friends. The next year, I was very curious about mixing records together so it could "flow better" on said tapes. it was my mother, who happened to be the first live on-air mixing DJ in Jacksonville (starting in '82 on WPDQ-AM; Arbitron rated #1 twice -amongst numerous awards-), that taught me the basics of mixing records with the knowledge of finding my own way. I started mixing the record with the cassette, but I wanted tables of my own. within the same year, my grandparents caught wind of how serious I was and decided to buy my first set of turntables, mixer included! (by the time I was 15, I got my first pair of Technics 1200's) After practicing and practicing (and practicing) for a year, I did my first house party. I was 10 (and since it was a party with adults, I had to dj in the other room with the speakers outside of it).


When did you realize you wanted to pursue DJing on the professional level?

Must say I was 12, after that house party, when I had adults coming up to me asking for my autograph and how they could get a tape. haha. But I've always wanted to do music years before the tapes because it really made me happy... self-fulfilled, even. so being that this was apart of music and how I saw the happiness on the faces of the people I mixed for, also in me... I knew at that point that was one of the many activities in music I wanted to do.


Explain your origins as a DJ in the Jacksonville club scene when, where, and how did it start?

I was in a metal band "Deadweight" whom I was with for five years mixing records, playing keyboards, and traveling the world. This led to the interest of doing regular sets at these different clubs, mainly top 40, but the top 40 experience (at that time) didn't necessarily gel with me. Once the band dissolved and I started studying new sounds (at least, new to me), I put out a 18 minute mix called "Musical Advents of NickFRESH." that got the attention of DJ Roy Clark (then of clubTSI discotheque). I was hired, pretty much on the spot, by TSI to work "Channel Wednesdays" back in March of 2008 which then led to GET LOOSE Fridays (TSI) which I'm currently doing alongside DOWHATCHALIKE Thursdays at Eclipse and other shows in and out of town.

How would you describe the type of music you play during your DJ sets?

A melting pot of sounds from Funk to Indie to Italo Disco to Hip-Hop, some Mainstream, Motown (etc.). Start out a little mellow then go all out. Full Throttle! Some of the songs are not as known as the others, but the bottom line is that they are being played to put you into a party state of mind.


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Describe a Nickfresh set; what sets you apart from the other DJs in Jacksonville?

I just do my own thing and always give as much as I humanly can and be of high energy with each appearance and set. I'm really thankful that a lot of Jacksonville is appreciating what I'm doing. There's really no party like a NickFRESH party.

Describe your night at DOWHATCHALIKE in what regard is it unique from the other Thursday nights in town?

One thing you can't do in this town is take your audience for granted. That being said: we're all inclusive. It doesn't matter what you consider yourself. the only criteria of the night is to have a fun time and jam. and don't be afraid to dance or sweat.

Is there a renewed interest in dance music on a national level? If so, how does that translate to the local Jacksonville scene?

I feel that the interest in dance music on a national level never really died. Like every genre that fluctuates in popularity and changes its face often, in dance music, the feeling and rhetoric always remains the same. it often provokes positivity and awesome vibrations in the grooves and rhythms and that's what we don't see nor hear in the world much. Jacksonville, of course, is always close to the cusp of what's happening around the country, so that message and good vibe translates nicely here.

Any last words or thoughts?

I'm just very happy to get this opportunity. Thank You. Please note that I'm also in After The Bomb, Baby (as a Keyboardist/Trumpeter/Synthlord) and that I also have a very active Soul Train Fangroup (SoulTrainFans.net.ms) and youtube channel under the name "NickFRESHAlive" where I post mix collages and dance videos.




    
This message has been edited by mbmoonthang on Sep 25, 2009 9:07 PM

Posted on Sep 25, 2009, 9:03 PM

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Jackson lost will to live, confidante says ....

by TFSnewsRoom/Reuters.com

Jackson lost will to live, confidante says

[linked image]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) Michael Jackson lost the will to live in recent years, a former close confidante said on Friday, as scores of fans camped out to be the first to see the singer's final appearance in the "This is It" movie.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, appearing on NBC's "Today" show, unveiled lengthy conversations he taped with Jackson during their 1999-2001 friendship, and said the "Thriller" singer suffered deep emotional pain.

"He lost the will to live," Boteach said. "I think he was just going through the motions of life toward the end."

Boteach also said that Jackson, who had plastic surgery several times, once confessed that he didn't want to appear in public, because he felt that he looked like a "lizard."

Jackson died in Los Angeles on June 25 of a prescription drug overdose, less three weeks before he was due to begin a series of 50 sold-out comeback shows in London.

Back in March, when Jackson visited London to announce the "This Is It" shows, he appeared in a military-style jacket and punched the air.

But the tapes collected by Boteach show Jackson to be a far less confidant man, who feared growing old and had suffered levels of loneliness and pain that the rabbi said "staggers the imagination."

"I would like some way to disappear, where people don't see me anymore at some point," Jackson said in the tapes.

"I don't want to grow old. I never want to look in the mirror and see that," the singer said.

Boteach has turned his conversations with the pop star into a book, published on Friday, called "The Michael Jackson Tapes."

JACKSON FANFARE

Boteach's book comes as Jackson's fans lined up in Los Angeles three days before tickets go on sale on Sunday for the October 28 release worldwide of "This Is It".

The movie is based on footage of Jackson rehearsing for his London shows and demand is expected to be strong for the two week limited release.

Some 200 fans were camped out on Friday, across the street from where Jackson had his final rehearsals, waiting to buy tickets to the movie premiere. The waiting fans will also get commemorative tickets designed by Jackson for the now canceled London shows.

Sunil Kumar, 25, a fashion design student from India, was one of the fans who slept on concrete overnight. Kumar said Jackson had a huge fan base in India.

"He's kind of a god of the dance," Kumar said. "No one ever danced like him in the whole world."

Tony Kirby, 51, wearing a black hat and an open shirt, sat on a lawn chair next to his wife, waiting it out as their 7 year-old daughter bounded around nearby.

"When we got here I wasn't even grey, I've got grey hair now," Tony joked.

The Kirbys said Jackson was a significant figure for African-Americans like themselves, because he showed a black artist could break through racial barriers and become a global star.

The fans camping out in Los Angeles will get their tickets at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday -- the same day global online ticket sales begin for regular showings of movie


Posted on Sep 25, 2009, 9:02 PM

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Iran: An Unlikely Treasure Chest Of Funk..

by TFSnewsRoom/Npr.org

Iran: An Unlikely Treasure Chest Of Funk

by Egon

iranianfunk.jpg


September 17, 2009 - A few months ago, the record dealer who sold me the majority of his Iranian collection told me that his recent finds in Tehran including Mehr Pooya's solitary LP of fuzz-guitar-soaked sitar funk were going to a well-heeled international collector. He'd already sold the heavy psych pieces and the Iranian presses of Led Zeppelin albums and The Beatles' Abba Road [sic] for stacks of euros before I got to dig through his collection.

I couldn't help feeling disappointed, but how could I be upset with him? This man, who insists on remaining nameless (though I'd like to showcase the determination with which he canvasses the streets of his city and brings home never-before-heard '60s garage rock and '70s psych-folk fusion) had provided me with some of my favorite records of recent years. Those albums and 45s, many of which he bought as new releases in the early '70s, gave me endless hours of enjoyment.

Here's some of the most beautiful music from my past purchases. On a recent trip to Texas, I ran into a cab driver in Austin who told me that he'd owned a copy of the Mehr Pooya album back when he lived in Tehran in the '70s. If I had a dime for every Iranian cab driver whose number I've stored in my cell phone on the hunt for records... well, I'd have had enough to buy that Mehr Pooya album in the first place.

Online information on Iranian recordings of the 1970s is limited, but some good resources are available. Try the Progressive Homestead page dedicated to Persian Fusion or Dario Margeli's online catalog.



Posted on Sep 18, 2009, 3:10 PM

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Drudge, Limbaugh, and the sad return of "Racial America" ..

by TFSnewsRoom/HuffingtonPost.com

Drudge, Limbaugh, and the sad return of "Racial America"
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When I was college a long time ago, I read a book called "Subliminal Seduction," which chronicled how Madison Avenue tricked your sub-consciousness into craving vodka (as if a trick were needed there..) by placing sexy silhouettes inside ice cubes. For some reason that reminds me a lot of Matt Drudge and the ever-popular Drudge Report, except Drudge isn't quite so subliminal in his mind games.



By harnessing the power of the Internet, in the mid-1990s before anyone else thought of it, to reordering the news into the "Holy S---!" headlines that people crave rather than the ear-your-peas stories on trade or budget negotiations that were fed to you by the editors of the New York Times, Drudge became the leading influencer of the news cycle from a laptop in some undisclosed location around South Beach.

Even more remarkably, Drudge has become indispensable in America's newsroom - packed with at least self-described liberals - despite a conservative world view that he promotes not in a heavy-handed way that would push those influential readers in a way, but by using placement, pictures and the well-timed big shot to nudge the nation's news cycle to the right.



Today, Drudge does less and less "original reporting" (if that's what you can call his famed Monica Lewinsky "scoop") and succeed more by serving as a Rorschach test of how the right-wing is trying to subliminally seduce America.

Except that ever since President Obama's largely successful speech to Congress last week, the message from Drudge and from the conservative echo-chorus that is conducted daily by Rush Limbaugh has become increasingly less subliminal and more shrill, and their toxic tone is one that should alarm all Americans:


It can be summed up: "Black people are running amok in Obama's America - emboldened by an African-American in the White House, they are now here to beat up white folks, cheat them out of their hard-earned money, and impose "black nationalism"! White people need to be very afraid."

I don't believe that allegations of racism should be tossed out lightly, and I've cautiously watched this narrative unwind over the past couple of weeks. Today, there can be no doubt.



The lead story on the Drudge Report for the entire day until about 2:30 p.m. - on a day in which two tabloid evergreen stories, the murder of a beautiful young Ivy League college student and a round-up of terrorists in New York City just after the 9/11 anniversary, were in the news - is about a fight on a school bus. A non-fatal (thankfully) fight on a bus, that happened to involve black kids beating up a white kid, and was captured of course on video.

Drudge's typically sedate headline: "White Student Beaten On School Bus: Crowd Cheers."

Now, I noted that the story was removed as a lead item right around 2:30 - coincidentally, the story also changed from an originally version in which the police declared that the fight was racially motivated.



It's still a fluid situation, but right now, the world of America's newsrooms has been "ruled" (in the famous words of ex-ABC/Time's Mark Halperin) for most of today by a kids' fight on a school bus. The article also gets into racial history of Belleville, Ill., which is probably not the part of the story that Drudge was interested in hyping:



Belleville has had a long history of racial turmoil, with a past that includes police harassment of black motorists, cross burnings and discrimination in city hiring.

The divide began a century ago, in 1903, when a black man was lynched by a mob of 5,000 people in the town square, set on fire and dismembered.



No matter -- let's not let history interfere with Drudge's "Blacks Gone Wild" narrative for the day, his layout of stories and photos that might seem willy-nilly but in fact usually has all the deliberate care of a $10,000 wedding planner.



Thus, right below the screen shot of punching black students, we see the headline "POLITICO: So far, Obama's failing miserably," which is in fact an opinion piece, which it would have to be since the actual news of the day (not linked on Drudge) is that the president's approval rating is climbing again. But as you ponder Obama's alleged failure, it is the photo of rampaging young blacks that you see.

On the left. we have medley that includes a campus rape (the suspects are black), mixed in with a story about a principal in trouble for not showing Obama's speech, leading up to a photo of a black man, Kanye West, disrespecting a white woman, Taylor Swift, brought full circle by Obama again calling West "a jackass" (which he in fact was...).

Drift back to the center for a series of increasingly hysterical headlines about the ACORN scandal, which involves a few rotten employees of a community organizing group (Obama was a community organizer, remember?) caught giving tax-cheating scam advice -- did I mention the ACORN workers were predominantly black?



Do you remember all the fuss in the right-wing media about million-dollar white collar tax-cheating advice-givers at banks like UBS? Me neither.) Clearly, today's Drudge Report is a narrative, and that narrative is all about race, and a social fabric that Drudge and his readers are convinced (based, of course, on a series of scare headlines) is coming apart.

Think I'm a little paranoid. I still probably wouldn't be reading about this if I hadn't spent a little time in the car this afternoon, enough time for Rush Limbaugh, the de facto leader of the Republican Party who has worked tirelessly to infuse race into discussions about Obama, playing tag team with Drudge, As he so often does. As I started the engine, the radio host and his caller were prattling on about the all-important school bus assault, and Limbaugh said the story is a perfect illustration of what he called "Obama's America."

That alone would be beyond outrageous, the allegation that the mere presence of a black president -- who just last week spoke to students urging them to study and act responsibly -- is encouraging kids to fight on a school bus. But that was just a small part of Limbaugh's show today, which was all about race. He harped on a Newsweek article that he claims shows that racism is pre-determined (just as liberals always argue that homosexuality is pre-determined,


don't you see....so...I guess racism is OK, after all -- all-righty, then), and of course the massive left-wing conspiracy that is ACORN, the corn-rowed people who are the real ones trying to rob the middle class, and not the Wall Street types who so rarely get even a mild rebuke from Limbaugh, except when they vote for Obama. I thought he was done -- but then Limbaugh said "remember how I asked earlier today if Obama's brother is still in the hut" (not making this up) and read all of a lengthy article about Obama's relatives in Kenya.

Look, there's a lot to talk about with a new president such as Obama, who has a lot of policy proposals on complicated issues like health care or climate change, and so there's a lot there for a thoughtful conservative critique. But that's not where the conversation is going right now -- it's all about the shiny black object. Fox News and its out-of-control Howard Beale, the seriously unanchored Glenn Beck, have spent most of the last several weeks focused on two issues:




ACORN, and mid-level Obama officials like now-departed so-called "green jobs czar" Van Jones. Jones -- did I mention that he is black -- and ACORN have both shared a common mission, bringing a dose of political power to poor, mostly urban people who have not had power. And make no mistake, what really scares Beck, Fox News and the vast right-wing media is not really the petty fraud of some ACORN employees or a few nutty things that Jones said in his more radical past, but the fact that they will succeed in their legitimate mission of empowering American citizens.

There's something else that the right-wing finds alarming, and that is Obama's relative success in speaking to the American public in a calm and persuasive manner, as he did last week. I think it is this frustration, the worry that while it's mostly a vast work in progress that the president may not be "failing miserably" as Drudge and some Politico op-ed writer allege but showing signs of success.


that have led to the new more overtly racial tone, dragging the current discourse to a low level that didn't seem possible. And so -- like Maureen Dowd concluded, also reluctantly -- I can't help but feel there was a racial edge to ex-Strom Thurmond acolyte Joe Wilson and his exasperated "You Lie" at the president. It plays right into the toxic narrative that is building on Drudge and talk radio and Fox like a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico.

Obama's post-racial America? Good grief, were we really that naive, and so recently? I can honestly say that America right now, on the ides of September 2009, feels more racial, at least to me, today than it has any time in a generation, now since I was living in New York City in the era of "Do the Right Thing." And the "Racial America" of Matt Drudge, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and far too many of their millions of "dittoheads" is going to keep getting even more racial -- if we don't call them out.

Posted on Sep 15, 2009, 10:36 PM

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Whitney Houston says husband painted evil eyes in house..

by TFSnewsRoom/Reuters.com

Whitney Houston says husband painted evil eyes in house

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Singer Whitney Houston said in an interview aired on Monday that life with former husband Bobby Brown descended into a nightmare of drugs and fights, and that at one point he painted "evil" eyes on the walls of their home.

Houston, 46, making a music comeback after seven years, told chat show host Oprah Winfrey in the interview broadcast on Monday that her and Brown's drug-of-choice was marijuana mixed with cocaine. The pair divorced in April 2007 after a 15-year marriage.

Houston said that during the couple's narcotics-filled days, Brown would break glass objects in their home, and at one point he began painting eyes in their bedroom.

"Evil eyes that were looking at every point in the room," Houston said. She added that Brown, a singer who had a hit with the song "My Perogative," would paint on rugs, walls and closet doors, and that he used spray-paint.

"I'm looking at it and going, 'Lord, what's really going on here?'" Houston told Winfrey. "Because I was getting scared, because I felt something was going to blow, something was going to give."

Houston told Winfrey her addiction got so bad that her mother, soul singer Cissy Houston, turned up at her home one day with a court injunction and enlisted the help of police to force her into rehab.

"She said, 'I'm not losing you to the world. I'm not losing you to Satan. ... I want my daughter back,' " Houston recalled. "She said, 'Either you do it my way or we'll go on TV and (say) you're gonna retire."

She said she tried to play down her fame during the marriage, which took place as her career exploded with the box-office hit movie "The Bodyguard" in 1992 and the hit single "I will Always Love You."

"Something happens to a man when a woman has that much fame... I tried to play down all the time. I used to say' I'm Mrs. Brown, don't call me Houston."

Houston recalled a time when Brown spat on her when he had been drinking.

Brown, in an interview with celebrity TV show "The Insider" conducted before Winfrey's interview with Houston aired on TV, said he and Houston "corrupted each other."

"I don't think she hurt me or I hurt her," he said. "I just think we had a ... marriage that had its ups and downs and not many people understood it."

Houston's interview with Winfrey follows the release two weeks ago of the singer's first studio album in seven years -- "I Look To You" -- which entered the U.S. Billboard 200 chart at No. 1. Houston's record label Arista said the album also debuted at No.1 in Canada, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.




Posted on Sep 15, 2009, 1:06 AM

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http://glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com/

by TFSnewsRoom/DailyKos.com

http://glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com/

Posted on Sep 11, 2009, 10:28 AM

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Coroner Rules Jackson's Death Homicide...

by TFSnewsRoom/Ap.com

Coroner Rules Jackson's Death Homicide



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LOS ANGELES The Los Angeles County coroner has ruled Michael Jackson's death a homicide, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press, a finding that makes it more likely criminal charges will be filed against the doctor who was with the pop star when he died.

The coroner determined a fatal combination of drugs was given to Jackson hours before he died June 25 in his rented Los Angeles mansion, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the findings have not been publicly released. Forensic tests found the powerful anesthetic propofol acted together with at least two sedatives to cause Jackson's death, the official said.

Dr. Conrad Murray, a Las Vegas cardiologist who became Jackson's personal physician weeks before his death, is the target of a manslaughter investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. According to a search warrant affidavit unsealed Monday in Houston, Murray told investigators he administered a 25 mg dose of propofol around 10:40 a.m. after spending the night injecting Jackson with two sedatives in an unsuccessful attempt to get him to sleep.

The warrant, dated July 23, states that lethal levels of propofol were found in Jackson's system. Besides the propofol and two sedatives, the coroner's toxicology report found other substances in Jackson's system but they were not believed to have been a factor in the singer's death, the official said.

Murray has spoken to police and last week released a video saying he "told the truth and I have faith the truth will prevail." His attorney, Edward Chernoff, had no immediate comment but has previously said Murray never administered anything that "should have" killed Jackson.

A call to the coroner's office was not returned Monday.

Murray did not say anything about the drugs he gave to Jackson.


Posted on Aug 24, 2009, 10:18 PM

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Concert Review: Mothers Finest ...

by TFSnewsRoom/Soul-Patrol.com

Concert Review: Mother Finest, Derek McKeith & Alyson Williams @ Fort Dupont Park, Washington DC August 15th

One thing I will say about DC is that it really is "Chocolate City." I don't know of another place that so fully embraces BLACK MUSIC/CULTURE in it's entirety. All 360 degrees of it!!! (sorry NYC & Philly......LOL)

And I am really glad that we apparently had so many folks from Soul-Patrol who felt compelled to submit a written review of the show. What does that say?

Just try & tell the thousands of people who were out this past Saturday night in Ft Dupont Park, that "Rock n' Roll isn't BLACK MUSIC?"

This review comes from our friend Skip Kelley....
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On a clear and comfortable evening last Saturday night in the nation's capital, a memorable concert took place for those, including your very own Bob Davis, who have been part of the Black rock movement.

The concert was headlined by Mother's Finest, carrying the Black rock torch for over 30 years, and also featuring Derek McKeith, the new Black rock talent. It was held at Fort Dupont Park, an outdoor summer concert area in a working class Black community in Southeast DC. The park draws huge festival style crowds for free concerts, where thousands of Black folks party like back in the day with whistles, tambourines and glowing lights everywhere. Earlier concerts this summer have featured such popular acts as the Original P, Blue Magic and Rose Royce. On a mid-August evening with unusually mild weather, the crowd seemed to be about ten thousand strong. If you wanted to find out whether Black folks can really get into some rock music, this was ground zero.

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Alyson Williams opened at sundown with a short set and then introduced Derek, causing a stir in the crowd when she compared him to Prince. After that hype, Derek came out crankin' his guitar on "Loving Love" and then kept rockin' with "Only You." The crowd was intrigued by this young brother playing some serious rock 'n soul, and I heard people asking "What's his name again?" He then lauched into his BETJ hit "Can't Get Enough", which he mixed with covers of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" and Taste of Honey's "Boogie Oogie Oogie", just to emphasize his musical versatility. The crowd loved it and proceeded to get down and boogie just like the song says. He followed with "Teacher, Teacher", an ode to teenage lust for a hot teacher. He ended his set with a rockin' cover of the Jackson's "Heartbreak Hotel", using his vocal range and energetic dance moves to get the crowd moving and singing a full throated refrain of "Hearrrrrrtbreak Hotel!!!" Derek got much love as he exited the stage.

The crowd was now warmed up for Mother's Finest and erupted when they hit the stage. Joyce Kennedy got a big ovation when she came out wearing a tight black leather outfit and her hair died blond and pulled up. When she sang her first note, you knew her powerhouse voice was in fine form. The band was as good as ever, performing their repertoire of funk rock and straight up rock 'n roll. Excitement built during an extended, kick ass version of "Don't Wanna Come Back", with Joyce leading a strong vocal hook. It continued with a "Give You All The Love (Inside of Me)", which allowed the band to stretch out instrumentally. Joyce got a tremendous reception when she slowed things down with the much covered slow jam classic "Love Changes", a major radio hit on the "Quiet Storm" back in the day. Lead male vocalist Glen Murdock then took over with an inspired "Mickey's Monkey", combining Smokey Robinson vocals with a serious rock 'n roll workout.

[linked image]


This was followed by a solo from the original funk rock anthem "Who Knows" by Jimi Hendrix and the Band of Gypsys. Lead guitarist Gary Moore showed off his outstanding licks, much to the delight of the many Hendrix fans in the crowd. The show reached its peak with a strong performance of the funk rock classic "Baby Love." Joyce let it all hang out and the band cut loose with some powerful riffs, as thousands sang and danced as one to every note. The show closed with "Piece of the Rock", a straight up rock 'n roll jam that climaxed with band members jumping up and down to the beat. When it was over, everybody cheered heartily for Mother's Finest.

Backstage after the concert, I saw many friends that I only see at really special concerts. We were buzzing about the tremendous rock show that we had just witnessed. I got a chance to meet Joyce, who came out of the trailer to greet fans like the true rock star that she is, but also down to earth at the same time. I also met actress Sheila Frazier, Derek's mom, who is still looking good by the way. I talked to Derek about how great it would be if he could tour as the opening act for Mother's Finest, because their audiences would certainly appreciate him. We also talked about how both of their audiences have been mostly white, and that this night was such a revelation because a large crowd of Black folks was really into their music. Maybe DC is unique because we've always been big fans of funk rock, showing mad love for Funkadelic and Mandrill mixing rock guitar with their funk.

As I stated, this was a truly a memorable evening for Black rock. Let it be known that on this night, thousands of regular Black folks in the heart of Chocolate City were jammin' at a rock show, that they really got down to some rock music. And Mother's Finest and Derek McKeith were proud to wave their freak flags high, proclaiming that they were here to
rock!


--Bob Davis
609-351-0154
earthjuice@prodigy.net






    
This message has been edited by mbmoonthang on Aug 24, 2009 10:19 PM

Posted on Aug 20, 2009, 10:51 AM

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Motown arranger Van De Pitte dies ...

by TFSnewsRToom/DetroitNews.com

Motown arranger Van De Pitte dies

Susan Whitall / Detroit News Music Writer

David Van De Pitte, the arranger who helped Marvin Gaye take jazz, soul and the rumblings of the counter-culture and turn it into the genius of "What's Going On," died on Aug. 9 of cancer. The arranger, composer and music director, a longtime Metro Detroiter, was 68.

He is survived by Carolyn Barnett-Goldstein, his partner of 26 years, two daughters by a previous marriage, a brother and a sister.

The work of an arranger isn't always understood by the general public; they often take a creative but unfinished idea and translate it into musical language, spelling out what each musician is supposed to play.



While early Motown music was simpler, by the time Van De Pitte arrived arrangements were complex and that unseen structure of the Motown sound was part of its appeal.

When an arranger tweaks and advances the music, it's considered co-writing, and Van De Pitte did that on "What's Going On." He was nominated for a Grammy for best arranger for the album in 1971.

"We worked on that album for six, maybe eight months," Van De Pitte told The News in 2008. "I'd go to the house and Marvin wouldn't show. He was playing basketball. Or he was trying out for the Lions!"

Van De Pitte was born in Detroit on Oct. 28, 1941. He studied music at the Westlake College of Music in Los Angeles, was proficient in classical, jazz and pop music and played the bass, among other instruments.

The musician got to know famed Motown bassist James Jamerson back in Detroit, long before they both worked at "the Factory," as they called Motown, and Jamerson would sub for Van De Pitte playing bass in Johnny Trudell's orchestra at the Roostertail.

Jamerson was known as a creative bass player, but Van De Pitte was one of the few he trusted to write bass parts for him.

"He played note for note everything I wrote for him on 'What's Going On,'" Van De Pitte said. "He may have gotten a little inspired here and there...but he played what I wrote out of respect for me."

As a Motown staff arranger from 1968-72, and as a freelance arranger after that, Van De Pitte arranged some of soul music, and Motown's most memorable works.

Along with the "What's Going On" album, he arranged Gaye's "Let's Get it On" album, as well as the songs "Still Waters (Run Deep)" by the Four Tops, "Ball of Confusion" and "Psychedelic Shack" by the Temptations, "Darling Dear" by the Jackson 5, "I Hear the Bells" by the Originals, "Keep on Truckin'" by Eddie Kendricks, "Indiana Wants Me" by R. Dean Taylor, "If I Were Your Woman" by Gladys Knight, and "If You Really Love Me" by Stevie Wonder, among many others.

He also arranged music for Martha and the Vandellas, Michael Henderson, Stanley Turrentine, David Ruffin, Chuck Jackson, Paul Anka, Denise LaSalle, Millie Jackson and many more.

As a music director Van De Pitte was responsible for the live music performed on Gaye's appearances on the "Ed Sullivan Show," as well as live appearances by the Temptations, Four Tops, Diana Ross' Las Vegas shows and Paul Anka's concert tours.

He also composed "How About You" recorded by Diana Ross, "Please Be There" recorded by Gloria Gaynor, and a raft of classical compositions.

As a contractor, he wrote music for ads and live shows for many corporations, including Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.

Van De Pitte was also an adjunct professor in the Jazz Studies program at Wayne State University from 1979-83.

He explained the difference between Motown and other soul music labels like Stax to The News in 2008.

"The jazz thing, I think, really influenced the whole Motown thing," he said. "When we tried to do something a little out of the pocket, out of the norm, we could usually get away with it because Berry's ears were tuned to the way the guys played, so it swung a little jazzy."

Van De Pitte was cremated privately, but friends and loved ones say a memorial concert is in the works.



Posted on Aug 18, 2009, 11:28 AM

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Giant rat-eating nepenthes plant ...

by TFSnewsRToom/TimesOnline.co.uk

Giant rat-eating nepenthes plant named after David AttenboroughChris Smyth

[linked image]

Nepenthes attenboroughii is so big that small rodents could be trapped inside and dissolved by flesh-eating enzymes
He may be best known for his mellifluous tones and gentle manner, but for one group of botanists Sir David Attenborough clearly conjures up different associations. Explorers who discovered a new species of giant rodent-eating carnivorous plant have named it after the TV naturalist.

Nepenthes attenboroughii, a previously unknown variety of pitcher plant discovered on a remote mountain in the Philippines, is so big that small rodents could be trapped inside and slowly dissolved by flesh-eating enzymes.

It is thought that only a few hundred of the plants exist, growing only on one mountain on the island of Palawan. The species was discovered by a team of scientists who had heard reports from missionaries who got lost in the dense jungle.

Stewart McPherson, Alastair Robinson and Volker Heinrich decided to name the plant after Sir David as an expression of gratitude for his decades of work celebrating the natural world.


Pure Attenborough the nations favourite wildlife broadcaster has a change of habitat
News Review interview: David Attenborough
Attenborough receives Bafta for reptile series
He has inspired a generation into protecting the world and developing greater understanding diversity of the planet, Mr McPherson said.

We really wanted to name this particular plant after him as an expression of gratitude. This is a very special one because its so big, theres really been nothing found like it for a long time.

Sir David told The Times that it was a great honour to have the species named after him. He said that the nepenthes family were very dramatic plants. Ive always thought they are remarkable things, very elegant and charming.

Mr McPherson said it was likely that the new species occasionally digested rats and mice. It is without a shadow of a doubt big enough, he said. I found a species in Borneo with pitchers half the size with dead mice in it.

Nepenthes rajah, the only species of pitcher plant bigger than N. attenboroughii, has been known to digest rodents since the British naturalist Spencer St John was astonished to discover a drowned rat in a specimen in Borneo in 1862.

Sir David featured that species in his early TV series Zoo Quest and also The Private Life of Plants in 1995. Ive seen them in the wild a bit, mostly in Borneo. Theyre lovely things, he said.

The naturalist already has several species named after him, including a spiny anteater in New Guinea, a rare tree in Ecuador and a marine reptile, the Attenborosaurus, that lived during the Jurassic period.

But he downplayed the scientific significance of such names. You have to have names for things and and you run out after a bit, he said. Its just a compliment, but its very nice to receive compliments."

Mr McPherson has spent the past three years cataloguing the 120 known nepenthes species. N. attenboroughii was discovered in 2007 but formally described only this year.

Mr McPherson mounted an expedition after hearing about missionaries who tried to climb the mountain on Palawan in 2000 to install a radio relay station. They got lost in the uncharted jungle and had to be flown out after 13 days without food.

They reported seeing giant pitcher plants on the mountain and Mr McPherson said he was trying to follow up on that lead.

He believes that the expedition discovered about 30 new species, only a few of which have been published.


Posted on Aug 18, 2009, 11:06 AM

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Electric guitar innovator Les Paul dies..

by TFSnewsRoom/Telegraph.co.uk

Electric guitar innovator Les Paul dies
Les Paul, the US musician and electric guitar designer, has died aged 94.

By Our Foreign Staff
Published: 5:40PM BST 13 Aug 2009

As an inventor and musician, Paul spent his life 'chasing the perfect sound' Photo: AP
The announcement by a representative of the musician, who was still performing regularly in Manhattan not long before his death, said he had died of complications relating to pneumonia at White Plains Hospital in New York.

His family and friends were by his side.


[linked image]
Les Paul As an inventor and musician, Paul spent his life "chasing the perfect sound". He helped bring about the rise of rock 'n' roll and multitrack recording, which enables artists to record different instruments at different times, sing harmony with themselves, and then carefully balance the "tracks" in the finished recording.

He was responsible for the Gibson Les Paul, one of first solid-body electric guitars whose prototype was made in the 1940s and which is still in production today.

As a musician he had a string of hits, many with wife Mary Ford. His sound was influenced by Django Reinhardt but he went on to have a profound effect on the music of many stars, from Elvis to Paul McCartney and many rock guitarists.

Posted on Aug 13, 2009, 11:00 PM

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Michael Jackson tribute planned in Vienna palace ..

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Michael Jackson tribute planned in Vienna palace


[linked image]

VIENNA (Reuters) Vienna's Schoenbrunn Palace is planned to provide the stage for a high-profile tribute to the "King of Pop," Michael Jackson, at the end of September, organizers of the concert said on Tuesday.

Michael Jackson's older brother Jermaine is inviting artists to perform in front of Schoenbrunn, once home of Austria-Hungary's last Emperor Franz Josef, where the show's producers expect an audience of at least 85,000.

Schoenbrunn is regularly used as a venue for the annual summer concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

"The concept of The Tribute is that some of the world's leading artists will perform Michael Jackson's greatest hits live on stage in an imperial setting, befitting the King of Pop," producers World Awards Media said on its website.

Jermaine Jackson announced in CNN's Larry King talk show last week that the concert will take place in Vienna, not in London as has been expected. He will also present the show, provisionally scheduled to take place between September 22 and 27.

"I have invited many of the most acclaimed talents of our time," Jermaine Jackson said on the website promoting the concert, "and many have already confirmed to perform in honor of my beloved brother."

Jermaine Jackson added that he expected the tribute to be the first of an annual series of charity concerts that keep his brother's "humanitarian legacy" alive.

"I want to make people aware of the humanitarian side of Michael," Jermaine Jackson said.

"I want to show them how his true emphasis wasn't music, or performing; it was improving the world. Understand this, and you begin to understand the essence of who my brother was."

World Awards Media said that "a substantial portion of the proceeds" will be donated to three charities. Both the date and the artist line-up will be announced shortly, after finishing talks with the city of Vienna about the concert's settings.

Tickets go on sale August 20


Posted on Aug 11, 2009, 11:06 PM

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Rapper 'C-Murder' convicted of 2002 fan shooting ..

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Rapper 'C-Murder' convicted of 2002 fan shooting
By MARY FOSTER

GRETNA, La. Rapper Corey "C-Murder" Miller was convicted Tuesday of second-degree murder for the 2002 shooting of a fan during a nightclub brawl, capping tumultuous jury deliberations at his second trial in the killing.

[linked image]
FILE - This Aug. 16 file photo shows Rapper Corey Miller, who once went by the stage name of C-Murder, in New Orleans. Attorneys are set to deliver closing arguments in the murder trial of Corey Miller on Monday, Aug. 10, 2009, who is accused of shooting a 16-year-old fan during a brawl in a nightclub. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, file)


The Louisiana jury reached the 10-2 verdict around 1:30 p.m. in its second day of deliberations. Jurors had reached the same verdict earlier in the day, but District Judge Hans Liljeberg ordered them back to the jury room for more deliberation because of a questionable vote. Ten votes are required for a second-degree murder conviction.

Liljeberg said after the verdict's initial reading that one juror had apparently changed her vote just to end deliberations rendering the verdict invalid. Three jurors had been seen crying in the courtroom Tuesday morning, and the day before they sent a note that they were having trouble reaching a consensus.

The invalid verdict prompted defense attorney Ron Rakosky to move for a mistrial saying that the judge had pressured the jury into reaching a verdict. Liljeberg denied the motion.

"I don't think I pressured them at all," Liljeberg said. "I told them if they could not reach a verdict to let me know."

The courtroom was completely silent when the verdict was given for the second time. More than a dozen law enforcement officers filled the center aisle, and the judge had warned that anyone who so much as gasped would be arrested.

The victim's family left in tears.

"I'm not rejoicing. I feel bad for (Miller's) family. But at least they can see him. What have we got but a gravesite and a photograph," said George Thomas, whose 16-year-old son, Steve Thomas, was shot to death during the Jan. 12, 2002, brawl in a now-closed Harvey, La., nightclub.

Miller's family and friends also cried outside the courtroom. His sister, Germaine Miller, shouted and accused the prosecutors of corruption.

"This isn't over," said Marie Miller, Corey Miller's aunt. "This verdict is wrong. We will not let this rest."

The defense attorney for the 38-year-old rapper, who faces life in prison, declined comment after the hearing.

Prosecutor David Wolff said he thought the verdict would stand up on appeal.

"The judge ran a very clean trial. Deliberating on a homicide case is difficult," he said.

Miller was previously found guilty of killing Thomas, but a judge overturned the 2003 conviction, siding with defense attorneys who said prosecutors improperly withheld criminal background information on three key witnesses.

Miller has been in jail after pleading no contest to two countsof attempted murder in a separate altercation at a nightclub in Baton Rouge in 2001. He faces sentencing later this month in that case.

Attorneys for both sides return Friday morning to Liljeberg's court at which time a date will be set for the sentencing hearing in the latest conviction.

Miller and his brothers Percy "Master P" Miller and Vyshonn "Silkk The Shocker" Miller used to rap on the now-defunct No Limit record label, a popular producer of Southern rap through the 1990s that was founded by Percy Miller.

___

August 11, 2009 05:46 PM EDT


Posted on Aug 11, 2009, 11:00 PM

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Sarah Palin's Canadian Birth Certificate?

by TFSnewsRoom/DailyKos.com

Sarah Palin's Canadian Birth Certificate?
by Ed in Michigan

Sarah Palin's Canadian Birth Certificate? Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 05:33:40 PM PDT

Like most of America, I've grown very tired of the birthers and their ranting. I've grown especially tired of their defense of an obviously faked Kenyan birth certificate. So I decided to fight fire with some fire...

[linked image]


Ed in Michigan's diary :: ::
How could I use satire to battle the brithers?

Let's see... Select a prominent Republican, and give the wingnuts a sense--through a bit of mockery--of what they've created. So last night I decided to create Sarah Palin's Canadian birth certificate.

Some Google research, a bit of design, and presto! An authentic document. I can't claim it'll do any good in the battle the birthers have created, but I must admit, it was immensely satisfying to create.



Posted on Aug 5, 2009, 10:21 PM

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Reverend Ike dies at 74; preached gospel of prosperity..

by TFSnewsRoom/Ap/LaTimes.com

Reverend Ike dies at 74; preached gospel of prosperity

[linked image]
Reverend Ike, also
known as Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter, delivers a sermon in 1977.


The Rev. Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II was among the first evangelists to reach an audience of millions through TV. His unorthodox philosophy did not sit well with some ministers and civil rights leaders.


The minister known as Reverend Ike, who preached the gospel of material prosperity to millions nationwide, has died. He was 74.

The Rev. Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II died Tuesday, according to a statement on his website. The cause of death was not given.


Reverend Ike preached the power of what he called "positive self-image psychology" to his 5,000 parishioners at the United Church Science of Living Institute in New York.

In the 1970s, Reverend Ike was one of the first evangelists to reach an audience of millions through television.

"This is the do-it-yourself church," he proclaimed. "The only savior in this philosophy is God in you."


Reverend Ike stretched Christian tenets, relocating the idea of God to the interior of the self, with the power to bring the believer anything he or she desired in the way of health, wealth and peace of mind.

The philosophy did not sit well with traditional Christian ministers and civil rights leaders who felt that black churches should focus on social reform rather than self-fulfillment.

His critics said he preyed on the poor and conned the faithful into giving him donations that he spent on cars, clothes and homes. The IRS and the Postal Service investigated his businesses.

Others defended his philosophy of mind over matter, which appealed to middle-class believers who felt their hard work should be rewarded in this life.

"If it's that difficult for a rich man to get into heaven," he said, riffing on the famous verse from the book of Matthew, "think how terrible it must be for a poor man to get in. He doesn't even have a bribe for the gatekeeper."

Reverend Ike was born June 1, 1935, in Ridgeland, S.C., to an elementary school teacher and a Baptist minister from Dutch Indonesia.

He became an assistant pastor in his father's church at age 14. He attended the American Bible College in Chicago and spent two years in the Air Force as a chaplain. He founded his first church in Boston and moved to New York City two years later.

He moved his church into a Harlem movie theater with a narrow marquee that forced him to shorten his name to "Rev. Ike."

In the 1970s, Reverend Ike toured the country and preached over some 1,770 radio and television stations in major markets.

He is survived by his wife, Eula May Dent, and his son, Xavier F. Eikerenkoetter, who took over the ministry when his father retired.


Posted on Jul 31, 2009, 8:55 PM

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Two-Headed Baby Born In Philippines...

by TFSnewsRoom/HuffingtonPost.com

Two-Headed Baby Born In Philippines

[linked image]

an extremely rare instance, a baby girl born at the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in the Philippines Tuesday night has two heads, CBS News reports. Named "Baby Girl Arciaga," the infant has two spines, two brains and two hearts, encased in one cavity, but she shares everything else, including lungs and kidneys, according to the CBS report.

"This is a very rare case. It's new even to us," Dr. Ruben Flores, FMH's director, said in a television interview.

The condition is called dicephaly monozygotic conjoined birth, and it occurs in only one out of 80,000 live births.


The sharing of vital organs for the two heads poses a danger, for which the baby is now under observation, AFP reports.

"The rate of survival will depend on the shared organ. If they only have one heart, they will not survive," [an] unidentified spokeswoman told local radio.
...
Officials at the hospital said the extra head appeared to be a twin of the girl who failed to fully separate during the development stage in early pregnancy.


Posted on Jul 30, 2009, 8:51 PM

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Funeral Set for Boxer Vernon Forrest ...

by TFSnewsRoom/AJC.com

Funeral Set for Boxer Vernon Forrest
Forrest Was Shot During A Robbery

ATLANTA -- A funeral service is set for Monday for former boxing champion Vernon Forrest, who was killed in an attempted robbery over the weekend.

Forrest's manager Charles Watson says the service will take place at 1 p.m. at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, just east of Atlanta. The funeral will be open to the public.

Watson says some of Forrest's closest friends, including Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley and gospel singer Frankie Beverly, are expected to attend.

The 38-year-old Forrest was found shot to death Saturday night. Police say he exchanged gunfire with at least two robbery suspects before being shot multiple times in the back.

[linked image]
Forrest was a two-division champion, who
gained notoriety when he became the first boxer to defeat Mosley.

Posted on Jul 29, 2009, 11:37 AM

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Jackson chef recalls doctor's role, final days ..

by TFSnewsRoom/Ap.com

Jackson chef recalls doctor's role, final days


[linked image]
AP Kai Chase, Michael Jackson's personal chef,
is photographed in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Tuesday, July 28, 2009



ABC News By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch, Ap Special Correspondent 1 hr 3 mins ago
LOS ANGELES On the day Michael Jackson died, his personal chef says her first hint of something amiss was when his doctor didn't come downstairs to get the juices and granola he routinely brought the King of Pop for breakfast each morning.

Kai Chase, a professionally trained chef hired by Jackson to maintain a healthy food regimen, recalled the singer's final days in an interview with The Associated Press. She also spoke about the role of his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, who is now the focus of a manslaughter investigation.

Chase said Tuesday that she had gotten used to seeing Murray coming and going from the mansion. The doctor usually arrived about 9 or 9:30 p.m. and would go upstairs to Jackson's room, and she said she would not see him again before she left sometimes late in the evening but understood he was staying the night.

In the morning, when she arrived for work, Chase said she would see the doctor coming down the steps carrying oxygen tanks. When Murray didn't come downstairs the morning of June 25, "I thought maybe Mr. Jackson is sleeping late," Chase said.

"I started preparing the lunch and then I looked at my cell phone and it was noon. About 12:05 or 12:10 Dr. Murray runs down the steps and screams, 'Go get Prince!' He's screaming very loud. I run into the den where the kids are playing. Prince (Jackson's oldest son) runs to meet Dr. Murray and from that point on you could feel the energy in the house change.

"I walked into the hall and I saw the children there. The daughter was crying. I saw paramedics running up the stairs."

At that point, Chase said, the small group that was gathered the children, their nanny, a housekeeper and Chase held hands and began to pray. As paramedics raced up to the room, Chase recalls, "We were all praying, 'Help Mr. Jackson be O.K.'

"Then everyone was very quiet."

At about 1:30 p.m. she said security guards told her and other staff to leave the property because "Mr. Jackson was being taken to the hospital."

When she came outside, she said, ambulances were in the courtyard and a crowd had gathered.

Chase, 37, who has cooked for other celebrities and comes from a show-business family, was hired by Jackson in March, let go in May, then returned on June 2. She said the pop star's focus was on fresh, healthy food for him and the children.

She said she prepared meals for the family and occasionally for Murray. She said Jackson was in training for his upcoming shows in London and told her: "You have to take care of me."

On most days, she said, Murray would bring Jackson the special fruit juice drinks Chase prepared for him, followed by granola with almond milk. For lunch, Jackson would eat with the children from a menu that included such things as spinach salad and chicken.

Murray sometimes joined them for dinner, which might be a seared ahi tuna. She said the doctor conferred with her about the 50-year-old pop singer's food and made sure that he ate.

The only oddity was the oxygen tanks. Chase said she never asked about the purpose of the oxygen and she saw no sign that Jackson was on drugs or was in failing health.

"Normally in the morning, he would bring oxygen tanks from upstairs downstairs, one in each hand," she said.

Authorities searched Murray's Las Vegas home and medical office Tuesday as part of an investigation that included raids last week of his clinic and storage in Houston.

With toxicology reports pending, investigators are working under the theory that the powerful anesthetic propofol caused Jackson's heart to stop, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. Murray told investigators he regularly administered the drug to help Jackson sleep, and had done so sometime in the early morning of June 25, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Propofol is supposed to be administered only in monitored medical settings by trained personnel; the official told AP that Murray left the bedroom and returned to find the star unresponsive. Police have said Murray is cooperating and have not labeled him a suspect, and his lawyer, Edward Chernoff, has said the doctor "didn't prescribe or administer anything that should have killed Michael Jackson."

Like Murray, Chase said she was hired to accompany Jackson to London for his comeback concerts and the request was personally made to her by his 12-year-old son, Prince Michael II.

"Prince said, 'Daddy wants me to tell you he wants you to go to London with us,'" she recalled. "I said, 'Tell your daddy that I'm pleased and honored."

She said she had already filled out paperwork and submitted a copy of her passport to the Jackson staff and expected to leave for London on July 3.

On June 23, she said Jackson told her: "I'm packed and I'm ready to go." Two days later, he was dead.

It was the end of her dream job and an idyllic time in Chase's life, a time that had begun in March with a call from Jackson's assistant, Michael Williams. She was told that "a client" wanted her services as personal chef but she was not told the client was Jackson until she was hired.

"I couldn't believe it," she said. "I asked him if I was on 'Candid Camera.' I said, 'Am I being punked?'"

She said Jackson had seen her resume which included jobs cooking for Macy Gray and Jamie Fox as well as catering a fund raiser for President Barack Obama. She said he also knew she was from a multiracial background and her godfather was Redd Foxx.

But before she started she had to pass muster with three other people: the Jackson children.

"I came to the house and the first people I met were the kids. They started interviewing me," she said. "They told me: 'We're into healthy eating.'"

When they approved her, she went to work and "we developed a really great bond."

Most days, she said, Jackson made a point of having both lunch and dinner with the children, Prince, 11-year-old Paris and 7-year-old Prince Michael II, known as Blanket, and each meal was preceded by Paris saying grace. After weeks of healthy food, she said she wrote Jackson a note with a suggestion:

"I said, 'What about doing comfort-food Saturdays? We could do barbecued chicken and corn on the cob, maybe Mexican food or soul food.'" She said he loved the idea, but as the concerts approached, healthy eating returned full time.

"He said, 'I'm a dancer,' and he wanted food that would not make him cramp up while he was dancing."

She now treasures little notes she received from the children and from Jackson and a present he gave her.

"One day he handed me a little gift bag and said, 'This is for you from me and the children.' He had given me an iPod Touch because the children told him I still had a Walkman. It had the 25th anniversary 'Thriller' album loaded on it."

She said she has visited with the children since Jackson's death and they are doing well. "They have so many cousins to play with."

As for Chase's future, she said Jackson encouraged her to write a cookbook and she has written one tentatively titled, "Fit for a King." It includes recipes she cooked for Jackson and the story of the time she worked for him.

"He was an inspiration to me," she said.

___

On the Net:

http/http://www.kaichase.com


Posted on Jul 29, 2009, 11:28 AM

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Obama Backtracks Calling Police Action Stupid:

by TFSnewsRoom/HuffingtonPost.com

Michael RussnowProfessional TV/Screenwriter, former Member Writers Guild west Board of Directors and former U.S. Senate aide
Posted: July 25, 2009 06:29 AM


Obama Backtracks Calling Police Action Stupid: Was It Moderation or Is Obama Becoming the First Wimp?
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Read More: 2012 Primaries, Abc, Anderson Cooper, Barack Obama, Brian Williams, Cambridge Police Department, Cbs, Charlie Gibson, Cnn, David Gergen, Democratic Convention, Don't Ask Don't Tell, First Amendment, Fox News, Harvard, Harvard Law Review, Henry Louis Gates, Katie Couric, Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson Toxicology Reports, Michael Russnow, Msnbc, Nbc, Presidential Election, Ram Productions, Russnow, Sgt. James Crowley, Sgt. Leon Lashley, Twitter, Youtube, Politics News



Share Print CommentsAfter watching the president's rambling press conference Wednesday, I was jolted out of a near snooze when he made a sharp comment, saying the Cambridge, Massachusetts police had behaved stupidly. I was excited, because Barack Obama usually plays to the middle ground. Not because he's a political centrist -- he's not -- but because it often appears he believes the best chance for achieving success is to offend the least many people possible.

That's why he wasn't my first choice last year in the primaries -- he was actually my fourth. I viewed him as the sort of guy who becomes frat president -- not so much to get the girls, but to be everyone's pal. A glad hander with an even temperament, a winning smile, soft-spoken, articulate and smart. A great trait to become president of the Harvard Law Review, but not the leader of the free world.

And so, because Obama measures his words about almost everything, I was intrigued when he finally said something direct and from his heart after someone asked him at the end of the press conference what he thought about the case of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, who'd been arrested in his home.



I liked the way Obama laid it out carefully, saying the initial stages seemed fine to him, when someone saw Gates in the dark from a distance trying to jimmy open the door of his Cambridge home. He said he didn't mind at all that the police were called to investigate and found Gates, who was already inside his home.

But at that point he said it should have ended, as the professor showed the officer his ID, indicating he actually lived there, and Obama earned a big hurray from me when he said that the police department acted "stupidly" when they arrested Gates.

He was right. The policeman, Sgt. James Crowley, was wrong. Yet, though Gates was released without being charged after four hours of what must have been a humiliating experience for a distinguished professor -- or any decent American -- mug shots, fingerprinting and the like -- Sgt. Crowley said he had done nothing for which to apologize, though the mayor of Cambridge did just that.



When the case became controversial -- lead stories by Brian Williams on NBC, Katie Couric on CBS, Charlie Gibson on ABC and reports on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC -- not to mention the inevitable replays on YouTube -- Obama suddenly softened his tone. It was as if he said, "Oh, my God, it doesn't matter that I was right, but this will take media space away from my health care issue, and I don't want to make people think I was playing favorites with people tied to my race."

Then, when the tweets on Twitter became deafening he almost completely backtracked during a surprise appearance before the White House Press Corps. He said he was wrong for what he'd said about the Cambridge Police department and Sgt. Crowley, insisted that Crowley was an "outstanding police officer" and blamed himself for ratcheting up the incident by his comment. He further told the press he'd called Gates and Crowley and invited them both to the White House to have a beer for a kumbaya moment. Instead of this mealy-mouthed reversal, why couldn't the president man up and say, "You know, I don't have to explain myself. I said what I meant and I stand by what I said."

Even though the facts of this case are still as mysterious as the Michael Jackson toxicological reports, it's clear that had Professor Gates done anything truly illegal the police would have been champing at the bit to get the info to us. If Professor Gates had pulled out a gun or brandished a cane or slugged Sgt. Crowley in the mouth it would have been assault and grounds for arrest. No such charge has been made.

So since it is just conjecture as to what happened, I'll explore the most vile possibility. Perhaps Professor Gates is a hothead and quick tempered. Perhaps he was so repulsed by the thought that he was being questioned in an accusatory manner -- after having given the officer proof that he lived in the house -- that he -- hold onto your hats -- said something nasty. Maybe it was more than nasty -- a vulgar epithet -- maybe even used the "F" word or combined it with the word honkie.

When I was a kid I was taught, "Sticks and stones can break your bones, but names can never harm you." Was Sgt. Crowley never taught that? Not even in training for the Cambridge police force? How gutless of our president in his zeal to be neutral and not make waves to say that both Sgt. Crowley and Professor Gates overreacted. It doesn't matter whether Professor Gates overreacted. Such an overreaction is within his legal rights. It is not within Sgt. Crowley's legal rights to take advantage of the situation.

There was no reason for Professor Gates to be led off in handcuffs, whatever unpleasant thing he might have said to irritate Sgt. Crowley. The officer should have taken a deep breath and walked away. His powers as a policeman, which include being armed with a gun and a stick to beat someone back, do not entitle him to use the threat of physical force under color of authority when someone is exercising freedom of speech in his own home.

Even Sgt. Leon Lashley, an African American Cambridge police department colleague of Sgt. Crowley's, admitted that, while he supported Crowley's action (big surprise), it probably would have played out differently had he been the officer to arrive on the scene. When CNN's Anderson Cooper pressed Lashley as to why Gates was taken in -- whatever he'd said, it was in his house -- Lashley lamely responded that they were able to do so because Gates had walked outside the house. Cooper pressed further, saying Gates was on his porch and it was still his property. Lashley insisted that once out of the house, a hot exchange of words could then be viewed as disturbing the peace. That's a big stretch.

There is nothing about this case that doesn't smell phony, and the fact that our president won't stand behind his words when they become controversial makes me quite concerned about his future. It's still too early in his administration to point the finger of failure as partisan Republicans have done. But whether it's the timetable on our involvement in Iraq on which he's waffled, his health care deadline, on which he caved in to congressional forces wanting a delay or his still unfulfilled promise to gay Americans that he will eliminate the preposterous "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy -- that even many distinguished members of our military have lobbied against -- Obama just doesn't have the cojones to follow through unless he has a clear consensus. He is so afraid to offend and risk losing support that he refuses in fact to lead by setting the proper example.

The president says he has to be careful about what he says, because when he says something it gets a sizable reaction, and that's true. But in this case it deserved the media attention and exposed an outrageous happenstance that shouldn't be pooh-poohed and dispensed with over a couple of Miller Lites. The president shouldn't be so concerned about offending conservative elements of our society that he somehow compared Gates and Crowley's behavior as a simple case of two men overreacting. Even CNN's David Gergen said he was distressed about Obama's conclusion giving equal status to the men's wrongdoing.

I'll say it again. Gates has a right to scream at a policeman and tell him to get out of his house. You might not like it if he called Crowley a pig (and I'm not saying he did), but even if he had it's covered under the First Amendment. Crowley's "overreaction" went a lot farther than harmless name calling, forcibly taking Gates from his house like a common criminal. His deed was a helluva lot more consequential and an overreaching of the public trust invested in him as a police officer.

So, if this is another sizable sign of how our president is more concerned about his television "Q" rating than making meaningful change for the American people, Obama may well be a one-term president. My only hope is that if Obama can't get his act together by next year there will be a strong Democrat standing in the wings to go head to head with him in the 2012 primaries rather than the party giving him token support and in the process handing the country back to the Republicans.

In case you can't tell, I'm thoroughly disgusted with his actions today.

Michael Russnow's website is www.ramproductionsinternational.com


Posted on Jul 25, 2009, 6:14 PM

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Kiddie PORN Criminal @ Fox News...

by TFSnewsRoom/NewsHounds.org

What’s Not On Fox News (Part II) – Hypocrisy Or Unintentional Omission?

Reported by Priscilla - Wed 1:07 PM
Can you imagine the outrage on the part of the Fox News righteous resident demagogues if a producer at any of the so called librul networks were sentenced to 10 years of hard time for possessing child pornography?! But when it happens to one of their own – crickets!!! Former Fox News producer, Aaron Bruns, a kiddie porn fan and a repeat offender, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for possession of child pornography and not only aren’t we hearing about it on Fox News; but there is nothing now on the Fox News website.

(Maybe I'm just not googling correctly - you try!) Not surprisingly, Fox appeared to have ignored Bruns’ arrest in February. If that had happened to someone at one of those evil commie/socialist networks or media outlets, Jesse T Watters would have been on the stalk. And when Brian Doyle, a Homeland Security spokesman, was arrested for "sexually preying on a detective posing as a 14-year-old girl," the Fox News article mentioned that he had previously worked, as a reporter, for Time Magazine. What say you Bill O’Reilly? Aaron Bruns – anybody????



Posted on Jul 22, 2009, 5:45 PM

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Tyler Perry lets his inner Madea loose on Philly swim club .,.

by TFSnewsRoom/AccessAtlanta.com

Tyler Perry lets his inner Madea loose on Philly swim club
10:32 am July 21, 2009, by Richard Eldredge

[linked image]
Atlanta filmmaker Tyler Perry.


Atlanta director Tyler Perry has taken time away from the local shoot of gWhy Did I Get Married Too?h to donate a trip to Disney World to the Philadelphia day camp Creative Steps Inc.

Youfll recall the black and Hispanic children from the camp made headlines this month after officials at the suburban Philadelphia Valley Swim Club denied them entrance to the private pool and publicly worried the water wings-sporting small fry would gchange the complexionh of the facility.

This week, the folks at Creative Steps announced that 65 kid campers will be going to Disney World, thanks to a donation from Perry.

gThis made me so angry,h Perry writes on his website. hI saw a little boy on the news crying his eyes out. Here is this kid talking about being kicked out of the Valley Swim Club outside Philadelphia because he was black. Did you hear me? I said, eNo way, this canft be! Itfs 2009. I donft believe this!f But, I know it happens even in this year of Obama. . . I went from being mad to being furious.h

Perry contacted the day camp and spoke with director Alethea Wright about making the donated trip to Florida. Wright in turn tells the Associated Press shefs thrilled by Perryfs generosity, especially given that the director gcomes from humble beginnings.h

The owner of Tyler Perry Studios in southwest Atlanta (who is currently listed at No. 30 on Forbes magazinefs gCelebrity 100 list and, according to the biz mag, earned an estimated $75 million in 2008) went on to explain to fans:

gSince you all have put me in the position to be able to do something I feel like by me doing this we are all doing it together. So on Aug 1 through 3, Ifm sending these kids to Disney World, and then to a Disney water park. I want them to know that for every act of evil that a few people will throw at you, there are millions more who will do something kind for them. This is all about the kids. So, thank you for letting me do this.


And do me a favor please. When you see these kids coming through the airport, (Ifm sure you wonft be able to miss them. I imagine they are going to be super excited) letfs show them a whole lot of love and respect. Show them that they are just as good as anyone else. And show them that they can do or be anything they want to be no matter what any one says!h


Posted on Jul 21, 2009, 11:34 AM

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Chris Brown: "What I Did Was Inexcusable" ..

by TFSnewsRoom/Eonline.com

Chris Brown: "What I Did Was Inexcusable"
Today 4:30 PM PDT by Breanne L. Heldman


More than five months after his alleged assault on then-girlfriend Rihanna, Chris Brown is finally speaking out.

"Since February, my attorney has advised me not to speak out, even though, ever since the incident, I wanted to publicly express my deepest regret and accept full responsibility," he says in a video posted on his YouTube page. "I felt it was time that you heard directly from me that I am sorry."

The 20-year-old star, who scored a plea deal last month and avoided jail time for the pre-Grammys incident, admits he will be speaking about that fateful evening further, but wanted to express his sorrows now.

"I wish I had the chance to live those few moments again, but unfortunately I can't," he says. "What I did was inexcusable. I am very sad and very ashamed at what I've done. My mother and my spiritual leaders taught me better than that…No one is more disappointed in me than I am."

Apparently, he has a plan of action to mend his ways.

"I have sought and I am continuing to seek help to ensure that what occurred in February can never happen again," he says. "What I did was unacceptable. 100 percent. I can only ask and pray that you forgive me please. I hope that others learn from my mistake. I intend to live my life so that I am truly worthy of the term role model."

What say you—is Brown worthy of a second chance, or is it too little, too late?



Posted on Jul 20, 2009, 8:40 PM

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Update On P-Funk Legend MALLIA FRANKLIN ~

by TFSnewsRoom..

Fmr. Parlet Singer & Funk Legend had a stroke
and a heart attack.She's paralyzed on her left side
But Was able to move Some Of her Lower Extremities
& Did Some Talking..
She Has A Rough & Lengthy Road Ahead Of Her
& Is NOT Out Of The Woods Yet..

Continue Your Thoughts & Prayers..

Ps: Thanx Dawn Silva~

[linked image]

Posted on Jul 19, 2009, 11:34 PM

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New This Week At TFS...

by TFSnewsRoom..

New This Week At TFS...
P-FUNK GUITARIST CITRUS' U.S. PIPE , P-FUNK's KIM MANNING,
P-FUNK's DANNY BEDROSIAN'S SECRET ARMY , The Return
Of The DRUGS CD , MICHAEL JACKSON ,Steve Boyd's FIVE SPECIAL & MUCH MORE..

plus New T-SHIRTS , DVDs & Books !


http://www.TheFunkStore.com

http://www.TheFunkStore.com/NewRelease/A-01.htm


TheFunkStore.com : Your RareFunk Collectibles Authority!

www.TheFunkStore.com

Posted on Jul 19, 2009, 2:26 PM

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** Breaking News** PARLET Singer Mallia Franklin Hospitalized In Chicago ..

by TFSnewsRoom..

Fmr. PARLET Singer & P-FUNK Institution
MALLIA FRANKLIN Has Been Hospitalized In Chicago
& Her Condition Is VERY Serious ..
"TFS" Spoke To Mallia @ 1:30 am Saturday
Shortly BEFORE This Tragedy Struck..

Stay Tooned For Updates..

Posted on Jul 19, 2009, 12:37 PM

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Prince fans storm Montreux for rare European show ..

by TFSnewsRoom/Reuters.com

Prince fans storm Montreux for rare European show
By Stephanie Nebehay Stephanie Nebehay – Sun Jul 19, 8:31 am ET


MONTREUX, Switzerland (Reuters) – Prince fans from across Europe converged on Montreux for two shows by the American musician whose rare appearance on the continent stretched well into Sunday morning.

The 51-year-old star closed the two-week Swiss Montreux Jazz Festival with a mix of old hits including "Little Red Corvette," "Peach" and "Purple Rain" and fresh titles such as "Elixir" from his new album with singer Bria Valente.

Wearing a bright red suit, geometric gold necklace, and red and white platform shoes, the artist appeared on stage with his red guitar, bathed in his trademark purple light.

"Montreux, thank you," Prince said, as he blew a kiss to the crowd before kicking off an encore with "Insatiable."

Some 8,000 tickets for his two back-to-back concerts, priced up to $480 each, sold out in a record eight minutes when his only European booking this summer was announced just days after the death of Michael Jackson.

Prince performed a jazzy version of the song "In a Large Room With No Light" for both shows in Montreux, which organizers praised as a "groovy mix of soul, jazz and funk."

Changing into a metallic grey outfit, he closed the second show with "Purple Rain," a chart-topper marking its 25th year.

John Blackwell (drums), Rhonda Smith (bass) and Renato Net and Morris Hayes (both on keyboards) accompanied Prince at Stravinski Auditorium.

"LOVE OF EUROPE"

Claude Nobs, founder of the festival in its 43rd annual edition, told fans cheering in vain for a second encore: "The jazz set he created here tonight has never been performed elsewhere."

Prince made his only other appearance at the legendary jazz festival along Lake Geneva two years ago, showing up at 3 a.m. to jam with his band at a free cafe.

Smith, his Canadian bassist and vocalist, said that the 2007 experience had convinced Prince to accept the return booking.

"It's the love of the European public. He had a great time last time. There is a lot of respect, a relaxing feel and a very high artistic level," Smith told the Swiss daily Le Matin.

"It's like nowhere else," she said.

"This was a very different show," said Patrick O'Keeffe, from Ireland. "He rarely plays with just three band members, normally it is much bigger band with brass and horns and sax."

Alessandro Rossi drove from Italy to catch the Grammy- and Academy- winner from Minneapolis. Rossi, in a purple t-shirt with "Prince" on the back, said: "Prince is always number one."



Posted on Jul 19, 2009, 12:30 PM

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George Clinton at the Square In Buffalo, a singular show ..

by TFSnewsRoom/BuffaloNews.com

George Clinton at the Square In Buffalo, a singular show..

By Elmer Ploetz
NEWS CONTRIBUTING REVIEWER
Updated: July 17, 2009, 9:35 AM

http://video.artvoice.com/artvoicetv.php?permalink=0000000684#


George Clinton is one of those guys who often gets labeled a genius. Yet he cant sing all that well his voice sounds like its been soaked in a Jamaican herb mixture for years. And he doesnt play an instrument.

In fact, he never appeared on stage Thursday night in Lafayette Square until about an hour into the 3 1/2-hour show.

But Clinton brings something else with him his band. Hes that rare performer who has made his mark by inspiring others to do things they never would have done without him. His incredible mixture of dance music, technology, Aquarian imagery and acid-tinged rock is unique and was on full display Thursday night.

So nobody was surprised when guitarist Garry Starchild Shider arrived on stage clad in a large diaper, socks and running shoes and then played the whole night in them. Or that other guitarist Michael Kidd Funkadelic Hampton shredded solos like a metalsmith in the middle of a funk band.

Clinton is one of those artists who makes things possible for others he allows his fellow artists to give themselves permission to do creative and crazy things they might not otherwise do.

And the venerable artist about to turn 68, white-bearded and wearing his trademark rainbow dreads was at center ring for most of the show as a group of about 18 or 20 performers joined him.

On one level, it was perfect party music for a balmy Thursday night, with most of the crowd knowing the call-and-response chants that go with Clintons P-Funk (Parliament-Funkadelic) music.

Were gonna party like its 1979, the announcer said during the show-opening hype, referring to Parliament and Funkadelics golden era. And all the classics were there with extended jams on songs like Flashlight, One Nation Under a Groove, Bop Gun and Up for the Downstroke.

Of course, it was a Thursday at the Square, with all that goes with it. That meant only about a quarter of the shoulder-to-shoulder audience could see the stage well and thats being generous. Even fewer could hear it well.

The event might have been well-served as a ticketed event, like the Buffalo Place Rocks the Harbor shows featuring Robert Cray and the Black Crowes this weekend.

On the other hand, though, that would have taken away the community get-together feel of the show. While some of the regular Thursday at the Square audience was there, the event had the feel of a family reunion for Buffalos African-American audience, as well, with many people bringing their kids or even three generations of family.

The show had its rougher edges, particularly on the Funkadelic songs like Cosmic Slop and Maggot Brain, from the Clinton outfit that had more of a Hendrix-influenced psychedelic edge. The music wasnt necessarily meant to be pleasant or even particularly danceable.

But somehow it all meshed together into one extended jam like youd expect from somebody whos been doing it for 30 years.

And best of all, at least for the more hard-core fans who forced their way close enough to the stage that they could both hear and see the group, Clintons P-Funk outfit gave them permission to free their minds and let their behinds follow in a way they might not have for any other band.

REVIEW

WHO: George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic

WHEN: Thursday night

WHERE: Lafayette Square


http://video.artvoice.com/artvoicetv.php?permalink=0000000684#



    
This message has been edited by mbmoonthang on Jul 19, 2009 2:39 PM

Posted on Jul 19, 2009, 12:14 PM

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Calif. students get X-rated version of class DVD ...

by TFSnewsRoom/Ap.com

Calif. students get X-rated version of class DVD

ELK GROVE, Calif. — A Northern California elementary school teacher sent her students home for the summer with a video of class memories, only the DVD included six seconds of her having sex on a couch.

Officials at the Elk Grove Unified School District asked families of the teacher's 24 students to get rid of the DVD after the unintended clip was found spliced in a scene where children were sharing stories in class.

"Just destroy them," said spokeswoman Torrey Johnson.

Johnson said the teacher, whose name isn't being released, sent the DVD home with her students from Isabelle Jackson Elementary on the last day of class Friday. She learned of the mistake after a parent called her. She then called all the parents to ask them to destroy the DVD.

The school district, located just south of Sacramento, initially sent a letter home to parents asking them to return the DVDs, but then asked parents to simply destroy them


Posted on Jul 3, 2009, 10:16 AM

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'I'm better off dead. I'm done': Michael Jackson...

by TFSnewsRoom/DailyMail.Co.Uk

'I'm better off dead. I'm done': Michael Jackson's fateful prediction just a week before his death

By Ian Halperin
Last updated at 3:58 PM on 29th June 2009
Comments (37) Add to My Stories

Genetic condition had ruined his lungs and left him unable to sing
He became so skeletal, doctors believed he was anorexic
He had nightmares about being murdered – and wanted to die
He used swine flu as an excuse to avoid coming to England
He thought he was agreeing to 10 concerts – it was 50
Whatever the final autopsy results reveal, it was greed that killed Michael Jackson. Had he not been driven – by a cabal of bankers, agents, doctors and advisers – to commit to the gruelling 50 concerts in London’s O2 Arena, I believe he would still be alive today.
During the last weeks and months of his life, Jackson made desperate attempts to prepare for the concert series scheduled for next month – a series that would have earned millions for the singer and his entourage, but which he could never have completed, not mentally, and not physically.


Michael knew it and his advisers knew it. Anyone who caught even a fleeting glimpse of the frail old man hiding beneath the costumes and cosmetics would have understood that the London tour was madness. For Michael Jackson, it was fatal.
I had more than a glimpse of the real Michael; as an award-winning freelance journalist and film-maker, I spent more than five years inside his ‘camp’.
Many in his entourage spoke frankly to me – and that made it possible for me to write authoritatively last December that Michael had six months to live, a claim that, at the time, his official spokesman, Dr Tohme Tohme, called a ‘complete fabrication’. The singer, he told the world, was in ‘fine health’. Six months and one day later,

Jackson was dead.
Some liked to s****** at his public image, and it is true that flamboyant clothes and bizarre make-up made for a comic grotesque; yet without them, his appearance was distressing; with skin blemishes, thinning hair and discoloured fingernails.
I had established beyond doubt, for example, that Jackson relied on an extensive collection of wigs to hide his greying hair. Shorn of their luxuriance, the Peter Pan of Neverland cut a skeletal figure.


More...24hr 'sober coach' was hired for Michael Jackson as desperate family brought in controversial 'Doc Hollywood' to save star
Doctor: I saved Jackson from morphine overdose after TV interview in US

Michael Jackson was due to move into 32-bed Kent manor house this weekend

It was clear that he was in no condition to do a single concert, let alone 50. He could no longer sing, for a start. On some days he could barely talk. He could no longer dance. Disaster was looming in London and, in the opinion of his closest confidantes, he was feeling suicidal.
To understand why a singer of Jackson’s fragility would even think about travelling to London, we need to go back to June 13, 2005, when my involvement in his story began.
As a breaking news alert flashed on CNN announcing that the jury had reached a verdict in Jackson’s trial for allegedly molesting 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo at his Neverland Ranch in California, I knew that history had been made but that Michael Jackson had been broken – irrevocably so, as it proved.
Nor was it the first time that Michael had been accused of impropriety with young boys. Little more than a decade earlier, another 13-year-old, Jordan Chandler, made similar accusations in a case that was eventually settled before trial – but not before the damage had been done to Jackson’s reputation.


Michael had not helped his case. Appearing in a documentary with British broadcaster Martin Bashir, he not only admitted that he liked to share a bed with teenagers, mainly boys, in pyjamas, but showed no sign of understanding why anyone might be legitimately concerned.
I had started my investigation convinced that Jackson was guilty. By the end, I no longer believed that.
I could not find a single shred of evidence suggesting that Jackson had molested a child. But I found significant evidence demonstrating that most, if not all, of his accusers lacked credibility and were motivated primarily by money.
Jackson also deserved much of the blame, of course. Continuing to share a bed with children even after the suspicions surfaced bordered on criminal stupidity.
He was also playing a truly dangerous game. It is clear to me that Michael was homosexual and that his taste was for young men, albeit not as young as Jordan Chandler or Gavin Arvizo.
In the course of my investigations, I spoke to two of his gay lovers, one a Hollywood waiter, the other an aspiring actor. The waiter had remained friends, perhaps more, with the singer until his death last week. He had served Jackson at a restaurant, Jackson made his interest plain and the two slept together the following night. According to the waiter, Jackson fell in love.
The actor, who has been given solid but uninspiring film parts, saw Jackson in the middle of 2007. He told me they had spent nearly every night together during their affair – an easy claim to make, you might think. But this lover produced corroboration in the form of photographs of the two of them together, and a witness.
Other witnesses speak of strings of young men visiting his house at all hours, even in the period of his decline. Some stayed overnight.
When Jackson lived in Las Vegas, one of his closest aides told how he would sneak off to a ‘grungy, rat-infested’ motel – often dressed as a woman to disguise his identity – to meet a male construction worker he had fallen in love with.
Jackson was acquitted in the Arvizo case, dramatically so, but the effect on his mental state was ruinous. Sources close to him suggest he was close to complete nervous breakdown.


The ordeal had left him physically shattered, too. One of my sources suggested that he might already have had a genetic condition I had never previously come across, called Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency – the lack of a protein that can help protect the lungs.
Although up to 100,000 Americans are severely affected by it, it is an under-recognised condition. Michael was receiving regular injections of Alpha-1 antitrypsin derived from human plasma. The treatment is said to be remarkably effective and can enable the sufferer to lead a normal life.
But the disease can cause respiratory problems and, in severe cases, emphysema. Could this be why Jackson had for years been wearing a surgical mask in public, to protect his lungs from the ravages of the disease? Or why, from time to time, he resorted to a wheelchair? When I returned to my source inside the Jackson camp for confirmation, he said: ‘Yeah, that’s what he’s got. He’s in bad shape. They’re worried that he might need a lung transplant but he may be too weak.
‘Some days he can hardly see and he’s having a lot of trouble walking.’
Even Michael Jackson’s legendary wealth was in sharp decline. Just a few days before he announced his 50-concert comeback at the O2 Arena, one of my sources told me Jackson had been offered £1.8million to perform at a party for a Russian billionaire on the Black Sea.
‘Is he up to it?’ I had asked.
‘He has no choice. He needs the money. His people are pushing him hard,’ said the source.
Could he even stand on a stage for an hour concert?
‘He can stand. The treatments have been successful. He can even dance once he gets in better shape. He just can’t sing,’ said the aide, adding that Jackson would have to lip-synch to get through the performance. ‘Nobody will care, as long as he shows up and moonwalks.’
He also revealed Jackson had been offered well over £60million to play Las Vegas for six months. ‘He said no, but his people are trying to force it on him. He’s that close to losing everything,’ said the source.


Indeed, by all accounts Jackson’s finances were in a shambles. The Arvizo trial itself was a relative bargain, costing a little more than £18million in legal bills.
But the damage to his career, already in trouble before the charges, was incalculable. After the Arvizo trial, a Bahraini sheikh allowed Jackson to stay in his palace, underwriting his lavish lifestyle. But a few years later, the prince sued his former guest, demanding repayment for his hospitality. Jackson claimed he thought it had been a gift.
Roger Friedman, a TV journalist, said: ‘For one year, the prince underwrote Jackson’s life in Bahrain – everything including accommodation, guests, security and transportation. And what did Jackson do? He left for Japan and then Ireland. He took the money and moonwalked right out the door. This is the real Michael Jackson. He has never returned a phone call from the prince since he left Bahrain.’
Although Jackson settled with the sheikh on the eve of the trial that would have aired his financial dirty laundry, the settlement only put him that much deeper into the hole. A hole that kept getting bigger, but that was guaranteed by Jackson’s half ownership of the copyrights to The Beatles catalogue. He owned them in a joint venture with record company Sony, which have kept him from bankruptcy.
‘Jackson is in hock to Sony for hundreds of millions,’ a source told me a couple of months ago. ‘No bank will give him any money so Sony have been paying his bills.
‘The trouble is that he hasn’t been meeting his obligations. Sony have been in a position for more than a year where it can repossess Michael’s share of the [Beatles] catalogue. That’s always been Sony’s dream scenario, full ownership.
‘But they don’t want to do it as they’re afraid of a backlash from his fans. Their nightmare is an organised 'boycott Sony' movement worldwide, which could prove hugely costly. It is the only thing standing between Michael and bankruptcy.’
Legacy: Michael Jackson wanted to ensure the future of his children by leaving them 200 unpublished songs

The source aid at the time that the scheduled London concerts wouldn’t clear Jackson’s debts – estimated at almost £242million – but they would allow him to get them under control and get him out of default with Sony.
According to two sources in Jackson’s camp, the singer put in place a contingency plan to ensure his children would be well taken care of in the event of bankruptcy.
‘He has as many as 200 unpublished songs that he is planning to leave behind for his children when he dies. They can’t be touched by the creditors, but they could be worth as much as £60million that will ensure his kids a comfortable existence no matter what happens,’ one of his collaborators revealed.
But for the circle of handlers who surrounded Jackson during his final years, their golden goose could not be allowed to run dry. Bankruptcy was not an option.
These, after all, were not the handlers who had seen him through the aftermath of the Arvizo trial and who had been protecting his fragile emotional health to the best of their ability. They were gone, and a new set of advisers was in place.
The clearout had apparently been engineered by his children’s nanny, Grace Rwaramba, who was gaining considerable influence over Jackson and his affairs and has been described as the ‘queen bee’ by those around Jackson.
Rwaramba had ties to the black militant organisation, the Nation of Islam, and its controversial leader, Louis Farrakhan, whom she enlisted for help in running Jackson’s affairs.
Before long, the Nation was supplying Jackson’s security detail and Farrakhan’s son-in-law, Leonard Muhammad, was appointed as Jackson’s business manager, though his role has lessened significantly in recent years.
In late 2008, a shadowy figure who called himself Dr Tohme Tohme suddenly emerged as Jackson’s ‘official spokesman’.
Tohme has been alternately described as a Saudi Arabian billionaire and an orthopaedic surgeon, but he is actually a Lebanese businessman who does not have a medical licence. At one point, Tohme claimed he was an ambassador at large for Senegal, but the Senegalese embassy said they had never heard of him.
Misguided: Michael Jackson showed no sign of understanding why anyone might be legitimately concerned about him sharing a bed with young boys

Tohme’s own ties to the Nation of Islam came to light in March 2009, when New York auctioneer Darren Julien was conducting an auction of Michael Jackson memorabilia.
Julien filed an affidavit in Los Angeles Superior Court that month in which he described a meeting he had with Tohme’s business partner, James R. Weller. According to Julien’s account, ‘Weller said if we refused to postpone [the auction], we would be in danger from 'Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam; those people are very protective of Michael'.
He told us that Dr Tohme and Michael Jackson wanted to give the message to us that 'our lives are at stake and there will be bloodshed'.’
A month after these alleged threats, Tohme accompanied Jackson to a meeting at a Las Vegas hotel with Randy Phillips, chief executive of the AEG Group, to finalise plans for Jackson’s return to the concert stage.
Jackson’s handlers had twice before said no to Phillips. This time, with Tohme acting as his confidant, Jackson left the room agreeing to perform ten concerts at the O2.
Before long, however, ten concerts had turned into 50 and the potential revenues had skyrocketed. ‘The vultures who were pulling his strings somehow managed to put this concert extravaganza together behind his back, then presented it to him as a fait accompli,’ said one aide.
‘The money was just unbelievable and all his financial people were telling him he was facing bankruptcy. But Michael still resisted. He didn’t think he could pull it off.’
Eventually, they wore him down, the aide explained, but not with the money argument.
‘They told him that this would be the greatest comeback the world had ever known. That’s what convinced him. He thought if he could emerge triumphantly from the success of these concerts, he could be the King again.’
The financial details of the O2 concerts are still murky, though various sources have revealed that Jackson was paid as much as £10million in advance, most of which went to the middlemen. But Jackson could have received as much as £100million had the concerts gone ahead.
It is worth noting that the O2 Arena has the most sophisticated lip synching technology in the world – a particular attraction for a singer who can no longer sing. Had, by some miracle, the concerts gone ahead, Jackson’s personal contribution could have been limited to just 13 minutes for each performance. The rest was to have been choreography and lights.
‘We knew it was a disaster waiting to happen,’ said one aide. ‘I don’t think anybody predicted it would actually kill him but nobody believed he would end up performing.’
Their doubts were underscored when Jackson collapsed during only his second rehearsal.
Hidden life: It was 'clear Michael Jackson was gay' but he married twice, firstly to Lisa Marie Presley, above

‘Collapse might be overstating it,’ said the aide. ‘He needed medical attention and couldn’t go on. I’m not sure what caused it.’
Meanwhile, everybody around him noticed that Jackson had lost an astonishing amount of weight in recent months. His medical team even believed he was anorexic.
‘He goes days at a time hardly eating a thing and at one point his doctor was asking people if he had been throwing up after meals,’ one staff member told me in May.
‘He suspected bulimia but when we said he hardly eats any meals, the doc thought it was probably anorexia. He seemed alarmed and at one point said, 'People die from that all the time. You’ve got to get him to eat.'’
Indeed, one known consequence of anorexia is cardiac arrest.
After spotting him leave one rehearsal, Fox News reported that ‘Michael Jackson’s skeletal physique is so bad that he might not be able to moonwalk any more’.
On May 20 this year, AEG suddenly announced that the first London shows had been delayed for five days while the remainder had been pushed back until March 2010. At the time, they denied that the postponements were health-related, explaining that they needed more time to mount the technically complex production, though scepticism immediately erupted. It was well placed.
Behind the scenes, Jackson was in rapid decline. According to a member of his staff, he was ‘terrified’ at the prospect of the London concerts.
‘He wasn’t eating, he wasn’t sleeping and, when he did sleep, he had nightmares that he was going to be murdered. He was deeply worried that he was going to disappoint his fans. He even said something that made me briefly think he was suicidal. He said he thought he’d die before doing the London concerts.
‘He said he was worried that he was going to end up like Elvis. He was always comparing himself to Elvis, but there was something in his tone that made me think that he wanted to die, he was tired of life. He gave up. His voice and dance moves weren’t there any more. I think maybe he wanted to die rather than embarrass himself on stage.’
The most obvious comparison between the King of Pop and the King of Rock ’n’ Roll was their prescription drug habits, which in Jackson’s case had significantly intensified in his final months.
‘He is surrounded by enablers,’ said one aide. ‘We should be stopping him before he kills himself, but we just sit by and watch him medicate himself into oblivion.’
Jackson could count on an array of doctors to write him prescriptions without asking too many questions if he complained of ‘pain’. He was particularly fond of OxyContin, nicknamed ‘Hillbilly heroin’, which gave an instant high, although he did not take it on a daily basis.
According to the aide, painkillers are not the only drugs Jackson took.



‘He pops Demerol and morphine, sure, apparently going back to the time in 1984 when he burned himself during the Pepsi commercial, but there’s also some kind of psychiatric medication. One of his brothers once told me he was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was younger, so it may be to treat that.’
His aides weren’t the only ones who recognised that a 50-concert run was foolhardy. In May, Jackson himself reportedly addressed fans as he left his Burbank rehearsal studio.
‘Thank you for your love and support,’ he told them. ‘I want you guys to know I love you very much.
'I don’t know how I’m going to do 50 shows. I’m not a big eater. I need to put some weight on. I’m really angry with them booking me up to do 50 shows. I only wanted to do ten.’
One of his former employees was particularly struck by Jackson’s wording that day. ‘The way he was talking, it’s like he’s not in control over his own life any more,’ she told me earlier this month. ‘It sounds like somebody else is pulling his strings and telling him what to do. Someone wants him dead.
'They keep feeding him pills like candy. They are trying to push him over the edge. He needs serious help. The people around him will kill him.’
As the London concerts approached, something was clearly wrong. Jackson had vowed to travel to England at least eight weeks before his first shows, but he kept putting it off.
‘To be honest, I never thought Michael would set foot on a concert stage ever again,’ said one aide, choking back tears on the evening of his death.
‘This was not only predictable, this was inevitable.’
On June 21, Jackson told my contact that he wanted to die. He said that he didn’t have what it would take to perform any more because he had lost his voice and dance moves.
‘It’s not working out,’ Jackson said. ‘I’m better off dead. I don’t have anywhere left to turn. I’m done.’
Michael’s closest confidante told me just two hours after he died that ‘Michael was tired of living. He was a complete wreck for years and now he can finally be in a better place. People around him fed him drugs to keep him on their side. They should be held accountable.’
Michael Jackson was undoubtedly a deeply troubled and lonely man. Throughout my investigation, I was torn between compassion and anger, sorrow and empathy.
Even his legacy is problematic. As I have already revealed, he has bequeathed up to 200 original songs to his three children, Prince Michael, aged 12, Paris Katherine, 11, and Prince Michael II (also known as Blanket), seven. It is a wonderful gift.
Yet I can reveal that his will, not as yet made public, demands that the three of them remain with Jackson’s 79-year-old mother Katherine in California. It promises an ugly row.
Ex-wife Deborah Rowe, the mother of the eldest two, has already made it clear to her legal team that she wants her children in her custody, immediately.
The mother of the third child has never been identified. I fully expect that it will emerge that the children had a ‘test tube’ conception, a claim already made by Deborah Rowe.
Michael Jackson may very well have been the most talented performer of his generation, but for 15 years that fact has been lost to a generation who may remember him only as a grotesque caricature who liked to share his bed with little boys. Now that he’s gone, maybe it’s time to shelve the suspicions and appreciate the music.


Posted on Jun 30, 2009, 12:34 PM

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Final Days: The Mystery of Michael Jackson's Death..

by TFSnewsRoom/People.com

Final Days: The Mystery of Michael Jackson's Death
By Mike Fleeman

Originally posted Friday June 26, 2009 08:40 AM EDT
Photo by: Matt Baron / BEImages
It should have been the opportunity of a lifetime for a Michael Jackson fan: a behind-the-scenes invitation to a rehearsal for the superstar's upcoming concert tour in the United Kingdom.

But when the fan got to the stage, she was horrified. "He is a skeleton," she wrote Monday in an email to other Jackson fans. Worse, she said, was seeing her idol surrounded by people she deemed too frightened to say anything. "I have to say: He may die."

Three days later, Jackson, 50, collapsed in his rented Holmby Hills mansion – with his personal physician on the premises. His heart stopped; he wasn't breathing. An ambulance raced him to a hospital just minutes away from his house, but despite another hour of frantic resuscitation efforts, the world had lost one of the most successful artists in music history. The Los Angeles County Coroner will conduct an autopsy, with some results expected as early as Friday, although the findings of other possible tests could take longer.

Some in the entertainment world are utterly shocked at the sudden demise of seasoned entertainer who was, by all accounts, focused on one thing alone: getting ready for a series of 10 comeback shows at London's 02 Arena set to launch next month. Jackson rehearsed at the Staples Center on June 24 in Los Angeles, the day before with "great energy," Grammy executive producer Ken Ehrlich tells PEOPLE. "He wasn't giving it full out. But vocally he had started to really project. I thought he was in great form," who was at the rehearsal.

Jackson had even signed on The Incredible Hulk's Lou Ferrigno as his personal trainer, although the two hadn't worked out together in two weeks.

Yet while many in the entertainment world expressed sadness and shock, a different, more unsettling reaction came from several people close to Jackson and his family, who describe Jackson as unavoidably thin and fragile.

Filmmaker Bryan Michael Stoller, who visited Jackson in April, was shocked by his weight loss. "I hugged him and it was like hugging bones," he tells PEOPLE. "After seeing him, I never thought he would complete the tour."

Says Dr. Firpo Carr, a friend and confidante of Jackson's, "I sensed something was wrong and, quite honestly, I wasn't terribly surprised when I got the news. I would get word from people in his camp that things weren't quite right."

A source close to the singer who didn't want to be identified adds: "Michael hasn't been feeling well. All last week he'd stopped coming out of his house to see his fans. He was doing that every day."

As part of his preparations for the high-stakes UK concert tour, Jackson had been training – hard. He has put in 10-hour rehearsals, a witness says, for the sort of stage spectacle fans had come to expect. Promoters insisted the 50-year-old entertainer was physically ready for the rigors of a full tour. But there was concern among some in his inner circle that Jackson might push too hard: "They didn't want him to overtax himself," family friend Kevin McLin tells PEOPLE. "You look back in history, he never completed all the dates of his shows because he gave so much in each performance – he would go non-stop for two hours."

And on Thursday, even before UCLA doctors declared Jackson dead, family attorney Brian Oxman, who huddled with the grieving family at the hospital, raised the specter of possible abuse of drugs prescribed for the singer's long history of physical ailments. "If you think that the case of Anna Nicole Smith was an abuse, it is nothing in comparison to what we have seen in Michael Jackson's life," Oxman told CNN.

According to the fan at Jackson's rehearsal who tried to raise the alarm among those who adored him, the combination of risk factors seemed dangerously close to claiming its victim.

"We all love Michael really much. We all want to see his shows. We all think about how we will be [in the] first row," the fan wrote earlier in the week. "How will you do all of these things if during the third concert he faints on stage, and if his heart stops during his way to the hospital? How will you feel when you will talk with other fans and will say: We knew he was too skinny to perform?"

Posted on Jun 26, 2009, 10:54 AM

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[BREAKING] Michael Jackson, Pop's Thrilling King, Dead at 50 ..

by TFSnewsRoom/ApMusic.com

Michael Jackson, Pop's Thrilling King, Dead at 50
Today 8:00 PM PDT by Joal Ryan


The crowns fit: Michael Jackson was the King of Pop; Elvis Presley was the King of Rock 'n' Roll. Both men commanded the pop-culture landscape, as much as the charts. Both men influenced their industry, as well as scores of artists.

And both men died suddenly and barely into middle age.

Jackson, whose lifetime of hits sold more than 750 million albums worldwide, whose landmark Thriller broke records and racial divides, whose smooth moves revolutionized dance as much as pop, and whose penchant for headline-making helped burnish his brand, and, following child-abuse allegations, helped tarnish it as well, died today after being found unconscious at his Los Angeles-area home.

Jackson suffered a heart attack around noon, according to father Joe Jackson, and never recovered. He was prounced dead at 2:26 p.m., officials said.

Music's eternal Peter Pan was 50. In the end, the King of Pop outlived Presley, whose daughter Lisa Marie Presley Jackson would wed, by just eight years.

From child star to music icon—reflect on Michael Jackson's life with our collection of photos.

"There's really no question if you're going to talk about the most looming, dominant figure in 20th century pop music," pop-music expert and USC associate professor Josh Kun tells E! News, "Michael Jackson is that person."

"He became synonymous with what pop was, and what it still is today."

Beginnings

Born Aug. 29, 1958, in hardscrabble Gary, Ind., Jackson was a nightclub performer by the age of 5. The first gig, with older brothers Jackie, Marlon, Tito and Jermaine, earned the group $8, and, according to a Billboard-branded history of the charts, a whole lot more in tips.

"On stage for me was home," Jackson told Oprah Winfrey in 1993. "I was most comfortable on stage but once I got off stage, I was like very sad.

In 1969, the brothers were signed to Motown Records. Their band, the Jackson 5, with then 11-year-old Michael on electrifying lead vocals, scored their first No. 1 hit in 1970: "I Want You Back." "ABC," "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There" followed. As did teen idoldom.

Like their Osmonds counterparts, the Jackson 5 lived the 1970s highlife: hit records, magazine covers, an animated series, and a prime-time variety show, The Jacksons, which gave early exposure to a very young Janet Jackson, the musical family's youngest child, and a semi-green David Letterman. Unlike the Osmonds, the Jackson 5 did it all by breaking barriers as the first teen-idol act of color.

At the center of it all was Michael, who became a chart-topper on his own with 1972's "Ben," a song sweet enough to transcend its rat-movie roots.

The singular member of the Jackson 5, rebranded as the Jacksons after the group left Motown in 1976, Michael Jackson seemed primed for film stardom, as well, after costarring as the loose-limbed Scarecrow, opposite his mentor, Diana Ross, in The Wiz. But the 1978 musical bombed, and took out the decade's once-booming black-film market with it.

Breakthroughs

Hollywood's loss was pop music's gain. In 1979, Jackson released his first solo album, Off the Wall. Though overshadowed by what was to come, Off the Wall was an influential work in its own right, and a best-seller, too, producing classic tracks such as "Rock With You."

Then came Thriller.

Released in December 1982, Thriller represented the pinnacle of Jackson's career, and the birth of the Pepsi-pitching, Disneyland-appearing superstar. Combined with his Moonwalk-introducing appearance on Motown 25, the 1983 TV special, Jackson—and music—were transformed. The revolution, at the dawn and maybe peak of the music-video era, was televised on MTV, which previously had been slow to showcase black artists.

In a 2002 interview with Vibe magazine, Jackson said he knew Thriller and Off the Wall were going to be special.

"Not to be arrogant, but yes. Because I know great material when I hear it, and meoldically and sonically and musically, it's so moving." Jackson said. "They keep the promise."

Back before albums were cherry-picked by iTunes-downloading consumers, Thriller produced seven singles—"Beat It" and "Billie Jean," among them—and there were only nine songs in the collection.

"We call a lot of things king-sized," Syracuse University pop-culture expert Robert J. Thompson tells E! News. "In this case, it was not hyperbole. He even dressed like royalty."

On Grammy night in 1983, Jackson, decked out in a glimmering military-style jacket, dark shades and one lone sequined glove, his trademark, carted off eight awards: seven for Thriller and one for his work on a children's recording of that year's film phenomenom, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.

Thriller ended up selling more than 104 million copies worldwide. In the United States, it spent years jockeying with volume one of the Eagles' greatest-hits collection for bragging rights as the Recording Industry Association of America's all-time certified best-seller.

Transitions


In his Thriller heyday, Jackson was viewed as both genius and man-child, but not necessarily an eccentric. Sure, he attended award shows in the company of Webster star Emmanuel Lewis, and, sure, his nose looked as if it might have been nipped a bit after Off the Wall, but there was nothing to scare off Pepsi, for which he was hired to sell soda to a new generation (and, in the process, singe his hair during a 1984 commercial shoot), or Disneyland, for which he starred in the park's Captain EO attraction.

Then a series of small things happened: the 1986 shot of him napping in a hyperbaric chamber; the tabloid story abut him wanting to buy the bones of the so-called Elephant Man; the menagerie of critters, including Bubbles the chimp, that comprised his posse at Neverland Ranch, the 2,800-acre estate turned fantasyland that Jackson bought in 1987.

And then a lot of plastic surgeries seemed to mount. By Jackson's count, he underwent only two procedures in his lifetime. But most bystanders begged to differ. Digital photo techology seemed invented to demonstrate how Jackson's face, and even his skin color, morph over the years.

By the late 1980s, Jackson was all but branded an official eccentric. And he didn't care.

"The fans know the tabloid garbage is crap," Jackson told USA Today in 2001. "They always say to me, 'Let's have a tabloid-burning.'"

The hits, meanwhile, kept coming: "Dirty Diana," "Man in the Mirror," "Smooth Criminal," "Dirty Diana," and more, including the title track from 1987's Bad; "Black or White" and others from 1991's Dangerous.

Trouble

In 1993, Jackson, who, by that time, was positioned as an all-out kid-championing, if not kid-friendly, performer, was accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy. Jackson denied any wrongdoing, and no criminal charges were filed. Years later it was reported Jackson paid his young accuser $23 million in a settlement.

Shortly after the molestation case was dropped in 1994, the 35-year-old Jackson wed Lisa Marie Presley. The two music-business babies had met in Las Vegas in the early 1970s. But if their union had a great backstory—King of Pop marries King of Rock's daughter—it was met with a great deal of skeptism. The couple protested.

"I'm not gonna marry somebody for any reason other than the fact that I've fallen in love with them. Period. Period," Presley told ABC News in 1995. "And they can eat it, if they wanna think any differently."

Jackson and Presley divorced in 1996.

Musically, Jackson vented his anger over the molestation case with 1995's "Scream," a joint howl with Janet Jackson, whose success at times nearly rivaled her big brother's.

While the song was a hit, Jackson's career suffered a hit from which it never fully recovered, especially in the United States.

In 2003, Jackson was in trouble again. Authorities in Santa Barbara County, home to Jackson's Neverland Ranch, raided the fairyland complex. Another child-molestation case. This time, Jackson was booked and charged.

A salacious 2005 trial followed. In the end, Jackson was acquitted of the charges.

Even with all the blows, Kun says, Jackson's star never fully dimmed. "Elvis is still very much remembered for the glory days of his career," he says. "And with Michael Jackson, that's what people are going to remember the most."

Legacy

In late 2007, Jackson, approaching his 50th birthday and looking back on the 25th anniversary of Thriller, described himself as grateful for his run.

"I'm very proud that we opened doors, that it helped tear down a lot," Jackson told Ebony magazine. "Going around the world, doing tours, in stadiums, you see the influence of the music."

Jackson, who was married and divorced twice, is survived by his three children, two by ex-wife Debbie Rowe, and his considerable family, including parents Joe and Katherine, his six bandmates and brothers, including Randy, a latter-day member of the Jacksons, and sisters Janet, Rebbie and La Toya.

More to come...





Posted on Jun 25, 2009, 11:27 PM

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Eddie Van Halen Heartbroken Over Jackson Death ..

by TFSnewsRoom/Tmz.com

Van Halen Heartbroken Over Jackson
Posted Jun 25th 2009 9:30PM by TMZ Staff

He provided the rock guitar solo in Jackson's hit song "Beat It." TMZ has just heard from Eddie Van Halen on Michael Jackson's death:


"I am really shocked; as I'm sure the world is, to hear the news. I had the pleasure of working with Michael on 'Beat It' back in '83 -- one of my fondest memories in my career.

Michael will be missed and may he rest in peace."

-Eddie Van Halen



Posted on Jun 25, 2009, 11:24 PM

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Phil Spector in 'sensitive needs' area of Calif. prison..

by TFSnewsRoom/Reuters.com

Spector in 'sensitive needs' area of Calif. prison

Reuters By LINDA DEUTSCH,
AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch,

LOS ANGELES – Music legend Phil Spector has been assigned to a "sensitive needs facility" in California's largest state prison to serve his sentence for murdering an actress.

Spector was taken Monday to the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison at Corcoran, where 6,919 other inmates are housed, corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said.

She said Spector was assigned to the sensitive needs facility rather than general population. He's a medium security prisoner and doesn't have a cellmate.

Prison Lt. Stephen Smith said Spector's notoriety probably got him into that housing area. He said the typical inmate there needs protection after dropping out of a gang.

The 69-year-old Spector is serving 19 years to life for the fatal shooting of actress Lana Clarkson at his castle-like home in Alhambra in 2003. He was convicted of second-degree murder in April after the first trial ended with a mistrial.

Rachelle Spector told The Associated Press in a telephone call Tuesday she was relieved her husband was out of North Kern State Prison, where he has been undergoing evaluation.

She claimed Spector was mistreated there, forced to sleep naked on the floor for two nights and to eat out of a bowl with his hands "like a dog."

Thornton said the prison does not mistreat inmates and the actions described by Rachelle Spector "would be a violation of policies and laws." She said, however, any report of misconduct would be investigated.

(This version CORRECTS that Corcoran state prison is a different facility from the one where Spector is being held.)



Posted on Jun 23, 2009, 9:45 PM

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JSO: Wendy's Employee Kills Co-Worker ..

by TFSnewsRoom/New4Jax.com

O: Wendy's Employee Kills Co-Worker
Police Searching For Gunman

POSTED: Thursday, June 18, 2009
UPDATED: 8:08 pm EDT June 18, 2009

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Wendy's employee was killed Thursday afternoon after being shot by a co-worker, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. Police are searching for Thomas Theo Brown.


Gunshots were fired at about 2:30 p.m. inside the Wendy's in the 3000 block of St. Johns Bluff Road on the Southside.

Police said they are searching for Thomas Theo Brown, whom they've identified as a suspect in the fatal shooting.

According to investigators, Brown was working at the fast-food restaurant when he got upset about something and left work.

"He went home and he said in a rage, 'I'm tired of this. I'm going to kill whomever,'" said JSO Sgt. Derrick Lewis.

Police said Brown returned to work with a gun and shot and killed fellow employee 22-year-old Juanese Miller.

There were several people inside the restaurant eating when the shooting happened.

"They're not letting us know anything right now. We're just waiting news," said Miller's niece, Annalisa Johnson.

Miller's family said the victim worked at the Wendy's for only a few months and that she was trying to earn a living so she could take care of her 3-year-old daughter.

A neighbor of Miller told Channel 4 that two days ago he gave Miller a ride to Wendy's because she had an ongoing feud with Brown and the two were having a sit-down meeting with their manager to discuss the problem.

Miller's family said it had not heard about any problems between Miller and Brown.

JSO said Brown is considered armed and dangerous. Officers said before Brown left the restaurant he announced that he was going to "make cops shoot him."

Brown is thought to have fled in a green four-door Honda Accord with Florida license plate number 391-JIV. Police said he was last seen wearing his Wendy's uniform.

Posted on Jun 19, 2009, 11:54 AM

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Fox Nation site is full of racism and violence ..

by TFSnewsRoom/Examiner.com

Fox Nation ad touts 'mutual respect' - but site is full of racism and violence


June 14, 10:16 PM ·

Fox Nation has a new commercial, with most of the major Fox News players on hand to push the party line. Too bad the website bloggers didn't cooperate with the lofty goals of the Fox Newsies (and please try to work around the grammar -- I quoted verbatim, and it seems that Fox Nation's version of, uh, civil discourse doesn't always encourage the educated). Judging by the comments, Fox Nation is the classic example of (slimy swamp) water seeking its own level.

I'll lead with the comment that, in my view, encapsulates what Fox Nation really stands for -- and it's not "mutual respect":

“LEE HARVEY OSWALD ................... where are you now that we need you???”

Followed by the runner up:

“Don't change the subject. This man will single handedly get our boy out of office!! He thinks he's BO's father? It figures. They are a lot alike!! Bigots!! I still think the nappy headed ho's in the white house are my kind of girls!! Know what I mean?”

And now on to the commercial . . .

“The Fox Nation was created for people . . . .” Bill O'Reilly

“ . . . Who believe in the United States of America.” Mike Huckabee.

Comments on Fox Nation, under a photo of Vladimir Putin and President Obama and the headline, “Notice Any Similarities? Some Do”:

“Neither were born in America. Both are communists”

“OK - I'll bite. Their both butt ugly?”

“One big similarity----- They both hate America!!!

“And its ideals.” Laura Ingraham

Comments under a headline, “$600 Billion Tax Hike: Healthcare or Heartburn?”

“Move for a vote of NO CONFIDENCE in the current leadership of this country. We really need to find a way to impeach Obubba and at least 52% of congress. The sooner the better.”

And more comments, under the headline, “NYT's Krugman Blames Beck for 'Right-Wing Extremist Hate:

“Liberals hate America”

“Liberals are genetically inferior to conservatives...They are the "defects" medical science allows to propagate”

“Let me take some of my southern brother's to NYC and clean up that dump!”

“As expressed in the Constitution.” Geraldo

“The Declaration of Independence.” Sean Hannity

“And the Emancipation Proclamation.” Geraldine Ferraro

The following is a screen grab from Newshounds taken from Fox Nation, depicting comments beneath a photo of Michelle Obama next to Carla Bruni, the wife of the French President, with an invitation for Fox Nation readers to “caption” it:



And there's more . . . .

“A Brotha doesn't turn on a Brotha. Simple street code"

“It is a community that believes in the American dream.”

Comments on Fox Nation, under a headline, “$600 Billion Tax Hike: Healthcare or Heartburn?”

“Like I said, "Population Control" . . . You know, "Survival of the Fittest"

“I bet the healthcare for the illegal immigrants wont be cut”

“Life . . . liberty . . . and the pursuit of happiness.”

“One that believes being an American is an honor.” Glenn Beck

“This is a place for people who believe we live . . . .” Laura Ingraham

“ . . . in a great country.” Juan Williams

“A welcoming refuge for legal immigrants.” Glenn Beck

“We believe we should enjoy the company in support of each other.” Greta van Susteren

Comments under the headline, “Huffington Blames Palin for Letterman Rape Joke”:

“The Huffington Post, The Daily KOs, and Media Matters should all be removed from the internet and listed as "HATE SITES"!”

“Delighting in the creativity . . . .”

“Ingenuity.” Newt Gingrich

“And work ethic of one and all.” Glenn Beck

“While observing the basic rules of civility.” Mike Huckabee

Comments on Fox Nation:

“Well Al take your fat a@@ off of the site. It's simple if you don't like it-just don't come here you sick freak.”

“And mutual respect.” Bill O'Reilly

Comments under the headline, “Huffington Blames Palin for Letterman Rape Joke”:

“Huffington couldn't get raped in a maximum security prison”

“Me thinks MS Huffington needs to get raped and then we can make jokes about her...”

“And most importantly, strengthening their diverse society by striving for unity.”

Comments under the heading, “Administration Reading Rights to Detainees”:

“My Grand Mother would say "Someone should shoot him ,But he is NOT WORTH THE POWDER AND LEAD to blow him to hell where he belongs!!!" Reading right to NON AMERICANS is INSANE: So O'bama is INSANE!!!”

“Unity for us – unity for one and all.” Juan Williams

“The Fox Nation is for those committed to the core principles of tolerance . . . .” Alan Colmes

Comments on “The Left Eating Its Own”:

“Well, it is the 1st of the month again. Welfare checks started arriving in the mail a little before noon today....Drunken bums headed for the carry-out immedately after cahing their free government check. Did they run to the grocery to buy food for the month? No....Did they run out and pay their rent, gas or electric bill? No....Did they go immediately to the carry-out for their booze for the week? YES!!!!!”

“After the feast I hope they properly dispose of the bones. I hear liberal bones leave a nasty smell”

“There are some people who belive that obama is the ANTI-CHRIST”

“Open debate . . . .”

“Civil discourse.” Greta van Susteren

Comments under the headline “Obama Fires Investigator Probing his Friend”:

“Typical Chicago Thug. Where's the birth certificate????”

“Do you no see what he is really trying to do? I mean no disrespect to black people but he wants to turn all the whites into slaves to get even”

“And fair and balanced coverage of the news.” Sean Hannity

“It is for those opposed to intolerance.” Karl Rove

Comments under the headline, “Reverend Wright Clarifies Comments”:

“Let's sell tickets for the chance to waterboard Wright and Pelosi. We can make tons of money by doing this”

“This is what you yankees fought and died for?”

“Excessive government control of our lives.” Glenn Beck

“And attempts to monopolize opinion.” Bill O'Reilly

“Or suppress freedom of thought, expression, worship.” Juan Williams

“We invite all Americans . . . who share these values to join us here, at the Fox Nation


Posted on Jun 15, 2009, 12:44 PM

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O'Reilly ,Fox News & right-wing vigilantism..

by TFSnewsRoom/MediaMatters.com

O'Reilly and Fox News will have more right-wing vigilantism to explain

June 09, 2009 8:42 am ET
If Fox News is going to continue to traffic in hateful rhetoric, then folks at Fox News, as well as their apologists in the GOP Noise Machine, are going to have to come up with better talking points to spin away the atmosphere of vigilantism fomented by their words and actions.

They need a better line of defense because the one they trotted out in the wake of the right-wing assassination of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller was wholly unconvincing.

It was just as feeble as the defense Fox News' Glenn Beck tried to employ in May to distance himself from the accused right-wing cop killer in Pittsburgh who seemed to mimic Beck's language about how President Obama was coming to take away everyone's guns.

The Fox News crew is going to need better talking points because I fear the violence -- the bouts of right-wing domestic terrorism -- are likely to continue. As long as Fox News and the Noise Machine refuse to back off the incendiary language that they're actively mainstreaming, the political violence, visible just months into Obama's historic first term, may have only begun.

Note that during a jailhouse interview, Tiller's suspected killer claimed that similar assassination plots against abortion providers are already being planned.

And please note what you did not hear from virtually anyone on the far right who addressed the Tiller story last week. Yes, they tried furiously to distance Bill O'Reilly from the controversy or suggest there was nothing problematic with the "baby killer" rhetoric he used. But what you did not hear was anyone condemn, or even take issue with, O'Reilly's on-air crusade.

Why the silence? Because militia-style vigilante rhetoric has become a cornerstone of the conservative media movement in America, and it's now proudly championed by Fox News on a nearly hourly basis.

The fact is, I couldn't find a single prominent voice within the GOP Noise Machine who even hinted that O'Reilly's relentless attacks on Tiller were in any way off the mark or, in light of the vigilante Kansas church killing, needed to be reconsidered, that they should have been dialed down. And that's why the ugliness has only begun.

The unconvincing right-wing defense in the wake of the Tiller assassination last week was twofold, with the second layer even thinner than the first. The first was that when conservatives were hounding and demonizing Tiller for years, they were merely debating the issue of abortion. And surely nobody in America opposes a healthy debate, right? Nobody opposes "sharp political disagreement," as Michelle Malkin sugarcoated the Tiller attack, right?

Second, Noise Machine leaders claimed that liberal commentators do exactly what O'Reilly and Beck have been accused of: using violent political hate language that puts people's lives in danger. That claim has been made over and over, yet conservatives can't actually produce any proof -- can't find any hateful liberal quotes -- to buttress the claim.

That's because both talking points are complete fabrications.

First, the idea that O'Reilly and company simply debated Tiller's work is laughable. O'Reilly's never been interested in any kind of back-and-forth about the abortion issue. He just rants and demonizes the other side. And in the case of Tiller, O'Reilly portrayed him as a lawless executioner. As Mary Alice Carr, vice president of communications for NARAL Pro-Choice New York, wrote in a recent op-ed for The Washington Post, "O'Reilly knew that people wanted Tiller dead, and he knew full well that many of those people were avid viewers of his show. Still, he fanned the flames."

And besides, if O'Reilly had merely been debating abortion -- if he had said nothing about Tiller that was regrettable or out of line -- why did O'Reilly at least twice last week falsely claim that he'd never called the doctor a "baby killer"?

Still, according to Brent Bozell's NewsBusters, O'Reilly had simply "spoke[n] critically of Tiller's abortionist practices" and merely "used harsh words to describe Tiller."

Decide for yourself. Since FNC defenders often refuse to reprint O'Reilly's quotes, here's an unvarnished look at what he said about Tiller; here's what he said before an anti-abortion zealot assassinated Tiller and then claimed his actions were justified:

"In the state of Kansas, there is a doctor, George Tiller, who will execute babies for $5,000."
"For $5,000, 'Tiller the Baby Killer' -- as some call him -- will perform a late-term abortion for just about any reason."
"Tiller has killed thousands, thousands of late-term fetuses without explanation."
"No question, Dr. Tiller has blood on his hands."
" 'Tiller the Baby Killer' out in Kansas, acquitted, acquitted today of murdering babies."
"This guy will kill your baby for $5,000, any reason. Any reason."
"If we allow Dr. George Tiller and his acolytes to continue, we can no longer pass judgment on any behavior by anybody."
"If we allow this, America will no longer be a noble nation."
As for the Noise Machine's fallback position, it's that liberal commentators do exactly what O'Reilly and Beck have been accused of: trafficking in hateful rhetoric that endangers innocent people.

Making the charge at NewsBusters, Noel Sheppard claimed:

[A]s [Keith] Olbermann and his ilk on MSNBC and throughout the liberal blogosphere routinely referred to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney as murderers, would they have been responsible if someone had assassinated either of these former White House members?

Sheppard was sure that Olbermann had called Bush and Cheney murderers. He was sure Olbermann's references to the POTUS and VP were "equally provocative" as O'Reilly's references to Tiller.

Except, of course, Sheppard failed to produce a single Olbermann quote that even comes close to the seething, unhinged hate rants that O'Reilly unfurled for years against Tiller. Meaning, there is no comparison between what O'Reilly said about Tiller and what Olbermann has said about Bush and Cheney. Yet this entire right-wing defense hinges on the idea that the language was identical. That there's a moral equivalence.

Desperate to move the spotlight away from O'Reilly's irresponsible actions, conservatives last week tried to claim that liberal pundits might be responsible for the killing of a military recruiter in Arkansas who was gunned down by a Muslim convert trying to send a political message. Why the liberal pundits? Because they had created a dangerous anti-military atmosphere.

Beck made that very claim on his radio show [emphasis added]:

BECK: Well, let me ask you this. I had to really search the news long and hard to find out about the two recruiters -- the two soldiers that had been killed by the Muslim convert, that were gunned down in Arkansas. I had to really look hard for that. Is anybody asking is Keith Olbermann responsible for the death of those two soldiers? Keith Olbermann has railed against recruiters. Keith Olbermann has railed against the baby killers that our U.S. soldiers are. He's railed against this war. MSNBC was right all over the story about how our troops are torturing and killing innocents. Has anybody asked if he's responsible?

Slight problem. Neither Beck nor anyone else on the right last week could find any hateful, violent anti-recruiter attacks launched by liberal media personalities. (Let alone baby-killing quotes.) Why can't they find the rhetoric? Because nobody on the left with any sort of national platform has targeted military recruiters in recent years. If they had, Malkin would have included the damning quotes in her column. (Either that, or she needs to hire a new researcher.)

Have there been, over the years, occasional efforts on the left to ban military recruiters from campuses and other environments? There certainly have. Can conservatives point to any kind of wholesale hate rhetoric or vigilante-style calls to action by mainstream liberal pundits and commentators designed to dehumanize and demonize military recruiters? Of course they cannot. (And sorry, Code Pink demonstrations don't qualify as mainstream media commentators.) Because if conservatives could have found those kinds of irresponsible attacks, they would have thrown them back in everyone's faces last week.

But apparently, they don't exist.

As far as I know, there are no gotcha, hateful, get-the-recruiter quotes to hang around the necks of Keith Olbermann or Rachel Maddow or anyone else on the left for the simple reason that high-profile media liberals haven't led dangerous crusades to target military recruiters the way O'Reilly led a dangerous crusade against Tiller. And the way Beck has against Obama.

As a rule, media liberals don't traffic in irresponsible, militia-style rhetoric. But agitators like O'Reilly and Beck do, and now conservatives can't make that fact go away.

That's why the Fox News crew and its eager apologists are going to have to come up with a better line of defense. Because as long as Fox News peddles its incendiary vigilante rhetoric, the right-wing violence in America will continue, and Fox News is going to have to answer for it


Posted on Jun 11, 2009, 10:07 AM

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Prince Needs, Refuses Double Hip Replacement: Report..

by TFSnewsRoom/HollywoodReprter.com

Prince: So Hip He Needs Two New Ones
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Music / By Roger Friedman


Prince was on the prowl again last night, making an unscheduled appearance at the Apollo Theater’s 75th anniversary celebration to toast Patti LaBelle.

But the real buzz on Prince is that his much reported hip problems of the past have now turned into need for a double hip replacement.

Unfortunately, thanks to his practice as a Jehovah’s Witness, Prince still refuses surgery. JW’s don’t believe in blood transfusions.

“He’s in a lot of pain,” said a source who was backstage with him last night at the Apollo. “He’s popping pain killers and hoping it will all go away.”

But it won’t. Back in 2005 reports surfaced that Prince needed one hip replaced. He declined. Then again in 2007 and 2008 came more reports that he’d finally agreed to “secret surgery.”

Now the diminutive R&B star is walking with a diamond-studded stick to keep him upright. It’s the same stick I saw him with two nights ago at a post-Tony Awards bash. I’m sure he’d rather have a Raspberry beret or a little red Corvette, but for now Prince is stuck with the stick.

The question is: if it gets worse, will he go to a wheelchair?



Posted on Jun 9, 2009, 2:43 PM

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Randy Smith, former Buffalo Brave, dies at 60

by TFSnewsRoom/BuffaloNews.com

Randy Smith, former Buffalo Brave, dies at 60
By Milt Northrop
NEWS SPORTS REPORTER

Randy Smith, Buffalo State's all-time athletic hero and one of the most popular players in Buffalo Braves history, died unexpectedly in Connecticut on Thursday, according to close friends and former college teammates.

Smith, 60, apparently suffered a heart attack, while riding a treadmill at his home in Norwich.

Durie Burns, a teammate of Smith's at Buffalo State, told The News that he had learned of Smith's death from Smith's wife, Angela.

"I was shocked," said Burns, who now lives in Orange Park, Fla. "My wife and I had been with Randy and his wife at Randy's mother's 78th birthday celebration in North Carolina not long ago."

"Best athlete the college [Buffalo State] ever had. It's hard to believe that a guy who was such a special athlete could pass away like that," said Dick Bihr, the former Buffalo State men's basketball coach and teammate of Smith at the college. "He was a special guy, and, in my era, he was a special athlete. He could do just about everything."

The former NBA "Iron Man" first came to Buffalo in 1967 to compete in a state high school track meet at Buffalo State. He won the high jump at a state-record 6 feet, 6 inches and was recruited by Buffalo State, where he became an All-American in Division I soccer and on the small college level in basketball and track and field. He led the Bengals to the NCAA College Division Final Four in Evansville, Ind., in 1970.

The Bengals were favored to go back the next year with Burns, an Air Force veteran, joining the team. However, they were upset by Hartwick College in Houston Gym, perhaps the most disappointing men's basketball loss in Buffalo State history.

"I remember first watching him on the soccer field," Bihr said. "He just ran by everybody. Soccer wasn't a big spectator sport, but everybody came just to watch Randy."

Smith was drafted by the Buffalo Braves in the seventh round in 1971. Coach Johnny McCarthy gave the rookie his first career start as a 6-foot-3 small forward against Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor and the Los Angeles Lakers in Memorial Auditorium. He didn't shrink from that challenge and continued to excite Buffalo fans for the next seven seasons before the team moved to San Diego. By the time the Braves left, Smith had scored 10,465 points, surpassing Bob McAdoo's team record of 9,434. He averaged 24.6 points in the Braves' final season.

Over a stretch of 12 seasons — a record 906 games — Smith never missed a game in the NBA. The streak began in 1973 with Buffalo and continued until the 1982-83 season during his second stint with San Diego. He also played with Cleveland, the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks in his NBA career. He scored 26,262 points in 976 NBA games in his career and was the Most Valuable Player of the 1978 NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta after he scored 27 points off the bench.

By 1973-74, Smith was one of several stars on an exciting Braves team under Hall of Fame coach Jack Ramsay.

After his playing career ended, Smith joined the NBA front office as director of player programs. After a few years, he left the league office to coach the Hartford Hellcats team in the Continental Basketball Association in 1995. It was a failed effort. The easy- going Smith just wasn't hard-bitten enough to be a coach. A year later he went to work as an executive host for the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn., where he remained until his death.

The Randy Smith League, the inner-city youth basketball program he sponsored, carried on in Buffalo after he left the city. He was enshrined in the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 1992, the Hall's second class.

A native of Bellport, on Long Island, Smith is survived by his second wife, Angela, two sons, Brandon and Dominique, and a daughter, Terran.



Posted on Jun 5, 2009, 9:49 AM

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Koko Taylor, Legendary Blues Singer, Dies At 80 ...

by TFSnewsRoom/ApMusic.com

Koko Taylor, Legendary Blues Singer, Dies At 80




CHICAGO (AP) -- Koko Taylor, a sharecropper's daughter whose regal bearing and powerful voice earned her the sobriquet "Queen of the Blues," has died after complications from surgery. She was 80.

Taylor died Wednesday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital about two weeks after having surgery for a gastrointestinal bleed, said Marc Lipkin, director of publicity for her record label, Alligator Records, which made the announcement.

"The passion that she brought and the fire and the growl in her voice when she sang was the truth," Blues singer and musician Ronnie Baker Brooks said Wednesday. "The music will live on, but it's much better because of Koko. It's a huge loss."

Taylor's career stretched more than five decades. While she did not have widespread mainstream success, she was revered and beloved by blues aficionados, and earned worldwide acclaim for her work, which including the best-selling song "Wang Dang Doodle" and tunes such as "What Kind of Man is This" and "I Got What It Takes."

Taylor appeared on national television numerous times, and was the subject of a PBS documentary and had a small part in director David Lynch's "Wild at Heart."

In the course of her career, Taylor was nominated seven times for Grammy awards and won in 1984.

Taylor last performed on May 7 in Memphis, Tenn., at the Blues Music Awards.

"She was still the best female blues singer in the world a month ago," said Jay Sieleman, executive director of The Blues Foundation based in Memphis. "In 1950s Chicago she was the woman singing the blues. At 80 years old she was still the queen of the blues."


Survivors include her husband, Hays Harris, a daughter, Joyce Threatt, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements will be announced, the label said.

Born Cora Walton just outside Memphis, Taylor said her dream to become a blues singer was nurtured in the cotton fields outside her family's sharecropper shack.

"I used to listen to the radio, and when I was about 18 years old, B.B. King was a disc jockey and he had a radio program, 15 minutes a day, over in West Memphis, Arkansas and he would play the blues," she said in a 1990 interview. "I would hear different records and things by Muddy Waters, Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, Sonnyboy Williams and all these people, you know, which I just loved."

Although her father encouraged her to sing only gospel music, Cora and her siblings would sneak out back with their homemade instruments and play the blues. With one brother accompanying on a guitar made out of bailing wire and nails and one brother on a fife made out of a corncob, she began on the path to blues woman.

Orphaned at 11, Koko - a nickname she earned because of an early love of chocolate - at age 18 moved to Chicago with her soon-to-be-husband, the late Robert "Pops" Taylor, in search for work.

Setting up house on the South Side, Koko found work as a cleaning woman for a wealthy family living in the city's northern suburbs. At night and on weekends, she and her husband, who would later become her manager, frequented Chicago's clubs, where many the artists heard on the radio performed.

"I started going to these local clubs, me and my husband, and everybody got to know us," Taylor said. "And then the guys would start letting me sit in, you know, come up on the bandstand and do a tune."

The break for Tennessee-born Taylor came in 1962, when arranger/composer Willie Dixon, impressed by her voice, got her a Chess recording contract and produced several singles (and two albums) for her, including the million-selling 1965 hit, "Wang Dang Doodle," which she called silly, but which launched her recording career.

From Chicago blues clubs, Taylor took her raucous, gritty, good-time blues on the road to blues and jazz festivals around the nation, and into Europe. After the Chess label folded, she signed with Alligator Records.

In most years, she performed at least 100 concerts a year.

"Blues is my life," Taylor once said. "It's a true feeling that comes from the heart, not something that just comes out of my mouth. Blues is what I love, and blues is what I always do."

In addition to performing, she operated a Chicago nightclub, which closed in November 2001 because her daughter, club manager Joyce Threatt, developed severe asthma and could no longer manage a smoky nightclub.



Posted on Jun 3, 2009, 8:57 PM

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Wash. man sentenced for having sex with dogs ..

by TFSnewsRoom/www.live95.com

Wash. man sentenced for having sex with dogs
The Associated Press


A Washington state man has been sentenced to 30 days in jail for having sex with his two dogs.

Troy Whitson entered an Alford plea Monday in Lewis County Superior Court, meaning he admitted no wrongdoing but acknowledged he'd likely be convicted.

The 21-year-old from the town of Cinebar (SI'-ne-bahr) is restricted from owning animals for two years.

His malamutes have been placed with new owners.

Prosecutor Michael Golden said Whitson is a member of a group known as Furries who identify with animals and dress the part in makeup, ears and tail.

Golden says Furries gather for social events but having sex with animals is not part of their normal behavior. He says two of Whitson's Furry friends witnessed the animal sex and turned him in.

Information from: KITI-AM, http://www.live95.com/



Posted on Jun 3, 2009, 10:59 AM

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Ozzy Finds Black Sabbath Mate's Actions Unholy ..

by TFSnewsRoom/Eonline.com

Ozzy Finds Black Sabbath Mate's Actions Unholy
Today 4:05 PM PDT by Natalie Finn


Ron Galella/Getty Images
'Tis a dark day for Black Sabbath.

Frontman Ozzy Osbourne has filed a federal trademark-infringement suit against fellow founding member Tony Iommi, accusing the guitarist of illegally laying sole claim to the band's name.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, states that it was Osbourne's "signature vocals" that accounted for the group's "extraordinary success"—and that Black Sabbath's popularity took a dive when the bat-biting Prince of Darkness left the band from 1980 to 1986.

"It is with great regret that I had to resort to legal action against my long term partner, Tony Iommi, but after three years of trying to resolve this issue amicably, I feel I have no other recourse," began Osbourne's lengthy statement explaining his decision.

"Throughout the last 12 years, it was my management representatives who oversaw the marketing and quality control of the 'Black Sabbath' brand through Ozzfest, touring, merchandising and album reissues," he continued.

"The name 'Black Sabbath' now has a worldwide prestige and merchandising value that it would not have had by continuing on the road it was on prior to the 1997 reunion tour. Tony, I am so sorry it's had to get to this point by me having to take this action against you. I don't have the right to speak for [bandmates Geezer Butler and Bill Ward], but I feel that morally and ethically the trademark should be owned by the four of us equally.

"I hope that by me taking this first step that it will ultimately end up that way. We've all worked too hard and long in our careers to allow you to sell merchandise that features all our faces, old Black Sabbath album covers and band logos, and then you tell us that you own the copyright. We're all in our 60's now. The Black Sabbath legacy should live on long after we have all gone. Please do the right thing."

Osbourne is requesting a 50 percent stake in the trademark profits and a cut of the proceeds from when Iommi toured as Black Sabbath without him in the 1990s.


Posted on May 29, 2009, 10:28 PM

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