Sex Scandal Involving Two Of MoTown's Finest...

Tha Artivist Writes:
This is truly a shame...Two young and talented people who chose to do the wrong thing costing one her brilliant political career as well as bringing shame to two proud civic minded families and the city of Detroit...It is hard to defend people who are put in positions of power and trust by the people and then said people abuse the power and betray the trust of the people by lying under oath and costing the city they profess to love and serve millions of dollars for their mistake and lapse in judgment...Unfortunately, it seems that Bro. Kilpatrick's poor decision making skills finally caught up with him...I don't want to come down too hard on the brother, but we must demand accountable leadership from our public servants no matter their age, color or gender...Detroit deserves better...The City of Detroit as well as the two people in question, Bro. Kilpatrick and Sis. Beatty will be in my thoughts and prayers...I hope that they will truly learn from this and go on to lead productive service oriented lives...

Detroit Mayor Pleads For Forgiveness

By COREY WILLIAMS, Associated Press Writer

Christine Beatty and Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick


Christine Beatty

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded for forgiveness from his wife and constituents Wednesday in an emotional but carefully worded televised speech, avoiding direct mention of racy text messages that appear to contradict his sworn denials of an affair with a top aide.

"I truly apologize to you," Kilpatrick said, turning to his wife, Carlita, who sat by his side, holding his hand, at their family church.

"I am the mayor. I made the mistake," Kilpatrick told Detroit residents, looking into the camera. "I am accountable."

He did not publicly specify what he was apologizing for, saying legal matters prevented him from doing so.

A prosecutor is investigating whether the mayor and chief of staff Christine Beatty lied under oath during a whistle-blower's lawsuit last summer in which both denied having a physical relationship. A conviction of lying under oath can bring up to 15 years' imprisonment.

Kilpatrick vowed to remain mayor in the carefully orchestrated speech, which aired live in prime time on local television and radio stations. His voice cracked at least once during his apology, and he and his wife held hands at times while detailing how the events had affected their family.

"I want to make a public apology to my entire family, and specifically to the four people who I love the most in the world," he said during the speech at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ. "First, I want to apologize to my sons, Jalil, Jelani and Jonas. For the first time in my life, I had to have a conversation with my 12-year-old twin sons about very grown-up things. It was without a doubt the hardest conversation that I've ever had in my entire life."

There was no audience and no reporters or photographers, save for the operator of the sole video camera used. Kilpatrick made no mention of the text messages or Beatty.

"Make no mistake about it; since 2002, I have been in charge of the city. There have been ups and downs. There have been hills and mountains and valleys. But through it all, I remain in charge of the city," he said.

The speech ended a week of seclusion for Kilpatrick since the Detroit Free Press reported on the text messages. His only public response had been a written statement a week ago.

Carlita Kilpatrick also spoke Wednesday, describing the pain her husband had caused, but urging the city to remain committed to him.

"I am angry, hurt and disappointed," she said. "But no question I love my husband."

Kwame Kilpatrick, 37, is in his second term and could run again next year, but the revelation of the text messages from 2002 and 2003 could end his political career.

The messages call into question testimony Kilpatrick and Beatty gave in a lawsuit filed by two police officers who alleged they were fired for investigating claims that the mayor used his security unit to cover up extramarital affairs.

In court, Kilpatrick and Beatty denied having a physical relationship, but the text messages reveal that they carried on a flirty, sometimes sexually explicit dialogue about where to meet and how to conceal their trysts.

Kilpatrick wrote Beatty in 2002: "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days. Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love."

Beatty submitted a letter of resignation Monday, effective Feb. 8.

At a pro-Kilpatrick rally outside the mayor's office a few hours before his speech, supporters held signs reading "Leave Kwame Alone," "Protect the mayor - protect your city" and "Mayor Kilpatrick Progress."

"He is our mayor. We choose to judge this man by his entire character," said the Rev. Horace Sheffield III, pastor of New Galilee Missionary Baptist Church. "What the mayor has done is unexplainable but not unforgivable."

After another crowd gathered a short time later to call for the mayor's resignation, shouts of "resign" were drowned out by retorts of "We love Kwame."

"I feel he should go to jail for lying on the stand. He's embarrassing for everyone," said Joann Jackson, 63, who carried a white T-shirt bearing a depiction of Kilpatrick's face and the words: "JUST QUIT."

Controversy has surrounded Kilpatrick since his 2001 election as mayor.

Embraced by many Detroit residents for his boldness and confidence, Kilpatrick, then 31, embodied the new black politician and wore a diamond stud earring that helped foster his unofficial title as "Hip-Hop Mayor."

His first four years were marred by use of his city-issued credit card for expensive travel, the city's lease of a luxury Lincoln Navigator for his wife and unsubstantiated allegations of a wild party involving his security team and strippers at the mayor's mansion.

At the start of his second term, Kilpatrick vowed to not make the same mistakes and announced a residential redevelopment along Detroit's dormant riverfront, a successful Super Bowl that shone a light on the city's renewal efforts and other improvements.

More On Mayoral Sex Text Scandal:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080129/NEWS01/801290306/1003/NEWS01
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-24-detroit-mayor_N.htm
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:ZF3vtRMYyGgJ:www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp%3Fid%3D6269+Tamara+Greene&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us

Wash. U. Denies Obama Visit...

Tha Artivist Writes:
This doesn't surprise me at all...This is my alma mater and sadly to say a college education doesn't give you an open mind and the courage to stand up for what you believe in...Higher education is just that high a.k.a. expensive...Meanwhile some of our best minds are rotting away in prisons and are being marginalized in public schools throughout the U.S.A....Wash U. is a conservative think tank anyway with a long historical connection to the Bush Dynasty (I am not talking about the Beer family either)...Pres. George Bush's great-grandfather George Hebert Walker went to Wash U. (Class of 1897) and was one of the masterminds behind the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis...At least they are consistent...
http://media.www.studlife.com/media/storage/paper337/news/2008/01/30/News/University.Denies.Request.For.Obama.Visit-3176427.shtml?reffeature=textemailedition

Bushed Over Bush...

January 29, 2008
New York Times Editorial

The State of the Union

Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times

President Bush gives his final State of the Union Address.
Six years ago, President Bush began his State of the Union address with two powerful sentences: “As we gather tonight, our nation is at war, our economy is in recession, and the civilized world faces unprecedented dangers. Yet the state of our union has never been stronger.”

Monday night, after six years of promises unkept or insincerely made and blunders of historic proportions, the United States is now fighting two wars, the economy is veering toward recession and the civilized world still faces horrifying dangers — and it has far less sympathy and respect for the United States.

The nation is splintered over the war in Iraq, cleaved by ruthless partisan politics, bubbling with economic fear and mired in debate over virtually all of the issues Mr. Bush faced in 2002. And the best Mr. Bush could offer was a call to individual empowerment — a noble idea, but in Mr. Bush’s hands just another excuse to abdicate government responsibility.

Monday night’s address made us think what a different speech it might have been if Mr. Bush had capitalized on the unity that followed the 9/11 attacks to draw the nation together, rather than to arrogate ever more power and launch his misadventure in Iraq. How different it might have been if Mr. Bush meant what he said about compassionate conservatism or even followed the fiscal discipline of old-fashioned conservatism. How different if he had made a real effort to reach for the bipartisanship he promised in 2002 and so many times since.

Then he could have used last night’s speech to celebrate a balanced budget, one in which taxes produce enough money to pay for the nation’s genuine needs, including health care for poor children and a rebuilt New Orleans. Instead, Mr. Bush called — again — for his tax cuts to be permanent and threatened to veto bills that contained excessive pork-barrel spending, an idea absent from his agenda when Republicans held Congress.

Had Mr. Bush been doing his job right just in the last few weeks, he could have used this speech to celebrate a genuinely bipartisan agreement on a sound economic stimulus plan. In addition to the tax rebates agreed on already between the White House and the House, Mr. Bush could have announced sensible proposals for extending unemployment benefits and a temporary increase in food stamps for the most vulnerable citizens.

Those aren’t just Democratic ideas. The independent Congressional Budget Office ranks those stimulus policies as far more effective than rebates.

If Mr. Bush had let compassion and good sense trump ideology, he would have been able to use last night’s speech to celebrate the expansion of health insurance to tens of millions of children with working parents. Mr. Bush vetoed an expansion of the S-chip program, and he did not even agree to pay for all of the existing coverage because he thought a relative handful of parents might switch from private to public insurance if they were offered government assistance to buy it.

In 2003, the president proposed the Medicare prescription drug benefit, his signature achievement in health insurance reform. It barely squeaked past conservative Republicans in Congress, and Mr. Bush’s appetite for making health care accessible and affordable for all Americans vanished.

Mr. Bush has included a call for immigration reform in all of his previous State of the Union addresses. But he has never matched that rhetoric with strong ideas or political passion. A push last year for comprehensive reform was defeated by his party’s right wing, which continues to spread hatred on the campaign trail. His insight last night: “Illegal immigration is complicated.”

In 2002, Mr. Bush spoke about the international coalition that invaded Afghanistan, about the consensus among civilized nations of the need to combat terrorism, about the way the 9/11 attacks had rallied nations behind America’s leadership. Afghanistan’s good war was quickly overshadowed — and shortchanged — by Mr. Bush’s Iraq folly. Six years later, the United States and its allies are still fighting and dying in Afghanistan and the Taliban is back in force.

He was not even able to assure Americans that there is an end in sight to the Iraq war. Instead, he made the same empty promise he has made every year: When Iraq can defend itself, American troops will come home. Iraq’s defense minister told The Times recently that his forces would not be able to fully keep the peace and defend their country until 2018.

Mr. Bush’s troop escalation has succeeded in stabilizing parts of Baghdad and lowering casualties. But 2007 was still the most violent year in Iraq since the 2003 invasion and — more important — Mr. Bush has little to show in the way of political reconciliation, the only guarantor of a lasting peace. Mr. Bush has made no real effort to seek the help of Iraq’s neighbors to help stabilize the country.

In the end, when it comes to Iraq, Mr. Bush’s annual addresses will be remembered most for his false claims — the fictitious “axis of evil,” nonexistent aluminum tubes and African uranium, dangerous weapons that did not exist. No president can want that as his legacy.

Mr. Bush still has a year left — and many serious problems to address. It is time, finally, for him to put aside the partisanship, the bluster and the empty rhetoric. The state of the union is troubled. The nation yearns for leadership.

Porgy & Bess With A Katrina Twist...

‘Porgy’ Meets Katrina, and Life’s Not So Easy

Michael Stravato for The New York Times

The Chorus heads off to a picnic in “Porgy and Bess,” which has been reinterpreted by the Zachary Scott Theater Center at the Austin Music Hall in Texas.

By RALPH BLUMENTHAL

AUSTIN, Tex. — “Summertime/And the livin’ is easy” takes on a whole new meaning when the time becomes the summer of 2005, and the storm-tossed denizens of Catfish Row find themselves stranded on the Katrina-flooded rooftops of New Orleans.

That’s the breakout scene in a bluesy new jazz, gospel and dance staging of “Porgy and Bess,” George Gershwin’s classic American opera of Depression-era black South Carolina fishing folk, as reinterpreted by the Zachary Scott Theater Center, this capital city’s leading stage company and central Texas’s oldest, now in its 75th-anniversary season.

“When we were rehearsing that scene, going to the rooftops, what those people were feeling in real life made me cry,” said Sacha Crosby, who plays Clara and disappears in the storm, her baby and lullaby bequeathed to Bess.

True to Gershwin, nobody says New Orleans or Katrina. But the populated roofs are an unmistakable symbol, as smoke from dry ice evokes the rising waters and seems to set the characters awash in a now familiar wasteland.

The original had the fishing folk huddled in their crumbling coastal mansion as the hurricane rages. In this version the second act opens with fishermen pulling in a huge net rigged over the theater’s orchestra level, creating the illusion in the watery blue lighting that the audience itself is being reeled in.

A nine-piece orchestra of piano, drums, strings and brass alludes to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

The final act goes back to the original, restoring what production notes call a “symphony of everyday objects,” a “Stomp!”-like song-scape showing ordinary people at work rebuilding their lives after the hurricane. Gershwin wrote it for the Broadway debut in 1935 but edited it out of later productions.

Anticipation has been high, with the Zach — as Austinites call the theater, named for a native son, the actor Zachary Scott — recording by far its highest sales in one week, $100,000 in nonsubscription tickets.

“Porgy and Bess,” Gershwin’s most elaborate composition, based on a novelized true-crime tale, is built around the redeeming love of the maimed Porgy for the loose Bess, in thrall to her pimp, Crown, and a serpentine drug dealer, Sportin’ Life. It added standards to the American songbook like “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’ ” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So.”

In this production, which opened on Friday for a 10-performance run in the hurriedly renovated 1,000-seat Austin Music Hall, the music, lyrics and plot are faithful to what Gershwin and his collaborators — his brother Ira, and the writers DuBose and Dorothy Heyward — wrote and Gershwin trimmed for its 1935 debut. Added to that are jazz-heavy soul and gospel orchestrations, choreography and imagery meant to give it a contemporary twist and evoke the Big Easy. The choreography by Robin Lewis is indebted to Bob Fosse and African tribal dance.

“I’m trying to draw attention to the resonance this has for our community,” said Dave Steakley, the theater’s producing artistic director, who won a $40,000 American Masterpieces grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to help turn the opera, which lasts up to four hours, into a two-and-a-half-hour musical.

He was particularly inspired, he said, by listening to recordings of “Porgy and Bess” by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, and by Ray Charles and Cleo Lane.

Mr. Steakley, who has been with the company for 17 years, through more than 200 productions, including his tribute to quirky Austin, “Keepin’ It Weird,” said he had been consumed with the plight of Katrina victims, many of whom found refuge in Texas.

“I found myself writing this grant, thinking of all those citizens and the role of government,” he said.

Cast members applauded the concept. “Dave wanted to pay homage to the people who survived New Orleans,” said Marva Hicks, who sings Bess and was Lena Horne’s backup vocalist on Broadway in “The Lady and Her Music.” “I hope the spirit in which we do it captures their spirit of survival.”

In the version licensed for the production, Mr. Steakley said, Gershwin had trimmed some music, verses and recitative, or dialogue, and had completely cut two numbers, “The Buzzard Song” and “I Hate Your Struttin’ Style.”

A fuller version triumphantly toured Europe in 1952 with Leontyne Price as Bess, and Cab Calloway as Sportin’ Life. Houston Grand Opera staged a full version in 1976, and in 1985 “Porgy and Bess” finally made it to the Metropolitan Opera.

A 1959 Hollywood version with Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge and dubbed singing largely bombed.

But with the rise of the civil rights movement, “Porgy and Bess” was often derided as racially demeaning. The original libretto included an offensive term for blacks that some performers refused to use and was later excised by Ira Gershwin.

Ms. Crosby, who sings with a popular Austin cover band, Rotel and the Hot Tomatoes, said this production was her first exposure to the work, and it took her aback.

“I can’t believe this guy wrote this; we all felt kind of uncomfortable,” said Ms. Crosby, a daughter of Philip Michael Thomas, who played Don Johnson’s sidekick, Detective Rico Tubbs, on the television series “Miami Vice.” But she said Mr. Steakley had been open to tweaks “and did let us change a couple of things.”

Other cast members said the work transcended stereotypes. “We’re beyond that now,” said David Jennings, who plays Porgy — on homemade crutches, not in the traditional goat cart — and has performed on Broadway as Coalhouse Walker Jr. in “Ragtime.”

Cedric Neal, a Dallas actor who brings down the house as the irrepressibly reptilian Sportin’ Life, agreed.

“It’s a snapshot of American history, a representation of our culture,” he said. “I think Gershwin was a brother.”

Ms. Hicks said, “I can relate to this material without being offended by it.”

But she acknowledged some initial artistic qualms. “When my agent called me, I said, ‘I’m not a lyric soprano,’ ” she said.

“ ‘No,’ they said,” Ms. Hicks recalled. “ ‘It’s a different concept.’ ”

New Orleans Policewoman Killed In The Line Of Duty By Rape Suspect...

This undated photo provided by the New Orleans Police Department shows officer Nicola Cotton. Cotton was shot in a parking lot near a busy intersection in the Central City neighborhood and a few streets away from the district police station. Cotton was trying to handcuff a vagrant wanted for questioning in a rape and was overpowered , then shot to death with her own weapon Monday, Jan. 28, 2008, police said.
(AP Photo/New Orleans Police Dept. via The Times-Picayune)

New Orleans Police Officer Shot To Death

By CAIN BURDEAU, Associated Press Writer
Mon Jan 28, 11:10 PM ET

A vagrant wanted for questioning in a rape overpowered a police officer who was trying to handcuff him, then shot her to death with her own weapon Monday, police said.

The officer's death was a blow to this city, where hopes were high that a new year could hold back a wave of crime that has been a dark backdrop to the rebuilding effort since Hurricane Katrina.

"When it hits home like this, it hits you tremendously," said Police Superintendent Warren Riley, who was charged with energizing a demoralized police force in the 2005 storm's wake.

Officer Nicola Cotton, 24, approached the suspect in her police cruiser and began questioning him. When she tried to handcuff him he attacked her, and a seven-minute fight ensued, Riley said.

The officer managed to use her radio during the struggle to call for backup, but the man grabbed her weapon and shot her repeatedly, Riley said.

"I can tell you this officer fought with a man twice her size, and she fought very courageously," Riley said. "She followed procedure as far as we're concerned."

Riley said police have several witnesses to the shooting in a parking lot near a busy intersection in the crime-plagued Central City neighborhood and a few streets away from the district police station.

But passers-by may not have seen the drawn-out struggle because the pair were on the ground and shielded by the officer's vehicle, Riley said. Police said security videotape captured the lethal assault.

The suspect, Bernell Johnson, 44, stayed on the scene until other officers arrived and was arrested, police spokesman Sgt. Joe Narcisse said.

He was booked on a charge of first-degree murder, and it wasn't known Monday night whether he had been assigned a lawyer. Riley said Johnson had been arrested several times before on suspected sex offenses.

Cotton was among the first graduates of the police academy after Katrina. At the time, the Police Department was hemorrhaging officers and was aggressively recruiting.

Riley called Cotton a "clean-cut" woman who "carried herself well."

"This is a very difficult and sad day for the New Orleans Police Department," Riley said. "I just left a group of officers who are crying, upset."

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special: Simmie Knox, Painter Of U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton's Official Portrait Discusses Prolific and Celebrated Career...

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio

One Full Year On The Air!!!

February 2008's Theme Is
"We Are Path Finders..."

When: Sunday Feb. 3, 2008
Time: 4PM-6PM Central Time
Call In: 646-652-4593
E-mail: r2c2h2@gmail.com

Listen To The Actual Show Live Online At The Following Link:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/02/03/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-Radio

Our Special Guest Is...
Renowned Portrait Artist Simmie Knox
The First African American Commissioned To Paint The Official Portrait Of A U.S. President (Bill Clinton)

A graduate of Tyler School of Art at Temple University (BFA, Magna Cum Laude, MFA) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Simmie Knox as an artist has specialized in oil portraiture since 1981. Prior to that, he taught at various colleges, universities, and public schools in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. During the 1970's, Simmie exhibited as an abstract artist and worked for the Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. In 1971, he participated in the Thirty-Second Biennial of Contemporary American Painting at The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. with his abstract art.

He turned to portraiture after years of painting a wide variety of paintings because he found that there is nothing more challenging and interesting to paint than the human face. He states "I think that a good portrait is the most difficult thing for an artist to bring off successfully. Not only must you get an accurate likeness, but you must also create a good painting. Somehow you must convey a subject's character, spirit, and personality; portrait and everything must communicate the dynamism of the subject."

Simmie has been commissioned by private individuals, organizations, and institutions and has painted portraits of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, a U.S. cabinet member, U.S. congressmen and state senators, a mayor of New York City, respected civic leaders, sports figures, entertainment celebrities, educators, judges, religious leaders, military officers, businessmen, and private individuals.

Visit Simmie Knox's Official Website:
http://www.simmieknox.com/

2nd Hour
W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Iconz Throwback Interview:

Talitha V. Coverson

Poet, Playwright, Producer Of The Critically Acclaimed


Black Girl Speaks
http://www.blackgirlspeaks.com

****

Get Involved

As Always You Can Catch Tha Artivist Presents…W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Live Every Sunday @ 4PM Central/5PM Eastern By Clicking On The Following Link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe

Please Be Our Invited Guest By Calling Us Live @ 646-652-4593 Or E-mailing Us Your Questions And Comments @ r2c2h2@gmail.com

As Always Please Spread The Good News!!!

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It's A Family Affair: The Kennedys Endorse Obama...

Sen. Kennedy Endorses Barack Obama

Democratic Elder Statesman Plans To Campaign For Candidate

The Associated Press
Jan. 28, 2008

WASHINGTON - Two generations of Kennedys - the Democratic Party's best known political family - endorsed Barack Obama for president on Monday, with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy calling him a "man with extraordinary gifts of leadership and character," a worthy heir to his assassinated brother.

"I feel change in the air," Kennedy said in remarks salted with scarcely veiled criticism of Obama's chief rival for the nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, as well as her husband, the former president.

"I have marveled at his grit and grace," he said of the man a full generation younger than he is.

Kennedy's endorsement was ardently sought by all three of the remaining presidential contenders, and he delivered it at a pivotal time in the race. A liberal lion in his fifth decade in the Senate, the Massachusetts senator is in a position to help Obama court Hispanic voters as well as rank-and-file members of labor unions, two key elements of the Democratic Party.

He is expected to campaign actively for Obama in the days before a string of delegate-rich primaries and caucuses across 24 states on Feb. 5, beginning later this week in Arizona, New Mexico and California.

The senator made his comments at a crowded campaign rally that took on the appearances of a Kennedy family embrace of Obama, who sat smiling as he heard their praise.

He was introduced by Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president, who said Obama "offers that same sense of hope and inspiration" as did her father. Rep. Patrick Kennedy also endorsed Obama from the stage before a boisterous crowd at American University.

"Today isn't just about politics for me. It's personal," Obama, 46, said when it came time for him to speak. "I was too young to remember John Kennedy and I was just a child when Robert Kennedy ran for president. But in the stories I heard growing up, I saw how my grandparents and mother spoke about them, and about that period in our nation's life - as a time of great hope and achievement."

In his remarks, Sen. Kennedy sought one by one to rebut many of the arguments leveled by Obama's critics.

"From the beginning, he opposed the war in Iraq. And let no one deny that truth," he said, an obvious reference to former President Clinton's statement that Obama's early anti-war stance was a "fairy tale."

"With Barack Obama, we will turn the page on the old politics of misrepresentation and distortion.

"With Barack Obama we will close the book on the old politics of race against race, gender against gender, ethnic group against ethnic group, and straight against gay," Kennedy said.

The Massachusetts senator had remained on the sideline of the presidential campaign for months, saying he was friends with Obama, Clinton and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, as well as several Senate colleagues who are no longer in the race.

Lately, according to several associates, Kennedy became angered with what he viewed as racially divisive comments by Bill Clinton. Nearly two weeks ago, he played a personal role in arranging a brief truce between the Clintons and Obama on the issue.

Questioned about Kennedy's endorsement, Hillary Clinton said simply, "We're all proud of the people we have endorsing us."

She also defended herself and her husband against criticism that they had engaged in racial politics and distortion of a rival's record.

"There's been no two people who have stood against that more than we have over many years," she said in a conference call with Arizona reporters.

Kennedy refers only sparingly to his assassinated brothers, John and Robert, in his public remarks, and his endorsement of Obama was cast in terms that aides said was unusually personal.

"There was another time, when another young candidate was running for president and challenging America to cross a new frontier. He faced criticism from the preceding Democratic president, who was widely respected in the party," Kennedy said, referring to Harry S. Truman.

"And John Kennedy replied, 'The world is changing. The old ways will not do. ... It is time for a new generation of leadership.

"So it is with Barack Obama," he added.

Kennedy began his remarks by paying tribute to Sen. Clinton's advocacy for issues such as health care and women's rights. "Whoever is our nominee will have my enthusiastic support," he said.

But he quickly pivoted to a strong endorsement of Obama, whom he said "has extraordinary gifts of leadership and character, matched to the extraordinary demands of this moment in history."

"I believe that a wave of change is moving across America," Kennedy said.

Also Monday, Obama picked up the endorsement of author Toni Morrison, who once labeled Bill Clinton the "first black president." Morrison said she has admired Hillary Clinton for years because of her knowledge and mastery of politics, but cited Obama's "creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom."

Morrison said her endorsement had little to do with Obama's race - he is the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas - but rather his personal gifts.

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Oil Giant Schlumberger Forced To Pay Millions Of Dollars To Fix Damage Done To The Environment...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2006
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
ENRD
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888

Company to Pay $11.8 Million in Compensation for
PCB-Damaged Fishery and Habitat

Company will perform work costing additional $8 to 10 million to aid ecosystem

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Schlumberger Technology Corporation (Schlumberger), headquartered in Texas, has agreed to pay $11.8 million to federal and state agencies for injuries to natural resources caused by the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s) in the Twelvemile Creek, Lake Hartwell and surrounding areas, the Justice Department announced today. Schlumberger will also spend an additional $8 to 10 million to purchase and remove two hydroelectric dams on Twelvemile Creek, and to conduct stream restoration activities.

The $11.8 million will be used to provide opportunities for the public to catch uncontaminated fish in the vicinity of Lake Hartwell, to enhance the fishery of Lake Hartwell and Twelvemile Creek, and to improve the habitat and natural resources within the Twelvemile Creek corridor. Additionally, Schlumberger is required to pay $530,000 to reimburse the natural resources agencies for their costs in assessing natural resource damages.

“Schlumberger’s payment to fund restoration by the federal and state trustees will be used for projects designed to compensate the public for the injury to the fishery and to the habitat from PCB contamination,” said Sue Ellen Wooldridge, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The company’s agreement to purchase and remove the dams will directly improve the Twelvemile Creek ecosystem and provide significant environmental benefits for the affected communities.”

The states of South Carolina and Georgia are joining the settlement with the United States, which was lodged today in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

Schlumberger is the current owner of the Sangamo–Weston plant site, a capacitor manufacturing plant in Pickens, South Carolina. The plant was owned and operated by Sangamo–Weston from 1955 to 1987. Schlumberger assumed the liabilities of Sangamo associated with the PCB contamination in a series of corporate transactions that took place between 1990 and 2003. PCB’s are a mixture of synthetic organic chemicals which, because of their good insulating properties, were widely used in electrical equipment. In the U.S. PCB’s were banned from use in most products by 1977 because it was discovered that they accumulate in the environment and can have immunological, developmental and reproductive effects in organisms such as fish, mammals and birds.

Today’s settlement resolves claims for natural resource damages under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (the Superfund Act) and the Clean Water Act, as well as state law claims for natural resource damages. Under an earlier administrative action, Schlumberger is conducting cleanup activities in and around Lake Hartwell under the supervision of the EPA in Atlanta, which activities will not be affected by today’s settlement.

The governmental agencies involved in the settlement are the U.S. Department of the Interior through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; the U.S. Department of Defense through the Army Corps of Engineers; the Office of the Governor of the State of South Carolina; the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources; the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control; and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

The Justice Department will accept public comments on the consent decree for a 30-day public comment period that will be publicly announced and will begin shortly. A copy of the consent decree will be available on the Department of Justice website at http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/open.html.

###

06-046

Schlumberger's official website:
http://www.schlumberger.com

Listen To The

On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio


Listen To The Schlumberger 2 exclusive interview featuring Sis. Tawanna Thierry of the Schlumberger 2, Bro. Marcus Jones (the father of The Jena 6's Mychal Bell), and The National Action Network's Bro. Joe Lawrence:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/01/27/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-Radio

Oil Giant Schlumberger Had Numerous Discrimination Lawsuits In The Last 4 Years...

Listen To The

On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio

Listen To The Schlumberger 2 exclusive interview featuring Sis. Tawanna Thierry of the Schlumberger 2, Bro. Marcus Jones (the father of The Jena 6's Mychal Bell), and The National Action Network's Bro. Joe Lawrence:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/01/27/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-Radio

Tha Artivist Writes:

Over the past four years oil giant Schlumberger has been involved in a number of lawsuits concerning employee discrimination...Whether it is sexism, racism, ageism or prejudice towards people with disabilities, this corporation has had its fair share of lawsuits...Please take the time to look at these cases...The world can see that Sis. Tawanna Thierry and Dr. Candi Hudson a.k.a. The Schlumberger 2 are not operating in a vacuum and playing make believe, these accusations are indeed real and it shows that this type of abuse knows no color, gender or geographic boundaries...Please spread the word and support The Schlumberger 2!!!

Lawsuits Pending Against Oil Giant Schlumberger

Parties	District Court	Judge	Type of Lawsuit	Cause of Action
January 18, 2008
Klish v. Schlumberger Technology Corporation	CO	Matsch	Americans with Disabilities - Employment	Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
December 4, 2007
Gale v. Schlumberger Technology	UT	Jenkins	Motor Vehicle	Notice of Removal- Personal Injury
Plaintiff: Christa D. Gale, Christa D. Gale Defendant: Schlumberger Technology, Schlumberger Technology
October 29, 2007
Blakley v. Schlumberger	AR Eastern	Wright	Employment	Job Discrimination (Employment)
Plaintiff: Relenthis Blakley; Defendant: Schlumberger
October 9, 2007
Wagoner et al v. Schlumberger Technology Corporation	WY	Johnson	Motor Vehicle	Diversity-Auto Negligence
Plaintiff: Larry Wagoner, Charilla Wagoner; Defendant: Schlumberger Technology Corporation
October 4, 2007
HULLINGER v. LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF NORTH AMERICA et al	DC	Urbina	Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974	E.R.I.S.A.: Employee Retirement
Plaintiff: KEITH A. HULLINGER; Defendant: LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF NORTH AMERICA, SCHLUMBERGER LONG TERM DISABILITY PLAN
October 2, 2007
Coleman v. Schlumberger Technology Corporation	LA Eastern	Vance	Employment	Job Discrimination (Employment)
Plaintiff: Donald Coleman; Defendant: Schlumberger Technology Corporation
July 25, 2007
Knight v. Dowell Schlumberger	LA Western	Haik	Employment	Job Discrimination (Employment)
Plaintiff: Lashanda A Knight; Defendant: Dowell Schlumberger
July 5, 2007
Memry Corporation v. Kentucky Oil Technology, N.V., et al.	WV Southern		Other
Plaintiff: Memry Corporation; Defendant: Kentucky Oil Technology, N.V., Peter Besselink, Memory Metals Holland, B.V.Counter Claimant: Kentucky Oil Technology, N.V., Counter Defendant: Memry Corporation, Schlumberger Technology Corporation, Movant: Paragon Intellectual Properties, LLC
June 12, 2007
Schlumberger Technology Corporation v. Greenwich Metals, Inc	KS	Vratil	Other Contract	Diversity-Other Contract
Plaintiff: Schlumberger Technology Corporation; Defendant: Greenwich Metals, Inc
April 30, 2007
Ross v. Shell Exploration & Production Company et al	TX Southern	Kent	Other Personal Injury	Fed. Question
Plaintiff: Hilton Ross, Jr.; Defendant: Shell Exploration & Production Company, Schlumberger Technologies, Inc.
March 31, 2007
Thierry et al v. Schlumberger Limited	TX Southern	Gilmore	Other Civil Rights	Violation of Civil Rights
Plaintiff: Tawanna Thierry, Candi Hudson; Defendant: Schlumberger Limited
March 21, 2007
Moore v. Schlumberger Technology Corporation et al	AR Western	Dawson	Employment	Job Discrimination (Employment)
Plaintiff: Brent S. Moore; Defendant: Schlumberger Technology Corporation, Schlumberger MI, Inc., Schlumberger Omnes, Inc.
December 22, 2006
Billiot v. Schlumberger North America et al	LA Eastern	Barbier	Marine	Marine Personal Injury
October 6, 2006
Bratton v. Schlumberger Technology Corp Pension Plan	LA Western	Haik	Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974	E.R.I.S.A.: Employee Retirement
August 25, 2006
Jack v. Schlumberger Technology Corp	LA Western	Doherty	Marine	Jones Act
August 11, 2006
LEE v. SCHLUMBERGER LTD.	NJ	Thompson	Other Personal Injury	Diversity-Personal Injury
January 30, 2006
United States of America et al v. Schlumberger Technology Corporation	SC	Anderson	Environmental Matters	Environmental Matters
December 13, 2005
Mullane v. Schlumberger Technology Coporation et al	TX Southern	Kent	Marine	Admiralty
October 17, 2005
Bresser v. Schlumberger Technology Corporation	AK	Burgess	Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974	No cause code entered
July 14, 2005
Hertneck v. Schlumberger Infrastructure Services	TX Southern	Hoyt	Employment	Job Discrimination (Employment)
May 16, 2005
Champagne et al v. Schlumberger Technology Corp et al	LA Western	Doherty	Marine	Jones Act
February 18, 2005
Meadows v. Schlumberger Technology Corp.	AK	Burgess	Other Personal Injury	No cause code entered
February 10, 2005
Lewis v. Schlumberger Technology Corporation	AK	Burgess	Other Personal Injury	No cause code entered
December 28, 2004
Morgan v. Schlumberger Technology Corporation	TX Southern	Lake	Employment	Job Discrimination (Race)
September 10, 2004
Veal v. Schlumberger Technology Corporation et al	TX Southern	Atlas	Employment	Fed. Question: Employment Discrimination
April 30, 2004
Cheramie v. Schlumberger Tech	LA Eastern	Engelhardt	Employment	Job Discrimination (Age)
March 1, 2004
Nesco Svc Co v. Schlumberger Tech	LA Eastern	Duval	Other Contract	Petition For Removal--Other Contract
February 13, 2004
Dumontier, et al v. Schlumberger, et al	MT	Cebull	Other Personal Injury	Diversity-Personal Injury
January 23, 2004
Baker Hughes Inc, et al v. Schlumberger Limited, et al	TX Eastern	Ward	Patent	Patent Infringement

Sweet Caroline Writes Yes We Can Endorse Barack Obama For President!!!

January 27, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor

A President Like My Father

By CAROLINE KENNEDY

OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.

My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.

Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.

We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.

Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates’ goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.

Senator Obama has demonstrated these qualities throughout his more than two decades of public service, not just in the United States Senate but in Illinois, where he helped turn around struggling communities, taught constitutional law and was an elected state official for eight years. And Senator Obama is showing the same qualities today. He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people — known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics — to become engaged in the political process.

I have spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools and have three teenage children of my own. There is a generation coming of age that is hopeful, hard-working, innovative and imaginative. But too many of them are also hopeless, defeated and disengaged. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future. Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents’ grandchildren, with that sense of possibility.

Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning.

I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.

I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.


Jean-Pierre Muller/AFP/Getty Images
Caroline Kennedy is the author of “A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love.”

Obama Wins Big Time In South Carolina...

Obama Routs Clinton In South Carolina

By DAVID ESPO and CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press

Barack Obama routed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the racially charged South Carolina primary Saturday night, regaining campaign momentum in the prelude to a Feb. 5 coast-to-coast competition for more than 1,600 Democratic National Convention delegates.

"The choice in this election is not about regions or religions or genders," Obama said at a boisterous victory rally. "It's not about rich versus poor, young versus old and it's not about black versus white. It's about the past versus the future."

The audience chanted "Race doesn't matter" as it awaited Obama to make his appearance after rolling up 55 percent of the vote in a three-way race.

But it did, in a primary that shattered turnout records.

About half the voters were black, according to polling place interviews, and four out of five of them supported Obama. Black women turned out in particularly large numbers. Obama, the first-term Illinois senator, got about a quarter of the white vote while Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina split the rest.

Clinton flew to Nashville as the polls closed, and looked ahead. "Now the eyes of the country turn to Tennessee and the other states voting on Feb. 5," she said, adding "millions and millions of Americans are going to have their voices heard."

Edwards finished a distant third, a sharp setback in the state where he was born and scored a primary victory in his first presidential campaign four years ago. Even so, he vowed to remain in the race, his goal, he said, to "give voice to all those whose voices aren't being heard."

The victory was Obama's first since he won the kickoff Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. Clinton, a New York senator and former first lady, scored an upset in the New Hampshire primary a few days later. They split the Nevada caucuses, she winning the turnout race, he gaining a one-delegate margin. In an historic race, she hopes to become the first woman to occupy the White House, and Obama is the strongest black contender in history.

The South Carolina primary marked the end of the first phase of the campaign for the Democratic nomination, a series of single-state contests that winnowed the field, conferred co-front-runner status on Clinton and Obama but had relatively few delegates at stake.

That all changes in 10 days' time, when New York, Illinois and California are among the 15 states holding primaries in a virtual nationwide primary. Another seven states and American Samoa will hold Democratic caucuses on the same day.

Obama took a thinly veiled swipe at Clinton in his remarks.

"We are up against conventional thinking that says your ability to lead as president comes from longevity in Washington or proximity to the White House. But we know that real leadership is about candor, and judgment, and the ability to rally Americans from all walks of life around a common purpose — a higher purpose," Obama said.

Looking ahead to Feb. 5, he added that "nearly half the nation will have the chance to join us in saying that we are tired of business-as-usual in Washington, we are hungry for change, and we are ready to believe again."

Nearly complete returns showed Obama winning 55 percent of the vote, Clinton gaining 27 percent. Edwards had 18 percent and won only his home county of Oconee.

Obama also gained 25 convention delegates, Clinton won 12 and Edwards eight.

Overall, Clinton has 249 delegates, followed by Obama with 167 and Edwards with 58.

Obama also gained an endorsement from Caroline Kennedy, who likened the Illinois senator to her late father, President John F. Kennedy.

"I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them," she wrote on The New York Times op-ed page. "But for the first time, I believe I have found a man who could be that president — and not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans."

All three contenders campaigned in South Carolina on primary day, but only Obama and Edwards arranged to speak to supporters after the polls closed. Clinton left for Tennessee as the polls were closing. After playing a muted role in the earlier contests, the issue of race dominated an incendiary week that included a shift in strategy for Obama, a remarkably bitter debate and fresh scrutiny of former President Clinton's role in his wife's campaign.

Each side accused the other of playing the race card, sparking a controversy that frequently involved Bill Clinton.

"They are getting votes, to be sure, because of their race or gender. That's why people tell me Hillary doesn't have a chance of winning here," the former president said at one stop as he campaigned for his wife, strongly suggesting that blacks would not support a white alternative to Obama.

Clinton campaign strategists denied any intentional effort to stir the racial debate. But they said they believe the fallout has had the effect of branding Obama as "the black candidate," a tag that could hurt him outside the South.

Nearly six in 10 voters said the former president's efforts for his wife was important to their choice, and among them, slightly more favored Obama than the former first lady.

Overall, Obama defeated Clinton among both men and women.

The exit polls showed the economy was the most important issue in the race. About one quarter picked health care. And only one in five said it was the war in Iraq, underscoring the extent to which the once-dominant issue has faded in the face of financial concerns.

The exit poll was conducted by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International for The Associated Press and the networks.

___

Associated Press writers Beth Fouhy, Seanna Adcox and Mike Baker in Columbia, S.C., contributed to this report.

Davey D Calls Out Bob Johnson Over Obama...

Davey D On "Why Bob Johnson Is An Asshole And Hypocrite":
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=15116190&blogID=347833195

Elitist Newpaper Runs Racist Satire About Obama...

The following article appeared in the Long Island Newspaper The Independent which serves the Hampton Community which is home to wealthy folks like Martha Stewart and P-Diddy. Does the rest of White America feel this way about Barack Obama in particular and Blacks in general? If this offends your sensibilities, you can write the editors or call them and express your anger...
Phone: 631-324-2500 Rick Murphy, Editor
rmurphy@indyeastend.com

LOW TIDINGS

Why I Should Be Our Next President
By Yo Mama Bin Barack

My name is YoMama Bin Barack, and I want to be your next president so together we can begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.

My opponents say I live in a dream world. That may well be true, for I believe in the dream of Doctor Martin Luther King, the dream that all men are created equal.

His words resonate in my very being: "Some day, you too can be a black man who makes a difference in this country, and you too can be called 'Doctor' even though you are not a doctor of any kind." I believe that, and someday I hope people will call me Doctor YoMama. In fact, I hope someday people will call me President Doctor YoMama (but please don't call me Luther, I hate that name).

I was telling this very thing to my wife AliBama the other night while we were in bed, umm, praying. I said, "AliBama, I want to be your next president so together we can begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today."

And she said, "YoMama, then why don't you cut out the president shit and get a real job and make some freakin' money?" But I explained I have plenty of money, because bleeding heart liberal Democrats from all across this vast country of ours have felt it in their hearts to send a contribution to my campaign so I can begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today and also because I need to buy my little daughter Bama Slamma a PlayStation so she will get off my back.

Why do I think I am the best candidate for the job? Look at my resume – it speaks for itself.

Educational background: Doctorate

Military background: I was the first black troop leader of the Boy Scouts Troop 43 in my home state of Illinois. Well, that's not quite true, because they didn't let black kids in the Boy Scouts, so I lied and said I was Hawaiian, which I kind of am, sort of. You see, part of my strategy of becoming our first black president is to deny I am black unless I am campaigning in Harlem. The truth is, I don't know many black people, but my advisors have drafted a strategy to reel in the black vote:

1) Call everyone "Brother." Blacks, I am told, do this, even if their real brothers are mostly in jail.

2) Talk Jive. Brothers want to hear jive. During my speech I told the crowd "We be, you know, sick of whitey supressin' and congestin' so, you know, we won't denigrate or sophisticate but emulate and populate, you know, the system is, like, broken, y'all!"

I have no idea what that means. The black folk loved it, though, so they all vowed to vote for me. The New York Times covered it, but they are so afraid of saying something racist they twisted my words around and reported:

"Yesterday in Harlem YoMama articulated his vision of a new America, an America with less congestion, a country free of drug use, a world without segregation or racism where citizens emulate the lives of great Americans like YoMama, John F. Kennedy and Doctor Martin Luther King."

So you see, there is my strategy. I get the black vote, I get the white vote, and then I go after the female vote by attacking that bitch Hillary for being the Nasty Witch from Hell.

Anyhow, girls think I'm cute. I'm kind of like Will Smith, except he's got those Dumbo ears and mine are normal. So, for the next six months, I am going to fly all over the country, and every place I speak I am going to tell the people:

"As Americans, we can take enormous pride in the fact that courage has been inspired by our own struggle for freedom, by the tradition of democratic law secured by our forefathers and enshrined in our Constitution. It is a tradition that says all men are created equal under the law and that no one is above it."

To be honest, I have no idea what that means. If you analyze it carefully, it really doesn't mean anything. But it sounds like something a president or a doctor would say. I can make that speech every day and no matter how many times I do the stupid newspapers will report it differently. They will make me sound like the smart, young, new voice of America, because most editors out there figure anything is better than having a cow like Hillary Clinton snorking around the White House making weasel deals again.

Ultimately, if she gets too close, one of my New York advisors has advised me to, "Bitch slap that ho." White women, I am told, like that. (Black women, on the other hand, do not. I tried that once on AliBama and she beat the living shit out of me.)

Of course, I also have to contend with John Edwards. My strategy is to ignore him until he actually manages to win a primary. Since he's, like, zero for 43 so far, that should be the end of him. You see, Mr. Edwards hasn't figured out that to win an election some people have to actually vote for you. (If he does make a run at me, I might consider bitch slapping him, as he is somewhat of a Pretty Boy if you get my jist.)

In closing, I humbly ask for your vote on Election Day, even if I did hang around the school yard and smoke pot when I was getting my Doctorate in Blackstuff. And, oh, by the way, I am in the process of finding out how I can also call myself "Reverend." I have a call in to Al Sharpton.