Friday, July 31, 2009

Kenya: Local Courts to Try Waki List Suspects


Nairobi — A divided Cabinet on Thursday gave up on a local tribunal and decided to clean up the police force and the local courts and have them try post-election violence suspects.
But it will also hand over those indicted by the International Criminal Court to chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
And it will change the law to give the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission more teeth besides making its membership more widely accepted.

GA_googleFillSlot( "AllAfrica_Story_InsetA" );
The Cabinet is desperately divided with some of its members suspected to have either masterminded or funded the election violence in which more than 1,133 people killed and about 650,000 evicted from their homes.
Overcome differences
Thursday's decision appears to be an admission that the Cabinet was unable to overcome differences among its members.
It will also likely disappoint many countries, such as the European Union and the US, which have been pressing Kenya to form a special tribunal.
Both the police and the courts are woefully inefficient, enjoy very little confidence from the public and are the reason for widespread impunity.

Julius Mwelu/IRIN
Anti-riot personnel and civilians try to extinguish a burning motorbike set a blaze by rioters in the post-election violence last year.
The Cabinet decision was announced by President Kibaki, flanked by Prime Minister Raila Odinga and the entire Cabinet at State House, Nairobi.
The six-hour meeting, the third in two weeks, was described by Cabinet ministers who attended it but can not named because the sessions are confidential, as "stormy".
Speaking on the lawns of State House, President Kibaki said: "They (suspects) will be tried locally. We are not saying anything about a special tribunal. We are able to try anybody and the laws are there."

Is Cash for Clunkers' A Forewarning Of Obamacare?



As MM points out, the Obama administration’s ambitious ‘Cash for Clunkers’ federal rebate program failed after only 3 days.
It wasn’t just the fact that the program ran out of money to buy back junk cars in exchange for gas efficient ones in only 3 days — it’s worse than that. The truth is, the Obama administration doesn’t have a clue what they’re doing.
The cash ran out because there was a woeful lack of planning, budgeting and strategizing on the part of the administration. Once again we get excuses from the White House as to why their bills or programs just don’t work:
The Obama administration is attempting to use the fact that the program was popular with consumers as evidence that it was a “success,” but that only serves as evidence of government incompetence. Unfortunately for Obama & Company, many people are aware that sometimes “too successful” is far more expensive than “didn’t work at all.” READ MORE…
So add the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program to the growing heap of failures for the Obama administration. And then try to imagine what ObamaCare will be like if it passes.

Disney Nick with M&M



He promised and he delivered…kinda!
In response to Eminem's damning song The Warning about wife Mariah, Nick Cannon Tweeted that a possible strategic plan was brewing.
Instead, we think he must have been reading Bartlett's all day because he bombarded the Twitterverse with a mass amount of quotes within 30 minutes.
Cannon Tweeted:
"Victorious warriors win first then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win"
"But let's not get it twisted. If you feeling froggish, leap!! Y'all know where to find me… Nick@nickcannon.com Holla at me directly!"
"Changing the world one hater at a time!"
"Those who feed into negativity must examine there purpose on this earth"
"I will permit no man to narrow or degrade my soul by making me hate him"
"Be patient in the moment of anger and escape a hundred days of sorrow!"
"I will bless those that bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse." Genesis 12:3
"Never take your own revenge, but rather give place unto the wrath. For it is written vengeance is mine, I will repay… PREACH!"
"When there are no enemies within the enemies outside can not hurt you!"
Quote of the day: "Never argue with fools because from a distance people cant tell who is who"
Ignoring him would be better than this!
Pretty weak, Cannon!

What's your thoughts?

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Who's Got The "Que"

We all like to help ourselves to Great B B Q. Most of us believe that we know a spot that has BBQ that's off the chizang. We go as far as telling people we would be willing to put this BBQ up to any; anywhere. Well let's see what you got. Tell us what restaurant, person, place that you know with that off the chizang flav. Make sure you leave an address and number. you Monty_p like that Que. So,Holla!

True Love

As our communities get larger, and families grow further and further apart, many families suffer from lack of time for each other. This lack of time may be a major contributor to some of the emotional down falls suffered in relationships. More and more we hear that the love has been lost in relationships. So what is true love and how is it maintained. A lot of women that have fallen into relationship with female partners seem to believe that their male partner couldn't fulfill their emotional needs. So, where does that leave hopeful relationship. Do they have a chance to thrive and hold together. Let's hear your thoughts.

Racial Profiling



What is racial profiling?Racial profiling is usually defined in a law enforcement context. One study published in the Canadian Review of Policing Research defined it as "a racial disparity in police stop and search practices, customs searches at airports and border-crossings, in police patrols in minority neighbourhoods and in undercover activities or sting operations which target particular ethnic groups."
The Ontario Human Rights Commission took a broader approach, defining it as "any action undertaken for reasons of safety, security or public protection that relies on stereotypes about race, colour, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, or place of origin rather than on reasonable suspicion, to single out an individual for greater scrutiny or different treatment."
Racial profiling is usually defined in a law enforcement context.The OHRC gives some non-police-related examples of what it considers racial profiling:
School officials suspend a Latino child for violating the school's zero tolerance policy while a white child's behaviour is excused as being normal child's play.
An employer insists on stricter security clearance for a Muslim employee after the Sept. 11 attacks.
A bar refuses to serve aboriginal customers because of a belief they will get drunk and rowdy.Accusations of differential treatment arise in areas where authorities can exercise their discretion. If police stopped every car, or if customs officers directed everyone for follow-up scrutiny, there would be no talk of racial profiling. But when that discretion is exercised, members of many minority groups feel that they come out with the short end of the baton – that they somehow always have to prove their innocence.

Have you ever been a victiam of racial profiling. Were you sure it was racial profiling? What happen? How did it go down? How did you resolve the issue?

Poll: Obama mishandled comments on race

"Over the last two days as we've discussed this issue, I don't know if you've noticed, but nobody has been paying much attention to health care," Obama told reporters on Friday when he surprised them in the White House briefing room to revisit the Gates issue.
Gates, who is black, was taken into custody by Cambridge Sgt. James Crowley, who is white, after Crowley accused him of disorderly conduct for protesting the policeman's actions in responding to a mistaken report of a possible burglary at Gates' home. The charges were later dropped.
White House aides said it became clear the matter was not going away.
So Obama made phone calls to each participant and invited them to join him for a beer at the White House. The meeting is set for Thursday evening.
Pew re-contacted 480 of the poll respondents on Monday, July 27, to ask them more questions about the Gates matter. They found that people are divided as to who should be blamed for the Gates arrest: 27 percent blame Gates and 25 percent Crowley. Another 13 percent of respondents say both or neither are at fault.
A separate poll said almost a third blame both the scholar and the sergeant. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found 27 percent think Gates was at fault, 11 percent blamed Crowley and 29 percent said each was equally at fault.
The Pew poll of 1,506 adults was conducted July 22-26. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. For the re-interview survey of 480 adults on July 27, the margin of error is plus or minus 5.5 percentage points.
The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll of 1,011 people was conducted Friday through Monday. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Nigerian troops kill 100 Islamic militants

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – Security forces hunted door-to-door for Islamic militants in northern Nigeria on Thursday after storming the compound of a radical sect and killing more than 100 people.
A top rights group said the government forces had killed bystanders and other civilians. A military spokesman denied the charge and said it was impossible for rights workers to tell who was a civilian and who was a member of the Boko Haram sect, which the government blames for instigating days of violence in the mostly Muslim region.
The government warned people to evacuate the area, then shelled and stormed the group's mosque and headquarters Wednesday night, setting off a raging firefight with retreating militants armed with homemade hunting rifles, firebombs, bows and arrows, machetes and scimitars.
An AP reporter saw soldiers shoot their way into the mosque under fire and then rake those inside with gunshots. The reporter later counted about 50 bodies inside the building and another 50 in the courtyard outside.
The bodies of barefoot young men littered the streets of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, on Thursday morning as the army pursued the manhunt on the outskirts of the city. Police said most of the dead were fighters with Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sin" in the local Hausa language. Army Col. Ben Anahotu said three police officers were killed.
Seeking to impose Islamic Shariah law throughout this multi-religious country, the militants attacked police stations, churches, prisons and government buildings in a wave of violence that began Sunday in Borno and quickly spread to three other northern states.
As of Wednesday, officials said at least 4,000 people have been forced from their homes but it was not known how many people have been killed, wounded and arrested.
President Umaru Yar'Adua said that security agents had been ordered to attack when the movement started gathering fighters from nearby states at its sprawling Maiduguri compound in preparation for "the holy war."
The militants are also known as Al-Sunna wal Jamma, or "Followers of Mohammed's Teachings," and some Nigerian officials have referred to them as Taliban. Analyst Nnamdi K. Obasi of the International Crisis Group said a few have fought with that radical movement in Afghanistan.
Sect leader Mohammed Yusuf escaped Wednesday's government attack along with about 300 followers, according to Army commander Maj. Gen. Saleh Maina. His deputy, Bukar Shekau, was killed, Maina said, pointing to the body of a plump, bearded man lying with four other corpses in a large house near the mosque.
"The mission has been accomplished," he said.
Military officials in the capital, Abuja, said that the military was in control of Maiduguri. Maina said his troops would fire mortar shells later Thursday to destroy what was left of the Boko Haram compound, which stretches over 2.5 miles (4 kilometers).
League for Human Rights director Shamaki Gad Peter said that after the siege rights workers saw the bodies of up to 20 people who were unarmed and appeared to have been shot from behind, possibly trying to escape the mayhem, he said.
Military spokesman Col. Mohammed Yerima initially denied allegations that the military intentionally killed civilians but said that the militants were indistinguishable from civilians.
"All the civilians that were living in that place were evacuated, to our knowledge," he said. "And those that remained in that enclave are loyalists and members of the group. So the issue of whether we have killed innocent civilians is not true."
He added, "The issue of identifying who is the Taliban or not, the human rights groups are not fair to security agencies because they don't have any marks on their faces. There is no way to know if this is Taliban or this is not."
Maiduguri resident Linda Dukwa said she had seen police execute two men Monday, frightening her and her family so badly that they did not venture out of their house, even for food, for days afterward.
The men "were dressed in white robes," she said, indicating they were sect members. "They were held by policemen. Then they shot their feet. After they fell on the ground, they (police) shot their heads."
National police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu denied such allegations of executions.
"We respect the rules of combat," he said.
Nigeria's 140 million people are roughly divided between Christians in the south and northern-based Muslims. Shariah was implemented in 12 northern states after Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 following years of oppressive military regimes. More than 10,000 Nigerians have died in sectarian violence since then.
Dire poverty is at the heart of the violence, which analysts say reflects decades-old grievances of Nigerians whose governments are so corrupt and ineffective they do not deliver even basic services like running water and electricity.
Many government leaders are Christians.
Boko Haram members are particularly angry that full Shariah has not been implemented, especially the law's demand for a social welfare system helping poor people.
In recent months, police have been raiding militant hideouts and finding explosives and arms. The house at the compound in Maiduguri included a laboratory the military said was used to make bombs.
Men in Bauchi state and in Maiduguri, meanwhile, started trimming and even shaving off their beards, fearful that security forces could mistake them for religious fanatics.
In violence elsewhere, Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper reported that militants attacked security forces in Yobe state on Wednesday, and quoted police as saying that 43 sect members were killed in a shootout near the city of Potiskum.
Police in Bauchi state have reported 42 people killed, including two soldiers and a police officer, 67 hospitalized with serious injuries and 157 men arrested.
In the city of Kano, the local government bulldozed a mosque and the house of a sect leader on Wednesday, saying it was an illegal structure, just days after sect militants attacked a Kano police station. Kano police spokesman Baba Mohammed said more than 50 militants have been arrested, with five shot and killed during the arrests.

"

Who Wants Vick




TODAY - July 30, 2009

Does anybody want Michael Vick?
Reinstated QB Michael Vick finds that NFL clubs aren't rushing to sign him. Only one team is 'evaluating' him
what the Problem peeps? Can't a brother get a break.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Sotomayor-13-6

the senate judicary committeeon Tuesday approved judge Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice, over nearly solid republican opposition.
The panel's 13-6 vote for sotomayormasked deep political divisions within the GOP ranks about confirming President Barack Obama's first high court nominee.
Should the President have the authority to appoint who he wants as a Supreme Court Justice?

Terminator

I suggest we all bounce out to "Cali." How does a state write IOUs. If I had known that IOUs worked, I would have been writing IOUs for everything. I wouldn't pay for "Noyhing!"
I think governor Schwartznegger been taken lessons from Benard Maedoff. I say we need ask legislature to pass a proclimation for everyone to have an IOU day. Pay it when you get ready. Holla if you hear me! Let Monty_p know what you think!

Buffalo Soldiers



The Buffalo Soldiers
To many black citizens, the Buffalo Soldiers were a symbol of hope for a better future. Professor Rayford Logan of Howard University commented: "Negroes had little, at the turn of the century, to help sustain our faith in ourselves except the pride that we took in the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry, the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry...They were our Ralph Bunche, Marian Anderson, Joe Louis and Jackie Robinson."

Arizona Buffalo Soldiers Association members wearing period uniforms carry remains Tuesday(7/29/2009) of a Buffalo Soldier in a burial rite at the Santa Fe National Cementary in New Mexico. Three Buffalo Soldiers -pvt Thomas Smith, Levi Morris, and David Ford-died more than a 130 years ago and were identified by reasearchers and forensic expert after their remains were dug up durning a widespread criminal looting at New Mexico historic Fort Craig cementery.

What do you know about the Buffalo Soldiers?


Tuesday, July 28, 2009

2nd Chance "VICK"

Michael Vick reinstated by NFL
BARRY WILNER
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Michael Vick was reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday and could play in regular season games as early as October.
Vick can immediately participate in preseason practices, workouts and meetings and can play in the final two preseason games -- if he can find a team that will sign him. A number of teams have already said they would not.
"Needless to say, your margin for error is extremely limited," Goodell said in a letter to Vick. "I urge you to take full advantage of the resources available to support you and to dedicate yourself to rebuilding your life and your career. If you do this, the NFL will support you."
Goodell suspended Vick indefinitely in August 2007 after the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback admitted bankrolling the "Bad Newz Kennels" dogfighting operation. Goodell said then that Vick must show remorse and signs that he has changed before he would consider reinstating him.
Once the season begins, Vick may participate in all team activities except games, and Goodell said he would consider Vick for full reinstatement by Week 6 (Oct. 18-19).

Should Micheal vick be awarded the oppertunity to return to his life as he onced knew it after being convicted. Blog in yo!
It's urban baby!

Sotomayor?

WASHINGTON – The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday voted to approve Sonia Sotomayor as the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice over nearly solid Republican opposition, paving the way for a historic confirmation vote next week.
The panel voted 13-6 in favor of Sotomayor, with just one Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, joining Democrats to support her. The nearly party-line tally masked deeper political divisions within GOP ranks about confirming President Barack Obama's first high court nominee.
"I'm deciding to vote for a woman I would not have chosen," Graham said. Obama's choice to nominate the first-ever Latina to the highest court is "a big deal," he added, declaring that, "America has changed for the better with her selection."
The solid Republican vote against Sotomayor on the Judiciary panel reflected the choice many GOP conservatives have made to side with their core supporters and oppose a judge they charge will bring liberal bias and racial and gender prejudices to her decisions. Others in the party, however, are concerned that doing so could hurt their efforts to broaden their base, and particularly alienate Hispanic voters, a fast-growing segment of the electorate.
Democrats, for their part, are lining up solidly in favor of the 55-year-old federal appeals court judge, the daughter of Puerto Rican parents who was raised in a South Bronx housing project and educated in the Ivy League.
"There's not one example — let alone a pattern — of her ruling based on bias or prejudice or sympathy," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the Judiciary Committee chairman. "She has administered justice without favoring one group of persons over another."
The senior Republican, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, countered that Sotomayor's speeches and a few of her rulings show she would let her opinions interfere in decisions.
"In speech after speech, year after year, Judge Sotomayor set forth a fully formed, I believe, judicial philosophy that conflicts with the great American tradition of blind justice and fidelity to the law as written," Sessions said.
But even Sessions acknowledged the landmark nature of Sotomayor's nomination, in a remark that revealed just how certain he is that he'll end up on the losing side of next week's vote.
"I think all of us feel that it's a good thing that we have a Hispanic on the Supreme Court," he said minutes after the Judiciary Committee vote.
Sotomayor is not expected to tip the court's ideological balance, since she's replacing Justice David Souter, a liberal nominated by a Republican president. "She can be no worse than Souter from our point of view," Graham remarked.
Still, Republicans pointed with particular concern to Sotomayor's record on gun and property rights, as well as a much-discussed rejection by her appeals court panel of the reverse discrimination claims of white firefighters denied promotions.
The National Rifle Association is opposing Sotomayor and took the extraordinary step last week of warning senators that it would include their votes on her confirmation in its annual candidate ratings, meaning a "yes" vote would hurt their standing.
"Some of her decisions demonstrated the kind of results-oriented decision-making, one that suggests perhaps a liberal judicial activism that has too often steered the court in the wrong direction over the last years," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
And every GOP senator alluded critically to the now-infamous remark Sotomayor made in 2001 that she hoped a "wise Latina woman" would often reach better conclusions than a white male without similar experiences.
Sotomayor dismissed the comments during her confirmation hearings as a rhetorical flourish gone awry, a defense that rang hollow with many of her critics.
"I regret that I cannot vote for her ... not she's a Latina woman (or) because she said all those things, (but) because she wouldn't defend what she said, and stand up and say, 'I really believe this, but I can still be a great judge anyway, because I will never let that interfere with my judging,' " said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.
The debate over Sotomayor's fitness for the court is as much about Obama — who will likely have at least one more chance to fill a Supreme Court vacancy — as it is about the judge herself, and senators treated the committee's vote on her nomination as an opportunity to face off on competing visions of the role of a judge.
Democrats said Sotomayor's background and her willingness to acknowledge how it might influence how she sees cases was an asset.
"She knows the law, she knows the Constitution, but she knows America, too," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, a Republican recently turned Democrat, said Sotomayor's much-maligned comment reflected a woman standing up for women and someone exhibiting ethnic pride. "I didn't find fault with 'wise Latina woman,' I found it commendable," he said.
Republicans attacked Obama's stated view that a judge should have "empathy" — an ability to understand the effects of his or her decisions on people's lives — and presented Sotomayor as the personification of an unreasonable judicial standard.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who called Obama's standard "radical," said Sotomayor's record shows "a judicial philosophy that bestows a pivotal role to personal preferences and beliefs in her judicial method."

What's your thought on the delima?

Are We Africa United

Are we Africa united? Many African American citizens in the U.S. are not in touch with their roots. We will defend the prejudices in America, but few of us will stand to bring about the change to bring us closer to our roots. when you sit down and converse with a true African; someone from the "Mother Land" you wouldn't believe the true differences between an African American and an African. Despite the culture differences, American lack of drive and commitment is another. Our passiveness to help our fellow brother is another. We struggled in this land to be equally, now we equally struggle to be different.
Are we Africa United



West Africa Review (2001)
ISSN: 1525-4488
IMPROVISED AFRICANS: THE MYTH AND MEANING OF AFRICA IN NINETEETH CENTURY AFRICAN AMERICAN THOUGHT
Corey D. B. Walker
A Review Essay of Tunde Adeleke. UnAfrican Americans: Nineteenth- Century Black Nationalists and the Civilizing Mission. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1998. xv + 192.
And one morning while in the woods I stumbled suddenly upon the thing, Stumbled upon it in a grassy clearing guarded by scaly oaks and elms. And the sooty details of the scene rose thrusting themselves between the world and me
-- Richard Wright, “Between the World and Me,” (1968)
The poetic genius of Richard Wright captures with sublime eloquence the tragicomic plight of the African American existential struggle. Wright’s supreme gift in articulating the African American dialectical struggle to attain self-conscious personhood while traversing a landscape littered with the remnants of chattel slavery and darkened by the shadow of prejudice and injustice echoes deeply in the natural imagery of “Between the World and Me.” The continual struggle for African Americans to strive and yet not yield in the face of overwhelming obstacles present in the social, cultural, political, and economic matrix of the United States hints of a natural order of things – something that is perennial as the coming of spring yet as harsh as the brisk winds of a New England winter.
Being located in the betweenness of the “world and me” is a condition that has not only given rise to the literary eloquence of a Wright, but also influences some genres in African American thought and expression. From soul stirring spirituals to the jeremiad of African American abolitionists to the scholarly anxieties articulated by black intellectuals, the attempt to live the ideals of liberty, equality, and justice has been fractured by the painful and disturbing alienation brought about by the consequences of living in a society permeated by a virulent anti-black racism. It is in this abyss separating the ideal from the real where African American thought finds a critical ground.
With a backdrop of contradictory and conflicting impulses in the larger American society – the espousal of an unqualified freedom and equality while legitimating systematic economic, political, and social inequality and injustice – African American thought has had to come to grips with the inconsistency between the world and itself. This situation propelled the poetry of Phyllis Wheatley, the political dynamism of Maria Stewart, the calculated words of Frederick Douglass, the intellectual prowess of Anna Julia Cooper, and the theological achievements of Martin Luther King, Jr. Each of these individuals sought to traverse the space that separated their self-understanding and that of the society in which they lived. They each attempted a heroic reconciliation of the diametrically opposing poles that marked their existence. Engaging the promises and perils of reason, religion, and race, these and many other African Americans sought to affirmatively answer the just query posed by Frederick Douglass as to whether “American justice, American liberty, American civilization, American law, and American Christianity could be made to include and protect alike and forever all American citizens in the rights which have been guaranteed them by the organic and fundamental laws of the land.”1

Can We Reform Health Care

As president Obama hit the streets to win supporters of his new health care reform bill, he is faced with a lot of criticism. Many people believe he is trying to create a government controlled government. Many people believe he is just trying to give others a chance.

AARP magazine has come up with what they call" 8 Myths" to health care reform.

"8 Myths About Health Care Reform
By Karen Cheney, July & August 2009
And why we can't afford to believe them anymore"


Myth 1: "Health reform won't benefit people like me, who have insurance." Just because you have health insurance today doesn't mean you'll have it tomorrow. According to the National Coalition on Health care, nearly 266,000 companies dropped their employees' health care coverage from 2000 to 2005. "People with insurance have a tremendous stake, because their insurance is at risk," says Judy Feder, a professor of public policy at Georgetown University and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. What's more, in recent years the average employee health insurance premium rose nearly eight times faster than income. "Everyone is paying for health increases in some way, and it's unsustainable for everyone," says Stephanie Cathcart, spokesperson for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). "Reform will benefit everyone as long as it addresses costs."

let's hear your views on health care reform

Is This considered Black on Black Crime?

Recently the world lost one of the world's influential artist that has ever walked the face of the earth. From a childhood prodigy to the acclaimed named that he carried to his grave, Micheal Jackson, touched the world for over forty years of his short lived life. When word of his death hit the air ways, people soared in from all over the world. Gather at his estate, fans mourned the popstars sudden death. Later toxicology reports revealed some disturbing news. It is said his in house physician is responsible for this grief expirenced from people of all ages.
Here's a clispe of the latest.


AP source: Michael Jackson's inner sanctum chaotic

AP – FILE - In this July 7, 2006 file photo, Dr. Conrad Murray poses for a photo as he opens the Acres Homes …
By THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press Writer Thomas Watkins, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jul 28, 6:32 am ET
LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson's personal doctor gave him a powerful anesthetic through an intravenous drip to help him sleep, and authorities believe the drug caused the pop singer's death, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said Jackson regularly received the anesthetic propofol and relied on it like an alarm clock. A doctor would administer it when Jackson went to sleep, then stop the IV drip when the singer wanted to wake up.
On June 25, the day Jackson died, Dr. Conrad Murray gave him the drug through an IV sometime after midnight, the official said.
Murray's lawyer, Edward Chernoff, has said the doctor "didn't prescribe or administer anything that should have killed Michael Jackson." When asked Monday about the law enforcement official's statements he said: "We will not be commenting on rumors, innuendo or unnamed sources."
In a more detailed statement posted online late Monday, Chernoff added that "things tend to shake out when all the facts are made known, and I'm sure that will happen here as well."
Toxicology reports are still pending, but investigators are working under the theory that propofol caused Jackson's heart to stop, the official said. Jackson is believed to have been using the drug for about two years, and investigators are trying to determine how many other doctors administered it, the official said.
Using propofol to sleep exceeds the drug's intended purpose. The drug can depress breathing and lower heart rates and blood pressure. Because of the risks, propofol is supposed to be administered only in medical settings by trained personnel.
Murray, 51, has been identified in court papers as the subject of a manslaughter investigation, and authorities last week raided his office and a storage unit in Houston. Police say Murray is cooperating and have not labeled him a suspect.
Murray became Jackson's personal physician in May and was to accompany him to London for a series of concerts starting in July.
He was staying with Jackson in the Los Angeles mansion and, according to Chernoff, "happened to find" an unconscious Jackson in the pop star's bedroom the morning of June 25. Murray tried to revive him by compressing his chest with one hand while supporting Jackson's back with the other.
The official also provided a glimpse into how the pop star was living in the weeks before he died, describing the room in which Jackson slept in his rented Beverly Hills mansion as outfitted with oxygen tanks and an IV drip. Another of Jackson's bedrooms was a shambles, with clothes and other items strewn about and handwritten notes stuck on the walls. One read: "children are sweet and innocent."
The temperature upstairs was stiflingly hot when authorities arrived at the singer's house after his death. Gas fireplaces and the heating system were on high because Jackson always complained of feeling cold, the official said.
A porcelain girl doll wearing a dress was found on top of the covers of the bed where he slept, the official said.
Police found propofol and other drugs in the home. An IV line and three tanks of oxygen were in the room where Jackson slept, and 15 more oxygen tanks were in a security guard's shack, the official said.
___
Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Lynn Elber in Tustin, Calif., Marilynn Marchione in Milwaukee, and Justin Pritchard in Los Angeles.
Related Searches:

Is this Black on Black crime?

Got Rythym or Rhyme

Poetry has taken a turn in a revolving way. Many poets share their work on stage, in clubs, and in atmospheres of smooth eccentric class. Soft jazz in the background blowing its horn of imagery to amplify the artist's flow. if you got rhythm or rhyme, post it in the comment section.Let's see what you know. It's urban baby.

Monday, July 27, 2009

What makes you "URBAN"

Some say urban is a state of mind. It's and over confidented country man with a little schooling and some new scenery. Maybe. Maybe not. So, what makes you urban. Does it have anything to do with the fast paste city life. What about the music, and art. What about the "Mojo." so if you know, let us know. What makes you Urban?