After voicing for producer Mafia McKoy of Loud Disturbance Records on his recently released 'Kama Sutra' rhythm, Milk is on a musical roll with other songs to be released soon. She told THE STAR recently, "the song (Flossy) has led me into music, I can't do one song and leave it at that. I've been around music too long, so if I do it I'm doing it to the fullest, 'cause I have so much to say."
natural experience
According to Milk, she won't be trying to imitate anyone else but will give her fans what they want. Flossy, recorded in January of this year was released three weeks ago. For Milk, she says it was a natural experience, after vibing the rhythm to voice the song. In the song Milk takes on an American accent talking about the 'flossing' lifestyle.
She said, "the song like mashing up the place and I feel so pleased about it, people are actually listening to it and liking it, people are calling me for interviews, it's great." Milk has a number of other songs working on including Alien Technology alongside Mafia McKoy. "I'm gonna surprise dem wid different styles," she explained.
In the music business Milk says she would love to work with producers Stephen McGregor and Don Corleon. Outside of music, Milk is keeping herself busy as an emcee for events, working on TV for the Travel Network, One Love TV in Montego Bay and producing shows such as Fiwi Charts. Milk might also be back on radio soon as she is working on an entertainment program for Irie FM.
Digicel's Head of Marketing, Donavan White, comments that the company is pleased with the rate of growth they have seen so far on its fan page. "Our fan base is now at a little over 18,000 fans and we expect to see more growth as we continue to engage our fans and treat them to exciting giveaways. Facebook is an innovative marketing tool that not only gives us the opportunity to interact with our customers in real time, but also to continue to ensure that we deliver the Best Value to our customers".
Known for its track record of being first to market with several telecommunications innovations, Digicel said it is capitalizing on the fact that a growing portion of the Jamaica demographics are spending more of their time and attention on Facebook including college students, adults, professionals, and many others. "As Jamaica's biggest, we will continue to use Facebook as one of the driving marketing tools to help us to create an even stronger bond with our customers across Jamaica. We will also continue to use Facebook as a social research tool for our marketing campaigns as well as for information dissemination through event calendars, news releases, photos and videos to share with our fans",
"We played really well in the first half, going a goal up, and we had three really good chances," Beckham said. "If we had put them away, obviously it would have been a different game. But you have to put those chances away, especially against a team like Manchester United and a player like Wazza (Rooney)."
United defender Patrice Evra half cleared Beckham's free kick and the ball came to Ronaldinho, who scored with a deflected shot.
Paul Scholes equalised with a 36th minute miskick from Darren Fletcher's cross. The midfielder missed the ball with his right foot but it struck his left leg and the ricochet took it past surprised goalkeeper Dida.
Veteran United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar had to make top quality saves from Andrea Pirlo's long range free kick and Ronaldinho's curling drive before Rooney struck twice at the other end.
He headed home a cross by Antonio Valencia in the 66th minute; and was left unmarked to head powerfully home from Darren Fletcher's cross from the left in the 74th.
Facing United for the first time since moving to Real Madrid in 2003, Beckham was replaced by Clarence Seedorf after 71 minutes and left the field with United fans singing "there's only one David Beckham".
Seedorf added a second for Milan when he turned home Ronaldinho's cross in the 85th minute, but the seven-time European champions need a convincing win at Old Trafford to make it to the quarter-finals.
Michael Carrick was sent off in injury time for a second yellow and will miss the second leg on March 10.
While the game in Milan was a five-goal thriller, Lyon beat Madrid for the third time in a row thanks to a solo strike by Jean II Makoun in the 47th minute.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar's arrest in the Pakistani port city of Karachi may also push other insurgent leaders thought to be sheltering on this side of the border toward talks with the Afghan government - a development increasingly seen as key to ending the eight-year war.
Baradar, in his late 40s, was the second in command behind Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar and was said to be in charge of the day-to-day running of the organization's leadership council, which is believed based in Pakistan. He was a founding member of the Taliban and is the most important figure of the hardline Islamist movement to be arrested in the war.
Baradar, who also functioned as the link between Mullah Omar and field commanders, has been in detention for more than 10 days and was talking to interrogators, two Pakistani intelligence officials said Tuesday. One said several other suspects were also captured in the raid. He said Baradar had provided "useful information" to them and that Pakistan had shared it with their U.S. counterparts. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
The White House declined to confirm Baradar's capture. Spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters the fight against extremists involves sensitive intelligence matters and he believes it's best to collect that information without talking about it.
President Barack Obama's administration has vowed to kill or seize Taliban and al-Qaida leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The arrest comes as relentless CIA missile strikes against militant targets in the border tribal region have killed several commanders.
Obama has ordered 30,000 extra troops to southern Afghanistan. On Saturday, thousands of them began a major attack on the town of Marjah in the southern province of Helmand, one of the regions that Baradar is believed to control.
Former members of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and security experts said the arrest would hurt the Taliban but was far from a decisive blow. They said Baradar would likely be quickly replaced and that local commanders had a lot of autonomy from the leaders based in Pakistan.
Nevertheless, the capture is likely to cause short-term disruption, since Baradar was the day-to-day commander of the Taliban and his successor would not have the same prestige.
"It's a great tactical success that the coalition forces should be pleased with, but by no means is it the beginning of the end," said Will Hartley, an analyst at Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Center in London. "This will have a noted effect on the short-term ability of the Taliban to operate the way it was. However, it has proved itself a resilient organization."
Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said he could neither confirm nor deny that Baradar was captured but said the removal of any senior leader would have "an immediate impact to their operations.'
"But we've seen, too, that they then push successors into their place... How long it takes them to sort of reconstitute depends on the situation."
Afghan analysts in the U.S. said they were closely watching for a stepped-up U.S. effort to capture or kill Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin, the brutal leaders of the Taliban arm that operates in eastern Afghanistan from bases in northwestern Pakistan.
Pakistan helped create the Taliban and supported the militants' regime in Afghanistan before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, when threats from Washington forced Islamabad to disavow the group.
But Pakistan's spy agencies have long been accused of protecting top Afghan Taliban leaders - many of whom are believed to have fled to Pakistan during the U.S.-led invasion - to use them as tools to counter Indian influence in Afghanistan when the Americans withdraw.
With mounting U.S. casualties in across the border, American officials have pressured Pakistan to target the group's leaders. Security forces here have largely resisted doing so, even while attacking Pakistani Taliban groups blamed for scores of terror attacks.
U.S. and Pakistani officials did not say what led them to Baradar or give details of the raid, triggering speculation that he may have been handed over by Pakistani intelligence officials as part of a trade off in negotiations over the future of Afghanistan or betrayed by other members of the Taliban.
"If Pakistani officials had wanted to arrest him, they could have done it at any time," said Sher Mohammad Akhud Zada, the former governor of Afghanistan's Helmand province and a member of the Afghan parliament. "Why did they arrest him now?"
The arrest could mark a shift in strategy by Pakistan's powerful Inter Services Intelligence agency from protecting or turning a blind eye to the Afghan Taliban to arresting them.
"The Pakistani government have realized that the Taliban is too much of a threat to them, they've decided they've got to draw some red lines for both Pakistani and Afghanistan Taliban," said Michael Clarke, director of the Royal United Services Institute, a military think tank in London. "They decided they need to be seen to take the Taliban on, they need to push them back."
Washington will be hoping that is true.
"It's really evidence of a stronger cooperative effort that's taking place," Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CBS' "The Early Show" from Islamabad, where he was on an unrelated visit when news of the capture broke.
Others cautioned it was too soon to say whether the arrest represented a strategic change or was a one-off event aimed at reducing some of the U.S. pressure on the country. Some said they believed it was simply the result of good intelligence work by the United States.
"I think the intelligence comes from the Americans," said Rahimullah Yousafzai, a Pakistani journalist and expert on the Taliban. "They tell the Pakistanis that 'we have to raid some place' and the Pakistanis say 'we will go along with you.'"
The arrest strengthens reports that Karachi is increasingly being used by members of the Afghan Taliban as a base, possibly because their earlier havens close to the border are now the target of about three CIA missile attacks each week.
A chaotic city of 13 million people, Karachi has a large population of Pashtuns, the ethnic group that makes up the Taliban, meaning it is relatively easy for insurgents to hide there.
Taliban expert Michael Semple said Baradar was known as a "pragmatist" who could be prepared to enter into some kind of talks with the United States.
"If he could get guarantees, he would be willing to negotiate," said Semple, who was expelled from Afghanistan in 2007 by President Hamid Karzai for negotiating with midlevel Taliban commanders when he worked for the European Union.
Semple said the arrest could lead to more pressure on Afghan Taliban commanders to negotiate with the Afghan government if they thought that Pakistan was no longer safe. "I think that this will make the other leaders more inclined to negotiate," he said.
On the one hand, he was shot in the head. On the other, the bullet bounced off him.
In one of those rare battlefield miracles, an insurgent sniper hit Lance Cpl. Koenig dead on in the front of his helmet, and he walked away from it with a smile on his face.
"I don't think I could be any luckier than this," Lance Cpl. Koenig said two hours after the shooting.
Lance Cpl. Koenig's brush with death came during a day of intense fighting for the Marines of Company B, 1st Battalion, 6th Regiment.
The company had landed by helicopter in the predawn dark on Saturday, launching a major coalition offensive to take Marjah from the Taliban.
The Marines set up an outpost in a former drug lab and roadside-bomb factory and soon found themselves under near-constant attack.
Lance Cpl. Koenig, a lanky 21-year-old with jug-handle ears and a burr of sandy hair, is a designated marksman. His job is to hit the elusive Taliban fighters hiding in the tightly packed neighborhood near the base.
American said Tuesday that its first flight into Port-au-Prince will leave Friday morning from Miami International Airport.
The airline will operate three daily nonstop flights from Florida to Haiti, two from Miami and one from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The airline said it will also offer a single flight four days a week from New York's Kennedy Airport.
American's sister regional carrier, American Eagle, will start nonstop service once a day March 12 to Haiti from San Juan, P.R., and two flights from Santo Domingo and Santiago in the neighboring Dominican Republic.
According to Miss Info, Def Jam won a bidding war between Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine and other labels, for the rights to release Shyne's highly anticipated album, his first since 2004.
Shyne is also reportedly being managed by HipHopSince1978, the same company that manages the careers of Drake, Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne.
Its being reported that Shyne is planning to record his album in London, although he was not allowed entry into the country last week, because of his immigration papers.
This is the second time that Shyne has inked a deal with Def Jam.
He signed a seven-figure deal with the label in 2004, although he clashed with CEO LA Reid over the promotion of his album, Godfather: Buried Alive.
His first album, Shyne was released in 2000, but his career was brought to a halt in 2001.
Shyne, real name Moses Michael Leviy , was convicted of two counts of assault, reckless endangerment and gun possession, after the high profile 1999 nightclub shooting, which also involved Sean Diddy Combs and his then girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez.
CAIRO Egypt's most famous pharaoh, King Tutankhamun, was a frail boy who suffered from a cleft palate and club foot. He died of complications from a broken leg exacerbated by malaria and his parents were most likely brother and sister.
Two years of DNA testing and CT scans on Tut's 3,300-year-old mummy and 15 others are helping end many of the myths surrounding the boy king. While a comparatively minor ruler, he has captivated the public since the 1922 discovery of his tomb, which was filled with a stunning array of jewels and artifacts, including a golden funeral mask.
The study, which will be published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, provides the firmest family tree yet for Tut. The tests pointed to Pharaoh Akhenaten, who tried to revolutionize ancient Egyptian religion to worship one god, as Tut's father. His mother was one of Akhenaten's sisters, it said.
Tut, who became pharaoh at age 10 in 1333 B.C., ruled for just nine years at a pivotal time in Egypt's history. Speculation has long swirled over his death at 19. A hole in his skull fueled speculation he was murdered, until a 2005 CT scan ruled that out, finding the hole was likely from the mummification process. The scan also uncovered the broken leg.
The newest tests paint a picture of a pharaoh whose immune system was likely weakened by congenital diseases. His death came from complications from the broken leg along with a new discovery: severe malaria.
The team said it found DNA of the malaria parasite in several of the mummies, some of the oldest ever isolated.
"A sudden leg fracture possibly introduced by a fall might have resulted in a life threatening condition when a malaria infection occurred," the JAMA article said.
"Tutankhamun had multiple disorders... He might be envisioned as a young but frail king who needed canes to walk," it said.
The revelations are in stark contrast to the popular image of a graceful boy-king as portrayed by the dazzling funerary artifacts in his tomb that later introduced much of the world to the glory of ancient Egypt.
They also highlighted the role genetics play in some diseases. The members of the 18th dynasty were closely inbred and the DNA studies found several genetic disorders in the mummies tested such as scoliosis, curvature of the spine, and club feet.
Dr. Howard Markel, a medical historian at the University of Michigan, said some of King Tut's ailments including his bone disease likely were the result of his parents' incestuous marriage. Children born to parents who are so closely related to each other would be prone to genetic problems, he said.
Like his father, Tutankhamun had a cleft palate. Like his grandfather, he had a club foot and suffered from Kohler's disease which inhibits the supply of *lo** to the bones of the foot.
In Tut's case it was slowly destroying the bones in his left foot an often painful condition, the study said. It noted that 130 walking sticks and canes were discovered in Tut's tomb, some of them appeared to have been used.
Egypt's top archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, who co-authored the study, noted that more than 80 years after Tutankhamun's discovery, technology was revealing secrets about the pharaoh.
The study is part of a wider program to test the DNA of hundreds of mummies to determine their identities and their family relations. To conduct the tests, Egypt built two DNA labs to follow international protocols for genetic testing.
Hawass, who had long opposed DNA testing on Egypt's mummies because it would have been performed outside the country, acknowledged his original skepticism. "I never thought that we would really reach a great important discovery," he said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The new study answered long-standing questions about Tutankhamun's family, tracing his grandfather to Pharaoh Amenhotep III. While some archaeologists have speculated that Tut's father was a little-known figure, Smenkhkare, it now appears that it was Akhenaten, who attempted to change millennia of religious tradition by forcing the country to worship the sun god Aten, instead of a multiplicity of deities.
DNA tests pinpointed the mummy of Tut's mother and confirmed she was a sister of his father but the mummy has not yet been firmly identified. Brother-sister marriages were common among Egypt's pharaohs.
"There is a lot fuzziness about the succession and that's why knowing Tutankhamun was the son or direct *lo** descendant would make a difference," said Salima Ikram, an Egyptologist at the American University in Cairo and an expert on mummies.
The tests also disproved speculation that Tutankhamun and members of his family suffered from rare disorders that gave them feminine attributes and misshapen bones, including Marfan syndrome, a connective tissue disorder that can result in elongated limbs.
The theories arose from the artistic style and statues of the period, which showed the royal men with prominent breasts, elongated heads and flared hips.
"It is unlikely that either Tutankhamun or Akhenaten actually displayed a significantly bizarre or feminine physique," the article said.
Hawass' first high profile discovery involving DNA tests, the identification of the mummy of Queen Hatshepsut, came under criticism because it didn't follow accepted scientific protocols and was not published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
The tests were also not confirmed by a second, independent DNA lab.
This time the work by the Supreme Council of Antiquities DNA lab was replicated by a second DNA lab set up at Cairo University and the results were then published in the American medical journal.
Angelique Corthals, an assistant professor of forensic science at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York helped set up the first Egyptian lab and said the work is being conducted according to international standards.
Hawass predicted that many more discoveries were in the works for King Tutankhamun and the mummy project.
"It will never be revealed completely, still we need more research," he said. "We finished the first great part of the mystery and the second one is coming soon in one year."
IT was oh so close.
That close; where a decent result is being viewed with disappointment.
"To be leading Argentina 1-0 up to the 85th minute and to come back and lose, I'm somewhat disappointed," said Theodore Whitmore, Jamaica's coach.
And you couldn't blame him.
World football powerhouse Argentina scored two goals in the last eight minutes, to win 2-1 and deny Jamaica what would have been a historic and stupendous victory, in their friendly international for the Copa Loteria de la Provincia de Burnos Aires (Buenos Aires Lottery Trophy) at the Jose Marilla Minella Stadium in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, last night.
Ryan Johnson gave the Reggae Boyz the lead, scoring a well-placed header from the edge of the penalty box, shortly after the interval at the 47th minute.
With only four minutes remaining, Martin Palermo went low to score the equaliser for Argentina, glancing a header from the edge of the penalty box with good enough pace to beat goalkeeper Dwayne Miller, as it bounced and skidded inside the far post.
goalmouth scramble
Then, in the final seconds of four added minutes, substitute Ignacio Canuto blasted in the winning goal from close following a big goalmouth scramble, to give the Argentine team and fans, who had packed the near 40,000 capacity stadium, the goal they craved, after they were gifted a free kick close to the corner flag.
On that play, defender Jermaine Taylor was called for a foul as he shielded the ball, then turned to clear. The Argentina player challenging him from behind fell to the ground as Taylor spun to kick the ball.
Jamaica fought hard and in the end, they were left to rue as they deserved better for a spirited performance, which saw them launching some useful attacks, until the final 20 minutes when virtually all members of their offensive team, Johnson, Omar Cummings, Navion Boyd and Keammar Daley, were substituted.
The referee's call that led to the game-winner was one of several questionable calls that went against the Jamaicans, in the last quarter hour when they held a score that threatened to embar**** the mighty Argentineans, two-time World Cup winners who are ranked number eight by FIFA.
But with history beckoning, Jamaica, lowly ranked at 78th, may have been better served trying to embrace the occasion than providing the opportunity for international practice, for which the game was designed.
By then, Diego Maradona's Argentina team was pouring on the pressure as Jamaica fell fully into defensive mode, blasting the ball out of defence to turnover possession as they dipped early for the wire.
last 25 minutes
Even before those dying stages though, their game had gone into rapid decline with a series of substitutions in the last 25 minutes.
The substitution that probably hurt the team the most was the replacement of Lovel Palmer at the right flank defensive position with Demar Stewart. The latter, who lacks pace, was caught out time and again as the home team carved a freeway into Jamaica's defence to create danger in front goal, in a way it had never been previously.
Additionally, the usually sound goalie, Miller, was off timing and flapped at air most of the occasions when he came for crosses.
It proved detrimental on the winning goal, when he flapped at the initial cross that spilled into the goalmouth, triggering a scramble that was won by Canuto.
Otherwise Argentina, which generally possessed the ball with ease at the back of the field, established clear superiority. While they were more productive in the latter stages in terms of getting openings, in the first half they could not create a clear scoring chance.
tactical discipline
The latter factor was largely due to the tactical discipline displayed by Jamaica while defending, as they held their position, tracked and marked well.
This closed the spaces in the middle of the field in the final third and forced the home team into opting to drill long balls into the goal area on most occasions.
However, the central defence triumvirate of captain Shavar Thomas, Adrian Reid and Jermaine Taylor, were more than equal to the task and through good positioning, they easily turned away threats of any header intended for the tall centre forward, Martin Palermo.
So good was Jamaica's marking in the first half that Argentina's players could neither dribble through, never had clear chances to provide good crosses on many of the occasions, and the balls fell low for the defenders to boot away.
"The game is 90 minutes and I think we came up short five minutes," said Whitmore. "But overall it gave us something to look at, a platform to really work on with our players to show how to handle this kind of pressure when we play against these teams and to compete at this stage."
He added: "Overall I'm very pleased with the performance of the team, we showed character. The attitude tonight was spot on as well."
Kym, formerly Gaza Kim
Singer Kym, formerly known as Gaza Kim, has released a new song which talks about her assault experience called The Truth.
In January of this year, the teenage singer, real name Kim Hamilton, was assaulted in the community known as 'Big Yard', off Mannings Hill Road.
According to a story previously published in THE STAR, a source close to the 'Gaza' crew disclosed that Kym was at Big Yard when she and a group of men got into a verbal altercation. THE STAR source claimed that Vybz Kartel arrived on the scene and the men were instructed to beat her. A statement from Kartel however, denied his involvement in the incident.
Name change
After the incident the singer changed her name from Gaza Kim to Kym and has since officially left the PortmoreEmpire. She is no longer being managed by Vybz Kartel's record label Adidjaheim Records.
In an interview with radio host Nikki Z, which can be heard on www.youtube.com, Kym explained the situation saying, "I was told that I inform on Vybz Kartel ... I was told to come to the studio 9 o'clock sharp on the day that the incident happened ... I was there and I just started to get beaten and I don't know why." In the interview, Kym confirmed that she knows the identity of the attackers.
wha' really gwaan
In The Truth Kym talks directly about the assault. In the intro she says, "my yute me know and you know wha really gwaan." In the song she sings, "from di day mi born mi fadda neva lay a hand/so how yuh reach so far yuh mek yuh foot go touch mi pants/ a how yuh bright so?"
Kym then explains what happened singing, "siddown a listen mi caw mi nah miss out no part/ everybody know how it start/ first ting 2 o clock inna di mawning/ mi get some text and some calling fi come ova 9 o clock inna di mawning/ but mi neva know a danger calling/ so nuh ask if mi neva get ready, get dress/went over dere and go buck up inna di mess."
She continues in verse two, "yuh assume sey mi do sumting, is best if yuh come confront mi/ but don't put yuh hand pon me /caz a neva you birth me/my yute mek it know sey yuh diss/yuh clownies dem beat me up/mi face full up of fist/yuh deh deh pon di scene so whappen afta dis?/unnu believe sey mi weak but mi a di strongest."
PREEEEMEENTSS..!! Zone
The question I have is what the term "Mack and Toasting" really mean. It can't be anything good I take it. Mi name StreeteWize but right now mi a seek knowledge bout this term.
Mavado Use it in a song but do we actually know wat it means...?
A popular New Kingston, St Andrew nightclub was forced to keep its doors closed over the weekend after the premises was allegedly found with an illegal electricity connection.
Corporate Communications Manager at the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Winsome Callum last night claimed that an illegal connection was removed from the premises on Friday.
Club fans eager to party were surprised after arrived to closed doors. The owner of the club could not be reached for comment as his cellphone numbers went unanswered on several occasions.
When asked if legal action would be brought against the club's owner, Callum explained that such a move is up to the police and not the JPS.
owed to them
"Stealing is a crime but as for legal action, JPS can only do so with the support of the police," she said. "The JPS can only seek to get what is owed to them."
She was however reluctant in saying if the police were alerted about this case.
Investigations by the JPS have found that several entertainment venues in Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine have been operating with illegal connections.
The defending champion's 6-2, 6-3 win over Sabine Lisicki, the 20-year-old Wimbledon quarter-finalist, contained consistent serving, well-timed increases in pressure, and a conspicuously tight focus.
A good week here is important for the five-time Wimbledon champion's belief that, approaching her 30th birthday, she remains capable of winning more majors, and that need showed in the quality of her performance.
There was only one brief moment when it seemed that the hard-hitting but variable German might find sufficient control to get into the match - when she played a brilliant game to break Williams' serve for the only time, and edge up to 3-4 in the second set.
Williams responded immediately, applying extra pressure on her returns to break Lisicki's delivery a fourth time, then smartly closing out the match for the loss of only a point.
She had been put through her paces robustly by her father Richard, before the match, and it appeared to have helped.
"I still try to listen to him," she said, smiling, "and not to rebel against what he says."
The champion's sharp start earned her a meeting with Belarus' Olga Govertsova, a surprise survivor who is coached by her brother, and who brought down the 14th seeded Italian, Francesca Schiavone, in straight sets.
If Williams gets past that as she should, she could go on to a semi-final with the top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki.
However the 19-year-old Dane had to combine resilience and level-headedness to fight back from 1-5 down against an in-form Dominika Cibulkova to win 6-2, 7-6 (7/2).
The buoyant and mobile Slovakian belied her world number 30 ranking to get the better of some athletic baseline exchanges in the middle of the match, and was within two points of taking the second set while serving at 5-2.
"I was getting a bit nervous," admitted Wozniacki.
"But I went out there and I fought and didn't give up, and felt like I was in there all the time."
Wozniacki next plays Shahar Peer, who on Monday became the first Israeli woman to compete in a UAE state, and who scored a high quality win for the second successive day.
Having beaten the 13th seeded Yanina Wickmayer in the first round, Peer now outplayed Virginie Razzano, last year's runner-up, by 6-2, 6-2.
The commitment required of Peer's effort was underlined by her once again overcoming the distractions of careful security, with special arrangements for accommodation, transport, changing and the scheduling of her matches.
"I am very happy with my performance," said the Israeli.
"It was a difficult day for me yesterday because I had two matches and, you know, a lot of emotions, so I am very happy I could be out there, and playing very very good tennis today."
But even though the 22-year-old now faces the favourite in a plum match, Peer will again compete on a well-protected outside court rather than the much more open and conspicuous centre court.
One other seed fell, the fourth-seeded Olympic champion Elena Dementieva and coming here on the back of the Paris Indoor title last Sunday, who retired with a bad shoulder against Daniela Hantuchova; two more seeds, Jelena Jankovic, and Li Na, drifted into trouble and struggled their way out again.
Jankovic, the former world number one, was 1-3 down in the final set against Arazane Rezai, the rising world number 21, before slowing down the French woman's forceful attack just enough to sneak a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win.
And Li Na, whose semi-final finish at last month's Australian Open has lifted her to a career-high world number ten, was similarly 1-3 down in the decider, before fathoming an answer to the difficult left-handed angles of Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, and surviving 7-6 (9/7), 2-6, 6-4.
Obama cast his move as both economically essential and politically attractive as he sought to put more charge into his broad energy agenda. Obama called for comprehensive energy legislation that assigns a cost to the carbon pollution of fossil fuels, giving utility companies more incentive to turn to cleaner nuclear fuel.
"On an issue that affects our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, we can't continue to be mired in the same old stale debates between left and right, between environmentalists and entrepreneurs," Obama said in a stop at a job training center outside Washington. "Our competitors are racing to create jobs and command growing energy industries. And nuclear energy is no exception."
Rising costs, safety issues and opposition from environmentalists have kept utility companies from building new nuclear power plants since the early 1980s
Obama has been arguing that the country must develop cleaner energy technologies and modernize the means by which it powers itself. At the same time, he has said that policymakers must not conclude they have to choose between a cleaner environment and sufficient energy supplies to meet demand.
Obama's budget proposal for 2011 would add $36 billion in new federal loan guarantees to $18.5 billion already budgeted but not spent - for a total of $54.5 billion. The new $8.3 billion in federal loan guarantees will go toward the construction and operation of a pair of reactors in Burke County, Ga., by Southern Co.
Even in promoting his case, the president conceded that nuclear energy has "serious drawbacks." He said a bipartisan group of leaders and nuclear experts will be tasked with improving and accelerating the safe storage of nuclear waste, and that the plants themselves must be held to strictest safety standards.
"That's going to be an imperative. But investing in nuclear energy remains a necessary step," Obama said.
"And what I hope is that this announcement underscores both our seriousness in meeting the energy challenge - and our willingness to look at this challenge not as a partisan issue, but as a matter far more important than politics," he added.
Obama spoke after spending time at the job training center at the headquarters of Local 26 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The union represents electrical and telecommunications workers, and it offers training for energy jobs, including the construction of nuclear power plants.
On the tour, Obama met instructors and trainees who are learning advanced electrical skills. At one point, Obama learned about fire alarm wiring and took a chance to pull an alarm himself. He later joked it was the first time he had done that "since junior high."
Federal loan guarantees are seen as essential to spurring construction of new reactors because of the huge expense. Critics say the guarantees are a form of subsidy that will put taxpayers at risk given the industry's record of cost overruns and loan defaults.
The reactors, to be built by the Atlanta-based energy company near Waynesboro, Ga., are part of a White House plan the administration hopes will win Republican support at a time when the public is expressing a desire for lawmakers to work together to solve problems.
Having Obama make the announcement also underscores the political weight the White House is putting behind the effort to use nuclear power and other alternative energy sources to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and other fossil fuels, and create jobs at home.
But construction of the reactors - and the jobs the project is expected to create - are years away.
Southern Co.'s application for a license to build and operate the reactors is pending with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, one of 13 such applications the agency is considering. The earliest any could be approved would be late 2011 or early 2012, an NRC spokesman said.
Southern Co. says the Georgia project would create about 3,000 construction jobs, while the new reactors would generate power for about 1.4 million people and permanently employ 850 people.
| February 16, 2010. MediaTakeOut.com just learned that the mayor of the Brazilian town of Sao Lourenco has taken unprecedented action - he's BANNED HIP HOP!!! According to the Associated Press, anyone caught in that town either PLAYING or LISTENING to hip hop will be THROWN IN JAIL for 6 months!!! Here's how they're reporting it: Mayor Jose Neto of Sao Lourenco in southeastern Minas Gerais state told Globo television he was banning songs that incite violence and disrespect authority and wanted to protect more traditional Carnival music, such as samba. DAYUMMMMMM!!! |
(L) Merciless (left) was outclassed by a confident Gabriel during their lyrical showdown at The Settlement, held at Links in St Thomas. (R) Mr G (left) and L.A. Lewis performing at The Settlement stage show, held at Links in St Thomas. - Nathaniel Stewart Photos
As dancehall's veteran act Merciless nervously attempted to salvage some pride with the crowd booing heavily, it was evident that a lyrically-gifted Gabriel, armed with sharp lyrics and relentless approach made him a clear winner at The Settlement, held on Saturday at Links in St Thomas.
Merciless, who was struggling badly in a clash dominated by Gabriel, was perhaps overcome by emotions and resorted to intimidation to get the better of his more prepared rival.
A confident Gabriel was primed and ready to deliver from the start, bringing titters of laughter to the crowd when he remarked, "send him out, who guh prison mek ... bend him out?"
sexually deviant
He deejayed and edited bits of his famous Long, Plain and Straight single, leaving out the former prime minister's names, and replaced it with Merciless.
Then a string of 'forwards' followed when he counteracted Merciless' Letter To Mama saying, "mek mi tell yuh bout yuh letter. The blue steel letter'. He continued to deejay a song to Leonard's mom that suggested her good son had been involved in sexually deviant behaviour during his incarceration. The crowd erupted with laughter.
By this time Merciless was still standing in one section of the venue, even though the crowd repeatedly asked for his response. Then, on walked a weird-looking man reportedly from Merciless' camp, who called himself the 'war waiter'.
Gabriel summed up the emotions of the crowd sufficiently when he said, "Rt a who him?" He never got the chance to deejay and quickly bolted off the stage.
Gabriel's confidence surged even higher as lyrical disses were now beginning to flow smoothly. He laughed and remarked, "Merciless know him life a guh end, suh him hide and send out him friend."
The crowd lost its composure. Screams, whistles and cheers filled the venue. Then Merciless appeared on stage, but by the time he had finished pleading to promoter Tommy Thompson saying, "this is not how clash supposed to be, yu have to pay mi gud fi kill people," the crowd was already smelling *lo**.
So, even when he performed old favourites like Lend Out Mi Mercy, the crowd was booing loudly. And when he didLetter to Mama, he was soundly booed again, but, to his credit, he deejayed throughout the boos.
Merciless even attempted to intimidate Gabriel when he grabbed at his microphone and threatened to use his knife. The two were involved in a slight rumble before security squashed the situation.
The clash ended there, bringing to a close a hilarious night of entertainment.
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Rapper Jay Z, right, and NBA star LeBron James held their annual 2 Kings dinner at All Star weekend in Dallas, texas on Saturday.
L to R: Jay Z, Puffy and LeBron at the 2 Kings dinner in Dallas on Saturday.
Jay Z and Puff bond with newcomer Drake at the dinner.
Kobe Bryant and his wife Vanessa looked so bored at the dinner.
Rappers Drake and Jay Z
Sexy actress Regina King showed up at the dinner without a date.
Dwyane Wade was there.
So was NBA star Chris Paul.
Sean Combs and his sons Christian, left, and Quincy Brown, right, attended an event prior to the dinner.
Old school rapper Mike Bivins attended the dinner.
Actor Mario Lopez attended the dinner with one of his chicks.
NUH UHHHHHHHH!!!! MAN GETS EXTREMELY DRUNK AT NIGHT CLUB . . . THEN PLACES HIS TONGUE WHERE IT AIN'T HAVE NO BUSINESS BEING!!! (WARNING - PARENTAL DISCRETION) |
SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) "Black children are an endangered species," says Ryan Bomberger with Georgia's too many aborted campaign as he reads a huge billboard in the Atlanta Georgia area.
It's one thing to say it, but Bomberger put it on 80 billboards, and saw lots of controversy as a result.
"We believe we have to jolt not only the African American community, but the entire public," said Bomberger.
The jolt is even felt here in Shreveport, Louisiana.
"This is disgusting, and we won't tolerate it," said Dr. Artis Cash with National Action Network Shreveport chapter.
Cash says aside from it being a non issue in the black community, he says the claim insults the entire black community, he says the ad implies that more black women have abortions than white women.
"I think it's disgusting that we would use a black child in this way to try and get us on board in this anti abortion thing," said Cash.
But the backers of these huge and edgy signs believe millions have been aborted by black women, since the 70's.
"You've got millions and millions who are not here because of abortions," said Bomberger.
None of these signs have been seen in the Ark-La-Tex.
Cash says if that changes anytime soon, he'll lead numerous demonstrations against them.