1.DUDUS
2.VYBZ KARTEL
3.BRUCE GOLDING

Messi claims 2010 Ballon D'Or award

ZURICH (AP)

Lionel Messi won his second straight FIFA player of the year award Monday, with his mesmerizing play for Barcelona outweighing a disappointing World Cup.

The Argentine forward beat out Barcelona teammates Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta for the renamed FIFA Golden Ball Award, which merged the FIFA player of the year with France Football's Golden Ball. Messi became the first repeat winner since Ronaldinho in 2004 and 2005.

Messi received 22.65 percent of the votes cast by national team coaches and captains plus selected reporters. Iniesta followed with 17.36 percent and Xavi received 16.48 per cent to finish third for the second straight year. All three finalists are products of Barcelona's La Masia youth academy.

Eight of the 20 winners of the FIFA award have come from Barcelona, which also won with Brazilians Romario (1994), Ronaldo (1996 and 1997), Rivaldo (1999) and Ronaldinho.

Jose Mourinho was voted men's coach of the year after leading Inter Milan to the European Champions League title, Brazilian forward Marta was selected women's player of the year for the fifth straight time and Germany's Silvia Neid earned women's coach of the year honors.

Barcelona also placed six players on the 11-man All-Star team announced by FIFA and the union FIFPro, with Messi, Xavi and Iniesta joined by defenders Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique, and forward David Villa, who transferred from Valencia just before the World Cup.

Also on the team were Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Castillas and forward Cristiano Ronaldo, and three Inter players: defenders Lucio and Maicon, and midfielder Wesley Sneijder.

The 23-year-old Messi helped Barcelona retain its Spanish league title. The Blaugrana lead the Spanish standings again this season.

"It's a very special day for me," Messi said through a translator.

The 23-year-old forward scored 58 goals in 54 games for the Catalan club in 2010 and had two in 10 matches with Argentina but failed to score for the Albiceleste at the World Cup. Iniesta and Xavi helped Spain win its first World Cup title, with Iniesta scoring the overtime goal in the 1-0 win over the Netherlands in the final.

"I didn't expect to win it today," Messi said. "Already it's a source of happiness to be here with my friends and even more to win it."

Messi won on the strength of the votes of national team coaches and captains, finishing first among both those groups. Sneijder received the highest percentage from the media, with Iniesta second, Xavi third and Messi fourth.

U.S. coach Bob Bradley and captain Carlos Bocanegra both voted Xavi first, with Bradley picking Sneijder second and Messi third. Bocanegra selected Iniesta second and Sneijder third. Soccer America's Paul Kennedy, the only U.S. media voter, had Xavi first, followed by Messi and Sneijder.

Mourinho was voted FIFA men's coach of the year after leading Inter Milan to the Champions League, Serie A and Italian Cup titles.

Mourinho, the self-dubbed "Special One," received 35.92 percent and beat Spain coach Vicente del Bosque (33.08) and Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola (8.45) in the inaugural prize. The Portuguese coach left Inter after the 2009-10 season to become coach of Real Madrid.

"The most important things for me are the collective titles, not the individual ones," Mourinho said.

Bradley selected Mourinho first, followed by Del Bosque and Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, while Bocanegra had Guardiola first, followed by Mourinho and Del Bosque. Kennedy voted Del Bosque first, followed by Mourinho and Germany coach Joachim Loew.

Marta received 38.2 percent, beating out Germany's Birgit Prinz (15.18) and Kosovo-born Lira Bajramaj (9.96). Marta was rewarded for her MVP season with the Gold Pride of the Women's Professional Soccer league in the United States, which folded, The team, based in Santa Clara, Calif., folded in November.

"I'm looking at contracts for the league. For the time being I have nothing confirmed," she said through a translator.

Neid, the coach of Germany's national team, received 24.06 percent, finishing ahead of Maren Meinert of Germany's world champion under-20 team (18.26) and U.S. women's team coach Pia Sundhage (11.68).

Hamit Altintop won the Puskas Award for most beautiful goal in 2010 for his volleyed shot for Turkey against Kazakhstan in a 2012 European Championship qualifier. The Bayern Munich midfielder connected with a right-footed shot from yards after a left-flank corner had looped directly into his path.

The award is named after the late Hungarian and Real Madrid great Ferenc Puskas.

Haitian soccer received the FIFA fair play award for its recovery from an earthquake which devastated the Caribbean island last January.

The FIFA presidential award was made to Archbishop Desmond Tutu in recognition of South Africa's organization of the World Cup.

Recently, we stumbled on a well organized blog, ironically called KISS MY TEETH. They basically gave a run-down of 2010 Dancehall music. Check out the posts excerpts below.

Last year Kiss my Teeth/Imagelala did a much more straightforward run down of the top ten riddims and singles of 2009, but this 2010 round-up goes a little deeper into the shifty geology that makes up this years successes and failures in dancehall. In 2010 we saw the sometimes successful, sometimes brash shuffle dancehall took into new sounds, the systematic revoking of visas, catastrophic failures in album sales, the incredible personal branding successes and some serious bleaching.

Clashes No More

With the revoking of many artistes American visas, coupled with Bishop Herro Blairs orchestrated peace initiative between longtime feuding deejays Mavado and Vybz Kartel in early December 2009, dancehall had no choice but to turn a new page. With no beef to simmer, gun songs became scarce and slackness picked up well, the slack. Kartel and Mavado went head to head with gyal songs, but also delivered epic conscious songs with Thank Yuh Jah and Nine Life. Man a General!

Some peace initiatives were made in the studio. The most surprising being that of Cham and Bounty Killer who squashed their longtime feud to make the Dave Kelly/Mad House banger Stronger, a tune that shows the return of the 90s dancehall beat. Even Beenie Man was seen out mixing and mingling with the old crew (and later talking frankly about his business relationship with Kartel on Raggas show). In fact, everyone seemed to be getting along except Kartel, who was still building enemies as quickly as he was slamming singles. Needless to say, not much controversy came to head by the end of 2010, which made business slow for some (especially the uncreative) and in turn left the annual Boxing Day STING concert with not much of a burn.

Genres Evolve

While 2010 marked the year of amazing feats in sound for some artistes, an innocuous classification called Island Pop surfaced as the newest genre bending version of Jamaican music. Despite dancehalls long history of being closely linked with hip hop, and reggaes love affair with R&B, 2010 seemed to be name-tagged the year Jamaican music ventured into pop to create a new style (thats to say the lines werent blurred already). The marking of its coming was due in part to the release of the Razz and Biggy mixtape titled Island Pop and newcomer Richie Loops catchy My Cupp tune. However, the new genre title began, and shortly ended, when the cupp ran dry.

Few dancehall artistes shed their skin to embrace new sounds, but female deejay Natalie Storm climbed to the top when she released her house/reggae/dancehall mixtape, Songs to F*** and Fight To. Her producer, Prodigal Entertainment, released a refreshing riddim called Showa Eski with tracks from Grime artiste Wiley, Jamaican artiste Rage and British dive Lady Chann, showcasing dancehalls intermingling with Grime. Dancehall trained Jamaican artiste, Terry Lynn, continued her romance with house/electro music in her Wildlife! produced track, Nocturnal World. American producer Diplo extended his affection for Jamaica by continuing to stick his fingers into the dancehall cookie jar, djing on multiple occasions around Kingston and producing singles with local artistes.

VYBZ takes the Cake

Vybz Kartel did a lot of things this year: He released a double disc album of his tracks from the last year or two, he infamously fired Gaza Kim and Blak Ryno from the Gaza Empire, he became the unofficial spokes person for Clarks (and cakesoap), he took over the Building (formally Asylum) on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays AND Saturdays all while flirting with the topic of bleaching. Known as the unofficial Robert Johnson of dancehall, some have suggested the man has sold his soul to the devil for success, which could explain why the color is being sucked out of him. Of the many tracks he did this year, here are the top ten:

1. Clarks Pt.1 ft Gaza Slim and Popcaan (Notnice)

2. Straight Jeans and Fitted (Russian)

3. Clarks Pt. 2 (Russian)

4. Touch a Button Nuh (TJ Records)

5. Dumpa Truck (Smokin Riddim)

6. Cakesoap (Blue Bamma Riddim)

7. Oh Deh Gyal (Doncorleon)

8. Turn and Wine (DNA Riddim)

9. Thank Yuh Jah (Notnice)

Mavado continued to build his success at a very different pace then Kartel but with the same self-branding boldness, assuming the throne as LIME ambassador and packing QUAD every Wednesday for his Stulla Wednesdays based on the popularization of the term. For those who dont know, Stulla from the track with the same name off the Smokin Riddim is a term for a thoroughbred horse, a long-distance stulla. The Gully Gwad used a different angle, spending time in Europe and Canada touring and working on a newer, cleaner image (without the cakesoap routine). Here are the top ten songs from Mavado for 2010:

1. Stulla (Smokin Riddim)

2. Nine Life (Di Genius)

3. Come Into My Room ft. Stacious (Di Genius)

4. Nuh Fraid a Dem (DJ F****)

5. Gyal a Mad Ova (Di Genius)

6. Hold Me (Sex Appeal Riddim)

7. When You Feel Lonely (Daseca)

8. Pon Di Ting (Seanizzle)

9. Gyal Dem Love Me Daily (Payday)

10. Stullesha (Winnings Riddim)

The Hold Yuh Phenom

Gyptian swept the world with his Ricky Blaze produced Hold Yuh track, the single for his album with the same title. While the song made waves and sparked interest everywhere, provoking a remix from rapper Nicki Minaj, his album did little to meet the hype. The track, however, resonated for a good portion of the year with remarkable success thanks to the pop style riddim and his keen play on words (tightest hold/tightest hole).

The artistically diverse dancehall artiste, Busy Signal, dropped the album D.O.B. early summer providing a contemporary collection of Jamaican music at its most experimental. The artiste used an open mind to mix Latin sounds with one-drops and opera but lacked the hype to score major downloads. Despite slow record sales, Busy still made for one of the most focused artistes this year leading in songs for girls to fling up dem backside thanks to tracks like Bare Gyal and Jafrican Ting.

Spragga Benz also released a solid album with Shotta Culture, giving old school dancehall fans something to add to their collection, but all in all albums released in 2010 produced hardly enough of a wave to boost overseas sales. In most cases this had less to do with the quality of the album and more to do with the state of the music industry.

New Artistes/ Hot Shots

Very few new artistes emerged in 2010 with exception to Khago who built two instant hits with the tracks Nah Sell Out on the one Day Riddim and Nah Sell Out Pt. 2 on the Split Personality Riddim. New artiste Chan Dizzy also took a lap around the dancehall track with his song, Nuh Strange Face. Breakout artiste for 2010 should be handed to Popcaan for the complete 0 to 60 he made in 2010 with Clarks Pt. 1, Dream and Hot Grabba.

Artistes continuing on a steady incline in 2010 included Chino, who took Japan (again) with From Mawning, Konshens, who toured Europe and Japan, Serani, who never goes off tour and I-Octane, who

A virulent form of herpes is killing countless Pacific oysters this summer, according to a new study accepted for publication in the journal Virus Research.

The deadly virus has already destroyed anywhere from 20 to 100 percent of its victims in French oyster beds, and has spread to oysters in Britain. Farmed oysters in California also have tested positive for herpes, although not this latest, highly infectious strain.

Read

New Yorkwas a home away from home for Carlos Castro.

The popular Portuguese gossip columnistand gay activist would fly in for the city's star-studded Fashion Weeks and hadinstructed his family and friends that when he died, he wanted his ashesscattered in Manhattan.

In lateDecember, the 65-year-old writer flew in for what was supposed to be a romanticgetaway with his new lover, a chiseled male model nearly 45 years his junior.

 

 

The couple dined, took in a show and rang in the New Year at the Crossroads of theWorld.

But only a few days later, the idyllictrip turned tragic when police found Castro's mutilated body in his room at theInterContinental hotel and later took his lover, Renato Seabra, intocustody as a person of interest.

"He loved New York City," said Vicky Fernandes, a closefriend of Castro's. "He always said the city of his life was New York."

She and other friends described Castroon Saturday as a courageous champion of gay rights and an eccentric,multilingual scribe who had been the first to chronicle Lisbon's high society.

"He enjoyed good food and drinksand always had the right word at the right time," said Luis Pires, editor ofthe Portuguese newspaper Luso Americano, who had been friends with Castro for30 years. "He'd wear designer clothes like Louis Vuitton, neversuits, more like jeans and button-down shirts, Liberace-style."

Castro counted among his friends theformer president of Portugal MarioSoares and designer Ana Salazar, a fashion pioneer in his homeland.

"I was both in his best- andworst-dressed lists in the '80s," Salazar told The Associated Press.

Shesaid she was shocked by his death.

"It'slike something out of a horror movie," she added.

Armando Esteves Pereira, publisher of the Lisbon newspaper Correio da Manha, which ranhis daily gossip column, described Castro as "the inventor of our jetset." He told the Portuguese news agency Lusa that the prolific writer hadleft several columns that will run in the next few weeks.

Castro was born in Angola and moved to Portugal in 1975, after the former colony gainedindependence from Portugal.

Inhis teen years, his writing blossomed, earning him first place in renownedpoetry contests. Friends said he went on to pen several books and appear regularlyon television.

Inhis youth, he served openly as a gay soldier in the country's army, accordingto reports.

In Portugal, filmcritic and friend Rui Pedro Tendinha said he drew admirers for "revealingthe feminine side of his personality."

"Thisis shocking everyone in Portugal,"Fernandes said. "It's a great loss. It's not easy to understand. We don'tknow how this is possible."

Gabrielle Giffords, right, the Democrat representative for Arizonas 8th district,

in Washington last week. Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP

A US congresswoman was shot in the head at point blank range yesterday and six people were killed at a public meeting outside a grocery shop in Arizona. The dead included a nine-year-old girl and a federal judge.

Gabrielle Giffords, a 40-year-old Democratic member of the House of Representatives, was airlifted to University Medical Centre in Tucson after being targeted by a 22-year-old army reject. A surgeon at the hospital said Giffords was in a critical condition following emergency surgery last night, but added: "I am very optimistic about her."

Describing the shooting as "an unspeakable tragedy", President Barack Obama asked people to pray for "a friend of mine" who was battling for her life. "While we are continuing to receive information, we know that some have passed away, and that Representative Giffords is gravely wounded," he said. "Gaby is not only an extraordinary public servant but also someone who is warm and kind, who was liked by her colleagues and her constituents."

As Obama ordered the FBI director, Robert Mueller, to Tucson to oversee the investigation, Arizona sheriff Clarence Dupnik said police had a photo of a second man they are hunting who they thought was also involved in the attack.

Giffords's assailant was last night named as Jared Lee Loughner. He was described by a doctor who treated some of the victims at the scene as a young white man with a "determined look on his face" and wearing dark clothing.

After shooting Giffords, he used an automatic weapon to shoot at up to 30 people leaving several dead and 13 wounded, many of whom were also airlifted to hospital. Among the dead, according to Pima County sheriffs, were the child, and the US District Judge John Roll, who had been involved in immigration cases and had previously received death threats.

Only when Loughner ran out of ammunition did he attempt to flee. One of Giffords's aides tackled the assailant and helped to pin him down until police arrived.

Giffords had been named as a political campaign target for conservatives in last November's mid-term elections by former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin because of her strong support for Obama's health reforms. Palin had published a "target map" on her website using images of gun sights to identify 20 House Democrats, including Giffords, for backing the new healthcare law.

While the motive for the shooting was not immediately clear, Giffords is one of 10 Democrat members of Congress who were the subject of ha****ment over their support for the healthcare overhaul. Giffords's Tucson constituency office was vandalised last March after she voted in favour of Obama's controversial health bill, which has been bitterly opposed by the American right.

In an interview after the vandalism, Giffords referred to the animosity against her. "We're on Sarah Palin's targeted list," she said, "but the thing is, the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they have to realise that there are consequences to that action."

Palin came under huge criticism for her campaign and issued a statement via her Facebook page last night offering her "sincere condolences" to Giffords and her family.

The shooting happened shortly after 10am local time outside a Safeway store in Tucson. Loughner ran up and opened fire on Giffords while she was talking to a couple. The event, called "Congress on Your Corner", was designed to allow members of Giffords's 8th Congressional district to meet her face to face. The congresswoman herself had used Twitter shortly before the shooting, saying: "My first Congress on Your Corner starts now. Please stop by to let me know what is on your mind or tweet me later."

Witnesses said that the gunman ran into a "crowded area" and began "firing indiscriminately". Andrea Gooden, who was working across the road from the scene, said: "I heard about 15 shots. Then there were people racing across the parking lot."

Another witness, Steven Rayle, who helped restrain Loughner, said: "The event was very informal. Giffords had set up a table outside the Safeway and about 20 or 30 people were gathered to talk to her. The gunman, who may have come from inside the Safeway, walked up and shot Giffords in the head first."

Jason Pekau, an employee at a shop close to the shooting, said two bodies were covered on the pavement after emergency services had arrived at the scene.

Giffords, who was born in Tucson and has two children, took office in January 2007 supporting immigration control, embryonic stem-cell research and the right to abortion.

Representative Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, told CNN that Giffords's office had been shot at before and that she had received death threats in the past. At another event in 2009 which was similar to the one Giffords was holding, a protester was removed by police when his pistol fell to the supermarket floor.

Although a Democrat, Giffords was a strong supporter of the right to bear arms and was re-elected to her third term last November, edging out the Tea Party favourite Jesse Kelly.

Giffords is married to space shuttle astronaut Mark Kelly, and is the first Jewish woman elected to Congress from Arizona and the third female ever to be elected for that state. She has been building up a prominent public profile, with frequent appearances in the national media.

The US Capitol Police force said that it was advising Congress representatives and their aides to "take reasonable and prudent precautions" about their own security in the wake of the shooting.

The Augusta Chronicle reports that a man has been jailed for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death.According to authorities, Theodore Ted Cornell Lockett, 21, once lived with his grandma, Dorothy Lockwood, in her Apache Trail home.

Police say Lockett returned to the home in the early hours of Sunday morning. He broke out a window and confronted his grandmother in the living room. Lockett began assaulting her, knocking her to the floor and striking her several times in the head with a glass table.

Lockett then called his mother, Sondra Lockett, around 2 a.m. and told her hed just killed his grandmother and was going to kill her, according to the police report. He went back inside the home and resumed his attack on the elderly woman, beating her with a microwave oven.

When police arrived, Lockett surrendered without incident inside the home. Mrs. Lockwood died from her injuries at 5 a.m. Sunday. Another woman in the home was uninjured. She was bedridden and being cared for by Lockwood. Lockett had been treated at a behavioral health facility in the past, but he has no psychiatric diagnosis.He was booked on charges of murder, aggravated assault, burglary and making terroristic threats.

RIO DE JANEIRO Two brothers were charged with killing their father, a local Afro-Brazilian religious leader, by knocking him out with sleeping pills and then burying him alive, investigators told a Brazilian news website.

Antonio Valente Filho, chief of police of Timon,in Maranhao state, told Globo TV's G1 website that the brothers, ages 18 and 21, confessed this week to planning the murder. They told police their father was a violent man who drank too much and didn't accept their homosexuality, said Filho said.

A neighbor was also questioned about whether hehelped the brothers dig the hole, Valente Filho told G1. Neither the suspects nor the victim were named.

The two men gave their father a stronger dose than usual of his sleeping pills and buried him while he was unconscious, G1reported. An autopsy confirmed the victim died underground of asphyxiation.

"He really was buried alive," ValenteFilho told G1. "We are investigating the real motive for the crime."

The chief said police are investigating whether the victim's role as head of a local Afro-Brazilian religious congregation may have been a motivation for the killing.

"We believe they might have been fighting for control of the ceremonial grounds," Valente Filho said. "We don't think this was just over their fights regarding the sons' sexual orientation."

He told G1 that after the neighbor told others about the grave they dug together, the brothers confessed to an uncle, who called police.

track and field or football?


I know football is popular worldwide

but track and field seemed to put JA on the map worldwide..

If you thought the relationship between rapper Nicki Minaj and Rihanna was interesting before . . . it's about to get A WHOLE LOT MORE SO!!! According to a ROCK SOLID MediaTakeOut.com insider, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna are MOVING IN TOGETHER!!!

The snitch told MediaTakeout.com, "Nicki and [Safaree] rent a house in the Hollywood Hils. Their lease is up, and so they need a place to live." The insider continues, "Now that Matt moved out [of Rihanna's house] Robyn [Rihanna] has got a ton of space, so Nicki's going to stay there." Nicki's fiance Safaree will be getting a separate apartment, by himself.

And what about any future romance popping off between the two. MediaTakeOut.com's snitch explained, "I don't think anything happened yet, but they both are very open. Maybe one drunk night something might [pop off]."

Divisionof Mental Hygiene

 

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/dmh/dmh-mental_illness.shtml

What To Do

If you have questions, call 311,New York Citysphone number for government and non-emergency services or directly to theOffice of Consumer Affairs at 212-219-5393.

For mental health or treatment referrals callLIFENET: 1-800-LIFENET (1-800-543-3638; 1-877-AYUDESE en Español; 1-800-543-3638for Asian-speaking populations) is a toll-free, confidential help line thatprovides callers with information and referrals for those seeking services tomental health and substance abuse resources throughout the New York City area. LIFENET operates 24 hoursper day/seven days per week.

What DOHMH Is Doing

 

 

The New York City Department of Health andMental Hygiene contracts with hundreds of agencies throughout the 5 boroughs tohelp people of all ages with mental illness. Most consumers are served inoutpatient treatment programs, although some consumers occasionally require ahigher level of care (such as inpatient) during times of crisis. There areseparate programs targeting children, ranging from young children toadolescents, and DOHMH also funds programs tailored for older adults.

As part of the Take Care New York program, DOHMH is committed tocombating depression by making depression screening and management available asa routine part of primary care in New York City. DOHMH promotes the use of the PHQ-9, asimple set of nine questions that tells a primary care doctor whether his orher patient is likely to be depressed. The goal is to give primary carephysicians a simple, numerical measure to detect depression, similar tomeasuring *la*hd pressure or cholesterol. If the measurement is too high, thenthe doctor, patient and family know that something needs to be done. DOHMH alsocurrently oversees, in collaboration with the NYC Department for the Aging andthe Mental Health Association of New York City, the Geriatric DepressionScreening Initiative, which provides detection and treatment of depressionamong New Yorkers over 55.

Individuals who suffer from mental illness aremore likely to abuse alcohol and drugs and abusing these substances cantrigger or exacerbate mental illness. During the past several years, also aspart of Take Care New York, DOHMH has promoted the useof buprenorphine, a new treatment for heroin and other opioids. These effortsresulted in a steady increase in New Yorkers prescribed buprenorphine, fromnear zero in January 2003 to more than 1,300 in January 2007.

DOHMH focuses on helping consumers recoverfrom their illness and lead productive lives. The Department realizes thatrecovery from mental illness is more difficult without a stable homeenvironment. As a result, getting homeless mentally ill consumers off thestreets and into permanent housing is one of the Departments goals.

The City also funds over 40 other types ofprograms that serve people with mental illnesses, helping them to lead fullproductive lives within their communities and to recover. These includeclubhouses, employment programs and case management as well as other housingprograms,

Consumer Support

Furthering our mission of supporting recovery,the Departments Office of Consumer Affairs ensures that the systems servingNew Yorkers with mental hygiene conditions are aware of the practical needsconsumers face. The Office of Consumer Affairs achieves this mission by makingsure that the Department understands, listens to and integrates the voices ofconsumers in service delivery, policy and planning. The Office of ConsumerAffairs directly serves the community through the provision of an informationand referral line; library and Internet access; scholarships to pertinentconferences and seminars; promoting leadership development; and by advocatingat public speaking events, among other activities.

 

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Roy Hodgson has left Liverpool by mutual consent after a dismal seven months in charge, with Kenny Dalglish taking over as manager for the rest of the season.

Hodgson had been under pressure for some time and speculation over his future intensified after Wednesday night's 3-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers. That left Liverpool in 12th, four points above the relegation zone.

The former Fulham boss was expected to face the media on Friday lunchtime ahead of Sunday's FA Cup showdown with Manchester United at Old Trafford, but the club pulled the plug on the scheduled press conference.

Liverpool face a crucial week, with a trip to Blackpool on Wednesday followed by the Merseyside derby against Everton an Anfield next weekend on the back of the game at United.

Hodgson had lost the supporters following a run of form which included defeats home defeats to Blackpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers, as well as losses at Newcastle United and Stoke City. Liverpool also suffered an embar****ing Carling Cup defeat to League Two strugglers Northampton Town at Anfield.

There has long been a clamour for Dalglish, who successfully managed the club to the Double in the 80s and won the Premier League title with Blackburn Rovers in 1995, to replace Hodgson at the helm. While the move is currently on a temporary basis it will be difficult to replace him should he transform Liverpool's fortunes.

In a statement on the club's website, principal owner John Henry said: "We are grateful for Roy's efforts over the past six months, but both parties thought it in the best interests of the club that he stand down from his position as team manager. We wish him all the best for the future.

"We are delighted that Kenny Dalglish has agreed to step in and manage the team for Sunday's FA Cup tie at Old Trafford and for the remainder of the season.

"Kenny was not just a legendary footballer, he was the third of our three most successful managers - three giants. We are extraordinarily fortunate and grateful that he has decided to step in during the middle of this season.''

Chairman Tom Werner said: "No one who cares for this great club has been happy with the way this season has unfolded and we have examined options and considered at length what is best for us going forward.

"Kenny will bring considerable experience to the position and provide management and leadership for the rest of the season.''

Hodgson said of his departure: "Being asked to manage Liverpool Football Club was a great privilege. Any manager would be honoured to manage a club with such an incredible history, such embedded tradition and such an amazing set of fans.

"Liverpool is one of the great clubs in world football. I have, however, found the last few months some of the most challenging of my career.

"I am very sad not to have been able to put my stamp on the squad, to be given the time to bring new players into the club in this transfer window and to have been able to be part of the rebuilding process at Liverpool.

"The club has some great, world-class players, with whom it has been a pleasure to work and I wish the entire squad well for the rest of the season.

"I thank those with whom I have built up a close working relationship at the club for their loyalty and support during very testing times, and finally of course to the Liverpool fans, your passion and dedication to the club will see Liverpool at the top of the game once more.''

-- Edited by Prezi on Saturday 8th of January 2011 09:50:47 AM

LITTLE ELM, Texas Uche Okafor, a defender on two Nigerian World Cup teams and a stalwart player for the Kansas City Wizards in the U.S., committed suicide this week at his Dallas-area home, authorities said Friday. He was 43.

Go here

http://dancehalljamaica.info/blog/kartel-to-start-own-shoe-brand/

The Kardashian sisters cost fans big money with their short-lived and ill-fated pre-paid debit card, and now, it may cost them big time.

According to Radar Online, the sisters are being sued for $75 million by Revenue Resource Group for pulling out of a deal with Mastercard for a pre-paid debit card for fans, saying the reneging cost the company millions.

Read

 

RIO DE JANEIRO Two brothers were charged with killing their father, a local Afro-Brazilian religious leader, by knocking him out with sleeping pills and then burying him alive, investigators told a Brazilian news website.

Antonio Valente Filho, chief of police of Timon, in Maranhao state, told Globo TV's G1 website that the brothers, ages 18 and 21, confessed this week to planning the murder. They told police their father was a violent man who drank too much and didn't accept their homosexuality, said Filho said.

Read more...

 

Corey Todd, manager of The Building nightclub, has thrown his full weight behind a music industry initiative to raise the funds necessary to pay for a $4 million kidney transplant operation for Ravers Clavers dancer Mundo. He, alongside Ding Dong, will be hosting a fund-raising event next week for the dancer, and all artistes are invited to show their support.
http://soundcloud.com/millsydon/ding-mundo-adds#new-timed-comment-at-38010 CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

An airport in Tampa, Florida, has had to temporarily close its runways to keep up with Earth's magnetic north pole, which is drifting toward Russia at a rate of 40 miles per year.

The rapper posted a $40,000 bond and was released from the Henry County jail yesterday (Jan. 5) after a raid at his house that resulted in several men getting detained and arrested on minor drug and gun possession charges.

Although Waka wasnt at the house during the bust, he was charged with marijuana and hydrocone possession, firearm possession of a felon, probation violation for driving with a suspended license and violating the states Anti-Gang laws.

Additionally, hes been charged with violating the terms of his probation for possessing a shot gun earlier in the year.

Most of the penises painted on houses or suspended from rooftops in Bhutan are larger than humans.

They come in various sizes, color schemes and embellishments. Some have ribbons tied around them like jovial holiday presents. Others are coiled by daunting dragons. A few even have eyes. They typically feature hairy testicles, from the neatly trimmed to full-on Yeti-style. And, of course, all are fully erect.

Oh, golly, said an elderly woman visiting from Seattle, when she stepped off the bus in the Punakha valley and found herself surrounded by an alarming concentration of penis imagery, set against a magnificent Himalayan backdrop.

She was one of just 30,000 outsiders in 2010 who visited this isolated country wedged between China and India. While Bhutan tops many travel wish lists thanks to its almost utopic reputation as the last Shangri La and a place where the government measures success in Gross National Happiness instead of gross domestic product only a fraction can afford such a trip.

 

 

 

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Bhutan, famously wary of mass tourism, has been trying to prevent an influx of volume tourists who might create demand for Western-style culture. So the country of just 700,000 keeps those numbers low by charging visitors a daily minimum fee of up to $250.

But there's a tension here.

Since tourism is a major source of income for Bhutan, Prime Minister Jigme Thinley announced earlier this year that Bhutan aims to triple the number of tourists by 2012.

That's potentially bad news for penis worship. That's because some here worry the influx of tourists to this isolated Buddhist oasis is already weakening the essence of Bhutan namely its relationship with the omnipresent phallus.

The decline of the phallus is especially evident in urban Bhutan, a term locals insist is not an oxymoron.

Phallus paintings and wood carvings were ubiquitous, like red chilies, all over Bhutan. But now they are fading as Bhutan undergoes prudish self-censorship, said Dasho Karma Ura, president of the Centre for Bhutan Studies in Thimphu, the nations picturesque capital.

According to Ura, penis depictions diminished in towns where the architecture took new styles as urban dwellers disassociated themselves from earthy symbols. There was a tendency to shy away from the need to confront sexuality in its most transcendent aspiration and practice, he said.

And, truth to be told, Western tourists as liberal and open-minded as they believe they are tend to be stunned by all the penis images in this conservative society where people seldom show affection in public.

According to Ura, that's because Westerners are accustomed to nudity and sexuality on the female form flaunting nudes, torsos and breasts whereas the Bhutanese traditionally shy away from reducing females to sex symbols.

Representation of female nudity is conventionally a blatant sign of reduction of the female to sexuality, Ura said. Phallic imagery that reminds men of their self-centeredness is a counterculture, not a celebration of the male.

More broadly, Bhutanese paint phalluses on their homes to protect their families from evil spirits and to promote fertility. Flying phalluses are also tributes to the adored religious teacher and master of mahamudra Buddhism, Drukpa Kunley, colloquially known as The Divine Madman or The Saint of 5,000 Women.

Born in the year of the wood-pig, in the eighth cycle, or as Westerners prefer 1455, Kunley pioneered an unorthodox branch of Buddhism based on enlightening the common folk, mostly women. He also offered blessings in the form of sex.

Kunley traveled through Tibet and Bhutan, urging followers to reject the hypocrisy and greed of the world and to lead honest and spiritual lives. He spent his days singing and drinking with the ladies and deflowering virgins. His sexual escapades are legendary, so much so that a monastery in the Punakha valley was built in his honor after he subdued the cannibal demon goddess of the area with his magic thunderbolt of wisdom.

But the goddess wasnt the only female Kunley apparently subdued, enlightened or impregnanted. He was a great womanizer, said Karma Letho, a tourist guide, as he points proudly to a wooden effigy of Kunleys thunderbolt, today preserved in the monastery.

Today hundreds of childless Bhutanese couples make pilgrimages to the fertility temple, Chimi Lhakhang, where a Buddhist monk blesses them with a wooden phallus.

In Buddhist astrology, infertility is explained as an incompatibility of the combination of elements between couples.

According to Lopen Tshewang-Gyeltohen, a Buddhist monk from Thimphu, at least two of the five elements of each person (life energy, physical health, finances, social success and mental confidence, which correspond to the five universal elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water) must be compatible. The rest can be corrected by prayers, ceremonies and blessings.

"Illuminati, Greek illumination, name given to those who submitted to Christian baptism. Those who were baptized were called "illuminati" or "illuminated ones" by the Ante-Nicene clergy, on the assumption that those who were instructed for baptism in the Apostolic faith had an enlightened understanding.

Do they still exist? Apparently for some....

When creating this web site, we were under the belief that no one with any degree of education would believe there was a secret organization plotting for some 200+ years to control the world - and that the Masons were somehow a part of it. Boy, were we wrong!

Whenever conspiracy theory is spouted, the mysterious "Illuminati" (along with the Bilderburgers, The Trilateral Commission, the Council of Foreign Relations, and a plethora of others) are most often named as being responsible. Ironically, however, while many, many people can name those ostensibly belonging to the other conspiracy groups, the "Illuminati" is always left hanging as some secret, shadowy entity which no one can quite describe. Interestingly too, no one can quite identify what specific acts can be attributed to them - everybody's got their own lists. And no one in 225 years seems to have left the organization to reveal its secrets. Pretty powerful stuff.....  (If you're not hearing the theme music for the X-Files right now, it's a CONSPIRACY!!!)

Not one single defector in 5 or 6 generations: think about that! That'd be your great, great, great grandfather. I wonder how many people reading this page can actually name someone from their family who lived in the 1700s. Those who want to persuade us that a secret Illuminati cabal did lead the world from the Renaissance to the 19th century, and/or that it continues to do so today have a very difficult burden of proof and have never come close to producing documents or actual evidence that such is the case.

Illuminati history

The Illuminati was a movement founded on May 1, 1776. Much is, retrospectively, made of both the May 1st date later used by the Russian Revolution as well as the 1776 date tying in to the American Revolution. In fact, since there are only 365 days in a year, the Russian Revolution was bound to occur on one date or another which would/could have a connection to some devious scheme. By 1776, the American Revolution was well along in its planning stages and there's no credible link to a group founded in what is today near Munich, Germany. It was begun by Adam Weishaupt who was educated by the Jesuits, not unlike many who sought an education in those days and in that place. His organization was composed of those who were then espousing the ideals of the Enlightenment: freedom of thought and equality amongst classes of people, ideas that were considered by the authorities as being heretical and treacherous, particularly since logical outcome of equality would preclude the continued existence of monarchy. They were ideas which today, anyone reading this website likely espouses: the right to think as one wishes and to exercise - within the bounds of law - their freedom of choice. At that time, though, freethinking was an anathema to those in power and subjected those who would think such heretical thoughts to imprisonment.

While some have suggested that the Illuminati was created to overthrow government and/or that they were behind the American Revolution, such ideas are without any real merit. Augustin Barruel and John Robison, even claimed that the Illuminati were behind the French revolution, a claim that Jean-Joseph Mounier dismissed in his 1801 book On the Influence Attributed to Philosophers, Free-Masons, and to the Illuminati on the Revolution of France. Barruel and Robison also wrote - essentially copying each other - trying to tie in Freemasonry to the plot. It is important to note, however, that both writers recognized that it was ONLY the 'Grand Orient'-type of Freemasonry being practiced in parts of France and Germany that was involved: never what we now term 'regular/recognized' Freemasonry stemming from the Grand Lodge of England! Robison, who had joined Freemasonry in his youth, was roundly criticized for his work, even by the Encyclopedia Brittanica for whom he had written articles!

In 1777, Karl Theodor became ruler of Bavaria. He was a proponent of Enlightened Despotism and, in 1784, his government banned all secret societies, including the Illuminati. They had, by then, included the overthrow of political rulers in their goals and it's easy to understand how that could be a tad upsetting to those in charge. How many people were involved in the organization at that point is difficult to say. Some estimates are as high as 2000 but the simple fact is that once it was outlawed, the organization died - as would ANY organization where involvement could lead to a life in wretched prison confinement.

Weishaupt had modeled his group to some extent on Freemasonry and Illiminati chapters drew some of their  membership from existing Masonic lodges.

Illuminati conspiracies

It is well established that by the end of the eighteenth century, the Illuminati had been effectively disbanded. That will surely burst the bubble of those who've come here seeking to find some buried bit of proof that they still exist and are today controlling the world.

Because of Freemasonry's inadvertent involvement and the misuse of Freemasonry by the Illuminati's founder who had become a Mason, the legends of its continued existence (and influence) persist into the twenty-first century tying the organizations somehow together. In fact, Weishaupt founded the organization and then tried to get the Freemasons involved. He achieved a very limited success in a couple of lodges but was soon seen as a 'user' and his group removed - not unlike the 'fake Masonry' of today, actually!

In the 1950s and 1960s, members of the John Birch Society made much of this supposed 'shadow' organization, using it as an effective substitute for their anti-Semitism. Perhaps some of the confusion regarding the organization is due to the fact that over time, the word illuminati came to be used more expansively for many enthusiasts of Enlightenment, including but not limited to the followers of Emmanuel Swedenborg. Nevertheless, the Illuminati's connection with Freemasonry was date-specific (the late 1700s) and place-specific (what is now Germany); it had NO involvement in Freemasonry elsewhere despite fanciful claims. Even the oft-mentioned 'Proofs of A Conspiracy' written in 1797 by Robison (and the root cause of so much furor in the United States as a result of one Boston Minister's fanciful claims made based on that book) notes that the Illuminati's brand of Freemasonry was NOT the same Freemasonry as found in England and from which all other legitimate Masonic lodges today can trace their ancestry.

Robert Anton Wilson

A HUGE amount of interest in the Illuminati stems, for those today, from Robert Anton Wilson (1932-2007). A self-described agnostic mystic, he was also an author, philosopher and, some would say, a comedian. Many endow Wilson with all-seeing power while others read his works as poking fun at society and those who would blindly read his writings as fact.

Because of his professed agnostic beliefs, the claim from the conspiracy-minded religious intolerants has even more fuel than someone else might have given it.

Wilson wrote some 35 books and many other works. His best-known work is the cult classic The Illuminatus! Trilogy: The Eye in the Pyramid, The Golden Apple, Leviathan (1975) which he co-authored with Robert Shea and advertised as "a fairy tale for paranoids". In it, he humorously examined American paranoia about conspiracies. Many, though, have accepted this as NON-fiction and have succumbed to even more paranoia - always, it seems, involving the Freemasons.

In 1977, Wilson published "Cosmic Trigger I : Final Secret of the Illuminati " in which he wrote on pages 3-4:

Briefly, the background of the Bavarian Illuminati puzzle is this. On May 1, 1776, in Bavaria, Dr. Adam Weishaupt, a professor of Canon Law at Ingolstadt University and a former Jesuit, formed a secret society called the Order of the Illuminati within the existing Masonic lodges of Germany. Since Masonry is itself a secret society, the Illuminati was a secret society within a secret society, a mystery inside a mystery, so to say. In 1785 the Illuminati were suppressed by the Bavarian government for allegedly plotting to overthrow all the kings in Europe and the Pope to boot. This much is generally agreed upon by all historians. 1 Everything else is a matter of heated, and sometimes fetid, controversy.

It has been claimed that Dr. Weishaupt was an atheist, a Cabalistic magician, a rationalist, a mystic; a democrat, a socialist, an anarchist, a fascist; a Machiavellian amoralist, an alchemist, a totalitarian and an "enthusiastic philanthropist." (The last was the verdict of Thomas Jefferson, by the way.) The Illuminati have also been credited with managing the French and American revolutions behind the scenes, taking over the world, being the brains behind Communism, continuing underground up to the 1970s, secretly worshipping the Devil, and mopery with intent to gawk. Some claim that Weishaupt didn't even invent the Illuminati, but only revived it. The Order of Illuminati has been traced back to the Knights Templar, to the Greek and Gnostic initiatory cults, to Egypt, even to Atlantis. The one safe generalization one can make is that Weishaupt's intent to maintain secrecy has worked; no two students of Illuminology have ever agreed totally about what the "inner secret" or purpose of the Order actually was (or is . . .). There is endless room for spooky speculation, and for pedantic paranoia, once one really gets into the literature of the subject; and there has been a wave of sensational "ex-poses" of the Illuminati every generation since 1776. If you were to believe all this sensational literature, the damned Bavarian conspirators were responsible for everything wrong with the world, including the energy crises and the fact that you can't even get a plumber on weekends.

Wilson then goes on to create a broad expansion of fantasy which - just as with Dan Brown novels in the early years of 2000 - are accepted as fact. It's a sad state on our ability to think that so many in society can't separate fact from fiction and today blather on with great fear and loathing about the evil Freemason/Illuminati treachery without a single provable example. In fact, some - in order to keep the bubble of fantasy from popping - suggested that RAW was the Grand Master (or inner head) of the Illuminati himself. Wilson always toyed with the accusations, and in typical RAW fashion, he's never denied it outright - finding the whole concept enormously amusing as well as helpful for book sales.

One cannot read any of RAW's material without a healthy sense of humor although many, many do. We've noted from the outset of this very website that those with beliefs stemming from white-hot religious fervor or extreme paranoid conspiracy have ZERO sense of humor and wouldn't recognize satire if it were a sausage that hit them in the head. Thus, the internet has a zillion and a half websites all postulating on the existence of an organization that no one has ever seen and which all rational explanations say simply couldn't exist, with or without the all-powerful Freemasons.

Illuminati reading

For a couple of centuries, there's been nothing truly factual about the 18th Century Barvarian Order of the Illuminati except the sometimes hard to find book The Bavarian Illuminati in America: The New England Conspiracy Scare, 1798 by Vernon Stauffer.

In 2009, however, a new work arrived on the scene - and truthfully, it was one that had all the trappings of 'nut case' on it. Its publisher was a very minor one, noted for sensationalist titles. The author - Terry Melanson - is the owner and developer of the "Illuminati Conspiracy Archive" where paranoia and absurdity reign supreme. He is also a noted anti-Mason, having 'foreseen' an occult revival with Freemasonry leading the way. A clear waste of money, I'd concluded at the outset.

However, despite my pre-judged conclusions, Perfectibilists is actually pretty good. The author has set aside all of the foolishness usually found on his website and has done what appears to be some great detective work. He notes that the Order of the Illuminati (the name to which the Perfectibilists was changed almost immediately) had approximately 2000-3000 members at its peak and he provides the biographies for hundreds of them. In addition, Melanson has sidebar 'excursions' into related topics, some an entire page, discussing things like the difference between the ACTUAL emblem of the Illuminati (the OWL!) and what we today think of as their emblem, that pyramid with the eye.

The book is interesting in that the primary text is less than 170 pages but then there are 'supplements' totaling another 300 pages along with an exhaustive table of contents. Footnotes are scrupulously provided and the professionalism with which this work was created is really quite impressive. Unfortunately, this may be similar to the way Mr. Melanson has provided footnotes about Freemasonry in his various online screeds so one should consider the material with a jaundice eye unless/until validations are made by trained historians - something that Mr. Melanson isn't.

What others say

Online we found an excellent summary of the entire Illuminati Conspiracy theory. We've placed it here with permission of the site owner. Perhaps you'll find it interesting....

The Illuminati Freemason Conspiracy

From Public Eye and Political Research Associates:

The Freemasons began as members of craft guilds who united into lodges in England in the early 1700's. They stressed religious tolerance, the equality of their male peers, and the themes of classic liberalism and the Enlightenment. Today they are a worldwide fraternal order that still educates its members about philosophical ideas, and engages in harmless rituals, but also offers networking for business and political leaders, and carries out charitable activities.

The idea of a widespread freemason conspiracy originated in the late 1700's and flourished in the US in the 1800's. Persons who embrace this theory often point to purported Masonic symbols such as the pyramid and the eye on the back of the dollar bill as evidence of the conspiracy. Allegations of a freemason conspiracy trace back to British author John Robison who wrote the 1798 book Proofs of a Conspiracy Against All the Religions and Governments of Europe, carried on in the secret meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies, collected from good authorities. Robison influenced French author Abbé Augustin Barruel, whose first two volumes of his eventual four volume study, Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism, beat Robison's book to the printer. Both Robison and Barruel discuss the attempt by Bavarian intellectual Adam Weishaupt to spread the ideas of the Enlightenment through his secretive society, the Order of the Illuminati.

Weishaupt was appointed a professor at the University of Ingolstadt in Germany around 1772 and elevated to the post of professor of Canon Law in 1773 or 1775 (sources conflict), the first secularist to hold that position previously held by clergy.  Weishaupt began planning a group to challenge authoritarian Catholic actions in 1775, the group (under a different name) was announced on May 1, 1776. This group evolved into the Illuminati. The Enlightenment rationalist ideas of the Illuminati were, in fact, brought into Masonic lodges where they played a role in a factional fight against occultist philosophy. The Illuminati was suppressed in a series of edicts between 1784 and 1787, and Weishaupt himself was banished in 1785.

Weishaupt, his Illuminati society, the Freemasons, and other secret societies are portrayed by Robison and Barruel as bent on despotic world domination through a secret conspiracy using front groups to spread their influence.

Barruel claimed the conspirators "had sworn hatred to the altar and the throne, had sworn to crush the God of the Christians, and utterly to extirpate the Kings of the Earth." For Barruel the grand plot hinges on how Illuminati "adepts of revolutionary Equality and Liberty had buried themselves in the Lodges of Masonry" where they caused the French revolution, and then ordered "all the adepts in their public prints to cry up the revolution and its principles." Soon, every nation had its "apostle of Equality, Liberty, and Sovereignty of the People."

Robison, a professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, argued that the Illuminati evolved out of Freemasonry, and called the Illuminati philosophy "Cosmo-politism." According to Robison:

"Their first and immediate aim is to get the possession of riches, power, and influence, without industry; and, to accomplish this, they want to abolish Christianity; and then dissolute manners and universal profligacy will procure them the adherents of all the wicked, and enable them to overturn all the civil governments of Europe; after which they will think of farther conquests, and extend their operations to the other quarters of the globe, till they have reduced mankind to the state of one indistinguishable chaotic mass."

Robert Alan Goldberg, in his book Enemies Within, summarizes the basic themes of the books by Barruel and Robison:

"Writing in the aftermath of the French Revolution, these monarchists had created a counterhistory in defense of the aristocracy. Winning the hearts and minds of present and future readers would assuage some of the pain of recent defeat and mobilize defenses. The Revolution, they argued, was not rooted in poverty and despotism. Rather than a rising of the masses, it was the work of Adam Weishaupts Illuminati, a secret society that plotted to destroy all civil and religious authority and abolish marriage, the family, and private property. It was the Illuminati who schemed to turn contented peasants 'from Religion to Atheism, from decency to dissoluteness, from loyalty to rebellion.' "

The major immediate political effect of allegations of an Illuminati Freemason conspiracy in Europe was to mobilize support for national oligarchies traditionally supported by the Catholic Church hierarchy. Across Europe authoritarian governing elites were coming under attack by reformist and revolutionary movements demanding increased political rights under secular laws. The ideas of the Enlightenment were incorporated by the leaders of both the French and American revolutions, and in a sense, these Enlightenment notions were indeed subversive to the established social order, although they were hardly a secret conspiracy. The special status of the Catholic Church in European nation-states was actually threatened by the ideas being discussed by the Illuminati and the rationalist wing of the Freemasons.

Several common conspiracist themes emerge from these two books. The Enlightenment themes of equality and liberty are designed to destroy respect for property and the natural social hierarchy. Orthodox Christianity is to be destroyed and replaced with universalism, deism...or worse. Persons with a cosmopolitan outlook--encouraging free-thinking and international cooperation--are to be suspect as disloyal subversive traitors out to undermine national sovereignty and promote anarchy.

Shortly after the Barruel book was published, conspiracy theories about the Illuminati Freemasons were mixed with antisemitism in Europe. This confluence took place much later in the US.

Adapted from Chip Berlet and Matthew N. Lyons. 2000. Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort.

Bibliography

Abbé Augustin Barruel, Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism, second edition revised and corrected, English translation by Robert Clifford,  (originally published 1797-1798, reprinted in one volume, Fraser, MI: Real-View-Books, 1995).

John Robison, Proofs of a Conspiracyagainst All the Religions and Governments of Europe, carried on in the secret meetings of Freemasons, Illuminati and Reading Societies, fourth edition with postscript, (originally published 1798, reprinted Boston: Western Islands, 1967)

Richard Hofstadter, The Paranoid Style in American Politics, in The paranoid style in American politics: And other essays (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1965).

Other sites worth noting:

The Grand Lodge of British Columbia has some excellent in-depth material on this subject right here.

The Skeptic's Dictionary has an excellent article on this topic with many links to the leading conspiracists right here.

The Straight Dope responds to the bizarre charge that somehow the Masons picked May 1st as the day to celebrate Communism. We found their summary quite well done.

Professor Jack Lynch now of Rutgers has an excellent timeline of the 18th century. We also like his essay on judging websites by their covers. <grin>

Anti-Masons and Illuminati fantasies

Some Masonophobes are absolutely 'over the moon' about the Illuminati. Karen Trenouth whose attempts to solve the 'Jack the Ripper' murders are hysterically funny doesn't seem capable of ending a paragraph without having included the word. Leo Zagami pretends he's actually a member - which leads one to wonder why those who most fear this ostensible organization don't wrestle him to the ground and make him provide some proof of all those he claims are members. Jew-hater Texe Marrs obsesses about sex and the Illuminati. You've got to wonder where HIS mind is at these days.

http://www.masonicinfo.com/illuminati.htm

Norman Cohn, Warrant for Genocide: The Myth of the Jewish World Conspiracy And the Protocols of the Elders Of Zion, (London: Serif, 1967 [1996].

George Johnson, Architects Of Fear, (Los Angeles: Tarcher/Houghton Mifflin, 1983).

Chip Berlet and Matthew N. Lyons, Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort, (New York: Guilford Publications, 2000)

Robert Alan Goldberg, Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America, (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001).

Herm. Gruber, "Illuminati," The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VII,  (New York, NY: Robert Appleton Company, 1910).

Our thanks to Public Eye for this material.

The Alumbrados, a mystical 16th-century Spanish sect, were among the societies that subsequently adopted the name illuminati. Later, the title of illuminati was used by a secret society founded by Adam Weishaupt that aimed to combat religious thinking and encourage rationalism."
                                                         ---Microsoft Encarta2000
And in 2006 a reader wrote to advise that Microsoft was wrong and that the word actually comes from the Latin. Microsoft wrong? Perish the thought! It must be a Conspiracy!

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American political figure who returned to Iraq this week from self-imposed exile, told tens of thousands of his followers Saturday to "resist" and "disturb" the United States.

"We have not forgotten the occupier. We remain a resistance," said al-Sadr, delivering a fiery speech in the holy Shiite city of Najaf, his first public address in Iraq in years. "We continue to resist the occupier militarily, culturally and by all means of the resistance."

Al-Sadr, who spent more than three years in self-imposed exile in the predominantly Shiite Iran, took to the podium amid tight security.

As he exhorted Iraqis to unite and end the infighting that has plagued the ethnically and religiously mixed country, the crowd chanted "No, no to America" and "No, no to the occupier," waved Iraqi flags, and carried the portraits of al-Sadr and other Shiite figures.

"Whatever struggle happened between brothers, let us forget about it and turn the page forever and live united," al-Sadr said. "We do not kill an Iraqi."

He noted that politics in recent days has dominated Iraq, which recently formed a government after months of political feuding that followed the March 7 elections. Amid this activity, he said, "it made us forget the resistance and the occupier leaving."

But he reminded the crowd that "our main goal as Iraqi people is to drive the occupation out in any way," but he said resistance doesn't "mean everyone carry arms."

"We also resist through cultural resistance. Our rejection of the occupier at heart is resistance."

The less than 50,000 U.S. troops remaining in Iraq are slated to leave the country at the end of the year under a bilateral security agreement, and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is emphasizing that there will be no extension of U.S. forces after December 31.

Al-Sadr made an apparent reference to this, saying "we heard a pledge from the Iraqi government that it will get the occupier out and we are waiting for it to fulfill its pledges."

As for the new Iraqi government, al-Sadr said that if it provides "security, safety and services, then we are with this government not against it."

"If it does not serve the Iraqi people, there are only political means that must be followed to reform the government -- a new government that we must give a chance to prove that it is there to serve the people," he said.

Al-Sadr left Iraq as the leader of the Mehdi Army, the notorious Shiite militia that fought some of the fiercest battles against U.S. forces in 2004 and 2008. He returned from neighboring Iran as the head of a political force in Iraq more organized than ever.

Observers believe al-Sadr is working to transform his group into a sophisticated and populist political movement, a development that belies that group's militant activity and rhetoric over the years.

His political bloc, which won 39 seats in last year's parliamentary elections, emerged as a kingmaker in Iraqi politics, ending months of political deadlock after throwing its support behind al-Maliki and helping to guarantee his second term.

Analysts believe Iranian influence was behind the deal and Sadrist political muscle is behind al-Maliki's stated opposition to keeping U.S. troops after next year.

Al-Sadr's politicians have at least seven ministries in the newly formed government in addition to the key post of one of the two deputy speakers of parliament.

Since 2003, al-Sadr has had the support of tens of thousands of Shiites, especially the young and impoverished in Baghdad's slums and the Shiite south. His return Wednesday raised some concerns that it could stoke sectarian divides.

The Mehdi Army was blamed for some of the worst sectarian violence in Iraq before al-Sadr suspended most of its activities in 2007 and 2008.

While the Mehdi Army has been largely underground for more than two years, there have been fears that they have not given up arms and can potentially destabilize the country, with some of its forces still active in targeting U.S. forces.

In 2008, Sadr announced that most of the militia members would be transitioned into a socio-cultural organization to oppose secularism and Western thought.

A small group of hand-picked fighters called the Promised Day Brigade would continue to target the coalition, the U.S. military has said.

His speech Saturday came as no surprise to the United States.

"We listened to the speech, but heard nothing new," U.S. Embassy spokesman David J. Ranz told CNN.

While American officials have publicly welcomed al-Sadr's active participation in the government they also have voiced concern about them resorting to violence.

"Our concerns with the Sadrists is not so much their political philosophy; there are many political groups with political philosophies of many different flavors. Our concern with them is the fact that we do not see compelling evidence that they have renounced in practice and in theory the idea that they can use armed force against their opponents," U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey told reporters in a recent briefing.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/01/08/iraq.sadr/index.html?hpt=T1

 

The headless bodies of 15 people were found dumped near a shopping center in the tourist city of Acapulco, Mexico, the Guerrero State Public Security office said in a statement Saturday.

The victims are all men between the ages of 25 and 30 years old. Police were led to the bodies by a group of burning vehicles, the security office said.

A 16th body was found in a nearby car. The victim was a 30-year-old man who was shot to death, the office said.

The bodies were not found in an area frequented by tourists, said a spokeswoman for the security office.

"It's a shopping center where locals go regularly, but it's not that far away from the tourist areas," she said. "They were found on a popular highway used to get to the tourist area."

The killings are believed to be drug related, she said.

According to authorities, more than 28,000 people have died in Mexico in drug-related violence since 2006.

Police and military forces have stepped up operations in the region in light of the grisly discoveries.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/01/08/mexico.bodies.found/index.html?hpt=T2

 

The world's fattest man wants to fight obesity: with a lawsuit.

Paul Mason, who once weighed almost 1,000 pounds, is blaming the NHS (Britain's public health system) for sending him to dietitians who merely told him to lose weight -- but didn't identify his problem as an eating disorder, British newspaper the Sun reported.

The former postal worker told the Sun that when he went to the NHS for help with his eating as early as 1996, he was told to "ride your bike more."

Years later, after tipping the scales at 900 pounds -- while scarfing down 20,000 calories a day -- he was sent to a dietitian before finally getting life-saving gastric surgery.

News of the lawsuit came shortly after the debut of his television show, "Britain's Fattest Man," which chronicled his journey toward gastric bypass surgery to more than 2.49 million viewers.

According to the show, Mason, 50, cost British taxpayers more than $3,000 a week before getting the surgery. That weekly estimate doesn't include the cost of firefighters knocking down the front of his home so they could get a forklift inside to get him out for hernia surgery in 2002 or the gastric surgery that cost around $50,000 in 2009.

Now a mere 518 pounds, Mason said he wants to take his case to court.

"I want to set a precedent so no one else has to get to the same size - and to put something back into society," he told the newspaper.

The NHS refused to comment, saying it had not been officially notified of the suit.

Mason also revealed in the interview that he had tried to kill himself three times due to the awful depression he suffered because of his weight. One attempt, an overdose of painkillers, failed because of his huge weight, the Sun reported.

While his weight may have cost him a lot of opportunities, Mason has certainly parlayed it into fame. In addition to "Britain's Fattest Man," he also appeared on a TLC special in the U.S. last May called "The World's Fattest Man."

Bill Zeller, a Princeton Ph.Dcandidate and renowned internet programmer, died Wednesday from injuriessustained in a suicide attempt. He was 27.

Zeller stunned the programming community with a4,000-word suicide note detailing a childhood of physical and sexual abuse,which he had never before disclosed to anyone.

"I've never been able to stop thinkingabout what happened to me and this hampered my social interactions," Zellerwrote. "... I wondered what it would be like to take [sic] to other peoplewithout what happened constantly on my mind, and I wondered if other people hadsimilar experiences that they were better able to mask."

According to the Daily Princetonian, Zeller posted the note on hiswebsite and e-mailed it to friends before taking his own life. The note in fullcan be seen below.

Zeller was a programmingwhiz kid, responsible for creating applications such as Graph Your Inbox, whichvisualizes Gmail use over time, and myTunes which enablesusers to download others' iTunes music. Zeller made the latter program while anundergraduate at Trinity College.

Huff Post

Zellers Letter

 

I have the urge to declare my sanity and justify my actions, but I assume I'll never be able to convince anyone that this was the right decision. Maybe it's true that anyonewho does this is insane by definition, but I can at least explain my reasoning.I considered not writing any of this because of how personal it is, but I liketying up loose ends and don't want people to wonder why I did this. Since I'venever spoken to anyone about what happened to me, people would likely draw the wrong conclusions.

My first memories as achild are of being raped, repeatedly. This has affected every aspect of mylife. This darkness, which is the only way I can describe it, has followed melike a fog, but at times intensified and overwhelmed me, usually triggered by adistinct situation. In kindergarten I couldn't use the bathroom and would standpetrified whenever I needed to, which started a trend of awkward and unexplained social behavior. The damage that was done to my body still preventsme from using the bathroom normally, but now it's less of a physical impedimentthan a daily reminder of what was done to me.

This darkness followed me as I grew up. I remember spending hours playing with legos, having my world consist of me and a box of cold, plastic blocks. Just waiting for everything toend. It's the same thing I do now, but instead of legos it's surfing the web or reading or listening to a baseball game. Most of my life has been spent feelingdead inside, waiting for my body to catch up.

At times growing up Iwould feel inconsolable rage, but I never connected this to what happened until puberty. I was able to keep the darkness at bay for a few hours at a time by doing things that required intense concentration, but it would always comeback. Programming appealed to me for this reason. I was never particularly fond of computers or mathematically inclined, but the temporary peace it would provide was like a drug. But the darkness always returned and built upsomething like a tolerance, because programming has become less and less of are fuge.

The darkness is withme nearly every time I wake up. I feel like a grime is covering me. I feel likeI'm trapped in a contimated body that no amount of washing will clean. WheneverI think about what happened I feel manic and itchy and can't concentrate onanything else. It manifests itself in hours of eating or staying up for days ata time or sleeping for sixteen hours straight or week long programming bingesor constantly going to the gym. I'm exhausted from feeling like this every hourof every day.

Three to four nights aweek I have nightmares about what happened. It makes me avoid sleep and constantly tired, because sleeping with what feels like hours of nightmares is not restful. I wake up sweaty and furious. I'm reminded every morning of what was done to me and the control it has over my life.

I've never been ableto stop thinking about what happened to me and this hampered my social interactions. I would be angry and lost in thought and then be interrupted bysomeone saying "Hi" or making small talk, unable to understand why Iseemed cold and distant. I walked around, viewing the outside world from adistant portal behind my eyes, unable to perform normal human niceties. Iwondered what it would be like to take to other people without what happened constantly on my mind, and I wondered if other people had similar experiences that they were better able to mask.

Dr Murray, shown here in February,

joined Jackson's entourage to get

him fit for London concerts

And an emergency room doctor said Dr Conrad Murray did not inform her he had given the singer a powerful anaesthetic before his death of a drug overdose.

The testimony came at a preliminary hearing for Dr Murray, who has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors say his negligence led to Jackson's death aged 50 in June 2009.

At the preliminary hearing in a Los Angeles courtroom, a judge is to decide whether prosecutors have enough evidence to try Dr Murray, a cardiologist. It is expected to last several days.

Dr Murray faces up to four years in prison if tried and convicted.

In Los Angeles on Thursday, paramedic Martin Blount testified that Dr Murray cleaned up vials of the painkiller lidocaine from the bedroom where the singer died shortly after he said that he had not given Jackson any medications.

He and his partner on the emergency run to Jackson's bedside, paramedic Richard Senneff, have both testified that Dr Murray never mentioned he had given Jackson propofol, a powerful surgical anaesthetic typically given in a clinical setting.

Mr Blount said that when they arrived, four minutes after the emergency call was received, Jackson appeared to have been dead for at least 20 minutes, despite Dr Murray's claim that he had stopped breathing only a minute before they were called.

Also, emergency room Dr Richelle Cooper testified on Thursday that Dr Murray told her only that he had given Jackson lorazepam, a sedative.

Prosecutors contend Dr Murray's negligent treatment contributed to Jackson's death.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office has ruled the singer died from an overdose of the surgical anaesthetic propofol, found in his body along with a ****tail of other sedatives.

Does This Shock You And What's The Answer To This Dilemma??

 

Archbishop Dolan andother religious leaders who oppose abortion held a press conference today tolament abortion rates in NYC.

They said that, basedon data released by the NYC Department of Health, 41 percent of all pregnanciesended in abortion in 2009.

 

Thats 126,774 livebirths and 87,273 abortions.

Rabbi Chaim DovidZwiebel of Agudath Israel ofAmerica,an Orthodox group, said: Weve been hearing for many years from pro-choicesupporters that abortion should be safe, legal and rare. If thats the goal,weve clearly, abysmally failed, especially here in New York City.

Dolan: I re-affirmCardinal John OConnors promise of a quarter-century ago that every womanfacing a difficult pregnancy will be provided with free, confidential help ofthe highest quality from the Archdiocese of New York, said Archbishop Dolan.We are prepared to do everything in our power to help you and your unborn babyto make absolutely certain that you need never feel that you have no choice butan abortion.

 

According to thestats, released by the anti-abortion Chiaroscuro Foundation, 60 percent ofpregnancies for black women ended in abortion.

 

Reverend MichelFaulkner. There is something terribly wrong with this picture. As an AfricanAmerican, I cannot passively accept the demise of my community in the name ofchoice. I choose to stand up and say: why are these numbers so high? We didnot survive the middle passage and 300 years of Slavery and 100 years of JimCrow laws to suffer this. I call on every New Yorker to stand for life. We mustnot allow this trend to continue. New York City is the place where peoples futures begin,not end.

The police havent given up just yet. Nearly 14 years after the Notorious B.I.G.s untimely death in 1997, a task force of local and federal law enforcement agencies have reinvigorated the unsolved case in the rappers murder as a result of new information.

Though sources for CNN wouldnt say what sort of info breathed life back into the famous mystery, two people close to the action claim that they are actively pursuing leads in the murder of the Brooklynite, who was slain on March 9, 1997 while driving away from an industry party in Los Angeles.

Police originally claimed that a sole gunman pulled up next to Biggies ride, opening fire on the rapper who was in the passenger seat. The unsolved murder has haunted the rap industry for years, sparking conspiracy theories in the wake of the infamous East Coast vs. West Coast battles.

Come on now, youre messing with lives here and thats exactly what happened. Two lives were lost as a result of what? Stupidity? Voletta Wallace, Biggies mother, said of the case. Retired L.A.P.D. Detective Russell Poole, who worked on the case at its onset, believed that it was Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight who ordered the hit on B.I.G.

I think I was getting too close to the truth, said Poole, who also helped the late lyricists family with their wrongful death suit. I think they feared that the truth would be a scandal.

Qatars Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani accepts the World Cup trophy

Fifa president Sepp Blatter expects the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to be held in January because of the countrys intensely hot summers.

The tournament is traditionally held in June and July but temperatures in Qatar at that time of year can top 40C.

Speaking in the Qatari capital Doha, Blatter said: I expect it [the 2022 World Cup] will be held in winter.

It is 11 years away but we must decide the most adequate period, which means January or the end of the year.

Blatter, who is in Doha for the start of the Asian Cup, added: Although we have the basic conditions of their bid for a June and July World Cup, the Fifa executive committee is entitled to change anything that was in the bid.

When you play football you have to protect the main people the players.

Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke also supports the prospect of the 2022 World Cup being rescheduled.

Speaking in December, he said: Why not? It means you open the World Cup to countries where they can never play it in June and July because its never the right period of time.

If you can do so, it would be a solution to open the organisation of the World Cup to a number of countries in this period which is winter in Europe but not winter in the rest of the world.

He added: You cant just make a decision to move the tournament and that is it.

It means you have to change completely when the leagues will play, mainly I would say in Europe. Its less difficult in the rest of the world.

Qatar beat Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States to host the tournament in the vote by Fifas executive committee on 2 December in Zurich.

Initially, former German World Cup-winning captain and coach Franz Beckenbauer had aired his worries about the health risk of the heat to players if the World Cup was staged during the Gulf nations summer. Meanwhile, Blatter also revealed in December that several nations in the Middle East were interested in hosting games during the 2022 World Cup and that he had met with officials in Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait during a tour of the region.

However, he did not elaborate on which of Qatars neighbours wanted to host the games, or how many could be hosted, but he pointed out that such a decision would have to come first from Qatar and then from Fifas 24-man executive committee.

This demand has to come from the Qatar football organisation by saying we would like to have such and such things and this has to go back to Fifa and the Fifa executive committee has to say open it or dont open it, he said.

I can say all these countries are very happy. First of all, the World Cup is going to the Middle East and they are interested I would say a little bit more than interested to be part of this competition.

It is a wish. It is easy to say but it is not so easy to realise. For the time being, its too early.

On Wednesday, GeaPress reported hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of dead and dying birds in Italy. Countless turtle doves were found scattered in the streets, in flower beds and hanging tragically from trees "like Christmas balls" in the town of Faenza. Many of the birds that fell dead from the sky were discovered with a mysterious blue stain in their beaks.

Read

Around two million fish have died in the Chesapeake Bay area in Maryland, just days after two similar incidents elsewhere in the US baffled scientists. Officials are now trying to find out what happened. Maryland Department of the Environment spokeswoman Dawn Stoltzfus told Sky News Online that at the moment it does not look like pollution is to blame. She said: "The dead fish are mainly juvenile spot fish, and they can't survive very cold water temperatures. Typically they should have left the bay by now. "Our working theory, that looks pretty strong, is that it's been caused by cold water stress." This mass "fish kill", as it is called, happened after water temperatures plunged to near record lows in the area in late December, but scientists have yet to prove conclusively that this was the cause. Elsewhere in the US, large numbers of sudden bird and fish deaths have perplexed biologists. Just days ago, an estimated 500 small birds, mostly blackbirds, fell out of the sky in Louisiana. On New Year's Eve in Arkansas, thousands of the same species were found, followed by the discovery of around 100,000 dead fish in a river about a hundred miles away. Officials think that power lines may be to blame for the Louisiana deaths, and fireworks or lightning could have been responsible for what happened in Arkansas. The events are not being linked, but similar scenarios across the world are adding to the mystery. Officials reported around 50 jackdaws had been found dead on a street in Sweden, and other unexplained mass fish deaths have occurred recently in Brazil and New Zealand. Large fish kills have happened before in Chesapeake Bay, most notably in 1976 and 1980. Officials acknowledged that the most recent incident is the biggest since those events.

T.I., who is still imprisoned for violating probation terms from a drug arrest last year, is apparently in need of more than a release from behind bars. TMZ is reporting that the ATL rapper was busted for receiving a handjob from his wife Tiny. Apparently, during a routine visit at Arkansas State Prison, Tiny was found in violation of prison rules for her show of affection and separated from T.I. Poor guy.

She confirms that the rapper was then escorted to the "Special Housing Unit" of the jail, which is usually reserved for prisoners with code-of-conduct violations . This means, at least temporarily, T.I. will be housed in a unit that features higher security standards and less personal freedom.

Prison guidelines state that inmates are certainly allowed to kiss and embrace their visitors at the beginning and end of a visit. While chatting, they can hold hands with any recourse, but hand to other-body-part contact is little bit beyond what they have in mind. "The inmate's hands must remain in plain view of Visiting Room staff at all times," reads the rules.

Tiny told TMZ that she has yet to speak to T.I. since the incident went down. She thinks that they will allow her to visit again soon as long as she plays by the rules this time.

If anyone knows how to travel in style, it'sDiddy. Over the holidays, the hip-hop mogul set sail on an $850,000 a week yacht that was powered by an iPad. The luxury vessel, dubbed Soulmates, included access to the device, which allows guests control to everything, with the exception of the steering wheel. 

Designed by German luxury yacht firm Lurssen, Combs and his passengers, including ex-girlfriend Kim Porter and their two daughter Jessie James and D'Lila Star, were handed iPads, putting all their needs at their fingertips. "You won't find this app for download in the Apple store any time soon," said Robert Conner, central agent for the company that leases the ships, Luxury Yacht Group. "For instance, if we have a client who we know is a music industry bigwig, then we'll program the app's homepage to have a prominent shortcut to our high-speed media server's music library, and we'll do our research to make sure we have all the music they'd want to listen to.

The iPads are also customized to suit the need and interest of specific guests. "For instance, if we have a client who we know is a music industry bigwig, then we'll program the app's homepage to have a prominent shortcut to our high-speed media server's music library, and we'll do our research to make sure we have all the music they'd want to listen to," Conner explained. 

Of course sailing in the lap of luxury will cost you a pretty penny, but according to Conner, guests who can afford the weekly $690,000 price tag, which doesn't include expenses which will add upwards of $150,000 to the bill, hit the sea in the lap of luxury. Radiating "warmth and glamour," Soulmates boasts a full dining room that seats up to 12, several Jacuzzis, a gym, bar, and entertainment salon. "We've an amazingly experienced crew which includes a chef who's worked in some of the best restaurants in Paris and England, a stewardess who speaks five languages and another who is also a cardiothoracic nurse." 

If anyone can afford the nearly $1 million bill, it's Diddy. Amassing a fortune from several ventures including music, television, movies, and fashion, the 41-year-old's net worth is estimated at nearly $360 million.

German website Bild.de reports that Bernd P. (name changed) found Ryan Leslies stolen / lost bag during a walk though the forests on November 27th in Stommlerbusch, near Cologne in Germany and handed it over to the local Police.

He showed a copy of R Les passport along with the Police report to the news reporters and is claiming that his emails are not being returned and he has not been paid the $1 Million reward as promised by the singer.

LONDON (AP)

British customs officials have seized cannabis worth almost 3,000 pounds ($4,600) found inside a painting of Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor posted from his native Togo.

The UK Border Agency says the wooden-framed picture of the west African nation's most famous player was intercepted at an international postal hub in Coventry.

The painting was addressed to a home in Tottenham. Adebayor used to play nearby for Tottenham's fierce north London rival Arsenal.

Agency head Brodie Clark says the unusual package showed "the lengths that organized criminals will go to in a bid to get drugs into the UK."

An 80-year-old man who was thought to be dead, startled police officers and funeral parlour workers, when he awoke from his slumber while they were transporting 'his body' to hospital to be pronounced dead by a doctor. THE STAR understands that the incident took place on the Pike main road in Manchester about 2 p.m. Thursday. Information reaching THE STAR is that citizens found the elderly man, who lives by himself, motionless and appearing lifeless. The police were then alerted and went to the scene and examined the body, before summoning a funeral home to pick up the 'corpse'. Police and the parlour workers then set out to transport the body to the Percy Junor Hospital in the parish. However, while on their journey, the police and the parlour workers, who were travelling in the same vehicle with the body, heard sounds coming from the rear of the vehicle where the 'dead man' was. They then had the shock of their lives when they looked around and saw the man who was wrapped in white sheet sitting up while he coughed. police officers The police officers and the parlour workers then reportedly speedily abandoned their vehicle and ran towards a nearby shop where they revealed what had happened to those present. THE STAR understands that after they had calmed down, they returned to the vehicle in the company of other citizens as they still appeared traumatised. Reports are that upon their return, the man remained in a sitting position and spoke to them, giving his name as Percival Robinson, aged 80 from Craighead district in the parish. The police later took the man to the Percy Junor Hospital where he was admitted for observation. The Christiana police have confirmed the incident b4 dem shoot him back to death

Dancehall artiste Moses 'Beenie Man' Davis had his bail extended in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday. which was issued for the artiste be vacated as Roderick Gordon, Davis' attorney-at-law, told the court that his client was absent for his last court date due to overseas contractual engagements. Davis, who has been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm, is to return to court on March 2 for trial. Davis was charged along with Jeremy Wade, otherwise known as 'Rolex', who was charged with assault at common law, for an incident involving the complainant, Horace 'LA Lewis'. Allegations are that on June 5, Davis assaulted fellow entertainer Lewis after they were involved in a minor car accident. Lewis told the police that he was travelling along Perkins Boulevard, near Red Hills Road, when the incident occurred. He said Davis had stopped his car in the road so that he could converse with another motorist. Lewis claimed he was attempting to drive past the cars when a section of his car hit Davis' vehicle after which Davis allegedly exited his vehicle and assaulted him. According to Lewis, Davis had the support of his entourage to aid in the assault, which resulted in him being hit in the face.

 

 

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Nearly six weeks ago, when federal agents intercepted the 79-foot sailboat Sarah Moira heading to the U.S. from Jamaica, they scored a major international drug bust seizing the boat's cargo of 4,497 pounds of marijuana and arresting the captain and his crew.

Local police are now revealing that the trail to this $8.1 million pot bust began some 1,500 miles away, in Dartmouth.

The captain of the vessel and the target of a federal probe is 58-year-old James Ormonde Staveley-O'Carroll, a shipbuilder and self-described firebrand liberal, whose daughter, Sarah, is married to Michael K. Matthews, the son of MSNBC "Hardball" host Chris Matthews.

Staveley-O'Carroll is the owner of the Sarah Moira, a steel-hulled sailing vessel, which a task force of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents intercepted on Nov. 21 off the coast of Bay St. Louis, Miss.

The boat was taken to the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Gulfport, Miss., where drug-sniffing dogs found two wooden crates, filled with individually wrapped packages of marijuana, in a forward compartment, according to a federal affidavit in support of the charges.

Staveley-O'Carroll and co-defendants J. Boone Ferrie, 20, and Brian Parker, 27, both of Attleboro, are charged with conspiracy to possess controlled substance with intent to distribute, conspiracy to import controlled substance with intent to distribute, possession of controlled substance with intent to distribute and importation of controlled substance with intent to distribute.

The three men are scheduled to go to trial Feb. 14 in U.S. District Court in Gulfport before Judge Louis Guirola Jr., following their indictment on Dec. 7, according to Sheila Wilbanks, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Mississippi.

Ferrie and Parker were each released on $25,000 bond while Staveley-O'Carroll is being detained in Mississippi, Wilbanks said.

Dartmouth police said the investigation started more than a year ago when ICE agents contacted Lt. Robert Szala because Staveley-O'Carroll lived in Dartmouth. Szala said he worked with federal agents, collecting information and searching records about Staveley-O'Carroll at town hall.

While federal agents were searching the Sarah Moira, Dartmouth police executed a search warrant on Staveley-O'Carroll's large farmhouse and detached garage at 196 Division Road, near the Westport line.

Officer Scott Brooks II, who prepared the search warrant, along with Police Chief Timothy M. Lee and Szala, said last week that evidence was collected during the search. Brooks said the search warrant is sealed and they would not disclose details of what was searched or what was seized.

According to the Dartmouth assessors' online database, the Division Road property is owned by Nancy Elizabeth Brennan, who purchased it in February 2005 from Staveley-O'Carroll for $100. Dartmouth police identified Brennan as Staveley-O'Carroll's wife.

According to the federal affidavit, the interception is the result of an investigation by Homeland Security agents and stems from information provided by a confidential informant that the Sarah Moira was smuggling about 4,000 pounds of marijuana from Jamaica to the U.S.

Ferrie and Parker told federal investigators they were hired by Staveley-O'Carroll to prepare the boat for a trip to Jamaica to pick up a load of marijuana. They said they left Jacksonville Nov. 7 and arrived approximately two miles off the coast of Jamaica on Nov. 14, according to the affidavit. They told investigators two small boats arrived at their vessels with bags filled with marijuana and they loaded the marijuana on the vessel and set sail for the U.S.

Lee said the investigation into Staveley-O'Carroll was one of the reasons he wanted to resume police harbor patrols this past summer.

"We don't know what he has done here before, but that was a driving force behind our wanting a Dartmouth police presence on the waterfront," the chief said.

The chief said this case underscores the town's commitment to fighting drug trafficking.

"Even if you're a big dealer, we're going to get you," he said. "If you are dealing drugs in Dartmouth, we will find out about it and we will arrest you."