Topper Carew has made a documentary about the late comedian Robin Harris entitled “We Don’t Die, We Multiply”. Save the Emeritus King of Comedy, Richard Pryor, Harris ruled stand up back in the late 80’s. His untimely death at age 36 left a void that comedy has not yet filled. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think Steve Harvey and Bernie Mac probably come close to Harris but there’s only one Robin Harris. Every time you see ‘Bebe’s Kids’, think of Robin Harris. In the meantime, check out the video below.

Links:
Robin Harris' life and comic legacy depicted in new documentary

Interview with Topper Carew

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

Labels: Deaths, Entertainment

Labels: Commentary, Deaths, Family, News

I thought this was a hoax the first time I saw it mentioned on a buddy's blog. After a few clicks, it proved to be an actual news story. The story should have come with a warning. I've not eaten breakfast yet and this truly turned my stomach.

I feel so sorry for the wife, children and dog in this situation. There are just so many questions beyond the basic 'why?'.The husband will never live this down. I can only imagine the hell he's experiencing in jail.

~ V

Man could be charged under cruelty law

Prosecutors say a man’s wife caught him having sex with their dog. He might be the first in the state charged under a new animal cruelty law.

KAREN HUCKS; The News Tribune Published: October 20th, 2006 01:00 AM A Spanaway man is the first person in Pierce County – and possible the first in the state – charged under a new section of the state’s animal cruelty law that makes bestiality a felony. Pierce County prosecutors say Michael Patrick McPhail, 26, had sex with his family’s dog Wednesday.

Deputy prosecutor Karen Watson charged the father of two Thursday with one count of first-degree animal cruelty – a crime that could mean up to a year in jail if he’s convicted.

McPhail was arraigned Thursday afternoon in Pierce County Superior Court and a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf.

Judge Katherine Stolz ordered him held in the Pierce County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail. Stolz set trial for Dec. 11.

According to a Pierce County Sheriff’s Department report, McPhail’s wife told investigators that she caught her husband on the back porch about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday having intercourse with their 4-year-old female pit bull terrier.

She took photos of the act, the report says.

The bestiality law, which took effect in June, was prompted by a case near Enumclaw in which a man died after having sex with a horse.

Before the law was enacted, Washington was one of 14 states where bestiality had not been explicitly prohibited.

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

Labels: News

Will more people give the crisis in Darfur the attention that is due now that Oprah and 60 Minutes have made it a topic on their shows? Here's a repost from May 24, 2006.

I’ve seen the reports on television about the crisis in Darfur but had not really devoted the attention to it that it deserves. There is so much going on in the world today, especially right here in the United States, that sometimes I am in such pain from just thinking about the masses of people that need help in the world.

Our own devastation of recent hurricanes that are still not resolved and may not be resolved any time soon, cost of living making poor people poorer and middle-class people poor. Soldiers dying everyday in Iraq for oil that we can’t pay for here in the United States, it is indeed a frantic situation.

Double standards for Haitian immigrants, disparate drug conviction policies, HIV/AIDS in the Black community, real estate developers continuing to destroy the land, corrupt politicians, an inadequate educational system and apathetic citizens. How can I care about one more thing? Especially about people so many miles away from the United States?

How could I not care about these people? There but for the grace of God go I. As bad as things are, we can still help here and abroad. So we must. Too many people have been killed, tortured, raped and otherwise abused for us to ignore this. The terror is till happening today.

Go to http://www.savedarfur.org/ for more information. Send an electronic postcard to President Bush to stop the violence in Darfur. I apologize for the long blog, I tried to keep it brief but this is too sensitive for me. Thanks for allowing me to vent. Go to the links and spread the word about this situation. Off my soapbox, for now… Thanks.

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

Labels: Africa, AIDS, Black Culture, Black History, Commentary, Crime, Deaths, Ethnicity, News, Politics

Much has been said about celebrities adopting African children. To be precise, the issue is white celebrities adopting African children. Madonna, as usual, has been the subject of the most negative press with questions regarding protocol in the adoption process.

The hoopla surrounding the latest two adoptions by Madonna and Angelina Jolie is much ado about nothing. It's not like thousands of African children will be swept up and taken away by whites. That won't be happening as long as there are Nordic blonde children to be adopted. For that matter, where are the Blacks that can adopt not only African children, but the thousands of Black children in America that need parents?

Let's not fall for the diversion of these adopted children. Keep watch on happenings in Iraq and domestic terrorism here in the United States. Most important, don't forget that every child deserves a loving family. Peace.

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

Labels: Africa, Ethnicity, Family, Madonna

Whatever you think you know about our election systems or Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, this film will make you question further why the news media fails to accurately inform the public. Directed by GNN's Ian Inaba, creator of Eminem's "Mosh" music video, American Blackout critically examines the contemporary tactics used to control our democratic process and silence voices of political dissent.

Many have heard of the alleged voting irregularities that occurred during the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004. Until now, these incidents have gone under- reported and are commonly written-off as insignificant rumors or unintentional mishaps resulting from an overburdened election system.

American Blackout chronicles the recurring patterns of voter disenfranchisement from Florida 2000 to Ohio 2004 while following the story of Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Mckinney not only took an active role investigating these election debacles, but has found herself in the middle of her own after publicly questioning the Bush Administration about the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

For more information: Palast Investigative Fund

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

Labels: Cinema, Entertainment, Politics

Published by Greg Palast August 27th, 2006 in Articles

Special Report for Democracy Now! & Link TV

Greg Palast, Writer & ReporterMatt Pascarella, Executive ProducerJacquie Soohen, Co-Producer, Filmographer & EditorCoordinating Producers: Leni von Eckardt, Zach Roberts & Christy Speicher

It has been one year since the most devastating storm in our nation’s history destroyed New Orleans and took out large areas throughout the Gulf Coast. The population of the city is miniscule, the reconstruction sparse, suicide rates are climbing, and many have not, nor know how to, return to the city that care forgot.

Our team traveled down to New Orleans to investigate two things: 1) Why did they have to leave, what really caused the flood? 2) Why can’t they come back now?

In this report you will meet: - Stephen Smith who had no car, and no way to evacuate New Orleans. He tells us his devastating story of being left behind, closing the eyes of an old man who died while waiting to be rescued on a bridge, watching helicopters soar pass overhead, and no one coming to rescue him or the dozens stranded with him, on that bridge, for days. After the storm it took him 3 months to find his children. He is currently working in a grocery store in Houston and wants to come back to New Orleans but has no place to live.

- Ivor Van Heerden, Deputy Director of Louisiana State University’s Hurricane Center reveals who knew what and when — before, during, and after the storm — and warns that his job is in danger for telling us his story. “FEMA knew at eleven o’clock on Monday that the levees had breached, at 2 o’clock they flew over the 17th St. Canal and took video of the breaches, by midnight on Monday the White House knew, but none of us knew.”

- Brod Bagert, Former New Orleans’ City Councilman and lawyer takes us to a neighbor’s house where 5 bodies were found after the storm — in the back yard we find the levees that were supposed to protect the city from flooding; the levees that were supposed to protect the people who died here. “Old ladies watched as water came up to their nose, over their eyes, and they drowned in houses just like this, in this neighborhood because of reckless negligence that is unanswered for.”

- Pamela Lewis, who had guns shoved in her face when she tried to evacuate with her 86 year old mother, has now been relocated over 100 miles from the city to one of FEMA’s giant trailer parks fenced in with barbed-wire and has lived there for 9 months. The trailer park is in a field literally in the middle of nowhere behind an Exxon Oil Refinery — the only bus available for residents goes only to Wal-Mart. “It is a prison set-up. I’ve never been to the bottom of the barrel until I came here.” - Patricia Thomas who broke her teeth while trying to evacuate is now homeless and is locked out of her public housing unit in the Lafitte housing project near the French Quarter. We go with her as she enters her blockaded apartment (which she now plans to illegally occupy) and find that it was not damaged by the flooding and could be re-opened within a week’s time. “Katrina didn’t do this. Man did this. This was man made.” - Malik Rahim, Director of Common Ground who is building communities aimed at bringing people back to New Orleans with affordable housing, collectives, and job-placement assistance. “If we could do it - we could take a thousand people and house them in a humane way, why can’t the federal government do it?” - Henry Irving Sr., home-owner in the Lower 9th Ward. His entire neighborhood has been completely destroyed, hardly anyone has returned, and those that have returned have been told not to — and yet Mr. Irving plans to stay.“That’s what they want us to do. They want us to get discouraged and to leave. I’m going to stay here long enough to see it come back.”

Also, there are surprises, twists, and turns in this story that will be revealed only upon broadcast so… …Tune In!

SPECIAL THANKS!

This report was possible only through the extraordinary support we receive from our donors. If you would like to support our work you can do so today and recieve a gift — just click here.

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

Labels: Business, Cinema, Entertainment, Ethnicity, Hurricane Katrina, News, Politics, Racism, Television

Residents of public housing in New Orleans have been locked out. Not surprising as you may think that occured because the housing is unsafe, right? Wrong. These townhouses that do not look like the public housing most of us may be accustomed to, were not damaged during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

So, why? How about because it is valuable property and Katrina provided a perfect excuse to rid New Orleans of the poor and Black. The new New Orleans is "stripped down, down-sized and not too Black".

Shame on the government in the United States and shame on us, the American citizens for remaining silent while corporations and the rich run the country under the guise of democracy.

Share this information with as many people as you know. Knowledge is power; let's use it!

Remember in November!

~ Vanessa

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OCTOBER 11, 2006 1:31 PM

CONTACT: Link TV [email protected]

Oil, Katrina and the Big Spin - 4 hours of special programming

SAN FRANCISCO - October 11 - Link TV will broadcast a four-hour special, “Oil, Katrina and The Big Spin” on Friday, Oct. 13, Saturday, Oct. 21 and Sunday, Oct. 29, beginning at 5p.m. PST and 8 p.m. EST.

Part of a gripping collection of programs you must see before you vote in November, the special focuses on the two landmark events of President Bush’s second term — Hurricane Katrina and the continuing war in Iraq. Oil, Katrina and The Big Spin intends to cut through the confusion and help you make up your own mind about the critical events over the past few years, what’s real and what’s the spin.

Jerome Ringo, President of the Apollo Alliance, joins us in the studio to discuss our nation’s dependence on oil. Mr. Ringo is a former oil rig worker and is now Chairman of the National Wildlife Federation.

We’ll also see two films: “Big Easy to Big Empty” and “Oil Safari: The Travelogue of Addiction.” In “Big Easy to Big Empty,” investigative journalist and author, Greg Palast, went to New Orleans to find out how the devastated city has recovered. He reported back to Link TV and Amy Goodman for Democracy Now! and provides further insight into the government’s role in relief efforts.

“Oil Safari” follows the oil from the Gulf of Mexico, from Iraq, from Venezuela, from war torn impoverished countries to the tanks of U.S. cars. Made by the Chicago Times and Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Salopek, the veteran foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, the report reveals how our oil addiction binds us to some of the most hostile corners of the planet and to a petroleum economy edging toward crisis.

Also featured: “Orwell Rolls In His Grave,” a film that moves us through a troubling list of questions and news stories that go unanswered and unreported in the mainstream media. Examining elections, the media and the spin, Robert Kane Pappas takes us beneath the surface of words into their political meaning where lies pass as truth. By deconstructing the use of language handed down from the administration to the media we’ll see how certain messages infiltrate our shared belief system.

Linguist, Geoffrey Nunberg, who’s new book, “Talking Right,” will Link TV to examine how the Right has managed to label Liberals as “Tax Raising, Latte Drinking, Sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood Loving freaks.”

Tune in only on Link TV. Visit www.linktv.org for additional show times and online streams.

###

Links:

BIG EASY TO BIG EMPTY - The Untold Story of the Drowning of New Orleans

Palast Charged with Journalism in the First Degree

www.linktv.org <---- For intelligent, independent television. The truth is here!

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

Labels: Business, Cinema, Hurricane Katrina, Politics, Racism, Television

Courtesy the Tillman Family Pat Tillman (left) and his brother Kevin stand in front of a Chinook helicopter in Saudi Arabia before their tour of duty as Army Rangers in Iraq in 2003.

After Pat’s Birthday

From www.truthdig.com

Posted on Oct 19, 2006 By Kevin Tillman

Editor’s note: Kevin Tillman joined the Army with his brother Pat in 2002, and they served together in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pat was killed in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. Kevin, who was discharged in 2005, has written a powerful, must-read document.

It is Pat’s birthday on November 6, and elections are the day after. It gets me thinking about a conversation I had with Pat before we joined the military. He spoke about the risks with signing the papers. How once we committed, we were at the mercy of the American leadership and the American people. How we could be thrown in a direction not of our volition. How fighting as a soldier would leave us without a voice… until we got out.

Much has happened since we handed over our voice: Somehow we were sent to invade a nation because it was a direct threat to the American people, or to the world, or harbored terrorists, or was involved in the September 11 attacks, or received weapons-grade uranium from Niger, or had mobile weapons labs, or WMD, or had a need to be liberated, or we needed to establish a democracy, or stop an insurgency, or stop a civil war we created that can’t be called a civil war even though it is. Something like that.

Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.

Somehow our elected leaders were subverting international law and humanity by setting up secret prisons around the world, secretly kidnapping people, secretly holding them indefinitely, secretly not charging them with anything, secretly torturing them. Somehow that overt policy of torture became the fault of a few “bad apples” in the military. Somehow back at home, support for the soldiers meant having a five-year-old kindergartener scribble a picture with crayons and send it overseas, or slapping stickers on cars, or lobbying Congress for an extra pad in a helmet. It’s interesting that a soldier on his third or fourth tour should care about a drawing from a five-year-old; or a faded sticker on a car as his friends die around him; or an extra pad in a helmet, as if it will protect him when an IED throws his vehicle 50 feet into the air as his body comes apart and his skin melts to the seat.

Somehow the more soldiers that die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes.

Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground.

Somehow those afraid to fight an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send soldiers to die for an illegal invasion they started.

Somehow faking character, virtue and strength is tolerated.

Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated.

Somehow the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people is tolerated.

Somehow subversion of the Bill of Rights and The Constitution is tolerated.

Somehow suspension of Habeas Corpus is supposed to keep this country safe.

Somehow torture is tolerated.

Somehow lying is tolerated.

Somehow reason is being discarded for faith, dogma, and nonsense.

Somehow American leadership managed to create a more dangerous world.

Somehow a narrative is more important than reality.

Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.

Somehow the most reasonable, trusted and respected country in the world has become one of the most irrational, belligerent, feared, and distrusted countries in the world.

Somehow being politically informed, diligent, and skeptical has been replaced by apathy through active ignorance.

Somehow the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country.

Somehow this is tolerated.

Somehow nobody is accountable for this.

In a democracy, the policy of the leaders is the policy of the people. So don’t be shocked when our grandkids bury much of this generation as traitors to the nation, to the world and to humanity. Most likely, they will come to know that “somehow” was nurtured by fear, insecurity and indifference, leaving the country vulnerable to unchecked, unchallenged parasites.

Luckily this country is still a democracy. People still have a voice. People still can take action. It can start after Pat’s birthday.

Brother and Friend of Pat Tillman,
Kevin Tillman

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

Labels: Commentary, Deaths, History, Politics

Snippet: According to a senator "there can be no better advertisement for the country than what this young lady has done. I have never heard anyone sing our anthem like this. I hope the Ministry of Information will exploit it to boost the image of Nigeria abroad, this is a class act."

Beyonce’s Rendition of Nigeria’s Anthem Moves Crowd

By Peter Bakare, 10.09.2006

It was a move that was as surprising as it was touching. But Beyonce Knowles, the star act at the First THISDAY Music Festival, which ended early this morning had mastered her craft and left the crowd enthralled.

Following her introduction Saturday night, she had danced for a while then paused. "I am nervous. I don't know how to begin this but I hope you people will help me by singing along," she said as the crowd waited.
The ecstatic members of the audience, most of who had anticipated that Beyonce was about to render one of her popular songs were dazed when she began, in her uniquely sonorous voice, to sing a familar tune: "Arise O Compatriots..."

As Beyonce sang the Nigerian national anthem in a way many had never heard before, emotions were high with some people in the audience moved to tears.

With the presence of many eminent Nigerians including President of the Senate, Chief Ken Nnamani, Lagos and Delta State Governors, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Chief James Ibori respectively, not a few expressed surprise as to how she mastered the song.

According to a senator "there can be no better advertisement for the country than what this young lady has done. I have never heard anyone sing our anthem like this. I hope the Ministry of Information will exploit it to boost the image of Nigeria abroad, this is a class act."

Other eminent personalities who graced the first night like Senator Udo Udoma, Senator Adolphus Wabara, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Bayo Ojo, also expressed their delight. So did the Presidential Adviser on National Assembly, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa.

The Music Festival continued last night with Snoop Dog Doggy, Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes, King Sunny Ade, Weird MC, TuFace and Majek Fashek thrilling the crowd.

Like the first day of the festival, the mood was electrifying with crowd even more than they were on the opening day.

Among the stars who performed before press time yesterday were, the son of the music icon, Seun Anikulapo-Kuti, Asha, Dare Art-Alade, Weird MC, Tuface Dibia, D. Banj and Busta Rhymes.

D. Banj and Tuface Dibia thrilled the highly elated crowd with their popular tunes.

The crowd were anxiously waiting for Snoop Dogg, Sunny Ade, Majek Fashek and others at about midnight yesterday.

The governors and senators who came to the show with a retinue of aides rolled up their sleeves and put on their dancing shoes, encouraging the teeming audience to follow in their footsteps.

Sharing his vision for a greater Nigeria, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, Chairman, Leaders and Company, publishers of THISDAY Newspapers, promoter of the show described his effort as an attempt to return Nigeria to the centre stage of world reckoning. “We are here to demonstrate that good things can still work in Nigeria. We are here to show that if we work together we can score great goals and surpass unreachable targets”, he said.

Obaigbena reeled out a list of deserving partners who worked with THISDAY to realise the dream. They include Mr. Joe Fletcher, Mr. Thomas and Elisa Matusa who represent the lead act of the show, Beyonce Knowles. He also acknowledged the contribution of Hammond Entertainment and the La Roda Group responsible for the stage, lighting and sound that enlivened the show.

Setting the tone for the commencement of the maiden edition of the annual THISDAY Music Festival, En Vogue, an all female group which opened the curtains got the audience dancing and screaming for more by the time they finished their 30-minute show.

As Master of Ceremony, Mr. Tony Okungbowa announced the next act, Ciara; the ecstatic crowd went into spasms of joy, shouting wildly to welcome her on stage. She went straight into business with her team of dancers that mesmerised the crowd. In a brief interval that preceded the second phase of her performance, Ciara showed that she had been doing some research on her own about Nigeria.

Twice she spoke in Yoruba, saying, “mo ni ife yin” (I love you) and when her time on stage was up, she signed off with “e se” (thank you). Explaining how much she cherished the show, she said, “you don’t understand how much this (visit to Nigeria) means to me. It is my first time here. Unfortunately, I can’t stay longer this time, but I am coming back.”

Promoter of the show, Obaigbena had the privilege of bringing on stage the second co-headliner of the show, Jay-Z. His arrival was expectedly noisy with catcalls, wild cheer and burst of smoke that emphasised the amazing technology brought to bear with creative lighting.

As Jay-Z sang some of his hits to which the crowd demonstrated familiarity by crooning along, the large screen behind the stage intermittently displayed the Nigerian green and white colours.

This demonstration of national pride triggered a comment of solidarity from Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce, Chairman, Silverbird Group who depicted the show as one of the greatest things to happen to Nigeria’s image at this time.

Speaking in the same vein, Mr. Tokunbo Modupe, CEO of TPT International whose company had the responsibility of providing effective public and media relations for the event said the show was the biggest endorsement for a clean bill of health that Nigeria can get. He argued that the THISDAY Music Festival, which features eight international music stars, is the current lead story in the entertainment world.

“The effect of this on the country’s tourism and business environment can never be quantified and we hope that in the future editions, the federal government will seize the opportunity by participating fully in the festival”, Modupe said.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=60217
submitted by adaoma-o

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

Labels: Africa, Beyonce, Black Culture, Entertainment, Ethnicity, Politics