DID MCCAIN MAKE A HUGE MISTAKE??

Psssst...pass it on! [The] Alaska Women Reject Palin Rally was to be held outside on the lawn in front of the Loussac Library in midtown Anchorage . Home made signs were encouraged, and the idea was to make a statement that Sarah Palin does not speak for all Alaska women, or men. I had no idea what to expect.The rally was organized by a small group of women, talking over coffee. It made me wonder what other things have started with small groups of women talking over coffee. It's probably an impressive list. These women hatched the plan, printed up flyers, posted them around town, and sent notices to local media outlets. One of those media outlets was KBYR radio, home of Eddie Burke, a long-time uber-conservative Anchorage talk show host. Turns out that Eddie Burke not only announced the rally, but called the people who planned to attend the rally 'a bunch of socialist baby-killing maggots,' and read the home phone numbers of the organizers aloud over the air, urging listeners to call and tell them what they thought. The women, of course, received some nasty, harassing and threatening messages.I felt a bit apprehensive.
I'd been disappointed before by the turnout at other rallies. Basically, in Anchorage , if you can get 25 people to show up at an event, it's a success. So, I thought to myself, if we can actually get 100 people there that aren't sent by Eddie Burke, we'll be doing good. A real statement will have been made. I confess, I still had a mental image of 15 demonstrators surrounded by hundreds of menacing 'socialist baby-killing maggot' haters.It's a good thing I wasn't tailgating when I saw the crowd in front of the library or I would have ended up in somebody's trunk. When I got there, about 20 minutes early, the line of sign wavers stretched the full length of the library grounds, along the edge of the road, 6 or 7 people deep! I could hardly find a place to park. I nabbed one of the last spots in the library lot, and as I got out of the car and started walking, people seemed to join in from every direction, carrying signs.Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn't honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute.This just doesn't happen here.Then, the infamous Eddie Burke showed up. He tried to talk to the media, and was instantly surrounded by a group of 20 people who started shouting O-BA-MA so loud he couldn't be heard. Then passing cars started honking in a rhythmic pattern of 3, like the Obama chant, while the crowd cheered, hooted and waved their signs high. So, if you've been doing the math… Yes. The Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin's rally that got all the national media coverage! So take heart, sit back, and enjoy the photo gallery. Feel free to spread the pictures around to anyone who needs to know that Sarah Palin most definitely does not speak for all Alaskans. The citizens of Alaska , who know her best, have things to say.A bunch of pictures of that rally:

Considering Palin has 80% approval rating, this must be part of that 20%...You think?

John I dont see anything on your jacket

I don't see anything on your jacket, will you move that microphone away from my face!!! Stop playing, you play too much...

Obama: Christian, Not Muslim

Barack Obama has never been Muslim and never practiced Islam. But rumors about his religion intended to frighten some voters persist, and they mostly return to one point of fact: his name. "Barack" is the candidate's Kenyan father's name; Obama's middle name, "Hussein," is his grandfather's name. Hussein embraced Islam—after first converting to Christianity under the name "Johnson." According to Obama's memoir, Hussein valued discipline and strength and found Christian forgiveness to be sentimental. Obama has described his father as atheist or agnostic. His Kansan mom, whose grandparents were devout Protestants, lived a secular life. Obama's only personal contact with Islam came as a boy when he moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, with a stepfather who mixed his Islam with Hindu and Animist traditions. In five years there, Obama attended a Roman Catholic school, then a public elementary school, where he sat through a class each week of religious studies. As an adult, Obama turned to Christianity in the late '80s in Chicago, at Trinity United Church of Christ, where he was baptized, married—and baptized his kids. As a new U.S. senator, Obama took his oath on the family Bible.

Driver with $2 million speeding fines nabbed

SAO PAULO - Transport authorities in Brazil have caught up with a speed-loving Brazilian driver who clocked up nearly $2 million in fines, local media reported. Police intercepted the driver of a 12-year-old car in Sao Paulo at the spot he most frequently committed infractions, the O Globo daily said on Thursday. For seven years he had been speeding and running red lights but was not arrested earlier because he never registered the car in his own name.

Whats the problem with the economy?

Well auu, let me see. Well thats a good question, whats wrong with the economy... You see when we got bombed, I was.... No wait, thats not what we are talking about. The gas prices are very high and because we are not drilling... No wait... Because of the recent job loss in the high unemployment rate... I'm sorry what was the question?

See what eight years did for us?

This was the year that gas was cheap and living and unemployment was low! Economy was stable.













Eight years later gas is high and unemployment is higher. On the brink of recession.

They fooled us once, but never twice we have to vote this year.

Did you know Clay Aiken is Gay?

Clay Aiken is gay? In People he gave a interview



Speaking about being a new father and being gay. Maybe i'm special and had some totally unique sense, but I knew he was gay long before him coming out of the closet. I actually thought that Ruben was as well. If you ever look at these guys as men, they were never really tied with women. Thats usually a clue!

Dangers of texting

The nation's worst commuter rail disaster in four decades -many believe was directly caused by the engineer texting which caused a Metrolink collision with a freight train that killed 25 and injured 135 in Los Angeles, Sept. 12.

Several reports tindicates that the engineer had sent text messages in the minute before the crash, the debate is being tossed around the round table that when driving that the operator does not need to be on the phone.

"It's far too early to say that text messaging was the cause of this crash," says Peter Knudson, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board. Phone records will have to be examined first, he says. "But since we know that cellphones are a distraction, you can bet that (Web) browsing and texting (via cellphone) will be the next key area of inquiry, not just talking."

California and some other states have already brought in laws to regulate cellphone use while driving, but policymakers have been slower to catch up with the consequences of the recent explosion in text messaging in the US.
About 75 billion SMS text messages were sent in June this year, representing an increase of 160 percent over June 2007, according to the mobile industry's trade association CTIA. That's an average of 2.5 billion messages a day.
Text-messaging is especially popular among young people. A recent survey conducted online by CTIA among teens aged 13-19 found that a majority (57 percent) view their cell phone as key to their social life and most view texting as a vital feature.
Research has shown that talking on a cellphone while driving can be dangerous. Texting is potentially even more unsafe because it requires diverting eyes from the task at hand to the keypad. A simulated driving study by Clemson University last year showed that drivers using iPods and text messaging devices leave their lanes 10 percent more often.

It's not just texting while driving that may pose a risk. Earlier this year, the American College of Emergency Physicians reported that emergency rooms were seeing a rise in injuries from people texting while walking, rollerskating, and jogging. The injuries included twisted ankles, scrapes, bruises, and even a few deaths of people who stepped into traffic, said Dr. Gerry Brogan, president of the New York branch of the association.
Injuries were more common among teens and young adults were more common, the association said.
Tell that to teens, 42 percent of whom say they can text blindfolded, according to the CTIA survey.
The California law requiring hands-free cellphones for motorists that went into effect July 1 does not address the issue of text messaging.
"We wanted to address texting in the law . . . but it wasn't then the problem it has now become, says State Sen. Joe Simitian, who sponsored the ban.
While sitting in church I saw serval teenagers texting in church, I mean the motion was so smooth that if I had not seen it with my eyes, I would not believe it could happen! Whats disturbing is to see a driver looking down and texting and not watch the road... Wake up people!

REMEMBER: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public today

REMEMBER: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public today

REMINDER.... all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies tomorrow and you will start to receive sale calls.

YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS

To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.

I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....

I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....


*If you grow up in Hawaii , raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different." * Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, a quintessential American story.
* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim. * Name your kids Willow , Trig and Track, you're a maverick. * Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable. * Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're wellgrounded.

* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the firstblack President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drivethat registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Lawprofessor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district withover 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and HumanServices committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on theForeign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairscommittees, you don't have any real leadership experience. * If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city counciland 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months asthe governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified tobecome the country's second highest ranking executive. * If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian. * If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left yourdisfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian. * If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including theproper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society. * If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no otheroption in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teendaughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible. * If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in aprestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community,then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't representAmerica 's. * If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWIconviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaskafrom the USA , your family is extremely admirable. OK, much clearer now.

Travis judge tells woman to stop having kids

Constitutionality of order in child injury case is questioned by experts.
By Steven KreytakAMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Friday, September 12, 2008
A judge in Travis County has ordered a woman to stop having children as a condition of her probation in her case of injury to a child by omission, an extraordinary measure that legal experts say could be unconstitutional.
The order was for Felicia Salazar, 20, who admitted to failing to provide protection and medical care to her then-19-month-old daughter last year. The girl suffered broken bones and other injuries when she was beaten by her father, Roberto Alvarado, 25, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Alvarado and Salazar relinquished their parental rights, and the child, who has recovered, was placed in foster care.
On Sept. 5, state District Judge Charlie Baird sentenced Salazar, who had no criminal history, to 10 years of probation after she reached a plea bargain with prosecutors. In Texas, judges set conditions of probation. In addition to requiring Salazar to perform 100 hours of community service and to undergo a mental health assessment and setting other typical conditions, Baird told Salazar not to have any more children.
In an interview Wednesday, Baird said Texas law gives judges the discretion to set any conditions of probation deemed reasonable. He also said that neither Salazar nor her lawyer, Kent Anschutz, objected.
"When you look her background, the circumstances of this case," he said, "a reasonable condition of her probation was that she not conceive or bear any children."
Anschutz said he is considering his options on behalf of Salazar. He described her as concerned about Baird's order.
"Although I fully understand the sentiment and perspective of the judge in this matter, I question the enforceability of that particular condition," he said.
Salazar couldn't be reached for comment.
The requirement that Salazar not conceive or bear any children is "probably not constitutional," said Douglas Laycock, a University of Michigan constitutional law professor.
Laycock, a former professor and associate dean for research at the University of Texas School of Law, said in an e-mail that the courts have recognized a fundamental right of people to make their own decisions about becoming parents.
"The state rarely tries to stop people from becoming parents, so there has not been much occasion to litigate that," he said. "But undoubtedly there is a constitutional right to have children ... and I doubt that one conviction for injury to a child is enough to forfeit that right."
Conditions of probation are enforced by putting a defendant in jail or prison when they are violated.
It is doubtful whether Baird would or could do that if Salazar has children, said Keith Hampton, a veteran Travis County defense lawyer who is a second vice president of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
"I really don't see how that is going to be an enforceable order," Hampton said, citing court rulings that have expressed an unenumerated constitutional right to procreate. "It may be a good thing that this defendant heard someone in authority tell them 'We don't think you should have any more kids.' "
Hampton said that Salazar could appeal the conditions of her probation, even before Baird attempts to enforce them.
Baird said he has never made a similar order in his more than 20 months on the District Court bench in Travis County. Other lawyers, including Allison Wetzel, the prosecutor in the case, say they are not familiar with any similar orders.
John Schmolesky, a criminal law professor at St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, said conditions of probation must serve to protect the public or rehabilitate the defendant.
"This one might logically have a connection to protecting the public," he said of Baird's order. "Obviously if she neglected her kid, if she doesn't have any more, she can't neglect them."
But, Schmolesky said, "if I were a betting man, I would say that an appellate court would strike that one down."
Baird noted that by putting Salazar on probation, he sentenced her to 10 years in prison and suspended that sentence.
"If I put her in prison for 10 years, she could not conceive or bear children," he said. "I don't know how this is unreasonable for probation."
Laycock, the Michigan law professor, said that in a past Wisconsin case, a father of nine who was convicted of intentionally failing to pay child support was ordered to have no more children as a condition of probation. The Supreme Court of Wisconsin upheld that condition.
"So there's room for argument here," Laycock said. "But I would think that if she challenges this order, it will be struck down.
"On the other hand, if she got probation instead of jail, she may be happy with this and not want to challenge it."

Aubrey O’Day and Wanita “D.Woods” kicked out of Danity Kane

Oh fabulous ones…the proverbial sh*t has hit the fan! Last night, right before heading out to the Baby Phat show, the Danity Kane chicks had a meeting with Diddy. And it ended up with Aubrey O’Day and Wanita “D.Woods” Woodgette kicked out of the group! Here’s what went down:
YBF sources who overheard the drama going down in the house dished to us about last night’s meeting. Boss man was in rare form. The meeting ended up in a huge screaming match with Aubrey talking sly at the mouth (she does it often as I’ve witnessed that myself) about Dawn going solo. Dawn clapped back at Aubrey defending herself, and brought up the fact that Aubrey did her own thing on Broadway this summer. Puff intervened, Aubrey popped off at the mouth at him again, and he screamed “You know what? F*ck you, you’re out the group.” Then he turned to D. Woods and said “I heard you were unhappy too. You can get the f*ck out too.” Damn! And it was all caught on video since the meeting went down while they were taping this season’s finale show. I hear the footage could air on this season’s finale episode or during next season’s (yes, another one) “MTB” they’re taping now as well.

5 Things You Never Knew Your Cell Phone Could Do

5 Things You Never Knew Your Cell Phone Could Do For all the folks with cell phones.

(This should be printed and kept in your car, purse, and wallet. Good information to have with you.) There are a few things that can be done in time! Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Check out the things that you can do with it:

FIRST EmergencyThe Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find Yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an Emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to Establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly, this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.

SECONDHave you locked your keys in the car?Does your car have remote key less entry? This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone: If you lock your keys In the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot From your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other 'remote' for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk).Editor's Note: It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked ! our car over a cell phone!'

THIRDHidden Battery PowerImagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370#. Your cell phone will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell phone next time.

FOURTHHow to disable a STOLEN mobile phone?To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following Digits on your phone: *#06#. A 15-digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe.If your phone gets stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones. And Finally.....

FIFTHFree Directory Service for CellsCell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or more for 411 information calls when they don't have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial: (800)FREE411, or (800) 373-3411 without incurring any charge at all. Program this into your cell phone now.

Palins comments on war

Sarah Palin is a very charismatic woman and when she speaks, you listen. Her presence has created a serge in the GOP excitement that they think they can win again. Now she has the nerve to say that if Russia invades Georgia again that we should launch an attack on Russia. No one in history has ever won a war when invading the other country. Everyone thinks Russia's military inadequate but you can believe that when you start a war over in that country, suicide bombers are really going to be the least of our worries! For the last 7 years Russia has IMPROVED their armor, their jets, and their defenses. Russia has almost 150 thousand tanks, artillery, antitank guns, missile launchers, anti aircraft guns and 10 million men and woman they can call up, while our forces are stretched to the bone.

Most rational people are alarmed to hear Ms. Palin talking about war.
To be a good president or vice president, a candidate must have the understanding, temperament, and diplomatic skills to forge partnerships, negotiate solutions, and gain trust. Sarah Palin is sarcastic and arrogant, and she appears to see only one viewpoint (her own).

The key is not only beable to start a war, but to start a war and be able to finish it on top!

Jeremiah Wright had a steamy sexual affair

He almost wrecked Barack Obama's presidential dreams, and now firebrand pastor Jeremiah Wright has helped destroy a Dallas church worker's marriage - and her job, The Post has learned.

Elizabeth Payne, 37, said she had a steamy sexual affair with the controversial, racially divisive man of the cloth while she was an executive assistant at a church headed by a popular Wright protégé.
When word of the unholy alliance got out, Payne's husband dumped her, and she was canned from the plum job at Friendship-West Baptist Church, she told The Post.
"I was involved with Rev. Wright, and that's why I lost my job and why my husband divorced me," Payne said.
She refused to reveal when the adulterous affair started or how she met Wright.
But fellow churchgoers at Friendship-West "found out about the affair in the spring," Payne said.

At the time, she was secretary to the Rev. Frederick Haynes III, a longtime Wright disciple.
In April, Payne organized a series of Texas public appearances by Wright, 67. Weeks before, Obama had disavowed his preacher of 20 years after Wright's anti-government rants came to light.
"Liz was by Rev. Wright's side day and night during those days," a church source said.
"It's all true," said Payne, adding that she has filed a wrongful-dismissal claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to get her job back.
In an ironic twist, Wright last night spoke at an East Orange, NJ, church revival on the subject of "unexpected problems."
"There's no such thing as a problem-free relationship," he told a packed Elmwood United Presbyterian Church. "In life, you'll have unexpected problems."

Serena Williams won her 3rd US Open title

Serena Williams display the victory emotions as she won her 3rd US Open title. Displaying the talent and tenacity that helped her dominate tennis earlier in the decade,

Serena Williams outlasted Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5 for her ninth Grand Slam title.

Lawsuit questions Obama's eligibility for office: citizenship claim at issue

A Lafayette Hill attorney filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday challenging Sen. Barack Obama's claim to United States citizenship. The action seeks to remove the Democratic candidate from the November ballot.To be eligible to serve as U.S. president, a person must be born in this country. According to Obama's birth certificate, which his campaign posted on its Internet site in June to quell rumors that he is foreign born, the Illinois senator was born in Hawaii on Aug. 6, 1961. On Thursday, Philip Berg filed a temporary restraining order in federal court to bar Obama from running for president, claiming the Democratic candidate was actually born in Africa."We really don't believe he was born in Hawaii," Berg said. "We think he was born in Kenya."The presidential candidate's father, Barack Obama Sr., was born and raised in a small village in Kenya, according to Obama's campaign Web site. Berg's suit claims the senator's grandmother, brother and sister, who live in Kenya, believe they were present during Obama's birth in the African country.Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in Kansas, and his parents met at the University of Hawaii when Dunham was a student there, according to the Obama campaign.Eventually, Obama's father returned to Kenya, and his son grew up in Hawaii with his mother and for a few years in Indonesia after Dunham married an Indonesian man, Lolo Soetoro. Also, Obama lived with his maternal grandparents in Hawaii."If he was born in Hawaii, and he was adopted in Indonesia by Lolo Soetoro, (Obama) would lose his citizenship," Berg said.

The thought of a conservative

I am a conservative, because I believe in 'conserving government' at the request of our forefathers, as evidenced in the magnificent document they penned...The Constitution. Have you seriously studied The Constitution, or even in read it in full deeppeace? If so, then you know there is absolutely nothing in the Constitution guaranteeing health care, or any other "entitlement" program", to every US citizen, let alone illegal aliens (who are included in the uninsured numbers quoted). Anyway, do tell...why in the world would anyone want, or think the federal government could provide high quality national health care, in an efficient and fiscally responsible manner? Consider the bankrupt status of the single, most expensive federal debt, SS and Medicare, (which Libertarians and some Constitutional lawyers, often argue is illegally funded via FICA tax). Which prompts the next question, who is going to pay for our substandard, national healthcare? And yes, it will be substandard to the system we have now, as flawed as it may be. The idea of nationalized healthcare is a product of Socialism, and as has been proven over and over again, "Socialism", aka "the great equalizer", renders excellence obsolete. Thank God, (whomever he, she, or it may be for you), the USA is a democracy - built on excellence and ingenuity - often prompted by competition and rewarded through capitalism.
Although I certainly do not always agree with John McCain, I do agree with him that Roe -V- Wade is a flawed decision...because it simply isn't a federal law issue as mandated by the Constitution. And although it's highly unlikely, should Roe -v- Wade be overturned, the laws governing abortion simply go back to the states, where they rightfully belong. With a great mix of liberal and conservative states comprising our great nation, pro-life, pro-choice, and pro-abortion advocates all, will continue to be well represented.
I'm compelled to address the statement, "‘Pro-life’ means you respect living things. Like babies AFTER they’re born." I won't even bother to belabor the obvious...for I'm sure deeppeace recognizes that babies are alive and kickin'...long before they are "born" :) ...just ask any mom if you have doubts. More importantly, this statement reminds me that Obama doesn't support this notion...that a baby deserves the respect of life...even after it's born, if his/her mother intended for her baby to die during an abortion. Shocking, isn't it? But it's absolutely true. While serving in the IL state senate, Obama remained the lone holdout in three separate attempts to pass into law, the "Born Alive Infant's Protection Act". This law requires that usual and customary medical care be given to babies who are born alive, after surviving botched, labor-induced, late term abortions. Even the staunches supporters of abortion rights, like B Boxer of the US Senate, found the alternative practice of placing these living babies "out of sight" to die, like in a "soiled linen closet", to be just a bit too inhumane for the leader of the free world. The exact same law passed unanimously in the US Senate. Check it out for yourself Kai Noeske...read the transcript of Obama's detailed objections, "but there’s, let’s say, movement or some indication that, in fact, they’re not just coming out limp and dead...", available on the IL State Gov't official website: pp. 31-34, http://www.ilga.gov/senate/transcripts/strans92/ST040402.pdf.

Is Oprah Biased

Is Oprah Biased? because she won't Interview Palin Republican VP Nominee Sarah Palin is not welcomed on the on her show before the election. She said that after the the presidential election will be fine.

I like Oprah and enjoy her talk show but I think that it is apparent that she wants Obama to win... So is that a crime? Why would she do anything that would hurt him from becoming president?
"The item in today's 'Drudge Report' is categorically untrue," Winfrey said in a written statement provided to ABC News.com. "There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show.
"At the beginning of the presidential campaign, when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates," Winfrey wrote.

O well, I have spoke and everyone will have to just live with my decision.

Elizabeth Spriggs died at 78

The British Shakespearean actress Elizabeth Spriggs diedat the age 78. Her theatre career, which lasted more than four decades, included thirteen years at the Royal Shakespeare, roles in several popular British TV series and even a part in a Harry Potter movie.

Spriggs joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1962 at the time when Peter Hall was establishing the theatre as a permanent company. Spriggs became an associate artist with the RSC and one of the company’s most accomplished performers. Spriggs also appeared in the BBC’s television productions of “Julius Caesar” and “The Merry Wives of Windsor.”

Spriggs later performed with the National Theatre and was nominated for a Tony Award in 1975 as best supporting or featured actress in a play for “London Assurance.” She stopped performing live theatre when a bad hip prevented her from standing on stage for long periods of time.

Spriggs appeared in many television shows but she is probably best known for the role of Nan in the ITV series “Shine On Harvey Moon.” Spriggs also appeared in several movies including Emma Thompson’s adaptation of “Sense and Sensibility” and “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.”

was a versatile actress on stage and screen, and became familiar to television viewers in the role of Nan in Shine On Harvey Moon.

In the 1960s she brilliantly justified Peter Hall's new policy of turning the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-on-Avon from a seasonal set-up with a new star-led cast every season into a permanent company.


Joining it aged 36 as an unknown but soundly-trained character actress, she stayed for 14 years to become one of its most accomplished, reliable and mature leading players.

Elizabeth Spriggs went on to star at the National Theatre as well as on television. She was the kind of serious-minded, though never solemn, performer for whom the play was the thing; she never asked herself whether it suited her career.

Acting for Elizabeth Spriggs could be a painful experience: "You have to be open to new ideas. It's a little like an open wound, never healing ... It's vital to be constantly stretched ... I hated most of my disciplining, but it taught me more than technique."

From the age of 11 she had nursed hopes of acting at Stratford-on-Avon, and from the day she did so 25 years later for Hall's newly-formed Royal Shakespeare Company she never ceased to celebrate her luck.

At that time she was nearing middle age. She was not beautiful, and she could not hope for glamorous roles. But she was mature, intelligent, experienced and patient; and she developed over the years into one of the RSC's most valued assets who, now and then, brought real distinction to her acting.

Her Gertrude, for example, to David Warner's Hamlet was rated by one experienced critic as "among the best in living memory". Her Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, her Mistress Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor and her Maria in Twelfth Night also won high praise.

But the performance which stuck longest in most playgoers' memories came with the whip and riding breeches she sported opposite Donald Sinden in London Assurance. As Lady Gay Spanker in Dion Boucicault's 19th-century comedy in the Restoration style, she addressed her friends and relations as if they were quadrupeds; her acting was a triumph of high comedy.

Although she went on to do admirable work with the National Theatre Company when Peter Hall took over as artistic director from Laurence Olivier, it was her work with the RSC which took her to the top of her profession.

Elizabeth Spriggs was born on September 18 1929 at Buxton, Derbyshire, and was educated there and in Coventry before training for the stage at the Royal School of Music. She taught speech and drama at Coventry Technical College and privately.

This was a career path, however, that brought her no fulfilment: "I felt as if I was dying inside. The desire to act was like a weight within me, and I knew if I didn't do anything it would destroy me." In 1953 she got the opportunity to join the Bristol Old Vic, and after several seasons she moved to the Birmingham Rep, where her roles included Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra and Madame Ranevsky in The Cherry Orchard (1958).

In 1962 she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. In the following Aldwych season she played Mrs Vixen in The Beggar's Opera, Mother in The Representative by Rolf Hochhuth, Ida Mortemarte in Roger Vitrac's Victor and Rossignol in Peter Weiss's Marat/Sade.

At Stratford-on-Avon in 1965 her roles included Courtezan in The Comedy of Errors, Phrynia in Timon of Athens and a blowsy Gertrude to David Warner's Hamlet – considered by JC Trewin to be "among the best in living memory, a shallow woman terrified by the pressure of events she could not comprehend".

At the Aldwych she played Chairman Maudsley in David Mercer's one-acter, The Governor's Lady; Locksmith's Wife in The Government Inspector by Gogol; and Gertrude again in Hamlet, which she repeated at Stratford-on-Avon in 1966.

She also appeared at Stratford as Mistress Quickly in Henry IV Parts I and II; as the hostess in Henry V; the Widow in All's Well That Ends Well; a Witch in Macbeth; and as the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet to Estelle Kohler's Juliet. In the last two of these she toured to Helsinki, Leningrad and Moscow before playing at the Aldwych in 1968.

Back at Stratford that year she played Portia in Julius Caesar, Mistress Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor and – at the Aldwych in 1969 – Claire in A Delicate Balance by Edward Albee. Repeating her Mistress Ford at Stratford, she also played Livia in Middleton's Women Beware Women, Paulina in The Winter's Tale and Maria in Twelfth Night. Her 1970 triumph as Lady Gay Spanker in London Assurance was also seen on Broadway in 1974.

Other roles for the RSC included Lady Britomart in Shaw's Major Barbara; a warmly sympathetic Emilia to Brewster Mason's Othello (Stratford 1971); the Duchess of York in Richard II for the Theatregoround touring company; and a sunny, complacent and busy Beatrice to Derek Godfrey's Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, rediscovering, as one critic put it, "a capacity for love she had long since laid aside".

Among notable performances at the National Theatre were Madam Arcati, Noël Coward's tweedy, suburban and eccentric medium in Blithe Spirit (1976), and the tarty tobacconist with a heart of gold who seduces young men and corrects the shortcomings of others in Tom Stoppard's version of Odon von Horvath's Tales From the Vienna Woods.

At the National she was also the indomitable Lady Would-Be in Volpone, and the frightful Lady Fidget in Wycherley's Country Wife. As the stoical wife of Michael Gough's dying trades unionist in Arnold Wesker's Love Letters on Blue Paper (Cottesloe, 1978) she won the West End Managers' prize for the best supporting actress of the London season.

Among her numerous television credits were Shine on Harvey Moon, in which she played Harvey's mother, Nan; the title role of Hannah in Victorian Scandals; Dilecta in the Balzac serial Prometheus; Maud Lowther in Wings of a Dove; Frade in The Dybbuk; and Calpurnia in Julius Caesar. She also appeared in the ever-popular Midsomer Murders (she was a murder victim in the very first episode). She was Connie Fox in the serial Fox, the wife in We, The Accused, and she had the title role in The Kindness of Mrs Radcliffe. In Strangers and Brothers she played Lady Muriel Royce and the Mistress in Those Glory, Glory Days.

She also played The Witch in Simon and the Witch, and appeared in Gentleman and Players, Watching, Boon and Survival of the Fittest. She was in Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, The Old Devils, Heartbeat and Anglo-Saxon Attitudes.

Elizabeth Spriggs appeared as the formidable Aunt Agatha in Jeeves and Wooster and had parts in several Alan Bennett plays, including Bognor, Intensive Care and Our Winnie. She was a staple of costume drama, featuring in adaptations of both Our Mutual Friend and Martin Chuzzlewit (in the latter she excelled as the gin-sodden midwife Sairey Gamp) as well as the BBC's version of Middlemarch.

Her feature film credits included Peter Hall's Work Is A Four-Letter World, An Unsuitable Job For a Woman, The Cold Room, Sakharov, Parker and Yellow Pages. In 1995 she appeared as Mrs Jennings in Emma Thompson's adaptation of Sense and Sensibility and in 2001 was the Fat Lady in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Elizabeth Spriggs met her third husband, Murray Manson, in 1972 when he was working as a minicab driver and she was starring at the Albery in London Assurance. He survives her with the daughter of her first marriage.

Greg Burson died at 59

Greg Burson died on July 22, 2008 at the age of 59. The cause of death is being given as complications due to diabetes and arteriosclerosis but obviously, drinking had a lot to do with it.


Greg Burson was given the responsibility of voicing Bugs in 1995's Carrotblanca, a well-received 8-minute Looney Tunes cartoon originally shown in cinemas alongside The Amazing Panda Adventure (US) and The Pebble and the Penguin (non-US); it has since been released on video packaged with older Looney Tunes cartoons and was even included in the special edition DVD release of Casablanca, of which it is both a parody and an homage. Burson next voiced Bugs in the 1996 short From Hare to Eternity; the film is notable for being dedicated to the memory of the then-just deceased Friz Freleng, and for being the final Looney Tunes cartoon that Chuck Jones directed. Greg Burson also provided Bugs' voice in The Bugs and Daffy Show, which ran on Cartoon Network from 1996 to 1999.

He also voiced Yogi Bear and many other characters in Hanna-Barbera-related shows.


[edit] Legal Issues
Greg Burson was later arrested by detectives after barricading himself inside his Los Angeles home for six hours. He screamed a stream of nonsensical words at cops who were alerted to his home after two women rang them claiming he was holding his roommate against her will. Armed Special Weapons And Tactics teams joined the stand-off which eventually ended when a seemingly inebriated Greg Burson surrendered following hours of negotiations. Cops later discovered a collection of guns in his home. One officer says "He was so drunk we couldn't tell if he was trying to do one of his voices or was just slurring his words." Officer Rudy Villarreal has confirmed all three women involved in the incident lived with Burson. Neither women were harmed in this incident


CREDITS
Film Appearances
Voices of Nemo's father, Flap, Bullwinkle, Boris, and Dudley, Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, Hemdale Releasing, 1990
Voice of moving man, Tom and Jerry: The Movie (animated), Miramax,1993
Voice of Mr. DNA, Jurassic Park (also known as JP), MCA/Universal, 1993
Voices of Buggs Bunny, Pepe Le Pew as Louie, and Foghorn Leghorn as radiodispatcher, Carrotblanca (animated), Warner Bros., 1995
Voices of Bugs Bunny, From Hare to Eternity (animated), Warner Bros., 1996
Voice of the animated Mr. Quincy Magoo, Mr. Magoo, Buena Vista, 1997
Voice, Bugs Bunny's Funky Monkeys (animated), 1997
Also voices of Huckeberry Hound, Peter Perfect, and Snagglepuss, Cartoon Survivor; voices of Elmer and Foghorn for the film Space Jam; and voices of Bugs Bunny as Jim Hawkins and Pepe Le Pew as Squire Trelawney, Treasure Island: A Looney Tunes Movie.
Television Appearances
Series
Voice of Elmer Fudd, a recurring role, Tiny Toon Adventures (animated; also known as Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures), 1990-1991
Voice of Bugs Bunny, The Bugs n' Daffy Show (animated), The WB, 1996
Also voice of George Wilson, The All-New Dennis the Menace, CBS; voice of Professor Edwin I. Relevant, Channel Umptee--3, The WB; and voices of Yogi and Boo-Boo, Yogi & Co. (animated). Episodic
Voice of Mad Dog, "Shadow of the Bat: Parts 1 & 2," Batman: The Animated Series, Fox, 1993
Voices of Corbin and Sanderson, "Race against Danger," The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (animated), Cartoon Network and syndicated, 1996
Voice of Quick Draw McGraw, "Jack and the Clenches," Samurai Jack(animated), Cartoon Network, 2000
Also voices of judge and first otter, "SqOtters," an episode of The Angry Beavers (animated); voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fuddfor various episodes of Animaniacs (animated); voice of Barry the Baboon, Catdog (animated); voice of Attila, Mother Goose and Grimm(animated), CBS; voices of Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Pepe Le Pew, and Cupid for various episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures (animated; also known as Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures); voice, Tomand Jerry Kids Show (animated), Fox; voices of Huckleberry Hound, QuickDraw McGraw, Snagglepuss, and Yogi Bear, Wake, Rattle & Roll (animated), syndicated; and voice of Yogi Bear, Yo! Yogi (animated), NBC.
Specials
Voice, Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration, TNT, 1989
Voice of Porky, It's a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special, 1992
Voices of Yogi Bear, squirrel baby, and squirrel boy, A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith (animated), Cartoon Network, 1999
Other
Voice of Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights (animated movie;also known as Arabian Nights and Scooby Doo's Arabian Nights),syndicated, 1994
Also provided voices for the animated programs Droopy Master Detective; Fantastic Max; Garfield and Friends; Smurfs; SuperFriends; Taz-Mania; and 2 Stupid Dogs.
Television Work
Additional voices, I Yabba-Dabba Do! (animated movie), ABC, 1993
Additional voices for Jonny Quest (animated) and The Twisted Adventures of Felix the Cat (animated; also known as The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat), CBS.
RECORDINGS
Video Games
Voice, Star Wars: Episode I--The Gungan Frontier, Lucas Learning,1999
Voices of Boss Nass, guard door, first injured soldier, Jabba's porter, and shop owner, Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace, LucasArts Entertainment, 1999
Voices of Sergeant Blast, Rufus Ruffcut, Peter Perfect, and Red Max, Wacky Races, Infogrames, 2000
Voices of Boss Nass and Peck, Star Wars: Episode I--Jedi Power Battles, LucasArts Entertainment, 2000

Pervis Jackson (far right in the picture) has died of cancer at age 70

Iam very sad to inform that Pervis Jackson (far right in the picture) has died of cancer at age 70.
Pervis Jackson is an American R∧B singer, noted as the bass singer for The Spinners , and is one of the group's original members. He is perhaps best known for his line of "12:45" from the group's Billboard Top 10 smash, "They Just Can't Stop It (Games People Play)". As of 2008, Jackson was still singing with The Spinners. 08-18-2008 Pervis Jackson, a member of "The Spinners," died from cancer at Sinai Grace hospital this morning.


Throughout the years, they have acquired twelve (12) gold records with their hits climbing to the top of both Pop and R&B charts and they are one of the few groups who can boast of four (4) lead singers. Members include, Frank Washington, Bobbie Smith, Henry Fambrough. Pervis Jackson and Harold "Spike" Bonhart.

Hey he got a gun!

You think that you can shoot at me? Take this rock ump, and see how you like that!!!

Jerry Reed passed away

Jerry Reed 1937-2008


Jerry Reed Hubbard was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on 20 March, 1937. He was the second child born to Robert Spencer Hubbard and Cynthia Hubbard. Jerry's birth strained an already troubled marriage, and four months later the couple separated. For the next seven years Jerry and his sister Patricia where shuttled between Georgia orphanages and foster homes. They finally returned home in 1944 when their mother married Hubert Howard, another mill worker.
Music provided a welcome diversion for the family. He was exposed to gospel music via his religious background, and a natural aptitude for singing gave him a yearning to become a musician at a very early age. Encouraged by her son's continuing passion for music, Cyntia Howard saved seven dollars to buy a no-name second-hand guitar from a neighbor. Using a nickel as a flat pick, she taught the nine-year-old his first chords.
By the time he entered Atlanta's O'Keefe High School, Reed was already writing and singing novelty songs. After completing his second year, Reed left school to work in an Atlanta cotton mill. He spent his free time honing his performing skills in local honky tonks. Jerry also developed skills as an entertainer, often stopping a show with his imitations of popular country artists.
In 1954 an Atlanta policeman introduced the youth to Bill Lowery, who helmed a popular live country music show Saturday mornings over WGST radio. Reed joined Lowery at WGST, working part-time as a disc jockey. At night he performed with a band Lowery managed, Kenny Lee and the Western Playboys.
On November 16, 1954, Reed performed at a gala country show in Atlanta honoring Faron Young, who had just been discharged from the Army. Capitol Records' country music chief Ken Nelson was there to celebrate the occasion, and Lowery encouraged him consider signing the young singer. Reed's first Capitol session was held in Nashville's Castle Studios on October 17, 1955, and Nelson recruited his front-line Nashville musicians to back him. Reed wrapped up his Capitol contract in May 1958. If Nelson had any intention of keeping him on Capitol, Reed ended any future association by joining the United States Army.
In 1961 Jerry Reed moved to Nashville and landed a Columbia contract, but his success proved only marginally better there than at Capitol. While Jerry didn't exactly sell a lot of his own records, he did develop as a writer. Johnny Cash did well with his "A thing called love" and Porter Wagoner took Reed's "Misery loves company" to #1 in 1962. Jerry also spent a lot of time as a studio musician and backing picker with various touring country artists. He now began sending demos of his guitar instrumentals to Chet Atkins at RCA Victor. Chet Atkins signed him to RCA Victor and started producing his albums.
In 1967, Reed notched his first chart hit with "Guitar Man," which Elvis Presley soon covered. After releasing the 1970 crossover hit "Amos Moses," Reed teamed with Atkins for the duet LP "Me & Jerry". During the 1970 television season, he was a regular on the Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, and in 1971 he issued his biggest hit, the chart-topper "When You're Hot, You're Hot".
In the mid-1970s, Reed's recording career began to take a back seat to his acting aspirations. In 1974, he co-starred with his close friend Burt Reynolds in the film "W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings". While he continued to record throughout the decade, his greatest visibility was as a motion picture star, almost always in tandem with headliner Reynolds; after 1976's "Gator," Reed appeared in 1978's "High Ballin" and 1979's "Hot Stuff". He also co-starred in all three of the Smokey and the Bandit films; the first, which premiered in 1977, landed Reed a Number 2 hit with the soundtrack's "East Bound and Down."
In 1982, Reed's career as a singles artist was revitalized by the chart-topping hit "She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)," followed by "The Bird," which peaked at Number 2. His last chart hit, "I'm a Slave," appeared in 1983. After the 1986 LP "Lookin' at You" Reed focused on touring until 1992, when he and Atkins reunited for the album "Sneakin' Around" before he again returned to the road.
In 1998 he formed the group "Old Dogs" together with country superstars Waylon Jennings, Mel Tillis, and Bobby Bare. They recorded one album entitled "Old Dogs". In early 2008 he recorded his last album, "The Gallant Few," which was produced to raise funds for wounded veterans.
Jerry Reed passed away August 31, 2008.