Diana King newest Album "AgirLnaMeKING."
Yesterday singing sensation Diana King released her new album AgirLnaMeKING , the same day she celebrated her 41st birthday (11/8).
In celebrating her birthday King gave her fans her best album to date, AgirLnaMeKING, which gives a insight in her life of her journey toward healing after overcoming her fight with multiple sclerosis. The disease threatened to end her career, but King fought and immersed herself in writing and producing music, which she found therapeutic and inspiring.
The album was released on her own record label is a collection of 13 songs, led by first single “Yu Dun Kno,” which features Indian artist Gunjan. The track is co-written and co-produced by King, Handel Tucker and Paul Kastick. King’s last album was 2010’s Warrior Girl.
King said "Music was my therapy and I spent every waking minute in the studio, firstly as a way to distract myself from what I was feeling physically, but by the time I came up for air I had written over a hundred songs and I felt great!"
Suing 'Spider-Man'
Director Julie Taymor sued the producers of Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark yesterday, saying they violated her creative rights and haven't compensated her for the work she put into Broadway's most expensive musical.
Charles Spada, an attorney who filed the suit on behalf of the Tony Award-winning director, said yesterday in a statement that "the producers' actions have left her no choice but to resort to legal recourse to protect her rights".
Rick Miramontez, the show's spokesman, was not immediately aware of the copyright-infringement lawsuit, filed in United States District Court in Manhattan. Taymor was not available to comment.
The lawsuit seeks half of all profits, gains and advantages derived from the sale, licence, transfer or lease of any rights in the original Spiderman book, along with a permanent ban of the use of Taymor's name or likeness in connection with a promotional film without her written consent. It also seeks a jury trial to determine her share of profits from the unauthorised use of her book, which the lawsuit said was believed to be in excess of $1 million.
Taymor, who had been the Spider-Man director and co-book writer, was fired from the US$75-million musical that features music by U2's Bono and The Edge in March after years of delays, accidents and critical backlash.
Philip William McKinley, who directed the Hugh Jackman musical The Boy From Oz in 2003, was hired to steer the ship. He was billed as creative consultant when the musical opened in June.
The show has been doing brisk business ever since, most weeks easily grossing more than the US$1.2 million the producers have indicated they need to reach to stay viable. Last week, it took in US$1.4 million and 86 per cent of the 1,930-seat Foxwoods Theatre was filled.
According to Spada, "Producers have failed to compensate Ms Taymor for their continued use of her work to date, despite the fact that the show has consistently played to capacity or near-capacity houses since its first public performance in November 2010."
No changes
The lawsuit said the producers continued to "promote, use, change and revise" her work, including the book of the musical, without her approval. It said that her contracts called for no changes to be made without her consent.
According to the lawsuit, the producers' lawyers belatedly sent Taymor a cheque for $52,880 on November 4, purportedly as payment of her co-bookwriter royalties for performances of the musical through April 17, the last performance of the show before the revisions.
"The producers, however, continue to refuse to pay Taymor any royalties for performances after April 17, 2011," the lawsuit said. It said she is owed more than $70,000 additional book royalties to date, along with royalties of nearly $3,000 per week for performances.
The lawsuit said nearly one quarter of the new Spider-Man book is copied verbatim from Taymor's original book.
Taymor's lawsuit comes less than a week after the Tony Awards Administration Committee ruled that only Taymor will be considered eligible for the show's Tony for best direction of a musical category. The lawsuit said the awards committee rejected the producer's contention that McKinley had changed the musical into a "new" production.
Taymor is also seeking compensation from the union that represents theatre directors. The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society filed an arbitration claim in June against the show's producers over unpaid royalties.
The legal fights are in contrast to the wide smiles and hugs shared by the creative team on opening night. In the months since then, Taymor hasn't spoken at length about the behind-the-scenes turmoil, but has said she is still proud of the show and is not bitter.
Gov't denies targeting PNP politicians in tax-dodgers hunt
The Government has rejected claims that it is using the tax authorities to target persons who have put themselves forward to represent the People's National Party (PNP) in the next general election.
Minister with responsibility for information, Arthur Williams, says while it might be true that these PNP candidates have been subject to several tax audits, there is no political connection.
"They are not being targeted because they are politicians. Indeed, the tax department would not know that John Brown is a politician," declared Williams at the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing.
Williams was responding to claims made on Tuesday by some of the new candidates entering representational politics on the PNP's ticket.
"There is a new slew of PNP representatives coming from the business sector and I don't know that one of us has not been the victim of numerous tax audits," Leonard Green, the party's standard-bearer in Western St Thomas, told a Gleaner Editors' Forum.
"I have gone through seven tax audits already since July 2010 and I am telling you it is not easy ... . And I have to say these things because I know as we speak right now, these are some of the methods to make sure that I don't even reach nomination day," added Green.
But Williams told the post-Cabinet media briefing that the increase in audits by the tax department was part of a national compliance plan designed to target tax dodgers who are self-employed.
Planned months ago
Williams noted that the tax department had announced details of the plan months ago.
"That plan also indicated that within the broad category of self-employed persons, there were three professional categories that would be targeted - attorneys-at-law, doctors and accountants," added Williams.
He noted that the PNP candidates who have complained, including Dr Winston Green who will run in South East St Mary, are all self-employed professionals in the targeted group.
"Whether you are a JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) doctor, a PNP doctor or a NDM (National Democratic Movement) doctor, you are a doctor and you would be in the targeted group. The same would apply for accountants, attorneys and other self-employed persons," said Williams.
Source-Jamaica Gleaner
Baseball player Wilson Ramos kidnapped in Venezuela
Baseball player Wilson Ramos has been kidnapped from his family home in the city of Valencia in Venezuela.
He was taken on Wednesday by four armed men in a van, according to Kathe Vilera, spokeswoman for the Tigres de Aragua team.
Mr Ramos, 24, plays as catcher for Tigres de Aragua and also for the Washington Nationals team in the US Major League.
Venezuela is believed to have one of the world's worst rates of kidnapping.
The national director of Venezuela's investigative police force, Jose Humberto Ramirez, confirmed the abduction to local media and said police were deploying to rescue Mr Ramos.
The president of the Tigres de Aragua team, Rafael Rodriguez Rendon, visited Mr Ramos's family to express the team's "solidarity" with them. According to local media, he called for "caution and calm" while the authorities investigated the incident.
Lack of security
Sports figures have found themselves the target of violent crime in Venezuela in the past, but this is thought to be the first case targeting a baseball player who plays in the US Major League.
Most kidnappings in Venezuela are carried out to extort a ransom, but there were no immediate reports of any ransom demand.
In a statement on her Twitter account, Ms Vilera added: "Lack of security in this country has no limits and nobody does anything! When will the kidnappings stop?"
The rising rate of violent crime has become a major source of public concern in Venezuela in recent years, with many accusing President Hugo Chavez's government of not doing enough to combat the problem.
Dispute continues between LIAT management and unions
A war of words has erupted between LIAT management and unions after talks on proposed job cuts failed to take place last Friday.
Airline CEO Brian Challenger has rejected union claims that management was responsible for the breakdown in discussions.
He also brushed aside calls by representatives of two regional trade unions for an audit of the airline’s operation.
The calls were made by Chairman of the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA) Michael Blackburn and Lawrence Poyotte of the National Workers’ Union of St Lucia.
Poyotte charged that the airline’s management has fueled the conflict.
Blackburn also said that the management team has doubled within four years.
However, the CEO said management as well as line staff had been a part of the company’s ongoing voluntary separation and reduction programmes.
Challenger also struck aside claims that the company’s management structure was bloated and that the process of job reductions unfairly targeted only low wage earners.
“The fact of the matter is that the company’s decisions are being made based on our strategic assessment of where the company has to go if it is to survive in the present very difficult economic environment,” he insisted.
The CEO stated that the management is seeking to restructure the company to ensure its survival in the midst of a global economic crisis.
He explained that this involves efforts to enhance its revenue, cut costs and other actions which would “regrettably lead to reducing the present complement of staff.”
The unions have called for a Comprehensive Restructuring Plan to be put forward at least a month ahead of any talks.
The LIAT CEO said while he recognizes the concerns of unions, there should not be any preconditions for dialogue to start.
“We intend to continue our efforts to meet with our union partners in addressing the very real challenges that the company faces,” he said.
The LIAT CEO also queried the call by union representatives for additional audits of the company.
He noted that LIAT’s accounts were up to date and were audited by some of the leading international accounting firms.
Caribbean 360 News
7 bodies found on sports field in Mexican village
Police say the naked bodies of six men and a woman have been found on an outdoor basketball court in northern Mexico.
Police say the bodies, which bore signs of violence, were found in a village outside the city of Durango. The victims were residents of the village. Investigators say they haven't yet determined a motive.
In Acapulco, police yesterday found the decapitated bodies of a man and a woman inside an abandoned taxi.
The Pacific port city has seen vicious drug-related following the 2010 arrest of suspected capo Edgar Valdez Villareal, a Texas-born man known as "La Barbie”.
Overall, Mexico's drug war has claimed more than 35,000 lives since President Felipe Calderon launched it in late 2006. Others put the death toll at 40,000.
St Lucia, Guyana in same day election
WHILE new Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness continues to keep alive speculations of a snap parliamentary poll, possibly before Christmas, the Prime Minister of St Lucia Stephenson King announced last Sunday a general election for November 28.
This surprise date means that for the first time in the history of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), two member states will be voting for new governments on the same day.
President Bharrat Jagdeo had announced on October 9 that Guyanese will be voting for a new government on Monday, November 28, where there will be a three-way electoral battle for an executive president and a 65-member National Assembly.
Guyana's incumbent People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), which is seeking an unprecedented fifth successive five-year term, a five-month old coalition of parties known as the APNU (A Partnership for National Unity), dominated by the old People's National Congress, and the Alliance For Change (AFC), now contesting its second national poll.
In St Lucia, the United Workers Party (UWP), whose founder-leader Sir John Compton died as prime minister shortly after the party defeated the then two-term St Lucia Labour Party (SLP) in December 2006, has been boasting of returning to state power, according to its own forecast of securing a majority of the 17 parliamentary seats at stake.
The emergence of the APNU in Guyana marks a significant departure in traditional parliamentary battles between the two dominant mass-based parties (PPP/C and PNC), and now, in contrast, a virtual 'pick-up side' of small parties dominated by the PNC to constitute APNU.
But in St Lucia both the SLP and UWP continue to be the major contenders for state power with the latter under the first-time leadership of Stephenson King. There are, of course other significant political differences with the opposition SLP under the leadership of former Prime Minister Dr Kenny Anthony, favoured by The Voice, the country's oldest and acclaimed most widely read newspaper, giving a clear all-round lead for a Labour victory.
Chavez: navy detects submarine off Venezuela
President Hugo Chavez said yesterday that his navy detected a submarine in Venezuelan waters and that it quickly sped off.
The submarine was detected on Tuesday near the Venezuelan island of La Orchila in the Caribbean north of Caracas, where Venezuelan troops are participating in training drills near the island, Chavez told state television by telephone.
"It was pursued. It escaped because it's much faster than ours," Chavez said, referring to Venezuela's diesel-powered submarines. He said that judging by its speed and size, "it's a nuclear-powered submarine."
Chavez said his government was unable to say what nation might have sent the sub. "We can't accuse anyone," Chavez said, adding that his government is investigating.
The leftist leader has long had tense relations with the United States, and has recently called the U.S. together with its European allies "the empires."
"Now you know how the empires are used to going around the Caribbean Sea and going everywhere, and they also use their satellites for espionage. It's espionage," Chavez said.
He praised Venezuelan navy troops for their handling of the incident, saying they had driven off the sub.
Penn State trustees fire Paterno, president Spanier amid scandal
Joe Paterno was fired by the Penn State board of trustees Wednesday night despite saying he would retire as coach after the football season ended, brought down by the growing furor over the handling of child sex abuse allegations against an assistant coach.
Penn State President Graham Spanier was also ousted.
"I am disappointed with the board of trustees' decision, but I have to accept it," the 84-year-old Paterno said in a statement. "A tragedy occurred, and we all have to have patience to let the legal process proceed."
Paterno, the winningest coach in major college football history, learned of the board's decision at the end of a day that began with his decision to finish out his 46th season and leave.
It was not to be.
The dismissal prompted thousands of students to gather about two blocks from the campus, many chanting, "We want Joe! We want Joe!" Witnesses said some rocks and bottles were thrown, a lamppost was toppled and a news van was knocked over, its windows kicked out. About 100 police wearing helmets and carrying batons were on hand. There were no reports of arrests.
"The university is much larger than its athletic teams," board vice chair John Surma said during a packed news conference.
Paterno and Spanier were informed by telephone of the unanimous decisions to remove them.
"We were unable to find a way to do that in person without causing further distraction," Surma said.
Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley will serve as interim coach while Rodney Erickson will be the interim school president. The university scheduled a news conference with Bradley for Thursday morning.
"The Penn State board of trustees tonight decided it is in the best interest of the university to have a change in leadership to deal with the difficult issues that we are facing," Surma said.
"The past several days have been absolutely terrible for the entire Penn State community. But the outrage that we feel is nothing compared to the physical and psychological suffering that allegedly took place."
Asked what Paterno did wrong, Surma said: "I can't characterize that. We thought because of the difficulties that have engulfed our university, it was necessary to make changes."
Speaking outside his home, Paterno said: "Right now, I'm not the coach. And I've got to get used to that. After 61 years, I've got to get used to it. I appreciate it. Let me think it through."
His wife, Sue, was teary-eyed as she blew kisses to about 100 students on the lawn. "You're all so sweet. And I guess we have to go beat Nebraska without being there. We love you all. Go Penn State," she said.
Paterno said in a statement earlier Wednesday that he was "absolutely devastated" by the abuse case, in which his former assistant and onetime heir apparent, Jerry Sandusky, has been charged with molesting eight boys over 15 years, with some of the alleged assaults taking place at the Penn State football complex.
"This is a tragedy," Paterno said. "It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."
Paterno has come under harsh criticism - including from within the community known as Happy Valley - for not taking more action in 2002 after then-graduate assistant and current assistant coach Mike McQueary came to him and reported seeing Sandusky in the Penn State showers with a young boy. Paterno notified the athletic director, Tim Curley, and a vice president, Gary Schultz.
Paterno is not a target of the criminal investigation, although Curley and Schultz have been charged with failing to report the incident to the authorities.
Source: sportsillustrated
NBA, players to talk again Thursday after meeting for nearly 12 hours
David Stern's deadline passed without a deal, though the NBA and its players will talk again Thursday.
The NBA commissioner wouldn't give any hints about what that means for hopes of ending the lockout.
"I would not read into this optimism or pessimism," he said. "We're not failing. We're not succeeding. We're just there."
Players and owners met for more than 12 hours on the 132nd day of the lockout, an important one after Stern warned that if players didn't agree to the league's latest proposal by the end of the business day, a far worse one would be coming.
Instead, he "stopped the clock" and said the backup offer would only go into play if this round of bargaining breaks down.
As usual, neither side offered many specifics, though union executive director Billy Hunter said the sides never got around to discussing the split of basketball-related income.
Besides that, there are still a handful of issues related to the salary cap system that players want addressed before they might agree to the league's demands for a 50-50 split of revenues.
"I can't characterize whether they showed flexibility or not in certain system issues," union president Derek Fisher said. "Obviously, we'd have a deal done if the right flexibility was being shown. The fact that we don't have a deal lets you know that there's still a lot of work to be done on the system."
The parties plan to return at noon Thursday to resume talks.
"We can't say there was significant progress today," Fisher said. "We'll be back tomorrow ... and we'll see if we can continue to make the efforts at least to finish this out."
Stern had set a 5 p.m. ET deadline for players to accept the league's latest proposal or have it replaced by a much harsher one that would drive the sides even farther apart.
He said the offer was not pulled at that time because the league was "trying to demonstrate our good faith. Stern added that the understanding was the offer potentially would be pulled at the end of this series of negotiations, whenever that might be.
Failure to make a deal likely would increase the calls for the union to decertify so the players can file a lawsuit against the league in court, a risky and lengthy tactic that likely would doom the 2011-12 season. Union officials have downplayed the idea, but players might have no other leverage once the more severe proposal is put into play.
The current offer calls for players to receive between 49 percent and 51 percent of basketball-related income, though the union said it would be impossible to get above 50.2 percent. Players were guaranteed 57 percent of BRI under the previous collective bargaining agreement.
Though they called this deal unacceptable, they might not see another one nearly as favorable.
The next proposal would call for a 53-47 revenue split in the owners' favor, essentially a hard salary cap and salary rollbacks, which the league originally sought but had taken off the table. Both proposals were sent to Hunter on Sunday.
Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver were joined Wednesday by Spurs owner Peter Holt, the chairman of the labor relations committee, and lawyers Rick Buchanan and Dan Rube. Besides Hunter and Fisher, vice presidents Roger Mason Jr. and Maurice Evans, economist Kevin Murphy and attorney Jeffrey Kessler represented the union.
Kessler took part just hours after saying he regretted telling the Washington Post that owners are treating players like "plantation workers" during the ongoing lockout. He said he planned to call Stern and apologize.
Besides the revenue split, the sides still are divided on elements of the salary cap system, mostly relating to the spending rules for teams that are over the luxury tax level. Players want those teams to remain options for free agents, whereas the league thinks talent would be more evenly distributed throughout the league if payrolls were more balanced.
Players indicated after their meeting Tuesday that they would be open to reducing their BRI take if owners made some changes on the system issues. Players offered to go to about 51 percent Saturday, with 1 percent going into a fund for retired player benefits.
But the league has placed as much importance on the system as the split, making it difficult to find compromise on the handful of items that remain unsettled. Owners believe there won't be the competitive balance they desire until payrolls are more equally balanced.
A month of games already has been canceled. Hunter said Tuesday he had heard Stern also planned to cancel games through Christmas without a deal Wednesday, though Stern later told NBA TV that "we have made no such plans, and we have had no such discussions."
Source-AP