Michael Douglas: First Interview Since Treatment
In his first interview since the completion of treatment for Stage IV throat cancer, former superstar resident Michael Douglas discusses his Bermudian mother Diana Douglas (”A lovely lady, super-bright — still pisses me off and does the ‘Sunday Times’ crossword in ink!”), he and wife Catherine Zeta Jones’ decision to relocate to New York (”After almost a decade in Bermuda, the pair returned to New York two years ago, partly because of ‘Wall Street 2′ and Zeta-Jones’ stage performance in ‘A Little Night Music’ and partly to find proper care for their daughter’s dyslexia”) and his long-term prognosis (”Doctors at New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have told him there’s an 80 percent cure rate — something he and Zeta-Jones focus on, in contrast to the doom-laden tabloids.”)
Published today [Nov.30], the exclusive “Hollywood Reporter” chat with the actor/producer — conducted after he completed a rigorous round of chemotherapy and radiation treatments — reported Mr. Douglas was optimistic about the future and looking forward to the “third act” of his career – and his life: ”Forget everything you’ve read about Douglas. Forget the horror stories that he has ‘three months to live’, ‘might die before New Year’s Eve’ and that his chances of surviving are now ‘a grim 20 percent’, headlines that have led Hollywood to speculate about his health and future,” said the respected Hollywood trade publication.
“The man is fully alive, alert, deeply intelligent and in person nothing whatsoever like the haggard figure that graces the ‘National Enquirer’ and its kin. He has to sip frequently from a drink to ease the dryness in his mouth, but that distinctive voice is seductive as ever. True, he has lost weight; and true, he seems a bit frail, as if recuperating from a bad cold … But for someone who has just come through chemotherapy and radiation — ‘five days a week’, he notes — he’s in remarkably good shape and spirits.”
One of the last projects Mr. Douglas completed before being diagnosed with cancer this summer was the narration for Bermuda-based futurist Dr. James Martin’s new on-line documentary based on his bestselling book “The Meaning of the 21st Century.”
Raheem DeVaughn Honored By D.C. Mayor For Community Work
Raheem DeVaughn will honored by Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray, who will present the Grammy-nominated R&B singer with the key to the city on Thursday (May 5th).
DeVaughn is being honored for his commitment to the local community through his efforts to preserve arts for children and teens, in addition to his efforts in fighting HIV/AIDS throughout Washington, D.C.'s local communities.
Mayor Gray will also proclaim May 5th, which happens to the singer's birthday, as "Raheem DeVaughn Day."
"I am humbled and truly honored to be the recipient of The Key To The City and my own day by the District Of Columbia. I am very thankful to Washington, DC for their loyalty and support," Raheem DeVaughn told AllHipHop.com.
Raheem DeVaughn's latest album The Love & War Masterpeace, debuted at #1 on Billboard's R&B Charts.
The album features guest appearances by rappers like Dr. Cornel West, Wale, Bun B. and R&B artists like Jill Scott, Anthony Hamilton and Chrisette Michele.
Stephen Marley Plans Hip-Hop Inspired Two-Part Album
Critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Stephen Marley is preparing to release his third solo album, titled Revelation Pt 1: The Root of Life.
The 14-track album contains a number of message songs from Marley, who writes about a variety of subjects on the album, ranging from love to slavery.
According to Marley, The Root of Life will be followed by another conceptual album titled Revelation Pt 2: The Fruit of Life, which will be released in the Fall of 2011.
The Fruit of Life will feature a number of genre's that have been influenced by Reggae music.
"Reggae music has influenced hip hop and so many other kinds of music," Stephen Marley told AllHipHop.com in a statement. "The Fruit of Life will be [a] more open, eclectic kind of record. There will be songs for the club, dancehall reggae will be there, love songs in there, but it will remain conscious good music that you can always take something positive from."
An exclusive, limited-edition version of The Fruit of Life will also be released on vinyl in the Fall.
Revelation Pt. 1: The Root of Life is due in stores on May 24th, via Ghetto Youths/Tuff Gong/Universal Republic.
TCIG Public Service: bringing order to the payroll
As part of on-going work to tackle the serious budget deficit, work continues in government to enhance revenue and to identify irregularities in expenditure.
A thorough review of the public service payroll has revealed that there are a number of waged positions in which persons are currently employed and for which there are no budgeted allocations. The justification for the creation of these positions was not always clear and in some cases appointments appear to have been made arbitrarily, without following due process. In others instances, posts initially created on a short term basis have been extended without good reason, often by years. After careful consideration it was decided that positions falling outside the budget allocation should be removed and the services of persons holding such positions ended with effect from 31 May 2011.Exceptions would be made only where the relevant Permanent Secretary is able to present a strong business case to retain any of these positions,
Under the General Rules of the Turks and Caicos Islands Public Service (1997), this category of employee should be given notice of just two weeks before termination of services. However, recognizing the need for these persons to make financial or other adjustments and to prepare for this transition, the government elected to give a total notice period of six (6) weeks. Any terminal benefits due to those concerned will be paid in accordance with their terms and conditions of service.
These are challenging times and it is unfortunate that this action is necessary. However, it is clear that had official procedures been followed under the previous government, these difficult but essential corrections would not be necessary now. Sadly, this is yet another issue arising from the legacy of maladministration inherited from the previous government and which we are now obliged to address.
SEYMOUR OUT, PHILLIPS IN
After months of speculation and rumors abound, Consultative Forum member Drexwell Seymour has resigned from his post.
Seymour, of South Caicos decent has been previously reported by several local media houses to be on his way out of the forum but up until last week has never acted upon those reports.
Sources closed to Seymour tell RTC news that he considered the move by the Governor last month to have the TCI budget read and passed without any discussion or response by the Forum to be a slap in the face and the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.
However as Seymour departs the Governor's office has named Provo businessman John Phillips as his replacement and newest forum member.
Governor Gordon Wetherell said quote: “It is with regret that I received last week the resignation of Mr Drexwell Seymour as a Member of the Consultative Forum. I am grateful to him for his contribution to the work of the Forum.
At the same time, I am glad to announce the appointment of Mr John Phillips to the Forum. He will bring with him a wealth of valuable experience of the business world.”
Born 1950 in Aberdeen, Scotland, Phillips arrived in Turks and Caicos Islands in 1987 and in 1992 merged his interests in company management and insurance management with those of McCollum and Newlands to form Claymore Group.
He is perhaps best known as the General Manager of Provo car company Mac Motors. Over the years has served on JOCOM and Conco for development of financial services and inward investment as well as serving for many years as secretary and later President of the Turks and Caicos Islands Golf Association.
PRC without limitations in February 1998; Naturalized citizen December 1999; Belonger May 2007
THREE NEW POLICE UNITS ESTABLISHED
The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force has created three new specialized units.
The Sexual Offenses and Domestic Violence Unit will be led by Inspector Irene Butterfield of the Criminal Investigation Division. It is anticipated that this unit will assist in minimizing the trauma and distress for victims throughout the Criminal Justice process and reduce incidences of Sexual Assaults and Domestic Violence in the community through enforcement, education, and public awareness.
A Professional Integrity Unit has also been formed and will be under the direction of Inspector Roy Russell.
This unit has been created to comprehensively address the professional integrity of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police. The creation of the Professional Integrity Unit will increase opportunities to identify, monitor and guide behavior through timely and focused investigation and intervention. The goal will be to appropriately address employee behavioural issues and to promote appropriate, timely managerial responses as soon as conduct issues are identified.
Assistant Commissioner Rodney Adams has been named as the Project Manager to examine border integrity. Adams will develop a Border Integrity Unit within the police organization to link the various police border teams into a more structured, strategic, and intelligence-led team.
This proposed Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET) would be an intelligence-led multi-disciplinary team mandated to investigate, expose, disrupt and dismantle organized criminal groups.
PAHO and WHO calls for vaccination against measles and rubella for all travelers.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) along with the World Health Organization (WHO) have called on health authorities in the Americas to recommend vaccination against measles and rubella for all travelers visiting countries in the Americas.
PAHO also recommends that any resident of the Americas planning to travel to other regions of the world should be protected against measles and rubella prior to departing on their trip. This recommendation is also relevant to residents of Sint Maarten, according to the Collective Preventive Service (CPS) of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour.
Travelers who have not been vaccinated against measles and rubella are at risk of contracting these diseases when visiting countries where the viruses are currently circulating. Special efforts should be made to ensure vaccination for women of childbearing age in order to prevent possible infections caused by the rubella virus during pregnancy.
There is currently an outbreak of measles in 30 European countries. Since the beginning of the year, the WHO has reported at least 6,500 cases of measles with significant outbreaks observed in 30 countries, including Belguim, France, Serbia, Turkey, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Spain.
Measles are highly contagious and remains one of the world's biggest causes of death among young children, an estimated 164,000 people died from the virus in 2008. This disease can be prevented through a safe and effective vaccine.
Due to various cultural and sporting events that will be hosted by countries in the Americas, PAHO urges all travelers visiting any country in the Region to get vaccinated for measles and rubella before arriving in the Americas, in order to reduce the risk of reintroducing these diseases that have already been eliminated in the Americas.
International travelers must show evidence of immunity to measles and rubella.
Cubans mark May Day, await details of change
Hundreds of thousands of Cubans marched through Havana and other cities on Sunday to mark May Day in a demonstration touted as a vast show of support for economic changes recently approved by the Communist Party — even though the people holding placards and shouting slogans haven’t seen the details yet.
Nearly two weeks after the party endorsed President Raul Castro’s bet to fix the island’s broken economy through limited free-market reforms, the government has not released specifics of the 311-point guidelines, or said when it will do so.
The parade, always a big event on the communist-run island, has nevertheless been touted by the official party newspaper, Granma, as “the best chance for Cuban workers to ratify … their backing for the accords.”
Castro led a march in eastern Santiago de Cuba, the island’s second largest city, while the Havana parade was led by Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, the 80-year-old recently named second secretary of the party, the country’s second most powerful position.
Salvador Valdes Mesa, the head of Cuba’s only government-approved labor union, was the only dignitary to address the crowd.
“We are doing this (marching) because we support the agreements made at the Party Congress,” Valdes Mesa said in his speech, as workers held up signs with photos of Raul and Fidel Castro and slogans like “Socialism is and will be our hope.” Many wore the colors of Cuba’s red, white and blue flag.
Still, many in Havana said they were impatient to see the actual details of the changes.
“I would like to know what the guidelines have that’s new, because so far it seems to be a lot of noise and nothing concrete,” said Manuel Pedrosi, 56, who was just a small boy when Fidel and Raul Castro’s revolution succeeded in 1959. “But if we’ve waited 50 years, we can wait a little longer.”
The economic measures approved unanimously and en bloc at a party summit April 19 include potential blockbusters that would open a door in the island’s tightly controlled economic system, such as legalizing the buying and selling of private property and providing bank credit to finance small businesses.
Officials released a broad outline of the proposals last year, but the document was extensively revised and discussed at the congress. While Cuban TV showed highlights of delegates debating the finer points of the document, including the wording of obscure paragraphs, viewers had no reference to guide them or explain what they were seeing.
Those who study Cuba’s economy say that without details it is impossible to gauge the impact of the measures.
“This is not a small issue. The details are the change,” said Rafael Romeu, president of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, a nonpolitical association that promotes research on Cuba. “There is no change without a concrete ability to spell out what you’re going to do, how it will be achieved, by what date it will be implemented, what are the measurable results that can be delivered.”
Cuban officials did not respond to requests for comment on why the guidelines have not been released, or say when they might be. State media, often used to convey government announcements, has also been silent.
While Cubans have generally welcomed the economic overhaul, some expressed impatience with the lack of clarity. Some say they are anxious to go into business for themselves or buy a home big enough to accommodate their family, but are waiting to see the ground rules.
Others are nervous about plans — shelved for the time being — to lay off hundreds of thousands of state workers, and to gradually phase out the ration book, which provides Cubans with a basic basket of food at greatly subsidized prices.
“This can’t wait. Everyone is going to benefit in one way or another because there will be a little more freedom to do as you like with what’s yours,” said Yordanka Rodriguez, a 45-year-old Havana resident. “We just have to see what the terms are like. Until that happens, it’s hard to judge accurately.”
___
Associated Press
Fraser bids to bounce back
The trademark braces may have gone but, despite missing six months of competition after testing positive for a banned substance, Shelly-Ann Fraser's broad smile remains the same.
The reigning 100m Olympic and world champion failed a drugs test at the Diamond League meet in Shanghai on 23 May last year, after taking a painkiller to treat a severe toothache.
In her first international interview since completing the ban - at the MVP athletics club in Jamaica - she was in a philosophical mood.
"The road to success has to have obstacles because at the end of the day, when success comes, it will be that much better," said the 24-year-old.
Almost a year on from the positive test, she still refuses to blame her coach, Stephen Francis, for giving her the banned substance.
"It was a mistake and I blame no one," she said.
"I'm a professional athlete - one who's supposed to set examples - so whatever it is I put in my body it's up to me to take responsibility for it and I have done that."
She will return to action on 7 May in the Jamaica National invitational, a big deal on the island and with hardcore athletics fans. The meet includes all of the big names in Jamaican running, although Usain Bolt will be missing this year.
On a personal note things have never been better. She married long-term boyfriend Jason Pryce in January, to become Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
"I really appreciate the fact that he's in my life. He a big part of the reason that I am successful," she said.
But despite the big smile, bright eyes and occasional giggles during our interview; as she revisited the events around her ban I sensed it has had an impact on her.
She pointed out that she could not have been more open after testing positive. The media wanted answers at the time so she spoke to them and explained the situation. There was no hiding away.
I asked if she worries about going down in history as the athlete who failed a drugs test, instead of as an Olympic and world champion.
"What happened, happened. I can't take it back. I wish I could, but I can't", she replied with a sigh.
"I live my life very clean and transparent - so I have nothing to hide. If anyone wants to ask a question or to suggest something I'm always open. So, no, I don't worry about that at all."
Fraser-Pryce believes more must be done for athletes, explaining that oxycodone, for which she tested positive, is not considered performance enhancing and was new to the banned list.
"It should be up to the World Anti-Doping Agency to get it out there," she said.
"We had a seminar here in Jamaica for anti-doping and a lot of the athletes were in attendance. People want to know, they want the knowledge.
"But not a lot of people are educated enough to go out there and get information for themselves. They are living by chance - thinking, Oh, this is not going to happen.
"I would never have dreamed that this would happen to me, but it did, so I have to put things into perspective and try and get the right information so it don't happen again."
Fraser-Pryce admits athletes can be "naive in certain situations".
"I'm sure that people are saying, 'maybe she deliberately took it,' but I didn't. So now my eyes and my knowledge are that much broader because of the experience.
"I have a rule book at home now and one on my computer. But for an athlete I think it is long and there's a lot of substance on the list that are so complicated and it's hard to read.
"But at the end of the day we have a lot of people around us who are in the position to explain certain things. So it's up to us to go out there and get the information because it's going to benefit us"
It is hard to know when Fraser-Pryce is being serious at times. Her playful mood makes her difficult to read. She's most comfortable cracking jokes with her fellow athletes - so it's an awkward fit talking drugs.
When we moved on to talking about the coming season the smile broadened and the look of an excited child at Christmas came over her face. Fraser-Pryce wants to make up for lost time.
"As the name suggests - it's something new - so I'm definitely bringing something new to the track; I'm just looking forward to the season.
"I lost so much last year - with my fans not seeing me compete and the children asking me, 'Shelly-Ann how comes I didn't see you run' - so I've got a lot of people who are looking up to me and looking forward to my return."
Still smiling she told me she has said sorry to her fans for testing positive and is now focussed on aiming to become a double Olympic and triple world 100m champion in the next three years.
So what's causing the most excitement in the Fraser family? The London Olympics.
"A lot of my family and friends are saying, 'I'm saving to come to London' and my family in London is calling me and saying 'We are ready, are you ready?'
"So I'm looking forward to it and I'm anticipating a wonderful track career for the next three years. I'll create history; let's say that."
Heat want fans to sing anthem
For the Miami Heat, one national-anthem performer will not be enough Tuesday night.
They want thousands.
Breaking from tradition, the Heat will not have anyone brought in to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Game 2 of their Eastern Conference playoff series with the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night. Instead, the Heat are encouraging fans to be the singers, making that change less than one day following the announcement that Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan.
"It was a powerful moment - for all of us," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Sunday night's news that captivated the nation.
The Heat have honored soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan at home games for several seasons, and say Tuesday's game will include an enhanced military tribute. Members of the armed services will unfurl the 50-foot American flag at center court during the anthem, a job typically handled by Heat employees.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Henry Hernandez, along with his wife Julie and their children Alexa and Matthew will be honored before the game, part of the "Home Strong" program Heat President Pat Riley founded five years ago. Hundreds of soldiers have been recognized in brief pregame ceremonies at midcourt just before tip-off of every Miami home game since the program was born.
Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he was watching film Sunday night when he learned of bin Laden's death. Like Spoelstra, he said he appreciated being allowed to put basketball in some sort of perspective for a moment.
"It was phenomenal," Rivers said. "It was awesome. It actually put things in their proper place. When you're watching film, you're cussing to yourself, you're writing bad words down on a piece of paper and all of a sudden this comes on, it was awesome. Just like we remember 9/11, I think we'll remember this moment as well. It was just really neat."
Riley has long had a saying, that sports are merely "the toy department of human affairs."
Those words resonated deeply within Spoelstra on Sunday night.
"What we do has no ramifications on the real world," Spoelstra said. "That is real. It's something else that that was able to be accomplished. We're trying to focus on what we do, but it is just a game and it is the toy department. It was uplifting to find out that news."
Read more: sportsillustrated.