Legendary Rapper Kool Moe Dee Working On New Album
Legendary rapper Kool Moe is planning a full fledged return to the rap game, with a new album of studio material in the works.
Kool Moe Dee is currently on tour with Salt-N-Pepa's Legends of Hip-Hop Tour, which also features legendary rappers like Doug E. Fresh and Kurtis Blow.
"I’m getting ready to launch this whole big Kool Moe Dee extravaganza," Kool Moe Dee told The Fayetteville Observer. "I’m in the studio working on an album right now and working feverishly on the treadmill to get the weight off myself. I’m very, very meticulous about how I present and the increments I present it in."
The rapper, who is known for his membership in the pioneering Hip-Hop group The Treacherous Three, also enjoyed a successful solo career.
Kool Moe Dee recorded Hip-Hop classics like "Go See the Doctor," "Wild, Wild, West" and his 1987 hit record "How Ya Like Me Now," which came out of his legendary battle with LL Cool J.
According to Moe Dee, fans can look forward to his new album sometime this year. Until then, he will use the Old School Tour to keep his skills sharp.
"The old school tours are fine," Moe Dee said. "They get my feet wet. But from way back when, I could study the audience and feel what’s missing and feel that void. I have some great ideas. I think I’ll be really really ready by this fall."
Kirk Franklin’s New Album No. 1
It’s official. Kirk Franklin’s 12th album, “Hello Fear,” debuted on Billboard’s gospel chart at no. 1 and no. 5 on the Billboard’s Top 200, clocking in as the fourth highest Gospel debut in SoundScan history.
James “Jazzy” Jordan of EVP Verity Gospel Music Group congratulated Franklin saying:
“Kirk Franklin is in a class by himself not just in Gospel music, but in music – period. He is a genius in the studio, an incredible songwriter and has a heart and ear firmly poised towards God. His music is always timeless, and ‘Hello Fear’ is no exception. His music makes you smile not just today, but everyday.”
Franklin, excited and quite humbled by the experience, is glad that God has given him the chance to produce good music.
“I am just humbled. It is a blessing to know that, after all of these years making music, God continues to give me songs that people want to hear,” he said. “I knew going into this project that God was not as concerned about what I do in the process of this album, but what I become in the process of this album. I am hopeful that ‘Hello Fear’ reaches the hearts of everyone who purchased the CD and helps them along their process of becoming who God would have them become.”
The music writer hasn’t stopped moving, despite the album. He’s now working on the new season of BET’s “Sunday Best” and don’t forget about his book, “The Blueprint: A Plan for Living Above Life’s Storms,” is also available.
Woman accuses Misick of rape during law suit against Nikki Beach
Former Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands Michael Misick has been named in a law suit by a woman who is suing Nikki Beach Hotels and Resorts and her former boss Michael Pernod in the United States.
Misick, though named throughout the complaint, is not named as a defendant.
According to a report on Court House News Service, the woman who was only identified as ‘Jane Doe’ claims her company had her drugged and raped "for the purpose of currying favor with business partners and officials." Her rapist, she says, was Michael Misick, the last premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Doe says: "Nikki Beach, through the various defendant corporations, operates hotels and nightclubs at beachside locations. Its marketing and business plans rely on the allure of sex."
She claims Nikki Beach hired "attractive young women" and send them to "potential business partners and officials it wished to influence ... encouraging the consumption of alcohol and narcotics and providing the same, and thereby providing opportunities for potential business partners and officials whose approval they sought to sexually assault these women."
Doe, a design consultant, says Nikki Beach sent her to the British Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands in late March 2008. She says Penrod, "a high-ranking executive" with Nikki Beach, ordered her to attend a "social function," there, and arranged for her transportation. She says she went against her wishes.
She was taken to Misick's home, she says, where she "was given wine that, unknown to her, was infused with a narcotic."
The complaint continues: "After she was in an altered state, her supervisor, who was present and was aware or should have been aware of the risk that Misick would assault her, knowingly and purposely abandoned her at the home of Misick in that altered state. ...
The complaint adds: "In fact, Penrod and Nikki Beach regularly transported young, attractive women into such dangerous settings in order to improperly curry favor to the benefit of Nikki Beach.
"Nikki Beach intentionally transported Jane Doe from Miami-Dade County to a dangerous setting, with foreseeable and known dangers, and abandoned her there."
Doe says that "Nikki Beach was aware that Misick was corrupt, that he engaged in criminal activity, and that he engaged in lascivious behavior. It sought to gain favor with him by presenting him with attractive young women in settings in which he could take advantage of them."
In fact, the complaint states, Misick was so corrupt that the British Parliament "issued a report charging Misick with enriching himself and fellow ministers by selling off Crown land. Because of Misick's corruption, the United Kingdom resumed administrative control of TCI and the position of Premier was abolished."
After she was raped, Doe says, she returned to her hotel, and returned as soon as possible to Florida, because a co-worker "told Jane Doe that he believed her life to be in danger due to the power that Misick exercised on the island."
In Miami, Doe says, she went to a hospital and had a medical examination that concluded she had been raped.
"When she arrived in South Florida, her corporate email account had been shut off, signaling her termination by Nikki Beach," the complaint states.
"Penrod and Nikki Beach spread the story that she had been fired for misconduct."
She claims she was a victim of a corporate practice: "Nikki Beach would allow management employees to encourage sexual encounters or inappropriate behavior between young female employees and business partners, officials and customers, and then turn and dismiss the female employees for the behavior, while encouraging the supervisors to repeat the pattern. Nikki Beach would allow these management employees to purposely endanger their young female staff."
Nikki Beach's attorney did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Nikki Beach is headquartered in South Beach, Miami, and has beach club locations in eight countries, including France, Spain, Mexico, Morocco, Thailand, and the Dominican Republic.
Doe sued Nikki Beach Holdings LLC; Nikki Beach Hotels and Resorts LLC; Nikki VIP LLC; Penrod Management Group Inc.; Penrod Management International LLC; and Michael Penrod. She seeks damages for defamation, negligence and endangerment.
She is represented by John Thornton in Miami-Dade County Court.
Civil service cut backs begin
According to a reports from a Global News Correspondent states that some government employees in the Turks and Caicos Islands have received termination notices this week.
There had earlier been some specific leaks relating to certain employees being targeted for redundancy coming out of offices in Grand Turk last week, which are this week being borne out by actual layoffs.
It appears that, despite some layoffs occurring previously in specific government agencies, more than 600 government employees who do not have official civil service tenure status remained on the government payroll.
The failure of the interim government to investigate job descriptions, productivity issues, work assignments and actual government needs since the direct rule takeover by Britain in August 2009 is said to have added significantly to the territory’s financial deficit.
In addition to civil servants with tenure, the previous internal government led by the Progressive National Party (PNP) used the mechanism of discretionary hiring through the offices of permanent secretaries to swell the ranks of government employees..
Based on figures now available that provide the present breakdown of government workers, there are almost 1,660 civil servants with tenure. Some 618 more remain on the payroll but received their employment without approval of the Public Service Commission. There are also 140 employees who are known as 'contract officers”.
The break down by islands, excluding contracted employees, is as follows:
| Island/Population (as reported by NHIP) |
Civil Servants |
Other government employees |
| Grand Turk 5,375 | 838 | 353 |
| Providenciales 21,340 | 627 | 157 |
| North Caicos 1,242 | 93 | 53 |
| Middle Caicos 141 | 8 | 42 |
| South Caicos 1,128 | 82 | 99 |
| Salt Cay 120 | 10 | 14 |
With the Permanent Secretaries writing to the Civil Service Association (CSA) to announce their position that redundancies must occur in what they referred to as a “padded” civil service, attention has been focused in every community on the people who received these jobs and are now receiving notice.
One example has come out of South Caicos, where the last elected representatives McAllister Hanchell and Norman Saunders saw the ranks of government employees grow larger in percentage terms than any other island, including North Caicos, where Michael Misick and Royal Robinson were the representatives.
This week, an employee who received notice had a checkered past before being hired on the government payroll. Having been sentenced to 20 years in prison for child battery, he was released in 6 years for good behaviour. Later, he was convicted of homicide but had the conviction reversed on appeal due to what some report as sloppy police work. It is unclear what his assignment was in the government service.
RTC News is following up to confirm the information presented by the popular website.
Source: Global News
Cricket World Cup: India beat Pakistan to reach final
India booked a place against Sri Lanka in Saturday's World Cup final after beating Pakistan by 29 runs in Mohali.
Virender Sehwag (38) hit nine fours and Sachin Tendulkar, reprieved by referral and dropped four times, looked set for his 100th international century.
He was out for 85 from 115 balls as India compiled 260-9, left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz with a career-best 5-46.
Mohammad Hafeez struck 43 and Misbah-ul-Haq made a defiant 56 but Pakistan were all out for 231 in the final over.
With tickets reportedly exchanging hands for many thousands of rupees, an estimated 28,000 packed into the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium and every possible vantage point outside the ground taken, a match of such magnitude between the fierce rivals deserved to be a classic encounter.
Misbah had played a curiously subdued innings, with his first 27 taking 52 balls, and though he hit two fours and a six in six deliveries 30 were needed from the final over and India justified their decision to field three seamers by defending a relatively modest total.
The start of the India innings after they opted to bat on a pitch showing tinges of green saw Tendulkar overshadowed by the remarkable Sehwag.
With precise clips off his legs and sweetly-struck drives, Sehwag struck five fours in an over from the wayward Umar Gul and had amassed 38 by the end of the fifth over.
But he was lbw trying to turn one from Riaz to leg and as India reached 50, Tendulkar's innings was still in its infancy with eight to his name from only 11 balls faced.
He soon demonstrated some exquisite timing as a defensive flick raced through mid-on for four, before he was given out lbw on 23 to the spin of Saeed Ajmal.
Umpire Ian Gould's decision looked perfectly correct as Tendulkar was hit playing across the line but under review the ball tracking system indicated it was turning down the leg-side sufficiently to miss the stumps, and to the great delight of the vast majority of the crowd the decision was overturned.
There was an appeal for a stumping next ball which was also rejected after a replay, while the first drop occurred with Tendulkar on 27 when Misbah-ul-Haq failed to cling on diving to his right at mid-wicket.
The India 100 came up in the 16th over but Pakistan began to slowly claw their way back, Gautam Gambhir deceived in flight by Hafeez and stumped.
Inexplicably Younus Khan spilled a routine chance at extra-cover with Tendulkar on 45 and the opener duly completed his 95th one-day international half century by taking the aerial route safely over the cover fielders for his eighth four.
Left-armer Riaz soon brought Pakistan firmly back in the contest with wickets in successive balls to restrict India to 141-4, Virat Kohli mis-timing straight to point and Yuvraj Singh bowled first ball by a low, late-swinging full toss.
Tendulkar saw a thick edge brush the gloves of Kamran when on 70 to the exasperation of the ever demonstrative Afridi, who went wicketless for the first time in the tournament.
Then on 81 Umar Akmal spurned another opportunity, parrying the chance at mid-on in the style of a goalkeeper pushing the ball over the crossbar, with spinner Hafeez making a few choice observations on the error.
But 15 short of the landmark Tendulkar drove to extra-cover where Afridi made no mistake, and the run-rate soon dropped below five for the first time since the end of the second over.
Dhoni has now gone 13 innings without an ODI fifty and his sedentary 25 from 42 balls bore no resemblance to Sehwag's innings apart from the manner of dismissal, an attempted turn to leg off left-armer Riaz.
Three fours were taken in an over from Gul, whose eight overs cost 69, but Pakistan would surely have expected their required rate to be substantially more than 5.20.
Understandably their openers were not able to match Sehwag's rate of scoring but they utilised the fast outfield and had three boundaries apiece after seven overs before Kamran cut to point.
The crowd had been subdued by Pakistan's assured start but they were revived when Hafeez attempted a reckless 'Dilscoop,' trying to work to leg from well wide of off-stump and feathering a catch to wicketkeeper Dhoni.
Almost seven overs had elapsed without a boundary when Asad Shafiq, having calmly accumulated 30, lost his middle stump trying to cut Yuvraj's slow left-armers and with the rate rising above six the match was in the melting pot.
Younus survived a missed stumping in Yuvraj's next over but three balls later drove tamely to extra-cover.
Timing began to look difficult on the slow surface under the numerous low floodlights dotted around the ground but Umar hit a four over cover and a pull for six off Yuvraj, the first boundaries for 12 overs, to reduce the requirement to 131 from 20 overs.
A six over the sightscreen from Umar saw the crowd go quiet again but from the first ball after the drinks break Harbhajan Singh struck a key blow with a quicker ball from around the wicket that straightened and breached his defences.
Dangerman Abdul Razzaq was dismissed cheaply by a cutter from Munaf Patel and though Afridi made a quickfire 19 to leave 77 needed from 50, he sliced a Harbhajan full toss to cover.
Misbah's brief late burst of hitting proved in vain and now attention turns to an enticing final in Mumbai, which will feature Tendulkar on his home ground seeking to record that 100th hundred against Sri Lanka's own talisman, Muttiah Muralitharan.
NBA probing Jay-Z's visit with UK
An NBA spokesman confirms that the league is investigating Jay-Z's presence in Kentucky's locker room after the Wildcats clinched a Final Four berth.
The rapper visited the players after their victory over North Carolina on Sunday at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J, home of the Nets. Jay-Z is a part-owner of the team and attended the Nets' 120-116 loss at New York on Wednesday.
NBA rules prohibit team personnel from having contact with players who are not yet draft eligible, and spokesman Tim Frank told the Associated Press the league is looking into it.
The investigation was first reported by CBSSports.com.
Timothy Geithner seeks uniform exchange rate policy
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has kicked off the G20 meeting in Nanjing with a call for more consistency in international currency exchange rates.
Mr Geithner said tight control of currency pricing by some countries was hurting global economy.
The United States and other developed nations have been critical of China's exchange rate policy.
The meeting is being attended by some of the financial world's biggest names.
Mr Geithner said that the Group of 20 nations was working closely to put in place a system that will streamline the exchange rates globally.
"We have been engaged in a multilateral effort in the G20 to establish stronger norms for exchange rate policy," he said.
There have been repeated calls for China to let the value of yuan appreciate against the US dollar. It has been accused of keeping the value of the yuan artificially low in order to help its exporters.
Beijing has maintained that a sudden appreciation of its currency will be detrimental not only for its export sector but for its overall economy.
Analysts say the scenario is likely to remain the same for the time being.
"China will be sensitive to discussing the yuan, especially on its own ground, but given what's happened in the world economy in the past few weeks, I think exchange rate complaints will be on the back burner," said Mitul Kotecha, global currency strategist at Credit Agricole.
China has been pushing for yuan to become a global reserve currency.
That push got a big boost as the French president Nicolas Sarkozy suggested that given the importance of emerging economies like China to global growth, their currencies should be added to the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Right (SDR) basket.
His comments were backed by Mr Geithner who said he supported a change to the SDR composition.
"Over time, we believe that currencies of large economies heavily used in international trade and financial transactions should become a part of the SDR basket," he said.
However, Mr Geithner said that for that to happen, the countries will have to loosen their control on the currency.
"To achieve this objective, the concerned countries should have flexible exchange rate systems, independent central banks and permit the free movement of capital flows," he said.
Australian dollar hits 29-year high on commodity demand
The Australian dollar has risen to a 29-year high against the US dollar as demand for the country's commodities continues to grow.
It rose as high as $1.0318 in trading on Wednesday, the highest since the currency was freely floated in 1983.
There has been a steady demand for Australian commodities from growing economies like China and India.
High interest rates and relatively low inflation have also seen investors pump money into the country.
Australia's economy grew by 2.7% in 2010 and analysts say it could grow at an even faster pace this year.
This has seen the demand for its currency rise as investors look to enter the Australian market.
The recent natural disasters in Australia, New Zealand and Japan had seen a sharp fall in market sentiment as investors worried about their impact on regional and global growth.
However, as the full impact of these disasters becomes clear, investors are optimistic that countries and companies will be able to cope with the rebuilding costs.
This has seen stock markets bounce back and commodity prices rise again.
Analysts say a positive global sentiment has a big impact on Australian markets.
"Given its dependence on exports, the Australian economy gets affected the most by global sentiment," said Sean Callow of Westpac Bank in Sydney.
"The turnaround is especially being felt in the commodity markets with prices rising once again," he added.
Mr Callow said that is boosting investor confidence in the Australian economy and could push the Australian currency even higher.
"The fact that it can rebound despite the recent disasters will only encourage investors to anticipate further gains," he said.
Early this year the Australian states of Queensland and Victoria were affected by severe flooding which was described as 'biblical' by one of the senior government officials.
Insurance companies are facing claims worth hundreds of millions of dollars from customers due to the damage caused.
Analysts say that it is likely many Australian insurance companies may have reinsured their risk with global insurers.
They say these foreign insurance companies are having to buy Australian dollars in order to make payments to customers, which is driving up demand for the currency.
"It is widely assumed in the market that the bulk of the payouts will ultimately be sourced from European reinsurance companies, as appears to have been the case for the September 2010 New Zealand earthquake," Mr Callow said.
American Airlines cuts flights to Japan as demand falls
American Airlines is reducing the number of flights to Japan as travel demand to the country continues to fall.
The airline said it will suspend two of its six daily flights to Japan from April 6.
Other international airlines like Delta and Qantas have also announced a reduction in capacity to Japan.
Travel demand has been falling due to fears of radiation leak after the 11 March earthquake and tsunami.
American Airlines did not specify how much of its traffic on the Japan - US route has fallen since the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan's north-east coast.
The routes being temporarily suspended are from New York to Tokyo's Haneda Airport and from Dallas to Tokyo's Narita Airport.
Earlier this week, Japan's national carrier Japan Airlines (JAL) announced that passenger numbers on its international routes had fallen 25% since 11 March.
Despite the falling numbers, American Airlines said it will go ahead with its joint venture with JAL which is scheduled to be launched on 1 April.
Japan to scrap stricken nuclear reactors
Japan is to decommission four stricken reactors at the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, the operator says.
Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) made the announcement three weeks after failing to bring reactors 1 - 4 under control. Locals would be consulted on reactors 5 and 6, which were shut down safely.
Harmful levels of radioactivity have been detected in the area.
More than 11,000 people are known to have been killed by the devastating 11 March earthquake and tsunami.
Emperor Akihito visited a centre for earthquake and tsunami victims in the Tokyo area on Wednesday.
Japanese experts are considering whether to cover the reactor buildings at the Fukushima Daiichi plant with a special material, to stop the spread of radioactive substances, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says.
On Wednesday, the government ordered nuclear power plant operators to start implementing new safety measures immediately.
The steps - to be completed by the end of April - include preparing back-up power in case of loss of power supply.
Fire trucks will be on standby to intervene and ensure cooling systems for both reactors and pools of used fuel are maintained.
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Banri Kaieda said this did not mean that nuclear plant operations should be halted.
Tepco's president Masataka Shimizu has been admitted to hospital, suffering from high blood pressure and dizziness.
Hours later, Tepco chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata spoke to reporters for the first time.
He admitted that the company had not been able to cool the reactors, and pledged maximum efforts to stabilise them. And he added that reactors 1-4 would eventually have to be shut down for good.
Mr Katsumata said his company was preparing to compensate those suffering damage caused by radiation leaks.
The chairman also apologised for the inconvenience caused by the rolling blackouts imposed to cope with power shortages.
The earthquake and tsunami damaged the nuclear plant's power supply, leading to a failure of the cooling systems.
Since then engineers have been using seawater to cool down the core of the reactors, but the operation has failed to stop radioactive leaks.
Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan has said the country is on "maximum alert".
Tepco has been accused of a lack of transparency and failing to provide information promptly.
Japan's emperor made a rare public appearance at an evacuation centre in the Tokyo area
Earlier samples had put the iodine level in the sea at 1,850 times the legal limit.
Much lower - but still elevated levels - of the same radioactive element have been found in seawater as far as 16km (10 miles) to the south.
Tepco and the safety agency say the exact source of the leak is unknown.