Slaughter in Syria: Rocket attacks, blood in the streets and a relentless fight for freedom

Throughout Syrian neighborhoods, the bombardment does not stop. It is relentless in its power. And it it spares nobody, regardless of age.

Rocket and mortar fire pelts the town and the people striving to defend themselves against what they say is a brutal regime.
Graphic videos showing the battle against Bashar al-Assad's regime paint a gruesome picture of life in the country as residents struggle to release themselves from the grasp of a ruler they say they no longer want. Activists claim the Syrian city of Homs is under heavy bombardment by government forces, a claim the regime denies.
But the footage is so raw, it's hard to look at - and hard not to look at. While many of the details in the videos cannot be independently verified by CNN, the images alone are still haunting.
A child with bloodied clothing lies in a hospital, unable to move because her legs have been blown off. Some videos show bodies in the streets. Blood flows down the faces of people who are said to be victims of the attacks.
The blood of Syrians continues to flow, as does their anger - at both the regime they claim is killing them and international powers that have yet to be able to help stem the bloodshed.
The violence ratcheted up again after Russia and China vetoed a United Nations Security Council draft resolution that would have demanded al-Assad stop the violence and seek a solution to the crisis.
Vetoes lead Syria to bloody stalemate
Many activists say they saw the move as a green light for the regime to strengthen its crackdowns, though the government denies that.
What is happening in Syria?
As the government sought to present an image of broad popular support on Tuesday after a day of brutal violence, opposition activists reported more deaths.
At least 21 people were killed Tuesday, including 15 in Homs, a 15-year-old just outside Homs and five in the Damascus suburb of Zabadani. At least 128 people were killed across the country Monday, mostly in Homs, according to the opposition Syrian Revolution General Commission.

"The situation is beyond description," the commission said in a statement. "Some of these martyrs were killed with shrapnel and the others were under the rubble, and their bodies couldn't be identified because they were in remains."
Mousab Azzawi of the Syrian Network for Human Rights said "the situation is very dire." Monday was almost "like a bloodbath," he said.
"We have pictures of children under the age of 14 with half of their faces blown away, with children under the age of 4 with all of their bodies with nail bombs. We have pictures of one child who was dying on the lap of his mother under the age of 1," Azzawi said.
Residents are trying to get the message out to media outlets around the globe that they are terrified of their government and of dying.

AJELive

• ✔

@AJELive

"The condition in the neighbourhood is quite miserable. We are just waiting to be killed." - resident of #Syria's #Homs aje.me/z1kb9M

7 Feb 12

• Reply
• Retweet
• Favorite

U.N. officials have estimated that 6,000 people have died since protests began nearly a year ago. The Local Coordination Committees, a network of opposition activists that organizes and documents protests, said that at least 7,339 people have been killed.
CNN cannot independently confirm opposition or government reports from Syria because the government has restricted journalists' access to the country. That means much of what we're seeing is an uprising being streamed on YouTube.
Mashable: World watches Syria’s uprising on YouTube
While attempts at diplomacy have failed to curb the estimated thousands of deaths in the 11-month-old conflict, residents and opposition activists say they are desperate for help in stopping the slaughter.
Who is fighting, and what are they hoping for?
When Bashar al-Assad became president in 2000, he promised a modern Syria. Human Rights Watch has called his time as president "the wasted decade," with media that remain controlled by the state, a monitored and censored Internet, and prisons filled with dissidents.
Now, after claims of brutal crackdowns and undelivered promises, opposition supporters just want an end to his rule.
Who is al-Assad?
But it's not all that easy to figure out who is leading the charge against al-Assad.
Rival dissident army officers claim to lead the increasingly armed rebellion within Syria. The rift means it is unclear how much command the exiled officers have over defecting troops and other opposition groups.

Rift exposed in Syria's rebel leadership | Photos: Front lines of Free Syrian Army

During the more than 10 months since the uprising began, competing civilian exiles have also claimed leadership of the revolution.

Some Western diplomats working closely with opposition groups have privately expressed frustration with dissidents' lack of unity, even as the death toll continues to rise.

One thing is clear: Those who say they have been oppressed by the regime, who have been brutally beaten or who have seen friends die want to make sure they are doing what they can to end violence for other Syrians.

Andy Carvin

• ✔

@acarvin

"We're not animals; we're human beings and we're asking for help. We're asking for your help." Graphic. bit.ly/xXchC6 #syria #homs

6 Feb 12

• Reply
• Retweet
• Favorite

Those who attend nightly rallies in Damascus tell CNN's Arwa Damon that all they want is to be treated with dignity and respect, to voice their opinions without reprisal, to speak for the thousands killed, detained and tortured since the uprisings began in March.

Ambassador Rice

• ✔

@AmbassadorRice

.@arwaCNN's reporting reminds us of the consequences of inaction in #Syria- "Everyone's becoming used to death here"- goo.gl/qX25h

6 Feb 12

• Reply
• Retweet
• Favorite

And then there are some who feel like those at the rallies but are afraid of the turmoil and uncertainty, and so they remain caught in the middle.
On the streets of Syria, every day brings more reports of deaths. One disturbing video surfaced on YouTube purportedly showing several members of a slain family. In the video, the mother's eyes appeared to be gouged out. At least four children died with their parents. Opposition groups say the family was killed by government forces in Homs.
A rare glimpse inside protests in Syria
Such brutality isn't uncommon, according to a newly released report from Human Rights Watch.
"Syrian security forces have killed, arrested and tortured children in their homes, their schools or on the streets," said Lois Whitman, children's rights director at Human Rights Watch.
What are the politics?
Saturday's veto by U.N. Security Council members Russia and China of a draft resolution that would have demanded al-Assad stop the violence against the opposition has complicated international efforts to deal with the situation.
Russia and China said that although they support an end to the violence and want to promote dialogue between the Syrian government and the opposition, they believe the resolution would have been one-sided. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in particular said the draft would have called on the Syrian government to stop violence "without the same for the armed groups."
Western diplomats expressed amazement at the vetoes, saying the resolution was watered down to accommodate other Russian concerns. The resolution had dropped demands from an Arab League plan for Syria to form a unity government and for al-Assad to delegate power to his deputy. U.N. diplomats said this was done because Russia had been reluctant to sign on to any plan that could be seen as a mandate for regime change in Damascus.
Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said the United States was "disgusted" at the veto, and she said of Russia, "This intransigence is even more shameful when you consider that one of these members continues to deliver weapons to Assad."
Clinton: Vetoes a 'travesty' | Opinion: Why Russia protects Syria's al-Assad
Russia is one of Syria's biggest arms suppliers, and both Russia and China have various reasons to have friendly relations with Damascus, analysts in the United States said. The total value of Syrian contracts with the Russian defense industry probably exceeds $4 billion, according to Jeffrey Mankoff, an adjunct fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies Russia and Eurasia Program. Russia also leases a naval facility at the Syrian port of Tartus, giving the Russian navy its only direct access to the Mediterranean, Mankoff told CNN's Holly Yan.
And China was Syria's third-largest importer in 2010, according to data from the European Commission.
Why do China, Russia protect al-Assad?
Russia's Lavrov bristled at the veto criticisms, saying Western states "are trying to obscure the developments with hysterical statements on Russia's veto of the Syria resolution." China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "China does not shelter anyone. We uphold justice and take a responsible attitude. We want the Syrian people to be free from the scourge of conflict and warfare."

And Syria's U.N. ambassador accused some powers of giving support, "in terms of money, and arms, and favorable media coverage, to armed terrorist groups that kill, abduct, and intimidate Syrian citizens."
Opinion: Veto begins proxy game pitting Arab Gulf states against Russia, Iran
Nations that supported the resolution are now trying other ways to pressure the Syrian regime. The Gulf Cooperation Council - which includes the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait - announced Tuesday that its member states are pulling their ambassadors from Syria. Spain, France, the United Kingdom and Italy called home their ambassadors as well, and the United States closed its embassy in Damascus, saying Syria wasn't addressing its security concerns.
Mark Toner, spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said that "by no means are we done here."

"We hear the people of Syria, and we want to move to support them. We’ve already got in place very strong sanctions, both bilaterally and multilaterally, and we’re going to seek to take additional steps against the Assad regime," he said this week.
What happens now?
Syria’s al-Assad has found a way to remain in power longer than many of the other leaders disposed of during the Arab protests, despite the growing protests against him.
Many leaders, including President Obama, have said it is time for al-Assad to step down. For many, it’s a question of just how long he can hold out amid international pressure.

But for the residents dealing with the daily increasing violence, the situation boils down to just more than a waiting game.
They are exhausted from fighting, but will continue to do so even if it means more blood in the streets, they say.

Leila Nachawati@leila_na

"Death is tired of us", a resident from Homs says. #Syria

7 Feb 12

• Reply
• Retweet
• Favorite

The U.S. State Department has constantly been briefing Americans via Twitter on how to contact the agency if they are caught in an emergency.

StateDept

• ✔

@StateDept

For emergency assistance in #Syria, U.S. citizens should contact 963954666693. Go to travel.state.gov and follow @TravelGov for updates.

7 Feb 12

• Reply
• Retweet
• Favorite

For some, the call will be for the global powers to finally put an end to al-Assad or to help the people of Syria do it themselves, in a fashion similar to Libya and the downfall of late strongman Moammar Gadhafi.
Some want to see al-Assad fall at the hands of his own people.

Yousef Munayyer@YousefMunayyer

If the people of Syria put the future of #Syria in foreign hands they have forfeited it. The regime must fall at the hands of Syrians alone.

4 Feb 12

• Reply
• Retweet
• Favorite

Syria is on the brink of a civil war. And it could be a brutal one.
With the failure of U.N. action because of the veto, the conflict could escalate, wrote Shadi Hamid, a director of research at the Brookings Doha Center and a fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, in a column for CNN.
“With that fateful decision, the conflict moved to another, more dangerous stage,” Hamid wrote. “Those who warn that Syria will descend into civil war are a bit behind: It is already in civil war. Now it will only intensify.”
Hamid said the next step may be deciding whether military intervention is necessary, and if so, by whom.
“So we find ourselves in an odd but increasingly common situation, where Syrians themselves are more enthusiastic about foreign military intervention than Americans are,” Hamid writes. “It is, in this sense, the reverse of Iraq, which was rightly seen by many as a tragic Western imposition.”
How much do we owe it to Syrians to step in and help drive the final nail into the coffin of al-Assad's regime? And would it be different than the situation in Iraq, because perhaps some of the people there would like the U.S. and others to step in?
“Here, it is Syrians themselves who are pleading for the international community to come to their aid. In December, the Syrian National Council "formally endorsed" foreign intervention,” Hamid wrote. “If they formally request military assistance - presumably the next step - we have a moral responsibility to take it seriously.”

NYPD COP : " I fried another NIGGER "

Stop and Frisk ends with a Bronx teen being beaten and kicked by NYPD cops.

Chrysler Commercial - It's Halftime in America

Giants edge Patriots in thriller; it was Madonna dance party at half

Triumphing in a thriller, quarterback Eli Manning led the New York Giants on Sunday to their second Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots in four years.
Clutching the championship trophy, Manning, the MVP award winner, said "I just stayed positive" during the seesaw struggle in Indianapolis. The Giants prevailed 21-17.
New York City wasted no time in celebrating the Super Bowl XLVI victory.
The Empire State Building was bathed in Giants blue late Sunday. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a ticker-tape parade and ceremony for Tuesday.

Assisted by crucial late receptions by Mario Manningham, Manning marched the Giants down the field in the closing minutes of the game. The go-ahead touchdown was scored by running back Ahmad Bradshaw from 6 yards out with 52 seconds remaining.
But the Patriots and Tom Brady, who was vying for his fourth championship ring, weren't quite done. They moved the ball, but had only enough time for a "Hail Mary" pass that bounced away in the Giants end zone.
After trailing the Patriots 17-9 early in the third quarter, the Giants put up the last 12 points of the game.
The Super Bowl victory was the fourth for the Giants, which defeated the Pats 17-14 in the 2008 title game.
An estimated 111 million U.S. viewers were expected to tune in, with many as interested in the ads or halftime show as much or more than the game.
Halftime entertainer Madonna had an eclectic set, joined by Cee Lo Green, Nicki Minaj and MIA.
Madonna morphed from a Roman Empire theme to a high school cheerleader, complete with pom poms and a marching band. She sang "Vogue", "Music," "Like a Prayer" and "Give Me All Your Luvin."
The Material Girl's performance ended with a bright flash of flight, and white smoke -- with her not to be seen.
The American president who saved football
A bevy of celebrities, including Jerry Seinfeld, Clint Eastwood and Elton John, showed up in commercials this year.
David Beckham provided eye candy in an H&M ad, which tended to spend more time on his chiseled and tattooed looks than the briefs he was wearing.
"No commercial this Superbowl will top #BeckhamforHM Yummy & in love!!," said one Twitter feed on an HLN TV blog.
Another commercial featured a slimmed-down dog chasing after a Volkswagen Beetle.
Pop singer Kelly Clarkson performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" on Sunday, managing to get through the lyrics without a problem, unlike unfortunate Christina Aguilera, who got some flak after botching the words at the 2011 Super Bowl.
Of course, there was more than football and music in the lineup.
Refreshment and apparel producers and advertisers have a lot at stake in the annual bash.
The average game-watcher was expected to spend $63.87 on Super Bowl merchandise, snacks and apparel, up from $59.33 last year, according to a survey by the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association. Of those watching the Giants-Patriots, nearly 27.1% planned to attend a party, according to the association, and another 15.3% planned to throw a party.
The host city of Indianapolis poured hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars and corporate coin into building new hotels, sprucing up landscaping and resurfacing miles of streets.
What does Indianapolis have to offer?
The Super Bowl zip line was the talk of the town.
For $10, you could climb the zip line's 95-foot tower, attach yourself to a metal cable and fly 80 feet above the crowd to another tower 650 feet down the street. "It's the new version of the bungee jump," one woman said.
Indianapolis strove to prove it could be a major player.
It kept one key goal in mind.
"I honestly think the best report would be people saying, 'The game was great and -- oh yeah, by the way, Indianapolis was really nice. I had a really good time,' " said Tom Griswold, longtime co-host of the Indy-based syndicated radio program "The Bob & Tom Show."

Long-lost identities of slaves uncovered in old Virginia papers

Richmond, Virginia  A historical society in Virginia, where slavery began in the American colonies in 1619, has discovered the identities of 3,200 slaves from unpublished private documents, providing new information for today's descendants in a first-of-its-kind online database, society officials say.
Many of the slaves had been forgotten to the world until the Virginia Historical Society received a $100,000 grant to pore over some of its 8 million unpublished manuscripts -- letters, diaries, ledgers, books and farm documents from Virginians dating to the 1600s -- and began discovering the long-lost identities of the slaves, said society president and CEO Paul Levengood.
The private, nonprofit historical society, the fourth-oldest in the nation, is assembling a growing roster of slaves' names and other information, such as the slaves' occupations, locations and plantation owners' names, said Levengood.
The free, public website also provides a high-resolution copy of the antique documents that identify the slave.
The database, which went online last September with 1,500 names, sets itself apart from the few other existing slave databases -- which limit themselves to specific plantations or to ship manifests that list the captives by their native African names, society officials said.
The "Unknown No Longer: A Database of Virginia Slave Names" website is the first online resource listing slaves' names across all of slaveholding Virginia, the nation's oldest state which had the largest enslaved population, numbering a half million people, at the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, society officials said.
"Most slaves were by their owners' design and eventually by law forbidden to learn how to read and write, so they didn't leave us material that so many figures in the past did," Levengood said. "That's when you have to be creative."
So using a $100,000 corporate grant from Dominion, one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, society researchers began examining some of its 8 million manuscripts that Virginia residents have been giving to the historical society since its founding in 1831.
Those Virginia families found the old, handwritten papers in attics, basements or desk drawers, Levengood said. The society stores the documents in an archive spanning thousands of square feet, he said.
The antique papers turned out to mention slaves.
"Often they appeared in the records of the owners who owned slaves as human property, which to us sounds so obscene and alien," said Levengood, who's also a historian. "But these people were writing down their inventory as if you would for insurance purposes. That's the kind of things that owners did with slaves. This was the most valuable property they owned, and they wanted to make sure it was recorded.
"Often there was a human connection, and they grew up with these people, and they recorded their birth dates and deaths. It's an incredibly complicated and tragic institution that we're just beginning to understand the dimensions of," Levengood said.
Documents citing slaves go back to the 1690s: "That's when slavery starts to grow fast in Virginia and other English colonies," Levengood said.
"Sometimes it's a real detective work. You have to read between the lines: Oh, they mention Amy in a letter, and then you have to read another letter in the collection to realize that Amy is a slave and not a family member," Levengood said.
The society Saturday held the first of four community workshops on how to use the online database at the organization's headquarters in Richmond, Virginia. While the online website is intuitive on how to use, the workshops are being held for users who need more guidance, Levengood said.
Some 80 people came to Saturday's workshop, including Gale Carter, a high school history teacher who flew in from East Chicago, Indiana for the event.
Carter said the original documents digitized on the site will help her uncover more of her own family's history in Virginia, as well as help her students learn about the era.
"I'm going to use this not only personally, but professionally," she said. "This is terrific. It's a model and I hope the rest of the states catch up real quickly."
Amateur genealogist Crasty Johnson of Richmond said she hopes the sites will help her trace her roots back to the 1800s.
"I need to know my history," she said, adding the site may help her prove or disprove many of the things she's heard about her family's past. "I wanted to really know. I wanted to be able to see and connect the dots."
When the United States banned the importation of slaves after 1807, Virginia became the largest provider in the nation's internal slave trade, Levengood said. Slavery was eventually abolished at the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865.
That means many American families with slave ancestors could have roots in Virginia, Levengood said.
"Slavery in Virginia is not just a Virginia story. It reaches across all of the slave South," Levengood said. "So you may not know you have Virginia ancestors, but you could."
The database features a public message board, filled with notes posted by users searching for ancestors who may have been slaves. The advanced search fields include the slave's first name or last name; gender; occupation; owner's last name; date range; and record type.
One user named "Treebranch02" wrote last September: "Well, I think I found the slave owner that owned my great, great, great grandfather but that is as far as I got. Nothing on my great grandfather and great grandmother who lived in Manquin, VA. This was good for me, however. Got me excited. Wonderful site."
Elsewhere in the database is a stark description of the sale of slaves and goods in a February 11, 1858, typed letter from slaveholder William Daniel Cabell of "Benvenue" in Nelson County, Virginia, to his wife, Elizabeth Nicholas Cabell.
"The corn we sold yesterday brought 3.15$ per barrel. We sold all the negros 43 in number at astonishingly large prices -- the whole amounting to $32016. Nearly every one of the negros were satisfied as they were bought by people in the country mostly, going ahead of the prices given by the traders," Cabell wrote his wife.
The letter continued: "Jane and three children brought $2795. and Mimy and three children $2505. My father gave $25. to Mr. Agee and then allowed Mr. Turner to take Mimy as he owned her husband. Old Mr. S. Turner bought Jane and children. Jane's husband exclaimed just as she was knocked out to his master "Glory to God on high, peace and good will to men on earth" and it seemed to pop from his very soul. Betsy brought $1400. and was bought for Miss Perking of Buckingham."
Robert Payne, who attended Saturday's workshop, said he's been researching his family for the past 15 years, but finding information about his ancestors wasn't easy. He's hoping his 12 grandchildren can benefit from his work.
"Researching black folk is difficult, so anytime you can find a new resource it's always good to investigate," he said. "It's a database for the ones that are coming up. They'll be able to take it and grow from that."

Eddie Murphy Is 'Fine' Despite Internet Death Hoax

"This story is 100% fake! This is an entertainment website, and this is a totally fake article based on zero truth and is a complete work of fiction for entertainment purposes," the disclaimer read.

Though the site appears legit at first glance, Murphy fans who took a closer look at the page would have seen a small-print disclaimer denouncing the site and its contents as fake.

Coroner in Amy Winehouse Case Resigns

The coroner who conducted the inquest into the death of Amy Winehouse has resigned, raising the possibility that the case could be reopened. Assistant Deputy Coroner Suzanne Greenaway ruled in October that Winehouse, who was found dead on July 23rd, died of accidental alcohol poisoning. Greenaway resigned in November after officials discovered that she had not been a registered lawyer in the United Kingdom for the required five years. Her resignation was not made public until today.

Adding to the intrigue is the fact that Greenaway was appointed to her post by her husband, Andrew Reid, who serves as a London coroner himself. In a statement, Reid said that he was under the impression that his wife's tenure as a registered lawyer in her native Australia qualified her for the post. The Camden Council, the local authority in the matter, said it believed Reid "had made an error in good faith."

Reid indicated he would be willing to perform any of Greenaway's inquests again if the families of the deceased requested it. Winehouse's family said they are consulting with attorneys and have not yet decided whether to pursue a new inquest


 

Iran's leader: War would be detrimental to U.S.

Tehran, Iran  The supreme leader of Iran issued a blunt warning Friday that war would be detrimental to the United States -- and that Iran is ready to help anyone who confronts "cancerous" Israel.
"You see every now and then in this way they say that all options are on the table. That means even the option of war," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said during Friday prayers in Tehran. "This is how they make these threats against us.
"Well, these kinds of threats are detrimental to the U.S.," he said. "The war itself will be 10 times as detrimental to the U.S."
Khamenei's rhetoric is hardly new. But the timing of his comments could prove critical with nuclear talks around the corner.
Tensions between Iran and world powers have been ratcheted up in the aftermath of an alarming nuclear watchdog agency report in November that said Tehran was likely developing nuclear weapons.
The standoff grew more serious this week with renewed fears of an Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran to take out its suspected nuclear weapons program.
Khamenei said Iran will support any nation or group that stands up against Israel.
"The Zionist regime is really the cancerous tumor of this region and it needs to be removed and will be removed," Khamenei said to a cheering crowd.

Rubin: Iran issue won't be a cakewalk

Will Israel hit Iran's nuclear program?

U.S. concerns about Israeli strike on Iran

Source: Panetta thinks Israel could attack

He said Iran doesn't interfere in other nations but has aided militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah in conflicts with Israel in Gaza and Lebanon.
His comments came after stern comments Friday from Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
"Today, unlike in the past, there is a broad global understanding that it is crucial to stop Iran becoming nuclearized and that no options should be taken off the table," he said.
Barak said allowing Iran to continue on its path will be far more complex and dangerous in blood and money than cutting it off now.
"Those who say in English, 'later,' may find later is too late," he said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he feared Israel could attack Iran sometime this spring in an effort to destroy its suspected nuclear weapons program, according to a senior administration official.
The official declined to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the information.
The United States and its allies have warned that Iran is trying to make a nuclear weapon. Iran insists that its nuclear program is for civilian energy purposes.
A new report from the Bipartisan Policy Center said the United States needs to put more teeth into its threat to use military power against Iran.
The Washington think tank recommended in its report that Washington should undertake visible, credible military preparations to go along with more intense sanctions and diplomatic efforts.
The military activities could include naval deployments, military exercises and positioning supplies in the region.
To stop Iran's nuclear clock, the report said, the United States "needs to make clear that Iran faces a choice: it can either abandon its nuclear program through a negotiated arrangement or have its program destroyed militarily, by the United States."
The report also said the United States should give credibility to the Israeli military threat against Iran by selling Israel two to three KC-135 aerial refueling tankers and 200 GRU-31 bunker-buster munitions.
Former Sen. Chuck Robb, who co-chaired the task force that wrote the report, said the group advocates neither war nor a military strike at the moment, but believes the United States will only be effective if it takes credible steps to let Iran know it is serious.
Pentagon spokesman Capt. John Kirby said Panetta "has made it clear that he is comfortable with the military capabilities we have and operate in the region."
However, Kirby said, "the U.S. military must and will be ready to provide the president options should those options be desirable."
Khamenei blamed Western powers for Iran's troubles, starting with the brutal eight-year war Iran fought with Saddam Hussein's Iraq in the 1980s and continuing with the latest round of punishing international sanctions.
"So far we have overcome all these challenges and none of them managed to bring (Iran) to its knees," Khamenei said. "We have stood firm and strongly treaded our course."

Good Samaritan, shot by carjacker, dies in front of his 2 sons

A 44-year-old New Orleans man died in front of his two sons Wednesday after he responded to a woman's screams and was shot by an apparent carjacker, according to police and family members.
Harry "Mike" Ainsworth was with his two sons, ages 9 and 10, as the boys were waiting for a morning school bus, Ainsworth's brother, Bill, told CNN affiliate WWL.
The two boys saw their father try to help the female motorist in the Algiers Point neighborhood and, after their father was shot, the boys ran to him and sat with him until emergency responders showed up, Bill Ainsworth said.
"They were there with him when he passed," Ainsworth said. "It's going to be hard on them."
"Pray the cops find him before I do," he said about the carjacker, in an interview with CNN affiliate WDSU.
The series of events began when a carjacker approached a woman motorist sitting in her vehicle, knocked on the window and asked for the time, New Orleans police said.
As the woman turned to check the time, the carjacker pulled out a handgun and told the woman to get out of the automobile, police said.
Ainsworth then jumped on the hood of the vehicle, and the carjacker shot him, left the car and ran, police said.
Police released a sketch of the suspect and were offering a $5,000 reward to anonymous tipsters who can help detectives find a black man, in his 20s, between 5-6 and 5-8 in height, and weighing 140 to 150 pounds, detectives said.
The woman was unharmed, New Orleans police spokesman Frank Robertson said.
"When you have someone trying to come to the aid of someone who is in need and -- whenever something like this happens, it's a real tragedy," police Lt. Gary Marchese told WWL.
Skip Gallagher, president of the Algiers Point Neighborhood Association, told WDSU that good Samaritans aren't unusual in the neighborhood.
"I think any other male that had heard that in the neighborhood would have done the same thing," Gallagher said. "They heard some woman screaming, they would have come running. I would have, and every male in this neighborhood would have done the same thing, and we see what happens.
"I'm not sure it's going to change my behavior."
A fund has been established to help the Ainsworth family.

Super Bowl in Indianapolis? Get ready world

Indianapolis (CNN) -- Let's just come out and say what a lot of people are thinking this Super Bowl weekend: Indianapolis? Really?
Hard-core fans who blow wads of cash every season to get their championship tickets punched want to know: Has the NFL reached a point when this iconic face-off between our national gladiators can be hosted by any team city?
Even a cold-weather, landlocked, midsize burg surrounded by corn and guided by a mysterious force called "Hoosier Hospitality"?
Because, sorry sports fans, let's be real: This ain't New Orleans, Miami or Southern California -- or any of the sunshiny February playgrounds that have dominated location choices for 45 years.
This is smack in the heart of "flyover country," where many fans of the New England Patriots and New York Giants have never before dared to venture. You can picture them trying to locate the home of the Indianapolis Colts on a map, saying, "It's in one of those 'I' states, like Iowa, Idaho or Illinois
There's no need to mince words. Indy natives have heard it all before: "Nap-town," "India-no-place."
"Hoosiers," as Indiana residents call themselves, are used to being underestimated, and they often take advantage of the benefits of low expectations. (Full disclosure: The author is an Indiana native, but, like many of his kind, he is unable to explain the origin of the word "Hoosier.")
After decades of strategizing, planning and selling the city to NFL team owners, Indy says it's ready to host Super Bowl XLVI. "It's the pinnacle," said former Mayor Bill Hudnut, who started the campaign rolling in the early '80s.
Without a doubt, preparations have transformed the town's look and feel. The community has poured hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars and corporate coin to build new hotels, spruce up landscaping and resurface miles of streets.
As a result, a sea of Patriots blue, Giants blue and Colts blue has been flowing through the downtown area -- now dubbed Super Bowl Village. More than 300,000 have walked through the neighborhood in the past week, officials said. Former Colts head coach Tony Dungy told CNN affiliate WRTV-TV that the city is putting "its best foot forward." The fans are "going to be pleasantly surprised," he said.
There's more to Indy than the Super Bowl
Restaurants, hotels and the village all surround Lucas Oil Stadium -- creating a compact, walkable Super Bowl district that veterans say is unique to almost all previous venues except perhaps New Orleans. "I think the setup here is fantastic," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told WRTV.
Streets have been renamed Raiders Road, Chiefs Avenue -- one for each NFL squad. "Mike Epps and Snoop Dogg are coming in tonight!" a fan shouted to a friend wearing a Giants jersey. Buildings are draped with majestic, gigantic multistory banners, and the street signs are adorned with the ubiquitous face of Madonna, the Super Bowl halftime headliner
Parlor games?
"Oh no, here we go," say local skeptics -- eyes rolling. "This is the part where the media elite play that tired parlor game that comes up every time Indiana takes the national stage."
Does Indianapolis have to prove anything by hosting the game? Is this about some kind of cornfed inferiority complex that Hoosiers have been trying to shake for decades?
"We're not about that," said Dianna Boyce of Indianapolis' Super Bowl host committee. "We let our actions speak louder than our words."
It's all a little shocking for those who remember what this neighborhood was like 30 years ago. There wasn't much here.
For workers at the old brick-walled Hurst's HamBeens building on McCarty Street -- a stone's throw from the stadium -- there were no bars or nightspots for hanging out after quittin' time.

Downtown traffic has been diverted around the city's Super Bowl Village, a compact, walkable district.

"You could count the number of restaurants on one hand," Boyce said. "You just didn't come downtown to have fun back then."
In the old days, Indianapolis meant the "brickyard" -- the Indianapolis 500, said Tom Griswold, longtime co-host of the Indy-based syndicated radio program "The Bob & Tom Show." "But after the arrival of Peyton Manning, now they say 'the Indianapolis Colts.' "
The image of Manning's face looms large on a building-size Papa John's banner in Super Bowl Village.
Fourteen years after Manning joined the Colts, Americans are indeed talking about the $90 million quarterback. Specifically, they're talking about his neck.
Manning's recovery from neck surgery -- perhaps the most talked about neck in the history of sports -- threatens to overshadow Sunday's game, which will feature Manning's brother Eli as quarterback for the Giants.

Coverage of Peyton Manning's recovery from neck surgery threatens to overshadow Super Bowl XLVI.

Most people know the injury forced Peyton Manning to sit out the Colts' entire season, resulting in two wins and 14 losses -- a stinking record after 2010's 10-6 season.
Now the Colts face an epic decision about whether to pay Manning a $28 million bonus to stay on the team or to cut him loose as a free agent.
Has Manning played his last game with the Colts?
Indianapolis had its own epic decision to make in the early '80s. At the time, the city had no NFL team. Yet Hudnut, then the mayor, greenlit construction of a $77 million-domed football stadium.
Indy was putting out bait to lure the NFL.
"Stones of steel," said a fan who recalled the story while walking through Super Bowl Village on Tuesday. "It took guts."
Before the stadium was finished, the Colts had agreed to move from Baltimore to Indy, triggering a generation of hatred among the Maryland city's fans over the "theft" of their storied franchise. It was a major step toward using sports to crank up Indy's status and economic standing. Soon the city was hosting NCAA basketball's Final Four and the NBA All-Star Game.
"Gradually in the '80s and '90s people who knew the city regarded Indianapolis as quite a town -- even though people who didn't know Indy still thought of it as a brickyard and a cornfield," Hudnut said.

Images of Madonna abound in Indianapolis promoting the singer's performance as halftime headliner.

Fast-forward to Sunday when perhaps more than 112 million people will watch the NFL world championship "taking place in little old Indianapolis," said Griswold, the radio host. Mission accomplished.
The hosting seems to be going well so far -- thanks in part to unusually warm temperatures in the low 50s at a time when it's usually a few degrees above freezing. "We're loving it. I had to get out here in the village and see everybody!" Boyce said.
"Outstanding" was how Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne described the weather for WRTV. "Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves," Wayne said, a year after a freak cold snap put a damper on events surrounding the Dallas Super Bowl. "I haven't heard one bad complaint."
Indy is the first "cold-weather" host city since Minneapolis-St. Paul in 1992. In 1982, Detroit opened the door to cold-weather Super Bowl hosting. The game returned to the Motor City 24 years later. New York is scheduled for 2014.
"Our plan was to eventually get into the rotation for future Super Bowls," Hudnut said.
"Let's get through the first one, first," the NFL's Goodell told WRTV. "I think the hospitality and the way they have done this will reflect very well on Indianapolis going forward."
Talk of the town
The village -- a $12 million, three-block, "family-friendly festival" with shops and restaurants -- has been built not just for Sunday, but for the future. "After the fans have long gone, other people are going to be able to come in and use this space for decades," Boyce said.
Meantime, Boyce said she expects Indy to demonstrate the spirit of "Hoosier Hospitality." "We're a friendly folk," she said. "People say hi to you when you walk down the street. It's all the time, not just when the Super Bowl is here."
What's getting the most attention? The zip line is the talk of the town.
For $10, you can climb the zip line's 95-foot tower, attach yourself to a metal cable and fly 80 feet above the crowd to another tower 650 feet down the street. "It's the new version of the bungee jump," one woman said.
Fans reported the wait last Sunday for the zip line was seven hours.
That's almost as long as TV's Super Bowl pregame show.
Homeless complaints

Justin Baranowski says police have been forcing him to move away from the Super Bowl Village because he's homeless.

But not everyone in Indianapolis is awaiting the big game. Justin Baranowski, 33, a homeless man from California, said, "Starting at the end of last week the police started pushing us away from certain areas that we're allowed to be in," including the Super Bowl Village.
Authorities insist officers aren't cracking down because of the game, but they said police are working with private organizations to help get the homeless into shelters. "We're not moving anyone against their will," said Marc Lotter, spokesman for Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard.
The city is sharing its Super Bowl gravy with needy segments of the community. A neighborhood without a grocery store now has a food cooperative thanks to private and NFL funds, Boyce said. Another area received a 20,000-square-foot community youth center, including a gym, classrooms and weekly programs such as cooking, fitness and finance.
Hosting this game is "a step of a higher level than we've ever taken before," Hudnut said. "We had to prove that we could be major league."
So what's next for Indy? A Democratic or Republican national convention may not be out of the question, he said.
And what about Sunday? "The best sign of success will be that the city doesn't become the story," Griswold said. "The story needs to be about the game. I honestly think the best report would be people saying that 'the game was great and -- oh yeah by the way Indianapolis was really nice. I had a really good time.' "

R&B singer David Peaston dies at age 54

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Singer David Peaston, who had a string of R&B hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s, has died, his family said Thursday.
Peaston, 54, died Wednesday of complications from diabetes, his niece, Neuka Mitchell said.
Peaston was born into a St. Louis family with deep musical roots. His mother, gospel singer Martha Bass, was one of the Clara Ward Singers. His older sister, Fontella Bass, is a noted singer whose single "Rescue Me" reached No. 1 on R&B charts and No. 4 on pop single charts in 1965.

Bing: David Peaston videos
Peaston's highest-charting song was "Two Wrongs (Don't Make It Right)," which reached No. 3 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1989. "Can I?" got to No. 14 on the R&B chart that year, and "We're All in This Together" reached No. 11 on R&B chart and No. 45 on the dance chart in 1990. His first album, "Introducing ... David Peaston," reached No. 7 on the Billboard R&B albums chart in 1989. At the height of his career, he toured with Gladys Knight.
Peaston earned a degree in elementary education and taught in his hometown of St. Louis before moving to New York to pursue a career as a singer. He began doing session gospel and R&B work. His career got a big boost after winning several competitions on the "Showtime at the Apollo" television show in the late 1980s, winning over fans and the judges with his powerful rendition of "God Bless the Child."
Singer Cheryl Pepsii Riley recalled traveling with Peaston on several shows.
"I soooooooooo loved this man with the hearty laugh, great sense of humor, that incredible voice, and he was the most amazing friend!!!" she said in a statement to the website eurweb.com. "This hurts so much. He had a gift that commanded the room. David will be sorely missed."
Despite a rich tenor voice that awed fans, crossover success eluded Peaston.
"He's the greatest unsung artist ever," Mitchell said. "Fabulous. A great father, husband, uncle. A great man."
Peaston's Facebook page described him as a "joyful independent double amputee." Both of Preston's legs were amputated below the knees due to diabetes.
Survivors include his wife of 24 years, his high school sweetheart Marilyn, and two sons. Funeral arrangements were not yet complete.

TOM BORKAW INVOLVED IN FATAL CAR CRASH

Brokaw Involved in Fatal Car CrashFormer NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw and his wife, Meredith, were involved in a three-car accident late Friday that resulted in a fatality.
The Brokaws were driving on New York's Bruckner Expressway when some stray cable on the road caused them and two other vehicles to lose control of their cars, according to a statement from the veteran newsman.
Brokaw and his wife were both unharmed. The driver of one of the cars -- a 28 year old woman -- was thrown from her vehicle and died.
A mail-truck driver injured in the accident and has been hospitalized.
Here is the full text of Brokaw's statement:
Tom and Meredith Brokaw, at around 1 p.m. today, were in a three vehicle accident on the Bruckner Expressway. The Brokaws were in the far left lane when they noticed a spool of cable bouncing along the far right lane.
Just then, a green SUV in the right lane came up fast and tried to avoid the cable. The driver lost control of her vehicle and slid into the middle lane, forcing a mail truck into the Brokaw lane of traffic. As the mail truck careened into the Brokaw lane, Tom hit the brakes hard and skidded along the median. When the mail truck catapulted the median the Brokaw vehicle slid into it.
Neither Tom nor Meredith were injured but tragically the driver of the SUV was thrown from her vehicle and killed. Tom and Meredith are greatly saddened by this loss of life

JERRY LEWIS RUSHED TO HOSPITAL BEFORE AUSTRALIA SHOW

Jerry Lewis Rushed to Hospital Before Australia Show Hollywood icon Jerry Lewis canceled a sold-out show in Sydney, Australia, Friday for medical reasons.
The 85-year-old comedian was rushed to a nearby hospital just minutes before he was scheduled to appear on stage.
Lewis, who arrived in Australia Monday and performed at a gala dinner in Brisbane Wednesday night, is on tour representing the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation of Australia. He is chairman of the U.S. chapter.

"In unforeseen circumstances Jerry was not well enough to take the stage,” MDA CEO David Jack said in a statement aplogizing to ticket holders.
Struggles with a debilitating back condition, heart issues and pulmonary fibrosis prompted Lewis to announce his retirement last month as the regular host of the MDA’s Labor Day telethon

COLUMBO'STAR PETER FALK DIES AT 83

'Columbo' Star Peter Falk Dies at 83"Columbo" star Peter Falk died Thursday in his Beverly Hills home, according to a statement released by his family. He was 83. No cause of death was given, but the veteran character actor had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
The gravelly voiced Falk was best known for his portrayal of the trenchcoat-wearing detective on the long-running "ColumboHe received four Emmy awards for his starring role on the series, and his perpetual squint, the result of the loss of an eye, and idiosyncratic delivery made Falk both a television icon and a favorite figure to imitate for comics. The series ran from 1971-78 on NBC and launched several later television movies that aired on ABC.
Falk was also a key member of iconoclastic filmmaker John Cassavetes' regular ensemble, starring in such independent film classics as "A Woman Under the Influence" (1974) and "Husbands" (1970). In his collaborations with Cassavetes' Falk often portrayed hard drinking, blue-collar figures, whose brutish exteriors mask bruised egos and surprisingly tender sides.
Preferring smoother faced and voiced actors, Hollywood failed to provide Falk with the kind of meaty roles that he enjoyed throughout his work with Cassavetes. However, he was frequently in demand, usually appearing as the heavy in gangster films such as "Murder Inc." (1960) or the comic foil in film parodies such as "Murder By Death" (1976).
Falk received two Oscar nominations for his work in "Murder Inc." and Frank Capra's "Pocketful of Miracles" (1961).
Largely wasted in big-budget pileups such as "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963) and "Robin and the 7 Hoods" (1964), Falk's most memorable comedic role was in the action-comedy "The In-Laws" (1979). As a risk-taking CIA agent who drags a mild mannered dentist into various misadventures before their children get married, Falk's gruff persona was paired brilliantly with an extremely neurotic Alan Arkin. The chemistry they enjoyed was noticeably absent in Hollywood's laugh-lacking 2003 remake with Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks.
Though his film career began to wane toward the end of the 1970s, Falk did manage to snag two other high-profile roles that helped cement his legacy. His portrayal of the story-telling grandfather in Rob Reiner's "The Princess Bride" (1986) helped re-introduce the actor to a mainstream crowd, while his role playing himself in Wim Wenders' fantasy drama "Wings of Desire" (1987) re-established his art house bona fides.
In addition to his work in film and television, Falk remained active on the stage. He appeared on and off-Broadway in plays such as "Saint Joan" and "The Iceman Cometh," and won a Tony in 1972 for his work in Neil Simon's "The Prisoners of Second Avenue."
Falk's later health struggles made his last years contentious ones. In 2009, with Falk struggling with dementia, his wife, Shera, and daughter, Catherine, engaged in a legal fight over who would remain in charge of his personal affairs.

Ben Gazzara dies at 81

Ben Gazzara died Friday of pancreatic cancer, the New York Times reported.
The star of award-winning films and plays such as "Anatomy of a Murder" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" was 81 years old.
Bing: Ben Gazzara's filmography
Gazzara employed his distinctive, gravel-specked voice and powerful stare most memorably in a series of film collaborations with the director John Cassavetes.
For the maverick director, Gazzara played a collection of bitter spouses and down-on-their heels gamblers and theater directors in films such as "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" and "Opening Night."
Like Peter Falk, his co-star in Cassavetes' "Husbands," Gazzara was perfect for director's signature examinations of bruised men who struggle to articulate and come to grips with their emotions, fears and hopes in a rapidly changing world

OBAMA 2012

‘Obamacare’ benefits everyoneThis March, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, which for the first time will require all Americans to obtain health insurance two years from now under a provision called the individual mandate.
If the nine justices rule that the individual mandate is unconstitutional, those 26 states challenging health care reform will urge them to take the next step and scrap the rest of the Affordable Care Act as well.
I'm a big fan of President Obama's historic health care reform. Without it, health care's ruinous fee-for-service paradigm that has hijacked patient care in the name of profit could very likely drive our economy off the cliff.
The individual mandate would insure an additional 30 million Americans, some with the help of government subsidies. Since we're already essentially subsidizing the uninsured who are forced to use places such as emergency rooms as their primary care provider, reallocating tax dollars toward their preventive care seems to me far more humane and sustainable.
I understand that being forced to purchase health insurance rubs many Americans the wrong way. Should the Supreme Court agree with them, so be it.
But before they toss the baby with the bath water, I hope the justices will consider the benefits that health care reform is already providing to millions of Americans. For example:

• 2.5 million young adults have been allowed to remain on their parents' health insurance until age 26.
• All Americans who enrolled in a health care plan after Sept. 23, 2010 now enjoy access to free preventive services, including cancer and cholesterol screenings, mammograms, colonoscopies, flu and pneumonia shots, vaccinations against measles, hepatitis and meningitis, blood pressure checks and nutrition counseling.
• 20.5 million Medicare recipients reviewed their health status at a free Annual Wellness Visit or received other preventive services with no deductible or cost sharing this year.
• 1.8 million Medicare recipients received a 50 percent discount on brand-name drugs in the Medicare Part D coverage gap known as the "doughnut hole" in the first nine months of 2011.
• 4 million small businesses are now eligible for tax credits of up to 35 percent to help cover their employees. The credit jumps to 50 percent in 2014.
• Your health insurance company is now required to spend at least 80 percent of your premium (85 percent for large employer plans) directly on your care and well-being or rebate the difference to you beginning this summer.
• Americans with pre-existing conditions can now obtain coverage through a pre-existing condition insurance plan.
• Insurance companies can no longer place lifetime dollar limits on essential benefits for policies written after Sept. 23, 2010. Annual dollar limits will be prohibited beginning in 2014.

I hope the individual mandate stands. I want all Americans to have access to health care coverage. Don't you?
But even if it doesn't, by what logic would anyone undo all of the good listed above?


Read more: Obamacare benefits everyone | Bankrate.com http://www.bankrate.com/financing/insurance/obamacare-benefits-everyone/#ixzz1lGmh82bK

Does Newt Gingrich have a problem with women?

Three marriages and two divorces later, it turns out Newt Gingrich might have a real problem with women. Go figure.
As part of the beating he took in Florida on Tuesday night, Gingrich was abandoned in large part by female voters.
Exit polls in the Sunshine State showed Romney getting 52% of women Republican voters, compared to only 28% for Gingrich - a 24-point margin. It was also a turnaround from South Carolina, where Gingrich won the women's vote.
Florida exit polls also showed Romney led Gingrich among married women by more than 20 percentage points. Among male voters, Gingrich trailed Romney by only 5 percentage points. Appears to be a gender gap.
It's no secret that Gingrich has been saddled with this personal baggage from the start of the race.
And he's been quick to own up to it, saying that he's done things he regrets, but it's all in the past. Gingrich talks about making peace with God and likes to describe himself as a 68-year-old grandfather.
But at the end of the day, maybe women voters just can't make peace with an adulterer who left his first wife, who was being treated for cancer, for his second wife; and left his second wife, who was fighting multiple sclerosis, for his third wife.
It actually looked like these issues might come crashing down on Gingrich before the South Carolina primary, when his second ex-wife told ABC News he had asked her for an open marriage. But in the end, South Carolina voters brushed it off.
But now that the women voters of Florida have spoken, it remains to be seen if women in the rest of the country will give him a pass.
Here’s my question to you: Does Newt Gingrich have a problem with women?

TRENDING: Romney on ‘poor’ comment: I misspoke

 Oops i did it again,lol,hahahahahaha,.One day after Mitt Romney took heat for a comment he made about the poor, the Republican presidential candidate characterized his remark as a “misstatement.”
“I misspoke,” Romney said Thursday in an interview aired on KSNV, a CNN affiliate in Las Vegas. “When you do I don’t know how many thousands of interviews, now and then you may get it wrong, and I misspoke.”

Romney made the original comment in an interview with CNN on Wednesday morning, in which he said he was not "concerned about the very poor" because there is a safety net in place for them—but added, "if there are holes in it, I will work to repair that
Opponents of the former Massachusetts governor quickly pounced on his remarks and took them out of context in attacks against the candidate. Republican presidential rival Newt Gingrich especially criticized Romney over the comment.
Romney spent Wednesday afternoon clarifying his statements, saying his prime focus was to help the middle class, a group he sees as “most hurt” by the Obama administration. He argued the poor and the wealthy have not been as harshly affected because systems are in place to protect them.
But Thursday was the first time the candidate acknowledged that he had misspoke, a rare moment for a candidate known for his discipline on the campaign trail.
Romney, who won Florida's primary earlier in the week, will compete in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday.

Why Don Cornelius mattered

 The 1970s were the first full decade after civil rights legislation all but obliterated racial segregation in the United States. And it was in large part because of this great sea change that a bright, bold flowering of African-American popular culture affecting music, movies, fashion, television, sports and literature burst forth, its impact resonating with a breadth and force that had never been witnessed before -- or seen since.
Don Cornelius, who was found dead Wednesday, at age 75, in his Los Angeles home, was one of the significant figures of this transformative era
As the creator and longtime host of the TV music-and-dance show, "Soul Train," Cornelius took an established broadcast genre of dancing teenagers, hit records and live performances by pop stars and infused it with assertively African-American style and attitude so electrifying that its appeal crossed racial, ethnic and even generational lines.
As filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles helped set off the black-movie boom with 1971's "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song"; as Richard Pryor's ribald, so-real-it's-surreal stand-up comedy hit its stride by mid-decade; as Alex Haley's 1976 epic family saga "Roots" became the keystone to a nationwide phenomenon whose culminating TV miniseries is still talked about 35 years later, so did Cornelius establish, through "Soul Train," a crucial gauge for pop music's ebb and flow that no one in the entertainment business could ignore.
The elite of late-20th century black pop musicians, from Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, James Brown, Teddy Pendergrass, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Diana Ross and Gladys Knight, to the Jackson Five, O'Jays, Spinners, Gap Band and Commodores took live turns on the "Train" -- and frequently delivered some of their more potent televised performances. Eventually, white artists such as Elton John, David Bowie, Sting and Robert Palmer played on the "Soul Train" stage.
Though he wisely never made himself more conspicuous than the music or the dancers, Cornelius' buttery smooth baritone, colorful attire -- though relatively understated when compared to the dancers' flashy duds -- and avuncular presence provided an anchor for the show's dazzling grooves and slick moves. He also became something of a star himself, making appearances at live concerts and political gatherings looking to share some of the youthful energy he presided over as host from 1970 to 1993.
Other TV shows may have had live acts. But if you wanted to know how to move your body to funk, disco and soul music, "Soul Train" provided the first and best lesson for much of its long and legendary run. Fred Astaire, in a "60 Minutes" interview, said he was a "Soul Train" fan. One imagines the great man studying and perhaps even attempting many of those moves. If you were a true dance aficionado, you waited every week for the "'Soul Train line" in which improbably limber young couples enacted breathtaking inventories of what would become known as "breaking" and "popping."
Before he became an innovator, the Chicago-born Cornelius sold insurance for Golden State Mutual Life for $250 a week. In 1966, he decided to change his destiny, and reduce his salary by $200, to work as a substitute disc jockey, news reader and interviewer at WVON radio. Within two years, he had acquired enough facility as a broadcaster to secure an on-camera job as sports anchor on Chicago's WCIU-TV show, "A Black's View of the News."
With his own money, Cornelius produced a pilot episode of an all-black version of Dick Clark's venerable "American Bandstand" to be telecast on WCIU. He had trouble interesting sponsors until the locally based Sears Roebuck & Co. expressed interest, believing the show could boost its record sales. The program, dubbed "Soul Train," debuted in 1970, achieving such formidable ratings among the city's black community that it was nationally syndicated the next year.
Cornelius not only served as "Soul Train's" host, but was also responsible for drumming up advertisers and seeking more stations nationwide. Some of these advertisers were black-oriented companies such as Johnson Products Co., the beauty specialists behind Afro-Sheen hair spray. By mid-decade, "Soul Train" had powered its way to more than 100 markets. By the time it ceased production in 2006, after a series of guest hosts, "Soul Train" had become one of the longest running syndicated television programs in history.

One wonders whether it's possible in this digitized age to build a cultural phenomenon from the ground up as Cornelius did. If so, his example of chutzpah and daring will serve as the template for future dreamers and cultural mavens to follow. That, along with the blend he suavely, fervently prescribed to his audiences week after week at the end of each "Train": "Love! Peace! And -- all together now -- Soul!"

Don Cornelius/1936-2012

Don Cornelius’ “Soul Train” became the longest-running first-run nationally syndicated show in television history, bringing African American music and style to the world for 35 years. Cornelius started in the insurance business, then became a radio DJ and television news announcer and sportscaster.
Inspired by “American Bandstand,” he devised a similar program spotlighting black music and introduced it on the Chicago UHF station WCIU in 1970. It was syndicated in 1971, and Cornelius soon moved the production to Hollywood. Cornelius was the deep-voiced host, and in addition to major black artists the show also attracted such R&B-leaning rock performers as David Bowie and Robert Palmer.

Cornelius stopped hosting in 1993, and though “Soul Train” ceased production in 2006, its archives continue to circulate through YouTube, DVD sets and BET’s Centric channel

Soul Train Awards Show DebutsWith 15 minutes to go before air time for his spanking new awards show--the first Soul Train Awards--Don Cornelius was backstage Monday, struggling with his cummerbund and talking about "appropriateness."
"The time is right for this kind of show to get on the air and stay there," Cornelius, the program's executive producer, said as an aide straightened his tux. "There's an enormous global audience for what is called 'black music' out there now, and I felt it was time they got some attention. It's appropriate now
Appropriate, yes; some would (and did) say that an awards show devoted to black musicians was long overdue. Awards shows have become a cliche on television, so the important thing this time wasn't really who won--but that black music was finally being saluted live on national television.
Modern pop music has been consistently energized and revamped--perhaps even created--by black artists from Little Richard (looking fit and happy Monday) and Chuck Berry to Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. Country music, which has produced far fewer platinum acts than "black music," has been honored with two live awards shows for years.

It is indicative of the influence of black pop musicians today that a casual viewer probably couldn't tell the difference at times Monday between the Soul Train Awards and the parade of other pop awards shows. The program, hosted by Luther Vandross and Dionne Warwick, featured (among the winners) Janet Jackson, rappers Run-D.M.C. and Stevie Wonder, and (among presenters) Whitney Houston, Jeffrey Osborne and Al Jarreau.
And while the awards shindig, broadcast from the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, was less hyped than the Grammys or even the American Music Awards, Cornelius is confident that he has laid the groundwork to make the show an annual event.
"You don't think I'd put my neck on the line like this for a one-time shot, do you?" he asked, gesturing toward the throng of musicians, athletes and friends gathering in the green room.
"No, there's a need out there that none of the other shows are filling. 'Soul Train' has been on the air 17 years, and that's reason enough for optimism. I mean, awards shows are nice and all, but they happen all the time. We want ours to mean something."
The awards show is an extension of Cornelius' weekly "Soul Train" program, a syndicated soul/funk/R&B dance-a-thon that has been a staple of non-network television almost since Woodstock.

In a montage of "Soul Train" episodes dating from 1971, one could see Monday a gradual shift of black music's appeal from the pop fringes to the mainstream--and one could observe Cornelius himself (the show's host for all of those years) move from wildly luminescent green suits to natty tuxedoes.
"There's no need to pigeonhole types of music according to the fashions or the races of the people digging it," Cornelius said, shaking his head. "The thing is, we've had all kinds of people on 'Soul Train,' from Elton John to James Brown, and the audience has always been there. So I think it's time for all of us to break out of those old mind-sets just a little."
Backstage, there was a sense of community. The scene in the green room, as production aides bustled in and out, was energetic: promoter Don King discussing economic inequalities with NAACP president Benjamin Hooks; Cameo's Larry Blackmon talking singles and chart action with Run-D.M.C.'s Joseph Simmons; The Prince of Darkness (aka Miles Davis) giving a bear hug to Black Moses (Isaac Hayes), and the Magic Man--the Lakers' 6-foot, 9-inch guard supreme, Magic Johnson--towering above it all and grinning that grin.

                                          1936-FEB.01,2012
Don Cornelius must have really wanted a divorce because the divorce decree includes the following language: "I am 72 years old. I have significant health issues. I want to finalize this divorce before I die."

The judge must have seen things Don's way because the divorce was granted a couple of weeks ago. I'm shame for him, but I ain't mad at him. Don said, "I'll never go to the upper room and a &itch will end up with all my cash!"

Don Cornelius,SOUL TRAIN,DIES OF GUN SHOT WOUND.

Donald Cortez "Don" Cornelius (September 27, 1936 – February 1, 2012) was an American television show host and producer who is best known as the creator of the nationally syndicated dance/music franchise Soul Train, which he hosted from 1971-1993. Cornelius sold the show to MadVision Entertainment in 2008.
Don Cornelius was born in Chicago in 1936 and was one of the early employees of WVON.^[1][2]
Originally a journalist inspired by the civil rights movement, Cornelius recognized that in the late 1960s there was no television venue in the United States for soul music, and introduced many African-American musicians to a larger audience as a result of their appearances on Soul Train, a program that was both influential among African-Americans and popular with a wider audience.^[3] As writer, producer, and host of Soul Train, Cornelius was instrumental in offering wider exposure to black musicians like James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and Michael Jackson, as well as creating opportunities for talented dancers that would presage subsequent television dance programs.^[4] Cornelius said "We had a show that kids gravitated to," and Spike Lee described the program as an "urban music time capsule."^[4]
Besides his smooth and deep voice, Cornelius is best known for the catchphrase that he used to close the show: "... and you can bet your last money, it's all gonna be a stone gas, honey! I'm Don Cornelius, and as always in parting, we wish you love, peace and soul!" After Cornelius's departure, it was shortened to "...and as always, we wish you love, peace and soul!" and was used through the most recent new episodes in 2006. Another introductory phrase he often used was: "We got another sound comin' out of Philly that's a sure 'nough dilly".
The 2008 Soul Train Music Awards ceremony was not held due to the WGA strike and the end of Tribune Entertainment complicating the process of finding a new distributor to air the ceremony and line up the stations to air it. The awards show was moved in 2009 to Viacom's Centric cable channel (formerly BET J), which now airs Soul Train in reruns.
Cornelius most recently appeared at the 2009 BET Awards to present The O'Jays with the 2009 BET Lifetime Achievement Award.

[edit] Death

It is believed that Don Cornelius committed suicide on February 1, 2012. Law enforcement believes that this is the case because of a "self-inflicted" gunshot wound to the head but a complete investigation is still pending.^[5]

[edit] In popular culture

In the Corneil and Bernie episode "Don Cornelius," Corneil poses as a "godfather crime-boss guy" named Don Cornelius, but the character is completely unrelated. Cornelius made an appearance in the film Jane Austen's Mafia! as himself.

• Cornelius played record producer Moe Fuzz in 1988's Tapeheads.
• A 1994 Fresh Prince of Bel Air episode included a plot line in which Will is a big fan of Cornelius and owns a Don Cornelius doll, which he claims is an action figure; Cornelius also made a cameo appearance on the show on a fictional 25th Anniversary show of "Soul Train".
• Cornelius is mentioned by rapper Ice Cube in Scarface's song "Hand of the Dead Body". He is also mentioned by RZA's song "Airwaves", the Beastie Boys song "Flute Loop" and De La Soul's song "Pass The Plugs".
• Cornelius was also mentioned in the season 2 episode of Saturday Night Live aired on March 19, 1977, as part of the Saturday Night Live Samurai sketch "Samurai Hit Man". In the sketch, Don Marsala (Dan Aykroyd) hires The Samurai to kill both Don Cornelius and Don Kirshner.
• Keenan Ivory Wayans spoofs Cornelius in an episode of In Living Color with a senior-citizen version of "Soul Train" called "Old TrainSoul Train: The Hippest Trip in America
  Saturday at 9:30 on VH1
  Admit it: No matter what you remember about "Soul Train" - the dancing, the clothes, the music - just those two words put a smile on your face.
  So will this VH1 documentary on one of the most successful music shows in the history of anywhere.
  "The Hippest Trip" is an express version of that history, 90 fast-moving minutes narrated by Terrence Howard with guest comments by artists from Aretha Franklin to Snoop Dogg.
  Along the way, it notes that "Soul Train" also had ties to more serious matters, since its charismatic creator and host, Don Cornelius, came out of the civil rights movement.
  
  He was a journalist more than a music man, but he also had a promotional sense and in the late 1960s, he saw a hole in the music media market.
  Soul music was popular everywhere, and yet unlike rock 'n' roll and pop stars, soul artists had no place on television to promote that music.
  So Cornelius started one, on a low-power station in Chicago. In a sense, he did with TV what Berry Gordy did with the record business a decade earlier, and like Gordy, Cornelius moved to Los Angeles after his project became a major hit.
  When he got there, though, he recalls in this special, he found he no longer had a ready local pool of innovative dancers. That was important because "Soul Train" from the start was about motion and style as well as music.
  Like "American Bandstand," it reflected and eventually helped to define its audience.
  Today, then, those old shows play like a fashion time capsule. Lapels as wide as Queens. Bell-bottoms that look like beach umbrellas. The big Afros. And you can almost feel the texture of the polyester.
  It didn't hurt that for the first decade "Soul Train" was on the air, soul and R&B was arguably the best pop music being made in much of America. It wasn't the only good music, but from Stevie Wonder to the Chi-Lites, it was an anchor of its era, and "Soul Train" presented pretty much all of it.
  By the end of the 1970s, as rap was emerging, "Soul Train" both countered and nurtured it.
  Kurtis Blow talks about how the "Soul Train" dancers inspired break dancers in the early hip-hop days, while at the same time Cornelius was calculating just how much rap to allow on the show and where to hold the line at more traditional sounds.
  At the time, that seemed like a critical choice. In retrospect, it was all good.
  So was the hippest train in America
  
  
  Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/television/vh1-hippest-trip-reveals-don-cornelius-put-oul-train-fast-track-article-1.196933#ixzz0VQASDXKU