plus 4, Source: DA to seek indictment of Jackson doctor - Island Packet Online |
- Source: DA to seek indictment of Jackson doctor - Island Packet Online
- Lady Gaga: Fame monster - Oakland Press
- east carson street’ - Vindy.com
- From Elvis to Lil Wayne: Just a hip hop away - Herald Tribune
- Pump up the volume - Odessa American Online
| Source: DA to seek indictment of Jackson doctor - Island Packet Online Posted: 09 Jan 2010 10:06 PM PST LOS ANGELES — Nearly seven months after Michael Jackson's death stunned the world, the official investigation of his death is edging toward conclusion with prosecutors prepared to seek an indictment of Jackson's doctor on a charge of involuntary manslaughter, The Associated Press has learned. The fate of Dr. Conrad Murray has been the subject of speculation since he found Jackson unconscious in his home in Los Angeles last June. Jackson was preparing for a strenuous concert comeback in London, and Murray, a cardiologist, had been hired as his personal physician for the tour. A law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation remains open said Friday that Murray would be prosecuted on a theory of gross negligence alleging that his treatment of Jackson was an extreme departure from the standard of care normally followed by physicians. Court documents filed last summer concerning a search warrant said police were seeking evidence of manslaughter. The coroner has ruled Jackson's death at age 50 was a homicide caused by acute intoxication by the powerful anesthetic propofol, with other sedatives a contributing factor. Propofol depresses breathing and heart rate while lowering blood pressure, so it's supposed to be administered by an anesthesia professional in a medical setting. The singer died after Murray administered propofol and two other sedatives to get the chronic insomniac to sleep, court documents state. Murray told police he left the room to use the bathroom, and phone records show he also made calls for 47 minutes around the time Jackson encountered problems. When Murray realized Jackson was unresponsive, he began frantic efforts to revive him, but Jackson never regained consciousness. The coroner found the propofol was administered to Jackson without any medical need and that recommended resuscitation equipment was missing. As the police investigation neared an end, criminal attorney J. Michael Flanagan said Friday he had been hired to join Houston attorney Edward Chernoff in representing Murray. In addition, Chernoff released a statement saying he had not received notice that a grand jury was hearing the case or inviting Murray to testify. Chernoff spokeswoman Miranda Sevcik said earlier that Murray neither prescribed nor administered anything that should have killed Jackson. Flanagan previously worked in the media spotlight representing Britney Spears in a hit-and-run case. He said he tried a propofol case several years ago, representing a nurse who was acquitted after it was shown she played no role in administering propofol to a patient who died. Flanagan said there was a difference between a nurse's role and "a very sophisticated doctor making a medical judgment." To prove gross negligence, he said, prosecutors would have to show a conscious indifference for life. "This trial could end up being a trial of medical practice," he said. "The question is what discretion does a doctor have to treat a patient, and if a doctor makes a mistake, is it a crime?" Jackson family spokesman Jesse Derris said he had no immediate comment from the family. A final legal action could be weeks away, after the case is formally transferred to the district attorney's office by the Los Angeles Police Department. In a grand jury proceeding, testimony is presented in secret hearings and the panel has the final decision on whether to bring charges. An involuntary manslaughter conviction carries a potential sentence of two to four years in prison. The district attorney's office is waiting for Los Angeles police to turn over the case before presenting it to a grand jury, the source said. However, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office denied that any decisions have been made. "We have been working closely with the Los Angeles police during the pendency of this investigation," spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said. "There is no case before us at present, and no final decision has been made." To prove a charge of involuntary manslaughter, authorities must show there was a reckless action that created a risk of death or great bodily injury. If a doctor is aware of the risk, there might also be an issue of whether the patient knows that risk and decided to take it. A large number of witnesses have been interviewed by police, including those who were present during Jackson's last days and those who worked with him in preparation for his comeback concert, "This Is It." Authorities have also lined up medical expert witnesses to testify about the normal standard of care in a situation such as Jackson's and to give opinions on why Murray's actions constituted gross negligence, the source said. Murray's professional history is expected to be explored during a trial with an emphasis on whether he had the required expertise in administering propofol. The timing of an indictment would be dictated by two factors - how long it takes for the district attorney's office to conduct an internal review of the evidence and when the grand jury will be available to hear the case. The person said it was thought that it would be more efficient to go to a grand jury than to charge Murray and proceed by way of a preliminary hearing. A presentation to the grand jury could take three to five days. An indictment also avoids the adversarial process of a preliminary hearing in which the defense can respond and a judge decides if there is enough evidence for charges to proceed to trial. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Lady Gaga: Fame monster - Oakland Press Posted: 09 Jan 2010 10:13 PM PST Lady Gaga performs at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. AP Photo Lady Gaga has some advice for the millions of fans who have glommed on to her rocket of a career. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| east carson street’ - Vindy.com Posted: 09 Jan 2010 10:34 PM PST 'east carson street' Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers (Schoolhouse) Grade: A "A cold day, ain't no sun/ No use complaining, got to get the job done," Joe Grushecky sings, along with his co-writer, Bruce Springsteen, on "Another Thin Line." It's quintessential Grushecky: tough, and tough-minded, rock from Pittsburgh's finest. His passion for the music continues to burn bright — even if it has never brought him near the level of stardom of his sometimes collaborator, and he still needs to work a day job (as a special-ed teacher). On "East Carson Street," Grushecky explores familiar territory, chronicling life's everyday struggles and simple pleasures, and his aim remains unerringly true. The Houserockers, meanwhile, now including his son, Johnny, on guitar, provide loads of rock 'n' roll muscle. "Changing Shadows" offers sage life advice from someone well-equipped to give it; the title song, a ballad, expresses home-time pride and the nurturing power of roots; "Lee Ann" declares love for his wife amid candid admissions of his own shortcomings; and "The Sun Is Going to Shine Again" gives voice to the undying spirit that is at the heart of everything on this stirring album. — Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer 'Animal' Ke$ha (RCA) Grade: B To slice through the pop-culture clutter these days, it helps to have an angle. Lady Gaga wears coats made of Kermit the Frogs and headdresses made of hay. Ke$ha has her distinctive delivery — as if she's channeling some in-your-face Valley girl, as if Paris Hilton were trained to rap by the Beastie Boys. That unique delivery is what propelled Ke$ha's single "Tik Tok" to No. 1, and it's what gives her debut, "Animal" (RCA), its most amusing and strongest moments. After all, Ke$ha, who co-wrote all of the album's 14 tracks, is at her best when she takes no prisoners. "O-L-D-M-A-N, you are an old man! Hittin' on me, what? You need a CAT scan!" she taunts in the ridiculously off-kilter "Dinosaur," spooling out her sass over the electro-pop track. On "Backstabber," which charmingly floats along like an early Lily Allen dance number, Ke$ha takes aim at frenemies gossiping about her. "Your Love Is My Drug" fuses that brash delivery to the Eurodance vibe that her mentor and producer Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald has hammered out for Britney Spears and Katy Perry for years. "Boots and Boys" rides a similar vibe, but with less of a vocal edge. It's quite the dilemma for Ke$ha on "Animal." She can't use the same approach for every song because it's too distinctive. But when she tones it down, she becomes just another interchangeable singer, another Gaga wannabe. For now, Ke$ha should stick to what she does best. — Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday 'Contra' Vampire Weekend (XL Recordings) Grade: A Vampire Weekend introduced a unique mix of pop, reggae and African rhythms on its self-titled debut, and the quartet delivers an even richer musical landscape on its second CD. On "Contra," electronic beats blend with African and Brazilian drums, topped with tinkling pianos, sweeping violins, playful marimbas, and layers of percussion and electric guitar. The result is a big, full sound that's dense and light at the same time, with multiple melodies and instruments coloring each track. The catchy "Diplomat's Son" reveals the band's talent for mixing up rhythms and musical styles. A blend of reggae, dancehall and Bollywood influences, the song changes tempo midstream to show off finger-picked guitars and a chorus of violins. Though upbeat like the first album, "Contra" delves into deeper territory thematically. "Holiday" is a bouncy ska track that touches on themes of war. "Taxi Cab," which relies on an electronic backbone dressed with delicate piano and deep cello, is a ballad about a relationship gone wrong. Lead singer Ezra Koenig works the Auto-tune on "California English," a driving track rich with harmonies and strings ("It doesn't sound like T-Pain," he stresses in press notes). The closing song, "I Think UR a Contra," seems to encapsulate the band's evolution on this album: It layers vocal styles and experimental harmonies atop guitars, strings, piano and electronic sounds. — Sandy Cohen, Associated Press 'Timbaland Presents Shock Value II' Timbaland (Mosley Music Group / Interscope) Grade: C On the first of his "Shock Value" presentations, Timbaland, one of pop-hop's most innovative producers, invited some of his rapping and vocal charges to join him in a sizzling dance-pop celebration. Everyone was made to sound hot-wired on that 2007 effort, even OneRepublic. The same favors aren't granted to his legion this time. While the first volume was generous to poppers and rockers, SVII doesn't host any fly-for-a-white-guy types. The Fray, Nickelback's Chad Kroeger and Daughtry (the latter on the deluxe version) get zip melodically from Timbaland's ambient arrangements, though beat-wise they've never grooved harder. Even Tim's collaboration with "Sexy Back" buddy Justin Timberlake — "Carry Out" — sounds like a warmed-over idea that neither one is committed to. The ladies don't fare better, what with rapper Bran'Nu (singer Brandy in disguise) and Miley Cyrus given listless tunes to work with. "Say Something" at least gives Drake something meaty to rap to. And Timbaland gets his country freak on during the twanging "Timothy Where You Been." It's always a treat to hear Timbaland. There's just little value and no shock this time. — A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer 'unbroken' Katherine McPhee (Verve) Grade: B- McPhee has left a negligible footprint since finishing second to Taylor Hicks on "American Idol" in 2006. She takes a dramatic new tack on her second album, changing her look (now platinum blond) and her sound. Her voice here is markedly rougher and more emotional, less chilly and note-perfect. That newfound expressiveness serves her well on "Say Goodbye" and the title track, both plangent ballads. She also nails the misty, moody "Keep Drivin'," which McPhee cowrote with Rachael Yamagata and Chris Tompkins. But most of the material on "Unbroken" doesn't allow her much room to maneuver. It's connect-the-dots pop with undertones of country. Despite the CD's defiant title, there is a whiff of desperation to this collection, but one that adds a piquant note of urgency. — David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer 'Hospice' The Antlers (Frenchkiss) Grade: A "Hospice," the second album from Brooklyn's Antlers, came out early in 2009, but the depth, detail, and dynamics of its complex narrative and overwrought emotions easily sustain long-term examination. The album's 10 word-rich songs, by turns delicate, bitter, and cathartic, recount a contentious relationship between a cancer patient, Sylvia (who at times seems to morph into Sylvia Plath), and her caregiver. Leader Peter Silberman croons like Antony Hegarty or Beirut's Zach Condon, and the explosive crescendos in "Sylvia" and "Bear" recall Arcade Fire's similarly death-obsessed and redemptive "Funeral." And like Okkervil River's Will Sheff, Silberman writes in paragraphs rather than in conventional verse-chorus patterns. Shifting layers of guitars, keyboards, and occasional trumpet propel Silberman's lilting melodies, and even at its most grandiose and ambitious, "Hospice" is intensely personal — and intensely rewarding. — Steve Klinge, Philadelphia Inquirer 'sugar lips' Maraly Coryell (Murali's Music) Grade: A The son of pioneering jazz-rock guitarist Larry Coryell, Murali Coryell has found a home in a rootsier, blues-based sound. "Sugar Lips," the singer-guitarist's sixth album, shows just how naturally he fits there. Coryell cut the album in Nashville with a stellar cast that includes keyboardist Reese Wynans, blues stud Joe Louis Walker, and his father. The results are first-class all the way, as Coryell makes the most of the kind of resources he has never had before. A go-for-broke spirit informs everything, from the horn-fueled roadhouse drive of "Blame It on Me" to the sweet soul-pop of "Closer to You Baby," the loping, Jimmy Reedesque blues of "I Still Do," and the acoustic-textured elegy "Mother's Day" (a tribute to his late mother). Coryell's mastery of the soul-blues idiom, along with his songwriting prowess and warm, raspy vocals, at times brings to mind Delbert McClinton. In this corner, there's no higher praise. — Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| From Elvis to Lil Wayne: Just a hip hop away - Herald Tribune Posted: 09 Jan 2010 09:58 PM PST Both artists leaped to stardom out of a troubled South: Elvis on the verge of the civil rights movement, Weezy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Both gained fame on the strength of vocal performances that took established styles (rockabilly and urban blues; syrupy rap) to startling extremes. Both combined a dandyish sex appeal with the classic American charm of someone getting over -- sneaking across the sturdy boundaries of class, race and region by deploying a talent that delighted its owner by coming naturally. Both have been compared to space aliens. Rock music can be defined many ways: One is as a Southern-born, blues-based, multiracial, male-dominated genre exploring such risky subjects as sex, drugs and the high life in general while still aiming for a youth-driven mass audience. On those terms, rock's era of dominance begins with Elvis' "Hound Dog" and ends with Wayne's "A Milli." Presley was the dark-lidded white boy whose illicit race-crossing sound enacted a musical era that paralleled the most transformative period in American race relations since the Civil War. Wayne isn't as historically influential, but as the most aggressively gifted representative of the Dirty South, he might be the last crucial voice in the cultural conversation leading up to the Obama era. I don't believe in the term "post-racial," but I do think pop has entered a new phase, in which rock is no longer the defining force in American popular culture. Weezy's desire to be a rock star, embodied in his often-stalled Coldplay and Lenny Kravitz-influenced album "Rebirth," seems like the rock era's last transgressive gasp as it gives way to a new kind of hybrid that hasn't yet completely emerged. Lil Wayne's ambition seems very much like Elvis' own -- compulsively expressive, he breaks through barriers seemingly almost by accident, propelled by the pleasure of hearing his own voice. This distinguishes him from the more driven and ideological earlier "new Elvis," Eminem, and from Jay-Z, who prefers to model himself on another enduring star of white crossover music, that savvy adapter of jazz styles, Frank Sinatra. Considering Elvis in light of these rap legends in the making allows us to acknowledge an important truth: This latest Presley anniversary comes well into the hip-hop era. As it happens, 2009 was the 20th birthday of "Fight the Power," the Public Enemy song in which Chuck D announced that classic rock's claim to the American musical throne would no longer hold. "Elvis was a hero to most, but ..." the rapper shouted in that preacherly baritone, ending the sentence with an expletive and an explosive word, "racist," that knocked the King off his pedestal. Chuck D offered a mild corrective to his incendiary words in 2002, when Glenn Gamboa of Newsday asked him to respond to the 25th anniversary of Elvis' death. "Elvis' icon status in America made it like nobody else counted," the rapper explained, noting that the singer's admiration for pioneers such as Fats Domino and B.B. King, whom he considered friends, indicated that "my heroes were probably his heroes." As the Nirvana '90s gave way to the century of Britney Spears, there was little sign that pop's pattern of elevating white stars above the artists of color who inspired them would cease. It seemed right that Chuck D had modified his stance toward Elvis himself without compromising his view of the consequence of declaring him rock's one and only king. Eight years later, though, the sands have shifted somewhat. Young men with guitars still reap profits (Nickelback is forever), but their cultural importance seems negligible. Instead, women singing R&B offer fresh perspectives while rappers vie for attention on their remixes. The Black Eyed Peas, the most ubiquitous pop group, present a vision of America that's not just black and white but also Latino and Filipino. Tech-savvy producers such as Dr. Luke and Timbaland take us into territories that seem almost post-human. And the generation gap isn't typified by raw new sounds, but by shooter games and avatars. The South's newest crossover sensation, Taylor Swift, might well have been relegated to the role of screaming teeny-bopper during the King's reign. This seems like a good time to approach Elvis anew, not as King, but as what he was in his own time: a serious boundary-crosser who made it his mission to combine what others thought should stay separate. He might have been a good mama's boy at home and a sin-troubled freak in his personal life, but in the studio Elvis was as free as any singer has ever been. He managed to sound like someone breaking down a wall, not only on the much-celebrated Sun sessions but even as he drifted into a morass of nouveau-riche self-indulgence. And for that reason, he remains iconic. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Pump up the volume - Odessa American Online Posted: 09 Jan 2010 10:49 PM PST Breathe, smile and break a leg. Roughnecks dance team Choreographer Welton Blaylock said President Barack Obama proved to be an inspiration for the dance team. "Like Obama said, we're here for change," Blaylock said in reference to allowing men to try out for the 2010 Roughnecks dance team. "If they can bring it, then they can earn a spot on this dance team." On Saturday, 26 women and two men tried out for the Roughnecks dance squad. "It's such a rush…having everyone's eyes on you," 18-year-old Luis Santillan said. "I like breaking barriers." Santillan was one of two men that auditioned for the team. The dance team hopefuls prepared a routine to Britney Spears' newest single "3". But the upbeat tune didn't eliminate any tryout jitters, even for the team veterans. "This is my third time to try out and I'm still a little bit nervous. The veterans aren't guaranteed a spot," 22-year-old Cassandra Garrison said. Garrison has been dancing for the Roughnecks for the past two years but she said the roster is wiped clean after each season. This allows room for fresh faces and talent to earn a spot on the team. "A lot of the veteran girls are helpful to the rookies. If they have something to offer, then that's great," Garrison said. "We practice two or three times a week and the games are on Saturdays…it's really like a family." "This year the veterans had some competition," Blaylock said. "These women are talented, professional and career-oriented. They need to be able to hold an audience…some of these girls have a voice that could represent the Roughnecks." Supporters, fans, friends and family packed the stage area in Music City Mall from wall to wall and the screaming was often deafening. Audience members, both young and old, couldn't resist the urge to break out their own dance moves. "It's so much fun. I just stay focused on having a good time," Garrison said. "You need to be able to connect with the crowd. You have to make (the dancing) look easy but cover it with strength," Santillan said. 　 Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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