IN JAMAICA: Sweet Salvation - Visually Impaired Students Top Gospel Competition

Students of The Salvation Army School
 for the Blind putting on a strong display
 on Sunday night at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre.

The Salvation Army School for the Blind dominated Sunday's grand finals of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission's (JCDC) 2013 Children's Gospel Song Competition. The talentedstudents sang with passion and conviction, walking away from the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre, 36 Hope Road, St Andrew, with trophies for top Intermediate Choir and Intermediate Ensemble.However, the school was denied a third trophy by Damarli Foster, who placed first in the Intermediate Solo category over Nigel Hector. Both competitors had the large, supportive audience standing with sterling performances of Agnus Dei. But Foster, a student of St Aloysius PrimarySchool, proved the stronger singer of the two.
Still, there was no denying the jubilation in the Salvation Army school's camp. And no one was more elated than music teacher, Tahalee Lee. READ More...

Will Smith's Kids Are 'Not His Property': 'I'm Trying To Release The Sense Of Ownership'

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. — Will Smith has a new outlook on teenagers: Parents do indeed understand.

The rapper-turned-actor says he's "grown a lot" since writing the Grammy-winning 1988 hit that humorously declared they didn't. All three of his children now at least dabble in music and acting, most notably 14-year-old Jaden, who stars with his father in the new sci-fi film "After Earth," opening Friday. Even in the midst of a globe-hopping promotional tour for the movie, Smith recognizes the downside to making stardom a family affair.

"I think that the major risk of this particular business is strictly emotional," he said in a recent interview. "The business has almost a narcotic quality. So it's almost as if you're introducing a narcotic into your kid's life. READ More...

ITCHING FOR A FIGHT Obama To Set Up Filibuster Showdown Over Court Nominees....Obama To Nominate 3 For D.C. Circuit Court Of Appeals, Setting Up Filibuster Fight

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama plans to nominate three judges to a critical federal court in a move that The New York Times says "will effectively be daring Republicans to find specific ground to filibuster all the nominees."

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is considered nearly as powerful as the Supreme Court and is known as a proving ground for potential high-court nominees. The three vacancies are part of a staffing crisis that has plagued the judiciary, as Obama's nominees have been bottled up in the Senate by GOP obstruction. And while he has had to wait longer than past presidents to have judges approved, he has also nominated them at a slower pace. READ More...

Stress Decreases Attractiveness In Women's Faces, Study Finds

Stress makes its mark on the female face, according to a new study that finds men judge women with high levels of a stress hormone less attractive.

The finding is a gender turnaround on previous research that has found that women go for low-stress guys, too. Stress can suppress fertility, said study researcher Markus Rantala, a professor of biology at the University of Turku in Finland. Thus, Rantala told LiveScience, it's no surprise that both men and women might have evolved to prefer chilled-out faces.

But the new study does suggest one intriguing gender difference: Men weren't more attracted to women with stronger immune systems, another factor that can show up in facial features. Even so, previous research on men's judgments of beauty has found that women prefer guys with strong immune responses. READ More...

REGGAE SINGER DAVILL'E ARRESTED FOR ASSAULT

Da'ville arrested for assault

Saturday, May 25, 2013

LOVER'S rock singer Da'Ville was released from the American Nassau County Fourth Precinct in New York yesterday after allegedly assaulting his wife. The 35-year-old singer, whose given name is Orville Thomas, was arrested on Thursday and charged. A ...more Read more: 

MARLEY BROTHERS and ERIC CLAPTON GET TOGETHER

Marleys, Clapton GET TOGETHER

Sunday, May 26, 2013

MARLEY brothers, Damian and Stephen, recently worked on a 'one drop' remix of rock legend Eric Clapton's latest song Every Little Thing, taken from his current album Old Sock. According to Scott Seine, general manager of Surfdog, the company that ma ...more Read more: 

ST. CATHERINE, JAMAICA: Residents recount ‘wild West’ experience as police kill gunman

A weekend robbery spree by gunmen posing as police officers ended in a deadly gun battle between them and the lawmen in Portmore, St Catherine on Saturday.

"It was like a movie," said gasping Hamilton Gardens residents, as they recalled, with animation, the shoot-out, which left one of three gunmen dead. The others, said to be armed with "two big, long guns", escaped.The incident took place around 7:00 pm. Many residents were relaxing in their yards talking with neighbours, while others were arriving home from church. Then the sound of gunshots sent them scampering for cover.

Police said the men had earlier robbed a bar in Sligoville, St Catherine, and that quick action by the victims and police who responded to their calls resulted in the vehicle being intercepted and trailed by the cops.

"They travelled on Mandela Highway, then turned into Portmore, then into the community," a police officer told the Jamaica Observer

Read more: 

Immigrant Who Met Obama: 'You're Dealing With Human Lives' (VIDEO))

WASHINGTON -- When Mehdi Mahraoui, a 22-year-old legal resident, was a child in Morocco, he thought the coolest possible job would be to sell bleach. There was a man who came to their neighborhood in his village to sell it, and he was always dressed in bright colors and seemed, to Mahraoui as a small child, to live a good life. His father asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he told him bleach peddler. His father didn't like that -- he sold their house and car and saved to come to the United States so Mahraoui would have better opportunities. READ More...

CATHOLIC CHURCH COVER UP REVEALED: Cardinal George Pell Admits Abuse Cover-Up To Protect Australian Catholic Church

Fear of scandal prompted the cover-up of child sex abuse allegations within the Catholic Church, Australia's top-ranking Cardinal George Pell admitted Monday.

Pell, speaking at an inquiry by Victoria's parliament into child sex abuse in the state, denied being personally involved in the cover-up of paedophile priests, but said it was clear it happened.

"The primary motivation would have been to respect the reputation of the church," he told the inquiry into the abuse of children by religious and non-government bodies.

"There was a fear of scandal." Pell, one of eight cardinals selected by Pope Francis to advise him on reforming the Catholic Church's opaque administration, was speaking on the final day of the probe. READ More...

Award winning actor, PAUL CAMPBELL narrates PALAS Fundraiser efforts. You may donate online at www.PALAS1.org or please send a check to PALAS, P.O Box 5461, Alpharetta, GA 30023-5461 USA.

2013 Atlantic Hurricane Season Could Be Extremely Active, NOAA Predicts

Hurricane Sandy churns off the East Coast on October 28, 2012. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)

From Climate Central's Michael D. Lemonick:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that the 2013 hurricane season, which begins on June 1, is likely to be somewhere between active and extremely active, with between 13 and 20 named storms – those with sustained winds above 39 m.p.h. By comparison, in 2012 — the year of Isaac and Sandy — there were 19 named storms.

Of that 13 to 20 named storms, NOAA projects that between seven and 11 will achieve hurricane status (winds 74 m.p.h.) and above; and that three or four will become major hurricanes of category 3, 4 or 5 (winds 111 m.p.h.) or above. In 2012, 10 named storms became hurricanes. READ More....

Mom Who Made Child Porn With Daughter Sentenced

CONCORD, N.H. — A woman convicted of sexually exploiting her 14-year-old daughter to produce child pornography was sentenced Thursday to 40 years in prison by a federal judge who called her conduct "shocking" and "egregious."

"The damage you have done to your daughter is incalculable," Judge Paul Barbadoro told the 43-year old woman. The daughter, now 15, said in a videotaped statement played in court that her mother was normal for 13 years.

"I love my mother very much," the girl said. "My mother is not the monster she is made out to be." The Associated Press doesn't typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault and is not naming the woman, a Manchester lawyer, to avoid identifying her daughter. READ More....

New Evian Water Commercial - FUN...Hot Steppaz (VIDEO to SHARE)

Jodi Arias Hung Jury: Panel Fails To Reach Unanimous Decision

The jury deciding Jodi Arias' fate couldn't reach a decision in court on Thursday.

The "non-unanimous agreement" verdict was reached in a Phoenix courtroom by the same jury of eight men and four women that convicted Arias earlier this month of first-degree murder. The jury deliberated for more than 13 hours after a three-day penalty phase. READ More....

From the AP:

Under Arizona law, if a jury in the death penalty phase of a trial cannot reach a unanimous decision, a new jury must be seated to decide the punishment. If the second panel deadlocks, the judge will then sentence Arias to spend her entire life in prison or be eligible for release after 25 years. The judge cannot sentence Arias to death.

TIME TO GO: HOLDER OK'D PRESS PROBE.....THE RECORD: Easy On Banks... Tough On Peace Activists... Went After Pot Shops... Soft On Mortgage Settlement... Sanctioned Drones... Defended Aaron Swartz Prosecution

Attorney General Eric Holder personally signed off on the warrant that allowed the Justice Department to search Fox News reporter James Rosen's personal email, NBC News' Michael Isikoff reported Thursday.

The report places Holder at the center one of the most controversial clashes between the press and the government in recent memory. The warrant he approved named Rosen as a "co-conspirator" in a leak investigation, causing many to warn that the Justice Department was potentially criminalizing journalism. The warrant also approved the tracking of Rosen's movements in and out of the State Department, as well as his communications with his source, Stephen Kim.

The Justice Department later said that it did not intend to press any charges against Rosen. READ More...

Jamaicans Celebrate 50th African Liberation Day....At least three events are planned for between tomorrow and Saturday in celebration of the 50th African Liberation Day.

Mutabaruka

At least three events are planned for between tomorrow and Saturday in celebration of the 50th African Liberation Day. All three events feature stage shows and will see Jamaicanscelebrating freedom through music.

African Liberation Day has its roots in 1958, when Ghanian leader Dr Kwame Nkrumah convened the First Conference of Independent States in the Ghanian capital, Accra. April 15 was named African Freedom Day, as the formal decolonisation process gained momentum across Africa. When the Organisation of African Unity was formed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on May 25, African Liberation Day was declared on that date.

Pashon Minott

Full stage shows rare

Compared to the regularity of former years full-scale stage shows are now a rarity in Jamaica, with Reggae Sumfest, Rebel Salute and Western Consciousness three of the few calendar events remaining. However, all the celebratory events incorporate the stage show format. READ More...

Woolwich Attack: Man Reportedly Beheaded In Brutal Assault In London Neighborhood (WARNING: DISTURBING FOOTAGE)

A man was reportedly killed in an attack with a knife and a meat cleaver in London's Woolwich neighbourhood on Wednesday.

In a statement, London's Metropolitan police commander Simon Letchford said that police have shot two men who had attacked the victim in Woolwich's John Wilson Street. The Telegraph reports that local MP Nick Raynsford said that he believed the victim was a soldier returning to his barracks, while several witnesses described the attack as a "beheading."

According to Bloomberg, two men are in police custody.

The Guardian reports that British Prime Minister David Cameron called the incident "truly shocking." Cameron asked Britain's home secretary to chair a meeting of Cobra, the government's emergency committee. READ More...

GOV'T ADMITS KILLING 4 AMERICANS: Four American Citizens Killed In Drone Strikes Since 2009: Eric Holder

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that four American citizens have been killed in drone strikes since 2009 in Pakistan and Yemen. The disclosure to Congress comes on the eve of a major national security speech by President Barack Obama.

In conducting U.S. counterterrorism operations against al-Qaida and its associated forces, the government has targeted and killed one American citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, and is aware of the killing by U.S. drones of three others, Attorney General Eric Holder said in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy.

Al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric, was killed in a drone strike in September 2011 in Yemen. Holder said three other Americans were killed by drones in counterterrorism operations since 2009 but were not targeted. The three are Samir Khan, who was killed in the same drone strike as al-Awlaki; al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman, a native of Denver, who also was killed in Yemen two weeks later; and Jude Kenan Mohammed, who was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan. READ More...