KANO, Nigeria (AP) — Gunmen kidnapped 15 school children on their way to class at a private school near Nigeria's oil-rich and restive southern delta, a police spokesman said Tuesday.
Abia state police spokesman Geoffrey Ogbonna said the gunmen stopped the school bus Monday morning as it headed toward the Abayi International School. The gunmen seized all the mobile telephones from the students, the bus driver and a teacher onboard before taking the children away, the spokesman said.
Ogbonna said the kidnappers apparently demanded more than $130,000 to release the children. The spokesman said he did not know the identities of the kidnappers or the hostages.
A spokesman for Nigeria's federal police force in Abuja said the agency had sent additional investigators and officers to the region to assist in the search for the children.
Abia state, in Nigeria's southeast, sits near the Niger Delta, a maze of mangroves and creeks where foreign oil firms draw crude in Africa's most populous nation. The region has long been plagued by violence from militants upset about the region's unceasing poverty and from opportunistic criminal gangs targeting foreigners for kidnappings.
Now, with oil firms keeping their workers hidden behind razor wire and under paramilitary protection, gangs have increasingly turned to middle-class Nigerian families. Middle-class children, as well as priests, politicians and doctors have been targeted by criminal gangs. Typically, most are released a week or two after their families pay whatever ransom they can scrape together.
Last week, pirates operating off the delta's coast kidnapped three French oil workers and a Thai national. The workers have yet to be released.
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Despite resources players reluctant to seek help when problems occur
Despite resources, players reluctant to seek help
From the great blocks that once made Barret Robbins a Pro Bowler to the awful binges of alcohol and drugs that led to him being shot in the chest by police, agent Drew Pittman has had a front-row seat to the issues that have impacted his friend and client, and kept Robbins in a correctional or treatment facility for much of the past seven years.
After more than 15 years of sitting in that seat, Pittman has come to one intensely sad conclusion:
“The moments when Barret really sounds like he’s at his best are when he’s incarcerated,” Pittman said of the currently jailed former lineman. “He has a schedule he has to live by, they tell him what to do and they make him take his meds.”
Robbins, best known for disappearing just two days before the Oakland Raiders’ appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII and diagnosed with bipolar disorder, is no longer some athlete fed by the Superman complex that lives deep inside so many. He’s just a man, troubled and, in some respects, frail. Help isn’t offered; it’s required.
McKinley saw very little regular season action with the Broncos.
(Ed Andrieski/AP Photo)
It’s the kind of help that might have kept Denver Broncos wide receiver Kenny McKinley(notes) from apparently killing himself last week. Like so many others in the NFL, it appears McKinley didn’t seek assistance.
“In all my time playing and in 10 years of working with players since I retired, I can’t remember one guy, not one, who asked for help,” said Robert Bailey, who spent 11 seasons with six different teams as a defensive back and special teams ace and now is a marketing agent working with Drew Rosenhaus.
[Related: High school football deaths raise questions about lack of trainers ]
In the case of McKinley, whose funeral was in suburban Atlanta on Monday, authorities believe he shot himself in the head because he was depressed after his second straight season-ending knee surgery.
In today’s NFL, ample services are offered to help players cope with their issues – financial, family or otherwise. The league provides those under the umbrella of its player development program. It includes free counseling sessions and trained staff people who are around every team on a regular or semi-regular basis. The NFL Players Association hands out cards with the number of a helpline. There are life skills classes, both mandatory and voluntary, taught on a regular basis.
Yet the league is littered with tragic stories, including All-Pros like Robbins and unknowns such as McKinley. There were former first-round picks such as Alonzo Spellman and Dimitrius Underwood, who have struggled severely with bipolar disorder. Former quarterback Art Schlichter was addicted to gambling.
Some, such as Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams(notes) and former Pro Bowl punter Greg Montgomery, get help and eventually find a solution. Many more succumb to the intense pressure that exists in the NFL.
“For me, it wasn’t hard to seek help, but I think the hardest part is it’s difficult to be introspective in this sport,” said Williams, who has openly discussed his bouts with anxiety and depression. “This environment isn’t conducive to that. There are all these external factors coming at you and you think that’s what’s affecting you. … I had a chance to really sit down and say, ‘It’s not external, it’s me. There’s something I need to fix.’
“The nature of the job is inhumane. It’s the most stressful job I can think of. There are jobs that are more dangerous, but the pressure to perform every day is intense, so it’s easy to project that the pressure comes from outside and that the problem isn’t you. Imagine that you’re at work every day and someone is following you around with a camera the whole time and then you watch yourself as other people critique what you’re doing.”
Or, in McKinley’s case, the pressure that goes with not performing. In two seasons after being a fifth-round draft pick in 2009, McKinley had scarcely played because of knee injuries. On Saturday, the Broncos held a service for him and McKinley’s father recalled how his son, when he was just five, had once made a business card out of an index card that read, “Kenny McKinley, football player.”
That type of self-imposed pressure may lead to trouble down the line.
“So much of what we try to do is about developing an identity outside of being a football player,” said Williams, who sought counseling during his rookie season with the New Orleans Saints. “If your identity [is] wrapped up in you being a football player and you’re in a sport where so many guys are replaceable, what’s going to happen when you don’t have football?”
Even more, there is a gladiator mentality. To show weakness is antithetical.
“You don’t ever want to show that chink in the armor, that you’re somehow vulnerable,” Bailey said.
Conversely, “I would say that we’re no different than what exists in general society,” said Adolpho Birch, the NFL vice president of player development. “People have a reticence to engaging in mental health therapy.”
After helping Denver teammates and McKinley’s family deal with the immediate issues, Birch said the league eventually will examine the situation in hopes of finding out what else could have been done. Over the past decade, the league has tried to change the perception of counseling. Having counselors around teams regularly was one step the league took so that players would be more comfortable with them.
“You want counselors to get to know players in a friendly way, not just as someone who is around when things are going bad,” Birch said.
Even then, recognizing problems is difficult.
Underwood had an abbreviated tenure with the Vikings.
(Callie Lipkin/AP Photo)
In 1999, Underwood was a first-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings who went AWOL during training camp. He was cut and later claimed on waivers by Miami. During the Dolphins’ bye week in September 1999, Underwood tried to kill himself, putting a knife to his throat. Less than 18 months later, after being released by the Dolphins and signed by the Dallas Cowboys, Underwood again attempted to take his own life by walking in front of oncoming traffic on a busy South Florida roadway.
Underwood was tormented by visions of the apocalypse. He used to write notes discussing the end of the world on pieces of paper the size of postage stamps. When he was in a normal state, he could be engaging in conversation. He was funny and intelligent. He also exuded physical confidence and had extraordinary talent.
“You’re talking about people who are told that they can overcome anything, do anything, if they work at it,” said Pittman, whose partner, Craig Domann, represented Underwood. “It’s not just in athletes. You see the same thing in lots of people: doctors, lawyers, bankers. Athletes think they’re stronger than anyone else. Doctors think they’re smarter.”
Moreover, even suggesting that someone get help is difficult.
“I know there were guys I played with who needed help and I’m sure that, privately, the team pulled them aside and took care of them,” Bailey said.
Williams said the problem runs deeper.
“It’s hard for loved ones to say something because they’re probably getting something from us and don’t want to hurt that relationship. For teammates, it’s hard to put a hand on somebody’s shoulder and say, ‘Hey, I think you need help,’ ” he said.
Even if the help is there.
“All the player would have to do is pick up a phone and call the number on the card the [union] gives out and say, ‘I don’t know, but something ain’t right’ and he’d get plenty of help,” Pittman said. “But that means he’d have to admit to himself, ‘You mean I’m not tough enough to handle this?’ ”
Many outside observers like to think players’ financial compensation makes up for all the pressures they endure. Sometimes, however, a lot of money for someone in their 20s has just the opposite effect. It adds to already enormous pressure.
Williams’ journey of self-discovery and help has included suspensions for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
(Steve Mitchell/US Presswire)
“I think when I really understood it is when I was talking to one of my players and we talked about how this is probably the only profession where you walk into the building and you say hi to somebody who, once they walk away and go to their office, is going to look at film trying to find somebody who is better than you,” Pittman said. “Teams spend millions of dollars every year looking for somebody who is better than you. Could you imagine going to work like that every day, thinking that somebody you worked with was doing nothing but trying to replace you?”
That’s to say nothing of the usual pressures that go with life, such as the player Pittman represents whom he has had trouble keeping track of lately.
Pittman won’t identify the player, but describes him as one of the many fringe players who get churned around the league. Aside from the tension of keeping a job that could be lost simply with a missed tackle on a punt return, the player recently had a child with a girlfriend who has proved to be flighty.
The pressure proved to be too much for the player, who asked for his release in the offseason. Pittman didn’t find out about it until he called the team. The player didn’t return calls for weeks.
“He’s dealing with a lot. He thought that the best way to raise his child was to be an NFL player and then he discovered it was too hard to do that, to try to hang onto that dream,” said Pittman, a touch of concern evident in his voice.
There’s a reason for that. Just as before, Pittman hasn’t heard from the player in a while.
And that’s cause for stress.
From the great blocks that once made Barret Robbins a Pro Bowler to the awful binges of alcohol and drugs that led to him being shot in the chest by police, agent Drew Pittman has had a front-row seat to the issues that have impacted his friend and client, and kept Robbins in a correctional or treatment facility for much of the past seven years.
After more than 15 years of sitting in that seat, Pittman has come to one intensely sad conclusion:
“The moments when Barret really sounds like he’s at his best are when he’s incarcerated,” Pittman said of the currently jailed former lineman. “He has a schedule he has to live by, they tell him what to do and they make him take his meds.”
Robbins, best known for disappearing just two days before the Oakland Raiders’ appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII and diagnosed with bipolar disorder, is no longer some athlete fed by the Superman complex that lives deep inside so many. He’s just a man, troubled and, in some respects, frail. Help isn’t offered; it’s required.
McKinley saw very little regular season action with the Broncos.
(Ed Andrieski/AP Photo)
It’s the kind of help that might have kept Denver Broncos wide receiver Kenny McKinley(notes) from apparently killing himself last week. Like so many others in the NFL, it appears McKinley didn’t seek assistance.
“In all my time playing and in 10 years of working with players since I retired, I can’t remember one guy, not one, who asked for help,” said Robert Bailey, who spent 11 seasons with six different teams as a defensive back and special teams ace and now is a marketing agent working with Drew Rosenhaus.
[Related: High school football deaths raise questions about lack of trainers ]
In the case of McKinley, whose funeral was in suburban Atlanta on Monday, authorities believe he shot himself in the head because he was depressed after his second straight season-ending knee surgery.
In today’s NFL, ample services are offered to help players cope with their issues – financial, family or otherwise. The league provides those under the umbrella of its player development program. It includes free counseling sessions and trained staff people who are around every team on a regular or semi-regular basis. The NFL Players Association hands out cards with the number of a helpline. There are life skills classes, both mandatory and voluntary, taught on a regular basis.
Yet the league is littered with tragic stories, including All-Pros like Robbins and unknowns such as McKinley. There were former first-round picks such as Alonzo Spellman and Dimitrius Underwood, who have struggled severely with bipolar disorder. Former quarterback Art Schlichter was addicted to gambling.
Some, such as Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams(notes) and former Pro Bowl punter Greg Montgomery, get help and eventually find a solution. Many more succumb to the intense pressure that exists in the NFL.
“For me, it wasn’t hard to seek help, but I think the hardest part is it’s difficult to be introspective in this sport,” said Williams, who has openly discussed his bouts with anxiety and depression. “This environment isn’t conducive to that. There are all these external factors coming at you and you think that’s what’s affecting you. … I had a chance to really sit down and say, ‘It’s not external, it’s me. There’s something I need to fix.’
“The nature of the job is inhumane. It’s the most stressful job I can think of. There are jobs that are more dangerous, but the pressure to perform every day is intense, so it’s easy to project that the pressure comes from outside and that the problem isn’t you. Imagine that you’re at work every day and someone is following you around with a camera the whole time and then you watch yourself as other people critique what you’re doing.”
Or, in McKinley’s case, the pressure that goes with not performing. In two seasons after being a fifth-round draft pick in 2009, McKinley had scarcely played because of knee injuries. On Saturday, the Broncos held a service for him and McKinley’s father recalled how his son, when he was just five, had once made a business card out of an index card that read, “Kenny McKinley, football player.”
That type of self-imposed pressure may lead to trouble down the line.
“So much of what we try to do is about developing an identity outside of being a football player,” said Williams, who sought counseling during his rookie season with the New Orleans Saints. “If your identity [is] wrapped up in you being a football player and you’re in a sport where so many guys are replaceable, what’s going to happen when you don’t have football?”
Even more, there is a gladiator mentality. To show weakness is antithetical.
“You don’t ever want to show that chink in the armor, that you’re somehow vulnerable,” Bailey said.
Conversely, “I would say that we’re no different than what exists in general society,” said Adolpho Birch, the NFL vice president of player development. “People have a reticence to engaging in mental health therapy.”
After helping Denver teammates and McKinley’s family deal with the immediate issues, Birch said the league eventually will examine the situation in hopes of finding out what else could have been done. Over the past decade, the league has tried to change the perception of counseling. Having counselors around teams regularly was one step the league took so that players would be more comfortable with them.
“You want counselors to get to know players in a friendly way, not just as someone who is around when things are going bad,” Birch said.
Even then, recognizing problems is difficult.
Underwood had an abbreviated tenure with the Vikings.
(Callie Lipkin/AP Photo)
In 1999, Underwood was a first-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings who went AWOL during training camp. He was cut and later claimed on waivers by Miami. During the Dolphins’ bye week in September 1999, Underwood tried to kill himself, putting a knife to his throat. Less than 18 months later, after being released by the Dolphins and signed by the Dallas Cowboys, Underwood again attempted to take his own life by walking in front of oncoming traffic on a busy South Florida roadway.
Underwood was tormented by visions of the apocalypse. He used to write notes discussing the end of the world on pieces of paper the size of postage stamps. When he was in a normal state, he could be engaging in conversation. He was funny and intelligent. He also exuded physical confidence and had extraordinary talent.
“You’re talking about people who are told that they can overcome anything, do anything, if they work at it,” said Pittman, whose partner, Craig Domann, represented Underwood. “It’s not just in athletes. You see the same thing in lots of people: doctors, lawyers, bankers. Athletes think they’re stronger than anyone else. Doctors think they’re smarter.”
Moreover, even suggesting that someone get help is difficult.
“I know there were guys I played with who needed help and I’m sure that, privately, the team pulled them aside and took care of them,” Bailey said.
Williams said the problem runs deeper.
“It’s hard for loved ones to say something because they’re probably getting something from us and don’t want to hurt that relationship. For teammates, it’s hard to put a hand on somebody’s shoulder and say, ‘Hey, I think you need help,’ ” he said.
Even if the help is there.
“All the player would have to do is pick up a phone and call the number on the card the [union] gives out and say, ‘I don’t know, but something ain’t right’ and he’d get plenty of help,” Pittman said. “But that means he’d have to admit to himself, ‘You mean I’m not tough enough to handle this?’ ”
Many outside observers like to think players’ financial compensation makes up for all the pressures they endure. Sometimes, however, a lot of money for someone in their 20s has just the opposite effect. It adds to already enormous pressure.
Williams’ journey of self-discovery and help has included suspensions for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
(Steve Mitchell/US Presswire)
“I think when I really understood it is when I was talking to one of my players and we talked about how this is probably the only profession where you walk into the building and you say hi to somebody who, once they walk away and go to their office, is going to look at film trying to find somebody who is better than you,” Pittman said. “Teams spend millions of dollars every year looking for somebody who is better than you. Could you imagine going to work like that every day, thinking that somebody you worked with was doing nothing but trying to replace you?”
That’s to say nothing of the usual pressures that go with life, such as the player Pittman represents whom he has had trouble keeping track of lately.
Pittman won’t identify the player, but describes him as one of the many fringe players who get churned around the league. Aside from the tension of keeping a job that could be lost simply with a missed tackle on a punt return, the player recently had a child with a girlfriend who has proved to be flighty.
The pressure proved to be too much for the player, who asked for his release in the offseason. Pittman didn’t find out about it until he called the team. The player didn’t return calls for weeks.
“He’s dealing with a lot. He thought that the best way to raise his child was to be an NFL player and then he discovered it was too hard to do that, to try to hang onto that dream,” said Pittman, a touch of concern evident in his voice.
There’s a reason for that. Just as before, Pittman hasn’t heard from the player in a while.
And that’s cause for stress.
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Flooding in China and Pakistan
ZHOUQU, China — Chen Daochen knows he will never see his father or elder brother alive again. Yet still he digs through the thick yellow mud that cascaded through their home, killing four members of his family.
"I know they're dead. But I have to get them out. I have to see them with my own eyes or I won't know for sure," he said quietly, desperately pulling rolls of plastic pipes from the simple brick house to get at the bodies.
"At least the kids were not at home when it happened," Chen added numbly, a pile of damp school books at his feet slowly rotting in the damp heat.
Rescuers digging by hand through mud found a 52-year-old man who had been trapped for more than 50 hours inside a leveled apartment building in the remote town of Zhouqu, where more than 1,000 other people were still listed as missing. Rescuers with sniffer dogs discovered the man, Liu Ma Shindan, who was weak but breathing normally.
It was a scene of stunned grief repeated across Zhouqu, a remote town in northwestern Gansu province. At least 702 people died when a mass of mud and rocks swept down on sleeping residents at the weekend. Another 1,042 are missing.
Rescuers who have swarmed into Zhouqu were not giving up hope of finding anyone else alive, but they warned that chances are slim in the chocking mud, so thick in places it has piled up to what used to be the third or fourth floor of buildings.
Logs and stones had been laid over the sludge to ease access. They seemed almost to float when stepped on, threatening to give way, and plunge rescuers into the morass.
"It's different from an earthquake. With all this mud it gets into every corner of a room. You drown," said Dan Xiaoli, a rescue worker from next-door Sichuan province, where tens of thousands died in a devastating earthquake two years ago.
"But we need to keep looking in case there is a miracle," she added, dressed in orange overalls and carrying a first aid kit.
Close by, a crowd gathered expectantly, peering down to where troops have pried open a small hole in what was the roof of a house, using their hands, a few shovels and some sledgehammers.
"Keep quiet! Step back! We can hear someone in there!" shouts one soldier. A reverent hush fell, and people edged back.
Five minutes later, the silence became sobs as the pale white arm of a dead man poked through the rubble. Even the most curious of bystanders recoiled from the smell.
Two women collapsed wailing, unable to stand their grief, and were carried off by relatives. Almost everyone has a tragic story to tell. Many escaped by luck alone.
"The first to fourth floors of my building were swamped. We were on the sixth. Dozens of my neighbors are still in the mud. We've had to give up trying to get their bodies out," said Liu Jiesheng, 40, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep.
While relief supplies and workers continue to arrive, poor roads and the area's remoteness were hampering efforts.
The nearest airport is a seven-hour drive away, mountains tower over settlements in the valleys, and on the main artery from the south, traffic has to be strictly limited.
"The road is too narrow. We have to control what goes up there or there will be chaos and everything will get blocked," said one policeman, after a brief argument with some officials from Sichuan trying to bring in bottled water.
Yet despite the tough restrictions, much heavy lifting equipment sits idle, unable to either get into the town or be used in large parts of it, lest it slip into the mud.
The government said 1,042 were missing and about 45,000 were evacuated. It was not known how many of the missing were in danger or simply out of contact as workers rushed to restore communications.
More rain is expected in the region in coming days, the China Meteorological Administration said. Tents, blankets, food and water were all being rushed to the isolated area, creating traffic jams on the few roads in.
Flooding in China has killed about 1,800 people this year and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage across 28 provinces and regions.
Flooding continues to threaten Pakistan
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari returned home to a storm of criticism after visiting Europe as his country was gripped by the worst floods in its history. His arrival Tuesday came as thousands of people fled a major city in central Pakistan as rivers threatened to submerge the area.
And rescuers in the desert mountainsides in Indian-controlled Kashmir recovered more bodies, with the death toll rising to 165 from flash floods. Thousands of army and paramilitary soldiers continued clearing roads and removing the debris of hundreds of homes flattened in the Ladakh region.
About 200 remained missing around Ladakh, said Lt. Col. J. S. Brar, an army spokesman. With the road links being restored, nearly 300 people who fled to higher ground have returned to their homes, he said.
Two weeks of flooding in Pakistan have killed 1,500. Amid the relentless rains, President Zardari an unpopular figure to begin with — took off for a visit to France and Britain. His aides said he had to make the trip for diplomatic reasons, especially to Britain, who’s Prime Minister David Cameron, had recently accused Pakistan of exporting terrorism.
"I know they're dead. But I have to get them out. I have to see them with my own eyes or I won't know for sure," he said quietly, desperately pulling rolls of plastic pipes from the simple brick house to get at the bodies.
"At least the kids were not at home when it happened," Chen added numbly, a pile of damp school books at his feet slowly rotting in the damp heat.
Rescuers digging by hand through mud found a 52-year-old man who had been trapped for more than 50 hours inside a leveled apartment building in the remote town of Zhouqu, where more than 1,000 other people were still listed as missing. Rescuers with sniffer dogs discovered the man, Liu Ma Shindan, who was weak but breathing normally.
It was a scene of stunned grief repeated across Zhouqu, a remote town in northwestern Gansu province. At least 702 people died when a mass of mud and rocks swept down on sleeping residents at the weekend. Another 1,042 are missing.
Rescuers who have swarmed into Zhouqu were not giving up hope of finding anyone else alive, but they warned that chances are slim in the chocking mud, so thick in places it has piled up to what used to be the third or fourth floor of buildings.
Logs and stones had been laid over the sludge to ease access. They seemed almost to float when stepped on, threatening to give way, and plunge rescuers into the morass.
"It's different from an earthquake. With all this mud it gets into every corner of a room. You drown," said Dan Xiaoli, a rescue worker from next-door Sichuan province, where tens of thousands died in a devastating earthquake two years ago.
"But we need to keep looking in case there is a miracle," she added, dressed in orange overalls and carrying a first aid kit.
Close by, a crowd gathered expectantly, peering down to where troops have pried open a small hole in what was the roof of a house, using their hands, a few shovels and some sledgehammers.
"Keep quiet! Step back! We can hear someone in there!" shouts one soldier. A reverent hush fell, and people edged back.
Five minutes later, the silence became sobs as the pale white arm of a dead man poked through the rubble. Even the most curious of bystanders recoiled from the smell.
Two women collapsed wailing, unable to stand their grief, and were carried off by relatives. Almost everyone has a tragic story to tell. Many escaped by luck alone.
"The first to fourth floors of my building were swamped. We were on the sixth. Dozens of my neighbors are still in the mud. We've had to give up trying to get their bodies out," said Liu Jiesheng, 40, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep.
While relief supplies and workers continue to arrive, poor roads and the area's remoteness were hampering efforts.
The nearest airport is a seven-hour drive away, mountains tower over settlements in the valleys, and on the main artery from the south, traffic has to be strictly limited.
"The road is too narrow. We have to control what goes up there or there will be chaos and everything will get blocked," said one policeman, after a brief argument with some officials from Sichuan trying to bring in bottled water.
Yet despite the tough restrictions, much heavy lifting equipment sits idle, unable to either get into the town or be used in large parts of it, lest it slip into the mud.
The government said 1,042 were missing and about 45,000 were evacuated. It was not known how many of the missing were in danger or simply out of contact as workers rushed to restore communications.
More rain is expected in the region in coming days, the China Meteorological Administration said. Tents, blankets, food and water were all being rushed to the isolated area, creating traffic jams on the few roads in.
Flooding in China has killed about 1,800 people this year and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage across 28 provinces and regions.
Flooding continues to threaten Pakistan
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari returned home to a storm of criticism after visiting Europe as his country was gripped by the worst floods in its history. His arrival Tuesday came as thousands of people fled a major city in central Pakistan as rivers threatened to submerge the area.
And rescuers in the desert mountainsides in Indian-controlled Kashmir recovered more bodies, with the death toll rising to 165 from flash floods. Thousands of army and paramilitary soldiers continued clearing roads and removing the debris of hundreds of homes flattened in the Ladakh region.
About 200 remained missing around Ladakh, said Lt. Col. J. S. Brar, an army spokesman. With the road links being restored, nearly 300 people who fled to higher ground have returned to their homes, he said.
Two weeks of flooding in Pakistan have killed 1,500. Amid the relentless rains, President Zardari an unpopular figure to begin with — took off for a visit to France and Britain. His aides said he had to make the trip for diplomatic reasons, especially to Britain, who’s Prime Minister David Cameron, had recently accused Pakistan of exporting terrorism.
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Google search engine and Yahoo
TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Yahoo Japan Corp. (4689.TO), the country's biggest Internet search site, said Tuesday it plans to team up with Google Inc. (GOOG) to use the U.S. giant's search engine technology, sidestepping part-owner Yahoo! Inc.'s (YHOO) far-reaching online partnership with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).
Though potentially upsetting ties with Yahoo! Inc., the deal gives Yahoo Japan and Google a massive, near-monopoly share of the Internet search market in the word's second-biggest economy.
At a press conference for Yahoo Japan's first-quarter earnings, the company said it will switch to Google's search engine from one previously developed by Yahoo! Inc. and that it will use also use Google's online advertising platform. Yahoo Japan said it is aiming to switch over to the Google search engine by year-end and then switch advertising systems sometime after that.
Yahoo Japan said it had been considering a move for almost a year after the announcement of Microsoft Corp's deal to provide search engine technology to Yahoo Inc. in all the countries where it directly operates. This meant that Yahoo's search engine technology and advertising systems that Yahoo Japan had been using would no longer be supported after the switch to Microsoft's Bing service.
The Yahoo and Microsoft partnership did not include an agreement in Japan, allowing Yahoo Japan to select between Google, Microsoft and some domestic options.
"We looked at this from many angles, but in the end we determined that Google was the better choice," said Yahoo Japan Chief Executive Masahiro Inoue.
Despite its name, Yahoo Japan isn't controlled by Yahoo Inc. Instead, Japanese cell phone and Internet service provider Softbank Corp. (9984.TO) has a stake of around 40%, while Yahoo! Inc. has 35% stake.
Yahoo Japan officials said it has about 57% of the domestic search market while Google controls about 38%. Some research firms have placed Microsoft's share at about 3%.
Mr. Inoue said he has already discussed the Google alliance with Japan's Fair Trade Commission and he said they raised no objections to the near monopoly. He said the regulators understood that while Google would be providing the back-end search technology, the customer-facing experience would be totally different on the two sites.
Google's search engine powered Yahoo Japan's queries for a three-year period ending May 2004 when the Japanese site moved to use Yahoo's own technology.
Meanwhile, Yahoo Japan said its net profit grew 13% to Y21.7 billion in the first quarter ended June, compared with Y19.2 billion in the same period a year earlier, boosted by increased revenue in its business services operations.
So here’s the one question that Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Carol Bartz seems unable to effectively answer: Why can’t the company show any revenue growth?
• In the June quarter, Google (GOOG) posted 24% growth on a gross revenue basis over a year ago, or 25% growth excluding traffic acquisition costs.
• In the same period, Yahoo posted 2% revenue growth, or zero growth ex-TAC.
Another comparison:
• Google posted 23% growth in revenue from owned sites, with a 30% increase from network sites.
• Yahoo reported a 3% increase in marketing revenue from owned sites, including an 8% drop in search ad revenue, with a 7% rise from network sites.
And one more:
• Google’s cash position at June 30 stood at $30.1 billion, up from $26.5 billion at March 31, an increase of $3.6 billion.
• Yahoo’s cash position in the quarter fell to $3.8 billion, from $4.5 billion, a drop of $719 million, due in part the the repurchase of 32 million shares for $496 million; that’s an average price of $15.50 apiece, which suggests maybe it wasn’t such a good idea, with the stock likely to open Wednesday at close to $14. Or think of it this way: Google generated almost as much cash in three months as Yahoo has in total on its balance sheet.
None of this is to suggest that Yahoo can’t turn things around; it still get huge amounts of traffic, and has millions of loyal users for many of its properties. But the lack of growth is making the Street restless. Bartz inspires confidence, she’s big on taking decisive action, but for all her efforts, the company still isn’t growing. At some point, Yahoo is going to need a more clearly defined growth strategy - and it will have to execute on it.
Though potentially upsetting ties with Yahoo! Inc., the deal gives Yahoo Japan and Google a massive, near-monopoly share of the Internet search market in the word's second-biggest economy.
At a press conference for Yahoo Japan's first-quarter earnings, the company said it will switch to Google's search engine from one previously developed by Yahoo! Inc. and that it will use also use Google's online advertising platform. Yahoo Japan said it is aiming to switch over to the Google search engine by year-end and then switch advertising systems sometime after that.
Yahoo Japan said it had been considering a move for almost a year after the announcement of Microsoft Corp's deal to provide search engine technology to Yahoo Inc. in all the countries where it directly operates. This meant that Yahoo's search engine technology and advertising systems that Yahoo Japan had been using would no longer be supported after the switch to Microsoft's Bing service.
The Yahoo and Microsoft partnership did not include an agreement in Japan, allowing Yahoo Japan to select between Google, Microsoft and some domestic options.
"We looked at this from many angles, but in the end we determined that Google was the better choice," said Yahoo Japan Chief Executive Masahiro Inoue.
Despite its name, Yahoo Japan isn't controlled by Yahoo Inc. Instead, Japanese cell phone and Internet service provider Softbank Corp. (9984.TO) has a stake of around 40%, while Yahoo! Inc. has 35% stake.
Yahoo Japan officials said it has about 57% of the domestic search market while Google controls about 38%. Some research firms have placed Microsoft's share at about 3%.
Mr. Inoue said he has already discussed the Google alliance with Japan's Fair Trade Commission and he said they raised no objections to the near monopoly. He said the regulators understood that while Google would be providing the back-end search technology, the customer-facing experience would be totally different on the two sites.
Google's search engine powered Yahoo Japan's queries for a three-year period ending May 2004 when the Japanese site moved to use Yahoo's own technology.
Meanwhile, Yahoo Japan said its net profit grew 13% to Y21.7 billion in the first quarter ended June, compared with Y19.2 billion in the same period a year earlier, boosted by increased revenue in its business services operations.
So here’s the one question that Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Carol Bartz seems unable to effectively answer: Why can’t the company show any revenue growth?
• In the June quarter, Google (GOOG) posted 24% growth on a gross revenue basis over a year ago, or 25% growth excluding traffic acquisition costs.
• In the same period, Yahoo posted 2% revenue growth, or zero growth ex-TAC.
Another comparison:
• Google posted 23% growth in revenue from owned sites, with a 30% increase from network sites.
• Yahoo reported a 3% increase in marketing revenue from owned sites, including an 8% drop in search ad revenue, with a 7% rise from network sites.
And one more:
• Google’s cash position at June 30 stood at $30.1 billion, up from $26.5 billion at March 31, an increase of $3.6 billion.
• Yahoo’s cash position in the quarter fell to $3.8 billion, from $4.5 billion, a drop of $719 million, due in part the the repurchase of 32 million shares for $496 million; that’s an average price of $15.50 apiece, which suggests maybe it wasn’t such a good idea, with the stock likely to open Wednesday at close to $14. Or think of it this way: Google generated almost as much cash in three months as Yahoo has in total on its balance sheet.
None of this is to suggest that Yahoo can’t turn things around; it still get huge amounts of traffic, and has millions of loyal users for many of its properties. But the lack of growth is making the Street restless. Bartz inspires confidence, she’s big on taking decisive action, but for all her efforts, the company still isn’t growing. At some point, Yahoo is going to need a more clearly defined growth strategy - and it will have to execute on it.
Leaking Classified Information
White haired and spectral thin, Julian Assange roams the world incessantly - rarely sleeping in the same place two nights in a row - due to a growing enemies list.
His goal, Assange said in a recent New Yorker magazine profile, is to expose injustice by revealing secrets that could "bring down many administrations that rely on concealing reality - including the U.S. administration."
"WikiLeaks aims to achieve political reforms by getting out information that has been suppressed to the public," he told Voice of America. "As far as we're aware, we've never made a mistake."
Born in an Australian beach town in 1971, Assange was a self-schooled computer hacker who was busted after breaking into a telecom company's master terminal and messaging the administrator, "It's been nice playing with your system."
A successful custody battle with the mother of his only son planted the seed of what would later become WikiLeaks.
Determined to break through the bureaucracy, Assange urged child protection workers to dish to a "central data bank."
WikiLeaks, whose goal is to create an "intelligence service of the people," went online three years ago promising to publish classified documents - after verifying their accuracy.
Since then, WikiLeaks has exposed everything from the inner workings of the Church of Scientology to Sarah Palin's emails.
Amnesty International lauded WikiLeaks for publishing a secret report alleging corruption by Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi.
The group's biggest coup - until now - was a shocking video of two Reuters journalists and Iraqi civilians being wiped out by a U.S. Apache helicopter attack in 2007.
WikiLeaks has no central office and no paid staff. It relies on volunteers to authenticate documents - and on shadowy supporters to pay the bills.
Assange said they've endured police harassment in Germany and Israel, and maintain server sites around the world to make sure they're not hacked - or knocked off the Web
Wikileaks.org, the online clearinghouse for leaked documents, is working on a plan to make the Web leakier by enabling newspapers, human rights organizations, criminal investigators and others to embed an "upload a disclosure to me via Wikileaks" form onto their Web sites.
The upload system will give potential whistleblowers around the world the ability to leak sensitive documents to an organization or journalist they trust over a secure connection, while giving the receiver legal protection they might not otherwise enjoy.
"We will take the burden of protecting the source and the legal risks associated with publishing the document," said Julien Assange, an advisory board member at Wikileaks, in an interview at the Hack In The Box security conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Once Wikileaks confirms the uploaded material is real, it will be handed over to the Web site that encouraged the submission for a period of time. This embargo period gives the journalist or rights group time to write a news story or report based on the material.
The embargo period is a key part of the plan, Assange said. When Wikileaks releases material without writing its own story or finding people who will, it gains little attention.
"It's counterintuitive," he said. "You'd think the bigger and more important the document is, the more likely it will be reported on but that's absolutely not true. It's about supply and demand. Zero supply equals high demand, it has value. As soon as we release the material, the supply goes to infinity, so the perceived value goes to zero."
The final act will be for Wikileaks to publish the material on its Web site after the story has been written and the embargo period lapsed.
"We want to get as much substantive information as possible into the historical record, keep it accessible and provide incentives for people to turn it into something that will achieve political reform," said Assange.
Wikileaks is also working on ways to make browsing throuh the material it receives easier for users.
Onspeed - Faster Internet
Wikileaks often runs into problems concerning how to present material and how to make it easier to sift through for vital information, said Assange.
"At the moment, for example, we are sitting on 5GB from Bank of America, one of the executive's hard drives," he said. "Now how do we present that? It's a difficult problem. We could just dump it all into one giant Zip file, but we know for a fact that has limited impact. To have impact, it needs to be easy for people to dive in and search it and get something out of it."
In three years on the Web, Wikileaks published over 1.2 million sensitive documents.
Friday, 9 July 2010
Lebron James the new Thiery Henry
When the months of suspense peaked, LeBron James delivered a few words that rocked the NBA and changed two cities and franchises.
At 9:27 p.m., James, looking nervous and somewhat unsure, finally announced his plans from a small stage in Greenwich, Conn.
"This fall, and it's very tough," James said to a national TV audience. "I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat."
In Florida, there was rejoicing.
In Ohio, only heartbreak and tears — then anger.
The most wanted man in league history decided Thursday night that it was time to leave the comforts of home to chase a championship.
The two-time MVP, a player with supreme skills but without a title, decided to join forces with fellow superstars, good friends and U.S. Olympic teammates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh — a dominant threesome that could rule the league for years to come.
"I can't say it was always in my plans, because I never thought it was possible," James said of this union with the two perennial All-Stars, players he has known for years. "I've looked forward to it. Those are two great players, two of the greatest players that we have in this game today. You add me, and we have a really good team."
Landing James was a huge victory for the team president Pat Riley, who was able to corral the top three stars in an unprecedented free-agent class and now must resist the temptation to leave the front office to coach them.
James' announcement ended weeks of speculation and capped a multi-ringed media circus in this age of social networking that spun out of control. It also concluded a somewhat embarrassing courtship of a player by cities, celebrities and franchises who fawned over the 25-year-old who doesn't have a finals win on his resume.
New York, Chicago, New Jersey, Los Angeles and every other NBA spot came up short, finishing out of the money.
So did Cleveland. As it always does.
This time, losing was tainted with bitterness.
Once James shared his secret, fans poured out of the same downtown bars and restaurants that have thrived during these tough economic times. A few set fire to his No. 23 jersey while others threw rocks at the 10-story-tall billboard featuring James with his head tossed back and arms pointing skyward.
"We Are All Witnesses," the mural says.
This was something Cleveland never thought it would see.
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert was as upset as anyone. He posted an open letter to fans on the team's website ripping James and told The Associated Press he believes James did not play up to his abilities in Cleveland's second-round loss to Boston.
"He quit," Gilbert said in a phone interview. "Not just in Game 5, but in Games 2, 4 and 6. Watch the tape. The Boston series was unlike anything in the history of sports for a superstar. ... People have covered up for him for way too long."
Not Gilbert, not anymore.
"As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier," Gilbert wrote. "This was announced with a several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his 'decision' unlike anything ever 'witnessed' in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment. Clearly, this is bitterly disappointing to all of us.
"The self-declared former 'King' will be taking the 'curse' with him down south. And until he does 'right' by Cleveland and Ohio, James (and the town where he plays) will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma.
"Just watch."
Cleveland could offer James $30 million more than any team, but that wasn't what interested James this time. He was willing to make less for something else — a title. Maybe a bunch of them with the 28-year-old Wade and 26-year-old Bosh in their primes.
"It's about a team," James said.
After leaving Connecticut, James touched down at a private terminal at Miami International Airport at 2:30 a.m. He was met by Heat officials, shook Riley's hand, climbed into a car and was driven away while a small group of fans, paparazzi and other news media waited outside.
Meanwhile, outside the W Hotel on Miami Beach, 17 more celebrity photographers and about a few dozen fans lurched toward every SUV that neared the hotel entrance, eager to get a look at the two-time MVP. Also inside that club was Bosh, who walked in virtually unnoticed earlier in the evening.
Meanwhile, in Cleveland, fans so accustomed to disappointment, were let down again — this time, by one of their own sons.
Not long after James' decision was announced, one of his jerseys was shown being burned in the city's streets.
"I can't get involved in that," James said. "I wanted to do what was best for LeBron James ... At the end of the day, I feel awful. I feel even worse that I wasn't able to bring an NBA championship to that city. I never wanted to leave Cleveland. My heart will always be around that area. But I also felt like this is the greatest challenge for me, is to move on."
Even one of James' teammates was distraught.
"I feel like my heart has been pulled out," Cavs guard Mo Williams posted on his Twitter account. "But I'm happy for my friend."
James' decision ends nearly two years of posturing and positioning by teams hoping to add the 6-foot-8, 260-pound physical force of nature to their roster. He famously announced at New York's Madison Square Garden in November of 2008 that "July 1, 2010, is going to be a big day."
He wasn't kidding. When the clock struck 12:01 a.m. last Thursday, a free-agent frenzy unlike any before it — in any professional sport — got under way with the enough speculation, rumor and second-by-second intrigue to last a lifetime.
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Justin Bierber hates Koreans
Just when the attacks on Justin Bieber were not enough, some communities on the internet jealous of his success have taken up new tactics in order to destroy Justin Bieber’s reputation among the young teens. Communities like 4chan, Ebaumsworld have been so obsessed in attacking on 4chan that their latest tactic was to rig the poll on where Justin Bieber is supposed to visit.
Just a while ago I noticed something new and that was “Justin Bieber hates Koreans” rumour flying around. Though directed towards North Koreans it is definitely meant to provoke a reaction from Justin Bieber – if he will really go to North Korea or not.
I checked on his popularity on Google for North Korea and there is no data available meaning that North Korea has not yet been exposed to Justin Bieber phenomenon. In case Justin Bieber does go to North Korea then he would need to have to go through security procedures.
Attacks On Justin Bieber Continue On Youtube
Youtube was recently hacked and Justin Bieber was the one worst affected by the situation. Users were redirected to adult content and other exploits whenever they viewed Justin Bieber’s video. Though the problem was fixed quick by the Youtube team, the problem does not end just over there.
Justin Bieber’s videos are now getting millions of dislikes spread by organised social websites. Though I am not sure whether it is through an exploit or real people conducting the event to dislike the video in large numbers. Viewing the comments it seems like a specific forum involved in attacks on Justin Bieber.
Previously rumours regarding Justin Bieber arrest, Justin Bieber getting Syphilis and also explicit videos of Justin Bieber with Kim Kardashian were spread around on the internet. Now Justin Bieber haters are trying different things in order to achieve their agendas.
Just a while ago, Kevin Rose put an update on his twitter account – “Ok, umm, huge rumor: Google to launch facebook competitor very soon “Google Me”, very credible source.” and the news regarding Google’s new social product is now buzzing on the internet.Though there has been no official word yet from Google regarding a facebook competitor, the chances seem quite dim regarding a launch of Google Me. Social network “Orkut” was previously competing well with facebook however facebook introduced new features that pushed back Orkut from its top position that it had held.
So what I believe is that even though Google has a variety of services with a decent user base, it is trying to put new products in the market while losing focus on the previous ones. Many products like Orkut, Google Waves and many more have been introduced by Google which garnered huge attention however failed to meet the company’s long term goals.
You may, if you’ve looked at the Internet at any time in these last few months, have become aware of one Justin Bieber – a 16-year-old heartthrob pop sensation, responsible for bunching more teen female panties than any act since the Hanson brothers.
This Bieber character is a big deal amongst young girls of a certain age; he’s clean-cut, baby-faced and in possession of quite a famous haircut – the Internet has essentially gone guano for him. We in this country have been spared the worst depredations of Bieber Fever, but he’s legitimately and unfathomably huge in the States, almost solely amongst that key 8-14-year-old girl demographic, though he also finds favour with a certain tranche of the lesbian community.
Musically speaking he hits the sweet focus-grouped spot between battery-farmed pop music and asinine r’n'b. He is also chaperoned by the great and the good of the US chart establishment, taking Usher as his mentor. He would be instantly and refreshingly forgettable, were it not for the insidious forces of tween-powered Twitter. Even though the World Cup broke the service a few times last month, young Bieber more or less constantly topped the ‘trending topics’ on the pointless microblogging service – at least until the techs changed their algorithm in May, to the sane world’s relief.
His insistant ubiquity remains, however, and wars are raging back and forth across the face of the Internet right now, on blogs, forums and sleb goss sites, wars to determine the very future of Bieber on the web. Early blows were struck by Twitter and Greg Leuch’s extremely handy Shaved Bieber programme, which eradicates all mention of JB.
A new force has now emerged, harnessing the power of the so-called ‘Internet Hate Machine’, 4Chan. A loose confederation of hackers, pranksters and young digital ne’er-do-wells who largely keep themselves to themselves, making in-jokes, uploading porn and generally rolling around in their own muck, I strongly counsel you NOT to Google them as NO good will come of it. It’s enough for you to know they exist.
In the main, 4Chan are harmlessly insular, but sometimes something coalesces from the ooze, allowing the infighting to cease and momentum to build towards a collaborative effort of mischief making. You may remember from a few years ago a brief fad for masked kids picketing Scientology buildings, and you may have encountered Operation Titstorm, a game effort to paralyse Australian government websites in reaction to a new law banning small breasts in pornography.
Well, they’re striking again, and this time it’s Bieber in the crosshairs. Anonymous (the term they use for themselves) pooled its collective nerd-craft to game Google and set light to an unfounded rumour that he had syphilis, an act that briefly upset many a demented, snot-nosed teenaged girl. The nature of Google trending being what it is though, the rumour quickly slipped away.
That was but a preliminary skirmish – they’ve come up with a much more damaging plan – to send Bieber to North Korea. Foolish, foolish Bieber has started a competition for countries to vote for him to come and tour them. Called the Justin Bieber My World Tour Contest, it has now been thoroughly highjacked by Anonymous – at the time of writing, North Korea is in second place by only a few thousand votes. Unless the current leader Israel can get its act together, it should be overtaken by lunchtime.
How do we know this is a plot? Well, seeing as most residents of North Korea won’t have heard of Justin Bieber, or the Internet, it’s probably a safe bet to assume that nearly 300,000 of them won’t have used said Internet to bring him to their shores. What’s more, there’s an organised campaign on the 4Chan website showing you how to rig the votes. I’m not posting a picture of it; it’s rude.
To get real for a second, this will obviously never actually come to pass. Quite apart from anything else, Western music is banned in North Korea, and Bieber’s management will summarily ignore the vote anyway. It’s just nice to see the Internet working as intended for a change.
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
christiano ronaldo new born baby
The former Manchester United winger, 25, revealed on Facebook and Twitter that he had become a father, but said the mother wished to remain anonymous and he would be the child's sole guardian.
He is not the first celebrity to become a parent in less than conventional circumstances. Here is a list of other famous figures who may fall in the same category.
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Madonna
The Queen of Pop adopted baby David Banda from a mud hut in Malawi in 2006 in an episode that infuriated child rights campaigners, who accused her of using her wealth and famous name to bypass Malawian law.
Opponents were enraged that the singer was able to fly the child out of the country despite their complaints that the father had not fully understood the meaning of the adoption papers and that Madonna would become the child's permanent foster mother.
Sarah Jessica Parker
The Sex and the City star and her husband, Matthew Broderick, had twin daughters Marion and Tabitha delivered by a surrogate mother in 2009.
Parker revealed that the surrogate's telephone and computer had been hacked into and that the woman had been sent threats prior to the births. Two policemen were also investigated for allegedly attempting to burgle her home in order to find information to sell.
Angelina Jolie
Jolie's large family with her husband, Brad Pitt, includes children adopted from all over the world as well as their own biological offspring.
She adopted her first child, Maddox, in Cambodia in 2002 and took sole custody of the boy after her divorce form Billy Bob Thornton.
Her first daughter, Zahera, was adopted from Ethiopia in 2005, and was followed in 2007 by Pax, a three-year-old boy from Vietnam.
She also has three biological children with Pitt – Shiloh, born in 2006, and twins Know and Vivienne, born in 2008.
Michael Jackson
Jackson's first two children, Prince and Paris, were born to his second wife, Deborah Rowe, in the 1990s but in 2002 he had a third child, Blanket, by an unknown surrogate mother.
The surrogate, who was paid $20,000, was inseminated with Jackson's sperm and eggs from a donor, who was paid $3,500.
Later that year he was criticised for holding the baby over a railing while standing on a fourth floor hotel balcony.
Ricky Martin
Martin, the pop singer, had twin boys Valentino and Matteo via a surrogate mother in 2008, after deciding that adoption could be too long and complicated a process.
Two years later he publicly admitted he was gay, saying he was inspired to do so because to keep his sexuality secret would "diminish the glow that my kids were born with".
Meg Ryan
Ryan, who adopted her daughter Daisy True from China in 2006, said the process of gaining custody was like a "metaphysical kind of labour".
The actress, who also has a son, Jack, with her ex-husband Dennis Quaid, said: "It's such a deliberate act, this adoption ... it was this metaphysical kind of labour, this crazy meeting".
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Charlie Murphy Wife Died
“Tisha Taylor Murphy, wife of comedian and actor Charlie Murphy, passed away peacefully on Sunday, with family at her side after facing the challenges of cancer for the past two years. The Murphy Family appreciates all the support they have received from friends and fans and requests privacy during this very difficult time.”
Charlie Murphy is the brother of fellow comedian Eddie Murphy and is best known for his roles on the now-defunct Comedy Central series Chappelle Show and BET’s We Gotta Do Better.
What exactly was Charlie Murphy doing before he got famous for slapping the shit out of Rick James on Chappelle's Show? "Well, I was in movies. The last 20 years, I've been writing movies, being in movies. Between that and just hustling... I was a martial arts instructor for a couple years. I did a lot of stuff, man," Murphy says. "Prior to that I was in the military, prior to that I was in jail, prior to that I was in high school not sure what I wanted to do with my life."
These days, though, Charlie Murphy is a star. He's writing books, shooting Comedy Central specials, and sipping liquid crack (AKA Cuban coffee). And this weekend, Charlie will come to the Miami Improve for a three-night stand. New Times talked to him about baby bro Eddie, eating in the Magic City, and the day Dave Chappelle went AWOL.
New Times: People seem to think you're a wild man because of True Hollywood Stories -- Rick James, karate kicks, and bitch-slaps. What was a day with Charlie Murphy like back in the '80s?
Charlie Murphy: I was a wild man. [Laughs.] They got the right impression. I mean, people can say it was wild or whatever, but I look at it like this: They just jealous 'cause they couldn't have fun. And we had fun, man. We went places, seen things, did things. It was a good time.
Now we live in the era of "I caught you!" Everybody has a cell phone with a camera on it. Everybody is Twittering. The world's a smaller place now, and you can't have fun like you used to.
How about now? Say we spent a Saturday with Charlie Murphy. Would it be crazy or chilled-out?
If I'm home with my kids, it'll be very chilled-out. But if I go out... You know, if I'm in cities like San Francisco, New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, or any of those major cities, I know I'm gonna be out gettin' something to eat.
Especially Miami, I love it 'cause of the different kinds of food they got. I can get some Jamaican food. I can get some Haitian food. I can get some Cuban food. It's just off the hook. You know, I'm gonna get some good Cuban chicken, baby. And the little cups of coffee they have there. The liquid crack or whatever they call it. Can't beat that either, man.
You recently started a web show called Charlie Murphy's Crash Comedy. How did that happen?
My manager has a friend over at Sony, and they were talking about an opportunity for me to do some sketch comedy on their website crackle.com. And it was a great idea because it was also an opportunity for me to show my skills outside Chappelle's Show. This is sketch comedy work directly from me. So nobody gets to twist it and go, "Well, it was Chappelle's Show. The sketch was funny, but there were other people involved and so and so and so." I did my own.
Tell us about Leroy Smith. Is that a character you created?
No, it's a character that Nike created. Leroy Smith is totally not my idea. I was hired as an actor. Nike came to me with the idea and they had a script written already. Then we went and we shot it. Now, as far as the personification of Leroy Smith, that took place when the makeup was on and I looked in the mirror. I said, "OK. I've seen this guy before and I know how he flows. He's an old-school jazz baby. I seen his car and everything!"
Is it tough becoming a successful standup with a hugely famous family member?
What if Richard Pryor had a brother who started doing standup? Look at the hard time that Tony Rock is having. He's a good standup. But he's Chris Rock's little brother. People are reluctant to accept you based on the fact that "Oh, I know your brother and he's this. How could you be that too? Unless you both came out at the same time as the So-and-So Brothers or whatever, my brain can't wrap around you showin' up now saying, 'Listen to my jokes.'" That's a huge obstacle to overcome. And anyone who's a sibling of someone who's famous, not to mention a superstar, has to contend with it.
You're the older brother. But when Eddie got huge, was there ever any jealousy?
I was proud, man. There was never no jealousy. I think for anything to happen in a family, the money's gotta be old. You gotta have generations upon generations of your family that just had money... you know, two brothers born into money and they grow up. Then I could see some jealousy and sibling rivalry and all that. But we're from meager beginnings. You know what I'm sayin'? If I look at my family tree and follow every generation before us, going all the way back to the slaves, then Eddie Murphy is the highest achievement as far as my bloodline is concerned. How could you be jealous? You can only be proud, unless you got some serious issues.
When Chappelle's Show fell apart, were you stunned? Or did you already see the end coming?
Nobody seen the end coming, man. We had a great day at work. It was a normal day, a productive day. It was funny. We had fun. And it was that day, now that I think about it, that I drove into work. I had a brand-new 750 BMW and we were shooting a scene. They said, "You have to move your car." But I couldn't leave to go move the car. So they had this guy who was dressed in an A.J. Foyt speedsuit. He was a driver. He had a special Indy 500 flame-retardant suit with his name on it and everything. And he was a driver, so I was like, "OK, I trust this guy." He was driving 18-wheeler buses, and he had an official Indy 500 suit. I gave him my car and he crashed that shit!
What? Who was this guy?
That's exactly what I was thinking. [Laughs.] "Who was this guy?" We left right after that happened. I was real pissed off and I left the set. And later that day, I got a call that the show was cancelled. All that happened the same day, man. It was like the Twilight Zone.
At the time, Dave Chappelle wasn't happy that Comedy Central was planning to air the Lost Episodes. Was it a tough decision for you to host that short third season of Chappelle's Show?
It wasn't no hard decision, man. It was an easy decision. It was like, "Do you want these episodes to be shown? Do you want closure to come to the show? Or do you want the show to end weird?" I mean, they was talking to Steve Harvey and Chris Rock and Cedric the Entertainer to host the show. But they wasn't even on the show, so why would you have them host the Lost Episodes? And the cast that was on the show, were none of them worthy of hosting? That's what you're saying. That's why I accepted the opportunity. If we didn't do it, it would have really looked bad for all of us.
Your new book, The Making of a Stand-Up Guy, doesn't seem like your typical comedian book. It's not packed with gags.
It's not a joke book. It's autobiographical and it's funny. See, if you come to my standup show, I'm not your typical comedian. I don't just come on and rattle off jokes. I talk about things that are really happening, things you might have gone through, things that you may be going through right now. I make you laugh about that stuff. That's my style... Reality, not "the chicken was crossin' the street." I don't tell those kinds of jokes. It's all about people, places, and things, baby. That's life.
These days, though, Charlie Murphy is a star. He's writing books, shooting Comedy Central specials, and sipping liquid crack (AKA Cuban coffee). And this weekend, Charlie will come to the Miami Improve for a three-night stand. New Times talked to him about baby bro Eddie, eating in the Magic City, and the day Dave Chappelle went AWOL.
New Times: People seem to think you're a wild man because of True Hollywood Stories -- Rick James, karate kicks, and bitch-slaps. What was a day with Charlie Murphy like back in the '80s?
Charlie Murphy: I was a wild man. [Laughs.] They got the right impression. I mean, people can say it was wild or whatever, but I look at it like this: They just jealous 'cause they couldn't have fun. And we had fun, man. We went places, seen things, did things. It was a good time.
Now we live in the era of "I caught you!" Everybody has a cell phone with a camera on it. Everybody is Twittering. The world's a smaller place now, and you can't have fun like you used to.
How about now? Say we spent a Saturday with Charlie Murphy. Would it be crazy or chilled-out?
If I'm home with my kids, it'll be very chilled-out. But if I go out... You know, if I'm in cities like San Francisco, New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, or any of those major cities, I know I'm gonna be out gettin' something to eat.
Especially Miami, I love it 'cause of the different kinds of food they got. I can get some Jamaican food. I can get some Haitian food. I can get some Cuban food. It's just off the hook. You know, I'm gonna get some good Cuban chicken, baby. And the little cups of coffee they have there. The liquid crack or whatever they call it. Can't beat that either, man.
You recently started a web show called Charlie Murphy's Crash Comedy. How did that happen?
My manager has a friend over at Sony, and they were talking about an opportunity for me to do some sketch comedy on their website crackle.com. And it was a great idea because it was also an opportunity for me to show my skills outside Chappelle's Show. This is sketch comedy work directly from me. So nobody gets to twist it and go, "Well, it was Chappelle's Show. The sketch was funny, but there were other people involved and so and so and so." I did my own.
Tell us about Leroy Smith. Is that a character you created?
No, it's a character that Nike created. Leroy Smith is totally not my idea. I was hired as an actor. Nike came to me with the idea and they had a script written already. Then we went and we shot it. Now, as far as the personification of Leroy Smith, that took place when the makeup was on and I looked in the mirror. I said, "OK. I've seen this guy before and I know how he flows. He's an old-school jazz baby. I seen his car and everything!"
Is it tough becoming a successful standup with a hugely famous family member?
What if Richard Pryor had a brother who started doing standup? Look at the hard time that Tony Rock is having. He's a good standup. But he's Chris Rock's little brother. People are reluctant to accept you based on the fact that "Oh, I know your brother and he's this. How could you be that too? Unless you both came out at the same time as the So-and-So Brothers or whatever, my brain can't wrap around you showin' up now saying, 'Listen to my jokes.'" That's a huge obstacle to overcome. And anyone who's a sibling of someone who's famous, not to mention a superstar, has to contend with it.
You're the older brother. But when Eddie got huge, was there ever any jealousy?
I was proud, man. There was never no jealousy. I think for anything to happen in a family, the money's gotta be old. You gotta have generations upon generations of your family that just had money... you know, two brothers born into money and they grow up. Then I could see some jealousy and sibling rivalry and all that. But we're from meager beginnings. You know what I'm sayin'? If I look at my family tree and follow every generation before us, going all the way back to the slaves, then Eddie Murphy is the highest achievement as far as my bloodline is concerned. How could you be jealous? You can only be proud, unless you got some serious issues.
When Chappelle's Show fell apart, were you stunned? Or did you already see the end coming?
Nobody seen the end coming, man. We had a great day at work. It was a normal day, a productive day. It was funny. We had fun. And it was that day, now that I think about it, that I drove into work. I had a brand-new 750 BMW and we were shooting a scene. They said, "You have to move your car." But I couldn't leave to go move the car. So they had this guy who was dressed in an A.J. Foyt speedsuit. He was a driver. He had a special Indy 500 flame-retardant suit with his name on it and everything. And he was a driver, so I was like, "OK, I trust this guy." He was driving 18-wheeler buses, and he had an official Indy 500 suit. I gave him my car and he crashed that shit!
What? Who was this guy?
That's exactly what I was thinking. [Laughs.] "Who was this guy?" We left right after that happened. I was real pissed off and I left the set. And later that day, I got a call that the show was cancelled. All that happened the same day, man. It was like the Twilight Zone.
At the time, Dave Chappelle wasn't happy that Comedy Central was planning to air the Lost Episodes. Was it a tough decision for you to host that short third season of Chappelle's Show?
It wasn't no hard decision, man. It was an easy decision. It was like, "Do you want these episodes to be shown? Do you want closure to come to the show? Or do you want the show to end weird?" I mean, they was talking to Steve Harvey and Chris Rock and Cedric the Entertainer to host the show. But they wasn't even on the show, so why would you have them host the Lost Episodes? And the cast that was on the show, were none of them worthy of hosting? That's what you're saying. That's why I accepted the opportunity. If we didn't do it, it would have really looked bad for all of us.
Your new book, The Making of a Stand-Up Guy, doesn't seem like your typical comedian book. It's not packed with gags.
It's not a joke book. It's autobiographical and it's funny. See, if you come to my standup show, I'm not your typical comedian. I don't just come on and rattle off jokes. I talk about things that are really happening, things you might have gone through, things that you may be going through right now. I make you laugh about that stuff. That's my style... Reality, not "the chicken was crossin' the street." I don't tell those kinds of jokes. It's all about people, places, and things, baby. That's life.
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