LAWYER CLAIMS YE MENG YUAN WAS 'NOT PROPERLY CARED FOR'

Weiner Dumped by Campaign Manager

Right Direction-"Project Hood-Helping Chicago's Murder problem

Click here: Project Hood Website

Chicago Pastor Maintains Rooftop Vigil For A Good Cause

by Frederick H. Lowe
It was Sunday, January 29, and Corey Brooks, pastor of the New Beginnings Church of Chicago, was across the street from it, camped out on the roof of an abandoned motel, where he had lived in a tent for 68 days by then. 

It did not prevent Pastor Brooks from delivering his sermon over Skype on his laptop to the congregation inside the warm church. 

“I need every single member to be fully engaged,” Brooks said as ushers prepared to pass around the offering plate. “I hope there is a $162,000 check there [in the offering plate] to get me off the roof.”

He did not get his wish that day, but donors have made a lot of small contributions of cash and checks. 

“We have received donations from all over the country,” Brooks said. “It's encouraging that people have been so nice and so generous, especially in these tough economic times.”

The donations, however, have left him short of his goal of raising $450,000 to tear down the 2½-story, abandoned motel on South King Drive. The building is boarded up, and thieves have stolen all of the pipes and fixtures. 

Pastor Brooks' tent on top of an abandoned motel.

The hotel was the scene of drug deals and prostitution before church officials had it boarded up a year and half ago. Pastor Brooks also decided to live on the roof to focus attention on the murders of young black men in Chicago. His efforts are part of a campaign called Project HOOD (Helping Others Obtain Destiny).

The former motel is owned by businessman Venood Patel, Family Bank and Trust and National Republic Bank. The banks are owed a $1.5 million mortgage on the building, Brooks said.

 “I have no idea how they are working this out with him [Patel],” Brooks said.

Once he raises the money, Pastor Brooks will tear down the block-long building to construct a community-economic development center to establish a small-business incubator. He also wants to open a restaurant, FedEx and Kinko's offices and a professional counseling service to treat individuals traumatized by gun violence. 

Pastor Brooks took a High-Lift to the building's roof on November 22, 2011, after being inspired by Chapter 2 of Habakkuk in the Bible. One verse that most-influenced him says, ”I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.”

(Photo by Frederick H. Lowe, II)

“I wanted to be in a watch tower to hear from God on which direction I should go,” Brooks said.

Initially, he planned to live on the roof 22 days, but now he is not sure how long it will take to reach his goal.  As of Thursday morning, he will have lived on the roof 72 days. 

“I want to come down today because I have a lot of work to do, but I have decided to make the best of the situation,” he said. “I write. I study, and I am working on the master plan for next phase.”
  
Being on the roof and looking down on South King Drive does have its advantages. 

“It helps keep me away from all of the distractions,” said Brooks, who celebrated his 43rd birthday January 9. Church staff brought him cake, but other than that, it was another workday. 

Fortunately, this has been a mild winter by Chicago standards.  On Tuesday, it was 56 degrees.
“It has been bearable,” he said. “I am grateful for the weather. The tent absorbs the sun's rays, making it warm.”

Readers can donate funds to Project Helping Others Obtain Destiny through the website athttp://www.projecthood.org 

Good News-Judith Hill, World Class singer

Judith Hill's Website

Judith Hill-World Class singer!

Bio

Having literally spent her life immersed in music, Judith Hill has long been on a path towards capturing the depth and breadth of her artistic vision. Her remarkable journey has taken the gifted singer/songwriter/musician to stages all over the planet, both as a solo performer as well as alongside such icons as the late, great Michael Jackson. Now Hill is poised to take her own well-deserved place in the spotlight. A richly emotive vocal stylist and virtuosic piano player, Hill has spent pretty much her whole life to arrive at this plateau.

“I’m an organic soul artist with a passion to bring the world together,” Hill says. “The music, whether it’s funk or a ballad, it’s all about that message. That’s the thing that resonates most for me, that message and the heart behind it.”

Musically minded from the start, Hill penned her first song at just four years old. No surprise really, considering that the Los Angeles-native grew up in such an intensely musical household – her father, Robert “Pee Wee” Hill is a pioneering funk bassist known for his work with such artists as Sly Stone, Jimmy Smith, and Bob Dylan, while her mom, Michiko Hill, is an accomplished keyboardist in her own right, with credits including Rufus w/Chaka Khan, Wayne Shorter, and Billy Preston. In addition to their steady session work, the Hills also own and operate Master’s Crib Recording Studio, which served as a genuinely motivating playground for Judith.

“It was very inspiring,” she says. “I was constantly surrounded by great musicians. Of course, it is only as I got older that I realized what a lucky girl I was.”

Hill fell in love with the sounds of funk, jazz, and soul, with a special fondness for gospel, especially from a vocal standpoint – Aretha Franklin, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, The Winans. She rebelled against her mother’s piano lessons in her tween years but soon came back around.

“I felt like everyone around me did it and I wanted to do something different,” Hill says. “It wasn’t until I was a little bit older that I really found the passion for music inside of me. I couldn’t help but do it.”

With that in mind, Hill pursued a degree in music composition at Biola University, where she wrote her first symphony as well as pieces for piano, vocal groups, chamber ensembles and string quartets.

“Getting inside of the music became the biggest passion I’d ever had,” Hill says. “I realized there was so much to learn, from the early baroque period to romantic classical to contemporary classical and jazz. I became so excited about it, I knew I didn’t want to do anything else with my life.”

After graduation, Hill spent a year in Paris, singing background vocals for legendary French singer/songwriter Michel Polnareff. Though a “great experience,” she quickly discovered that her true desire was focus on her own artistry. Hill returned home and began writing and recording songs, sharpening her performance chops at open mic nights. But fate threw her a curveball when a musician friend told her that Michael Jackson was looking for background singers and asked if he could submit her name for the gig. Hill agreed, of course, and to her surprise, found herself with the job.

“It came out of nowhere,” Hill says. “I was like, well, that’s a change of plans. But, a good change of plans.”

Hill put her own music on hold and began rehearsing with Jackson for the planned “This Is It” world tour. In addition to her role as background vocalist, she was chosen to duet with Michael on the classic Bad ballad, “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” later to become the undisputed highlight of the posthumously released film, This Is It. Working closely with one of popular music’s greatest talents proved both an inspiration and an education.

“He was amazing,” Hill says. “Very polite, very shy, but so iconic in everything he did. Everything you’d imagine him to be like. He was a perfectionist, he knew exactly what he wanted. I learned so much just observing him rehearse us, giving notes to the lighting person or the director. It was so incredible to see this iconic King of Pop putting a show together.”

On June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson passed away, leaving Hill and the “This Is It” troupe in a heartbroken state of shock. As the world mourned, Hill was asked to sing at Jackson’s public memorial. Watched by one billion fans around the world, the service’s emotional crescendo came from Hill’s powerfully poignant performance of “Heal The World,” a moment she declares “a milestone in my life. Just being there was overwhelming, but I felt that I had a responsibility to rise above myself and be an inspiring person, to represent Michael in the best way possible.”

Media and industry players soon besieged Hill, all pushing her to release something right there and then. Though advised to ride the momentum, she opted to spend the next few years refining her sound through experimentation and collaborations. Hill strove to perfect every aspect of her artistic persona, incorporating her lifelong zeal for fashion and theatre into her live act while simultaneously pushing her music forward by blending her extensive array of influences into her own unique sound.

“I’m really passionate about bringing cultures together,” Hill says. “I love music from Asian and Arabic and African cultures and it’s exciting to also play with those things visually. Being biracial, those things represent me as well as the world.”

Hill’s desire to create “a more international experience rather than just American pop music” led to her spending much of 2011 traveling the world in partnership with Avon Cosmetics, serving as spokesperson and star of their worldwide Avon Believe World Tour. The trek took Hill to such faraway places as Istanbul, Shanghai, New Delhi, Warsaw, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, and Johannesburg. Further travels brought her to Southeast Asia and South America, where she performed as background singer with Stevie Wonder. While she had not planned to continue her background work, the offer to work with Wonder proved irresistible.

“I said to myself I wouldn’t do background after Michael,” Hill says, “but when Stevie asked me I just said, ‘Yes, of course.’ It’s been a great experience. He’s such an inspiration, just like Michael. I’m so blessed to get to work with these people.”

Judith’s musical journey has since brought her to doing music for Spike Lee’s film Red Hook Summer, the stage of The Voice and to the lens of film director Morgan Neville in the upcoming film 20 Feet From Stardom, which tells the true story of the backup singers behind some of the greatest musicians of the 21st century. Judith is now on the next leg of her great adventure. She’ll be recording her debut solo release due out later this year – and who knows where it will take her and us.

Judith Hill's Website

Just an opinion: Those of us that watched "The Voice" in Spring 2013 may never watch that show again. Judith Hill was second to no-one on the show including the judges. To use the method of using "America" to cast votes seems to be more of a Popularity Contest rather then "The Voice" with was best. Everyone knew she was the best. She could sing circles around everyone including all the judges. She is a world class singer that people would pay to go see in concert. I hope "The Voice" rethinks how they use "America" to cast votes.  I think the judges did just fine without the "American Idol" style method of voting. That is why I lost interest in that show also. Judith Hill keep going, your great! 

Visit her Website, buy her music and video "Twenty Feet From Stardom". You will be amazed as millions of Americans are! 

Good News-Japan vowed Support for Mindanao Philippines

Japan presents dev’t map for Mindanao

By Aurea Calica (The Philippine Star) | Updated July 28, 2013 - 12:00am

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe walks with former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada during wreath-laying ceremonies at the Rizal Shrine yesterday.                                          AP

MANILA, Philippines - Visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday vowed to support the peace process in southern Philippines following the signing of the framework agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Abe presented to President Aquino “a very accurate and leading-edge topographical mapping of Mindanao” that Japan created for future economic development of the region.

The Topographic Mapping Project for Peace and Development in Mindanao amounting to 11.9 million yen (about P5.23 million) was the first “updated and precise digital map” developed in 60 years, according to the Japanese embassy.

It was completed under the Japan-Bangsamoro Initiative for Reconstruction and Development (J-BIRD) for Mindanao.

The digital map, whose data can be flexibly processed and analyzed, will cater to the various needs of planning for development, environmental management, disaster management, land use, socio-economic development, urban utilities management, and transport system.

The project covered all 26 provinces in Mindanao, including Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and the remote islands of Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi, Turtle and Mambahenaunahan with an approximate area of 100,500 square kilometers.

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It was in Tokyo where President Aquino met with MILF chief Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim in August 2011, which was believed to have expedited the peace negotiations between the two sides.

In October of last year, the government and the MILF signed a framework agreement for the establishment of a Bangsamoro government that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Aquino said the core of the two countries’ strategic partnership were mutual respect, goodwill, and a determination to see each other prosper.

“As neighboring nations, we believe that the growth of our peoples will redound to the further development of our region. On this note, I thank the Prime Minister and the people of Japan for their continuous support of the peace process in Mindanao,” Aquino said.

Aquino said the J-BIRD was vital to the socio-economic development of the Bangsamoro.

He said the new initiatives of the program, which include community and human resource development, “will help my countrymen in the Bangsamoro rebuild their communities and become even more productive citizens of the Philippines.”

“For this, Your Excellency, you have the sincerest gratitude of the Filipino people,” Aquino told Abe.

Japan has been playing an active role in assisting the peace process in Mindanao.

The J-BIRD was launched in 2006 and since then Japanese socio-economic development advisers were deployed to the International Monitoring Team (IMT).

The new technical cooperation for the Bangsamoro government is expected to promote comprehensive capacity building to assist the work of the Transition Commission, Bangsamoro Development Agency, and the Bangsamoro Leadership Institute and facilitate smooth transition under the Bangsamoro Transition Authority and the Bangsamoro government.

Aquino said Japan was only one of just two countries with which the Philippines has a strategic partnership, affirmed and strengthen by Abe’s visit.

Aquino also expressed his wish for the good health of Emperor Akihito of Japan, and expressed hope Abe would continue to instill in his countrymen a renewed optimism in their economy and in their country “as you lead them to a more vibrant Japan.”

“And to the Japanese and the Filipino people, may they continue to build on the staunch friendship they have fostered through the years and together, work for the mutual advancement of our countries,” Aquino said.

Aquino said they agreed to strengthen bilateral policy dialogues and to continue high-level visits and people-to-people exchanges.

He said the Japanese government’s decision to encourage more Filipino tourists to visit Japan by allowing multiple-entry visas was welcome, along with the expansion of the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youth (JENESYS) program, which would “provide our respective students a unique opportunity to cultivate friendships and deepen their appreciation for our respective cultures and societies.”

“On the economic front, I congratulated the Prime Minister for the economic gains that Japan enjoys at present. This revival is the result of the Japanese government’s resolve to efficiently manage the economy by improving productivity and increasing the participation of citizens, particularly women, in the labor force. This growth is a positive sign for the global economy and for the Filipino people,” he said.

After all, Japan is the Philippines’ top trading partner, Aquino said, and in 2012, total bilateral trade amounted to $16.35 billion.

“Japan remains our largest source of development assistance, and our country’s second largest source of approved investments, which in the previous year amounted to more than P69 billion. Japan is also our third largest source of tourists; 412,474 Japanese nationals visited our shores last year,” Aquino said.

“Inclusiveness and the adherence to sound policy fundamentals are the same principles that have paved the way for the resurgence of our own economy. During our discussions, I underscored the commitment of my administration to meaningful reform, which is essential in nurturing an attractive and stable investment climate,” he said.

Aquino thanked Abe for Japan’s commitment to Philippine development, and for extending assistance in critical areas such as infrastructure development, transportation, connectivity, and disaster preparedness and response.

“I welcomed the technical assistance provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in developing a transport roadmap study for Metro Manila and its surrounding areas. I also expressed appreciation for Japan’s positive response to our request for a post-disaster stand-by loan through the Stand-by Emergency Credit for Urgent Recovery (SECURE),” Aquino said.

“I also thanked the Prime Minister for the positive indication from his government with respect to improvements in the Philippines’ aviation safety standards; we look forward to productive discussions for our air services,” the President said.

Aquino also told Abe he was looking forward to the commemorative summit in Tokyo in December to mark the 40th year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation.

He said the relationship between Japan and ASEAN “serves as a cornerstone of harmony and dialogue in our part of the world.”

He said Abe’s visit “reaffirms our shared commitment to deepen our relations, foster cooperation, and more importantly build a more peaceful and more secure Asia-Pacific region.”

“It is by treading the path to progress and peace that we can bring about meaningful change for our peoples,” Aquino said.