Crusaders' Wilton Felder passes at age 75

Crusaders legendary Saxman Wilton Felder

Story by the Houston Press
Written by William Michael Smith

Houston and the world lost a giant today with the passing of Wilton Felder, saxophonist for the fabled Crusaders. Mr. Felder was 75.

Felder’s passing comes only a year after the death of his lifelong friend and fellow Crusader Joe Sample. Crusaders trombonist Wayne Henderson died in April, 2014, which now leaves drummer Nesbert “Stix” Hooper as the only living Crusader from the original four.


Crusaders - Keep That Same Old Feeling "Live" from Los Angeles (Wilton Felder on Sax)

Felder, Sample, and Hooper met early in life and formed their first band while attending Phillis Wheatley High School in Houston. They added Henderson and took the name Jazz Crusaders while attending Texas Southern University, but they left school without graduating in 1959 and moved to Los Angeles. They quickly made a name for themselves in the West Coast bebop scene and recorded ten albums in the hard bop style of the day.


Crusaders - Stomp and Buck Dance

But the huge success of the band would wait ten years until 1971 when they dropped one of the first jazz-rock records to cross over into popular music culture, Pass the Plate. Pass the Plate put them on everyone’s radar; they received letters from the Beatles — they famously covered "Eleanor Rigby" — and garnered a slot opening for a Rolling Stones tour.


Crusaders - Street Life "Live" (Sax by Wilton Felder, Vocals by Randy Crawford)

They also were one of the headliners at the Rumble in the Jungle heavyweight championship fight in Zaire in 1974 between Muhammad Ali and Houstonian George Foreman.


Crusaders - "Live" Concert in Seattle 1973

Hajj Stampede Near Mecca Leaves Over 700 Dead

Pilgrims on their way to perform a ritual known as the Stoning of the Devil in Mina. Credit Ahmad Masood/Reuters

Story by the New York Times
Written by Ben Hubbard

BEIRUT, Lebanon — In streaming ribbons of white, great masses of Muslim pilgrims made their way between cities of air-conditioned tents toward the next stop on their holy tour of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Then something went disastrously wrong, trapping the crowds in narrow streets and touching off a mass panic and crushing stampede that left the asphalt covered with lost sandals, crumpled wheelchairs and piles of white-robed bodies.

It was the deadliest accident during the hajj pilgrimage in a quarter-century, with at least 717 pilgrims from around the world killed and more than 850 injured. And it posed yet another challenge for the country’s new leader, King Salman, who is already coping with low oil prices, a war in Yemen and an increasingly fierce rivalry with Iran.

The stampede was the latest in a series of crises that have plagued the pilgrimage this season: Just two weeks ago, a crane collapse killed more than 100 visitors, and hotel fires have injured others. The missteps have embarrassed the insular Saudi monarchy, which considers itself the global guardian of orthodox Islam and takes great pride in protecting the holy sites and their millions of annual visitors.

King Salman — who bears the title of “the custodian of the two holy mosques,” giving him personal responsibility for Mecca and Medina — expressed his condolences for the dead in an address that aired on Saudi state television and ordered a review of the management of the pilgrimage. A commission was formed to investigate.

Other officials appeared to blame the dead. The Saudi health minister, Khalid al-Falih, said in a statement that the stampede may have been caused by “some pilgrims who didn’t follow the guidelines and instructions issued by the responsible authorities.”

But some present in the area at the time said security forces had temporarily closed exits from an area packed with pilgrims, causing the crowding that led to the stampede.


An Egyptian woman who was making the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca described how her husband was killed in a stampede in the nearby town of Mina. By REUTERS on Publish Date September 24, 2015. Photo by Associated Press.

Khalid Saleh, a Saudi government employee who rushed to the site when he heard screams and sirens, said he had found “huge numbers of people on the ground either dying or injured.” Pilgrims there told him that some of the area’s exits had been closed so that V.I.P. cars could pass, he said.

The Saudis’ main regional rival, Iran, blamed Saudi mismanagement for the tragedy. The head of Iran’s hajj organization, Said Ohadi, said two paths near the site of the accident had been closed for “unknown reasons.”

“This caused the tragic incident,” he told Iranian state television. “Saudi officials should be held accountable.”

At least 131 Iranians were among the dead, according to Iranian news agencies.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, blamed “misconduct and improper acts” by Saudi officials and declared three days of public mourning.

The Saudi government has spent billions of dollars on construction in Mecca in recent years aimed at enlarging the Grand Mosque, adding accommodations and facilitating movement between the sites. Those investments followed a number of high-casualty accidents, including the deaths in 2006 of 360 people on a bridge that had long been identified as a dangerous choke point.

Nevertheless, Thursday’s stampede is likely to renew criticism that Saudi Arabia lacks the management skills to protect one of the world’s largest regular human migrations.

Irfan al-Alawi, the executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation and a critic of how the Saudi government has developed Mecca and another holy city, Medina, said by telephone from Mecca that the stampede had been a result of “poor management” by the government, given the number of past disasters.

The stampede occurred early Thursday, the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, near a T-shaped intersection of narrow streets in Mina, a little over three miles east of Mecca, where many pilgrims stay in air-conditioned tents. The area is close to Jamarat, where pilgrims gather to throw pebbles at walls in a ritual that represents the stoning of the devil.

Maj. Gen. Mansour Turki, a spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry, told reporters that large groups of pilgrims had run into one another and started shoving, causing the stampede, which was exacerbated by extreme heat and fatigue.

General Turki and other officials said they would not comment on how the streets had become so crowded before the official investigation was complete.

Saudi officials confined reporters given official access to the pilgrimage for hours after the accident, preventing them from reaching the site and investigating the cause.

Survivors described getting trapped in a crush of bodies and feeling other people walk over their backs in an effort to escape.

“I saw someone trip over someone in a wheelchair and several people tripping over him,” Abdullah Lotfy, a pilgrim from Egypt, told The Associated Press. “People were climbing over each other just to breathe.”

Cellphones and cameras are prohibited from the main sanctuaries, but can be used in the surrounding areas, and videos of the aftermath shared on social media showed scores of lifeless bodies in the street, many covered with the simple white garments pilgrims wear during the hajj.

At St. Patrick’s Cathedral, shortly after his arrival in New York on Thursday, Pope Francis offered his condolences to “my Muslim brothers and sisters.”

One video showed a heap of men lying atop one another while rescue workers in fluorescent yellow vests worked to free struggling survivors trapped between lifeless bodies.

The stampede was the deadliest calamity during the hajj — and in the entire kingdom — since 1990, when 1,426 pilgrims died in a stampede in a tunnel linking Mecca and Mina.

On Sept. 11, a large construction crane toppled over and crashed through the roof of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, killing at least 111 people and injuring 394 others. The Saudi authorities have faulted the Saudi Binladin Group, a construction conglomerate working on the mosque expansion, denying it future contracts and banning some of its executives from leaving the country.

The accidents have occurred as the Saudi government spends billions of dollars on the construction of new buildings — including the world’s largest hotel — that critics say have destroyed the sites’ natural setting and cater only to the wealthiest pilgrims.

But accidents that kill large numbers of visitors have become less common than they were during earlier eras. The last was the stampede in 2006, along with the collapse of a building housing pilgrims, killing at least 73 people.

Sami Angawi, a Mecca-born architect who has spent decades studying the pilgrimage, said the Saudi government faced a huge logistical challenge in welcoming so many people and cycling them through a series of specific sites in a limited amount of time. Some two million pilgrims from 180 countries are performing the hajj this year. He said the pilgrims’ diversity and lack of a common language added to the challenge.

“With a huge number like this and all the diversity that is in it, it is hard to communicate and do orientation,” he said.

But he criticized the Saudi government for seeking to build its way out of the problem instead of improving crowd control.

“There is a lot of money spent, but the solution is not in making more roads or bridges,” he said. “It is in how to organize the management of people to have a flow from one area to another.”

Madawi al-Rasheed, a Saudi anthropologist at the London School of Economics, accused members of the royal family of profiting handsomely from the construction boom.

“The renovation and expansion are done under the pretext of creating more space for Muslim pilgrims, but it masks land grabs and vast amounts of money being made by the princes and by other Saudis,” she said. “There is no accountability.”

Dr. Rasheed said officials in the kingdom had avoided responsibility in part by citing the belief that anyone who dies during the pilgrimage — one of the five pillars of Islam, and a duty for all able-bodied Muslims with the means to make the trip — goes to heaven.

Saudi state television reported the deaths in text banners on its screen during normal pilgrimage programming, only briefly showing footage of rescue workers putting injured pilgrims into ambulances.

“That is among the things that happen at any large gathering,” one presenter said.

He closed his program by reminding viewers that it is a “virtue” to die while performing the pilgrimage and that the tragedy was only “temporary.”

How the coming MGM resort casino could help energize Radio One

Cathy Hughes (photo left), the founder of Silver Spring-based Radio One, discusses the importance of ethnic media on Inside Media at the Newseum
________________________________
Story by the Washington Post
Written by Jonathan O'Connell

Close watchers of Radio One, the national network of radio and television stations aimed at black and urban consumers, knows the company has had a rocky stretch in recent years.

With its radio stations struggling in some markets, the company lost nearly $32 million in six months ending in June. It lost $13 million alone in the second quarter. Radio One’s stock has been trading at a little over $2.50 per share this week, a far cry from its pre-recession value.

But help may be on the way, in the form of the $1.3 billion MGM casino resort under construction at National Harbor.

In order to win a license for the National Harbor casino, MGM Resorts International was required to bring on minority-owned businesses as ownership partners. James J. Murren, MGM chief executive, said he was introduced to Radio One founder Cathy Hughes by an MGM board member, former U.S. Labor secretary Alexis M. Herman.

The meeting led to Hughes and her son, Alfred C. Liggins III, who now runs the company, investing $40 million in the project in return for a potentially lucrative cut of revenues. The stake amounts to about 3.1 percent of the total project cost.

“Alfred and his mom own more than I do,” Murren said.

Murren has made a priority of connecting to minority communities. Last week he was in town to celebrate a $1 million donation MGM made to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In an interview he said 65 percent of his company’s 62,000 employees are minorities and that diversity “has been the driving force behind the entire company.”

The early success of Radio One has been an inspiring story locally. Founder Hughes began broadcasting from the corner of H and Fourth streets NE in 1980, about 30 years before the H Street corridor became fashionable. The company now owns 54 radio stations in 16 markets. Its television shows reach nearly 60 million viewers.

So notable was her role that at the recent H Street festival, that first corner was renamed for her.

“Let me say to you quite appreciatedly and quite sincerely, we would not be the largest black-owned media company in the world today had it not been for the residents of the District of Columbia,” she told a cheering crowd.

Estimates have varied widely about how well the new facility will do, but consultants contracted by the State of Maryland projected that the MGM would generate $713 million to $719 million in annual pretax gambling revenue by 2019. (About 70 percent of the company’s revenue typically comes from non-gambling sources.)

Radio One’s deal means it will get 1 percent of MGM’s gaming revenue, which could mean $7 million annually — not bad for a $40 million investment. Liggins explained last month in the company’s earnings call, according to a transcript prepared by Seeking Alpha, that the company should see proceeds before the end of 2016.

[MGM is] investing real dollars into it, it’s going to be a first class resort in a great location and we should actually be able to recognize revenue from that investment the first month after they file with the Maryland Gaming Authorities on how much gaming revenue they did. So provided it opens in the second half of next year we actually should be able to book some revenue associated with that investment in the second half of next year.

Over time, the MGM money could improve Radio One’s financial position. Liggins told a Wall Street analyst on the call that Radio One planned to use the money to pay down debt and bolster its ability to acquire competitors in radio, television or digital, which could advance its efforts in expanding its television audience and turning around the performance of its radio stations.

The gambling business may be new for Radio One but Murren says there are further opportunities for collaboration with its existing radio and television programs. For instance, the new MGM will have a 3,000-seat entertainment venue that will host concerts, boxing matches, MMA fights and other events.

Those events could be broadcast or cross-promoted for listners on Radio One stations like WMMJ-FM (Majic 102.3).

“We at MGM could sponsor a station or a show or a series of shows,” Murren said.

Pope Francis Challenges Congress to Heal World’s ‘Open Wounds’

Story by New York Times
Written by Peter Baker and Jim Yarkley

WASHINGTON DC — Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Catholics, challenged Congress and by extension the mightiest nation in history on Thursday to break out of its cycle of polarization and paralysis to finally use its power to heal the “open wounds” of a planet torn by hatred, greed, poverty and pollution.

Taking a rostrum never before occupied by the bishop of Rome, the pontiff issued a vigorous call to action on issues largely favored by liberals, including a powerful defense of immigration, a critique of the excesses of capitalism, an endorsement of environmental legislation, a blistering condemnation of the arms trade and a plea to abolish the death penalty.

In particular, Francis beseeched a nation that generates a disproportionate share of the world’s wealth to not let money drive its decisions at the expense of humanity. “Politics is, instead, an expression of our compelling need to live as one, in order to build as one, the greatest common good,” he told a joint meeting of Congress in an address that cited American icons like Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

After his much-anticipated remarks, the pope traveled a short distance from the grandeur of the Capitol to address the plight of Washington’s homeless at St. Patrick’s Church, and to share a meal with those who are without a place to live.

“We can find no social or moral justification, no justification whatsoever, for lack of housing,” the pope said, speaking in Spanish with an interpreter at the church. He urged the homeless to turn toward prayer for strength, and he beseeched those with means to remember them.

“We know that Jesus wanted to show solidarity with every person,” he said.

In his speech at the Capitol, Francis also defended religious liberty and the traditional family at a time when the United States has just legalized same-sex marriage and a Kentucky court clerk went to jail rather than issue marriage certificates violating her religious beliefs. He was less explicit in condemning abortion but called for a defense of life at “every stage of development.”

“I cannot hide my concern for the family, which is threatened perhaps as never before, from within and without,” he said at the end of his speech, delivered in slow, cautious English. “Fundamental relationships are being called into question, as is the very basis of marriage and the family. I can only reiterate the importance and, above all, the richness and the beauty of family life.”

Francis became the first pope ever to address a joint meeting of Congress, a milestone in the journey of the Catholic Church in the United States, and it generated enormous interest. Lawmakers, aides and invited guests jammed the historic chamber of the House of Representatives, while 50,000 more people were invited to watch on jumbo screens on the West Lawn of the Capitol.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/25/us/pope-francis-congress-speech.html?_r=0

U.S. Stocks Decline as Investors Crave More Guidance From Fed

Story by Bloomberg
Written by Sofia Horta E Costa and Kate Garber

Confusion over the Federal Reserve’s stimulus policy prevailed among investors, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its lowest level in three weeks.

Raw-material producers and industrial companies were among the hardest hit as anxiety about global growth continued to smolder. Monsanto Co. and Freeport-McMoRan Inc. lost more than 2.6 percent. Caterpillar Inc. tumbled 6.6 percent after reducing its full-year sales forecast with plans to cut as many as 5,000 jobs. Boeing Co. and General Electric Co. declined at least 1.4 percent amid data showing orders for business equipment stalled.

The S&P 500 dropped 1.2 percent to 1,916.28 at 11:58 a.m. in New York, sliding for the fifth time in six days since the Fed cited turbulence in financial markets as reason to stand pat on interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 212.05 points, or 1.3 percent, to 16,067.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 1.4 percent. Trading in S&P 500 companies was 5 percent below the 30-day average for this time of day.

“The Fed backed themselves into a corner last week by talking about China and emerging markets,” said Andrew Brenner, the head of international fixed income for National Alliance Capital Markets. “The fact that they’re adding China and emerging markets into the mix and then still thinking about raising rates between now and the end of the year is very inconsistent. It adds uncertainty to the market. That’s why equities have been performing poorly since mid-day of the Fed announcement.”

Uncertainty over the Fed’s actions has made equities more volatile in past weeks. The central bank held off raising rates last Thursday and said it would consider spillover risks from global markets. Fed officials have since said a 2015 increase is still warranted. Traders may get more clarity when Chair Janet Yellen speaks in Massachusetts after markets close.

Read More: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-24/u-s-index-futures-drop-before-data-with-s-p-500-near-3-week-low

Pope Francis gets political in Washington debut

Story by CNN
Written by Stephen Collinson

Washington (CNN)Pope Francis immediately dove into the whirlpool of U.S. politics on Wednesday, using his first direct address to the nation to weigh in on deeply divisive issues including climate change, Cuba, marriage and immigration.

The pontiff, speaking before 11,000 ticketed guests at an elaborate welcoming ceremony on South Lawn of the White House, signaled he will take on controversial issues during his six-day visit.


In remarks delivered slowly in accented English, Francis said he was ready to listen to the "hopes and dreams of the American people" and to offer guidance to those charged with shaping the nation's political future "in fidelity to its founding principles."

In comments that could antagonize Republicans, Francis endorsed President Barack Obama's efforts on climate change and rebuilding ties with Cuba after more than half a century of estrangement.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/23/politics/pope-francis-washington-visit-updates/index.html

Pope arrives in the United States

On Tuesday afternoon, Pope Francis arrives at Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington, D.C., to begin his historic first trip to the United States.

Story by Yahoo News

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will personally greet the pontiff.

At 3:45 p.m. ET today, Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric will host a special Yahoo News live stream to coincide with the moment Francis is expected to arrive. Couric will be joined by a diverse panel of civic and faith-based leaders to discuss the pope’s influence on the Catholic Church and the significance of his trip. The panel consists of Father Manuel Dorantes, assistant to the director of the Holy See press office; Melissa Rogers, executive director of the White House faith-based and neighborhood partnerships, Amy Sullivan, Yahoo News senior editor; James Carroll, author of “Christ Actually”; and Michael O’Loughlin, author of “The Tweetable Pope” and national reporter for Crux.

Pope Francis offers the world a prophetic voice - by Jesse Jackson

Commentary by Jesse Jackson
September 22, 2015

Washington is girding itself for what will be an historic visit by Pope Francis this week. So many are expected to flock into the city that government employees are encouraged to work at home. The pope will address a joint session of Congress, celebrate mass, meet with the president and tend to the impoverished. He may meet with the low-wage workers who serve food to the senators and not just with the senators. He will then go to Philadelphia and New York, give an address on climate change and possibly celebrate mass on Wall Street.

Already the political crossfire has begun, with conservatives assailing the pope for not understanding modern markets. One columnist condemned him as a false prophet, standing against “modernity, rationality, science and … the spontaneous creativity of open societies.”

Republicans are outraged that at Laudato Si, the Pope’s stunning encyclical addressing our relationship to God’s creation of nature and calling on us to change our ways to meet the challenge of climate change. While the Republican presidential campaign has been fixated on building walls, the pope represents the voice of Jesus that calls for caring for the stranger on the Jericho Road. While conservatives worship Adam Smith and the marketplace, the pope scorns the false idol of materialism, rejects the “magical conception of the market.” “To claim economic freedom,” he wrote in the encyclical, “while real conditions bar many people from real access to it, and while possibilities for employment continue to shrink, is to practice a doublespeak which brings politics into disrepute.”

Liberals, on the other hand, shudder at the pope’s embrace of life and continued commitment to the church’s rejection of abortion. This pope has called for a “jubilee” that, among other things, offers greater forgiveness for those who have divorced or had abortions.

Francis is the first pope to come from the South, from Argentina in his case. He named himself after Saint Francis of Assisi, who, the pope noted, “lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God … (showing) us just how inseparable is the bond between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society and interior peace.”

Without question, the pope’s visit will spark major political disputes, as partisans pick and choose phrases to club their opponents with. But the pope has no party. He carries the message of the Gospel, of Jesus born into poverty, who dedicated his ministry to the poor. Jesus taught us to come to the aid of the poor, to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, care for the sick and visit the prisoner. We would be judged, he taught, for “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Jesus of Nazareth ministered to the poor, and that alarmed the rich and powerful, who reacted with fear and anger.

Pope Francis now offers the world a prophetic voice. We must not sacrifice people at the “altar of money” or worship the “golden calf.” He calls on us to amend our ways so we can meet the challenges of climate change, poverty, war and division.

The pope is grounded in the values of the Church, the teachings of Jesus. He is not a policy wonk or a political partisan. Personal responsibility and charity are central to his teaching. And he knows that governments, institutions and markets created by man reflect their values. If distorted, they can have perverse effects and must be reformed.

In a time of extreme inequality, with millions still in absolute poverty, with growing displacement of peoples stoking hatreds and fears, with climate change a clear and already present danger, Pope Francis calls us to change, to return to core values, and build anew.

His prophetic voice is badly needed in this troubled times. No doubt his message will be distorted and hijacked for partisan political purposes. But beneath that din, we should consider his words, weigh his wisdom and look into ourselves. He is summoning us to unleash our better angels. We would be wise to listen and reflect.

Radio One's Cathy Hughes honored with "Cathy Hughes Corner" - 4th and H Street - dedicated by Washington DC and H Street Festival

Saturday, September 19th was a PROUD moment for Ms. H., as the birthplace of Radio One, 4th and H Street received a new name – Cathy Hughes Corner.

Story by Mymajicdc.com
Photo by Blogzworth/Radio One

H Street in Washington D.C. wasn’t always known for its vibrant store fronts and electic mix of cultured professionals, celebrating life. There was a period in time when H Street was simply known as the slums, which produced more drug dealers and crack heads than thriving business owners. And then came Cathy Hughes, a single mother with a dream to build an empire.

H Street also wasn’t the most popular choice of residence for a first time business owner, but Cathy was determined to turn her dreams into reality and H Street would be her canvas. In 1980 she bought the AM radio station WOL 1450 on 4th & H Street in Washington D.C. and built the station from the ground up. It was the first of its kind; a station that would serve the African American community and deal with the problems that affected them directly.

H Street, it’s flaws and all became her home, it became her family, and it became the beginning of one of the most successful careers in media anyone has ever seen. H Street also helped her build the largest African American media company in the world. They helped her keep it safe, they helped her build the bricks and they helped her turn one station into 70 stations all across the country.


35 years later the H Street Festival and Washington D.C. honored Cathy Hughes for her contributions to the community by renaming the corner of 4th & H Street “Cathy Hughes Corner".

Many of her original supporters came to the festival to show their respect to the media legend and to be apart of history all over again.

Cathy walked through the original building that housed WOL in 1980 and reminisced about the companies beginnings. “We gutted the floor and built this entire basement by hand,” she said. “Nothing was going to stop us from creating a staple in the community, Nothing.” As the stage ceremony began, fans gathered in front of the stage and an emotional Ms. Hughes was awarded with a plaque commemorating the newly named “Cathy Hughes Corner".


“This is one of the best days of my career.”Don’t let anyone ever tell you that one person can’t make a change, because they truly can.”
– Cathy Hughes

Viola Davis wins EMMY for Best Actress

How to Get Away With Murder’s Leading Actress Viola Davis had a tear-inducing speech as she won Best Actress in a Drama Series. After opening with a Harriet Tubman quote, Viola pointed out the continued scarcity of roles for minority actresses in Hollywood, saying: “You cannot win an EMMY for roles that are simply not there.”

President Obama salutes African-American Women at the 2015 Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Convention

Amongst a packed crowd - that included Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton - at the Annual CBCF's Phoenix Dinner Awards Gala, President Obama recognized the accomplishments of African-American and advocated equal-pay-for-equal-work for all Women.


"All of those women who came before us and risked everything for life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." —President Barack Obama, Sept. 18, 2015. (Official White House Photo)

Federal Reserve Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged

Story by Bloomberg
Written by Christopher Condon

Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged, opting to delay an increase amid stubbornly low inflation, an uncertain outlook for global growth and recent financial-market turmoil.

“Recent global economic and financial developments may restrain economic activity somewhat and are likely to put further downward pressure on inflation in the near term,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement Thursday in Washington.

In holding their benchmark federal funds rate at zero to 0.25 percent, policy makers showed they are still not convinced inflation will move gradually back to their 2 percent target, despite continued gains in the labor market. Unemployment in August fell to 5.1 percent, its lowest level since April 2008.

“On balance, labor market indicators show that underutilization of labor resources has diminished since early this year,” officials said.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to 2.23 percent at 2:10 p.m. in New York following the release of the statement from 2.30 percent late on Wednesday. The S&P 500 pared earlier gains.

Lacker Dissents

Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker dissented, saying he preferred to raise the target rate by 0.25 percentage point.

Many economists have worried that recent losses in China’s equity markets reflect deeper worries over growth prospects for the world’s second-biggest economy. Slowing demand from China has also helped trigger a global slump in commodity costs, adding downward pressure to prices in the U.S.

Inflation, as measured by the Fed’s preferred gauge, was 0.3 percent in the 12 months through July and has lingered below 2 percent for more than three years.

The committee repeated that it will raise rates when it has seen "some further improvement in the labor market and is reasonably confident that inflation will move back to its 2 percent objective over the medium term."

___________________________
FEDERAL RESERVE FULL STATEMENT:

Press Release

Release Date: September 17, 2015
For immediate release

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in July suggests that economic activity is expanding at a moderate pace. Household spending and business fixed investment have been increasing moderately, and the housing sector has improved further; however, net exports have been soft. The labor market continued to improve, with solid job gains and declining unemployment. On balance, labor market indicators show that underutilization of labor resources has diminished since early this year. Inflation has continued to run below the Committee's longer-run objective, partly reflecting declines in energy prices and in prices of non-energy imports. Market-based measures of inflation compensation moved lower; survey-based measures of longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.

Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. Recent global economic and financial developments may restrain economic activity somewhat and are likely to put further downward pressure on inflation in the near term. Nonetheless, the Committee expects that, with appropriate policy accommodation, economic activity will expand at a moderate pace, with labor market indicators continuing to move toward levels the Committee judges consistent with its dual mandate. The Committee continues to see the risks to the outlook for economic activity and the labor market as nearly balanced but is monitoring developments abroad. Inflation is anticipated to remain near its recent low level in the near term but the Committee expects inflation to rise gradually toward 2 percent over the medium term as the labor market improves further and the transitory effects of declines in energy and import prices dissipate. The Committee continues to monitor inflation developments closely.

To support continued progress toward maximum employment and price stability, the Committee today reaffirmed its view that the current 0 to 1/4 percent target range for the federal funds rate remains appropriate. In determining how long to maintain this target range, the Committee will assess progress--both realized and expected--toward its objectives of maximum employment and 2 percent inflation. This assessment will take into account a wide range of information, including measures of labor market conditions, indicators of inflation pressures and inflation expectations, and readings on financial and international developments. The Committee anticipates that it will be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate when it has seen some further improvement in the labor market and is reasonably confident that inflation will move back to its 2 percent objective over the medium term.

The Committee is maintaining its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in agency mortgage-backed securities and of rolling over maturing Treasury securities at auction. This policy, by keeping the Committee's holdings of longer-term securities at sizable levels, should help maintain accommodative financial conditions.

When the Committee decides to begin to remove policy accommodation, it will take a balanced approach consistent with its longer-run goals of maximum employment and inflation of 2 percent. The Committee currently anticipates that, even after employment and inflation are near mandate-consistent levels, economic conditions may, for some time, warrant keeping the target federal funds rate below levels the Committee views as normal in the longer run.

Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Janet L. Yellen, Chair; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; Lael Brainard; Charles L. Evans; Stanley Fischer; Dennis P. Lockhart; Jerome H. Powell; Daniel K. Tarullo; and John C. Williams. Voting against the action was Jeffrey M. Lacker, who preferred to raise the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points at this meeting.

Elroy Smith Boasts about Tom Joyner’s Rare Commitment to the People

SummitMedia/Greenville-Spartanburg Operations Manager, Elroy Smith paid Tom Joyner the ultimate compliment by letting the world know how Tom Joyner operates when he is amongst the people. The two radio veterans have known each other for years and “The Fly-Jock” continues to impress Elroy by just doing what he does best outside of being on the air and that is connecting with the people. Check out Elroy’s comments about Tom Joyner as he detailed his accounts of Tom’s time spent in Greenville.

Commentary by Radio Legend Elroy Smith

Radio legend Tom Joyner has had a notably successful career for a plethora of reasons. On Saturday, September 12, 2015, I witnessed the master at work. Mr. Tom Joyner, interacted eagerly and tirelessly with his listeners at this signature event, “TAKE A LOVED ONE TO THE DOCTOR” presented by 107-3 JAMZ in Greenville, South Carolina, along with Greenville Health Systems. He walked around the ENTIRE venue and greeted each listener one by one.

In addition, every person that wanted a picture with Tom, he stopped to take a picture whenever asked. He not only posed for selfies with the listeners, but also with the volunteers/workers and graciously thanked them for working at the event… And with patience of a saint, he would even retake the picture if it wasn’t to their liking.

Forever known as “The Fly-Jock”, just two weeks prior, Tom was again in Greenville, SC., to host the “Battle of The Bands” with 10,000 people in attendance.

Tom’s impeccable work ethic is not a norm for celebrities. On many occasions, whether it is a radio or musical celebrity, most set limits on time during a market visit to greet fans or clients. Quickly they are gone back to their hotel room. Of course, there are exceptional circumstances that security is needed, but it can be abused. However, Tom remains approachable, opting-out for personal security or a manager keeping his fans away. I have seen celebrities who are far less popular than Tom Joyner with a huge entourage or security guards, driving away their fans by blocking an opportunity for a fan to take a picture or simply shake their hand. Tom Joyner is the epitome of a professional.

He has given his life to his listeners for over 40+ years, though he carries himself as if he is at the beginning of his career; always re-establishing his brand.

Thanks Tom for showing your fans that you genuinely care about them and our communities. Many present and future radio personalities can learn from a veteran like you; never miss an opportunity to embrace your audience.

His example is sincere and he lives up to his reputation of being (voice goes up 6 octaves) “The Hardest Working Man in Radio!”

E.S.

Bobby Bennett, rollicking DJ in the District, dies at 72 - Washington Post Obituary

Bobby Bennett in the late 1970s. (Washington Post File Photo/The Washington Post)

Story by Washington Post Obituary
Written by Marc Fisher
Link: http://kirktanter.blogspot.com/2015/09/bobby-bennett-passes-at-72.html

Bobby Bennett, who as the Mighty Burner fired up the airwaves in Washington and beyond for more than four decades with jive-talking patter and a deep playlist of soul sounds, died Sept. 8 at his home in Punta Gorda, Fla. He was 72.

The cause was respiratory failure, his wife, Connie Payne, said.

Starting out in 1968 as the overnight DJ on the District’s most popular black-oriented station, WOL, and continuing until 2008, when he retired from XM Satellite Radio, where he headed the Soul Street channel, Mr. Bennett was a rhyming, ad-libbing advocate for local and lesser-known artists and was a distinctive, clarion pitchman for local businesses such as Cavalier Men’s Shop and the former Dimensions Unlimited concert promoters.

“Brother Bobby here in a disco inferno, cooking all over your radio, burnin’ a hunk of funk,” he said in a typical riff introducing a record on WOL in 1977. “I got my hammer jamming, got my pedal to the metal, got a hold on my soul. Let’s roll.”

Mr. Bennett, who was born Marshall Stanley Payne III on July 20, 1943, adopted his broadcast name as a young man in his home town of Pittsburgh, where he launched his career while in high school.

He grew up in the projects — “I mean the sure enough ’jects,” he once told The Washington Post — and fell in love with radio. He showed up at Pittsburgh’s WAMO and volunteered to do a Saturday night show playing classic R&B. He parlayed that into a paying job after he completed broadcasting school; he quit his $165-a-week job as a telephone-booth distributor for Western Electric to make $75 weekly at WAMO.

In 1968, when few black voices were in media and the District was seared by racial tension and street riots, Mr. Bennett was recruited to Washington’s WOL, a low-powered AM station that was both the entertainment soundtrack and a vital information source for the city’s majority-black population.

Mr. Bennett joined a staff of DJs who were beloved by many for leading a round-the-clock street party, playing music that white stations wouldn’t touch, and who were trusted for reflecting the frustrations and anger of many of their listeners. Voices such as Petey Greene, Bob “Nighthawk” Terry and Sunny Jim Kelsey played the hits and served as a community bulletin board, getting the word out about political forums, black theater and blood drives.

Within days of arriving at WOL’s storefront studios on H Street NE, Mr. Bennett, alone in the building in the middle of the night, left his microphone to open the front door for the janitor, and promptly locked himself out.

“I could hear the record going cha-choom, cha-choom,” he told The Post. “I said, ‘Oh, Lord, I’m going to be sent back to Pittsburgh on waivers.’ ” A WOL newscaster who lived nearby heard the stuck record on the radio and hurried over to unlock the door.

Mr. Bennett survived that incident and stayed on with WOL until 1980, mainly in the afternoon drive-time slot. He spent the ’80s bouncing around the local radio scene. He did a sports talk show on WTOP (103.5 FM) for a few years and served as program director at WHUR (96.3 FM) from 1987 to 1992. He also worked for record companies and in 1988 wrote “The Ultimate Soul Trivia Book” with co-author Sarah Smith.

His piercing voice remained a constant on black stations across the nation, through the commercials he recorded, mainly for nightclubs and concerts.

“Tonight! One show only! Together on one stage!” The concert might be the Chi-Lites or the Marvelettes, but the tight, intense, bracingly loud voice was unmistakable.

“Everybody else is cool and quiet in those concert spots,” Mr. Bennett said in a 1997 interview with The Post. “I hit you like a ton of bricks. When I say Tina Turner’s coming to town, you know she’s going to be there.” His ads were so compelling that Mr. Bennett was sometimes asked to perform them in concert.

In the mid-1990s, he co-hosted the morning show on WXTR, first with Johnny Holliday and then with Jack Alix — a rare pairing of black and white DJs in the highly segregated world of commercial radio.

Later, he worked as a volunteer host of a popular soul classics show on Saturday afternoons on WPFW (89.3 FM), the listener-supported station that allowed him the freedom to “play what I want and say what I want,” as he put it. “You hold them with the familiar music, and then you smoke ’em with the surprises.”

Mr. Bennett was founder and primary on-air voice of Soul Street, the soul channel on XM Satellite Radio, where he remained until it merged with Sirius and much of its programming was moved to New York. He was a deacon for 25 years at the evangelical Immanuel’s Church in Silver Spring, Md., and gradually retired to Punta Gorda from his home in Olney, Md.

Besides his wife of 51 years, survivors include two children, Eric Payne, an Army sergeant major stationed in Landstuhl, Germany, and Ami Richardson of Bowie, Md.; two brothers; and seven grandchildren.

In a long radio career, Mr. Bennett developed a loyal, devoted audience, to which he bade a good night on each of his WOL shows with this rollicking sign-off: “Brother Bobby cockin’ on outta here,” he once said. “Y’all be good like ya should, ’cause if I could, I would, but I can’t so I ain’t.”

And then he kissed his listeners farewell: “Ummmsmaaack-POW.”

NBA Hall of Famer "Chairman of the Boards" Moses Malone dead at 60

Story By AP via NBA.com
Written by AP's Brian Mahoney

Video Links:
http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2015/09/13/20150913-moses-malone-obit.nba/
http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2015/09/13/moses-malone-career-retrospective.nba/
http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2015/09/13/20150913-barkley-malone.nba/

Hall of Famer, three-time MVP and NBA's all-time offensive rebounder was first high schooler to go directly to pros.

PHILADELPIA (AP) - Moses Malone devoured rebounds so easily it sometimes seemed he missed shots on purpose to pad his total before scoring.

All those points and rebounds made Malone an NBA great.

A few words, and one championship, made him a Philadelphia sports icon.

Malone, a three-time NBA MVP and one of basketball's most ferocious rebounders, died Sunday in Norfolk, Virginia, where he was scheduled to appear at a charity golf event. He was 60.

Malone had just attended this weekend's enshrinement ceremonies at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Boards," Malone was inducted himself in 2001 and remains in the NBA's top 10 in career scoring and rebounding.

"With three MVPs and an NBA championship, he was among the most dominant centers ever to play the game and one of the best players in the history of the NBA and the ABA," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said.

Norfolk police said Malone was found unresponsive and not breathing in his room by hotel staff shortly before 8 a.m. Norfolk Fire Rescue responded and pronounced Malone dead at the scene. A cause of death has not been determined.

Read more: http://www.nba.com/2015/news/09/13/moses-malone-dies-wire.ap/

Serena Williams upset by Roberta Vinci in US Open semis

Story by ESPN
Written by Greg Garber

NEW YORK -- Two match wins away from tennis history, Serena Williams finally failed in a major moment Friday.

Unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci stunned the No. 1-ranked player 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the US Open semifinals for one of the greatest upsets the sport has ever seen. It was Williams' first loss in a Grand Slam singles match this year and ended her bid for the first calendar-year Slam since 1988.

Vinci ended Williams' 2015 major streak at 26 straight matches and, going back to last year's US Open, 33 overall.

Read more: http://espn.go.com/tennis/usopen15/story/_/id/13631724/serena-williams-pursuit-calendar-year-grand-slam-ends-us-open-semifinals

David Gregory breaks silence on NBC departure

Story by CBS News
Photo by Moses Robinson/Getty Images for NBCUniversal

For the first time since his public departure from NBC News last August, former White House correspondent and "Meet the Press" moderator David Gregory is breaking his silence saying, "I don't miss NBC."

"I don't miss being there. It was just the wrong atmosphere for me," he said Wednesday on "CBS This Morning."

After a 20-year career, Gregory describes his ouster as publicly humiliating and a situation that was handled poorly by the news network.

Ahead of his departure, rumors began to swell in the press.

Initially, NBC president Deborah Turness stood behind Gregory, but eventually leaks reportedly coming from within NBC became too much to quell.

Gregory was on his way to pick up his kids from summer camp in New Hampshire when he received a phone call from an NBC News exec telling him his run on "Meet the Press" was, in fact, over.

He also learned that he would not be moderating a final show, for what Gregory said was fear he might put the network through another "Ann Curry moment."

"NBC was concerned that if they let me have a last show to thank the audience that I was going to somehow go after them," he said. "They wanted to avoid that. That was never going to happen. So they leaked the fact that they had made a decision for me to go."

According to the Washingtonian, a $4-million severance agreement does not allow him to discuss the parting of ways, but Gregory said he was not going to be fired at that moment.

"But I felt like I was going to be," he said. "I had said to NBC, 'You know, look, if you don't shore me up, this is Washington, there's blood in the water, if you don't shore me up, because leaks that are coming from within NBC are very hurtful to me, it's getting in the way of what we're trying to do for the show, so if you're not prepared to do that - and they were not prepared to shore me up, over the longer term - then I felt it was time for me to go."

But Gregory recognizes reaction from within the organization, as well as response from the public, stems from how he carried himself among his colleagues.

"I didn't think enough about communicating to people, 'Hey if I'm doing well, you're doing well. We're doing this together,' and I think some people were not unhappy to see me get some comeuppance," he said.

The events, as they unfolded, ended up being one of the journalist's biggest tests of the faith that he had been working privately to find and nourish.

Now, his quest for a more meaningful and spiritual life is at the center of his new book, "How's Your Faith?" (Published by CBS-owned Simon and Schuster).

"In a moment like that, it was a real moment of testing," he said. "It was not the beginning of my faith journey, but it was a moment to say, 'Well then who do I want to be in this moment, for my kids? What is God expect of me in this moment? Who do I ultimately want to be? And that's where I tried to stay above the fray and express my thanks to the audience."

Gregory grew up with a strong sense of Jewish identity, but said it was not until being confronted by his Protestant wife, Beth Wilkinson, that he fully pursued his religious journey.

He writes in the book, "When Beth pressed me for more depth about my faith, I didn't have a clear answer. 'I know what you are,' she would say, 'but what do you believe?'"

"I think I was selfish in this regard that I didn't recognize what a big sacrifice that was to give up her traditions and to share that with our kids and it's something I've tried to recognize over time," he said.

A Nicholas Brothers Tribute

America's Journey for Justice in North Carolina

September 3rd, 2015 - As America's Journey for Justice marches through North Carolina, a National Voting Rights March and Rally is held in front of the North Carolina General Assembly in Raleigh.

Washington DC Radio Legend Bobby Bennett passes at 72

Story by AllAccess.com, DCRTV, and I
Link: http://kirktanter.blogspot.com/2015/09/bobby-bennett-rollicking-dj-in-district.html

Marshall Robert Payne III (aka Bobby “The Mighty Burner” Bennett) has passed away. The 72 year old Pittsburgh native died yesterday evening, September 8th in the Punta Gorda area of Florida, where he had retired. Bennett had just retired to the Sunshine State just a few short years ago.

BENNETT had been in a coma since JULY after suffering a stroke.



The Bobby Bennett Story –

Radio DJ Bobby Bennett was born Robert Payne on July 20, 1943 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From a young age, Bennett knew that he wanted to be a radio DJ. Following high school, he enrolled in a broadcasting school in Pittsburgh.

In 1967, Bennett worked as a news reporter for Pittsburgh’s WAMO-AM and WZUM radio stations.


One year later, in 1968, he moved to Washington DC and began working at WOL-AM, where he became known to radio fans as “The Mighty Burner” and hosted a show until 1980.

Bennett then hosted a sports talk show on WTOP in the early 1980s, and served as program director for WHUR-FM from 1987 to 1992.

After his time at WHUR, Bennett was hired as a morning talk show host at WXTR; and, in 1997, he became the host of a very popular R&B oldies radio show on WPFW-FM, where he caught the ear of the Programming brass at the new XM Satellite Radio.

In 2000, newly formed XM Satellite Radio hired Bennett to Program a Fifties and Sixties Soul-Oldies channel called “Soul Street”. I was Bobby's Original Soul Street Production Director and also as a Soul Street Air Personality. I found Bobby to be hard working; serious about his favorite music; and detailed about the presentation of a 1950's and 1960's radio station.

Bobby was full of history about the radio business and expressive about the people who ran it. A walking radio encyclopedia....especially Black Radio. He was incredible funny and known for that high squeeky laugh.

Bobby Bennett brought many of the legendary Soul acts into the New York Avenue XM Satellite building, including James Brown. When James Brown came into the building to see Bobby, all work stopped for nearly all the radio operations. Clearly a highlight for XM. I will miss my buddy and those two years working hand and hand.

Bennett served as the "Soul Street" Program Director until 2010, when Sirius Satellite Radio (XM's main and only competitor) drop "Soul Street" from its new line-up shortly after it bought XM.

During his career, Bennett also was employed as a Record Executive, Voice-Over Narrator, and a highly-touted Concert Voice-Over Artist - whom would close his concert commercials with his popular 'extended' phrase of: "BEEE THERRRREE". His excitement in his unique delivery made you want to be there at all those concerts.

Bennett was also an author. He co-authored "THE ULTIMATE SOUL MUSIC TRIVIA BOOK": 501 Questions and Answers About MOTOWN, Rhythm & Blues, and More, published in 1997.

Robert Payne (aka Bobby Bennett) is survived by his wife CONNIE, his son ERIC, daughter AMY, and his Grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements are pending.
______________________________
Links: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/bobby-bennett-rollicking-dj-in-the-district-dies-at-72/2015/09/12/3fc5a8d8-5768-11e5-b8c9-944725fcd3b9_story.html
http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/bobby-bennett
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/satellite-radio-listeners-rankled-by-xm-sirius-merger-20081121
http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/145369/radio-and-music-industry-veteran-bobby-bennett-has
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Story below by AllAccess.com
10 Questions with ... Bobby Bennett
September 18, 2007

1) What was your first job in radio? Early influences?
My first job was at WAMO AM in Pittsburgh, doing news. I worked with air personalities Al Gee and Sir Walter

2) What led you to a career in radio? Was there a defining moment that made you realize "this is it?"
I loved music and enjoyed talking with people. I won a "student of the week" award in high school, and one of the prizes was a visit to the local radio station (WAMO) to be on the air. After that, I knew that radio was my calling.

3) If you were just starting out in radio, knowing now what you didn't know then, would you still do it?
Yes, but I would probably go into TV.

4) Where do you see the industry and yourself five years from now?
I see myself living on the beach at my home in Florida, and communicating with students at Colleges and Universities about the industry that I have made my living in all these years.

5) What do you see as the biggest changes in the Satellite industry since you first started at XM?
Acceptance by the general public as well as the radio industry. We at XM have grown from 0 to eight-and-a-half million subscribers in six years and continue to grow. I think the public realizes that Satellite Radio offers so much more than is available on AM or FM radio.

6) What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?
The one thing that I have always tried to do throughout my career, is give the public the best performance I have every day I'm on the air.

7) What kind of difference has Jon Zellner made since he joined XM Radio?
Jon has given us the benefit of his leadership in the Programming Department, but he has let us run our channels in our own way.

8) Of all the skills you have gained through the years, is there an area you'd like to improve?
There is always room for improvement, no matter who you are, but to look at one particular area to improve on, I can't say. I have been pretty happy with the direction my career has taken.

9) How do you see the industry's perception of Satellite radio changing in the future?
I think that the industry will accept Satellite radio just like Cable TV has been accepted.

10) As you look back over your career ... any regrets? Missed opportunities?
Not really, like most people I would like to make more money, but other than that I have no regrets.


Bonus Questions

What would people who think they know Bobby Bennett be surprised to find out?

That I am a sports junkie ... especially golf!
Do you still do and enjoy your voiceover work?

Absolutely, I started doing voiceovers back in the '70s when there weren't that many black voices doing them, and it has been a wonderful experience. With the technology that we have now, I can work from home, and that makes it even easier
What's was the toughest part of changing over from terrestrial radio to satellite radio?

It was very easy, the best part is, we can venture into an area of music that we couldn't dare do on FM radio. In other words, we can play the entire Temptations catalog not just a few songs that were top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
How large is the music library for the soul oldies channel you are now in charge of? Does it change from year-to-year?

We currently have about 4,000 songs in our catalog. We may add a song every now and then as they come available,
Describe your favorite meal?

Seafood gumbo.
- See more at: http://www.allaccess.com/urban/10-questions/archive/4089-10-questions-with-bobby-bennett#sthash.LGsrMVBg.dpuf

Jason Pierre-Paul returns to Florida without a contract

Story by ESPN
Written by Tom Rock and Bob GlauberL

Jason Pierre-Paul came, and Jason Pierre-Paul went.

A day after the Giants were allowed to examine his injured right hand for the first time, the 26-year-old defensive end was heading home to Florida without having signed a contract to play for them this season.

He remains on the reserve/franchise tag list and almost certainly will not be collecting the $14.8 million tendered to him. The Giants have not rescinded the tag -- doing so would make him a free agent -- but it's clear they are unwilling to pay full price for what they now believe will be part-time production.

Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong with King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band in 1922 - Louis Armstrong Airport in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Katrina Memorial in New Orleans

New Orleans Katrina Memorial


Unclaimed victims lay in state above-ground at the New Orleans Katrina Memorial

Holmes in your Home - Los Angeles Radio Legend Rick Holmes passes

Richard Holmes Obituary

Knoxville, TN

Richard Arthur Holmes, Jr. (aka Rick), born in Knoxville, Tennessee on April 21, 1936 to Clara Sams-Holmes and Richard Arthurs Holmes, Sr. He grew up with his sister Eleanor Sylvia and received his early education in Knoxville. Richard served in the United States Navy and then moved to Los Angeles, California where he was employed at the US Postal Service, while attending Don Martin School of Broadcasting. He was a member of Holman Methodist Church under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. James Lawson, Jr., a pastor and civil rights activist.

After graduating from Don Martin he began his professional radio career at KBCA Radio 105.1 FM, in Los Angeles, a Mount Wilson Broadcasting Jazz station owned by Saul Levine. His show became very popular and was coined "Rick's Affair," with his theme song "Poinciana," an arrangement by Ahmad Jamal. This resonated with many listeners in the evening time slot. As was his style, he closed his show with quotes and poetry by Orson Welles. Richard was employed at KBCA from 1967 until 1976. In 1970 he married Ellinore Harris and from this union in 1975 he received the greatest joy of his life, the birth of his daughter Clarissa Amber Holmes. Based on these events, he changed the name of his show to "Rick's Family Affair."

Richard furthered his career in broadcasting at KJLH 102.3 FM, owned by Stevie Wonder, in another evening time slot as "Holmes in your Home." He continued to educate his listening audience about the music genre of Jazz and the exemplary talents of Jazz musicians. One of the banner ads on his show was the adorable voice of his daughter, Amber, who at four years old sang the Radio station jingle with so much bravado that many were impressed and overjoyed. He received many phone calls to play her version of the station song.

Rick was a radio personality, Master of Ceremonies, an Actor, and a spoken word recording artist. He worked with Ruth Dolphin at the legendary Dolphins of Hollywood, and also the famous Dooto's Records in South Central L.A.

After leaving KJLH, Richard returned to Knoxville to spend time with his beloved mother. There he became a member of the Payne Avenue Church, in which he served in many capacities. He married again and settled down to enjoy his wife and family.

Rick was preceded in death by his wife Tiny; parents, Richard and Clara Holmes; stepfather, Hubert Rucker; sister, Eleanor Holmes Jones and nephew, Timothy Lee Jones. Richard Arthur Holmes, Jr. leaves to cherish his memory; his daughter, Clarissa Garrett of Los Angeles, California; brother-in-law, Thomas Jones of Chicago, Illinois; nephews, Thomas Jones, Jr. and Gregory Jones of Chicago, Illinois, Angela Jones, San Francisco, California and a host of cousins, great nieces, nephews and many close friends.

Family will receive friends, 1:00-1:30 p.m., Saturday at Payne Avenue Baptist Church; celebration of life, 1:30 p.m., Rev. Richard S. Brown, officiating.

See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/knoxnews/obituary.aspx?pid=175718994#sthash.dvX0TxO0.dpuf

Why Tom Brady, NFLPA beat Roger Goodell in their Deflategate appeal

Story by Sports Illustrated
Written by Michael McCann

The Pittsburgh Steelers will need to adjust their game plan for their season opener against the New England Patriots on next Thursday, Sept. 10. Thanks to a decision by a federal judge on Thursday, Sept. 3, they’re going to face one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks.

In one of the most significant legal defeats for the NFL in its 95-year history, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman on Thursday vacated Roger Goodell’s decision to uphold Tom Brady’s four-game suspension (view the entire decision here). By vacating Goodell’s decision, Judge Berman causes Brady’s suspension to be lifted before it was scheduled to take effect on Saturday, Sept. 5. Consequently, Brady will be able to practice with his teammates on Saturday and play against the Steelers next Thursday and in subsequent games.

The NFL will likely file a notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and seek an expedited review. As explained below, even if the Second Circuit grants the NFL an expedited review, it would take several months before a decision is made. The NFL might also seek a stay of Judge Berman’s order that would allow the league to suspend Brady during its appeal, but it is unlikely a stay would be granted.

Why Judge Berman ruled for the NFLPA

The simplest explanation for Judge Berman’s decision is that the NFL failed to show that it applied Article 46 of the collective bargaining agreement in a fair and consistent way. Remember, this was a case about process and specifically how the NFL investigated and punished Brady. The NFL had a relatively low bar to meet. Federal judges rarely vacate arbitration awards and only in extraordinary circumstances. Yet Judge Berman identified so many problems in the NFL’s application of Article 46 that he felt compelled to vacate Brady’s suspension.

Among the problems identified by Judge Berman are those that relate to Brady’s arbitration hearing with Goodell on June 23. Goodell denied a request by NFLPA attorneys to question NFL general counsel Jeffrey Pash, who edited the Wells Report before its release, and to access the league’s investigative notes. Judge Berman regarded Goodell’s decisions on these issues as preventing Brady from enjoying a credible opportunity to make his case. Look at it this way: if Brady can’t confront an accuser and study the evidence used to punish him, how can he effectively defend against the accuser’s accusations and the implicating evidence? Judge Berman stressed that denial of access to key witnesses can be grounds to vacate an arbitration award.

Judge Berman also criticized the NFL for how it indistinctly notified Brady of accusations and confusingly explained under which set of rules he was being punished. Take the Wells Report, which used the league’s Integrity of the Game and Enforcement of Competitive Rules policy—a document not collectively bargained with the NFLPA—to find that it was “more probable than not” that Brady had “general awareness” of a football scheme supposedly hatched by two equipment assistants. Later, in his testimony during Brady’s appeal, NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent referenced the Game-Day Operations Manual—also not collectively bargained with the NFLPA—as a crucial document in finding Brady at fault. While the league has also cited Article 46 as grounds to punish Brady, Judge Berman seemed perplexed as to what degree non-collectively bargained documents should be considered sources of authority to punish Brady.

Likewise, Judge Berman criticized Goodell for asserting that Brady received adequate notice of discipline because the four-game suspension matches up the penalty scheme outlined in the collectively bargained steroid policy. The steroid policy, wrote Judge Berman, “cannot reasonably be used as a comparator for Brady’s four-game suspension for alleged ball deflation by others . . . [the steroid policy sets forth procedures] none of which has anything to do with Brady’s conduct and/or his discipline.”

Judge Berman also seemed influenced by the lack of consistency in NFL discipline. In prior instances of players being implicated by equipment tampering, those players were fined, warned or not punished in any way. It was never made clear why Brady was treated differently and significantly worse. Similarly vexing for Judge Berman was how the league’s characterization of Brady’s alleged wrongdoing became harsher without explanation. What began as general awareness of others misconduct has morphed into active involvement in a scheme.

Lastly, Judge Berman raised distinctions between favorable court decisions cited by the NFL and the Brady arbitration. The most crucial distinction is that those decisions involved a neutral arbitrator whereas Goodell was clearly not neutral. While Article 46 permits Goodell to serve as the arbitrator for player appeals, Judge Berman noted that the “law of the shop”—which compels consistency and fairness in arbitration awards—bars Goodell from rendering a decision that may have been compromised by bias. Also, Brady, unlike participants in normal arbitrations, lacked the ability to change the arbitrator even if he could show Goodell was biased.
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Read more: http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/09/03/deflategate-tom-brady-suspension-overturned-roger-goodell-nfl-nflpa

Koch Brothers EXPOSED featuring Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders

Story by Brave New Films and Robert Greenwald

Billionaires David and Charles Koch have been handed the ability to buy our democracy in the form of giant checks to the House, Senate, and soon, possibly even the Presidency. SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy1U... GET INVOLVED! Sign up: http://bit.ly/1wFXujJ Host a FREE screening: http://bravenewfilms.org/screenings

The last time we exposed the Koch Brothers' dealings to the world we here at Brave New Films wound up in their crosshairs. They produced online ad campaigns attacking us, but, it takes more than a banner ad to slow us down.

We've reissued Koch Brothers Exposed in an updated version, Koch Brothers Exposed: 2014 Edition, to shine a light on them. We've delved even deeper into where their money is going, who their money is hurting, and how much they are making during this whole process leading up to the 2014 Elections.

Two years ago when we made this film very few people knew who the Koch Brothers were or what the Koch Brothers were doing. But now, we so strongly believe that everyone should know what is happening that with your help and donations we are able to offer the film for free. We want to make sure everyone has an opportunity to see the truth.

Will Smith's new movie "Concussion" terrifies the NFL. Here's the trailer.

Movie Trailer for "Concussion" starring Will Smith, to be released Christmas Day.

Los Angeles Dodgers Radio and Television Broadcaster Vin Scully To Call One More Season For Dodgers

Story by Inside Radio

Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully will call one more season of Los Angeles Dodgers baseball before hanging up his headphones for good. Injecting some Hollywood sizzle into the announcement, Jimmy Kimmel broke the news to the Dodger Stadium crowd Friday night with a series of cue cards on the Dodger Stadium message board.

It will be a record 67th season for Scully, marking the longest tenure for any broadcaster with one team in sports history. Scully, 87, began calling Dodgers games in 1950. He made the move with the team to Los Angeles in 1958. In recent years he’s only called home games and road games in California and Arizona with the first three innings simulcast on radio. That arrangement will continue next year with iHeartMedia’s “AM 570 LA Sports” KLAC.

"I would say, realistically -- I don't want any headlines -- but next year would be the last one," Scully told MLB.com. "How much longer can you go fooling people? Dear God, if you give me next year, I'll hang it up. I do feel in my bones that will be enough. I'm sure the people will feel that will be enough, too. Enough is enough. Without a doubt, next year, my gosh, what's that saying, talk about next year and make the devil laugh? I'm very wary of that."

It's best for the Washington Pro Football Team and RG3 to just part ways

Story by NBC Sports
Video by the Dan Patrick SportsTalk Radio Show

Washington Post's Dan Steinberg explains why Washington Pro Football owner Dan Snyder needs to take his share of the blame for the downfall of Robert Griffin III and the locker room reaction to Kirk Cousins leading the team.

After saying for months that Robert Griffin III was his quarterback, Washington coach Jay Gruden reversed course today, saying that Cousins is the starter — and will remain the starter, meaning Griffin has no chance to unseat him.

“Kirk Cousins will be the starter for 2015, moving forward,” Gruden said. “It’s Kirk’s team.”

Of course, Gruden has changed his mind about his starting quarterback several times during his year and a half as Washington’s coach, so no one should be surprised if either Griffin or Colt McCoy ends up starting at some point. Gruden insisted that he thinks he has three good quarterbacks.

“Robert’s done some great things, no question. We have total faith in all three of them,” Gruden said. “We just feel like Kirk has earned the right to be the starting quarterback in 2015.”

Amid talk that owner Dan Snyder was pushing for the team to keep Griffin while the football people wanted to move on, Gruden said that starting Cousins is his call, but Snyder has always supported his calls.

“Mr. Snyder has been nothing but supportive of this football team,” Gruden said. “All Mr. Snyder wants to do is win.”

Gruden said the team does not plan to release Griffin, has he has not decided whether Griffin will be the second-string quarterback, or whether McCoy will be second and Griffin third. All he’ll say for sure is that Cousins is the starter, and will remain the starter.

U.S. Stocks Tumble as China Slowdown Deepens Concerns on Growth

U.S. stocks joined a worldwide selloff, after equities’ worst month in more than three years, amid continuing concerns that China’s slowdown will weigh on the global economy.

Energy shares fell for the first time in five sessions as oil lost 7.2 percent after the commodity’s strongest three-day rally since 1990. Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips slumped more than 3.7 percent. Banks were also among the hardest hit, with Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. losing at least 3.8 percent. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. dropped 7.4 percent to lead the decline in raw-materials.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 2.6 percent to 1,920.14 at 1 p.m. in New York, following the benchmark’s biggest monthly slide since May 2012. It’s a sour start to September, historically the worst month of the year with the equity gauge falling 1.1 percent on average going back to 1927, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 421.71 points, or 2.6 percent, to 16,106.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 2.3 percent.

“The problem is, as much as China is the catalyst for this, it’s also that we’re seeing weakness in fundamentals here,” said Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co LLC in New York. “A lot of company earnings were hurt by China in the second quarter and it’s only gotten worse. People are losing confidence with the whole situation there breaking down, not just in the stock market but in data as well.”

Equities dropped in Asia, with the Shanghai Composite Index slumping as much as 4.8 percent, after manufacturing reports pointed to a deepening Chinese economic slowdown.

Read More: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-01/u-s-index-futures-drop-after-s-p-500-s-worst-month-since-2012