BARACK OBAMA ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES November 5, 2008

 

Barack Obama, the Democratic senator from Illinois captured the White House on Tuesday after an extraordinary two-year campaign, defeating Republican John McCain to make history as the first black U.S. president.

     Obama will be sworn in as the 44th U.S. president on January 20, 2009 and will face a crush of immediate challenges, from tackling an economic crisis to ending the war in Iraq and trying to overhaul the U.S. health care system.

     McCain saw his hopes for victory evaporate with losses in a string of key battleground states led by the big prizes of Ohio and Florida, the states that sent Democrats to defeat in the last two elections.

     The win by Obama, son of a black father from Kenya and white mother from Kansas, marked a milestone in U.S. history. It came 45 years after the height of the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King.

     “It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, at this defining moment, change has come to America,” Obama, 47, told 125,000 ecstatic supporters gathered in Chicago’s Grant Park to celebrate.

     “The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America — I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there,” he said.

     Obama led sweeping Democratic victories that expanded the party’s majorities in both chambers of Congress and marked an emphatic rejection of President George W. Bush’s eight years of leadership.

     McCain, a 72-year-old Arizona senator and former Vietnam War prisoner, called Obama to congratulate him and praised his rival’s inspirational and precedent-shattering campaign.

     “We have come to the end of a long journey,” McCain told supporters. “I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him but offering our next president our goodwill.”

     News of Obama’s win set off celebrations by supporters around the country, from Times Square in New York to Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, King’s home church.

     “This is a great night. This is an unbelievable night,” said U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, who was brutally beaten by police in Selma, Alabama, during a voting rights march in the 1960s.

     The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights leader, joined the celebrations in Chicago, tears streaming down his cheeks.

     In addition to Ohio and Florida, Obama won Virginia, Iowa, New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado — all states won by Bush in 2004. McCain’s loss in Pennsylvania eliminated his best hope of capturing a Democratic-leaning state.

     Obama was on the way to winning more than 300 Electoral College votes, far more than the 270 needed. With nearly two-thirds of U.S. precincts reporting, he led McCain by 51 percent to 48 percent in the popular vote.

     Read MORE of this report here.

Watch Obama’s Presidential Presidential Victory Speech:

JENNIFER HUDSON TO CRUSADE AGAINST CRIME November 5, 2008

 

Still reeling from the murders of her mother, brother and nephew, Jennifer Hudson says she wants to use the tragedy to speak out against crime and gun violence in the urban community.

 

       Chicago Sun-Times columnist Bill Zwecker reported Tuesday of Hudson’s plans to “use the newly formed foundation she established with her sister Julia to try to reduce the daily killings in inner-city communities across the nation.”      

       Zwecker continued: “I’m also hearing that once Hudson has had enough time to work through her grief, she hopes to go public on shows like ‘Oprah’ to turn the anti-violence campaign into a virtual crusade against gangs, guns and urban crime.      

       The Hudson-King Foundation for Families of Slain Victims aims to care for families who have lost relatives to a violent crime — including providing food, shelter, clothing and grief counseling, said Hudson’s publicist.

MIJAC UPSET WITH JERMAINE OVER TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT November 5, 2008

 

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Bill Zwecker is reporting that Michael Jackson gave his brother Jermaine “quite the tongue-lashing” for wrongly announcing that he is involved in an upcoming Jackson 5 reunion tour.      

       According to Zwecker, Jermaine’s assertion that Janet Jackson was on board for the tour is also false.      

       ‘Both Michael and Janet [Jackson] are not involved in any way,’ Zwecker quotes of a longtime MJ pal, ‘and Michael really laid into Jermaine for even raising the possibility.’      

       Michael “is said to be hard at work on a trio of new albums — including one featuring at least one track with his oldest son, Prince,” writes Zwecker. The new CDs reportedly take Jackson’s music in a new direction, “one that won’t alienate his millions of fans … but will include some interesting gospel and hip-hop touches we haven’t heard before,” said the source.

‘MONTEL’ PRODUCER SEEKS MORE LAWSUIT MONEY November 5, 2008

 

A former producer of “The Montel Williams Show” is seeking an additional $3 million in damages as part of her unfair dismissal lawsuit against CBS, reports WENN.

 

       Erin Primmer accused the network, which airs the program, of firing her from her $110,000-a-year job after she collapsed on set from a brain aneurysm in March 2007.      

       Doctors cleared the staffer to resume working in April of that year, but Primmer says she was told that her contract would not be renewed because its executive producer needed “someone capable of handling pressure.”      

       Williams, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1999, is not named in the lawsuit. But Primmer’s lawyer, E. Christopher Murray, has criticized the talk show host for doing nothing when she was let go.      

       Murray tells the Post: “Coming from a guy who prides himself on helping people who are disabled… it’s a little hypocritical.”      

       Primmer, who had been an employee of the network since August 2005, adds in the lawsuit – initially filed in February (08) – that her firing was “a clear violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, New York State and New York City law.”

JAY-Z’S ROCAWEAR ENDURES BAD ECONOMY November 5, 2008

 

Jay-Z’s Rocawear fashion line has managed to stay above water and earn money for its parent company Iconix Brand Group despite a dramatic downturn in the U.S. economy.

 

       Iconix, which bought Rocawear from Jay-Z in 2007 for $204 million, banked more than $18.3 million for the third quarter of 2008, reports Allhiphop.com.       

       According to Iconix CEO Neil Cole, Jay-Z’s direct involvement with Rocawear helped boost the company’s earnings, as did growing sales from the company’s London Fog brand of clothing, the Web site reported.  According to Cole, the two brands were the “two biggest standouts in the quarter.”       

       Rocawear also recently debuted its first fragrance, 9IX Rocawear.

JAMES EARL JONES TO APPEAR ON CBS SITCOM November 5, 2008

 

Stage and screen legend James Earl Jones will take a guest starring turn on the CBS comedy “Two and a Half Men,” sources tell TVGuide.com.

 

      The eight-time Emmy nominee will use his signature baritone to play a clergyman who officiates a funeral for Charlie, played by Charlie Sheen. Sources say the funeral does not mean Sheen’s character is actually deceased.

 

      In the past, Jones has been the voice of Darth Vader, CNN and Mufasa of Walt Disney’s “Lion King.” 

LIONEL RICHIE TAPS AKON, NE-YO FOR NEW CD November 5, 2008

 

Lionel Richie has enlisted Akon and Ne-Yo as co-writers on his upcoming album “Just Go,” due Feb. 17 from Island.

 

      “Just Go” is the follow-up to 2006’s “Coming Home,” which has sold 444,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.      

      The set’s first single, “Good Morning,” was just shipped to urban adult-contemporary radio stations, reports Billboard.com.      

      Richie, the father of socialite Nicole Richie, was due to perform last night on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” and Dec. 31 on Dick Clark’s “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.” A world tour begins March 13 in Dublin.

LIL’ WAYNE IS NOT DEAD November 5, 2008

 

Lil Wayne became the victim of a death hoax last weekend when a fabricated BBC News page reported that he had been killed in a gang dispute.

 

       According to the fake site, Wayne was supposedly riddled with bullets in the early hours of Saturday morning, following a beef between the Bloods and the Crips.       

       The page, which can be seen at www.Kineticnorth.com, claimed the rapper had been pronounced dead after being shot six times, reports NME. The hoax caused rumors of Wayne’s murder to circulate around the Internet over the weekend.      

       A similar online death hoax using the same “BBC News” generator also appeared this weekend suggesting U.K. rapper Wiley had also died.

ALLEN IVERSON TRADED TO PISTONS November 5, 2008

 

Allen Iverson was traded from Denver to the Detroit Pistons on Monday in a major NBA shakeup that could but both clubs in better position for a championship title.      

       The 33-year-old guard, in the final year of his $21.9 million contract, went to the Pistons while Detroit guard Chauncey Billups, forward Antonio McDyess and Senegalese center Cheikh Samb were sent to the Nuggets.      

       “We are pleased to welcome Allen Iverson to the Pistons organization,” said the team’s president of basketball operations Joe Dumars. “Allen has proven he is one of the elite players in the league and we like what he adds to our roster at the guard position.”      

       Iverson, in his 13th NBA season, has played for Denver since being traded from Philadelphia in December of 2006 alongside Carmelo Anthony. He was named the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2001 when he helped lift Philadelphia to the NBA Finals, where the 76ers lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Lauryn Hill sighting; Laila reps ADA; Lewis Hamilton wins; ‘Smokin’ Aces’ prequel; Scary Spice in Egypt November 5, 2008

 

The New York Post’s Page Six says Lauryn Hill and four of her five children were spotted in New Jersey recently at Martha Stewart’s book-signing for her newest title, “Martha Stewart’s Cooking School,” at Williams-Sonoma at Short Hills Mall.

 

       *The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has tapped Laila Ali as the spokesperson for the new promotion Kiss Diabetes Goodbye, developed to reinforce its outreach efforts to raise awareness about the seriousness of diabetes throughout American Diabetes Month. The effort invites consumers to help raise a total of $1 million in one month for diabetes research, advocacy, and education programs in the community. “With the help of Laila Ali, we hope to involve a large audience of adults and children throughout the country,” says Stewart Perry, Chair of the Board of the Association.       

       *Lewis Hamilton, Formula One’s new world champion, has been speaking about the thrilling moment when he grabbed the title with just seconds to go – making history as the sport’s youngest and first black world champion. Speaking to the BBC’s Adam Parsons, the 23-year-old from Stevenage said he wanted to win again next year but does not plan to wait until “the last corner of the last lap to do it.” Listen to entire interview here:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7707337.stm   

 

      *A prequel to the film “Smokin’ Aces” has been greenlit by Universal, reports ComingSoon.net. The original 2007 action flick featured Taraji Henson, Common and Alicia Keys among its all-star cast. No announcements were made regarding returning actors. “Smokin’ Aces” writer/director Joe Carnahan broke the news on his official Web site on Oct. 30.

 

       *People.com is reporting that Melanie Brown and her husband Stephen Belafonte stopped at the Borgata Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City en route to Egypt to renew their vows. “They were holding hands the entire time,” a source says of the two, who wed in June 2007. The couple reportedly danced and sipped champagne throughout the night.