Show us your sign and today's horoscope.
I sort of don't check this stuff and I got a little carried away with it.
Capricorn (12/22 - 01/19) -
DAILY It's a good detail-planning day in terms of where you want to take your future. Life may be in a state of flux right now, but that won't last forever, so you should get prepared for when things settle down. Line up activities and projects for when your calendar loosens up again. There's no need to nail down every single goal of course, but it would be worth a few minutes of your time to pinpoint one or two interesting items you want to explore later on.
WEEKLY You have the doldrums at the beginning of the week -- work is frustrating, people are frustrating, the scarcity of lunch options is frustrating -- but on Tuesday it will occur to you that you're actually getting a lot done, and your mood will improve. Wednesday, too, is a great day for crossing things off your to-do list. Toward the end of the week, you'll be in the headspace to start thinking about new projects, and a couple people will express interest in helping out. This weekend, though, try your best not to think about work. Devote your considerable brain to thinking of fun ways to entertain yourself.
MONTHLY The month begins with the slightly unpleasant sense of scarcity that is a sign of the times. Whether it's money, work, time or romance, you just plain feel like there's not enough to go around. Before you start hoarding paperclips, dollar bills, hours or all your good, happy romantic feelings, take a deep breath. Consider the situation: Is it really as dire as you perceive it to be? If it isn't (and it isn't) go ahead and loosen that stranglehold grip on your resources. By the 5th, you'll already see the positive effects that your single-minded pursuit of a more positive environment have produced. That sure feels good, doesn't it? The 9th, 10th and 11th are good days to go for whatever it is you really want. You've got lots of energy -- and lots of luck on your side! Keep up the steady stream of creative output on the 18th and you'll see some dramatic changes. Don't forget that your private life can really benefit from creative changes, too! So don't leave your thinking cap at the office. Your drive is very much appreciated on the 23rd, but so is your ability to slow down, change gears and just relax. A business-related snafu could stress you out on the 28th and 29th. Stay calm.
YEARLY In order for Capricorn to accomplish their goals in 2009, intelligent brainstorming is a must. Connecting with others satisfies your mind, and friends are a source of stimulation and inspiration, adding to the scientific developments you like to explore. That said, be sure to take time for yourself. You don't have to master everything in a day.
You thrive on making new discoveries and developing opportunities. Call upon your inner guidance to help get the job done more efficiently. If you feel any uncertainty, other people are there to confirm your ideas, and allowing yourself to explore your inner thoughts will help you align yourself with a greater sense of awareness and meaningfulness.
Capricorn rarely shies away from highly concentrated work, and you are able to meet challenges as they come up in 2009. This is a time of great self-discovery and transformation for you. As you work to manifest your best possible self, you will see things from a deeper perspective than ever before. Hidden beneath your desire to work hard is the key to making your life easier. In other words, you won't have to strain as much if you surrender to a higher knowing. Using your powers of concentration to tune into universal knowledge will help you manifest your highest dreams.
I've been on hiatus for quite some time now. Long story short, I need to start over. I'm going to give my vox another shot.
I just finished Watching Seasons 1 & 2 of Michael Mann's Crime Story and suggest to anyone who appreciate good TV ought to check it out.
Crime Story (TV series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Crime Story | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Format | Crime / Drama |
| Created by | Chuck Adamson Gustave Reininger |
| Starring | Dennis Farina Anthony John Denison John Santucci Stephen Lang Bill Smitrovich Ted Levine |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 44 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes per episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | September 18, 1986 – May 10, 1988 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Crime Story was an NBC TV drama created by Gustave Reininger and Chuck Adamson. It was executive produced by Michael Mann. The show premiered with a two hour pilot - a movie which had been exhibited theatrically - and was watched by over 30 million viewers. Crime Story then was scheduled to follow Miami Vice on Friday nights, and continued to attract a record number of viewers. NBC then moved the show to Tuesdays at 10 pm to counter program it opposite ABC's Moonlighting.
Set in the early - pre-Beatles -1960s, the series pitted two men against each other - Lt. Mike Torello (Dennis Farina) and mobster Ray Luca, (Anthony Denison) - in an obsessive drive to destroy each other. As Luca moved from street crime in Chicago, was "made" in the Chicago Outfit and was sent to Las Vegas to monitor their casinos, Det. Mike Torello followed Luca, as part of a special Organized Crime Task Force.
The first season ended with Ray Luca and Pauli Taglia on the lam, hiding from Det. Mike Torello, in a Nevada desert shack, which is located in an Atomic Bomb test area. An A-Bomb explodes, presumably obliteraing Luca and Taglia, in one of the most memorable cliffhangers in television history, leaving viewers wondering whether they were dead or alive, just as the show's creator were wondering if the series itself was dead or alive with NBC.[1]
Contents[hide] |
[edit]
Production
After the success of the first season of Miami Vice, Mann had complete freedom with NBC for another show.[2] According to Mann, the genesis of the project was to follow a group of police officers in a major crimes unit in 1963 and how they change over 20 hours of television, "in 1980, with very different occupations, in a different city and in a different time."[3] He asked Reininger and Adamson to write the a series pilot and a "Bible."
Reininger was a former Wall Street international investment banker who had come to Mann's attention based on a screenplay he had written about arson investigators, and a French film that he had written and produced. Reininger researched Crime Story by winning the confidence of Detective William Hanhardt who put him in touch with undercover officers in Chicago. They sent him on meetings with organized crime figures. Reininger risked wearing a body microphone and recorder. After visiting the crime scene of a gruesome gangland slaying of bookmaker Al Brown, Reininger backed off his Mob interviews.[2]
In a June 1986 press conference, Mann said that the first season of the show would go from Chicago in 1963 to Las Vegas in 1980.[3] He said, "It's a serial in the sense that we have continuing stories, and in that sense the show is one big novel."[3] Mann and Reininger's inspiration for the 1963-1980 arc came from their mutual admiration of the epic 15+ hour film, Berlin Alexanderplatz, by German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder'.[4] Mann said, "The pace of our story is like the speed of light compared to that, but that's the idea - if you put it all together at the end you've got one hell of a 22-hour movie."[4] Mann predicted a five-year network run for the show.[4] However, due to budgetary constraints (the need for four sets of cars proved to be too expensive)[2]. Tartikoff eventually allowed their series to move to Las Vegas for the last quarter of the 22 episodes.
NBC head Brandon Tartikoff (who had started his career in Chicago) gave an order for a two-hour movie, which had a theatrical release in a handful of U.S. theaters to invited guests only.[4] Tartikoff also ordered 22 episodes which allowed Reininger and Adamson to tell a story with developing character arcs, and continuing stories (instead of episodic, self standing shows.). The ratings which began very strong when it followed Miami Vice, dipped when it was counter-programmed against ABC's Moonlighting.[5] This prompted the network to move the show to Friday nights after Miami Vice on December 5, 1986[2] where its ratings improved but it still lost to Falcon Crest.[5] NBC temporarily pulled Crime Story off the schedule on March 13, 1987. In order to get more people to watch, Farina and other cast members promoted the show in five U.S. cities.[5] After the first season, the show was nominated for three Emmys, all in technical categories.[6] By the second season, an average episode cost between $1.3 and 1.4 million because it was shot on location, set during the 1960s and featured a large cast.[7]
Two famous rock and roll musicians of the past contributed to Crime Story: Del Shannon sang a revised version of his hit "Runaway" as the theme song, and Todd Rundgren started the musical direction of the series with Al Kooper taking over as the series musical director.
[edit] Influences
Crime Story and its imitator Wiseguy were the prototypes for today's arc-driven television series, such as 24 and The Sopranos that have continuing story lines over multiple episodes.
In addition, Martin Scorsese directed and produced his movie "Casino" loosely basing it on elements of "Crime Story," which was recognized at the "Casino" premiere as an inspiration. Joe Pesci played the Spilotro character. With Spilotro dead, "Casino" writer Nick Pileggi was able tell much more of the details surrounding the Chicago "Outfit" and its Casino operations in Las Vegas.
[edit] Cast
| Dennis Farina | Lt. Mike Torello |
| Anthony Denison | Ray Luca |
| John Santucci | Pauli Taglia |
| Stephen Lang | David Abrams |
| Bill Smitrovich | Sgt. Danny Krychek |
| Bill Campbell | Det. Joey Indelli |
| Paul Butler | Det. Walter Clemmons |
| Steve Ryan | Det. Nate Grossman |
| Ted Levine | Frank Holman |
| Andrew Dice Clay | Max Goldman |
| Jon Polito | Phil Bartoli |
| Joseph Wiseman | Manny Weisbord |
| Darlanne Fluegel | Julie Torello (1986-87) |
[edit] Notable Guest Appearances
The series featured many well-known actors and actresses before they were well known.
- David Caruso appeared as Johnny O'Donnell in the pilot (episodes 1 and 2). He appeared in flashback scenes in episode 12, and in episode 19 of the second season.
- Julia Roberts appeared as a juvenile rape victim in "The Survivor" episode in season 1. It was her first TV appearance.
- Kevin Spacey appeared in second season premiere as a crusading, Kennedy-esque Senator. This was his first major television appearance.
- Deborah Harry appeared in the second to last episode of season 1, "Top Of The World", as the girlfriend of mobster Ray Luca. She did not sing.
- Gary Sinise appeared in the season 1 episode "For Love Or Money", as Howie Dressler, a husband forced to steal to pay for his wife's iron lung. He also directed two episodes, credited as "Gary A. Sinise."
- Ving Rhames appeared in the season 1 episode "Abrams For The Defense," as Hector Lincoln, a husband and father accused of assaulting his landlord. This was Rhames's second television appearance.
- William Russ was featured during the opening credits, even though his character (an MCU detective) was murdered in the pilot.
- Christian Slater played a teenager who discovered a body in the episode "Old Friends, Dead Ends".
- Paul Guilfoyle appeared in "Hide and Go Thief" as a criminal who gets into a shootout with the MCU. His hostage was played by Lorraine Bracco. Bracco's sister Elizabeth played a hostage in the pilot episode.
- Michael Rooker played a uniformed police officer in the pilot episode.
- Lili Taylor played a waitress in Frank Holman's Diner in the episode "Hide and Go Thief".
- Pam Grier played Suzanne Terry, an investigative journalist and girlfriend of federal attorney David Abrams, in five episodes spread out over both seasons.
- Jazz musician Miles Davis made a cameo in the first season episode "The War," and shared the scene with Stephen Lang.
- Stanley Tucci played bomber Zack Lowman in "The Battle of Las Vegas".
- David Hyde Pierce appears in the second season episode "Mig 21," as NSA Agent Carruthers (billed as David Pierce). That episode also featured George Dzundza, who would have later success on Law & Order.
- Season Two episode "Protected Witness" featured both Laura San Giacomo as Theresa Farantino, and Billy Zane as Frankie 'The Duke' Farantino.
- Michael J. Pollard played pimp Leon Barski, and William Hickey played Judge Neville Harmon in "The Brothel Wars."
- Dennis Haysbert appeared in "Moulin Rogue" and "Seize the Time" as the bookkeeper of a jazz club.
- Among others, Eric Bogosian, Michael Madsen, Vincent Gallo, and Armin Shimerman.
[edit] DVD Releases
Anchor Bay Entertainment has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1.
A Region 4 release of Season 1 has been classified by the OFLC."[8]
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 22 | November 4, 2003 |
|
| Season 2 | 22 | September 20, 2005 |
[edit] Basis in Chicago crime history
Before becoming an actor, Dennis Farina was a member of the Chicago police department, as was series co-creator Adamson. Adamason was a Sergeant and Farina was Detective in Chicago's Central Investigative Unit, the real-life counterpart to the "Major Crimes Unit" in the series, which was commanded by Det. William Hanhardt. John Santucci, who played mobster and safecracker Pauli Taglia, was, in his past, a notorious jewel thief. The museum score depicted in the pilot episode was based on a real heist in which Santucci participated. In his previous career Santucci had been arrested by both Adamson and Farina, and was a confidential informer for Det. William Handhardt.
Many of the early episodes were composited stories based on the Chicago mob, called "The Outfit", and the CIU, the special crimes and criminal unit of the Chicago Police Department that tracked the mobsters, and was run by Det. William Handardt. Torello was based on Det. William Hanhardt, the real life head of the anti-mob unit. Hanhardt's exploits were legendary in Chicago's press and police files. Reininger and Adamson based Luca, on Chicago mobster Anthony Spilotro. Spilotro started as the head of a sophisticated burglary "crew." He attracted the attention of Chicago Outfit because he "fenced" his merchandise through their associates. Spilotro is considered by the FBI to have made his "bones" by assassinating the legendary head of the Chicago Outfit, Sam "Momo" Giancana, who had become a liability because of his involvement with the CIA in events surrounding the Bay of Pigs. Spilotro went from street thief to mafia chief in record time. Eventually, he was sent to Las Vegas to monitor the unreported cash that was "skimmed" from Chicago crime-syndicate-owned casinos back to their bosses in the Windy City, and then distributed to other Mob "investors" in Milwaukee, Kansas City, Detroit, and Cleveland.
Spilatro was unsuccessfully prosecuted several times by Federal authorities. He never served jail time. In 1986, he was the target of a massive prosecutorial effort led by the Las Vegas and Chicago branches of the U. S. Justice Department's Organized Crime Strike Force. In early 1986, he was on trial in Federal Court in Las Vegas, being defended by attorney Oscar Goodman, who eventually was elected the Mayor of Las Vegas. Reininger was supoenaed as a material witness for Spilotro, who was alleging that the only way Reininger could have written scripts and the series "Bible" was by having access to Federal wiretaps of Spilotro. Reininger in turn discovered that his New York phones were being monitored. Reininger was served Spilotro's subpoena, and given a deadly warning, in a New York hotel bar by private detective Anthony Pellicano, who in 2006 was imprisoned for illegal wiretapping, blackmail and harassment while representing notable Los Angeles entertainment figures.
Ironically Spilotro, like Giancana before him, had become a liability to the "Outfit." On a weekend trial recess, Spilotro returned home to Chicago and was brutally murdered along with his brother Michael, and buried in an Indiana cornfield. The case was dismissed, and Reininger, who had sent all his "Crime Story" work materials to a former banking associate in Zurich, Switzerland, did not have to testify.
Just saw a mini series on HBO "Five Days" It's was a collaboration between HBO and the BBC. I must say, I was really impressed. The Last BBC mini series I saw was "The State Within" I suggest you check it out.
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I would hate to think that I'm the only one who have noticed the deafning silence from the National Organization of Women about the Imus controversy. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize the comment made by Imus is not only racist, but sexist. Where is the outcry from NOW? -- If we are going to point out the unfairness, lets be consistent. I for one will be outraged if gays, jews, and other minorities are targeted. I hope all the activist organizations will do the same. I'm not even gonna start on the Rap culture. I'm convinced they are responsible for mainstreaming the abhorrent decline in pop culture -- (this is for another blog) -- In any case, I hope this controversy opens up the debate about tolerance. We have to look out for each other. The bottom line: We all bleed. We are all human.
Marty Kaplan: Either Imus Goes, Or Gonzales Goes
Imagine if the audience's appetite for outrage extended to the dying of American democracy. Imagine if media bosses believed that we're insatiable for information about the Republican attempt to rig the '08 election by politicizing the Justice Department and prosecuting phony voter fraud. Imagine if the same kind of blanket coverage that's currently conferred on loopy astronauts, bratty rehaboholics, and, yes, outrageously slandered basketball teams, were afforded instead to the silent coup abrogating the Constitution now underway in America. Would we watch it the same Pavlovian way we watch tits, twits and tornadoes? Media executives think not.
READ POST | comments (79)
Dispatch from the Stop Global Warming Tour
Expecting absolute flawlessness just gives people an excuse to give up and do nothing. As the saying goes, "perfect is the enemy of good."
READ POST | comments
Journey Down the Road
Our grand adventure to Hollywood was the first time that I did the unexpected. I had no money and could certainly be thought of as either naïve or just plain crazy. But whatever was ahead of us, I knew we would figure it out.
READ POST | comments
Can We All Just Get Along?
Did I really have to see Paula Zahn interviewing the author of Nappily Ever After about the degree of offensiveness of the word "nappy"? Isn't there a war going on out there someplace?
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Getting the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Back on Track
The door to an alternative way forward is also still open, and the United States could seize the moral high ground by leading the world through it.
Imus' Words: Recognizing Real Racism
In America the accusation that someone is playing the "race card" is taken much more seriously than any charge of "racism" itself.
READ POST | comments (88)
Why Democrats Should Fund the War
By working to provide funding for the war with no strings attached, the Democrats will avoid allowing the Republicans to distract the American people from the failed policies of the Bush administration.
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WANTED: One Scapegoat for "War Czar" Position
Must have high threshold for pain/low self-esteem to act as mouthpiece/puppet for Bush war.
Must be able to take responsibility for mistakes and disasters. Must be prepared to be fired.
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Stop Global Warming College Tour
Laurie and I got up early to do CNBC. We were interviewed live, via earpiece, by a militant sceptic who's sole objective seemed to be to disprove us and the theory of global warming at every turn.
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The Imus Fallout and Lessons for Black America
The Imus fallout will be far-ranging and provides the country an opportunity to speak frankly about the responsibility of those who have such significant access to the public airwaves.
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iVillage Cares: Connecting To Do Good
About five years ago I was being interviewed for an industry business journal and the reporter asked me what was my most favorite title and position. I got rather quiet and said, quite simply, yet emphatically -- "mom."
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Imus' Slur Meme (Sleme)
Slemes, even Imus's unbearably obnoxious public comments, are not a call to arms. They're a lazy, ugly, pathetic shout out.
READ POST | comments (14)
Kevin Spacey Finds Booze, Love, Peace on O'Neill's Moonlit Farm
Kevin Spacey is an actor playing an actor in this Broadway revival, imported from London, and so it's not surprising that he draws on a well-packed bag of actorly tricks.
Okay! So Imus' simulcast was canned on MSNBC whoopti woo woo... It doesn't really address the Racism and Sexism going on in this country. The issue, in my humble opinion, is bigger than that.
I deplore Imus' comment. I think he had it coming based on comments he made in the past. I've been around long enough to know that -- this was his schtick (so is Howard Stern) I heard their crap on local New York radio long before they went national -- The big picture is, as the Rutgers Coach said, "it about the green" Obviously the powers that be condone this crap as long as it gets listeners and ad dollars. So what are we talking about here? Racism is alive and kicking in this country today. How come Imus is singled out? When we have people like Neil Borts who called a Congress woman a "ghetto slut" -- guys like Michael Savage,(Let's not forget, MSNBC fired him too) Rush Limbaugh, Bill Oreilly, Sean Hannity, Bob Grant, and that peon on Headline News spewing hate on a daily basis. Let's get real. If we are serious about going after hate and racist speech, then do it well. Let's not do a half ass job.
I hope our black leaders prick up their ears and do the right thing.
Blair blames spate of murders on black culture
· Political correctness not helping, says PM
· Community leaders react angrily to comments
Patrick Wintour and Vikram Dodd
Thursday April 12, 2007
The Guardian
One accused him of misunderstanding the advice he had been given on the issue at a Downing Street summit.
Black community leaders reacted after Mr Blair said the recent violence should not be treated as part of a general crime wave, but as specific to black youth. He said people had to drop their political correctness and recognise that the violence would not be stopped "by pretending it is not young black kids doing it".
Mr Blair's remarks are at odds with those of the Home Office minister Lady Scotland, who told the home affairs select committee last month that the disproportionate number of black youths in the criminal justice system was a function of their disproportionate poverty, and not to do with a distinctive black culture.
Giving the Callaghan lecture in Cardiff, the prime minister admitted he had been "lurching into total frankness" in the final weeks of his premiership. He called on black people to lead the fight against knife crime. He said that "the black community - the vast majority of whom in these communities are decent, law abiding people horrified at what is happening - need to be mobilised in denunciation of this gang culture that is killing innocent young black kids".
Mr Blair said he had been moved to make his controversial remarks after speaking to a black pastor of a London church at a Downing Street knife crime summit, who said: "When are we going to start saying this is a problem amongst a section of the black community and not, for reasons of political correctness, pretend that this is nothing to do with it?" Mr Blair said there needed to be an "intense police focus" on the minority of young black Britons behind the gun and knife attacks. The laws on knife and gun gangs needed to be toughened and the ringleaders "taken out of circulation".
Last night, British African-Caribbean figures leading the fight against gang culture condemned Mr Blair's speech. The Rev Nims Obunge, chief executive of the Peace Alliance, one of the main organisations working against gang crime, denounced the prime minister.
Mr Obunge, who attended the Downing Street summit chaired by Mr Blair in February, said he had been cited by the prime minister: "He makes it look like I said it's the black community doing it. What I said is it's making the black community more vulnerable and they need more support and funding for the work they're doing. ... He has taken what I said out of context. We came for support and he has failed and has come back with more police powers to use against our black children."
Keith Jarrett, chair of the National Black Police Association, whose members work with vulnerable youngsters, said: "Social deprivation and delinquency go hand in hand and we need to tackle both. It is curious that the prime minister does not mention deprivation in his speech."
Lee Jasper, adviser on policing to London's mayor, said: "For years we have said this is an issue the black community has to deal with. The PM is spectacularly ill-informed if he thinks otherwise.
"Every home secretary from [David] Blunkett onwards has been pressed on tackling the growing phenomenon of gun and gang crime in deprived black communities, and government has failed to respond to what has been a clear demand for additional resources to tackle youth alienation and disaffection".
The Home Office has already announced it is looking at the possibility of banning membership of gangs, tougher enforcement of the supposed mandatory five-year sentences for possession of illegal firearms, and lowering the age from 21 to 18 for this mandatory sentence.
Answering questions later Mr Blair said: "Economic inequality is a factor and we should deal with that, but I don't think it's the thing that is producing the most violent expression of this social alienation.
"I think that is to do with the fact that particular youngsters are being brought up in a setting that has no rules, no discipline, no proper framework around them."
Some people working with children knew at the age of five whether they were going to be in "real trouble" later, he said.
Mr Blair is known to believe the tendency for many black boys to be raised in families without a father leads to a lack of appropriate role models.
He said: "We need to stop thinking of this as a society that has gone wrong - it has not - but of specific groups that for specific reasons have gone outside of the proper lines of respect and good conduct towards others and need by specific measures to be brought back into the fold."
The Commission for Racial Equality broadly backed Mr Blair, saying people "shouldn't be afraid to talk about this issue for fear of sounding prejudiced".
Mr Blair spoke out as a second teenager was due to appear in court charged with the murder of 14-year-old Paul Erhahon, stabbed to death in east London on Friday. He was the seventh Londoner under 16 to be murdered since the end of January, and his 15-year-old friend, who was also stabbed, remains in hospital.
| MSNBC Drops Imus Simulcast Amid Furor |  |
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| Apr 11 07:19 PM US/Eastern By DAVID CRARY AP National Writer |
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NEW
YORK (AP) - MSNBC said Wednesday it will drop its simulcast of the
"Imus in the Morning" radio program, responding to growing outrage
about the radio host's racial slur against the Rutgers women's
basketball team. "This decision comes as a result of an ongoing review process, which initially included the announcement of a suspension. It also takes into account many conversations with our own employees," NBC news said in a statement. The announcement also was made on air. Talk-show host Don Imus triggered the uproar on his April 4 show, when he referred to the mostly black Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." His comments have been widely denounced by civil rights and women's groups. The decision does not affect Imus' nationally syndicated radio show, and the ultimate decision on the fate of that program will rest with executives at CBS Corp. In a statement, CBS reiterated that Imus will be suspended without pay for two weeks beginning on Monday, and that CBS Radio "will continue to speak with all concerned parties and monitor the situation closely." MSNBC's action came after a growing list of sponsors—including American Express Co., Staples Inc., Procter & Gamble Co., and General Motors Corp.—said they were pulling ads from Imus' show for the indefinite future. But it did not end calls for Imus to be fired from the radio portion of his program. The show originates from WFAN-AM in New York City and is syndicated nationally by Westwood One, both of which are managed by CBS Corp. Bruce Gordon, former head of the NAACP and a director of CBS Corp., said before MSNBC's decision Wednesday he hoped the broadcasting company would "make the smart decision" by firing Imus. "He's crossed the line, he's violated our community," Gordon said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "He needs to face the consequence of that violation." Gordon, a longtime telecommunications executive, stepped down in March after 19 months as head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, one of the foremost U.S. civil rights organizations. He said he had spoken with CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves and hoped the company, after reviewing the situation, would fire Imus rather than let him return to the air at the end of an unpaid two-week suspension beginning next Monday. A CBS spokesman, Dana McClintock, declined comment on the remarks by Gordon, who is one of at least two minorities on the 13-member board. The 10 members of the Rutgers team spoke publicly for the first time Tuesday about the on-air comments, made the day after the team lost the NCAA championship game to Tennessee. Some of them wiped away tears as their coach, C. Vivian Stringer, criticized Imus for "racist and sexist remarks that are deplorable, despicable, abominable and unconscionable." The women, eight of whom are black, agreed to meet with Imus privately next Tuesday and hear his explanation. They held back from saying whether they'd accept Imus' apologies or passing judgment on whether a two-week suspension imposed by CBS Radio and MSNBC was sufficient. Stringer said late Wednesday that she did not call for Imus' firing, but was pleased with the decision by NBC executives. Imus has apologized repeatedly for his comments. He said Tuesday he hadn't been thinking when making a joke that went "way too far." He also said that those who called for his firing without knowing him, his philanthropic work or what his show was about would be making an "ill-informed" choice. At the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick, N.J., about 300 students and faculty rallied earlier in the day to cheer for their team, which lost in the national championship game, and add their voices to the crescendo of calls for Imus' ouster. One of the speakers was Chidimma Acholonu, president of the campus chapter of the NAACP. "This is not a battle against one man. This is a battle against a way of thought," she said. "Don Imus does not understand the power of his words, so it is our responsibility to remind him."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
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