Breaking News All Over The World

Monday, January 18, 2010

martin luther king jr

Some music in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Due to a lack of funding, the Baltimore Symphony is not presenting its annual Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial concert in conjunction with the State of Maryland, a considerable loss to the community. If all goes well, the event will return next year. Meanwhile, here are a couple of MLK-related performances around the area worth catching.
On Monday at Baltimore's An die Musik, Opus Nine, the imaginative young chamber ensemble that features several Peabody Conservatory alumni, will give matinee and evening performances of an appealing program that aims "to celebrate the vitality of [Dr. King's] dream." The lineup includes John Williams' "Air and Simple Gifts" (composed for the Obama inauguration) and Gershwin's "Lullaby" for string quartet, as well as works by Duke Ellington, Darius Milhaud and Ricky Ian Gordon.
On Tuesday at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis, the
Washington Symphonic Brass will perform Joseph Schwantner's "New Morning for the World," an affecting work that incorporates selections from King's writings (Bill Ray will be the narrator). Music by Scott Joplin, Duke Ellington and Wynton Marsalis will also be played.
Here's my own humble contribution to the MLK holiday -- a live performance by legendary contralto Marian Anderson from 1939 (the same year of her triumphant concert at the Lincoln Memorial after being barred from Constitution Hall). Something about the spiritual "Deep River" seems particularly appropriate on this occasion, especially the line "That promised land where all is peace," and it would be impossible to surpass the eloquence Miss Anderson achieves here:

The Haiti Earthquake

In a Chaotic Capital, Haitians Anxious for U.S. Troops.

The once seemingly immovable white pillars of Haiti's presidential palace are strewn across the streets. The central towers of what locals nicknamed the "Little White House" have crumbled like a kicked-in sand castle, one of the more dramatic casualties in the wake of the Jan. 12 earthquake. It is symbolic of the power of the Haitian state, which is itself in ruins. The absence of any effective authority in the five days since the tremor has led hungry and desperate residents to loot and fight over the crumbs to survive. On Monday, the U.S. is sending troops in to help restore order — and far from resenting the intervention, many Haitians are anxious for the American colossus to arrive quickly and to completely take over the running of their country.
"We want American soldiers to be swarming all over this place," says Joel Auguste, 33, a barber who is staying in a refugee camp thrown up in the national soccer stadium. "They shouldn't give one dollar of aid to my politicians because they will just steal it. Let the white man come and hand it out." Auguste once lived in the U.S. himself, selling tickets at Madison Square Garden. While living in America, he had the misfortune of being caught up in Hurricane Katrina. But he says the much criticized U.S. response to that catastrophe is practically a role model compared to the Haitian government's collapse now. "They evacuated me straight out of Alabama," he recalls of the 2005 hurricane. "Here it is every man for himself. There are escaped criminals all over the place and people are trying to rob whatever you have."

Such calls for Washington to take the direct reins of Haiti — a state founded in 1804 after the world's first successful black slave revolution — may seem bizarre. But the opinions are loudly voiced by residents scavenging for supplies in the postapocalyptic Port-au-Prince. "Haiti is part of America," says English teacher Franz Dejean, whose home was reduced to dust. "We need Obama to take over." Dejean, like many Haitians, is encouraged by a country being run by its first black President. "He seems to be a good person inside. It is not about color. It is about what you feel."

No one feels safe in Port-au-Prince now. In downtown streets, crowds often rush into any store or building that looks like it might have supplies. In most cases, people are simply looking for food and drink; the looters calmly walk away with crates of Coca-Cola or packs of rice on their shoulders. But in the commercial center, which looks like it has been flattened by an atomic bomb, people shout and shove over cell phones and stereo systems that they haul out of stores. In some parts of town, Haiti's murderous gangs have returned to haunt the streets and it is no longer safe to be outside after dusk.

Some of the Haitian police force returned to patrol the streets Saturday, hitting looters with tear gas and gunshots. That has done little to deter the ransacking of establishments and warehouses. There is also sporadic violence among the hungry and desperate. In a street in the shattered upper-class neighborhood of Pétionville, the fresh corpse of a young man lay with a machete wound in his head. Almost nonchalantly, onlookers said he was murdered in a street brawl. The countless dead and dying as a result of the earthquake have inured residents of this city to something as petty as homicide.

Not everyone, of course, is in favor of the Americans arriving to save the day. U.S. military interventions in Haiti in 1994 and 2004 were criticized by many as a superpower meddling in a poor country's politics. One wild rumor circulating in the rubble-ridden streets on Sunday was that the earthquake was really a CIA plot to give the U.S. an excuse to take over. But most say the troops themselves at least will be a welcome antidote to the lawlessness.

There is little clear, however, about what the full objective of the U.S. military mission will be. American officials seem unsure about even how many troops will go in, with statements ranging from 3,000 to 10,000. With the acquiescence of the Haitian President, the U.S. armed forces have been running the Port-au-Prince airport since Friday. But it is still unsure how far into the disaster-zone capital the new troops will go or what exactly they will be allowed to do.

Like many on the street, Auguste thinks people will respect orders given out by the American soldiers. But he says he expects the troops to hit back if things get out of hand. "They need to make people line up for food and wait their turn and not steal it from other people," he says. "If people get in their face and start shouting at them in some language that they don't understand then, of course, they are going to shoot."

Ukrainian Presidential Election Set for Runoff

KIEV - Viktor Yanukovych, and the target of defamation Portokalli Revolution, marked a return to the Ukrainian presidential election, returns showed on Monday showed him leading the field of 18 candidates in the first round but was forced to avoid a second round against the champions of the Intifada in 2004, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

The same count by the Central Election Commission put Ms. Tymoshenko solidly in second place, with 24.7% of the vote.

Official results will be released by the commission in the next 10 days. But there was no doubt that the incumbent premier, Ms. Tymoshenko, and Mr. Yanukovych, who was prime minister 2002-2004 and again 2006-2007, will enter the two-person runoff on Feb. 7.

Uncertified returns from four-fifths of Sunday's voters gave 35.8% of the vote to Mr. Yanukovych, the pro-Russian politician whose tainted victory in the previous race was overturned by Ukraine's Supreme Court after massive street protests over allegations of fraud.

"Yanukovych's hand will never be placed on the Bible to take the presidential oath," she declared." She called on supporters of "democratic" candidates to unite behind her.

Serhiy Tihipko, a former central banker, emerged as a new force in Ukrainian politics, finishing third Sunday with 13% of the preliminary vote count, according to exit polls, and securing the strongest negotiating position as the runoff candidates jockey for support. He is a former adviser to both Mr. Yanukovych and Ms. Tymoshenko, and has expressed interest in working as prime minister under either.

About two-thirds of the electorate voted Sunday, somewhat lower than in 2004.

"In the '90s, we voted against Communism and in 2004 against criminal politicians, in the hope that things would change," complained Elyzaveta Svetlenko, a Kiev resident who stayed home. "Now there is no one to vote for. They're all corrupt and controlled by businessmen."

Sunday's election brought charges of falsifications, but none as serious as those that marred the 2004 vote.

Militants Launch Bold Attack in Central Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan - The militants launched a brazen attack and strong in central Kabul on Monday morning, with high explosions and gunfire echoing across the city. The Taliban said its fighters carried out the attack.

Police and paramilitary officers at the scene said the onslaught began with an initial suicide bombing in the downtown area which includes the Justice Ministry, the Central Bank, the presidential palace and the Serena Hotel favored by Westerners. Hotel residents took cover in a basement as the fighting swirled above them, according to a BBC reporter at the hotel.

There were no immediate independent estimates of casualties, which some reports said appeared to be light. But the Taliban claimed to have killed 40 people.

Militants have become increasingly bold in penetrating the capital as their campaign broadens in many parts of Afghanistan, prompting President Obama to promise 30,000 additional American troops to reinforce the international coalition.

“The fighters and the suicide bombers are now in the Afghan National Bank , the Justice Ministry, and other official departments,” he said almost three hours after the fighting started. “Fighting is still going on but our men are still alive,” he said, claiming that 40 government officials had been killed. By noon, witnesses said, the fighting seemed to be over, save for scattered gunfire.

The attack seemed designed to undermine the already frayed authority of the Karzai government even as it seeks to move against the militants politically.The presidential spokesman, Waheed Omar, said Sunday that the government will soon unveil a major new plan offering jobs, security, education and other social benefits to Taliban followers who defect.

The plan, in the final stages of preparation, will go beyond the government’s previous offers to the Taliban, Mr. Omer said at a news conference. “The mistakes we have committed before have been considered in developing this new plan,” he said. “We have not done enough.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s last visit to the state

He was invited to speak March 14, 1968, at what was then Grosse Pointe High School by a local fair-housing advocacy group. An estimated 2,700 people filled the gym.In recognition of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Monday, let's recall the civil rights leader's last trip to the state.

Three weeks before he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., King delivered his speech "The Other America" in Grosse Pointe.

The school board's decision to host King was controversial and part of the deal was that the Grosse Pointe Human Relations Council take out a $1-million insurance policy to protect against any damage to school property if the event turned violent.

Tensions were so high in the community that a local police chief sat on King's lap in the car on the way to the school to shield him from danger.

Police checked the gym for bombs hours before King's speech, and five dozen officers from neighboring communities were on hand in case the evening turned ugly.