NEW YORK ? The history of slavery in America is a history of resistance, rebellion. Yet, movies and TV do not always showcase those themes.
That's one reason why the rapper Common is excited about AMC's new series, "Hell on Wheels," a Western that chronicles the building of the transcontinental railroad.
Common plays mixed-raced former slave Elam Ferguson, who works on the rail system. Portraying a slave, he says, is a big deal, particularly because his character defies the stereotypes often seen in films and television.
"A lot of times we've seen slaves obviously going through so much pain and trouble, they were oppressed and downtrodden, so it was more of a lower position. (My character) has been through a lot of things, but is holding his head up high and his shoulders are up strong," says Common, who was born Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr.
At first, Common says he wasn't interested in a TV role, but then his agent suggested he read the script for "Hell on Wheels." Common says it's the first time he has played a character so complex.
The Grammy-winning entertainer researched by reading about African slaves of the 19th century and visiting former plantations in South. He calls his journey "deep" and "heavy."
"I feel blessed that I'm able to represent what a black man, what a black person was at that time," he says, "but it definitely was some weight and some pain."
One experience in filming the show, though, was really difficult for Common: when white cast members used the N-word.
"Even if you try to think that they're acting, it still just doesn't feel right," he says. "You get that feeling like, `Man, this is not good.'"
The series, which airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET, was filmed in Canada. It centers on Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount), a former Confederate soldier and slaveholder who is avenging the death of his wife. Bonhannon set his slaves free a year before the Civil War. He takes a job overseeing the workers on the transcontinental railroad, which includes Elam Ferguson (Common).
Common, who appeared in "Smokin' Aces," "American Gangster" and "Terminator Salvation," and does a voice in "Happy Feet Two," says the show focuses on issues that still exist in today's world.
"Things that we try to hide and put under the table, things that we act like, `Oh no, that's not how I feel' ? some of that is still there from hundreds of years back. It's still in us and we've got to remove it," he says. "Along with it just being entertaining and being fresh ? it's an important show."
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Online:
http://www.amctv.com/shows/hell-on-wheels
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Mesfin Fekadu covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/musicmesfin
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111117/ap_en_tv/us_tv_common
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NEW YORK ? Four Detroit Lions, including quarterback Matthew Stafford, and two Chicago Bears have been fined by the NFL for incidents in their game last Sunday.
Stafford instigated a scuffle when he grabbed the helmet of Bears defensive back D. J. Moore and threw him to the ground. Stafford has been fined $7,500, while Moore is hit for $15,000 for striking back at Stafford and being ejected.
Also docked $15,000 is Lions rookie DT Nick Fairley for driving Bears QB Jay Cutler into the ground.
Chicago receiver Earl Bennett has been fined $10,000 for wearing orange shoes, his second uniform violation.
Detroit DE Kyle Vanden Bosch is docked $7,500 for unnecessary roughness: Vanden Bosch threw Bears RB Matt Forte to the ground late.
Detroit guard Rob Sims also has been hit for $7,500 for a late tackle.
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BANGKOK?? U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced a $10 million aid package for flood-ravaged Thailand on Wednesday during a visit to express solidarity.
Clinton met with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra as flooding continued to plague areas around Bangkok, the capital.
Thai authorities announced, however, that water in the capital is receding and all main streets will be dry in two weeks, providing good news after months of floods that have killed 564 people nationwide.
Some 20 of Thailand's 77 provinces have been hit by floods since late July, mostly in northern and central areas, and more than one-fifth of the country's 64 million people have been affected. The flooding has scared away tens of thousands of tourists.
Thailand is a long-standing U.S. ally. Clinton is in the region to attend a Southeast Asian summit in Bali, Indonesia.
"During the past century we have stood by each other in times of challenge and we are proud to stand by you now in this time of challenge, as you contend with the worst floods in your nation's history," she said in a news conference with the Thai leader.
She said the U.S. was providing both military and civil assistance "to save and restore lives and to support Thailand's long-term rebuilding and recovery," and that teams were currently assessing how best to help.
The U.S. is already providing medical assistance and the U.S. Navy ship Lassen is in a Thai port with crew and helicopters to help relief efforts, Clinton said.
She said the U.S. would help reopen Bangkok's inundated Don Muang domestic airport and rehabilitate flooded police stations.
Washington is also consulting with the Thai government on how to restore important cultural sites, such as the ancient capital of Ayutthaya, which is in one of the most badly hit areas.
Clinton is to visit a flood victims evacuation center on Thursday. Also in town was U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who visited some flood-affected areas Wednesday.
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Many areas remain flooded, especially those to the west and east of Bangkok, and it is still expected to take weeks for all that water to reach the Gulf of Thailand. The runoff spread to some sections of Rama II, a major road in Bangkok, but vehicles were still able to drive through, officials said.
But the government appears to have averted a worst-case scenario in which the densely populated and economically critical center of Bangkok would have succumbed.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Authority said the overall situation in the capital is improving quickly, especially in Don Muang, where the domestic airport is located, and Lad Phrao, a district studded with office towers, condominiums and a popular shopping mall.
Lad Phrao intersection is expected to be totally dry by this weekend, and all other main streets will be back to normal within two weeks, Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra said.
Many Bangkok neighborhoods have been under knee-deep, and even waist-high, water for weeks.
But government efforts to pump the water into the Chao Phraya river seem to be paying off, according to the latest reports.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45325071/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/
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Two days after Occupy Wall Street lost its tent compound at Zuccotti Park, protesters held a national 'day of action.' A mostly peaceful day followed a failed morning effort to delay NYSE trading.
Thousands of Occupy protesters took to the streets of cities across the United States Thursday, and hundreds were arrested after scuffles with police.
Skip to next paragraphThe national "day of action" marked two months since the creation of the movement and took place two days after New York City police evicted Occupy Wall Street from its longtime Manhattan base, a tent compound in Zuccotti Park.
More than half the day?s arrests were made in New York where, after failing to delay trading on the New York Stock Exchange in the morning and demonstrating throughout the damp day, a swelling crowd of thousands of Occupy Wall Street sympathizers marched on a cold windy evening to the Brooklyn Bridge.
Bridges were targeted in other US cities as well, including Boston, Detroit, and Miami, Reuters reported, with protesters issuing a specific demand from the government that is a rarity for Occupy movement events: increased infrastructure spending to create jobs. Other cities that saw significant protests included Los Angeles, Washington, Las Vegas, and Portland, Ore.
In New York, following the morning clashes around Wall Street that featured some violence and most of the day?s arrests, the afternoon saw more of a traditional rally, in which students were using their imagination to try to communicate.
In Union Square, which is relatively close to several universities, five women from New York University held long thin mirrors with statements on them such as ?I am you,? reflecting their belief they represent 99 percent of Americans.
A student wearing a mask held up a sign: ?Arrest one of us; two more appear. You can?t arrest an idea.? And, students chanted in unison, ?Shut the city down.?
Police in the afternoon maintained a relatively low-key presence compared with the morning, when they pushed and shoved protesters off the streets. At an afternoon press conference held before the march on the Brooklyn Bridge, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said 177 people had been arrested at that point, mostly for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
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Self-help author James Arthur Ray, left, sits with one of his attorneys Thomas Kelly during a pre-sentencing hearing at Yavapai County Courthouse in Prescott, Ariz. on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011. Prosecutors want the maximum punishment for the deaths they say were entirely preventable. Ray faces anything from probation to nine years in prison. Sentencing is set for Nov. 18. (AP Photo/Michael Schennum, Pool)
Self-help author James Arthur Ray, left, sits with one of his attorneys Thomas Kelly during a pre-sentencing hearing at Yavapai County Courthouse in Prescott, Ariz. on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011. Prosecutors want the maximum punishment for the deaths they say were entirely preventable. Ray faces anything from probation to nine years in prison. Sentencing is set for Nov. 18. (AP Photo/Michael Schennum, Pool)
FILE - In this April 20, 2011 file photo, James Arthur Ray listens to testimony during his trial in Campe Verde, Ariz. Ray says he?s hopeful an Arizona judge sentences him to probation, while prosecutors say he deserves the maximum nine-year sentence for the deaths of three people following a sweat lodge ceremony. The two sides will make their case over six days this month to Yavapai County Superior Court Judge Warren Darrow. (AP Photo/Deirdre Hamill, Pool, File)
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) ? A charismatic self-help author who led an Arizona sweat lodge ceremony that turned deadly was sentenced Friday to two years in prison.
Yavapai County Superior Court Judge Warren Darrow handed down three, two-year sentences, to be served concurrently. He also ordered James Arthur Ray to pay more than $57,000 in restitution.
"I see and I find that the aggravating circumstance of emotional harm is so strong and such that probation is simply unwarranted in this case," Darrow said.
The courtroom was silent as he handed down the sentence. The victims' families held hands, as did Ray's parents and brother.
Afterward authorities immediately took custody of Ray, who will serve his time with the state Department of Corrections. His parents, Joyce and Gordon Ray, said they hoped to get a chance to meet with him briefly after the hearing. They declined to comment further.
Defense attorney Luis Li said an appeal was likely. "We just hope the process of healing can begin and the victims' families can find some peace," he said.
County Attorney Sheila Polk said she was disappointed that the judge didn't give Ray the maximum sentence of nine years in prison. She said she made a strong case for accountability, justice and deterrence ? "all the reasons a more significant prison sentence should have been imposed."
But, Polk added, "certainly some prison over probation is better than no prison at all."
Ray had faced probation to nine years in prison after being convicted on a trio of negligent homicide counts. Authorities originally charged Ray with manslaughter, but jurors rejected arguments that he was reckless in his handling of the October 2009 ceremony.
Prosecutors urged Darrow to hand down the maximum sentence to keep Ray off the self-help circuit and from harming others. Ray's attorneys said probation was best for a man who showed remorse, lacked prior criminal history and is the sole caretaker for ailing parents.
Ray's motivational mantra drew dozens of people to a retreat nestled in the scrub forest near Sedona with a promise that the sweat lodge ceremony typically used by American Indians to cleanse the body would help them break through whatever was holding them back in life. It was the culminating event of his five-day "Spiritual Warrior" seminar.
Participants began showing signs of distress about half way through the two-hour ceremony. By the time it was over, some were vomiting, struggling to breathe and lying lifeless on the ground. Two people ? Kirby Brown, 38, of Westtown, N.Y., and James Shore, 40, of Milwaukee ? were pronounced dead. Liz Neuman, 49, of Prior Lake, Minn., slipped into a coma and never regained consciousness. She died more than a week later at a Flagstaff hospital.
The trial was a mix of lengthy witness testimony and legal wrangling that lasted four months. Witnesses painted conflicting pictures of Ray, with some describing him as a coach who encouraged participants to do their best to endure the heat but never forced them to remain in the sweat lodge. Others said they learned through breathing exercises, a 36-hour fast, and a game in which Ray portrayed God that they dare not question him and lost the physical and mental ability to care for themselves or others.
Prosecutors contended that Ray ratcheted up the heat to dangerous levels, ignored pleas for help and watched as participants were dragged out of the sweat lodge. Ray's attorneys suggested that toxins or poisons contributed to the deaths, but jurors said that theory was not credible.
Ray's attorneys made at least nine requests for a retrial or mistrial based on what they say were errors by the prosecution. While Darrow ruled that prosecutors broke disclosure rules, he rejected each of the defense requests. The case is bound for appeal.
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SAN FRANCISCO ? Internet phone service Skype said Thursday that it will let users of its software make video calls to their Facebook friends and receive them, too.
The free feature, released Thursday in a "beta" test version of Skype's software for Macs and PCs, expands on an existing partnership between the companies.
Since July, Facebook has allowed users with webcams on their computers to make Skype-powered video calls on the social-networking site. And it had already been possible to chat with your Facebook friends through Skype's instant-messaging feature, though there wasn't yet a video component.
Skype lets users make calls, conduct video chats and send instant messages over the Internet. Its basic services are free, while users pay for services such as calling regular phones from a computer.
Jonathan Rosenberg, Skype's chief technology strategist, said the company wants to help a billion people communicate, particularly with video. Working with Facebook "is really taking us a big step closer to that goal," he said.
Facebook, which is based in Palo Alto, has more than 800 million users worldwide. Skype, which is located in Luxembourg, has more than 170 million.
Skype was bought by Microsoft Corp. for $8.5 billion earlier this year. Microsoft owns a small stake in Facebook.
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Makes sense to us, seeing as how Windows 8 already makes good use of WP7's Metro UI. Still, we'll be curious to see how Windows 8 influences Windows Phone once Win 8 gets the final seal of approval, likely sometime next year."He was making a statement along the lines of what we've already publicly stated around providing a consistent experience across various devices but all carrying the Windows name."
Continue reading Microsoft: Ballmer didn't say Windows 8 is coming to phones
Microsoft: Ballmer didn't say Windows 8 is coming to phones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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