Fred Shuttlesworth Died at 89

Fred Shuttlesworth Died at 89

Fred Shuttlesworth Died at 89, The Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth, who was bombed, beaten and repeatedly arrested in the fight for civil rights and hailed by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. for his courage and energy, has died. He was 89. Princeton Baptist Medical Center spokeswoman Jennifer Dodd confirmed he died at the Birmingham hospital Wednesday morning.

Shuttlesworth, a former truck driver who studied religion at night, became pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., in 1953 and soon was an outspoken leader in the fight for racial equality.

"My church was a beehive," Shuttlesworth once said. "I made the movement. I made the challenge. Birmingham was the citadel of segregation, and the people wanted to march."

In his 1963 book "Why We Can't Wait," King called Shuttlesworth "one of the nation's the most courageous freedom fighters ... a wiry, energetic and indomitable man."

He survived a 1956 bombing, an assault during a 1957 demonstration, chest injuries when Birmingham authorities turned fire hoses on demonstrators in 1963, and countless arrests.

"I went to jail 30 or 40 times, not for fighting or stealing or drugs," Shuttlesworth told grade school students in 1997. "I went to jail for a good thing, trying to make a difference."

He visited frequently and remained active in the movement in Alabama even after moving in 1961 to Cincinnati, where he was a pastor for most of the next 47 years. He moved back to Birmingham in February 2008 for rehabilitation after a mild stroke. That summer, the once-segregated city honored him with a four-day tribute and named its airport after him; his statue stands outside the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

And in November 2008, Shuttlesworth watched from a hospital bed as Sen. Barack Obama was elected the nation's first African-American president. The year before, Obama had pushed Shuttlesworth's wheelchair across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma during a commemoration of the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march.

In the early 1960s, Shuttlesworth had invited King back to Birmingham. Televised scenes of police dogs and fire hoses being turned on black marchers, including children, in spring 1963 helped the rest of the nation grasp the depth of racial animosity in the Deep South.

Referring to the city's notoriously racist safety commissioner, Shuttlesworth would tell followers, "We're telling ol' `Bull' Connor right here tonight that we're on the march and we're not going to stop marching until we get our rights."

According to a May 1963 New York Times profile of Shuttlesworth, Connor responded to the word Shuttlesworth had been injured by the spray of fire hoses by saying: "I'm sorry I missed it. ... I wish they'd carried him away in a hearse."

While King went on to international fame, Shuttlesworth was relatively little known outside Alabama. But he was a key figure in Spike Lee's 1997 documentary, "4 Little Girls," about the September 1963 Birmingham church bombing that killed four black children.

He also gained attention in Diane McWhorter's book "Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution," which won a Pulitzer Prize in 2002.

Shuttlesworth was born March 18, 1922, near Montgomery and grew up in Birmingham.

As a child, he knew he would either be a minister or a doctor and by 1943, he decided to enter the ministry. He began taking theological courses at night while working as a truck driver and cement worker during the day. He was licensed to preach in 1944 and ordained in 1948.

It was 1954 when King, then a pastor in Montgomery, came to Birmingham to give a speech and asked to stop by Bethel Baptist and meet Shuttlesworth. Shuttlesworth already knew the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, who became a key aide to King, as they both attended Alabama State College, later known as Selma University.

Meanwhile, in Montgomery, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus in late 1955, prompting the boycott led by King that gave new life to the civil rights movement.

In January 1956, King's Montgomery home was bombed while he attended a rally. Eleven months later, on Christmas night 1956, 16 sticks of dynamite were detonated outside Shuttlesworth's bedroom as he slept at the Bethel Baptist parsonage. No one was injured in either bombing, although shards of glass and wood pierced Shuttleworth's coat and hat, which were hanging on a hook.

The next day, Shuttlesworth led 250 people in a protest of segregation on buses in Birmingham.

In 1957, he was beaten by a mob when he tried to enroll two of his children in an all-white school in Birmingham.

In Cincinnati, Shuttlesworth left Revelation Baptist Church and became pastor of the Greater New Light Baptist Church in 1966. He also founded a foundation to help low-income people make down payments on homes.

In 2004, he was president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference for about three months. The troubled organization's board had suspended Shuttlesworth without giving a reason after he tried to fire a longtime official. He resigned, saying board members tried to micromanage the organization.

He was 84 when he retired as the pastor of Greater New Light in 2006. "The best thing we can do is be a servant of God," he said in his final sermon. "It does good to stand up and serve others."

Source: abclocal

Cops say mom tried to sell infant

Cops say mom tried to sell infant

Cops say mom tried to sell infant, A Delaware mother of three has been charged with selling her infant son for $15,000 because she wanted money to go to Disney World, police said on Wednesday.Bridget Wismer, 33, of Brookside Park, Delaware, sold her 1-month-old son, Christian, to a Philadelphia man, John Gavaghan, 54, said police in New Castle County, Delaware. Wismer and Gavaghan, who knew one another through mutual friends, were both charged with conspiracy and dealing in children. Cops say mom tried to sell infant, mom sell baby $15,000,

Delaware mom accused of selling baby to go to Disney World: The child was in good condition when he was found in Gavaghan's home, said Corporal John Weglarz Sr.

Christian is the youngest of Wismer's three children.

"Bridget was trying to sell her child because she did not want the child and wanted to go to Disney World," according to a police affidavit that quoted her relatives. 54 year old Philadelphia man baby, mom didn't sell baby,

Gavaghan agreed to pay Wismer $15,000 in installments, but not all the money was actually paid, police said.

Wismer's relatives tipped off New Castle detectives about her plan to sell the child.

With help from the Delaware State Police and the city of Philadelphia police, officers searched Gavaghan's home in Philadelphia.

"After detectives conducted separate interviews involving both subjects, they were able to confirm that Gavaghan and Wismer were involved in the sale and purchase of the newborn," a police statement said.

They were arrested last week and details of the crime were unveiled by police on Wednesday.

Gloria Hochman, spokeswoman for the National Adoption Center, said that the legal course action would have been for Wismer and Gavaghan to contact a registered social worker, an adoption agency or a lawyer experienced in adoption. It's likely that a home study would have been ordered to make sure that Gavaghan's home was suitable for a baby, she said.

Source: yahoo

Dr Conrad Murray 'talking and texting' in the hour before Michael Jackson stopped breathing

Dr Richelle Cooper told the court today that she believed Jackson had been dead for an hour when he arrived at hospital

Michael Jackson's doctor was talking on the phone and texting in the hour before he found the King of Pop in cardiac arrest, the court heard today in Dr Conrad Murray's trial for involuntary manslaughter.

According to records shown to jurors, Murray was on the phone for 46 minutes of the hour before Jackson stopped breathing.

The calls included a social call with a Houston waitress and a half-hour conversation with his office.

Hysterical: Paris, left, Prince Michael and Blanket Jackson, cried as they were told their father had died an emergency room doctor told court


The records detailing the use of Murray's two mobile phones were presented by the prosecution in a bid to show the doctor was diverted during the time he was supposed to be tending to his patient.

Two executives from U.S. phone companies gave evidence that Murray was busy on his phone on the morning of June 25, 2009.

Houston physician Dr Joanne Prashad said she spoke to Murray that fateful morning to get advice on one of his heart patients who was about to undergo surgery in Texas.

Prosecutors showed records of Murray's phone calls from the hours before Jackson's death to show that the singer had other things on his mind - getting his $150,000 a month deal to serve as Jackson's personal physician approved, running his medical practices and fielding calls from mistresses.

One of Murray's former patients, Las Vegas salesman Robert Russell, detailed one of the calls Murray took in the hour before Jackson's death last week.

Mr Russell praised Murray in testimony, crediting the doctor with saving his life, but said he had grown distant after going to work for Jackson

Show: The family of late singer Michael Jackson, including his children Prince Michael, far left, Paris, second left, and Blanket, left front, attended the premiere of Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour show by Cirque du Soleil in Montreal last night


Meanwhile, hospital doctors told the court today they never stood a chance of saving Jackson on the day he died.

Emergency staff tried for one hour and thirteen minutes to revive the King of Pop in hospital after he was already diagnosed as being clinically dead.

Hospital staff tried CPR, pumping oxygen into the performer's lungs and used three different heart-starting drugs, but all to no avail.

'Mr Jackson died long before he became a patient,' said casualty Dr Richelle Cooper.

Dr Cooper testified that she first pronounced Jackson as being dead at 12:57pm based on information paramedics relayed from the scene of Jackson's collapse at his rented Los Angeles mansion on June 25, 2009.

'At that time, I felt confident clinically pronouncing him dead,' Dr Cooper told the court.

But Jackson's personal doctor insisted that life-saving efforts should carry on even though the star wasn't breathing and he was rushed to hospital where he wasn't officially pronounced dead until 2:26pm.

Pronounced dead: The trauma room at UCLA Medical Center is shown in this evidence photo projection in the courtroom

On trial: Dr Conrad Murray listens to testimony seated near his attorney today


In all the time she was trying to revive Jackson, Dr Cooper said she never detected a pulse. 'I have never previously given a time of death in the field and then had a patient brought to me for more treatment before it happened on June 25, 2009,' she added.

Giving evidence on the fifth day of the trial at Los Angeles Superior Court, Dr Cooper denied the lengths hospital staff took to try and resuscitate Jackson had anything to do with him being a celebrity.

The emergency physician at the University of California Los Angeles Hospital said Murray never mentioned giving Jackson the powerful hospital anaesthetic Propofol.

She added that she hadn't heard of the strong sedative being used anywhere outside a surgery ward.

Dr Cooper said Jackson appeared to be clinically dead when he was brought into the casualty ward.

'He didn't have a pulse. His pupils were fixed and dilated,' she said.

Dr Cooper testified she never asked Murray to sign a death certificate because, by the time he was brought to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Jackson became her patient.

'Mr Jackson was my patient and I didn't really have an explanation for why he was dead,' she said.

Defendant: Conrad Murray, pictured in court today, is charged with involuntary manslaughter

Testifying: Cardiologist Dr Thao Nguyen told the court that Murray 'sounded desperate' and 'looked devastated'

On the stand: Murray's phone records were discussed by AT&T employee Edward Dixon, left, and Sprint employee Jeff Strohm

Dr Cooper said Murray only admitted giving Jackson two small amounts of the sedative lorazepam, but didn't mention giving him any other drugs, including Propofol.

Murray added that Jackson did not have any medical problems.

At one point, Dr Cooper said she went to check on Jackson's three children, Prince, Paris and Blanket, in an adjoining room.

'They were crying and they were fairly hysterical. They were being comforted by their nurse,' she told the court.

A cardiologist who was working at the emergency room repeated the claim that Murray had not mentioned propofol.

Hospital cardiologist Dr Thao Nguyen also told the court that Murray made no mention of the fact he administered Propofol to Jackson, even though she quizzed him several times.

She also said Murray couldn't remember what time Jackson stopped breathing or how long he took to call 911.

In court: Janet Jackson looks toward oncoming protesters as she steps out of a vehicle on arrival at the courthouse today

Siblings: Janet Jackson and Randy Jackson arrive at the courthouse this morning

'He said he didn't have any concept of time,' she said. 'He said he didn't have a watch.'

Dr Nguyen said Murray 'sounded desperate and he looked devastated.'

But, she said, without knowing how much time had passed since he stopped breathing, resuscitation was a remote hope.

'Dr Murray asked that we not give up early and try to save Michael Jackson's life. But it was not too little, too late - it was just too late. We were running too late,' added Dr Nguyen.

Murray, 58, has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter by administering a fatal dose of Propofol to Jackson.

His defence lawyers claim Jackson gave himself a fatal dose of sedatives and Propofol, which is normally administered in hospital settings.

Authorities say he administered the fatal dose and acted recklessly by providing Jackson the drug as a sleep aid.

The prosecution is continuing to call witnesses as the high-profile case enters its second week.

Three of Dr Murray's girlfriends are expected to be called to the stand this week, including a woman who he was on the phone to as he realised Jackson was unwell.

Jackson's children are reported to have chosen no to attend the trial as it is too painful, but are still willing to testify.

Their grandmother, Katherine Jackson, is relieved that they have chosen not to watch the trial, a source told TMZ.
The case continues.

Watch the video

source:dailymail

Survive plane crash course

Survive plane crash course

Survive plane crash course, British Airways is offering its frequent flyers the chance to trade in their air miles for a course on how to survive a plane crash.For around £125 - the average cost of a round-trip from London to Rome - members of the airline's Executive Club can sign up for the four-hour safety session when it starts next year. Survive plane crash course,
UK airlines actually have a brilliant aviation safety record, with no British passenger jet suffering a fatal smash since 47 people died in the British Midland 737 crash in Leicestershire in 1989.

Which might beg the question of why BA finds it necessary to offer the course. The airline actually developed the passenger-training programme in response to a request by BP, which sends staff into remote areas of the world where safety standards are lower.

And studies have shown that many plane crashes are survivable, with passengers often dying in the moments after the accident. Civil Aviation Authority research actually showed that a large number of passenger struggled with the most basic task of undoing the seat belt.

Andy Clubb, the BA manager running the course, told the Independent: 'It makes passengers safer when travelling by giving additional skills and information, it dispels all those internet theories about the "brace position" and it just gives people so much more confidence in flying.' Survive plane crash course,

Source: aol

Conrad Murray trial

Conrad Murray trial

Conrad Murray trial, The manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's doctor Conrad Murray officially got under way Tuesday with opening statements from the prosecution and defense and testimony from the first witnesses.
While the world watched, prosecutors showed a photo of Jackson lying dead in a hospital bed and played a shocking audio tape of a drugged Jackson slurring his words so badly that he was barely understandable.

Michael Jackson's Drugged Phone Call

For his part, Murray looked stunned at what was presented by the prosecution. Murray cried as his defense attorney described his client as a doctor who saved the lives of people who couldn't afford to pay.

The Houston-based cardiologist is accused of administering a lethal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol to Jackson, who died June 25, 2009.

Before opening statements began it could have been a scene from the singer's 2005 trial, as members of the Jackson family filled the courtroom. While most of their faces are already familiar, others are less so.

To help you sort through the cast of characters in Murray's trial, we've put together a list of who's who. Click through to see them.

Source: abcnews