AND THE THIRD ANGEL FOLLOWED THEM, SAYING WITH A LOUD VOICE, IF ANY MAN WORSHIP THE BEAST AND HIS IMAGE, AND RECEIVE HIS MARK IN HIS FOREHEAD, OR IN HIS HAND.
*** REVELATION 14:9
McKnight back in concert on March 16 at the Big Dome and March 17 in Cebu City: He would love to sing a duet with Manny Pacquiao. ‘I box to keep fit. I want to be like Pacquiao,’ he says half in jest.
In a nutshell, this is how Brian McKnight described himself in one interview:
“I’m the fifth generation of Seventh Day Adventists and the youngest of four brothers. When I was still very small, we formed a gospel quartet. Our models were the great gospel groups, the Swan Silverstones and Mighty Clouds of Joy. The McKnight brothers were serious singers. The reputation went out: these boys could shout. My big brothers — Claude (a part of the gospel group Take 6), Freddie and Michael — man, they were my heroes. Each was a leader in his own right. Outside church they listened to jazz. Church music thrilled me, but jazz stimulated me.”
Born on June 5, 1969 in Buffalo, New York, McKnight attended Emmanuel Temple and Oakwood University, a Seventh-Day Adventist university, in Huntsville, Alabama, from 1987 to 1989. The previous paragraph explains McKnight’s beginnings in the church.
McKnight has released 13 albums to date, with several going two and three times platinum, and has sold over 20 million albums worldwide. In addition to being a singer, songwriter and producer, McKnight is also a multi-instrumentalist who plays nine instruments including piano, guitar, bass, drums, percussions, trombone, tuba, flugelhorn and trumpet.
McKnight is set to showcase his multi-talent when he performs at the Back with Brian McKnight, produced by MJM Productions, on March 16 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and on March 17 at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City.
Funfare did an exclusive phone interview with McKnight the other day.
When my phone rang at a little past 10 a.m. Thursday, it was McKnight himself saying, “Hello, Ricky!” at the other end of the line unlike in other phone interviews where it’s the stars’ handlers who do the dialing.
The voice was friendly, as soothing as the owner’s music.
“Sorry,” he apologized even if he didn’t have to, “I’m a bit late calling you because they didn’t give me the country code so I was trying to figure out how to reach you.”
I said, “Good morning, it’s 10:15 Thursday morning in Manila.”
He said, “Oh, it’s 6:15 Wednesday night here in L.A.”
I reminded McKnight that he had been in Manila and he half-screamed, “Wow! It must have been five or six years ago! It’s been a way too long…that’s why I’m really excited about going back.”
He started singing when he was a kid, according to his bio-data. Next question: What kind of songs was he singing then?
“It was just church music. That’s how I started. I was probably six years old when I first sang before an audience.”
Onstage with sons Brian Jr. (rightmost) and Nico who will be performing with him in his two concerts. ‘Do I give them tips? No, I don’t. They’re doing well by themselves; they learn by watching me work.’
He still remembers the title of the first song he ever sang.
“It was called Heaven Was Never Promised To Me.”
He added that as he grew older, the same songs appealed to him.
“I listen to all kinds of songs. There’s something to be learned from every type of music and from the one making it, whether it’s pop or jazz or hip-hop.”
And what’s his favorite among his songs, the one that’s closest to his heart?
He gave the same answer as that of other singers.
“You know, all of them, each and every one of them. I can’t pick just one. Every song that I’ve done is me in one way or another.”
Where does he draw inspiration from? In what mood does he write his best — when he’s sad and lonely, happy, heart-broken or in love?
“Everything,” McKnight laughed. “Whatever happens to me comes out in my songs. That’s my therapy. Instead of going to a psychiatrist, I just write songs, hahahahaha!”
Among the artists who have influenced his style were the likes of Stevie Wonder and James Ingram.
“There are more,” clarified McKnight. “There’s also Kenny Loggins, Chicago, Toto, Earth Wind & Fire and even Billy Joel. Oh, there’s just so many. I listen to so many different people.”
Since he mentioned Chicago, the band, I asked McKnight about Chicago, the Broadway musical he had appeared in.
“It was incredible!” he gushed at the experience. “Just being on Broadway doing that show which people have seen so much, uhm, it was one experience that I’ll never forget.”
Would he do any acting again?
“It all depends. For me, the bigger dream is to write and produce and star and score my own play or film. Somewhere down the line, to be on top of the production from beginning to end.”
Does he watch movies to unwind? How does he pamper himself?
“I play a lot of golf.”
Is that how he keeps himself fit?
“I box. I wanna be like Manny Pacquiao, hehehehe! I play basketball and I try to work out at least three or four times a week.”
Manny is fighting against Timothy Bradley Jr. in June in Las Vegas. Are you watching it “live”?
“I have only watched him fight on TV. But this time, I’m watching him ‘live’ in Las Vegas. I’ll see to it.”
Told that Pacquiao is also (trying to be a) singer, McKnight said, “If Manny wants to sing with me, I’ll sing with him. I’m inviting him to either one of my two concerts.”
And what song would he sing Pacquiao with?
“Whatever he wants to do. He’s the man. It would be an honor to work with him on any level.”
Asked if he has worked with a Filipino artist, McKnight said yes, he has.
“With Martin Nievera. Actually, I produced a song for him; I called it The Sorry Song. I also sang a song in Tagalog that he helped me with it. He translated it for me.”
Is he also inviting Martin to his concert?
“I would love to but I think he’ll be in Australia at that time for a concert.”
For his concerts in Manila and Cebu, McKnight will have as guest performers his sons Brian Jr. and Nico.
“They’ve been performing with me off and on for the last four years.”
Any pointers he’s giving his sons?
“I don’t really do much. They’re doing very, very well on their own. They learn by example. It’s just work, it’s a job. And I think they’ve been watching me work their whole life. They learn just by watching.”
Did he sing to them when they were babies?
“Not that much,” McKnight laughed lightly. “It was their mom who would sing them to sleep. But every now and then, I would bring them to the studio to watch me work.”
How does he take care of his voice?
“I just do my best to stay in some sort of shape. I’m lucky that I don’t get sick. I vocalize every day. I don’t really do much, to be honest with you. The big thing I guess is believing that you can do anything. Sometimes people, when they’re trying to be singers or whatever, they just don’t believe in themselves. I have the ultimate belief in myself that I can give the best that I’ve got. That’s the whole point: Believe in yourself.”
One last question (my favorite when interviewing singers): If he were to serenade a woman, what song would he choose to sing?
Thinking for a while, McKnight said, “Oh well, uhm, maybe Stevie Wonder’s Ribbon In The Sky.”
And what’s his favorite line from that song?
He proceeded to actually sing the very first line: Oh so long for thisnight I pray that a star would guide you my way…
(Produced by MJM Production, Back With Brian McKnight will be staged on March 16 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and on March 17 at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City. Tickets prices are: P4,500 Patron A, P4,000 Patron, P3,000 Lower Box, P2,000 Upper Box A, P1,000 Upper Box B and P500 General Admission. Call Ticketnet at 911-5555.)
In this Jan. 27, 2010 photo, radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh speaks during a Miss America news conference at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Las Vegas News Bureau, Brian Jones)
Stepping into an emerging culture clash over women, President Barack Obama made a supportive phone call Friday to a law student who testified before Congress about the need for birth control coverage, only to be called a "slut" by Rush Limbaugh.
For Obama, it was an emphatic plunge into the latest flare-up on social issues. Democratic officeholders and liberal advocacy have accused Republicans of waging a "war on women" because of GOP stances on contraception and abortion rights, and Limbaugh's tirade on his radio talk show was seen as an escalation.
In addition to her call from the president, the third-year Georgetown University law student, Sandra Fluke, was backed by members of Congress, women's groups, and the administration and faculty at her Roman Catholic university.
Demands for Limbaugh's sponsors to pull their ads from his rocketed through cyberspace, and at least three companies, Quicken Loans and bedding retailers Sleep Train and Sleep Number, bowed to the pressure.
Obama considers Limbaugh's remarks "reprehensible," according to White House spokesman Jay Carney. He said the president called Fluke to "express his disappointment that she has been the subject of inappropriate personal attacks" and to thank her for speaking out on an issue of public policy.
"The fact that our political discourse has become debased in many ways is bad enough," Carney said. "It is worse when it's directed at a private citizen who was simply expressing her views."
Obama reached Fluke by phone as she was waiting to go on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports."
"What was really personal for me was that he said to tell my parents that they should be proud," a choked-up Fluke told Mitchell. "And that meant a lot because Rush Limbaugh questioned whether or not my family would be proud of me. So I just appreciated that very much."
By calling Fluke and injecting himself into the Limbaugh controversy, Obama sent a message to more than one law student. He was reaching out to young voters and women - two groups whose support he needs in this re-election year. And he was underscoring that the White House, despite bungling its rollout of the birth control policy, sees it as a winning issue and welcomes Obama's name next to it.
Fluke was given a chance to talk to Congress on Feb. 23, even though lawmakers were on a break and just a few Democratic allies were on hand to cheer her on. The previous week, a Republican-controlled House committee had rejected Democrats' request that she testify on the Obama administration's policy requiring that employees of religion-affiliated institutions have access to health insurance that covers birth control.
Republicans have faulted parts of Obama's health care reform as unconstitutional, including an initial requirement, since withdrawn by the president, that contraceptives be covered under the insurance policies of businesses, including those with religious affiliations.
Fluke said that Georgetown, a Jesuit institution, does not provide contraception coverage in its student health plan and that contraception can cost a woman more than $3,000 during law school. She spoke of a friend who had an ovary removed because the insurance company wouldn't cover the prescription birth control she needed to stop the growth of cysts.
On Wednesday, Limbaugh unleashed a lengthy and often savage verbal assault on Fluke.
"What does it say about the college coed ... who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex?" Limbaugh said. "It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex."
He went on to suggest that Fluke distribute sex tapes of herself.
"If we are going to pay for your contraceptives, and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it," he said. "We want you post the videos online so we can all watch."
The backlash began quickly and showed no signs of abating as scores of Democratic members of Congress denounced Limbaugh and urged their GOP colleagues to do likewise.
The Republican speaker of the House, John Boehner, responded through a spokesman.
"The Speaker obviously believes the use of those words was inappropriate, as is trying to raise money off the situation," said Boehner aide Michael Steel.
Later, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the committee that blocked Fluke's original testimony, issued a letter repudiating Limbaugh's comments but also excoriating the Democrats and their supporters.
"I ask that you join me in a broader condemnation of the attacks on people of faith ... and the regrettable personal attacks that have come from individuals on both sides of the issue," Issa wrote to Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md.
Boehner and Issa are among the GOP leaders accused of waging the purported "war on women." The topic has been cited often in recent fundraising pitches by many liberal advocacy groups, and they recently have shown more aggressiveness.
In early February, after a three-day furor, the Susan G. Komen breast cancer charity dropped plans to withdraw funding from Planned Parenthood, a leading abortion provider. And more recently, after incurring protests and ridicule, Republican politicians in Virginia backed away from a bill that would have required invasive vaginal ultrasounds as a pre-condition for many abortions.
Amid this controversy, polls show that Obama's support among women has been increasing.
At Georgetown, more than 130 faculty members signed a letter praising Fluke for her "grace and strength" and condemning Limbaugh's remarks. The university president, John J. DeGioia, did likewise.
He said Limbaugh and others responded to Fluke "with behavior that can only be described as misogynistic, vitriolic, and a misrepresentation of the position of our student."
On Thursday, aware of the firestorm he had ignited, Limbaugh was unapologetic.
"I think this is hilarious. Absolutely hilarious" he said on his show. "The left has been thrown into an outright conniption fit!"
On Friday, still defiant, Limbaugh scoffed at the concept of a conservative "war on women."
"Amazingly, when there is the slightest bit of opposition to this new welfare entitlement being created, then all of a sudden we hate women! We want `em barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen," he said. "And now, at the end of this week, I am the person that the women of America are to fear the most."
Longtime Republican strategist Terry Holt suggested voters might see Obama's response to an over-the-top radio host as "pure pandering" to woo women's votes.
"This conversation seems to serve Rush Limbaugh and president Obama equally well," Holt said.
Fluke, in Washington, issued a statement expressing gratitude for the support she's received and resolve to continue speaking out.
"No woman deserves to be disrespected in this manner. This language is an attack on all women, and has been used throughout history to silence our voices," she said.
"The millions of American women who have and will continue to speak out in support of women's health care and access to contraception prove that we will not be silenced."
Rick Santorum, one of the Republican presidential contenders seeking to oppose Obama, commented to CNN about Limbaugh's remarks.
"He's being absurd," Santorum said. "But that's, you know, an entertainer can be absurd."
By the CNN Wire Staff updated 6:43 PM EST, Thu March 1, 2012
Survivor: 'I swear we were going to die'
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: "The wind was just immense," a survivor recounts
A new storm system could pose a threat Friday
Harrisburg, Illinois, is among the hardest hit by earlier storms, with at least six deaths
Three deaths have been reported in Tennessee
(CNN) -- Towns across the Midwest and South were cleaning up from a string of deadly tornadoes Thursday as forecasters warned a new system that could bring more twisters was forming.
The tornado outbreak that began Tuesday night left 13 dead across Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee and battered parts of Kentucky as well. The latest death was reported in Kansas, where authorities said 53-year-old Richard Slade died Thursday from injuries suffered when a tornado struck Harveyville on Tuesday night.
Slade had been airlifted to a nearby Topeka hospital after being pulled from the wreckage of his home. He remained in critical condition, and the decision was made to take him off life support, officials said.
National Guard troops helped police and sheriff's deputies direct traffic and patrol streets in stricken areas of Missouri and Kentucky, while those who survived began the task of rebuilding. But a developing storm over the mid-Mississippi River Valley could pose a moderate risk to parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and northern Alabama by Friday, forecasters said.
In Harrisburg, Illinois, where the highest death toll occurred, a tree smashed in the front window of Chris and Alice Retzloff's home before dawn Wednesday. But their neighbor's house was "pretty much gone," Chris Retzloff told CNN's "Starting Point."
"Our damage was minimal compared to this," his wife added.
Harrisburg mayor: "We will rebuild"
Man survives trailer flipping 5 times
Branson mayor: We were fortunate
Harrisburg hopeful despite damage
"We have a basement, and we went in our basement and huddled together with our dogs and the sirens went off," she said. "The wind was just immense, the sound, and then the next siren went off, and there was just this incredible pressure that we all had on us."
Four women and two men died in Harrisburg, about 30 miles north of the Kentucky border. The tornado that struck it had a preliminary rating of EF4, the second most powerful on the rating scale, according to the National Weather Service.
The twister appeared to have been on the ground for several miles, said Harrisburg Mayor Eric Gregg, and the path of destruction was about three or four football fields wide. Sheriff's deputes said about 100 people were injured and between 250 and 300 houses were damaged or destroyed.
Debris and collapsed houses littered the ground in the southern part of Harrisburg. Commercial and residential buildings were crushed. A tractor-trailer could be seen lying on its side, off the highway.
Darrell Osman lost his mother to the storm. After the twister struck, he ran to her house, only to find nothing left.
"Her house was literally gone," Osman said. He found his mother in an ambulance, but she passed away later at a hospital.
In Washington, the White House said President Barack Obama called the governors of six states affected by the storms -- Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana -- "to offer condolences and assistance as necessary."
One person died in each of three towns in southern Missouri where the twisters struck -- Buffalo, Puxico and Cassville -- while another three died in two east-central Tennessee counties, authorities in those states reported.
A smaller tornado caused significant damage in the music resort city of Branson, Missouri.
"I woke up this morning and looked outside and saw houses were destroyed," said Steven Scharmanzer in Branson. "I've never seen anything like this in the 20 years I've lived here."
The city's entertainment district, which boasts 50 theaters, had five or six damaged; of the city's 200 hotels, 15 had significant damage, Branson Mayor Raeanne Presley said. But she told CNN, "We'll be open for business in short order, and we will be helping those who suffered damage to rebuild."
Presley took cover with her family in the basement before immediately going out to survey the damage.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, who declared a state of emergency, said the damage there was in at least the tens of millions, but there were no reported deaths. "We are confident that Branson will be back bigger and better than ever," Nixon said.
An EF2 tornado smashed at least seven miles of the city's commercial strip, leaving 33 people hurt, most with minor to moderate injuries.
The city's convention center and an attached Hilton were damaged, as was a portion of Branson Landing, a large shopping and entertainment complex.
City Administrator Dean Kruithof said about five or six of the city's roughly 40 theaters were damaged.
"We have so many people who want crews in here to clean up, who want to start rebuilding," Kruithof said.
At least six counties in Kentucky also suffered storm damage. A shaken and bruised Steven Vaught of Greenville, Kentucky, recounted how he and his two dogs tumbled when his trailer rolled several times down the hill. They all survived.
"I got up, took two steps off the couch, and then me and the two dogs that were with me and the trailer started rolling down the hill," he said.
The trailer rolled over five times.
"Once it hit the ground on the fifth time, I saw daylight and I was sitting up against the stove," he said.
He retold the story through tears as he reflected on his survival. "It wasn't my time," he said.
Two twisters were reported Wednesday night near Hodgenville, Kentucky, and winds in excess of 100 mph were reported in northwestern Alabama.
CNN's Sean Morris, Logan Burruss, Kara Devlin and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.
By MAGGIE MICHAEL Associated Press CAIRO March 1, 2012 (AP)
Seven Americans on trial over charges their pro-democracy groups fomented unrest flew out of Egypt Thursday after the U.S. posted nearly $5 million in bail for them and nine others who managed to leave before a travel ban was imposed.
The departure of the seven eased a deep diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and Egypt that had been building for two months, following a crackdown on pro-democracy and human rights groups by the Egyptian government.
A boy accused of being 'child witch' is exorcised in a church in Kinshasa Photo: Gwenn Dubourthoumieu/AFP/Getty Images
By Nick Britten and Victoria Ward10:04PM GMT 01 Mar 2012
The warning was issued as a couple from the Democratic Republic of Congo were found guilty of murdering the woman’s 15-year-old brother during an “exorcism ceremony”.
The Metropolitan Police yesterday said it had investigated 83 “faith-based” child abuse cases involving witchcraft in the past 10 years but believed it was still an “under-reported, hidden crime”.
Children’s charities and campaigners urged communities to report abuse and said social workers must be firmer in confronting abuse in immigrant groups.
Kristy Bamu, 15, was relentlessly tortured and eventually drowned in a bath on Christmas Day 2010 by his sister, Magalie, and her partner, Eric Bikubi. The killers are facing life sentences.
They believed he had cast spells on another child and punished him with increasing viciousness. The teenager “begged to die” because he was in such pain after three days of being attacked with knives, sticks, metal bars and a hammer and chisel, suffering 130 separate injuries.
Among the cases that have come to light are four murders, including that of Victoria Climbié in 2000, the case that first raised awareness of the problem in Britain.
Detectives warned that while they were investigating around eight cases a year, they believed many more incidents went unreported.
Det Supt Terry Sharpe, the Metropolitan Police’s lead on Project Violet, a team set up to tackle religious-based child abuse, said: “The intelligence from the community is that it’s far more prevalent than the reports we are getting.”
The NSPCC said: “We must not be afraid to challenge these communities to out the wrongdoers within them. Sadly, this deeply disturbing case is not a one-off incident. “
The Victoria Climbié Trust, which was set up after the death of the eight year-old, said that, while the number of children affected was relatively low, the impact was significant. “The reality is that no one really knows the full extent across the many communities for whom traditional belief systems are the norm,” said director Mor Dioum. The charity Trust for London said some officials may be unsure how to deal with abuse cases linked to witchcraft and spirit possession.
“Those working with children need to remember that no faith or culture promotes cruelty to children and not be afraid to intervene if someone is wrongly using belief as an excuse to harm children.”
Many cases involve immigrants from African countries such as the DRC, where witchcraft is widely practised, and are nurtured by an increasing number of African churches.
Kristy had come to London with his two brothers and two sisters from Paris to stay with their sister and her boyfriend for Christmas, but within hours Bikubi, 28, had accused them of bringing kindoki – a form of witchcraft – into his home.
Two sisters, aged 20 and 11, were beaten but escaped further attacks after “confessing” to being witches.
Kristy was singled out because, in sheer terror, he wet himself. He was struck in the mouth with a hammer, had bottles and tiles smashed over his head and his ear twisted with pliers.
In what prosecutors called “a staggering act of depravity and cruelty”, the siblings, who included a 13-year-old boy and an autistic brother aged 22, were made to join in the torture.
At one point, Bikubi, 28, a football coach from Newham, east London, told the youngsters to jump out of the window to see if they could fly.
One of the victims, Kelly Bamu, said: “They started talking about kindoki, witchcraft and this and that. It was as if they were obsessed by witchcraft.”
The Old Bailey heard that emergency services were greeted with a horrific scene when they were called to the eight-floor flat following Kristy’s death. In the blood-spattered flat, police found his brothers and sisters “hysterical, terrified and soaking wet,” the court heard.
Bikubi and Bamu, 29, who had denied murder, will be sentenced on Monday.