Shoe-thrower Wants Lesser Charges
Attorneys for the Iraqi reporter who tried to bean President Bush with his shoes say that their client’s actions do not amount to an assault and, thus, no trial is necessary. The reporter, Muntazer al-Zaidi, has been charged with assault against a foreign head of state. During a joint news conference with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki earlier this month, al-Zaidi called Bush a dog as he hurled both of his shoes at the U.S. president. If convicted, al-Zaidi could spend 15 years in prison. Dhiaa al-Saadi, who represents the defendant, told Reuters that the defense was appealing to have the charge reduced to insulting a visiting head of state, which carries a two-year maximum sentence. “Have you ever heard of anyone being killed by a shoe?” al-Saadi said. “In Europe, they throw eggs and rotten tomatoes to insult. In Iraq, throwing a shoe is a symbol of disrespect.” At least the argument was good enough to convince the Iraqi High Judicial Council to delay the trial, which was supposed to begin today. “Due to a legal appeal presented by defendant Muntazer al-Zaidi’s lawyers to the Federal Appeal Court, the case has been referred to this court for study,” the council said in a statement. “Therefore, the Central Criminal Court has adjourned the case pending (its) ruling.”

America’s Oldest Has Died
George Rene Francis, the oldest man in America, who was inspired by Booker T. Washington’s visit to his third-grade class and the message of peace by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., died Saturday in Sacramento. He was 112.  Francis, who was born in New Orleans in 1896, lived to see 19 presidents and witnessed Babe Ruth whack one of his signature homeruns, died of congestive heart failure in Eskaton Care Center Greenhaven, his family, told The Sacramento Bee newspaper. Francis, a lifelong advocate of equal rights, taught his daughter how to drive after she was forced to relinquish her seat on the bus to a White man. In November, he gleefully cast his vote for Sen. Barack Obama. “I think he’s great, because he’s Black. Because the White people thought the Negro would never be promoted. I think it’s beautiful,” he told the Bee. His favorite poem was “The Black Man’s Plea for Justice,” but he never taught his children bigotry or prejudice, his daughter, Lelia Francis Larue, told the newspaper. “He was exceptionally good-natured. We don’t remember any really harsh words at all. He didn’t curse. He and my mom were very gentle people.”

Jazz great Freddie Hubbard, one of the most influential trumpeters of his generation, died Monday, about a month after suffering a heart attack. He was 70. Hubbard was pronounced dead at Sherman Oaks Hospital, fellow trumpeter David Weiss told The Associated Press. Hubbard, who earned a Grammy in 1972 for “First Light,” made more than 300 recordings, including such notable discs as “Open Sesame” and “Going Up” for Blue Note. He was best known for his aggressive, articulate style. Born in Indianapolis, Hubbard studied at the Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music and the Indianapolis Symphony before heading to New York in 1958. Once in New York, he joined forces with Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane, among other jazz legends. He once told Down Beat magazine that, “I met Trane at a jam session at Count Basie’s in Harlem in 1958. He said, `Why don’t you come over and let’s try and practice a little bit together.’ I almost went crazy. I mean, here is a 20-year-old kid practicing with John Coltrane. He helped me out a lot, and we worked several jobs together.” One of the musicians greatly influenced by Hubbard is fellow Grammy-Award winner Wynton Marsalis. “He influenced all the trumpet players that came after him,” Marsalis told The Associated Press earlier this year. “Certainly I listened to him a lot. … We all listened to him. He has a big sound and a great sense of rhythm and time and really the hallmark of his playing is an exuberance. His playing is exuberant.”

Singer Odetta is dead at 77. Singer Odetta Holmes, one of the major voices of the Civil Rights Movement and a major musical influence in the 1960s, has died. She was 77.  She was admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City for a checkup in mid-November but went into kidney failure. She died there Tuesday of heart disease, her manager, Doug Yeager, told The Associated Press. Read more about her life here.

 Friends and former co-workers gather in Hawaii to pay respects to Obama’s “Toot.” Madelyn Dunham, who missed her grandson’s historic victory by hours, is remembered. About 150 friends and former co-workers paid their final respects to President-elect Barack Obama’s late grandmother yesterday in a 45-minute memorial in Hawaii. The service for Madelyn Dunham, 86, who passed away Nov. 2, just before her grandson was elected President, was held at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Obama and his family did not attend the ceremony and neither did his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng, a professor at the University of Hawaii. “It broke his heart not to be here,” said Emme Tomimbang, a friend of Obama’s and the service’s master of ceremonies. “Even though Barack and Maya couldn’t be here physically, they were here in spirit. In fact, they both helped put this together.” She said Obama and his family are expected to have another small, private service. Dunham, whom the President-Elect and his sister affectionately called “Toot,” was remembered as “tough” and “hard-working” and “loyal” woman who loved jigsaw puzzles, mystery novels and playing Bridge.  The Bank of Hawaii, where Dunham started her career as a secretary and left as the first woman to make Vice President, helped organize the service. Dunham’s body was cremated.

Helms, a staunch Republican, retired from the SU.S. Senate in 2002

Former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, the North Carolina lawmaker who civil right leaders viewed as one of the most virulent racists of his era, will be laid to rest Tuesday in a private burial following funeral services in Raleigh, N.C. Read more at BET.com/News.

High-powered Sadia Morrison was thrown from an apartment building

A handler for various performers and athletes, including Kanye West, Brandy and Adam “Pacman” Jones, has been thrown to her death from a Bronx apartment building, authorities say. Sadia Morrison, 26, had recently organized a celebrity PlayStation tournament set for Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club to raise funds for at-risk youth. Morrison was with Pacman at a strip club on the night when he “made it rain” and caused a disturbance when dancers and club goers scuffled over the cash he reportedly tossed into the air. Morrison was arrested for her part in the episode and sentenced to probation. Police are investigating her death.