Lennon's widow calls for healing

Lennon's widowcalls for healing
NEW YORK -- Yoko Ono is calling for the anniversary of the death of her husband, John Lennon, to become a day of worldwide healing.
In a full-page advertisement appearing in Sunday editions of The New York Times, Ono urges readers to mark the anniversary by apologizing to those who have suffered because of violence and war.
"Every year, let's make December 8th the day to ask for forgiveness from those who suffered the insufferable," writes the former Beatle's widow, who signs the letter Yoko Ono Lennon.
Ono urges readers to take responsibility for failing to intervene on behalf of victims around the world.
"Know that the physical and mental abuse you have endured will have a lingering effect on our society," she writes in a portion of the letter directed to victims. "Know that the burden is ours."
Ono was with Lennon when he was gunned down as he returned home from a recording studio on Dec. 8, 1980. The shooter, Mark David Chapman, remains in New York's Attica state prison. His fourth request for parole was denied last month.
Of her own loss, Ono says: "I don't know if I am ready yet to forgive the one who pulled the trigger. ... But healing is what is urgently needed now in the world."
"Let's wish strongly that one day we will be able to say that we healed ourselves, and by healing ourselves, we healed the world."
Michael Richards talks with Jesse Jackson
NEW YORK -- Michael Richards said Sunday he did not consider himself a racist, and said he was "shattered" by the comments he made to two young black men during a tirade at a Los Angeles comedy club.
Richards appeared on the Rev. Jesse Jackson's nationally syndicated radio program, "Keep Hope Alive," as a part of a series of apologies for the incident. He said he knew his comments hurt the black community, and hoped to meet with the two men.
He told Jackson that he had not used the language before.
"That's why I'm shattered by it. The way this came through me was like a freight train. After it was over, when I went to look for them, they had gone. And I've tried to meet them, to talk to them, to get some healing," he said.
Richards, who played Jerry Seinfeld's wacky neighbor Kramer on the TV sitcom "Seinfeld," was performing at West Hollywood's Laugh Factory last week when he lashed out at hecklers with a string of racial obscenities and profane language. A cell phone video camera captured the outburst, and the incident later appeared on TMZ.com.
Richards told Jackson the tirade was fueled by anger, not bigotry. He said, "I was in a place of humiliation."
Richards' publicist, Howard Rubenstein, said Saturday that Richards has begun psychiatric counseling in Los Angeles to learn how to manage his anger and understand why he made the racist remarks.
Today's birthdays
Actor James Avery is 58. TV host Bill Nye ("Bill Nye, the Science Guy") is 51. Actor William Fichtner is 50. Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg is 49. Rock musician Charlie Burchill (Simple Minds) is 47. Rock musician Charlie Benante (Anthrax) is 44. Rock musician Mike Bordin (Faith No More) is 44. Actor Fisher Stevens is 43. Actress Robin Givens is 42. Actor Michael Vartan is 38. Rapper Skoob (DAS EFX) is 36. Rapper Twista is 34. Actor Jaleel White is 30.