Wyclef Jean has launched a nonpolitical humanitarian effort to help rebuild his native Haiti – and he’s not “calling bluff.”

Yele Haiti seeks to use music and community development as an outreach to the Caribbean country’s youth. The organization plans to help rebuild schools in slum areas and hold a free concert in Haiti in the spring, reports The Associated Press.

Jean launched Yele Haiti with a concert in New York City on Thursday night. Among those on the arrivals line were Susan Sarandon, a member of a task force that is assisting the former Fugees rapper, and her partner, Tim Robbins.

“The objective of Yele Haiti is to restore pride and a reason to hope, and for the whole country to regain the deep spirit and strength that is part of our heritage,” Jean says on the Yele Haiti Web site.

His 1997 solo hit, “We Trying to Stay Alive,” reworked the Bee Gees disco classic into an anthem of Haitian slums.

Prints match Jackson, boy

Fingerprints belonging to both Michael Jackson and the boy accusing him of child molestation were found on pornographic magazines seized from Jackson’s Neverland ranch last year, the Santa Barbara News-Press reported Saturday, citing sources it did not identify.

If the reported evidence is admitted during Jackson’s trial, prosecutors would be expected to argue that the fingerprints were proof that Jackson showed the boy pornographic literature before molesting him. But the defense could question whether the entertainer knew the boy had been leafing through the magazines.

According to the newspaper, the boy and his brother often visited Neverland when Jackson wasn’t home.

A judge is expected to decide next month what evidence can be admitted at trial, which is scheduled to begin Jan. 31.

Jackson, 46, has pleaded not guilty to charges of child molestation, conspiracy and administering an intoxicating agent, alcohol, to his alleged victim.

Investigators recently searched Jackson’s Neverland home, and the entertainer voluntarily gave them a DNA sample at their request.

Clinton museum sales high

A Socks the Cat doll that meows could show up in a stocking stuffed by Bill Clinton this year. Thousands of people from around the world including the former president himself have spent more than $400,000 at the Clinton Museum Store since it opened Nov. 15.

Clinton placed a phone order on Thursday, calling museum store manager Connie Fails to order, among other things, Air Force One toys that emit the sound of plane engines when squeezed, neckties, stuffed donkeys and a Socks the Cat doll that says “meow.”

Clinton also bought a commemorative Clinton Presidential Library dedication dinner plate and a Woodmere china reproduction of the plates Presidents Lincoln and Jackson used when they were in the White House.

“I’m still totaling up the bill. Yes, he has to pay for it,” Fails said.

The gift shop has been packed since the dedication celebration three weeks ago, and recently started Internet sales.

“We sent out an e-mail to 1,200 people Monday night that they could shop online, and by the time we opened the next morning we had 40 orders,” Fails said.

Moore searching for vote

Filmmaker Michael Moore is back on the campaign trail trolling for votes – this time, for the People’s Choice Awards.

His documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11” – an unlikely summer blockbuster – was one of the films selected in the “favorite movie” category of the annual populist prize ceremony. On Thursday he posted a letter on his Web site to mobilize fans to cast their ballots for the film.

“Now, normally I wouldn’t make a very big deal out of something like this,” Moore wrote. He said he was inspired to make his appeal after a group of leading Republicans took out ads in USA Today and Daily Variety that he said included “a not-so-subtle threat to the Academy Awards voters that, in essence, said don’t even THINK about nominating Fahrenheit 9/11 for Best Picture.”

Moore said the People’s Choice nomination proves the message of his film still resonates with people across the country, even though President Bush won re-election.

“Fahrenheit 9/11” attacked Bush’s rationale for the war in Iraq and accused him and his administration of fostering fear for political gain. Moore spent the weeks before the election traveling across the country to urge Americans to vote Bush out of office.

In his letter, Moore said the movie still speaks “the truth about Iraq, Bush, terror and fear. The election has not altered or made irrelevant, unfortunately, a single one of these issues.”

Verdi’s house for sale

Calling all opera lovers with a few spare millions: The house where Giuseppe Verdi wrote “Rigoletto” is up for sale.

Saba Sabadini Orlandi, the house’s owner, put an ad in the Financial Times newspaper advertising the sale. Despite the colorful Italian-tinged grammar, the message was clear: “We sell in the historical centre of Busseto … unique palazzo – 18th Century – belonged to Giuseppe Verdi.”

The asking price for the house in Busseto, near Parma, is about $6.6 million, Sabadini Orlandi said. Whoever buys it will probably have to spend another $3.3 million to renovate it.

The owner said she decided to sell the palazzo because she didn’t have the money to fix it up and was unable to secure outside funds.

Verdi, who bought the house in 1848 and sold it in 1888, composed renowned masterpieces there, including “Luisa Miller” and “Rigoletto.” For years, the two-story building hosted a museum with Verdi memorabilia. There are frescoes in the dining room, and the house is crowned by a cupola.



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