I remember growing up on this song, it had a magical ability to not only inspire me as a youth but it also instilled within me a sense of purpose to know more about KING. I got to know the man’s story soon afterwards and understood why these entertainers dedicated such a moving tribute to this man. For a KING, KING celebrate!
This is why we salute this man on this day, for the daunting absence of fear in his body that allowed him to stand for TRUTH, JUSTICE, FREEDOM & PEACE. He saw his ending dawning upon him and didn’t flinch a bit, in fact he stood UP and screamed his eyes had seen “THE GLORY!” He became animated when he spoke of the need for America to confront her maladies in order to ween herself off of injustice. He was specifically talking about her preoccupation with an unjust war. As we all know, the Angel of Death caught up with him the following day on a balcony in Memphis, where KINGS go to die. This year in particular, 40 years after he left this Earth in the physical form his words live on strong. America needs to find its own voice and call for CHANGE at a time when America is entrenched in several unjust wars.
via Guardian UK
Barack Obama has only four years to save the world. That is the stark assessment of Nasa scientist and leading climate expert Jim Hansen who last week warned only urgent action by the new president could halt the devastating climate change that now threatens Earth. Crucially, that action will have to be taken within Obama’s first administration, he added.
Soaring carbon emissions are already causing ice-cap melting and threaten to trigger global flooding, widespread species loss and major disruptions of weather patterns in the near future. “We cannot afford to put off change any longer,” said Hansen. “We have to get on a new path within this new administration. We have only four years left for Obama to set an example to the rest of the world. America must take the lead.”
Hansen said current carbon levels in the atmosphere were already too high to prevent runaway greenhouse warming. Yet the levels are still rising despite all the efforts of politicians and scientists.
Only the US now had the political muscle to lead the world and halt the rise, Hansen said. Having refused to recognise that global warming posed any risk at all over the past eight years, the US now had to take a lead as the world’s greatest carbon emitter and the planet’s largest economy. Cap-and-trade schemes, in which emission permits are bought and sold, have failed, he said, and must now be replaced by a carbon tax that will imposed on all producers of fossil fuels. At the same time, there must be a moratorium on new power plants that burn coal – the world’s worst carbon emitter. Read more…
via My Way News
WASHINGTON (AP) – Two days from the White House, President-elect Barack Obama joined a vast throng Sunday at a joyous pre-inauguration celebration staged among marble monuments to past heroes. “Anything is possible in America,” declared the man who will confront economic crisis and two wars when he takes office.
“Despite the enormity of the task that lies ahead, I stand here today as hopeful as ever that the United States of America will endure – that it will prevail, that the dream of our founders will live on in our time,” the president-elect said at the conclusion of a musical extravaganza that featured U2, Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen and a host of other stars.
Obama and his family held the seats of honor at the event, and a crowd of tens of thousands spilled from the base of the Lincoln Memorial toward the Washington Monument several blocks away in the cold, gray afternoon of mid-January.
It was the high point of a full day of pre-inaugural events that included a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery and a morning church service where children recalled the life of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Obama’s motorcade drew ever-larger crowds as the day wore on and he and his wife, Michelle, and their children Sasha and Malia crisscrossed the city.
“Just another typical Sunday,” deadpanned the Rev. Derrick Harkins, pastor at the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church, where the soon-to-be first family prayed.
Of course it was anything but – a run-up, in fact, to the first inauguration of an African-American president in a nation founded by slave-owners.
Obama’s aides said he was readying an inaugural address that would stress twin themes of responsibility and accountability, and they predicted he would devote his first week in office to economic recovery, setting in motion a 16-month troop withdrawal from Iraq and decreeing a code of ethics for his administration. Read more…
By PMoor
Nothing but the highest order of homage is due to the incoming President of the United States of America, the esteemed senator from Illionois, Mr. Barack Obama. We are less than twenty four hours away from witnessing an event that will forever CHANGE the fabric of time by symbolically representing the end of a universal lie told about the inferiority of the sons of Africa. The global diaspora is littered with them, them being migrators and travelers who carried civilization to all four korners of the globe. It was foretold in their tradition that the student would betray the teacher though, and assassinate him, if not in the physical like kung fu but in the spiritual via his “character” like politics.
So character assassination became the order of the day and agencies have been created to perpetruate little white LIES on a grand scale. For one individual to come along out of the halls of the Senate, none the less and turn that entire lie on its head in a fraction of the time that it took to create the “Matrix of Lies” if you will, that hat trick is nothing less that pure genius. Read more…
It dawned on me today that everyone has the ability to make CHANGE, it is practically at your finger tips. And never moreso then when at your finger tips is a keyboard and you can SHARE music with people out there in CYBER Space, changing the notion that HIP HOP is DEAD or music is stagnant. It’s far from it and by the SOUNDS of things its going through a RENAISSANCE period, centering itself once again. More politics, more crafty lyricism, more consciousness, more originality and even hybrid forms of shit that there’s no name to tag it with. Amongst these underclassmen of artists who can usher in a CHANGE in HIP HOP, is ScholarMan.
This has to be some awful joke that has yet to make any one laugh. This guy sucks big time.
Salute to B.I.
more about "[video] REMIX!!! – Michelle Obama Dan…", posted with vodpod
via LA Times
Shoppers eager to grab their share of discounted plasma TVs and Blu-ray DVDs lined up in droves today as Circuit City stores began liquidating their inventory. The bankrupt electronics retailer is shutting down its 567 U.S. stores and laying off 34,000 workers.
By late morning, the line outside the Circuit City in Hollywood was almost 100 people long. Carlos Reyes, 24, and girlfriend Diana Anzora, 22, of Los Angeles, lined up to buy video games and DVDs.
Reyes said they would probably stick to smaller items since all sales are final.
“We don’t want to get anything too big,” he said. “You don’t want to not be able to return an HD or plasma.” Read more…
via WSHH
FOX reports “Greensboro, N.C. – Although police have not connected a Friday night shooting at a cinema with a new film about rapper Notorious B.I.G, managers at the theater where the shooting took place have temporarily stopped showing the movie” Credit to Frank
We still have a ways to go people..
via Huffington Post
PARK CITY, Utah — Morgan Freeman was disappointed to learn that his local high school in Charleston, Miss., still held separate proms, one for black students, one for white. So he offered to pay for a single prom that both could attend.
That was 1997. It took 11 years for the school to take Freeman up on his offer.
Director Paul Saltzman’s “Prom Night in Mississippi,” premiering Saturday as part of the world documentary competition at the Sundance Film Festival, chronicles the growing pains Charleston went through last year as the community prepared for its first racially integrated senior prom.
The move came 54 years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown vs. Board of Education case that struck down school segregation and more than 30 years after black students began attending Charleston High School, which previously had been all-white.
Freeman learned about the separate proms while talking with the senior class in 1997. Students were willing when Freeman said he would pay for an integrated prom, but the school board and parents ignored his offer.
“It’s kind of disheartening,” Freeman said. “In the little town we live in _ this is a really small town _ I don’t know how you can live in such a small place and try to be separate.”
Toronto filmmaker Saltzman met Freeman in 2006 on a return visit to Mississippi, where he had worked for a couple of months doing voter registration during the civil rights movement in the mid-1960s. Saltzman later interviewed Freeman for another documentary he’s working on about his journey back to the South.
Once he learned of Freeman’s offer to desegregate Charleston’s proms, Saltzman felt there was another film to be told.
Definitely egg on the face of the NRJ Music Awards commitee. Don’t be expecting her to sing at any of your future events anytime soon. But something tells me they will find a way to suck up to her in the next day or two. Maybe they let them both share the award.
via Yahoo
CANNES, France (AFP) – US pop star Kate Perry was given the international song of the year award for “I Kissed a Girl” at a French music award, but it turns out her song wasn’t the best after all.
The host of the NRJ Music Award in the Riviera resort of Cannes announced at the end of the show Saturday that there had been a mistake in vote-counting and that Perry was not the winner.
The award instead went to Barbados-born singer Rihanna for “Disturbia.”
The trophies were handed out based on results of audience votes on NRJ’s website in the weeks leading up to the awards ceremony.
Perry, who had stepped up to the podium to pick up the award for international song of the year, did however win in another category — best international album for “One of the Boys”.
The international female artist of the year award went to Britney Spears who was not present to receive the honour. The Pussycat Dolls won for best international group and Enrique Iglesias was named top international male artist.
Come on Hip Hop community can we at least get through the damn weekend without someone getting hurt during the release of our biggest movie to date? When will we grow up and take responsibility when we are on a world stage and are on the eve of swearing in our first black president who makes no bones about being a Hip hop fan? SMH.
via Huff Post
NEW YORK — Police say four men were stabbed at a New York City nightclub advertising an after-party for the film premiere of “Notorious” about rapper Biggie Smalls.
Police said Saturday a 21-year-old victim stabbed numerous times was in critical condition at Brookdale Hospital. Three others were stable.
The Djumbala club is in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn. Police did not immediately release further information.
While the party had been promoted as the “official” after-party, “Notorious” distributor, Fox Searchlight, said it was not related.
Smalls was born Christopher Wallace and also used the stage name “Notorious B.I.G.”
His debut CD, 1994′s “Ready to Die,” helped re-energize East Coast rap. He was killed in Los Angeles in 1997.
via Huffington Post
“Git Mo, Git Mo”
Gotta show some love to the pioneers. The female MC is not dead.
A staple of my household, which is probably as with millions of household across the country. As I write this, the Today show is blaring a teaser for their report saying the FDA has peanut butter across the board. As new details emerge check how Kellog’s gotta get those addictive peanut butter cookies off the shelves.
via
AP) What began as an investigation of peanut butter shipped to U.S. nursing homes and cafeterias has broadened with the Kellogg Co. recalling 16 products and federal officials confirming salmonella contamination at a Georgia facility that ships peanut products to 85 food companies.
A nationwide salmonella outbreak has sickened hundreds of people in 43 U.S. states and killed at least six.
Late Friday, Kellogg said in a statement it was recalling its Keebler crackers and other products voluntarily in light of problems discovered in Georgia.
“The actions we are taking today are in keeping with our more than 100-year commitment to providing consumers with safe, high-quality products,” said David Mackay, Kellogg’s president and CEO.
The recall includes Austin and Keebler branded Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers, as well as some snack-size packs of Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies and Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies.
Sandra Williams, a compliance officer with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Detroit, advised consumers not to eat the products and to contact a doctor if they have any symptoms.
Salmonella is the nation’s leading cause of food poisoning; common symptoms include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. The current outbreak is the second in two years involving peanut butter.
“Kellogg reacted promptly to this potential public health risk after receiving notification of the potential problem from their supplier,” Williams said.
Though we are in knee deep celebration over the historic inaugration of President-elect Barack Obama lets us not forget the war that is going on in Gaza that seems to have accomplished nothing more than to keep it going on for another hundred years. Hopefully the cease-fire is a permanent one.
Come on Spike if you’re able to get the money and have Big Willie attached, you are gonna seriously have to think about doing it. Besides Will’s movie won’t be a documentary.
via McClathy
WASHNGTON — Barack Obama inaugural souvenirs are selling at three times the rate of the previous record holder, Bill Clinton, according to vendor Jim Warlick, veteran of eight inaugurals.
What’s hottest? “Anything with Obama’s image on it,” Warlick said. This left about 150 possibilities at Warlick’s Political Americana shop in downtown Washington.
“The bobble-heads are really popular,” he added helpfully.
Warlick bet big on Obama, opening five locations for Obama gear exclusively. He dreams of lines “backed out the door.”
Other vendors are smelling Obama memorabilia money, too.
“We’re already running low on merchandise,” said Gus Koutsothodoros of P&D Souvenir Factory near Ford’s Theater. “Wholesale is so busy they don’t have time to deliver!”
Koutsothodoros said rhinestone-encrusted t-shirts, hats and jewelry are among the best-sellers.
“These are new items,” he said, “We never had Reagan or Bush bling.” Read more…
In the words of Christopher Wallace, unbelievable!
via Daily Mail UK
A rogue FBI agent has been jailed for 40 years for killing a witness who was about to testify against the Mob.
A judge told FBI agent John Connolly he had ‘crossed over to the dark side’.
The former agent’s decision to switch sides was said to be the inspiration for the character played by Matt Damon in the hit film ‘The Departed.’
Damon played a Massachusetts State Trooper detective who supplied his Mob connections with information.
During a two-month trial in Miami, Florida, a jury heard that Connolly, 68, was on the Mafia payroll – receiving money from notorious Mob leader James ‘Whitey’ Bulger who ran the Winter Hill gang in Boston in the 1980s.
Bulger is the FBI’s second-most wanted fugitive after Osama bin Laden and is being sought for involvement in 19 murders.
The court heard that Connolly would supply his Mob connections with tip-offs about police raids and leak the names of informants.
He was convicted of the 1982 murder of businessman John Callahan, whose bullet-riddled body was found in the boot of a car at Miami Airport.
Connolly told his mob connections that 45-year-old Callaghan was preparing to give evidence against the notorious Winter Hill gang in Boston.
A ‘hit’ was taken out on the father-of-two before he could implicate Bulger.
Connolly has denied being a corrupt agent.
He said: ‘I never sold my badge. I never took anybody’s money. I never caused anybody to be hurt, at least not knowingly, and I never would.’
Not even Secret Service can shut down the trannys and pro-fessionals all over DC, don’t you think the focus should be on terrorists and supremacists?
via WUSA
WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) –
District police have placed signs along 5th and I Streets. They read, “Warning, Prostitution Free Zone.” Those who disobey could be fined 300 dollars, and even jailed. But will the city’s plan work?
DC City Councilman Jim Graham said officers cannot enforce loitering laws, which is the reason for these signs.
“Because this is focused, its limited in time, its aimed at a very specific issue, if you don’t move along, well put you in the car,” he said.
John Thompson lives in the neighborhood, and he said prostitution is a major problem.
He hopes the signs make a difference, but what will visitors think?
“I’m not concerned with what visitors think. I’m concerned about the problem that exists,” Thompson said.
A woman who calls herself Tamira and advertises her services on Craigslist, said otherwise. She said prostitutes who work the streets may ignore the signs.
However, she said, some prostitutes may move elsewhere.
“If I saw a sign that said, ‘Prostitution Free Zone’ I would feel a little uncomfortable that there would be a house next store where police are at,” she said.
Tamira also believes some visitors will come to the inauguration for legitimate business, but prostitute on the side to make extra money.
via CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Hate crimes experts and law enforcement officials are closely watching white supremacists across the country as Barack Obama prepares next week to be sworn in as the first black president of the United States.
So far, there is no known organized effort to express opposition to Obama’s rise to the presidency other than a call by the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for its members to wear black armbands as well as fly the U.S. flag upside down on Inauguration Day and Obama’s first full day in office.
As Tuesday approaches, when Obama stands outside the Capitol to take the oath of office, experts expect anger about the new president to spike. But they don’t expect it to go away.
“The level of vitriol, I expect, will go up a bit more around inauguration time,” said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino.
There “is concern” about white supremacist groups during the inauguration, said Joe Persichini, the assistant FBI director who is helping to oversee security during the inauguration. What might the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. have said? Read more…
via NY Times
Point a Web browser to Engadget.com, TheBoot.com, or TMZ.com, and elaborate sites about technology, country music and celebrity gossip will appear on the screen. They could easily be mistaken for stand-alone brands.
But a small link to the owner, in a corner of the screen, shows otherwise. That owner is AOL, the long-suffering unit of Time Warner. And the subtle links are intentional.
Akin to a magazine model of niche titles for fragmented audiences interested in specific subjects, AOL counts more than 75 sites in its publishing portfolio and plans to add 30 more in the coming year. On Monday, the company is expected to announce a formal business unit, MediaGlow, to organize the efforts. The sites are AOL’s latest attempt to make a clean break from its “walled garden” past of dial-up Internet access. Read more…
via NY Times
One month ago, CBS has redesigned the previously clunky site to showcase the thousands of new and old television episodes that it offers, from “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” to “Charlie’s Angels.” And on Monday, the company is expected to announce distribution deals with PBS, Sony, MGM and Endemol that will expand its free advertising-supported online library.
Many Web users are already familiar with Hulu, Fancast and other Web sites that bring the television experience to the Internet. In the land grab for the online TV audience, CBS hopes to define itself by adding a community layer to the videos and by encouraging user interaction.
CBS, the most-watched TV network so far this season, already puts the most recent episodes of its shows on CBS.com. Those shows will be available on TV.com as well, but Anthony Soohoo, who oversees the entertainment and lifestyle categories for CBS Interactive, said he did not intend for the site to be “tied to the success of our shows.” Read more…
We’ve got this from three independent sources close to Apple: expect a large screen iPod touch device to be released in the Fall of ‘09, with a 7 or 9 inch screen. Prototypes have been seen and handled by one of our sources, and Apple is talking to OEMs in Asia now about mass production.
Apple has been experimenting internally with large form tablet devices for years, one source says, but there was concern that users wouldn’t like the device. The difference now is the iTunes app store, which has thousands of games and other applications that are perfect for a touch screen device with an accelerometer. Apple says more than 300 million applications have been downloaded since the App Store launched in July 2008. Combine the App Store, iTunes and a browser and you have one heck of a device
.
We don’t have any information on pricing. The current iPod touch, with a 3.5 inch screen, starts at $229. The 32 GB model is $399. We expect the price on the larger iPod touch to be significantly higher.
Apple rumors, particularly Apple tablet rumors, tend to come and go. I’m not saying Apple is definitely launching a large form iPod Touch. But sources I trust are saying they are currently planning to, and one source has actually held the device.
source: TechCrunch
via BoxOfficeMojo
After seeing a video post of Jamal Woolard (Gravy) and Lil Cease claiming that they predict the motion picture release of Notorious to do $50 million at the box office, I got into a heated debate with Majesty over what exactly was a reasonable prediction. I’ve been brainwashed into believing that Notorious is one of the biggest releases in Hollywood history, based on the rampant advertisement. The point that he made was that it would atleast need to be on 3,000 screens to do phenomenal numbers. His prediction was that Mall Cop would beat Biggie at the movies, and at the time it sounded absurb to me. Upon further review though, it has been brought to my attention that Notorious has gotten shortchanged on the amount of theaters it will be released to. Contrary to popular belief the “hoods” of America don’t make up the majority of the land mass. Middle America, and Red States (sorry Obama) make up the mass of the continental United States and they ain’t braving sub zero weather this weekend to go see the Biggie biopic, plus its just simply not in theaters where they’re at. This is the breakdown on what Notorious is on pace to do, based on its first day numbers. (If you’re not Will Smith, you will not make it to those theaters in Smallsville and Pleasantville, USA).
Obamabilia continues…
The maker of Hennessy Cognac, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, is using numerology rather than language in its promotion, selling 180,000 bottles, priced at $30 each, bearing seals and labels on the front and back emblazoned with “44” and phrases like “In honor of the 44th president” and “In honor of the presidential inauguration.”
The company plans to make donations to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund for each bottle sold, said Andy Glaser, senior vice president for Hennessy at Moët Hennessy USA in New York, with a goal of starting two four-year scholarships through a minimum donation of $50,000.
Mr. Xtreme, a self-proclaimed superhero, patrolled the streets of East Village, handing out fruit and juice
via SignonSanDiego
It was an unusually warm night for January, and the sidewalks of East Village bustled with activity – people walking to the corner store, the homeless squatting in front of their tents, rock ‘n’ roll types smoking outside a tattoo shop.
It was also the kind of night that might draw evildoers out of the shadows.
So, armed with a belt full of gadgets (stun gun, pepper spray, handcuffs), Mr. Xtreme did what any superhero would do. He patrolled the streets by the light of the full moon.
He doesn’t scale buildings like Spider-Man or emit beams from his eyes like the X-Men’s Cyclops. But like his comic book counterparts, Mr. Xtreme insists on keeping his identity secret, helped by a camouflage wrestling mask with bug-shaped mesh eyes.
Mr. Xtreme is a Real-Life Superhero, part of an international online community of about 300 comic book fans who spend their free time fighting crime and doing good deeds for mankind behind the anonymity of a mask and cape.
There’s Dark Guardian, who patrols the streets of New York City as part of the superfluously named Justice Society of Justice. He wears a black spandex body suit, black cape and hard-shell mask. And in Utah, Ghost puts the fright into bad guys with his skeleton mask, long white wig and black cape.
Other superheroes hail from Michigan, Florida, Mexico City, Italy and England. San Diego’s only other known superhero goes by the name MidKnight. Read more…
In defense of B.I.G., the story that he personifies is a “street” story, not one that Mr. Sliwa or others of his ilk can relate to. It’s to late for apologies and one should respect the art that came from this man who for whatever reason found himself in a trap that million of our youth have found themselves in. He decided to put down the packs and pick up the raps. Listen, different strokes for different folks. Naughty by Nature told you eons ago, if you ain’t from the ghetto stay the f*ck out the ghetto, but don’t be judgmental of what one has to do to get oneself out of a hellish situation. Reality bites!!
Now even though I understand the angle Curtis is coming from, I still think it is a tad bit disrespectful to speak greasy about the dead. I guess Curtis has resentment for anyone or anything that reminds him of his real beef with real gangstas.
via US News
Coca-Cola’s line of VitaminWater drinks is not healthful, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is suing the beverage company for what it calls deceptive and unsubstantiated claims. We’ll leave the legal and rhetorical battles to CSPI and Coke (which, for its part, calls the suit “ridiculous” and says VitaminWater is “clearly and properly labeled”). But whether VitaminWater is breaking consumer protection laws or just engaging in effective marketing, the situation does offer a great lesson in the importance of reading nutrition labels.
Let’s take as an example the flavor of VitaminWater called “XXX.” On the label facing me on the deli shelf, I saw the words “acai-blueberry-pomegranate (triple antioxidants).” Farther down, it said that the drink has the “power of triple antioxidants to help keep you healthy and fight free radicals.” And lower down, “. . . it is definitely au naturel.” If I read no further, I might make some assumptions: 1) VitaminWater is some kind of water plus vitamins, and thus, like water, must not have many calories. 2) This particular flavor contains acai, blueberry, and pomegranate (all of which have been called “superfoods” for their nutritional punch). 3) Those fruits contain antioxidants, which are substances in fruits and veggies that are associated with lower rates of chronic disease. By drinking VitaminWater, I’m getting those benefits. And 4) VitaminWater is “natural.” Read more…
Warner Music Group Chairman/CEO of Recorded Music for the Americas and the U.K.Warner’s label chief speaks out on 360 deals, $1.29 singles and why YouTube deals don’t pay.
via Billboard/ROBERT LEVINE
No one can say that Lyor Cohen isn’t opinionated. At Def Jam in the ’90s, he earned a reputation as an entrepreneur who would fight to protect the interests of his artists. And he didn’t mellow out much at Island Def Jam or at Warner Music Group, where CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. brought him in 2004.
Hired to make Warner’s various labels more efficient, Cohen has recently posted some impressive gains. In 2008, WMG gained 2.2 percentage points of market share, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and Atlantic became the No. 1 label in the United States. And Cohen recently expanded his role at the company, from running recorded music in the United States and Canada to overseeing those operations in North and South America as well as the United Kingdom.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Cohen has emerged as an aggressive advocate for labels and artists to reap the rewards of the digital age. That meant withholding Kid Rock’s album from iTunes to maximize revenue for the project. But it also meant coming up with more digital products, from which Atlantic now says it receives half of its revenue. Read more…
via Kaos Effect
Awwww sick wid it! Tomorrow we got three releases on the Jordan Tip. The Jordan True Flights take to the air tomorrow folks! These kicks fly similar to the Air Jordan 7’s. For all my ballers and I mean hardwood ankle flippers understand great ankle support with a reinforced upper. They drip unique colors with court blue and university blue(CAROLINA !!!)
Also got the red and graphite joints as well as the purple and black accents. Pick your weapon and hit the streets or hit the court EARLY! Price point hitting for $140 at all Jordan Brand retailers.
I’ve been seeing some extensive marketing being done for the B.I.G. brand, that culminates with the release of the NOTORIOUS film, in theaters now!! I’ve seen video of the Bed Stuy Bad Boy this past week that I never seen before, so its been a treat. Let me share these two gems with yall, this one is a classic LIVE performance (Soul Train 97′) when he was in true Frank White mode with this on. He even had Faith on vocals and had her singing adlibs on “Get Money” which is loosely based on her. The other one is him on ”Martin” and even though its not his best performance it is still classic because of the time period it represents, seems like ages ago!
source: Notes from a Different Kitchen
via wesawthat
A man who said he robbed a downtown Shreveport bank because he was out of a job and hungry has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for first-degree robbery.
Roy Brown, 54, of Audrey Lane, pleaded guilty in Caddo District Court to robbing the Capital One bank in December 2007.
Brown admitted walking up to a teller with one of his hands under his jacket and telling her it was a “stickup.” The teller handed the man three stacks of bills and he took a single $100 bill, told her he was homeless and left, police said.
Brown surrendered to police the next day, telling them his mother didn’t raise him that way.
Police let him sober up and interviewed him two days later. Police said Brown told them he needed money to stay in a downtown detox center, had nowhere to stay and was hungry — so he walked up the street and robbed the bank.
via Telegraph UK
The approximately $138 billion aid package on Thursday for Bank of America — including injections of capital and absorbed losses — as well as a $300 billion package in November for Citigroup both represented displays of financial gymnastics aimed at providing capital without appearing to take commanding equity stakes.
Treasury and Fed officials accomplished that trick by structuring the deals like insurance programs for big bundles of the banks’ most toxic assets.
Instead of investing tens of billions of taxpayer dollars in exchange for preferred shares in the banks, which has been the Treasury Department’s approach so far with its capital infusions, the government essentially liberated the banks from some of their most threatening assets.
The trouble with the new approach, analysts say, is that it is likely to conceal the amount of risk that taxpayers are taking on. If the government-guaranteed securities turn out to be worthless, the cost of the insurance would be much higher than if the Treasury Department had simply bailed out the banks with cash in the first place.
Christopher Whalen, a managing partner at Institutional Risk Analytics, said the approach also covers up the underlying reality that the government is already essentially the majority shareholder in Citigroup.
“There’s nobody else out there to invest in them,” Whalen said. “We already own them.”
Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, outlined the elements of what could become the Obama administration’s new approach to bank rescues in a speech on Monday. Read more…
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