WTF? Tender, Juicy Obama Fingers Hit the Shelves

via Spiegel

A German frozen food company hopes to raise sales with a new product: Obama fingers. The tender, fried chicken bits come with a tasty curry sauce. The company says it was unaware of the possible racist overtones of the product.

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Selling products has, of course, become a bit more difficult than usual these days. No wonder then that companies everywhere are turning to optimistic marketing messages in an effort to counteract the steady drum beat of negativity coming from front page headlines around the globe.

Many sales executives have drawn the same conclusion: What better poster child for hope than US President Barack Obama? There are Obama dolls, Obama T-shirts, Obama soap-on-a-rope. There is even Obama thong underwear on offer.

Not wanting to miss the boat, a German food company has now gotten into the act. Sprehe, a company that has all manner of frozen delicacies on offer, has come up with a new product it calls “Obama Fingers.” Far from being real digits, though, the “fingers” in question are “tender, juicy pieces of chicken breast, coated and fried,” as the product packaging claims.

Fried chicken, in other words. With a curry dip.

[video] Obama Speaks On AIG: “How Do They Justify This Outrage?”

In the wake of the online chatter the Obama Deception has caused, Wall Street via AIG turns around and continues to make mockery of the White House by doing as they please with taxpayer money. This is not what the President needs when it is becoming oh so obvious who really runs the show.  These crooks are responsible for the derivative market, a blow that hasn’t even been rendered yet and which promises to be the nail in the coffin.  Nonetheless here they are, awarding themselves for a job well done.  If Madoff goes to the pokey, why do they retain their freedom and walk away with bonuses? And honestly I don’t feel like Obama is being sincere in this clip.

via HuffPost

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama declared Monday that insurance giant American International Group is in financial straits because of “recklessness and greed” and said he intends to stop it from paying out millions in executive bonuses.

“It’s hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay,” Obama said at the outset of an appearance to announce help for small businesses hurt by the deep recession.

“How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat,” the president said.

Obama spoke out in the wake of reports that surfaced over the weekend saying that financially strapped American International Group Inc. was paying substantial bonuses to executives.

Noting that AIG has “received substantial sums” of federal aid from the federal government, Obama said he has asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner “to use that leverage and pursue every legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole.”

Rare Public Enemy Performance Highlights Roots 2nd Annual Picnic

Oh, I’m f*ckin with this

via Allhiphop

A number of varied artists are coming together to support the 2nd Annual Roots Picnic this June in The Roots’ hometown of Philadelphia.

Public Enemy, Asher Roth, Santigold, The Black Keys, Kid Cudi and The Roots themselves are included in the picnic’s lineup, which will feature a main stage and a second stage to showcase the acts.

In a rare performance, Public Enemy will perform their classic album It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back along with The Roots and Antibalas backing.

The performance marks the first time in history that the seminal Public Enemy album has been recreated using a live band.

The Roots 2nd Annual Roots Picnic takes place June 6, with performances starting at 2:00 PM.

Last year, The Roots launched the picnic with performances by Gnarls Barkley, The Cook Kids, Jazzy Jeff and Sharon Jones & The Dap-King, Diplo and others.

Tickets for the show go on sale this Friday (March 20) and are priced at $49.50 in advance and $50.00 the day of the show, which takes place at Festival Pier along the Philadelphia waterfront.

The Roots are currently enjoying success as the new house band for the “Late Night Jimmy Fallon” show.

For more information visit www.rootspicnic.com.

Homeless People Sue Pras Over Documentary

via Allhiphop

Former Fugees member Pras Michel is being sued by three homeless people over his 2007 documentary Skid Row.

Michelle Hassan, Wesley Bolden and Terrell Brown claim Michel disguised himself as a homeless man to “star” in the film, which chronicles the rapper’s nine-day experience living in the 50-square-block Skid Row section of downtown Los Angeles in 2006.

Michel, along with his film crew, go undercover to document the experience using surveillance cameras.

According to the suit, which was filed Friday (March 13) in Los Angeles Superior Court, Hassan, Bolden and Brown say the rapper’s “actions” in the Skid Row film made the “dehumanization and sadness” of their homelessness even tougher.

Despite living in tents and other “meager” dwellings in Skid Row, the trio add that they still expected to have privacy at home as they tried to “shield their families…from the dire nature of their circumstances.”

Nevertheless, Michel pretended to be one of the homeless as he gained their trust and “filmed those circumstances over a period of 10 years,” adding that the Screen Media Films co-produced feature can now be watched by the plaintiffs’ families as Hassan and Bolden have apparently made it off the streets.

Hassan, Bolden, and seek a declaration affirming their claim that they never approved the entertainer’s use of their images as well as profits from the documentary.

[Op-Ed] 10 Hip-Hop Terms I Want To Return

Damn, this brings back memories!

via CraveOnline

I think we can all agree that Hip Hop is pretty much a joke right now. What started out as one of the biggest American cultural movements since Jazz has spent the last ten years or more decomposing into a parody of itself. What was once industrious and varied has become boring and repetitious. Hip Hop as a movement and an art form is decaying and dying before our eyes.

In my opinion the greatest era of Hip Hop was 1984 – 1995. It’s not that what came before 1984 was not great, or that there haven’t been a few bright spots since 1995, but as far a consistent level of talented and diverse artists nothing comes close to those years. It was also a time that seemed devoid of all the violence that goes hand and hand with Hip Hop now. If there was violence in those days it was usually addressed in a negative light by the top artists of the genre (see Self Destruction). In this modern Hip Hop era it seems violence not only tolerated but also encouraged. I would like to see a movement back to the more artistic era of Hip Hop but I realize that has to come in small steps.

To jump-start this idea I’ve compiled a list of the ten Hip Hop words or sayings I would love to see a come back into the vernacular. Language says a lot about a person or a cultural movement and these terms helped define Hip Hop when it was at its zenith. Read along, discuss and add your own words or sayings if you want to.

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10. Vic: This was a term that meant to steal from somebody. It doesn’t make a lot of sense but it has a great ring to it and you really get the idea of what it means. “Yo they vicked by sneakers” or “I’m gonna vic that wallet”. Granted it’s not a friendly term but it’s effective and paints a great picture.

09. Fly: If something was really good, really cool or a girl was really pretty it/she was “Fly”. I loved this term because it gave the idea that something was so cool it was above us all, in the sky looking down at us. It’s a lot more interesting of a term than “Hot” or “Tight” which lacks any real originality or punch to it. It was also a term for women involved in Hip Hop termed “Fly Girls”. For more on that check out the Boogie Boys song “Fly Girl”.

Nike Dunk High SB “Gucci” Returns In 2009

via Highsnobiety

After the Nike Dunk High SB has originally been released in extremely limited quantities in 2006, because the actual release at the time was cancelled, we will see a return of the shoe in 2009. Girl Skateboards had designed the shoe in 2006, which came in black denim and of course the infamous Gucci colors. Then some issue inside the Crailtap crew came up and the project was cancelled and only 30 sneaker had been produced. As part of the Nike SB Holiday 2009 Collection the Dunk High SB will now finally be releaed in the very same design. Via Kix-Files.

Dead Prez: Radical Hip Hop in a “Post” Racial World

via Huffington Post

In the aftermath of President Barack Obama’s election and inauguration as America’s 44th president, many once outspoken rap artists have forsaken the political approach to hip-hop. However for groups such as Dead Prez, the inauguration wasn’t the end of politically conscious rap; it was the beginning of new challenges. I caught up with Dead Prez in Los Angeles, one of many stops on their current tour:

Things are changing rapidly. We’ve just seen the introduction of the new African president of world imperialism. This is something historic for this period in the world, in history, and times reflect that. Times reflect hardship. 40-50% joblessness.

I asked band member M-1 what he thought about the surge then slump in rappers being politically involved:

Hip-hop was seen as an asset, certainly to a campaign like Barack Obama who could use those kinds of influences to make hip-hop a tool for influencing the popular vote to his candidacy, and it worked… A lot of rappers went willingly, but a lot of rappers also used it as an opportunistic way to get another job, or have another way to keep their careers alive.

Music artists’ keeping their careers alive is always a challenge. With so many rising and falling stars in the music industry what challenges does a group like Dead Prez face in keeping their style of hip hop amidst the mainstream blinging?

The thing is, it’s not a style. What we’re maintaining is integrity and we’re maintaining principal, which is hard to do in a place where everybody is trading in principal for a brand new piece of the pie everyday.

So how does Dead Prez maintain the money and the message in hip-hop?

Audi Shark concept by Kazim Doku

via SUN

Audi Shark concept by Kazim Doku

Let the Madness Begin: 2009 March Madness Schedule

Go HARD or Go HOME…So who’s going to the CHIP this year?

The South

The East

The West

The Midwest

spotted: TLF

JET Magazine Covers Reunion of EnVogue

source: TLF

JET magazine celebrates EnVogue’s 20th anniversary reunion tour for their new cover.

The “Boss Hog” 50 Cent Talks Business & Recession

via KING

People are struggling to make money in the music industry. Do you have a lot of investments outside of entertainment?
Absolutely. I make more money away from music than I do off of music—well, I was. Shit is terrible right now. Look at the economy in general. General Motors and Chrysler are looking for a bailout. It’s going to be a financial issue if they don’t succeed, though. If they don’t receive the assistance, they will go bankrupt in the next couple of years.

Isn’t it sort of like what happens to rappers when they don’t produce what the market wants?
That too. In this climate, it’s not just them. Every time you open the newspaper you see another business or establishment you thought was credible in trouble, like Circuit City filing for bankruptcy. The United States is the place to do business. So if it’s bad here, where do you go? We’re the feeding ground. All those Asian countries—Thailand, Taiwan, China—they’re manufacturing things to sell here. How long do [regular people] have to survive before we recover? We may lose our middle class. If you have $20,000 in stocks invested in different areas, a home that you actually want to live in and [a] car, that’s middle class. So those people, if you had stocks in GM like I had, [they are in trouble]. My [broker] from Goldman Sachs just got laid off. [If] the guy you got assisting you [with financial] decisions is having issues, then you really got to look into it, right?

Speaking of Main Street, there’s foreclosure crisis in your old neighborhood, South Jamaica, Queens.
Yeah, it’s got a [high foreclosure] rate because we are conditioned to want things that we don’t need. That’s as people, period. In general, as soon we can afford the $300,000 house, we’re selling it to get the $500,000 one.

I imagine you’ve had trouble convincing other rappers to be fiscally conservative?

If you try to convey that type of information to the average rapper, you ain’t going to do nothing but confuse them and make them angry with you.

[video] B.o.B. Changing His Name to “Bobby Ray”

source: nahright

via MTV News:

“People hit me on Facebook, Twitter, on MySpace,” he said with a smile in his home. “I don’t know how it got to that. How it got twisted to ‘I quit.’ I didn’t quit. Things got misunderstood.”
..
B.o.B’s new sound has involved a lot of instrumentation and a rock-and-roll edge.

“Now I go by the name ‘Bobby Ray.’ Make sure you put ‘Bobby Ray,’ ” the MC revealed. “I’m really going into a new direction — more free and not trying to live up to any particular genre. I don’t feel like I’ve been doing that. I don’t feel like I’ve been trying to fit in, but I feel even more free-spirited. I have more willingness musically. That’s all I’m about. I’m about guitars, chords and keyboards.”

B.o.B is one of the main attractions this week at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. He’ll be performing with his band the Eastsiders.

*crosses out B.o.B., writes Bobby Ray in sharpie on 10,000 fliers*

Once again, B.o.B. Bobby Ray will be headlining the Nah Right & TSS ‘Grand Ole Party Of Bootleggers & Tastemakers’ @ SxSW – Friday, March 20th. RSVP now.

Shouts to Wes Fif. Haterz Everywhere, that MTV showed for a sec in this clip, was originally his song featuring B.o.B.

[video] “Got It For Cheap” CAM’RON

Hands down, the hottest n*gga in NY and for all the RIGHT reasons. He keeping the movement movin’ by keeping our computers putin’

Ice Cube’s movie “Janky Promoters” pulled off schedule

via Woooha

Ice Cube x Janky Promoters. Cube’s next urban comedy Janky Promoters has officially been pulled off the Weinstein Company film release schedule. I spoke to representatives from the company but they had no official comment as to why the film has been pulled. Originally it was supposed to release on March 27th. Movie also stars Mike Epps and Young Jeezy and is about a concert promoter who gets in over his head when Jeezy comes to town. I hear it is still planned for a 2009 release…as usual, we will keep you updated.

Lil’ Kim’s Tax Records Emerge, Rapper Racked Up Nearly $1Mil In Debt

via SOHH

Lil’ Kim‘s $979,090 tax debt records have reportedly emerged, detailing each payment she currently owes including both state and federal taxes.                                                                             

The Brooklyn, New York rapper’s files stem from 2004 tax issues.

The state of New York filed a $12,599 tax warrant on April 26, 2008, in the New York County Clerk’s office. The IRS filed a $50,464 lien on Sept. 5, 2007, in the Bergen (N.J.) County Clerk’s office. The IRS filed a $67,509 lien on May 14, 2007, in Bergen County. The state of California filed a $4,089 lien on Sept. 16, 2005, in Sacramento County Court. The IRS filed a $232,348 lien on Aug. 16, 2005, in New Jersey. The state of New Jersey filed a $51,471 lien on Aug. 11, 2005, in New Jersey State Superior Court. The state of New Jersey filed a $77,939 lien on Dec. 9, 2004, in New Jersey Superior Court. The IRS filed a $482,671 lien on Feb. 19, 2004, in New Jersey. (Detroit News)

Despite being featured on reality television shows and releasing an album in 2005, Kim has still faced finanical troubles.

Back-to-Back “Black” Women on Cover of Vogue

via TransRacial

Perhaps it’s the economy. Or call it the Andre effect.  But a thaw appears to be in process over at icy-cold Conde Nast.

It’s the second sistah in a row! Right after Michele Obama’s magical March cover.  And only the sixth Black woman on a Vogue cover this decade.                                                                                  

That stat stands in sharp contrast with the legacy of the now-defunct Men’s Vogue, which regularly had Black men such as Denzel Washington, Will Smith, President Obama (twice) and Tiger Woods on its covers.

Hmmmmm!

Beyonce’s Vogue appearance is a welcome step towards progress indeed.

Transracial has not personally prowled through the archives at Conde Nast’s 4 Times Square HQ, but we are beyond sure that this is the first time EVER back-to-back Black women have appeared on Vogue covers.

Keep it up!

Anna — yes you can!

Journalism Evolving, not Dying: Science Author

via Breitbart

Newspapers are dying but journalism is evolving, an acclaimed science writer told a gathering of the techno-hip at South By South West Interactive Festival on Friday.

Steven Johnson equated newspapers to old growth forests, saying that under the canopy of that aged ecosystem blogging, citizen journalism, Twittering and other Internet-age information sharing is taking root.

“I’m bullish on the future of news,” Johnson said.

“I am not bullish on what is happening in the newspaper industry; it is ugly and it is going to get uglier. Great journalists are going to lose their jobs and cities are going to lose their newspapers.”

The shift was foreseeable but ignored, resulting in changes that should have happened gradually over a decade being crammed into a year or two with some pressure from the global economic meltdown, according to Johnson.

“There is panic that newspapers are going to disappear as businesses,” Johnson said.

[video] Rapping Flight Attendant Soars To New Heights On YouTube

via cfnews13

DALLAS — You may not listen carefully to the pre-flight instructions every time you board a plane, but you certainly will if you fly with one Southwest Airlines flight attendant.

“We’re going to shake things up a little bit,” announces David Holmes, who tried something new after noticing his passengers tuning out and glazing over during the instructions.

“I take them by surprise. I usually don’t tell them I’m going to do it,” Holmes said.

Holmes needs a little audience participation, asking passengers to stomp and clap to keep the beat as he rhymes the flight instructions in his own rap.

“The first time I did it, it was just a fun thing to do,” Holmes said. “I didn’t know how they were going to react, and I like to have fun at work, but then people starting getting off the plane, and said to me, ‘That’s the first  time I ever listened to the emergency instructions.’”

“If you have a seat with a row with an exit / We’re gonna to talk to you, so you might as well expect it / You got to help evacuate in case we need you / If you don’t want to, then we’re gonna reseat you,” Holmes raps during the instructions.

Holmes was discovered by a passenger who recorded his rap with her cell phone, and then told him he was putting it on YouTube.

Pimpin Ken Makes Peace With 50 Cent, Wants Nothing To Do With T.I.

via XXL

It’s getting hard out there for Pimpin Ken. The Milwaukee-based pimp recently took shots at two of hip-hop’s biggest stars: T.I. and 50 Cent.

In a recent clip that premiered on Worldstarhiphop, Ken condemned the self-proclaimed “King of the South” for calling his crew the Pimp Squad Click and promoting pimping despite having the “no. 1 trick song in the country,” “Whatever You Like.” Ken, who crowned Fif a pimp in his “P.I.M.P.” video, also mocked the Queens rapper in several clips for buying Rick Ross’ baby’s mother fur coats.

“These guys are guys who were friends of mine,” Ken told XXLMag.com. “50 Cent was a friend of mine, 50 Cent is still a friend of mine. T.I. was a friend of mine, he’s no longer a friend of mine. I was basically saying, ‘how can ya’ll niggas do me like that,’ a nigga who built his name on pimpin’, Pimpin Ken, and you niggas got in my albums and ya’ll got in my movies and all of a sudden ya’ll condonin’ trickin’.”

Per Ken, he’s since spoken to Fif and let bygones be bygones.

Artificial life could be created within FIVE years, experts claim

via Daily Mail

Artificial life could be created ‘within five years’, researchers claimed.

Laboratories across the world are closing in on a second genesis – an achievement that would be one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of all time.

Biochemist Professor David Deamer, of California University, says although building a new lifeform from scratch is a daunting task he is confident it can happen in five to ten years.

He said: ‘The momentum is building – we’re knocking at the door.’

A synthetic, made-to-order living system could produce everything from new drugs to biofuels and greenhouse gas absorbers.

The technique is basically a reverse of the Human Genome Project, which translated the body’s genetic code into its four building blocks, called nucleotides.

Synthetic biologists’ ambitious goal is to arrange those letters to create never-before-seen man-made organisms that will do their bidding.

Opponents of the controversial research claim the technolology could run amok – just like Frankenstein’s monster – and lead to machines becoming ‘almost human’.

RESEARCH: Old age begins at 27: Scientists reveal new research into ageing

via Daily Mail

Old age is often blamed for causing us to misplace car keys, forget a word or lose our train of thought.

Getting old already? 27-year-old singer Beyonce Knowles is already past her mental peak according to new research

But new research shows that many well-known effects of ageing may start decades before our twilight years.

According to scientists, our mental abilities begin to decline from the age of 27 after reaching a peak at 22.

The researchers studied 2,000 men and women aged 18 to 60 over seven years. The people involved – who were mostly in good health and well-educated – had to solve visual puzzles, recall words and story details and spot patterns in letters and symbols.

Similar tests are often used to diagnose mental disabilities and declines, including dementia.

The research at the University of Virginia, reported in the academic journal Neurobiology Of Aging, found that in nine out of 12 tests the average age at which the top performance was achieved was 22.

The first age at which performance was significantly lower than the peak scores was 27 – for three tests of reasoning, speed of thought and spatial visualisation. Memory was shown to decline from the average age of 37. In the other tests, poorer results were shown by the age of 42.

Professor Timothy Salthouse said the results suggested that therapies designed to prevent or reverse age-related conditions may need to start earlier, long before people become pensioners.

He wrote: ‘Results converge on a conclusion that some aspects of age-related cognitive decline begin in healthy, educated adults when they are in their 20s and 30s.’

There is some good news, though. The report states that abilities based on accumulated knowledge, such as performance on tests of vocabulary or generalinformation, increase until at least the age of 60.

Bond No. 9 Launches “Brooklyn” Fragrance

You smell me?

via Highsnobiety

High end fragrance makers Bond No. 9 introduce their new Brooklyn Fragrance this month. The unisex fragrance comes in a new bottle design, which marks a first in the history of Bond No. 9 – they have directly applied the design onto the bottle.

“With the words BROOKLYN and BOND NO. 9 spelled out in a vivid array of colors, this is an example of contemporary street art with a message. In fact, the dynamic lettering transcends the Bond No. 9 centerpiece token logo it’s meant to be enclosed in—and almost seems to take off beyond the curved and angled shape of the bottle itself.”

The fragrance is now available at the Bond No. 9 store in New York and at Saks Fifth Avenue nationwide. A more detailed look at the bottle follows after the jump.

HIV and AIDS cases rise 22 percent in D.C.

via MSNBC

A new report by D.C. health officials says that at least 3 percent of residents in the nation’s capital are living with HIV or AIDS and every mode of transmission is on the rise.

The findings in the 2008 epidemiology report by the D.C. HIV/AIDS Administration point to a severe epidemic that’s impacting every race and sex across the population and neighborhoods.

Scheduled to be released Monday, the report says that the number of HIV and AIDS cases jumped 22 percent from the nearly 12,500 reported in 2006. Almost 1 in 10 residents between ages 40 and 49 are living with HIV, and black men had the highest infection rate at almost 7 percent.

The report says that the virus is most often transmitted by men having sex with men, followed by heterosexual transmission and injection drug use.

Soldier shot by police idolized ‘The Joker’

via WTKR

NORFOLK – A Fort Eustis soldier who was killed Sunday in a shootout with police was described as idolizing The Joker from “The Dark Knight,” and he painted his face during a failed getaway attempt that took him across the state.

That description of Army Spc. Christopher Lanum was included in court papers filed in the arrest of his girlfriend. She is charged with aiding Lanum after he allegedly stabbed a fellow soldier at the Newport News post early Sunday morning.

Investigators also said Lanum was dressed in black pants and a green vest before the stabbing, and that the computer in his room showed that someone was searching for information on “sleeping gas.”

His girlfriend, Patsy Ann Marie Montowski, appeared in U.S. District Court on Thursday afternoon and was ordered held pending a detention hearing next Tuesday. The complaint charges her with accessory after the fact to an assault.

Montowski provided the getaway vehicle and accompanied her boyfriend in a cross-state drive that ended near Front Royal, court papers said. She was wounded in the same confrontation that resulted in Lanum’s death.

The victim, Spc. Mitchell Stone, was hospitalized with wounds to the thigh and throat.

According to court records, the two soldiers lived in adjoining rooms on the post, sharing a common kitchen area and bathroom.

Shortly before 6 a.m. Sunday, Fort Eustis medica

UPDATE: Rare Superman comic sells for $317,200

via Yahoo

NEW YORK – A rare copy of the first comic book featuring Superman has sold for $317,200 in an Internet auction. The previous owner had bought it for less than a buck.

It’s one of the highest prices ever paid for a comic book, a likely testament to the volume’s rarity and its excellent condition, said Stephen Fishler, co-owner of the auction site ComicConnect.com and its sister dealership, Metropolis Collectibles.

The winning bid for the 1938 edition of Action Comics No. 1, which features Superman lifting a car on its cover, was submitted Friday evening by John Dolmayan, drummer for the rock band System of a Down, according to managers at ComicConnect.com.

Dolmayan, who is also a dealer of rare comic books, said he acquired the Superman comic on behalf of a client he declined to identify.

“This is one of the premier books you could collect,” he said in a telephone interview. “It’s considered the Holy Grail of comic books. I talked to my client, and we made the move.”

Dolmayan said the client has “a small collection, but everything he has is incredible.”

Only about 100 copies of Action Comics No. 1 are known to exist and they seldom come up for sale.

“Maybe in a booming economy, it would have done a hundred grand more, but in this economy, I think the price is great,” Fishler said.

The man who had previously owned the book purchased it in a secondhand store in the early 1950s when he was nine years old.

He paid 35 cents.

UPDATE: [video] Chaos erupts in crowd at NYC ‘Top Model’ auditionsTE:

via AllThatsFab

NEW YORK – Three people were arrested and six others hurt Saturday after bedlam broke out while they waited to audition for “America’s Next Top Model,” police said.

Police didn’t know what prompted the chaos involving hundreds of people outside the Park Central New York hotel in Manhattan. The panic left the street outside the hotel littered with shoes and clothing, according to news reports.

“It was pretty scary,” Jessica Paravati told WNYW-TV. She said she was caught up in a stampede after waiting on line overnight, hoping for a shot at stardom on the reality show.

Two women and a man were arrested on disorderly conduct charges, police said. Authorities also shut down the audition, saying it wasn’t properly organized.

Four injured people declined treatment, while two others were taken to a hospital, the fire department said. Their conditions weren’t immediately available.

The phone rang unanswered at the hotel, and representatives for The CW Network, which airs the show, didn’t immediately return calls.

The model competition is hosted by supermodel Tyra Banks, who also serves as its executive producer. The current season began March 4.

[video] Cam’Ron Catches a Case of Amnesia during Interview

All of sudden the Dipset cuddling comes to an abrupt end. This interview is a break from previous ones where Cam states what it would take to get him and his former team back together. This time around he throws all them negroes under the bus by refusing to acknowledge that he even knows them, which is such a far stretch of the imagination but ignoring your beef is sometimes way worst than committing energy to it.

[video] Crooked I Shooting (Was Crooked I Set Up?) [Low Quality Cell Phone Camera Footage]

One of our viewers submitted this video to us of The incident that happened with Crooked I. Robert reports ” fake fan comes up asking for a shout out. car rolls up, honks horn, giving the fake fan a cue to bounce. man starts running a hair before 4 shots rang out at crooked and entourage.”. So was Crooked I Setup?

Battlestar Galactica Landing at the UN

via Trans Racial

In between rescuing Darfur and finding a way to crate peace in the Middle East, diplomats over at the United Nations will welcome some very unusual panelists on March 17th — the team behind the hit TV series Battlestar Galactica. According to reports, the creators and stars of the hit show will appear at the UN for a retrospective of the show’s four seasons as well as a panel discussion on how the series contends with topics such as “human rights, children and armed conflict, terrorism, human rights and reconciliation and dialogue among civilizations and faith.”

Interesting!

“Battlestar” stars such as Mary McDonnell (who plays president Laura Roslin on the show) and Edward James Olmos (Admiral William Adama) will be in attendance along with executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick.

Panelists from the UN will include Radhika Coomaraswamy, special representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict; Craig Mokhiber, deputy director of the New York office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; and Robert Orr, assistant secretary-general for policy planning, executive office of the Secretary-General.

Moderating the entire showcase will be hard-core Battlestar fan Whoopi Goldberg.

The event is an invitation-only affair — bowing three day’s before the series’ finale in the UN’s Economic and Social Council Chamber. Luckily for Battlestar devotees, the Sci-Fi Network is taping the entire affair and transcripts will be released.

What a relief!

[pics] Rihanna spotted in NYC

It seems that this story is the only story in entertainment and that the press will not let any healing go on anytime soon between Chris & Ri Ri. With all the rumors flying around about the upcoming arraignment, and supposed duet produced by Polow Da Don, this seems to be shaping up to be a potentially fatal incident that will mar their young careers forever. I think an interview with both on Oprah, parents included, will be the only saving grace.

via Inf Daily

Rihanna is slowly coming out of the shadows after her horrifying ordeal at the hands of boyfriend Chris Brown. INF’s photogs caught her entering an uptown office building in New York City tonight, wearing black leather legwarmers, a hot jacket with padded shoulders, her usual sunglasses, and wet-look hair. No sign of Chris anywhere though… We’re kinda hoping it stays that way!

South African men are ‘raping women to cure them of being lesbians’

via Daily Mail

Lesbians living in South Africa are being raped by men who believe it will ‘cure’  them of their sexual orientation, a report has revealed.

Women are reporting a rising tide of brutal homophobic attacks and murders and the widespread use of ‘corrective’  rape as a form of punishment.

The report, commissioned by international NGO ActionAid, called for South Africa’s criminal justice system to recognise the rapes as hate crimes as police are reportedly failing to take action over the spiralling violence.

The extent of the brutality became clear when Eudy Simelane, former star of South Africa’s national female football squad, became one of the victims last April.

Simelane, one of the first women to live openly as a lesbian and an equality rights campaigner, was gang-raped and beaten before being stabbed to death 25 times in the face, chest and legs.

Triangle, a gay rights organisation, said it deals with up to 10 new cases of ‘corrective rape’ every week.

Support groups claim an increasingly macho political environment led to inaction over attacks.

A statement released by South Africa’s national prosecuting authority said: ‘While hate crimes – especially of a sexual nature – are rife, it is not something that the South African government has prioritised as a specific project.’

[video] Video: Bun B on Surviving the Financial Crisis

Toast to the homie BUN B who steps up like a true statesman and tells it like it is…kudos to him.  This what qualifies an Underground KING.

source: nahright

Jay-Z’s Tips On Being Successful

For a FULL interview with JAY-Z go [HERE]

[video] Tyson Documentary Trailer (Releases April 24th)

via RealTalk

Shout out to my Tyson La Familia…Ms. Rowe and the whole clique.  This is way more than a documentary for us Brooklyn heads that were there along for the turbulent ride which is MIKE TYSON.

Through a mixture of original interviews and archival footage and photographs, a startlingly complex, fully-rounded human being emerges. The film ranges from Tyson’s earliest memories of growing up on the mean streets of Brooklyn through his entry into the world of boxing, to his rollercoaster ride in the funhouse of worldwide fame and fortunes won and lost. It is the story of a legendary and uniquely controversial international athletic icon, a figure conjuring radical questions of race and class. In its depiction of a man rising from the most debased circumstances to unlimited

heights, destroyed by his own hubris, “Tyson” emerges as a modern day version of classic Greek tragedy.

Sales of guns, ammo still high; ‘Hoarding’ of ammunition since Obama election created shortage…

via Tulsa World

Four months after the election of President Barack Obama, firearms and ammunition sales in Tulsa remain at a fever pitch.

Popular self-protection ammunition is often sold out at local stores, weapons are flying off shelves and the state reports an 87 percent increase in concealed carry permit applications for February 2009 over February 2008.

“People are hoarding. They’re creating a shortage,” Jim Prall at Sports World on 41st Street said of ammunition sales. “We’ve sold more ammunition in the last three months than we sold last year.”

Gun sales spiked in November with the election of Barack Obama and Democrats adding to their majority in Congress. But local gun dealers say the spike is turning into a steady climb with political worries about gun rights as well as worries about the economy and potential for increased crime.

Prall said his store planned ahead for the increase, having seen a similar spike after Bill Clinton was elected, but the previous jump in sales pales in comparison to what’s happening now.

“Most we’re selling now we got back in September, but we bought pallets then where normally we wouldn’t have ordered that much.”

Chuck Norris Claims Thousands of Right Wing Cell Groups Exist and Will Rebel Against U.S. Government

via Examiner & Globally Urban

The call by some right wing leaders for rebellion and for the military to refuse the commander in chief’s orders is joined by Chuck Norris who claims that thousands of right wing cell groups have organized and are ready for a second American Revolution. During an appearance on the Glen Beck radio show he promised that if things get any worse from his point of view he may “run for president of Texas.” The martial artist/actor/activist claims that Texas was never formally a part of the United States in the first place and that if rebellion is to come through secession Texas would lead the way.

Today in his syndicated column on WorldNetDaily Norris reiterates the point: “That need may be a reality sooner than we think. If not me, someone someday may again be running for president of the Lone Star state, if the state of the union continues to turn into the enemy of the state.”

He continues; calling on a second American Revolution; “…we’ve bastardized the First Amendment, reinterpreted America’s religious history and secularized our society until we ooze skepticism and circumvent religion on every level of public and private life.

How much more will Americans take? When will enough be enough? And, when that time comes, will our leaders finally listen or will history need to record a second American Revolution? We the people have the authority according to America’s Declaration of Independence, which states: That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…”

Alexxys Tylor “Black Men Were Taught To Be Promiscuous By Slavemasters”

more about "Alexxys Tylor "Black Men Were Taught …", posted with vodpod

[pics] Nike Air Jordan Force 9

via High Snobiety

The fusion of classic Air Jordan styles and the Air Force 1 continues in April with the first release of the Air Jordan Force 9. Obviously the Air Jordan 9 has been fused in this case with the Air Force 1. The colors were kept basic, sticking to a classic Jordan black/red colorway and three white colorways. As usual opinions about the fusion will go in all directions. We let you be the judges.

The Nike Air Jordan Force 9 will be coming out in April,May and June 2009.

Check out the other two colorways after the jump.

Trick Daddy Lands Deal With MTV For Autobiography

via HipHopDX

Miami rapper Trick Daddy has inked a deal with MTV/Pocket Books for the release of his autobiography, Magic City: Trials of a Native Son.

Assisting Trick with the book is journalist and former Miami Herald staff writer Peter Bailey.

The book will reveal the rapper’s early life; from being the son of a pimp to having a drug-dealing brother who was murdered, Magic City will delve into Trick Daddy‘s life story.

Of course, it will also chronicle his rise to international fame, as well as a career spanning seven albums over a period of 13 years.

Recently, Trick Daddy was the subject of much speculation, as many thought the rapper leaked pictures of Rick Ross as a correctional officer [click to read]. Trick Daddy denied the claims.

Google turns voicemail into email

via Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google Inc is seeking to blur the line between the telephone and the computer even further with the introduction of Google Voice on Thursday.

The new service weaves traditional phone features with Google’s Gmail email product, allowing a person to store transcripts of voicemail phone messages in their email inbox and to find a specific nugget of information within a phone message as if trawling through a sea of emails.

The move comes as Google increasingly branches out from its stronghold in Internet search, as it seeks to carve out a role in everything from cell phones to personal productivity software.

And it demonstrates the company’s ability to fuse various technologies — home-grown and acquired — into new products, even as the economic recession puts the future of certain Google projects in question.

Google Voice is based on the technology of Grand Central Communications, a company that Google acquired in July 2007. After Grand Central remained silent for nearly two years under the Google flag, some observers wondered whether it had met the same fate as Dodgeball, a Google acquisition that was formally shut down this year.

Google Voice represents the first major update to Grand Central since the acquisition. Like the original Grand Central product, Google Voice offers consumers a single phone number that can route incoming calls to home, office and cell phones.

The new version uses speech-recognition technology that Google developed for its Goog-411 telephone directory service, automatically transcribing voicemails into text. The transcribed messages can be forwarded as an email or SMS text message to a person’s email inbox.