Archive for the ‘news’ Category

Almost exactly eleven years after its posthumous release, legendary rapper Tupac Shakur’s 1998 hit “Changes” has been selected by the Vatican as one of the institution’s “12 Favorite Songs” as part of a playlist for MySpace’s new streaming service MySpace Music.

The distinction is the first time the Catholic Church has officially recognized the work of any popular American artist. With it, the song joins the ranks of works such as “Don Giovanni” by Mozart, the Vatican’s own “Advocata Nostra,” featuring the voice of Pope Benedict XVI, and “After The Rain,” by Dame Shirley Bassey.

“The genres are very different from each other, but all these artists share the aim to reach the heart of good minded people,” the Vatican explained on its official MySpace Music page.

The playlist, compiled by Father Giulio Neroni, was released Thursday, December 3 – and “Changes” has received nearly five million plays since then.

“This came as such an amazing surprise – it’s not something I would have ever thought possible,” says the late rapper’s mother, Afeni Shakur. “I give thanks every day, knowing Tupac’s words and music continue to have such an incredible effect on people worldwide. My son was always striving to reach out to as many people as he could, and he changed the world in doing so.”

Released two years after the rapper’s death in 1998, “Changes” has been acknowledged as one of Tupac’s all-time classics ever since, with a message that resonates just as strongly today. The song is a streetwise meditation on racism, the Middle East, drugs and gang violence coupled with a call for hope and peace. In essence, it highlights the need for change on both a personal and global level.

“Let’s change the way we eat, let’s change the way we live, let’s change the way we treat each other,” states Tupac on the track. “You see, the old way wasn’t working, so it’s on us to do what we gotta do to survive.”

The acclaimed single climbed to the top of the charts upon its release and became the only posthumously released Hip-Hop song to receive the Grammy nomination for “Best Rap Solo Performance.” It recently confirmed its lasting power when it hit #1 on the Billboard Hot Ringtones Chart (November 7, 2009), a spot it held for a whopping 34 weeks.

“It’s a testament to Tupac’s genius that his music can have this kind of impact more than ten years after the fact,” says Interscope Geffen A&M Chairman Jimmy Iovine. “This is an unprecedented honor to his legacy, as well as for those who had the privilege of working with him during his lifetime.”

In additional Tupac news, it was announced in September that the artist’s private writings would be added to Atlanta University Center’s Robert Woodruff Library – an institution that also houses Martin Luther King’s papers – to be made available for scholarly research.

The collection features Shakur’s handwritten lyrics and track listings, personal notes, video and film concepts, fan correspondence, promotion materials and other items providing a unique insight into his creative genius.

Peep the video for “Changes.”

Source

I found this article today and tried to be fair about my judgement of this woman before I finished the article. Basically, a hispanic mother of 5 adopts a black baby, tries to bond with the baby over the course of 18 months and realizes that she isn’t able to bond with the baby ..fine so far right? Well guess what…she is blaming herself and she is also blaming the BABY for the reason why she wasn’t bonding with her new child! She says “the baby shares some of the responsibility for this lack of bonding” . How can an innocent little baby be responsible for anything?

See I really hate to cry racism in a situation like this, because I truly DO NOT think a hispanic woman who choses to adopt a black child would have any level of racist tendencies, especially towards a baby. So explain to me how you can easily raise 5 latin children , but cannot handle a tiny black baby ? Was she not prepared for the cultural shock of raising a black child in a hispanic family? Maybe she isn’t strong enough to handle the stares and the double takes she may be getting from her community.. Or maybe she just realized she was in over her head..either way, I am very disgusted by her openly adding blame to the BABY for her issue with it!

What makes me even angrier is that there are many women (white of course) who “admire” her honesty and don’t think she is wrong to do this..I wonder if they would feel the same way if the baby was white, and after 18 months she gave the baby back and blamed it for not bonding with her. I think this is very suspect and maybe she just wanted to be like Angelina Jolie too much and figured out you can’t fake love for a black child. I can tell you Angelina loves her kids, you can see it on her face , but this woman is weak, and that child is better off without her sorry butt. Read the story and watch the video …. Read the rest of this entry »

All you school age kids and teenagers are not going to like this one. In the end, it appears to be a brilliant idea..See this is the kind of change Obama was talking about and it’s time our nation catches us to the rest of the world and stop living in denial.

Too many teachers, and students are just plain STUPID and it’s time we stop acting as if having tons of weapons and clout is all it takes for us to remain as a superpower. We need our youth to grow up and become smart, CRITICAL THINKERS, who can compete in science, math, and economics and against other countries like India and China who are pumping out mini-Einsteins every day. Read the full story below ..
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What the hell is going on with all these women doing all sorts of freaky stuff with young boys lately? I remember when men where the main sexual perverts of society..some disturbed women out there are making it look bad for us ladies..you won’t believe this one…

Aimee Louise Sword gave up a male child for adoption years ago, and now the media is reporting that Sword searched the internet for that now teenage son- and allegedly seduced him. But Aimee Louise Sword has many defenders standing with her saying “She could not do such a thing”…….The 35 year old Michigan woman is charged with third-degree criminal sexual misconduct…….. Remember- Innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. (Pic from CBS Link/My Space)

Note: Updated news reports are now saying that Ms.Sword “raped” the teen and that the teen may have been unaware that she was his biological mother .

 

Watch the video

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It’s sad that in 2009 a well respected, established black Harvard professor (Henry Louis Gates Jr.)  can be racially profiled and arrested in his own home , because he was mistaken for a thief. This is why sometimes I am happy that we have Al Sharpton. I know he is shady at times, but we are very comfortable in thinking that this country sees us now as equals and when the rare occasion of obvious racism occurs, it’s good to have people like Al Sharpton to sound the alarm and let whites know we aren’t going to lay down and be victimized like before.  To see this man go so far in his career as an educator in one of the best schools in the world , and then to be accused of being a common thief in his own home must be a shock to his system. Read the story…

BOSTON (July 21) – Police responding to a call about “two black males” breaking into a home near Harvard University ended up arresting the man who lives there — Henry Louis Gates Jr., the nation’s pre-eminent black scholar.
Gates had forced his way through the front door because it was jammed, his lawyer said. Colleagues call the arrest last Thursday afternoon a clear case of racial profiling.
Read the rest of this entry »

I bet this idiot thought no one would EVER find his race hating butt in Israel. What a coward, you go and hide your dumb butt in place surround by the same people you vow to wipe off the Earth. I wonder if he lied and told people there if he was Jewish to get by? His redneck counterparts back home in the states must be livid that he chose Israel of all places..that’s like sleeping with the enemy in Klansmen speak. This just proves how whack these racist bigots really are.

The story..
A high-ranking white supremacist on the run from US federal authorities was arrested on Monday night in a south Tel Aviv hideout.
33-year-old Micky Louis Mayon, one of America’s 100 Most Wanted criminals, and a member of the Ku Klux Klan, was arrested in a Florentine apartment by the National Immigration Authority’s newly formed Oz enforcement unit.Mayon is wanted in the US on charges of racist assaults, setting fire to vehicles belonging to federal agents, and a host of violence incidents. The Oz unit was acting on intelligence relayed by Interpol, which informed authorities here that Mayon had entered Israel illegally.

He is said to have moved apartments often in order to evade police, but his efforts proved fruitless on Monday when a delicate operation by the Oz unit saw officers break into his hideout and arrest him.

Oz unit members have the powers of a police officer but can only use them in cases of illegal entry into the country.

Mayon was the subject of an American arrest operation in November 2007, but officers soon realized he had flown to Israel on a one-way ticket. Earlier that year, he reportedly fired his gun in the air repeatedly after being involved in an argument with an African-American. US authorities have described him as a dangerous fugitive.

Oz Unit head Tziki Sela said Mayon was surprised to be arrested, but cooperated with the officers. He has been transferred to a Holon jail facility, where he underwent an immigration hearing. He was then taken to an Israel Prison Authority jail facility.

Source

This is very sad day for me , my niece, and I am sure for billions of people on the planet. A few hours ago I was taking a nap and my niece calls me hysterically crying. I thought someone in my family passed, I kept telling her to calm down and tell me what was wrong and she blurted out , “It’s Michael, Michael Jackson is dead!!!” . My niece isn’t someone who cries easily she is 30 years old (2 years younger than me ) and normally has emotions in check, but this was a huge blow. As you can imagine, this is gonna be very traumatic for the BILLIONS of fans of this legendary man. For all those haters who made his life hell, I am sure your happy right now. For the rest of us who loved and admired him, just play his music, watch is videos, and keep him in your hearts every time you dance….

Story & Photos From MSNBC.com

Michael Jackson has died at age 50 after being rushed to UCLA Medical Center, NBC News has confirmed.

Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Steve Ruda told the L.A. Times that Jackson was not breathing when paramedics arrived at his home and CPR was performed.

TMZ.com reported that he may have suffered cardiac arrest.

Jackson had been due to start a series of comeback concerts in London on July 13 running until March 2010. The singer, whose hits included “Thriller” and “Billie Jean,” had been rehearsing in the Los Angeles area for the past two months.

The shows for the 50 London concerts sold out within minutes of going on sale in March.

His lifetime record sales tally is believed to be around 750 million, which, added to the 13 Grammy Awards he received, makes him one of the most successful entertainers of all time.

He lived as a virtual recluse since his acquittal in 2005 on charges of child molestation.

There were concerns about Jackson’s health in recent years but the promoters of the London shows, AEG Live, said in March that Jackson had passed a 4-1/2 hour physical examination with independent doctors.

A life in music

Jackson was born on August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, the seventh of nine children. Five Jackson boys — Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael — first performed together at a talent show when Michael was 6.

 

Singing with the kids

  
 
They walked off with first prize and went on to become a best-selling band, The Jackson Five, and then The Jackson 5.

Jackson made his first solo album in 1972, and released “Thriller” in 1982, which became a smash hit that yielded seven top-10 singles. The album sold 21 million copies in the United States and at least 27 million worldwide.

The next year, he unveiled his signature “moonwalk” dance move while performing “Billie Jean” during an NBC special.

In 1994, Jackson married Elvis Presley’s only child, Lisa Marie, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1996. Jackson married Debbie Rowe the same year and had two children, before splitting in 1999. The couple never lived together.

Jackson has three children named Prince Michael I, Paris Michael and Prince Michael II, known for his brief public appearance when his father held him over the railing of a hotel balcony, causing widespread criticism.

 

Here are some videos..R.I.P.

Jackson 5 Home Videos On SOul Train

Michael Jackson Master Dancer

Who Is It

Who Is It – Michael Jackson

Rock with you

Rock With You – Michael Jackson

One of my faves, “Stranger In Moscow”

Stranger In Moscow – Michael Jackson

Like I always say..Only in New York….

Scary NY welcome for French tourists: police chase

NEW YORK – Five French tourists got a harrowing start to their New York visit: a wild police chase.

As they looked for a ride at the Air France terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Tuesday morning, the visitors were lured to a van that was not licensed to provide taxi service, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman John Kelly said.

Plainclothes police recognized the man who enticed the tourists, Ian McFarland, as a repeat offender previously arrested for corralling passengers into unlicensed cars. A Port Authority officer reached inside the van to try and grab the keys, but the driver, Khaalif Preacher, sped off with the tourists inside, knocking the officer to the ground, Kelly said.

Port Authority police sped after the van, which snaked through residential streets and traveled about seven miles through two boroughs before it crashed through a gate at a U.S. Postal Service facility in the East New York section of Brooklyn.

The tourists said they screamed and prayed during the chase.

“I was scared,” Paris resident Esther-Ethy Mamane, 26, said Wednesday at a news conference. Mamane and her mother, Claudie, traveled to New York to attend a religious seminar. She said she tried to keep the other passengers inside the van calm during the chaos.

 

Preacher and McFarland jumped out while the van was still moving. Mamane said there was smoke and the rear doors wouldn’t open from the inside, so she jumped out the front as the van rolled and ran around to open the doors. Mamane’s mother tried to jump from the van, fell and the vehicle rolled over her arm. She was treated at a hospital and released. Mamane and the other passengers, a woman and her parents, were not injured.

Meanwhile, police chased the two suspects on foot and arrested them. They were awaiting arraignment Wednesday on charges of second-degree assault, second-degree assault on an officer, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and unlawful solicitation of ground transportation services, the Queens district attorney’s office said. It wasn’t clear whether they had attorneys.

Claudie and Esther-Ethy Mamane were given a bag full of New York City goodies, including tickets to the Broadway show “Chicago,” passes to the Museum of Modern Art and transit fare cards at a news conference Wednesday. The other tourists decided not to attend.

The women, who spoke little English, said they were grateful to the Port Authority officers who never let the van out of their sight, and they are looking forward to a good trip in New York.

“We are happy to be here; we love New York and New Yorkers,” Claudie Mamane said through a French translator. “We never lost faith. And at any time we never thought it would end badly for us.”

L’Oréal, the French cosmetics giant, whose advertising campaigns proclaim “because you’re worth it”, was found guilty of racial discrimination for considering black, Arab and Asian women unworthy of selling its shampoo.

France’s highest court was told that the group had sought an all-white team of sales staff to promote Fructis Style, a haircare product made by Garnier, L’Oréal’s beauty division.

The word went out that Garnier’s hostesses should be BBR — “bleu, blanc, rouge” — the colours of the French flag. The expression is widely recognised in the French recruitment world as a code for white French people born to white French parents, a court was told, in effect excluding the four million or so members of ethnic minorities in France. Read the rest of this entry »

This story makes me want to cry..bravo girl!  From The Los Angeles Times – Khadijah Williams stepped into chemistry class and instantly tuned out the commotion.

She walked past students laughing, gossiping, napping and combing one another’s hair. Past a cellphone blaring rap songs. And past a substitute teacher sitting in a near-daze.Quietly, the 18-year-old settled into an empty table, flipped open her physics book and focused. Nothing mattered now except homework.

“No wonder you’re going to Harvard,” a girl teased her.

Around here, Khadijah is known as “Harvard girl,” the “smart girl” and the girl with the contagious smile who landed at Jefferson High School only 18 months ago.What students don’t know is that she is also a homeless girl.

As long as she can remember, Khadijah has floated from shelters to motels to armories along the West Coast with her mother. She has attended 12 schools in 12 years; lived out of garbage bags among pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers. Every morning, she upheld her dignity, making sure she didn’t smell or look disheveled.

On the streets, she learned how to hunt for their next meal, plot the next bus route and help choose a secure place to sleep — survival skills she applied with passion to her education.

Only a few mentors and Harvard officials know her background. She never wanted other students to know her secret — not until her plane left for the East Coast hours after her Friday evening graduation.

“I was so proud of being smart I never wanted people to say, ‘You got the easy way out because you’re homeless,’ ” she said. “I never saw it as an excuse.”

A drive to succeed

“I have felt the anger at having to catch up in school . . . being bullied because they knew I was poor, different, and read too much,” she wrote in her college essays. “I knew that if I wanted to become a smart, successful scholar, I should talk to other smart people.”

Khadijah was in third grade when she first realized the power of test scores, placing in the 99th percentile on a state exam. Her teachers marked the 9-year-old as gifted, a special category that Khadijah, even at that early age, vowed to keep.

“I still remember that exact number,” Khadijah said. “It meant only 0.01 students tested better than I did.”

In the years that followed, her mother, Chantwuan Williams, pulled her out of school eight more times. When shelters closed, money ran out or her mother didn’t feel safe, they packed what little they carried and boarded buses to find housing in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Ventura, San Diego, San Bernardino and Orange County, staying for months, at most, in one place.

She finished only half of fourth grade, half of fifth and skipped sixth. Seventh grade was split between Los Angeles and San Diego. Eighth grade consisted of two weeks in San Bernardino.

At every stop, Khadijah pushed to keep herself in each school’s gifted program. She read nutrition charts, newspapers and four to five books a month, anything to transport her mind away from the chaos and the sour smell.

At school, she was the outsider. At the shelter, she was often bullied. “You ain’t college-bound,” the pimps barked. “You live in skid row!”

In 10th grade, Khadijah realized that if she wanted to succeed, she couldn’t do it alone. She began to reach out to organizations and mentors: the Upward Bound Program, Higher Edge L.A., Experience Berkeley and South Central Scholars; teachers, counselors and college alumni networks. They helped her enroll in summer community college classes, gave her access to computers and scholarship applications and taught her about networking.

When she enrolled in the fall of her junior year at Jefferson High School, she was determined to stay put, regardless of where her mother moved. Graduation was not far off and she needed strong college letters of recommendation from teachers who were familiar with her work. Read the rest of the story fom the latimes.com