The judge, Charles Pannell Jr. of Northern Georgia District Court, praised T.I. Writes Eonline,

“I think this has been a great experiment. I hope this experience can lead to other experiments so others won’t make the same mistake at all. I congratulate you.”

]]> http://www.popandpolitics.com/2009/03/27/in-the-news-ti-sentenced/feed/ 10 http://www.popandpolitics.com/2009/03/08/ghostface-killa-defends-rihanna/ http://www.popandpolitics.com/2009/03/08/ghostface-killa-defends-rihanna/#comments Mon, 09 Mar 2009 06:48:51 +0000 Wendy Carrillo http://www.popandpolitics.com/?p=11938

By his name, you never would think that Ghostface Killa (scary!) would be one to defend Rihanna or do anything remotely suggesting a public service towards women.

In a song that was leaked on the internet last week, titled “A Message from Ghost” the Wu-Tang artist takes a moment address domestic violence.

“This is for all my women out there that be getting beat up, you know what I mean, struggling, welfare, sometimes the jobs ain’t right, they going through mad trauma, especially with they man when they don’t really need that shit,”

Wow. Reminds me of Tupac’s “Dear Mama”

While even Rihanna’s father has accepted Rihanna getting back together with looser girl beating pop wriggleys chewing artist, Chris Brown, Ghostface ends his song with,

“That girl Rihanna, you know what it is Rihanna, you little sexy little thing you, you didn’t have to got through all that, that’s that young boy shit, And I ain’t here to interfere either but protect your neck, that’s what Wu told you baby.”

Most of the artist community has said the incident is “a disgrace” but none have straight out said that what Chris Brown has done is completely unacceptable. What message does that send?

The American Institute on Domestic Violence states that each year, 5.3 million women are abused and 1,232 are killed by their partner. According to a 2002 study at Tufts University, the number one killer of African American woman between the ages of 15-35 is homicide at the hands of a current or former intimate partner. The statistics of domestic violence against African American women compared to White, Latinas and Asians are also much higher.

As it turns out, the picture that TMZ leaked? New reports are showing that picture was taken a few days after the attack. The picture taken of Rihanna the night of the incident is MUCH worse. Chris Brown,”cannot survive his career if this picture gets out” said TMZ’s head honcho, Harvey Levin.

Ouch.

But even with Ghostface taking a stand on the situation, does it matter?

Etra Donald, Rihanna’s attorney told the Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday as Chris Brown faced felony charges  that “Rihanna opposes a ’stay away’ order and requested that no such order be issued.”

They are back together and she most likely, wont be pressing charges.

The country is going nuts over the Rihanna and Chris Brown story in which he allegedly hit her. And more recently, TMZ’s battered and bruised photo of Rihanna was leaked all over the internet. Has anyone stopped to wonder if the photo leak was a good idea. First of all, poor Rihanna. What about her privacy rights? How could the Los Angeles Police Department leak this photo? It’s like someone should have to pay for her privacy breach. It’s bad enough that she had to go through this whole incident without seeing a picture of her battered face splattered on the front page of several magazines and all over the Internet (I hate posting the picture here).

And recently, an ABC News story reports that Rihanna’s unauthorized photo may discourage other domestic violence victims from reporting the abuse. “For victims who see these kinds of pictures it’s all too real,” said Bea Hanson to ABC News.  Hanson is “chief programming officer at victim assistance agency Safe Horizon in New York City, who routinely treats women who have endured domestic violence.” The media and the police (who leaked the photo) seems to have gone too far — and with little regard to the women both organizations claim they want to protect.

A cartoon printed in the New York Post on Wednesday has everyone in a hissy.

Check it: The toon depicts two police officers—one shooting down a wild monkey and the other saying, “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.” And blood. A lot of blood.

Say…wha?

Some think the cartoon is criticizing the stimulus package that President Obama signed into law earlier this week. (In other words, it’s so bad, a monkey may as well have written it.) Others think the cartoon is directly comparing Obama to an untamed monkey on the loose. Which is why the bang, bang bloodbath is…So. Not. Okay.

The Post defends the Sam Delonas cartoon and issued a statement explaining that the toon has nothing to do with race or Obama.  Rather, it’s a jab at the contents of the stimulus package by comparing them to the pet chimp that mauled a woman in Connecticut on Tuesday. The 200-pound animal was later shot and killed by police after it attacked someone else.

Get it? Stimulus package. Rabid chimp. They’re practically interchangeable, no? No? …No?!

Benjamin Todd Jealous, the president and CEO of the NAACP, issued a statement:

“NAACP continues to fight for a country where America’s promise can be realized for all and where racism is just a tragic memory.  We are saddened that the New York Post chose to create a symbol that is so divisive, insensitive and antithetical to that goal.  The NY Post must do better.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton had some say too:

“The cartoon in today’s New York Post is troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys. One has to question whether the cartoonist is making a less than casual reference to this when in the cartoon they have police saying after shooting a chimpanzee that ‘Now they will have to find someone else to write the stimulus bill.’

Being that the stimulus bill has been the first legislative victory of President Barack Obama (the first African American president) and has become synonymous with him it is not a reach to wonder are they inferring that a monkey wrote the last bill?”

As for the White House, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said:

“I have not seen the cartoon, but I don’t think it’s altogether newsworthy that I don’t spend a lot of time reading the New York Post.”

Zing!

The editor of The Post, Col Allen, (finally!) issued an “apology” Wednesday evening:

“Wednesday’s Page Six cartoon – caricaturing Monday’s police shooting of a chimpanzee in Connecticut – has created considerable controversy.

It shows two police officers standing over the chimp’s body: ‘They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill,’ one officer says.

It was meant to mock an ineptly written federal stimulus bill.

Period.

But it has been taken as something else – as a depiction of President Obama, as a thinly veiled expression of racism.

This most certainly was not its intent; to those who were offended by the image, we apologize.

However, there are some in the media and in public life who have had differences with The Post in the past – and they see the incident as an opportunity for payback.

To them, no apology is due.

Sometimes a cartoon is just a cartoon – even as the opportunists seek to make it something else.”

Is it just me? Or does it seem like there have been way too many plane crashes lately? First, we had the plane go down into the Hudson River about a month ago. And now, we have a plane (that departed from Newark) crash into a Buffalo, New York neighborhood. Strangely, both of these flights originated in the New York metropolitan area. Should we be concerned about traveling in and out of the Big Apple?  The official report is that a Continental Airlines commuter plane (flight 3407 leaving Newark, NJ bound for Buffalo, NY) carrying 49 passengers crashed into a suburban Buffalo house late Thursday. The crash killed everyone on board and one person inside the home. However, the mother and daughter who lived in the house made it out safely and were treated at a local hospital for minor injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board has collected the data recorders and cockpit voice equipment to search for clues as to the reason for the crash.

The details about the crash victims are just starting to come in. There was a senior adviser for the Human Rights Watch— Africa Division, Alison Des Forges; a widow of a 9/11 victim, Beverly Eckhert; and a cantor, Susan Wehle, were killed in this crash. These passengers along with the others on this flight will not be forgotten.

“It’s hard to make sense of it today, but God hasn’t left us,” New York Gov. David Paterson said at a news conference, expressing hope that people could find comfort in the few stories of survival — or luck — in the crash.

There’s no avoiding this woman. She’s everywhere. There are images of her on newsstands, interviews with her on TV, gossip about her on blogs, and if that’s not enough, there are now fourteen (let me repeat: FOURTEEN!) children bringing more of the woman’s DNA into the world.

When Nadya Suleman first hit the headlines, she was celebrated. She gave birth to octuplets, after all—what a feat! What a trooper! Hooray! Ah, the marvel of modern medicine . . .

And then, we learned a bit more about The Little Mommie That Could. Actually, we learned A LOT more:

• We learned that she had six children prior to birthing the octo-squad.
• We learned that she receives disability benefits for three of the six prior children.
• We learned that she’s a single mom on welfare.
• We learned that she lives with her parents, who declared bankruptcy a little over a year ago.
• We learned that she battles with depression, paranoia, post-traumatic stress disorder, among other thngs.
• We learned that she opted to have way too many eggs implanted during the fertilization process.
• We learned AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
• We learned that she has a creepy preoccupation with Angelina Jolie. (Um, plastic surgery much?)

And now—some are calling her the most hated woman in the world. How about the most narcissistic? (On second thought, maybe not.) But if Suleman had any sympathizers left, I’m sure she got rid of them with…this.

Those poor children.

…That ain’t the question.

Obama is a man with a mission. He’s gonna pass this damn stimulus package, and he’ll pass it whether the Republicans like it or not.

“The time for talk is over, the time for action is now,” Obama said in a speech at the Energy Department yesterday.

An $800 billion version of the bill swept through the House without a single GOP nod of approval last week. It’s now in the Senate (with a new price tag of nearly $900 billion) and Obama’s been doing his darndest to woo some Republicans—but it’s going to take more than a bipartisan Super Bowl party and a few one-on-one parent-teacher conferences to get those conservative penny-pinchers on board.

A bipartisan group of senators is currently working to cheapen the package by cutting social initiatives that won’t immediately stimulate the economy. Blah, blah, blah. As time drags on, Obama’s getting more and more antsy to throw around some money, create a few jobs, and pop a few economic anti-depressants.

And so the Dems are gearing up to take a vote and pass the bill, with or without Republican support.

“Not … so … fast … !” some say—and around we go again …

One of the strange things about being in the news business is that you are constantly developing a personal relationship to stories that have nothing to do to you. You can talk about “objectivity” all you want—and even get close to that mythic ideal—but if you’re like most reporters I know you will be touched by everything. I still remember the mother of this one murder victim and the way she had picked at her hangnails until her entire nailbeds were bloody. I remember two murderers who I interviewed in a women’s prison. I didn’t have any connection to them before I walked in, but I still feel connected 20 years later.

On the other hand, there are stories where I get a teeny window onto a big story from some small, random connection.

There was a horrible murder-suicide last month where a man in California killed his five young children, his wife, and himself. He happened to have just lost his job at the Kaiser facility where I used to go for all my doctor’s visits. To quote the AP story:

But even more incomprehensible to some was the story that emerged after the bodies were found Tuesday: A father who, after he and his wife were fired from their jobs, killed all six family members before turning the gun on himself.

In a letter faxed to Los Angeles television station KABC before his suicide, Ervin Antonio Lupoe blamed his former employer for the deaths, detailing his grievance against Kaiser Permanente’s West Los Angeles Medical Center, where he and his wife Ana had worked as technicians.

Lupoe, 40, claimed the couple was being investigated for “misrepresentation of our employment to an outside agency for the benefit to ourselves’s [sic], childcare.” He said the initial interview was held on December 19, and when he reported for work on December 23, “I was told by my administrator … that ‘You should not even have bothered to come to work today. You should have blown your brains out.’”

“Oh lord, my God,” the letter concludes. “Is there no hope for a widow’s son?”

Kaiser Permanente said in a statement Tuesday night that while the company is “saddened by the despair in Mr. Lupoe’s letter faxed to the media … we are confident that no one told him to take his own life or the lives of his family.”

The Lupoes’ employment was terminated over a week ago “after an internal investigation,” the company said.

In  a completely different intersection with the news, I found myself sleeping in the Detroit airport after an entire day of trying to get out of Louisville, Kentucky—where I was supposed to be giving a speech. I spent all day traveling there, and then the event AND my flights were canceled. Over the next few hours I got on and off planes and spent the night at the Detroit airport. In Louisville, they ran out of de-icing fluid TWICE. As one person said, that made it not an “act of god” but a mechanical error.  But I’m back home. Here’s what’s going on in the ice belt.

Well over a million people shivered in ice-bound homes across the country Wednesday, waiting for warmer weather and for utility crews to restring power lines brought down by a storm that killed 23 as it took a snowy, icy journey from the Southern Plains to the East Coast. But with temperatures plunging, utility officials warned that it could be mid-February before electricity is restored to some of the hardest-hit places. The worst of the power failures were in Kentucky, Arkansas andOhio.

Just getting to their source was difficult for utility crews. Ice-encrusted tree limbs and power lines blocked glazed roads, and cracking limbs pierced the air like popping gunfire as they snapped.

Some of these folks could be without power for two weeks! And the weather is freezing!

I hope they get some relief soon.

A layoff for elephants? Yes, an expected effect of the current recession are state budget cuts that reduce crucial funding for exhibits at zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens. In New York alone, their 76 zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums will lose $9.1 million dollars in funding next year.

“We’re faced with this very difficult problem of firing the animals, as it were,” said Steve Sanderson to CNN. Sanderson is the CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society, which manages the Bronx Zoo and the New York Aquarium.

Taking matters into their own hands, the Bronx Zoo has created a video (www.bronxzoo.com) to alert people to the animal layoffs.

In this case, an animal firing means some species will be shipped off to other zoos. Or if a species dies, it will not be replaced. And the overall amount of zoo exhibits will decrease.

A spokesman for the New York State Budget Office told CNN that cuts are necessary because of the state’s financial situation. New York isn’t the only place where the state’s budget problems are affecting the zoos. Animal exhibits are being streamlined or discontinued in California, Missouri, North Carolina and Maryland.

Although there is an $819 billion economic stimulus package in consideration, funding for zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums are not included. Taxpayer watchdog groups fought to keep funding from being directed at these organizations.

I hear the elephants, giraffes and other animals at the zoo are wondering: where is their economic bailout?

Blago Must Go!

The Illinois Senate unanimously voted to give Gov. Rod Blagojevich the boot yesterday. Surprise, surprise.

Boyfriend had the audacity to skip his own impeachment hearings this week, opting to pimp himself out to hard-hitting news shows, such as “Good Morning America” and “The View,” instead.

Forget the trial.

He needed to sit down and answer the truly tough questions on national TV for the American public — which is exactly why Joy Behar (”The View”) asked him to do his best “Nixon impression” on Monday’s show. It was a simple question. And he owed it to us, dammit!

But Blago couldn’t make a mockery of himself — at least, not intentionally — so … adios, governor.

For more on the verdict, click here.

Tick, tock, tick, tock . . . Wasting no time, SuperPrez signed an order today to close down all secret prisons and detention camps monitored by the CIA. The order also puts an end to all the coercive interrogation tactics implemented throughout the Bush regime.

One small executive order by Obama is indeed one giant leap for America’s comeback, but the plan has its snags. Obama and company still haven’t decided what to do with the dangerous prisoners who can’t be tried in American courts, or how to prevent other countries from torturing transferred prisoners. These matters will be revisited at a later date, but for now, let’s just be happy that we’re finally out of the wilderness and on our way back to civility.

Click here for more deets on Obama’s decision and overall badass-ness.

According to HollywoodLife.net, Superstar Beyoncé recently released a statement saying, “I am so honored that I will be performing for President Obama and the First Lady. To sing At Last while they have their first dance is a dream come true.”

This statement about her Inauguration 2009 performance is all good except for one thing—one big thing. It was supposed to be a secret. The site says the Presidential Inaugural Committee had hoped the song would remain “classified” until the President and his wife stepped on the floor for their first dance on inauguration night. Yikes, talk about letting the cat out of the bag.

Beyoncé’s inability to keep this bit of news hush-hush may be a surprise to her fans. After all, she kept her wedding plans to rapper Jay-Z a secret for months. Come on Beyoncé, where’s the tight-lipped Sasha Fierce when you need her?

Are you interested in hearing the original version of At Last by Etta James? Listen to the song at Last.fm. Eventhough Beyoncé has a golden voice, she has some legendary shoes to fill on this one.

Plane Makes Like the Titanic

The engines of a US Airways plane headed to Charlotte, N.C. went kaput yesterday—courtesy of a flock of geese?—forcing the pilot to make an impromptu landing on the Hudson River. All 155 passengers (and crew) aboard flight 1549 survived the crash. The disaster happened five minutes after the plane took off from LaGuardia Airport. Rescue crews were immediately on the scene to save people from the icy chill of the 30 degree water.

Check the NYT for more information on the averted disaster. And hit up MSNBC for an eye-opening slideshow of the rescue efforts. CNN also has video footage of the aftermath.

You ain’t got no job, and you ain’t got shit to do! Chris Tucker never sounded so prophetic in the 90’s stoner classic Friday. The national unemployment rate hit 7.2%, according to a U.S. Department of Labor report released this morning, cited on CNN Money. That is the highest since 1945 when all of the jobless soldiers from WWII came home. Yikes. The juiciest quote in the CNN article: “‘We’re seeing a complete unraveling of the labor market and are on track for getting beyond 10% unemployment,’ said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute.”

I can’t HEAR YOU…la la la la la la: In another astounding display of force and relevance, the U.N. has issued a call for a cease fire in Gaza, which both sides promptly ignored. They are, however, attempting to reinstitute (and HONOR) the three hour halts to firing for aid to enter Gaza. Meanwhile, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights is opening up investigations into possible war crimes in the area. And in cyberspace, the war among Arab and Israeli Facebook statuses is JUST beginning…

U.S. Senate vs. Gossip Girl (You decide which has more drama): Sarah Palin has chimed in on the Caroline, you know, Kennedy debacle, saying that she has received a free pass from the media compared to what they did (and are still doing) to the Alaska governor. Meanwhile, the Illinois House of Representatives has formally impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich with a vote of 114-1 (attention Fox News assignment desk) a few days after Blago’s appointment to fill Obama’s shoes was turned away in the rain. Who knew Al Franken was the choice with the LEAST drama for the Senate? (And I couldn’t mention “Gossip Girl” without throwing you this bone.)

The last great hopes of two former Kings: As the Consumer Electronics Show enter full-swing in Las Vegas, both Microsoft and Palm are debuting new products that are being billed as do-or-die for former kings of their respective hills entering the ‘Aughts. Palm unveiled their iPhone rival, dubbed the “Pre” to high praise from the geek blogosphere, and Microsoft released the first public beta of Windows 7. General consensus seems favorable on both, but also that Palm could fold entirely and Microsoft would have to exit the operating system market altogether if both were to fail. Even the mighty Apple is struggling with lukewarm reviews on their latest Macworld keynote (the first in 10 years not delivered by ailing CEO and resident deity Steve Jobs). eek.

Just for gits and shiggles: As even the juggernaut U.S. mainstream hip-hop market stagnates beyond recognition, we are forced to turn to the balmy shores of Halifax, Nova Scotia for fresh lyrical, production, and video craftsmanship: Classified – Trouble.

President Bush participates in a photo opportunity with, l-r, Former President George H.W. Bush, President-elect Barack Obama, POTUS, Former President William J. Clinton and former President Jimmy Carter in the Oval Office at the White House. Wednesday, January 7, 2009 (Mary F. Calvert / The Washington Times)

The Economic Crisis Continues: Obama says in his latest press conference (we’ve lost count), basically, “You’ve got to spend money to make money.” The stimulus plan is go.

UN Halts Gaza Aid. The Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have prevented the United Nations from delivering aid to the area—a driver of a United Nations truck was killed while trying to deliver supplies. As a result, the UN is ceasing its assistance.

Lunchin’ Presidents: Hopefully he got advice beyond rug selection from former President Bill Clinton yesterday at the historic meeting of once-and-future Prezzies, Bill, George Sr., George Jr., Jimmy, and Barry.

No Clinton Sequel: Sen. Tom Daschle ain’t going to let the health care situation crash and burn the way it did in the early 90s when then-First Lady Hillary had a go at reform. Rumored pick for the Surgeon General, CNN’s Sanjay Gupta might be the secret weapon he needs.

Every man is a critic until he gets sued. A chiropractor in San Francisco is suing a user on the city’s Yelp site, who posted a long negative review for libel and invasion of privacy. If the back doc wins, the case could have major repercussions for the unhinged, often negative, free speech found on message boards worldwide.

Obama’s addicted.…To his CrackBerry. The President-Elect is still fighting to keep his beloved phone, basically telling CNBC that the Secret Service are going to have to pry it out of his hands.