Stop Giving Wade A Pass

War. What is it good for? Making people money...

"Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of the past are destined to repeat them."

GTFOH!

Ghostface Speaking On Lil B

So Now What Birthers?!

The White House on Wednesday morning released the president's long form birth certificate (pdf) in an attempt to put "birther" questions to rest.
"The President believed the distraction over his birth certificate wasn't good for the country. It may have been good politics and good T.V., but it was bad for the American people and distracting from the many challenges we face as a country," White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said in a statement.

How To Bust Out Of The Big House.

Fake it till you make it. In 2005, convicted killer Charles Victor Thompson slipped out of a Texas jail by changing into a set of smuggled civilian clothes and bluffing his way past guards. (He told them he was a "state investigator" and flashed his prison ID.) The infamous Texas Seven snuck out of a maximum-security state prison in 2000 by impersonating supervisors over the phone, among other ruses.

Police Hacking Your Cell Phone.

NEW YORK– A device being used by police which can retrieve existing and deleted information from a cellphone may lead to racial profiling of African-Americans, according to David Wilson of TheGrio.com.

The device, called the Universal Forensic Extraction Device, can be plugged into your phone by a police officer to take all of your information. This includes texts, browser history, and call history; all without the police officer providing a search warrant.

Ain't No Other Kings In This Rap Thing

Because Skip Bayless doesn't know what he's talking about.

After a three by Lou Williams gave the Philadelphia 76ers a two point lead, the Miami Heat had the basketball on the side with 8.1 seconds left.  In this situation, the Heat ran what basically was an isolation set for LeBron James.  The problem was the way the play was drawn up, it lead to poor spacing that allowed the Sixers to crowd the paint and eventually get the block:

It's Called Survival Stupid.

In one of Seattle's most urban neighborhoods, a small elementary school is trying to wean itself off the city's water grid.
The classroom toilet composts and treats waste on site rather than flushing it into city sewer pipes. Water washed down sinks doesn't flow into storm drains but recirculates to a 14-foot-high wall filled with plants, which will eventually soak it all up. For now, excess flows through the wall.
Plenty of "green" buildings strive to generate as much energy as they use, but Bertschi School's new science building is one of dozens nationwide taking it a step further. They're attempting to unplug from the municipal water and sewer system to collect, recycle and reuse water and wastewater on site, a concept often referred to as net zero water.

They don't need to implant a chip!

Privacy watchdogs are demanding answers from Apple Inc. about why iPhones and iPads are secretly collecting location data on users — records that cellular service providers routinely keep but require a court order to disgorge.

Mo' Money, Mo' Problems

Felix Dennis, the shaggy British publishing tycoon, poet and author, always seems to have wise words about getting and being rich.
In his first book, “How to Get Rich,” Dennis posited that anyone with $2 million to $4 million in assets is merely “comfortably poor.” For him, it takes $150 million to be truly rich.

GFTFOH!

Talk about a controversy in the classroom. An Easter egg decorating assignment at a Queens school ended with a special education student in handcuffs.
The mother of the 7-year-old said her son was treated like a criminal, but school officials stand by their decision.

Things People Do.

So Steve Harvey had 10g's walk out of his office.    Apparently an intern is suspected of taking the money.  The accused claims to know nothing of the missing money, but then pulls the classic thief move: "I didn't take it, but I'll get you the money back."  The are all kinds of variations of this, "I'll help you look for it" knowing damn well they have it.  "No I won't let you check my pockets! I'm insulted that you even asked! Now go look over there and I'll look over here.  Found it!"  "You're missing how much? Damn... I got to go." 

My only question is, why Steve had that much money in a bag in his office?  That sounds off, in and of itself.  Like he was about to go make a "transaction".  Still it's always disappointing when you trust someone who ultimately demonstrates they aren't worthy of your trust.  If you ask me it was short sighted of the thief.  When you do the math on the future opportunities he cut himself off from for a one time payday... 

Yo Quero Taco Bell

A few months ago it was all over the media that Taco Bell was being sued for serving mystery meat.  Well the law firm who was suing, dropped the suit.  When the charge was made, I saw it on the evening news, no the morning shows, on the fake news.  Now that the suit has been dropped and what do you know, I haven't seen it anywhere outside of the interwebs.

In defense of the fake news shows, they are on vacation this week.  The same can't be said of the "real" news.  I've even seen articles mocking Taco Bell for having the nerve to ask for an apology.  They've been slandered all over the media based on an accusation treated as fact, I don't think asking the people responsible to admit they were wrong is too much to ask.  Simply dropping the suit isn't the same as saying you were wrong. Even if it's tantamount in the eyes of the law, it's not the same in the eyes of the public.

Negro Puh-lease!

Krazie Bone has left Bone Thugs N Harmony, OMG, I know right?! Yeah, I didn't care much either.  This is a group long past it's expiration date. Krazie was the most talented member of said group, and while this isn't the first time he's done the solo thing, this is the first time he's broken ties.  Some of the remaining members are quite salty.  They are claiming he's disrespecting Eazy E's legacy by leaving the group?!


Seriously?!  Never mind the fact that Eazy is long dead, if he had lived, YALL would've probably beefed with him, and left the label over money by now.  I realize times are hard, but for yall to bring a dead man into this? Weak sauce.  Krazie is a grown ass man, if he wants to leave the group it is his right.  I don't know if you've noticed but yall have been washed up for quite some time.  When was the last Bone Thugs song?  For the two of you out there who can answer that, was it any good?  Yeah I thought not.

Shocking?! Not really. Sadly.

http://www.prudential.com/media/managed/aa/AAStudy.pdf

So the kind folks at Prudential just released a study showing Black folk aren't saving enough money. I'd like to say I'm surprised, but I'm not. Anecdotal as is may be, I know plenty of people who spend more they make. Folk who spent that refund check before they even got it. Folk who can't or won't cut back on that weed habit. Who have to have the newest Jordan's, never mind that they are just the same sneakers in different colors, or that Jordan hasn't picked up a basketball in over a decade now. Who just have to go out to eat regularly. Who have to buy that bottle of liquor promoted by some rapper, that nobody drank before said rapper promoted it. Folk who have to have the newest phone or the latest gadget, etc. Folk who take cabs everywhere because they can't be bothered with public transportation. Folk who have to be "fresh" or "fly".  I could continue, but I won't. I say all that, to say this: I didn't need any study to tell me folk don't save enough money. I interact with folk everyday. I'm not even remotely shocked. 

I think this is because nowhere in our education do we learn money management skills. The familiar refrain that most of what we learn in school we don't need in the real world is true. If you don't have someone in your life who knows these things, you don't learn them. You are essentially left to the wolves. It's kind of like when parents don't want to talk to their child about (insert sensitive subject ___________) and they learn all the wrong things about it from their friends in school or in the street. But this is even worse, because most of us learn about money from people who are in effect shills for folks who don't have our best interest at heart.

We hear rappers describe how they spend money on things, we watch movies and tv shows and emulate that to the best of our ability. Never mind that it's more fiction than fact. How many of you have seen the rims on the hoopty?  The guy or gal on the bus or train with the luxury item?  The baby with Jordan's on their feet, as if they aren't going to outgrow them shortly?  Let you be the one to try to point out the ridiculousness of any of it and you will promptly be dismissed as a "hater". 

You have been sold. What's worst you are a repeat customer who can't get enough.

All that's wrong with the world.

Ex BP CEO Tony Hayward, you know the guy who presided of one of the worst oil spills in history, collects a million dollar a year pension. A million dollars guaranteed for the rest of his life! Of course BP shareholders are none to pleased with this but are being told there is nothing that can be done about it. What other line of work do you know of, where you can do a bad job and still be rewarded for it. God save our CEO's.

People go to jail for this?

Tonya McDowell, a homeless woman from Bridgeport, CT, has been charged with grand larceny and conspiracy to commit first degree larceny after enrolling her son in Brookside Elementary, in Norwalk, CT. McDowell used the address of a friend, Ana Rebecca Marques, to get her 6-year old into the school. The district is accusing her of stealing $15,000 in services for her “deviant” behavior.

Ms. Marques was evicted from the Norwalk Housing Authority projects for her role in the incident after a complaint was filed against Ms. McDowell. This led to an investigation, where the mother filed an affidavit stating her son’s residence to be in the Roodner Court Public housing complex in Norwalk.
Ms. McDowell told police that she’d been living in Bridgeport in a homeless shelter when her son was enrolled in school. She also said she has a friend in Norwalk who allowed her to stay there at night and leave during the day.  Effectively, she and her son were rotating between the homeless shelter and staying with friends in order to survive.
“This is the first time I have heard something like this where there has been an arrest. Other allegations like this have been handled by the central office,” said Norwalk Board of Education Chairman Jack Chiarmonte.
Richard Moccia, the Mayor of Norwalk, had this to say:
“This now sends a message to other parents that may have been living in other towns and registering their kids with phony addresses.”
I’m still doing my research on Norwalk, CT, but it appears that the city is relatively affluent, with an average income of over $70,000 (according to 2007 Census data). But it’s hard to gauge at this point what the motivation might be to incarcerate Ms. McDowell for trying to get her son a proper education. Simple logic implies that whatever resources were saved from him not being enrolled in his home district (whatever that might be) could be applied to the secondary district. So putting parents in jail for sending their kids to schools outside their district is simply a legalized way of fencing out those that the community deems to be undesirable.
The other interesting thing about this case is that one has to wonder exactly how it can be argued that a person without a home is outside their county of residence. Beating up on a homeless woman who is doing all she can to get her child into school is a shameful microcosm of the kind of greed and selfishness our country has chosen to embrace.  There was once a time when slaves were arrested for trying to learn how to read, and now poor mothers are being arrested for trying to send their children to the school of their choice.
NAACP President Ben Jealous just released a statement in which he cited the fact that our nation continues to suffer by spending more to incarcerate than we are spending to educate. The NAACP statement becomes loud and clear in the case of Tonya McDowell, for it is downright shameful that this mother is being taken away from her son, when she’s probably all that he’s got.  After being forced to grow up without the person who loves him the most, statistical data says that Ms. McDowell’s son will likely end up in the system, just like his mother.  With a criminal record, Ms. McDowell’s future employment prospects will be crippled and her son’s lack of education will likely impact his economic opportunities as well.  I am hurt that our nation has now made a tradition out of maintaining the cycle of intergenerational marginalization.
We’ve all got to come together to help Ms. McDowell. Please click here to sign a petition on her behalf and we will follow up with contact information to the mayor’s office so that we can make a concerted effort to fight on behalf of this mother who is being penalized for trying to give her son a better future. This situation is sad and sickening, and I am going to reach out to as many people as I can to let Norwalk officials know that this kind of behavior is both unAmerican and unacceptable.  We will NOT allow this child’s future to be destroyed by ignorance.

 [Source]

Ri. Dic. Cu. Lous!

Best Scorer?

No, this isn't strictly a sports blog. Yes, I love sports.  That aside I will make this brief. Carmelo Anthony is NOT, I repeat NOT, the best scorer in the game. I don't know where this notion came from, or why it won't die. If you want to say he has one of the most diverse scoring games, I'll concede the point (although I believe a certain Mr. Bryant may not), but you can never convince me a guy who's been in the league 8 years and has never led the league in scoring once is the best scorer in the league. Sorry, I'm not buying it.

Referee Stats

I am an avid fan of sports. You name it Tennis, NBA, MLB, NFL, MMA, Boxing. I don't know if it's the competition, the strategy, or the excitement of it all, but I digs sports. In sports we get all the information about players and teams we can handle. Batting average, on base percentage, field goal percentage, three point percentage, punch stats, etc. You name it and somebody is keeping track of it. But one thing we don't have is ref/ump stats, stay with me here.

In the NBA for instance, after every game the refs review games and see which calls they got right and which calls they blew. I'd like it if that information were as public as the player stats. "Which ref callss the most ticky tack fouls." "Who gets the most charge/block calls correct?" "Most likely to miss a moving screen." In sports we like to act as if the refs don't have an effect on the outcome of the games. "The better team will always win," we like to believe. But anybody who actually follows the game, has a favorite team, or favorite player can point to a bad call they believe changed the outcome of a game.

For instance all the Knick fans currently butthurt over the offensive foul called on Carmelo Anthony (it was a foul imo even if Pierce sold it. The most you could really argue is why didn't they let it go.) or this, I'd like to know more than the Mavs record in these games, like what are the #'s and what story do they tell about the kind of game he calls? Is their record in these games coincidental, or is there a trend?  Does he call their games any differently than how he calls any other team? I don't see how not knowing this kind of thing helps, and I don't see how knowing would hurt.