Football Star Plaxico Burress Indicted On Weapons Charges

 

 

Former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on weapons charges stemming from an incident last November in which Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh at a New York nightclub, prosecutors announced Monday.

Burress, 31, was indicted on two felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment, according to the announcement by the Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.

New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce, Burress' former teammate who was with him at the club and drove him to the hospital, was not indicted for his role in the incident, according to the prosecutor's announcement.

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Michael Steele and the GOP’s Racist Agenda

by Dr. Marc Lamont Hill

Columbia University

Over the past week, the political world has been tuned into a highly  unusual soap opera involving Republican Committee Chair Michael Steele  and conservative radio jock Rush Limbaugh. After Limbaugh was publicly  lambasted for stating that he wanted President Obama’s agenda to fail,  Democratic leaders wisely used the moment as an opportunity to anoint  the polarizing pundit as the de facto leader of the GOP. Steele, the  actual leader of the party, dismissed Limbaugh as a mere “entertainer”  whose show trades in “ugly” and “incendiary” remarks. Limbaugh soon  fired back, telling Steele to do his job and to stop acting like a  “talking head media star.”

Of course, partisan infighting is not uncommon in politics –though  such public spats are typically the property of the Democrats.  The  difference, however, has been the party’s response. Instead of  rallying around its newly appointed leader Steele, GOP honchos have  either taken the side of Rush Limbaugh or remained conspicuously silent. Even Steele himself caved into Limbaugh, apologizing for his  remarks and removing any lingering doubt about who the real don is.
By allowing Michael Steele to be publicly undressed by a party  extremist, Republicans have tacitly confirmed what many of us already  knew: they haven’t changed one bit. Despite their post-November promises to rise above bitter partisanship, the GOP decided to cosign  Limbaugh’s antipatriotic machinations. Instead of living up to their  promise to broaden their message and appeal, Republicans have instead opted to defer to the steward of its most vile, ignorant, and bigoted  constituency. Most disturbingly, they have legitimized their antidemocratic enterprise by hiring a black man,  but giving him no more political muscle than the queen of England.

To be clear, I am not trying to diss Michael Steele, who I know personally and like a great deal despite our political differences. My concern is that the seductive aroma of power and prestige have  diverted his attention from the harsh realities of his circumstance. 
Like many prominent African Americans, Steele has climbed the heights  of white society under the false premise that he is being judged purely on merit rather than color. This couldn’t be further from the  truth. While the Republican party is willing to use Steele’s black  face to celebrate its ostensible progress, it is equally committed to  reducing him to nothing more than a paper champion. Hopefully, Brother  Steele will stop drinking the Kool-Aid long enough to recognize this  and come back home.

Technorati Tags: marc lamont hill,michael steele

Rihanna is going to testify on Chris’ Behalf?

Rihanna is ready to testify on Chris Brown's behalf, will admit to her part in the incident.

According to MediaTakeOut.com - Rihanna has agreed to "speak to the [prosecutor's] on Chris' behalf." The snitch continued, “Rihanna doesn’t want this to go any further, she will be speaking to [prosecutors] and - if need be – admit to her part in the [incident].”

Click to read.

Technorati Tags: chris brown,chris brown and rihanna,black celebrities,black celebrity gossip,african american celebrities,african american celebrity gossip,black news,african american news

Rapper Lil Kim in Rehearsals

Lil Kim and dancing partner Derek Hough were spotted at Rehearsals for the upcoming season of “Dancing With The Stars”.

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Posted By AutumnJones to yourblackhiphop at 2/17/2009 11:31:00 AM

Technorati Tags: little kim,lil kim,dancing with the stars

Black Financial Expert Boyce Watkins speaks on the Economic Downturn

Brought to you buy The Great Black Speakers Bureau, the #1 Black Speakers Bureau in the World

Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

Hey peeps!

I am going to be on the Jesse Jackson Show Sunday morning at 8 am to discuss the Obama stimulus package.  The show is syndicated and you can click here to see a list of affiliate cities.  I'll be joined by my good friends and respected colleagues, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill (Columbia University) and Dr. Julianne Malveaux (President of Bennett College for Women).  I have a lot of thoughts on this measure, and I plan to write about it a great deal in the coming month. 

I also want to give a shout out to our friends and family in the Kentucky storm.  Their power has been out for several days now and I wish you all the very best as you confront this ordeal.  We have a lot of YBW family members in Kentucky, so my thoughts and prayers are with you.

I should also quickly note that Juan Williams from Fox News, the man I labeled as "Bill O'Reilly's Happly Little Negro", has struck once again.  Making reference to the first lady, Michelle Obama, Juan referred to her as "Stokely Carmichael in a designer dress." 

Most of you know how I feel about Juan, so there isn't much else to say.  I will only end this by saying that as long as there is money to be made, people will always be willing to embarrass themselves on TV.  The same way that Juan refers to Michelle as "Stokely Carmichael in a designer dress", I would refer to Juan as the "Flavor Flav who went to college".  Your integrity should be of greater value than your paycheck.  Juan should be ashamed of himself.

I write on the state of the economy below.  Please enjoy!

Boyce

www.BoyceWatkins.com

To join the Dr. Boyce Money Advice List, please click here.

Could the Economic Downturn possibly be a GOOD thing?

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

I hate being the doctor who has to tell the patient he has cancer, but the truth usually sets you free (or so my mother told me): We are in the midst of an economic bloodbath. It’s tough to argue that an economy which shrinks by an annualized rate of 5% is still healthy. It’s hard to tell someone that 7.2% unemployment, with the most job losses since 1945, is a good thing. A 4,000 point drop in the Dow is nothing to sneeze at, even if you have plenty of tissue. Times are tough, we know that.

But if we focus hard enough, we might be able to find a few bright sides to all this. With hopes that no one chooses to kill the messenger, I am going to give it a shot.

1) It could always be much worse.

The United States has, according to some, the strongest economy in the world. Our economy could shrink like Rush Limbaugh’s body on drugs and still be disgustingly rich compared to the rest of the world. Don’t believe me? Consider the “fast-growing” Chinese economy, the one that everyone thinks is going to outpace the United States in the next few years. Our annual tax revenues are nearly 4 times greater than China’s ($2.5 Trillion vs. $670 Billion) and they have over 4 times more people than we do (300 million vs. 1.3 Billion). In other words, our per capita tax receipts are over 16 times greater than China’s. So, we’re far better off than most of the world, even when we’re broke.

2) If there were ever an argument for getting out of Iraq, this might be it.

It’s hard to declare war on random countries if you don’t have the money to do it. War is big business and attacking other countries is a huge financial investment. If you don’t think war is about money, then you may want to take a couple of Political Science and History classes. Perhaps these troubles at home will keep us from creating trouble abroad, since Americans have lost patience with irresponsible, arrogant war-mongering. The Obama stimulus plan is asking for over $800 Billion dollars to boost our economy. We’ve already spent nearly $600 Billion in Iraq. Rather than declaring War on Terror, President Obama has declared War on the Recession, which seems to be a far better investment.

3) If you want to buy cheap stocks or real estate, this is the time to do it.

When the market rises, everyone wants to buy stocks. People forget that you shouldn’t buy stocks when prices are high, you buy when the prices are low. Companies with plenty of cash are grabbing investment and real estate bargains that were hardly available a year ago. You should be doing the same if you can afford to do it. Investors who purchase stocks after major market declines tend to do much better than those who buy during booms. You hear me Warren Buffet?

4) Struggle makes us FOCUSED.

Although I tend to be a hardcore capitalist, a part of me misses the activism of the 1960s, when people cared about more than making a dollar. OK, I wasn’t around in the 1960s, but I’ve watched enough old movies. Going through tough times not only teaches one to pursue a higher purpose in life, it also leads individuals to more carefully scrutinize the state of affairs in our government. In fact, I dare to argue that the financial crisis was just what Barack Obama needed to secure his election over John McCain. Economic prosperity allows us the luxury of choosing our politicians based on silly issues, like gay marriage (as we did in 2004). When we are worried about putting food on the table, we look beyond the silliness and choose the most qualified and most intelligent person for the job (after ensuring that he knows Africa really is a continent). Finally, tough economic times make you more responsible in your own money management, as the threat of financial insecurity keeps us all on high alert.

Those are my points, so again, please don’t kill the messenger. I certainly do not celebrate a weak economy, but I am a firm believer that focusing too much on the door that shuts keeps us from appreciating the ones that just opened. There’s always light at the end of the tunnel, a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow, and….well, you get the point. It’s the toughness of tough times that make the good times good. Keep hanging in there, it’ll be ok.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.  To join the Dr. Boyce Money Advice List, please click here.

Technorati Tags: black money,black wealth,black enterprise report,black finance,black enterprise,african american money,african american wealth,black scholars

Gossip Diva Says MediaTakeOut is Dishonest

Lady Drama, one of the premiere black bloggers on the web, had some harsh words for Mediatakeout.com. Lady Drama, whose real name is Ebony Garris, said that MediaTakeOut is "dishonest" in the way they portray celebrities and that they want to "take celebrities down". Fortunately for Ebony, who is going to be joining the great Wendy Williams on television on July 22, a lot of people agree with her. Many question whether Media TakeOutCome is more committed to creating false drama than to exposing real drama with an unbiased twist.

Here is the article.