Filed under: AvB MultiMedia Expose, Don't Drop The Soap, Drive-By Activism, Go Sit Down, Keep It In Your Pants, Knee-Grow Please, MLK is Crying Inside, Nigga Nonsense, What A DoucheBag
Well, it’s finally happened. Kwame Kilpatrick’s nine lives have expired.
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who will lose his job because he lied while under oath at a police whistle-blower trial, has just pledged to tell the truth as he prepares to admit his guilt as part of a plea deal he just struck with the Wayne County Prosecutor.The deal calls for Kilpatrick to plead guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice by committing perjury, agreeing to serve four months in jail, pay up to $1 million in restitution, and serve five years’ probation. He also agreed not to run for office during that five-year span.
The mayor will turn over his state pension to the City of Detroit, which paid $8.4 million to settle two whistle-blower lawsuits three former cops filed against the city. The mayor was charged with eight felony counts ranging from conspiracy to perjury to misconduct in office to obstruction of justice after the Free Press revealed that the mayor lied on the witness stand during a police whistle-blower trial and gave misleading testimony about whether he intended to fire a deputy police chief investigating allegations of wrongdoing by members of his inner circle.
I don’t really have much to add to this. Looking at the photos of a forlorn Kwame sitting in the courtroom made me momentarily sad for the guy.
Momentarily.
Here’s a collection of Kwame’s Greatest Hits.
Kwame Pulls a Clay Davis.
This should serve as a case study for anyone who starts out with great ambition and the intention to serve others. Don’t let to go to your head. The big head or that other one.
Keep your head (and pants) up, Kwame. Do your time, don’t let your time do you.
Question: Do you feel sorry for Kwame? Will “Yaw’s Boy” have a political career once his 5 years are up? Who plays Kwame in the upcoming BET Blackbuster Movie? I say Cedric The Entertainer could pull it off.
Mayor Kilpatrick: ‘I lied under oath’ [Detroit Free Press]
Filed under: AvB MultiMedia Expose, Don't Drop The Soap, Drive-By Activism, Go Sit Down, Keep It In Your Pants, Knee-Grow Please, MLK is Crying Inside, Nigga Nonsense, What A DoucheBag
Well, it’s finally happened. Kwame Kilpatrick’s nine lives have expired.
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who will lose his job because he lied while under oath at a police whistle-blower trial, has just pledged to tell the truth as he prepares to admit his guilt as part of a plea deal he just struck with the Wayne County Prosecutor.The deal calls for Kilpatrick to plead guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice by committing perjury, agreeing to serve four months in jail, pay up to $1 million in restitution, and serve five years’ probation. He also agreed not to run for office during that five-year span.
The mayor will turn over his state pension to the City of Detroit, which paid $8.4 million to settle two whistle-blower lawsuits three former cops filed against the city. The mayor was charged with eight felony counts ranging from conspiracy to perjury to misconduct in office to obstruction of justice after the Free Press revealed that the mayor lied on the witness stand during a police whistle-blower trial and gave misleading testimony about whether he intended to fire a deputy police chief investigating allegations of wrongdoing by members of his inner circle.
I don’t really have much to add to this. Looking at the photos of a forlorn Kwame sitting in the courtroom made me momentarily sad for the guy.
Momentarily.
Here’s a collection of Kwame’s Greatest Hits.
Kwame Pulls a Clay Davis.
This should serve as a case study for anyone who starts out with great ambition and the intention to serve others. Don’t let to go to your head. The big head or that other one.
Keep your head (and pants) up, Kwame. Do your time, don’t let your time do you.
Question: Do you feel sorry for Kwame? Will “Yaw’s Boy” have a political career once his 5 years are up? Who plays Kwame in the upcoming BET Blackbuster Movie? I say Cedric The Entertainer could pull it off.
Mayor Kilpatrick: ‘I lied under oath’ [Detroit Free Press]
Filed under: Don't Drop The Soap, Drive-By Activism, Frivolous Lawsuits, Get Money, Go Sit Down, Knee-Grow Please, The Evil That Men Do, What A DoucheBag
I’ll be completely and totally honest with you here. I really do not know what to make of this story from my home state.
Since three former Duke Lacrosse players were declared innocent of rape and assault charges, the alleged victim in the highly publicized Duke Lacrosse case has remained out of public view until now.In a press release, Crystal Mangum’s manager has announced plans to release a tell-all memoir entitled “The Last Dance for Grace: The Crystal Mangum Story.”
According to the book’s co-author Vincent Clark, the book will be released in October.
“It is “the only definitive account of the life and struggles of the woman at the center of the Duke Lacrosse case, the alleged accuser,” said Clark in a press release. ” Were it not for the Duke Lacrosse Case, she likely would be described as a bright, young woman from Durham, North Carolina, who has had a difficult life.”
Mangum plans to donate $1 from each book sold to help battered women. Former Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong was disbarred and jailed following the collapse of the Duke Lacrosse Case. Nifong is among several defendants named in at least three federal lawsuits stemming from the case.
Mangum is accused of falsely accusing David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann of raping and beating her at a team party in March 2006. After a review by the State Attorney General’s Office, all charges were dismissed.
As I stated last year when the Duke Lax kids were cleared of all charges, nobody should have to suffer through what they experienced. I could only imagine the fear of being accused of something so heinous as rape, knowing you did nothing of the sort. The guys have been exonerated, but I will personally remember all three of their names for the rest of my life. That’s an unfair scar for anyone to have to carry. I don’t really agree with their pending $30M lawsuit against the cash-strapped city of Durham, but I guess I understand.
Then again, the real villain here isn’t Mangum, who reportedly suffers from some sort of mental illness, but disgraced District Attorney Mike Nifong, who actually did some time as a result of his lazy and opportunistic job of handling this case. He never even bothered talking with Mangum in the first place, and instead saw a way of manipulating the Black community in Durham to his advantage. Why he was so dumb that he thought white folks with money wouldn’t lawyer up and “beat them charges like Rocky“[1] is beyond me. Nifong has since been disbarred, was sued by the Lax players, filed for bankruptcy, and is now working at the Sizzler off I-540 near RDU airport. No, really, I saw him there a few weeks ago and he ruined my baked potato (no sour cream, you idiot!). He’s a douchebag par excellence, and he got what he had coming.
I don’t really know how to feel about Mangum writing this book though. If she was indeed experiencing some mental issues during the time of the allegations, you can’t totally write her off as ruining those players lives, especially when the people (namely Nifong) who could have short circuited this whole thing didn’t do their jobs. The book is supposedly about her life, not necessarily the Duke case, thus I suppose it’s fair for her to write a book and profit from it. She says some proceeds are going to charity, which is always an iffy proposition, but to each her own. On the flipside, wouldn’t any proceeds made from this book be fair game for the Duke Lax kids in a civil case? I’m sure my armchair attorneys in AverageNation™ will break this one down for me.
Question: Should Crystal Mangum be allowed to write a book that profits indirectly from the misfortune of others? Are the Duke Lax kids entitled to some of those proceeds?
Duke LAX accuser pens memoir [ABC 11 News]
[1] Yeah, I know. For a guy who supposedly doesn’t care much for Jay-Z, I sure quote him a lot. Spare the comments, please.
Filed under: Crap Music, Don't Drop The Soap, Raise Your Own Damn Kids, We Owned The 80s
If you were alive and/or kickin’ during the 80′s (sorry Ciara) you’ll remember the classic urban debate: Michael or Prince?
Long before he became a walking punchline, Michael Jackson was pop music in The Greatest Decade Evar!!! Hell, you could argue that Michael Jackson was The 80′s. The bulk of his career success (the best selling album evar, 13 Grammies, 13 #1′s, Motown 25, Captain EO) happened during this decade. Ditto for Prince, whose funk-infused Pop/R&B/Soul music dominated the airwaves as well. In the pre-BET days, these guys were the only two artists of color whose videos consistently ran on MTV. I remember waiting through hours and hours of Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister videos, just to watch “Let’s Go Crazy” or “Thriller”[1].
Michael and Prince were the 80′s, but most people tended to like one more than the other, thus the long ranging debate.
Michael fans seemed to love the dances, the relative[2] down-to-Earth demeanor, the family-friendly songs. Prince fans were generally a bit darker and moodier in personality, and of course Prince sang about “doin’ it” a lot, so he was hardly PG-13. I know that sounds prudish in a day when “Bust It Baby” gets played in Color Me Mine on Father’s Day, but hey, times have changed.
I liked Michael more, but I liked girls who liked Prince for obvious reasons.
Two decades later, the career and life arcs of the two couldn’t have changed more dramatically.
Michael is considered a reclusive circus freak to most. There’s the white babies, and the white baby mamas[3], and the pedophilia allegations, and the vitiligo, and the bad interviews, and the financial ruins, and that bizarre “Jews are the Devil” thing, and the ruined family name, and… I keep going on for days.
Conversely, Prince is now somewhat considered the less screwed-up and better socially adjusted of the two. He’s a Jehovah’s witness. He won independence from his record label. He still tours and makes lots of money doing so. He was a pioneer in using the internet to sell music. He was actually married for awhile, presumably to a real life woman. He might could drive a minivan and read AB.com for all I know.
He seems, dare I say… normal, or at least normal when compared to the walking train wreck that is Michael Jackson circa 2008.
While I’m a Michael fan, I’ve never gotten to see him in concert. I remember when the Victory Tour hit the US in the mid 80′s at the height of Thriller’s popularity. I wanted to go, badly, but being a preteen, I couldn’t exactly hit up StubHub and drive myself. Not with the tickets being $125 (yikes!) and whatnot. Plus, cool stuff never came to the Carolinas. Michael and Co. only came as close as Landover, MD. My uncle and aunt did go, and regaled us with tales of the concert for months afterward. And I hated them for months afterward.
We’re cool now of course, but I still wanted to see MJ. It’s just one of those items on my “things I wanna do before I call it a life” bucket list, right up there with playing in an actual NBA game, and learning how to make my own etouffee. Quirky, sure.
Looks like I just might still get my chance.
Michael Jackson may relaunch his career as a Las Vegas act, thanks to the private equity group that recently bought the loan on his Neverland Ranch in California to help the pop star avert foreclosure.The investment firm Colony Capital is discussing with Jackson various repayment options for the $23 million debt, including a possible long-term engagement as the resident performer of a Vegas casino or nightclub, a source familiar with the talks said on Friday.
The source emphasized that no deal was in place and that a gig for Jackson in Las Vegas, a city of second chances for many faded superstars, was merely one idea under consideration as Colony Capital explores loan repayment scenarios with him.
Bringing Jackson to Sin City as a performer would mark the biggest step the 49-year-old performer has taken toward a comeback since a child molestation trial left his career, his reputation and financial status in tatters three years ago.
Only time will tell just how much Michael has left in the tank. Will he still have all the electricity of the “I’m Bad”-era MJ, or will his show be lazy and sad like some lousy Tropicana lounge act? We shall see.
I’m sure you guys will roundly criticize me for publicly stating that I’d fly halfway across the country and pay good money to see a desperate man sing for food, when I just bashed Robert Sylvester Kelly for essentially getting away with the same thing Jackson was once accused of recently. And you’d be right.
I’m just hypocritical like that.
I guess I’ll have to deal with those issues when the tickets go on sale. Cause I will be headed to Vegas.
Question: Michael or Prince? And assuming you’re a Michael fan, would you pay to see him in concert in Vegas? Do you see supporting Michael’s get-outta-debt concert series as financially enabling a pedophile or is there no such concern? If you’re a Prince fan, have you seen him in concert?
Michael Jackson in talks on possible Las Vegas act [Reuters]
[1] I’ll admit, I was prolly 21-22 years old before I could watch this whole video without being scared sh*tless. I can watch it now and just laugh, but Thriller had a young AB shook.
[2] Note the word “relative”. Yeah, Mike was weird, but admit it. Prince was “out there” by comparison.
[3] Come on, Mike. You know them ain’t your kids. Ain’t that much vitiligo in the world.
Filed under: Crap Music, Don't Drop The Soap, Raise Your Own Damn Kids, We Owned The 80s
If you were alive and/or kickin’ during the 80′s (sorry Ciara) you’ll remember the classic urban debate: Michael or Prince?
Long before he became a walking punchline, Michael Jackson was pop music in The Greatest Decade Evar!!! Hell, you could argue that Michael Jackson was The 80′s. The bulk of his career success (the best selling album evar, 13 Grammies, 13 #1′s, Motown 25, Captain EO) happened during this decade. Ditto for Prince, whose funk-infused Pop/R&B/Soul music dominated the airwaves as well. In the pre-BET days, these guys were the only two artists of color whose videos consistently ran on MTV. I remember waiting through hours and hours of Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister videos, just to watch “Let’s Go Crazy” or “Thriller”[1].
Michael and Prince were the 80′s, but most people tended to like one more than the other, thus the long ranging debate.
Michael fans seemed to love the dances, the relative[2] down-to-Earth demeanor, the family-friendly songs. Prince fans were generally a bit darker and moodier in personality, and of course Prince sang about “doin’ it” a lot, so he was hardly PG-13. I know that sounds prudish in a day when “Bust It Baby” gets played in Color Me Mine on Father’s Day, but hey, times have changed.
I liked Michael more, but I liked girls who liked Prince for obvious reasons.
Two decades later, the career and life arcs of the two couldn’t have changed more dramatically.
Michael is considered a reclusive circus freak to most. There’s the white babies, and the white baby mamas[3], and the pedophilia allegations, and the vitiligo, and the bad interviews, and the financial ruins, and that bizarre “Jews are the Devil” thing, and the ruined family name, and… I keep going on for days.
Conversely, Prince is now somewhat considered the less screwed-up and better socially adjusted of the two. He’s a Jehovah’s witness. He won independence from his record label. He still tours and makes lots of money doing so. He was a pioneer in using the internet to sell music. He was actually married for awhile, presumably to a real life woman. He might could drive a minivan and read AB.com for all I know.
He seems, dare I say… normal, or at least normal when compared to the walking train wreck that is Michael Jackson circa 2008.
While I’m a Michael fan, I’ve never gotten to see him in concert. I remember when the Victory Tour hit the US in the mid 80′s at the height of Thriller’s popularity. I wanted to go, badly, but being a preteen, I couldn’t exactly hit up StubHub and drive myself. Not with the tickets being $125 (yikes!) and whatnot. Plus, cool stuff never came to the Carolinas. Michael and Co. only came as close as Landover, MD. My uncle and aunt did go, and regaled us with tales of the concert for months afterward. And I hated them for months afterward.
We’re cool now of course, but I still wanted to see MJ. It’s just one of those items on my “things I wanna do before I call it a life” bucket list, right up there with playing in an actual NBA game, and learning how to make my own etouffee. Quirky, sure.
Looks like I just might still get my chance.
Michael Jackson may relaunch his career as a Las Vegas act, thanks to the private equity group that recently bought the loan on his Neverland Ranch in California to help the pop star avert foreclosure.The investment firm Colony Capital is discussing with Jackson various repayment options for the $23 million debt, including a possible long-term engagement as the resident performer of a Vegas casino or nightclub, a source familiar with the talks said on Friday.
The source emphasized that no deal was in place and that a gig for Jackson in Las Vegas, a city of second chances for many faded superstars, was merely one idea under consideration as Colony Capital explores loan repayment scenarios with him.
Bringing Jackson to Sin City as a performer would mark the biggest step the 49-year-old performer has taken toward a comeback since a child molestation trial left his career, his reputation and financial status in tatters three years ago.
Only time will tell just how much Michael has left in the tank. Will he still have all the electricity of the “I’m Bad”-era MJ, or will his show be lazy and sad like some lousy Tropicana lounge act? We shall see.
I’m sure you guys will roundly criticize me for publicly stating that I’d fly halfway across the country and pay good money to see a desperate man sing for food, when I just bashed Robert Sylvester Kelly for essentially getting away with the same thing Jackson was once accused of recently. And you’d be right.
I’m just hypocritical like that.
I guess I’ll have to deal with those issues when the tickets go on sale. Cause I will be headed to Vegas.
Question: Michael or Prince? And assuming you’re a Michael fan, would you pay to see him in concert in Vegas? Do you see supporting Michael’s get-outta-debt concert series as financially enabling a pedophile or is there no such concern? If you’re a Prince fan, have you seen him in concert?
Michael Jackson in talks on possible Las Vegas act [Reuters]
[1] I’ll admit, I was prolly 21-22 years old before I could watch this whole video without being scared sh*tless. I can watch it now and just laugh, but Thriller had a young AB shook.
[2] Note the word “relative”. Yeah, Mike was weird, but admit it. Prince was “out there” by comparison.
[3] Come on, Mike. You know them ain’t your kids. Ain’t that much vitiligo in the world.
Filed under: Crap Music, Don't Drop The Soap, MLK is Crying Inside, Nigga Nonsense, The Evil That Men Do
All I can say, is this is one sad day for Black America.
A Chicago jury has acquitted R. Kelly on all counts at his child pornography trial.The verdict came six years after the R&B superstar was first charged with videotaping himself having sex with a young girl. Prosecutors had said she was as young as 13 at the time.
Kelly had faced a maximum 15 years in prison. Both Kelly and the now 23-year-old alleged victim had denied they were the ones appearing on the tape, which was played for the jury at the beginning and end of the trial.
The prosecution’s star witness was a woman who said she engaged in three-way sex with Kelly and the girl from the video. Defense attorneys argued the man on the tape didn’t have a large mole on his back, as Kelly does.
Damn. I’m just speechless. Speechless.
Question: What are your thoughts on this verdict?
Jury finds R. Kelly not guilty on all counts [Yahoo]
Filed under: Don't Drop The Soap, Go Sit Down, Judge Joe Brown Says : "DO BETTER.", Knee-Grow Please, Nigga Nonsense, Raise Your Own Damn Kids
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I’m over the age of 30, so I don’t mess with MySpace. Thus I’m probably out of my element making any real comment on this story, other than the obvious.
Here’s the story, in it’s entirety, since I didn’t wanna omit any details.
A 13-year-old girl’s sexual shenanigans have put a second man behind bars. Morris Williams, 22, told the judge he thought the girl was 18-years-old, but he found out Tuesday that ignorance is not a defense.Morris Williams’ mother wailed as he went off to jail. The judge asked for media not to show 13-year-old Alisha Dean’s face in court, but her pictures are all over her MySpace page and they portray a sexy, 19-year-old divorced woman.
“She told me she had just turned 18,” Williams said.
Williams said Dean picked him up on the street and after a few conversations they had sex. When he heard she was not 18, he went to her father.
“He was like ‘well, she’s 13,’” Williams said of a conversation with Dean’s father.
Williams said he never did it again, but Dean has done it before with 24-year-old Darwin Mills. Mills was sentenced to five years in prison. Dean’s father wanted Williams to join Mills there.
“One of the reasons for the law is the fact that minors have poor judgment,” said Jerry Dean, the girl’s father.
Williams’ father believes the jail sentence sends the wrong message to Alisha.
“I guess we just sit back and count how many after this,” Henry Smith asked after his step-son was sentenced to jail.
Dean’s family admits Alisha still stays out late and has yet to delete her misleading MySpace page. Williams will serve six years probation with the first year in jail. The other five years he will have to wear an ankle monitor. His attorney says he will come back to court to ask again for a shorter sentence.
Here’s the video, just in case you’re not feelin’ particularly literate today.
And yeah, before you ask, this did indeed take place in Florida. Surprised? I think not.
Obviously, these young men should have been able to figure out that this girl wasn’t 18 years old the moment they met her in person, and they should have turned the other way and run like they were being chased by Shawne Merriman or somethin’. But they didn’t.
Still, some of the blame for this has to go on the young lady. The incessant quest for attention that leads a young girl to lie about her age on some Chris Hansen idd’ish needs to be punished. Judging by the photos above, she sure does look thirteen to me.
But who knows, in person, she might could be exceptionally mature. She is being educated in the fine state of Florida after all. She might come across like a Rhodes Scholar when she opens her mouth. So who’s to say these poor, game-less cats didn’t have reason to actually believe she was as old as she claimed to be?
I know this sounds like a stretch, but I guess my point is, why exactly should these dudes catch all the blame for this? I don’t know how the whole “friends” thing works on MySpace, but I’m assuming there had to be some mutual agreement to meet, which to me seems to indicate that these dudes weren’t actively trolling for middle schoolers, To Catch A Predator-Style. They thought they were getting a 19 year old divorcee (yeah, it sounds stupid just typing that), but they ended up getting a cell with some dude named Big Meat and a remedial course in Soap Holdin’ 101. And in some small way, that’s a bit of a shame.
I won’t even say anything about the parents. It’s clear that they’re asleep at the wheel. They even admit that they still let this chick come and go as she pleases, even after she’s tricked two guys into jail sentences. The incriminating MySpace page is apparently still out there, waiting to lure it’s next victim. So yeah, maybe the parents should be in a cell with a guy named Big Meat too.
Do better, folks. Please.
Question: Should this young girl be joining these two men in jail?
Man Sentenced To Prison After Girl’s MySpace Page Lies About Age [WFTV]
Filed under: Don't Drop The Soap, Judge Joe Brown Says : "DO BETTER.", NBA = Nuthin' But Africans
I knew it was Spring when I walked to the gym today at lunchtime, and saw a pasty, pudgy, middle-aged white dude sunbathing on the town square. Except for that frightening image, this is generally my favorite time of year. The lawn is lush and green, flowers are blooming, bees are buzzing, and of course it’s NBA Playoff Time.
So, with his team fighting to merely make the playoffs at the end of a disappointing season, what does Denver Nuggets All-Star and perennial moron Carmelo Anthony do? Why, go out and get slizzard beyond comprehension and catch a DUI in the process, of course.
National Basketball Association star Carmelo Anthony, who was booked on alleged drink driving Monday, apologized for his arrest on Tuesday. The Denver Nuggets forward was arrested just hours after Denver’s 111-94 playoff victory over Houston on Sunday. Denver has been in the process of trying to lock up the eighth and final playoff spot for the Western Conference.“I want to apologize to my family, fans and the Denver Nuggets organization for my actions early Monday morning,” he said.
“I regret putting myself in this situation. I also want to apologize to my teammates for the distraction this has caused.”
The DUI in and of itself is nothing notable. It happens to athletes and entertainers all the time, and thank God Anthony didn’t kill anyone in the process. No, what makes this story special is how Denver’s Finest treated Melo’ after his arrest.
It was early Monday morning when Anthony was pulled over on I-25 for allegedly driving drunk. Anthony became angry and began swearing and arguing with the arresting officer who immediately called for backup, sources told News2. Anthony was taken to a hospital for a blood test.Tuesday, Denver police said, “it is not standard practice to drive people home, but it is done on occasion and doesn’t violate department policy.” Still, many believe Anthony did get special treatment after another officer took his car, a $130,000 silver Mercedes, and drove it to a city-owned police parking lot rather than tow it to an impound yard. Police on Tuesday called that parking lot a “safe location” and driving it there was an “option that officers exercise regularly.”
There was some speculation about whether Anthony received special treatment because the police offered to drive him home after his release.
Even worse, it’s reported that his permanent fiancee/baby mama, ex-MTV veejay La-La Vazquez, refused to come pick him up from the clink, which resulted in still more preferential treatment by Mile High police.
Then, when his fiance refused to pick him up, because she was angry that he was out partying, the sergeant offered to personally drive Anthony to the Ritz-Carlton hotel, according to those same police sources.Anthony’s fiancee, La-La Vazquez, released a statement that said, “I fully support my fiance, Carmelo Anthony, and stand by him through this ordeal. I will always have his back, and never refused to pick him up from the police station. In fact, they offered to bring him to me.”
I suppose it’s cool that Denver police root for the home team and wanted to keep their star in the game so they could watch him get ethered by Kobe and the Lakers in their first round playoff series. But what’s not cool is how the judicial system as a whole gives folks (see yesterday’s T.I. post) a free pass just because they’re famous.
Let’s not forget this is the same Carmelo Anthony that appeared on that infamous Stop Snitchin’ street video, got into a raucous bar fight to protect the honor of his fiance/baby mama, got caught with the ole’ “weed in a napsack” trick and subsequently had his weedcarrier take the charge, and then suckerpunched New York Knicks guard Mardy Collins in what had to be the greatest display of poor sportsmanship this side of Tomjanovich/Washington.
Yep, all that in just over a year.
But since the guy can score nearly 30 points a night and sell sneakers, he keeps getting second chances the AverageBro would never receive if they’d racked up this Grand Theft Auto-type track record. And surprise, I don’t blame Anthony for one bit of this.
Nope, I blame the Denver Nuggets, his coaches, the NBA, Nike, the Denver Police, the City of Baltimore, and everybody else who gave the guy a free pass just because he has a nice mid-range jumper.
They’re called Enablers.
And they need to stop enabling and start holding Anthony and his ilk responsible before somebody gets killed.
But I’m not holdin’ my breath.
Question: Do you blame celebrities like Carmelo Anthony and T.I. for taking advantage of their fame when faced with adversity?
NBA Nuggets star Anthony makes apology for arrest [AP]
Filed under: Don't Drop The Soap, Judge Joe Brown Says : "DO BETTER.", NBA = Nuthin' But Africans
I knew it was Spring when I walked to the gym today at lunchtime, and saw a pasty, pudgy, middle-aged white dude sunbathing on the town square. Except for that frightening image, this is generally my favorite time of year. The lawn is lush and green, flowers are blooming, bees are buzzing, and of course it’s NBA Playoff Time.
So, with his team fighting to merely make the playoffs at the end of a disappointing season, what does Denver Nuggets All-Star and perennial moron Carmelo Anthony do? Why, go out and get slizzard beyond comprehension and catch a DUI in the process, of course.
National Basketball Association star Carmelo Anthony, who was booked on alleged drink driving Monday, apologized for his arrest on Tuesday. The Denver Nuggets forward was arrested just hours after Denver’s 111-94 playoff victory over Houston on Sunday. Denver has been in the process of trying to lock up the eighth and final playoff spot for the Western Conference.“I want to apologize to my family, fans and the Denver Nuggets organization for my actions early Monday morning,” he said.
“I regret putting myself in this situation. I also want to apologize to my teammates for the distraction this has caused.”
The DUI in and of itself is nothing notable. It happens to athletes and entertainers all the time, and thank God Anthony didn’t kill anyone in the process. No, what makes this story special is how Denver’s Finest treated Melo’ after his arrest.
It was early Monday morning when Anthony was pulled over on I-25 for allegedly driving drunk. Anthony became angry and began swearing and arguing with the arresting officer who immediately called for backup, sources told News2. Anthony was taken to a hospital for a blood test.Tuesday, Denver police said, “it is not standard practice to drive people home, but it is done on occasion and doesn’t violate department policy.” Still, many believe Anthony did get special treatment after another officer took his car, a $130,000 silver Mercedes, and drove it to a city-owned police parking lot rather than tow it to an impound yard. Police on Tuesday called that parking lot a “safe location” and driving it there was an “option that officers exercise regularly.”
There was some speculation about whether Anthony received special treatment because the police offered to drive him home after his release.
Even worse, it’s reported that his permanent fiancee/baby mama, ex-MTV veejay La-La Vazquez, refused to come pick him up from the clink, which resulted in still more preferential treatment by Mile High police.
Then, when his fiance refused to pick him up, because she was angry that he was out partying, the sergeant offered to personally drive Anthony to the Ritz-Carlton hotel, according to those same police sources.Anthony’s fiancee, La-La Vazquez, released a statement that said, “I fully support my fiance, Carmelo Anthony, and stand by him through this ordeal. I will always have his back, and never refused to pick him up from the police station. In fact, they offered to bring him to me.”
I suppose it’s cool that Denver police root for the home team and wanted to keep their star in the game so they could watch him get ethered by Kobe and the Lakers in their first round playoff series. But what’s not cool is how the judicial system as a whole gives folks (see yesterday’s T.I. post) a free pass just because they’re famous.
Let’s not forget this is the same Carmelo Anthony that appeared on that infamous Stop Snitchin’ street video, got into a raucous bar fight to protect the honor of his fiance/baby mama, got caught with the ole’ “weed in a napsack” trick and subsequently had his weedcarrier take the charge, and then suckerpunched New York Knicks guard Mardy Collins in what had to be the greatest display of poor sportsmanship this side of Tomjanovich/Washington.
Yep, all that in just over a year.
But since the guy can score nearly 30 points a night and sell sneakers, he keeps getting second chances the AverageBro would never receive if they’d racked up this Grand Theft Auto-type track record. And surprise, I don’t blame Anthony for one bit of this.
Nope, I blame the Denver Nuggets, his coaches, the NBA, Nike, the Denver Police, the City of Baltimore, and everybody else who gave the guy a free pass just because he has a nice mid-range jumper.
They’re called Enablers.
And they need to stop enabling and start holding Anthony and his ilk responsible before somebody gets killed.
But I’m not holdin’ my breath.
Question: Do you blame celebrities like Carmelo Anthony and T.I. for taking advantage of their fame when faced with adversity?
NBA Nuggets star Anthony makes apology for arrest [AP]
Filed under: Crap Music, Don't Drop The Soap, Drive-By Activism, Grand Hu$tle, Judge Joe Brown Says : "DO BETTER.", Raise Your Own Damn Kids
The fine folks of Atlanta never cease to amaze me when it comes to their relentless celebrity worship. Last year, I told ya’ll about two Atlanta area school systems that invited noted one hit wonder Yung Joc to speak to elementary school students about achievement. It didn’t make much sense to me that in a city chock full of black entrepreneurs and professionals, the best representative of “achievement” that the school system could find was a guy best known for such lyrics as “meet me at the traaaap, it’s goin’ down“, not to mention that idiotic motorcycle dance. On the bright side, at least he didn’t use a vocoder.[1]
Well, eager to one-up each other, school systems and civil rights organizations, and various other bastions of impressionable youth are lining up to help (c)rapper T.I. serve his 1,000 hours of community service.
If T.I. will speak, people will listen. That was the reasoning behind the U.S. Attorney’s Office plea deal with the enormously popular Atlanta rapper — giving him a reduced prison sentence but making him earn it by spending at least 1,000 hours over the next year preaching nonviolence to “at-risk youth.”Less than 24 hours after the highly publicized plea, requests for the rapper to speak have come rolling in, Steve Sadow, one of the rapper’s lawyers, said Friday.
“The idea really is he can get through to kids and fans like nobody else can,” Sadow said. “Why not take advantage of what may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?”
T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., pleaded guilty Thursday to three firearms violations charges. Under the advisory federal sentencing guidelines, Harris faced between 4 years and 9 months and 5 years and 11 months in prison. Instead, when he is sentenced in March 2009, he will be ordered to spend a year and a day in prison as long as he fulfills the obligations of his community service and stays out of trouble.
For community service, Harris will speak out in opposition to drugs, gangs and illegal and reckless gun use. He also must promote respect for law enforcement, according to the plea deal. Already, local district attorneys, a law enforcement group from Florida and a local NAACP chapter are among those asking for Harris’ time, Sadow said.
I don’t just play a parent on TV, I’m actually one in real life. That said, I’m not a child psychologist. Perhaps one of my more enlightened readers can tell me if this sorta ‘scared straight’ public speaking that T.I. will engage in is proven to actually deter kids from a life of crime and inevitable punishment. My completely uneducated guess is ‘no’.
I can just see T.I. pulling up (chauffeured of course) to Bankhead Middle School in a $400,000 car, draped in jewels, publicist and weedcarriers in tow, entering an auditorium full of giddy kids. He’ll probably say something or other like “drugs are bad, stay in school, take your vitamins, blah blah blah“, but inevitably, the whole thing will turn into typical idolatry. T.I. will sign and pass out promotional copies of his latest single “Thank God For Good Jewish Lawyers”, pose for some flicks with kids and a wannabe cool assistant principal, and dip in less than an hour. And as he pulls away in his Maybach on the way back to his million dollar home, the kids won’t think anything other than “man, that’s a fly ride, and I gotta get me one.” Nobody will be saved from the traaaap, nobody will be enlightened to stray from crime. Why?
Simply because T.I.’s music is all about nothing but crime. I seriously doubt many of these kids will draw the distinction between the guy who raps about ignant sh*t and became a millionaire in the process, and the guy who tells them not to do the very same ignant sh*t that made him a millionaire in the process. It’s just human nature.
Besides, isn’t this the same T.I. who helped me coin the phrase “raise your own damn kids“?
How soon we forget.
If the judge really wanted to make this whole charade impactful, he’d demand that T.I. be treated like the criminal he is, not a celebrity. He’d be brought to the school in a squad car, draped in an orange jumpsuit, and shuffled into the same auditorium in handcuffs with his probation officer behind him. He would be forced to explain to these kids what his dumb ass was thinking for amassing a military grade stockpile of guns when his fool ass was already on probation. As he sat there, shifting uncomfortably in his seat[2], and looking emaciated[3], he’d also have to espouse the virtues of truthfulness by telling all about the person(s) he snitched on to get such a sweetheart deal in the first place. There would be no promo CD handouts, no autographs, and no photo ops. He would be shackled back up and lead back out to the squad car, as the impressionable kids looked on at this miserable scene and thought to themselves, “man, T.I. really f*cked up! I need to stay in school.” But you and I know there’s no way it goes down like that.
This is good P.R. for Clifford Harris, and little more. A Grand Hu$tle indeed.
And for that, the celebrity worshipping adults who will invite the rapper to appear in front of hundreds of kids as he effortlessly burns off his thousand hours oughta be ashamed.[4]
But that’s just my opinion, what’s yours?[5]
Question: Will T.I.’s Scared Straight Tour 08′ actually deter kids from a life of crime, or is this dude just lucky he’s rich enough to hire good attorneys?
Requests roll in for rapper T.I. to speak to groups [AJC]
[1] The Vocoder Anthology, coming soon to AB.com
[2] Catch my drift?
[3] Well, moreso than he normally does.
[4] And if you’re shakin’ your head at this whole story, but not doing anything to prevent the next T.I., then you oughta be ashamed as well. Do somethin’ already!
[5] What the heck does T.I. stand for anyway? Totally Ignant? Terrible Influence? Truly Illiterate?
