Jayson Williams - The Verdict is In - 5:32 p.m.
Why is this page looking like the crime report.. Beanie Sigel, June Pointer, the list goes on. Jason Williams was found guilty of 4 counts of tampering with evidence, not guilty of aggravated manslaughter, and the jury couldn't come together on the reckless manslaughter charge. Once I heard that they couldn't decide on 2 charges, there was no doubt it involved the manslaughter charges. You knew with it being Friday some kind of verdict was coming.. people want to go home and no one is gonna want to come back to the court on Monday. But how do they NOT decide on the reckless manslaughter charge.. that was the whole reason for the case: somebody is dead.

My take on it.. I believe he was waving the gun at the guy in a joking manner and it went off. Not meaning to puroposely kill him, but *BAM* the guy drops. If it was a total accident, why would you feel the need to cover it up? Saying it was a suicide, of all things. And they found him guilty of the tampering charges.. so why not the manslaughter charges? Lucky for Jayson Williams I wasn't on the jury, maybe that would have been the vote to tilt the tide. No beef with Jayson Williams but that's what's up... Looking at the verdict being read, you could see the hint of a smile on his face, mad relieved, but still wondering what those guilty verdicts meant. That's normal behavior, I'd do the same, but the nod to his people as he left court.. had no idea where the party was this weekend, it looks like it's gonna be at J. William's house. Bring your vest. *One down three to go.. Kobe, MJ, and R. Kelly *
comments  (".$counter.") comment";} if($counter >=2){echo "(".$counter.") comments";} ?>

Beanie Sigel Gets a Mistrial - 3:26 p.m.
Up until yesterday, Beanie Sigel's recording career was looking like it was a wrap. Being accused of attempted murder can do that to you. After five days of deliberations the jury decided that they couldn't come to a decision. The judge, who had encouraged the jury to keep talking, had no choice but to declare a mistrial.

If you're anything like myself, you're thinking how could the jury not be able to make a decision when Beanie was said to have pulled up in his jeep, asked who said what and popped the guy in the stomach and foot. That was the story, right? Well it seems the initial reports were lacking in details that could stir reasonable doubt.

Right after the shooting, the victim, Terrence Speller, who had been drinking and smoking that weed, told police he was attacked and robbed by nameless, faceless people. He later changed the story, saying that the nameless, faceless person  was Beanie. The fact that Speller changed his story gave the jurors something to debate. I've been on juries, believe me somebody in that room loves them some Roc-A-Fella and being that they rest in Philly, Beanie more than anyone. You think they weren't looking forward to that new Beanie jumpoff? After hearing some new Beanie freestyles on a mixtape I was ready to pull out the old discs.. Now fresh and clean joints can get rotation.

That recording session is gonna have to be scheduled real soon. In another case, Beanie pleaded guilty to weapons and drug possession and faces up to 11 years in jail. Sentencing is July 8th. He also has an assault case pending where he punched a guy, cracking his eye socket. And.. the prosecutor says they will retry this case as soon as possible.

The one thing that I pulled from all this craziness is how Dame Dash and Jay-Z have stuck by their man. Not in words alone, they were regulars at the court, dressed in suits and everything. Last Friday, Jay-Z actually brought Beyonce to court with him. Look at that, she's riding with Jay-Z like a lil Bonnie to the Clyde going to visit his patna. How sweet is that? :T

Baby Pointer Sister Busted in California
I couldn't believe this when I read it "Youngest Pointer Sister Charged with Cocaine Possession." If you were born in the 80's your probably saying who and what the hell is a Pointer Sister? The Pointer Sisters were big during the 70's and 80's.. big like Destiny's Child, but with no Beyonce in the group - no one stood out like that.

The beat to Will Smith's "Parents Just Don't Understand" is based on The Pointer Sister's "Yes, We Can, Can."

In any case, Reuters news reports.. "June Pointer Whitmore, 50, was arrested last Thursday with two other people outside the Hollywood apartment of her older sister, Bonnie, but was released on bail." Bonnie Pointer wasn't charged in the case. The prosecutors say that June and her two homies were approached by Police after getting complaints from a local resident.

Police found June n' them with cocaine and pipes.. that's a little hard to explain, so they found themselves with cuffs on, stuffed in the back of squad car wondering who snitched on them. Was it Mr. Roper downstairs? The old lady in Apartment 2B?.. What bitch snitched? June is out on bail, so somebody is gonna pay for the pain in her wrists and mental suffering.

June is facing one count of cocaine possession and a charge of possessing an illegal smoking device. If convicted she could get three years in jail. June has a history of drug problems. Her sisters, Anita and Ruth Pointer, kicked her out of the group because she would miss shows and appointments.. kinda like Whitney Houston. Anita and Ruth still perform with Ruth's daughter Issa. When June was arrested they were in Montana recording a new DVD and preparing for a tour in Belgium.

This is sad stuff.. Lucky for June it's her first time getting bagged. In California, first time offenders are eligible to have their drug conviction wiped off if they complete a drug rehabilitation program. By the way... June is the woman on the far right with her hand in her pocket.

Shyne's Turkey and Stuffing Time Appeal - 1:10 p.m.
This month XXL dug into the archive and pulled out an old Shyne interview. I read it when it was first printed, reading it a second time it seems to make no sense that he's still in jail. If you're caught with an illegal gun, for what you see as your protection or not, you're gonna do time. Not to mention if you admit to firing it. That's not a question, he had to expect a few years.

To get 10 years though.. in a case that no one else was found guilty in is just crazy. Shyne says that Puff is snitch, rat, bitch.. add in whatever else you wanna, he'll probably agree. Puffy definitely did whatever he had to do to get off. I would hate to think that he fucked Shyne over to get his own freedom.

It was because of this story that Puff wasn't dealing with XXL. Time makes the bruises fade, so Puff delivers his rebuttal in the same issue, where he basically says Shyne chose his own defense and wanted to do things his way. At the end of the trial he paid Shyne's legal bills and offered his mother some money. Shyne's mother was in a story too.. she said she didn't want the money. She and Shyne believe that Puff did him wrong.. Puff says there is no beef.

50 was on some mixtape last summer talking about Shyne signing with Murder INC.. he was ready to clown him. By now, we all know the real deal is with Murder Inc's parent label, Def Jam Records. The basics: $3 million on his label imprint Gangland Records.

$3 million may sound like a lot of money, that's petty cash advance money for what Def Jam stands to make if Shyne comes out with some fire. If? Let's be real.. one single on the level of "Bad Boys" will dip his numbers in platinum. With the crime story on his back, some people are calling him the next 50... so let's make that double platinum.

On XXL's editorial page, Elliot Wilson says that Shyne has hired high-powered lawyer Alan Dershowitz to handle an appeal coming at the end of the year .. think Thanksgiving.. where he could get a new trial and may be able to post bond and have time to record new material and.. visit every media outlet to tell his story.

We'll see if that happens. What's gonna be interesting to see is if Shyne gets all up in Diddy's ass. PD is at such a good place right now.. that would be his worst nightmare, kinda like Tupac II. Weren't things all gravy with Biggie and the shiny suits when Pac got out of jail and started throwing up Ws? I like Sean Combs, but if that happens it might be karma knocking on the door for a visit.

Is it Alright to Show the Soldier's Caskets?
Last Friday, two workers for Defense contractor Maytag Aircraft Corp were fired after their photos of caskets draped in the American flag at Kuwait International Airport were printed in the Seattle Times.

The photos were a small portion of a flood of 350 images released under the Freedom of Information Act. The Pentagon has ordered that no more photos be released.

The initial request for the photos came from the owner of thememoryhole.org. Dover Air force Base officials didn't want to grant the request, but officials at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois granted the release on appeal. Once the pics hit memoryhole, they got posted on the drudgereport and that just opened up the flood gates.

During an investigation it was found that two workers had snapped their own pictures, a pink slip was delivered with wet ink. One of the workers said she took the photo of the coffins to show her friend that the US soldiers weren't being "thrown around like a piece of cargo." A Seattle newspaper editor found out about the pictures and asked to use them, noting that it might cause a problem. She agreed to let him use them anyway, so the parents of the US soldiers would see this as well.. and didn't ask for payment. She did get a credit at the bottom of the photo, the bread crumb the investigators followed.

The Bush Administration says the photos shouldn't be published out of respect for the soldier's families. They qualify that by adding that the families themselves have requested they not be published. Believe that if you want.. finding a family member to verify that would be like finding anyone who knew Bush during his military service days. Hah! Didn't they find like one guy? Anyway.. according to the Washington Post, during conflicts in the 80's and 90's caskets were published, this is a New Jack Bush rule. It's also funny that in Bush's first 2004 presidential campaign spot, the caskets of those killed in the WTC were part of his ad. No respect.

I don't have any family in Iraq, but seeing the caskets for the first time put a human face on the deaths occurring over there. Every day we hear about 2 soldiers taken down.. 3.. 4.. to most of us it's nothing but a number. If you have fam in Iraq it's a different story, your hoping you phone doesn't ring with any bad news.

My feeling is showing the caskets would help people to understand that this is the real deal. Until something happens to personally affect people.. most could give a damn. Not that we can do anything about the deaths, but maybe folks will pay more attention to the issues that affect them. That'll happen if another terror attack happens or the draft is reinstated or both. Hah! Sorry for the terrible predictions.. I'm getting my Nostradamus on :)

*Edit - 7:57 p.m. - Thanks Marquie, I was looking for this - Faces of the Fallen

Lebron James is the Rookie of the Year - 12:20 p.m.
So I'm watching the Dallas Mavericks and the Sacramento Kings play some real ball - unlike the sad ass NY Knicks - and during a commercial break a Lebron James spot comes on proclaiming him to be the Rookie of the Year.

At 19-years-old, Lebron is the youngest player to receive the award. It's a cap to a season that saw King James average 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists a game. Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan are the only other NBA rookies to notch those stats.

When James was selected first in the draft his "buddy" Carmelo Anthony said he would prove that he should have been selected first by winning the Rookie of the Year award: James got 508 votes vs. Anthony's 430. Some people believe it should have been a tie. When you look at the all around game that Carmelo has, the way he has substantially contributed to the Nuggets push into the playoffs, it makes for a good argument. And Lebron James fans will point out his big solo games: 30+ points in 13 games, a huge 41 points against the Nets that made him the youngest player to crack 40 and the way he scores with seemingly little effort. This high school to the NBA experience was no pressure at all, it's all fun to him, that's why he's always smiling.

Upon hearing the news Carmelo said, "People are going to think what they want to think. I don't really know what else I could have done." Lebron.. he showed up 45 minutes late to yesterday's press conference was diplomatic about the result. "I thought it could go either way," the King said. "I thought it could be a split decision." Then he grabbed his award, popped the cap off a Sprite bottle and hopped in is Hummer to watch Carmelo Anthony's team battle in the playoffs (the Nuggets didn't play yesterday, but I like the image). The Cavaliers finished ninth, one spot out of the playoffs. In a dream world, 5-6 years in the future, we'll be watching the Nuggets and Cavaliers play in the NBA finals. That's when the Carmelo Anthony vs. Lebron James battle will take on some nuclear heat.

Puffy Invests in Zac Posen - 1:39 p.m.
Today's Wall Street Journal has a story about Puffy buying into Zac Posen's clothing line. Zac Posen is 24-years-old, in three years his line of women's wear has become the hot name on NY's socialite and fashionista scene. With dresses selling for $700 - $2200 you'd probably hear his name dropped in a Foxy Brown verse if she ever got around to making music again.

Puffy is looking to expand into women's wear so why not link up with the hottest kid on the block. The financial details haven't been determined, but a spokesman confirmed that a deal is in the works. Puff isn't looking to stamp Sean John on the guy's dresses. He wants to keep the divisions run separately. His main goal is to be taken seriously, he told the Wall Street Journal.. "People have embraced me and my style and my heart for trying to do something different. What I don't know, I can learn. If I want to be the best, I have to go all out. I'm not afraid."

The Sean John clothing line is in its fifth year. Unlike clothing makers like FUBU, he is still going strong. Puffy's intention is to turn Sean John into "The urban Ralph Lauren." One way he has maintained is by hiring people who know something about fashion. Don't make the mistake of thinking that he's sitting up late at night sketching out designs. He's a part of the process, but the key is to link up with people who live and breathe the stuff. Like Zac Posen.. and Jeffrey Tweedy, the executive vice president of the Sean John line.. Race has been coming up lately.. just so no one asks why is he hiring white people.. I'll add that Jeffrey Tweed is black.

The success of the Sean John line is in it's understated designs. There's just enough flash to let you know it's hip-hop, but enough left out to have a 32-year-old attorney say.. "I was in Bloomingdales and I just stumbled upon this stylish nautical jacket-blue and white nylon-that I thought was Ralph Lauren. Then I saw it was Sean John, and I thought it was pretty cool. I wear it every time I go boating."

One wave away from that urban Rl vision..

Jesse Jackson to Negotiate for Hostages
Over the last month, Iraqi insurgents have been snatching soldiers off the streets of Iraq. Taking them hostage, they then air videos on the Arab CNN, Al-Jazeera to make demands that the coalition forces leave the country. Currently there is one US soldier, six US civilian contractors, and two Germans - the Germans are believed to be dead. There are also 44 hostages that have been released.

Those that remain have to be in bad mental shape, especially when you hear US officials say they will never, never.. never, ever.. never, never, ever negotiate with terrorists. Enter.. Jesse Jackson. Here is a guy who couldn't win the presidency, but he has an unbelievable ability to sit down and convince the worst people to free hostages. In 1984, he secured the release of a Navy pilot from Syria. In 1991, when Poppa Bush chased Iraq out of Kuwait, Jesse wiggled 500 people from Saddam's hands. And in 1999, he got Yugoslavia to release three US soldiers during the Kosovo conflict.

After meeting with the family of Thomas Hamill, an American contractor abducted in Iraq. Jesse is pumped up, ready to slip on his cape and superfly shades to sweet talk the people involved. All he needs is a name, point a mufucka out.. "If I knew who was holding them, I would appeal to them directly," Jackson said. He's willing to fly over on the redeye tonight, if only, "I know with whom to talk and know where to go."

Jesse Jackson says he's talking to the family of the kidnapped US soldier as well. Seeing the pain their going through, he's doing what he can to find his abductors, "We've already begun to make some back-channel contacts to them."

No one has a clue what Jackson says to come out of the hostage negotiation game undefeated, but here he spills a little juice.. "One of the key features of negotiation is try to relieve their fears. One can be sensitive to the pain of the other without engaging and embracing their politics. If someone has all the odds in their favor, they have the hatchet in their hand, and your neck is over the fence, you do nothing to incite them. You appeal to their better judgment, you make humanitarian, moral appeal, not a military threat."

Dave Chappelle Negotiating for a Third Season - 1:52 p.m.
"The Dave Chappelle Show" is the hottest thing on TV. Since people seem to like when I make confessions, I'll make one right now: I haven't watched a single episode. That's right, I said it. I don't even know what channel Comedy Central is on the cable box.

Not that I don't find Chappelle to be funny.. I just cant find the TV Guide. How the hell do you watch a show when you don't know what time it comes on?

Rewinding the tape.. Dave Chappelle has come a longggg way. The first time I heard him tell a joke it was in Washington Square Park, NYC. That spot is in the village, Dave would scope out a spot by the fountain (the most crowded area) and start talking. Before you know it people would form a circle around him and he would get his jokes off. At the end of the routine he'd pass the hat for donations. That was the way he was eating.

To see this story today, you realize how far persistence of vision will take you.

As writer and executive producer of "The Dave Chappelle Show" he's making $90,000 per episode. As the top rated show on Comedy Central he wants a much bigger piece of the pie. Add in a better percentage of DVD sales which are approaching platinum status and you have a man who can build his own park. A small park, but a park is a park. What got me about his future plans is a show he and Paul Mooney are putting together for the network. Paul Mooney will star in a Judge Judy type court show. That's gonna be crazy. It's the perfect place for his type of comedy. It would also be a big thing for Mooney, he's been around forever and hasn't been able to peek from behind the writer's block.

Hmm.. I was looking for one of his jokes, but this africana.com interview is much better. comments  (".$counter.") comment";} if($counter >=2){echo "(".$counter.") comments";} ?>

Kanye West and Jacob Craft a Jesus Piece
Kanye West and Jacob the Jeweler have seen the movies. They look at the boxoffice numbers and the $300 million and rising filling Mel Gibson's wallet. They also know that lots of mofos love shiny, exclusive jewels. With Kanye West's "Jesus Walks" spilling out of millions of radios nationwide, it only made sense for the two to collaborate on a line of religious themed jewelry.

According to allhiphop.com the first piece in the line will "feature a crown of diamond-set thorns on Jesus' head, two sparkling diamond eyes and red rubies that form tears flowing from the Savior's eye. Diamonds and other gems are sprinkled throughout Jesus' hair, beard and face to complete the shiny work of art." A picture of the piece was posted here.

The piece is real, nice looking, but can you tell me who will be able to buy this thing? Not the average CD buyer, that's for sure. Maybe Mr. West actually wants people to be  college dropouts, cause anyone spending money on this thing is gonna dump college tuition at a minimum, and that's for a downpayment on the layaway plan. Capitalism is a beautiful thing, it's what keeps this country humming, so I like that Kanye is extending his reach. There is no time like the present for taking advantadge of the heat. As long as it's him and his fat pocket buddies picking this stuff up.

I would hate to see a kid living in the projects feeling big cause he just spent his tax refund on a Kanye West Jesus piece. What that kid doesn't know is he should have saved at least 1/3 of the check for a gun.. these rappers have security.. he's gotta do it self-service style. *yes, that's a joke*

Who Will Be The Apprentice? - 11:10 a.m.
I'm almost ashamed that The Apprentice  hasn't been mentioned here over the past few weeks. It's all about heat, honestly the temperature just started rising when Omarosa started losing her damn mind. Once that block of plaster hit her on the head, it was like her brains squirted out of her ears. She went from the "I used to work for the government," cut your balls off kind of chick, to a straight looney tunes, smile in your face, smile behind your back, lying, erratic bitch.

Yet, most likely because she's a sista, Kwame selected her for the final round of the show. That family affair thinking may be the thing that has him congratulating the next man for getting the job on tonight's finale. If Kwame is going to be running a company, when Omarosa came back to the table refusing to say who was on the phone or what the call was about he should have stepped up and said, "No, no. See that crazy shit stops right now." And.. he had a second opportunity in the office when he confirmed that she lied and still said nothing. She should have been fired on the spot. Give the job to the blond chick, and when Trump asks what happened to Omarosa he says he had to get rid of her. At the same time it shows he's so sincere with his that he'll twist the show's rules to get the job done.

With all that said.. I'm hoping that Kwame wins tonight. Bill is cool, but he's plain jane, no flavor. Kwame may be quiet and unassuming, but he still looks like The Apprentice. The word on the Miss Cleo circuit is that he'll win, and maybe he believes fortune tellers.. Kwame is having a party in NYC tonight. Hopefully he doesn't embarrass himself like Al Gore did in 2000. Poor guy had the champagne flowing and the little cheese crackers only to find out the real party was across town.

*Edit - 4/16/04 11:24 a.m. - Well.. as predicted Kwame was brought down by his own passiveness and Omarosa's zany, other worldly actions. What's even more disturbing is that Kwame has been offered a job from KFC. They want him to help launch their new chicken line. He won't be dancing in commercials with a juicy leg hanging off his lips, he'll be on the marketing team and will get $25,000.00 for the week. The sad part of this is that newspapers are reporting it like it's a good, honest job offer. Of course, behind closed doors their laughing their asses off. If you can't see the joke, you don't realize that racism and the fear of a black man with a book in his hands still exists. It's an obvious slap in the face. What job lasts 1 week? As if all the plans for a new product line will be laid out in seven days, that's not gonna happen. Then to top it off, they say.. in addition we'll give you a year's worth of "KFC products." So now he'll be able to walk into KFC every damn day and eat chicken.. cause you know black people like chicken.

A job is fucking job, but this job offer is a HUGE dis. "Ahhhh, you didn't get the $250,000.00 Trump job, but you can oven roast this chicken real nice for us. Fuck That. I hope he's smart enough to realize that this is a bad move. There is no benefit in taking the job. If the chicken line goes great or doesn't.. he'll still walk into an office building with the chicken grease on his suit. You don't go from Wall Street investment banking, from potentially running a company, to doing some bullshit marketing job that plays up one of the biggest stereotypes ever. If it was Bill, would it be different? Yes. Race is unfortunately an issue. Would it be different if Kwame was already working there? Yes. But once again.. investment banking.. marketing chicken. I'll pass. Fuck a KFC. I haven't eaten there in a minute.. and it's gonna be a few more before I do. I'm on my own personal boycott. Hah hah! - End Edit*

Aaron Hall Speaks on Gloria Velez - 1:17 p.m.
Outside of the internet, I don't know if the story got out across the country yesterday. In NYC all the celebrity talk was about Gloria Velez, the "hip-hop hottie" "the hip-hop wannabe" "the Pamela Anderson of rap" and how 200 pounds of cocaine, $800,000 in cash were found in her tour bus.

She wasn't carried away in handcuffs, but her involvement made for great tabloid style headlines. For those not familiar with the story.. Four men were arrested as part of a two-year investigation into a suspected $50 million drug operation. One of the guys was managing Gloria Velez's *ehem* rapping career. He must have had his attention on other things, because the Gloria Velez thing was far from jumping off. The drugs and cash were found underneath one of the beds.

24-year-old video chick/Elite model is what her resume says.. Somewhere at the bottom of the page, under "Other Stuff" it says, "Aaron Hall's baby mama." If we're gonna take it tabloid, let's do it right. She is indeed Aaron Hall's baby mother.

Yesterday, Aaron Hall called up The Wendy Williams Experience to let people know he isn't happy about the crap Gloria is into, and what she's about to put his kid through. I caught the call in the middle..but you can clearly hear him saying.. "I want my kid!" Then he goes on to say that her mother just had a kid and how he's working on a new record. Now that.. I'll have to see to believe. Aaron Hall's career is in the dirt, which is unfortunate. Guy was most definitely the shit. Ask R. Kelly knows who the father to his style is. Listen to It (Real) -- Download it (Zipped MP3)

Ashanti to Star in Coach Carter - 12:36
Over the past three weeks, Beyonce, Missy, Tamia, and Alicia Keys have been dancing all over the NY area doing dates on the "Ladies First" tour. This morning, looking at a picture of Beyonce from last night's concert at Madison Square Garden, I had to feel sorry for Shani Bani aka Ashanti Douglas. It wasn't that long ago that she was selling records out the box, and would have been a sure bet for at least a 15 minute spot.
Today she's stuck on The INC as Irv Gotti and Ja Rule try to figure out how to rebuild the label's musical credibility. I'm not sure if she could make it on another label, but she most definitely got caught in the crossfire of that lil war of words.

Funny thing that a few minutes later, I hear Ashanti's name brought up on the morning news. The girl you love to hate aka sideburns will co-star in the Paramount/MTV flick Coach Carter. The movie is based on the story of real-life basketball coach, Ken Carter. In 1997, Carter accepted the head coaching position at California's Richmond High School. When he got there the students were basically a bunch of dumb fucks, academically, athletically they had it in a bad way. Living way below Ken Carter's philosophy.. "Average is just not good enough." And the more detailed.. "If you get one percent better each day, within 100 days you're 100 percent better."

In two years he had the team and school pointed in a more progressive direction: hallways were cleaned up and standards of conduct were introduced. In 1999, the basketball team was undefeated. They also had a laundry list of rules to follow.. treat others with respect, no drugs or alcohol, sit in the front of the class and participate, wear a suit and tie on game day, maintain minimum 2.5 GPA.. the ultimate goal was to get the players thinking about achieving more through accepting responsibilities.

When a few of the players slacked off (including his son) he locked the entire team out of the gym, barring any basketball activities. This occurred as the team was approaching the playoffs. Of course, the story has a Disney channel ending. The players got their act together and went on to do more than they would have imagined possible before they got hit with the Carter stick. Samuel Jackson will play Ken Carter.. and Ashanti will be the girlfriend of Rob Brown, one of the basketball players. Do you think Samuel Jackson has given up on the music artists as actors debate? He was the one complaining and since then, every other movie he's in has a platinum recording artist attached to it. -- -- For more on Coach Carter click here.

Iraq: A No Win Gotta Win Situation - 1:05 p.m.
Last week Iraq turned into every war protester's "I told you so" fantasy. After the bodies of 4 US civilians were burned and dragged through the streets, the US marched into Fallujah looking for revenge. This came shortly after an Iraqi cleric, Al-Sadr's newspaper was shut down for preaching anti-US sentiments. The combination turned the town into a shooting gallery. Since April 1, military sources say 70 soldiers have been killed and over 700 Iraqis, making this the bloodiest time since Baghdad fell to the *ehem* coalition a year ago.

This whole democratic Iraq is supposed to be for the well being of Iraqi citizens, so members of the patched together Iraqi Civil Defense Corps went to Fallujah to assist the US soldiers. When they got to the town, some of these guys decided they weren't gonna be shooting their own people. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez acknowledged this on NBC's "Meet the Press," "This one specific instance did in fact uncover some significant challenges in some of the Iraqi security force structures ... We know that it's going to take us a while to stand up reliable forces that can accept responsibility."

On top of the fighting, some of the Iraqi insurgents have begun snatching people off the street, taking them hostage and threatening that we meet their demands or they'll be shot. It's not only Americans, it's anyone without Muslim ties.. Chinese, German, Japanese, and American civilians are all missing or have been shown on Al Jazeera as proof of their capture.

So what to do? Ask anyone who knows anything about anything (hah) and they'll say we're in deep doo doo. If we stomp the insurgents out with the force that we're capable of.. we'll have Iraqi's running to the insurgents side. It's a muslim thing.. family ties, and a full out assault would undoubtedly kill innocent people which would really make it a family thing. The other thing to do.. is to pull out, back off, or concede to the insurgent's demands. This would make us look like punks and have them puff their chests up like they did something.

Next thing you know, they'll be making more ridiculous demands like.. "Why don't you just leave our country?" Ha ha silly man, and leave all that oil on your hands. It's not gonna happen. Has anyone noticed that the safest place in Iraq are the oil fields? Although the insurgents are a small portion of the population, it only takes one asshole to fuck up a party.

We should have never went to Iraq in the first place, but now that we're there we have to turn this thing around. The question is what's the plan and how many US soldiers have to die. It's f-cked up to see the faces and ages of these guys.. 18, 91, 23-years-old.

The Pacific Theatre: Watching You Watch the Movies
I see most of the movies that are released, even if they don't make it to the extra butter column. This weekend Cedric the Entertainer's feature debut Johnson Family Vacation  opened nationwide. It was only this morning that I realized that I missed it.. then again, maybe not. I heard it was one of those bootleg flicks.. literally, something to watch on the $10 bootleg.
There is no movie that's safe from someone sitting in the matinee show with a camcorder sitting on their lap.

Who knows how those bootlegs get made, some say industry insiders leak them for a quick buck. The Motion Picture Association thinks that the biggest source of movie piracy is that guy with the camcorder. At the Pacific Theatre on Los Angeles's Hollywood Blvd., that wouldn't be the smartest thing to do. Recently a guy walked in, powered up his joint, concealed real nice beneath his leather jacket. A half-hour into the flick, here comes the police. Dude found himself being led out in handcuffs.

The Pacific Theatre is one of the first theatres to employ PirateEye surveillance cameras. The theatre has hidden cameras pointed at the audience that scan for anything that looks like a camera. A technician watches a computer screen that displays the images from the cameras which can zoom in for a closer look at that shiny thing in your pocket.. like sunglasses or a cellphone. If the the tech decides that you look suspicious an usher can be sent over with a flashlight, or if it's just blatant.. dude's adjusting the lense.. than the cops are called and your on the 10 O'clock news. They cover that kind of stuff on UPN :T

All you would be pirates say, "Thanks of the info, I'll go down the street to Magic Johnson's theatre." Problem is theatres nationwide are thinking about installing PirateEye systems. The only debate is who will pay to install them. At the ned of the day, some security measure will be taken. A MPA rep suggest that theatres pay people and theatre workers to turn in anyone they see getting their cam on. Kinda like Crimestoppers.. Why would you have to pay the theatre workers though, you'd think that would be part of their job.

The Hip-Hop Cop Unmasked - 12:31 p.m.
Lil Kim and Foxy Brown have had little musical impact over the last few years, but according to Derrick Parker they can take credit for the expansion of the NYPD's hip-hop surveilance squad.

In this week's Village Voice, Parker recounts a shootout that occured at NYC radio station HOT 97. "The February 25, 2001, shooting followed an on-air appearance by Lil' Kim and involved more than 20 people, five guns, and 22 shots fired. One person was injured. The incident reportedly stemmed from a beef between the two female MCs. "That's when the rap stuff went global. We found out every club the rappers attend, every bar, every place where they hang out, what kind of cars they drive; all that stuff came up."

Derrick Parker a 14-year veteran, who has climbed from patrolman to undercover narcotics officer says he noticed that rappers were mingling with criminals and kicked off his one man intelligence unit. "I saw a pattern," says Parker. "The pattern was that the rap music industry was becoming more like organized crime. It was running side by side with the traditional steps of organized crime. . . . What interested me was I saw a lot of these guys that were really bad dudes in Brooklyn starting to latch onto rappers and entertainers. So I used to monitor the incidents, department-wide, of anything that happened."

He would be on the scene for any and all hip-hop events, developing a database that became the foundation for the rap patrol. In 2003, Miami police contacted him to train their officers and he has fielded calls from detectives in Georgia, Chicago, L.A., Las Vegas, West Bubblefuck. "Everything got so big that all the chiefs knew who I was. Now everybody started dropping in like parachutes.." Since he began there are many more officers involved in rapper surveillance. Why focus on rappers? The theory is once they leave the neighborhood, the criminal element goes along with them. They may not be doing crimes themselves, but people around them are or were involved in crimes. Parker believes this makes it important to keep tabs on their activities. Nothing seems to be off-limits: photographs, videotaping, and he hints at wiretapping.

Ice-T once said that he moved out of his old neighborhood because once your making big money, it's like having a piece of meat in a cage with starving tigers. If you don't leave then your putting yourself at risk. In the article Dame Dash rubber stamps that analogy, "If you don't have enough money to take the proper precautions to where you know you're safe, you still kind of live like a criminal because you're still dog food for the wolves. You're the one who has more than the next, so people can come at you in that kind of way. A lot of these dudes roll with entourages because they feel safer like that."

When does this kind of investigating cross the line? Even if your doing nothing wrong, is it an invasion of privacy to have cops snapping pics of you wherever you go? On one hand Parker says they only look at people who were, or are associated with criminals, and claims that crimes against rappers are probably prevented because criminals know the rappers are being watched. On the other hand, you have the unsolved murders of Biggie, Pac, and Parker says, "you have over 100 incidents in different boroughs where [rappers] have either been the victims of crimes, or they've assaulted someone. There's been robberies, shootings, stabbings." He said that to legitimize the surveillance. Either the cops are letting these crimes happen or the rappers aren't being watched as tightly as it's being reported.

Jam Master Jay's murder remains unsolved as well. Parker is regarded as an expert but hasn't been given full control of the case, to which he says, "All I would ask them to do would be to supply me with the following [unnamed specifics] and I would have the case solved, and you can quote me on that," says Parker. "I know the case that well."

If he can solve it, in the interest of good police work, why not hand him the files? Get briefed on all things rap intl related in.. A Tale of NYPD's Rap Intelligence Unit The Hiphop Cop

Nelly Pulls out of Bone Marrow Drive - 2:54 p.m.
In 2001, Nelly's sister Jackie Donahue was diagnosed with leukemia, a form of cancer that begins in the blood-forming cells of the bone marrow. In June of 2003, Nelly announced a campaign to encourage minorities to become bone marrow donors. The project called "Jes Us 4 Jackie" was funded through his non-profit organization "4 Sho 4 Kids."

The initial campaign brought in 1200 new donors including Nelly and his younger sister Ashley. It's important for minorities to register as donors, because bone marrow transplants are said to go beyond blood types, people of similar ethnic backgrounds are more successfully matched.

Well, here it is a year later and Nelly is still pushing the bone marrow campaign. He was scheduled to make a stop at Spelman College in the ATL. All systems were go until someone in Student Affairs apparently caught Nelly's butt cheek festival/shake ya ass "Tip Drill" video, it popped on the tube during a late night of studying. The tight ass student acted like they had never saw a rap video, at least not like this and said, "Oh, hell Naw." Said student really got red when Nelly swiped a credit card through one of the girl's still wiggling butt cheeks.. that was enough.

Forget that Nelly wasn't visiting the Spelman campus to recruit some more apple bottoms, he was labeled as Pubic Enemy #1.. yes, pubic. Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Zenobia Hikes said, "Spelman is concerned about the negative images of women in popular culture, particularly the misogynistic lyrics and images that constantly portray women in a sexual nature." Students from Spelman and neighboring Morehouse college held strategy meetings to protest Nelly hard and heavy. He was gonna hear some words from the lord's followers.. If he hadn't gotten the message from "The Passion," he was gonna definitely get the good word from them.

The lord works in mysterious ways. He passed a message to one of Nelly's people who told one of his people who told him about the planned protest and the reason behind it. Instead of wasting a plane ticket, Nelly pulled out of the event. And all was righteous and holy on the Spelman campus, the protesters laid down their signs and had a good night's sleep. The end.

Bobby Brown Plots his Move to the Small Screen
You can't tell Bobby Brown that he doesn't know show business. If you happen to let the opposite of those words slip out of your mouth, remember who you're talking about.. The Mufucking King of R&B.. "I'm Bobby Bad Ass Brown Bitch!" He didn't actually say that, but I feel safe quoting it because he would say it if you asked.

You can tell a media mogul when you see one because they are so in touch with the hottest trends in the industry. Take Donald Trump for example, early in his life he wanted to be a big star in Hollywood. The time wasn't right, neither was the money, so his father was able to convince him to go into real estate. But now.. now the time and the money is right. Reality TV is quick, hot, and cheap to produce. Get your show on the air and all you have to do is keep track of the bundles while singing along to the "Rubber Band Man," like "Yeah, that's my ass your talking bout' right there. I feel you right there playa."

After his last release from jail, and having to humiliatingly pick up the phone to get a $63,000 cash infusion, Bobby Brown had an idea. A good idea. A real good idea. "If all these goddamn photographers and cameras want to be all up in my bizness, why not film the shit, package it real nice and sell the shit for $9.95... or the highest bidder. Who gives a damn. Just give me some $$$."

Ahh.. the thoughts of a media mogul.. see how he tapped into the subconscious mind, put his real life drama into the mix with the desert thirst of the reality TV crowd? That's entertainment genius yall.

And this isn't just talk. Friday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Bobby, Whitney and crew were spotted around the ATL area. Monday night, Bobby, the wife, the kid and the dog were spotted at the Palm restaurant.. camera crews stumbling right behind them. Tuesday night, there was more eating out as he and Whitney chowed down at Atlanta's Prime Restaurant. Whitney also broke out into a rendition of "Happy Birthday," singing to customers at another table.

No networks have snatched this up yet.. but if they don't can you say, dumb ass? I'd watch this, tape it, rewind the tape, watch it again, post it on the internet, sell it on bootleg DVD, then strip the audio and post that right here..That would be "I gotta get home to watch that" TV.

Marc Anthony's Got a Gun.. OK - 1:48 p.m.
Unlike Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez has wasted no time in finding a new love. She's been linked to latin singer Marc Anthony. It's the usual spottings in restaurants and bars, that got the tongues wagging. Azcentral.com recently reported.."the new couple was spotted at the Miami club Mynt with another headline grabbin' duo--Tommy Lee and Naomi Campbell--who "spent all night engaging in lusty antics."

In January, Marc Anthony's wife filed for divorce saying their bond was "irretrievably broken." Rumors have been swirling that J.LO is to blame. Something that Marc decided to respond to on his website.. "The fact that Jennifer Lopez has been unjustly dragged in to this is wrong. In no way, shape or form did she have anything to do with the rupture of my marriage. I want to make that 100 percent clear."
"The statements that were made alluding to this fact were misleading and malicious and were intended to be so. This was a blatant exploitation and use of someone's name to attract publicity."

He continued.."It is hard for me to accept this morbid fascination with the personal lives of public figures. However, in light of the recent outbreak of sensational accusations and slanderous statements I feel compelled to address certain issues in an attempt to clear things up for those I care about."

Yup, he was a little pissed, and you don't want to do get him pissed. Page Six of the NY Post dropped this nugget from a "Lopez insider" yesterday. "Mark often has a gun on him. He feels more secure taking care of himself and whoever he is with." According to the source that "person" would be J.Lo And she doesn't consider him to be her boyfriend. The joke in her circle is "Marc's not her boyfriend, but don't tell him that."

It could be that gun on his hip.. Can I say that I don't care about this at all? Thank you.

Candace Parker is the Slam Dunk Champion
17-year-old, Candace Parker dubbed "arguably the best female player in the last decade" won a slam dunk contest on Monday night. The fact that she was dunking in the first place would be news.. but Candace P. took it up a notch, competing with the guys and still getting her shine on.

Officially in the Hall of Shame: Josh Smith, a potential lottery pick in June's NBA draft; Darius Washington, a possible first-round pick; and J.R. Smith, a North Carolina-bound player considered the best high school dunker in the past decade. Other than playing in the backyard and the park.. you're all banned from any further b.ball activities. That's just shameful. How do you puff up your chest out in the NBA, when you got roasted by a chick?

It's said the guys lost because they attempted ridiculous dunks, and missed. Candace also used a women's basketball, which is smaller than the men's. Let's not to take anything away from her win, the crowd was cheering her on the entire time. The highlights were a dunk where she wrapped it around her waist before flushing it, and the final dunk where she covered her eyes with her forearm a few steps before taking off. That dunk got a score of 79 out of 80.

Candace led Naperville Central High to their second straight state title this year and averaged 23 points a game. She has not lost a game in which she played since her sophomore season. And as far as dunking.. she's been doing that since she was 15. Any words? "I hope 10 years from now this isn't a big deal," said Parker. That would be my dream. That 10 years from now three or four girls enter the dunk contest and it's not a big deal. It's not like, 'Wow, she won.' I hope that happens."

The dunk contest will be televised tonight on ESPN2. Next up for Candace Parker is college, she's skipping offers to go to the WNBA to play for the University of Tennessee.