Keepingitreal

No smoking: Historic vote could bring new limits

The Senate struck a historic blow against smoking in America Thursday, voting overwhelmingly to give regulators new power to limit nicotine in the cigarettes that kill nearly a half-million people a year, to drastically curtail ads that glorify tobacco and to ban flavored products aimed at spreading the habit to young people. President Barack Obama, who has spoken of his own struggle to quit smoking, said he was eager to sign the legislation, and the House planned a vote for Friday. Cigarette foes said the measure would not only cut deaths but reduce the $100 billion in annual health care costs linked to tobacco. Fierce opposition by the industry and tobacco-state lawmakers had prevented passage for years, along with veto threats by the George W. Bush White House. In the end, the nation's biggest tobacco company supported the measure, though rivals suggested that was because it could lock in Philip Morris' share of the market. Cigarette smoking kills about 400,000 people in the United States every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 45 million U.S. adults are smokers, though the prevalence has fallen since the U.S. surgeon general's warning 45 years ago that tobacco causes lung cancer. The legislation, one of the most dramatic anti-smoking initiatives since the surgeon general's report, would give the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate the content, marketing and advertising of cigarettes and other tobacco products. "This legislation represents the strongest action Congress has ever taken to reduce tobacco use, the leading preventable cause of death in the United States," declared Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids. The 79-17 Senate vote sent the measure back to the House, which in April passed a similar but not identical version. House acceptance of the Senate bill would send it directly to Obama, who said Thursday that final passage "will make history by giving the scientists and medical experts at the FDA the power to take sensible steps." "At any given moment, millions are struggling with their habit or worrying about loved ones who smoke," said Obama. His signature would then add tobacco to other huge, nationally important areas that have come under greater government supervision since his presidency began. Those include banking, housing and autos. Still to come, if Congress can agree: health care. CONTINUE READING...

Airline passengers could get a 1-2-3 punch

Corporate travel and ticket sales of premium seats are down. Overall demand is weak. And fuel prices are rising — again. The one-two-three punch could be bad news for consumers this fall, as airlines face pressure to raise fares or cut more capacity to cover their costs.Executives at several airlines, including Delta, Southwest, US Airways, Continental and American, gave bleak outlooks Thursday during an investor conference in New York, and there was little talk from anyone of a near-term rebound. AirTran offered a bright spot amid the industry woes, as its chief financial officer said the discount carrier expects to have "one of the best years in the company's history."The rise in unemployment and hits Americans have taken to the value of their homes, coupled with the meltdown in the financial markets, has caused a significant slowdown in air travel. Airlines also have lost business from the swine flu, which has caused some people to cancel travel plans to Mexico.Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. projects it will take a $125 million to $150 million revenue hit in the second quarter because of the impact on air travel from the swine flu virus. The quarter ends June 30. The swine flu scare also has hurt Delta sales to customers in Asia, who may be worried about travel because of the SARS outbreak in 2003.The overall drop in demand has coincided with a recent increase in fuel prices, which means lower sales — one executive said industry passenger revenues have declined nearly 20 percent in the first four months of the year — are meeting higher costs.If fuel prices continue to climb into the fall, airlines will be under pressure to raise prices or cut more capacity to cover their costs, Delta President Ed Bastian said. Delta has made a decision not to "put seats out into the marketplace if we can't recover the cost of that seat," he said.Experts have said they don't expect fare sales to end anytime soon, given weak demand for air travel. CONTINUE READING..

Daughtry: No Surprise

D.O.A. - totally redone LIVE by Dub B's group

Today's Papers: Known Supremacist Attacks Holocaust Museum

The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal's world-wide newbox lead with the gunman who opened fire at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. yesterday. The 88-year-old white supremacist killed a security guard before he was shot. Police identified the suspect as James W. von Brunn, a man well-known to groups that keep tabs on extremists. "This is a longtime white supremacist and anti-Semite approaching the end of his life who may have decided to go out shooting," said the director of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Brunn is now in critical condition. USA Today leads with federal data that show almost 20 million children now receive free or reduced-price lunches in their schools, a record. California is one of the states that has seen demand skyrocket as enrolment in free lunch programs has increased almost 17 percent. Schools don't get fully reimbursed for each free lunch so they must make up the shortfall at a time when budgets across the country are already stretched thin.The New York Times leads with the White House appointing Kenneth Feinberg, "a well-known Washington lawyer," to determine compensation of senior executives at the seven firms that have received billions of dollars in bailout funds. For other companies, including others that have received federal assistance, the Obama administration didn't impose any specific rules but said it would push lawmakers to pass legislation that would give shareholders more of a say in how much executives get paid and strengthen the independence of board committees that set compensation. The Los Angeles Times leads with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger telling the paper's editorial board that he would rather see California's government come to a "grinding halt" than take out a high-interest loan if lawmakers can't agree on what to cut to get rid of the state's massive budget gap. "What we need to do is just to basically cut off all the funding and just let them have a taste of what it is like when the state comes to a shutdown," he said. To continue reading, click here.

10 Large Banks Allowed to Exit U.S. Aid Program

EXCERPT FROM NYTIMES.COM ~ The Obama administration marked with little fanfare a major milestone in its bank rescue effort — its decision on Tuesday to let 10 big banks repay federal aid that had sustained them through the worst of the crisis — as policy makers and industry executives focused on the challenges still before them.“This is not a sign that our troubles are over,” President Obama said. “Far from it.”While the announcement had been expected for weeks, the official word put the administration’s imprimatur on a corps of big banks considered healthy enough to extricate themselves from Washington’s grip.The bank holding companies, among them American Express, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, plan to return a combined $68.3 billion. That represents more than a quarter of the federal bailout money that the nation’s banks have received since last October, when many feared that failures might cascade through the industry.But the decision to allow the banks to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, also ushered in a new, and potentially risky, phase of the banking crisis. Letting the lenders out now — earlier than many had envisioned, and without the industry reforms some consider necessary to prevent future crises — raises many sobering questions for policy makers, bankers and taxpayers.The program was aimed at purchasing assets and equity from banks to strengthen them and encourage them to expand lending during a tightening credit squeeze. But after banks return the TARP money, the administration will forfeit much of its leverage over them. With that loss goes a rare opportunity to overhaul the industry. The administration’s ability to push institutions to purge themselves quickly of bad assets and do more to help hard-pressed homeowners will be diminished.Of even deeper concern is the running trouble inside the banking industry. Despite tentative signs of revival, many banks remain fragile. Four of the nation’s five largest lenders, including Citigroup and Bank of America, were not allowed to return their bailout funds. Some analysts worry that financial institutions that repay bailout money now may turn to Washington again if the economy worsens and losses overwhelm banks. One of the most vexing problems of the credit crisis — how to rid banks of their troubled mortgage investments — remains unresolved. CONTINUE READING...

America’s Sea of Red Ink Was Years in the Making

from NYTIMES ~ There are two basic truths about the enormous deficits that the federal government will run in the coming years.The first is that President Obama’s agenda, ambitious as it may be, is responsible for only a sliver of the deficits, despite what many of his Republican critics are saying. The second is that Mr. Obama does not have a realistic plan for eliminating the deficit, despite what his advisers have suggested.The New York Times analyzed Congressional Budget Office reports going back almost a decade, with the aim of understanding how the federal government came to be far deeper in debt than it has been since the years just after World War II. This debt will constrain the country’s choices for years and could end up doing serious economic damage if foreign lenders become unwilling to finance it.Mr. Obama — responding to recent signs of skittishness among those lenders — met with 40 members of Congress at the White House on Tuesday and called for the re-enactment of pay-as-you-go rules, requiring Congress to pay for any new programs it passes.The story of today’s deficits starts in January 2001, as President Bill Clinton was leaving office. The Congressional Budget Office estimated then that the government would run an average annual surplus of more than $800 billion a year from 2009 to 2012. Today, the government is expected to run a $1.2 trillion annual deficit in those years.You can think of that roughly $2 trillion swing as coming from four broad categories: the business cycle, President George W. Bush’s policies, policies from the Bush years that are scheduled to expire but that Mr. Obama has chosen to extend, and new policies proposed by Mr. Obama.The first category — the business cycle — accounts for 37 percent of the $2 trillion swing. It’s a reflection of the fact that both the 2001 recession and the current one reduced tax revenue, required more spending on safety-net programs and changed economists’ assumptions about how much in taxes the government would collect in future years.About 33 percent of the swing stems from new legislation signed by Mr. Bush. That legislation, like his tax cuts and the Medicare prescription drug benefit, not only continue to cost the government but have also increased interest payments on the national debt. Mr. Obama’s main contribution to the deficit is his extension of several Bush policies, like the Iraq war and tax cuts for households making less than $250,000. Such policies — together with the Wall Street bailout, which was signed by Mr. Bush and supported by Mr. Obama — account for 20 percent of the swing. CONTINUE READING..

Oil Giant Pays $15 Million to Settle Lawsuit Brought for Environmental Activist's Murder

In one of the many tragic tales of environmental heroism, Ken Saro-Wiwa stood up to the oil giant Shell with peaceful demonstrations and vocal opposition—until he was executed by his own government on false charges. A legal battle was then waged for nearly 15 years, in which Saro-Wiwa's fellow Ogoni people charged Shell with funding the government backed security forces that lead to the violence against them. Now, Shell has just agreed to pay $15 million to settle the case out of court—though the company still says it did nothing wrong.Ken Saro-Wiwa was an Ogoni, an ethnic group of Nigerians whose homes and health were (and still are) endangered by oil extraction practices in their native land. He took to organizing, writing, and activism to bring light to his people's plight.According to the Environmental News Service: An early member of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, organized and led nonviolent protests of up to 300,000 people against Shell's practices in Ogoniland, where crude oil extraction has taken place since the 1950s. The land and communities have suffered extreme and unremediated damage from decades of oil waste dumping and gas flaring, which continues today. Shell of course despised and feared the negative PR beginning to swell around their activities, and the Nigerian government felt economically bound to the giant company. And so what happened next was yet another atrocity in the sad and despicable history of powerful conglomerates protecting their interests: Shell grew increasingly concerned with the international prominence of the Ogoni movement and made payments to security forces that they knew to be engaging in human rights violations against the local communities. The military government of General Sani Abacha violently repressed the demonstrations, arrested Ogoni activists, and falsely accused nine Ogoni activists of murder and bribed witnesses to give fake testimony. The nine were denied a fair trial and then hanged on November 10, 1995. Now, nearly 15 years later, the Ogoni have won a small but deserved victory. The case they brought against the company under an obscure US law that allows foreigners to sue companies for human rights abuses has just been settled out of court. Though $15 million may seem a paltry sum to repay the vast injustices done to their people, and the murder of some of their brightest, perhaps the international attention garnered from this case will draw some attention to their plight. And even though Shell hasn't publicly admitted any wrongdoing, sometimes, actions speak louder than words. Ken Saro-Wiwa, with his courageous dedication to protecting his people, has proved that. SOURCE:CURRENT.COM

The New Issue of Rolling Stone: The Liberation of Adam Lambert

Flying? Don’t Book Under a Nickname

The Transportation Security Administration is getting ready to take over responsibility from the airlines for checking passengers’ names against terrorist watch lists, and is advising travelers to start booking airline tickets using their full name as it appears on their driver’s license or passport.Later this summer, the agency will also begin requiring airlines to ask passengers for their birth date and gender during the ticketing process, information the carriers will then transfer to the T.S.A. The goal is to help make the watch list matching process more accurate.But it turns out that what’s in a name is more complicated than many reservation systems are currently prepared to handle. So the airlines are telling passengers not to worry if there is no place to enter a middle name when purchasing a ticket, or no field for a date of birth.“I think the most important thing for passengers to know is that when their airline is ready to ask for that information, they’ll ask for it,” said Tim Wagner, a spokesman for American Airlines — advice that was echoed by other carriers.While the T.S.A. has announced Aug. 15 as a target date for the airlines to begin asking for each passenger’s full name, gender and date of birth, and has already begun publicizing the program, called Secure Flight, the agency acknowledged that it would go into effect in phases as the airlines update their systems.“What we’re trying to do is make the public aware that these changes are coming,” said Paul Leyh, the agency’s director for Secure Flight. “If your name is Jonathan Smith and you travel as John Smith and your license says Johnny Smith — get all those things aligned.”The government’s aim is to streamline the process of checking travelers’ names against its watch lists — a task currently handled separately by each airline — and to collect more detailed information so passengers with names similar to those on the watch list are less likely to be mistakenly detained.Asking for a birth date, for instance, decreases the likelihood that a child with a name close to one on the list would be subject to an additional search — one example of a false match that has led to complaints.As part of the Secure Flight program, travelers who have gotten caught up in some type of name problem and go through the process to get their identity cleared will be assigned a “redress number” that they can then enter when booking a flight.This number, along with the other passenger information, will be sent to the T.S.A., which will check it against terrorist watch lists and tell the airline whether the traveler is cleared to get a boarding pass, should be subject to an additional search or is not allowed to fly.“Secure Flight is going to allow us to clear over 99 percent of passengers,” Mr. Leyh said.For travelers who are cleared, the T.S.A. will keep passenger information on file for seven days. For those who are a potential match, it will be kept for seven years and for confirmed matches, it will be stored for 99 years.Concerns about data storage and privacy were among the issues that held up the transfer of name-matching duties from the airlines to the government, which was mandated by Congress in 2004.While many of those objections have been addressed by narrowing the scope of the information collected, there are still concerns about the quality of the watch list data.“To be precise, we support the fact that the government is now trying to make its matches more accurate,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which has been advocating for stronger privacy protections since Secure Flight’s inception.“The problem with Secure Flight is that there’s still not adequate transparency or redress for people who are placed on the list,” Mr. Rotenberg said. “As we know from the latest report from the inspector general, the list is riddled with errors.”The change will probably also create frustrations for people who go by different names and have to standardize the name listed on their passport, driver’s license and possibly frequent-flier accounts.“I’ve got Francis on my passport but I’ve always gone by Frank — my state I.D. and all of my frequent-flier accounts are Frank,” said Frank Ritchotte, who handles logistics for an audio and visual equipment manufacturer and flies about 150,000 miles a year. CONTINUE READING..

Exclusive: Mos Def's "Embassy" On the Streets of Osaka

Universal Republic Newcomer K'Jon Hits #1 At Urban AC Radio #1 Greatest Gaining Single "On The Ocean" #1 At Both Mediabase, BDS Published Charts

(Brooklyn, NY – June 9, 2009) Universal Republic newcomer K'Jon has scored the #1 single at Urban AC Radio this week with his smash hit "On The Ocean." The sizzling song, which originally ignited the Chicago clubs for months as a popular 'steppers' hit, is also the #1 Greatest Gainer at both the Mediabase and BDS charts. K'Jon has drawn comparisons to repeat hit makers such as Ne-Yo and Robin Thicke, and is currently putting the finishing touches on his much anticipated album, I GET AROUND, scheduled to hit stores and online platforms August 4, 2009.The prolific R&B star finds himself with one of the most played urban records of the year. No stranger to previous scorching collaborative successes, the singer/songwriter has worked with Grammy winning star Ludacris, super-producers Cool & Dre and others.K'Jon, a Detroit, Michigan native, cut his chops grooming local artists as a producer and songwriter, eventually releasing two indie solo projects while being sought by other stars to booster their offerings, including K'Jon's appearance on a hit song from the standout 2 Fast 2 Furious Soundtrack. The rising star has garnered an impressive resume, exploring multiple genres of music including soul, hip hop and R&B, working with noted stars such as DJ Mase, Buck Wild, Tone Tone and more, including opening live stints for established stars such as Ludacris, Ginuwine, Ne-Yo, T-Pain and others.
  "On The Ocean" - http://umrg.edgeboss.net/qtime/umrg/_promo/kjon/kjon_ontheocean.mov

Orlando wins Game 3, 108-104

Couldn't blame them if they spilled confetti on the floor a little too early.After all, the Orlando Magic waited all of their 20 years for their first NBA Finals victory.Even though a few more milliseconds were put back on the clock and players were kicking up the shiny ticker-tape, the Magic were not about to be denied Tuesday night.The Magic held off the Los Angeles Lakers 108-104 in front of a frenzied sell-out crowd at Amway Arena.They not only slowed the Lakers' parade planners and made Kobe Bryant look mortal, but the Magic jumped back into the best-of-seven series, trimming L.A.'s lead to 2-1.The Magic at last won a game in the NBA Finals after seven tries, and this one meant more to the present than the past.They not only found their shooting touch after going cold in L.A. --- 29.9 percent in Game 1 and 41.8 in Game 2 --- the Magic set an NBA Finals record 62.5 percent (40-of-84).They also held off a Lakers' charge after building a nine-point fourth-period lead."I've said it throughout the season and throughout these playoffs," Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said. "The one thing that you can't question about our team is their resilience in situations like that, whether it's from game to game, minute to minute… our team will keep playing."Strangely enough, Bryant ended up wearing rare goat-horns, missing a free throw with the Lakers trailing by three and then turning over the ball, dribbling it off his foot.Pau Gasol picked up the loose ball, but Mickael Pietrus stole it and was fouled, hitting two free throws with 28.7 seconds left.Bryant it a lay-up with .5 seconds left, and the Lakers fouled Rashard Lewis. The clock read no time left and confetti started raining from the rafters. Hold the phone. Officials reinstituted 0.2 seconds, but Lewis made it academic hitting both free throws.Bryant led all scorers with 31 points, but the Magic had the balamce, with five players scoring at least 18.Dwight Howard rebounded with 21 points and 14 boards, Lewis added 21 and point guard Rafer Alston finished with 20 after jump-starting the Magic. Pietrus and Hedo Turkoglu each had 18."We were taking better shots tonight," Howard said. "We didn't rush. We attacked. That allowed us to get some easier shots. Instead of us shooting the ball with a big guy --- Lamar Odom --- or Gasol in our face, we did a good job of getting to the rim. Skip (Alston) did a good job of attacking and allowing guys to get open for free shots."The win was particularly uplifting for Alston. Alston was basically benched along with Jameer Nelson by Van Gundy in Game 2 as the Magic played down the stretch with no point guards. Alston had also complained after a poor shooting effort in Game 1 that Nelson's return had disrupted his flow. CONTINUE READING..

Guantanamo Bay Detainee Brought to U.S. for Trial

The Obama administration pressed ahead yesterday with its plans to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, flying a detainee to New York to face federal trial despite bipartisan opposition in Congress to bringing such prisoners to the United States for trial, resettlement or continued detention.The transfer of Ahmed Ghailani to face capital charges in the 1998 East Africa bombings marked the first time a detainee who is not an American citizen has been brought from the prison in Cuba to the United States. Ghailani, appearing briefly in U.S. District Court in Manhattan yesterday, pleaded not guilty to multiple charges in connection with the blasts at the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Those attacks killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.Human rights groups, which earlier expressed dismay about President Obama's announcement that some suspects would be tried in reformed military commissions, welcomed Ghailani's transfer. But Republicans and some military groups, who were cheered by the prospect of renewed military tribunals, sharply attacked the decision to hold any trials in the United States."By bringing Ghailani's case into the federal court system without a policy or plan on how to deal with the larger Gitmo issue, the Obama administration is again taking a piecemeal approach to a major national security issue," said Kirk S. Lippold, a senior military fellow at Military Families United who was commander of the USS Cole when it was bombed in Yemen in 2000.Since it announced its decision to close the Guantanamo Bay prison by next January, the administration has tread a politically treacherous path between the wishes of its liberal constituency and the fears of conservative critics, pleasing and upsetting both at different times.CONTINUE READING

Today's Papers: SCOTUS Pulls Hand Brake on Chrysler Bankruptcy

USA Today and the New York Times lead with, while everyone else fronts, the surprising move by the Supreme Court to temporarily block the sale of Chrysler to Fiat while it considers whether to hear an appeal of the deal. In a 53-word order, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave no hints as to whether the court will hear an appeal by three Indiana pension funds that said they were being treated unfairly in the automaker's bankruptcy plan. By delaying the sale of Chrysler "pending further order," the Court could just be saying it needs more time to consider documents filed over the weekend. A long delay could be catastrophic to Chrysler. Fiat has the right to walk away if no deal is reached by Monday, and that could mean Chrysler might be forced to liquidate. But Fiat's CEO said yesterday he "would never walk away" from the Chrysler deal, even if it's not completed by Monday.The Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal's world-wide newsbox lead with the White House saying it was "engaged through all possible channels" to try to seek the release of the two American journalists who were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor by North Korea's highest court. The sentencing of Laura Ling and Euna Lee complicates the already perilous relationship between North Korea and the United States. Some analysts have raised fears that the recent tensions could make it less likely that the Current TV reporters would be released quickly and they could become "the first Americans subjected to North Korea's gulag-style prisons," notes the WSJ. The Washington Post leads with the Bush administration's latest efforts to keep Bush-era CIA documents under lock and key. CIA Director Leon Panetta told a federal judge that releasing the documents related to the videotaped interrogations of CIA detainees, as well as ones that describe the rough interrogation methods, would hurt national security and help al-Qaida's recruiting efforts.To continue reading, click here.

iPhone Monday Blog Buzz 06.08.09

Rapper Earl "DMX" Simmons has reportedly dodged jail time today (June 8) after appearing in a court for felony attempted assault earlier this year while in an Arizona prison.Roc-A-Fella associate Twista recently updated fans on his relationship with the label's co-founder Damon Dash and his admiration for Jay-Z.Former G-Unit member Young Buck recently spoke on his aim to cut business ties with 50 Cent and promised there was no bad blood with his ex-labelmates.Footage of Lil Wayne reuniting on stage with former Cash Money Records group Hot Boys has begun to circulate online and shows Weezy promising a collaboration album. CHECK OUT MORE ON THESE STORIES..The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down a challenge to the Pentagon policy forbidding gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, granting a request by the Obama administration. The court said it will not hear an appeal from former Army Capt. James Pietrangelo II, who was dismissed under the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The federal appeals court in Boston earlier threw out a lawsuit filed by Pietrangelo and 11 other veterans. He was the only member of that group who asked the high court to rule that the Clinton-era policy is unconstitutional.In court papers, the administration said the appeals court ruled correctly in this case when it foun ...CONTINUE READING... The Associated Press reported that lawyer Mark Geragos (who is also representing Chris Brown in his assault case) said that his client, Keith Carradine, David Carradine's half brother, met with the FBI on Friday and filed reports that could lead to a separate inquiry by the bureau into Carradine's death.Whitney Houston’s new album “The Wait is Over” will be released worldwide September 1, 2009 on Arista Records. This is Whitney’s 7th studio album. Since her 1985 self-titled debut, she has built an illustrious career that has generated over 170 million combined worldwide sales of albums, singles and videos. Cited by the Guinness Book [...] BROADWAY'S BIG NIGHT: Sunday night's Tony Awards ceremony from Radio City Music Hall was high on performance, if a bit low on surprises. Elton John's Billy Elliot was the big winner, bringing home ten statuettes, while thirteen other shows, Angela Lansbury and Liza Minelli also received trophies. Koko Taylor, a Chicago musical icon who became one of the most revered female blues vocalists of her time with signature hits such as "Wang Dang Doodle," "I'm a Woman" and "Hey Bartender," died Wednesday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago of complications from gastrointestinal surgery. She was 80. Although she's flown under the radar of the mainstream music world in recent years,  Teena Marie has still managed to cultivate a career that most singers would envy. Over a...CONTINUE READING..Despite being a huge music lover - and of course, a music critic - yours truly has never really bought into the concept of Black Music Month. It just seems like a marketing ploy to hype up certain acts or labels. And although this two-minute video from Atlantic Records doesn't exactly change my perspective, it's kinda cool to see some of today's young R&B/Soul singers - including Janelle Monae, Trey Songz, Laura Izibor and more - pay tribute to some of the legends of the music industry, such as Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Roberta Flack. You can stream the video by clicking the link. Black Music Month webisode (via Atlantic Records)Did you have the sing-songy chorus of Estelle and Kanye West’s Grammy-winning “American Boy” stuck in your head for a good amount of 2008? Well, so did Estelle. That’s why she’s happy to reveal that she’s working on new material as we speak.“I’m sick of singing ‘American Boy,’ so we need something else,” the West London native confessed at a recent party for the fashion line Chloé.Recently, Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio — who has produced work for Scarlett Johansson and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs — helped her record a track. “He’s amazing,” Estelle gushed, “I’m really excited. We just finished a song together. I listened to it all the way here. I’m having a moment. He’s really, really cool.”And when all the songs have been completed, what will the body of work be titled? “Right now, I’m calling the whole project New London,” she said, ” ’cause it’s kind of [about] when I moved from London to New York and when my worlds collided and everything came together.”Although she’s made a name for herself with hip-hop and soul music, listeners could be in a for a change in sound; Estelle foresees her next release sounding “somewhere between Marvin Gaye and Coldplay.”

Variety Concert Review: Erykah Badu

Excerpt from Variety.com ~By STEVE CHAGOLLAN: Both old school and new school, a filter for a broad range of styles and her own unique artistic voice, Erykah Badu proved Tuesday night at the Grove in Anaheim to be just the antidote to a pop paradigm plagued by "American Idolitis." Drawing heavily from her 2008 release, "New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)," Badu mesmerized a mid-sized hall full of disciples with the velvety elasticity of her voice — which can range from a whispery purr to a primal scream — not to mention her sheer magnetism.What sets Badu apart from her neosoul contemporaries and hip-hop brethren is a combination of social consciousness, however loonily expressed at times, and the kind of eccentricity that heightens expectation with every public appearance.With her 10-piece band kicking things off with a 12-minute soul revue-styled prologue ("Amerykahn Promise") that would make James Brown proud, Badu emerged from the wings in a lavender kimono, oversized sun glasses and an asymmetrical bob, launching into "The Healer," a kind of New Age meditation on the power of hip hop to transform society. The number not only accentuates the advanced sonic sophistication "New Amerykah" represents over her previous work, but demonstrates how Badu can milk a deep groove to maximum effect. "Green Eyes," from the 2000 release "Mama's Gun," might have best illustrated the parallels between Badu's vocals and spiritual mentor Billie Holiday, but hints of reggae, smooth jazz and R&B balladering of the Luther Vandross school point to an ambition that can't be pigeonholed.If Badu's model features and chic French coif made her look like Thandie Newton's bad-ass sister, the look — every bit as important as Badu's musical chops — created a tension between kittenish sex appeal and a take-no-prisoners brand of hip-hop self empowerment. This assertiveness was especially evident when she covered Whodini ("Friends") and N.W.A. ("Gangsta Gangsta"), or pounded away on a drum sampler then vocally mimicked the synthetic bleeps in rat-tat-tat fashion. During the course of her two-hour-plus set she did manage to dip back into the archives for such gems from her first LP as "Lifetime" and "On & On," but the promise of a preview of her follow-up album "New Amerykah Part Two" turned out to be a tease (she pegged the release for Sept.), instead launching into "Soldier," another call to arms that spans from the mean streets of the ghetto to the killing fields of Iraq. SOURCE:VARIETY.COM

Chuck Creekmur on HIV/AIDS in the Black Community

On Wednesday June 3rd, 2009 ICED Media and Loop21.com hosted a discussion called “The New Silent Killer: AIDS in Black America.” Now you might be wondering what does HIV/AIDS have to do with Internet Week 2009 but the increase on HIV/AIDS amongst this community is still on the rise. And it is with the power that we have to educate through social media and bring about change that we can all help reduce the transmission rates across all communities be they White, Black, Puerto Rican, or Asian. Many sites like Allhiphop.com, Mashable, and others make a strong commitment to community service and bringing about awareness to social issues. Panelist Chuck Creekmur Co-Founder and CEO of the popular site Allhiphop.com gave us the inside scoop on the panel and what was discussed. Click here to Read the full interview.

Is Hip-Hop Too Materialistic?

EXCERPT FROM EASTBAY EXPRESS ~ Let's face it: many rap songs celebrate, if not downright glorify, materialism. To signify baller status, you're encouraged to have a "Rollie" on your arm like Snoop Dogg, "cashmere thoughts" like Jay-Z, and "mustard & mayonnaise" like E-40. Otherwise, as Too $hort might say, you's a "broke biatch." This trend isn't even a new one; back in the old-school days, Grandmaster Melle Mel exclaimed, it's all about the money/ain't a damn thing funny, Jimmy Spicer shouted out, "dollar bill, y'all," and Trouble Funk succinctly stated, "I need some money."The desire for cake, paper, and scrilla isn't limited to hip-hop, by any means; it's surely a reflection of our values as a society. Economics can't easily be avoided in today's economy; the bottom line in America is the bottom dollar, whether we're speaking on Lil' Wayne, Lil' Kim, or Little Orphan Annie. So why should hip-hop be any different?It shouldn't, says Clyde Smith, webmaster of ProHipHop.com, who's been documenting advertising and marketing trends in urban street culture since 2004. According to Smith, "Marketing's always been a part of hip-hop ... as soon as they started doing shows in the clubs, marketing became a normal part of business, as it does in all fields."Okay, but it's a big jump from hand-drawn Phase 2 fliers promoting Kool Herc's block parties to 50 Cent's rumored $300 million deal with MySpace. As Smith notes, hip-hop's economic development has been a gradual process. Flashpoints along the way include Run-DMC's endorsement deal with Adidas, Ice Cube's St. Ides commercials, KRS-One's Sprite and Nike ads, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' gangsta rap soundtrack, Fitty's link-up with Vitamin Water, and Jay-Z's role as pitchman for Hewlett-Packard. CONTINUE READING...

BART Cops Too Ashamed to Identify Themselves?

In the wake of the black eye BART received after one of its cops fatally shot an unarmed passenger in the back, BART police chief Gary Gee has removed the word "BART" from the shoulder patches of officers' uniforms. According to the Chron, instead of saying, "BART Police" in bold letters, the new patches only say "Police," surrounded by a barely readable "Bay Area Rapid Transit" spelled out in very small letters. In other words, BART is attempting to downplay whom its cops work for. The agency, which is facing a huge deficit and plans to raise fares next month, spent $2,500 on the new patches. BART board member Lynette Sweet called the move "one of the stupidest things I've heard." Agency spokesman Linton Johnson said the new patches were in the works before BART cop Johannes Mehserle shot Oscar Grant to death, but you gotta wonder how Gee continues to keep his job. — Robert Gammon