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Morning News 03.31.11

1. CIA Runs Covert Ops in Libya
   The spy agency is gathering intelligence on Qaddafi's military and rebel forces.
   Read original story in New York Times | Thursday, March 31, 2011

2. Libyan Rebels Retreat Eastward
   Qaddafi still has the military might to crush rebel fighters, who have retreated 200 miles after making gains earlier this week.
   Read original story in Los Angeles Times | Thursday, March 31, 2011

3. Radiation Found in U.S. Milk
   But officials say the low levels pose no health risk.
   Read original story in CNN | Thursday, March 31, 2011

4. Buffet's Heir No Longer Apparent
   David Sokol, tipped as Warren Buffett's successor at Berkshire Hathaway, has resigned after revelations of iffy stock trading.
   Read original story in Wall Street Journal | Thursday, March 31, 2011

5. Will Giffords Run for Senate?
   Supporters are discussing the possibility that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who is still in hospital, could return to politics as a U.S. senator.
   Read original story in New York Times | Thursday, March 31, 2011

6. Libyan Foreign Minister Abandons Qaddafi
   Senior official Moussa Koussa fled Libya, saying he was "no longer willing" to support Qaddafi's regime.
   Read original story in Guardian | Thursday, March 31, 2011

7. Obama To Call for Reduction in Oil Imports
   Over the next decade, Obama wants to reduce foreign-oil imports by one-third. Economists wish him good luck.
   Read original story in Reuters | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

8. Arizona Passes Controversial Abortion Law
   Arizona Governor Jan Brewer passed a law on Tuesday banning abortions based on the gender or race of the fetus, a common practice in China.
   Read original story in Reuters | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

9. Google Introduces +1 Button to Rival Facebook's Like
   People with Google accounts can now recommend sites, and have those preferences show up in their friends' Google results.
   Read original story in Los Angeles Times | Thursday, March 31, 2011

10. No Refuge for the Paunchy
    The fat stigma has spread from the Anglosphere to places like American Samoa and Tanzania.
    Read original story in New York Times | Thursday, March 31, 2011

11. HIV Vaccine to Start Trials Within a Year
    The new vaccine, comprised of synthetic, computer-generated sequences of proteins, could be a breakthrough in the more than 20-year struggle to find a way to prevent AIDS.
    Read original story in The Daily Mail | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

12. Spacecraft Snaps Historic Photo of Mercury
    The photo, captured by the Mercury Messenger spacecraft on Tuesday morning, is the first image ever to be obtained of Mercury from the planet's orbit.
    Read original story in New York Times | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Katy Perry’s highly anticipated music video for “E.T.”

MTV Shows

Raphael Saadiq "GOOD MAN"

Chauncey Bailey shooter laughed at killings

To certain members of Your Black Muslim Bakery, murder was a laughing matter, a confessed bakery hit man said Monday.

Devaughndre Broussard chuckled in the trial of bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV and another member of the group as he recalled how one victim tried to run away before Broussard emptied an assault rifle at him.

Bey and the other member, Antoine Mackey, made fun of how another victim's leg flew up in the air when he was riddled with rounds from a rifle, Broussard said.

In between the chilling details of those two slayings, Broussard testified for the first time about the shooting death of Chauncey Bailey, whom Bey allegedly ordered killed to prevent the Oakland journalist from writing about the black empowerment group's financial collapse.

Bey told Broussard to learn where Bailey lived and "find out his routine," Broussard told the jury in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland. "He wanted us to take him out before he wrote that article."

Asked by Deputy District Attorney Melissa Krum what that meant, Broussard replied, "Kill him."

It was Broussard's second day on the witness stand in the murder trial. He has confessed to being the gunman who killed Bailey with three shotgun blasts on Aug. 2, 2007, as the Oakland Post editor was walking to work at 14th and Alice streets in downtown Oakland.

Bey ordered up another slaying less than a month before Bailey's death, telling Broussard to kill Odell Roberson, 31, the uncle of the man who shot and killed Bey's brother, Broussard said.

He said Bey had initially wanted him to kill the father of Alfonza Phillips, who shot and killed Antar Bey during a botched carjacking in 2005.

Bey "wanted him whacked because his son killed his brother," Broussard said, adding that Bey believed in "an eye for an eye."

But after Broussard reported that he and Mackey couldn't find the elder Phillips, Bey told him to kill Roberson, a "dope fiend" and transient who lived on the streets of Oakland near the now-defunct bakery, Broussard testified.

"Take him out when you get the chance, because it seems like we can't get his pops," Broussard said Bey told him.

Broussard, 23, burst into laughter on the stand when he recounted how Roberson had tried to run away when he leveled an SKS assault rifle at him. He said he had fired the rifle "until the clip was empty," about eight to 10 rounds.

Broussard pleaded guilty to two counts of voluntary manslaughter in exchange for a 25-year sentence and a promise to testify against Bey and Mackey, both 25, in their murder trial.

Mackey is accused of killing a third victim, 36-year-old Michael Wills, in July 2007. Bey, who is accused of ordering the killing, boasted about "getting" a white "devil," Broussard said.

Mackey and Bey made fun of how Wills' leg flew up after he was shot, with both men shouting, "It's good!" while raising their arms straight up, simulating a field goal, Broussard testified.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/28/BAF01IKVNI.DTL#ixzz1I0daeuwI

Celia Cruiz and Tito Puente among other legendary Latin Artists honored on U.S. Postage Stamps

Celia Cruz and Tito Puente, two legendary artists who called New York home, are among five Latin music giants honored with a U.S. stamp that goes on sale today.

The pioneers, who epitomize the golden era of Latin music in the city, were friends who recorded together and died only three years apart in the early 2000s.

They will be in good, if a bit disjointed, company, when the U.S. Postal Service officially unveils the stamps at a ceremony in Austin, Tex., today.

Cruz and Puente will join the father of tango, Carlos Gardel; samba singer and sex symbol from the 1940s Carmen Miranda, and Tejano star Selena, whose promising career was cut short when she was murdered in 1995 at the age of 23.

"I think it's great," said Claudio Remeseira, director of Columbia University's Hispanic New York Project and editor of the anthology "Hispanic New York."

"Little by little," he explained, "the nation acknowledges its Hispanic heritage, not as something additional to its mainstream, but as part of the mainstream itself."

All five artists featured have had an enduring legacy, their recordings - and in some cases also movies - still popular and relevant from Buenos Aires to East Harlem, even if, for example, Gardel has been dead since 1935.

But Juan Flores, professor of Latino Studies at NYU's Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, questioned the criteria for determining those worthy of stamps.

"Do Latinos do anything but entertainment and sports?" he asked.

"Everything is about the body, nothing about the mind and everything about fitting in and entertaining everybody rather than challenging."

Other Latinos recognized with a U.S. stamp have been Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos, baseball legend Roberto Clemente, painter Frida Kahlo and labor leader César Chávez.

"People may feel uncomfortable about the stereotypes, the bananas and that type of thing," said Remeseira, referring to Miranda's signature fruit hats.

"But we also have to come to terms with the fact that that is also part of our heritage - of our history - and Carmen Miranda played a very important historical role in her time."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/2011/03/16/2011-03-16_5_latin_artists_left_a_stamp_on_us_history.html#ixzz1I0ZPITbw

Color Outside The Lines: A Tattoo Documentary

About the film The film is the brainchild of one of the world's most widely recognized black tattoo artists; Miya Bailey. For over 5 years the idea has always been in his head to create a film that not only sheds light on the artform, but also allows the artform to be represented in the right way. There are a lot of stigmas attached to black tattoo artists and their side of the culture; ranging from a lack of creativity to overall poor quality of work. This in turn has lead to artists from other backgrounds and those in the black community choosing to take their business elsewhere in search of quality work. A lot of people also don't understand the purpose of paying a few extra dollars for what appears to be a tattoo anyone is capable of doing, after all, you just need someone with a machine and gloves right? This film sheds light on the dangers of not considering who you let mark your body FOREVER! CHECK OUT THIS AMAZING FILM AND SUPPORT IT SO IT CAN BE MADE AND BROUGHT TO THE BIG SCREEN

Keri Hilson - One Night Stand ft. Chris Brown

Album review: Chris Brown's 'F.A.M.E.'

When Chris Brown opens his new album with “Deuces,” a sleek kiss-off that sweeps aside an ex as “nothing but a vulture,” he’s not hiding any bitterness. A few minutes deep into the track with Tyga and Kevin McCall, the most troublesome line of the album unfurls: “Like Tina did Ike in the limo, it finally hit me. I got a new chick and it ain’t you.” The poison dart isn’t delivered by Brown but the underlying message is clear and it’s one that’s been long-trotted out by Breezy’s defenders: Rihanna brought it on herself.

Before the domestic abuse incident in February 2009, Brown was a promising pop star prepped to inherit some of Michael Jackson’s early solo-career shine but with a modern, sexy edge like Ne-Yo. After the highly publicized pictures of Rihanna’s bruised face, Brown became, to many more people, that violent pop star who beat up his girlfriend. Brown attempted a few apologies, awkwardly appearing on “Larry King Live” and claiming to not remember the fight. Meanwhile, his career was presumed dead by many in the industry.

But on the release date of his fourth album, “F.A.M.E.,” Brown is enjoying a slew of hit radio singles. How did he do it? By nearly abandoning Jackson circa “Off the Wall” and instead attempting the outré unapologetic genius of R. Kelly. “F.A.M.E.,” an acronym, rather astoundingly standing for “Forgiving All My Enemies,” isn’t without a mild flick of contrition here and there, but for the most part, Brown is full-steam ahead as a Lothario whose appetites know no bounds.

As a lover and an artist, Brown will wear any mask to get what he wants — sex, street cred or radio redemption. As much as he cycles from a sexually confident tough guy on “Look at Me Now” to simpering romantic on “Should’ve Kissed You,” he also churns through several modes on “F.A.M.E.” Overall, the album leaves not an impression of one singular style but of the great effort required to mix and match so many times. “Beautiful People,” with its powdered-sugar synths and dance floor positivity, is almost a Kylie Minogue song. With a few shifts in production values, “All Back” could have easily found itself in the coffers of Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood.

All of it is done capably, even superbly in some cases, though “F.A.M.E.” also feels strained and sometimes downright desperate. That said, there’s no denying he pulls off some neat coups. “She Ain’t You” is carried aloft on a gussied up sample from Jackson’s “Human Nature” and the sentiment of the song is refreshingly complex. “Look at Me Now” is ubiquitous for a reason, built around a hypnotic toss between bass thumps, alien effects and rapid flow from Busta Rhymes and Lil Wayne.

The truth is that Brown, like his ex-girlfriend Rihanna, who has used S&M and sexually violent imagery for her own visceral and at times confusing artistic expressions, is a provocateur. And as a provocateur who particularly likes playing with the masks of masculinity — from the angry to the apologetic to the always-conquering — he seems to be seeing his violent encounter with Rihanna as a kind of strange gift, something he’ll no doubt manipulate for years to come, even as the memories of Rihanna’s bruises fade.

—Margaret Wappler

Chris Brown
"F.A.M.E."
Jive
Two and a half stars

Is Serena's TV Ad to Hot for T.V.

Chris Brown Erupts Into Violent Outburst Following 'Good Morning America' Interview

Chris Brown Erupts Into Violent Outburst Following 'Good Morning America' Interview | BALLERSTATUS

Chris Brown Erupts Into Violent Outburst Following 'Good Morning America' Interview | BALLERSTATUS.

Morning News 03.22.11

1. Explosion Rocks Qaddafi's Compound
   Allied forces targeted the Libyan dictator's ground forces Sunday, allowing rebels to regroup.
   Read original story in New York Times | Monday, March 21, 2011

2. Japan Plant Repair Delayed
   Workers are trying to repair a ventilation system in the plant and channel enough power to a cable connected to reactor No. 2.
   Read original story in New York Times | Monday, March 21, 2011

3. Wyclef Jean Shot in Haiti
   The pop star was grazed by a bullet as he campaigned for fellow musician Michel Martelly in the Haitian presidential election.
   Read original story in CNN | Monday, March 21, 2011

4. AT&T Buys T-Mobile for $39 Billion
   The deal will make AT&T the biggest wireless carrier in the United States. It also means trouble for competitors and workers as AT&T consolidates the two companies.
   Read original story in Wall Street Journal | Monday, March 21, 2011

5. In Brazil, Obama Balances International Issues
   President Obama kicks off a tour of Latin America this week, but is at pains to show he isn't neglecting pressing issues elsewhere.
   Read original story in Washington Post | Monday, March 21, 2011

6. Knut Is Dead
   The star polar bear of the Berlin Zoo died suddenly on Saturday, aged 4, as hundreds of tourists looked on in horror.
   Read original story in AP | Monday, March 21, 2011

7. The Congressman from Koch?
   Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo received more money from Koch Industries than any other politician in 2010. Liberal groups say he's now pushing Koch-friend legislation in the House.
   Read original story in Washington Post | Monday, March 21, 2011

8. Egyptians Go to the Polls as Regional Turmoil Continues
   A historic reform vote begins in Egypt, but security forces continue to take a hard line against protestors in Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen.
   Read original story in Reuters | Saturday, March 19, 2011

9. Japanese Hospital Workers Left Elderly People To Die
   Grisly scenes at abandoned hospitals and care homes underscore the plight of Japan's elderly tsunami survivors.
   Read original story in The Guardian | Saturday, March 19, 2011

10. Utah Adds Semi-Automatic To List of State Symbols
    Officials say the John M. Browning-designed M1911 handgun "captures a portion of Utah's history" and symbolizes the defense of freedom.
    Read original story in Reuters | Saturday, March 19, 2011

11. When Maggie Met Jimmy
    A new trove of letters and documents suggest that hard-nosed British leader Margaret Thatcher was surprisingly chummy with President Jimmy Carter.
    Read original story in The Associated Press | Saturday, March 19, 2011

12. Majority of American Support Gay Marriage
    For the first time in over a decade of polling, a new ABC News/Washington Post survey finds.
    Read original story in Talking Points Memo | Friday, March 18, 2011

AT&T to Buy T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion

AT&T announced on Sunday that it had agreed to buy T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion — a deal that would create the largest cellular carrier in the country.

The merger — one of the largest since the onset of the financial crisis — would combine the second and fourth largest cellular carriers in the nation, bringing together AT&T’s 95.5 million wireless subscribers with T-Mobile’s 33.7 million customers.

The transaction, which requires approval from regulators, is expected to be heavily scrutinized in Washington. The deal would leave only three major cellular carriers in the nation: AT&T, Verizon and a much smaller Sprint, which may now be forced to find a merger partner.

Already, some critics say the deal could result in higher prices for consumers. T-Mobile had offered some of the lowest rates in the country. While AT&T is expected to honor current T-Mobile contracts, it is likely that once those expire, T-Mobile customers may have to pay AT&T’s higher rates.

Still, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, cellular subscription costs fell 50 percent between 1999 and 2009, a period in which the industry has consolidated.

“Don’t believe the hype,” said S. Derek Turner, research director of Free Press Research, a Washington think tank. “There is nothing about having less competition that will benefit wireless consumers. And if regulators approve this deal, they will further cement duopoly control over the wireless market by AT&T and Verizon.”

From the companies perspective, a deal is a big cost saver. The combined company is expected save more than $40 billion – roughly the price of the deal – over the next three years by shuttering retail outlets in areas where they overlap, reducing the need to build new cellular sites as well as eliminating overlapping back office, technical and call center staff.

Marketing costs, too, could drop. Cellular carriers have been one of the biggest advertising spenders in the nation.

Of course, it all depends on whether the deal gets the O.K. from regulators. Deutsche Telecom was so worried that the deal will not be approved that it pushed AT&T to pay a big breakup fee as a form of insurance, according to people involved in the deal. AT&T agreed to pay Deutsche Telecom a massive $3 billion breakup fee, as well as offer the company spectrum if the deal is blocked by regulators.

In hopes of winning over lawmakers, AT&T has agreed to deploy its fourth generation wireless broadband coverage to 95 percent of the country, including rural and small communities.

The Justice Department is expected to weigh in on the deal, examining the combined company’s share on a market-by-market basis. In some cities, T-Mobile is not among the four largest players, potentially helping AT&T’s case for approval. For example, in Miami, San Francisco and Detroit, Metro PCS has more customers than T-Mobile.

In an interview, AT&T’s chairman and chief executive, Randall Stephenson, said he expects the industry “will continue to be a fiercely competitive market” pointing out that “prices continue to move down.” He also said that in many markets, “on the local level you have a choice of five or more providers. When you get to the facts this a deal that gets approved.”

Under the terms of the deal, AT&T will pay $25 billion in cash and the rest in stock. Deutsche Telekom will in turn gain an 8 percent stake in AT&T and a seat on the telecom giant’s board.

AT&T’s bid will finally solve the problem facing T-Mobile USA, the smallest of the country’s four major cellphone service providers. Both companies operate on the same wireless standard, GSM. Through the deal, T-Mobile will finally gain a path for the next generation of cellphone data, known as 4G, by using AT&T’s forthcoming LTE standard.

Deutsche Telekom had been considering its options for T-Mobile for over a year. It had considered an initial public offering for the company, but shelved it. More recently, it had held talks about selling the unit to Sprint.

The talks with AT&T– which started in earnest back in December of 2010 — heated up in recent weeks amid renewed speculation about a Sprint-T-Mobile tie-up, according to people involved in the talks.

To keep the deal from leaking, the AT&T team had devised a complicated list of code names, known as “Project Auto” to throw people off the scent. AT&T was called “Tesla”; Deutsche Telecom was “Daimler” and T-Mobile was “Mercury.” When asked why T-Mobile was named after “Mercury” – not exactly known as for high-performance vehicles – Mr. Stephenson of AT&T chuckled: “We needed an ‘M.’ Nothing more.”

An army of investment bankers, which are expected to make hundreds of millions of dollars worked on the deal. AT&T was advised by Greenhill & Company, JPMorgan Chase and Evercore Partners, as well as the law firms Sullivan & Cromwell, Arnold & Porter, and Crowell & Moring. Deutsche Telekom was advised mainly by Morgan Stanley. Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse also acted as financial advisors for Deutsche Telekom. It, too, has hired a bevy of lawyers: Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Cleary Gottlieb and Wiley Rein to handle regulatory issues in Washington. SOURCE

PACE Clothing

The Shutdown Pushes the Fight for Field Position Into the Courtroom

On the day after the N.F.L. shut down with its first work stoppage in more than 20 years, the parallel tracks of its future

The planning for the legal battles ahead was under way Saturday — the N.F.L. added the high-profile lawyersDavid Boies and Paul Clement to the legal team that will fight the players’ antitrust suit. But the league’s competition committee, which sets the playing rules for the game, was meeting, a reminder that eventually, perhaps even on schedule, there will be football again.

How quickly the football season takes its normal shape will be determined, though, far from the playing field. The fights have moved to the courtroom. The owners announced Saturday that they would lock out the players, and the players have asked for an injunction to prevent that from happening.

The players also filed an antitrust suit against the N.F.L., with quarterbacks Tom Brady and Drew Brees among the plaintiffs. The N.F.L. is awaiting a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board on its claim that the union’s decision to dissolve itself Friday was a sham. The league also is expected to appeal the ruling that it improperly negotiated television contracts to guarantee payment during the lockout.

Decisions in any of these cases could swing leverage and perhaps drive the parties back to the negotiating table.

“This is no different than any other industry where the parties scare each other with lawsuits,” said Gabe Feldman, the director of the sports law program at Tulane UniversityLaw School. “There’s a lot of time between now and a true litigation Armageddon. They’re not fighting over a fundamental shift in the sport. It’s still just a dollars issue, and if you’re fighting over $500 million, that seems like a lot, but not relative to the $9 billion you’d be giving up by not playing,” he said, referring to the N.F.L.’s revenue last year.

John Mara, the Giants’ president, sat in on many negotiating sessions. “At some point we’ll probably be back in front of the mediator,” he said. “And we will have wasted a lot of time and a lot of money.”

Mara, like many others in the N.F.L., thinks it could take a while — probably months — for negotiations to resume while the various legal entanglements work their way through the system.

The impetus for both sides to resume talks — especially for players, who walked away from the negotiations deeply frustrated on Friday — may take weeks to present itself.

Players are convinced that owners had planned to lock them out ever since the owners opted out of the old collective bargaining agreement three years ago. But owners would certainly prefer to be negotiating now. They were so eager to avoid a court battle that during a Thursday afternoon conference call, owners gave Commissioner Roger Goodellpermission to do whatever he had to do to get a deal.

The offer the league said it made Friday would have given owners one-third the amount of additional revenue they had initially sought when negotiations began — or about $325 million extra each year.

One person briefed on the deal said some small-market owners even wondered how they would live with the deal that was left on the table, because they thought it had gone too far.

In the end, though, the sides were not close to a settlement. DeMaurice Smith, the head of the union, said that during negotiations, players had offered owners $550 million over four years — $137.5 million a year — without the demand for financial verification, still a gap of $200 million a year. They had not figured out a rookie compensation plan, had not yet settled on whether to eventually have an 18-game regular season, and had not yet agreed on how much money each side would allocate for retired players.

Owners were confounded that the union would not look at the additional financial information they offered last Monday — Smith said the union’s bankers told them it would be useless in helping to determine if owners needed more revenue — and owners took that as a signal that the union had already decided it could get a better deal in court.

But players’ positions had hardened in part by what they considered an indication that owners did not respect them: few owners were directly involved in negotiations, and on Thursday, players were particularly upset that they never negotiated face-to-face with the owners’ full labor committee.

“If you were to look at a timeline of all the negotiations in the past two years, the players were always there and always involved,” the players’ spokesman George Atallah said. “There’s no measure for their level of frustration.”

If players are granted the injunction by a federal judge in Minneapolis to block a lockout — the case is expected to be assigned to Judge David S. Doty this week, and nearly everyone expects the players to get the injunction — the off-season will suddenly look routine. CONTINUE READING

 

2011 Spring Issue Swagga Digital Magazine

RIZ "War Call."

RIZ is a rapper from Harlem, NY, who was born in South Carolina but now resides in Atlanta, Georgia. He has recorded songs with the likes of Trey Songz, Yo Gotti, Red Cafe, Killer Mike, Lloyd Banks, Bun B, Prodigy (Mobb Deep) and more. His previous work includes the R.A.C.K.S mixtape hosted by DJ DRAMA, the Death before Dishonor mixtape hosted by Sha Money XL, the Position of Power mixtape hosted by DJ Whoo Kid and The Re-Up hosted by DJ Envy. His current project, “BlindSided”, has exclusive production from Atlanta based producer Juve (Young Buck, Dem Franchise Boyz, Jermaine Dupri). He has also worked with well known industry producers Kane Beatz, JR Rotem, and Isaac Opus. DISCOGRAPHY * Position of Power, hosted by DJ Whoo Kid * Death before Dishonor, hosted by Sha Money XL * The Re-Up, hosted by DJ Envy * R.A.C.K.S, hosted by DJ Drama Future * BlindSided, tbd 2011

NEW Track: War Call Sendspace: http://www.sendspace.com/file/rkb1tm
Trailer for the "Blind Sided" http://player.vimeo.com/video/20299421

L'AFFAIRE FASHION SHOW AND CHARITY EVENT

A Fashion Show to benefit the homeless children in San Francisco. Come and support the kids and well and while you're at it get a free make up touch,so when you get out the fashion can rock the look at a near restaurant or lounge. Support the kids;they deserve it. Raffle will be made ...a Make up kit courtesy by PiGMENT COSMETICS. Come and see the fashion show that will be changing the life of the homeless children. Join us in a fulfilling event brought to you by EPIFANY.

Fashion Rules Party @ Neiman Marcus Union Square S.F.

Fashion Rules Party held recently, was well attended by bayarea fashionistas, models from JE Models. Footage courtesy Swagga Digital Magazine Media