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House watchdog Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) to file civil contempt charges against AG Eric Holder over Fast and Furious Monday. SMH. Another Republican scare tactic. The Republicans decision to file civil contempt charges against Eric Holder come at a peculiar time — days before the convention. Issa & Co. hope a judge will force Eric Holder to release the documents.
We are filing charges against Attorney General Eric Holder tomorrow
#fastandfurious— Darrell Issa (@DarrellIssa) August 13, 2012
Chad Johnson Cut by Miami Dolphins After Domestic Violence Arrest for Headbutting Wife Evelyn Lozada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
NEWSFLASH: Chad Johnson has been reportedly cut from the Miami Dolphins after his domestic violence arrest for headbutting new wife Evelyn Lozada, one of the stars of VH1′s “Basketball Wives,” Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reports.
Indie Pop Artist Lana Del Rey Rewrites History with ‘National Anthem’ and Black Rapper A$AP Rocky Playing JFK (Wikipedia)
Blasphemy or art? A little over a month ago, indie singer Lana Del Rey released a music video for “National Anthem” from her second studio album Born to Die. The video presents a revisionist take on the John F. Kennedy years in the White House, until his assassination, told through the eyes of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, IndieWire reports.
The problem may lie in the fact that a black rapper, A$AP Rocky, played JFK. Del Rey, whose real name is Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, reportedly said this was the most important thing she had ever done. Um, really? JFK played by a rapper? Wow.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Emmy Award winning actor Al Freeman Jr. dead at age 78. Freeman, best known for his role as Elijah Muhammad in Spike Lee film Malcolm X, died August 9. The cause and location of his death is not known, the Washington Post reports.
Freeman started his acting career on Broadway in Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright and Blues for Mister Charlie in the early 1960s. He was nominated for an Oscar award for his performance in Malcolm X.
A 15-year-long role as police captain Ed Hall on the ABC soap opera “One Life to Live” earned him a daytime Emmy Award in 1979, the Post reported. He made appearances in a variety of television series, including spots on “The Cosby Show” and “The Mod Squad.” Freeman retired from his position as chairman of the Howard University theater department in May, the Post reported. Source: UPI
US Officers Charge Racial Profiling of Black, Hispanics and Middle Easterners Common at Logan International Airport (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Racial profiling of blacks, Hispanics, Middle Easterners and Asians at Boston’s Logan International Airport leads to investigation:
New York Times: In interviews and internal complaints, officers from the Transportation Security Administration’s “behavior detection” program at Logan International Airport in Boston asserted that passengers who fit certain profiles — Hispanics traveling to Miami, for instance, or blacks wearing baseball caps backward — are much more likely to be stopped, searched and questioned for “suspicious” behavior.
“They just pull aside anyone who they don’t like the way they look — if they are black and have expensive clothes or jewelry, or if they are Hispanic,” said one white officer, who along with four others spoke with The New York Times on the condition of anonymity. The T.S.A. said on Friday that it had opened an investigation into the claims.
IOC President Jacques Rogge Admits Usain Bolt a “Living Legend After All, Best Sprinter of All Time” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
IOC president Jacques Rogge has admitted Usain Bolt is a legend after all. He said last week that Usain Bolt needed to prove his greatness over time before proclaiming he is a “living legend.” Rogge claimed Bolt needed to prove himself over four Olympics. Um, wrong. He proved himself over two, breaking world records each time. He said: “Let me finalize this issue as follows: To say that Usain Bolt is an active performance legend, he is an icon, he is the best sprinter of all time.”
Jamaica Observer: Carl Lewis Owes Jamaica An Apology for Implying Sprinters Like Usain Bolt Doping (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Jamaica Observer: He Ugly American is a novel written in the late 1950s which carries a central theme that has evolved over the years (or devolved) into an American believing that he is exceptional and that other cultures are not even worth the time spent trying to understand them.
Former American Olympian Carl Lewis easily fits into that slot.
In 1984, the decade when many American athletes and the Eastern Europeans were charged up on drugs, Lewis won four gold medals, including the two sprint medals at the Olympics. Give him credit for that.
At the 1988 Olympics Lewis took silver in the 200 metres and also, for a brief moment, silver in the 100 behind the Canadian (Jamaican-born) Ben Johnson. A few minutes later Johnson was stripped of his medal after his system was found to be overloaded on a performance-enhancing drug. Lewis was awarded the gold and was lauded for capturing the back-to-back 100 metres title.
During that decade, one special Jamaican woman — Merlene Ottey — found herself on the wrong side of gold medal history. The rumours were many that the Eastern Europeans and some of the Americans were ‘juiced up’, but proving it was next to impossible. We were the sprats and they were the big money tiger sharks.
Years passed and the rumours refused to die down.
[...]
In an article titled, ‘Lewis: No Scholarships for Foreigners’ in the Inquirer of June 3, 1994, it was stated, ‘Eight-time Olympic champion Carl Lewis lashed out yesterday at US universities who offer scholarships and financial aid to foreign athletes.
“We are bankrolling the world Olympic movement when we should be helping our Olympic movement,” Lewis told Reuters news agency in an interview at the NCAA Track and Field championships in Boise, Idaho, where he is helping to coach the University of Houston’s 400-metre relay team.
“In the 1976 Olympics, I don’t know of any African sprinters in the finals of the 100 or 200,” Lewis said. “In 1992, there were three in the 100, and they ended up second, sixth and eighth.”
At that time American coaches would regularly visit Champs in Jamaica to scout for talent. After the highly influential Lewis sounded off, the talent hunt was severely curtailed.
MITT ROMNEY FLIP-FLOP: In classic Mitt Romney style, he literally threw his vice presidential pick Paul Ryan under a bus for his controversial “Throw Momma from the Train” budget plan, but now in a rapid reversal, he’s now back to saying he “would have signed it.”
Just moments after Mitt Romney announced Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) as his vice presidential nominee on Saturday, his campaign tried to distance itself from Ryan’s signature House budget. Although Romney has admitted he would sign the Ryan budget if it crossed his desk, calling it “marvelous” and an “important step”, the campaign’s internal talking points were careful to avoid endorsing the Republican blueprint: “Gov. Romney applauds Paul Ryan for going in the right direction with his budget, and as president he will be putting together his own plan for cutting the deficit and putting the budget on a path to balance,” they argued.
But a day later, the campaign switched tactics and went back to embracing the document, insisting that Romney would have happily signed it into law.
The Miami Herald sees the danger of Paul Ryan on the Romney ticket, in as far as what it means for Florida. It also seems that the Romney campaign must have sensed that because Ryan’s appearance in Florida was redirected to Iowa, Politico reports. President Obama has struggled in Florida over the past several months, but with Ryan on the GOP ticket, that could all change, considering he wants to literally “throw momma from the train” with deep cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. Of course, I am sure some one the right will call the Miami Herald a liberal rag. The heat is on……
Miami Herald: Paul Ryan Could Hurt Mitt Romney in Florida With Controversial “Throw Momma From the Train” Budget Plan (Miami Herald)
Ron Brownstein: “Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate could deepen the intrinsic tension between the Republican policy agenda and the voters it relies on to win elections.”
“Ryan’s ambitious budget blueprint, as passed twice by House Republicans over the past two years, crystallizes the GOP’s highest policy priority: shrinking the size of the federal government, largely by dramatically restructuring entitlement programs led by Medicare and Medicaid. But the GOP today is increasingly dependent on the votes of older and blue-collar whites who — while eager to scale back government programs that transfer income to the poor — are much more resistant to retrenching entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security that largely benefit the middle-class.”
Action Thriller “The Bourne Legacy” and Political Comedy “The Campaign” Knock “Dark Knight Rises” to Third Place at Weekend Box Office (Universal Pictures)
Universal action thriller “The Bourne Legacy” knocks Batman flick “The Dark Knight Rises” from its no. 1 spot for three consecutive weekends to lead the North American weekend box office with $40.3 million in its debut weekend, followed by Warner Bros. Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis’ R-rated comedy “The Campaign,” in second place with $27.4 million, followed by “The Dark Knight Rises” with $20 million and a total haul of $390.15 million. Sony Pictures’ Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones and Steve Carell adult dramedy ”Hope Springs” claims fourth place with $16 million and family movie “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days” rounds out the top 5 with $8.2 million, with a total haul of $31 million to-date.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, moviegoing was down slightly from the same weekend last year, in part due to the final weekend of the hugely popular Summer Olympics. The July 20 shooting massacre at the midnight premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” continues to weigh heavily on the late night movie business.
Weekend Box Office Results:
1. The Bourne Legacy $40.3 million
2. The Campaign $27.4 million
3. The Dark Knight Rises $20 million
4. Hope Springs $16 million
5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days $8.2 million
6. Total Recall (2012) $8.1 million
7. Ice Age: Continental Drift $7 million
8. Ted $3.3 million
9. Step Up Revolution $3 million
10. The Watch & The Amazing Spider-Man tie for 10th place with $2.2 million
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