Disco Diva Donna Summer Dies at 63 After Battling Cancer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Disco diva Donna Summer dies at 63 after battling lung cancer. TMZ is reporting that Donna Summer, the Queen of Disco, was in Florida, at the time of her death.  Summer, a five-time Grammy Award winner, changed the music world in the 1970s and 80s with hits like “Bad Girl,” “On the Radio,” “Last Dance,” “She Works Hard for the Money” and many others.

TMZ:  Donna died from lung cancer.  Several sources are telling us Donna believed she contracted it by inhaling toxic particles after the 9/11 attack in New York City.

Donna Summer, whose real name is LaDonna Gaines, is survived by her three children and her husband, singer Bruce Sudano.

Wow, we have lost some great singers in the last year — Vesta Williams, Teena Maria, Whitney Houston, Chuck Brown and now Donna Summer. RIP Donna Summer!

Reaction from Twitter:

RIP to an amazing woman, Donna Summer on.msnbc.com/KTttEk

— womensmediacenter (@womensmediacntr) May 17, 2012

RIP Donna Summer, Queen of Disco… fb.me/IgEi0Bvu

— Martin Bashir (@BashirLive) May 17, 2012

Republicans plan to resurrect Jeremiah Wright attacks and argue President Obama is “metrosexual, black Abe Lincoln.” Um, one word of caution, the Republicans had better watch how they invoke race in their discourse. It will backfire. Jeremiah Wright is so 2008, but Sean Hannity and others are running with it. On second thought, please GOP, base your entire campaign on Jeremiah Wright. Please. A Super PAC led by Joe Ricketts, the founder of the brokerage firm TD Ameritrade and whose family owns the Chicago Cub, plans to resurrect Jeremiah Wright and “swift boat” Obama:

“The world is about to see Jeremiah Wright and understand his influence on Barack Obama for the first time in a big, attention-arresting way,” says the proposal obtained by the Times.

The proposal, which the Times says was obtained by a person not connected to plan but alarmed by its tone, is titled, The Defeat of Barack Hussein Obama: The Ricketts Plan to End His Spending for Good.”

The group suggested hiring as a spokesman an “extremely literate conservative African-American” who can argue that Obama misled the nation by presenting himself as a “metrosexual, black Abe Lincoln.” Source: USA Today

If the Republicans engage in race-baiting, it will backfire and they will be left with egg all over their face and a sure loss for Mitt Romney on election day.

It should also be noted that Mitt Romney doesn’t rule out invoking the name of Jeremiah Wright on the campaign trail. Still think he knows the meaning of the phrase, “take the high road?” Glenn Beck sent tweet saying he offered Jeremiah Wright $150,000 for truth about Obama:

Just offered Jeremiah Wright $150k for truth about Barack Obama. No Spin #whatsinthebox sj

— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) May 17, 2012

Jeremiah Wright is trending on Twitter this morning and it’s not a surprise. Here are some tweets:

What’s on your menu? The headline in the NYT’s Times on a conservative billionaire review of a proposal to revive “race baiting” in 2012.

— Donna Brazile (@donnabrazile) May 17, 2012

When asked whether Rev. Wright is off limits in 2012 campaign, Romney says he hasn’t “read the papers yet”

— Maeve Reston(@MaeveReston) May 17, 2012

@JasonBWhitman wiat till ed and I go over wright tapes thursday night. In detail

— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) May 17, 2012

Re Jeremiah Wright: HUGE mistake. 1st rule of American life is “you only get punished for a sin once.” Leftover scandal like leftover sushi

— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) May 17, 2012

Anti-Obama super PAC plans Jeremiah Wright smackdown; Left responds with anti-Mormon attacks bit.ly/L2U52X

— TwitchyPolitics (@TwitchyPolitics) May 17, 2012

if i follow correctly, RW is reading massive $$ attack campaign about Obama’s pastor, but nobody/NOBODY is allowed to discuss Mormonism..

— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) May 17, 2012

Seriously? We aren’t over the Jeremiah Wright thing? Haven’t most presidents drank out of a slave’s skull whilst pledging? #oops

— Abiyoyo (@MeWeFree) May 17, 2012

Romney refuses to rule out Reverend Jeremiah Wright as a campaign issue vsb.li/xN1PdV #p2

— RiPPa (@RippDemUp) May 17, 2012

dear gop, please base your campaign on jeremiah wright. please do it. nyti.ms/JNuM6C #justsayitandbedonewithit

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) May 17, 2012

BREAKING: Romney refuses to rule out Jeremiah Wright as 2012 campaign issue thkpr.gs/J9XXTL

— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) May 17, 2012

Um @GOP @MittRomney, Jeremiah Wright was old 4 years ago today. Stale & sad when McCain brought it up 4 mos. later. Stuck in the past?

— Anika (@faboomama) May 17, 2012

Campaign says Romney “repudiates” efforts to attack Obama on Rev. Wright. But Romney attacked Obama on Wright this year thkpr.gs/J9XXTL

— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) May 17, 2012

here’s an ad the right ran in october 2008 using jeremiah wright. so dont pretend they never went there youtube.com/watch?v=I3IAjp…

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) May 17, 2012

Jamaican Dancehall Star Beenie Man Gets An Epiphany, Begs Gay Community Forgiveness for Homophobia (Jamaica Observer)

Jamaicans have historically been conservative in many of their views, particularly where the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community is concerned. As I have always maintained, I believe marriage should be between one man and one woman, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to stop two people of the same sex who loved each other from spending the rest of their lives together. What I find interesting is how the tables have turned and people are clamoring to get in the “good graces” of the LGBT community.

Enter Beenie Man, Jamaican dance hall star — he is begging for the forgiveness of the gay community. Um, that is all about money and his career. Nothing more, nothing less. Beenie Man, whose real name is Moses Davis,  apologized for his gay-bashing lyrics in a YouTube video, capping 10-year acrimonious battle with gay rights groups. Sorry, Beenie Man didn’t have an epiphany and realized the error of his ways. It’s all about his upcoming performance in Spain at the Rototom Sunsplash.

“Please I am begging you do not have me up for some songs I wrote a long time ago. I love each and every one and am just begging each and everyone to do the same,” he said.

Beenie Man also expressed his respect for every human being “regardless of which race or creed, regardless of religious belief, regardless of which sexual preference you have including gay and lesbian.” Source

Beenie Man looks ridiculous and like a wuss coming out at this juncture and begging for forgiveness. We all know he didn’t write his “speech.” Hah. Don’t be fooled. His mea culpa is motivated by MONEY. You see, homosexuality isn’t frowned upon in Europe and he would have certainly been boycotted and heckled over his homophobia. He now joins Buju Banton, who is in prison for drug charges, and Capleton in signing the Reggae Compassionate Act. which was drafted by the organizers of Rototom to appease the gay community. The above cartoon, which  appeared in Thursday’s Jamaica Observer, is priceless and hysterically funny. LMAO!

Watch YouTube video of Beenie Man begging and pleading with the gay community:

Godfather of Go-Go music  Chuck Brown dies after battling with pneumonia. He was 75 years old.  My first experience with the Chuck Brown style came during my undergraduate years at Ohio University. My roommate, Sybil Felton, during my sophomore year was from Washington D.C. and boy did she rock to Chuck Brown and the Go-Go sound. I fell in love with the beat from that point onward. Rest in peace Chuck Brown — your music will live on!

Trouble for Obama? Two more polls show presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney with a slight lead over President Obama.

Washington Times/JZ Analytics poll finds Mitt Romney edging President Obama nationally, 44% to 43%. The key finding from this poll is that  ”Obama is doing fine in most categories except young voters,  those under 30, with whom he only has a five percentage-point advantage over Mr. Romney.”

YouGov/Economist poll finds Romney ahead 46% to 42%. The poll shows most people are concerned about the economy, healthcare and taxes, not about same-sex marriage.

While I think it’s too early in the game to put stock in the polls, it’s interesting to note that neither candidate is ideal in the eyes of most Americans. It’s also ironic that the Washington Times polls finds Obama trailing Mitt Romney.

White births are no longer a majority in the U.S., according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Non-Hispanic whites accounted for 49.6 percent of all births in the 12-month period that ended last July, according to Census Bureau data made public on Thursday, while minorities — including Hispanics, blacks, Asians and those of mixed race — reached 50.4 percent, representing a majority for the first time in the country’s history.

Such a turn has been long expected, but no one was certain when the moment would arrive — signaling a milestone for a nation whose government was founded by white Europeans and has wrestled mightily with issues of race, from the days of slavery, through a civil war, bitter civil rights battles and, most recently, highly charged debates over efforts to restrict immigration. Source

Here is right wing evangelical Bryan Fischer’s tweet about the changing demographics:

Majority of births in US now non-white. The problem: many refuse to become non-hyphenated Americans. ow.ly/aYf56

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanJFischer) May 17, 2012

SHAME:  Detroit pastor Marvin Winans was robbed and carjacked while pumping gas this afternoon. Winans, who leads the Perfecting Church, told Local 4, “he went inside the gas station to pay when he noticed a group of young men hanging inside the store not buying anything. He said he thought it was strange, but he went about his business.” He was then jumped by four men when he came out of the convenience store.

Winans suffered several cuts and bruises to his face, hands and arms. His pants were also torn to shreds.

“I was on the ground and then they went to kicking me and trying to get the money out of my pocket,” said Winans. “When I stood up I called on Jesus, I said ‘Jesus’, and they started running. I got up and my car was gone.” The attackers were able to steal his 2012 QX56 purple Infinity sedan and his wallet. Source

It’s a damn shame that these thugs would rob even a pastor. Reaction on Twitter:

So… Pastor Winans was carjacked in Detroit. Smh… Telling y’all, criminals don’t discriminate.

— LaKeidra Denay (@LaKeidraDenay) May 16, 2012

I dream of getting out of Detroit, again. Y’all they ripped Pastor Winans pants off!!! How ridiculous!!!

— Kelli Brownlee (@HisLoveRevealed) May 16, 2012

So now Pastors are getting robbed at gas stations! WOW!!! Glad they didn’t take Pastor Winans life!!!! Glad he’s okay though! Thank God!!!

— Alana Hughes (@iChooseHoliness) May 16, 2012

AUTOPSY REPORT:  Trayvon Martin was shot at “intermediate range,” calling into question, in my opinion, George Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense. If it had truly been a case of self-defense, the teen should have been shot at “close range.” It should be noted that the autopsy report doesn’t define what “intermediate range” is.

The official report, prepared by the medical examiner in Volusia County, Fla., also found that the 17-year-old Martin had one other fresh injury – a small abrasion, no more than a quarter-inch  in size –  on his left ring finger below the knuckle.

Separately, a medical report on Martin’s alleged killer, 28-year-old George Zimmerman, prepared by his personal physician the day after Martin’s shooting in Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26, found that the Neighborhood Watch volunteer suffered a likely broken nose, swelling, two black eyes and cuts to the scalp. That report, first reported Tuesday by ABC News, also was reviewed by NBC News. Source: MSNBC

What is an intermediate range gunshot? It can range from just beyond the 12-inch range out to 24 to 36 inches, which depends greatly upon the caliber, barrel length and powder type used in the ammunition.

Mary Richardson Kennedy, Estranged Wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Found Dead in Apparent Suicide in Barn (Getty Images)

Mary Richardson Kennedy, 52, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., hanged herself in a barn behind her Westchester home Wednesday. Kennedy, the mother of four children, was the second wife of Robert Kennedy Jr. Mary Richardson Kennedy was an architect and a designer. She fought alcohol and drugs.  She had two high-profile arrests around the time her husband filed for divorce in 2010. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.

NATCHEZ MURDER-SUICIDE:  Daniel Holt shot and killed his wife, Erica Holt, while she was at an Exxon gas station on Homochitto Street and John R. Junkin Drive early Wednesday in Natchez, Miss. Daniel Holt then fled the scene and was found by police after he wrecked his car, the Natchez Democrat reports. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest after the police approached his vehicle. Erica Holt was pronounced dead from multiple gunshot wounds at the Natchez Regional Medical Center.

There was a history of domestic violence with this couple. Erica Holt’s murder could have been prevented. How many more murder-suicides do we have to hear about before the alarm is sounded and domestic violence is taken more seriously? Just yesterday, Tonya Thomas killed her four kids and herself in an apparent quadruple murder-suicide in Port St. John, Fla. Last week Amy Freeman Burton and her daughter Ainsley Freeman died in a murder-suicide in Pleasanton, Calif.