During the convention on Wednesday, the former mayor of Wasilla (population 7,000) took a jab at Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama with the line: “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.”

       Her sentiments were reinforced in two earlier speeches on the convention floor Wednesday in St. Paul.

• Former Governor George Pataki said: “[Barack Obama] was a community organizer. What in God’s name is a community organizer? I don’t even know if that’s a job.”

• Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani said: “On the other hand, you have a resume from a gifted man with an Ivy League education. He worked as a community organizer. What? [Laughter]…I said, OK, OK, maybe this is the first problem on the resume.”

       In the wee hours of the following morning, Obama's campaign sent an e-mail to supporters objecting – among other things – to the attacks against community organizers. It read:

      Let's clarify something for them right now.

      Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies.

      And it's no surprise that, after eight years of George Bush, millions of people have found that by coming together in their local communities they can change the course of history. That promise is what our campaign has been about from the beginning.

      Throughout our history, ordinary people have made good on America's promise by organizing for change from the bottom up. Community organizing is the foundation of the civil rights movement, the women's suffrage movement, labor rights, and the 40-hour workweek. And it's happening today in church basements and community centers and living rooms across America.

      Also on Thursday, a coalition of community organizers across the country launched the Web site OrganizersFightBack. (http://organizersfightback.wordpress.com/) to demand an apology from Gov. Palin and to "defend their work organizing Americans who have been left behind by unemployment, lack of health insurance and the national housing crisis."

• “Community organizers work in neighborhoods that have been hit hardest by the failing economy,” said John Raskin, founder of Community Organizers of America and a community organizer on the West Side of Manhattan.  “The last thing we need is for Republican officials to mock us on television when we’re trying to rebuild the neighborhoods they have destroyed.  Maybe if everyone had more houses than they can count, we wouldn’t need community organizers.  But I work with people who are getting evicted from their only home.  If John McCain and the Republicans understood that, maybe they wouldn’t be so quick to make fun of community organizers like me.”

• David Gonzalez of the New York Times has posted a column, Bronx Organizers React to G.O.P. Punchlines, featuring the work of two past local community organizers still active in the neighborhoods.

• Also, this entry on the Huffington Post  features the Center for Community Change's official response to the remarks.

       Meanwhile, the Associated Press shed some truth to Palin's "dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president," pointing out that "in some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth." Some examples:

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.

He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson.

THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state — by population.

MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.

THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.

FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."

THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.

FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: "We need change, all right — change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."

THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate.

       The late rapper, who was murdered in Las Vegas in 1996, beats the likes of the Grammys at No. 7, encores at No. 12, Pink Floyd at No. 14 and "the music you loved as a teenager" at No. 23.      

       Blender notes Tupac was a good rapper with "insane rock-star charisma," but he also "larded records with self-mythologizing, mediocre filler."      

     These aren't the first hate darts the magazine has thrown at Tupac. In its June issue, rapper Lil Wayne listed him among his top five rappers, but then admitted: "I can't front: I was never into Pac."

      In 2007, West's performance was relegated to a small stage in the Las Vegas venue.

      West joins a 2008 lineup that includes Christina Aguilera and the Jonas Brothers. Britney Spears, who made headlines for her lackluster performance to open last year's VMAs, will open the show this year, but will not perform.

       "She will be ... doing something so mindbending, it'll probably make you want to start families with each other in a random, possibly Mormon, way," the show's host, English comedian Russell Brand, joked during a press preview at the Paramount Pictures lot where the ceremony will be held.

       Katy Perry, the singer of the summer's biggest hit "I Kissed A Girl," will cover Madonna's "Like A Virgin" during the ceremony.  Other previously announced performers include R&B singer Rihanna and Detroit rocker Kid Rock.

     She vowed to the Republican National Convention — and millions more around the country — that she would help presidential nominee John McCain bring real change to Washington, saying "he's a man who's there to serve his country and not just his party."

     McCain joined her on stage, to even bigger cheers. In an anti-climactic roll call vote, the delegates then awarded him the presidential nomination he has sought for a decade — propelling him into the fall campaign. At 72, the Arizona senator is the oldest first-time nominee in history.

     The 44-year-old Palin, scarcely known a week ago, had top billing on the third night of the convention. The first woman vice presidential candidate in party history, she made her solo national debut after days of tabloid-like scrutiny of her and her family.

     Some of the biggest roars were for her barbs aimed at Democratic presidential nominee Obama.

     "Victory in Iraq is finally in sight; he wants to forfeit," she said of Obama. "Al-Qaida terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America; he's worried that someone won't read them their rights."

John McCain & Sarah Palin after her speech at the RNC

     To the delight of the delegates, McCain strolled unexpectedly onto the convention stage after the speech and hugged his running mate.

     "Don't you think we made the right choice" for vice president? he said as his delegates roared their approval. It was an unspoken reference to the convention-week controversy that has greeted her, including the disclosure that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter was pregnant.

     The packed convention hall exploded in cheers as McCain stood with Palin and her family — including mother-to-be Bristol and the father, 18-year-old Levi Johnston.

     Palin drew waves of approval from the moment she stepped onto the convention stage, hundreds of camera flashes reflecting off her glasses.
















from rhymeswithsnitch

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded guilty today to two felonies of obstruction of justice and lying under oath. He has agreed to pay 1 million dollars in restitution, spend 4 months in jail, serve 5 years of probation, give up his law license and resign as the mayor of the city of Detroit














LEBRON JAMES SUBJECT OF NEW DOCUMENTARY: NBA star in Toronto this weekend for premiere of 'More Than a Game.'



Fresh from his gold medal run as part of the U.S. basketball team in the Beijing Olympics, NBA star LeBron James will visit the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend for the debut of "More Than A Game," a documentary chronicling his rise to stardom.

       The film also shows how he and four childhood friends overcame long odds to win a national championship in high school.

      "We set out with a goal as kids and we wanted to accomplish that someway, somehow by using basketball as a tool, not knowing that it was going to create other opportunities for us," James said, according to the Associated Press. "We didn't know it was going to create a brotherhood and trust. We grew from kids into young men."

       "More Than A Game" mixes footage from James' stint at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in nearby Akron, along with one-on-one interviews by writer/director Kris Belman, home videos, and personal family photographs.      

       James is expected to be joined by friends and former teammates Dru Joyce III, Sian Cotton, Willie McGee and Romeo Travis for the Toronto premiere. Their journey began together as 8-year-old boys, winds through years crisscrossing the country playing in AAU tournaments and finishes in their senior season at St. Vincent-St. Mary, a year when James came under scrutiny for accepting a $50,000 sports-utility vehicle as a gift from his mother and his eligibility was briefly stripped by the Ohio High School Athletic Association.      

       At the time, Belman was a film student at Loyola Marymount looking to follow James and his friends' season as his final school project, a 10-minute documentary. But after gaining the trust of the players and coach Dru Joyce, Belman spent two months filming and eventually teamed with producer Harvey Mason Jr. to make the full-length feature. James hopes the film will inspire youngsters.

       "We set out with a goal when we were 8 and we accomplished it when we were 18," he said. "It's a great story and I wanted to get it out to kids that have a dream, that they should continue to go after it, believe in it and live it if they want to accomplish something."

CIARA GETS NAKED FOR 'VIBE'

      Fishkill Town Justice Harold Epstein ordered the singer back in court on December 1 for the start of his jury trial, reports E! Online.  If convicted of both his charges – endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree harassment – he faces a maximum of one year and 15 days behind bars.

       Dutchess County Assistant District Attorney Anthony Parisi has requested that Akon's attorney, Andrea Zellan, try to work out a deal within the next two weeks to avoid a trial, reports E! Akon's lawyers released a statement expressing a willingness to settle the case.       

       "We are pleased that Judge Epstein adjourned the case to a date certain for either a trial or a negotiated resolution," the statement read. "Akon looks forward to putting this incident behind him, and in the meantime, he will continue to meet every requirement set forth by the court."

YOUNG JEEZY REGISTERS TO VOTE: Move tied to promotion of his new album 'The Recession.'



According to new statistics released this week, eight million U.S. blacks aged 18 and over are still not registered to vote. Young Jeezy plans to reduce that number today by at least one.

      In conjunction with this week's release of his third solo album, "The Recession," the rapper is hosting a voter registration drive as part of a full day of events in his Atlanta hometown, including an in-store appearance, concert and star-studded release party.

       Jeezy, who turns 31 in October, said he will register to vote during the event held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Sean "Diddy" Combs’ Justin’s Restaurant (2200 Peachtree Rd.).       

       "The Recession" includes Jay-Z's remix to Jeezy's "Put On" as one of two bonus tracks added to its 18 cuts.

from rhymeswithsnitch

Oprah Winfrey's mother is being sued by a high end boutique for failure to pay for more than $150,000.00 in clothes and services. According to court records, Vernita Lee has had an open-ended charge account with Valentina Inc. since January 2004. The lawsuit says Miss Vernita racked up a bill of $155,547.31 in purchases, perks [including private shows and delivery service] and interest as of July 1. Miss Vernita was supposed to be making minimum monthly payments of $2,000. Valentina attorney Joseph Niebler, Sr., said today that at some point Miss Vernita stopped making the payments. The store is asking for full payment plus interest, the complaint says.












from tmz

All hell broke loose on an Indian game show when a male contestant got slapped by a woman -- and then fired back!

It all went down on a show called "Dadagiri" -- the self-proclaimed meanest show on TV -- one that involves contestants who have to recreate the first day of college ... bullies and all. The woman in the video is Isha the Goddess -- her job is to insult the contestants. When she cussed out and then slapped one of the contestants, dude reached back and slapped her in the face -- HARD.

She took it like a man, he cried like a bitch -- and then the entire crew proceeded to beat his whiny ass.

That's about all we know at this point -- more details to come ... hopefully.

       "I couldn't get enough sleep and sometimes onstage, I could taste blood ... every now and then," she tells Sister 2 Sister magazine. "They (producers) would send me to the hospitals and they would say, 'Well, she's dehydrated; that's what's making her tired.' They would put IVs in me. But it just wasn't enough."      

       Eventually, Barrino sensed that something was seriously wrong and visited a top throat doctor in Los Angeles. With the use of a small camera, the physician discovered what he thought was a cyst. The singer recalls, "I went into surgery and he came out and told my mother it was a tumor."      

Fantasia as Celie in The Color Purple

       Barrino is now healthy following surgery, but the entertainer says she is still "hurt" by some of the negative publicity that surrounded her missed shows. At the time, there were rumors that she had gotten pregnant.            

       "It really hurt my feelings. ... I told my manager, 'Please, somebody protect me,' because I've never missed a show. ... I like to perform," said Barrino. "I felt like, after I had my surgery, nobody knew about it. 'The Color Purple' didn't know about it, my record company didn't know about it, and I was very hurt by that. ... I wasn't receiving any flowers, any balloons."

      If you recall, the singer/songwriter/producer was let go from the R. Kelly tour last year after only two shows. He claimed he was dropped because he had upstaged Kelly, an allegation the Chicago based performer vehemently denied.

      Ne-Yo instead sued the tour's promoter, Georgia-based Rowe Entertainment Inc., which, interestingly, never answered the lawsuit.

      However, the company did post a statement on its website, after the lawsuit's filing, that said that it couldn't obtain a "final, fully executed contract" from Ne-Yo's agent.

      Apparently, it didn't matter because last week Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Malcolm Mackey ordered the company to pay Ne-Yo (real name: Shaffer Smith)  and his touring company $700,320.

      NeYo's new CD "Year of the Gentleman" is scheduled for release on September 16.











OBAMA AT 50 % THRESHOLD IN GALLUP POLL: He now leads McCain 50 percent to 42 percent.



It's happened. Barack Obama has met the 50 percent threshold for the first time. It was revealed Tuesday in the Gallup daily tracking poll. It's a symbolic hurdle that until now had eluded the Democratic nominee, reports politico.com.

      Here's what it means: The Gallup daily tracking poll has found that since the conclusion of the Democratic convention, Obama has risen 5 percentage points in the polls and now leads John McCain 50 percent to 42 percent.

      That represents a positive turn for Obama, after a couple of days in which he appeared to have peaked at the 49 percent mark while McCain was showing slight improvements.

      It may be smaller than several of the sizable bounces of recent decades, but the new polling suggests that perhaps the Democratic convention bounce has yet to subside.

from rhymeswithsnitch

Who can forget that youtube of boxer Floyd Mayweather counting out one million dollars, that he took from his bedroom nightstand, or his penchant for making it rain in the club? Looks like those boastful antics have come back to haunt Floyd 'Money' Mayweather in a major way. On August 17, somebody broke into Floyd's house and stole $7 million dollars worth of jewelery. They say the thieves, one of whom's face is clearly seen on surveillance video, entered Floyd's house through his bedroom window and took jewelry only. Mayweather is offering a $100,000 dollar reward for information leading to a break in the case. So if you know who did it, and are in the mood to snitch, call Sherbrooke, Jelan and Associates at (678) 457-5858 or (404) 786-1321.

from rhymeswithsnitch

The latest rapper to get 'Yung Berg-ed' is Dip Set splinter group Skull Gang crew member, Juelz Santana. Word leaked from across the pond that members of Dip Set Skull Gang were touring the U.K. when a promoter, who they say got stiffed by Dip Set for $70 thousand dollars a few years ago, siezed the opportunity to get some payback. They say the promoter and his goons rushed Juelz hotel room, but security came to his aid and squashed the ambush. The hotel, did, however, ask Juelz and 'nem to leave. They say after Skull Gang checked into another hotel, it was on again and that's when Juelz got got. Santana is denying he was robbed, admitting only that there was a skirmish and that he was asked to leave a hotel and that shows were cancelled. He also admits the thing about scamming the promoter saying, “Bottom line, my former manager along with an ex group member accepted an astronomical amount of money for a paid date that never happened or was ever brought to my knowledge.” While Julez did not name the former member, I'm going to take a wild guess and say it was Cam'ron. Anywho, look for Juelz jewellery to show up on these Internets any day now.












from tmz

Millions of kids still wanna be like Mike -- and according to the American Cancer Society, that's a bad thing.

The ACS is fuming over several photos TMZ posted earlier of MJ playing softball with a fat stogie hangin' out of his mouth. Now, the ACS has unleashed a mouthpiece of their own, their former president Cary Presant MD, who told us, "When high profile athletes publicly display unhealthful habits they can mislead young people to emulate their behavior. According to the American Cancer Society tobacco use in this country is responsible for 1/3 of all cancers and remains the most preventable cause of death in our society. 8.6 million Americans suffer from chronic smoking-related disease. Since 1964 smoking has cause more than 12 million premature deaths in the U.S."

Calls to Jordan's reps were not returned.












from bossip

Everybody has a story to tell and this time it’s Pep from Salt-N-Pepa. She speaks on harsh relationships (once married to Treach from Naughty by Nature and has a child with rapper Tyran (Tah-Tah) Moore) and domestic disputes with “Brad” in her book “Let’s Talk About Pep”:

“I had the hot iron in my hand and he had a handful of my hair. He grabbed the hand with the iron in it and was pushing [it] toward my face. … He ended up pressing that hot iron against my other arm. I heard my flesh sizzling, and the smell was sickening. I started screaming from the pain. He dropped the iron and I turned to run, and his nail swiped across my eyeball and shredded my cornea.” The incident left her with deep scars and an eye patch.

The couple had another brawl at actor Omar Epps’ house, where, she says, “Brad” threw her through a glass coffee table and tried to push her down the stairs.

One night, when she was hanging out with rappers Kid ‘n Play and a few others, “Play tried to clown me at the table. … Everyone started laughing. I got up and grabbed him by his collar and dragged him down the whole length of the table, knocking everybody’s food and drink onto the floor. Play never made fun of me again.”

One rapper who did impress her was Tupac Shakur, whom she met on the set of the “Whatta Man” video. “He was a good guy. I remember him telling me that he had never been in trouble with the law until he got into the music business. [He said,] ‘I ain’t never had a record until I made a record!’”