Coolio Arrested: Allegedly With Crack!

Rapper Coolio was arrested yesterday at Los Angeles International Airport after he got into an altercation with an airport screener. According to TMZ.com, Coolio had crack in his possession. I guess crack is a hell of a drug!

The Return Of Michael Jackson!

Michael Jackson was in full effect yesterday in London as he announced plans to perform there this summer. It's hard to believe that he's 50 years old, and the hair looks simply amazing. I wonder if it's real.

Rihanna Doesn't Want A Restraining Order Against Chris Brown!

Chris Brown was charged with 2 felonies yesterday that may require jail time, and while ultimately he may simply get probation, as details emerge regarding his alleged beating of Rihanna, Brown appears to be a very troubled young man. Below are a few of the details:

He was arrested the day of the Grammy Awards after LAPD officers responded to a 911 call reporting an assault on a quiet, tree-lined street near Beverly Boulevard. When officers arrived, they found an injured Rihanna and Brown’s rented Lamborghini, but no sign of the R&B singer.

According to a search warrant written by Police Det. Deshon Andrews, the assault began when Rihanna picked up Brown’s phone as the couple drove away from a pre-Grammy party in Beverly Hills. The singer saw a long text message on Brown’s phone detailing a sexual encounter between him and another woman, the warrant said.

The pair began arguing, and Brown pulled the rented Lamborghini to the side of the road and tried to make Rihanna get out of the car, according to the warrant. When her seat belt got in the way, he began punching her in the face.

“The assault caused Robyn F.’s mouth to fill with blood and blood to splatter all over her clothing and the interior of the car,” the detective wrote in the warrant filed Feb. 20.During the alleged assault, the detective wrote, Brown told Rihanna, “I’m going to beat the [expletive] out of you when we get home. You wait and see.”

After Rihanna feigned a call to her personal assistant -- pretending to ask the woman to have police waiting at her home -- Brown became enraged, telling her, “Now I am going to kill you,” according to the warrant.

The assault escalated with Brown biting Rihanna on the ear and putting her in a headlock until she lost consciousness, according to the warrant. When she tried to free herself by “gouging his eyes out,” the detective wrote, he bit her finger. Her screams for help were heard by a neighbor, the warrant says.

Brown did appear in court yesterday, and his arraignment was postponed until April 6th. Rihanna's was also represented, and her attorney Donald Etra stated that she will not require a restraining order. I hope that she doesn't regret that decision. As for Chris Brown, the career is probably a wrap at this point. Thanks to the Los Angeles Times for the article.

Just When I Thought I Was Done!

I really thought I was done with the Kwame Kilpatrick/Christine Beatty posts, but now the Detroit Free Press reports that as early as Monday, an additional 1,400 text messages may be released as they are now deemed a matter of public record. This should be very interesting, and no one deserves this more than Kwame.

Say It Ain't So Michael Strahan!

In the I guess rich people don't have anything better to do with their money department, the New York Post is reporting that former New York Giants football player Michael Strahan planted a tracking device on Nicole Murphy's car after he suspected her of cheating. The device was discovered after Murphy took her car to the repair shop for servicing. Strahan is not a novice in the amateur detective category, as his now ex-wife accused Strahan of planting devices in their former home.

The Post is also reporting that Murphy, the former wife of Eddie Murphy, is rumored to now have a relationship with record executive Demetrius Spencer. Strahan, who now works as an analyst for Fox Sports, may want to open a detective agency.

Terrell Owens Released!

NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens has made a habit of throwing his teammates, specifically quarterbacks under the bus. Now, he's the beneficiary of being thrown under the bus by his now former team, the Dallas Cowboys. Often a lightening rod for controversy, it wasn't uncommon to see Owens on the sidelines berating coaches and teammates when he felt things didn't go his way. Here's hoping that he goes to the purgatory that is the worst team in the league, and further stains his legacy. T.O. may have Hall of Fame stats, but he's never been a Hall of Fame teammate.

Praying For Jasmina!

Jasmina Anema turns 6 today, but is in the fight of her life suffering from a very rare form of leukemia that is spreading too fast for the chemotherapy to fight it. Celebrities such as Rihanna, Kelly Rowland, and Paul Pierce have reached out on Jasmina's behalf in an effort to spread the word that she's in need of a bone marrow transplant. Jasmina is adopted, and complicating the donor search is that African American are underrepresented and our DNA is more varied. Jamina's mother indicates that at this point it's "a one in a million shot."

Here's sending out prayers to Jasmina Anema. Thanks to the New York Daily News for bringing further awareness to this heartwarming story.

Molinaro Forces Out Appointee For Forwarding Racist E-Mail!

The New York Post reports that Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro forced out his appointee to an Education Department parent council for forwarding an e-mail containing racist jokes. Salvatore Ballarino defended the e-mail as being a joke, however it contained the following:

In that e-mail were photos of then-Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain during a presidential debate, with invented dialogue superimposed in writing near their heads. McCain's "jokes" included references to black people hanging from a tree and equating black babies to excrement.

Good move, Mr. Molinaro!

A Tour Of Vick's Home!

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has 25 photographs of Michael Vick's home which is set to go up for auction next week. It's a beautiful home!

Deidra Lane Released Today!

The Charlotte Observer reports that Deidra Lane, wife of former Carolina Panther Fred Lane will be released from prison today after serving 8 years for killing her husband. Lane, now 33, pleaded guilty in 2003 to voluntary manslaughter. Lane claimed to be a battered wife, and shot her husband at close range in their home after he returned from a trip. A summary of what led to the killing is listed below:

In the weeks before the killing, while she was nine months pregnant, Fred Lane rammed her head into a wall, broke open her lip and threw her down a flight of stairs, her lawyers said.

On the day of the killing, Deidra Lane called 911 sobbing and screaming: “He came in and he started choking me and he said this baby's not mine. He started hitting me. He wouldn't leave me alone. I kept telling him to stop.

“I've never been so scared in my life. He just wanted to hurt me and my baby. And I was so scared I just shot again.”

But Mecklenburg Assistant District Attorney Marsha Goodenow said Deidra Lane ambushed her husband, killing him for a $5 million life insurance policy.

Lane will be released to her parents custody, and returning to Columbia, SC to care for her 8 year-old daughter.

Vick's Home Going Up For Auction: Minimum Bid: $3.2 Million!

Michael Vick's suburban Atlanta home will go on the auction block next Tuesday with a starting bid of $3.2 million. The home is 20,000 square feet in size. Well we know that material items don't last forever, and I hope Mr. Vick can put all of his losses behind him and become a productive citizen.

Farrakhan Speaks On President Obama!

Minister Louis Farrakhan spoke over the weekend at the Nation of Islam's annual Savior's Day convention in Chicago. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the Minister told nearly 14,000 followers that "There's an energy among our people that has never been seen before, never produced by any man or organization before," "But we must not allow our people to live in a false world of euphoria. We must accept our responsibility to build our communities."

Farrakhan's words should resonate amongst the entire black community. Feeding off Obama's energy, we will have to make it on our own, as we attempt to keep our communities from falling into further turmoil. We don't have a stimulus package that will rescue us from sure oblivion for our communities. Now is the time to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and make it work any way that we can.

Is Rihanna Being Used?

Chris Brown is a 19 year-old superstar entertainer, 2 time Billboard Artist of the Year, and heir apparent to join Michael Jackson as perhaps the best entertainer of his generation. Brown was arrested last month for allegedly beating up superstar singer and girlfriend, Rihanna. Word surfaced over the weekend that the two had possibly reconciled, and of course everyone has an opinion. I just hope for Rihanna's sake that Mr. Brown is sincere in his actions, but to be 19 years-old, rich and famous and sometimes stupid usually is a recipe for disaster in a relationship. Here's wishing Rihanna well, as she's making grown up decisions at the young age of 21.

Strip Searched In B-More!

Rosemary Munyiri is suing the Maryland run State Booking Agency in Baltimore alleging that she was illegally strip searched as a result of a traffic stop last year. Below is a brief description of what allegedly transpired:

She says it all started because of a misunderstanding. She was on her way home after a 12-hour nursing shift, still wearing her uniform of pink scrubs, and took her regular exit off Interstate 83.

According to the arresting officer, she drove past flares he had placed to block the exit. She says she didn't see them. When the officer pulled up behind her with his lights on, she thought it was for someone else and drove ahead to find a safe place to pull over, out of the way. But the lights were for her, and when she kept going, the officer believed she was fleeing.

He ordered her to throw her keys out the window and lie on the wet ground, where he handcuffed her, then put her in the back of his vehicle and searched hers. He found nothing but arrested her on three misdemeanor charges - negligent driving, failure to pull to the curb upon a signal from a police vehicle and attempt to elude uniformed police by failing to stop - and took her to Central Booking.

There, she says, she was told to remove her clothes, squat and cough (to dislodge anything she might be concealing in a body cavity), then spread her buttocks for visual inspection.

This is one of a few suits pending in Maryland alleging the same treatment. Thanks to the Baltimore Sun for reporting the treatment by police.

Recovering From The Effects Of Iraq!

The Memphis Commercial-Appeal reports on Iraq veteran Charley Williams Jr., who is still recovering from the effects of injuries sustained while serving in Iraq. A former 13 year veteran, Williams Jr. has lost his marriage, and now takes 9 prescription pills just to keep some semblance of normalcy as a result of his injuries. Still only 36 years-old, Williams Jr. suffered a traumatic brain injury while at war, and now becomes forgetful. He's also deaf in one ear and sufferers from post traumatic stress disorder. Even with all of these ailments, he's just considered to be 80 percent disabled.

Stories like Charley Williams Jr. need to be told more often, because the effects of war have impacted 31,00 other Americans.