Georgia man Convicted in NYC of Stalking Tyra Banks

By SAMUEL MAULL
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK — A Georgia man who told police he and Tyra Banks "had a thing together" was convicted Thursday of stalking the supermodel-turned-TV host.
Brady Green, 39, of Dublin, Ga., was convicted by Manhattan Criminal Court Judge James Burke, who heard the case without a jury, of stalking, harassment, criminal trespass and attempted aggravated harassment.
Burke handed down his verdict the day after Banks testified that she feared for her safety. The judge said he found that Green had been "hounding" Banks.
However, Burke said he would not send Green to jail. He told defense lawyer Jeffrey Berman to help his client get psychiatric counseling and a job in "a location where he can thrive." That "likely will not be the city of New York," the judge said.
Berman said he was disappointed with the verdict and planned an appeal but was glad the judge did not send Green to jail. Green had faced up to 90 days in jail at sentencing on June 18.
Banks testified Wednesday that she feared for her safety, and for that of her staff and family.
Authorities said Green, 39, repeatedly called Banks’ studio, showed up there, and sent her flowers and letters. They said he also threatened to slit the throat of a staffer who refused to tell him where to find Banks’ TV studio.
Green was arrested March 18, 2008, at a McDonald’s restaurant near Banks’ studio in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. He told officers he and Banks "had a thing together," police said.
Banks said she was about to leave the studio that day when her staff warned her about Green. She said they had previously shown her Green’s photograph, told her he had threatened one of her employees and was "somebody I should watch out for."
The former Sports Illustrated cover girl said she told officers at the scene that she was scared.
"I didn’t know what to do. How do I live my life when I leave this building? I had never experienced anything like this before," she said.
Calm and smiling frequently as she testified, Banks said security "has changed significantly" around her and her workplaces because of Green.
She said that her company has hired more security staff and that her studio audiences are vetted more thoroughly.
Banks said she is now followed everywhere by security guards, even when she runs and exercises outdoors. Even though she is a public person, "I don’t live that kind of sheltered, protected life," she said. "I like to walk around."
Green testified that Banks’ shows on racism and homelessness had moved him and he wanted to contact her. He said his attempts to get tickets for her show had been misunderstood.
He also said he never threatened Banks, never intended to scare her and never tried to date her.
Assistant District Attorney Sean McMahon got Green to admit that he rode a bus for four days from Los Angeles to New York, where he had no friends, relatives and no job, and that the first he thing he did was go to the building that houses Banks’ studio.
Banks is executive producer and host of two popular TV shows, "America’s Next Top Model" and "The Tyra Banks Show."

Alabama Woman Pleads Guilty in Overdose Case

By LINDELL KAY
Daily News Staff
An Alabama woman pleaded guilty to manslaughter Thursday in the 2006 drug overdose death of a Camp Lejeune Marine.
Belinda McDonald pleaded guilty to the charges of involuntary manslaughter, trafficking in opium and selling Oxicotin in connection with the death of Pvt. Jason Beaird. McDonald was sentenced to 7ﾽ to 9 years in prison by Senior Resident Onslow County Superior Court Judge Charles Henry.
Prosecutors said Beaird was found unresponsive in his barracks and later died at the Naval Hospital on Dec. 9, 2006.
Beairds manner of death was ruled accidental due to drug toxicity due to excess fentanyl, according to autopsy reports.
Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents received confidential reliable information that McDonald was involved in the death of Beaird. Members of the Jacksonville Police Department Special Operations Division assisted NCIS with making three controlled buys of painkillers from McDonald, prosecutors said.
McDonald was arrested in January 2007 on drug charges. She admitted to NCIS that she sold three fentanyl patches to Beaird a few hours before he died, said Assistant District Attorney Rene Reilly.
Toxicology reports later confirmed Beaird died of a fentanyl overdose.
McDonalds defense attorney, Wally Paramore of Jacksonville, told the court that his client was brought to Onslow County from a small Alabama town by a husband who later abandoned her, and she became a drug addict who sold narcotics to support her habit.
It is really a terrible series of events that gets us here, he said.
Paramore complimented NCIS on their investigation, calling it overwhelming.
McDonald told the court she had no one to blame but herself for what happened.
I made my own decisions, she said. Im not putting it off on anybody.

N.C. Woman Sentenced in Traffic, DUI Death

By LINDELL KAY
Daily News Staff
An Onslow County jury convicted a Jacksonville woman of second-degree murder Thursday in the 2007 traffic death of a mother of three.
Stephanie Megahan was sentenced to 10ﾽ to 13 years in prison after a jury found her guilty of second-degree murder and aggravated felony death by motor vehicle in the death of Tabitha Morrison. Megahan pleaded guilty to driving while impaired and driving while license revoked, responsible for red light violation and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.
She was ordered to seek alcohol treatment while incarcerated, according to a ruling by Judge Gary Trawick of Pender County.
Morrison was driving home from church the night of Nov. 30, 2007. Her husband and three small children were in a vehicle behind her. Morrisons family witnessed her vehicle being struck by Megahans vehicle, Assistant District Attorney J.B. Askins said.
This is the most egregious case like this I have seen in 10 years as a prosecutor, he said after the trial.
{Photo Left: Tabitha Lynn Morrison and Family.

Photo courtesy of Morgan Funeral Home, Jacksonville, NC}

Witnesses testified during the trial that they saw Megahans vehicle fail to stop for the red light at Old Bridge Street and Marine Boulevard. Megahans blood alcohol concentration at the time of the crash was 0.25, prosecutors said.
Since Megahan had been previously convicted of driving while impaired in 1996 and 2006, prosecutors argued for a minimum of 13 years in prison.
I am pleased with the jurys verdict, but I am disappointed with the judge sentencing the defendant in the mitigated range of punishment, said Dewey Hudson, the district attorney for the 4th Prosecutorial District, which includes Onslow County.
The jury deliberated for 35 minutes before returning to the courtroom with the verdict.

High School Star skips senior season to play overseas

Tyler making the big jump early
By: Jarred Powell
Sports Editor
TheBlackUrbanTimes

San Diego high school star Jeremy Tyler will forgo his senior year of high school due to lack of competition and will play over in Europe next year. This act is the next step after Brandon Jennings skipped college for European basketball. Jennings, a point guard from Compton,CA went to Europe to escape college and says he enjoys it, but it has its downfalls. He regularly struggles with homesickness, culture shock, and he doesn't get his checks on time.
A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and I don't blame Tyler for making this decision. I do blame however, his family. They're being greedy and are only thinking about right now. Tyler is getting his GED online and will be schooled on the court in Europe. The coaches are tougher than in the NBA and the players are trying to feed there families. They won't care who he is and what he's about. Why didn't he go to a prep school, where he could have gotten an education and played great competition. I wish you well young one.

BLACKURBANSATIRE: We still question Hugo Chavez..why you ask?

General Steele Talks New Project "Welcome To Bucktown"

By Starrene Rhett

Boot Camp Clik’s Smif N Wessun released the massive classic hit, “Bucktown” back in 1994 and have since etched their presence in the hip-hop psyche all over the world. Now, 15 years since their debut, Bootcamp Clik is still going strong. The best thing about them is, unlike most other crews, they branch off for solo projects but still come back together as a peaceful unit and make that head banging hip-hop that boom-bap lovers can’t get enough of.

Enter Smif N Wessun’s General Steele. Spinning off of the classic song, Steele has created an entire LP called Welcome to Bucktown (Bucktown USA/Duck Down/Koch), dropping on May 5. But the buck doesn’t stop there (no pun intended). He’s gearing up for more releases from Boot Camp Clik and Smif N Wessun, and is getting his grown man business on with his own imprint. That’s an impressive fete for a veteran in the game, especially one who isn’t backed by a major label machine. According to Steele, the secret to success is patience.

The Black Urban Times caught up with him to talk about how he maintains longevity in the business and how he puts together the pieces to his master plan for success.

Welcome to Bucktown is coming out on May 5. What can people expect?

People can expect a reintroduction to me—to classical hip-hop music. A lot of times we say we want something and we don’t know necessarily what we want, but when we get good music we are content with it and I think people can expect that from this LP which I choose to call a soundtrack—not an album—because it’s the soundtrack of life. I’s the soundtrack of ideas, it’s not just people rapping to beats. I think that people—when they hear it—will definitely take to it because of that fact.

It’s funny you called it a soundtrack because in a previous email interview about Bucktown the 70s movie, you mentioned that you hadn’t heard of it until after the song, so how did you get put on?

Just being in the hood and being in a time where you were looking for stuff. Bucktown the movie was just something that I found like a lot of the books that I found at that particular time. The Spook Who Sat By the Door was another one at the time that I found and when I found it, I just thought that it was another part of the puzzle that was supposed to be familiar to us. So it just worked out well.

I noticed you got some old heads like Shabaam Sadiq, Smoove Da Hustler and Trigger Da Gambler, what about those people did you feel would carry the vibe that you wanted to convey on this album?

For one, I thought that if I went for the generic young cats, that it would just be a compilation and anybody could have done that. Plus, nobody was really thinking about the ones that were actually good. Broken English was the bomb. Shaabam Sadiq was one of the first artists to be on Rawkus, he started it—not Mos Def, not Talib Kweli—it was Shabaam Sadiq. We deal with pioneers, and the pioneers that we deal with are hood stars who don’t really get the credit, just like Smif N Wessun and Black Moon. It’s like we share a parallel kind of lifestyle so to speak, because we are pioneers who are underrated. But if you ever speak about these individuals, they really don’t have a bad credit in the game. It’s always like “Oh word they doing it.” I totally respect all my other Brooklyn homies—the Mainos, the Fabs the Uncle Murdas—I respect them but they not pioneers of the Bucktown thing. They came on after and I’m sure they respect it because they keep the name going to this day, but the ones that pioneered that whole vibe, the whole 90s vibe—you felt what Brooklyn was supposed to be so I had to pull out certain people. It’s just a reminder of greatness and a reminder of good music.

And with Sha Stimuli, he’s the youngest dude.

Yep. Shi Stimuli—a lot of people would like to think that I’m a older rapper so people think that older rappers need to give it up and let the young cats come in. We don’t have nothing against the young cats coming in but the younger cats are coming in a room full of gangstas. We got our guns on the table. We been in here for a while so you gotta know how to carry yourself in a room full of gangstas, and Sha Stimuli is one of those cats. He has respect for the game, he has respect for the craft and he don’t play with what he do. He’s Brooklyn to the heart so it’s fabulous to have a dude like that involved in the project.

Duck Down has been able to sustain themselves from when they started through now. With how rapidly the hip-hop business is changing, they’ve been able to maintain and still sign artists like Kidz in the Hall for example, so what do you think the secret to that success is, and how will you apply it to your own situation?

It’s a few things. I think one of the things is patience. One way to have supreme patience is to have a love for what you do. The patience comes in because when you love it, you may make mistakes but because you love it you’re gonna always try to exact those mistakes. Bootcamp is still signed to Duck Down. We’re about to work on our 5th album. Smif N Wessun is also about to work on a 5th album. In addition to that, you have Kidz in the Hall, you do have B-Real, you have a DJ Revolution, you have a Buckshot about to release and album with KRS-1. For me, I’ve always wanted to be a part of something that meant something. Like Def Jam at one time, was the most powerful label in the world. You look at them now and you’re like who does Def Jam got? Def Jam has a lot of artists but they don’t even give a fuck about them. They got Ghostface, one of the illest cats but Ghost don’t really got a home because Def Jam don’t care. Chuck D was on Def Jam. LL Cool J was on Def Jam. You had the most powerful artists in the world on Def Jam. But now these artists are lost. Duck Down would be like the back pack of the industry—being the home of the misfits where you can come in and figure your life out type shit. So it’s like we had the patience to see where we can take it. We have the patience to look and see where our potential could possibly be so we start with a Boot Camp, that’s our essence because we’re telling you we’re starting with training. So after the training we’re telling you we can be more influential in what’s going on. It took a long time. Duck Down really just started signing cats aside from Boot Camp and Smif N Wessun. They just started going outside and part of the reason is because before you start dealing with other people you really don’t know like that, you kind of have to have your thing together first. A lot of people thought for a while that Dru was just on some bs because he wouldn’t sign nobody else except for Boot Camp but it took us a minute to structure our thing, and it’s still totally structured in a way that we know exactly what’s going on but it’s like aight, we know where to go.

I heard a rumor that Smif N Wessun was supposed to team up with Pete Rock?

I heard that rumor too [laughs].

So it’s not true?

It’s a true rumor. We’re working out paperwork with him. That’s what we’re cooking up right now. Inshallah we will be putting out our 5th LP with the homie Chocolate Boy Wonder.

Anything you want to add?

I want to let people know that Bucktown USA is going into their 5th year and me and my partner cynical have been going really hard to put out videos for Bucktown. Check us out at mogulist.com/bucktownusatv and duckdown.com.

Glenn Beck makes $18 million a year..WTF!

click here for more

How Lady GaGa got signed..Akon is getting paper off her too

But how did the Grammy-nominated singer go from brunette Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta to preconception defying, flashy dressing, platinum blonde superstar Lady Gaga?

Germanotta was born in Yonkers, New York, where she attended a private Catholic girls school, wrote her first piano ballad at age 13, and then won early entrance into New York's prestigious Tisch school for the performing arts.

But Germanotta needed to strike out on her own to become Lady Gaga. She ditched school and threw herself into New York's Lower East Side music scene as a naive, convent-educated teenager.

"I went against all I was brought up to be; I moved out of home, wouldn't take any help from my parents [her internet entrepreneur dad and his business partner wife], and supported myself with waitressing jobs and stripping," she said. "I discovered a real personal freedom through it."
click here for more

That Used To Be My Joint Part 3

Big Daddy Kane was the man back in the days and he still is when it comes to his lyrics. He came hard and delivered right on time. So this week's "That Used To Be My Joint" is "Ain't No Half Steppin" by Big Daddy Kane. All you young bucks might not remember this joint. You had to be born in the 70's to get this so all you 80's babies enjoy a true hip hop lyricist at his best below:

Embarrassing Moments Part 1

I thought I would switch it up a little bit for you readers. As of lately, I have been trying to come up with some creative ideas on how to keep my readers coming back for more and I've come up with a few concepts. Of course, you guys are familiar with "That Used To Be My Joint" and "Confessions of A Blogger". So now, I want to bring to you a new segment called "Embarrassing Moments". The segment is about stories I hear from my friends, celebs, ordinary people and my readers about embarrassing moments we all have at one time or another in our lives. So this first story is courtesy of a friend of mine (I'll leave his name out) since he's in the industry as well and tell you about his embarrassing moment.

Let me tell yall how it went. I get a text while I was driving to Chuck E. Cheese today from my friend and the text says: "You want to hear something funny?". I wrote back: "Sure". He proceeds to tell me how he was in the gym and got on the treadmill to do a little cardio and the damn treadmill threw his ass across the gym! In front of everybody!! Now that's embarrassing!!

My friend looks like he should be in the NBA (he's just that tall) and really had no business being on the treadmill any damn way. He should've taken to the courts and worked it out that way. But here is what I think took place below:

Red Cafe A Bad Boy Artist!!!??

I was eavesdropping on a conversation (I know I'm soo damn nosey) about Red Cafe signing to Bad Boy......is this true? Could it really be true? Have we not learned enough about Bad Boy and all of their misdealings with artists? Has Mark Curry not taught us enough? I'm not too sure I'm buying this whole Red Cafe is now a Bad Boy artist thing. I mean the boy seems to have sense and he's from Brooklyn so I know he's about his paper but signing with Bad Boy? I heard there was no paper over at Bad Boy........just ask G-Dep, Black Rob, 112, Total, Mark Curry, Faith Evans, Danity Kane and Day 26!!! Please Diddy do not take this good artist and tear him down like you did everybody else!!! He's all New York has left for new up and coming solo artists!!!

Sidebar: I know Red Cafe is not what you would consider a new artist but hey....he's something to look forward to as far as new music goes. Check out what he had to say about his new mixtape and Diddy hosting it below:


Video courtesy of MTV.

And check out Cafe's new joint below (This joint is the hottest song out right now):

New Trailer For Season 2 Of "Gotti's Way"

VH1 came with a hit reality show when they came up with "Gotti's Way". This was one of my favorite shows and the wait was definitely too long for season 2 for my taste. I'm sooo feeling Deb when she says she has to make a change. There were alot of people who were saying she was ungrateful to Gotti but I think differently. When you are in love with a man....and I mean truly in love with a man..........there is no way you can share him with other women. Regardless if he pays all the bills, you want the man to want you in the exact same way you want him. And unfortunately, this is where the problem lies with Deb and Irv. I think with season 2 all that will change but I guess we will have to wait, watch and see. Peep the trailer below:



I didn't see Ja Rule in the trailer. I'm wondering if he's in season 2 or did Irv just figure out that Ja's career is over?

Exclusive first look at the 'Swag Surfin'' Music Video by F.L.Y. (aka Fast Life Youngstaz) Official!!!

F.L.Y. - "Swag Surfin'"
http://www.zshare.net/audio/59366560c5f5ccb7/
F.L.Y. (Fast Life Youngstaz)
Jamboree - Coming Soon
Def Jam Records
www.swagsurfin.com

About F.L.Y.

Although many artists ride the wave of success, only a few stay on top. Luckily for the Fast Life Youngstaz a.k.a. F.L.Y., they have sailed straight to stardom. Hailing from Stone Mountain, GA, the three members of Def Jam’s newest hip-hop group have made a tremendous splash all over the country with their dance-driven smash hit “Swag Surfin’.”

“If you go on Youtube and type in ‘Swag Surfin’’ you’ll see videos of people inside clubs going from side to side in a wavy motion, surfin,’” says 21 year-old rapper Mook, who helped pen the hit with fellow group members Myko McFly, 20 and Vee, 22. “We got bands, drill teams and college basketball teams playing it before they run out for their games. The Atlanta Hawks come out to ‘Swag Surfin’’ now too. It’s just a whole buzz we have that’s building up.”

After releasing “Swag Surfin’” in the late summer of 2008, the Fast Life Youngstaz melodic sing-song style started to burn like wildfire throughout the Southern United States. It didn’t take long before Def Jam president L.A. Reid caught wind of the fresh new group and invited the guys to perform live for him in New York City. Although the guys had only been a group for close to two years, they were already performed numerous times in and around Atlanta.

“It was like six in the afternoon on January 20th of this year and our manager Prophet called us and he was like, ‘We’re going to New York tonight,’” remembers Myko. “So we flew in that night and the next morning we got up, went shopping and then we did a showcase for L.A. Reid around three o’clock.” “We actually performed the whole show that we do,” adds Mook. “Once “Swag Surfin’” dropped that was it, we pretty much could have walked out of the office but we didn’t. We made sure we gave L.A. Reid the best show he’d ever seen.”

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Mike Jones Finds His “Voice” By Jerry Barrow, Senior Editor -The Urban Daily

Houston artist Mike Jones came by the offices of The Urban Daily to talk about his new project, The Voice, and explain why he’s been gone for so long. We also asked him what happened to his grills and how on Earth he lost so much weight!

NY DJ Wendy Williams Suspended

By Deborah Bennett

Assistant Editor

Hello Beautiful

Let’s see if we have this right, your ratings are better than ever and you get suspended. Well that is what happened to New York celebrity DJ Wendy Williams. According to the insider.com, Wendy Williams is being suspended indefinitely pending an Investigation surrounding a EEOC Sexual Harrassment complaint filed by Talent Booker-Nicole Spence.
The Wendy Williams Experience returns to Fox. Ironically, ratings came out earlier in the week and Wendy was the TOP URBAN radio personality.
We’ll keep you updated on this one.

Keyshia Cole’s Mom Starts Food Fight

Hello Beautiful has reported: April 28, 2009
Keyshia Cole’s manager and best friend, Manny, celebrated his birthday this week and of course Frankie was there to get loose and go wild! Check out the pics of her starting a cake fight!
Click Here For Pics

“Beyonce” And “Rihanna” Offer Celebrity Therapy

Not all Beyonce and Rihanna impressions are good, but comediennes Angelique and Skye did a pretty humorous sketch of the frenemies! Watch their “Celebrity Therapy” spoof, below.

Video: Beyonce 'Obsessed' Speaks about her role- HipHollywood.com

HipHollywood.com
Follow us on Twitter – www.Twitter.com/HipHollywood
“At HipHollywood.com, we don’t talk about the stars, we talk with them.”

Video: Ciara's Six Page OK! Magazine Spread - HipHollywood.com

www.HipHollywood.com
www.twitter.com/hiphollywood”

Details Emerge About Murder of Marine and Young Bride

Beautiful, young military couple brutally murdered by husband's fellow Marines in October

By Mirna Alfonso & Peter Surowski
Graphic details in the murder of Sgt. Janek Pawel Pietrzak, 24, and his 26-year-old wife, Quiana Faye Jenkins-Pietrzak are coming to light.
On April 3 the first day of a two day preliminary hearing took place to determine if four Camp Pendleton Marines will be ordered to stand trial for the robbery-murders of the USMC sergeant and his wife, who was also sexually assaulted.
The suspects, Pvt. Kevin Darnell Cox, 21, Lance Cpl. Emrys Justin John, 19, Lance Cpl. Tyrone Miller, 21, and Lance Cpl. Kesaun Sykes, 21, sat surrounded by their attorneys watching the proceedings with faces like statues, without reaction or emotions. The four were stationed with Pietrzak at Camp Pendleton.
Those who knew and loved the Pietrzak’s had a different reaction.
During the hearing, Daniel DeLimon, a prosecutor with the district attorney, used a projector to show the court photos of the crime scene. Also, Benjamin Ramirez, a homicide investigator with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, gave a detailed account of everything he found during his investigation.
When Ramirez began to talk about the evidence for sexual abuse he found at the crime scene, several women put tissues over their face. A man covered his face with his hand.
Judith Clark, the judge, interrupted Ramirez and told the photojournalists, “Do not take pictures of the people in the seats,” because they were the victims’ family members.
After the testimony, two women stood on the third story of the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta staring silently out the window.
The skin around their eyes was wet and red. The corners of tissues peeked from the fists at the ends of their folded arms.
“We’re not supposed to talk about it,” one of the women said softly in response to a question.
But investigators are talking about it and the details are disturbing.
The Pietrzak’s bodies were found Oct. 15 in the family room of their two-story home at 31319 Bermuda Ave. in Winchester, a community just east of Temecula.
Authorities conducted a welfare check when employers of both victims notified sheriff’s deputies that the husband and wife had failed to show up for work. Sheriff’s Investigator James Campos said he attended Quiana Pietrzak’s autopsy the following day. She had been shot in the right temple. The bullet exited through the left temple and also in the back of the neck, with the bullet passing through the neck.
Red duct tape that had been wrapped over a black cloth on her eyes was still in place when the body was removed from its sheath at the coroner’s office, Campos said, adding that another piece of tape was hanging around her neck.
According to Campos, the pathologist who performed the autopsy told him that the temple wound would have been fatal.
The bullet to the neck, which appeared to have been fired at close range, would not have been fatal in and of itself, Campos said he was told.
Campos said that Janek Pietrzak was shot three times--in the right cheek, the back of the head and the left ear. He said the pathologist told him that the right cheek wound and the back of the head wound were fatal.
During the morning session, Detective Benjamin Ramirez testified that deputies checking the two-story home found both bodies in the living room, with Quiana Pietrzak propped up with her legs out in a “V’’ formation, her head resting on the sofa behind her.
Then Janek Pietrzak was found with his head resting on his wife’s leg.
Both victims had red duct tape around their heads and their hands had been bound. Janek’s ankles had also been bound, the detective said.
Pillows through which guns had been fired were found in the living room, he said. Upstairs, investigators found an empty duct tape spool, a pair of “SpongeBob SquarePants’’ boxer shorts and a blue nightgown with the straps cut, Ramirez said.
On a bathroom mirror and a wall upstairs, someone had spray-painted a racial epithet, according to testimony and photos shown at the hearing. The Pietrzaks were an interracial couple. The four defendants are all black. The motivation behind painting the epithets is still unclear.
Burn marks were found on the floors and carpeting, where the intruders had set fires.
At Miller’s Camp Pendleton residence, Ramirez said, investigators found the female victim’s Visa check card, a sergeant’s military dress uniform adorned with the same kind of medals her husband had been awarded, and a bracelet engraved with the couple’s names and some other Polish words.
Investigators also found five pistols and about five long guns--both rifles and shotguns--at Miller’s home, Ramirez said, as well as four bandanas and one pair of mechanic’s gloves in a black backpack.
Pietrzak worked out of Camp Pendleton, like the defendants, and his wife worked for the Riverside County Department of Public Health. The two had married the previous August.
According to a declaration filed by sheriff’s investigator Gary LeClair in support of an arrest warrant, the defendants admitted going to the couple’s home to rob them, and Miller ``further admitted that he forced entry into the residence by pointing a shotgun at Janek Pietrzak.’’
Miller fingered John as the alleged shooter, according to LeClair.
Investigators found shoes in Cox’s Ford Taurus with a tread that matched an impression left at the crime scene, Campos testified.
Investigators alleged earlier that property that came from the Pietrzak home was found in Sykes’ possession.
Pietrzak, moved from Poland when he was 8 and grew up in Brooklyn. He was part of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at the base near Oceanside and had served in Iraq from July 2005 to February 2006.
According to a Camp Pendleton spokesman, Cox and Miller worked in the sergeant’s squadron, and John worked in the same aircraft group as Pietrzak, Cox and Miller. Sykes worked in the First Marine Division as an administrative clerk.
The estimated two-day preliminary hearing at the Southwest Justice Center is expected to conclude on May 8.
The district attorney’s office plans to seek the death penalty for the men if they are convicted.

Ex-teacher gets 4 years for sex with 14-year-old girl

By ANDREW GALVIN
The Orange County Register
A former middle school teacher was sentenced today to four years in state prison for molesting a 14-year-old girl, one of his students, in local hotels and in his car, prosecutors said.
Daniel Axtell, 38, of Santa Ana pleaded guilty on Dec. 17 to six felony counts of lewd acts on a 14-year-old child, one felony count of sex with a minor and one felony count of first-degree burglary.
Axtell met the girl at Talbert Middle School in Huntington Beach. He befriended the victim by consoling her after her parents had an argument and she confided in him about personal problems, prosecutors said. He gained the trust of the girl's parents by acting as a mentor to their daughter, prosecutors said.
From April 1, 2005, to June 1, 2005, Axtell had a sexual relationship with the girl, prosecutors said. On multiple occasions, he took the girl to hotels where he had unlawful intercourse with her. In one hotel, the defendant wrote "Daniel + (victim's name)" and drew a heart around it in pen inside a closet door, prosecutors said. The victim came forward in 2007 to report the sexual assaults, prosecutors said.
Deputy District Attorney Nicole Nicholson said the victim, now 18, and her stepfather attended today's sentencing.
"He truly violated the trust of this girl," Nicholson said. "She confided in him. He took advantage of her. He groomed her and then violated her sexually. He violated his position of trust and authority."
The victim gave a tearful impact statement and explained that not only did Axtell violate her, he embarrassed her and made it necessary for her to change schools because all the other students knew about the sexual relationship.
The girl's high school experience was ruined because she was humiliated, lost friends, never attended dances or the prom, and would never look at relationships the same way again, according to statements from the girl and her parents, prosecutors said.

Protesters Disrupt Foreclosure; Auctioneer Sent To Hospital With Chest Pains

A large crowd of protesters disrupted several foreclosure auctions today on the Sacramento County Courthouse steps, winning temporary cancellation of one Sacramento foreclosure and sending an auctioneer to the hospital with chest pains.
Bidders on the homes, all declining to provide their names, called the ACORN protest the first major disruption of an established auction schedule that plays out every weekday at the courthouse following 37,000 foreclosures in the capital region since Jan. 2007.
About 75 statewide members of the Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now, in the capital for a lobbying day on housing issues, delayed at least three auctioneers from selling foreclosed homes today.
"Many of the sales that are happening now are around houses that could be saved by the (loan modification and refinance) plans starting to be implemented," said Amy Schur, California director of ACORN.
The group organized the protest with bullhorns, whistles and chants of "Save Our Homes," to make its case for a moratorium on foreclosures until plans unveiled in March by the Obama administration have a chance to work.
Organizers called the Sacramento action the newest in a series of protests by its "Home Defenders" in the Bay Area and Southern California.
As the first auction was to begin at 9:30 a.m. on the Sacramento County Courthouse steps, Los Angeles ACORN member Kathleen Thompson-Boons asked an unidentified auctioneer with LPS Financial Services of Sacramento "to stop the auction."
When the auctioneer resumed seeking bids from nine potential bidders, Thompson-Boons asked again, prompting the auctioneer to say, "If you're not going to bid, then go away."
Seconds later, protesters surrounded the group, chanting, blowing whistles and creating a commotion that made it impossible to hear. The auctioneer, who had a pacemaker according to associates, began to collapse and was later taken to a local hospital.
The protest continued for about 90 minutes. ACORN members left after cheering a concession by LPS Financial Services to cancel a specific requested foreclosure auction for one Sacramento family. Minutes later, as the group left, the auctions resumed as scheduled.

State Urges Sacramento County CPS: Do THOROUGH Background Checks on Employees!

State urges thorough criminal checks of county CPS workers

The discovery that a number of Sacramento County child protection workers have criminal histories – some for drug use, spousal abuse and other violent crimes – has prompted California's top social services officials to urge all counties to perform thorough background checks on both prospective and current employees.
The state Department of Social Services, which oversees the county-run child welfare agencies, issued a notice Friday that "strongly encourages" counties to conduct criminal background checks "in their efforts to employ qualified staff who are in frequent and routine contact with children."
Last month The Bee revealed that at least 7 percent of the workers at Sacramento County's Child Protective Services had criminal histories.
The Bee, which reviewed criminal case files in Sacramento County, found social workers with repeat arrests for driving under the influence while other front-line workers had histories of drug possession, theft and embezzlement. A female registered sex offender worked for months at the front counter of a CPS office where children frequently crowd the waiting area.
State Social Services Director John A. Wagner said the stories highlighted "the need to remind counties of the tools that are available to them."
"I think there's definitely room for improvement," said Wagner, stressing that California's system gives counties latitude in how they administer their child protection systems.
The Bee found, for instance, that some counties only screen applicants and do not follow up once they are working at the agency. Some counties request only state-level background checks from the California Department of Justice, while other jurisdictions ask – and pay more – for an FBI search of a worker's criminal history.
At no extra charge, the state Department of Justice also will provide what is called subsequent arrest notifications, or "rap-backs," which let a county know if an employee is arrested after being hired. But many counties do not request the service, according to a DOJ review of its arrangements with counties.
The state's April 24 letter, signed by Linné Stout of the Child Protection and Family Support Branch, specifically mentioned rap-backs as a prospective tool for counties and gave instructions on how to obtain them from DOJ.
A Sacramento County spokeswoman told The Bee last month that the county receives subsequent arrest notifications.
But California counties also are granted discretion over what to do about an existing employee who is arrested.
The Bee's review of criminal histories in Sacramento CPS showed that some employees were arrested months and even years after being hired – a few for violent offenses or drug charges.
While Wagner, the state's social services chief, stressed that his department cannot mandate how California counties run their programs, one child advocate said he believes the issue is "of enough importance" that the state should more aggressively oversee how county CPS workers are screened.
"And maybe there should be some distinction between workers who actually have direct contact with children and parents vs. those simply sitting in an office somewhere," said William Grimm, a senior attorney with the Oakland-based National Center for Youth Law.
Grimm pointed to The Bee's findings about workers with DUIs as an area of concern.
"The DUI thing would be very concerning if that's a person who is supervising actual cases or transporting children," he said.
Lizelda Lopez, a spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services, said the state has not yet received any county feedback on the notice. Lopez said there are no additional plans regarding the state's role in the hiring of county child protection workers.
The state's action comes as Sacramento's CPS agency faces calls for a massive overhaul because of a string of recent child deaths and internal problems identified in a Bee investigation last year, as well as critical reports from a private consultant and the county grand jury.
Last week, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors agreed to ask a private, nonprofit group to propose plans for improving CPS policies and procedures. The Child Welfare League of America is expected to issue a bid to the county in the next week. Supervisors also asked grand jury members to remain involved in helping the troubled agency.

New York Arena Team Offers Vick a Contract

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)—Michael Vick has a place on a minor league football team if he can get reinstated by the NFL.
The Albany Firebirds, an arenafootball2 franchise, have offered the 28-year-old quarterback a one-year contract at the league standard: $200 a week plus a $50 bonus for a win.
Vick quarterbacked the Atlanta Falcons for six seasons before being convicted of bankrolling an interstate dog fighting business.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has not said if he will lift Vick’s suspension after he completes a 23-month prison sentence. Vick goes from federal prison to home confinement next month.
The Firebirds’ contract offer requires that Vick donate $100,000 to a local humane society.
A call to Vick’s agent was not immediately returned.

Audio: Cam'ron "Crime Pays" [Snippet]

CNN is letting YOU grade President Barack Obama.

Watch The CNN National Report Card: First 100 Days on Wednesday, April 29 (8pm ET) and let your voice be heard. Led by anchors Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, John King and Soledad O’Brien, the show will gauge the public’s opinion on how President Obama and other elected officials have handled their first 100 days in office, as well as how the country is progressing on significant issues.

Grade The President's First 100 Days on CNN this Wednesday
Uploaded by thatsfunny

Throughout the evening, CNN will open up voting on a variety of important topics letting real viewers voice their real thoughts and criticisms. Viewers will be able to share their opinion on CNN.com, with the results appearing immediately online and on television. In addition to real-time grading on CNN.com, the “First 100 Days” special report will allow users to watch video and weigh in on stories about the Obama administration in its first 100 days at www.CNN.com/First100Days. The special report will feature an issues tracker that examines action on topics such as the economy and health care, a photo gallery from the first 100 days and a quiz, testing readers' knowledge of 100-day events.

Tune into The CNN National Report Card: First 100 Days on Wednesday, April 29th (8pm ET) on CNN. Let your voice be heard.

"The Black Urban Times believes that President Obama first 100 days in office have been refreshing and historic. The first 100 days of this President can be compared to the days of FDR. Never before has a President done so much in so little time. I look forward to what the next 8 years will bring with the Obama Administration."-Abba Onyeani-Ceo/Theblackurbantimes.com

Video: Lindsay Lohan Talks About Cheating On Her Lesbian Lover On Ellen

Audio: Lloyd Banks - "Shut Your Bloodclot Mouth" (Freestyle)

Exclusive Video: Soulja Boy Freestyle at THISIS50.COM!!!

Exclusive: Serius Jones Freestyle

Audio: Check out the remix of the Black Eyed Peas' smash single "Boom Boom Pow" from will.i.am's Electro-Hip Hop duo LMFAO!

"We're definitely not a band that's shy. We love to hear ourselves talk. We want to be seen as much as possible. We want to be so big that we can't even walk down the street." Mark the words of Redfoo, the programming brain behind electro-hip hop duo LMFAO, who, along with his cohort (and nephew) Sky Blu, have already initiated a full-scale assault on the clubs. In the last year alone, three self-produced and self-distributed LMFAO tracks — "I'm In Miami Bitch," "Lil' Hipster Girl" and "Yes" — have become as ubiquitous on the dance floor as any hit by the likes of Rihanna or T.I., while remixes of Fergie's "Clumsy," Kanye West's "Love Lockdown" and Katy Perry's "Hot 'N' Cold," have lent instant credibility to two guys who've turned clowning around into an art form and a business.

It's all part of an elaborate plan for world domination. No, really. For Foo and Sky, as they refer to each other, what started as a natural collaboration (uncle and nephew, who happen to be close in age, tinkering with drum machines and recording software) with a mix tape thrown in as an afterthought, has evolved into a multi-platform musical movement. With one key mission: live tonight like there's no tomorrow.

Foo and Sky call it Party Rock, and it's the name of their debut album, label (via the will.i.am Music Group and Interscope Records), clothing line and general outlook on any given day. "It's always better to have a party in your life," explains Foo. "Fun and laughter, the girls, dancing, celebrating… We want to feel the same way walking down the sidewalk as we do on stage." Which explains an awful lot about their street attire. The guys, who are devout PETA members, favor pimp jackets, oversized glasses (minus the actual glass), faux fur embellishments and the occasional leopard spandex skin tight pants (girls sizes only). If it's not vintage, then it’s their own Party Rock brand, which Foo and Sky wear exclusively. And their stylish strut seems to be working. "We get way more women now," says Sky.

Like many rock stars-in-the-making, girls are a recurring theme in LMFAO's music. From the sun and booze-fueled party anthem, "I'm In Miami Bitch," to the hilariously scene-y "Lil' Hipster Girl," to "I Am Not A Whore," in which Foo flips your typical song-and-dance mating ritual around with a stroke of reverse psychology genius. "We'll often write songs based off of simple catch phrases that we'll hear or say," he explains. "'I Am Not A Whore' started as an experiment to talk to more girls. Because in the club, when the music's loud, girls come up to us all the time saying, 'I love your glasses' or, 'I love your hair,' or sometimes they'll walk by and grab us on the ass. But once we'd say 'Thank you' or whatever, the transaction was over! I thought, there's got to be a way to keep talking and create an interest. We were missing out on all these girls! So I'd say, 'Just because you're giving me compliments, doesn’t mean I'll sleep with you. I am not a whore.' Amazingly, it worked!" Sky poo poo'd the idea originally, but even he couldn’t deny the volume of cell numbers Foo was collecting. It inspired the line: "I'm a human, not a sandwich."

It's high jinx like these that serve as fuel for LMFAO's non-stop party — one that essentially kicked off at the 2007 Winter Music Conference in Miami. It was there that a mixtape containing "I'm In Miami Bitch" first caught the attention of DJs, club goers and music business executives, expanding LMFAO's reach far beyond their native Los Angeles. Within a year, a tireless internet initiative, which included daily YouTube updates, a steady flow of comedic skits and bits as well as self-produced music videos, launched them into the homes of millions, and in the process, caught the eyes (and ears) of Interscope Records. "Forget about shopping around, we didn't send one press shot or one bio," says Foo, still somewhat bewildered. "They had no idea what they were signing. What they knew was that they were hearing us on the radio and in the club, where at one point, we had a set of three or four songs in rotation."

Upping the ante, Foo and Sky next took on Kanye West's "Love Lockdown," giving it a dance-ready beat as part of its LMFAO treatment. "Within five hours, it was all over the world," boasts Sky of the blogosphere buzz. Adds Foo: "We saw a void. Kanye put out a record that sounded like a demo, couldn't really be played in the clubs, but had a great melody. So when we see a void, we're gonna create and fill it, if we can. That's how we're surviving, by watching the trends."

To that end, LMFAO is as much a brand as it is a band whose goal is instant recognition. "We feel like there's so much room for invention," says Foo. "With the internet, the mobile movement, software and music, it's like the gold rush right now. Eighteen months ago, there was no band, T-shirts or song. But with research and the spirit of entrepreneurship, we basically invented money out of nowhere. I don't look at it as making product and selling it. Everything you see is an idea and a concept." And they're just getting started. The guys also have plans for their own web TV show, a phone app and a movie, which Foo describes as Purple Rain meets Curb Your Enthusiasm meets Spinal Tap and Spaceballs. Sounds just about right.

But first, there's the music, which stands firm as their No. 1 priority. "It's like a fleet," says Foo. "You can only move as fast as your slowest ship, so we have to drag our acting, our comedy and our clothing with us. We don't want to get too far ahead."

Looking just over the horizon, the path is promising, to say the least. The guys have already been recruited by Lady GaGa and Chris Cornell for single remixes, and are fielding requests from a host of major artists in the pop and hip hop worlds. And with their full-length debut scheduled for release this spring, expect the buzz to hit a feverish pitch in the coming months. "Party Rock is the kind of record a band would make on their third album," Foo deadpans. "It's gonna be our Thriller — it's meant to take you away, to escape to this world of fun, dance, sex, craziness, do-what-you-want attitude. It's our lives."

Exclusive World Premier Video: Jibbs "The Dedication (Ay DJ)" featuring Lloyd

Martha Stark Resigns Post as NYC Finance Commissioner

By SALLY GOLDENBERG

Embattled city Finance Commissioner Martha Stark quit today amid a probe of her dating a former subordinate, who quickly moved up in the ranks at the agency.
Mayor Bloomberg had tried to show her the door a week after The Post broke the story on April 12, but she initially refused.

Bloomberg issued a brief statement thanking "Martha for her years of service," adding she "made the Finance Department, and our city, a better place." The mayor had asked the city Department of Investigation and Conflicts of Interest Board to investigate after the Post reported that Stark is romantically involved with ex-assistant commissioner Dara Ottley- Brown.
Post reports also said that Stark:
* Hired three of her own relatives.
* Gave a job to Brown's ex-husband, Jodie.
* Secretly served as a director of a real-estate firm while she was commissioner.

She resigned from the company, Tarragon Corp., after a Post report in March. Sources said Stark had told the Mayor's Office she did not have a relationship with any of her subordinates.
COIB and DOI representatives declined comment Tuesday.
A City Hall source said it's "unlikely" that Stark will face criminal charges. Stark and her lawyer also declined requests for comment.
Dara Ottley-Brown was earning $65,000 in 2003 as a mid-level manager. She was named assistant commissioner in November 2004 with a salary of $120,984 and her pay rose to $138,013 in two years.
In 2006 she was appointed a commissioner of the Board of Standards and Appeals with a salary of $139,827. Brown's husband was hired at Finance as a graphic designer earning $78,000 shortly after he filed for divorce in 2007.
Stark also came under fire recently for allowing an administrative judge with the Parking Violations Bureau who is married to her first deputy commissioner to bill for office hours when he was not at work.
Current and former Finance employees were elated to hear Stark is leaving.
"She should've resigned many years ago because there's been a lot of stuff that she was doing that nobody's caught. She got a lot of people that she knew into positions [even though] they didn't know anything about the jobs," said a former employee.
Her resignation puts Bloomberg, who is running for re-election this year, in the awkward spot of having only two African-American commissioners -- Human Rights Commission head Patricia
Gatling and Veterans Affairs Commissioner Roger Newman.
Stark's acting replacement will be Michael Hyman, deputy commissioner for Tax Audit, Policy and Enforcement.

Iceberg The Size of NYC collapses off Antarctica

TROMSOE, Norway (Reuters) – An area of an Antarctic ice shelf almost the size of New York City has broken into icebergs this month after the collapse of an ice bridge widely blamed on global warming, a scientist said Tuesday.
"The northern ice front of the Wilkins Ice Shelf has become unstable and the first icebergs have been released," Angelika Humbert, glaciologist at the University of Muenster in Germany, said of European Space Agency satellite images of the shelf.
Humbert told Reuters about 700 sq km (270.3 sq mile) of ice -- bigger than Singapore or Bahrain and almost the size of New York City -- has broken off the Wilkins this month and shattered into a mass of icebergs.
Full Story

Celebs at the Tribeca Film Festival

Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Robert De Niro chats with director Spike Lee during the first of Lee's two festival premieres for "Kobe Doin' Work."

Professional football players Mario Williams, Chad Johnson and Justin Tuck pose with "Kobe Doin' Work" director Spike Lee.

"Sopranos" star Edie Falco attends the "Serious Moonlight" premiere during the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival

Julianna Margulies reels in "City Island" co-star Andy Garcia for a cast photo.

Check out the rest here

Shirley Jones: 75 and Still 'Smoking'

TV Brief
By Alicia Cruz
Senior writer
theblackurbantimes.com
Shirley Jones, the loving, musical mom from the 70's hit TV show, the "Partridge Family" just turned 75, but
she isn't slowing down. As a matter of fact, she's gearing up for a nude scene in an upcoming episode of A&E's "The Cleaner".
Playing a washed-up, alcoholic chanteuse, Jones, who won a 1960 Oscar playing a prostitute in "Elmer Gantry," opens up her blouse in a climactic scene.
Uh, let's hope it's brief. I can't wait to read the reviews the next day. Stay tuned because I'll be sure to post them. The singing mom is planning a concert tour with "Brady Bunch" mom, Florence Henderson later this year. This Abuelita (grandmother) of 10, like fine wine, seems to just be gettin' better with time. My hats' off to you, Mrs. Jones!

Three Chicago Police Officers Acquitted in Bar Brawl

By DON BABWIN
Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO (AP) — A judge found three Chicago police officers not guilty Tuesday of attacking two brothers in a tavern brawl caught on surveillance video, good news for a department that has weathered a host of allegations of police misconduct and brutality in recent years.
Officers Paul Powers and Gregory Barnes and Sgt. Jeffery Planey had been charged with aggravated battery. Planey also was charged with official misconduct and obstruction of justice.
After initially showing no emotion when the verdict was read, the officers broke into relieved smiles. As they went to hug family members, they were patted on the back by many of at least 50 police officers who packed the courtroom and applauded when the judge left the bench.
Gainer told the court he reviewed the evidence against the three, including the DVD of the surveillance tape and audio recordings.
"And after doing all that, I have come to the conclusion that the state failed to meet its burden of proof on any of the charges," he said.
Gainer did not elaborate from the bench but in a 30-page ruling made it was clear he did not believe much of the alleged victims’ testimony, starting with their contention that the officers attacked them for no reason.
"This was not an ambush, an unprovoked attack by angry, drunken off-duty police officers," he wrote of the Dec. 15, 2006, incident at the Jefferson Tap & Grille. "The actions of the off-duty officers were in response to the fighting words" of one of the men with the brothers.
Nor did he find credible the testimony of one of the alleged victims, Barry Gilfand, who said he suffered serious injuries. The judge suggested Gilfand sought medical attention days later to strengthen the lawsuit he and the others subsequently filed.
Prosecutors left court without commenting but later issued a statement saying they were disappointed with the verdict.
Full Story Here

Court: FCC ‘fleeting expletive’ rule OK — for now

By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court deleted expletives left and right Tuesday in narrowly upholding a government policy that threatens broadcasters with fines over the use of even a single curse word on live television.
But in six separate opinions that used none of the offending words over 69 pages, the justices suggested they could yet find the Federal Communications Commission’s "fleeting expletives" policy unconstitutional. The court said a federal appeals court should weigh whether it violates First Amendment guarantees of free speech.
The precipitating events were live broadcasts of awards shows in which Bono, Cher and Nicole Richie — Justice Antonin Scalia referred to the latter two as "foul-mouthed glitteratae from Hollywood" — let slip or perhaps purposely said variations of what Scalia called "the F- and S-words."
By a 5-4 vote, the court threw out a ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. That court had found in favor of a Fox Television-led challenge to the FCC crackdown and had returned the case to the agency for a "reasoned analysis" of its the tougher policy on indecency.
The commission appealed to the Supreme Court instead.
Scalia, writing for the court, said the FCC policy, adopted in 2004, was "neither arbitrary nor capricious."
Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps called the decision "a big win for America’s families." Copps said the "decision should reassure parents that their children can still be protected from indecent material on the nation’s airwaves. "
Fox expressed disappointment but said it was "optimistic that we will ultimately prevail when the First Amendment issues are fully aired before the courts."
The FCC toughened its long-standing policy after it concluded that a one-free-expletive rule did not make sense in the context of keeping the air waves free of indecency when children are likely to be watching television.
Under the new FCC rule, some words are deemed to be so offensive that they always evoke sexual or excretory images. So-called fleeting expletives were not treated as indecent before the change.
The policy essentially excludes news programming and some other broadcasts, including ABC’s airing of "Saving Private Ryan" in 2004.
In the short term, the decision probably will lead the justices to reverse a similar appeals court ruling in the FCC’s effort to fine CBS Corp. over Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction at the 2004 Super Bowl. That case has been pending at the high court since November.
The federal appeals court in Philadelphia threw out a $550,000 indecency fine against CBS over Jackson’s breast-baring episode during the halftime show. The court said the incident lasted nine-sixteenths of a second and should have been regarded as "fleeting."
Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television Council advocacy group, said he was thrilled by Tuesday’s decision. Winter said he hopes the FCC now takes up "tens of thousands" of pending indecency complaints.
The FCC said it is reviewing the ruling before deciding how to proceed on pending complaints.
In its last major broadcast indecency case, the court ruled 31 years ago that the FCC could keep curse words off the airwaves between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Justice Clarence Thomas sided with the majority Tuesday, but he nevertheless noted that the previous decision and an even earlier case "were unconvincing when they were issued, and the passage of time has only increased doubt regarding their continued validity."
When the court upheld the FCC regulation in 1978, broadcast TV was the only television available to most Americans.
Today, the Internet, cable and satellite television are in millions of homes, yet the FCC’s authority extends only to broadcast television and radio, as Thomas noted.
"For most consumers, traditional broadcast media programming is now bundled with cable or satellite services," he said.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who dissented Tuesday along with the other three liberal justices, similarly raised constitutional concerns. Ginsburg said that in a case that turns on government restriction of spoken words, "there is no way to hide the long shadow the First Amendment casts over what the commission has done."
The nub of Tuesday’s ruling was whether the FCC took a reasonable course in changing its policy and concluding that profanity referring to sex or excrement is always indecent.
Scalia, joined by his four conservative colleagues, said the FCC "could reasonably conclude that the pervasiveness of foul language, and the coarsening of public entertainment in other media" justified a stricter policy "so as to give conscientious parents a relatively safe haven for their children."
But Justice John Paul Stevens said in dissent that the FCC missed the mark in failing to distinguish how the offending words are used.
"As any golfer who has watched his partner shank a short approach knows," said Stevens, an avid golfer, "it would be absurd to accept the suggestion that the resultant four-letter word uttered on the golf course describes sex or excrement."
Stevens also noted the frequent airing of television commercials during the prime-time hours under FCC surveillance — advertisements which, for instance, ask viewers "whether they, too, are battling erectile dysfunction or are having trouble going to the bathroom."
Fox Television Stations, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., and other networks challenged the policy after the FCC singled out use of profanity during awards programs that were aired in 2002 and 2003.
In each instance, a variation of the F-word was used either as a modifier — as in Bono’s comment that an award was "really f—-ing brilliant" — or as a metaphor, as when Cher said, "F—- ‘em," to her critics.
The case is FCC v. Fox Television Stations, 07-582.

Heavy Rains Flood Houston Roads

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — Floodwaters drenched Houston streets early Tuesday after heavy overnight rains, forcing high-water rescues, soaking homes, closing schools and stranding motorists during rush-hour traffic.
"We just woke up to a puddle of water," said Cindy Rey as she and her husband tried to sweep away some 10 inches of floodwaters out of their home after overnight heavy rains. "I don’t think they mentioned it was going to rain as much as it did. We didn’t expect any flooding."
The couple said their furniture, television and other items were apparently ruined after water surged into their home early in the morning. They estimate more than a foot of water was outside and has since started receding.
The Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management was urging residents in flooded homes to stay indoors.
Some freeway and toll road stretches were closed after at least 6 inches of rain fell. According to emergency management officials, a rain gauge on Buffalo Bayou in far western Houston collected more than 6 inches overnight and nearly 9 inches in 24 hours. They also continue monitoring area reservoirs, which have risen at a high rate. A flood watch continued in effect through Tuesday evening for Southeast Texas.
The disrupted commute prompted some school districts to cancel classes for the day. It also prompted Houston school district officials to postpone the state-mandated Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam until Wednesday.
About 200 motorists were stranded for a couple of hours in a parking lot near Interstate 610 and U.S. 59 after they sought refuge from rising floodwaters on frontage roads.
Rescue workers from various departments in the county plucked several people from rushing water. Most were motorists who drove into flooding, said Mark Sloan, Harris County emergency management coordinator. Houston’s assistant fire chief, Adrian Trevino, says fire-rescue boats and high-clearance vehicles, including city dump trucks, were used in some high-water rescues of motorists Tuesday morning. No injuries were reported.
Three shelters were opened for Harris County residents but so far none were occupied, said Sloan.
"Most of the homes that have been impacted are still livable," Sloan said.
The rains came a day after tornadoes left damage in Corsicana and near Austin and Victoria.
Ten structures in Corsicana were damaged in the tornado that had winds of up to 90 mph and was on the ground for about four-tenths of a mile. Another tornado damaged more than 20 structures in the Williamson County community of Jonah, including 12 to 15 homes. In Yorktown, about 30 miles northwest of Victoria, a twister destroyed one home. No injuries were reported.

EXPLOSIVE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY ENDORSED BY DONALD TRUMP!!!

You won't believe who is endorsing my new business opportunity - Donald Trump! And no one knows what it takes to be a success quite like Donald Trump. I'm confident this is an opportunity you could benefit from too. Take a look at the powerful, life-changing information contained in the links below; you'll be impressed with what you see!!

For website one, click here:

For website two, click here

Thank you,

Madinah N. James

'Ugly Betty' is Back!

Betty Le feo (as it's called in Colombia) will be in our livingrooms again!
Those fans of Ugly Betty who were worried that the show might not return for a fourth season can officially relax. EW reports that ABC has picked up the show for the 2009-2010 TV season. But first, new episodes of the current season are returning.

Flashback Fridays: La Chica Dorada

Did you catch the Billboard Latin Music Awards last night on Telemundo? She’s perpetually hot, no matter how many years go by. And what better way to celebrate the golden girl than to dig up her 1992 solo debut album, La Chica Dorada? Just for kicks, check out the vid for “Mio,” which every girl I knew, including myself, learned the lyrics and moves to (i.e. the passionate banging of the chest). Can’t wait for Pau’s new album, Gran City Pop, due June 23! ¡A fuego!