Archive for » November, 2009 «
GQ NAMES OBAMA ‘LEADER OF THE YEAR’: President on one of five covers for magazine’s December issue. GQ has crowned President Barack Obama “Leader of the Year” in its forthcoming December issue. The honor is part of GQ’s “Men of the Year” roundup which also highlights Clint Eastwood (“Badass of the Year”), Tom Brady (“Comeback of the Year”), the “Hangover” guys (“Funnymen of the Year”) and Chris Pine (“Breakout of the Year”). The December issue comes with five different covers – one per nominee, with the “Funnymen” cover featuring three of the “Hangover” stars: Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, and Bradley Cooper.
GOOD SAMARITAN MURDERED: New Minister allegedly killed by someone she had helped. The murder of 35-year-old Mashonda Griffin in her Grand Rapids, MI home last year was a blow to her fellow church members–especially when they learned one of the people charged in her death was a former parishioner whom Griffin had helped in the past. The Religion News Service reported that Griffin’s death was an apparent botched robbery. Now the two men charged could face life-time prison sentences with life terms. “It pretty much was the biggest thing I faced as a pastor,” the Rev. James Stokes said of the woman, who had been a member of Stokes’ Church of God in Christ congregation for 16 years. And he’s the person who mentored Griffin when she chose to open her home to fellow church members. From the start, the intent has been to provide confidential, Christ-centered ministry nationwide for pastors and their spouses, with the primary plan of helping them stay in ministry. But after Griffin’s death Stokes said he plans to handle things differently. Stokes said Griffin’s murder has made him realize the importance of support for ministerial staff, as well as the need to evaluate anybody who is in a position to be counseled.
ARMY MOM REFUSES DEPLOYMENT OVER CHILD CARE: Alexis Hutchinson may face charges after no one could take in her infant son. A single Army mom could face criminal charges after she skipped her deployment flight to Afghanistan because, she said, no one was available to care for her infant son while she was overseas, the Associated Press reported. Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, 21, claims she had no choice but to refuse deployment orders because the only family she had to care for her 10-month-old son — her mother — was overwhelmed by the task, already caring for three other relatives with health problems as well as running a daycare center. Her civilian attorney, Rai Sue Sussman, said Monday that one of Hutchinson’s superiors told her she would have to deploy anyway and place the child in foster care. Hutchinson, who is from Oakland, Calif., remained confined Monday to the boundaries of Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, 10 days after military police arrested her for skipping her unit’s flight. No charges have been filed, but a spokesman for the Army post said commanders were investigating. Hutchinson’s son, Kamani, was placed into custody overnight with a daycare provider on the Army post after she was arrested and jailed briefly, Larson said. Hutchinson’s mother picked up the child a week ago and took him back to her home in California. Assigned to the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, Hutchinson joined the Army in 2007 and had no previous deployments, Sussman said. She said Hutchinson is no longer in a relationship with the father. She said they told her daughter’s commanders they needed more time to find another family member or close friend to help Hughes care for the boy, but Hutchinson was ordered to deploy on schedule. Kevin Larson, a spokesman for Hunter Army Airfield, said he didn’t know what Hutchinson was told by her commanders, but he said the Army would not deploy a single parent who had nobody to care for his or her child. “I don’t know what transpired and the investigation will get to the bottom of it,” Larson said. “If she would have come to the deployment terminal with her child, there’s no question she would not have been deployed.” Larson said officials planned to keep Hutchinson in Georgia as investigators gathered facts about the case.
A Man has the Inner Strength To Love A Woman Back.
A Boy Looks At Your Body.
When A Man Can See Your Soul, A Man Knows You Have Much More To Offer And With You He Can Grow.
A boy Asks To Spend The Night.
But A Man Wants To Share Your Life.
A boy will let an argument come between you.
A man will move beyond it and works to sort it out.
A Boy Hunts For A ‘Piece.’
As A Man Yearns For A Wife.
A Boy Will Leave You Insecure And Wondering!!
With A Man, You’re Always Reassured and you will be his LIFE!!
Jimmy here is a graphic for ya, little late after Halloween but oh well.
Nov. 12, 2009
Dear Friend,
Last night, CNN anchor Lou Dobbs announced his departure from the network. As you know, we’ve been highly critical of Dobbs because he has used his platform to spread myths and propaganda — poisoning the debate over immigration reform and inciting fear and hate against Latinos.
The SPLC was one of the first groups to bring public attention to Dobbs’ use of false information provided by racist hate groups.
With your support, we exposed his wildly inaccurate reporting about immigrants — such as his insistence that immigrants had brought thousands of new cases of leprosy to the United States during a recent three-year period.
And we condemned his reliance on the Federation for American Immigration Reform as an authority on immigration issues. This is an organization we have named a hate group with longtime ties to white supremacists.
This past July, we called on CNN executives to fire Dobbs after he relentlessly promoted the racist and utterly baseless idea that President Obama is not a native-born American citizen. Soon thereafter, a number of other organizations joined our call.
Immigration reform is an important and complex issue, one that should be debated honestly. We hope that Dobbs’ resignation sends a message to other commentators that the airwaves shouldn’t be used to vent extremist rhetoric and fan the flames of hate. Doing so has serious and sometimes violent consequences, as illustrated by the rise in hate crimes against Latinos and the unprecedented number of threats against Obama.
We are committed to exposing those who disseminate misinformation that foments hate. Together, we took a stand, and our actions made a difference. Thank you for everything you do to combat bigotry and intolerance.
Thank you for your support,
J. Richard Cohen
President, Southern Poverty Law Center
You can donate to the Southern Poverty Law Center online.
We welcome your feedback.
Contact us online.
Or by mail:
Southern Poverty Law Center
400 Washington Ave.
Montgomery, AL 36104
CHARITY IN TURMOIL: Founder fired from the company he started decades ago. The founder of Feed the Children international charity has been fired from the organization he started 30 years ago. The board of directors voted last Friday to remove Jones as president “effective immediately,” according to The Oklahoman. The directors which records show paid Jones $230,323 a year didn’t give a reason for the decision, but the firing came after Jones admitted to law enforcement that he authorized wire taps in three executives’ offices last April. “There’s going to be thousands of children going hungry this Christmas because of what they did,” Jones, 69, told The Oklahoman, adding that “This is the best two months of the year to raise money, and we’re down like everybody else is down. There’s more hungry children than ever, and they fire me. I was in such shock.” Jones said he will sue to try to get his job back. Jones has been the face of the Oklahoma City-based Christian relief organization. It reports collecting more than $1 billion in donations a year. He and his wife, Frances, were the main fundraisers, making repeated, often heart-wrenching televised pleas for money to help starving children in Africa and elsewhere. The charity has become widely known through the commercials and from celebrities’ support. His wife, Frances, was not fired. Leadership turmoil Jones has been in a legal dispute with most of the charity’s board and top executives over who is really in charge there. A lawsuit about the power struggle was settled in August when Jones agreed to give up operational control.
SHAUNIE O’NEAL FILES FOR DIVORCE FROM SHAQ: She relocates to LA to make her move. The is-they-is or is-they-ain’t Shaq & Shaunie show is in full effect again. So for now it looks like Mr. and Mrs Shaquille O’Neal is calling it quits again. That’s right. They’ve been down this path before back in Sept of 2007. At the time, the Miami Herald broke the story that the then (Miami) Heat center had filed to divorce Shaunie, his wife of nearly five years. Interestingly, they also quoted from the petition that: “The marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken.” However, the couple voided the divorce and resumed their marriage. Fast forward to today, and according to TMZ: “Shaunie filed legal papers yesterday in L.A., even though the couple lives in Florida. The petition says although Shaunie is filing for legal separation, she intends to file for divorce. She lists ‘irreconciliable differences’ as the reason for separation.” The gossip site says Shaunie pulled her kids out of school in Florida several days ago and they are with her now in L.A. They say the date of separation is listed as 11-9-09. They also answered the question you’re probably asking. Why would Shaunie cross the county to file in LA? Their answer: A spouse generally does a lot better in the spousal support department here in California. The site says her lawyer told them: “Shaunie is living in California now, but she won’t say how long she’s been here. She claims in her papers to be a resident of L.A. Sources tell us Shaunie moved here in the last few days.” Mrs. O’Neal is asking for both spousal and child support — though she did not specify an amount for either. The O’Neals have four children together: Shareef, 9, Amirah, 7, Shaqir, 6, and Me’Arah, 3. From previous relationships, Shaq has a daughter, Taahirah, and Shaunie has a son, Myles.
Teacher Orders ‘Hit’ On Student. What in the hell is goin’ on in the ATL? Are the high school kids down there that gangsta? If you had to judge from this incident in suburban Atlanta, you would think that the kids are completely out of control. But, maybe it’s a certain teacher that’s a tad bonkers! Who knows? Right now, said teacher, Mr. Randolph Forde, is just coming out of jail behind what appears to be inappropriate behavior, but not a real threat. According to CNN, the incident in question occurred Oct. 9, when Mr. Forde reportedly grabbed a kid off the school bus and asked him if he would “wack” another student for him (loosely translated). The student wanted to know who it was and Forde allegedly wrote the boy’s name down on a piece of paper and held it up for him. The student/victim is 16 and took the threat very seriously and his family has hired an attorney.