TMZ is reporting that the boy held a sign asking to rap with Jay Z. During his performance, Jay Z made the boy’s wish a reality.
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Month: January 2014
On Monday’s episode of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart took on the Foxes in the henhouse, you know, the same folks whose only goal is making money, so they cloaked themselves in the light of a news organization to win the trust of millions.
I’m talking about Fox News. They have made their millions convincing their herds that there was a war on Christmas, now that it’s cold outside they’re cashing in on their war on facts. In this case, Global Warming.
“There you have it: ‘War on Christmas’ is over; ‘war on carbon’ begins,” Stewart said. “Global warming: Just one more liberal conspiracy. Because even though there is a great deal of scientific data establishing climate change trends. Even though many of the models of global warming predict more extremes of weather — not just warming — apparently decades of peer-reviewed scientific study can be, like a ficus plant, destroyed in one cold weekend.”
Stewart got particularly incensed at Fox News host Stuart Varney’s argument that a Russian research ship’s getting trapped in ice in Antartica proved the world was getting colder, which he punctuated with a blithe, “That’s just my opinion.”
“That’s just your opinion — your opinion,” Stewart raged. “It means nothing.”
Instead, Varney’s colleagues were turning to the likes of Donald Trump for “analysis,” much to Stewart’s chagrin.
“So global warming must be a hoax,” Stewart said sarcastically. “Because, I mean, Mr. Trump would never conceal bald-faced truth or go through any effort to hide when something’s clearly receding over the years.”
Just in case you were wondering, Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas from TLC and Wayne Brady are not dating.
Don’t get it twisted.
This tweet from Chilli herself.
Basketball diplomacy?
Hall of Fame basketball player Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea Monday with a team of former NBA players in tow as part of the next step of his program of so-called “basketball diplomacy.”
Taking his by-now customary route, Rodman arrived in Pyongyang via Beijing Monday with a squad of a dozen former basketball stars, including Vin Baker and Cliff Robinson, despite criticism from U.S. officials.
The U.S. players are to compete in an exhibition game against a North Korean team on Wednesday, the birthday of North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un.
“It’s about trying to connect two countries together in the world, to let people know that: Do you know what? Not every country in the world is that bad, especially North Korea,” Rodman told The Associated Press in an interview outside his hotel before heading to the Beijing airport with the team.
“People say so many negative things about North Korea. And I want people in the world to see it’s not that bad.”
When a reporter from Sky News suggested to Rodman that he had a responsibility to raise the issue of human rights as the only American with such access to the North Korea leader, Rodman responded “That’s not my job. The only thing I am doing right now, I am only doing one thing: this game is for his birthday. It’s for his birthday.
“And I hope that if this opens doors and we can actually talk about certain things, then we can do certain things, but I am not going to sit there and go in and say ‘Hey guy, you’re doing the wrong thing.’
“That’s not the right thing to do. He’s my friend first. He’s my friend. I don’t give a (expletive). I tell the world: he’s my (expletive) friend, I love him.”
Chicago already has the reputation of being one of the deadliest cities in the nation. But that fact didn’t stop a District Court Judge today from laying out the welcome mat for more gun sellers.
Gun dealers can set up shop in Chicago, a federal judge has ruled — declaring the city’s ban on firearms sales unconstitutional.
U.S. District Court Judge Edmond E. Chang wrote in a 35-page opinion published Monday that Chicago’s 2010 ordinance banning gun sales within city limits “goes too far in outright banning legal buyers and legal dealers from engaging in lawful acquisitions and lawful sales of firearms.”
Though Chang stayed his ruling to give the city a chance to appeal — and said a less restrictive ordinance than the unconstitutional blanket ban could yet pass muster — lawyers for the Illinois Association of Firearm Retailers were quick to predict that neighborhood gun stores could now open before the end of 2014.
The ruling is the latest in a series of legal blows to the city’s efforts to restrict gun ownership since the Supreme Court in 2010 ruled Chicago’s handgun ban unconstitutional.
City Hall attorneys had argued that the gun sale ban makes it harder for criminals to get their hands on weapons.
Chang agreed the city had a “fundamental duty” to protect its citizens and acknowledged that “the stark reality facing the City each year is thousands of shooting victims and hundreds of murders committed with a gun.”
Screenshot of blaze, l; photo from 26th floor, r, via Mickey Atwal
The Sunday morning fire in a Hell’s Kitchen apartment building that killed one man and seriously injured his husband was deemed accidental by the Fire Department. Apparently the cause of the three-alarm blaze was a power strip overloaded with electrical appliances in another resident’s apartment.
The fire start after 11 a.m. at The Strand, a condominium at 500 West 43rd Street, and it took about two hours to control. FDNY Chief of Operations James Esposito said, “We believe we have a power pack, extension cord with multiple outlets involved. A Christmas tree was part of the contents of the fire apartment.” Esposito also said, “My understanding is that when the occupant returned from shopping and he went to enter his apartment, he opened the door, it was full of smoke, he left, and the door remained in an open position… The fire received all the oxygen it needed to become a free-burning fire.”
A source told the Post, “[It was] probably one of those cheap dollar-store extension chords that overloaded the outlet. The fact that there was stuff around it, like the tree, to catch fire, and and it was up against a window so it vented out, made it [spread]. All indications point to that.”
h/t – gothamist
KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge on Monday sentenced a man who pleaded guilty to slapping a crying toddler on an Atlanta-bound flight to serve eight months in federal prison.
Joe Rickey Hundley was accused of using a racial slur to refer to the 19-month-old boy, who’s black, and hitting him under the eye as the flight from Minneapolis descended to the Atlanta airport last February. He pleaded guilty in October to simple assault after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of six months in prison, and Hundley reserved his right to argue for a lower sentence. U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Baverman said he imposed a higher sentence in part because of Hundley’s criminal history, which includes a prior assault.
Hundley’s lawyer, Marcia Shein, objected to the deviation from the recommendation in the plea agreement and said after the hearing that she believes the sentence is disproportionate.
Before he was sentenced, Hundley told the judge he took full responsibility for his actions and turned to apologize in person to Jessica Bennett, the toddler’s mother, who was in the courtroom.
h/t – wtop
She packed up the president and the kids and shipped them back to the White House following their Hawaii vacation, then the First Lady jumped on a plane and flew over to Oprah’s 12 bedroom Maui escape.
The First Lady — who turns 50 next Friday — stayed behind when her hubby went back to the Oval Office. She island hopped from Oahu to Maui … and went directly to Oprah’s 12-bedroom spread.
A photog on the island tells TMZ … Michelle will have company, as in Oprah.
Sources tell us security on the island is airtight, with SWAT teams and just about every other resource securing wide perimeters around Michelle.
It’s truly a lady’s vacation. Sasha and Malia went back with dad.
A New York man accidentally shot himself and a friend Saturday when he showed off his gun inside a busy restaurant, Rochester TV station WHAM reported.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said John Cassata, 70, accidentally fired the handgun when he took it out to show friends.
Ellen Smith, who said she was sitting a few tables away from Cassata when the gun went off, told WHAM she ran over to help him. Cassata went into shock after the bullet went through his hand and leg, Smith said, ultimately hitting his friend’s foot.
“I don’t know what people are thinking when they carry a pistol into a family restaurant,” Smith told WHAM. “There was a family right next to him with a small baby, maybe two months old and a toddler.”
No charges have been filed, according to the sheriff’s office.
Back in session after holiday break, the Senate will hold a procedural vote Monday evening on whether to reinstate unemployment benefits to more than 1 million Americans, as a compromise deal struggles for the votes it needs for passage.
The extension to unemployment benefits was a casualty of December budget negotiations, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., vowed to resume debate in the New Year, and President Barack Obama has since called on lawmakers to greenlight the “vital economic lifeline.”
Along with calls for raising the minimum wage — which polls show most Americans support — extending unemployment benefits could become a key part of Democratic talking points in advance of the midterm elections set for November.
The payments stopped on Dec. 28 and Democrats, led by Obama, are pushing hard to revive them. The issue is perceived to be vital to many of the party’s core voters, who could be crucial in low-turnout, midterm elections.
And Democrats have left little doubt that they will use any Republican opposition to unemployment benefits as a political cudgel.
As pressure mounts, some are seeking a bipartisan compromise.
According to the Washington Post, Sen. Dean Heller R-Nev., and Sen. Jack Reed D-R.I., are behind the bill senators will consider Monday evening, which provides $6.5 billion to extend unemployment insurance to 1.3 million Americans for another 3 months.
Remember the dude who slapped a baby on a plane, telling the mother of the child to “shut that nigger baby up?” He is scheduled to receive his sentence on Monday.
Joe Rickey Hundley pleaded guilty in October after reaching a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. His sentencing is set for Monday morning. Prosecutors say Hundley used a racial slur to refer to the 19-month-old boy and then hit him under the right eye as the flight from Minneapolis began its descent to the Atlanta airport last February.
The misdemeanor simple assault charge carries a possible prison sentence of up to a year and a fine of up to $100,000. Prosecutors have recommended six months in prison, but Hundley reserved his right to argue for a lower sentence.
The disgraced and former football hero who’s serving a 33-year sentence for assault, robbery and kidnapping in a Nevada prison has reportedly asked President Obama to set him free so he can treat his life-threatening brain cancer outside prison.
Yep, you read that correctly. According to a number of news outlets including the Huffington Post, the Telegraph and the National Enquirer, Simpson is taking desperate measures to secure clemency after undergoing tests on a brain tumor.
The Enquirer quotes “a source close to” Simpson who said, “He put off the doctors for weeks after he first started experiencing the symptoms because he was afraid of what they would find.”
According to the Washington Times, Simpson’s health has been deteriorating for years.
“He’s gained weight since his imprisonment, and also suffers from blurred vision, stuttering and failing hearing,” the paper reported.
Of course everyone knows that back in the 90s – Simpson, now 66 – was found not guilty of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.