Yes, Being Unprofessional Can Cost You Millions, Exhibit A

What you are about to hear and see is Workplace Training Rule No. 1: Always stay professional! Failure to comply leads to epic fails and you not getting a job unless you end up becoming in the business for yourself.

Let add this up. That is $50,000 in mental anguish and $1.5 million in punitive damages for a $200 dollars bill which leave them losing about $1,549,800 dollars. Well sucks to be the caller and the collection agency who did that. They have just literally gave this man a cool 1.25 million, due to the lawyer fee.

Do you think that is fair?

Vulgar voicemails force debt collector to pay $1.5 million

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day to all the Armed Forces Veterans who lived and died for us. The Ace really appreciate it.

The Suite Life of a Teacher of The Year (AKA How Keenon Got Her Groove Back ... and Shafted Too)

(These teachers today are really something serious (and not in a good way). Just last week I gave a feel good post about a teacher retiring after 63 years and now I have to talk about another teacher of the year in a bad light. When will teachers learn that they are the one who mold the generation next to us.)

Now during my time in school, I have had crushes on my teachers (….well just one, the rest of the teachers were seriously not my type. I mean they were old, married, or just plain ugly.) , but I will never would have encountered having a lil fling with my teacher. The two reason is that although I was a teenager, I would have thought that is low and she is thirsty where no man have gave it to her (Note: I started dating older women after high school, not during.) and being a honor roll student in high school 12 out of 13 times with a 3.56 GPA, I would never jeopardize my future of going to a nice college like that. I do thank God that our class never had to encounter that due to the fact that we were country folks and we, as children and adults, have morals. These teachers today are possibly a little older or younger than me. So when I heard this in the news, old or not, I just had to evaluate this the best way I can.

Shiloh High School’s Teacher of the Year resigned last month after she admitted she had been involved in a sexual relationship with a student, Gwinnett County Public Schools officials said Thursday.

Language arts teacher Keenon Aampay Hall, who began working at Shiloh in 2005, submitted her resignation letter April 20, a day after Gwinnett County Public Schools launched an internal investigation into a student’s claim that Hall lowered his grade after he refused to impregnate her, according to documents provided Thursday to the Post. Hall’s letter said she resigned for medical reasons, school district spokesman Jorge Quintana said.

The 18-year-old student said the relationship began in October, when he was 17, and lasted until the day before spring break, the documents show. Hall, however, wrote that the “consenual (sic) relationship” took place from February to March.

In his statement, the student wrote the relationship began in October when he stayed after school to receive extra help from Hall.

“On that day she began touching me on my leg, and then asked me when I was gonna let her molest me,” the student wrote. “I said never and we begun to laugh, then she asked me agin (sic) this time handing me a phone number and asked me to call her.”
The following week, the student wrote, Hall paid for a cab to bring him to a hotel, where they had sex.

…..Okay she lives in Atlanta, you are telling me out of all those guys out there……..

…..Well never mind. Note to guys that live in Atlanta and are single; she really told off on you guys to stoop to a teenager, yet alone a student in her class.

Stories like this one is the reason when my uncle asked me “How come you never moved to Atlanta when some of your hometown people move there;” I just shrug and say “Just did not want to move there.” I wouldn’t know who is worse off the teacher or the student. I have to look at it through both crystal balls.

She will always have that on her record and that is like a serious cloud in the sky. She won’t be going to teach at a prestigious school anytime soon. (Everybody knows once you did something wrong in the school system and it is on the national news, that’s a wrap.)

He could end up being a bum after high school, because for black males, high school and college are so different it doesn’t make sense. That will make her look like she has a lack of taste in men.

She is already looking thirsty so guys are going to pursue her very different.

I hope she can find another teaching job because she seems like she has a promising calling, but stuff like this don’t go away easy.

Who do you think is at fault on this? What are your views on teacher/student relationships whether male or female?

Gwinnett teacher quits after affair with student

Weekend Jam - Hip Hop Love Songs

Today’s Weekend Jam goes to how hip-hop at one time influences the connection between a man and woman. I know hip-hop caught a bad rap of degrading the ladies by sexual exploitation, but the minority of hip-hop songs brought out the softer side of men who wanted to be with ladies. I now present to you: The Slow Jam Rap Songs:

“I Need Love” LL Cool J: I said it once and I will say it again, this is why they called him LL Cool J (Ladies Love Cool James).

“Hey Lover” LL Cool J feat. Boyz 2 Men: See “I Need Love” and classic sample of “The Lady in My Life” by Michael Jackson.

“Can You Get Away” Tupac: The legend of this song was that he was really writing a personal letter to Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes. Whatever the reason, great song off one the greatest album in my lifetime “Me Against The World”

“Brainstorming” MC Brains: Although the name and the song are just as cheesy and corny, it still was a jam to be with your girl and make a lil love.

“Callin Me” Mac: This No Limit alum switched it up from gangster to smooth talker, and the beat is still to this day a bonafide classic.

“How It’s Going Down” DMX: The ultimate crush and how I feel about you song. Classic material from the Dog.

All Through the Night: Tone Loc feat. El Debarge: Tone have a smooth voice, but still I am LOLing at how did the West Coast feel this. You have to remember this was at the same time shortly "The Chronic" came out. You know the rest.

What is your favorite rap slow jam?

Alicia Keys and Gabby Union: Why They Can Get Away With It and You Can't.

Seems like Homewrecking is what hot around the streets. Months ago, we were talking about the D-Wade, Gabirelle Union, and Siohvaughn Wade and just yesterday, the net was buzzing about the pregnancy and engagement and of Alicia Keys and Swizz Beats. But the rumor mill was out months prior that Alicia Keys was dating him while he was married to F-List R&B recording artist Mashonda Dean and had two sons. He ended up divorcing Ms. Dean and is paying child support.

I have to admit. Swiss is taking the road less travel is cool and for real, Swiss went from a Lexus to a Bentley when he got with Alicia Keys. Although Swiss got the girl like Nick Cannon, he still has to be ridiculed for cheating (You know...because he was married at that time).

…..but this is not about ole Swiss, he know what he did.

This is really talking to all the jumpoffs and homewreckers that think this is a success story of “I’ll take your man,” and tries to grow some vagina lips to snag a guy that you have been wanting for years. I will give you five good reasons why this can be an epic fail for you.

1 1 . She is Alicia Keys, and she is Grabrielle Union and YOU ARE NOT: They are stars in the limelight and can snag any guy they want to.

2. When they get away with it. Tabloids are buzzing about them (which they don’t care), when you do it, chances are the news will be buzzing, but it will either be in the streets, the 10 o’clock news, or Cheaters. Like this:

3. You think those guy are going to replace them? Well they could (See Howard Hughes), but just remember, you are just are replaceable as the woman you took him from.

4. What so different: Ginuwine can talk to you on that.

5. Brenda Harvey syndrome: You never know what a woman that has been married for years is going to do.

…To add to that extra note. You want to know why black relationships are at an all-time low. Sometimes people will have to check who is doing the homewrecking.

What are your thoughts on celebrity homewreckers? Do you think men cheating , women taking married men, or both is really hurting the black family?

Swiss and Alicia confirm pregnancy and engagement.

63 Years: The Loyalty of a Teacher

Now anybody knows me on my blog post I rarely post about my hometown because unless it is Vicksburg, Jack-town, Natchez, or any other town that I travel to everyday, there is nothing to post. Well actually Sunday I had something to hit up about my hometown, but the only reason I post it today because of my busy schedule. The thing is it is not about no Negro-Nonsense because we have that almost everyday. I am going to talk about a woman that I know.

….Well I knew she was old, but wow the accomplishment she achieved is beyond “the average educator.”

When Emma Brandon began teaching she earned $36 a month, walked three miles one way to school - seven miles if overnight rain made the creek too swollen to cross - and toted her own lunch of biscuits and syrup.

A lot has changed in the 63 years since. There are computers and standardized tests. Schools have been consolidated and integrated. Principals have come and gone.

Last week, Brandon decided to step out of the classroom for good, becoming one of the hundreds of Mississippi school teachers to retire this summer.

Roughly 800 to 1,000 teachers have retired each year for the last decade, the state Public Employees Retirement System reports.

The average tenure for those teachers is 24 years, said Pete Smith, spokesman for the state Department of Education.

Brandon went into teaching fresh out of high school in 1946. It was her escape from the farming life destined for so many others in her rural community.

Now I have been knowing Mrs. Brandon since I was born, and I am not going to tell you how old I am but let say this, she has more years than how old I am. Mrs. Brandon was always so nice to our class. She was a class act from generation to generation. Come to think about it, let’s recap the things that was going on in 1947

I mean seriously, black people had No chance in h-e-double hockey sticks that an full-fledge African American would be in the White House.

There was no tennis stars in the WTA.

Brown vs The Board of Education was not even mentioned.

Civil Rights was a scary word.

World War II was 2 years done.

Truman was the Prez.

IBM was a younging.

And the Klan was running (see Dixiecrat).

The average teacher tenure is close to 30 years, but Mrs. Brandon has taught men and women, their sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, sons, grandsons, daughters, grand-daughters, great grandsons, great granddaughters, and even a great-great grandson for 63 years.

So to Mrs. Brandon, I tip my hat to you.

Do you think the old-school teachers are the most under-appreciated? How many people have know anyone who have taught for over half a century?

Mrs. Brandon retires after 63 years.

Fight for the Right

By: Mike Moates
WASHINGTON- According to a recent press release from the Fight for the Right to Write group, created by Puyallup School District student newsmagazine editors cite a censorship case as proof that the school district needs to embrace a publications policy without prior review.
The story involved was one covering a recent lawsuit about another story one district school had printed in a previous issue.
Allie Rickard, author of the story, decided not to print her work after Mike Patterson, the attorney representing the school district, demanded she change portions of the story.
Emerald Ridge High School newspaper, the JagWire, printed a blank page with a box stating, “This story has been censored,” as a protest to the prior review policy it is under.
District Superintendent Tony Apostle made it clear that the school board does not plan to change its publications policy on prior review. However, if the student’s parents were to accept the legal and financial responsibilities the board would agree to work with Fight for the Right to Write.
Student Press Law Center attorney, Mike Hiestand, has been working with the group, guiding them through the legal hoops of creating a publications policy without prior review.
"I think [the school district] understood pretty clearly what the students' objections were and why they would be upset about not being able to report on very public information from a public trial," he said.
An editor of the JagWire, Amanda Wyma, feels that the policy of prior review that the district newsmagazines are currently under discourage students from covering complex and potentially controversial topics.
Wyma is senior and will be graduating soon. Once her and her fellow seniors leave Wyma is uncertain as to how the rest of the staff will handle the policies of the paper.
This kind of policy is an infringement on the student’s rights. If the district were to maintain this policy it could have drastic effects on the student’s freedom of

Hinds Community College, AKA “Vulgarity Police”

By Naama Levy

Freedom of speech regarding profanity and vulgarity is not a highly controversial issue in American universities. Most professors realize that their students, people in their twenties and thirties, are old enough to hear a curse word here and there without anyone panicking about it. However, evidently in some colleges swearing can get you in big trouble.
Hinds Community College recently gave a student twelve demerits- three short of suspension- for swearing after class. 29-year-old Isaac Rosenbloom stayed after class with a few other students to discuss grades with the instructor and at some point he said that his grade is “going to f–k up my entire GPA.” According to Rosenbloom, the instructor, Barbara Pyle, began yelling and threatening to give him a detention. Rosenbloom replied that detention is not a method of punishment at HCC, so Pyle sent him to the dean. She then submitted a disciplinary complaint against Rosenbloom, arguing that “this language was not to be tolerated [and] he could not say that under any circumstances [including in] the presence of the other students.”
Rosenbloom was charged with “flagrant disrespect” and was expelled from Pyle’s class. A record of the decision was also put in his student file. He turned to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). FIRE argued that the college’s speech policies are unconstitutional and that Rosebloom’s punishment was not justified, especially since the incident happened outside of class. “Outside of official class time, HCC has no authority to punish a student for cursing in this way or for being ‘disrespectful,’” said Adam Kissel, Director of FIRE’s Individual Rights Defense Program.
FIRE is absolutely right in protecting Rosenbloom’s freedom of speech. First of all, it’s absurd to treat grown adults like elementary school kids and to try to ban profanity when people obviously use it all the time. Secondly, the instructor simply did not have the authority to do this; she could ask her students to watch their language, but she cannot punish them for using words she does not find adequate. The college crossed its limits of power by penalizing a student for such a thing. Their policies quite obviously violate the First Amendment. If the student had begun shouting obscenities and disrupting class, it would be a different story, it wouldn’t even be a First Amendment issue. But Rosenbloom did not shout and did not disturb any campus activity. Not only was it immature and out of place for Pyle to try to control her students’ speech, but it’s not her decision to make.

Business First

Lucy Farmer
Fused staff writer
Jonathon I. Katz was removed from the group selected by the Obama Administration to find a solution to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico due to controversial postings on his personal website this month. He reportedly included postings defending homophobia and questioning the value of racial diversity efforts. According to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, these writings have become a distraction to their efforts in repairing the Gulf. Chu was aware of Katz’s website before bringing him on board. When the department got wind of these remarks, sparks began to fly, eventually leading to Katz’s dismissal.
On the one hand, the department had reason to kick Katz out. There was no binding legal contract and he was affecting their work. On the other hand, Katz is entitled to the freedom of speech. His personal life should not be of concern to his coworkers.
Should his website have even been taken into account? Who felt the need to even bring this up? Why was it necessary? Were grown men incapable of putting aside their opinions in order to finish this important job? It takes tolerance and a certain level of maturity in order to execute the first amendment properly. Acceptance is crucial in any workplace. No one likes everybody that they work with. People are expected to be mature about their work. Everyone has skeletons in their closets.
The job of cleaning up the oil spill is crucial and requires the most experienced and well trained of people to complete. What if Katz was the man they needed? This was completely overlooked because of something as trivial as a website. The situation might be of less importance if Katz worked in a small office selling paper, but the work that Katz was doing was vital to our environment.
The workplace should be completely separate from someone’s private life. Katz’s coworkers needed to man-up and finish the job, putting aside their differences. Let’s be grown ups about this.

Eff' Hinds Community College

(I always like my post to be PG-13 rated, but today I am going rated R for this post, so if you are not over 18 or if you are at workplace that do not tolerate profanity on your screen and have some snitches nosey people. click here,

P.S. like somebody is really going to do that.)

Anybody that goes to school knows the rules of etiquette for being in class. Even though some people don’t enforce it, there are some that understand and use those rules. When the bell rings and you are walking, you are open to do anything with the exception of dumb-shit (fighting, getting drunk in public, anything literally illegal). So when this happen I was like. What the Fuck!!

I mean, are you serious, this whole-ass instructor barred a young man for saying “That is going to fuck up my entire GPA.” I am serious. What is so disrespectful of saying that? It is not like he just went on a rampage and just starts saying things like the following:

“How the fuck you going give me that grade, bitch!”

“That is some bull-shit.”

“When I re-take this class over and make an A with another, I want you to let know “Tell me how my ass taste.”

“Kiss my ass. I want a do-over you cluster-fuck.”

Now that would have been downright nasty and disrespectful. I also found out that the rule is unconstitutional. Hinds Community College is really on some kiddie shit. I know that it is an institution of high learning, but come don’t people have freedom of speech. This is not high school, THIS IS A COMMUNITY COLLEGE. I just don’t get these institutions with shitty rules.

What do you think about this bullshit? Are these ass-holes taking this rule too far?

College Student Says He Was Kicked Out of Course For Swearing

Authorities seize riot photos in an “intimidating” and inappropriate manner

Scott Wylie Hoover

Katie Malone, a Student Press Law Center staff writer reported on April 19 that the newsroom of James Madison University student newspaper in Virginia was entered by authorities with a search warrant. Photographs in-interest taken by “The Breeze” were seized on Friday April 16, by Rockingham Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha Garst. Garst and 10 police officers conducted a search warrant on Friday morning and seized all published and unpublished photographs from a April 10 "Springfest" riot.
The Breeze’s editor-in-chief was notified about his request from the office of Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office on Thursday April 15. She told them that it is the newspaper’s policy that they can only release photos published on its website.
The authorities showed up on Friday morning threatening to seize all cameras, computers and documents unless the 900-some photos were handed over.
Currently, the photographs have been handed-over to a third party until further investigations.
Not only did the Attorney’s office have no right to conduct their search in this manner, they had no right to even take the photos. It was evident that they the Breeze was not prepared for this act of intrusion. With intimidating factors the staff did hand over the photographs.
Many campus newspapers have spoken out about this conflict. The Cavalier Daily of The University of Virginia said that “the practical justification for newspapers to protect materials and information like photos, anonymous sources and the like. It obviously would threaten a publication's integrity to release such information to law enforcement and certainly would discourage many sources from contributing. Whenever a newspaper photographer shows up to an event, students should not have to feel as though he may be collecting evidence for a future police report."
It is unsettling and frustrating to see authority figures act in a threatening responsive manner. This type of treatment is inappropriate; the attorney’s office should have handled this in a private manner with the newspaper, stating the seriousness of the situation with the Editor-in-chief and Managing editor, rather than making it a national dilemma. Negotiations can be handled privately, without confrontation, but when authority’s figures (10 police officers) “intimidate” the situation, then resolution seems sour and forever-pending.

In Appreciation for Those Who Respect First Amendment Rights For High School Students...

Belle Kim

In Washington, student editors at three Puyallup School District high schools are pushing to establish a publications policy that doesn’t include prior review. In Emerald Ridge High School newspaper, JagWire, an empty space was published that states, “This story has been censored.” The absent story covered a lawsuit between four students, who claimed they didn’t give consent to JagWire to print personal information about them in a February 2008 article, and the school district. The writer of the said article decided that she would withhold her story when Mike Patterson, an attorney representing the district in the lawsuit, prior reviewed it and demanded that changes are made. The staffers then emailed Superintendent Tony Apostle and school board members on their proposal to work together to create a new publications policy. Apostle told them that he would be willing to work with them only if their parents agreed to accept financial responsibility for the student publications. The students are willing to make the agreement if doing so will allow them to return to an open forum status and a publications policy without prior review and prior restraint.

Whenever I read stories like this in www.splc.org, I always become very indignant that the rights of these students as journalists to pursue the truth and educate their readers are so blatantly ignored. High school is supposed to prepare us for the real world; well, in the real world, or in the United States, at least, there is supposed to be no such thing as prior review or restraint or censorship.

I also think about how lucky I am to be attending a school in which the adviser, principal, superintendent, and board members don’t feel it is necessary to control a student publication. They are always supportive of us and respect our rights to cover whatever we feel is newsworthy. Even if we choose to write stories in which they are presented in bad lights, they understand the value of the First Amendment and the importance of good journalism.

Because of my experiences at North, I believe I am prepared to advance out into the world as a serious journalist who uncovers social injustices and corruption and brings about positive change. I will have a significant advantage over those students whose school districts are much less open-minded. When I think about this, I feel extremely grateful to everyone at MCCSC for making it possible for me to pursue good education.

Would You Say That Around Your Grandmother?

In the English language, as well as all other languages, there are words that most can agree either shouldn't be said, or are classified as "inappropriate language."

Any person in the world, if asked, could give you a work that their culture deems inappropriate.

The same also goes for groups of people. Some groups have select phrases that spark controversy. For instance, in the GLBT community, the phrase, "That's so gay," in reference to something being dumb, is considered highly offensive.

What most people don't know is that journalists also have a "trigger" word, so to speak, and that word is "censorship."

Ask any journalist the dirtiest word in the English language, the first word out of their mouth should be censorship.

Dictionary.com defines the root word, censor, as, "an official who examines books, plays, news reports, motion pictures, radio and television programs, letters, cablegrams, etc., for the purpose of suppressing parts deemed objectionable on moral, political, military, or other grounds."

Imagine what would happen if everything in the world has to go through some form of censorship before being published or shown. Most, if not all, TV shows, books, and plays would be non-existent, because nothing produced by a human can satisfy everyone, no matter how great.

Censorship in media is much more relevant to the journalism. In student media, this form of censorship is called prior review. Those two words are the two most dreaded words to any faculty and staff involved in a student newspaper and Mounds View High School , in Minnesota heard those exact words.

Their newspaper was first considered for prior review when they printed a story that named two students who were disciplined for posting a "joke picture of their teacher on Facebook."

The principal of the school was interviewed for the story, but decided to ask the story to be pulled five days after the review, after the papers had been sent to the printer. When the paper was brought to school, Principal Julie Wikelius threw away the papers claiming it was, “due to concerns about releasing students' private disciplinary information without parental consent.”

Prior review was then granted by the administration over the student newspaper, The Viewer.

Editor-in-chief Christina Xai believes she knows why the administration is putting the paper on prior review. "I do not believe that prior review is the solution. I think that prior review will limit us from learning responsible journalism... If the school imposes prior review, I am very concerned that this will lead to the administration censoring what we write. I know that the administration said their goal is fact checking, but I feel this will become their excuse to control the content of our student newspaper."

-Whitney Taylor

Editors Go Too Far With Prank At University of Utah

by Caitlin McCoy

Nine senior editors at the University of Utah, took there pranking capabilities way too far. Writing for the The Daily Utah Chronicle, these students annually make a joke out of an article when the school year is coming to a close. This year, they decided to make words out of the drop caps. However, the words spelled out were not funny or appropriate. They were very offensive and the administration at the University of Utah will not let these students slide by. It is said that they have violated the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities which covers actions that are an “intentional disruption or obstruction of teaching, research, administration, disciplinary proceedings or university activities."

To get this situation resolved, the nine students must have a meeting with the Office of the Dean of Students. Until the meeting, these students cannot receive their diploma although they can walk. However, Adam Goldstein, the attorney advocate for the Student Press Law Center, disagrees. He believes that the students have the right to graduate regardless because the first amendment protects the right to offend people.

Goldstein’s point regarding the first amendment is not a strong one. Yes, the first amendment ensures writers the ability to publish their opinions but that doesn’t mean writers should take advantage of it in a negative light. Respect, integrity, and principles are all key factors that should be standards no matter what free speech laws allow. I believe that Goldstein is being too lenient. The students should be expected to act properly to a certain extent. It is very reasonable that the school plans on punishing these students for conducting themselves so poorly. Pranks can be funny but this definitely crossed the line. These college seniors should be beyond these types of pranks and understand that they are not sending a good message to outside readers about the school.

Active Advocates

by Victoria Ison



We act like being informed is enough.

We act like if we put up enough posters, write enough blog posts, and bring it up enough times in conversation, then the first amendment won’t be forgotten, and it won’t be threatened.

Except we’re only acting.

It doesn’t matter how much we advertise if nobody pays attention. If everybody walks by the posters in the hallway, if nobody clicks on to this blog, if listeners close their ears when we talk about the first amendment, then our freedoms, while not made meaningless, lose power.

It is not enough to pretend that advertising is enough.

While there is certainly much meaning in the simple act of exercising the freedoms of speech and assembly and press and all those that the first amendment encompasses, there is much more meaning associated with the appropriate reception of the actions by which we exercise those freedoms.

For instance, it is one thing just to talk. Talking out loud is important. It can help a person work through his or her thoughts and feelings. But just talking can never be as meaningful as speaking. Speaking, to and with other people, allows room for outside input. It leads to meaningful conversation. Talking is passive; speaking is active.

We must be active advocates for the first amendment.

We can not just put up posters and hope that someday somebody walking by will stop, see the poster, read it, and think about the importance of the freedoms this amendment ensures. This may very well happen from time to time, but it will not happen every time.

Certainly, putting up posters is an excellent thing to do, an excellent way to advertise something that needs and merits but doesn’t exactly demand advertisement. Sometimes putting up posters, or performing whatever other kind of passive advertisement, is the appropriate thing to do.

But sometimes we need to do more.

Just as we would want our newspapers, our petitions, our assemblies – all of the things we are able to produce through the powers of the first amendment – to be heeded attentively and respectfully, we should want our expressions about the first amendment received with soberness. Just as we would create our newspapers and petitions worthy of that reception, we must write and speak and advertise about the first amendment in a way that is worthy of the attention we hope it will receive.

If we want to ensure the preservation of the rights given in the first amendment, we must advocate actively for them.

The Ace Revisits: The 2005 NBA Drafts, The Busts

Yesterday I gave you the boom of the Class of 2005. Now today we are going to talk about the Who’s Who of the NBA Draft Class of 2005: The Busts

The UNC 4 (Marvin Williams, Raymond Felton, Sean May, Rashad McCants)- (picks 2nd, 5th, 13th, and 14th) I, The Smoking Ace, with along with many others thought that this Quad will go on dominate like they were in college.

….and that is when I heard that “Thud” because they had everybody picking up their faces.

Sean May can’t seem to get his game right, averaging 7 points and 4 rebounds respectively. Rashad McCants (10 points/ 2 rebounds) will only be known for dating the Big Kardashian and losing her to Lamar Odom (R U Serious?). Raymond Felton is an okay player (13.3 points/ 6 assists) , but more suited for a backup role after seeing him get handled by Jameer Nelson and Jason “Old White Chocolate” Williams. Marvin Williams is a good player, but being that he was picked 2^nd in that Draft behind both Chris Paul and Deron Williams will have people calling him the Sam Bowie of the 2005 Draft.

Gerald Green – Being the first of the last time high schoolers can come out, Gerald Green was suppose to be in comparison to Tracy McGrady, but that did not panned out. The only highlight of his career was winning the Slam Dunk Competition in 2007. Then again he is an answer to stepping stone of another high schooler turned pro, Kevin Garnett, career by being traded for him and other players for the Celtics to win a NBA Championship.

Juilus Hodge – You can really say bust when you only played 2.4 minutes and barely averaging scoring a point (.9).

Joey Graham – You can also say bust when you are being replace after 5 games of being a starter. Just never made it back after that 5^th game.

Who do you feel like was a bust in the NBA Class of 2005?

...And That is Why They Call Him LL Cool J

LL is seriously one of my favorite rappers of all-time. As well as his crushing MCs on the mic, he is the one who really got the ladies wet every time he spit 64 bars. I guess the women of the view wanted to know why they call him. Sheri should have known, but Elizabeth and Joy got a view of why they call him LL.

I really think all them ladies just had an orgasm and Elizabeth, Joy, and Sheri just had multiples why he was doing that.

.. Oh the hilarity of LL.

Did you see this and How did you take this?

Black Stations Are Singing A New Tune

When it comes to driving, I only listen to possibly two radio stations. One is ESPN the radio, and the other is NPR. I guess since 21, I realized that most of the black radio shows don’t play anything that is new and fresh. Most of the times it is a song, either done by Beyonce, Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, or somebody from the south rapping about a minstrel dance, saying how much they got, or something that is just downright ignorant. I looked at a bill today from Rep. John Conyers (Yeah, that dude whose wife really Eff’ up Detroit) and saw that some people just don’t want to hear and if they want to hear it, they rather let the stations pay for what we hear.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) President Roberta Reardon and American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM) President Thomas Lee joined with members of Congress today to announce a strong push by the union movement to pass legislation that supports the fundamental right of American musical artists to be paid for their work.

The Performance Rights Act, H.R. 848 would close a loophole in copyright law that allows AM and FM stations to duck royalty payments to performing artists. The United States is one of a handful of countries that do not provide fair performance rights on radio. The others include Qatar, Iraq, Iran, North Korea and China.

Hold up!!!

Big Radio has launched a propaganda campaign against the legislation led by Cathy Hughes, owner of the African American mega-company Radio One, which claims the legislation would hurt African American and small radio stations.

Last year, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) and the NAACP endorsed the legislation saying it would not hurt black radio and that musicians, like all workers, deserve to be paid a fair wage.

Radio One is a classic example of corporate greed, Trumka pointed out. In the middle of the recession, Radio One executives fired workers, cut salaries and slashed benefits while setting themselves up with millions of dollars in bonuses.

Personally I don’t have a Radio One or do I care about Clear Channel, so if these guys want to play nonsense on the airwaves, let them have it. It doesn’t matter what you play when you know that you don’t have to give a dime to the person who you play. If this bill past, you will be seeing radio execs catching a selective view of what artist they play. It will have to be super hot for execs to play and last time I checked, I never saw a radio executive say “Gucci Mane is my No. 1 fan.” Well there is always getting in line with doing talk shows, but who wants to hear comedians try to reincarnate Petey Greene, because they can’t. I say let it ride because Black Radio needs to be taught a lesson.

Sorry, I just call this one BS like everything else. Maybe killing off BET as a whole is next?

What do you feel about this bill? Should radio stations pay for the good or crap music that they put on the airwaves? Do you feel like Cathy Hughes just got shafted in her own game?

Time Start Paying Musicians

The Performance Rights Act Threatens Black Radio -- Or Does It?

The Ace Revisits: The 2005 NBA Drafts, The Booms

Yesterday, the 2010 Draft started with the Washington Wizards becoming the team to draft the first overall pick. I always think to myself 5 years ago and the players that came out in the year of 2005 so I present to you the Who’s Who of the NBA Draft class of 2005. Today we are going to talk about the booms.

Deron Williams and Chris Paul (picks 3 and 4) – both point guards respectively change the demeanor for Utah and New Orleans. Paul came in after the Hornets let Baron Davis go and never looked back anchoring a second seeded team into the Playoffs, 2^nd in MVP voting behind Kobe. Deron Williams is what you call John Stockton reincarnated, leading his team to now three straight playoff appearances in 5 straight years after not being in the playoffs in three years, nuff Said. In combination 4 ALL-NBA Teams received (1 1^st team, 3 2^nd team), 2 Gold Medals in the 2008 Summer Olympics, 4 All-Star appearances, and both on the All-Rookie Team.

Andrew Bogut – (1st pick) other than Dwight Howard, Andrew is starting to live up to the big man status that he was picked. Although he was not an All-Star, he has put up number similar to Dwight Howard. This year he along with Brandon Jennings led the Milwaukee Bucks to the playoffs for the first time in many years. Bogut will be fine at number one as long as he do not get hurt.

Danny Granger – (pick 17) Every fantasy player’s player. Granger can get you 20/10 in every game that he plays.

David Lee – (pick 30) Another fantasy player’s player. Lee is also double-double person and is the most under-rated player in the game. He will give 10/20 every game. Don’t believe me; ask Golden State when he notched 37, 20, and 10. The last guy that put up those numbers was some guy named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Andrew Bynum (pick 10) – Speaking of the man with the sky-hook, Kareem mentored this young man. Although he does not have an All-Star appearance yet (which I think is coming soon), He does have a ring (and possibly two more if Kobe doesn’t retire).

Honorable mentions: Charlie Villanueva (7th pick) , Jarret Jack (22nd pick)

If any basketball fans out there, Can you think of anybody in the class of 2005 that I omit of being booms? Who is your NBA class of 2005 booms?

Kenny's Second Shot

~ We're given second chances every day of our life. We don't usually take them, but they're there for the taking. ~

Andrew Greeley

Today, I was catching up on some reading today before I get the see the Queen graduate from college. I got an article that was a pretty decent timing of an NBA guard who really turned his life around. I am talking about Kenny Anderson. Now I can tell you my story about him.

Kenny Anderson was very known in NYC as a top tier point guard, but I remember when he was playing at Georgia Tech as part of “Lethal Weapon 3,” with Dennis Scott (3-D) and Big Brian Oliver. They were a force on the court, making it all the way to the final four. I still remember when got drafted by the Nets. He was pretty good making it to one All Star game and playing in playoff games. After that he met Tami Anderson from the Real World Los Angeles and married her. After I remember that, it was like his world just turned upside down; moving from team to team, partying, infidelity, and having a big ego throughout his career. All this backfired from him leaving him broke, divorced and serious no education.

Now let’s fast forward to now. Kenny Anderson is now a NYC basketball hall of famer, he runs a basketball Academy at 24 Hour Fitness, which is a private company, and now he has done something that he should have done a long time ago, get his degree.

After the child support and the squandered millions, Kenny Andersonwas the one who registered for college, who mastered the digital classroom, who studied in his spare time.

“My son sees me with books in my knapsack and he says, ‘You’re 39 years old, you’re still going to school?’ ” Anderson said of his son Ken Jr., 9.

The payoff will come Saturday at St. Thomas University in Miami, when Anderson will don his cap and gown and graduate, 19 years after leaving Georgia Tech.

The degree is a statement that his life did not end after 14 years in the N.B.A., after the tangled relationships with hisseven children with five women — much better now, he said — and the vanished salary, somewhere above $60 million. He did that himself, too.

So Kenny, I say congrats to you on your life turn-around. You bounce back in a way others cannot. I really tip my hat to you.

How do you really feel about this turn–around story of Kenny Anderson?

The Education of a Point Guard

Hit Momma and You Will Catch A Hot One.

I know Sunday that we celebrated Mother’s Day; but wow two days after we celebrated a time for our mother, Robert Fultz wanted to treat his mother like a punching bag. The consequence he got from that not only from the police, but his own mother.

Robert Fultz was hitting his mother in the face, so she got a gun and shot him in the buttocks, Jackson Police Department spokesman Officer Joseph Daughtry said.

Now she is one of them ole’ school moms. You know the ones that will whip that ass with anything and if you hit her, she will make sure that her presence is felt with any piece of equipment. I am guessing that the gun was the closest so she had to make him feel what she was talking about.

As for this guy, he is going to get his hole opened up embarrass in jail. One, people that know how to jail don’t take to kindly to women abusers. You know they are going to find out that it was his mother is just going to tick them off. I hope he knows how to jail because if he doesn’t, Bubba and Deebo will be fighting over their new girlfriend.

How do you feel about the ole school mom giving her son a hot one in the butt?

Mother Shoots son after he hits her.

Woman Jailed for Wearing Vulgar T-Shirt

By: William Liao
BHSN Fused

So the title pretty much says what the whole situation entails, which is to say that, for one reason or another, a woman was jailed for wearing a t-shirt that was deemed, well, vulgar.

Before I begin any further commentary, here's what happened:
20-year-old Jennifer LaPenta was going to court to settle some traffic tickets. Upon settling the issue with the judge, the judge noticed her shirt which read: "I have the pussy so I make the rules."

The judge found her shirt to be inappropriate. After becoming aware of this, LaPenta offered to change shirts, however the judge said it was too late, and ordered her to jail.

---- End Case

Let's talk about the grounds that dictated the ruling. The judge said her attire was inappropriate, which to some extent, justifies an alteration to her appearance.

However, the judge said it was too late! (key issue, there)

This is a classic case in which judge assumes more power than he/she actually has. The judge's job is to dictate the outcome of an issue in accordance to the law, true. However, in conjunction with this, it also the judge's responsibility to dictate the means of handling the outcome, and to make sure that they correlate within the line ethics.

The ethics of the situation seem a little distorted, don't you think? The woman comes into court, for traffic tickets. She, therefore, was not aware prior to entering the room that her shirt would be deemed in appropriate (while one might have assumed, that is irrelevant). And upon walking into this room, the judge reveals to her this knowledge, and before she is ever given a chance to alter her behavior, she is firmly told that it is "too late."

The key issue within the whole ethics of this situation is in regard to the woman's circumstances. She was not aware that her shirt would be inappropriate, and the moment she found out, without even having a chance to alter her behavior, she's given a jail sentence!?

So what's to make of this?
This case is the consequence of a failure in ethics. It's the consequence when one over-assumes one's power.

The judge's actions do not reflect his job description. His lack of correspondence with the necessary ethics within the matter leads one to believe that he perhaps had a moral inclination, or some sort of hidden agenda behind this ruling.

It's an ethical failure. Period.

Original link:
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/commentary.aspx?id=22923

I Lost My First Crush Yesterday

Yesterday was Mother’s Day, but I also lost my first crush yesterday

Lena Horne, the silky-voiced singing legend who shattered Hollywood stereotypes of African Americans on screen in the 1940s as a symbol of glamour whose signature song was "Stormy Weather," died Sunday in New York City. She was 92

Horne died at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, a spokeswoman said. No cause of death was given.

I have a list of women I would just love to date if I have a time machine.

5. Brandy and Monica in the 90s and I transformed into a teenager (don’t front fellaz, we all wanted to.)

4. Irene Cara in the 80s.

3. Vanity in 1984

2. Pam Grier in the 70s

……and

Lena Horne from the 40s-60s.

Now Lena Horne was a different type of woman. Although Ertha Kitt brought out generations of fantasies (Some of them old and a few of new players use to tell how Ertha Kitt was the type of woman that …..well you know), Lena Horne brought out boy and man crushes for generations to come. Lena was a smile that you can see coming from a mile. She was what Black Hollywood was all about (It is not just the talent, but the eye of the beholder). My first sight at Lena Horne was when I was five looking in those Jet magazines in the barber. She was that woman that if she smiled, I would literally faint because she was that pretty and that genuine. She was an actress, a singer, a vocal part of the civil rights movement. At that time, entertainers meant more than these entertainers now. She paved the way for those who are good in the sound stage just as well as the acting scene (Diana Ross (who is also a triple threat like Lena), Whitney Houston (circa 90s), Jennifer Hudson, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah, Brandy (circa 90s), Janet, and Jill Scott). She was the reason I really got into black and white films. I remember the episode of “A Different World” where the kids were meddling and saying that Mr Gaines about his old day’s memories. The students and the dean was trying to pamper Lena when she came in but she was unimpressed. She went to The Pit, asked Mr. Gaines to whip her up some of that good ole’ soul food and they were reminiscing about the time at the war where she was performing. She was real on that situation. I guess you can although I mean guy my age that was young was feeling Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, and Janet Jackson, I was stuck in an old soul with an old soul crush on Lena.

You will be missed Miss Horne.

-SA

What are your memories of the late, great, and beautiful Lena Horne?

Lena Horne Dies at 92.

Weekend Jam - Mother's Day

Well after doing exams, cramming, fatigue, and other stuff that I did not know my body can go through, I had to take time to wish every mother, aunt, god-mother, and motherly woman a Happy Mother's Day. So for the Weekend Jam, I am just going to play my all-time favorite Mother's Day song. I will be back shortly with major post, an upcoming post on Black Man's Law, and a week of guest bloggers with a catchy theme call "Who's at the Ace House."

...for now enjoy the tune and Happy Mother's Day.