Marion Barry Biopic Starring Eddie Murphy In The Making

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After years of talk, the unbelievable-but-true story of Marion Barry may be coming soon to a flat-screen TV near you — starring Eddie Murphy as D.C.’s former mayor-for-life.

According to the Washington Post the still-untitled Barry biopic is in development by HBO Films, with the veteran comic and Oscar nominee attached as the star, Spike Lee as director, John Ridley as writer, and all three as executive producers.

D.C. journalists Harry Jaffe and Tom Sherwood have been tapped as consultant“Dream City,” their 1994 book about D.C. politics, is among the source material the creators are eyeing — as have Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer, the filmmakers behind the 2009 documentary “The Nine Lives of Marion Barry.”

HBO officials would not comment. It’s not the first time the network has considered milking the Barry drama: In 2002,filming was reportedly due to start on a movie starring Jamie Foxx and written by Chris Rock that somehow never happened.

 

HBCUs Stand To Lose More Than $20 million Per Year

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When the congressional super committee charged with reducing America’s deficit  failed to reach an agreement on what cuts should be made in 2013, some assumed HBCUs, of which their presidents and supporters warned were being targeted, were off the hook. But an article on The Root says not so fast.

Unless a new deal is struck, Historically Black Colleges and Universities could still lose more than $20 million per year in federal support through across-the-board cuts, or they could lose as much as $85 million per year through the normal appropriations process.

“This needs to go at the top of the ‘Must do — now!’ list of everyone who cares about HBCUs,” Michael Lomax wrote in his editorial, encouraging supporters to make their local congressional leaders accountable to the members of their jurisdiction who care about this issue.

Citing the more than 47,000 college graduates produced by HBCUs each year, the 180,000 jobs HBCUs represent, and their $13 billion dollar impact to the nation’s economy, Lomax says this is not the time for the government to back out on its long-standing support of these institutions, particularly as minorities grow in this country.

NBA Won’t Drug Test For Marijuana In The Offseason

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NBA players have agreed to additional drug testing, adding offseason screening for performance-enhancing drugs only.  Union executive director Billy Hunter sent a memo yesterday to players detailing these and other changes of a new labor deal and recommended they ratify the agreement.  Less clear is a provision for human growth hormone testing.

According to the memo, an NBA-NBPA joint committee would study the “possibility of an HGH testing program.” League spokesman Mike Bass, however, insisted both sides agreed to HGH blood testing, subject to the process being validated by a “neutral committee of experts.”  It wasn’t immediately clear who would be on that panel.  No matter what, players will face additional testing if the deal is ratified.  The memo also stated that beginning in the 2012-13 season, players can be tested up to two times during the offseason for steroids and performance-enhancing drugs only. They would not be screened for drugs such as marijuana.

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

2 Dead, including Police Officer, after Virginia Tech Shooting Incident

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Courtesy of CNN:

Two people, including a Virginia Tech police officer, were dead after a shooting incident on Virginia Tech’s campus in Blacksburg earlier this afternoon., the university said.

Witnesses saw the police officer being shot during a traffic stop on campus, and the second victim was found dead at a nearby parking lot toward which the gunman had been seen fleeing, the university said. The status of the shooter was not immediately known, and the campus was on lockdown Thursday afternoon, spokesman Mark Owczarski said.

The incident comes more than four years after a shooting spree in which a Virginia Tech student, 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui, shot dead 32 people on the campus before killing himself in April 2007.

The following are running updates on Thursday’s incident:

[Updated 2:46 p.m. ET] Tauhid Chappell, a student on campus, told CNN that he and other students were getting information through the school alert system, and through the web and radio.

Things felt “very quiet and still,” he said. Classes for the semester ended Wednesday. Students were preparing Thursday for final exams.

[Updated 2:45 p.m. ET] A university spokesman says police have a description of a suspect and are searching “absolutely everywhere for the person who matches the description.”

The campus is on lockdown, and people on campus are urged to “shelter in place,” the spokesman said. The university is urging that no one visit campus, he said.

[Updated 2:10 p.m. ET] Six agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are at Virginia Tech to help with the response to Thursday’s shooting, ATF spokesman Scot Thomasson said, according to CNN’s Carol Cratty. Twenty additional agents are on standby, he added.

“The agents are very familiar with the campus and the buildings” because they have worked with Blacksburg police since the 2007 mass shooting on campus, Thomasson said.

[Updated 2:07 p.m. ET] The staff of the Collegiate Times newspaper has been evacuated from its offices in the Squires Student Center on the Virginia Tech campus, the paper’s Twitter feed reports.

[Updated 1:56 p.m. ET] A Virginia Tech police officer has been shot and killed after making a traffic stop on the university’s campus, Mark Owczarski, the university’s director of news and information, said Thursday.

The suspect fled on foot toward another parking lot where a second person was also found dead, he said.

The shooter is still at large, he said.

[Updated 1:39 p.m. ET] Sirens were heard around the Virginia Tech campus Thursday, and rescue workers were trying to resuscitate a person who was on the ground, school employee Brian Walls told CNN. The school was on lockdown after shots were reported, and the school’s website said a police officer was shot.

Follow the incident via the Twitter feed of the school’s newspaper, the Collegiate Times. These reports have not been confirmed by CNN.

[Updated 1:16 p.m. ET] A police officer has been shot on or near the campus of Virginia Tech, the university’s website says. A possible second victim is reported down in a parking lot and the suspect is at large, the website says.

Classes for the semester ended Wednesday. Students were preparing Thursday for final exams.

[Posted 1:01 p.m. ET] The campus of Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg is on lockdown after a report of shots being fired on the campus.

The suspected shooter is described as a white male wearing gray sweat pants, a gray hat with a neon green brim and a maroon hoodie and carrying a backpack, according to the university’s website.

Those on campus should seek shelter or stay where they are, the website says.

In April 2007, Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old Virginia Tech student, shot dead 32 people on the campus before killing himself.

LeBron James: ‘The Decision’ Was A Mistake

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In a revealing interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, LeBron James reveals that he acting very “King” like — but that’s all going to change this season. He honestly examines how being cast as the villain changed him for the worst, and that he really wasn’t “that guy.”

From talking about his father’s absence to his mother’s erratic presence, James is open about the experiences in his life that affected him the most profoundly. Two of the highlights that illuminate how James wants to be viewed this season are below.

He regrets “The Decision”:

“If I could look back on it I would probably change a lot of it. The fact of having a whole TV special, and people getting the opportunity to watch me make a decision on where I wanted to play, I probably would change that. Because I can now look and see if the shoe was on the other foot and I was a fan, and I was very passionate about one player, and he decided to leave, I would be upset too about the way he handled it.”

On playing the villain role:

“It basically turned me into somebody I wasn’t. When you start to hear ‘the villain,’ now you have to be the villain. And I started to buy into it. I started to play the game of basketball at a level or in a mind state that I had never played at before. I mean angry. That’s mentally, and that’s not the way I play the game of basketball.”

Former Howard University Student with HIV Reveals Lots of Unprotected Sex He Had on Campus

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Via: Your Black World

William “Reds” Brawner was apparently a hot commodity on the Howard University campus.  As a student who graduated from the university in 2006, Brawner had a long list of female friends, many of whom were willing to do whatever he wanted at the drop of a hat.

One thing these women might have wanted to know about the man with whom they were sharing their bodies is that Brawner was HIV-positive the entire time.  Even worse, he now admits that he had a great deal of unprotected sex during his time at Howard University.

“Will liked the girls and the girls liked Will,” one of his college buddies told TheLoop21.

Later down the road, when Brawner appeared in Essence Magazine as a result of his confession, that led to the other students from Howard replaying their interactions with him over the years.  Many of the women who slept with Brawner have declined to comment, since they are probably embarrassed about what happened.  One can only imagine how many official girlfriends and unofficial “friends with benefits” Will had over the years and how many people they might have infected.

As our children learn these lessons about love and life, its important that we help them to realize that there are thousands of other William Brawners in the world whose stories have not yet been told.  Some of them don’t even know they are the delivery boys of death, and think that the powerful act of sex is simply a method of quick gratification.  Most of us who went to college remember frat parties where unspeakable things happened in the dark, and both men and women who had no concern with the concept of sexual responsibility.  Even worse is that some fraternities (I won’t name which ones, but you might be able to guess) actually encourage rampant sexual promiscuity among black men, leading some of us to become the deadliest weapons in our own communities.

Knowing your own status is critical on the roulette wheel of love, but knowing the status of your partner is the piece of information that might make all the difference.  Also, teaching our kids about sex in an honest and open fashion might help them to learn the value of protecting their bodies as they go through the valuable journey of love and life.  None of us is positioned to judge the sexual choices of other people, but we must ask ourselves if our actions are being guided by our own preferences, or being inspired by an urban radio culture that tells us to drop our pants whenever it feels right.

Remember the West Coast Rap Group ‘Tha Dogg Pound’?

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Original Dogg Pound members Daz and Kurupt are back in the studio working on a new album that will be executive produced by both Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.  The pair are on the road with Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa, who are touring in support of their upcoming movie “Mac and Devin Go To High School.”

Daz and Kurupt revealed that they are working on a new album titled Alumni, which will be overseen by both Dre and Snoop.  “It’s Daz and Kurupt getting that DPGC together. Big Snoop is overseeing it, Dre’s overseeing,” Kurupt told the Associated Press  at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia. “We just got off a road trip for beats with Dr. Drem who is still working on Detox.”    While most of Tha Dogg Pound’s albums were independently released, Daz said Alumni will be a major release backed by both Dr. Dre  and Snoop’s respective machines.  According to Daz, Alumni will feature a combination of production between himself and Dr. Dre.

Huge Ratings for VH1’s ‘T.I. & Tiny’ Premiere

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VH1 hit the ratings jackpot with the premiere of two back-to-back episodes of its new reality series “T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle.”

The docu-series averaged 2.8 million total viewers for the 9 p.m. airing and a 1.9 rating among adults 18-49 on Monday evening. Combined with the 11 p.m. encore, the premiere episode lured a total of 4.3 million viewers.

The second episode was an even bigger draw, improving upon its debut to attract 3.1 million viewers at 9:30 p.m. and a 2.0 rating in adults 18-49. With the 11:30 p.m. encore, the second episode drew more than 4.5 million viewers.

“T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle” powered VH1 as the top-ranked cable network (excluding sports) among the adults 18-49 and women 18-49 demos. To compare, VH1′s “Basketball Wives” closed out its third season in August luring 2.6 million viewers after starting off its first season averaging more than 1 million viewers.

“T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle” traces T.I.’s family life, including his reunion with his wife Tameka (aka Tiny) and children after serving time in prison on a weapons charge, and his attempt at returning to the top professionally.

 

Men’s Wear Trend: Fashion Power

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For fall 2012, the traditional business suit has gone through a much-needed fashion makeover and been turned into a sleek, youthful and modern ensemble. Tailored clothing manufacturers are proposing a formfitting silhouette, with narrow lapels and tight, defined shoulders that will empower any executive.

Shown Here:

(1.) Gucci’s wool and cotton suit and Prada’s cotton shirt. Linda Farrow glasses; Alexander Olch tie; TheTieBar.com tie bar; Imperial pocket square; Gucci belt and shoes.

(2.) Tallia Orange’s poly and rayon suit and Prada’s cotton shirt. Hugo Boss sunglasses; John Varvatos tie; Tateossian tie bar; Thomas Pink gloves; Louis Vuitton briefcase and shoes.

(3L.) Elie Tahari’s wool suit and Kiton’s cotton shirt. Yves Saint Laurent sunglasses; Bespoken tie; Tateossian tie bar; Imperial pocket square; Dunhill gloves; Calvin Klein briefcase; Gucci shoes.

(3R.) Joseph Abboud’s wool suit, Ermenegildo Zegna’s cotton shirt and Thomas Pink’s wool coat. Gucci sunglasses; Giorgio Armani tie and pocket square; Salvatore Ferragamo tie bar; Thomas Pink gloves; Calvin Klein portfolio; Louis Vuitton shoes.

(4L.) Dior Homme’s wool suit and Burberry London’s cotton shirt. Alexander Olch tie; TheTieBar.com tie bar; Salvatore Ferragamo belt; Bally shoes.

(4R.) Boss Selection’s wool suit and Kiton’s cotton shirt. Oliver Peoples glasses; John Varvatos tie; Tateossian tie bar; Imperial pocket square; Brioni gloves; Calvin Klein briefcase and shoes.

(5.) Calvin Klein’s wool suit and Prada’s cotton shirt. Fendi sunglasses; Brioni tie; Tateossian tie bar; Bally Belt and shoes; CH Carolina Herrera gloves; Salvatore Ferragamo briefcase.

Christian Louboutin John John Shoes

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This Christian Louboutin John John Men’s Flat Shoe from the Fall/Winter 2011 Collection retails at $865. I must say I really like the style and look of the shoe. They remind me of the classic style of the 20’s and 30’s where the lace-up style shoes were in high demand.   They can definitely be rocked with a nice tailored suit or a pair of designer jeans.  I’m diggin’ them!!!  Something to have chillin’ in the shoe collection. They’re offered in multicolored variations: one in navy blue/gray and the other in burgundy/light blue.