And here's why.

Aight folks….

Its goin down.  3 weeks from today.  If you know like I know, anybody flyin, better get hot cause fares aint all that friendly inside of 14 days.

Thats it.  Back to your regularly scheduled fuckery… 

Outkast's Andre 3000 To Release Solo Soundtrack To Cartoon Network Show 
   
Not sure if all of you have been glued to your sets watching Andre Benjamin's new Class of 3000 series on Cartoon Network, but regardless, a soundtrack for the show is soon to be released. Coming July 3rd on LaFace, the soundtrack will feature 14 all new solo tracks from Andre, however each song is taken from, and based upon, the cartoon series. So, don't expect to chalk this up as a new solo album from Outkast's Andre, but instead more of a concept record. Er, the tracklist kind of speaks for itself….

[img]http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/61N013wEp2L._SS500_.jpg[/img]

01 Class of 3000 Theme
02 Life Without Music
03 Throwdown
04 Oh Peanut
05 We Want Your Soul
06 Banana Zoo
07 A Richer Shade of Blue
08 Fight the Blob
09 UFO Ninja
10 Kim Kam Jam
11 Luna Love
12 The Crayon Song
13 My Mentor
14 Cool Kitty

    Regardless, Dre has always known how to make wierd shit sound funky, so this might actually work - word to "Spottieottiedopalicious".

Divided court rejects school diversity plans

By Bill Mears
CNN Washington Bureau
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WASHINGTON (CNN) — A bitterly divided U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday issued what is likely to be a landmark opinion — ruling that race cannot be a factor in the assignment of children to public schools.

The court struck down public school choice plans in Seattle, Washington, and Louisville, Kentucky, concluding they relied on an unconstitutional use of racial criteria, in a sharply worded pair of cases reflecting the deep legal and social divide over the issue of race and education.

Similar plans already in place or being proposed across the country could be in danger as a result of a ruling, which would sharply limit the power of local governments to achieve diversity using race-based criteria.

A conservative majority led by Chief Justice John Roberts said other means besides race considerations should be used to achieve diversity in schools.

"The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race," Roberts wrote.

But supporters of the school choice plans found some hope in Justice Anthony Kennedy's concurring opinion. While finding the two particular plans were unconstitutional, Kennedy said race could still be used in narrow circumstances to ensure integrated schools.

"A district may consider it a compelling interest to achieve a diverse student population," he said.

More than a half-century after the high court outlawed segregation in public schools, the justices were deeply divided over one controversial outgrowth of that decision: what role race should play, if any, in assigning students to competitive spots in elementary and secondary schools. (Watch how the ruling may indicate the court is at war with itself)

The cases from Kentucky and Washington state revisit past disputes over race and education, stemming from the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision.

"Before Brown, schoolchildren were told where they could and could not go to school based on color of their skin. The school districts in these cases have not carried the heavy burden of demonstrating that we should allow this once again — even for very different reasons," Roberts wrote.

Roberts was joined by Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. Kennedy proved the key swing vote striking down the Louisville and Seattle plans.

Reading his concurring opinion from the bench, the 70-year-old justice said, "This nation has a moral and ethical obligation to fulfill its historic commitment to creating an integrated society that ensures equal opportunity for all its children.

"A compelling interest exists in avoiding racial isolation, an interest that a school district, in its discretion and expertise, may choose to pursue."

But he added, "Crude measures of this sort [as illustrated in this case] threaten to reduce children to racial chits valued and traded according to one school's supply and another's demand."

Thomas took a harder stance against the choice plans: "Simply putting students together under the same roof does not necessarily mean that the students will learn together or even interact," he said. "Furthermore, it is unclear whether increased interracial contact improves racial attitudes and relations."

CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said the ruling is "going to rank with the great, important school desegregation opinions of the court's history, starting with Brown v. Board of Education in 1954." (Full story)

"What this court said was even though only a few slots were determined by race, that's too many. You just simply can't consider race in deciding which school kids go to," Toobin said.

"Justice Kennedy, who was the swing vote, said maybe possibly you could do it sometimes. But clearly the message of the court majority here is that race is out as a consideration in school assignments. And a lot of districts still use it and are considering using it, and they're going to have to change."

Those on both sides of the issue, as well as the Bush administration, had hoped the Supreme Court would clarify when and to what lengths state and local officials can go to promote diversity in K-12 education.

In a landmark case three years ago, the justices affirmed racial quotas were unconstitutional but offered a limited, but nonetheless powerful endorsement of affirmative action in higher education. The Supreme Court has now ruled that legal standard does not apply in a K-12 public school setting.

While supporters on both sides of the issue seemed to agree classroom diversity is an important goal, differences remain over how to maintain it without the real or perceived consequence that some families may be unfairly discriminated against or inconvenienced.

In dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens said the majority "reverses course and reaches the wrong conclusion. In doing so, it distorts precedent, it misapplies the relevant constitutional principles, it announces legal rules that will obstruct efforts by state and local governments to deal effectively with the growing resegregation of public schools, it threatens to substitute for present calm a disruptive round of race-related litigation."

Stevens was joined by Justices David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.

The Seattle and Louisville plans are voluntary, introduced in the years after integration of schools in many areas was managed by the courts. They were not designed as remedial efforts to achieve diversity, but to maintain it, as a reflection of the larger communities' racial makeup.

During oral arguments in December, hundreds of demonstrators — many of them African-American college students — marched and chanted outside the court in support of the affirmative action plans. Some carried signs such as "Equal education, not segregation."

Louisville-area schools endured decades of federal court oversight after schools there were slow to integrate. When that oversight ended in the late 1990s, county officials sought to maintain integration, requiring that most public schools have at least 15 percent and no more than 50 percent African-American enrollment. The idea was to reflect the whole of Jefferson County, which is 60 percent white and 38 percent black. Officials say their plan reflects not only the need for diversity but also the desire of parents for greater school choice.

A white parent, Crystal Meredith, sued, saying her child was twice denied the school nearest their home and had to endure a three-hour bus ride to a facility that was not their top choice. Many African-American parents raised similar concerns.

"We are here not because we didn't get our first choice, but because we got no choice," said Meredith shortly after the ruling. "I was told by the school board that my son's education was not as important
as their plan. I was told I should sacrifice his learning in order to maintain the status quo."

Louisville school officials said the ruling would not affect their school assignment plan for the coming school year.

"Although the court held that some aspects of the [county's] student assignment plan do not satisfy the court's 'narrow tailoring' requirement, it is clear Justice Kennedy's concurring opinion will allow local boards of education to use certain race-conscious measures to maintain integrity in schools," said Frank Mellon, the attorney representing the school system.

In Seattle, public schools often rely on a "tiebreaker." Under the plan, begun in 1998, families can send their children to any school in their district. When there are more applicants than spaces available, and when a school is not considered "racially balanced," race is one of several "integration tiebreakers" used to achieve diversity.

A group primarily of white parents from two neighborhoods sued in 2001, saying about 200 students were not admitted to the schools of their choice, preventing many from attending facilities nearest to their homes.

One school at the center of the controversy is Franklin High. Half of its roughly 1,500 students are Asian-American, a third are African-American, and about 7 percent are Hispanic. White enrollment dropped from 23 percent in 2000 to 10 percent last year.

The Seattle diversity plan was suspended while the appeals worked their way through the courts.

From the justices' comments during oral arguments and in the various written opinions, it was clear the legal sticking point was whether those diversity efforts represented a "compelling government interest."

The Bush administration supported the parents bringing suit against the choice plans. Solicitor General Paul Clement told the justices the two plans at issue represented "very stark racial quotas." He argued they were a "clear effort to get the schools to mimic the overall community" and that other "race-neutral" means to achieve classroom diversity should be used.

Tavis Smiley, Black Journalists Set to Question Democratic Candidates at Howard U. Debate

Date: Thursday, June 28, 2007
By: Michael H. Cottman

For the first time in American political history, four journalists of color — three black and one Hispanic — will direct questions to Democratic presidential candidates during a prime time televised debate at Howard University on Thursday.

The debate in Washington, D.C., dubbed the All-American Presidential Forums, will be moderated by radio and television talk show host Tavis Smiley and will air live on PBS television. The panel will feature two black journalists and one Hispanic journalist.

"Never before, since the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858, has a panel exclusively comprised of journalists of color and a black moderator queried a group of presidential candidates in prime time," Smiley told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "This has never happened before."

"Who knew that in 2007 there would be more diversity on stage among the candidates? So, we also need as much diversity among the journalists who will question the candidates," Smiley said.

Smiley maintained that there are many issues that have not been discussed among the candidates nd topics that have not been explored from a black perspective.

"Health care, education and the economy have been discussed to some extent, but these issues have not been discussed with us in mind," Smiley said. "The candidates have not discussed these issues in-depth, but the questions have not been asked."

Smiley will be joined by Michel Martin of National Public Radio, Gannett News Service columnist DeWayne Wickham, who writes a weekly column that also appears in USA Today, and nationally syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr.

Questions for the candidates will focus on issues that impact black Americans and will include crime, jobs and unemployment, health care, education and Katrina relief, as outlined in Smiley's best-selling book, "The Covenant with Black America."

Smiley said that so far during the campaign, candidates have talked about AIDS, but not how HIV/AIDS is the leading killer of black women. He said Cubans are being allowed into the United States, but federal authorities sending Haitians back home "should be part of the immigration conversation."

And Smiley added that when candidates discuss education, they don't talk about the numerous problems with inner city schools. He also said there is not enough discussion of Katrina relief and poverty in America.

"We plan to address these issues Thursday night," Smiley said.

All of the Democratic presidential candidates have agreed to participate in the debate, including the frontrunners, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL).

This month, according to USA Today, Clinton regained a double-digit lead over Obama in the USA Today/Gallup Poll. And according to CNN, Clinton lengthened her lead among likely New Hampshire primary voters, winning points for being strong, even if she's not necessarily the most likeable.

The CNN/WMUR presidential primary poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire, placed Clinton at the front of the pack, supported by 36 percent of likely voters, versus 22 percent for Obama, her closest rival.

Meanwhile, for the black journalists on the panel Thursday, the event marks a milestone in American politics.

"This is really historic," Wickham, who has covered every presidential campaign since 1984, told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "In the tradition of the black press, we seek to tell our own stories."

Wickham said he was recently reminded of Monroe Trotter, a black journalist, activist and vocal advocate for racial equality in the early 1900s.

In 1906, Trotter criticized President Theodore Roosevelt for his unfair treatment of black men in the military. And in 1914, inside the White House, Trotter took President Woodrow Wilson to task for not honoring his campaign promise to desegregate facilities in federal office buildings after openly courting black voters.

Outraged by Trotter's accusations, Wilson banished Trotter from the White House.

"Here we are, in 2007, journalists of color raising issues for people of color before candidates who want to be the leader of the most powerful nation in the free world," Wickham said. "This is a big deal."

During the debate, Wickham said he wants to raise issues on behalf of black Americans and delve into topics that range from crime and housing to education and schools.

"We should address the inequities in society," he said, "and the long-running pain and dashed aspirations."

Wickham added that although Obama is black, the candidate cannot expect black folks to vote for him simply because he's black.

"Obama must talk about abortion, affirmative action, the lack of quality health care and the inequities along racial lines. And if he doesn't, he can't expect blacks to shift from Clinton to Obama."

But, Wickham said, if Obama talks too much about black issues, he risks losing white support — especially since many whites say they are comfortable voting for a black man.

"He's really on a tight rope," Wickham said.

Earlier this month, Obama created news when he said the Bush administration has done nothing to defuse a "quiet riot" among blacks that threatens to erupt just as riots in Los Angeles did 15 years ago.

"This administration was colorblind in its incompetence," Obama said at a conference of black clergy, "but the poverty and the hopelessness was there long before the hurricane.

"All the hurricane did was to pull the curtain back for all the world to see," he said.

Meanwhile, Clinton picked up several major endorsements this month, which included poet Maya Angelou, Florida Rep. Kendrick Meek and film director Steven Spielberg. Meek said he agreed to serve as a senior advisor for Clinton's campaign.

"I would encourage (Clinton) to be a long-distance runner. Be in this thing to win," Angelou said in a statement. "You've got a lot of help, and a lot of people care for you — not just admire you, but really have profound affection for you."

Said Meek: "Senator Hillary Clinton is the Democratic candidate with the perfect blend of leadership, talent and intellect to lead our nation in a new direction. It is my honor to endorse Senator Hillary Clinton to be our next president."

And last week, Bill Clinton announced that he will join Clinton on high-profile campaign visits to Iowa and New Hampshire. Aides say Bill Clinton has long planned to campaign publicly for his wife, and Hillary Clinton often promises audiences they'll see a lot more of him.

But it's Hillary Clinton who will have to convince voters — and black voters in particular — to support her candidacy, and the nation will be watching her closely at Howard University.

"Barack Obama will not get my vote just because he's black, no more than Hillary Clinton will get my vote because she's married to Bill, and I like Bill," Smiley told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

"I want to know where these candidates stand on issues that affect the lives of black folks," he said. "That's what we'll be listening for Thursday night."

Last night during a lovely game of scrabble me and my moms were chopping it up about the infamous "Video Vixen" - We heard a story on the ATL News that a group of women at Spelman who are boycotting BET b/c of the "rap music" - LMAOOOOOOO!

So I ask my mom what she thought about all the hoopla over Hip Hop - my mom goes and says something I would have never thought she would say - I mean she is a pretty liberal lady and she believes in freedom of speech wholeheartedly - she says she was ashamed of both, but that she can't stand the double standard.

My double standard I am thinking that she means the degradation of Black females on videos while the men make all the money….

 She says no not that - I am talking about how these women can petition these male rappers when you have females out there filling the void themselves.

Two points for me…lol B/c that is my thought. There are some songs that women sing that can get real raunchy - and DO NOT come with a disclaimer for children like the rap CD's.

How can you  not expect the male species to want women in the videos that drop it like it's hot, that will get you bodied, or wanna make a sprite can disappear in your mouth - when you do it to yourself on the video?

A LOT of the superstars today WOMEN and MEN alike know that SEX sells and they use it to get where they wanna be in the business -

So tell me what the difference:

1. in a video girl and a superstar that does the exact same dances and moves in her video - only difference she is the star.

2. in men casting women to booty shake and freakum - when we cast ourselves in female versions of videos

Personally I think the men get a bad rep. I have taught my child that she is not a helpless person. She has a say so on how her life will play out. I tell her don't fall victim to it was the "Black Man's" fault. I think these are grown women who can do whatever they choose to do. And I think that artist are able to express themselves however they see fit and I am able to express how I feel by not buying the music or turing off the TV.

In Chicago a church has put up Billboard naming rappers that we should stop buying their music.

I feel like there are WAY more important things to be concerned about than rap music. When the country has a 40%+ drop out rate - Black people have their priorities mixed up!

Wonder how many meals for the poor that church could buy with that billboard money…hmmmmmmmmmm

I need ya'll to form two lines:

Males and Females.

More…

Yesterday I was leaving the Job and I was listening to a radio show as all of us do. An the discussion about how women should submit to their men. It seems that it women these days would rather win the argument instead of letting the male get the last word an keeping a man.  An get this… A Female Dr. totally agreed with the guys and said that women should let their significant others lead. Now men where calling in talking about how their women were neither cooking nor having enough sex with them or even better (which is my favorite) Listening to their no man having friends. The discussion went on with how men for the most part haven't change at all…We still the same as we were 50 yrs ago, and we are simple to understand. Yet women still don't understand what we really want. Or is it that they do and are just not willing to give that up.  An since women are prominent in the work force an are in roles of authoritive (sp?) positions  that they tend to bring that home where it conflicts with how the marital structure should go… Now to me this is in no means to say that women should be treated as second class citizens…what is simply states is women should understand the role in the family that they have. It was also a survey that came about that asked men what do you want you spouse to say more of…

    A. Honey I Love You

    B. Honey I Support You

    C. Honey I Respect you

More than 70 % of the Men chose B. With the Second one being C. Now why isn't this happening… An another thing where did the respect for the Black Man go?

*NOTE: Before anyone lady goes off the deep end…We're not talking about the sorry ass dudes that are no good….We're talking about the brothers that are doing there jobs and are holding it down…

 The city was wrong… yadda yadda yadda. I stayed in the projects for a few years of my life and I would have been damned if my moms had more kids under our conditions at the time. But at what point to do people have to take responsibility for putting themselves in bad situations ? HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU GONNA HAVE 11 MORE KIDS AFTER….. you know what… never fucking mind…. just read.

12M for toxic hell

City payout to Brooklyn family largest ever in lead poisoning

BY NANCIE L. KATZ
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, June 26th 2007, 4:00 AM

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Scott family won $12.75 million settlement in suit alleging they were poisoned by lead in city-subsidized housing.

A Brooklyn family whose 19 children suffered lead poisoning while living in city-subsidized housing was awarded more than $12 million in what officials say is the largest lead-paint payoff in state history.

"We're at peace now," said Rachelle Scott, whose two children, three siblings and 14 nieces and nephews were irreversibly harmed from eating lead paint between 1981 and 1994 in city-paid housing. "We've had enough aggravation. We have lots of closure."

The stunning $12.75 million settlement - to be paid largely by the city and real estate mogul Bertram Fields - came as both sides were about to rest their cases after a two-month trial in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

The more than 20 members of the Scott family erupted in a resounding cries of "yes" when lawyer Chet Kern asked if the "terms are satisfactory."

They burst into applause after the judge wished them luck and clapped loudly for the jury, which never issued a verdict despite hearing more than 6,000 pages of testimony. Outside the courtroom, family members hugged, smiled and laughed.

"It's the largest amount ever paid by the city or the state for lead-paint poisoning," said Kern, whose firm, Jacob Fuchsberg, sued the city in 1995 on behalf of matriarch Ruby Mae Scott, now 75.

The suit charged the city with negligence, neglect and "recklessly ignoring" hazardous conditions at the decrepit Brooklyn Arms welfare hotel in Fort Greene, where eight Scott kids were exposed to lead between 1981 and 1984.

The Scotts said another 11 children were poisoned after they were born to the homeless family after the city moved them to a privately owned apartment at 58 Pulaski St. in Bedford-Stuyvesant in 1984.

"This is fair and reasonable," said Alan Kaminsky, Fields' lawyer, who had argued the Brooklyn Arms Hotel owner was innocent. Fields is paying $3 million, the city $8.25 million and the hotel's management company $1.5 million.

"This was a complex case with significant factual and legal issues," said senior city counsel Philip Rizzuto, calling the settlement "in the best interest of all parties."

Experts branded the Scott case among the city's worst. In children, lead poisoning causes learning disabilities, a reduced attention span and behavioral problems. Only one of the 19 Scott children, now ranging in age from 15 to 27, graduated from high school.

In 1981, Ruby Mae Scott moved her 11 children and year-old grandson to the Brooklyn Arms, a shelter across from the Brooklyn Academy of Music that housed 268 homeless families.

The hotel was cited for 1,300 code violations, including lead paint, before being shut down in 1989, according to testimony.

Ruby's daughters Rachelle, 37, and Judy, 39, described a hellhole of disrepair - including paint chips on walls and floors, frequent fires and huge rodents.

The city told the family the Pulaski St. apartment was lead-free, but witnesses presented hundreds of city documents attesting to lead findings and repair orders for decrepit conditions there.

Rachelle Scott said no one listened to the family's complaints. Yesterday, she was somber as her family reveled around her.

"I'm just glad it's over," she said. "It's been too long."

nkatz@nydailynews.com

As y'all know I had a birthday Sunday. Shit was cool…couldn't ask for more. I went to an awards show Friday night. It was cool. Good to see a lot of people come out and support something without any violence popping off. Which is magnificent in Savannah. I have officially retired from the strip club. Even though I just got into the whole strip club thing back in February of this year, I have been going overboard lately. Well, I went out good. I spent $850.50 in there Friday night. Got a couple of 'private dances', but most of that money was spent on bottles of liquor.

Saturday was wild. I had to go to my homeboy's funeral Saturday morning. It was sad as hell. Not only cause I grew up with this nigga following me around, but just seeing his sister take it as hard as she did was terrible. That afternoon, the cats back in the hood had a cookout for my homeboy's memory and for my birthday. It was a good feeling to see a lot of the people I went to high school with come out and give a nigga love for his birthday. And on a side note…is it me or does EVERY single chick you wanted to fuck in high school that fronted on you, look fucked up now? EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. Me and my niggaz hit the club Saturday night. That's always an adventure when you got these niggaz around. Especially in a public setting…with women…AND liquor. According to these niggaz, I got into it with some dyke bitch bout her girl. Supposedly, I was getting at the dyke's girl. Well, in the end, I alledgely took another chick's drink and threw it on the dyke bitch. (I don't believe it, but I wouldn't put it past me either.) But I ended up with some chick at my spot sleep on the couch.

Sunday morning, first thing I did was take 2 shots of Patron. Second thing I did was roll up a blunt of purp. Third thing I did was fuck with the computer. And lastly, I ended up getting some head from the chick in the red dress sleep on my couch. It was like 102 degrees here Sunday, so I chilled in the house with my squad. Smoking and bullshitting. I went to a car show and the beach that evening. And for the record, those Phantoms are the hardest cars out.  So Sunday was pretty normal until 12:20 a.m.

Well as y'all know, I had to have a 'threesome' with Korea-Black. Well she called me at 11:30 telling me should would be to me in an hour. I already had the young chick over to my spot with my homeboy. She's 19 and here for 'entertainment' only. Korea-Black called and asked me was everything still a go. Of course it is! I had prior consent before hand from all 4 broads involved.  All I had to do was call the bi-sexual chick and this other broad (I was still aiming for all 4 chicks). Well Korea-Black showed up 10 minutes earlier than predicted. She was nervous at first, but after 3 shots of Citrus Patron, she was relaxed. So me, the young chick, my homeboy and Korea-Black are there smoking good as usual. The bi-sexual chick shows up around 1. She said she was with it, all I had to do was get her some ecstacy. No problem. If you want it, I can get to it.

So now I have the young chick and the bi-sexual broad popped up off them pills. They get to it. After Korea-Black figured it all out, she got in on it too. I feel bad for dude that's married to Korea-Black. He married a straight slore of a wife.  

Now truth be told, me and my homeboy did more watching than participating. But we still got ours in the end anyway. And the fourth chick finally did call about 4 in the morning. Even though everybody had left but the young chick, she still came through. So this time, I participated. All's well, ends well.

I'm just getting in here from the club tonight. Mondays are usually boring at the clubs down here, but at least I met some new prospects. I got a new one I'm thinking bout degrading this weekend. That's always a plus.

And here's a present for y'all too:http://download.yousendit.com/3C3B2C214CF8FCF6

This phone call was recorded Sunday afternoon. This is one of my homeboy's going off on some Puerto Rican chick he fucked. The funny thing bout this is that this nigga is speaking in a fake accent to the broad. This nigga is straight from the projects, but he's trying to sound like a nigga from the Caribbean (which he fails at miserably). Add to the fact that he's drunk, this shit is classic. He had this chick wide the fuck open thinking he was from some island. All I gotta say is listen to it. This is pure ignorance. And you wonder why I say women are stupid.