CNN Reports
Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 132 people were killed and 520 wounded in twin suicide car bombings in central Baghdad Sunday, officials said -- the deadliest attack on civilians in Iraq this year.
Two car bombs detonated in quick succession near Iraqi government buildings about 10:30 a.m. Sunday, as the Iraqi work week began, an Interior Ministry official said.
Among the wounded were three American security contractors, the U.S. Embassy told CNN. The embassy would not give any more details.
One of the bombs exploded outside Baghdad's governorate building. The second was outside the Justice Ministry, about 500 meters (1,600 feet) away. The Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works, which is about 50 meters from the Justice Ministry, also sustained severe damage.
Plumes of smoke billowed from the sites of the attacks as victims fled, some with blood streaming down their faces. The streets were strewn with debris, including charred cars and chunks of concrete from damaged buildings. Some government buildings and others in the area were heavily damaged.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki surveyed the carnage shortly after the explosions.
"The cowardly attack that took place today should not affect the determination of the Iraqi people from continuing their battle against the deposed regime and the gangs of criminal Baath party and the terrorist al Qaeda organization, who have committed the most heinous crimes against the civilians,'" al-Maliki said in a statement.
President Obama condemned the bombings as "outrageous attacks against the Iraqi people."
In a White House statement, Obama called the bombings an attempt to "derail Iraq's progress" and pledged that the United States would be a "close friend and partner" as Iraq prepares for elections in early 2010.
According to the statement, Obama spoke Sunday with al-Maliki and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to express his condolences and reiterate U.S. support.
The bombings came a day after the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, visited the country for the first time, and on the same day Iraqi officials were due to try to break a logjam holding up a new election law. Iraqis are supposed to go to the polls January 16, but parliament still has not passed the legislation, putting the balloting in limbo. The original deadline for parliament to pass the law was October 15, because Iraq's electoral commission says it needs 90 days to organize the process.
Iraq's parliament failed Wednesday to reach agreement on a new electoral law, so the issue was supposed go to the Political Council for National Security on Sunday. It is not clear if the bombings will derail the political council's discussions.
Al-Maliki vowed to punish "the enemies of the Iraqi people who want to spread chaos in the country and derail the political process and prevent the parliamentary elections from taking place as planned" in January.
He said holding the elections as scheduled would send the strongest response and message to the "enemies of the political process who are supported from the outside."
Susan Rice, the ambassador, completed a two-day visit to Iraq on Saturday that included a condolence stop at the Foreign Ministry, where a huge bombing killed more than 100 in August.
Security was tightened around Baghdad in the wake of the August 19 attack, which Iraqis dubbed "Bloody Wednesday." Blast walls were erected around the city and more checkpoints were set up.
Iraqi journalists grilled officials on TV on Sunday, demanding to know how the new attacks could have taken place given the new security measures.
An Iraqi official said the government was working to bolster security, but regional cooperation was needed to help fight suicide bombers.
"We are calling on international and U.N. envoys to come and find out why Iraq is being targeted this way," said Ali al-Dabbagh, the Iraqi government spokesman.
The spokesman said Iraq's setbacks are mainly caused by a fledgling intelligence that has "not been completed."
The European Union condemned "this terrorist attack" and sent its condolences to the families of the victims, the Swedish presidency said in a statement.
The Foreign Ministry, near the site of Sunday's blasts, was one of six places attacked on August 19. That day's attacks killed at least 100 people and wounded hundreds more. The area is close to the heavily guarded Green Zone that also houses the U.S. Embassy.
The August attacks shook confidence in the abilities of Iraqi security forces who took over securing urban areas from U.S. troops over the summer.
The Iraqi government has blamed Syria for harboring former Baath party members, who it said planned the August attacks, and asked for their handover.
Relations between the two neighbors were strained after the bombings. Each withdrew its ambassador from the other's country.
Security in the capital was tightened after the August bombings, and a decision to normalize the situation in Baghdad by taking down blast walls was reversed and checkpoints increased.
Iraqi and U.S. officials have warned of a possible increase in violence ahead of the country's national elections.
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XXL Reports
Ever since Beanie Sigel dropped the diss track, “What You Talking About,” towards former ally Jay-Z the hip-hop world has been in a frenzy. Last night (November 3) during an interview with Philadelpha radio station, Power 99, 50 Cent confirmed that he was trying to recruit Beans to G-Unit but Jay wouldn’t let the Philly spitter out of his contract. [Listen here].
XXLmag.com recently caught up with popular Hot 97 personality Funkmaster Flex to get his reaction to the incident. As a popular fixture in the rap world, especially New York, for over 15 years, Flex has personally witnessed the downfall of the Roc firsthand. As far as he’s concerned, Jay should have freed Beans from his roster a while back. “It’s a hard position,” the DJ said, “[but] I think Jay should’ve let Sigel go in the first inkling that he wanted to be someplace else.”
At the same time, Flex believes Jay gave Beanie plenty of chances to stand on his own two feet. “I do agree with Jay-Z with something,” he shared. “He did allow Sigel every opportunity with the clothing line, record label and his record deal. And I don’t think Sigel did anything wrong, but the game changed to where it wasn’t profitable anymore with labels. The clothing business wasn’t doing what it was doing. I don’t know if he didn’t do something or if the game just changed, because there were a lot of people with clothing lines.”
Despite Beanie’s obvious campaign to have Jigga respond to him, FMF doesn’t think it would be a smart move for the Brooklyn rap legend. “Jay’s not gonna respond, he don’t have to,” he said. “He’s the richest rapper and he just dropped a hot album. Let’s keep it 100, T-Pain, I love T-Pain. I love Sigel. I love a lot of the artists that are out there and ain’t nobody saying this album is wack.“
Read more…
HipHopWired Reports
The realm of Hip-Hop has always been see as a man's game. Although there have been prominent voices such as MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Lauryn Hill, Eve and many others, the game has always been more geared towards those with testosterone.
With female rappers AWOL, Young Money's Nicki Minaj is the only one that can stand in the spotlight to represent, but doing it by herself has opened her up to criticism on her actual rapping ability.
Minaj was also the only female rapper that seemed brave enough to step up with the big boys when she appeared in the Cypher for the BET Hip-Hop Awards this year alongside rappers such as Joe Budden and Buckshot.
The life of a female in rap has become more about politics and less about their skills in the craft and Nicki has been under fire as to whether or not she crafts her own work or simply has Lil Wayne write it for her.
“I write my own raps; I do everything on my own, so what makes you say that?”
During an interview with T.T. Torrez, the rapper spoke on the difference between men and women in the industry and how ignorance causes barriers.
“Women are held to different standards. I mean that's just the way it is. I always say ‘Nobody tells 50 and Wayne anything when they're taking their shirts off every night'. You could say that's selling sex; that's selling sex appeal. I respect Wayne and 50 very much, but if a girl comes out in a cute little outfit showing some boobs, she's not a real rapper.”
With critics questioning her verse during the Cypher, Minaj clears the air on the reality of her verse and most that participated.
“How many people in that Cypher do you think spit that off of their head? See, that's another thing and I'm glad you brought that up. Yes, I didn't spit that off the top of my head. I can't come up with those punch-lines, metaphors off the top of my head. Everybody else, besides KRS-One, who else can you name that freestyled off the top of his head.”
She also relieved some weight from her shoulders as she added that her lyrics are molded together by no one but her.
“They will tear apart a female like, ‘Oh, she did a good verse, but she wrote it'. The only thing that matters is that I wrote it on a paper and memorized it. I don't need a dude to write my shit. Wayne never wrote my shit. No one writes my stuff because it's in here. It's not about what you have down here [points to crotch] that makes you intelligent enough to write a rap and I think that's so corny.”
Women are still struggling to garner respect in the game, although it is hard to refuse something that is apparent. How can women ever steer young girls in the right direction if they are constantly put under the microscope and have to fight so hard just to get into the front door?
Read more…
NY Daily News Reports
Sam Jones III will need a lot more help than Superman can offer him.
The "Smallville" star, who played Clark Kent's best friend on the CW show, was arrested Wednesday morning in a federal drug sting, TMZ.com reported.
The Drug Enforcement Agency said Jones was accused of being a "co-conspirator" in several major drug deals last year.
According to court documents, the actor and several others devised a plan to purchase and distribute more than 10,000 oxycodone pills.
Jones was reportedly taken into custody by DEA agents who described him as the "Hollywood connection" to the plot.
The 26-year-old actor has been charged with conspiracy to possess illegal drugs with the intent to distribute. If convicted, Jones faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
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London Times Online Reports
A model who featured in a fashion photograph for Polo Ralph Lauren, which was doctored to make her look abnormally thin, has been dropped by the clothing label, she says, for being too fat.
In the latest row over distorted body images in the fashion industry, Filippa Hamilton said yesterday that her contract with the luxury brand had been terminated after six years because she was too heavy.
“They fired me because they said I was overweight and couldn’t fit in their clothes any more,” she said. The company disputes her claim.
The 5ft 10in (1.79m) and 8½st (54kg) model who is a US size 4 (a UK size 8), found herself at the centre of a controversy after a digitally altered photograph of her appeared in a Ralph Lauren advertisement in Japan. In the image, which spread quickly via the internet last week, her waist had been reduced to almost the width of her head.
Critics said that the retouched image could be seen as realistic and so influence consumers, particularly the young, and encourage eating disorders or the kind of Tic-Tac-and-cigarette diet favoured by some models.
Hamilton, 23, was incensed that her image had been digitally retouched. “I was shocked to see that super-skinny girl with my face. It’s very sad, I think, that Ralph Lauren could do something like that,” she said.
Filippa Hamilton
Polo Ralph Lauren attempted to limit the damage, agreeing that the image should never have been used. “The image in question was mistakenly released and used in a department store in Japan and was not the approved image which ran in the US,” it said.
“We take full responsibility for allowing this image to run as this is completely inconsistent with our creative standards and brand values. This error has absolutely no connection to our relationship with Filippa Hamilton.”
But the company also confirmed that it had ended its relationship with Hamilton “as a result of her inability to meet the obligations under her contract”. A spokesman said: “Filippa Hamilton is a beautiful and healthy woman that we have worked closely with for over six years and we consider her an important part of our imaging and branding. We regret that our relationship has ended.”
He denied that she had been dropped for being overweight, but Geoffrey Menin, Hamilton’s lawyer, said she had been let go because the company said that she did not fit into the sample sizes that it needed her to wear for photoshoots.
“That photoshopped image pushed all this into the open. That image was a gross distortion of what she really looks like and was professionally and emotionally harmful to her.
“From a professional point of view, nobody would want to hire somebody looking like that. She was angry too. She had felt that Ralph Lauren was like a family to her as she had worked with them since she was 15,” Mr Menin said.
The debate over the responsibility of the fashion industry for disseminating images of unrealistically thin women has raged for years.
Earlier this year Alexandra Shulman, Editor of British Vogue, wrote to the world’s main designers expressing her concern that they were, in effect, making magazines hire models with “jutting bones and no breasts or hips” by supplying them with “minuscule” garments for their photoshoots.
Vogue was frequently “retouching” photographs of models to make them look larger, she said.
Read more…
Posted by ChasinDatPaper on September 30, 2009 at 6:30am
Ballerstatus Reports
Sizzurp is a mixture prescription-strength cough syrup containing codeine and soda. Although, the concoction originated in the south, rappers like Dipset and Lil Wayne have popularized it across the nation.
The drink, or drank as it's also referred to, has gotten so big in the south that two different beverage companies are trying to capitalize on its popularity with newly released beverages -- one called "Drank" and the other labeled "Sippin' Syrup."
Both drinks labels themselves as "anti-energy" drinks that provide "extreme relaxation."
However, the ingredients are not harmful. They contain Melatonin, a natural substance that helps you sleep; and Valerian Root, which is used medicinally for insomnia and other disorders.
On the official website for Drank (DrankBeverage.com), it says: "The first EXTREME RELAXATION drink to hit the market. DRANK, the new drink design to calm and relax you."
According to local news station KBMT12, stores in Southeast Texas have started to stock their shelves with them, and local law enforcement and parents are concerned, calling both products a gateway to using other harmful and illegal substances.
"It is such an obvious gateway product to one of the most dangerous drugs in our area," Major Jim Singletary who works in the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, told the new channel. "We got enough problems with kids experimenting with the real thing," he added, "now the younger kids will be able to buy something like this until they can buy the real thing."
Parents seem to agree with Singletary. Johnny Davison, who has four kids, says he is making sure his children stay away from the drink. "You hear it all the time on the rap tapes," he said. "If kids see it they're going to think it's something good."
They just may have a point too. 18-year-old Jackie Robinson told the news station that he just started drink "Sippin' Syrup" just because of its name. "I ain't gonna lie it really do," Robinson said, as he sipped his drink. "It probably attracts a lot of people from the name too.
"To put sippin syrup they're going to make some money," he added.
Read more…
People.com Reports
For the first time since she was abducted from her Salt Lake City bedroom seven years ago, Elizabeth Smart on Thursday provided details about her nine-month ordeal with her accused kidnapper, Brian David Mitchell. She described being drugged, tied to a tree and raped as often as four times a day.
Smart was prepared to meet Mitchell face to face in a federal court, but that never happened.
Elizabeth Smart
Yet before Smart was called to the stand, her alleged abductor, Mitchell, began singing a Mormon hymn as he entered the courtroom at 9 a.m. Judge Dale Kimball ordered him to stop, but he refused and was immediately sent to a holding cell to watch the proceedings via a television monitor.
In his absence Smart, 21, calmly recounted her time with Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee. She told U.S. Attorney Brett L. Tolman that Mitchell raped her daily, beginning June 5, 2002, the night she was abducted from her home at knifepoint.
"He placed his hand on my chest," she recalled of the night Mitchell allegedly entered her bedroom and took her away, "and then put the knife up to my neck. He told me to get up quietly and if I didn't then he would kill me and my family."
Ritual Wedding
She continued: "He was whispering, but it was still loud enough it could wake someone. He was dressed in sweats, sweatshirt, stocking cap, tennis shoes."
Mitchell led her into a camp in the woods three miles behind her house, she said, then took her into a lean-to where Wanda Barzee tried to force her to bathe.
"She eventually just proceeded to wash my feet and told me to change out of my pajamas into a robe type of garment," Smart recalled. "And when I refused, she said if I didn't, she would have Brian Mitchell come rip my pajamas off. I put the robe on ... he came and performed a ceremony, which was to marry me to him. After that, he proceeded to rape me."
Religion and Sex
Smart told the court that she was tethered to a tree by a cable except when she was being raped by Mitchell – sometimes four times a day.
"Of your nine months with him, what was his dominant focus?" asked U.S. Attorney Tolman.
"Sex," replied Smart.
Mitchell has twice been found incompetent for trial in Utah state court, so Smart's testimony that he kidnapped her for sex, not because of religion, is critical to the federal case.
"Did he speak to you about religion?" asked Tolman her.
"He used religion to get what he wanted," said Smart.
According to her testimony, Mitchell provided her with drugs and alcohol to lower her resistance. Smart said that she once became sick when Mitchell forced her to drink too much alcohol, and he forced her to lay face down in her vomit all night. He also showed her pornography, she said.
She described the self-avowed prophet as "evil," "manipulative," "greedy" and "not close to God."
He Called Her Augustine
According to Smart, Mitchell changed her name to Augustine and forced her to go without food for days at a time. She said she attempted to fight Mitchell's sexual attacks once by biting him. "He said if I did that, he would never have sex with me again and I would be the most miserable woman in the world," she testified. "He said that but it didn't stop him."
Smart's parents, Ed and Lois Smart, were on hand to hear the painful testimony. They have said they never pressed her for details about her ordeal. Smart leaves on a mission to France next month for the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Her testimony will be used during Mitchell's federal competency hearing on Nov. 30.
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Posted by ChasinDatPaper on September 16, 2009 at 8:30pm
London Times Online Reports
‘The greatest fear people have is that of being themselves. They want to be 50 Cent or someone else. They do what everyone else does even if it doesn’t fit where and who they are. But you get nowhere that way; your energy is weak and no one pays attention to you. You’re running away from the one thing that you own—what makes you different. I lost that fear. And once I felt the power that I had by showing the world I didn’t care about being like other people, I could never go back.’ 50 Cent
1. See Things for What They Are - Intense Realism
Reality can be rather harsh. Your days are numbered. It takes constant effort to carve a place for yourself in this ruthlessly competitive world and hold on to it. People can be treacherous. They bring endless battles into your life. Your task is to resist the temptation to wish it were all different; instead you must fearlessly accept these circumstances, even embrace them. By focusing your attention on what is going on around you, you will gain a sharp appreciation for what makes some people advance and others fall behind. By seeing through people’s manipulations, you can turn them around. The firmer your grasp on reality, the more power you will have to alter it for your purposes.
2. Make Everything Your Own - Self-Reliance
When you work for others, you are at their mercy. They own your work; they own you. Your creative spirit is squashed. What keeps you in such positions is a fear of having to sink or swim on your own. Instead you should have a greater fear of what will happen to you if you remain dependent on others for power. Your goal in every manoeuvre in life must be ownership, working the corner for yourself. When it is yours, it is yours to lose - you are more motivated, more creative, more alive. The ultimate power in life is to be completely self-reliant, completely yourself.
3. Turn Shit into Sugar - Opportunism
Every negative situation contains the possibility for something positive, an opportunity. It is how you look at it that matters. Your lack of resources can be an advantage, forcing you to be more inventive with the little that you have. Losing a battle can allow you to frame yourself as the sympathetic underdog. Do not let fears make you wait for a better moment or become conservative. If there are circumstances you cannot control, make the best of them. It is the ultimate alchemy to transform all such negatives into advantages and power.
4. Keep Moving - Calculated Momentum
In the present there is constant change and so much we cannot control. If you try to micromanage it all, you lose even greater control in the long run. The answer is to let go and move with the chaos that presents itself to you - from within it, you will find endless opportunities that elude most people. don’t give others the chance to pin you down; keep moving and changing your appearances to fit the environment. if you encounter walls or boundaries, slip around them. do not let anything disrupt your flow.
5. Know When to Be Bad - Aggression
You will always find yourself among the aggressive and the passive aggressive who seek to harm you in some way. You must get over any general fears you have of confronting people or you will find it extremely difficult to assert yourself in the face of those who are more cunning and ruthless. Before it is too late you must master the art of knowing when and how to be bad - using deception, manipulation, and outright force at the appropriate moments. Everyone operates with a flexible morality when it comes to their self-interest—you are simply making this more conscious and effective.
6. Lead from the Front - Authority
In any group, the person on top consciously or unconsciously sets the tone. If leaders are fearful, hesitant to take any risks, or overly concerned for their ego and reputation, then this invariably filters its way through the entire group and makes effective action impossible. Complaining and haranguing people to work harder has a counterproductive effect. You must adopt the opposite style: imbue your troops with the proper spirit through your actions, not words. They see you working harder than anyone, holding yourself to the highest standards, taking risks with confidence, and making tough decisions. This inspires and binds the group together. In these democratic times, you must practice what you preach.
7. Know Your Environment from the Inside Out - Connection
Most people think first of what they want to express or make, then find the audience for their idea. You must work the opposite angle, thinking first of the public. You need to keep your focus on their changing needs, the trends that are washing through them. Beginning with their demand, you create the appropriate supply. Do not be afraid of people’s criticisms - without such feedback your work will be too personal and delusional. You must maintain as close a relationship to your environment as possible, getting an inside “feel” for what is happening around you. Never lose touch with your base.
8. Respect the Process - Mastery
The fools in life want things fast and easy — money, success, attention. Boredom is their great enemy and fear. Whatever they manage to get slips through their hands as fast as it comes in. You, on the other hand, want to outlast your rivals. You are building the foundation for something that can continue to expand. To make this happen, you will have to serve an apprenticeship. You must learn early on to endure the hours of practice and drudgery, knowing that in the end all of that time will translate into a higher pleasure—mastery of a craft and of yourself. Your goal is to reach the ultimate skill level—an intuitive feel for what must come next.
9. Push Beyond Your Limits - Self-Belief
Your sense of who you are will determine your actions and what you end up getting in life. If you see your reach as limited, that you are mostly helpless in the face of so many difficulties, that it is best to keep your ambitions low, then you will receive the little that you expect. Knowing this dynamic, you must train yourself for the opposite—ask for more, aim high, and believe that you are destined for something great. Your sense of self-worth comes from you alone—never the opinion of others. With a rising confidence in your abilities, you will take risks that will increase your chances of success. People follow those who know where they are going, so cultivate an air of certainty and boldness.
10. Confront Your Mortality - The Sublime
In the face of our inevitable mortality we can do one of two things. We can attempt to avoid the thought at all costs, clinging to the illusion that we have all the time in the world. Or we can confront this reality, accept and even embrace it, converting our consciousness of death into something positive and active. In adopting such a fearless philosophy, we gain a sense of proportion, become able to separate what is petty from what is truly important. Knowing our days to be numbered, we have a sense of urgency and mission. We can appreciate life all the more for its impermanence. If we can overcome the fear of death, then there is nothing left to fear.
Extracted from Robert Greene and 50 Cent’s new book The 50th Law, published by Profile Books
Posted by ChasinDatPaper on September 15, 2009 at 10:00am
XXL Reports
Beanie Sigel is in hot water once again. The Philadelphia-bred rapper missed a mandatory court date yesterday for a drug possession case causing a judge to offer a bench warrant for his arrest.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer Burlington County muicipal court Judge Gregory McCloskey issued the warrant after Beans decided not to show.
As previously reported Sigel was arrested in August for marijuana possession on his way to a concert at nearby tavern, Kelly’s Bar.
Beans recently released a new CD, his first since 2007’s The Focus, on September 1. The disc, titled The Broad Street Bully, was released independently on Siccness Records and is described by label head Nemo Mitchell as more of a “mixtape” than a full-fledged studio album.
Read more…
Posted by ChasinDatPaper on September 14, 2009 at 10:00pm
NY Daily News Reports
HOUSTON - The guy named Vinny with the Vandyke and Brooklyn accent looked out of place in the leafy Texas neighborhood of gated mansions.
That's because this Vinny was Vincent Palermo - onetime Mafia star turned FBI informant - a guy who managed to vanish from the world of scungilli and Sinatra to recreate himself 1,400 miles away in the land of BBQ and the Texas two-step.
Palermo, with a new name, lives under a cloak created by the feds after testifying against the DeCavalcante clan, the Jersey-based Mafia family whose members believe they inspired "The Sopranos" TV show.
Of course, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Before he admitted taking part in four murders, extortion and a host of crimes, Palermo operated Wiggles, a strip club in Forest Hills, Queens.
The club was a kind of one-stop shop for drugs and prostitution, and then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani made it Public Enemy No. 1 in his drive to shut down sex clubs.
Today, Palermo controls the Penthouse Club and All-Star Men's Club in Houston - strip joints city officials say are hotbeds of prostitution and drugs.
Most of Palermo's Texas neighbors will learn his true identity today when his face and identity will be revealed on a local TV station, KPRC. At that moment, he will face a new reality - should he and his family disappear. Again.
Palermo's transformation began in 1999, after an FBI takedown of the DeCavalcantes.
He started out legit, working at the Fulton Fish Market in Manhattan, where he earned the nickname Vinny Ocean. By the mid-1960s, he was married to the mob, choosing a niece of the boss, Simone (Sam the Plumber) DeCavalcante, as his bride.
Before rising to acting boss, he made his name by eliminating suspected informant Fred Weiss as a favor for the late Gambino boss, John Gotti.
On Sept. 11, 1989, Palermo and another gangster walked up to Weiss on a Staten Island street and fired. Weiss was shot twice in the face; Gotti was delighted.
After his 1999 arrest, Palermo hired prominent criminal lawyer Gregory O'Connell, a former prosecutor. He quickly turned informant.
His testimony helped decimate the DeCavalcante family, New Jersey's only homegrown organized crime family. The entire hierarchy is now behind bars or cooperating with the FBI.
After pleading guilty in a sealed courtroom on Oct. 20, 2000, he grew a Vandyke beard. He wore sunglasses while testifying. His cooperation inspired several family gangsters to plead guilty.
He forgot to tell the feds he gave his kids $1.1 million, a lapse that earned him jail time. He agreed to pay $2 million in restitution and keep his nose clean. Soon - with a nod from the feds - he was released.
He and his family were allowed to sell their $2 million stucco mansion in Island Park, L.I., and enter the witness protection program with new names and Social Security numbers. They disappeared into America.
In 2002, Palermo surfaced in Houston with a new name.
The next year, he bought a $875,000 gated mansion complete with fountain and statues in the front yard. He followed up with several properties that became the Penthouse and All-Star Men's Clubs, a Mexican restaurant and a car wash - all next to one another in a gritty section of Houston.
In an interview outside his home, Palermo told the Daily News his son Vincent Jr. runs the clubs. He admitted owning the property and collecting rent.
"He pays me rent. That's how I get income," he said of his son, listed as sole owner of Herewearegain Inc., which owns the clubs.
Before July 2008, his wife, Debra, was listed as sole owner, though Palermo lists himself as company president in a 2007 donation to the Republican Party.
The City of Houston, using Palermo's new name, insists he controls the Penthouse Club. In court papers, it says the evidence "leaves no doubt that the Penthouse Club is controlled and operated by Vincent (Palermo) Sr."
In a sealed court hearing, a state investigator used an old photo to identify Palermo as the man who runs the business that controls the club.
Recordings made by a cooperating informant named Ralphie back in 1998 make clear Palermo has long wanted to run a Penthouse strip club.
In one April 1998 conversation, Palermo boasted of his negotiations with Penthouse founder Bob Guccione to open a club.
"He bought a gentleman's club. I said, but you know what? I said you know, we wanted to do one in the city. The first one. Penthouse Live."
Palermo formed a corporation to market Penthouse lingerie and discussed opening a Penthouse club in Russia.
In 2002, Herewearegain Inc. got a liquor license for a Houston strip club named Caligula XXI, renaming it Penthouse Club in 2005. The club repeatedly made headlines in Houston for all the wrong reasons.
From Jan. 5, 2006, through Aug. 8, 2007, Houston police launched seven stings that produced evidence of 10 prostitution offers and 10 drug sales. Cops reported strippers offering to perform sex acts inside a "Champagne Room."
The club was also repeatedly cited for violations of no-touch rules and regulations barring dancers from coming within 3-feet of customers. A neighbor reported being solicited outside the club on his way home.
After Houston began targeting Penthouse, the club claimed it wasn't a strip club because dancers covered their nipples with latex or body paint. Club managers admitted to occasional "wardrobe malfunctions," but insisted Penthouse Houston was really a "bikini club."
The city moved to shut Penthouse because it violated the law barring "sexually oriented businesses" from within 1,500 feet of schools and residential properties. The club was forced to shut for a year in September 2008.
Across the street is the All-Star Men's Club, also operated by Herewearegain Inc., in a building Palermo owns. In May, nine club employees were arrested on prostitution and drug charges in yet another police raid.
He refused to talk about how he acquired the properties, referring The News to his lawyer, who also declined to comment.
A year after the city shut it down, Penthouse Houston intends to reopen Sept. 17, again as a "bikini bar."
In a brief interview outside his home, Palermo looked unchanged and unfazed. His hair had a touch more silver, but his accent was pure Brooklyn.
He seemed entirely at ease, walking with a slight swagger and claiming that many Houstonians know who he is due to an A&E special on the DeCavalcante crime family.
"Everybody knows who I am," he said. "It was on A&E."
Read more…
Posted by ChasinDatPaper on September 14, 2009 at 8:29pm
HipHopWired Reports
From the beginning of the summer to the end, peace is nowhere in sight for one of the reigning monarchs of the Atlanta's music scene. Sharing the same mantle of power as T.I. and Ludacris is Young Jeezy, whom has found himself the target of several emotionally laced diss tracks as of late. The most recent comes from a former colleague and compatriot, Jody Breeze, whom has decided to take aim at the Snowman for reasons that are still clear only to himself.
Employing the hard laced track found on “Uptown,” the underrated and often ignored rapper from the Georgia boondocks takes a myriad of personal, seemingly pain-induced emotional jabs at a man that once shared stages and rocked crowds with him. Breeze even called Mr.17.5's street affiliations and history into question, a minor jab before insulting his family.
Four years ago, both men were members in P. Diddy's southern rap group, Boyz N' Da Hood, along with Duke and Big Gee. Issues arose between the two when Jeezy, who set the streets on fire with his legendary Trap or Die mixtape, parlayed his success into a tool for stronger negotiations in the boardroom which resulted in him being signed to a one album deal with Bad Boy Records and a very lucrative deal with Def Jam. Perhaps due to ignorance, the remaining members of the group were never able to imitate the breakout success Jeezy found, and faded into the annals of southern Hip-Hop history.
Jody Breeze's biggest hit to date has been 2005's “Stay Fresh,” a duet with Jazze Pha. With a chart topping hit like that, it's no wonder Breeze feels that he made Jeezy's career, as he once humbly proclaimed. Gorilla Zoe was in Boyz N Da Hood too and you don't see Big Gee or Duke making dissin' him. I think I smell another “Stay Strapped” in the air, maybe followed up with a touch of “24,23.”
You could say the Griffin, GA MC committed career suicide, but you have to have a career first in order to kill it.
Check out the track below.
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Jody Breeze goes in on Young Jeezy hard on this diss track. I'm not 100 % sure of the origins of their beef. At one time they were in the group Boyz In Da Hood together but Jody lets it be known he aint playing around. Hopefully this will stay on wax and not escalate into some street ish !
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Sacramento Bee Reports
A 58-year-old convicted rapist and registered sex offender and his wife have been arrested in connection with the 1991 abduction of 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard, who surfaced alive in the Bay Area on Wednesday after disappearing for 18 years.
Authorities were swarming the neighborhood on Walnut Avenue in Antioch where Phillip Craig Garrido, a 6-foot, 4-inch, 196-pound registered sex offender lived with his wife, Nancy Garrido, is listed on the state's Megan's Law sex offender Web site as being convicted of rape.
Phillip Craig Garrido, a registered sex offender, is reportedly a suspect in the abduction of Jaycee Lee Dugard.
State parole officials said Garrido came to their attention after someone reported suspicious activity because he was seen near UC-Berekley with two small children.
On Wednesday, parole agents and Concord police brought Garrido in for questioning, along with the two children and an adult female. During questioning, authorities said, Garrido confesse that he had abducted Dugard and the adult woman in his company revealed that she was Dugard.
Garrido had served time in a federal prison in Nevada for sexual assault.
Garrido's next-door neighbor said people in the area had known for years that Garrido was a registered sex offender and that at one point someone called authorities because they were concerned that there were children living in the home.
Haydee Perry, 32, said her boyfriend has a 7-year-old daughter and that he was concerned about Garrido living next door. She said a friend of her boyfriend had called police a few years ago because there were children living in the Garrido home and other people were living in the yard in tents.
Neighbors also noted that Garrido had a penchant for wandering the neighborhood distributing religious tracts and quoting Bible verse, she said. Perry added that nothing came of the call to police.
Perry said she talked to a young girl at the home recently who she estimated was 11 and that the girl had indicated she had two older sisters, one a young teen and the other 28, about the same age as Dugard today.
The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office this morning confirmed the identity of the 29-year-old woman who walked into a Bay Area police station claiming to be Dugard.
Further, in an extraordinary sequence of events today, federal and local law agencies renewed their focus on the 18-year-old mystery of what happened to the blond, blue-eyed girl who was abducted while walking to school June 10, 1991.
Jaycee Lee Dugard was abducted in 1991.
El Dorado County sheriff's officials were preparing to release details on the case at a 3 p.m. press conference, but the girl's stepfather confirmed to The Bee early today that Jaycee had resurfaced and was being reunited with her mother.
Carl Probyn, Jaycee's stepfather, said his wife and daughter were flying to Northern California to meet Dugard and that his wife, Terry, spoke with the young woman by phone Wednesday night.
The Probyns, who are separated, live in Southern California, Carl in Orange County and Terry in Riverside. Terry Probyn and their daughter, Shayna, 19, boarded a 6 a.m. flight to the Bay Area to meet with Dugard, Carl Probyn said.
Probyn said he is elated.
"I'm just pleased that she is alive and well," said Probyn, a 60-year-old Orange County wallpaper contractor.
Probyn, who has yet to speak with his stepdaughter, said he believes suspects who might have been involved with the abduction are in custody.
Dugard's disappearance prompted a massive search, nationwide publicity and one of the largest police investigations in the region.
Dugard was on her way to school when authorities said she was pulled into a stranger's car just a block away from her South Lake Tahoe home.
Probyn said he heard her scream and saw a man and a woman drive his stepdaughter away in a gray two-tone sedan.
Despite several false sightings, Dugard was never seen again.
One person in the car was described as a 30-year-old woman with long, dark hair. Jaycee was last seen dressed in a pink windbreaker, white T-shirt and pink stretch pants.
The stepfather said Shayna Probyn called Wednesday about 4 p.m. and said, "Mom has something to say to you. Are you sitting down?"
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TMZ Reports
The former singer from Diddy's MTV reality show "Making the Band 2" has once again made the cut -- but cops say this time Sara Stokes was using a knife ... to stab her own husband.
We know what you're thinking, "someone must've beat the crap out of this woman" -- but according to cops, it was the exact opposite.
This bloody mug shot was taken after Stokes was arrested for domestic violence August 2 at their home in Moreno Valley, CA.
According to law enforcement sources, Sara stormed out of the house after arguing with husband Tony -- she tripped, fell down and accused him of doing it.
We're told Sara -- who hurt her head in the fall -- grabbed a knife and stabbed Tony in the arm -- while their 3 kids watched.
Paramedics and cops came and Stokes was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and domestic violence. The D.A. is deciding whether to charge her.
Sara's lawyer, Eric Kayira, tells us, "Sara and Tony have a very passionate and loving relationship that on August 2, while having an evening of fun, she slipped and fell, hitting her head heavily on the ground and somehow in the process of helping her Tony got injured."
Somehow ....
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NYDailyNews Reports
A baby boy born 16 weeks prematurely was declared dead by doctors at a hospital in Paraguay only to wake up in time for his funeral wake hours later.
Dr. Ernesto Weber, head of pediatric care at the state-run hospital in the capital of Asuncion, said the baby weighed just 17.6 ounces when he was born.
"Initially, the baby didn't move, he practically didn't have any respiratory reflexes, nor did we hear a heartbeat and, as a result, we declared a premature fetus of 24 weeks dead," Weber told Reuters Television.
The family was given a death certificate and a cardboard box with the baby's name scribbled on the outside which served as a makeshift coffin.
But when the family took him from the hospital to prepare him for his funeral, the unbelievable happened.
"I opened the box and took the baby out and he cried. I got scared and I said "the baby's crying" ... and then he started moving his arms, his legs and I got scared, we got very scared," said one member of the family, Liliana Alvarenga.
Hours after the baby's death had been declared he was found to be alive. The hospital has begun an investigation and the baby is now in a stable condition in an incubator.
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New York Post Reports
Superstar rapper 50 Cent is secretly planning to stage a free concert in a schoolyard near the Queens projects where he grew up, and where he was nearly fatally shot -- sparking a wave of fear in the community and prompting cops to prepare for the worst.
"We can't control the area," warned one law-enforcement source, noting that the performance on the grounds of PS 40 in Jamaica will be part of "an outdoor event -- people could walk in from anywhere."
"Someone's gonna try to make a name for themselves," another worried source added. "They're gonna take a shot at him, and they're either gonna hit him or they're gonna miss him and hit some poor, innocent kid or grandmother."
The sources said an army of cops is planning to shut down a massive, 20-block area around the South Jamaica Houses for the "surprise" Aug. 30 concert, which is expected to draw about 10,000 people.
Fitty, who is scheduled to perform at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey the night before, is set to make at an appearance at the neighborhood's "Family Day" on the school's grounds at around 5:30 p.m. He plans to bring celebrity pals with him, the sources said.
The school's yard will be packed with children and their families. There will be a stage set up for Fitty and other acts, and a DJ will be there with a mike and equipment.
The day is being sponsored by the New York Restoration Project, a nonprofit founded by Bette Midler and the G-Unity Foundation, the rapper's charity that supports low-income communities.
But the prospect of massive turnout and the violence that could ensue -- given the bulletproof-vest-sporting rapper's past run-in with gunfire -- already has some families heading for the hills.
Word has leaked out in the community that Fitty is appearing. "When I heard that . . . I wanted to avoid it, so I planned a trip to get away from here that day," said Debbie Lucas, 30, who has two young children.
Although her 11-year-old nephew, Corey, desperately wants to see the Grammy nominee perform, Lucas is shuttling her loved ones to an amusement park for the day.
"I haven't heard anything about any protection or security," she said. "I'm not gonna go, no way."
Fitty, a former crack dealer born Curtis Jackson, was shot nine times in 2000 in front of his grandmother's house blocks away from the proposed show's site. He has also been stabbed.
The South Jamaica Houses, also known as the 40 Projects, have a notoriously bloody history that peaked in the late '80s and early '90s. In January, a city bus driver, who moonlighted as a rap producer, and another man were fatally gunned down just steps away from where the rapper is set to take the stage.
Hundreds of officers -- including cops from the gang and intelligence units -- are expected to descend on the area both in uniform and in plainclothes.
"There's concern because [50 Cent] has already been shot," one source said. "He has a lot of enemies and is very controversial."
And while an NYPD spokesman said there would be "adequate police presence," some local officials fear it won't be enough.
"The concern is the manpower," said Community Board 12 manager Yvonne Reddick. "That's a lot of people . . . The park is surrounded by a residential community."
Organizers deny that 50 Cent will take the stage, but his publicist, Keesha Johnson, said he would make an appearance.
A spokesman from the Parks Department said a permit for the event was expected to be finalized this week but that the paperwork did not indicate there would be a performance.
Meanwhile, even some teens are vowing to stay away.
"There's word out there that there's going to be some shootings," said Mike Terrients, 15. "Some of my friends' parents are saying that they don't want them to go because something is going to happen."
Freddy Fredito, 58, who lives in a two-story home near PS 40, said, "I'm scared already. 50 Cent
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