Malik B, founding member of The Roots, dead at 47
Malik B, a founding member of The Roots and solo artist, has passed away. He was 47.
The Philadelphia rapper’s death was first confirmed by his cousin, former CBS News correspondent Don Champion, as well as founding members Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter.
Born Malik Abdul Baset, the rapper and singer first joined The Roots before the group’s 1993 debut studio album, “Organix.” He also appeared on the band’s next three albums including “Do You Want More?!!!??!,” “Illadelph Halflife” and “Things Fall Apart.”
“It is with heavy hearts and tearful eyes that we regretfully inform you of the passing of our beloved brother and long time Roots member Malik Abdul Baset,” Questlove and Black Thought said in a statement to The Post. “May he be remembered for his devotion to Islam, His loving brotherhood and His innovation as one of the most gifted MCs of all time. We ask that you please respect his family and extended family in our time of mourning such a great loss.”
The Roots also tweeted a similar statement.
“Mourning my beloved cousin today,” Champion wrote on Twitter. “He was so talented and had a huge heart. I still remember when he and The Roots were starting out. He’d give me and my dad their cassette tapes to listen to. I miss you already, Mailk. #RIP.”
“Heartbroken to hear of the passing of Malik B, one of the greatest MC’s to ever come from this city,” wrote fellow Philly-based rapper Reef The Lost Cauze, whose real name is Sharif T. Lacey. “He had his troubles for sure, but dude inspired a whole generation of us to touch the mic. Myself included. May he rest peacefully.”
The details of his death have not yet been revealed.
Malik B left the group in 1999 before The Roots released its fifth album, “Phrenology.” Roots member Black Thought dedicated a song to Malik B entitled “Water” on the album describing how they met.
The emcee was also a member of the underground rap group, Army Of The Pharaohs, and later appeared as a guest artist on several Roots’ songs, like “Game Theory.”
Baset also had a solo career after leaving The Roots, including an EP and two albums. His most recent was 2016’s “Unpredictable” with producer Mr. Green.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/29/malik-b-founding-member-of-the-roots-dead-at-47/
Photo Credit: The Roots via Twitter
News reporter under fire for using the N-word in daytime news report
A white BBC reporter came under fire Wednesday for using the N-word uncensored in a report describing a racist attack — giving just a few seconds’ warning it was coming.
Fiona Lamdin used the slur in a 10.30 a.m. report in the UK to describe the hateful words shouted at a black National Health Service worker who was hit by a car in a suspected racially aggravated assault in Bristol.
“Just to warn you, you’re about to hear highly offensive language,” Lamdin told viewers in the pre-recorded segment for a regional news show.
“Because as the men ran away they hurled racial abuse, calling him a ‘n—er,’ ” she said, with the offending word aired completely uncensored.
Her warning — just seconds before the word was used — was not enough to stop a swift backlash.
“The use of the n-word is violent towards Black individuals so why did you reinforce that violence by repeating the word?” a designer named tëa tweeted her.
“You could have used all manner of language to express the fact it was racial abuse. Your gratuitous use of the n-word is shameful.”
Another insisted that “nothing will ever justify” using the word, calling it “absolutely disgusting behavior.”
“Doesn’t matter which way you cut it, Fiona Lamdin should not have said the n-word on TV. What was she thinking?” tweeted documentary maker Matthew Teller, who has worked for the BBC.
“There was no need for her to say it, bleeped or not,” he said, insisting the reporter and management “must take responsibility.”
Freelance multimedia journalist Zab Mustefa tweeted at Lamdin: “Didn’t you get the memo? Non-Black people can never say that word, even when describing a racist incident.”
Others, however, were dismayed that repeating the language used in an attack was sparking more outrage than the initial assault itself, with many of the comments coming in a tweet the reporter sent of the victim’s gruesome injuries.
“Context is everything and I think people need to get their priorities straight,” one follower wrote.
The BBC justified its reporting to the UK’s Radio Times, while acknowledging it would no longer air the report uncensored.
“This was a story about a shocking unprovoked attack on a young black man. His family told the BBC about the racist language used by the attackers and wanted to see the full facts made public,” a spokesperson said, noting a “warning was given before this was reported.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/29/bbc-under-fire-for-using-the-n-word-in-daytime-news-report/
Photo Credit: @fionalamdin
Free meals meant for NYC’s needy left at wrong address — since May
Emergency city coronavirus meals meant for the needy have since May been showing up outside the home of a Brooklyn woman who never requested the free food — despite her weekly calls to 311 about the mixup.
“It’s just crazy to me that there’s no way to actually get in contact with them to make a correction,” Windsor Terrace resident Elena Tavarez told The Post.
The city’s GetFoodNYC delivers meals to New Yorkers struggling from the COVID-19 pandemic as Mayor Bill de Blasio has said 2 million people don’t have enough to eat this summer.
“It’s horrible and we feel terrible because it keeps getting left outside and we’re not aware of it so I can’t even donate it because the food is rotten half the time,” she said. A couple times she has managed to rescue the misdirected deliveries and post the free food on a local Facebook page for redistribution.
Tavarez says the deliveries — made by out-of-work taxi drivers — are totally random though she said three to four boxes a week typically get dumped in different places around the outside of their private home.
“Today there were about six meals left that were supposed to be frozen. The other day we got three boxes and each box had about nine meals in it so about 18 meals.
“Some are fresh fruit; the ones today were like a chicken parmesan and pasta bolognese and a salmon,” she recounted.
Tavarez said 311 dispatchers take her complaint but claim there’s no way for her to contact the food program directly — and the messages don’t appear to be getting through.
“I have called a minimum at least once a week if not more than that,” Tavarez said.
She’s also left messages for the delivery people on her front door alerting them to the problem, but it continues.
A spokesman for the GetFoodNYC said the mixup occurred after a program client listed an incorrect address for deliveries on two occasions. GetFoodNYC learned of the problem via Tavarez’s 311 calls, but only one of the entires was corrected.
“This was a unique case, the result of a technical error where an individual was in the system twice. We appreciate it being brought to our attention and have stopped deliveries to this address,” the spokesman said.
But earlier this week The Post exclusively reported that someone ditched 34 boxes of GetFoodNYC meals near a Queens highway overpass. A city Department of Sanitation worker eventually came to toss the spoiled food into his garbage truck– eight hours after a concerned passerby called 311 about the issue.
In April another Post investigation revealed that seniors, including a Holocaust survivor keeping Kosher, were going hungry because of the programs many missteps.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/29/free-city-meals-meant-for-needy-left-at-wrong-address-since-may/
Photo Credit: Elena Tavarez
Baboons ‘armed with knives and chainsaw’ spotted in safari park
Baboons at a popular safari park have been spotted with knives, screwdrivers and even a chainsaw, according to reports.
The primates at Knowsley Safari Park in Merseyside are already known for their destructive abilities and have been pictured previously pulling things from visitors’ cars.
But now, some staff are concerned that the baboons are being given weapons “for a laugh” by park-goers, according to the Sunday Times.
One worker told the newspaper: “We’re not sure if they are being given weapons by some of the guests who want to see them attack cars, or if they’re fishing them out of pick-up trucks and vans.”
The worker said the animals sometimes go into people’s toolboxes to grab what they can, adding: “One of the baboons was seen lugging around a chainsaw.”
Another said some had been found with knives and screwdrivers and also questioned whether the baboons were being armed by visitors on purpose.
The baboons are already known for causing damage to people’s vehicles, with one mechanic telling the Sunday Times that they had repaired cars left damaged by the primates.
But the safari park said suggestions that the baboons were being armed with weapons was likely to be an urban myth, saying some tales had “grown in exaggeration” as they had been shared to make objects found in the animals’ enclosure “seem more exciting and unbelievable”.
Knowsley, which is home to animals including lions, tigers and rhinos, reopened on June 15.
Its website includes reassurance that measures to make it COVID-Secure are in place, including reminding guests: “If you take a drive through our Baboon Jungle, we’re unable to return any car parts that our cheeky baboons may take” whilst pointing out that a “car friendly route” is available.
via: https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/xandr/safari-park-baboons-knives-chainsaw-160316231.html
Photo Credit: PA
Georgia mom reportedly went to Epcot Center with guns, drugs in diaper bag
A Georgia mom visiting Disney’s Epcot Center with her family — including her 7-month-old daughter — allegedly filled her diaper bag with more than baby products – two loaded pistols and marijuana, according to a report.
Yunique Smith, 27, of Stone Mountain, was accused of carrying the firearms and weed when she showed up at the back entrance of the Florida theme park on July 18, Bay News 9 reported.
An Orange County deputy who responded to a report of a guest with a firearm and marijuana at 6:40 p.m. escorted Smith to a back office, along with her baby, 7-year-old son and the baby’s father, according to the outlet.
Another deputy, who was working an off-duty shift at Epcot, “opened the diaper bag and observed the firearm in plain view, as well as a plastic baggie [gallon size] with what appeared to be cannabis,” the police report said.
“Smith admitted to him that the gun and the ‘weed’ in the diaper bag belonged to her,” it said.
“While searching through the diaper bag, I noticed another firearm in the bottom of the bag,” said the deputy, who identified the second weapon as a .45-caliber handgun.
A records search indicated that Smith did not have a permit to carry concealed weapons.
Disney prohibits all guests, including those with concealed weapon permits, from bringing firearms into its theme parks.
Smith, who had less than 20 grams of marijuana, was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possession of cannabis, both misdemeanors.
She was released from the Orange County Jail on July 20 and is scheduled for arraignment on Aug. 19.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/27/georgia-mom-goes-to-epcot-center-with-guns-drugs-in-diaper-bag/
Photo Credit: Orange County Sheriff’s Office
Man says he was bitten by bus passenger after asking him to wear mask
A disabled man claims he was bitten by an angry bus passenger in Belgium after asking him to properly wear his mask, reports said.
Robert Murphy, who lives in Merksem in Antwerp, said he was chomped on twice on the chest by the 38-year-old man who boarded the bus with his partner, LADbible reported, citing Dutch daily newspaper AD Media.
The couple had their masks tucked under their chins and sat directly across from Murphy, 56, prompting the Irishman to ask them to put the coverings on the right way.
“I just asked the man to wear the mask properly over his nose,” he said.
The man refused, Murphy said, and a fight ensued.
“I tried to pull myself free, but I am disabled so it was not easy,” Murphy said. “We tussled until the man threw himself at my chest and bit me. I couldn’t believe it. He was like a mad dog.
“I pushed him away, but he wouldn’t leave me alone. The whole time he tried to bite me again.”
Other passengers yanked the man off Murphy and the couple jumped off the bus and fled. They were later arrested by Belgium police.
“Strangely enough, the doctor doesn’t want to do a COVID-19 test because I cannot show that the other person, the biter, was infected with the virus. Fingers crossed,” he said.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/28/man-says-he-was-bitten-by-bus-passenger-who-refused-to-wear-mask/
Photo Credit: CEN
14 members of Texas family test positive for COVID-19 after mask-free party, killing 1 and another on life support
Fourteen members of a Texas family have tested positive for the coronavirus following a party last month, with one dead and another on life support, according to a report.
Tony Green, the Dallas man who hosted the party and believed the global pandemic was a hoax, called the cluster of infections “a harsh lesson in the reality of COVID-19,” NBC News reported.
“In great haste, I began prognosticating the alphabet soup about this ‘scamdemic,’” Green said in a column in the Dallas Voice. “I believed the virus to be a hoax. I believed the mainstream media and the Democrats were using it to create panic, crash the economy and destroy Trump’s chances at re-election.”
“I am calling myself out first, but now this is personal, and I fell on my sword,” he wrote. “And I promise you, if we continue being more worried about the disruption to our lives than we are about stopping this virus, not one American will be spared.”
Green’s epiphany followed a June 13 party to celebrate the birth of a grandson in the family.
Green, 43, who says he is “a gay conservative,” hosted the party with his partner — where neither they nor their parents wore masks. The following day Green woke up feeling sick, and within two days so were his partner and his parents.
Within days, his mother-in-law and sister-in-law also got sick, as did the parents of the newborn who was the reason for the bash.
Green and his partner’s father, Rafael Ceja, were finally admitted to the hospital on June 24, and, later, so was Ceja’s mother — who died of the deadly bug on July 2 in the hospital room next to her son, NBC said.
Ceja, meanwhile, was put on life support, the outlet said.
“I cannot help but feel responsible for convincing our families it was safe to have a get-together,” Green said. “There’s a lot of things that I would have done differently.”
Green tried to make good by creating a GoFundMe page to raise funds for the family — but it wasn’t welcome.
“It is with heavy heart and deep regret but I must inform each contributor that I am compelled to end this fundraiser and refund each donor,” he wrote on the page. “I have tried to act honorably — serving in the best interests of Rafael & Marisa — nobody else.”
“Unfortunately, others — within the family — are displeased with my attempts to provide additional love, support, prayers, and financial contributions in their time of need,” he wrote. “Because of their continuous harassment and vindictive behavior (against my advice) Marisa now refuses to accept this money.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/28/coronavirus-strikes-14-family-members-kills-1-after-texas-party/
Photo Credit: GoFundMe
Brooklyn man had dinner with his wife in a romantic French chalet, then cut her up and buried her
A New York American with dual nationality has been arrested after his French wife was found stabbed, dismembered and buried in a drainage ditch, French police said.Billy Kruger, who lived with his wife Laure Bardina-Kruger in Indonesia, was arrested on Friday as he tried to board a flight to Toulouse, hours after his stepfather reported his daughter missing .
Bardina-Kruger was found partially buried in a storm sewer in the local village of Peyriac-de-Mer outside their vacation home in the south of France, according to Agence France-Presse.
Kruger told police he killed his wife in self-defense, prosecutor Marie-Agnès Jolie told AFP. The couple were spotted having dinner at a romantic restaurant in Peyriac-de-Mer on Thursday evening, according to reports.
The couple had planned to return to Jakarta and Bardina-Kruger’s father sounded the alarm after his daughter missed a farewell dinner before they left. Kruger apparently made a weak excuse as to why she wasn’t there.
“We don’t yet know what happened, but we never received an alarm signal from Laure regarding the acts of violence committed against her by her husband,” said Bardina-Kruger’s brother Pierre. Bardina, on Facebook. “You always think it can only happen to other people, but violence against women can happen all of a sudden.”
White flowers were placed in a makeshift memorial above the drainage ditch where her body was found.
Kruger will be brought before a French court this week.
Photo Credit: fr24news.com
Woman caught on video Macing couple for not wearing masks at dog park
A woman allegedly Maced a California couple for not wearing masks while eating at a dog park — a disturbing incident caught on videotape.
The injured pair, Ash O’Brien and hubby Jarrett Kelley, said the lady, who was wearing a black mask, ambushed them with a can of the burning substance after ripping them for not donning face coverings and eating at the Dusty Rhodes Dog Park in Ocean Beach outside San Diego on Thursday afternoon.
First she “automatically started saying stuff about us not wearing a mask when we were social distancing — there was no one near us,” O’Brien told the local ABC-TV affiliate.
O’Brien said the lady also took them to task for eating at a picnic table at the park while they were there with their 3-month-old puppy, claiming it was against the rules.
“If we knew there was a no-food policy, we wouldn’t have brought it into the park,” O’Brien told the TV station.
The angry woman soon stalked off — only to come back a few minutes later and attack them, O’Brien said.
“She just came up without saying anything and just stuck the Mace can right in front of my face,” O’Brien said. “My husband, being a good guy, walked in front of her and was like, ‘Hey, calm down please don’t do this’ — and then she grabbed him and just starting macing him. She used the entire can on him.
“We drove to the hospital. He got treated and everything,” O’Brien said — adding that her husband suffered injuries to his face while she was burned on her arms.
A woman filming the incident shouted at the attacker, “What are you doing? You cannot be serious! You just Maced them!” — as a female weeps in the background, according to footage posted by the Daily Mail.
“What’s wrong with you, lady?!” added the woman who caught some of the encounter on tape.
The injured couple filed a police report afterward.
“I want her to go to jail — she assaulted my husband, and I’m angry about it,” O’Brien told ABC.
San Diego cops confirmed they took a report alleging battery over the incident.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/26/woman-maces-couple-for-not-wearing-masks-at-california-dog-park-video/
Photo Credit: disrn.com
Couple wears swastika face masks at Walmart in Minnesota
There’s “mask Nazis” and then there’s these two jerks.
A man and woman in Minnesota marched through a Marshall Walmart donning red masks adorned with giant swastikas, video shows.
“If you vote for Biden, you’re going to be [living] in Nazi Germany. That’s what it’s going to be like,” the woman says in video shot and posted to Facebook by shopper Raphaela Mueller.
“You’re literally wearing a Nazi flag right now,” another shopper retorts.
“We literally had a f–king war over this. The Nazis lost. Please don’t wear those masks,” Mueller adds.
The woman responds by griping that her fellow patrons “aren’t getting it.”
“I’m trying to tell you: If you vote for Biden, you’re going to have socialism,” she says.
Police called to the scene warned the 56-year-old man and 64-year-old woman that they would face arrest if they return to the Walmart, the Star Tribune reported.
Both left without incident, the newspaper said.
I was born and raised in Germany, and I grew up hearing about my great-grandmother who fought in the underground against the first wave of Nazis in the 1930s and 40s,” Mueller said in a post accompanying the video.
“Let me make this abundantly clear once and for all – THE SWASTIKA IS A HATE SYMBOL AND YOU DO NOT FLY THE FLAG, YOU DO NOT WEAR THE SYMBOL ANYWHERE ON YOUR BODY, YOU DO NOT USE OR DEFEND THIS SYMBOL, EVER. END OF STORY.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/26/couple-wears-swastika-face-masks-at-walmart-in-minnesota/
Photo Credit: nypost.com