Kamala Harris Seems to Say She Smoked Weed in College While Listening to Tupac, but the Timeline Doesn’t Add Up
Article via Newsweek
While speaking about her support for federally legalizing marijuana on Monday, Senator Kamala Harris mentioned that she previously smoked weed.
The California lawmaker was asked about her stance on marijuana during an appearance on the radio show The Breakfast Club. She was also asked about her taste in music.
“What do you listen to?” DJ Envy asks. “What does Kamala Harris listen to?”
Charlamagne Tha God chimes in, his words overlapping with the initial questions. “What were you listening to when you was high? What was on? What song was it?”
“Was it Snoop?” another host asks.
“Oh yeah, definitely Snoop,” Harris responds. “Tupac, for sure.”
Twitter users quickly pointed out what appeared to be an inconsistency in Harris’s story. The legislator had said that she was listening to Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg.
Harris graduated from Howard University in 1986, according to the school’s magazine. Shakur’s first album, 2Pacalypse Now,was released in 1991, and Snoop Dogg’s first album, Doggystyle,was released in 1993.
Ian Sams, the national press secretary for Harris’ campaign, told Newsweek that “She was talking about music she listens to.”
“While Snoop Dogg didn’t begin recording music until 1992 with Dr. Dre for The Chronic, Tupac started in rap as a local Baltimore act under the alias MC New York in 1987,” The Fader wrote. “At that time, Harris would have been studying law at UC Hastings; it seems unlikely that she would have been closely following underground Maryland hip-hop.”
Harris’s campaign did not respond to Newsweek when asked about the discrepancy.
Harris is one of seven Democrats running for president so far, according to CNN. Senator Cory Booker, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, former Maryland Representative John Delaney, Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Elizabeth Warren are also running,
Harris has come under fire for her record as San Francisco district attorney and as California’s attorney general. In a New York Times editorial published in January, law professor Lara Bazelon argued that Harris’s record did not align with her presentation as a “progressive prosecutor.” The piece said that, as an attorney, the senator sought to maintain wrongful convictions “secured through official misconduct.”
Harris, who said on Monday, “I think that [marijuana] gives a lot of people joy, and we need more joy,” laughed when a reporter asked in 2014 if she supported recreational legalization.
“Kamala Harris has spent her career fighting for reforms in the criminal justice system and pushing the envelope to keep everyone safer by bringing fairness and accountability,” a spokesperson for Harris told Vox last month.
Support for recreational marijuana legalization has significantly increased since 1970, according to polling by Gallup. Sixty-six percent of the country now backs legalization, according to figures published in October.
Ten states and the District of Columbia have laws permitting recreational use of marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
WWE star Paige on sex tape humiliation: ‘I don’t wish that for anyone’
Article via NYPost
She was once one of the biggest stars in the pro wrestling business, but by 2017, she had become depressed and nearly suicidal.
She locked herself away from the public and her family. She became sickly and was treated for anorexia. Her hair started falling out.
But a chance encounter with a young fan at a grocery store turned it all around for Paige. Now the former wrestler is back on top in a big way with a biopic chronicling her improbable story.
Friday’s “Fighting With My Family” reveals how Saraya-Jade Bevis, a young outcast from Norwich, England, was plucked from a D-list wrestling company run by her ex-con father to become a superstar in World Wrestling Entertainment.
“You forget what you’ve been through in your life, so watching it back was very surreal,” Paige, 26, tells The Post.
It’s one of those stories that’s so outlandish, it could only be true. (Produced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who also has a small role, the film is written and directed with dry British wit by Stephen Merchant, co-creator of the original British “The Office.”)
Paige (played by Florence Pugh in the film) knew her childhood was a little bit different.
Her father (played by Nick Frost) and her mother (Lena Headey) ran England’s World Association of Wrestling that staged matches in modest venues.
When Paige was 13, one of her father’s wrestlers failed to show up for a match, so she was tapped to fill in.
“Before that, I didn’t really want to wrestle. I was terrified,” Paige says.
Getting in the ring, though, sparked the “biggest euphoric adrenaline feeling.”
“Even though there was, what, like 10 people in the crowd, it made me feel good,” she says. “You could be anyone you wanted to.”
She was eventually offered a chance to try out for the WWE. Paige thought it best to completely overhaul her look for the audition.
She was pale with piercings and jet-black hair. She dressed in all black. But for the WWE, she got tan, dyed her hair blond and wore a colorful outfit.
The coaches saw through her fakery and declined to offer her a contract.
A few months later, she was given another audition, and this time — mostly on the advice of her brother, also a wrestler — she decided to be herself.
The change paid off and she was offered a spot.
“It took me a while to realize that being me was my superpower,” Paige says.
For her ring name, she chose Paige as an homage to Rose McGowan’s character from the 2000-era series “Charmed.” She made her debut in 2014 on an episode of “WWE Raw,” and won a championship belt her first time out.
But her success caused some friction with her brother (played by Jack Lowden), who had failed to make it to the WWE.
He now runs a wrestling academy in England — where he even trained a blind wrestler — and is content.
“Success isn’t measured by how many cameras you’re in front of,” Paige says. “It’s a success story to be at home with a family and to have a job where you’re helping people. They shouldn’t measure success on how famous you are.”
Of course, fame also has its downsides. In 2016, the wrestling diva was twice suspended for violating WWE’s wellness policy, including for testing “positive for an illegal substance” according to WWE. Then, in 2017, sex tapes of her were illegally posted online by hackers.
“To be publicly humiliated like that was terrible, and I don’t wish that for anyone,” she says.
The leak coupled with a wrestling injury sent her spiraling into depression.
“I didn’t go to work; I didn’t do anything. I felt so rock bottom,” she says.
Then, one day, she was at a local grocery store in Texas, where she was living at the time, and was approached by a young female fan who was about 7 years old.
“Of course, she didn’t have the internet and thought I was the most beautiful and most successful woman in the world,” Paige says. “It opened my eyes to so many things. I was like, ‘I’m gonna let videos get in the way of things?’ ”
“I thought, what am I doing? I need to be successful for her. My whole journey was supposed to be about inspiring people,” she says.
Paige says she just snapped out of it and got back to living. She now has a makeup and clothing line (“apparel made for the oddball”), and may get back into wrestling one day — most likely outside the ring.
The wrestler has suffered multiple neck injuries in her career and retired from the WWE last year for fear, she says, of getting paralyzed.
Her fame has also boosted her family’s business back in England. Both her parents are still wrestling and have an event coming up this summer — this time, though, in a 27,000-capacity soccer stadium.
Being an oddball is apparently paying off.
As Johnson, who plays himself, tells Paige’s character in the movie: “Don’t worry about being the next me. Be the first you.”
Mumps outbreak confirmed at ICE detention facility in Houston
Article via ABC
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The Houston Health Department confirmed seven mumps cases at an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Houston Saturday afternoon.
Officials said that all seven people were adults who were detained during the time they became sick.
“Since these individuals were isolated inside the facility during the period they were infectious, we do not anticipate these cases posing a threat to the community,” said Dr. David Persse, Houston’s local health authority and EMS medical director.”
The health department says they are working with the facility on infection control methods and will conduct an on-site visit soon.
Mumps is a vaccine-preventable contagious disease caused by a virus. It typically starts with a few days of fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite, followed by swollen salivary glands.
Those experiencing symptoms of mumps or any highly contagious disease should immediately contact their doctor. Most people recover from mumps without serious complications.
Mumps can be prevented with two doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. Children should receive the first dose at 12 to 15 months of age, and the second dose at 4 through 6 years of age. Two doses of the vaccine are 97 percent effective.
“Properly vaccinating your children isn’t just about protecting your child, it’s about protecting your entire family and your community,” Dr. Persse continued.
While rare, mumps outbreaks have previously occurred in Texas and Houston.
Jussie Smollett To Be “Held Accountable” For Potential False Report, Police Claims
Article via HotNewHipHop
The Chicago Police Department is casting doubt on the actor’s story.
An investigation was launched after Jussie Smollett reported an attack. The Chicago Police department initially announced that the case would be treated with care as a potential hate crime. After running into issues with gaps in video footage and other setbacks, legal authorities have decided to specify that Jussie Smollett will be held accountable if his report proved to be false.
Rafer Weigel of Fox News referred to the force’s superintendent to tweet: “#ChicagoPolice Supt Eddie Johnson says #JussieSmollett is still being treated as the victim in this case but if the investigation does reveal he made a false report he will be held accountable.”
The idea of punishment for filing a false report is definitely nothing new. In recent years, the Black community has asked for this concept to apply to scenarios in which apparently racist individuals call the police for absurd “reasons.” In this context, Johnson’s statement is questionable. The investigation is still ongoing, as he specified, so projecting the current victim into the future as a defendant is unusual.
This decision may come to the fact that many factions of the public have expressed skepticism in relation to Jussie’s testimony. Ironically, Johnson has poked holes in the”innocent until proven guilty” motto by adding to the speculations by mentioning the possibility of a false report, a hypothetical scenario that is always at play. Why mention it?
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Watch Tekashi 6ix9ine star in ad for New York sex shop that doubles as PSA against violence towards women
Daniel Hernandez, aka Tekashi 6ix9ine, has been recently seen in a Valentine’s Day ad for a NYC based sex store called Romantic Depot. This ad which has a special, program called ” dignity and respect,” prevents violence against women.
R. Kelly to visit Ghana
Article via GhanaWeb
Information available to BEATWAVES indicates that American superstar Robert Sylvester Kelly, known on the international music scene as R. Kelly, will host a major musical concert Ghana this year.
The American singer, songwriter and record producer will headline and share the stage together with some selected Ghanaian home-grown performing artistes.
The American singer is among many celebrities from the diaspora who will be coming to Ghana for the ‘Year of Return’ celebration this year to connect with their ancestry.
‘The Year of Return’ marks 400 years since some Black Africans and Ghanaians, for that matter, were shipped as slaves to foreign lands.
Kelly’s presence and live performance in Ghana will definitely rock the entire Ghanaian music scene.
The organisers have confirmed that they have “signed and sealed” a deal to have the R. Kelly perform in Ghana this year.
According to them, they will soon hold press launch of the concert to announce the full list of both local and international artistes who will be performing alongside R. Kelly at the concert, as well the venue and date.
Kelly is known for several hit songs including ‘Bump N’ Grind’, ‘Your Body’s Callin’, ‘I Believe I Can Fly’, ‘Gotham City’, ‘Ignition (Remix)’, ‘If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time’, ‘The World’s Greatest’, ‘I’m a Flirt’ (Remix), among others.
In 1996, he was nominated for a Grammy for writing Michael Jackson’s song ‘You Are Not Alone’.
In 2002 and 2004, Kelly released collaboration albums with rapper Jay-Z and has been a guest vocalist for other hip-hop artistes like Nas, Sean Combs and Notorious B.I.G.
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Southern Baptist Leaders Promise ‘Change’ After Report Uncovers Rampant Sexual Abuse
Article via HuffingtonPost
Almost 400 Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers have faced allegations of sexual misconduct since 1998, according to a damning report.
Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, the second-largest faith group in the U.S., have vowed real “change” in the aftermath of a damning investigative report by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News that uncovered decades of sexual abuse by hundreds of church leaders and volunteers.
According to the three-part investigation, the first installment of which was published on Sunday, about 380 Southern Baptist pastors, ministers, youth pastors, Sunday school teachers, deacons and church volunteers have faced allegations of sexual misconduct since 1998. More than 200 of them have been convicted or took plea deals, the newspapers reported, and nearly 100 are currently in prisons across the nation.
The victims of the accused number more than 700, the report said. They include teenagers and children, some as young as 3, who were “molested or raped inside pastors’ studies and Sunday school classrooms.”
Many victims said their stories of abuse were ignored or silenced by church leaders. One victim, who alleged she was raped and impregnated by her pastor when she was a teen, said her church leaders had urged her to get an abortion. When she refused, they threatened her and her child, she said.
Dozens of pastors, employees and volunteers were reportedly allowed to return to work in Southern Baptist churches despite being dogged by sexual abuse allegations.
In the aftermath of the Chronicle’s and Express-News’ report, leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention have promised to crack down on abuses in the church and to provide a safe space for victims to come forward.
In a multipart tweet on Sunday, J.D. Greear, SBC’s president, said he was “broken” by news of the rampant sexual abuse and vowed to “pursue every possible avenue” to “stopping predators in our midst.”
“We — leaders in the SBC — should have listened to the warnings of those who tried to call attention to this,” Greear wrote, though he did not indicate whether he had been approached personally by victims. “I am committed to doing everything possible to ensure we never make these mistakes again.”
“As a denomination, now is a time to mourn and repent,” Greear added. “Changes are coming. They must. We cannot just promise to ‘do better’ and expect that to be enough. But today, change begins with feeling the full weight of the problem.”
Russell Moore, president of SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said in a blog post on his website that “no church should be frustrated” by the newspapers’ reporting but should instead “thank God for it.”
“The report is alarming and scandalous, the courage and grace of these survivors is contrasted with the horrific depravity of those who would use the name of Jesus to prey on them,” Moore wrote.
Michael Criner, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Bellville, Texas, tweeted that he was “grieved” by the report and called for change in the convention. Hance Dilbeck, the executive director-treasurer of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, said in a statement that he welcomed the investigation’s findings.
“Jesus teaches us to be more critical of ourselves than we are of others. In as far as this article helps us to deal more honestly and clearly with sexual abuse in our churches, and more redemptively with survivors, I welcome it. We need strong voices from within our fellowship and from the outside pushing us to strive to do better,” Dilbeck said.
The SBC, which was also shaken last year by a series of sexual abuse allegations, is a fellowship of more than 47,500 autonomous Baptist churches. With 15 million members across the United States, it’s the country’s second-largest faith group after the Roman Catholic Church, The Washington Post reported.
In his blog post, Moore insisted that “church autonomy is no excuse for a lack of accountability.”
“Yes, in a Baptist ecclesiology each congregation governs its own affairs, and is not accountable to anyone ‘higher up’ in a church system. And yet, the decisions a church makes autonomously determine whether that church is in good fellowship with others. A church that excuses, say, sexual immorality or that opposes missions is deemed out of fellowship with other churches. The same must be true of churches that cover up rape or sexual abuse,” he wrote.