Here’s a story you don’t read about everyday… Mixed martial arts promoters Christo Piliafas and Scott DiPonio say they were shocked to learn today of Charles Rowan’s arrest for armed robbery and assault… because they were led to believe he died in a car accident last month. Just two weeks ago, the promoters helped raise $1,000 to pay for Rowan’s funeral, only to discover that his girlfriend, Rosalinda Martinez, clearly misled them. After all, Martinez, Rowan and a friend were booked this afternoon after holding up a gun shop in Michigan Monday. They were charged with three felonies, including assault with intent to murder because they left the gun shop owner a bloody mess. “It made me sick to my stomach. I was furious. I was livid,” Piliafas said upon seeing Rowan’s mug shot. “It’s not so much about the money. It’s just how many people were involved in this scam…. The little bit that I knew [about] this kid, I never would have thought that he’d try to pull some Machiavelli crap like that.” Rowan’s fifth career fight was scheduled for February in Traverse City. That evening, according to DiPonio said, Martinez called from Rowan’s phone number to inform him that her Rowan had been involved in a wreck on the way to the event and was dead. Rowan has past convictions for failing to register as a sex offender and for attempted delivery and manufacture of pot.
6?!?! Cotdamn… Father’s Letter To Gay Son Goes Viral Via Yahoo! A letter written from a dad to his gay son Nate is going viral on the Internet because of its simple, hopeful message of love. “I overheard your phone conversation with Mike last night about your plans to come out to me,” it reads. “The only thing I need you to plan is to bring home OJ and bread after class. We are out, like you now. I’ve known you were gay since you were six, I’ve loved you since you were born.” He signs it “Dad” and finishes with a post script: “Your mom and I think you and Mike make a cute couple.” The letter was posted on the Facebook page of FCKH8.com, an organization aimed at empowering youth through its snarky, gay-positive T-shirts, videos and activist campaigns. Fans often send in photos of inspiring items, from cakes topped with “I’m gay!” to jack o’lanterns carved with “FCKH8.” “We get a lot of crazy stuff, so I almost didn’t look at it,” FCKH8.com founder Luke Montgomery told Yahoo! Shine about the letter, which was emailed to them by Nate, a Michigan high-school student. But when he did read it, he said, “I cried.” Pretty touching, but could you have known about your gay son or daughter from such a young age without ever bringing it up? Or even asking?? Image via fckh8/Shutterstock
Ed Asner was hospitalized after the 83-year-old struggled to deliver his lines and appeared confused during a one-man show in Indiana last night. He was taken to a Chicago-area hospital for exhaustion and was ” resting comfortably ” on Wednesday, his publicist Charles Sherman tells the media. After conducting an acting workshop, Asner arrived at Marquette Pavilion in Gary, Ind., to play Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the sold-out show FDR . He struggled with his lines and appeared frustrated but was still conscious as he left the stage, apologizing to the audience and promising to return. Ed Asner’s health problems arose soon after his Mary Tyler Moore Show co-star Valerie Harper , 73, revealed that she has terminal brain cancer. We wish nothing but the best for both acting greats.
Police in Taylor, Michigan, are investigating an incident involving a 6th grader and a backpack of $20K in cash that she allegedly brought to school. Yes, she had $20,000 on her person. 6th Grader Brings $20K to School Taylor officials became aware of the situation after the student began passing the cash out to others; she reportedly gave one student $200 and another $500. The school principal notified police. The sixth-grader told the police she got the money from a friend across the street in her neighborhood … which totally doesn’t sound shady whatsoever. Police are holding on to the money until the family who claims it can provide “a reasonable explanation of where it came from and what it was to be used for.” We’re curious to hear what that is.
Black Employee Sues for $21,000 After Black Ape Left On Her Desk By Co-Worker An African-American employee who was shunned from a job promotion while her white co-workers were promoted will be laughing all the way to bank to the tune of $21,000. Following her missed promotion, the employee returned to her desk to find a life-sized stuffed black ape on her desk. When her supervisor refused to remove the stuffed animal, she sued for discrimination . Huffington Post $21,000 for a toy monkey? Michigan’s Department of Human Services (DHS) will be fined that amount after a toy ape that was placed on top of an African-American employee’s cubicle was left there for three weeks. The fine was levied by Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina after her consideration of a 2010 discrimination lawsuit filed by DHS worker Crystal Perry, the Lansing State Journal reports. Perry had sued after fellow white employees were promoted and she was not, but the judge found no evidence last month of discrimination for that charge. But after learning that a toy ape had been placed in her workspace and was not taken down by her supervisor, however, she fined the agency $1,000 for each day of the three weeks the toy had remained on her cubicle, in addition to Perry’s attorney fees, according to the Associated Press. Perry, who has a master’s degree in human resources and labor relations from Michigan State University, believes the action was racially motivated. Her supervisor said he didn’t know who put the toy on Perry’s work cubicle, according to the news agency. Sounds like this company and its’ racist azz employees got exactly what they deserved. Good for her. Shutterstock
John McCain Compares Iranian Leader To Monkey Thank goodness this douchelord never actually became President… Via NBC News: Always one to speak — or Tweet — his mind, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) Monday made a joke comparing Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a monkey, something one Republican congressman charged was “racist.” “So Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian in space – wasn’t he just there last week?” McCain said in a tweet that also linked to a story about Iran launching a monkey into space. Some didn’t take so kindly to the not-so-diplomatic quip, prompting McCain, 76, to respond: “Re: Iran space tweet – lighten up folks, can’t everyone take a joke?” Seeing that, Michigan congressman Rep. Justin Amash, 32, shot back. “Maybe you should wisen up & not make racist jokes,” Amash tweeted. It’s not the first time McCain’s made a joke about Iran that landed him in some hot water. During his run for president in 2007, McCain sang about bombing the country. As if we didn’t already know John McCain wasn’t isht, he goes and says stuff like this. SMH. WENN
Taylor Swift has pulled a Justin Bieber . On January 19, the singer made the dreams of one special fan come true, as she met up with Kayla Kincannon, a 17-year old Michigan resident suffering from brain cancer. About a month prior, Kayla’s loved one had launched #OperationGetKaylaToMeetTaylorSwift, a Twitter campaign that worked out when Swift made Kincannon for a lunch Kayla’s dad described as “awesome.” “This was no quick meet and greet photo opp,” Brad Kincannon wrote on the Team Kalya website. “We sat and talked to Taylor and her mom for two hours, had lunch and Kayla received a gift basket, then she signed pictures! She is the sweetest, most down-to-earth person I have ever met! This was more than we ever expected! I’m so thankful to team Kayla, news, and everyone who made her dream come true! This was the best day ever for her and all of us!” Concluded Kayla of the dream-come-true, via Twitter: tweeted, “Can not believe I just had lunch w @taylorswift13 today, I was enchanted to meet you!”
Bundle up out there folks, isht is real ! The freezing temperatures across the country are killing people and causing massive fires. You have to see the photos from one such blaze in Chicago that required nearly 200 firemen to extinguish the flames. Here are the details via NY DailyNews : The Upper Midwest remains locked in the deep freeze, with bitter temperatures stretching into a fourth day across several states. The cold snap arrived Saturday night as waves of Arctic air swept south from Canada, pushing temperatures to dangerous lows and leaving a section of the country well-versed in winter’s pains reeling. Authorities suspect exposure has played a role in at least four deaths so far. Among the coldest temperatures recorded Tuesday was 35 below at Crane Lake, Minn., a National Weather Service forecaster said early Wednesday. The coldest location in the lower 48 states Monday was Embarrass, Minn., at 36 below. On Sunday it was Babbitt, Minn., at 29 below, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters said late Tuesday that overnight temperatures wouldn’t get that low, but warned it was still frigid: Embarrass, Minn., was up to 15 below by late Tuesday night. Nighttime temperatures round 10 degrees made it harder for Chicago firefighters to battle a warehouse blaze described by officials as one of the largest in recent years. The Chicago Sun-Times reported late Tuesday that more than 170 firefighters responded to the five-alarm blaze at an abandoned warehouse on the city’s South Side that took nearly three hours to get under control. The Northeast was also feeling the chill from Ohio to Maine. In Connecticut, overnight temperatures were expected to range from 0 to 10 degrees over the next several days, and the wind chill could make it feel as cold as minus 15 degrees in some parts of the state. In Millinocket, Maine, residents awoke to temperatures of minus 9 degrees. The bitter conditions were expected to persist into the weekend in the Midwest through the eastern half of the U.S., said Shawn DeVinny, a National Weather Service meteorologist in suburban Minneapolis. Ariana Laffey, a 30-year-old homeless woman, kept warm with a blanket, three pairs of pants and six shirts as she sat on a milk crate begging near Chicago’s Willis Tower on Tuesday morning. She said she and her husband spent the night under a bridge, bundled up under a half-dozen blankets. “We’re just trying to make enough to get a warm room to sleep in tonight,” Laffey said. In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, residents woke to a wind chill that made it feel like 35 below. The temperature in Madison, Wis., was a whopping 1 degree above just before midday Tuesday. For northern Illinois, it was the first time in almost two years that temperatures had dipped below zero. The temperature in Detroit was a toasty 7 degrees with a 10 below wind chill around midday. City officials said they planned to extend hours at its two warming centers. A warming center run by St. Peter and Paul Jesuit Church downtown that usually sees 50 to 60 people on a typical winter day had taken in about 90 people Tuesday morning. Police in Milwaukee, where the temperature was just 2 degrees at noon, checked under freeway overpasses to find the homeless and urge them to find a shelter. The United Way of Greater Milwaukee has donated $50,000 to two homeless shelters so they can open overflow centers. On Sunday, a 70-year-old man was found frozen in his unheated home in Des Plaines, Ill. And in Green Bay, Wis., a 38-year-old man was found dead outside his home Monday morning. Authorities in both cases said the victims died of hypothermia and cold exposure, with alcohol a possible contributing factor. A 77-year-old Illinois woman also was found dead near her car in southwestern Wisconsin on Saturday night, and a 61-year-old Minnesota man was pronounced dead at a hospital after he was found in a storage building Saturday morning. At least two fires in southern Wisconsin were blamed on property owners using heaters or other means to thaw frozen pipes. In one case, a dairy barn was destroyed, and in the other, a mobile home was lost. No one was hurt. Our thoughts and prayers are definitely with the elderly and homeless who are hit hardest by these conditions! We hope no one else dies because of the weather. APImages
Bundle up out there folks, isht is real ! The freezing temperatures across the country are killing people and causing massive fires. You have to see the photos from one such blaze in Chicago that required nearly 200 firemen to extinguish the flames. Here are the details via NY DailyNews : The Upper Midwest remains locked in the deep freeze, with bitter temperatures stretching into a fourth day across several states. The cold snap arrived Saturday night as waves of Arctic air swept south from Canada, pushing temperatures to dangerous lows and leaving a section of the country well-versed in winter’s pains reeling. Authorities suspect exposure has played a role in at least four deaths so far. Among the coldest temperatures recorded Tuesday was 35 below at Crane Lake, Minn., a National Weather Service forecaster said early Wednesday. The coldest location in the lower 48 states Monday was Embarrass, Minn., at 36 below. On Sunday it was Babbitt, Minn., at 29 below, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters said late Tuesday that overnight temperatures wouldn’t get that low, but warned it was still frigid: Embarrass, Minn., was up to 15 below by late Tuesday night. Nighttime temperatures round 10 degrees made it harder for Chicago firefighters to battle a warehouse blaze described by officials as one of the largest in recent years. The Chicago Sun-Times reported late Tuesday that more than 170 firefighters responded to the five-alarm blaze at an abandoned warehouse on the city’s South Side that took nearly three hours to get under control. The Northeast was also feeling the chill from Ohio to Maine. In Connecticut, overnight temperatures were expected to range from 0 to 10 degrees over the next several days, and the wind chill could make it feel as cold as minus 15 degrees in some parts of the state. In Millinocket, Maine, residents awoke to temperatures of minus 9 degrees. The bitter conditions were expected to persist into the weekend in the Midwest through the eastern half of the U.S., said Shawn DeVinny, a National Weather Service meteorologist in suburban Minneapolis. Ariana Laffey, a 30-year-old homeless woman, kept warm with a blanket, three pairs of pants and six shirts as she sat on a milk crate begging near Chicago’s Willis Tower on Tuesday morning. She said she and her husband spent the night under a bridge, bundled up under a half-dozen blankets. “We’re just trying to make enough to get a warm room to sleep in tonight,” Laffey said. In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, residents woke to a wind chill that made it feel like 35 below. The temperature in Madison, Wis., was a whopping 1 degree above just before midday Tuesday. For northern Illinois, it was the first time in almost two years that temperatures had dipped below zero. The temperature in Detroit was a toasty 7 degrees with a 10 below wind chill around midday. City officials said they planned to extend hours at its two warming centers. A warming center run by St. Peter and Paul Jesuit Church downtown that usually sees 50 to 60 people on a typical winter day had taken in about 90 people Tuesday morning. Police in Milwaukee, where the temperature was just 2 degrees at noon, checked under freeway overpasses to find the homeless and urge them to find a shelter. The United Way of Greater Milwaukee has donated $50,000 to two homeless shelters so they can open overflow centers. On Sunday, a 70-year-old man was found frozen in his unheated home in Des Plaines, Ill. And in Green Bay, Wis., a 38-year-old man was found dead outside his home Monday morning. Authorities in both cases said the victims died of hypothermia and cold exposure, with alcohol a possible contributing factor. A 77-year-old Illinois woman also was found dead near her car in southwestern Wisconsin on Saturday night, and a 61-year-old Minnesota man was pronounced dead at a hospital after he was found in a storage building Saturday morning. At least two fires in southern Wisconsin were blamed on property owners using heaters or other means to thaw frozen pipes. In one case, a dairy barn was destroyed, and in the other, a mobile home was lost. No one was hurt. Our thoughts and prayers are definitely with the elderly and homeless who are hit hardest by these conditions! We hope no one else dies because of the weather. APImages
About a week ago, Howard Stern ranted that Lena Dunham was fat and watching her engaged in sex scenes was akin to rape. He then apologized for the diatribe and the Girls star even called in to Stern’s radio show on Wednesday and the beef was squashed. But did a joke by Dunham inadvertently create a new one? Defending her body type, the actress said: “I’m not super-thin, but I’m thin for, like, Detroit.” And that set off Yesha Callahan, a writer for Don’t Sleep! on BET. As someone with ties to Michigan, Callahan said: “Detroit isn’t known for its population of white people…. She doesn’t want to be judged for her size, so she shouldn’t judge an entire city on theirs.” It’s a fair point. But also sort of a funny line, right? Was it also a racist one? You tell us: Was Lena Dunham’s Detroit comment offensive to African-Americans? Yes, how inappropriate! No, how hilarious! View Poll »
