Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney formally entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday, announcing his second White House bid with a direct shot at President Barack Obama’s economic leadership. “Barack Obama has failed America,” Romney declared in Stratham, N.H. “It breaks my heart to see what’s happening in this country.” “What’s [the president’s] answer? He says this: ‘I’m just getting started.’ No, Mr. President, you’ve had your chance.” Mitt’s run comes at an uncertain time for the U.S. economy, which he claims his business acumen makes him uniquely qualified to take the reins of. He lost to John McCain back in 2008. Will he prevail in 2012? He has strong GOP institutional support, but must overcome a lack of enthusiasm among many Republicans and outright opposition among others. Romney’s championing of universal health care in Massachusetts is one point of contention among Tea Party members who prefer … someone else. Talk to THG: If the election were today, I’d vote for …
Winners of White House’s 2011 Race to the Top Commencement Challenge got surprise of their lives at graduation ceremony. By James Montgomery President Obama meets with Booker T. Washington students Cassandra and Christopher Photo: Andrew Huang / MTV News & Docs Four years ago, Cassandra Henderson didn’t want to attend Booker T. Washington High School because, as she put it, “I thought the same as everyone else: that it was a bad school with nothing but bad people in it.” Now? Well, let’s just say she’s changed her opinion. That’s because, thanks to the commitment of Principal Alisha Kiner, the faculty and the students, not only has Booker T. Washington changed public opinion (posting math scores that are 20 percent higher and a 30 percent increase in graduation tends to do that), it has earned the attention of the nation, too, as the winner of the 2011 Race to the Top Commencement Challenge , a competition sponsored by Viacom, the Get Schooled Foundation and, oh yeah, the White House. Booker T. Washington students created a video that showed not only school pride, but the resiliency its students possess in the face of overwhelming odds. Booker T. Washington HS is not only located in Memphis, one of the nation’s poorest cities, but South Memphis has the 14th-highest crime rate in the country. And earlier this year, 20 percent of the school’s students’ homes were demolished in a citywide renewal plan. Still, in spite of all that, the school’s successes speak for themselves … which not only won them the nationwide competition, but meant that President Barack Obama would be coming to town to deliver the commencement speech at Booker T. Washington’s graduation ceremony on Monday (May 16). And understandably, students like Henderson were glad they stuck it out, not to mention proud of their school’s accomplishments. “It felt great,” she beamed. “For him to come to Booker T. Washington, this school people thought was terrible; for him to come to our graduation was a great honor and it brings hope to the school, it brings more students to the school, it changes the way people think about the school. Now they know what we’re all about here at BTW.” And as was the case last year, when Michigan’s Kalamazoo Central High School won the Race to the Top Challenge, Obama arrived in Memphis and was greeted by a select group of students — a group that included Henderson — who met him as he landed in Air Force One and rode in a 30-plus vehicle motorcade to the school’s graduation ceremony … a ride they’ll never forget. “We got to the airport and we got checked, then we waited for the airplane to land, and we watched Air Force One land, and the ladder came down, and Obama came out. Oh my gosh, I didn’t even cry — most people cry when they see him — I was just like, ‘Oh, wow!’ ” Henderson laughed. “And then we rode in his motorcade, and it was like we were the bosses. We were running the streets, nobody was getting past us. We were all saying, ‘We’re rolling with Obama!’ ” Also along for the ride was graduating senior Christopher Dean, who starred in Booker T. Washington’s winning video (“I tried to introduce myself, and he said ‘Stop, I know who you are! You’re Christopher Dean, I love your video!” Dean laughed). And once they arrived at graduation, Obama spoke to both students privately — and helped Dean straighten his tie — before surprising the rest of the student body before the ceremony took place. And he had Dean help him out in the surprise. “Our principal was giving [the graduating students] this speech, ‘This is how everyone needs to be,’ like she was going to be hard on them,” Dean explained. “Then I walked in and the president was behind me, and they went wild. When I brought him into the room, there were tears.” Dean then introduced Obama at the ceremony — but not before Obama gave him a little help. “Before I gave my speech, he could tell I was nervous, so he looked at me and was like, ‘You know what? You got it. Do it for me,’ Dean said. “And I knew I couldn’t mess up. These words were going to flow like water in the Mississippi River!” And for the students at Booker T. Washington, Obama’s surprise appearance was not only an added bonus to an already thrilling day, but it served as inspiration for a city that’s been down on its luck for a while now. And, hopefully, using Booker T. Washington High as an example, it can strive to be just a little bit better from now on. “I’m proud of my school and happy for my city. It was easy to play a role [in the winning video] once you’ve got peers like I have, and friends like I have … these are great people, and they deserve to have the President come here,” Dean said. “This city needed the help that he brings. What better place to come than Memphis? I love my school, I love my friends; we deserve it.” Related Photos President Obama Delivers Graduation Speech At Memphis High School
Luther Campbell , aka Uncle Luke, has officially joined the race to become mayor of Miami-Dade County. Campbell recently filed the necessary paperwork to run for mayor. “I’m dead serious,” Luke told reporters in Miami who doubted the sincerity of his political aspirations. “That’s a question [they have] been asking me since I put in my first document: am I serious? I am serious, this is no joke.” Check out Uncle Luke’s campaign platform below, as obtained by BallerStatus.net ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT We will revitalize the small business environment that supports existing enterprise, recruits new business and creates incentives to help meet long-term economic objectives. We will accomplish this revitalization through: · Responsible Growth and Development · Small Business Expansion · Attract new businesses · Generating new revenue sources for our county · Job Creation Redevelopment – we will take the opportunity to enrich our landscape by refocusing, restructuring and rebuilding to achieve the ‘highest and best use’ of our commercial and residential resources to: · Stabilize neighborhoods · Stop blight · Attract new residents · Uphold the cultural values of our diverse community Beautification – Enhancing the “look and feel” of our neighborhoods is central to improving its economic outlook. We will seek to improve the quality of life by: · Improving the visual impression of our county · Instilling a sense of community and neighborhood pride · Fulfilling the vision of Miami-Dade County as a Tourist Destination PUBLIC SAFETY Every citizen has the right to expect a safe environment. We will work with the various stakeholders to implement results-oriented practices that provide protection, prevent loss at work and at home and enhance the well-being for our constituents. · Restore public trust · Build stronger bonds between law enforcement and community · Enhance current public safety and crime prevention programs · Increase patrolling to industrial and neighborhood areas · Support neighborhood watch and other preventative programming · Solicit feedback and suggestions, study trends, apply best practices AFFORDABLE HOUSING Thriving in property and housing opportunities, Miami-Dade County has a responsibility to ensure that every citizen has access to safe and affordable housing. We will work to: · Redesign the current public hosing model · Remove blight from areas such as Liberty City and Overtown without gentrifying the neighborhood COMMUNITY Community is the sum total of the cultural, social and economic make up of Miami-Dade County. It includes the cares of our citizens and stakeholders as much as it reflects a specific a neighborhood, leader or institution. Our community is about us, who we are and what we believe in. It also dictates what we must do to preserve our most precious values. We will improve the conditions of our communities by: · Engaging our youth · Caring for our seniors · Strengthening families · Support networks of community and faith-based resources to serve the needs of our communities Source: BallerStatus.net RELATED: Uncle Luke Running For Mayor Of Miami RELATED: Uncle Luke Lands Assistant Coach Job At Miami High School
This New Orleans-bred actor is the first Black actor to be featured in nearly a decade on the cover of Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issue. Anthony Mackie changed the game by landing on the cover of Vanity Fair’s 17th annual “Hollywood Issue” ; and admits he realized the weight he carries by gracing the highly coveted glossy cover! Mackie opens up: “The magazine came out and it’s interesting how the conversations have changed, which is surprising to me,” “When my publicist told me they got me for the cover of Vanity Fair for the Hollywood edition I didn’t know what it meant. Looking at it now it was a monumental step in the course of my career. I want to be 70 or 80 like an Anthony Hopkins or Morgan Freeman and look back at a body of work instead of getting one or two jobs and trying to overcome the idea of just being an actor instead of being an artist. It’s been amazing. Every day I tell people that I don’t want you to overlook my race. I don’t want you to look at me as something different than what I am. When you look at me I don’t want you to like me in spite of being a Black male. I want you to include me because of who I am, that being a Black male. It’s been funny from both the Black and White perspective; from the everyday perspective and the Hollywood perspective. Everyone has an opinion so I try to put it out there and let it be what it is.” “The last Black man to be on the cover of Vanity Fair for the Hollywood edition was Omar Epps and that was over 10 years ago. I think it’s good for right now, but it definitely does not solidify in my path in Hollywood history.” Despite having starred in films like ‘Million Dollar Baby,’ ‘The Hurt Locker,’ ‘Notorious’ and ‘The Adjustment Bureau,’ Mackie, like many Black actors, has a face people know even when they can’t remember his name. “I get mistaken for one of my closest friends, Jamie Hector who was on ‘The Wire,’” he laughed. “Literally every day someone stops me and asks me for my autograph and if they can take a picture with me for being on ‘The Wire.’” Though Hollywood recognized Mackie’s value by including him in the Vanity Fair issue, the Obie Award winner does feel that the recent Black-out during this past award show season was disturbing. “It’s frustrating, but not for the reason of not having the representation. I think we’re at a point where we need to start making our own movies. I think there are enough stories out there that we should be telling those stories. I think in the early 90′s we had the opportunity to make our own movies and we got complacent. If you go back and watch ‘Love Jones’ and ‘Love and Basketball’ or ‘The Brothers,’ they were great movies and they represented us. ‘Boyz N The Hood’ and ‘Juice’ represented us. We made those movies and everybody just got lazy. It’s no reason that the people who made those movies shouldn’t still be making movies. Martin Scorsese didn’t stop after his first movie. James Cameron didn’t stop after ‘Titanic’ so why is it that the people who represent us and tell our stories just don’t exist anymore. They’re out there living in LA writing. They’re making movies; they’re just not making the movies that represent us. That’s what frustrates me because I feel like you have an entire new crop of young talent and they have not only no one to work with but they don’t have any material to work on. You can’t say we don’t have the money or the opportunities because White people are doing it. If you look at what Judd Apatow is doing, he’s shown us how to go out and take our ideas, put them on a page and make it. Ben Affleck made ‘Gone Baby Gone’ and ‘The Town’ because he couldn’t get cast as an actor. I think it’s about time that we as Black Hollywood stop talking about what people aren’t giving us and get up off our ass and start making the movies that we want to make.” With all this chit chat about making black movies, will Mackie make a move from actor to producer?! Or is he all talk?! Source
This New Orleans-bred actor is the first Black actor to be featured in nearly a decade on the cover of Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issue. Anthony Mackie changed the game by landing on the cover of Vanity Fair’s 17th annual “Hollywood Issue” ; and admits he realized the weight he carries by gracing the highly coveted glossy cover! Mackie opens up: “The magazine came out and it’s interesting how the conversations have changed, which is surprising to me,” “When my publicist told me they got me for the cover of Vanity Fair for the Hollywood edition I didn’t know what it meant. Looking at it now it was a monumental step in the course of my career. I want to be 70 or 80 like an Anthony Hopkins or Morgan Freeman and look back at a body of work instead of getting one or two jobs and trying to overcome the idea of just being an actor instead of being an artist. It’s been amazing. Every day I tell people that I don’t want you to overlook my race. I don’t want you to look at me as something different than what I am. When you look at me I don’t want you to like me in spite of being a Black male. I want you to include me because of who I am, that being a Black male. It’s been funny from both the Black and White perspective; from the everyday perspective and the Hollywood perspective. Everyone has an opinion so I try to put it out there and let it be what it is.” “The last Black man to be on the cover of Vanity Fair for the Hollywood edition was Omar Epps and that was over 10 years ago. I think it’s good for right now, but it definitely does not solidify in my path in Hollywood history.” Despite having starred in films like ‘Million Dollar Baby,’ ‘The Hurt Locker,’ ‘Notorious’ and ‘The Adjustment Bureau,’ Mackie, like many Black actors, has a face people know even when they can’t remember his name. “I get mistaken for one of my closest friends, Jamie Hector who was on ‘The Wire,’” he laughed. “Literally every day someone stops me and asks me for my autograph and if they can take a picture with me for being on ‘The Wire.’” Though Hollywood recognized Mackie’s value by including him in the Vanity Fair issue, the Obie Award winner does feel that the recent Black-out during this past award show season was disturbing. “It’s frustrating, but not for the reason of not having the representation. I think we’re at a point where we need to start making our own movies. I think there are enough stories out there that we should be telling those stories. I think in the early 90′s we had the opportunity to make our own movies and we got complacent. If you go back and watch ‘Love Jones’ and ‘Love and Basketball’ or ‘The Brothers,’ they were great movies and they represented us. ‘Boyz N The Hood’ and ‘Juice’ represented us. We made those movies and everybody just got lazy. It’s no reason that the people who made those movies shouldn’t still be making movies. Martin Scorsese didn’t stop after his first movie. James Cameron didn’t stop after ‘Titanic’ so why is it that the people who represent us and tell our stories just don’t exist anymore. They’re out there living in LA writing. They’re making movies; they’re just not making the movies that represent us. That’s what frustrates me because I feel like you have an entire new crop of young talent and they have not only no one to work with but they don’t have any material to work on. You can’t say we don’t have the money or the opportunities because White people are doing it. If you look at what Judd Apatow is doing, he’s shown us how to go out and take our ideas, put them on a page and make it. Ben Affleck made ‘Gone Baby Gone’ and ‘The Town’ because he couldn’t get cast as an actor. I think it’s about time that we as Black Hollywood stop talking about what people aren’t giving us and get up off our ass and start making the movies that we want to make.” With all this chit chat about making black movies, will Mackie make a move from actor to producer?! Or is he all talk?! Source
New episode, also featuring ‘Top Chef’ judge Padma Lakshmi and talk-show host Wendy Williams, airs at 11 a.m. Saturday on MTV. By Aly Semigran Rob Kardashian Photo: MTV News On Thursday, Rob Kardashian turned 24, but MTV asked the reality star to rewind the clock a few years and reflect on life at 17. In the new episode of “When I Was 17,” Kim, Khlo
Park’s Mike Shinoda has designed T-shirts to benefit the relief effort. By Gil Kaufman Lady Gaga Photo: Ian Gavan/ Getty Images As the situation in Japan continues to deteriorate in the wake of Friday’s massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake, the need for assistance has spurred a number of stars to reach out to fans to enlist their help. Just days after announcing the initial dates of his first tour, the My Violent Torpedo/ Defeat Is Not an Option Show , troubled actor Charlie Sheen announced that he will be donating $1 from each ticket sold to the Red Cross Japanese Earthquake Relief Fund. Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda has also gotten into the game quickly, designing T-shirts to benefit his band’s Music for Relief charity . One shirt features the image of a paper crane-like white butterfly above the LP logo, and the other one reads “Not Alone” in a red, white and blue font. Donations of $10 can be made by texting “MFR” to 85944. After tweeting on Sunday morning, “Remember as you go about your day please #prayforjapan & if you are able, text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to Japan’s emergency relief,” Katy Perry followed up later in the day with the message , “Imagine … if we ALL texted REDCROSS to 90999 we’d have raised over 60 million dollars for #JAPAN RELIEF! BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE! BE!” A growing collection of stars is urging fans to donate to Japanese earthquake relief. On Friday, Lady Gaga sprung into action and offered her fans a special wristband whose proceeds will go to help the victims. “I Designed a Japan Prayer Bracelet. Buy It/ Donate here and ALL proceeds will go to Tsunami Relief Efforts. Go Monsters,” Gaga wrote . She also urged fans to visit the Citizen Effect website, where contributions will be matched by Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy. They’ve offered to match the first $100,000 donated to a special fund set up to help the Red Cross deliver emergency services to people in Japan. Other celebrities urging action include Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Adam Lambert, Diddy and many more who’ve sent their prayers to those affected via Twitter. Britney Spears encouraged fans to donate to relief organizations, tweeting , “So tragic. My heart is breaking for Japan.” Also making pleas were Conan O’Brien , Chris Brown and George Takei , each asking their followers to donate to the Red Cross. As the official death toll in the worst quake to hit the island nation mounted on Monday (March 14) to 1,833 — with thousands more believed to have perished — Japan was facing a growing threat from a number of hobbled nuclear power plants. A second explosion in two days occurred at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant on Monday morning, just hours before the plant’s #2 reactor lost its cooling abilities. While no significant release of radioactive materials is believed to have occurred yet, the race to cool down and secure the nation’s nuclear plants is as urgent as the search for survivors from the devastating natural disaster. New images and video continue to emerge that paint a partial picture of the destruction in towns such as the 20,000-resident Minami Sanriku, which CNN reported had been turned into a virtual pile of rubble by the quake and the ensuing tsunami. As gas and food stocks run low, Japanese citizens have been asked to ration their supplies while the United States and 69 other nations have pledged to help with search and rescue efforts. For more information on what you can do to help with earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in Japan, head to MTV Act , or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Related Artists Lady Gaga Linkin Park
Truck Series drivers take to the track at 9 a.m. Saturday morning for their first of two practice sessions. Final practice begins at 10:30 a.m. A Truck Series autograph session is scheduled from 1:30 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. for those who are heading to Darlington Raceway. Qualifying for the Too Tough to Tame 200 begins at 3:15 p.m. with the race live on SPEED at 5:00 p.m. NASCAR 2011 Camping World Truck Series, Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series Schedule- To all the fans out there, the NASCAR Camping W
Before there was Candice Swanepoel, South Africa was known for Charlize Theron, or at least in Hollywood it was, cuz I am sure South Africa offers more to the world that a couple of hot pussies from generations of cross breeding, like HIV, Blood Diamonds, Racism and that movie about aliens……I guess they also had The World Cup….not that it matters…what does matter is that Charlize Theron, a bitch I loved in Playboy back when she launched her career, is bringing her hard nipple out in public… Sure she’s done it before and before ….all while showing us how to solve the race wars …. This bitch is all about the nipple and this isn’t news but it is new – I’m a fan…so enjoy…
Before there was Candice Swanepoel, South Africa was known for Charlize Theron, or at least in Hollywood it was, cuz I am sure South Africa offers more to the world that a couple of hot pussies from generations of cross breeding, like HIV, Blood Diamonds, Racism and that movie about aliens……I guess they also had The World Cup….not that it matters…what does matter is that Charlize Theron, a bitch I loved in Playboy back when she launched her career, is bringing her hard nipple out in public… Sure she’s done it before and before ….all while showing us how to solve the race wars …. This bitch is all about the nipple and this isn’t news but it is new – I’m a fan…so enjoy…
