Urban Lifestyle

Georgia woman, Ann Wiley, is $300 million in debt due to a Sun Trust bank error. *The banks are charging us more and more every day in fees just to hold our money for us. But as the fees get steeper the services get more shoddy… and downright disastrous. Georgia native, Ann Wiley, had problems paying a bill online and thought, “Hey, I’d better check my account.” Well, she discovered that there was more of a deficit in her account than she thought. Courtesy of Sun Trust bank, she was $100 million in debt.  But then, it didn’t stop there. The debt doubled, then tripled over night with hundreds of millions deducted from her checking and savings.  Wiley is not even a close friend of Oprah, so the debt was more money than she had ever seen attached to her name. (more…)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A chef who worked for Michael Jackson has described the home lives of the children during the final months of the singer’s life, including what she said was his daughter’s last birthday party. Kai Chase told jurors hearing a lawsuit filed by Jackson’s mother against concert promoter AEG Live LLC that Jackson was a hands-on father who often played with his children. Katherine Jackson’s lawsuit lists the singer’s three children, Prince, Paris and Blanket, as plaintiffs and claims the concert promoter failed to properly investigate the doctor convicted of giving the singer a fatal dose of anesthetic in June 2009. AEG denies it hired the doctor or pushed the entertainer to rehearse for his final series of comeback concerts titled “This Is It.” On the stand, Chase said Jackson made sure the children kept a healthy diet and got plenty of sleep for school sessions. She described an April birthday party for Jackson’s only daughter, Paris, in which she said the singer hired a private circus for his children. The Cirque du Soleil-style show featured men on stilts and a woman performing in a giant balloon, Chase said. Paris Jackson, who was turning 11, adored her father and Chase helped decorate a room filled with posters and photos of the “Thriller” singer. The singer’s music was played throughout the party. Chase, who continues to work for Jackson’s mother and his children, said that was the final birthday party that Paris Jackson has had. “Paris hasn’t had any birthdays since,” Chase said. “She hasn’t wanted to celebrate since.” Michael Jackson was fiercely protective of his children’s privacy while alive, often shielding their faces in public with masks. Chase, who testified during Conrad Murray’s involuntary manslaughter trial, described for civil jurors the routines inside Jackson’s rented mansion in the months before his death. She said Jackson wouldn’t allow his children to eat sweets and made sure they went to bed early so they would be alert for tutors who instructed them. Chase described Jackson as a prankster who ate meals with his children, exchanging jokes and stories. Paris Jackson would often write notes for her dad on a chalkboard sitting in the kitchen that Chase used to list a menu of the day’s meals. One message from Jackson’s daughter shown to jurors read, “I love daddy” and “Smile it’s free.” Chase described the close bond Jackson and his children shared, telling jurors the youngsters would run to their father when he came into a room. “They would take off like lightning,” she said, hugging their father’s ankles and legs. If jurors determine AEG Live is liable for Jackson’s death, they will have to determine any damages awarded to his mother and his children. ___ Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Lil Wayne created a firestorm on social media after a video for the rapper’s new single “God Bless Amerika” leaked and it showed images of him stepping on the American flag. The behind the scenes footage led numerous commenters to question Wayne’s patriotism and ridicule his rap skills. “God Bless America but you have the flag on the ground and stepping all over it? Smh…I’ll be looking forward to Magna Carta Holy Grail…Wayne dropped off a long time [ago] anyway,” one commenter wrote. For his part, Lil Wayne denies that any disrespect was intentional. In a post he published to Facebook Tuesday morning, the rapper wrote: It was never my intention to desecrate the flag of the United States of America. I was shooting a video for a song off my album entitled “God Bless Amerika”. The clip that surfaced on the Internet was a camera trick clip that revealed that behind the American Flag was the Hoods of America. In the final edit of the video you will see the flag fall to reveal what is behind it but will never see it on the ground. In most people eyes including my own who were raised in that environment, the Hood is the only America they know and the only America I knew growing up. I was fortunate from my God giving talents to escape the Hood and see the other beautiful places this country has to offer but most people who are born in that environment don’t get that chance. That’s their view of their America. That was Dwayne M Carter from Hollygrove New Orleans view of America. That’s who I’m speaking for in this song.” Follow Lilly Workneh @Lilly_Works

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — In an accelerated election for a new U.S. senator from New Jersey, the Democratic field is Cory Booker vs. everyone else. The Newark mayor’s name recognition and deep-pocketed pals would give him an advantage in any statewide race. But the charismatic Booker — who clearly has national political ambitions and has spent significant time raising his profile on social media and giving speeches around the country — may be more familiar to talk show viewers than to New Jersey voters. His ride to Washington got bumpier when the election was moved up a year because of Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s death this month. Booker, 44, hasn’t raised as much money as he hoped. He hasn’t finished his second term in Newark, something he promised to do when he decided not to challenge Gov. Chris Christie’s re-election bid. And he didn’t have time to try to discourage other Democrats from competing against him in a party primary. Booker is still the odds-on favorite to win the Aug. 13 primary, which is akin to coronation because a Republican hasn’t held the seat for more than 40 years. One recent poll had him up by 40 points among other Democrats. It also showed him well ahead of the likely Republican challenger, former Americans for Prosperity state director Steve Lonegan, in the Oct. 16 general election, which will settle the seat for a year. As few as 200,000 voters could decide the outcome, an anticipated turnout so low it adds to the uncertainty. It’s almost certain that Booker, a Stanford graduate and Rhodes scholar who grew up in the New York suburb of Harington Park, N.J., will be criticized during the primary for his fast-paced ambitions. One opponent, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, offered a glimpse of what is to come by proclaiming, “I don’t bring a sense of entitlement” to the race. Oliver, who like Booker is black and from Essex County, could peel away minority and female votes that would otherwise go to Booker. The two others in the race, Rep. Frank Pallone, a 24-year veteran of Congress with deep ties to organized labor, and Rep. Rush Holt, an astrophysicist and son of a former senator, both have voting records more liberal than Booker’s. Additionally, the powerful public teachers union could come out against him because of his push for charter schools, school vouchers and other urban education reforms the union opposes. Booker’s mere entry into this race meant backpedaling on his publicly stated intent to finish his second term as mayor of New Jersey’s largest city, which expires next June. Asked about the turnabout during his campaign kickoff at a downtown dot-com, Booker acknowledged that his campaign plans had been upended. “The reality is we have put so much into the pipeline here in Newark,” he said. “The momentum is clear. There is about $1 billion worth of development projects rolling into the city. As much as you might think I am necessary to complete those projects, this momentum will continue, and I will continue to be a part of it.” Though he swears his allegiance to his adopted city, critics say he cares more about building his national brand than fixing the city’s systemic problems of crime and joblessness. “Our infamous name for him is ‘Mayor Hollywood,’ because he’s never here,” said Newark community activist Donna Jackson. “Or we call him ‘Story Looker,’ because every time you look around, he has another story.” Critics see the rescue of a woman from a burning house and subsequent tweets about the experience (he has 1.4 million Twitter followers) as self-promotional, and say his investment in the downtown has come at the expense of neighborhoods where blight and crime persist. Critics say his trip to California the day after announcing his Senate candidacy for a fundraiser hosted by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is more evidence that

*The Oscar-winning filmmaker behind an upcoming Showtime documentary about Venus and Serena Williams has responded to a lawsuit filed on Friday by the United States Tennis Association, which claims the film uses footage that infringed the organization’s copyrights. The USTA told the U.S. District Court in New York that the film “Venus And Serena” also includes scenes that are “not in the best interests of the sport.” Alex Gibney, the film’s executive producer, says the USTA is trying to “censor this film about America’s most inspiring female athletes.” His colleagues “were entirely within their legal rights to use a small amount of widely seen footage” citing the ”fair use” doctrine, which enables filmmakers and others to use copyrighted material without permission when it serves the public interest. The concept, Gibney continued, “is vital to filmmakers trying to tell truthful stories and embodies the essence of the First Amendment of the U.S. constitution. Indeed, without the fair use doctrine, copyright itself would be unconstitutional. By its actions, the USTA is assaulting the very principle of free speech.” Showtime has exclusive U.S. rights to air the documentary beginning July 1, but execs may have second thoughts following the suit, according to Deadline.com. Venus And Serena debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in October and has been available on VOD and iTunes. The USTA wants to bar further sales and showings, and collect damages. The suit says the producers didn’t follow through on efforts to license U.S. Open footage, which would give the organization discretion to over the amount and nature of the content that could be used. As a result, the USTA believed “that the project had been abandoned or would be completed without inclusion of any U.S. Open footage,” the suit says.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — In the decades after the Civil War, the nation’s first black Army regiments guarded Yosemite and Sequoia national parks against poaching and timber thefts, a role that in hindsight made them America’s first park rangers. Now as the National Park Service prepares for its 100th anniversary in 2016, there is a move in Congress to formally recognize the role of these “Buffalo Soldiers.” The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Monday by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Francisco, allowing the study of a national historic trail between their home base at The Presidio in San Francisco and the Sierra Nevada. A similar bill is pending in the Senate. Supporters hope recognizing the soldiers leads to awareness of the role African-Americans played in formation of the national parks. Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

In a recent Facebook post, former Republican congressman Allen West explained why he believes women do not belong in military units. West expressed his disapproval towards President Obama and the Defense Department for approving a policy allowing women to fill thousands of combat jobs in the military. The news was announced on the heels of the Congressional hearings on the increasing number of sexual assault cases in the military. West considers the debate “hypocritical,” arguing that the same individuals who “are up in arms” over the issue should not also believe women have a place in combat scenarios. “I find it completely hypocritical for everyone to be up in arms about military sexual assault, but then want to cast women into high stress small unit combat elements,” West writes in his post. West makes it clear that he does not believe women are capable of achieving the same physical strength as men to be able to defend themselves in combat. However, the policy — which will allow women to begin training as Army Rangers in 2015 — requires men and women to meet the same physical and mental standards to qualify for any front-line positions. Still, West goes on to write: “The objective is obvious: destroy the last bastions of American warrior culture all for the advancement of a misguided vision of fairness and equality. There is no equality in close combat. The goal is simple: you physically overpower the enemy and kill them. Don’t tell me about technology, war is about fighting and fighting is about killing, mano y mano.” Follow Lilly Workneh @Lilly_Works

*LoLo Jones has gone and pissed off some of her teammates on the Olympic bobsled team. With just eight months to go before the Winter Olympics, the two-time Olympic hurdler on Monday posted a Vine video jokingly complaining about her $741.84 check from the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, which decides pay based on performance results. “Several months with bobsled season. The whole season. That’s it. I’m going to be a little late on my rent this month,” Jones wrote. Fellow bobsledder Steven Holcomb called Jones’ comments “a slap in the face.” “It wasn’t taken very well,” he told USA Today. “People were really kind of insulted. You just made $741, more than most athletes in the sport. So what are you complaining about? The way it came across to a lot of the athletes here was kind of snobby because she’s one of the most well-known athletes in the world and she’s making pretty good money in endorsements. And to basically turn around and slap us in the face because you didn’t make any money this year in bobsledding while taking money from other’s athletes? She slapped pretty much every athlete in the U.S. federation in the face. That was the general consensus.” Jones attempted some damage control Monday night, explaining how the Vine was meant to draw attention to the larger issue at hand. “I didn’t want to offend anyone, and I’ve always wanted to help out my bobsled teammates,” a statement from Jones read. “Some of them have debt because they’ve given their life to the sport. My partner Jazmine [Fenlator] and I had to raise money for the bobsled to be funded just to finish the season, because only two of the three sleds are funded by the team. I can’t imagine halfway through my track season having to stop and raise money to finish. “The Vine of the paycheck is just showing the difference between track and bobsled, and to be honest bobsledders work more hours than track! The bottom line is that all Olympic athletes dedicate their lives to their sports and do not receive lucrative paychecks like athletes in mainstream professional sports. So hopefully this will make people appreciate just how hard Olympians work, often just for the love of the sport,” Jones concluded. While many bobsledders were still rankled by Jones’ comments, one of her teammates, Elana Meyers, was grateful that Jones put the issue out there. “thanks for bringing the issues to light! Bobsledders aren’t high paid pro athletes like you see on tv,” Meyers tweeted.