The Un-Lucky Bag Operation

About 2 years ago I watched a weekly episodic television series called "Bait Car". The shows premise was to arrest people who were thieves believing the fact that they were greedy enough to steal a car is a clear sign that they are criminals. The officers would leave a "nice" car parked in an urban area with the keys in the ignition, and the engine running. The officers would then wait for someone to come along and steal the car. Once the unsuspecting individual began to drive off in the vehicle, the officers on location would activate a remote "kill switch" shutting off the engine. At which time a number of officers from the auto-theft unit would burst out of the shadows and place the driver under arrest.

I realize that the general consensus is that they should not have tried to drive off in a car that did not belong to them, and I get that, because I had the same thought. But the whole thing just seemed wrong. It's kind of like dangling a carrot in front of a rabbit and expecting it not to take a nibble. The Police Officers seemed to revel in their triumph, and celebrate each arrest as if it they were career making moments, often administering stern lectures to handcuffed suspects once in custody. After watching the show for a few weeks I actually started rooting for the car thieves. I know it was wrong, and I did feel a little guilty for hoping that they got away but, It wasn't like their crime was one of premeditation. More like crimes of opportunity. Ok, I know that it doesn't make it right, and all of my Christian brother's, and sister's will probably chastise me, but I'm just being honest. My question is. Why not move the operation to the suburbs? I'm sure that there is no shortage of greedy popportunist's who live on those tree-lined streets. I thought that this was the most blatant form of entrapment until I heard this story.

It's a tactic the New York Police Department has used for years. They leave cars and bags loaded with valuables in plain sight to see if anyone takes the bait. Sometimes the bait is a small amount of cash in a stray wallet. Or a credit card. Even a pack of cigarettes can do the trick. Those who leave without trying to turn in the valuables are arrested.

Police in New York City leave the items unattended on subway platforms, on park benches, in cars, and wait to see if someone grabs them.

The New York Police Department says the practice has been a valuable tool for catching career criminals and deterring thefts in public places. As usual, innocent people end up becoming innocent victims. A recent court ruling throwing out a larceny case against a Bronx woman cast a harsh light on this dubious tactic.

Judge Linda Poust Lopez found that there was no proof Deirdre Myers tried to steal anything, and that she was framed by a sting that took the tactic way too far. Upholding the charges "would greatly damage the confidence and trust of the public in the fairness and effectiveness of the criminal justice system, and rightly so," the judge wrote.

Myers, a 40 year-old single mother with no criminal record, has since sued the city, claiming she and her daughter were traumatized by a wrongful arrest in 2010.

"You know how embarrassing and humiliating this was?" Myers said.
"I'd never been stopped by the police for anything in my life."

The city Law Department is still reviewing Myers' lawsuit, city attorney Raju Sundaran said in a statement. But, he added, "undercover sting operations are lawful and help reduce crime."
In addition to terrorizing the poor in a still recovering economy, and turning law abiding citizens into collateral damage.

The judge suggested that Myers' brush with the law had its roots in the so called lucky bag operation that the NYPD began in 2006 to deter thefts of wallets, shopping bags, smartphones and other valuables in the subways.

A typical scenario was for a plainclothes officer to place a handbag with cash on a train platform and briefly look or step away. Anyone who took the bag, then passed up chances to return it to the undercover cop or to report it to a uniformed officer posted nearby could be locked up.

At the time, police credited the subway operation with driving down crime there. They say they still use the tactic when they see a spike in thefts of personal property in public places such as Grand Central Terminal or Central Park. But they now require more evidence of intent a suspect trying to hide a wallet or taking cash out of it and throwing it away before making an arrest.

Last year, police arrested a tourist from Atlanta in Central Park after he picked up a purse and took out $27 stashed inside, according to court papers in another pending civil case. He ended up paying a $120 fine as part of a plea bargain. Something tells me that this was probably his first and last time seeing the Statue of Liberty. His vacation tale of finding $27 in what is perhaps the most famous park in the world, was turned into a nightmarish encounter with the N.Y.P.D.

PR

3 Reasons Why You Should Listen To Your Parents

Don't tell him that I said this, but my father has always been right when it comes to the advice that he has given me over the years. I am not about to pretend that I always listened to him. The truth is, even though I heard each and every wise word, I was much too busy being grown to care about anything more than what I desired, and there were times that I paid the price. I know for a fact that God looks out for babies and fools, because quite a few times,.....lets just say that I wasn't a baby.

While there are many reasons why we should listen to our mother's and father's, these are my top 3.

1. 9 times out of 10, your parents have been where you are, and have learned important lessons that last a lifetime. It is only in our foolish youth that we actually believe that we know more than someone who has lived and experienced more than we will ever know.

2. If you're not sure of anything else, you can be sure of one thing. Your parents love you more than you love yourself, and would never hurt you. With that being said, who can you trust more than them?
Besides maybe your spouse. But then again, that depends on who you're married to.

3. I Know that at the ripe old age of 23, 33, 43, you think you know it all. You've lived a few years, paid some dues, and you may even by a parent yourself by now. But wisdom is something that we can never have enough of, and no matter how much you think you know, your mother knows far more than you do and always will. Remember being smart does not make you wise.

PR

The Deepest Cut

Many of us Obama supporters have been urging our families, friends, and co-worker's to be patient with him. I've said, "he has to do what he has to do to get re-elected. Just wait until his 2nd term", more times than I care to remember. I want to believe that each and everything that he does is some kind of ingenious, calculated strategy designed to thwart Republican advances. But as much as I hate to admit it, sometimes I just can't help but feel betrayed, and maybe even a little disappointed.
I know that President Obama is first and foremost a politician, but it was difficult not to get caught up in history, given the monumental significance of his election and his presidency. But 5 years in, I have begun to grow tired of the presidents desperate need for bipartisanship, and abject failure to directly address the issues of his constituents. Being slow to address the issues is one thing. But being on the wrong side of an issue that is considered sacred to your constituents is quite another.

President Obama has upset loyal Democrats by tossing Social Security onto the table in his poker game with Republicans. Not to worry. I have a theory as to how this story ends. A year from now, when the 2014 congressional campaigns are hot underway, Republicans will be running against "Obama The Butcher", promising to protect Social Security from the bloodthirsty Democrats.

By then, having lost on his "I am smarter than they are." strategy, the president will be reduced to lamely reassuring old folks, that he didn't actually intend to cut their benefits, really he didn’t. It was just a ploy to get tightwad conservatives to give in a little on tax increases. Republicans can pull out the videotapes in which Obama and team explain their high-minded purpose, sacrificing the Democratic party’s sacred honor in order to get Republicans to play nice.

But is it worth it? If Obama insists on playing his own idealized form of chess, social security should not be the pawn that he uses. For many, social security is the only insurance that they will have in their old age. Those who have paid into the system deserve to reap the benefits. Social security is not charity, or an entitlement program. Social security is a right, not a bargaining chip for wealthy politicians.

PR

Beating His Daughters

When I was growing up, getting a beating was common. When you did something wrong you got the belt. You learned your lesson, and you never did it again. I didn't get many beating, maybe 2 or 3 that I can remember. My parents never looked for a reason to punish me. But if I lied, stoled, was disobedient, or mistreated someone I really left my parents no choice. I NEVER got the impression that they liked having to do it. Actually it was quite the contrary. It was always done out of love, and I learned that there are consequences for my actions. By today's politically correct, intrusive standards this would be called child abuse. But back in the 70's and 80's this was called discipline.

Let me clarify, I am not talking about being beat bloody, and I am not talking about getting beat with a "hot wheels" track, a hanger, or an extension cord.
(Some of you may remember that hot wheels track.)
What I am talking about is a couple of whacks with the belt. Hard enough to hurt, and long enough to learn. But in all reality it would still get a parent arrested today. The government has taken away our autonomy when it comes to raising our children, giving them a false sense of reality. They have become self appointed disciplinarian's who choose to lock up our children for school yard fighting, and classroom misbehavior, instead of allowing us to teach them self control, and self discipline at home in the way that we see fit. At least at home punishments do not involve saddling elementary school children with criminal records. The school's teach children that there are no loser's or winner's in life, and then seek to punish them when they become non-functioning adults.

Proverbs 13:24
24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

The latest story involves an Ohio father who decided to beat his daughters with a video cable for staying out late, and posting a video of themselves "twerking" on Facebook. "Twerking" is a sexual suggestive dance that would cause any father to get upset knowing that his daughters thought that it was not only a "cute" thing to do, but "cute" enough to post on the internet. The father has been charged with child endangerment and corporal punishment, according to news sources, 35-year-old Greg Horn whipped his two daughters ages 12 & 14 with the cable so hard they had welts on their legs with open wounds. Detectives noted that Horn struck his children while they were visiting him at his house. Their mother notified police after seeing the injuries.
The 30-second video of Horn beating his daughters has sparked strong outcry.
“No matter what those kids did, no one deserves to be beaten to that extent. How can you keep going when your child is screaming like that?,” one commenter on the video asked.

It was definitely over kill, and a bit much. The video footage is so severe that YouTube has removed it.
Was Horn wrong for beating his daughters in the way that he did? Absolutely! Did they deserve some form of punishment definitely! Did he deserve to be arrested? I'm not so sure. It is always easier to judge a situation from the outside looking in as a perfect parent who raises their children perfectly. But unfortunately, and this may come as a shock to some people, but there is no such thing as a perfect parent's.
I am annoyed by the fact that these two "grown behind" girls ages 12, and 14 most likely haven't learned a lesson from all of this, besides the fact that they could probably get away with murder without being disciplined. No one has acknowledged the fact that these children posted their sexual suggestive dance moves on Facebook. I guess their questionable behavior got lost in the midst of this story. The question is. If these girls become pregnant as a result of this behavior, are the same people who are outraged over their fathers actions be willing to donate the funds necessary to help take care of these children's, children?
I don't think so.

PR

Is There Such A Thing As Unintentional Racism?

Racism is probably the most damaging aspect of our society. If you dissect many social issues, and analyze their root causes, you are bound to find racism and or prejudice present on some level. The concept of race as a criteria for ones character is ridiculous, invalid, and void of all reason. It is nothing more than a thorn in the side of the human condition. But the question that I have often struggled with is whether racism is always intentional. On many occasions while pondering this notion I have made an effort to erase this question from my mind. Writing it off as over analysis, mainly because I have a habit of over analyzing. Figuring, of course, that all of the hatred, violence and discrimination directed toward minorities has to be intentional given the premeditated nature of the beast. But as I get older I have begun to realize that much of our behavior as human beings is 50 percent learned, 25 percent conditioning, and 25 percent habit.
This does not excuse the behavior because the vast majority of us are cognoscente and capable of making informed decisions, if we choose too. But cultural conditioning is so pervasive in the world that it's grip and influence are virtually inescapable. In a multi-media driven world, bias, prejudice, and racism are slanted according to the agenda of those who control these outlets. As a result, stereotypes are reinforced and promoted without objectivity, and people can find like minded talking heads to validate their ignorance, not even knowing that they are ignorant.

So while I do not believe that racism is always intentional, I do believe that the decision to stay uninformed, ignorant, and in the dark, is. Simply because, for some it is easier to move a mountain than to use their minds. Anything that contradicts the general consensus of the tribe is too ludicrous to be considered because each and every member considers themselves one of the enlightened few. In other words if everyone inside of a bubble is content with the world and the concepts created and validated there in. There is no desire for most to venture out. If a persons perception of knowledge is that they know all that they need to know, there is no point or purpose in learning, and the condition continues to be a tradition.

PR

An Inmate Said, (“Pop me one of them beers open, man,”)

Anyone who has ever read this blog knows that I am an outspoken critic of prisons, and the criminal justice system as a whole. The criminal justice system has turned incarceration into big business in which inmates are utilized as slave labor to fuel the prison industrial complex. Any and all intentions of correcting criminal behavior have long been abandoned, and the fact that it is still referred to as department's of correction's in some parts of the country is a joke.

With that being said, punishment is still necessary. I would be remiss if I did not admit that there are those who actually belong in jail. No matter what the reasons are, or what the statistics say, there are some people who act with depraved indifference, and others who just deserve to be in jail. But all prisons are not created equal. Some are worse than others.

The New Orleans Parish Prison complex is being called the worst city jail in America. The fact that information has emerged from a federal courtroom this week which depicts the jail as one that has been plagued by violence, inmate suicides, overcrowding, dilapidation, and mismanagement certainly makes a great case for this dubious distinction. A local news correspondent has reported that a “national prison consultant called the Orleans Parish Prison complex one of the worst jails he’s ever seen, and one of the worst large city jails in the whole country.”

On top of all that, the prison is facing a viral video scandal. The court was treated to a highlight reel that makes it seem like Sheriff Marlin Gusman takes his management cues from Michael Scott (Steve Carell's character on "The Office"). The video shows inmates openly drinking, gambling, chatting on cell phones, and abusing drugs. At one point, a group of cheerful inmates relax in their cell with cans of Budweiser retrieved from a yellow cooler. (“Pop me one of them beers open, man,” the guy doing the filming says.) One inmate even leaves the jail for a night of carousing on Bourbon Street. One inmate actually had a gun.

This sounds more like a house party, but apparently it's a prison party.

If you were an inmate at Orleans Parish Prison, I guess you’d want to leave, too. Though the complex is called “Orleans Parish Prison,” it is actually a jail, meaning that, at any given time, most of the people incarcerated there are pre trial detainees who have not yet been convicted of the crimes with which they’ve been charged. Inmates have testified to rampant physical and sexual violence inside the complex’s walls. This past week, one inmate “talked of being hog-tied, beaten with a mop handle and bucket, doused in urine and more,” and said that he would have been killed if he’d called for a guard. Another testified to the disgusting conditions in the medical unit: “mold on the walls, leaking toilets, water on the floor.”

How does a jail deteriorate like this? It seems to come down to financial hardship and extreme mismanagement. Some have noted that the prisoners must have had help from the prison staff to successfully smuggle contraband inside.
Really?! What a genius conclusion!
This idea is reinforced in the video, when a cell phone-flaunting inmate notes that “the the guards love money. They’ll do anything for money. So we getting it in.”

Sheriff Marlin Gusman came across as an absentee landlord in court yesterday. According to the reports, Gusman denied the most extreme allegations and “testified that he can't recall even reading the reports of experts who found egregious conditions at the jail in recent years." He also said he only scanned, but did not carefully read, key court documents that preceded his signing of a federal consent decree in December that would govern a list of reforms for the Orleans Parish jail system.” Who has time to read boring legal documents when there’s a hot dice game going on over in Cellblock B.

The bottom line is that the public is not overly concerned with prison conditions, or prisoners being treated humanely. The general consensus is that those incarcerated are not worthy of being treated with decency and respect. This is why prison sentences have increased over the years, and solitary confinement has been encouraged. The emphasis on corrective behavior has been abandoned in favor of harsh punishments, and if there is any action taken at all as a result of this story it will be because the inmates were reportedly enjoying themselves. If this story was solely based on the squalid conditions at at Orleans Parish Prison this story would die within days of being reported. Indifference in favor of just deserts for those who are exactly where they belong.

PR

The True Face Of P.E.T.A.

PETA (People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals), is probably my least favorite organization simply because of the fact that they will gladly sacrifice human lives to save the lives of animals. At least, thats what I thought, This terrorist organization has been linked bombing many of the labs which test animals in product or chemical development, and killing innocent people in the process. While I agree that all life is precious, I am not in favor murdering human beings to save animals. It does not seem like a fair trade to me. Another reason why I am not particularly fond of PETA is because of the fact that their ad campaigns are extreme (I saw one recently where a naked woman was wrapped, and packaged in plastic, with a sign that read, "Human Meat"), and their form of protest is to assault fur clad individual's by splashing red paint on them to represent the blood of a dead animal. PETA, and organizations like it wreak of hypocrisy, and seek to strong arm all who disagree with their mission. If they expect their views to be respected, they should respect the right of those who disagree to do so. Unfortunately everything that they profess to believe in is nothing more than a lie. A farce of epic proportions, and a shocking twist for those who have donated millions to this non-profit organization, and the world.

Approximately 2,000 animals pass through PETA's front door every year and very few make it out alive. The vast majority, 96 percent in 2011, exit the facility out the back door after they have been killed, when Pet Cremation Services of Tidewater stops by on their regular visits to pick up their remains. Between these visits, the bodies are stored in the giant walk-in freezer PETA installed for this very purpose. It is a freezer that cost $9,370 and, like the company which incinerates the bodies of PETA's victims, was paid for with the donations of animal lovers who could never have imagined that the money they donated to help animals would be used to end their lives instead. In fact, in the last 11 years, PETA has killed 29,426 dogs, cats, rabbits, and other domestic animals.

The PETA headquarters is on the appropriately named Front Street. While claiming to be an animal rights organization, PETA does not believe animals have a right to live. Instead, it believes that people have a right to kill them, as long as the killing is done "humanely," which PETA interprets to mean poisoning them with an overdose of barbiturates, even if the animals are not suffering. In 2012, 733 dogs entered this building. They killed 602 of them. Only 12 were adopted. Also in 2012, they impounded 1,110 cats. 1,045 were put to death. Seven of them were adopted. They also took in 34 other companion animals, such as rabbits, of which 28 were put to death. Only four were adopted.

The concept of "humane killing" sounds like a perverse oxymoron to me. Either their mission is to save animals or kill animals. If PETA is under the impression that killing, and saving are one in the same then they should acquire an updated dictionary with definitions that are rooted in reality.

A mother cat and her two kittens, were all perfectly healthy and adoptable and none in danger of being killed until they were given to PETA by a veterinarian who was trying to find them homes and was told by PETA employees that they would have no problem adopting them out. PETA lied to him and the mother and her kittens were entrusted to their care, they reportedly killed them, within minutes, in the back of a van, a donor funded slaughterhouse on wheels. Despite $35,000,000 in annual revenues and millions of "animal-loving" members, PETA does not even try to find them homes. PETA has no adoption hours, does no adoption promotion, has no adoption floor, but is registered with the State of Virginia as a "humane society" or "animal shelter."

It's sounds like a scam to me. A deadly shell game, or three card monty for multi-million dollar profit. Apparently they run their facility like a death camp for animals.

According to inspection reports by the Virginia Department of Agriculture, the PETA facility "does not contain sufficient animal enclosures to routinely house the number of animals annually reported as taken into custody... The shelter is not accessible to the public, promoted, or engaged in efforts to facilitate the adoption of animals taken into custody."

Routine inspections often found "no animals to be housed in the facility" or, at best "few animals in custody," despite thousands of them impounded by PETA annually. Since they take in thousands per year, where were they? "90% of the animals were euthanized within the first 24 hours of custody," according to the Virginia Department of Agriculture inspector. How can people adopt animals from PETA when they kill the animals they acquire within minutes without ever making them available for adoption? How can people adopt animals when they have no adoption hours, do no adoption promotion, and do not show animals for adoption, choosing to kill them without doing so? In fact, when asked by a reporter what efforts they make to find
animals homes, PETA had no comment.

No adoption, no effort, no comment, and no ethics.

Many animal lovers who have publicly condemned PETA for their killing have received a letter from the PETA legal department, threatening a lawsuit. However, because a lawsuit would allow for subpoenas of PETA employees past and present -- leading to under-oath testimonies about the grisly reality of what has and is going on at PETA headquarters it is unlikely that PETA would ever follow-through with these empty threats.

By defending regressive and cruel shelters and sheltering policies that mandate killing, by calling for the death of certain groups of animals entering shelters and by injecting thousands of animals with a fatal dose of poison every year, these actions are not only inconsistent with the mission of an animal rights organization, they are the antithesis of one. Only one question remains,
Why is anyone still donating to PETA?

PR

Good Grades For Welfare

Every so often some conservative governing body somewhere decides once and for all that they are going to do something about the welfare "crisis", and the others wait with baited breathe to see if the latest attempt will work. Last year conservatives in the state of Florida thought that it would be a good idea to subject all of those who receive public assistance to random drug testing, and as a result, only 1% of those tested came up positive. It was a complete failure. But the damage has already been done through connotation, and innuendo. When people are tested for drugs it is usually under the assumption that they are using, will use, or have used. So it creates a misnomer. Making those on public assistance synonymous with drug abuse. They exploit a stereotype, spin reality and create a boogeyman to blame for society's ill's.
"If you lose your job? Blame entitlement programs. Your taxes went up? Blame entitlement programs." It's seems as if so called "entitlement programs" like welfare are being blamed for everything, and they would have us to believe that a significant amount of government spending is allocated to public assistance. The fact of the matter is that it only accounts for 16% of the total federal budget.
But I suppose demonizing the poor has always been an effective way to get votes.

The latest attempt to oppress welfare recipients comes in the form of a new piece of legislation, which if passed, will penalize low-income families in Tennessee by reducing their welfare benefits if their child performs poorly in school. Thus making the child responsible for his family.
Sponsored by Sen. Stacey Campfield (R-Knoxville) and Rep. Vance Dennis (R-Savannah), the bill “requires the reduction of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) payments for parents or caretakers of TANF recipients whose children fail to maintain satisfactory progress in school.

Campfield says the law would help "break the cycle of poverty." In a blog post comparing academic excellence to a three-legged stool, Campfield writes that "the third leg of the stool (probably the most important leg) is the parents," he explained. "We have done little to hold them accountable for their child's performance...This bill is giving them motivation to do more to help their children learn in school."

Should a low-income family’s child not meet satisfactory levels in the subject areas of mathematics and reading or language arts, the family’s welfare benefits will be reduced by 30%.
The bill (Senate Bill 132, House Bill 261) applies to low-income families, with no mention of penalties to middle or high-income families whose children perform poorly in school.

Tennessee state representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) calls the bill “discriminatory.”
“It’s just one more way to punish families who have fallen on hard times,”
Johnson said.
“I don’t believe for a second this will do anything to improve a child’s education.”

As a high school special education teacher, Johnson said that this kind of bill is not what at risk students need.
Johnson then went on to say.

“To add the responsibility of the family budget on these kids, it’s not going to help these kids. It’s not going to move them forward. This bill sets up a terrible relationship between families and educators,” Johnson continued.
”It sets up animosity between school and home.”

This controversial bill has given many cause for deep concern including Linda O'Neal, director of the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth.
"The maximum benefit for a mother with two children is $185 a month," said O'Neal. "That's already low. If you take $60 plus dollars away, you're just further limiting people who already have extremely few resources."

According to the bill, "satisfactory academic progress" means progressing from one grade to the next and "receiving a score of proficient or advanced on required state examinations in the subject areas of mathematics and reading/language arts."

This bill does nothing more than punish those families who have fallen on hard times. It there was a legitimate concern for children getting an education then there would be penalties in place for the parents of all failing children, instead of those children who are least likely to get a good education. The only real concern is the desire to save a buck.

PR

Who Comes First?

We live in a "me first" society. Most people's main focus is having their needs fulfilled. The frame of mind is not "what I can give" but, "what can I get". Simply because giving, involves sacrifice on some level, and the very idea of sacrifice is fast becoming out dated in a world where egocentricity has become the norm. As a result marriage is becoming a disposable gesture, that can be cast aside as soon as the thrill is gone.

Just yesterday one of my cousins posted a very profound, yet poignant question on Facebook, "In a family, who comes first, your spouse or your children?" This question is profound in its simplicity, yet poignant in a sense that most of us, have unknowingly made a choice. I believe that the vast majority of us automatically put our children first, and as appropriate as this may seem, it is not based on biblical principal. When you get married, you become one with your husband or wife.

Your children are a natural a part of you. But you and your children are not one. They are gifts from God that we are to love and care for until they are mature enough to take care of themselves. If you cling to your children and make them the center of the universe they will never become productive adults.

A husband and wife should grow together, and be on one accord taking care of one another, understanding and satisfying each others needs. Putting God first in all that they do, and praying for guidance every step of the way. If the marriage is strong, and whole, then the children will also reap the rewards of being raised by a mother and father who are not just Mommy and Daddy, but partners who are united to achieve one common goal. A house with a cracked foundation is a house that is in danger of falling.

PR

Rape Rap

I grew up listening to rap music. Before C.D.'s existed, and mp3's became the norm, (yes I am that old), and before rappers even made albums I was listening to rap or hip hop music. Over the years the music has gone through an extreme metamorphosis. The music of my youth has gone from being a vehicle that gave a voice to the voiceless, to being a money driven machine exploited by any and everybody who has the ability to drop a "hot 16" (most rap songs have 16 bars, or 16 lines of lyrics). Rap music has become more and more controversial over the years because of the level of misogyny and violence in some songs. But besides the occasional corny 2 Live Crew song, or NWA record, most artists have had sort of a respectful ambiguity when it comes to their messages. Nothing too overt, but insinuated or implied. When asked to explain their songs most said that their music reflected their reality. These days, some rappers have become parodies of themselves. It would almost be like life imitating art, if the music had any artistic value. Some have become cartoonish figures who's aim is to sell enough records to get rich and stay rich, no matter what. But sometimes these artist go too far.

William Leonard Roberts II, aka Rick Ross, aka "The Bearded Bear", has made a career out of his false persona. Ross had made and estimated $28 million recording songs about the same subject matter over and over again using a different beat. Money, cars, girls, watches, money, and more money is all that he raps about. Catchy hooks, with lyrics as deep as a kitty pool. But now he has crossed the line. Ross has released a new song giving advice on how to romance your lady even if she doesn't want to be romanced, drug her, get her drunk and rape her while she's unconscious so she never knows what happened. In his new song "U.O.E.N.O." Ross raps,
"Put molly all in her champagne / She ain't even know it / I took her home and I enjoyed that / She ain't even know it." "Molly" is slang for the drug MDMA, or Ecstasy.

Now outraged fans and foes are calling on Reebok to drop Ross as a spokesman. An online petition states,
"His lyrics aren't vague, he's not hinting that he raped a woman he's clearly and proudly saying that he drugged and raped a woman who was not capable of consent."

"By holding Rick Ross up as something to aspire to, Reebok is sending the message that raping a woman is cool and that's a dangerous message to send to the boys and young men that Reebok markets to. This is what rape culture is."

I agree whole heartedly. He should lose his Reebok endorsement. I fail to see how this verse is open to interpretation, and artists like Ross who feel that they can say whatever they want, whenever they want, should he held accountable.

Okay, I know what you're thinking. Reebok? Really!?
I guess you don't have to look like the picture of health to endorse fitness.......
What was Reebok thinking?

It looks like Leonard is in big trouble. In a desperate attempt at damage control, he went on the radio in Louisiana last week to defend his lyrics and called it all a big misunderstanding.

"Woman is the most precious gift known to man. And there was a misunderstanding with a lyric, a misinterpretation," he told 93.3 in New Orleans.

"I would never use the term rape in my records, in my lyrics. And as far as my camp, hip hop don't condone that, the streets don't condone that, nobody condones that."

You don't have to use the word rape to imply rape. His intentions were clear. He said what he meant, and he meant what he said.

"I just want to reach out to all my queens that's on my timeline, all the sexy ladies, the beautiful ladies that have been reaching out to me with the misunderstanding: We don't condone rape, and I'm not with that," he said.

But it could be too little, too late. 50,000 people have already signed the petition.
Reebok has not yet commented.
Perhaps the only one who is happy about this whole Rick Ross debacle is Lil' Wayne, because it ALMOST makes us forget about his idiotic Emmett Till reference.

PR

Side Bar:
This is your body, & this is your body on bacon!............ Any questions?