A useless american blog. By Multicultural Friends: Rusty Barcelo, Peanut Butter Honey, Phil aka Armani Marley aka Change Clothes and Go aka CCG aka Dexter aka December to Remember, and the legend of Skip Flanagan.
The potential Ron Artest to the Houston Rockets trade may have gotten off on the wrong foot over comments made by Artest's potential teammate, Yao Ming, about Artest's stormy past. A day after the Rockets and Sacramento Kings agreed in principle to a deal sending Artest to Houston for Bobby Jackson, Donte Greene and a first-round draft pick, Yao expressed concerns about team chemistry to the Houston Chronicle and referenced Artest's involvement in the 2004 brawl with Pistons fans.
"Hopefully, he's not fighting anymore and going after a guy in the stands," Yao said, according to the Chronicle.
When asked about those comments, Artest said Yao had bought into "all the propaganda" about him, according to The Sacramento Bee.
"I understand what Yao said, but I'm still ghetto," Artest said, according to the report. "That's not going to change. I'm never going to change my culture. Yao has played with a lot of black players, but I don't think he's ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture. Once Yao Ming gets to know me, he'll understand what I'm about.
"If you go back to the brawl, that's a culture issue right there," Artest added, according to the report. "Somebody was disrespecting me, so he's got to understand where I'm coming from. People that know me know that Ron Artest never changed."
The agreed-to deal sending Artest to Houston cannot become official until Aug. 14. And Artest, who has one year remaining on his contract, also said he was looking for a long-term deal from the Rockets, according to the report. "We've still got to make sure there's still a commitment [from the Rockets]," Artest said, according to the Bee. "That's the main thing, is to make sure there's still a commitment. When I speak to the powers-that-be of the Houston Rockets' organization, we're going to find out how much they really want me there. We'll find out. I'm still waiting to find out if this is just a trade or if this is like a long-term commitment-type thing. I haven't spoken to anybody yet. I'm still waiting." That appeared to be a shift in Artest's outlook from earlier Wednesday, when he told ESPN.com of the trade, "I'll be a kid in a candy store ... I'm going to dance with the stars." He also said he's waiting for a phone call from Yao, according to the Bee. "I guess once Yao Ming approves [the deal], I'll be a Houston Rocket," Artest said, according to the report. "[Yao] probably should've called me first. But at the same time, it's Yao Ming's team."
"Whatever Yao Ming wants me to do, I'll be there. Whatever Tracy McGrady tells me to do, that's how it's going to go down. Ultimately, whatever [Rockets] coach Rick Adelman tells me to do is exactly what I'm going to do."
Police arrest "The Joker" Costumed Batman fan accused of memorabilia theft at Michigan theater
THREE RIVERS, MI. - 20-year-old Spencer Taylor, was arrested early Sunday morning for allegedly trying to steal Batman posters and other collectibles from a theater showing "The Dark Knight."
Taylor went to the Three Rivers Cinema multiplex in costume as the Joker.
According the Three Rivers Police Department, he was charged with larceny and malicious destruction of property.
By Nick Fokianos, WINK News Story Created: Jul 28, 2008 at 4:06 PM EDT Story Updated: Jul 28, 2008 at 4:13 PM EDT
PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- Rapper DMX was arrested at a Phoenix, Arizona, mall Saturday on suspicion of giving a gave a false name and Social Security number to a hospital to get out of paying for medical expenses.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said that when DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, went to Scottsdale's Mayo Clinic in April, he used the name Troy Jones and failed to pay a $7,500 bill.
DMX's Scottsdale attorney, Cameron Morgan, declined to comment.
Arpaio said his office began investigating the charge after an animal neglect investigation last year at the 37-year-old rapper's north Phoenix home.
DMX was arrested in that case on felony drug possession and misdemeanor animal cruelty charges after authorities seized 12 pit bull dogs and dug up the remains of three others.
The musician/actor has had other recent run-ins with the law, including an arrest at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport this month on outstanding warrants after he failed to appear in court.
The week before, he was arrested in Miami, Florida, on charges of attempting to purchase cocaine and marijuana.
"He's back in jail again," Arpaio said. "I don't know why judges keep letting this guy out. Every time he goes in there, he gets out on bond.
"I'm hoping this is the one time he's going to pay the penalty for his offense," he added.
Arpaio said the bail had not been set in the recent arrest.
If DMX remains jailed, the sheriff said, he would be isolated from the rest of the inmates for his own safety.
The Dark Knight Why: Batman, IMAX. The movie is written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who did Memento and The Prestige.
Transiberian Why: Good cast, suspenseful story.
For Skip, also opening this weekend is 'Mama Mia'.
Also worth mentioning, the Robocop series may be getting a new sequel. It is going to be directed by Darren Aronofsky, the guy who did Pi, Requiem for a Dream, and The Fountain. Aronofsky is currently putting finishing touches on a movie called 'The Wrestler' starring Mickey Rourke as a ex-pro wrestler with a heart problem who is lured back into the ring for one more fight against his greatest foe.
To start off I can go with a direct quote from our latest inductee's diary on pacers.com, "Hi, Pacers fans, my name is Ron Artest. I'm from the housing projects of Queens, New York. I play tough defense and every night I feel I'm the best." Queensbridge projects to be specific. He played for the St. John's Redstorm in college. In the NBA he has played for the Chicago Bulls, the Indiana Pacers, and the Sacramento Kings.
Artest was the 16th pick in the 1999 NBA Draft. Artest was named to the All-Rookie team. Artest was the 2004 NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
During his career Ron Artest has been traded for Jalen Rose, Travis Best, and Peja Stojakovic.
Artest was shoved in the face by Ben Wallace of the Detroit Pistons after a hard foul. After being shoved in the face a skirmish errupted between the Indiana Pacers team and the Detroit Pistons team. Artest laid down on the announcer's table. A fan threw a cup of beer in a perfect and amazing toss that landed on Ron Artest's chest. Artest charged into the crowd like a flash of light and pushed the side of some nerd's head into the plastic arena seat. What happened next was quite possibly the most amazing fight in professional sports history. All time.
Artest was suspended for 73 games without pay.
After the 2006 NBA Playoffs ended Ron Artest offered to donate his entire salary to keep teammate Bonzi Wells with the Kings. He even threatened to kill Wells if he didn't resign with the team. Artest also offered to donate his salary to retain the services of Rick Adelman, the coach. Wells and Adelman ended up in Houston.
Artest applied for a job at Circuit City during his rookie season. He said he got the job for the extra money, but later admitted he applied for the job for the employee discount.
Artest was suspended for two games after asking Rick Carlisle, his coach, for a month off because he was tired from promoting an R&B album for his production label, TRUWARIER Records.
Artest has worn the numbers 15, 23, 91, and most recently 93. The 93 represents where he grew up, with the 9 representing the Q in Queens and the 3 representing the B in Bridge. The number 93 is also inspired by Souls of Mischief's 1993 album 93 'til Infinity.
"He's still Michael Jordan. But I broke two of his ribs!" Artest famously broke Michael Jordan's rib with a hard hand check in a pick up game in Chicago as Michael prepared for his comeback with the Wizards. "We was playing hard, man. He was trying to post me up. I wouldn't let him do it. I went right through him."
Artest's dad is a bouncer at a bar in Manhattan.
Artest teamed with Lamar Odom, Elton Brand, and Brendan Haywood on an AAU team when they were all teenagers in New York.
Artest is the only NBA player endorsed by the German brand k1x.
Notable quotes:
"They better not put me in the All-Star Game. I won't shoot, but I'll dominate that easy game. I'll be playing hard defense. I'll be foulin'. I'll be flagrant fouling. Everyone will be like, 'What are you doing?'"
"Bonzi called me last week. I told him if he leaves, then I'm going to kill him. Unless he wants to die, he got to stay."
"I meant, last season, I was 24 going on 25. Now, I am 25 going on 26. You grow up, you make mistakes and you learn from that. I am trying not to make the same mistakes."
"It's the first time in a long time that I've been complimented on my leadership skills. Partly it was my fault that I hadn't been complimented in the past. Maybe some people just weren't recognizing."
"I feel like Ben Wallace stole it. Well, he didn't steal it, but I feel like I gave him three defensive player of the years. I gave him one that year I got in trouble...that year I was supended."
"It doesn't matter. We're family. Family's got to argue sometimes. At the end of the day, brothers still love brothers. Sisters still love sisters. But there's no girls on the team."
"I'm playing like a frog. I've got web hands."
"I've never taken medication in my life. Doctors have suggested it and I say, 'OK, give it to me.' But I throw it in the garbage immediately."
"We gave it all, considering most teams in the NBA have good enough airplanes where they don't break down." After arriving to a game city six hours before tip-off due to plane problems.
Artest knocked over two water coolers after getting angry as a teenager in AAU. Afterwords he told his coach, "I don't know what's wrong with those buckets."
On the coaching search at St. John's while he was there. "They should pay Chris Mullin like $3 million a year or pay me $4 million or hire Shawnelle Scott. Hire a player. Get a player coaching."
"If I had a player out of line, I would bench him. That's all you can do, bench him. You don't kiss nobody's rear end, because it stinks."
"I'm not a dirty player. I'm a veteran. I know some tricks. Richard Jefferson's a dirty player. Jefferson punched me in my stomach last year in the playoffs. And the ref saw it and the ref didn't say nothing. He just let him punch me in my stomach. So tell Byron Scott about his player, that Jefferson's a dirty player."
On why Richard Jefferson doesn't have a bad reputation, "Because he's sneaky. He's a sneaky guy."
SAN DIEGO -- Former San Diego Chargers safety Terrence Kiel was killed after he was thrown from a sedan he was driving, police said Saturday. Kiel, 27, was driving alone after leaving a party at about 10:15 p.m. PT Friday night when he hit a wall in San Diego's upscale Scripps Ranch neighborhood and was thrown from the car, police Sgt. Alan Hayward said. Kiel was barely breathing when paramedics reached him and he died about an hour later, Hayward said. Friends had tried to keep Kiel from driving home from the party, Hayward said, and witnesses told police he appeared to be driving in the wrong direction when he crashed. Police would not know whether Kiel had been under the influence of drugs or alcohol until toxicology tests were performed, Hayward said. A second-round draft pick out of Texas A&M in 2003, Kiel played four years in the NFL from 2003 to 2006, all with the Chargers. In February 2007 he pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor drug charges for shipping prescription cough syrup to Texas, the most significant of several scrapes with the law. He was released by the team after his plea. Kiel had been led off the practice field and arrested in the locker room by Drug Enforcement Administration agents in September 2006, suspected of shipping at least two parcels of prescription cough syrup, apparently to be mixed with soft drinks to make a concoction known as "lean." The felony charges were later dropped after he completed community service, and he was serving three years' probation for the misdemeanor charges. He was cited for urinating in public outside a San Diego nightclub in January 2007, but the city dropped that charge.
SAN DIEGO -- Former Chargers linebacker Steve Foley has agreed to settle his lawsuit for $5.5 million against a police officer who shot him while off-duty two years ago, ending his pro football career. Foley struck the agreement with the city of Coronado and Officer Aaron Mansker last week, on the day he was scheduled to testify in his civil trial in San Diego Superior Court, but the terms were not released until Monday. "He's going to be able to get on with his life and bring some closure," said Foley's attorney Harvey Levine. The Coronado City Council approved the settlement Monday, said Mayor Tom Smisek. The city, an upscale peninsular enclave on San Diego Bay, will pay the entire $5.5 million, Smisek said. Insurance will cover all but $100,000, which will come out of city coffers. City Attorney Steve Boehmer, who represents the city and Mansker, did not respond to a phone message. Foley, 32, was shot in his leg, hip and hand in September 2006 after Mansker tailed his car home from downtown San Diego to suburban Poway, 15 miles north, on suspicion that the driver was drunk. Mansker, then a 23-year-old rookie officer, was driving his personal car and wearing a T-shirt and jeans when he twice pulled up next to Foley and ordered the player to pull over. Foley ignored the orders and drove home because Mansker didn't identify himself as a police officer, Levine said during the trial. The two men confronted one another in Foley's cul-de-sac. Mansker testified at the trial that he fired when he saw Foley reach for his waistband, thinking the player had a gun. Foley pleaded guilty in 2007 to misdemeanor drunken driving. He was released two years early from his contract with the Chargers in March 2007 and has moved to Houston, where he is caring for his 11-year-old daughter and plans to complete his college degree, Levine said. Mansker was cleared of criminal liability after the San Diego County district attorney's office found he shot in self-defense. Mansker was honored by Mothers Against Drunk Driving at a luncheon in March for making 57 drunken-driving arrests in 2007.
LONDON -- Four women who took part in sadomasochistic role-playing with motor racing chief Max Mosley told a court Tuesday that the event was not the "Nazi-themed orgy" described in a tabloid newspaper. Mosley, 68, is suing the News of the World for invasion of privacy over a March story that alleged he attended a five-hour sex session in which participants played concentration camp inmates and guards. Mosley, the son of late British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, acknowledges a lifelong interest in sadomasochism, but said Monday that he found the idea of Nazi sex fantasies abhorrent. He said he and the women acted out a German prison scenario, but without any Nazi aspect. On Tuesday, one of the women -- labeled "Mistress Switch" by the newspaper -- told the High Court that she organized "spanking parties" attended by Mosley, whom she knew as Mike. The woman, whose identity is protected by a court order and was called "A" in court, said Mosley was "an extremely charming, mild-mannered and interesting man." She denied there were Nazi overtones to their activities. "I would not contemplate putting on such scenes, which I would find distasteful, and I would expect most people to be disgusted at the suggestion of a Nazi theme and respond similarly," she said. She said that S&M role-play was "like children playing Cowboys and Indians, it's adults having fun." Another woman, identified as "D," said the scenario they acted out that day was a "prison fantasy." "I did not see anything Nazi," she said. A third woman, "B," said she had joined in the activities wearing a suspender belt, stockings, high heeled shoes and a German Luftwaffe jacket that she had bought in London's Camden Market. B, who is German, was asked if it had been a Nazi scenario. "Under no circumstances, and I'm very upset and offended because it is an insult and offense if a newspaper equates German with being Nazi -- my grandparents were not members of that party," she said. A fourth woman, "C," said she had attended between five and eight parties with Mosley and also denied there had been any Nazi overtones. The fifth woman at the March encounter, identified as "E," covertly recorded it for the News of the World. After the story broke, Mosley faced calls to quit as president of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, which oversees Formula One racing. Despite the pressure, the FIA chief won a confidence vote last month allowing him to stay until his fourth term ends in October 2009. Mosley's lawyers say the expose devastated his family and are demanding the tabloid pay large punitive damages to discourage similar stories. The News of the World says readers have a right to know about the behavior of Mosley because he is a public figure and his conduct was reprehensible.
They Don't Care About Us lyrics Skin head, dead head Everybody gone bad Situation, aggravation Everybody allegation In the suite, on the news Everybody dog food Bang bang, shock dead Everybody's gone mad
All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us
Beat me, hate me You can never break me Will me, thrill me You can never kill me Do me, Sue me Everybody do me Kick me, strike me Don't you black or white me
All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us
Tell me what has become of my life I have a wife and two children who love me I am the victim of police brutality, now I'm tired of bein' the victim of hate You're rapin' me of my pride Oh, for God's sake I look to heaven to fulfill its prophecy... Set me free
Skin head, dead head Everybody gone bad trepidation, speculation Everybody allegation In the suite, on the news Everybody dog food black man, black mail Throw your brother in jail
All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us
Tell me what has become of my rights Am I invisible because you ignore me? Your proclamation promised me free liberty, now I'm tired of bein' the victim of shame They're throwing me in a class with a bad name I can't believe this is the land from which I came You know I do really hate to say it The government don't wanna see But if Roosevelt was livin' He wouldn't let this be, no, no
Skin head, dead head Everybody gone bad Situation, speculation Everybody litigation Beat me, bash me You can never trash me Hit me, kick me You can never get me
All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us
Some things in life they just don't wanna see But if Martin Luther was livin' He wouldn't let this be
Skin head, dead head Everybody gone bad Situation, segregation Everybody allegation In the suite, on the news Everybody dog food Kick me, strike me Don't you wrong or right me
All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us
John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards (on bass), Mitch Mitchell (from Jimi Hendrix Experience on drums), and a strange introduction by Mick "I wish I had Scott Weiland's moves" Jagger
Vin Baker is a former NBA player. He played for the Milwaukee Bucks, the Seattle Supersonics, the Boston Celtics, the New York Knicks, the Houston Rockets, the Los Angeles Clippers, and the Minnesota Timberwolves. He is perhaps best known for being traded for Shawn Kemp.
Vin Baker...in jeopardy of losing...home in scheduled foreclosure sale. Baker, according to public records, will see his nearly 10,000 square foot home in Durham, Connecticut head to auction later this month with a price of $2.3 million. The former Celtics player's restaurant, Vinnie's Saybrook Fish House, also went under earlier this year after lender TD Banknorth foreclosed on the property.
Please note that according to www.basketballreference.com Vin Baker made over 89 million dollars in NBA salary during his career.
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