President Obama jokingly told a customer at an Ohio bar to turn off the Fox News that was playing in the establishment on Thursday.

Obama has been making a campaign bus tour through the country, and, naturally, made perennial swing state Ohio one of his stops. Mark Landler, a New York Times reporter, was assigned to write the pool report for the White House press corps on Thursday. BuzzFeed noticed this back-and-forth he had with a man in a bar called Ziggy's:

As he thanked the group for their support, one of them, Jeff Hawks, gestured to one of the TV's and said, "You're in a building that has Fox news on."
Obama suggested that Hawks ask for it to be changed. "The customer is always right," he said.

Landler added later that Obama "made the remark in a humorous exchange."

Obama's less-than-friendly relationship with Fox News is, of course, well-known.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/06/obama-fox-news-turn-off-ohio_n_1653613.html

Chris Rock seems to have tweeted up a bit of controversy over the July 4th holiday.

The comedian, whose latest project is executive producing Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell for FX, ruffled more than a few feathers after sending out this message to his followers: "Happy white peoples independence day the slaves weren't free but I'm sure they enjoyed fireworks."

Rock is certainly no stranger to controversy, especially when it comes to explorations of racism and stereotypes. One of his most controversial bits, "Niggas vs. Black People" from his 1996 special "Bring The Pain," is also one of his most beloved, though he has backed off of performing it since. As Rock later told 60 Minutes, "By the way, I've never done that joke again, ever, and I probably never will. 'Cos some people that were racist thought they had license to say nigger. So, I'm done with that routine."

Rock has always mined comedy as a means for poking at sensitive topics, in some cases encouraging as much outrage as applause. But the comedian also sparks quite a lot of conversation, which is perhaps the goal (along with laughs).

While some quickly came to Rock's defense, including actors Don Cheadle and Zach Braff who seemed to see the humor in the joke, others took the gag as unpatriotic and fired back. Libertarian-conservative blogger Jeff Schreiber went so far as to attempt giving Rock a quick history lesson: "Slavery existed for 2000yrs before America. We eradicated it in 100yrs. We now have a black POTUS. #GoFuckYourself." And blogger David Burge had a more humorous contradictory take: "Good one! I bet your Guatemalan house staff got a good chuckle."

However, some saw both the humor and relevance in Rock's joke. Comedian and activist Elon James White, host of the web series This Week In Blackness, tried to add some perspective to the conversation, tweeting, "I just wanna ask everyone who's mad at @ChrisRock--Is he wrong? IS. HE. WRONG?"

White later gave HuffPost his perspective on the controversy as well as why Rock's tweet actually matters:

I find this Chris Rock backlash absolutely ridiculous. Really? Someone tells the truth and you mad? I'm American. I never claim otherwise. I never give the "We didn't land on Plymouth rock" speech unless its in a really funny way. But part of being American, to me, is that I have to acknowledge all the bullshit that comes with it. Basically some folks came over, stole other people's land, killed them, then started a country on the backs of my people, while killing them, and then at some point they freed the slaves but then oppressed them and killed them some more. Do I have the ability to do things here that I wouldn't in some parts of the world? Yes. But my family paid the price for that in actual blood, sweat and tears. If more people were like Rock and acknowledged the truth maybe we'd be in a better place as a Nation.
For his part, Rock seems unfazed by the backlash, having disregarded the comments directed at him thus far on twitter. His last two tweets were about the Knicks and "2 Days In New York."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/05/chris-rock-white-peoples-day-july-4th-tweet_n_1651833.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

LOS ANGELES, July 5 (Reuters) - Former Oakland Raiders defensive end Anthony Wayne Smith, whose murder trial stemming from a 2008 shooting death ended in a hung jury, was charged this week with three more Los Angeles County slayings from several years earlier.

The new criminal complaint, filed on Monday, charges Smith, 43, with a total of four counts of first-degree murder, incorporating the original case against him and the kidnap-killings of three other men - one in 1999 and two in 2001.

Special allegations listed in the complaint say the three earlier victims were tortured before being killed.

An arraignment has been set for July 17 on the new charges, and Smith remains held without bond, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Sandi Gibbons, said on Thursday.

Smith's lawyer, Michael Evans, said his client would plead not guilty to all the charges and that the new criminal complaint came as a "surprise to all of us."

Smith, a first-round 1990 draft pick of the Raiders, then based in Los Angeles, and an 11th pick overall for the National Football League that year, played all seven seasons of his NFL career for the Raiders, first in Los Angeles and then in Oakland.

Evans said he was informed of the new charges just 45 minutes before jury selection was set to begin on Monday in the retrial of the original case charging Smith with murder in the October 2008 slaying of an associate named Maurilio Ponce.

The first jury deadlocked 8-to-4 in favor of a guilty verdict, leading to a mistrial.

The latest felony complaint charges Smith with three additional counts of first-degree murder in connection with the November 1999 slayings of brothers Kevin and Ricky Nettles, and the June 2001 killing of Dennis Henderson.

According to Gibbons, the Nettles brothers were abducted from a car wash in Los Angeles by two individuals posing as police officers and were found shot to death the next day.

About 19 months later, Henderson and another man, Terry Ware, were kidnapped in Los Angeles by several armed suspects, placed in separate cars and driven away. Ware was freed but Henderson's body was found in the back of a rental car the next day. He had been beaten and stabbed to death, Gibbons said.

Gibbons said she had no further information about a possible motive or circumstances behind the killings. She said prosecutors would decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Smith. Homicide detectives assigned to the case were not immediately available for comment.

Smith was charged in February 2011 along with two other men in connection with the slaying of Ponce, who was found shot to death on a remote roadside in Lancaster, California, north of Los Angeles, on Oct. 7, 2008.

The defense has acknowledged that Smith and Ponce were once involved together in a cargo theft, and that Smith was seen driving Ponce's car a month after he was slain.

But Evans has insisted that his client had nothing to do with Ponce's murder and argued during the trial that police lacked any physical evidence, such as DNA, fingerprints or gunpowder residue, linking him to the crime.

He said Ponce had given Smith his car when Ponce stopped being able to make payments on it.

Evans said he could not comment in detail about the three additional slayings because he had not yet seen evidence that prosecutors will be required to share with him.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/06/anthony-smith-murder-charges_n_1652997.html

t may have been a surprise to some in Hollywood, but those a bit more aware of the market knew that Think Like A Man would perform well at the box office. Now, after grossing nearly $100 million at the domestic box office, comes word that a sequel is on the way.
The Hollywood Reporter has the details:
Screen Gems is moving ahead with a sequel to Think Like a Man, its hit movie based on the Steve Harvey book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, closing deals with Keith Merryman and David A. Newman to write the script.
Merryman and Newman write the first movie, which made Hollywood notice star Kevin Hart and grossed over $91 million domestically when it was released in April 20.
The movie followed four couples where the women use Harvey’s advice to reign in their men.
Will Packer will return to produce via his Rainforest Films banner. Harvey is executive producing on the project alongside Rushion McDonald and Rob Hardy.
It is unclear which castmembers will return at this stage, although Hart is a likely candidate, since he just joined Screen Gem’s About Last Night remake.
Who’s ready for the sequel and wants every single original cast member back?

http://theurbandaily.com/1928571/think-like-a-man-sequel-on-the-way/

CHICAGO — U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is being treated at an inpatient medical facility for "physical and emotional ailments" that are "more serious" than previously believed and will require extended treatment, according to a statement released by his office Thursday.

The Chicago Democrat, who faces a House ethics investigation over his ties to imprisoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has been on medical leave for three weeks for exhaustion. His office did not announce the news until last week, when it released a three-sentence statement. No details about Jackson's whereabouts or condition had been released since then.

A Thursday statement from his office also did not disclose his location or provide details of his medical condition. Messages left for his spokesmen were not immediately returned.

"Congressman Jackson's medical condition is more serious than we thought and initially believed," the statement said. "Recently, we have been made aware that he has grappled with certain physical and emotional ailments privately for a long period of time. At present, he is undergoing further evaluation and treatment at an in-patient medical facility."

The statement said Jackson, 47, who is running for re-election in November, will need "extended in-patient treatment as well as continuing medical treatment thereafter."

Messages left Thursday for his wife, Chicago Alderman Sandi Jackson, and a brother who is a professor in Chicago, were not immediately returned. Jackson's father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, did not immediately have a comment.

The news baffled congressional colleagues who noted Jackson's absence on the House floor in previous weeks. Several have said they have not heard from him or seen him.

"No one has a clue," said U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, a fellow Illinois Democrat. "There is concern among his colleagues ... Anybody there could understand that. It's a stressful occupation."

Congressman Jackson, who first won office in 1995, has faced intense scrutiny in recent years because of his ties to Blagojevich and an extramarital affair. Both issues have come up on the campaign trail and with voters.

Jackson had to campaign harder than he had in years when earlier this year he faced a serious primary challenge from former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson, who made Jackson's ethical troubles a focus of her campaign. He faces two opponents in November, one of whom said Thursday that Jackson owes the public more information.

"There is an obligation here, especially considering there are a lot of rumors going around," said college professor Brian Woodworth, a Republican. "There's an obligation they have to let people know what's going on. There's still an air of mystery."

The pending House Ethics Committee probe is considering allegations that Jackson was involved in discussions about raising money for Blagojevich's campaign in exchange for the then-governor appointing him to President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat.

Jackson also allegedly directed a fundraiser and longtime friend, Raghuveer Nayak, to buy plane tickets for a woman described as Jackson's "social acquaintance." Jackson has since called the incident a personal matter that he and his wife have dealt with in private.

Nayak was arrested last month and pleaded not guilty to unrelated fraud charges involving outpatient surgery centers he owns. At Blagojevich's first corruption trial in 2010, prosecutors said another Blagojevich fundraiser was ready to testify that Jackson instructed Nayak to raise money for Blagojevich's campaign to help him secure the Senate seat. The same witness later testified that he attended a meeting with Jackson and Nayak.

Jackson never has been charged and has denied any wrongdoing.

Jackson represents Illinois' 2nd District, which includes neighborhoods on Chicago's South Side and in its south suburbs.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/05/jesse-jackson-jr-health_n_1651438.html?utm_hp_ref=black-voices&;ir=Black%20Voices

After an Ingham County Court Judge threw out her challenge to the consent agreement, Detroit Corporation Counsel Krystal Crittendon today asked the judge to reconsider his decision, according to documents obtained by the Detroit Free Press.

Crittendon made her request in the last moments of the final day of her deadline to file an appeal with Judge William Colette, who ruled on June 13 that the city's top attorney lacked the legal standing to bring a challenge to the consent agreement to court without the approval of Mayor Dave Bing and the City Council.

“Please be advised that I, as corporation counsel, stand by my decision to have the courts determine the validity of the (financial stability agreement) as a good faith performance of my obligation to my client, the city of Detroit,” Detroit corporation counsel Krystal Crittendon wrote in a letter obtained by the Detroit Free Press.

PDF documents from Crittendon's original opinion can be found at the Detroit Free Press

A Numbers Game

Crittendon filed a lawsuit in Lansing's Court of Claims that sought to invalidate the consent agreement between Detroit and the State of Michigan, claiming the state already owes Detroit $224 million in past revenue sharing. Michigan law prevents municipalities from entering into contracts if either party is in debt to the other.

Gov. Rick Snyder denies that the state owes the city the debt. It's reported that Bing originally supported the lawsuit, but later directed Crittendon to abandon the effort.

Mayor Bing is responding to threats from Gov. Snyder that the state could withhold future revenue sharing payments.

Those revenue sharing payments would be sent directly to borrowers if the consent agreement is found to be invalid. That's because, with the state's guarantee, the city borrowed $80 million in short-term funds this spring -- with the understanding that the city would sell long-term bonds worth $137 million in June to pay back the quick loan. Due to Detroit's untrustworthy credit ratings (which were downgraded even lower after Crittendon's challenge), the state was forced to guarantee Detroit's loans. If the consent agreement between the state and city is found to be invalid, so will contracts like these. Crain's Detroit Business reports that City of Detroit CFO Jack Martin and members of the State Treasury have pushed back the bond sale to Aug. 15.

The Story Of The Revenue Sharing

The City of Detroit and former Gov. John Engler agreed in 2005 to grant the City nearly $340 million in revenue sharing payments in exchange for the city gradually lowering its income tax from 3% to 2%. Detroit never hit the 2% mark, while the State, citing budget woes, quit sending the extra payments.

Crittendon says Detroit is owed $220 million in unpaid revenue sharing debt. But a legal opinion written by former Detroit Corporation Counsel John E. Johnson Jr. in 2006 argues that the revenue-sharing appropriations from the state weren't constitutionally-mandated (conversely, revenue-sharing payments from sales tax ARE mandated by the Constitution). That means they were subject to reassessment by the Michigan Legislature and the Governor (who submit and approve a budget) every year after they were enacted.

This argument is found in Section V of the Michigan Constitution, which states, "no appropriation shall be a mandate to spend. The governor, with the approval of the appropriating committees of the house and senate, shall reduce expenditures authorized by appropriations whenever it appears that actual revenues for a fiscal period will fall below the revenue estimates on which appropriations for that period were based."

The bills containing the decrease in income taxes by the city and the revenue sharing payments allotted by the state were "tie-barred," meaning that both would have to be enacted into law before they became valid. According to Johnson's opinion, that tie-bar only applies to the process of enacting the bills.

Wrote Johnson, "There was no language contained in either act that specifically linked the reduction in Detroit city income taxes to the amount of revenue sharing provided to the city from the state. There is also no requirement that both must be modified in the future."

Crittendon's Decision

Crittendon cites Johnson's opinion in her legal writing, but notes, "The fact that the City's loss is not recoverable, however, does not mean that the State is not in default to the City as that term is used in the Home Rule City Act." The brief also cites an interview State of Michigan Treasurer and Financial Review Team member Andy Dillon gave to radio station WCHB on Jan. 3, as recalled by WDIV.

Said Dillon, "The state failed to live up to that 10 year deal and if you add up the last revenue sharing it totals up to $224 million. So we don't deny that the deal was not kept... "

What's not in Crittendon's brief are Dillon's next words -- "although Detroit, like all other cities across the state that received revenue sharing, that’s statutory revenue sharing, did receive deductions beginning in about 2004.”

Former Corporation Counsel John Johnson, Jr. has also said that Crittendon, under new provisions in the charter defining the role of the Corporation Counsel, is obligated to report violations of the City Charter and, if need be, challenge them in court.

“I can’t speak on the merits of her legal analysis, or whether or not these are legitimate debts,” Johnson told the Michigan Citizen. “The judge will look at the merits and make a decision.”

Crittendon authored a memorandum addressed to her staff that's dated June 10. She finishes the letter with these lines, "In closing, if the City does not prevail in the declaratory judgment, action, so be it. That would not in any way change the fact that it was the Law Department's responsibility to have filed it."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/05/consent-agreement-detroit_n_1652835.html?utm_hp_ref=detroit

DETROIT (WWJ) – The latest round of storms hitting metro Detroit has left thousands of DTE customers without power across the area. And the city of Detroit has been hit hard by storm damage.

Some residents and businesses in the area of 7 Mile Road and Woodward Ave. are among those who lost power. That busy intersection was being treated as a four-way stop during the morning commute because the traffic signals were out.

Traffic on westbound 7 Mile, just west of Woodward, had to slow down as it approaches a tree that’s nearly across all three lanes.

Trees down at 7 Mile Road and Woodward Ave. (WWJ Photo/Vickie Thomas)
Many of the trees lining the streets of the Palmer Woods area were uprooted or large branches have snapped off like twigs.

Cliff Cheeks who was out walking his dog told WWJ Newsradio 950 he listened intently as the storm blew through the hard-hit area.

“The wind was tremendous this morning. I was concerned because it was whipping,” said Cheeks.

He added, “You could feel the trees moving, not just blowing but moving. So I wasn’t surprised to come out and see some of the damage that we see out here with the trees. I’m just thankful that I haven’t seen any homes damaged yet. That’s the bottom line.”

Cheeks also said he’s been without power since the first storm hit early Wednesday morning.

A spokesman for DTE energy said at least 200,000 Southeast Michigan homes and businesses were in the dark Thursday morning. Crews were expected to be working double-shifts into the weekend to get everyone back online.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The neighborhood watch volunteer who killed Trayvon Martin can be released from jail on $1 million bond while he awaits trial on a second-degree murder charge, a judge ruled Thursday.

Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester granted bond to George Zimmerman for a second time. Lester had revoked Zimmerman's $150,000 bond last month after prosecutors told the judge Zimmerman and his wife misled the court about how much money they had during an April bond hearing.

Prosecutors said a website Zimmerman created for his legal defense had raised $135,000 at the time of his first bond hearing. Zimmerman and his wife did not mention the money then, and Shellie Zimmerman even said the couple had limited resources because she was a student and he wasn't working.

The judge made his decision after listening last week to Zimmerman's attorney and a forensic financial analyst explain why he wasn't more forthcoming.

The judge expressed his unhappiness with Zimmerman and said that his actions suggest a possibility that he was preparing to flee to avoid prosecution.

"Under any definition, the defendant has flaunted the system," Lester wrote in the order. "The defendant has tried to manipulate the system when he has been presented the opportunity to do so."

Lester said he was granting bond because Zimmerman posed no threat to the community, and Florida law requires that most defendants receive bond if they pose no threat and can assure their presence for trial. The judge's order requires Zimmerman to be electronically monitored and residing in Seminole County, prohibits him from opening a bank account or obtaining a passport and implements a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew. Zimmerman had been allowed to leave Florida under the conditions of his first bond release.

Prosecutors previously argued Zimmerman and his wife talked in code during recorded jailhouse conversations about how to transfer the donations to different bank accounts. For example, George Zimmerman at one point asked how much money they had. She replied "$155." Prosecutors allege that was code for $155,000. Their reference to "Peter Pan" was code for the PayPal system through which the donations were made, prosecutors said.

Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara sparred with prosecutors over those finances last week and questioned why his client is in jail at all, arguing that Martin's actions led to his death.

O'Mara ultimately decided against calling his client to the stand during last Friday's hearing, unlike during the first bond hearing, when Zimmerman apologized to Martin's family.

The defense attorney called Zimmerman's father to testify, and played a chilling 911 call from the Feb. 26 night when Martin was killed. The call includes a disputed cry for help and the fatal gunshot. Robert Zimmerman said he was sure that was his son's cry.

Shellie Zimmerman has since been charged with perjury. She is out of jail on $1,000 bond and her arraignment is set for July 31.

Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting the unarmed 17-year-old Martin on Feb. 26 at a gated apartment community in Sanford. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty and claims the shooting was self-defense under the state's "stand your ground" law.

Martin's parents and supporters claim that the teenager was targeted because he was black and that Zimmerman started the confrontation that led to the shooting. Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is Hispanic.

The 44 days between the shooting and Zimmerman's arrest inspired nationwide protests, led to the departure of the Sanford police chief and prompted a U.S. Justice Department probe.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/05/george-zimmerman-bail-1-million_n_1651377.html

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey has ignited a family feud. Her step mother is fighting mad that Oprah bought her father’s barbershop after it went into foreclosure.

Oprah’s father Vernon has been a barber in the Nashville, Tennesee area for about fifty years. He and his now estranged wife Barbara moved their business into a shop they co-owned last year. Things began to get messy when the barbershop went into foreclosure. Oprah paid for the property in full and gifted it to her dad in order for him to keep his business open. Barbara was enraged by Oprah purchase because Oprah has been calling most of the shots when dealing with the shop.

http://theurbandaily.com/1929261/oprah-blasted-stepmother-family-feud-barbershop/

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) – The funeral for a 1-year-old Detroit girl who was found dead inside a closet at her grandmother’s house is scheduled for Monday as a police investigation continues.

So far, authorities haven’t disclosed the cause of the death Friday of Zyia Turner. The results of an autopsy performed by the Wayne County medical examiner’s office are pending.

Trinity Chapel Funeral Home in Detroit says Zyia’s funeral is at 11 a.m. Monday at Christ Resurrection Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit. Visitation is 2-7 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.

Zyia’s father Emmanuel Turner said his brother was watching several children Friday at the home neat 7 Mile Road and Conant. He reported Zyia missing. A police dog found the body in the closet several hours later.

There have been no arrests in connection with Zyia’s death. Police said family members have been cooperative.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/07/04/funeral-monday-for-detroit-girl-found-in-closet/