Hollywood swinger!!
Spotlight
Lizzo conquers
her fears
After a string of catchy uplifting hits, the rapper-singer is finally learning to love herself.
- by Brittany Spanos, p.6

Two Pages Nude Spread, p.p. 28-29
"I didn't think anyone wanted to look at me or hear what I had to say." I love all of you, sista!!!
Q. to Hollywood players
Do the universe deserve yet another black obese woman in the "spotlight"!!!

Lover's Q. #2
Madam Lena Horn where are you when your people need you!!!
XOXO
09-27-2019

[image of a cake with strawberries]
Connections from Hallmark
A day full of good wishes and joy. A person full of life and laughter.

That day would be your birthday. That person would be you.
Happy Birthday
Kendall Kenner
11-03-2019
PSA, 118;24
The saddest pic I've ever seen is you under cap "Blame Kendall" allure.com/cover March 2019, p. 95-101, but pp. 97, 100, 103 is all beautiful smiles; First time I've ever seen smiles also Vogue.com June 2019 spread... p.p. 81-95. The universal mind wonders how your boyfriend can blow his chance with you.
Fan.

Everything negative - pressure, challenges - are all an opportunity for me to rise.
- Kobe Bryant

No alarm clock needed. My passion wakes me up. -Kyrie Irving

"All the days that you wake up, you got one job, and that's to get better every single day."
-Derrick Rose

Be the In anything you do. You don't have to live

Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.
John Wooden

The biggest lesson for me this year has been "just keep going." Lost everything? Just keep going. Don't know what you're doing' Just keep going. $0.88 in the bank? Just keep going. People played you? Just keep Roing. No obstacle has been able to crush me. I KEEP GOING.
Anamoah Evans

One of the happiest moments in life is when you find the courage to let go of what you can't change.

Be an encourager. The world has plenty of critics already.
DAVE WALLIS
tinybuddha.com

Write your own ....

Your circle should want you to see you win. Your circle should clap the loudest when you have good news. If they don't. get a new circle.

Even if we disagree about everything we can still be kind to each other.

IF YOU UNDERSTOOD HOW FREQUENTLY PEOPLE COPE BY PROJECTING YOU WOULD LEARN TO TAKE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING PERSONALLY.

"When witches go riding
and black cats are seen,the moon laughs and whispers,
for near Halloween."

Fun Facts About Pumpkins:
> Pumpkins are a fruit that originated in Central America.
> 90% of the pumpkin is made up of water.
> Illinois grows more pumpkins than any other state in the country. It harvests nearly 12,300 acres of fruit.
> Using pumpkins as lanterns at Halloween is based on an ancient Celtic custom brought to America by European immigrants.

Friday Fun Packet
[image of painted pumpkins]
RH art group gets ready for Halloween by painting pumpkins. Finished pumpkins were distributed throughout the institution. The Warden even picked one to display on her desk. Artists include Mr. Larry Bracey, Mr. Dominique Wilder, Mr. Jerrold Wellinger and Mr. Jeroski Franklin

70% of the vitamin A in pumpkin comes from beta-carotene, the deep orange pigment in ripe pumpkins.

Halloween Fun Fact
Halloween goes back more than 2,000 years. Halloween all started as a pre-Christian Celtic festival called Samhain (which means "summer's end") held around the first of November. It celebrated the final day of the harvest and the crossing of spirits over into the other world. People in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Northern France would ward off ghosts by lighting sacrificial bonfires, and, you guessed it, wearing costumes, according to History.com
[image of a beach]
[image of a dock & a lake]

America's No. 1 First Family
Kardashian-West-Jenner
In defense of
"The Sun Also Rises"
Kanye West

The sun set in the west but also rises as sun ra...
Rev. Kanye West
Rev, MLK, JR.
Minister Malcolm X
Rev. Not Turner
Preacher John Brown
#Visions
-1-

Kanye West
In the Manner of Man
In 2018 brother West come out in support of the constitutional amendment for the reped of the clause in XIII amendment which permits prison slavery and involuntary servitude. See below, p.p. 3-4
This urgent truth from Mr. West set off the elite so-called black class and their bosses to "High tech lynch Mr. West"
-2-

WRITE YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO INTRODUCE A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT FOR THE REPEAL!!!

Every person in each of the 50 states has two Senators and one Representative. Ask around to find out who they are. Then, write them. Keep your letter to one page and it doesn't need to be typed. Please be respectful and use your own words to explain why this amendment should be introduced.

The addresses of your two Senators are U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510 and the address of your one Representative is House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515. Send CURE a copy of their replies.

by Charles Sullivan and Barbara Koeppel*

The U.S. Congress banned slavery in America 150 years ago (after a 250-year run) on December 18, 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment became the law of the land.

But it didn't, at least not entirely. The amendment added an EXCLUSION CLAUSE: Slavery would be allowed as punishment for a crime.

To reaffirm the penal servitude, Virginia's Supreme Court declared prisoners "slaves of the state" in 1872.

Thus, prisoners have few legal rights. Theoretically, they can appeal sentences, enjoy limited free speech through the First Amendment, and get limited medical care through the Eighth Amendment. All of these rights are violated daily.

Except for those incarcerated in two states (Maine and Vermont), prisoners cannot vote while incarcerated. In two states (Kentucky and Virginia), they cannot vote even after being released from prison, despite having paid their "debt to society". Nor can they organize, support families, get their children health benefits, or contribute to social security, all job-related benefits.

Most important, they can't refuse to work, choose jobs, or negotiate wages. As the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons 2008 program states, "Sentenced inmates physically and mentally able to work are required to participate in the work program." Nearly all state prisons follow suit.

Such was the rationale for the chain gang "work" programs in many states, especially throughout the South, from 1865 to 1955, and revived in 1995 in Phoenix, Arizona by Sheriff Joe Arpaio. And these programs were not just for men and women. Participation in Arpaio's gangs is unpaid and "voluntary", and juveniles MAY also join.

Even if prisoners could refuse to work, they do not, for several reasons. First, punishment is certain. They are put in solitary confinement or LOCKDOWN (23 hours a day in a cell). Or they are moved to a cell with eight inmates instead of two. Or their access is blocked to family visits, TV, phone calls, the prison commissary, outside yard time, and education programs. Or they lose GOOD TIME, which reduces an inmate's sentence. If they file grievances, the grievances go to the same people making the prisoner's life miserable.

Many current and formerly incarcerated men and women say that nearly everyone wants to work. It's hard to sit in a cell doing nothing.

Most important, prisoners need money, and most prisoner families are too poor to send any. Prisoners might get $20 a year from a relative, but that does not get far. And everything in prison is for sale.

Inmates must buy all their necessities at prison commissaries. The cheapest soap is a four-pack of Ivory for $3.50, Aspirin is $1.50, a small container of peanut butter is $2.90, and toothpaste is $2.90. Emergency medical care is free, and 12 states provide other medical services at no cost. But the others slap on a $2.00 to $5.00 co-payment.

Even uniforms and shoes have price tags. If inmates want items that fit, they must tip the prisoner who dispenses them.

Most inmates' cash comes from prison wages (called GRATUITIES) set by Level 1-5 pay scales. Two states (Georgia and Texas) pay nothing. Others pay next to nothing.

Unskilled Level 5 prisoners mop floors, wash windows, shovel snow, or scrub pots for eight to 13 cents an hour, or $5.00 to $12.00 a month, based on how many hours worked. Level 1 skilled inmates (say, plumbers or mechanics) get $1.50 to $8.00 a day, perhaps $300 a month. But Level 1 jobs are scarce.

State and federal prisons also have on-site factories that sew prison uniforms or military goods (jackets and body bags) or build office furniture for government agencies. They pay inmates hourly or piece rates (for example, 12 cents for sewing three dozen T-shirts), totaling $2.00 to $8.50 a day, for seven-hour days, with no overtime pay. UNICOR, the quasi for-profit federal prison industry, hasn't raised rates since 1987.

With such low wages - just a fraction of the federal minimum, which is being raised in several states and cities to what is considered a living wage - inmates cannot support families or save for when they are released.

Inmates do better in the Prison Industry Enhancement (PIE) program, through which private firms build in-prison factories, train inmates, and pay minimum wage and social security. Inmates can designate a percentage for child support. For example, in Nevada, inmates restore cars. In Washington, they pack Starbucks coffee beans.

Although PIE began 40 years ago, authorities do not welcome it, because they see it as just one more task to do. Thus, PIE affects only 5,000 of the 2.3 million inmates in the United States.

The exclusion clause, which sanctions these low wages, hurts the economy. Before inmates were in prison, 50% were employed. If they were paid more in prison, they would still be in the economy and could send money to families, who would spend more, thus helping the economy grow.

Slavery is the parent of this clause. It springs from the same culture. After the Civil War, Jim Crow laws were passed to justify imprisoning former slaves (e.g., they could be arrested just for looking at a white woman) and get them to work for free. Thus, to save on labor costs, industries contracted with the state for inmates that they then sent back to the fields; some were also sent to mines. Others were sent to railroad companies, such as the C&O, to dig a tunnel to West Virginia, through the mountains. Many died.

Inmates are humiliated, brutalized, and denied human rights. But that is not the job of prisons. Persons convicted of crimes are sent to prison AS punishment, not FOR punishment. They are imprisoned to take away their freedom, not to enslave them.

After 150 years of constitutionally enshrined slavery, it's time for the U.S. Congress to end it.
-3-
CURE'S POLICY INITIATIVES FOR 2016 (small print but big insights from many of you)

In the last newsletter, you voted by writing "1" next to your first priority, "2" for your second priority, etc. 337 of you voted and the issues listed below with fewer votes indicate the criminal justice areas you felt needed the most reform. Quotes from your letters are in italics.

#1 924
PRISON - release is not based on time served but on when certain rehabilitation is achieved. Thus, a person is sent to prison as punishment and not for punishment. This means that people in prison should be able to vote, have private family visits and enjoy adequate, healthy meals. There should be access by the media and just like funds were given by Congress to build prisons, funds should be given now to reduce the number of people in prison. There should be transfers to a prison or jail nearest to one's family and good time available for all inmates regardless of crime. Finally, Mandela Rules recently passed by the United Nations should be implemented. It limits, as a maximum, 15 days in solitary; incarcerated veterans facilities should be set up with access to treatment for PTSD and TBI; screening at intake for all and treatment for Hepatitis "C" virus; an independent ombudsman to address and process inmate grievances; access to a comprehensive, up-to-date law library; and training of all staff with due process-based rules and enforced compliance; priority on employable skills (good jobs and good wages), education e.g. Pell Grants, cultural activities e.g. plays and communications e.g. computers which cannot be abused, prisoner-run newspapers, radio/TV.

The most important person in my life, my mom, is handicapped. She can't travel 8 hours to see me and that devastating to her and me... No longer having to sue to get hormone therapy for trans prisoners... Why did the prison take the money when they don't even have the items we order?... A first time offender should never have to spend more than 7-10 years for any crime other than capital... 50% of the jobs in prison should go to those under 30... Prisons or at least pod-dorms where men 48 and older should be housed... There should be a prisoner right to see and keep communication with their children... improved sanitation and nutritional programs... Give a person a chance to help kids by repairing old bikes or the blind by training dogs, it opens up a bigger picture... Upon release inmates (if needed) should receive a FREE bus ticket and "Gate Money" to provide a minimum of 48 hours of food, clothing, and other necessities... Inmate canteens should never be for-profit... allow ALL inmates to take correspondence courses no matter their age, current criminal conviction... Media should have access without hassle or denial... what about a tax break for those sending money to loved ones in prison.

#2 1228
SENTENCING - such as both substantially reducing plea bargaining and increasing diversions to the community; abolish death and life sentences; and the war on sex offenders; reduce 1 to 18 ratio to one-to-one for crack/cocaine.

I was civilly committed without ANY victim contact. My sex offense from years ago was an internet sting where I was encouraged and prodded to meet after repeated refusals by me... Raising present age of 18 for juveniles would give me and so many others - Hope.

#3 1255
PROSECUTION - such as seeking justice rather than conviction and this means the following: restorative justice where offender meets with the victim and agrees on the sentence; a ban on progressive prosecution where priors increase time e.g. three strikes; the present age of 18 for juveniles is raised to 21; and removing immunity for prosecutors who knowingly prosecute illegally such as withholding or twisting information.

Abolish the felony murder rule that a person who is not directly responsible for someone's death can be prosecuted for first-degree Murder... 97% conviction rate is not justice but an act of bully tactics... I was offered 8 yrs, at prelim and wouldn't take it. I was charged as a prior offender (three strikes) and given 25 yrs. w/out parole... I don't feel like garbage, but I feel like I've been thrown away.

#4 1732
DEFENSE - such as public defenders having much lower caseloads; and funding for defense (public defender or hired attorney) in a given case must be at least equal to an independently estimated funding for prosecution of the case.

I signed a plea agreement due to misinformation by my attorney... The law library should give same materials lawyers use including WESTLAW or LEXIS... Repeal freedom of info laws that keeps prisoners from having same public documents others can get.

#5 1750
PAROLE - much lower caseloads with satisfactory ratio of parole officers to parolees, presumptive parole first time up (you make it unless they can prove you are not ready); ban on lie detector tests especially for sex offenders.

Require U.S. Parole Commission to set parole dates for all "old law" prisoners and end its funding... How can they say I am not suitable for parole when there are no criteria for what "suitable" means... No inmate ever sees a parole board member... Parole boards should only be used or involved in release of offenders who have committed major infractions while incarcerated.

#6 1759
JUDGES - such as appointed rather than elected with no conflict of interest; end mandatory minimums; creation of oversight committee on accountability; no judicial immunity from lawsuits and prosecution for illegal conduct.

I am against absolute judicial and prosecutorial immunity. The very least they should be able to claim is qualified immunity like other officials... If a plea bargain is offered, the judge should not be able to sentence you for more time than the plea deal.

#7 2104
CLEMENCY- return to use of commutation, and pardons including those with convictions for violence. Clemency is part of the job for the President or Governor. But, the President or Governor should not make decisions in regard to the parole cases.

Commutation should be utilized more often for those who have been in prison for 10 yrs. or longer with a good institutional record.

#8 2237
JAIL - such as a personal recognizance bond, and not a money bond; pre-trial/misdemeanors voting; no commission kickbacks given to a jail on any purchase made by a person in jail; video visiting as addition not replacement to contact and non-contact visiting; accreditation by the American Correctional Association; Optional Protocol to Convention Against Torture which provides inspections and oversight; the use of work release as much as possible.

There should be no difference between "first appearance" and "arraignment" hearings. This leaves people in jail longer.

#9 2238
POLICE - such as body-cameras; more training and community policing; higher pay; civilian review boards; as with juveniles, names of those only arrested are released to the public after conviction rather than after the arrest.

When police officers shoots their gun, he or she should be subject to a urinalysis test... An officer should have to get 2 more cops to agree on what should happen before it can be done... More money should not be spent on policing. One city has five police agencies.

#10 2418
PROBATION - lower caseloads; more due process; ban fees; and allow association with other probationers.

My son has been in prison for years. Why? He has anxiety issues and should be in a regimented halfway house where he would be taught a trade and coping skills... I struggled with drug addiction for years. But, I see prisons built and rehab centers shut down.

Thank you for your participation in this survey and for your excellent responses.

The United States Constitution Permits Prison Slavery and Involuntary Servitude

AMENDMENT XIII

SECTION 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

(emphasis added)
-4-
Kanye West a Don Lemons CNN Anchor
Mr. Lemon screamed that Mr. West was not a black man! And that he did not speak for black peoples.
Here, I reassert that I do, indeed, speak for all black folks when retelling you, Mr Don Lemons what Mr. Eldrige Cleaver, and the folks exclaimed to our dear brother James Baldwin, "We do not want a man, like you Mr. Lemon, who suck a white man's "penis" D... to speak for our people.
-5-
So-Called Elitist Black Dude Who Makes His Living Sowing Phony Racial Dissent...
"The Art of The Matter black creatives don't have the luxury of making work that's not informed by black culture
by Michael Eric Dyson
Ebony.com July-August 2018, p.p. 24-25, see below, p.p. 8-9
Mr. Dyson asked:
"Where is Harry Belafonte."
p.8
I suggest you also ask Mr. Belafonte the betrayal of his beloved hepo honorable Paul Robeson (1898-1976)...
And black writer for LIFE magazine, who betrayed he and Sidney Poitter's trust with regard to the making of their great western movie "Buck and The Preacher"...
Recall Mr. Dyson your failure to stir up racial hatred against fighter Connor McGregor when he and Floyd Mayweather set to fight. See below, p. 10
Similarly, you went after actor Shia Lebeoufs, see below, p.11
See also www.TMZonTV.com
It's getting old and tired.
Your true fear is your boss - one will lose its lock on the black vote.
-7-
Culture | Our Issues

THE ART OF THE MATTER
Black Creatives Don't Have the Luxury of Making Work That's Not Informed by Black Culture
by MICHAEL ERIC DYSON
"When you hear about slavery for 100 years. For 400 years? That sounds like a choice." - Kanye West
HIP-HOP VISIONARY AND ALL AROUND musical genius Kanye West ignited a firestorm of controversy in May with those words. The question that immediately came to my mind was. "Where is Harry Belafonte when you need him?" More on him shortly. For now. suffice to say. West's expressed beliefs made me think of the struggles of an earlier generation of Black artists who sacrificed greatly and argued mightily for the freedom of Black folk-who saw art as a means to uplift and inspire one another, and yes, even challenge one another, but not to side with vicious anti-Black sentiment or to amplify right-wing ideas under the guise of free thought.
The reverb from West's words underscore a salient truth: Black artists have rarely. if ever, enjoyed the luxury of making work that is divorced from Black culture. The political situation of Black folk in this country-We are not the majority, our social vulnerabilities wear on us, our existence still provokes wonder and fear-means that our creations will inevitably be viewed through the lens of race. Black artwork always represents more than the work of art we are looking at, more than the purpose or vision that governs its creation.
The burden for a Black artist is how to tell the truth while also representing us, and whatever "we" the artist happens to claim, which amounts to the version of Blackness he or she chooses to embrace or defend. As West's words make clear, Black art is at once an argument about Black intelligence and Black humanity. In fact, so-called Black pathology and moral deficiency are explained by our supposed lack of
KANYE WEST PHOTO BY MARC PIASECKIGC IMAGES, HARRY BELAFONTE PHOTO BY TAYLOR HILL/FILMMAGIC
24 EBONY.COM JULY/AUGUST 2018 –
intelligence and humanity.
Black art couldn't help but be political its creation rebutted a philosophy that doubted its existence. The very notion that Black folk could be capable of art challenges Western ideas about what Blacks are good at and what we should be expected to produce or understand. Thomas Jefferson doubted the ability of the Negro to pursue refined knowledge. Even when we proved we could do so-when, for instance, Phillis Wheatley grasped poetic meter and displayed a mastery of Greek that was said to be the proof of intelligence-there was always an asterisk, an insistence that We were not quite up to snuff, that we were hopelessly inferior. Black art could at once satisfy the urge to create and validate the worth of Black culture.
There could never be art for its own sake. That's because the sake that art existed for had been purchased with the blood of the oppressed. Their forced labor and physical sacrifice made it possible for those Whites who were free to produce and appreciate art.
As a radical, actor and singer. Belafonte was determined to use art to express and inspire a liberated imagination. He was an eager apprentice of progressives who insisted that art support Black humanity and combat White supremacy long before he famously forged a relationship with Martin Luther King Jr. Belafonte came of age in a post-war era when there was fierce debate about who or what was truly American. Many conservatives embraced marrow visions of national identity and harbored Cold War suspicion of progressive figures and ideas.
But in choosing what songs to sing, what roles to play and what projects to produce, Belafonte was carefully crafting a body of work that was fueled by a deep sense of responsibility to challenge racist views of Black folk, to broaden the definition of Black identity. and to use his gifts to rally his fellow artists, and the broader world, to the cause of Black freedom. Belafonte took great pains, at great risk. never to separate his artistic vision from his political perspectives. He did not seek to reduce art to racial or social propaganda. Rather, he pledged his moral and artistic energy to defeat the lie of White supremacy, to expose the way it dressed up its appropriation of art as the domain of the sophisticated and the elite.
Belafonte, in particular, was acutely aware of how the image of Black folk had been distorted by Hollywood's depiction of African-Americans as coons, bucks, jezebels, mammies and dim-witted darkies. The national news media hardly did better. When it covered the horrors that Black people endured, newspapers and magazines scarcely offered in-depth coverage of the deeper dimensions of Black resistance. It was often left to the Black artist to combat ignorance while obeying his or her own
artistic instincts.
Belafonte actively sought to undermine the industry's complicity in shaping visual narratives of Black inferiority by consciously appealing to a broader base of Blackness than it seemed willing or able to acknowledge. Belafonte's West Indian roots, and his penchant for exploring and embracing music and ideas across the Black diaspora. merged with his insistence on a global and international perspective on Black freedom struggles.
Belafonte repeatedly promised to never sell Black folk out, to never capitulate to the production of images or sounds that threatened the dignity and humanity of Black folk. He said he would never take "Uncle Tom" roles and would refuse segregated bookings: that he would not bite his tongue when people around him, colored or White, express bigotry, narrow-mindedness or chauvinism in any form." Belafonte believed passionately that sufficiently informed White folk could be of enormous help in fostering an environment of healthy Black artistic expression and by helping to shoulder the load for challenging the supremacy that undercut true democracy.
Belafonte knew that pop culture could deliver vital messages of social change and he not only anted up with his own resources, he upped the ante for other artists who would have to be judged by his golden standard. But Belafonte was not interested in being the only Negro even if he was often the first to do some thing-the first artist, for instance, to sell a million copies of an LP with his famed 1956 album Calypso. Belafonte participated in rallies, joined picket lines, marched, spoke, raised funds and un-

“[Earlier Black artists] saw art as a means to uplift and inspire one another ... not to amplify
right-wing ideas.”

tiringly gave of body and soul to stamp out White supremacy in America and around the world.
Neither was Belafonte afraid to confront other artists and figures who, in his mind, undercut Black progress. He had decades earlier criticized singer Nat King Cole for his "single unfortunate error in judgment." His mistake? Cole had expressed surprise at being attacked onstage by White supremacists when he appeared with a White female singer, arguing that "I can't understand it. Here I have not taken part in any protests. I haven't said anything about civil rights. Nor have I joined an organization fighting segregation. Why should they attack me?"
Kudos to gifted Black artists John Legend and Janelle Monae for responding to West's statement and challenging him to engage the oppressive context of the Trump era before cavalierly offering his banal insight.
Belafonte is still alive. still making news, still speaking out and still going strong - despite being in his 80s. As much press as West garnered for his tragically ill-informed and inflammatory comments, it is figures such as Harry Belafonte who deserve our support, gratitude and respect for being a courageous mouthpiece for freedom and justice in our weary land.

This essay is adapted from Dyson's upcoming book, What Truth Sounds Like: RFK. James Baldwin, and Our Unfinished Conversation on Race in America.
JULY/AUGUST 2018 EBONY.COM 25
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much damage. In the eighth, Ward did exactly what his trainer, Virgil Hunter, had trained him do during their camp: Go for the knockout.
By that time Kovalev, becoming somewhat passed, was unable to shake off the concussive power of Ward's big right, and then was unable to defend himself on the ropes, which is when Weeks stepped in. Hunter gave reporters the old "I told you so" routine.
"I told them this week I've only trained Andre for a knockout twice. The first was Chad Dawson. The second was tonight and they laughed at me;" Hunter said. "But I knew what was going to happen because he was healthy. Now he has quieted all those who were whining and thought we didn't get it the
first time."
Ward, the last U.S. man to win an Olympic gold medal, was ahead on two of the three judges' scorecards at the time of the stoppage. USA TODAY Sports had Ward up 5-2 heading into the eighth. Ward improves to 32-0 (16 KOs), while Kovalev falls to 30-2-1 (26 KOs). And Ward retains the three light heavyweight belts he won last November.
Floyd Mayweather on facing Conor McGregor
The trash-talking between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor has fantastically escalated - and will probably get more intense - leading up to their much-anticipated fight set for August 26 in Las Vegas. As FTW's Steven Ruiz pointed out, their public jabs at each other will be better than the actual fight. So after months of going back and forth, it's all the more surprising that Mayweather's initial comments following the fight's official announcement this week were relatively mild, even respectful of his MMA trained opponent. He spoke to BSOTV at the premiere of the Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez on Me, calling McGregor "a hell of a competitor."
NHL Awards: Connor McDavid wins Hart Trophy as league MVP
The NHL Awards Show was held Wednesday night in Las Vegas, honoring the best players, coaches and executives in the National Hockey League.
Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP. McDavid, a 20-year-old second-year pro, won the Art Ross Trophy for most points with 100, and took home the Ted Lindsay Award as the players' MVP earlier in the night.
It was also revealed during the Awards that McDavid will be on the cover of the video game "NHL 18."
McDavid was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 draft, and this past season guided the Oilers back to the playoffs for the first time since 2006. In the playoffs they knocked off the defending Western Conference champion San Jose Sharks in the first round for their first series win since their 2006 run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Norris Trophy (best defense man): Brent Burns. The San Jose Sharks star led all defensemen in points with 76 (29 goals, 47 assists).
Vezina Trophy (best goalie): Sergei Bobrovsky. The Columbus Blue Jackets goalie won the second Vezina Trophy of his career. Bobrovsky led the league in both goals-against average save percentage (2.06 and .932, respectively) and was third in the league in wins.
Calder Trophy (best rookie): Auston Matthews. The Maple Leafs' No. 1 overall pick led all rookies with 40 goals and 69 points.
Selke Trophy (best defensive forward): Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins' shutdown center tied Canadiens legend Bob Gainey's record by winning the award for the fourth time.
Jack Adams Award (best coach): John Tortorella The Columbus Blue Jackets head man guided his team to a franchise-record 108-point season. Tortorella also won the award in 2004 when he was with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Lady Byng Trophy (sportsmanship): Johnny Gaudreau. The Calgary Flames forward had just 4 penalty minutes in 72 games.
Ted Lindsay Award (MVP as voted by players): Connor McDavid.
Art Ross (most points): Connor McDavid. Rocket
Richard Trophy (most goals): Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins.
Jennings Trophy (fewest coals allowed): Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals.
Bill Masterton Trophy (dedication to game): Craig Anderson, Ottawa Senators.
Mark Messier Leadership Award/King
Clancy Trophy: Nick Foligno, Columbus Blue Jackets.
General Manager of the Year: David Poile, Nashville Predators.
How to make Pete steal a base? Foam, fandom and flight dynamics
Sculptor Tom Tsuchiya knows what Pete Rose is made of.
That's because he knows who the kid was before he was our Hit King.
The artist knows the scrappy boy, swinging at a rubber ball with a broom. He knows the small kid who somehow made it big in the big leagues.
So when Tsuchiya started to immortalize the legend Pete Rose, he knew he had to build it out of that same material, that sheer will that makes the impossible possible.
Almost two years later, Tsuchiya's done it. On Saturday, his Pete statue began his forever slide into third base in front of Great American Ball Park.
In a sense, Tsuchiya has taken clay and bronze and made it intimate. He activated it with the energy, the essence of the man and, even at 1,130 pounds, Rose flies.
This Pete, his Pete, will never crash back into Earth.
A wind storm can't topple him. An earthquake can't ground him. He won't back down an inch from that base, even if a couple of offensive linemen dance on his ankles. Tsuchiya's made sure of that. But he didn't do it alone because there was a lot he didn't know.
This honor from the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum is actually the unprecedented effort of 74 designers, thinkers and makers from across the city and across the state.
Some of these are leaders in our aerospace industry. And a few of those are also volunteers.
Their work is now all unseen, buried beneath concrete and bronze on Joe Nuxhall Way. These are material innovations, engineering inventions we have never seen before.
We may never see them again.
Baseball Capsules
DENVER (AP) – Nolan Arenado completed the cycle with a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Colorado Rockies stunned the San Francisco Giants by rallying for a 7-5 victory Sunday.
Arenado hit the first pitch he saw from All Star closer Mark Melancon (1-2) into the left field seats to finish a four-game sweep. The Slugger was mobbed at home plate by teammates, with a frenzied sellout crowd chanting "MVP! MVP!"
Last-place San Francisco has dropped six consecutive games and nine of 11.
Melancon retired his first batter, but three singles produced a run and brought up Arenado, who tripled in the first singled in the fourth and had an RBI double in the sixth. He hit a 91 mph fastball for his 15th homer and first career cycle.
RED SOX 6, ASTROS 5
HOUSTON (AP) — Xander Bogaerts went deep twice for the first multihomer game of his career and had four RBIs to lead Boston over Houston.
Boston tied the New York Yankees atop the AL East. David Price (2-1) got the win despite tying a season high by allowing eight hits with three runs and three walks in five plus innings. Craig Kimbrel allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth for his 20th save.
INDIANS 5, TWINS 2
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Edwin Encarnacion homered twice, Trevor Bauer pitched seven strong innings and Jose Ramirez had his sixth straight multihit game as Cleveland completed a four-game sweep of Minnesota. Cleveland came into the series trailing the Twins by two games in the AL Central. The sweep vaulted the Indians two games ahead and gave the defending AL champions sole possession of first place in the division for the first time since May 10.
Bauer (6-5) allowed two runs and four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. He retired 15 straight before hitting Kennys Vargas with a pitch in the seventh. Eduardo Escobar and Eddie Rosario followed with RBI hits to put Minnesota on the board.
DODGERS 8, REDS 7
CINCINNATI (AP) — Logan Forsythe and Justin Turner homered, Kenta Maeda (5-3) pitched five strong innings and drove in two runs, and Kike Hernandez made a spectacular game-saving catch as Los Angeles held on to beat Cincinnati
Cincinnati nearly rallied all the way back from an 8-1 deficit in the sixth inning. However, Hernandez went back to the left field wall and made an awkward leaping grab of Joey Votto's attempt at a go-ahead extra base hit with runners on first and third in the eighth
Kenley Jansen got the last three outs for his 15th save.
CUBS 7. PIRATES I
PITTSBURGH (AP) — John Lackey and three relievers combined on a three-hilter, and Anthony Rizzo homered among his three hits to lead Chicago past Pittsburgh.
Lackey (5-7) allowed two hits and struck out four over six innings. Carl Edwards Jr., Hector Rondon and Brian Duensing finished up for the Cubs.
ATHLETICS 4. YANKEES 3
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Khris Davis hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the third that held up to back rookie Jharel Cotton's first victory since May 4, and Oakland completed a four game sweep of slumping New York.
New York welcomed back flame-throwing closer Aroldis Chapman but still lost its season-high sixth straight game following a six-game winning streak, finishing a disappointing 1-6 road trip with a weekend dud against the American League's worst team.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, PHILLIES 4, 10 INNINGS
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Rey Fuentes hit his first major league home run in the 10th inning, lifting Arizona over Philadelphia Fuentes entered in the eighth inning as a pinch runner and was caught stealing. However, the rookie redeemed himself with a homer off Jeanmar Gomez (3-2) with one out in the 10th
BREWERS 2. PADRES 1
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jimmy Nelson struck out 10 in his first career complete game and Milwaukee got home runs from Hernán Perez and Manny Pina to edge San Diego on Sunday.
Nelson (5-3) allowed six hits and two walks while throwing 118 pitches in his 89th major league start. He gave up only an unearned run and lowered his ERA to 3.28.
Leading off the sixth inning, Perez hit his 10th home run into the Brewers' bullpen off starter Luis Perdomo (1-4). One batter later, Pina connected on a 1-2 pitch for his fourth of the season to give Milwaukee a 2-1 lead.
ORIOLES 8, CARDINALS 5
BALTIMORE (AP) --Ubaldo Jimenez was stellar in his first start since May 22, Mark Trumbo homered for the second consecutive day and Baltimore beat St. Louis.
Baltimore homered 10 times while winning two of three from the Cardinals to improve to .500 (34-34). It was the first time the Orioles won a three-game series since May 29-31 against the Yankees.
RAYS 9. TIGERS 1 DETROIT (AP) — Logan Morrison homered twice and Steven Souza Jr. hit his first career grand slam as Tampa Bay beat Detroit to split a four-game series.
Derek Norris and Evan Longoria also homered for the Rays, Jake Faria (3-0) allowed one run, six hits and a walk in seven innings. He struck out a career-high nine.
MARINERS 7, RANGERS 3
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Kyle Seager drove in three runs with three doubles, Christian Bergman pitched effectively into the sixth inning and Seattle beat Texas. Danny Valencia's two-run homer capped a four-run first against Texas ace Yu Darvish (6-5), and the Mariners beat the right-hander for the first time in eight tries on the road.
METS 5, NATIONALS I
NEW YORK (AP) — Jacob deGrom hit his first major league home run and shut down a bruising Washington lineup on three singles for eight dominant innings, giving New York a win that prevented a four-game sweep.
The NL East-leading Nationals had been 6-0 at Citi Field this season and had battered the Mets in three games this week, never trailing while totaling 18 extra-base hits. But they had trouble touching the blue-stitched balls --used all around Major League Baseball on Father's Day — thrown by deGrom (6-3).
BLUE JAYS 7, WHITE SOX 3
TORONTO (AP) — Kendrys Morales and Russell Martin each homered to help Toronto beat Chicago.
Martin tied the game in the sixth with his seventh home run of the season, a two-run shot to the center field fence that bounced off the glove of outfielder Willy Garcia and over. Ryan Goins tripled home Steve Pearce against Anthony Swarzak (3-2) for the tiebreaking run two batters later.
BRAVES 5, MARLINS 4
ATLANTA (AP) - Brandon Phillips' single drove in Johan Camargo from third base in the ninth inning to give Atlanta a win over Miami
It was the second straight game-ending hit for Phillips, whose run-scoring single in the 10th gave Atlanta an 8-7 victory Saturday. Jim Johnson (5-1) pitched a scoreless ninth.
ROYALS 7, ANGELS 3 ANAHEIM, C
alif. (AP) - Jason Vargas earned his 10th win, most in the majors, and Salvador Perez hit a three-run homer as Kansas City beat Los Angeles.
Mike Moustakas had a three-run double for the Royals, who went 7-2 on their California trip and scored at least seven runs in six of those victories.
Baseball Capsules
BALTIMORE (AP) - Corey Kluber pitched a three-hitter for his fifth career shutout, Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana homered and the Cleveland Indians overpowered the Baltimore Orioles 12-0 Monday night for their season-high sixth straight victory. Santana and Austin Jackson had three RBIS apiece for the AL Central leaders, whose recent surge has lifted them to a season-best six games over 500 (37-31).
Cleveland batted around in the fourth and fifth innings and sent eight men to the plate in a three-run sixth that made it 11-0. The Indians banged out a season-high 10 extra base hits, including seven doubles.
DODGERS 10. METS 6
LOS ANGELES (AP) Dodgers rookie Cody Bellinger launched two more home runs, setting a major league record with his powerful start, and Clayton Kershaw became the first 10-game winner in the National League despite giving up a career-high four long balls as Los Angeles held off New York. The 21-year-old Bellinger reached 21 homers in 51 career games — faster than any other player in big league history. He leads the NL in that category even though he spotted the rest of the league three weeks before he was called up from the minors.
Kershaw (10-2) struck out 10 but allowed two homers to Jose Reyes, including a two run drive in the seventh. Jay Bruce also connected and rookie Gavin Cecchini hit his first career homer for New York.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner has given up 17 home runs this season, already a career high.
The Dodgers finished with a season-high 17 hits. They have won 10 of 11 and are a season-best 19 games over 500 at 45-26 M
ARLINS 8, NATIONALS 7
MIAMI (AP) — Marcell Ozuna singled home the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning and Miami overcame an early six-run deficit to beat Washington.
Marlins slugger Justin Bour tied the game at 6 in the third with a grand slam, his 18th homer. Giancarlo Stanton also hit his 18th of the season to make it 7-ail in the seventh. Bryce Harper hit his 18th homer for the Nationals. Anthony Rendon also went deep before leaving in the fifth inning with a neck stinger he sustained diving for a grounder. He is day to day
ROYALS 4. RED SOX 2
KANSAS CITY. Mo. (AP) - Whit Merrifield drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning. Eric Hosmer hit a two-run homer and Kansas City topped Boston for its eighth win in nine games.
Jason Hammel (4-6) pitched seven sharp innings before turning it over to Mike Minor, who loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth. No. 9 hitter Christian Vazquez grounded out to end the threat.
BLUE JAYS 7. RANGERS 6 ARLINGTON,
Texas (AP) – Kendrys Morales hit a go-ahead single after a tying single by Josh Donaldson in the ninth inning, and Toronto edged Texas in a matchup of AL Division Series opponents the past two seasons.
The Blue Jays won despite blowing a 5-1 lead in their first visit to Texas since last postseason, when they won the first two games in a best-of-five sweep that was their second straight ALDS victory over the two time defending AL West champs.

Scene Steal
Shia LeBeouf's brave, brutal, imperfect, and uncompromising search for career redemption - and his soul
by Eric Sullivan
photographs by Matthew Brooks
esquire.com/April 2018, p.p. 70-78, 110 (w/ pics) cover story (w/pic)
-11-

Black on Back Attacks
Update Mr. Kanye West and Mr. Barack Hussein Obama
Mr. Obama cowardly comments that Mr. West was a jackass" is unfairly cited against him!
Mr. Obama also in 2008 told Rev. Rick Warren U.S. Supreme Justice Clarence Thomas was unfit.
As we see Mr. Obama only attack black folks.
On a fox news.com live mic
-12-
Rev. Jesse Jackson is overheard saying about Mr. Obama
I want to cut that n*gger D---- off...
#SenMitchMcconnell
-13-

Vogue.com
May 2019
Kim Kardashian West
Taking A Stand The Awakening of Kim Kardashian West
Cover Story (w/pics) p.p. 121-131
Holding court
She is a business mogul, a TV star, part of an American dynasty of incredible wealth and influence. But what does Kim Kardashian West really want to be? A criminal-justice lawyer.
p. 121, Id Jonathan Von Meter reports
Please do not defer to Van Jones, CNN.
Instead please read below, p. 16
They Lock Up Us Up!
"Locking up out our," etc.
How many of us (i.e. in BOP) did Obama free!
It was only fitting that @Sunny (Shady) hosting on ABC news.com/The View should kiss your royal A-- in penance for her nasty insults

Locking Up Our Own
Crime and Punishment in Black America
James Forman, JR.
(c) 2017
www.fsgbooks.com
www.twitter.com
www.facebook.com
Paperback ISBN; 958-0-374-53744-9
ISBN 9780374712907 (ebook)
-16-

Ignorance
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

It's A Mad! Mad World!!!
Tulsi Gabbard: A Democratic Enigma theweek.com/TalkingPoints
November 1, 2019, p. 19
Hillary Clinton
Twice failed to crack tempting "glass ceiling"
Cracked-up!
And her merry band of "cranks"!!!
#Stephaniemiller.com
#ABCNews.com/TheView
#PhillipRiotnerinTheBulwark.com
-18- 10-31-2019

Eric Alterman
Hypocrites Against Trump
What the Never Trumpers are selling isn't all that different from the president.

New York Times columnist David Brooks recently expressed his concern that "the anti-Trump movement is a failure... We have persuaded no one... We have not hindered him... We have not dislodged him... We have not contained him." Brooks then went on to note that “Trump's takeover of the Republican Party is complete. Eighty-nine percent of Republicans have a positive impression of the man. According to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 59 percent of Republicans consider themselves more a supporter of Trump than of the Republican Party." A recent paper by Vanderbilt University political scientist Larry Bartels reveals a party that is thoroughly united behind Trump's agenda of "antipathy toward Muslims, immigrants, atheists, and gays and lesbians, and racial resentment and concerns about discrimination against whites."
Herein lies a significant paradox of our politics. "Never Trump" brand of Republicanism, especially its neoconservative component, occupies a preeminent place in our political media. Yet supporters of Bernie Sanders-style social democracy with a gig at a mainstream newspaper, newsmagazine, or cable- or broadcast-news station are about as rare as Republican folk singers - despite the fact that Sanders is among the most popular politicians in America. By Brook's own estimation, he and his fellow anti-Trump conservatives represent a politically insignificant splinter of the Republican Party. And yet their number includes not only Brooks, but Bret Stephens and Ross Douthat on the Times' op-ed page; Michael Gerson, Jennifer Rubin, Charles Krauthammer, Kathleen Parker, and George Will on The Washington Post's op-ed page; Will, Stephens, Michael Steele, Joe Scarborough, Nicolle Wallace, and Peggy Noonan on MSNBC; Brooks, Gerson, Amy Holmes, and soon, Margaret Hoover (who will be hosting a new edition of William F. Buckley Jr.'s Firing line) on PBS: as well as Max Boot, S.E. Cupp, and too many others to mention on CNN.
Another paradox lies in the fact that Trumpism represents a rather minor modification of what the Never Trumpers were selling before Trump took over the party. Indeed, most of the differences are matters of style. Rich Lowry, editor in chief of National Review and presumed author of its famous "Against Trump" editorial, recognizes this and explains: "One of the giant ironies of this whole phenomenon for us is that trump represents a cartoonish, often exaggerated, version of the direction we wanted to see the party go in."
Lowry was talking about policy, but as a better indicator, as libertarian Conor Friedersdorf notes, was the silence of the now - Never Trumpers when, in the recent past, "hugely popular intellectual leaders abandoned the most basic norms of decency." The inimitable Charles P. Pierce had some serious fun with this weakness when, on Esquire's website, he offered up a quiz, asking the likes of William Kristol and others where they were when, for instance, Ronald Reagan called Michael Dukakis a "mental patient." Or when The Wall Street Journal's editors all but accused Bill (or was it Hillary?) Clinton of having murdered Vince Foster. Where were the condemnations of the "Swift-boating" of John Kerry? I'd go further, asking if they remember when Newt Gingrich swore that "People like me are what stand between us and Auschwitz"? How about the naked voter suppression that has characterized the Republicans' electoral strategy since Florida in 2000 (including their celebrated "Brook Brothers riot," in which paid GOP operatives protested the state': recount)? Former Fox News pundits had no problem cashing their paychecks when, for instance, Glenn Beck insisted that President Obama had a deep-seated hatred for white people." And let us not forget that it was Kristol, together with Never Trumper hero John McCain, who elevated Sarah ("obviously, we've got to stand with our North Korean allies") Palin.
Again, one could go on indefinitely, but let's be honest: Given the fact that it's nearly impossible to be both pro-Trump and pro-fact, Never Trumpism was a good career move for pundits. But let us recall that barely any of this crew took the one step that might have helped prevent Trump from coming to power that is, endorse his opponent, Hillary Clinton. This leaves their opposition to Trump in 2016 looking like so much moral preening.
Moreover, as debased as Trumpism has turned out political discourse, the center of political gravity remains in the "both sides do it" zone. Look at the outrage from the likes of journalists Maggie Haberman and Andrea Mitchell directed against the comedian Michelle Wolf for her genteel grilling of Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the White House Correspondents Dinner - at the very same moment that the president of the United States, speaking at a Nuremberg-style rally, was screeching: "The laws are so corrupt! They are so corrupt!" On a more elevated level, former Bill Clinton adviser Bill Galston, a smart political scientist and member in good standing of what remains of the centrist establishment, recently published a book-length study called Anti-Pluralism: The Populist Threat to Liberal Democracy. Repeatedly, Galston condemns what he diagnoses as mere "partisanship" or "gridlock" that "has blocked policy responses to core public problems." Sorry, Bill - the real problem is the deeply diseased, potentially protofascist Republican Party. Trump is the symptom, not the cause. There is only one cure, and that is to defeat it. There is only one way to do that, and that is by supporting its opposition: the Democratic Party. Its conquest of the punditocracy notwithstanding, "Never Trump" Republicanism is about as meaningful an opposition as Jill Stein's effectively pro-Trump Green Party. Let's hope CNN isn't ready to make her an offer as well.

Prosecutors: Son killed over food
Milwaukee man alleged to have punched 5-year-old in stomach for eating his Father's Day cheesecake
Sophie Carson Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY NETWORK - WISCONSIN

A Milwaukee father punched and killed his 5-year-old son because the boy ate a piece of his cheesecake, prosecutors say.
Travis Stackhouse, 29, told police he punched his own son in the stomach Friday because he was upset three of his children were eating the cheesecake he'd gotten for Father's Day, according to a criminal complaint. Stackhouse told police he only had one piece.
Prosecutors on Wednesday charged Stackhouse with first-degree reckless homicide in the death of his son. He is held on $25,000 bond, according to the Milwaukee County Jail website. He faces up to 60 years in prison, if convicted.
Paramedics arrived about 2 a.m. Saturday at the home in the 2600 block of West Ruby Avenue and pronounced the 6-year-old brother boy dead after CPR did not revive him. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office determined he suffered a ruptured stomach, bruised kidneys and a torn adrenal gland. He died from blunt force trauma to the abdomen.
Stackhouse also told police he hit the child's face with the back of his hand and that he had a metal rod in his hand that would make punches painful.
After Stackhouse became angry about the cheesecake he left home, prosecutors say. He went to a bar with friends and returned home around 2 a.m., at which time his girlfriend and mother of the boy called 911.
Stackhouse originally told police the child was injured because he fell down the stairs, according to the complaint. Paramedics didn't think his injuries were consistent with a fall, and the boy's 6-year-old brother told police he did not fall down the stairs. They noticed bruising around his eyes, a cut to the lower lip and a laceration to the sternum.
When police interviewed Stackhouse, he did not know the birth dates for any of the five children he shared with his girlfriend, nor could he spell their names, the complaint states.
Stackhouse also told police that his girlfriend often warned him not to hit the children so hard, according to the complaint.