There has been a back and forth going on about the relationship between Deion and Pilar Sanders. It was widely reported that Deion had served Pilar with divorce papers, but now we aren’t to sure.

The problems seem to have started when Deion allegedly was caught cheating with a 19 year old girl a few weeks ago even though he has denied this (Deion Sanders Cheats on Pilar With 19 Year Old? Pacman Jones Wing Man?).

On Friday HelloBeautiful.com broke the story of the Deion serving Pilar with those papers.  They even went as far as saying they spoke to Pilar directly and she gave this quote.

“It’s unfortunate that my husband decided to take this course of action…I’m surprised and hurt… As I said to my children, we must take a minute breath and Trust God.”

Sounds pretty cut and dry right?  Most people took that quote and reported the marriage was over. There was a quote from Deion Sanders that was never confirmed that the divorce was a product of Pilar’s modeling and acting, but now Deion is denying  the entire thing.

What is really going on?  Who is telling the truth?

In the end either they are getting divorce or they aren’t, they won’t be able to hide it forever.  Thoughts?  Who do you believe?

I’m always shocked (yet intrigued) when studies related to racial-background & dissemination are brought up in the media because often, the statistics & facts found are discouraging. This is also the case with a recent North Carolina-based study regarding black men’s health related to life in & out of prison.

According to Reuter’s Health, Black men are half as likely to die at any given time if they’re in prison than if they aren’t, suggests a new study of North Carolina inmates.

The black prisoners seemed to be especially protected against alcohol- and drug-related deaths, as well as lethal accidents and certain chronic diseases. But that pattern didn’t hold for white men, who on the whole were slightly more likely to die in prison than outside.

“Ironically, prisons are often the only provider of medical care accessible by these underserved and vulnerable Americans,” said Hung-En Sung of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

“Typically, prison-based care is more comprehensive than what inmates have received prior to their admission,” Sung, who wasn’t involved in the new study, told Reuters Health by email.

The new study involved about 100,000 men between age 20 and 79 who were held in North Carolina prisons at some point between 1995 and 2005. Sixty percent of those men were black.

Less than one percent of men died during incarceration, and there was no difference between black and white inmates. But outside prison walls, blacks have a higher rate of death at any given age than whites.

Black inmates, by contrast, were between 30 and 40 percent less likely to die of those causes than those who weren’t incarcerated. They were also less likely to die of diabetes, alcohol- and drug-related causes, airway diseases, accidents, suicide and murder than black men not in prison.

All told, their risk of death at any age was only half that of men living in the community. (Source)

If this is indeed true, it’s disturbing on so many levels. However, the study seems to be somewhat based on bigotry & a very negative stereotype. Can’t say that I’m convinced that such a bold assertion is true.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

Not sure when Uncle Luke became the arbiter of the “hip-hop code” or healthy relationships, but evidently he doesn’t take too kindly to Wiz Khalifa & Amber Rose’s courtship.

The former front man of 2 Live Crew got very honest in a piece that he wrote this week for the Miami New Times regarding the “incestuous” relationships that people in the entertainment & sports industry engage in & why he disagrees with them.

On Why Wiz Khalifa Needs His Head Examined:

Wiz Khalifa needs to have his head examined. The boy behind the hit “Black & Yellow” has lost his mind over a woman interested only in hogging his spotlight. For months, Wiz has been dating former stripper Amber Rose, whose claim to fame is that her ex-boyfriend is Kanye West. Khalifa even tattooed the girl’s name on his hand. Now he’s beefing with Kanye because West dissed Amber at Coachella this past April and then, just recently, at the Essence Festival in New Orleans.

On How Wiz Khalifa, Memphitz & Soulja Boy Broke Hip Hop Code:

But Wiz Khalifa broke a cardinal rule in the rap game. You don’t date another rapper’s ex-girlfriend. He is not alone. In Atlanta, Soulja Boy recently snatched Lil Scrappy’s girl. Lil Wayne’s ex Toya Carter tied the knot with some rapper named Memphitz earlier this year…They broke the bro code. See, when a rapper makes a commitment to one girl, he takes the relationship seriously.

On Evelyn Lozada & Ochocinco:

Rappers aren’t like celebrity football and basketball players, who pass around exes like mustard. You got Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco dating Evelyn Losada, who was engaged to former Miami Heat forward Antoine Walker. Hell, some of these motherfuckers don’t even wait for a breakup.

On NBA Stars & Their Relationships:

Television star Eva Longoria caught her man, San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker, banging his teammate Brent Barry’s wife. Orlando Magic star Gilbert Arenas dumped his fiancée and baby mama Laura Govan after he caught her doing the dirty with Shaquille O’Neal. That is some incestuous shit. Despite the stereotypes, you rarely saw this kind of thing in hip-hop.

On Rappers Being ‘One-Woman’ Men:

We rappers have always prided ourselves on not dating someone else’s ex-girlfriends or ex-wives. This will come as a shock to some people, but if we have a relationship, it’s with just one woman. Look at Jay-Z. He’s been committed to Beyoncé for some time. Will Smith, Run-D.M.C., Ice Cube, Ice-T, and I are other examples of loyal, dedicated husbands in hip-ho

Glad he got that off his chest…Do you think there’s any validity to what Uncle Luke is saying?

Though Megan Fox recently released webcam photos of herself to dispute claims that she’s had botox, many experts are stating that the actress photoshopped the photos.

According to plastic surgeon Dr. Nicholas Vendemia of New York (in reference to the above photos), “Looks like Megan is just as talented with Photoshop as she is in entertainment. Those lines on her forehead are totally fake. … Muscles in the forehead and brow simply don’t create curved wrinkles like that. The wrinkles Megan is showing us don’t coincide with brow anatomy, nor do they match the facial expression she is making.” (Source)

While I do believe Megan Fox is a pretty girl, she seems to have made a transition to pretty girl, to sexy girl to a (very obviously) surgically altered girl. What’s more, according to Awful Plastic Surgery, over time, Megan Fox has had two nose jobs, chemical peels, botox, dental work, lip fillers, a boob job, a mini brow lift and fillers added to her cheeks.

I don’t disagree with cosmetic surgery at all, nor do I think Megan’s work is atypical of other celebrities, but I am a believer in not fixing something that isn’t broken. She was once stunning, now she’s starting to look a bit weird.

In the age of social media and reality television fame, people are doing strange things in the name of love. As opposed to using actual dating websites, people are using social networking sites to spur their dating lives.

In a recent interview, video vixen Kimbella reveals that she met her beau, & father of her child, Juelz Santana on Twitter. What’s more, she’s set to capitalize off of this relationship (which originated from Twitter) on the forthcoming season of Love & Hip Hop 2:

Evelyn Lozada (arguably the star of Basketball Wives) has even come forward & stated on the show that she met her current fiance, NFL star Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, on Twitter.

Finally, lest we not forget the numerous hookups with celebrities that have taken place via the social media realm (remember Kat Stacks?).

Though I believe Twitter is best used for branding purposes, it is evident that others use the site for their own personal reasons. Do you think Twitter is the new dating service?

This is the craziest story I’ve seen in a while…

Laura Adiele , an African-American woman, is accusing the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of racial profiling after they searched her hair at an airport security checkpoint. Adiele says other women (that weren’t of color) with similar hairstyles, were never searched at the checkpoint:

Firstly, I love that the young lady featured in this video adopted a more natural style after years of straightening her hair. On a more related note, though they are intrusive, I can’t imagine TSA overstepping their boundaries & being racially offensive in the process. What’s next? Asking Muslims to remove their headdress for security checks?

This is a tough one. Should we be more concerned about our safety or our human rights? Thoughts?

As I’m pretty sure she’ll be a social pariah following this entire ordeal, it’s hard to imagine where she may work or where she may live or even lead a life of normalcy. However, the fact that she could soon become somewhat of a celebrity is frightening & it says a great deal about American culture.

Do you think a career in porn is an ideal move for Casey Anthony?

How would you like to get vodka with your burgers & fries? Pretty soon, you’ll be able to.

Fast food chains such as Burger King have already began selling alcoholic beverages in what they call “Whopper Bars” in cities such as Miami & Las Vegas. Drive-up restaurant, Sonic, also offers alcoholic beverages in a few states, in an attempt to drive more evening business. Most shocking to me, however? Starbucks is even set to add beer & wine to their menus, completely straying from their brand.

According to New Jersey News, some experts are not comfortable with selling alcohol in fast food establishments. Some of them feel that this is a quick road to dysfunctional behavior in people, especially considering the effect of the economy on people and the fact that more people eat fast food in a down economy because it is less expensive. “Fast food plus fast alcohol equals fast drunks,” said Michele Simon. Simon works at the Marin Institute, an organization dedicated to studying the alcohol industry and watching for negative trends and inappropriate marketing. Christopher Mullen adds,”You don’t want someone downing a quick beer, then getting into their cars and driving off. It’s a delicate balance of risk and reward.”

How do you feel about alcohol being served at fast-food joints? Good idea or bad idea?

50 Cent’s commercial failure for the past two to three years — & the public tantrums that he’s thrown as a result — has kept his name in the media’s headlines. Not to mention, his public feuds with everyone from Rick Ross to Kanye West have caused 50 to be the subject of great controversy.

Though I’ve dismissed many of his antics as mere publicity stunts, his most recent comments, regarding Lady Gaga’s rise to the top & her mainstream success have caught my attention.

In a recent interview with MTV, 50 Cent stated he feels as if Lady Gaga has the upper hand due to her race:

“When you say Lady GaGa, a pop artist, they want them to just deliver a song. They don’t have the mixshow radio platform to go through before they would actually go for adds on an actual record…Her records go to Top 40 and crossover radio immediately. You can’t really compare it to any artist that would be considered a pop artist or a white artist. And I say that openly, because what we consider urban radio or rhythmic radio was referred to as black radio at one point. That right there is something that I am conscious of.“

As I currently work in radio, I am aware that the racial disparagement is quite evident. Stations with predominately black listeners do not play pop music (which is often produced by white artists) just as stations with a vast white audience only play select black artists (i.e., Beyonce, Nelly, Usher).

Regardless of those facts, 50 Cent was once a mainstay on both urban & pop music charts/radio. I blame the quality of his recently released music; not nearly as impressive as it once was. In fact, I remember a time when everything he touched turned to gold. Perhaps his time in the music industry is up.

What are your thoughts? ]]> http://jenniferbrix.com/2011/06/up-for-discussion-50-cent-attributes-lady-gagas-popstar-status-to-her-race/feed/ 0 http://jenniferbrix.com/2011/06/what-do-you-think-about-gold-diggin-divas-new-single-codependent/ http://jenniferbrix.com/2011/06/what-do-you-think-about-gold-diggin-divas-new-single-codependent/#comments Sun, 19 Jun 2011 19:45:00 +0000 Jennifer Brix http://96.125.174.63/~jennifer/2011/06/what-do-you-think-about-gold-diggin-divas-new-single-codependent/

I’m honestly not sure what is going on with the newest wave of off-the-wall Youtube hits (Rebecca Black’s “Friday”, Kreayshawn’s “Gucci, Gucci”) but it seems as though the Gold Diggin Divas are next to experience an unparalleled level of online notoriety.

According to their official Youtube page: “Codependent” is the first single from the New Orleans raised Gold Diggin Divas. Now living in Los Angeles, the Cox sisters rap about everything from blingin and spending cash, to wearing Louis Vuitton, Gucci, & Chanel, to driving your Bentley and poppin’ bottles of Ace of Spades while catching a tan.

I’m not sure if this is serious or a joke (though I did laugh at a few of the lyrics), as it seems like people do anything to achieve even a minute level of fame. In a world of reality television dating shows, Basketball Wives & sex tape stars, I guess anything is possible.

In case you haven’t heard these three ladies remix to Webbie & Trina’s hit single “Independent” here it is for your viewing pleasure:

What are your thoughts?