The AJC.com has another article detailing the latest information about Bishop Eddie Long. It appears that Maurice Robinson, one of the civil lawsuit litigants, received a “pretrial diversion program for his alleged participation in a burglary at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia earlier this year.” AJC — Shelia M. Poole

Before the actual “sexual misconduct” civil lawsuit, “Robinson and Anthony Boyd were charged with breaking into Long’s office and taking an iPod, iPad and jewelry, according to a police report.” It will be interesting to see how the criminal charges impact the civil lawsuit.

The WSJ.com has an interesting article about Michael Jordan stepping into some new shoes — that of an owner/promoter of a struggling NBA franchise — the N. Carolina Bobcats.

To buy 80% of the NBA’s struggling Charlotte Bobcats in February, Mr. Jordan had to do something he wasn’t accustomed to doing in his many years of endorsing products: put some of his own money on the line. To complete the purchase, two people familiar with the matter said he assumed interest payments on about $185 million in debt and had to raise about $55 million to cover payments to the team’s other owners. Given the team’s current liabilities, two people familiar with the team’s finances said Mr. Jordan will have to personally cover at least $20 million in losses this year.

Compared to Billionaire sports owners, Heir Jordan is a firm “middle class,” as he only makes about 50 Million a year according to the WSJ article. As the WSJ article explains, that puts Jordan on the hook for 20MM in losses and might also explain his interest in promoting the team

This is pretty hilarious — at one point Mr. Williams actually says “NPR called me names” (paraphrase) which of course, if you watch “The Factor” (NetNoir watches in-context clips only lol!) is pretty much O’Reilly’s stock and trade. O’Reilly literally has a “pinhead” award for people he disagrees with — aside from the fact that O’Reilly stalks people he disagrees with, which is just plain creepy.

Cash in while you can Mr. Williams.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/the-oreilly-factor-ambushes-npr-ceo-vivian-schiller/ (h/t mediaite)

Kayne West always seems to find a way to top himself. This time a 34 minute music video with fast cars, dancing women and of course a ginormous bust of the king of pop himself.

Team Obama has started on a final push to GOTV (Get Out the Vote), using targeted “urban” ( black!) artists, interviews and media campaigns. Here’s a DNC/OFA (Obama for America) radio announcement by John Legend. (h/t theroot.com) Interesting the NY Post (kind of a shaky source given their Murdoch / Fox News ties) has an article featuring the influence that Jay-Z will have on the 2012 elections.

I’m doubtful that these last minute targeted work will have that much of an affect..we will see.

The washingtonpost.com has a fascinating article on Lillian McEwen — the former girlfriend of Justice Clarence Thomas.

The former assistant U.S. attorney and Senate Judiciary Committee counsel had dated him for years, even attending a March 1985 White House state dinner as his guest. She had worked on the Hill and was wary of entering the political cauldron of the hearings. She was never asked to testify, as then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), who headed the committee, limited witnesses to women who had a “professional relationship” with Thomas.

More at the WaPo

It seems that Virginia Thomas’s voicemail message to Anita Hill has sparked McEwen to come forth and give more background on Clarence Thomas as private citizen. My guess is Virginia Thomas is regreting that phone call and that a lot fo conservative bloggers and analysts will have to rethink their initial thoughts on Thomas.

“He was always actively watching the women he worked with to see if they could be potential partners,” McEwen said matter-of-factly. “It was a hobby of his.”
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Presented with some of McEwen’s assertions, Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said Thomas was unavailable for comment.

However bizarre they may seem, McEwen’s recollections resemble accounts shared by other women that swirled around the Thomas confirmation.

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Good Bye Juan Williams “controversy,” hello Justice Thomas…

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Fairly interesting stuff, while folks like Marc LaMont HIll are fired from Fox News for going against the dominant paradigm on the network, Juan Williams was just rewarded for being fired from NPR — to the tune of $2 Million dollars over three years (h/t thedailybeast.com)

Interestingly, Mr. Williams has just penned a piece for his new full-time employer entitled : ” JUAN WILLIAMS: I Was Fired for Telling the Truth.” I hope he is happy to know how his “truth” will be used to support bigotry against Muslims (or African Americans, Jews, Irish, etc…) as just the “truth.”

Here’s a great flashback to 2009…

NPR has more than 400 reporters, editors, producers and analysts on its news team, and none is more of a lightning rod than Juan Williams. But it’s usually not for anything he says on NPR.
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Last year, 378 listeners emailed me complaints and frustrations about things Williams said on Fox. The listener themes are similar: Williams “dishonors NPR.” He’s an “embarrassment to NPR.” “NPR should sever their relationship with him.”

The latest flap involves Williams’ comment on Fox about First Lady Michelle Obama. To date, I’ve received 56 angry emails. For comparison, this year so far, listeners sent 13 emails about Steve Inskeep, 8 about Mara Liasson and 6 about Cokie Roberts — other NPR personalities who I often get emails about.

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His “Stokely Carmichael” comment got the attention of NPR’s top managers. They are in a bind because Williams is no longer a staff employee but an independent contractor. As a contract news analyst, NPR doesn’t exercise control over what Williams says outside of NPR.

[emphasis added] Read More at NPR