New York Times Article: Jamaican Drug Lord Christopher Coke Surrenders To The Jamaican Authorities!!!
Suspected Drug Lord Taken in Jamaica
In May, Jamaican soldiers patrolled the streets of Denham, a neighborhood in Kingston, where fighting took place over several days.
By MARC LACEY and KAREEM FAHIM
Published: June 22, 2010
MEXICO CITY — A reputed gang leader wanted in the United States on gun and drug charges was taken into custody by Jamaican authorities on Tuesday as the furious search for him, which set off violent clashes in Kingston, the Jamaican capital, entered its second month.
Jamaica Constabulary Force, via Reuters
Christopher Coke
Owen Ellington, commissioner of the police, the Jamaican Constabulary Force, later told reporters that the reputed gang leader, Christopher Coke, had been peacefully taken into custody while in a vehicle with the Rev. Al Miller, an evangelical preacher who helped arrange the recent surrender of Mr. Coke’s brother and sister.
Mr. Miller told reporters that Mr. Coke had contacted him Tuesday and asked for help in turning himself in at the American Embassy in Kingston. The two men were en route to the embassy when the police stopped the car and arrested Mr. Coke, he said. Mr. Coke is willing to forgo an extradition hearing and face trial in the United States, said Mr. Miller, of the nondenominational Whole Life Ministry.
Witnesses outside a police station in St. Catherine Parish said Mr. Coke was wearing a bulletproof vest, and was seen being escorted to a helicopter.
Mr. Coke’s legal predicament strained relations between Jamaica and the United States and led to dozens of deaths over several days in late May as Jamaican security forces forced their way into Tivoli Gardens, the poor neighborhood that Mr. Coke controlled, in a futile effort to apprehend him.
Known as Dudus, Short Man and President, Mr. Coke, 42, was indicted last August in New York on charges that he had controlled an international drug ring from his Kingston stronghold. Prosecutors say Mr. Coke’s confederates in New York sent him part of their drug proceeds and shipped guns to him that he used to bolster his authority.
Mr. Coke’s case shed light on the longstanding practice in Jamaica of politicians and gang leaders sharing power, for the benefit of both. The gang leaders help turn out the vote at election time. In exchange, they are afforded government contracts for various jobs and protection from the law.
Mr. Coke’s father was a gang leader with considerable influence in the Jamaican Labour Party. The son followed in his footsteps as leader of the so-called Shower Posse, law enforcement officials said. When Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who represents Tivoli Gardens in Parliament, was elected in 2007, Mr. Coke’s influence seemed to grow and his business interests received sizable government backing.
But the indictment from the United States interrupted the arrangement.
At first, Mr. Golding fought the extradition, arguing that it was based on flawed evidence. The United States responded furiously. “Jamaica’s delay in processing the U.S. extradition request for a major suspected drug and firearms trafficker with reported ties to the ruling party highlights the potential depth of corruption in the government,” said a State Department counternarcotics report released in March.
But when criticism grew to the point that Mr. Golding’s government hung in the balance, he backed down and agreed to send Mr. Coke to New York
Washington Post Article: A Positive Review Of Toronto Hip Hop Stud Drake`s Debut Album!!!
Album review: Drake, “Thank Me Later”
Drake is reinventing what it means to be real. (Kyle Gustafson/TWP)
By Chris Richards
In hip-hop, the only way to trump the inviolable law of Keeping It Real is to establish a whole new reality.
That’s why Drake, a Canadian actor turned surprise rap phenom, has emerged as the genre’s new leading man, steering hip-hop out of the streets and into the emotive headspace of information-age isolation. It was a frontier first explored by Kanye West with his 2008 masterstroke “808s & Heartbreak.” Now, Drake’s arresting new album, “Thank Me Later,” follows through on West’s heavy-hearted promise. With penetrating lyricism and arresting melodies, it’s a truly captivating debut – a rookie’s ticket into the 21st century pop pantheon.
For most fans, hip-hop has always provided a glimpse of urban reality, seemingly unfiltered. Drake explores a terrain both more rarefied and more familiar: global celebrity. He doesn’t rap about street life, thug life or even club life. He raps about emotions – the clashing panoply of feelings that come with an unquenchable thirst for fame and the untenable romances that follow.
How can a 23-year-old possess such an aversion to stardom before his first album even hits shelves? Because he’s already a star. Before dropping his first mixtape in 2006, Aubrey Drake Graham made his name on television, playing teen athlete Jimmy Brooks on the corny Canadian drama “Degrassi: The Next Generation.” The heartthrob eventually earned his bona fides in the rap world under the wing of Lil Wayne – and proved himself an apt pupil with a spate of mixtape cuts (“Best I Ever Had,” “Successful,” “Forever”) that began to coat American airwaves and bandwidth last summer.
He eclipses those hits with his album’s first single, “Over,” a song that finds the ascendant star casting a suspicious glare over his own coronation. With ribbons of brass trilling behind him, he sings with a furrowed brow, “I know way too many people here right now that I didn’t know last year.”
The track approaches club-land delirium, but the rest of “Thank Me Later” sounds far more spare. Across the album’s 14 cuts, beats are parsed to their thundering essence while synthesizers billow on some distant horizon like strange fog. Each track feels only half full, providing ample space for the rapper to deliver his boasts and confessions in high definition. Even with “Fancy” – an up-tempo ode to women who spend hours primping in preparation for Saturday night – the beat eventually dissolves into a misty coda.
All the while, Drake toggles seamlessly between the twin roles of rapper and singer. His rhymes evoke Lil Wayne’s manic croak transposed into a suave, sonorous purr. As a singer, he croons each refrain with conversational ease – a nuance inherited from 50 Cent.
But what should truly endear Drake to the masses is his supreme self-awareness. “My 15 minutes started an hour ago,” he declares on “Fireworks,” simultaneously projecting himself as a braggart and a pawn trapped at the crossroads of celebrity and reality.
With “The Resistance,” his mind races from his ailing grandmother to a one-night stand that resulted in an abortion. Dazed by the fast life but still unable to resist its pull, he raps, “I’m holding on by a thread / It’s like I’m high right now /The guy right now / And you can tell by looking in my eyes right now /that nothing really comes as a surprise right now / ’cause we just having the time of our lives right now.”
He sounds conflicted at times, but the confidence in his delivery makes his marquee collaborators seem smaller than they are. Rap heroes Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy and T.I. make guest turns, but all are relegated to supporting roles. On “Up All Night,” larger-than-life newcomer Nicki Minaj sounds drowsy. Bun B’s cameo on “Miss Me” is limited to five quick words.
Though he’s been championed as incumbent rap royalty, Drake’s strongest analog resides in a neighboring star system. Her name is Taylor Swift.
For generations, both country singers and rappers have traded with the same currency: the notion of authenticity. Accordingly, both Drake and 20-year-old Swift are pushing their respective genres forward by retooling what it means to be “real.” He gets his heart crushed in the tabloids, she gets her heart crushed after sixth-period Biology. Both can flip these painful personal experiences into supremely pleasurable hooks.
Yet as similar as they are, Swift’s songbook galvanizes fans with its youthful charm. Drake’s output feels far more downcast, much more remote.
He’s tugging on a strand of pop music that feels both magical and rare – the kind that brings us all together by reminding us that we’re all alone.
Recommended Tracks: “Over,” “The Resistance,” “Fancy”
USA Today Article: Muscular Lesbian Tennis Champion Martina Navratilova Pays Her Ex Lover $3 million dollars!!!
Martina Navratilova settles with ex for $3 million
Martina Navratilova usually won her marathon battles on the tennis court, but has settled for something less than outright victory in her bitter legal fight with a former partner. The New York Post reports the nine-time Wimbledon champion has settled with Toni Layton for an estimated $3 million.
Layton’s lawsuit contended Navratilova ended their eight-year relationship suddenly, leaving her without financial support. Layton left her husband for Navratilova.
Lawyers for both women told the Post that all disputes were resolved and the settlement was confidential. Layton had threatened to divulge secrets about the tennis champion, telling the Post that, “There are a lot of skeletons in Martina’s closet. It is more like a storage facility full of them, and I know them all.”
Navratilova settled a similar dispute in the ’90s after ending a seven-year relationship with Judy Nelson. Last year, Navratilova went public with her latest relationship, with 1991 Miss Universe contestant Julia Lemigova.
Video Clip: Awkward Moment James Blake Slams ESPN Tennis Reporter Pam Shriver On Live Television!
James Blake lost his first round match at Wimbledon.
However, the real controversy is, James overheard ESPN tennis analyst Pam Shriver criticize him during his match. Shriver said James isn’t “mentally fresh.”
James responded, “Its amazing you play tennis cause I can still hear you!”
But then Shriver got defensive during the next point.
“James just yelled at me,” she said, not talking any quieter, clearly wanting Blake to hear her again. “I’m way above the court, but evidently he can hear me. He’s got rabbit ears.”
“You have to be an ass about it, too?” Blake yelled after the next point. “And act like I’m at fault.”
Is The Tennis Player Akgul Amanmuradova Male, Female, Or Intersex?
Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia defeat Akgul Amanurandova of Uzbekistan in the second round of Wimbledon 6-2 6-7 6-4. However, I was stunned when I looked at Amanumuradova she looks like a man! Amanmuradova is six foot three and she serves huge.
Amanmuradova has an extremely butch masculine appearance she has no hips, no breasts. It is hard to believe this tennis player is a female. Just look at Amanmuradova she has broad shoulders just like a man. I thought to myself, is this person really a female tennis player?
Amanmuradova does not wear a skirt, even though all the other women tennis players at Wimbledon wear skirts. Amanmuradova wears shorts just like the male tennis players.
I wonder if the WTA tour needs to complete a gender verification test on Amanmuradova?
Gayblackcanada 