Larenz Tate Downplays Rumors of Replacing Columbus Short on ‘Scandal’

*Although there are some who would love to see Larenz Tate on “Scandal,” the actor downplayed all talk about him replacing Columbus Short on the hit ABC show.During an appearance on Access Hollywood, Tate addressed rumors of him joining the cast of “Scandal.” According to him, all the talk is just talk.

“The ‘Scandal’ is such a scandal!” the actor told Access’ Billy Bush and Kit Hoover. “The ‘Scandal’ hearsay or rumors started I guess through the gladiator fans. Like, they’re people who love the TV show ‘Scandal’ and thought that I would be a great addition to the show.

“I think it’s an amazing show, but it’s just hearsay,” he added. “Nothing official.”

Rumors of Tate taking Short’s place on “Scandal” surfaced after Short’s exit from the show. Since his departure, the entertainer has endured a series of negative press directed at his recent encounters with the law. Nevertheless, Tate extended well wishes for his friend.

“I know Columbus, I’m friends with Columbus, and he’s had a really tough time right now. For me, I just hope the best for him and his family above all,” the “Love Jones” star expressed. “The job – that’s great, being on a hot TV show – [but] what’s important is family, and for him to just keep the family together as best as possible.”

Despite Tate’s stance, the fact remains that if he joined the “Scandal” cast, the situation could conflict with his current gig starring in the USA Network’s new drama, “Rush.” So the question is would Tate’s contract allow him to appear on network television as well as cable TV at the same time?

“I think that things are always up for negotiation, you know what I’m saying?” he said. “I’m a businessman. But I like what I’m doing right now.”

Read more at http://www.eurweb.com/2015/02/larenz-tate-downplays-rumors-of-replacing-columbus-short-on-scandal/#2GLHjUoFB0Cd7flu.99

Jack Nicholson: I’ll Sell You My Lakers Tix….I’m Sorta Over It

2/22/2015 12:45 AM PST BY TMZ STAFF

EXCLUSIVE

Lookin’ for some insane courtside seats to the Lakers game?

Jack Nicholson tells TMZ Sports he’s willing to sell you his for face value … since he’s not as motivated to go the Staples Center as he used to be.

It’s actually pretty sad … Nicholson — who’s been a staple at the Lakers games for decades — was leaving Madeo in Beverly Hills when he told us he’s just not as into the Lake Show as he used to be.

We’re guessing the team’s abysmal record has a lot to do with it.

The good news? You could sit right next to stars like Leo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg … that is, if they even feel like showing up these days.

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2015/02/22/jack-nicholson-ill-sell-you-my-lakers-tix-im-not-going-as-much/#ixzz3SVGA7C00

Retirement: When you should take Social Security

USA TODAY 12:04 p.m. EST February 22, 2015

 

Social Security is most Americans’ largest retirement asset, but the system is “maddeningly complex, and if you don’t figure it out, you can lose big bucks,” says one of the authors of a new book.

“It’s easy to leave tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table,” says Laurence Kotlikoff, who wrote Get What’s Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security with Philip Moeller and Paul Solman. “The benefits are there for the taking. You paid for them. And with a little effort, you can dramatically increase what you get.”

But most people “are doing the wrong thing, which is immediately taking greatly reduced benefits the instant they become available,” he says.

USA TODAY talked to Kotlikoff, a professor of economics at Boston University, about Social Security:

Q: How important is Social Security to most people’s financial strategy in retirement?

A: It’s really critical for almost all of us to get this 100% right. Simply taking benefits at the earliest possible moment without any strategizing can cost almost everybody a lot of money. People don’t understand that there is more than one benefit available to them, and there are different strategies for taking their different benefits.

This is like an investment you have to manage. But we are not told that we have options. I don’t think the Social Security Administration has provided enough education to the public about all the options. In our book we have listed 50 secrets to getting higher lifetime benefits, and 25 “gotchas” that can cost you very big bucks. These include complex strategies for married couples, divorcees, widows, disabled workers and people who are thinking about getting married or divorced.

Q: Why did you write this book?

A: The complexity of the Social Security system is disgraceful. People are losing benefits that they paid for because they are not aware of them, and that’s not fair. The system is a user’s nightmare and, as a consequence, it’s terribly unfair. It’s also in terrible financial shape. Other economists and I show you how we would fix it at www.thepurpleplans.org.

Q: What are the options for taking Social Security?

A: Full retirement age is 66 for those who were born between 1/2/1943 and 1/1/1955. If you start taking Social Security before your full retirement age, the benefits are subject to an early retirement reduction for every month you do so. For example, taking your own retirement benefit at age 62 rather than full retirement age (if your full retirement age is 66) means you have a 25% lower monthly payment.

The Social Security Administration raises your personal retirement benefit for every month you wait to claim your benefits beyond your full retirement age, and the raises continue through age 70. This Delayed Retirement Credit is 8% a year until you turn 70.

So if your Social Security retirement benefit was going to be $1,000 a month at 66, it would be reduced 25% to $750 if you claimed benefits at age 62. If you didn’t take it until 70, it would raise 32% (four times the 8% annual increase) to $1,320.

Q: What is the biggest mistake people make with Social Security?

A People take their benefits too soon, because they are worried about dying before they collect. In so doing they may reduce or lose entirely the auxiliary benefits they can collect. They can also reduce the widow(er) benefits they can provide their current and former spouses. If you die early, you won’t need money.

The real risk is living until 100 on relatively low benefits because you were impatient and took reduced benefits before your full retirement age. Benefits in real dollars (inflation adjusted) are 76% higher if you start them at 70 than if you start them at 62.

Q: So when do you recommend folks start taking it?

A:​ As laid out in the book, the optimal strategy is different for each household. Some workers should wait until 70. Others should file early in order to enable their wives, children or ex-wives to collect based on their work record. But if they do so, they have the option of suspending their benefit at full retirement age and starting it up again at, say, 70 at a higher value. For married couples the optimal strategy is a joint one. The optimal collection decisions one spouse makes depends on what the other decides and vice versa.

Q: Who is eligible for Social Security benefits?

A: ​If you have worked in covered employment for 40 quarters you can receive retirement benefits ​ and also potentially provide spousal benefits to current and ex-spouses as well as your children. You can check out your benefits at ssa.gov/myaccount/, which the agency calls my Social Security.

Q: How does the Social Security Administration determine your benefit amount?

A: Social Security calculates a special average of your past (the highest 35 years) covered earnings, which it calls your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings. It then plugs your AIME into a formula that generates your full retirement benefit or primary insurance amount. The PIA formula is quite favorable to low contributors. But in absolute terms, those with more contributions get the largest benefits.

Q: What are the advantages of applying for Social Security and then suspending your benefit?

A: Formally filing for your benefit, even if you suspend it, c​an let your spouse and children collect spousal and child benefits on your work record. It lets you accumulate Delayed Retirement Credits so that when you restart your benefits they will be higher. This is only permitted between full retirement age and 70.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/02/22/social-security-retirement-financial-planning/23518483/

Civil Rights Groups Plan to Protest Oscars Ceremony

African-American civil rights leaders plan to hold a protest in Hollywood outside Sunday’s Academy Awards show, where all this year’s 20 acting nominees are white.

 

 A group of African-American civil rights leaders plan to hold a protest in Hollywood outside Sunday’s Oscars show, where all of this year’s 20 acting nominees are white, AFP reports.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, head of the L.A. Urban Policy Roundtable group, says the purpose of the demonstration is to draw attention to Hollywood’s diversity problem. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards Oscars, is comprised of voting members who are overwhelmingly white and an average age of 60, the report says.

“The goal of the protest is to send a message to the Academy, send a message to Hollywood, send a message to the film industry,” Hutchinson says, writes AFP. “And the message is very simple: you don’t reflect America; your industry doesn’t reflect America. Women, Hispanics, African-Americans, people of color (are) invisible in Hollywood.”

Some of this year’s snubs include Britain’s David Oyelowo, who was widely praised for his role as Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma. The film’s director Ava DuVernay, was also left out, though the movie is among eight picture nominees, the report notes.

After an uproar over the lack of black Oscar nominees in 2015, the Academy Award’s first African American president, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, said she was encouraged to accelerate reforms to make the awards more inclusive.

“Personally, I would love to see and look forward to [seeing] a greater cultural diversity among all our nominees in all of our categories,” she said at the time, the report notes.

However, Darnell Hunt, head of the UCLA center for African American studies, and author of The Hollywood Diversity Report, said the Academy is heading in the wrong direction. He plans to release an update on his diversity report in a couple of weeks, AFP writes, saying that 93 percent of the Academy’s members are white, about 70 percent male, while the average age is 63.

“In many ways the Academy is falling further and further behind because America is more diverse,” Hunt said, according to the news outlet.

In 2002, Halle Berry and Denzel Washington were celebrated for making a breakthrough for their wins for best actress and actor, but rights groups say there has been little progress in the decade since then, the report notes.

Read more at Yahoo.

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http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2015/02/civil_rights_groups_protests_mostly_white_2015_oscar_nominees.html?wpisrc=topstories

Diddy explains why he invests so much money in liquor

 

In this interview, Diddy talks about the way he manages his brands. We ask you to take a look at the video to get a sense of how people in this income bracket think. But notice the question that the host asks Diddy about liquor.  Do you think that there is a tendency for black entrepreneurs on Diddy’s level to make most of their money selling things like liquor and clothing, two problematic consumer items?

Malcolm X once said, “The white man will sell you the liquor bottle, then lock you up for being drunk.”  In this case, the person selling the liquor directly isn’t white, but Diddy is one of many black intermediaries who makes distribution deals with large corporations to help them make money from the African American market.  The same model applies to the music industry as well, where most “black-owned” record labels are actually subsidiaries of larger musical conglomerates.  Critics claim that this artificial labeling allows the majority company to present the illusion that the the consumer is supporting a black-owned business, when they are not.

We don’t know about you, but the question about liquor just seemed a bit awkward, and it’s hard to see this same question being asked of most white entrepreneurs, who make their billions investing in dot coms and other items. Not to say that white guys don’t invest in liquor too, but it does seem that when it comes to black people, someone is always seeking to keep the party going.

Diddy says that he was known as the “King of Parties.” Have black entrepreneurs been typecast?  Are black people more likely to be leaders in entertainment and sports, but not in other kinds of business ventures?  What role does media play in the creation of this perception?

Check out the video and tell us what you think.

Mo’Nique: ‘I Was Blackballed After I Won the Academy Award’

Friday, February 20, 2015

Comedian/actress Mo’Nique says Hollywood blackballed her after she won the Academy Award for her role in Lee Daniels’ critically acclaimed film Precious.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Mo’Nique recalled winning the Oscar and expecting to receive an abundance of higher quality movie roles. But that didn’t happen, and she said director-of-the-moment Lee Daniels told her why.

“I got a phone call from Lee Daniels maybe six or seven months ago. And he said to me, ‘Mo’Nique, you’ve been blackballed.’ And I said, ‘I’ve been blackballed? Why have I been blackballed?’ And he said, ‘Because you didn’t play the game.’ And I said, ‘Well, what game is that?’ And he gave me no response. The next thing he said to me was, ‘Your husband is outbidding you.’ But he never asked me what [salary] we were asking for.”

Mo’Nique said her husband and manager Sidney Hicks, who is also an actor, decided the best alternative for her was to go independent. She and Hicks have an independent film set for limited theater release on April 24 called Blackbird.

Mo’Nique denied rampant rumors that she is “difficult” to work with on the set.

“Whoever those people are who say, “Mo’Nique is difficult,” those people are either heartless, ruthless or treat people like they’re worthless. And that’s unacceptable,” said Mo’Nique. “They’re set to say, ‘Mo’Nique is tactless, she’s tacky.’ That’s why I have my beautiful husband, because he’s so full of tact, ’cause I’m a girl from Baltimore. I come from a blue-collar town — and being from that place, you learn not to let anybody take advantage of you. You don’t let people mistreat you. You stand up for what’s right.”

Mo’Nique also low-key blamed Oprah for being the main culprit behind her being blackballed.

Mo’Nique said she was offered the role as Forest Whitaker’s mother in Daniels’ movie The Butler. But Daniels gave the role to Oprah. Mo’Nique was also offered the role of late comedian Richard Pryor’s grandmother in Daniels’s upcoming biopic on Pryor’s life. But that role also went to Oprah, who obviously used her significant influence over Daniels in her shameless pursuit of an Academy Award nomination.

http://sandrarose.com/2015/02/monique-i-was-blackballed-after-i-won-the-academy-award/#more-112556

7 Superfoods Your Body Needs & Their Superpowers

Kefir

Somewhat like yogurt, but full of protein and contains less sugar, kefir is beneficial to your immune system and protects against colon cancer. It has the same creamy texture as yogurt, with a great sweet taste.

Jicama

Looks something like a potato, but is sweet and crunchy. This vegetable has belly-flattening fibers that contain probiotics that keep good bacteria in your stomach. This veggie also has a considerable amount of vitamin C, which is great for collagen production and wrinkle fighting.

Chia Seeds

These nutty tasting, fiber-filled seeds are great because only a tablespoon gives you all the nutrients of a big bowl of oatmeal. You will get the fiber, the bone-building calcium, the omega-3 that is beneficial to the heart,  and iron.

Brussels Sprouts 

Though Brussels sprouts are basically three- day-old broccoli plants, they are packed with the cancer fighting agent sulforaphane. The best part about these tiny plants is that they are easy to hide in just about any meal. Try tossing some on a sandwich, in tacos, on pizza or in your stir fry.

Black Garlic 

This naturally fermented herb has a concentrated amount of antioxidants. The compounds within this wonderfully flavored food help to keep your cholesterol low and fight against cancer. As an added plus, black garlic doesn’t make your breath stinky!

Kelp 

Loaded with vitamin K and other essential nutrients, this vegetable may single handedly be one of the best natural breast cancer fighters out there. It also contains alginate fiber that is known to be considerably great at blocking fat.

Barley

This super grain is sweet with a tasty, nutty flavor. It offers a tremendous amount of niacin which promotes beautiful and healthy skin and hair. Barley also helps to fight heart disease by offering tons of soluble fiber.

http://blackdoctor.org/453083/7-superfoods-your-body-needs-their-superpowers

Miami’s Dorsett Runs Fastest 40-Yard Dash At NFL Combine, WRs Impress

BY:  John “Hennry” Harris

The University of Miami’s Phillip Dorsett entered this week as the favorite to run the fastest 40-yard dash at the 2015 NFL Combine.  Dorsett lived up to the hype running a blazing 4.33 unofficial time yesterday (February 20, 2015).  In his first run, he clocked a 4.35 and was able to chisel that time down making him the leader in the clubhouse among the top 40-yard dash times.

Dorsett’s 4.33 time was impressive, but as a track athlete it was expected.

Doriel Green-Beckham is turning the most heads after running a 4.49 and 4.50 in his two attempts.  Standing tall at 6’5″ and a stout 237 pounds, his numbers beat out Mike Evans‘ times from last year, who had an outstanding rookie season at wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Evans, a 2014 top-10 pick out of Texas A&M, ran a 4.51 at 231 pounds at the 2014 NFL Combine and if this is any indication, Green-Beckham has a promising future on the field.

But it is Green-Beckham’s problems of the field that has teams concerned. Green-Beckham was dismissed from the University of Missouri after 2 marijuana-related arrests and an incident in which he allegedly forced open an apartment door and pushed an 18-year-old woman down several stairs.  How teams feel about Green-Beckham’s decision-making skills off the field will ultimately decide how high he will get drafted.

University of Alabama’s Amari Cooper ran a respectable 4.42 and 4.43 40-yard dash, which was faster than expected.  On the field, Cooper displays easy acceleration and speed was never a real concern for him.  Running a faster 40-yard dash than Sammy Watkins from a year ago solidifies him as a top-10 draft projection.

Auburn University‘s Sammie Coates recorded a 4.43 and 4.45, but his times are almost seen as a disappointment because he did not break the 4.3 barrier. At 6’2″ and 213 pounds, he is still above average and displays field speed.

Raw speed is important for wide receivers, but not considered the judge all component as it once was.  The wide receivers in this year’s draft have impressive speed, especially considering their sizes coupled with their skill levels.  There are a good number of receivers available this year for clubs that need them.

http://www.brothersonsports.com/fast401/

The Bible Sequel Miniseries ‘A.D.’ Will Air On NBC In 2015

After the success of History’s miniseries The Bible, it should come as no surprise that creators Mark Burnett and Roma Downey are looking to do a follow-up. But it won’t be happening at History. The planned sequel miniseries, titled A.D., will make the leap from cable to network television, airing on NBC in 2015. The Peacock announced today that they’ve greenlit a 12-hour miniseries called A.D., which will come from Burnett and Downey, and serve as a follow-up to The Bible. If all goes as planned, the miniseries will air in the spring of 2015.

History’s The Bible left off with the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the immediate aftermath of that event. From what NBC’s Robert Greenblatt says in the network’s official statement, A.D. will focus on the events that took place after Christ’s death…

“Last year when Mark Burnett was launching ‘The Bible’ on cable, I told him, without hesitation, that if he wanted to tell more of the story, we’d love to do it at NBC. We are firmly in the ‘event’ business and nothing has more event potential than ‘A.D.’ as it continues immediately after the ‘The Bible’ ended. The heft of a broadcast network, combined with the promotional arms of NBCUniversal and Comcast, will push this miniseries to a mass audience. We value our relationship with Mark and Roma and know that no one could bring this story to life better than them.”

The script for the miniseries will be written by Simon Block (The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall). A director has yet to be set, and NBC plans to announce casting at a later date.

The Bible brought in a total of 13.1 million viewers for its March 3 premiere on History when factoring in live-plus-same day viewing, with the final episode bringing in 11.7 million viewers. It’s not hard to understand why NBC would take the opportunity to present the sequel, especially when we factor in what Greenblatt said about NBC being “firmly in the event business.” The network did extremely well with their recent live broadcast of The Sound of Music Live!, and it’s already looking like they’re planning to do another live musical broadcast next year. NBC also announced that they’re developing a four-hour Rosemary’s Baby miniseries, adapted from Ira Levin’s best-selling suspense novel.

NBC isn’t the only network pushing forward with more event programming. Fox has Wayward Pines and 24: Live Another Day lined up, as well as a number of other projects in development, including a possible TV adaptation of Shogun. Meanwhile, ABC has the Cold War-set miniseries The Assets set to air next month. So TV viewers should expect to see more event programming on network TV in the coming years.

As for Burnett and Downey’s next project, while we have more than a year to wait for A.D., Burnett and Downey have feature film Son of God set to arrive in theaters February 28

http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Bible-Sequel-Miniseries-Air-NBC-2015-61118.html

Dr Boyce Watkins: Come on Eddie! Either do SNL right or don’t show up at all

by Dr Boyce Watkins

To say that Eddie Murphy is a legend might be both obvious and a severe understatement.  He’s the kind of person who can make you laugh by saying, “hello,” and the reason that many of us ever turned on SNL in the 1980s.   Murphy is the fourth-highest grossing actor of all-time ($6.6 billion worldwide in box office receipts).  He was the first black man to appear regularly on the show, and clearly the funniest.  Every black man after Eddie was pretty much being compared to him, with only Chris Rock coming close to meeting the standard.

Eddie is one of the most brilliant entertainers and greatest filmmakers of all-time, as well as the savior of SNL.  He was to SNL what Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were to the NBA.   SNL deserves credit for making Eddie a star.  Without being granted that platform at the young age of 19, most of us wouldn’t know who Eddie Murphy is.

So, like the rest of the world, I was eagerly anticipating Eddie’s contribution to the 40th anniversary of SNL, expecting to see the performance of a lifetime.  Despite the show’s managerial flaws (i.e. their decision to only hire a couple of black women over a nearly 40-year period), I consider it to be one of the best on TV.

Eddie was introduced by another favorite comedian, Chris Rock.  Rock is like a black version of Bill Maher, only smarter and funnier.  His little jabs at American racism via social media are going to be considered classic and visionary 50 years from today, and he comes off as a man who enjoys using his immense fame and power to say things that might actually help brothers other than himself.  I respect that.

So, I’m sitting there watching Chris do an admittedly long-winded introduction of Eddie.   I noticed that Chris kept clasping his hands over and over again, as if he was nervous.  I thought to myself, “Chris has been famous for over 25 years, why does he appear so nervous?”  In hindsight, I wonder if Chris knew that the audience was about to be in for one of the greatest disappointments of all-time.

After building the crowd up with anticipation, Rock finally introduces the star of all stars.  Eddie walks out onto the stage with a blue suit that is sharper and more expensive than anything I’ve ever worn in my wildest dreams.  He looks like he has aged about 10 minutes since 1984.  He appears ready to tear the house down, and the audience is feeling it too.  The energy is out the door, through the roof, and over the top.  It was crazy.

Eddie receives a standing ovation that was made even longer by the fact that he kept asking the audience to keep clapping…..and clapping……and clapping.  Yes, he got quite a bit of mileage out of those claps.  He then made a couple of awkward comments about how this felt like going back to his old high school, and then asked the audience to clap again.  Eventually, I’m sure people were thinking, “OK, I’ve clapped my ass off, now please say something funny.”

But the funny never happened.  Barack Obama has been funnier.  Hell, even my grandmother Felicia was funnier at her own funeral (I’m not kidding, something funny really did happen at my grandma’s funeral and we all busted out laughing, we’re sick like that).  I’ve laughed more during boring Superbowl commercials.

Eddie gave what might be the biggest 73-second disappointment in recent television history and then walked off the stage.  I now wonder if the source of Rock’s angst was the fact that he was about to be a part of the most awkward black NBC moment since Kanye West said that “George Bush does not care about black people.”  In that moment many years ago, I still remember Chris Rock’s deer-in-the-headlights expression as the camera quickly panned to him so they could get it away from Kanye.  In this case, Rock was kind of like the new Chris Tucker (where is Chris anyway?  Maybe he needs to call Ice Cube).

I don’t know why Eddie let his fans down on such a huge night.  I don’t know what kind of beef he’s had with SNL that has kept him off the show for the last 30 years (April Taylor speculates on some of this).  I don’t even know why he made the appearance in the first place.  All I can say is that millions of people who love Eddie Murphy were left disappointed, caught in the crossfire between a really talented comedian and a show that hasn’t always done right by black people.

I will still go see any movie that Eddie Murphy releases.  He’s still the most brilliant comedian in Hollywood.  He’s still the man who gave us Harlem Nights, Coming to America, The PJs, and a zillion other classics that only he could create.  But watching Eddie Murphy on SNL’s 40th anniversary, for me, was like a 10-year old watching his beloved older brother go into the boxing ring and deliberately lie down on the mat.  Some might even say that Eddie’s behavior was a little selfish.  No matter the reason for Eddie’s zombie-like performance, he probably should have just stayed home and watched the show like the rest of us.  I want my 73 seconds back.

The bottom line Mr Murphy is simple:  I’m a little hurt by all of this, as are millions of your other fans.  You’re the King of Comedy who came off like the guy who gets yanked off the stage at the Apollo.  We know you as the best, so either come CORRECT or don’t show up at all.  We’ll understand either way.  At the very least, don’t waste our time, since many of us were only watching this long, drawn out special to see your appearance anyway.

http://yourblackworld.net/2015/02/17/dr-boyce-watkins-come-eddie-either-snl-right-dont-show/