(Akiit.com) The throng of angry whites jeered, catcalled, and spat out borderline racial insults at the small group of mostly black protesters. This wasn’t a march against Jim Crow in Montgomery, Birmingham, Jackson, Mississippi, or Cicero, The year wasn’t 1963. The charged racial confrontation happened on March 14, 2010 in the self-billed All-American, mostly white Los Angeles suburban bedroom city of Torrance, California. The march was called to protest the unwarranted stop, search and harassment of Robert Taylor, a prominent Los Angeles African-American minister and civic leader by two white Torrance police officers on March 4. Following the stop, there were hundreds of outraged letters many filled with vile, crude and profane racist pot shots at blacks, in local newspapers blasting Taylor and civil rights supporters.

The Taylor stop fit the all too familiar pattern of many unwarranted stops of black and Latino motorists. Torrance police officials claimed that he and the car he drove allegedly fit the description of a suspect and car involved in a robbery and assault a day earlier. The problem is Taylor is not even remotely close in appearance to the description of the suspect. The picture circulated was of a short, stocky dark complexioned 30-something black male. Taylor is tall, in his 60s, and light complexioned.

Predictably, as in most racial profiling allegations, Torrance police and city officials hotly denied the profiling charge. They justified it with the stock story that crime is on the rise in the city, but offered no compelling stats to back up that claim. Taylor’s stop would have likely ignited the usual finger pointing, charge swapping, and then faded fast except for one thing. Torrance has been slapped with a Justice Department lawsuit, civil rights lawsuits, court settlements, and hundreds of verbal complaints over the years by black and Latino motorists, shoppers, African-American mail carriers some in full uniform that work at postal stations in Torrance, and residents such as Taylor who allege they were racially profiled.

Torrance is hardly unique. The past decade, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Miami and other big and small cities have repeatedly been called on the carpet for alleged racial profiling. In an address to a joint session of Congress in 2001, then President Bush blasted racial profiling, “It’s wrong and we will end it in America.” It hasn’t.

The refusal to admit that racial profiling exists by many public officials and many in law enforcement has done much to torpedo nearly every effort by local and national civil rights and civil liberties groups to get law enforcement and federal agencies not only to admit that racial profiling happens but to do something about it. The throng of white protesters that harangued the blacks and other supporters who protested the Taylor stop in Torrance was ample proof of that.
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(Akiit.com) LOS ANGELES (AP) — The estate of Michael Jackson has landed the late King of Pop the biggest recording deal in history: a $200 million guaranteed contract with Sony Music Entertainment for 10 projects over seven years, according to a person familiar with the deal.

The record-breaking contract through 2017 could be worth up to $250 million if certain conditions are met. One of the albums will be of never-before-released Jackson recordings that will come out in November, the person said.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the official announcement is expected Tuesday.

Future projects may also include a video game, a DVD compilation of videos and a re-release of “Off the Wall,” Jackson’s fifth studio album, which first came out in 1979, accompanied by some unreleased material. Before his sudden death in June at age 50, the pop star had wanted to re-issue the album, people familiar with the deal said.

One of the projects already counted in the contract was the two-disc album that accompanied “This Is It,” the film based on footage of concert rehearsals for what was to have been Jackson’s comeback at London’s O2 arena.

Including the more than 5 million copies of that special release, Jackson has sold some 31 million albums since his death in June, about two-thirds of them outside the United States.

“During his life, Michael’s contracts set the standard for the industry,” said John Branca, the co-administrator of the Jackson estate, in a statement prepared for release Tuesday. “By all objective criteria, this agreement with Sony Music demonstrates the lasting power of Michael’s music by exceeding all previous industry benchmarks.”

Rob Stringer, chairman of Sony Music’s Columbia Epic Label Group, said in prepared remarks, “We’re dedicated to protecting this icon’s legacy and we’re thrilled that we can continue to bring his music to the world for the foreseeable future.”

The landmark deal is worth more than all other benchmarks, such as the all-encompassing rights deals that concert promoter and ticket-seller Live Nation Entertainment Inc. had previously signed with Madonna at $120 million and Jay-Z for $150 million.

The deal with Jackson’s estate is even more remarkable because it does not include royalties from merchandise.
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(Akiit.com) WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama has talked to schools and nutrition groups across the country in her effort to reduce childhood obesity. On Tuesday, she will face the food companies that make the snacks and junk food that stuff grocery aisles and school vending machines.

Not that the companies mind. The Grocery Manufacturers Association — which counts Kraft Foods Inc., Coca Cola Co. and General Mills Inc. among its members — invited her to speak at its science forum.

Welcoming the first lady and embracing her campaign for healthier kids, launched earlier this year, could have advantages.

The industry is positioned to take some blows in the coming year, including a child nutrition bill about to move through Congress that could eliminate junk food in schools, digging into some companies’ profits.

The Food and Drug Administration is also beginning to crack down on misleading labeling on food packages, saying some items labeled “healthy” are not, and the Senate last year mulled a tax on soda and other sweetened drinks to help pay for overhauling health care.

That tax did not make it into the health care bill, but it could be seen as an opening shot in a quietly growing effort to target food companies, especially as local, state and federal governments scrounge for revenue in a tight fiscal environment.

Michelle Obama has not previously taken her anti-obesity campaign directly to the large food companies. She said recently, however, that she would like to see more customer-friendly food labels “so parents won’t have to spend hours squinting at words that they can’t pronounce to figure out whether the foods that they’re buying are healthy or not.”

She has also said she will push companies that supply foods to schools to improve nutritional quality. Her campaign is largely focused on school lunches and vending machines, along with making healthy food more available and encouraging children to exercise more.
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(Akiit.com) Yes spring has arrived as in a few weeks I will need to cut the grass… Not something I look forward to… Being all in the sun, and sweating like crazy… What us men have to do, I tell ya… Well let me find this diet aid package a friend sent me… Like many I’m looking to slim down… I do miss my old figure… Let me clean up my desk before the boss comes my way… Also need to make a few calls… Get ready for lunch also…

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(Akiit.com) So glad to see Tiger Woods is back… Yes he shall make his 2010 debut at Augusta… I don’t know how well he will play but as a Golf fan this is so great… Anyway let me read find these weight loss stories a friend sent my way… I need to be inspired as sadly I do need to shed a few pounds… No longer young, and it’s so easy gain weight… Well let me head over to facebook… Need to check my messages, and post something on the wall…

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