President Bush, LL Cool J has a few questions for you.

Joining Nas, Q-Tip and Jay-Z in turning rap away from pimpin’ and toward politics, the elder statesman of hip hop subjects Dubya to a blistering interrogation on his new cut, “Mr. President.”

“It’s all about what I’d like to ask [him],” LL told us the other night at a downtown studio, where he let a few friends listen to his forthcoming album, “Exit 13″ - his last for the Def Jam label.

Cranking up the bass till the floorboards throbbed, LL let track 14 rip:

“Mr. President, are you aware/Our flesh and blood is dying over there?/When the coffins come back, do you care?/When only the poor kids die, is it fair?/Don’t get me wrong. I respect the flag/But it hurts to see a kid in a body bag/He fought for his country with all he had/Now we have a family without a dad.”

The song moves on to other policy issues:

“Mr. President, are you aware unless you’re rich, you have poor health care/It makes you scream and want to pull out your hair/Discharged from the hospital soon as you get there.”

Would he like to get the disk to the White House?

“Tell me how to set that up, and I would be there in a heartbeat,” he said, smirking.

LL fine-tuned the album for the past 2%BD years, during which time he turned down a half-dozen movie roles. Out Sept. 9, it’s also filled with less polemic tracks and funny rhymes that had heads in the studio bobbing.

The rapper didn’t stop moving once. Despite being 40, Mr. “Ladies Love Cool James” still has the abs and pecs of a 20-year-old.
His secret?

“Start young. Always stay in the gym. It’s funny because hip hoppers age in dog-years, but I’m still young for a human,even though I’m a granddad of the rap game.”

(source)

LeRoi Moore, the versatile saxophonist whose signature staccato fused jazz and funk overtones onto the eclectic sound of the Dave Matthews Band, died Tuesday of complications from injuries he suffered in an all-terrain vehicle accident, the band said. He was 46.

Moore died at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was admitted with complications that arose weeks after the June 30 wreck, according to a statement on the band’s Web site. It did not specify what led to his death, and nursing supervisor Galina Shinder said the hospital could not release details.

On June 30, Moore crashed his ATV on his farm outside Charlottesville, Va., but was discharged and returned to his Los Angeles home to begin physical therapy. Complications forced him back to the hospital on July 17, the band said.

The band went on with its show Tuesday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where lead singer Dave Matthews dedicated the entire show to Moore.

“It’s always easier to leave than be left,” Matthews told the crowd, according to Ambrosia Healy, the band’s publicist. “We appreciate you all being here.”

Saxophonist Jeff Coffin, who played with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, had been sitting in for Moore during the band’s summer tour.

Moore, who wore dark sunglasses at the bands’ many live concerts, had classical training but said jazz was his main musical influence, according to a biography on the band’s Web site.

“But at this stage I don’t really consider myself a jazz musician,” Moore said in the biography. Playing with the Dave Matthews Band was “almost better than a jazz gig,” he said. “I have plenty of space to improvise, to try new ideas.”

Lead singer Dave Matthews credited Moore with arranging many of his songs, which combine Cajun fiddle-playing, African-influenced rhythms and Matthews’ playful but haunting voice.

The band formed in 1991 in Charlottesville, Va., when Matthews was working as a bartender. He gave a demo tape of his songs to Moore, who liked what he heard and recruited his friend and fellow jazzman Carter Beauford to play drums, and other musicians.

The group broke out of the local music scene with the album “Under the Table and Dreaming.” The band won a Grammy Award in 1997 for its hit song “So Much to Say” off its second album “Crash.” Other hits include “What Would You Say,” “Crash Into Me” and “Satellite.”

Fans who attended Tuesday’s concert expressed sadness over Moore’s death and concern about the band’s future without him. “LeRoi was just super important to the band,” Shawn Harrington said before the concert. “That’s how the band came to be.”

(source)

Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones died on Wednesday night after suffering a cerebral aneurysm on Tuesday in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives for the 11th District of Ohio was found unconscious in her car on August 19, 2008. Jones was driving erratically and crossed several lanes of traffic before her car came to a stop, according to police reports.

Rep. Jones was rushed to Huron Hospital, a satellite of the Cleveland Clinic in East Cleveland. She remained in intensive care until her death on Wednesday evening, August 20, 2008.

Jones received her Juris Doctorate from Case Western Reserve Univ. School of Law in 1974. Jones was also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones was elected a judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court in 1981 and went on to serve on the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga County from 1983-1991. She served as the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor from 1991 until early 1999 when she was elected to Congress.

The congresswoman was the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio. She was a strong advocate for economic development, delivery of health care and quality education for all. Jones hailed from the heavily Democratic, black-majority 11th District of Cleveland. She had been reelected four times with no serious opposition.

Jones was the co-chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. She was also a superdelegate who was planning to attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado next week. A staunch supporter of Hillary Clinton, she endorsed Barack Obama after the Clinton bid ended.

The congresswoman was selected by Speaker Nancy Pelosi as chairperson of the House Ethics Committee to watch over the standards of ethical conduct for members of the House.

She is survived by a son Mervyn Jones Jr. She is proceeded in death by her husband of 27 years, Mervyn Jones Sr., who died in 2003.

Jones is the second close associate of Hillary Clinton to die unexpectedly in the past week.  Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman Bill Gwatney, 49, was shot and killed in his office by a gunman on August 13.   Details available here.

More photos below - click to enlarge.

(more…)

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Stephanie Tubbs Jones, 58, is a Democratic member of the US House of Representatives, representing the 11th District of Ohio. She was found unconscious in her car on August 19, 2008, having suffered a cerebral aneurysm. She was driving erratically and crossed several lanes of traffic before her car came to a stop, according to police reports.

Rep. Jones was rushed to Huron Hospital, a satellite of the Cleveland Clinic in East Cleveland. She remains in intensive care and is reportedly in very unstable condition with limited brain function. In a news conference, her doctor described the brain hemorrhage as ‘very serious’ - caused by an aneurysm that burst in an inaccessible part of her brain.

Update:  Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones died on Wednesday evening.   Full bio and photos link here.
More photos below - click to enlarge.

(more…)

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Mom-to-be Laila Ali is on the cover of the latest issue of Pregnancy magazine. Laila,who is expecting her first child with husband Curtis Conway, will be having a home birth:

On what mother she hopes to be:
I hope to patient and fair and just a good example to my kids…and consistent. I think that it’s important to teach kids values and morals and how to love themselves and be a leader not a follower.Hopefully I won’t be too strict, because that’s something that I could see myself doing-being too protective and too strict.

On when the baby is due:

I don’t put a due date on the baby,whenever he’s ready to come out.

On how she decided to have a home birth:

I saw Ricki lake’s documentary, The Business of Being Born. I think all women kind of like to be in control,but I want to really experience[the birth]. Society tells you,”You get pregnant,you go to the hospital,” and that was just naturally what i was going to do,but once i saw that there was another option,it just fit me. I want to be fully present-I don’t want any medications. I just want to be in control of the situation-as much as I can be anyway.

It’s not for everybody. So you have to do your research and at least be informed. Even if you don’t decide to do a home birth or work with a midwife,you can at least be aware of the fact that you can have a voice at the hospital. And make sure you pick a good doctor.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST ISSUE OF PREGNANCY MAGAIZNE,ON NEWS STANDS NOW.

Poor Jennifer Lopez. The new mom is training for a triathlon, but everyone is too busy watching the Olympics to notice.

Lopez, who appeared on “Good Morning America” Aug. 18 to discuss her preparations for the Malibu Triathlon, was overheard saying after the segment that she “couldn’t understand why everyone is talking about that swimmer,” according to a GMA source. “She couldn’t come up with (eight-time gold-medal winner Michael) Phelps’ name, and then she yammered on about how she was the one training for a triathlon just six months after giving birth, and how that was the big story right now, not ‘the swimmer.’ ”

Lopez is planning on donating money raised for her race to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. To help drum up attention, she started a blog to share tips on training. “Touch up makeup prior to your run” hasn’t made its way into any posts, despite Lopez being spotted arriving in Central Park with her makeup artist later in the day.

“Apparently, Jenny from the Block requires a lot of powder,” says the source.

(source)

LeRoi Moore, 46, died of complications from an ATV accident that occurred on June 30, 2008. Moore was driving a four wheel all terrain vehicle on his farm in Charlottesville, Virginia when he crashed, breaking ribs and puncturing a lung. He spent a few days in the hospital and was released.

In mid July Moore suffered complications, attributed to the accident, and was hospitalized again. He died on August 19, 2008, a few weeks shy of his 47th birthday.

The talented musician played bass, baritone, alto and soprano sax, flute, bass clarinet and wood penny whistle for the Dave Matthews Band. The bands website posted the following statement:

“We are deeply saddened that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008 at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program.”

Click photos below to expand.

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The Dave Matthews Band's saxophonist LeRoi Moore has passed away.

He was 46 years young.

The musician was injured in an ATV accident in June, resulting in a punctured lung and broken ribs.

Moore went back into the hospital last month due to complications. He passed away Tuesday in Los Angeles after more complications.

Our condolences to LeRoi's family and bandmates.

[Image via WENN.]