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This just in from the Central Planner’s office: Jay-Z’s Shanghai “Vocal Concert” was cancelled by the communists.  From ChinaDaily:

The Ministry of Culture has decided to protect the city’s hip-hop fans from nasty lyrics about pimps, guns and drugs.

The ministry has denied New York rapper Jay-Z permission to perform in the city. He was supposed to make his China debut at the city’s Hongkou Football Stadium on October 23.

Sun Yun from KS production company, the concert’s promoter, said the concert failed to receive permission from the Ministry of Culture because “some of Jay-Z’s songs contain too much vulgar language.”

Jay-Z responds:

“I look forward to rescheduling my concert date in Shanghai,” Jay-Z told AllHipHop.com in a statement. “This world tour has been a life changing experience and it has only been made better by touching the fans that I am seeing for the first time.”

Apparently, they didn’t ask Nas.

Simon was looking forward to J-Hova coming to China, but wasn’t sure he’d make it:

Do people in China even know what hustler means? I wonder what went through the heads of the 50 - 60 year old cadre of censors when they reviewed Jay-Z’s lyrics. Fei chang hao!

In July, he was wondering how the Black Eyed Peas got past the communist censors:

I wonder how the Chinese censors viewed the lyrics to some of the songs in the Black Eyed Peas repertoire. I’m sure the guys promoting the concert glazed over the metaphors in many of the lyrics.

“Well here, they’re talking about having breakfast together, mixing milk with this brand called cocoa puff. American rap stars love milk. And Cocoa Puffs.”

Here is a troubling messageboard conversation from the House Page Alumni Association (Google cache). (Hat tip: Commentor dj from this Ace Post)

jordanedmund: (Apr 23 2006, 06:34 PM)
Has anyone been in contact with the author? Do we know how it is coming? Was it just given up on?

adlaidemocrat: (Apr 24 2006, 03:43 PM)
Not the faintest clue; I would venture to guess it’s been given up. I was never under the impression that the person had a publisher or any such thing.

jordanedmund: (Apr 24 2006, 03:43 PM )
When I spoke to her, on the phone, a year or so back, sh said she had written a few other books. I would doubt that there was someone who would be willing to publish a book about pages though. The Clerks counsel would probably keep anything from being published anyway. Probably on the grounds that we all signed confidentiality agreements when we started; so, every interview she did with a page would be null. Just my assumption.

adlaidemocrat: (Apr 24 2006, 04:04 PM)
I think the only way something could get published about it is if it were a tell-all memoir (either classy like George Stephanopolous’s “All Too Human” or scandalous like the “Washingtonienne” affair)

chiquita banana: (Apr 25 2006, 12:48 PM )
Kinda off subject, but there are House pages in our Algebra book. lol

washingtonmaiden: (Apr 26 2006, 06:30 PM )
i not sure there could be a tell all about pages. dont get me wrong i loved my job. we were not close to any one, stephanopolous had a very close relationship to a president. im not sure about the rest of you but my best relationship seemed to be the wall.
we are kinda of dull in comparision to the campagin trail. think about how many hours you spent reading. i finished virginia woolf’s orlando in two weeks. that has to be a record for a woolf novel.

my guess is the pubisher thougt it would be boring

More: (google cache)

Post topics started by jordanedmun: (note: links don’t work anymore)

1. “Today” (Sept 29) 11:46am
More on Pages in the news - this probably isn’t good press

2. Sept 19 08:42pm (FOUND: link)
Pages in Roll Call — As Pages, Lawmakers Mixed Politics and Pranks - Read the article here

3. August 20 09:00am
Facebook Now Has the House Page School

The Mark Foley saga may have just taken a huge turn thanks to a very detailed report from Passionate America.  He discovered that ABC had left up some instant messages with the screen name clearly visible.

Besides all of the evidence he provides, I was able to find another webpage linking the screen name Lolakana223 to Jordan Edmund.  This is from a General Discussion board from the House Page Alumni Association.  You’ll have to use Google cache as the page is now unavailable: 

jordanedmund

Jul 1 2003, 08:33 PM

No it wouldnt Shrineguard. Everyone in the city was encouraged to go back to their homes after the attacks took place. So the Pages went back to their home which is the dorm, we remained there for the rest of the day and then went back to our normal activities the next day. If you would like to know more specific details, feel free to Instant Message me with AOL instant messanger, at Lolakana223, and I’ll answer any question you have.

Jordan’s MySpace page is also available in the Google cache.  It confirms that he is now 21 and that he left the page program in June 2002.  Other things from his MySpace indicate that his sexual orientation is “Straight”, he is a student at University of California, Berkeley, and strangely enough he is currently working on the campaign of a Republican for governor.

This will surely be a blow to future media attempts to conceal “victim” identities.  It will only be a matter of time now before all of the rest of the information comes out and the facts are known. 

As of now the questions are: Was the page even under 18 at the time?  Was he even a page at the time?  Who knew what and when? 

Drudge has this flash up saying that some messages were from prior to Jordan’s 18th birthday:

A network source explains exchanges with the young man and disgraced former Congressman Foley took place before and after the 18th birthday.

When were they planning on telling us this?

—-

Update: (8:51pmCST)

I just wanted to add that this new information doesn’t clear former Rep. Foley of anything.  He obviously did something wrong as he went right into Patrick Kennedy blame-and-run defense mode.

What it does is question if the media is protecting the identity of an 18 year old, apparently the victim of no crime or sexual assault, one month before an election. 

Sure, some of the IM’s may be to boys under 18 and some may be to at-the-time employed pages.  The problem is that some may NOT be.  The ABC source implies that there was a mixture and when the information is bottled up there is no way to tell the difference…

Update #2: (10:03pmCST)

ABC News “The Blotter” has just added this to their story:

This message was dated April 2003, at approximately 7 p.m., according to the message time stamp at a time when the teen had been 18 for just six weeks. (Some sharp online readers spotted that the boy was technically legal when the exchange took place).

NewsBusters has more information on other changes they are making to their story.  The description now reads:

ABC News now has obtained 52 separate instant message exchanges, which former pages say were sent by Foley, using the screen name Maf54, to two different boys who began their exchanges with Foley at the age of 16 and 17, and continued through the age of 18.

Update #3: (10:39pmCST)

Another ABCNews.com piece pulled yesterday?  Here is something from FishBowlNY (h/t  StopTheACLU): 

“I filed an original piece of content that I believe adds to ABC’s coverage of the Foley story,” Moss told FishbowlNY. “It is rare for a site like ABCNews.com to remove a story completely — it’s as if it never existed.

More here at Queerty: ABC.COM PULLS FULL STORY

Update #4: (10/5 9:50pmCST)

How many pages does it take to make a book? 

Mark Foley scandal update: Pages looking for a book deal?

Against the U.S. that is.

Attending the “Non-Aligned Movement” summit were two-thirds of the axis of evil, Iran and North Korea, along with aspiring members Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus and the host nation, Cuba.

Cuba now sees the Non-Aligned Movement as a new vehicle to spread its influence. Founded in 1961 by Third World nations to try to avoid alignment with either the United States or the Soviet Union, the movement has struggled to find a role since the end of the Cold War.

From Reuters, U.S. and U.N. bashed at Cuba summit:

“American imperialism is in decline. A new, bi-polar world is emerging,” Venezuela’s leftist President Hugo Chavez said.

I think he is more right than he intended.  Luckily, with their socialized medicine, they should have no problem treating everyone!

Reuters can’t let a good Cuba story get by without providing a communist puff piece:

HAVANA (Reuters) - Impenetrable cordons of gun-toting police and soldiers mark most meetings of world leaders, but only handfuls of nonchalant, lightly-armed cops patrol the non-aligned nations summit in laid-back Havana.

The message is clear: the communist island, ruled by Fidel Castro since 1959, has permanently tight law and order.

“There is no need for security. There are 11 million of us Cubans, four million people and seven million police,” joked a recent law graduate, sipping a mojito in a bar. He wished to be known only as “Juan”.

Deputy Foreign Minister Manuel Aguilera has declared Havana offers “exceptionally safe” conditions for the summit.

…

While most world summits also play host to protests from anti-globalization activists and human rights groups, there has not been one demonstrator at the summit.

No demonstrators?  I wonder why that is.

A story from JSOnline’s Daywatch: “St. Francis man acccused of killing cat”

A St. Francis man faces charges of animal cruelty after allegedly beating a cat with a hammer, causing the animal’s death with as many as 20 blows to the head, police said today.

Police Chief Brian Kaebisch said his department is seeking a felony charge with the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office against the suspect, accused of killing the cat after it was found wandering the halls of the man’s apartment building in the 2900 block of Bolivar Ave. on Aug. 29.

The case came to the attention of police when a resident reported the next day that she had heard thumping in the hallway between 11 p.m. and midnight. In the hallway, she saw a man and woman standing over a cat.

The man and woman told the resident to stay away from the cat because it bites, according to Kaebisch.

After learning of the incident, police visited the apartment complex and recovered the cat, which was put into a bag and then into a dumpster. They also recovered the hammer from the man’s apartment.

Kaebisch said the man admitted to striking the cat because it wouldn’t leave. The cat had bitten another resident who was attempting to catch it in the hallway, Kaebisch said, after which the suspect first struck the cat.

Residents told police the cat was well known in the building and had a history of wandering there. While it appeared several residents may have cared for the cat, no one admitted ownership, Kaebisch said.

I didn’t even know it was illegal to kill a stray cat.  And if they thought that 20 blows to the head was excessive, how many are you allowed?  5?  10?  Is it less cruel if you allow the cat to stay alive after the allotted number of hits?

What kind of protected status do cats have these days?

It starts with a catchy title of Amanpour: World fails to save Africa’s AIDS orphans.  First off, ending the “stigma” of AIDS is lumped in with prevention and finding a cure:

We have watched the efforts to find a vaccine, to find drugs to control the disease, to educate people about preventive measures, and to end the stigma of AIDS.

Then a little blame game with an emphasis on Capitalism: 

We asked Dr. Chris Ouma, UNICEF’s AIDS specialist in Kenya, why children have gotten such a raw deal.

“I think it’s everybody’s fault really,” he said. “We were slow on the science. We did not speak out for them. Companies did not see the incentive to invest in drugs for children as there’s no one to pay. And all this has now resulted in an unacceptable death [rate].”

The solution to the problem?  Bring in British dirt bikers to haul doctors around and have the whole thing financed by private philanthropists.

 The outreach project is the brainchild of two British dirt bikers, Barry and Andrea Coleman, who realized that a transport network was the missing link.

“The entire continent of Africa is more or less grounded when it comes to health outreach. Which is a pretty big problem when you think of the effort that goes into sending drugs, sending health care expertise and it all doesn’t reach the people who need it,” said Barry Coleman.

Without any government help, they’ve sent hundreds of motor bikes to Africa’s wildest places with money they’ve raised at bike rallies in England. They have also trained the local health workers how to drive and maintain them.

I guess since everything else is failing (except getting loads of money) you have to be imaginative.

Despite being in last place with one match to go in its opening round group of the World Cup, Team USA actually still controls its own destiny. 

The standings in the group have Italy with 4 points, Czech Republic and Ghana with 3 points each, and the United States with 1 point. 

Everyone in the group can automatically advance with a simple win except for the United States.  The US needs to do more than just win, but technically they do control their own destiny.  With a winning margin of five or more goals, they are in.

The easy way of course is for a US win and an Italian win.  The Italians, however, only need a tie so their late game strategy might be more defensive than offensive if the game is close.

The hard way comes with a US win and any other combination.  Many scenarios could arise, which would all require the US to score a lot of goals.  Something they haven’t done well in recent months or even once in this World Cup. 

The five goal victory is so unlikely that I haven’t read any news story that provides that as a realistic option.  Most will list out all of the possible options or just say that “it can still work out“, but none that I’ve seen have limited the scope of advancing to the single US-Ghana match up.

Perhaps considering a 5-0 win over Ghana is like considering that Allen Iverson could still beat Kobe Bryant for the scoring title by scoring a few hundred points in his final regular season game.

After months of silence, Green Bay Packer quarterback Brett Favre confirmed the report that he will return to play another year of football.  What does this mean?  Good for the Packers, good for the Packer fans, good for the NFL, but bad for the television viewer.

NFL game announcers gush over Favre just slightly less than Phil Hellmuth gushes over himself.  Sure the guy is a legend, fun to watch, and deserves all the praise he gets, but there is a football game going on.  You know, right now, on the field, with lots of players, some even on the other team.

Favre has a good chance to break Dan Marino’s record of career touchdown passes (420).  Favre currently has 396 and needs 25 to break the mark.  He threw for 20 in a sub-par season last year but had 27 or more in the four seasons before that.

The ironman streak will continue:

(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel): If he stays healthy through training camp, Favre will be able to add to his ironman string of 221 consecutive regular-season starts (241 including playoff games). No other quarterback in NFL history is even close, with Peyton Manning holding second place among active quarterbacks with 128 consecutive starts.

The Packers also have the fifth overall pick in this weekend’s draft:

(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel): Now that the Packers know Favre will be back, there is little chance they’ll select a quarterback in the NFL draft this weekend. There’s a chance they’ll have a shot at two of the so-called Big Three — Southern California’s Matt Leinart, Texas’ Vince Young and Vanderbilt’s Jay Cutler — when they select at No. 5, but with 2005 first-round draft choice Aaron Rodgers backing up Favre, they’ll probably go in a different direction.

In a predraft news conference Monday, Thompson did not preclude the Packers from selecting a quarterback this weekend, but there’s less of a chance of it now with Favre on board.

There is no chance they’ll pick him, but I think Vince Young will be an NFL star.

Vegas thinks Favre’s return will help the Packers and have moved them to 60 to 1 to win the Super Bowl (from 100 to 1).  The addition of Charles Woodson today might up that a little more.

On his Sunday night radio show Matt Drudge said this (or something to the effect):

“I was going to name the Duke accuser on my website over the weekend, Ms. ******, or whatever her name was, but I decided not to.”

Classic.

This sounds like Drudge is only about 90% sure that he remembered the name right, so not enough to indict.

A Google search for the Duke accuser’s name (with quotes) brings back 233 hits.  Already, there are some sites with full background information on her.

Apparently, Tom Leykis already had released her name on Friday’s The Tom Leykis Show.

Allen Iverson and Chris Webber showed up late to last night’s Fan Appreciation Night in Philly.

“I honestly thought as long as I got there before the ball went up, everything would be cool,” Iverson said. “I’ve been doing it that way my whole career and it never was a problem, even when coach [Larry] Brown was here.”

Oh yeah, why can’t it be like it was back in the good old days?

[Iverson, 2002]: “We’re sitting here, and I’m supposed to be the franchise player, and we’re talking about practice. I mean listen, we’re sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we’re talking about practice. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game l[ike] it’s my last but we’re talking about practice man. How silly is that?”

Webber was just happy to avoid the pressure of the playoffs.