Clippers’ Donald Sterling the most hated man in America, according to poll

Donald Sterling edged out Bernie Madoff for most hated man in the poll. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images Sport)
By Brad Rowland

Disgraced Clippers owner Donald Sterling has a new title: Most hated man in America.

Sterling has dominated headlines in recent weeks after making racist comments that were caught on tape and ignited a media firestorm. The increased attention also led to a sudden jump in visibility, which has led to more infamous, racially-driven comments that have been on the verge of being removed as the Clippers’ owner by the NBA. Sterling has attacked  Magic Johnson and more recently, openly disvowed  a previous agreement with his wife to sell the Clippers. Those actions, in addition to his previous track record, have reportedly led to his new title.
  Reuters brings the specifics:
According to a recent consumer survey conducted by E-Score®, a leading consumer research service that provides information to media and entertainment companies, Sterling is now the single most disliked living man in America, ranking higher than bad boys such as O.J. Simpson, Bernie Madoff and Phil Spector.
And when asked to choose from a list of 46 attributes that best described Sterling, respondents’ top picks were creepy (48%), mean (41%), cold (42%) and insincere (29%). The demographic showing the greatest disdain for Sterling were males age 13-24, with a 97% dislike rating.
McCANN:    Sterling’s new arguments raise host of issues

It isn’t difficult to believe that Sterling would garner a 92 percent disapproval rating at this stage, but when compared to the baseline of 15 percent for athletes in the E-Poll database (per ESPN’s Darren Rovell), the figure jumps off the page. With Sterling topping a list that also includes people like Justin Bieber and Aaron Hernandez in addition to Simpson and Madoff, it isn’t exactly company that any NBA owner would strive to join.

Bids have reportedly been submitted as the Clippers as Sterling’s wife Shelly attempts to close the sale of the organization, but with Sterling continuing to hold strong publicly, it isn’t hard to imagine his disapproval rating rising from an already lofty point.

Here are the top 10 finishers from the poll:

Donald Sterling, 92 percent
Bernard Madoff, 90 percent
O.J. Simpson, 88 percent
Conrad Murray, 88 percent
Justin Bieber, 86 percent
Phil Spector, 83 percent
Aaron Hernandez, 81 percent
Michael Lohan, 76 percent
Eliot Spitzer, 73 percent
Jon Gosselin, 71 percent

Witchy sez :
Most hated? I would rather say the most ignorant!

The real news is Justin Bieber is no. 5.

He's vigorously working on making his way up the list.

Just sayin'  HeHe

Famed poet Maya Angelou dies at 86

Maya Angelou answers questions at her portrait unveiling at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery on Saturday, April 5, 2014 in Washington, DC. (Paul Morigi/AP Images for National Portrait Gallery)

Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., right, and poet Maya Angelou, left, acknowledge the crowd during a campaign stop at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., Friday, April 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

NEW YORK (AP) - Maya Angelou, a modern Renaissance woman who survived the harshest of childhoods to become a force on stage, screen, the printed page and the inaugural dais, has died. She was 86.

Her death was confirmed in a statement issued by Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she had served as a professor of American Studies since 1982.

Tall and regal, with a deep, majestic voice, Angelou defied all probability and category, becoming one of the first black women to enjoy mainstream success as an author and thriving in virtually every artistic medium. The young single mother who performed at strip clubs to earn a living later wrote and recited the most popular presidential inaugural poem in history. The childhood victim of rape wrote a million-selling memoir, befriended Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and performed on stages around the world.

An actress, singer and dancer in the 1950s and 1960s, she broke through as an author in 1970 with "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," which became standard (and occasionally censored) reading, and was the first of a multipart autobiography that continued through the decades. In 1993, she was a sensation reading her cautiously hopeful "On the Pulse of the Morning" at former President Bill Clinton's first inauguration. Her confident performance openly delighted Clinton and made the poem a best-seller, if not a critical favorite. For former President George W. Bush, she read another poem, "Amazing Peace," at the 2005 Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the White House.

She remained close enough to the Clintons that in 2008 she supported Hillary Rodham Clinton's candidacy over the ultimately successful run of the country's first black president, Barack Obama. But a few days before Obama's inauguration, she was clearly overjoyed. She told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette she would be watching it on television "somewhere between crying and praying and being grateful and laughing when I see faces I know."

She was a mentor to Oprah Winfrey, whom she befriended when Winfrey was still a local television reporter, and often appeared on her friend's talk show program. She mastered several languages and published not just poetry, but advice books, cookbooks and children's stories. She wrote music, plays and screenplays, received an Emmy nomination for her acting in "Roots," and never lost her passion for dance, the art she considered closest to poetry.

"The line of the dancer: If you watch (Mikhail) Baryshnikov and you see that line, that's what the poet tries for. The poet tries for the line, the balance," she told The Associated Press in 2008, shortly before her birthday.

Her very name as an adult was a reinvention. Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis and raised in Stamps, Ark., and San Francisco, moving back and forth between her parents and her grandmother. She was smart and fresh to the point of danger, packed off by her family to California after sassing a white store clerk in Arkansas. Other times, she didn't speak at all: At age 7, she was raped by her mother's boyfriend and didn't speak for years. She learned by reading, and listening.

"I loved the poetry that was sung in the black church: 'Go down Moses, way down in Egypt's land,'" she told the AP. "It just seemed to me the most wonderful way of talking. And 'Deep River.' Ooh! Even now it can catch me. And then I started reading, really reading, at about 7 1/2, because a woman in my town took me to the library, a black school library. ... And I read every book, even if I didn't understand it."

At age 9, she was writing poetry. By 17, she was a single mother. In her early 20s, she danced at a strip joint, ran a brothel, was married (to Enistasious Tosh Angelos, her first of three husbands) and then divorced. By her mid-20s, she was performing at the Purple Onion in San Francisco, where she shared billing with another future star, Phyllis Diller. She spent a few days with Billie Holiday, who was kind enough to sing a lullaby to Angelou's son Guy, surly enough to heckle her off the stage and astute enough to tell her: "You're going to be famous. But it won't be for singing."

After renaming herself Maya Angelou for the stage ("Maya" was a childhood nickname), she toured in "Porgy and Bess" and Jean Genet's "The Blacks" and danced with Alvin Ailey. She worked as a coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Council, and lived for years in Egypt and Ghana, where she met Malcolm X and remained close to him until his assassination, in 1965. Three years later, she was helping King organize the Poor People's March in Memphis, Tenn., where the civil rights leader was slain on Angelou's 40th birthday.

"Every year, on that day, Coretta and I would send each other flowers," Angelou said of King's widow, Coretta Scott King, who died in 2006.

Angelou was little known outside the theatrical community until "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," which might not have happened if James Baldwin hadn't persuaded Angelou, still grieving over King's death, to attend a party at Jules Feiffer's house. Feiffer was so taken by Angelou that he mentioned her to Random House editor Bob Loomis, who persuaded her to write a book.

Angelou's musical style was clear in a passage about boxing great Joe Louis's defeat against German fighter Max Schmeling:

"My race groaned. It was our people falling. It was another lynching, yet another Black man hanging on a tree. One more woman ambushed and raped. A Black boy whipped and maimed. It was hounds on the trail of a man running through slimy swamps. ... If Joe lost we were back in slavery and beyond help."

Angelou's memoir was occasionally attacked, for seemingly opposite reasons. In a 1999 essay in Harper's, author Francine Prose criticized "Caged Bird" as "manipulative" melodrama. Meanwhile, Angelou's passages about her rape and teen pregnancy have made it a perennial on the American Library Association's list of works that draw complaints from parents and educators.

"'I thought that it was a mild book. There's no profanity," Angelou told the AP. "It speaks about surviving, and it really doesn't make ogres of many people. I was shocked to find there were people who really wanted it banned, and I still believe people who are against the book have never read the book."

Angelou appeared on several TV programs, notably the groundbreaking 1977 miniseries "Roots." She was nominated for a Tony Award in 1973 for her appearance in the play "Look Away." She directed the film "Down in the Delta," about a drug-wrecked woman who returns to the home of her ancestors in the Mississippi Delta. She won three Grammys for her spoken-word albums and in 2013 received an honorary National Book Award for her contributions to the literary community.

Back in the 1960s, Malcolm X had written to Angelou and praised her for her ability to communicate so directly, with her "feet firmly rooted on the ground. In 2002, Angelou used this gift in an unexpected way when she launched a line of greeting cards with industry giant Hallmark. Angelou admitted she was cool to the idea at first. Then she went to Loomis, her editor at Random House.

"I said, 'I'm thinking about doing something with Hallmark,'" she recalled. "And he said, 'You're the people's poet. You don't want to trivialize yourself.' So I said 'OK' and I hung up. And then I thought about it. And I thought, if I'm the people's poet, then I ought to be in the people's hands - and I hope in their hearts. So I thought, 'Hmm, I'll do it.'"

In North Carolina, she lived in an 18-room house and taught American Studies at Wake Forest University. She was also a member of the Board of Trustees for Bennett College, a private school for black women in Greensboro, N.C. Angelou hosted a weekly satellite radio show for XM's "Oprah & Friends" channel. She also owned and renovated a townhouse in Harlem, the inside decorated in spectacular primary colors.

Active on the lecture circuit, she gave commencement speeches and addressed academic and corporate events across the country. Angelou received dozens of honorary degrees, and several elementary schools were named for her. As she approached her 80th birthday, she decided to study at the Missouri-based Unity Church, which advocates healing through prayer.

"I was in Miami and my son (Guy Johnson, her only child) was having his 10th operation on his spine. I felt really done in by the work I was doing, people who had expected things of me," said Angelou, who then recalled a Unity church service she attended in Miami.

"The preacher came out - a young black man, mostly a white church - and he came out and said, 'I have only one question to ask, and that is, "Why have you decided to limit God?'" And I thought, 'That's exactly what I've been doing.' So then he asked me to speak, and I got up and said, 'Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.' And I said it about 50 times, until the audience began saying it with me, 'Thank you, THANK YOU!'"

Rest in Peace and our heartfelt sympathy to her son and other family members. You left a wonderful legacy behind for our youth to enjoy ... you will surely be missed.
RIP ...the PICs

Herb Jeffries Dead: Jazz Singer And Actor Known As 'The Bronze Buckaroo' Dies At 100

LOS ANGELES (AP)
 Herb Jeffries, the jazz singer and actor who performed with Duke Ellington and was known as the "Bronze Buckaroo" in a series of all-black 1930s Westerns, died of heart failure Sunday morning at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 100.
His death was confirmed by Raymond Strait, who worked with Jeffries on his not-yet-published autobiography titled "Color of Love."
With a mellow voice and handsome face, Jeffries became familiar to jazz fans, but segregation in the film industry limited his movie career. He scored a big hit with Ellington as the vocalist on "Flamingo," recorded in 1940 and later covered by a white singer, the popular vocalist Tony Martin.

Among the other songs he did with Ellington were "There Shall Be No Night" and "You, You Darlin'."

"The camaraderie in his band was like a bunch of guys in college," Jeffries recalled in the book "Off the Record: An Oral History of Popular Music." ''Ellington had a knack for developing talent and stars. ... He was more like a father to me than a boss."

Jeffries has been described as the only black singing cowboy star in Hollywood history and, more recently, after the deaths of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and others, as the "last of the singing cowboys."

Sometimes billed as Herbert Jeffrey, he starred in four Westerns aimed at black audiences from 1937 to 1939: "Harlem on the Prairie," ''Two-Gun Man From Harlem," ''The Bronze Buckaroo" and "Harlem Rides the Range."

As The New York Times noted, the low-budget films (produced by a white man, Richard C. Kahn) are "notable less for what's in them than that they exist at all."

Jeffries starred as Bob Blake. The films featured his horse Stardusk, the vocal group the Four Tones, and comic relief from prolific character actor Mantan Moreland. Among the songs: "I'm a Happy Cowboy," ''Get Along Mule" and "(Got the) Payday Blues."

"The Bronze Buckaroo" was recently revived on a DVD release called "Treasures of Black Cinema."

Jeffries "did something outrageous, and then rode off into the sunset," actor-director Mario Van Peebles told People magazine in 2005. "He did us proud."

Jeffries remained active as a singer into his 80s and 90s, touring and putting out the 1995 CD "The Bronze Buckaroo (Rides Again)" and following it up in 2000, with "The Duke and I." Among the honors that came his way late in life was a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, dedicated in 2004.

"I don't believe in age," Jeffries told The New York Times in 1995, when he was appearing at a local club. "I believe this magnificent thing we have on our shoulders can help you evolve," he said. "In jazz, we keep going. There's no such thing as retiring, or being retired, so you never feel unwanted or useless. And that keeps your body vital."

He was born in Detroit to a racially mixed couple, referring to himself in a 2004 interview with The Oklahoman as "an Italian-looking mongrel with a percentage of Ethiopian blood, which enabled me to get work with black orchestras."

He lamented the days touring in the South when he was with Earl Hines in the 1930s. Black audiences were made to stand separately off in a corner and not allowed to dance.

"I don't think anybody was thrilled about the conditions, but if you wanted to advance and develop you couldn't show anger," he said.

He made light of the covering of "Flamingo," too, recalling he joked with Martin that he knew Martin had copied him because "you made the same mistake in the lyrics that I did."

Jeffries told American Visions, a publication on African-American culture, in 1997 that he was inspired to seek backing for the cowboy movies after seeing a black boy crying because other children with him "wouldn't let him play cowboy. But in the real West, one of every four cowboys was black."

But he had no plans to star in them himself, he said, until the search for a suitable actor-singer-rider came up short and he embarked on a crash course on lasso handling and other Western skills.

Strait said Jeffries recently had several surgeries that "just wore him out." He added that Jeffries "believed in one world and one people and was one of the most generous people I've ever met. He was always funding something or doing something for kids."

Jeffries is survived by his fifth wife, Savannah; three daughters; and two sons.

Biographical material in this story was written by former AP staffer Polly Anderson
Thanx Polly

From a proud grandpa of that era : Poppa

Hollywood was indeed segragated seventy years ago. Jeffires was a good looking, talented man, but his skin wasn't the 'right' color. MGM used Lena Horne in musicals, but put her in numbers that could be cut out for prints that would be dstributed in the south. That's always been a major mind-boggler for me: who in their right mind would want to 'AVOID' looking at such an incredibly beautiful lady?
Proud to say I meet Herb Jeffries  and  Lena Horne in  Vegas many years ago ,  a real gentleman and as I  said  Lena  was  an incredible  beautiful  and  a gracious lady .

A proud granpa G.   

Pistorius arrives at psychiatric hospital

Oscar Pistorius talks on a mobile phone while arriving in a car at the Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital on May 26 2014 in Pretoria. A South African judge on May 20, 2014 ordered Oscar Pistorius to undergo up to 30 days of psychiatric tests to establish if he is 'criminally responsible' for killing his girlfriend on Valentine's Day 2013. AFP PHOTO/MUJAHID SAFODIEN (Photo credit should read MUJAHID SAFODIEN/AFP/Getty Images)

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) - Oscar Pistorius sat in the passenger seat of a black sedan speaking on a cellphone as he arrived Monday morning at a government psychiatric hospital to begin the period of mental evaluation as ordered by the judge at his murder trial.

Pistorius' car drove through the security gates of Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital in the South African capital Pretoria behind a police van.

Judge Thokozile Masipa last week ordered that Pistorius be observed by a panel of four mental health experts for up to 30 days at Weskoppies after a psychiatrist testified at his trial that he had an anxiety disorder and it could have contributed to his fatal shooting of his girlfriend last year. Pistorius will be evaluated as an outpatient and return home each day. He was ordered by Masipa to present himself by 9 a.m. each weekday for tests from Monday for up to a month. His murder trial has been postponed until June 30. He is free on bail.

The disabled Olympian is charged with premeditated murder for shooting to death Reeva Steenkamp at his home on Feb. 14, 2013 and has been on trial in Pretoria since March 3.

Prosecutors say Pistorius, 27, killed Steenkamp, 29, intentionally after a late-night fight but his defense argues he mistook his girlfriend for a dangerous intruder hiding in a toilet cubicle in his bathroom when he shot her multiple times through the stall door.

His psychiatric evaluation was prompted by testimony from Dr. Merryll Vorster, a psychiatrist called by his defense, who said she diagnosed the world-famous runner with generalized anxiety disorder after interviewing him on two occasions at the beginning of May. Vorster said Pistorius had a long-held fear of crime and felt vulnerable as an amputee, and his disorder may have been a factor when he fired four times with a 9 mm pistol.

The chief prosecutor asked Judge Masipa to order the independent tests because he said Pistorius' defense might argue he wasn't criminally responsible for the killing because of mental illness.

Lets check in with our in-house expert :
Yes, I'm sure he DOES have an anxiety disorder now, especially when he thinks about the possibility of going to prison for the murder he committed. "Generalized anxiety disorders" don't normally make people commit murder. This guy seems to be more of a predator than anything. And quite an actor, as well.
His own psychiatrist stated on the stand that those with Generalized Anxiety Disorder are a danger with guns. I am sure that was written down by My Lady.

She evaluated him for two days and now he'll be evaluated in depth for 30 days. Stupid move on the defense to put her on the stand. Did they really think they'd get that past Gerri Nel? That guys a shark.

At present - given his impending sentencing it is a quasi certainty that he is now suffering from acute anxiety....with the prospects of what awaits him in a largely black imprisoned male colony...being the only young white meat available. Repentance will be painful.

They are doing the right thing. The defense tried to pull a fast one on the court and the court reacted accordingly. I for one am looking forward to the results of his evaluation . I am sure he'll be faking his butt off and they will surely write that down and submit it to the court.

I bet his dungs looks' like bricks now. (smiling)
Now on the bright side of the matter:
Unless there are prisons in S.A. for whites only I am certain that the boys are dying to meat him - Oh the poor dear.....he'll get to know first hand how it feels to be victimized by a bigger man....only in his case it will be for the rest of his natural life.

He won't be able to avoid getting his ass screwed by the other inmates because all they have to do is take away his legs, then he is a sitting duck! I bet three days in the jail, his ass will be as swollen as his bruised ego !
Just my humble opinion : 

Watch Denzel Washington In The First Trailer For 'The Equalizer'

The first trailer for Denzel Washington's new movie, "The Equalizer," is here and based on the provided clips, the movie is going to be very Denzel Washington. The actor plays a man with "possible military training," who takes on the Russian mob because of an innocent girl he barely knows. As Washington says of the book he is reading in the trailer, "It is about a guy who is a knight in shining armor, except he lives in a world where knights don’t exist anymore." As per usual, he is really good at killing people, but with this character he likes to time himself when in combat. Watch the trailer above.

You’ve Got Mail’ Turns 15: Here’s 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Rom-Com

Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks' AOL-era romantic comedy crash-landed into our inboxes 15 years ago.
by Kase WickmanIt’s been 15 years since the classic rom-com ""You'reGotMail" crash-landed into our inboxes (or did we mean to say VCRs? Remember those?). The unlikely plot would be even more impossible today (hey, Facebook): anonymous online pen-pals fall in love on the ‘Net, never realizing that in real life, he’s a big-box bookstore guy driving her indie children’s bookshop out of business. Yet we still can’t help but love this movie like Tom Hanks loves Meg Ryan.
So in honor of the 15th anniversary, we’ve got … 10 things you may not have known about the Nora Ephron movie.                                  

Quick Thinking, Tom!
Sometimes the greatest lines from movies are a result of mistakes. The first time Hanks’ character goes to the Ryan’s Shop Around the Corner, he’s carrying balloons and a goldfish. On his way out of the store, he accidentally slammed the balloons into the door. Hanks’ ad-lib, "good thing it wasn’t the fish," made it into the final cut of the movie.

You’ve Got a Sly Reference
The name of Ryan’s character’s bookstore, The Shop Around the Corner, is also the title of the 1940 Jimmy Stewart movie of the same name upon which Ephron’s flick is loosely based.

Play It Again
When Ryan’s and Hanks’ characters finally meet in person, with both knowing that they’ve been emailing each other, the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" plays on the film’s soundtrack. The duo also shared a scene set to the song in "Sleepless in Seattle."

Here Again
Meg Ryan and Greg Kinnear are mid-movie when they decide they’re just not that into each other anymore. Press screenings and the New York premiere of "You’ve Got Mail" in 1998 were held in the very same theater that the scene was filmed in. (Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side, if you’re curious.)

Sara Ramirez Has a Cash-Only Rule
In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, Ramirez (later of "Grey’s Anatomy" fame) had her onscreen debut in "You’ve Got Mail." She played the Zabar’s cashier who was very serious about her line’s cash-only policy. 

Wonder Where the Bookstore Is?
The Shop Around the Corner is based on the real-life store Books of Wonder in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood. The store still has props from the film on display, and Ryan reportedly worked the counter for a day as research for her role. 

The Goddaddy
Hanks’ character says that he’s obsessed with "The Godfather," but he misquotes the movie when he first meets Ryan’s character. "I didn’t know who you were with," he says, but the line is: "Why didn’t you say you worked for Corleone, Tom?"

Chris Messina Knows Nothing About Ballet Shoes
A baby-faced, pre-fame Chris Messina played the Fox Books salesman who gets schooled by Ryan’s character. Come on, man, you’re a bookseller! It’s about time you read the "Shoes" books.

A Cheesy StoryThe store that stood in for The Shop Around the Corner during filming was actually a cheese-and-antiques shop. The filmmakers sent the owner on vacation while they filmed, and reassembled her shop before she returned.

History Repeats Itself
The Fox Books mega-chain of "You’ve Got Mail" was a stand-in for Barnes & Noble, which was perceived to have put smaller bookstores out of business with its expansion. (Nora Ephron, who co-wrote the script with her sister Delia Ephron, is said to have taken inspiration from the opening of an Upper West Side Barnes & Noble that competed with the independent store Shakespeare and Co.) In the Amazon era, however, Barnes & Noble eventually shuttered some of its own locations as the business changed and consumers increasingly turned to e-readers and discount online book sellers.

Canadian clinic confirms Toronto mayor's in rehab

TORONTO (AP) - A rehab facility in a small Ontario town has confirmed that Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is undergoing treatment at its clinic.

GreenStone Clinic Muskoka in Bala, Ontario, released a statement Friday saying that Ford is at its facility. The clinic says it released this information with the embattled mayor's consent.

Ford announced late last month that he was seeking treatment for an alcohol problem after a new video surfaced that appeared to show the mayor smoking a crack pipe - nearly a year after reports of an initial video that appeared show him smoking the drug.

Ford's erratic behavior - including another video in which he threatened to "murder" - led Toronto's city council to strip him of most of his powers. For says he's running for re-election in October .

'Only in Canada': Man finds newborn moose, brings it to Tim Hortons

ONLY IN CANADA: TRUE CANADIAN EXPERIENCE
Baby moose found wandering on highway picked up and the driver stopped at Tim Horton's for a coffee before taking the less than a day old baby to the Walden Animal hospital in Lively, near Sudbury, ON.

 The man who found the baby moose saw it wandering in Dowling, Ontario. The mother was not in sight, and the animal kept trying to go into traffic. Shirley explains that "the man tried to guide him back to the bush so it wouldn't get hit by a vehicle, but with no success. It is believed the mother may have died."

"He stopped at Tim Horton's [sic] so others could experience this thrill and then took him to a wild life shelter where he is now being taken care of," Shirley continued. "Only in Canada at Tim Horton's [sic]. Moose and coffee at Tim Horton's [sic] will now be the new best Canadian Experience in Northern Ontario."

CTV news reports that the little moose is a male, and was in fact just a day old when he was found. The 25-lb creature is safely at the Wild at Heart Animal Refuge Centre in Lively, Ontario.

Prosecutors charge 'Shield' actor Michael Jace with murder

 This undated image provided by Biola University shows April Jace, who, according to police, was shot multiple times by her husband, Michael Jace, after she returned home with their children, May 19, 2014, in Los Angeles. Michael Jace, who played a police officer in the hit FX series "The Shield." (AP Photo/Biola University)
By ANTHONY McCARTNEY
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Prosecutors charged actor Michael Jace, who played a police officer in the hit TV series "The Shield," with murder on Thursday in the shooting death of his wife in their Los Angeles home.

Jace, 51, could face 50 years to life in state prison if convicted.

April Jace, 40, was shot multiple times and was found dead in a hallway of the family home in the quiet, modest Hyde Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Police recovered a handgun believed to belong to her husband.

Jace is being held in lieu of $2 million bail and was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday for the first time. Prosecutors did not know whether he had an attorney or if one would be appointed to represent him.
No motive for the killing has been disclosed.

Detectives were investigating whether the couple's financial problems or other marital difficulties played a role in the killing that police said occurred during an argument Monday night while the couple's two sons, both under 10, were in the house. They were placed with relatives.

Jace called the emergency dispatcher, said he'd shot his wife and was at the home when officers arrived, police Detective Dean Vinluan has said.

Vinluan said there had been no reports of domestic violence at the home. However, the actor had been under financial pressure in recent years. He declared for bankruptcy in 2011 and had been delinquent on payments as recently as December.

Jace is best known for his role as LAPD Officer Julien Lowe in "The Shield." He also appeared on the show "Southland" and had small roles in the movies "Planet of the Apes," "Boogie Nights" and "Forrest Gump."

April Jace worked as a financial aid adviser at Biola University, a private Christian school. She had two sons with Jace and another son from a previous marriage, and had worked as a school teacher, according to court filings.

Witchy sez:

Anger is one letter short of danger. We all have witnessed someone in our lifetime who has allowed their anger to get the best of them and maybe that person is staring right back at us in the mirror everyday. Communication is the key to controlling anger. Sometimes our pride leads us to anger; our anger leads us to resentment and resentment leads us to unforgiveness, which ultimately destroys us and the ones we love most. That which is closest to us can hurt us the most!

She will never see her children grow up, never see grandchildren. and so much more. Those kids did not deserve any of this, He had no right to hurt so many people, regardless. May she rest in peace May her children be surrounded by loving people to help them get thru this. He obviously has no regard for the future of his children.

[REPORT] Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith Under Investigation By Child Services After Photo Of Daughter Goes Viral

RadarOnline is reporting that superstar couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith are under investigation by the Los Angeles Department of Children & Family Services after a photo of their 13-year-old daughter, Willow, lying in bed with a 20-year-old friend went viral online earlier this month.

"The investigation was formally opened last week and is being taken very seriously by the department. Will and Jada Pinkett Smith have been extremely cooperative with officials. Of course, they aren’t happy that their parenting skills are under scrutiny, but they understand," a source told the website, adding that social workers will be speaking to Willow separately, as well as former Disney star Moises Arias, who was pictured with her in the photo.

The Huffington Post has reached out to both Smith and Pinkett Smith's reps for comment, but has yet to hear back at this time.

Meanwhile, the 42-year-old actress and matriarch of the family, brushed off the notion of any controversy after the photo of Willow sparked attention, telling TMZ's cameraman:

"Here's the deal: There was nothing sexual about that picture or that situation. You guys are projecting your trash onto it and you're acting like covert pedophiles, and that's not cool."

Will Smith has yet to make any comment regarding the photo, but viral photos seem to run in the family, as a photo of him helping a fan announce her pregnancy has exploded online .

  

Pistorius To Start Mental Evaluation Next Week

Oscar Pistorius is seated in a courtroom at the high court in Pretoria, South Africa, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. A man who lives next to the house where Pistorius fatally shot his girlfriend has testified at the athlete's murder trial about the night of the killing, saying he heard a man crying loudly and that he called the security of the housing estate for help. (AP Photo/Mike Hutchings, Pool)

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) -- Oscar Pistorius will start a period of psychiatric evaluation at a government institution next week, a judge ruled on Tuesday as she postponed the star athlete's murder trial until June 30.

A panel of mental health experts is now to decide if the double-amputee runner can be held criminally responsible for killing his girlfriend.

Judge Thokozile Masipa took just a few minutes to read out her ruling that the Olympian must present himself at 9 a.m. on Monday and every weekday after that at the Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital in Pretoria.

Pistorius will be treated as an outpatient, Masipa ruled, and will be allowed to leave the facility in the South African capital each day at 4 p.m. or when "formally excused" by hospital authorities. The period of evaluation will be for no more than 30 days, the judge said, and will depend on how long the panel of four experts needs to observe Pistorius and compile a report for the court. The panel will consist of three psychiatrists and a clinical psychologist, Masipa said.

Pistorius, 27, claims he shot Reeva Steenkamp, 29, by mistake through a toilet stall door in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14, 2013, thinking she was an intruder. The prosecution says he murdered her during an argument. A psychiatrist called by Pistorius' defense lawyers recently testified she believes the runner had an anxiety disorder from childhood which may have contributed to him killing Steenkamp. That prompted the chief prosecutor to ask the court that he be sent for independent psychiatric tests.

Kelly Phelps, a senior lecturer in the public law department at the University of Cape Town and a legal expert observing the trial, said the psychiatric evaluation could affect both the verdict and, if Pistorius is convicted, the sentencing. She saw three possible outcomes:

- An "extreme" conclusion in which the panel decides Pistorius was unable to distinguish between right and wrong, or act in accordance with that understanding, because of an anxiety disorder when he killed Steenkamp. Such an outcome, according to Phelps, would result in a verdict of "not guilty by reason of mental illness."

- The panel basically agrees with the defense witness, Dr. Merryll Vorster, who said Pistorius was able to distinguish between right and wrong but had the anxiety disorder, possibly bolstering Pistorius' argument that he was acting in "putative self-defense" because he feared his life was in danger from a perceived intruder.

- The panel contradicts Vorster and says Pistorius does not have an anxiety disorder, possibly casting doubt on the defense's argument that Pistorius had a long-held fear of crime and felt anxious and vulnerable when he shot Steenkamp.

Judge Masipa said Tuesday that the panel should determine whether any mental illness may have affected Pistorius' capacity to be "criminally responsible" for killing Steenkamp. She said the panel would evaluate "whether he was capable of appreciating the wrongfulness of his act or of acting in accordance with an appreciation of the wrongfulness of his act."

The world-famous disabled athlete faces 25 years to life in prison if found guilty on the premeditated murder charge. He is free on bail.

Masipa's ruling came on day 33 of proceedings in the trial, which started March 3 and was initially predicted to last three weeks.

Witchy is on a tear:
Funny, he was functioning perfectly fine .... until it's trial time. Typical excuse - we hear it all the time. He took acting lessons for a reason - so he could act his way out of an unhappy ending for "him." His girlfriend has no chance of a happy ending.
That's a common disease among people who were spoiled completely rotten as children. If a child has a disability, treating them like they can do no wrong is the worst thing you can do for them and the people who have to live with them. His fits on the stand are nothing but tantrums.
He suffers from the all-too-common "A**hole disease. Remember his reaction to losing in the Olympics. "A**hole disease is related to "Affluenza". Both manifest them in sociopathic actions that the diseased blames on someone else.
Of course he is mentally unstable. Mentally stable people don't murder their girlfriends just because they are in a pissy mood.
None of which means he shouldn't be hanged for the murder, though.
I guess he is realizing that no one is falling for his lies!! Time to try another way to get away with murder.....
Just Sayin'

[UPDATE] Police: Actor Michael Jace told 911 he shot wife in Los Angeles

May 20th 2014 4:47PM
By TAMI ABDOLLAH and ANTHONY McCartney

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Actor Michael Jace, who played a police officer on television, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of fatally shooting his wife after calling 911 and telling an operator that he shot her, police said.

Detectives were investigating whether the couple's financial or other marital difficulties might have played a role in the killing.

Jace, who appeared on the hit FX series "The Shield," was being held on $1 million bail after being accused of shooting his wife multiple times on Monday night during an argument in their home in the quiet, modest Hyde Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Los Angeles police Detective Dean Vinluan said a printout of the incident history indicated that Jace called 911 and told the operator that he shot his wife.

The couple's two sons, both under 10, were at home at the time, although police were unsure if they witnessed the argument or gunfire.

The body of April Jace, 40, was found with multiple gunshot wounds in a hallway of the home, and police recovered a handgun believed to belong to her husband, Vinluan said.

"She came home with the kids and then the dispute happened and the shooting happened," Vinluan said.

Michael Jace was seen walking out of the home when officers arrived around 8:30 p.m. He was detained and later arrested.

"We don't know if he came out of fear or was trying to get out of there," Vinluan said.

Detectives intend to review multiple 911 calls placed after the shooting to determine what had happened before Jace is formally charged.

Vinluan said there had been no previous reports of domestic violence at the home.

The actor had been under financial pressure in recent years. He declared for bankruptcy in 2011 and had been delinquent on payments as recently as December.

Calls from The Associated Press seeking comment from Jace's agents at SMS Talent were not immediately returned.

Jace, 51, is best known for his role as LAPD Officer Julien Lowe in the TV series "The Shield." He also appeared on the show "Southland" and had small roles in the movies "Planet of the Apes," `'Boogie Nights" and "Forrest Gump."

Vinluan said the couple's sons are now with family.
Next-door neighbor Shirley Harding said she heard at least three gunshots Monday night. She described Michael and April Jace as good, hands-on parents.

"They were just lovely parents," Harding said. "I never heard arguments, I just heard happiness over there."

April Jace had worked as a financial aid counselor at Biola University, a private Christian school, since March 2013.

"April's radiant personality brought great energy to the financial aid office," Geoff Marsh, senior director of financial aid wrote in a statement. "Her love for helping students and families and her great work ethic earned the respect and love of her co-workers. Her smiling face and helpful spirit will be missed by all."

Bankruptcy filings in 2011 stated that she had worked as a school teacher for the previous 10 years.

Michael Jace's bankruptcy filing listed debts between $500,000 and $1 million. Much of the debt appeared to be related to his home, with an additional $22,000 owed in state and federal income taxes. More than $20,000 of his tax delinquency was owed to the state of California for the year 2008. He agreed to a payment plan, but had fallen behind as recently as December, records show.

In a statement of his assets, Michael Jace checked a box indicating he didn't own any firearms. There are no records of any criminal cases involving Michael Jace in Los Angeles.

"The Shield" ended its seven-season run in 2008. Jace appeared in all but one episode, according to the Internet Movie Database site, IMDB.com.
Jace consistently found work but remained mostly a bit player.

"He's one of those people whose faces you'd recognize but you don't know their names," said veteran casting director Sheila Manning. "He's a solid actor. Nothing big, but he's a working actor."

Coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter said April Jace's body had been removed from the home and an autopsy would not be performed until Wednesday at the earliest.

Witchy sez :
He was probably thinking that by killing her he'd at least get free food and a roof over his head.
RIP in April, you didn't deserve to die this way and your children certainly didn't deserve to see it all unfold in front of their young eyes. I pray that they will be able to recover from this terrible tragedy.    

"Shield" star, Wife was Fighting over Money before Shooting

Dead-broke actor Michael Jace and his wife were in a furious fight over money before he gunned her down in front of their kids in their Los Angeles pad, it was revealed Tuesday.

The star of "The Shield" had filed for bankruptcy in March 2011 in a desperate bid to straighten out his tangled finances, but still owed about $411,000 on the home, which was underwater and facing a foreclosure sale.
The Paterson, NJ-born actor was also delinquent on tax payments — and his money woes put a heavy strain on his marriage.

And he also had a history of horrific domestic violence, choking and slamming a previous wife against a wall in front of their infant child, according to TMZ.

Jace, 51, called cops Monday, admitting he had shot wife April Jace, 40. When cops got to their Hyde Park home about 8:30 p.m., she was already dead.

TMZ reported that both kids witnessed their dad pull the trigger, before he called 911 to say, "I shot my wife," and then meekly remained on the line with the dispatcher until cops arrived.

"They [the children] were not physically hurt, but obviously their emotions are running high," LAPD Detective Sal LaBarbera told KTLA-TV.

"Two young children that lost their mom and now their dad is in jail, most likely will be in prison for this."

The couple had been married for nine years and had just returned home from their young sons’ baseball practice, police said.

The boys, both under 10, were taken to their grandparents after the shooting.

Cops took Jace away in handcuffs and he is being held on $1 million bail.

Jace played police officer Julien Lowe in "The Shield" from 2002 to 2008.

His character was a devout Christian, whose faith was often at odds with his own homosexuality and the less-than-moral behavior of some of his fellow officers.

He also has credits for the TV cop show "Southland" and in the movies "Planet of the Apes," "Boogie Nights" and "Forrest Gump."
There had been no previous domestic violence calls to the house, cops said. There’s no record of any previous criminal cases involving Jace.

But according to legal papers from his 2002 divorce from Jennifer Bitterman, Jace was a serial abuser.

A friend of Bitterman’s claimed she witnessed Jace choking and slamming his then-spouse against a wall as his 6-month-old son wailed in his crib, TMZ said.

The friend said "seeing the extent of his anger was one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen," and that there were multiple, rage-fueled assaults.

The actor’s financial problems apparently stemmed from the housing crash.

When he filed for bankruptcy protection, he listed debts between $500,000 and $1 million, according to court records. The actor claimed his home was worth less than he owed on it.

Jace agreed to a repayment plan under terms of the bankruptcy, but had already fallen $2,000 behind by last November.

He owed $22,000 in state and federal income taxes, the actor said in court filings.

In a statement of assets, the suspect checked off a box indicating that he didn’t own any guns.

April Jace was a financial aid employee at Biola University, where co-workers at the La Miranda campus were in mourning over her murder.

In a statement Tuesday, Biola President Barry Corey said the school was "obviously shocked and saddened by this terrible news, to lose a wonderful colleague, mother and friend."

A bankruptcy document said she was a Los Angeles public school teacher prior to working for the Christian college.

Along with her two sons with Jace, April had an older son from a previous relationship. She graduated from both Hawthorne High School and Cal State Fullerton.
  Thanx:  Modal Trigger
　

Lance Armstrong's Incredibly Awkward Cards Against Humanity Game

Well, this is awkward.
Lance Armstrong was playing Cards Against Humanity Sunday night when he drew one fairly unlucky card. (Then again, it probably helped him win the round, so maybe not.)

Cards Against Humanity tasks players with matching white answer cards to black question cards. The player who puts down the black card at the start of each round determines who's won – usually measuring by offensive hilarity. (No word on whether Armstrong won his round with this pick.)

Interestingly,as Mashable points out, Armstrong – who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles in 2012 after a double scandal – changed his Twitter bio at an unspecified point from "Father of 5 amazing kids, 7-time Tour de France winner, full time cancer fighter, part time triathlete" to a Hunter S. Thompson quote.

The quote: "Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously."

Jerry Vale, Singer of '50s and '60s Hits, Dies at 83

Jerry Vale, the beloved crooner known for his high-tenor voice and romantic songs in the 1950s and early 1960s, has died. He was 83.

Vale, who had been in declining health, died Sunday at his Palm Desert home surrounded by family and friends, family attorney Harold J. Levy said in a statement.

He is survived by Rita, his wife of 55 years; a son, Robert; and a daughter, Pamela.

Born Genaro Louis Vitaliano, Vale started performing in New York supper clubs as a teenager and went on to record more than 50 albums. His rendition of "Volare," ''Innamorata" and "Al Di La" became classic Italian-American songs. His biggest hit was "You Don't Know Me."

Vale's recording of "The Star-Spangled Banner" in the 1960s was played at sporting events for years.

While his albums failed to make the charts in the early 1970s, Vale remained a popular club act.

He also appeared as himself in the Martin Scorsese movies Good Fellas, Casino and TV's The Sopranos.

Vale was a friend of fellow Italian-American crooner Frank Sinatra, and he was an honorary pallbearer at Sinatra;s funeral on May 20, 1998.

"While performing at the Sands [Hotel, in Las Vegas], I befriended a number of fellow entertainers. There was Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis, Jr., Nat King Cole and, of course, I worked alongside one of my early idols, Frank Sinatra, whose generous recommendation landed me the job in the first place," Vale told Palm Springs Life in 2000.

"I had heard so many negative stories about Frank that I was somewhat apprehensive to approach him. To my absolute surprise, he would up being quite amiable and the most caring individual that I have ever known."

Jindal to appear in 'Duck Dynasty' premiere ... Monroe , Louisiana

Gov. Bobby Jindal presented Willie Robertson with the inaugural Governor's Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence at the Duck Commander warehouse in West Monroe in February. While there, Jindal also participated in filming the Season 6 premiere of 'Duck Dynasty.'
Air's 9:p.m June 11th central time 　

If Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has plans to run for national office, his appearance on the Season 6 premiere of "Duck Dynasty" will land him more exposure than a "Meet the Press" interview.
 A&E Network has announced that Jindal will indeed be featured with the West Monroe Robertsons on the 9 p.m. June 11 premiere.

Jindal traveled to the Duck Commander headquarters in February, where he presented the Robertson family with the inaugural Governor’s Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence.

While there, the governor, who was accompanied by First Lady Supriya Jindal and their children, was apparently woven into the storyline.

"It was really neat to have the governor on our show," Willie Robertson told The News-Star. "His family loves watching the show, and they all came up to West Monroe to participate.
 "He did a great job and is used to cameras being around, so he was natural. And playing yourself always helps."

Jindal said he couldn’t reveal his plot line because of a confidentiality agreement.
 "The Robertson family epitomizes what it means to be a homegrown Louisiana business" Jindal told The News-Star. "We are proud of the economic boom Louisiana is seeing, and a large part of this is due to the expansion of individuals who run small businesses like the Duck Commanders do.


"My family and I had so much fun hanging out with the Robertsons and participating in the filming of Duck Dynasty was a highlight."

The Robertsons, who were credited with the surprise election of 5th District U.S. Rep. Vance McAllister, R-Swartz, last fall, couldn’t escape politics when the governor was on site. Willie and Jase both endorsed McAllister, who was an unknown underdog.

In February, Willie Robertson was asked if they could help elect Jindal president in 2016.

"You never know," said Willie, who was reminded that when he was asked on a network news program last year who he would support for president in 2016, he tabbed Jindal.

Jindal, however, deflected any questions about whether he will run in 2016 or whether he would seek the Robertsons’ endorsement if he does.

"I haven’t made any decision about that," the governor  replied.