On yesterday evening, I attended a rally held at Jackson State University in honor of Democratic Presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama. I had damn good connections. I literally walked past a sea of people, right up to the front of the line.

Well, even with those good ass connections, I still didn’t get a seat up front. Sure, I got in early, but I had to get past security checks before even taking a seat, therefore I had to sit farther back than expected to see the senator speak.

But even from my vantage point, I was able to get a great glimpse of him and set up my cameras to take pics and get some video footage. I’ll be uploading video footage from the event all week. I really hate how uploading the video to video hosting sites diminishes the quality of the video, but for now, here’s a taste of Barack.

You know, this world gets crazier every day. Here’s a story about a man who checked out in more ways than one:

Taken from the New York Times

Corpse Wheeled to Check-Cashing Store Leads to 2 Arrests

By BRUCE LAMBERT and CHRISTINE HAUSER
Published: January 9, 2008

Even for the once-notorious Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, it may have been a first: Two men were arrested on Tuesday after pushing a corpse, seated in an office chair, along the sidewalk to a check-cashing store to cash the dead man’s Social Security check, the police said.

When Virgilio Cintron, 66, died at his apartment at 436 West 52nd Street recently, his roommate and a friend saw an opportunity to cash his $355 check, the police said.

They did not go about it the easy way, the police said, choosing a ruse that resembled the plot of “Weekend at Bernie’s,” a film about two young men who prop up their dead employer to pretend that he is alive.

“Hell’s Kitchen has a rich history,” said Paul J. Browne, a police spokesman, “but this is one for the books.”

There was no sign of foul play in Mr. Cintron’s death, he added.

The roommate, James P. O’Hare, and his friend, David J. Dalaia, both 65 and unemployed, placed Mr. Cintron’s body in the chair and wheeled it around the corner, south along Ninth Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, the police said. The men parked the chair with the corpse in front of Pay-O-Matic at 763 Ninth Avenue, a check-cashing business that Mr. Cintron had patronized.

They went inside to present the check, but a clerk said Mr. Cintron would have to cash it himself, and asked where he was, the police said.

“He is outside,” Mr. O’Hare said, indicating the body in the chair, according to Mr. Browne.

The two men started to bring the chair inside, but it was too late.

Their sidewalk procession had already attracted the stares of passers-by who were startled by the sight of the body flopping from side to side as the two men tried to prop it up, the police said. The late Mr. Cintron was dressed in a faded black T-shirt and blue-and-white sneakers. His pants were pulled up part of the way, and his midsection was covered by a jacket, the police said. While the two men were inside the check-cashing office, a small crowd had gathered around the chair. A detective, Travis Rapp, eating a late lunch at a nearby Empanada Mama saw the crowd and notified the Midtown North station house.

Police officers and an ambulance arrived as the two men were trying to maneuver the corpse and chair into the check-cashing office.

The two men were taken into custody and questioned. The police said they were considering charging them with check-cashing fraud.

Mr. Cintron’s body was taken to a hospital morgue. The medical examiner’s office said its preliminary assessment was that he had died of natural causes within the past 24 hours.

This sounds more like an episode of Sanford and Son.  Lawd, can’t you just picture Fred and Bubba wheeling a dead Grady in to cash his Social Security check?

Democratic Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, made an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show today. And you all know how Ellen loves to dance. Not to be upstaged by Ellen, Barack showed that he had a little rhythm as well.

In the neverending story of the Fallen Falcon, on yesterday, after entering a guilty plea in court, Michael Vick issued the following statement in a press conference:

“For most of my life, I’ve been a football player, not a public speaker, so, you know, I really don’t know, you know, how to say what I really want to say.

You know, I understand it’s - it’s important or not important, you know, as far as what you say but how you say things. So, you know, I take this opportunity just to speak from the heart.

First, I want to apologize, you know, for all the things that - that I’ve done and that I have allowed to happen. I want to personally apologize to commissioner Goodell, Arthur Blank, coach Bobby Petrino, my Atlanta Falcons teammates, you know, for our - for our previous discussions that we had. And I was not honest and forthright in our discussions, and, you know, I was ashamed and totally disappointed in myself to say the least.

I want to apologize to all the young kids out there for my immature acts and, you know, what I did was, what I did was very immature so that means I need to grow up.

I totally ask for forgiveness and understanding as I move forward to bettering Michael Vick the person, not the football player.

I take full responsibility for my actions. For one second will I sit right here - not for one second will I sit right here and point the finger and try to blame anybody else for my actions or what I’ve done.

I’m totally responsible, and those things just didn’t have to happen. I feel like we all make mistakes. It’s just I made a mistake in using bad judgment and making bad decisions. And you know, those things, you know, just can’t happen.

Dog fighting is a terrible thing, and I did reject it.

I’m upset with myself, and, you know, through this situation I found Jesus and asked him for forgiveness and turned my life over to God. And I think that’s the right thing to do as of right now.

Like I said, for this - for this entire situation I never pointed the finger at anybody else, I accepted responsibility for my actions of what I did and now I have to pay the consequences for it. But in a sense, I think it will help, you know, me as a person. I got a lot to think about in the next year or so.

I offer my deepest apologies to everybody out in there in the world who was affected by this whole situation. And if I’m more disappointed with myself than anything it’s because of all the young people, young kids that I’ve let down, who look at Michael Vick as a role model. And to have to go through this and put myself in this situation, you know, I hope that every young kid out there in the world watching this interview right now who’s been following the case will use me as an example to using better judgment and making better decisions.

Once again, I offer my deepest apologies to everyone. And I will redeem myself. I have to.

So I got a lot of down time, a lot of time to think about my actions and what I’ve done and how to make Michael Vick a better person.

Thank you.”

And by the way, he said he’s found God. Why is that always the case when someone gets into trouble, regardless of if they’re a celebrity, athlete, or even the person next door, they all of a sudden have some revelation that they’ve found Jesus?

Jesus is not lost. It is you who are lost, or else you wouldn’t be constantly getting into trouble. And why call on Him now? Don’t wait until trouble befalls you. As the old hymn says, “I need thee every hour…..I need thee.”

I’m sure by now you’ve all heard about Lisa Nowak, the astronaut who was charged with attempted murder and kidnapping. But in case you haven’t, let’s do a quick rundown of the situation:

Lisa Nowak, 43, a married mother of three and an astronaut, drove 900 miles in diapers to confront Colleen Shipman, whom Lisa thought was romantically involved with William Oefelein, a fellow astronaut with whom Lisa was having an affair. Nowak was armed with pepper spray, a BB-gun, a steel mallet, 1 garbage bag, a knife and rubber tubing.

Now, how crazy does one have to be to wear Depends, not wanting to stop for restroom breaks, and drive from Houston to Florida to confront some woman who was allegedly seeing the same dude that you’re having an affair with?

And my gripe isn’t with just Lisa. What about a couple of months ago when the female skydiver in Belgium plunged to her death because some woman, who was allegely seeing the same man as she, tampered with her parachute?

And even in my own city, a middle school teacher has been charged with the murder of a pregnant woman. The teacher had been involved in an affair with a fellow teacher, who was engaged to the pregnant woman. Now crimes of passion are nothing new. We hear about them all the time, but what the fuck is going on?

Is the dick that damn good? And why are you confronting the other woman? Why are none of these people even taking the time to talk to the man with whom they have been involved with? In the majority of these cases, the men are coming off like they’ve done nothing wrong, when the woman is winding up the nutcase.

And I know there are some crazy ass men doing the same thing, *cough cough* Scott Peterson *cough cough* and others, but please, please, please………….get yo shit together! I don’t want anyone to love me that much. Don’t love me to the point that it’s clouding your judgement that if you can’t have me, no one else can.