After their divorce the estranged wife of Miami Heat’s guard, Dwyane Wade, accused the star of giving her a STD in 2009.

With his $12 million dollar endorsement deal, as well as his NBA income, the Heats starter filed a libel suit against his wife. He sought reparations summing up to $200,000.

Now, his wife Siohvaughn first claimed that she had been infected during the 2007 divorce. She withdrew the claims during the proceedings. In 2009 however she released a statement to the press regarding the incident.

Wade decided to sue his wife for libel in February 2009.

With this suit Wade wanted to take everyone down! He filed the suit against his wife, and her two lawyers, Michael Berger and Dorene Marcus. Can you believe that?

According to his lawyer Siohvaughn and her lawyers have been leading a malicious campaign against Dwyane Wade.

The libel suit has spilled over into the custody battle for their two children. He has also accused her of being mentally unstable.

There have been suggestions that Siohvaughn is engaged in a cult like organization and that was the source of her STD.

The custody battle and the libel case have been caught up in litigation for the past year.

How’s this one going to play out? Who knows! I’m not a fan of D. Wade but he either married a psychopath or he’s changed.

The truth is most of us think NBA players and other celebrities cheat with roadies and fans anyways. So what’s the big deal if his wife accuses him of giving her a STD?  It’s a part of going through a nasty divorce!

“Normal” people just get the marriage license ripped up and “keep on truckin’.” But Dwyane Wade has to take everyone down with the ship.

I get that he has endorsement deals to maintain but now he is moving to ruin his wife’s image and take away her kids.

In my opinion the custody battle is a means of proving that he isn’t a promiscuous, STD plagued man. He’s moving to get his kids to reassert himself as a family man.

Is it really worth it? He married this woman, claimed to love her and now is ruining her better name. I don’t have all the answers, but I can’t say I agree with all this drama.

Beyonce has done R&B, Hip-Hop, Jazz and Blues and more recently she has sung Latin American music.

When we think of Beyonce Knowles, we should be thinking “tenured icon.”  However a 2007 interview has been the cause of a lot of Beyonce drama.

When releasing her Spanish EP, Beyonce did an interview for Latina Magazine. At the end of the interview she was asked “What’s one thing that you’d like to tell your Latina fans?”

Beyonce responded with eight words that have been plastered across the internet and T.V.: “I’m Just Jealous That I Wasn’t Born Latina.”

“BEYONCE SAY WHAT???”

It was an exaggerated statement to express her appreciation for the embrace which the Latin American community had given her. However, to the African American community this was internalized racism 101.

Oh Beyonce, how will you ever live this one down? With rumors already in circulation about her blonde hair and skin that constantly seems lighter the Beyonce-identity-crisis had a new fire set under it.

Beyonce was lucky it was an interview with Latina Magazine rather than a spot on BET. However, her fans (and some “not fans”) did pick up on the story and take it viral.

The interesting thing that I am finding is that Beyonce hasn’t taken her apologies’ to the media. Nor has she clarified her statement.

Instead, she appeared on the cover of Ebony Magazine in 2009. This magazine highlights empowered, beautiful African American people.

Even though the interview was about a year and a half after her comment about wanting to be Latina, it still received comments such as: “Oh, so now she’s BLACK? I thought she wanted to be Latina?” However it managed to shine a positive light on Beyonce through sites such as Brown Sista (which had previously cast Beyonce off as inept for her Latina comment).

Fans don’t forget!

Her appearance in this magazine was a precursor to the release of her movie Obsessed. In this movie she is married to a successful black man who is being stalked by a white woman and she must defeat the evil white lady to defend her family.

Obsessed was a box office hit. Beyonce was suddenly a black feminist heroine!

I wonder if it’s a coincidence that Beyonce has taken on these appearances as a strong black woman after being bashed by fans about wanting to be Latina.

Everything is planned in the world of mass media. (This is except for comments that get you in trouble, of course).  Beyonce has an amazing PR team that managed to do several things.

Firstly, it contained the commentary about the statement by simply not commenting – this left the commentary to radicals who hosted blogs and made comments online.

Then, when the air began to lighten they placed Beyonce in power positions. From Ebony to Obsessed to a benefit performance for Haiti, they showed that Beyonce wasn’t a “sell out” to her race.

She placed herself in a position to regain her audience’s core values. These include: advocacy, honesty, loyalty, professional development and objectivity.

(Officially revealing that she was with Mr. Conglomerate, Jay-Z, didn’t hurt either).

So, in conclusion, Beyonce may have said that she wish she was born Latina, and she may not have retracted her statement; but Beyonce is a media mogul and the star of Obsessed – i.e. she can get away with anything!

It’s all about positive associations, and Beyonce has plenty!

There is nothing more memorable about the Transformers movies than Shia LaBeouf in all his glory and “attractiveness” racing through the streets to save the universe!

Except of course for his highly luxurious sports car which, by the way, happens to be an alien robot named Bumblebee!

Yes, Shia LaBeouf was the star of the movie, but how can anyone deny what a great supporting actor the vehicle/robot was – even better than Megan Fox if you ask me!

Bumblebee crash landed into our lives and raced right into the pockets of car lovers everywhere. The 2010 Chevrolet Camaro (the car Bumblebee models) experienced a huge spike in sales following the release of the movies sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

GM made $201.2 million in revenue for the vehicle in the first five days of the movies debut – in case you were wondering, that’s a lot!

With GM going through tough times, this movie seems to be a lifesaver. The plant where the vehicle is manufactured had to work overtime just to keep up with demand. This is in the face of GM’s struggle to keep dealerships open and cars on the road.

It’s no wonder the vehicle is selling however. GM and the movie producers have taken product placement to a new level with this production.

Bumblebee isn’t just a prop used by the actors which appears throughout the movie in strategic places. Bumblebee is a character, with emotions and lots of good humor. Can you even call it product placement when the product keeps on moving?

Making Bumblebee a Camaro made the Camaro the hottest car to have. It made the Camaro stand out amongst all the other products which were featured in the movie.

It also helps that all the other cars that surrounded Bumblebee (the Autobots) were trucks.

A sports car amongst large vehicles definitely stands out to a crowd of 16 to 30 year olds guys who want to be the coolest and fastest men on the road.

And when I was upset because Shia LaBeouf was kissing Megan Fox, Bumblebee was right there for comic relief!

Shia LaBeouf I love you, but GM definitely up staged you with Bumblebee

Shia LaBeouf I love you, but GM definitely up staged you with Bumblebee!

There is nothing more memorable about the Transformers movies than Shia LaBeouf in all his glory and “attractiveness” racing through the streets to save the universe! Except of course for his luxurious sports car which, by the way, happens to be an alien robot named Bumblebee!

Yes, Shia LaBeouf was the star of the movie, but how can anyone deny what a great supporting actor the vehicle/robot was – even better than Megan Fox if you ask me!

Bumblebee crash landed into our lives and raced right into the pockets of car lovers everywhere. The 2010 Chevrolet Camaro (the car Bumblebee models) experienced a huge spike in sales following the release of the movies sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

GM made $201.2 million in revenue for the vehicle in the first five days of the movies debut – in case you were wondering, that’s a lot!

With GM going through tough times, this movie seems to be a lifesaver. The plant where the vehicle is manufactured had to work overtime just to keep up with demand. This is in the face of GM’s struggle to keep dealerships open and cars on the road.

It’s no wonder the vehicle is selling however. GM and the movie producers have taken product placement to a new level with this production.

Bumblebee isn’t just a prop used by the actors which appears throughout the movie in strategic places. Bumblebee is a character, with emotions and lots of good humor. Can you even call it product placement when the product keeps on moving?

Making Bumblebee a Camaro made the Camaro the hottest car to have. It made the Camaro stand out amongst all the other products which were featured in the movie.

It also helps that all the other cars that surrounded Bumblebee (the Autobots) were trucks.

A sports car amongst large vehicles definitely stands out to a crowd of 16 to 30 year olds guys who want to be the coolest and fastest men on the road.

And when I was upset because Shia LaBeouf was kissing Megan Fox, Bumblebee was right there for comic relief!

Shia LaBeouf I love you, but GM definitely up staged you with Bumblebee! Not just with car sales either; Bumblebee has opened the doorway to synergy.

I guess everyone knows who the real star of Transformers was and always will be.

Hail to the King of writing. Stephen King captures the essence of a haunted love story in his novel Bag of Bones.

If you’ve ever watched one of CBS’s mini series based on Stephen King screen plays and books then you know that King is a talented (and twisted) writer. I love Stephen King movies and screen plays however I just read my first Stephen King novel in the summer of 2009.

 The Introduction

Have you ever just been drawn to a novel; magnetically attracted to every detail? Well that’s how I felt when Bag of Bones first crossed my path.

I found this 1998 bestseller in a book sale which Alternative Break Connections (a club at Towson University) was doing to raise money for a community service trip.

I am naturally drawn to King’s screen plays for the intrinsic attention to detail when merging science with the paranormal. However this novel seemed to reel me in for an entirely new reason.

Every detail was unique to me. I had never heard of the novel even though it was a bestseller. The white cover with the ghostly face screaming over the scenic lakeside cabin drew me in (after I saw “STEPHEN KING” written in bronze font of course).

I picked it up to explore. It wasn’t King’s normal haunting. It was a story of love and loss. It was a story I had to know.

The Big Read

I bought the book in May 2009 but didn’t have the time to read it because finals week was coming up. Of course after finals the book got lost in the “end-of-the-school-year” frenzy – you know how that goes.

It wasn’t until I was back home sitting around with nothing to do that I remembered the book was buried in the bottom of one of my bags. I retrieved it and read it front to back.

It was one of those novels that make you shut the whole world out. It draws you in to its eeriness as you clutch your pillow because you don’t know what’s going on.

King weaved the story around an intricate plot that left you guessing at every angle. It keeps you guessing but your guesses are rarely accurate.

The Big Finale – Still Wanting More

Bag of Bones was a master piece in my opinion (and the opinion of many others if you read the reviews). It also left me thirsting for more of Stephen King’s novels. It was like my “gateway drug” – it opened the doors for me to read more.

I have started reading some of Stephen King’s novels which have been made into movies like Dream Catcher as well as some that have not been made into movies.

Furthermore I am anxiously awaiting the release of Bag of Bones the movie. It will be interesting to see how they portray this novel which I have come to love so much.

I suggest reading Bag of Bones if you are looking to step outside your reality.. It’s love and drama and the paranormal all in one place.

Disney convinced me that dreams come true and love is always happily ever after. Furthermore it convinced me that I am a damsel and one day a man – who I don’t really know – will swoop me up and carry me off and make me his princess.

I am a child of unrealistic views inspired by Anglo-Saxon, white supremacist ideology. And the chances are, so have you.

Our generation of Disney watchers – the generation caught between VHS and DVD – grew up with princes and princesses.

The plots of Disney’s classic fairytales (Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid) revolve around princesses, or women of high social class who are displaced (usually by an evil step mother) and have an omnipresent or absent father. These women await the arrival of a prince (often riding a white stead) who swoops in and inspires their self actualization thus elevating them to their former placement in social hierarchy.

WOW! I just used a lot of big words. I suppose that’s the quasi-feminist coming out of me. However, can you really ignore the sensationalized notion of love and the neocolonial representations of women in Disney culture?

These ideologies are also set for men and define their role in society.

The dynamics are slightly different in situations where race and class are skewed.

Beauty and the Beast is one of the few movies in which the woman was not rich and had a stable father figure. In this movie Belle (the “princess”) falls in love with the Beast after being his prisoner.

Have you ever heard of Stockholm syndrome? YEAH! Romantic!

In Aladdin the “prince” is a “street rat” who uses magical means to uplift his social class. Of course the princess (who wears a midriff top throughout the movie) falls for the fraudulent “street rat,” who has lied about his identity. Why wouldn’t she; he’s Aladdin (and a man)?

So what has Disney culture taught my generation? Stepmother’s are always evil, women fall for men who sweep them off their feet (literally), and women are completed when they meet Prince Charming.

The Next Generation

I must say that cartoons of this generation are different from those of mine. Today’s females are heroines who are placed on the same level as men. However race is still controversial.

Though we have recently received our first black Disney princess, equality has not been reached. There is a disproportional distribution of black characters to white characters.

I look forward to the progression but the white supremacist capitalists are still at large and there is much more that need to be done.

NO it’s not Norah Jones the singer/songwriter who swept us away with her hit single “Come Away With Me” in 2002. She is a research study student at the University of Glamorgan. Along with 3 other students Jones explored the student experience on social software. Entitles “Get Out of MySpace!,” the research:

(1) identifies the distinction between the students’ current usage of social software

(2) reports on the students’ experience on opportunities and challenges of learning with social software

(3) introduces principles as a guideline in using social software for learning.

Research

Through the use of surveys and gathering quantitative data the students explored the disruptive nature of social networking and the opportunity for higher education.

The students were asked: (1) How often do you use the educational technology listed below, within your learning process? (This would include preparing and submitting course work and assessment feedback) (2) What is your reason for using the educational technology mentioned in the previous question?

Results

The research revealed that 70% of respondents rarely or never use social networking software for learning experiences. Most are however members of social networking sites.

The article alludes to a digital divide, not between an older generation of people and a younger generation but rather a divide between traditional methods of learning/ spreading information and the way in which young people communicate.

Analysis

The study revealed that in order to integrate social networking into the classroom schools need to tackle the issues which inhibit its use. These are: (1) the separation of life and studying; (2) originality and copyright issues; (3) sense of information flooded; (4) time constraint based on their disconfirming experiences and (5) lecturers are not up-to-date and may not know how to integrate and make use of social software.

According to the article:

Students and educators could also have a choice to either separate or to combine their life and studying to a certain level. We suggest this choice using an analogy of continuum of “socio-learning divide”.

WAIT A MINUTE

I may be a hopeless traditionalist but the so called “socio-learning” environment doesn’t have that much of an appeal to me. I understand the interest in instantly sharing ideas regardless of time and space but the thing that makes school an experience is the fact that you have to EXPERIENCE it! I enjoy educations digital divide.

Social networking sites change this experience by confining us to written posts, pictures and videos. There is no depth to online “interaction.”

Being at school also keeps me concentrated on my assignments and work. Having a large amount of my work based on line leaves me to wander the internet in hopeless procrastination.

Mass Communication 101 is my second class to use the Ning website. It is also one of four classes in which my teacher has requested that work be submitted over the internet. However, the moment my computer is on I remember the episode of House that I missed, the email I was expecting from a friend and the news broadcast I wanted to read.

The noise of the internet is too much for me to integrate it into my learning experience.

Maybe it’s just me and my “old ways.” Perhaps everyone else is just more millennial than me. That’s probably why I got excited by the name Norah Jones and you didn’t…or did you?

 I can’t quite explain why watching people in their 20’s get drunk,  fight and get arrested is quite so interesting but I have to say: Once I start I just can’t stop!

The shows are  edited in such a way that they leave us begging for more. There is always a building tension or a naughty love affair and if we don’t watch nest week’s episode we’ll never know how it ends.

The Real World and Road Rules series both featured a cast of mixed genders – as do many of the reality series which have emerged. However now there is a cast of all females, who are creating drama and disruption on the air.

The Bad Girls Club is a reality show on Oxygen Network. The show follows seven women aged 18 to 30 who live together for several months in a LA (at the Bad Girls House). The women are continually filmed partaking in promiscuous activities at parties and in the Bad Girls house. They are also caught fighting each other over a variety of mundane things.

The reality series has a page on Oxygen’s website which is advertised during the shows commercial breaks.

The Website Features:

 Biographies: There are links to biographical pages for each woman. These pages feature a brief description of each woman, and embedded media and links that highlight them. This includes pictures and videos.

 Pictures and Videos: The pictures and videos show highlights from the show as extra scenes and confessionals from the girls.

Blogs: Each woman has a blog so their fans can follow them during and after the shows airing. Fans can post comments about the blogs as well.

Extras: This gives links to other means of following the “bad girls” including a link to the Facebook page. There are also games (Bad Girls Solitaire), weekly recaps, Bad Girls competitions for fans and registration to receive Bad Girls media via ones cellular device.

Message Boards: On the message boards fans can communicate opinions about the show and the women amongst themselves. Fans start forums and other members post comments and opinions.

An “About the show”: This section provides general information on what the show is about.

A Shop: The shop has a “Bad Girls Collection” which uses the girls as models for clothes, jewelry and accessories which they are featured in throughout the episodes.

Information on Casting: This link is opened at the end of each season so that new girls can apply to be on the next season.

Profiting from the Bad Girl Image

Bad Girls Club acts as a one hour advertisement for its clothing line and jewelry. It also features the girls drinking ONE water.

ONE water believes that clean drinking water is a fundamental human right and is engaging the media to raise awareness about a global water crisis. Bad Girls Club is oone if ONE waters outlets for product advertising.

The show has entered into its cross-production stage after successfully airing for four seasons and having a thriving online store. The spin-off to the series is entitled Love Games: Bad Girls Need Love Too and is similar to the dating show Real Chance of Love. It follows three former “bad girls” who are “looking for love.”

The new series is a potentially profitable line extension as it adds depth to the Bad Girls “empire.” The show is expected to keep viewers interested between seasons of Bad Girls Club.  

The Bad Girls Club website does not incorporate enough of the new series on their page. There aren’t enough strategically placed links to information about the spin-off.

Furthermore, Bad Girls Club has been a featured topic on the Tyra Banks Show. Tyra Banks is potentially the next Oprah and what happens on her show carries alot of weight and provides alot of publicity (whether good or bad). The website fails to give links to the episode.

Bad Girls Club is a slowly building phenomenon. With the new series and the continued convergence between television and the internet, the production continues to grow. The websites e-store and the featured media keeps the Bad Girl image embedded in viewers minds. After all, who doesn’t like a Bad Girl?

When “We Are The World” became a dedication to Haiti relief I refused to listen or watch the video. In my mind I envisioned the a-typical construction of images of the “destitute sick“. These were the images I chose to avoid in the wake of this monumental disaster. Why? Because I know Haiti to be a strong nation built on pride (sometimes too much pride) and for this reason I did not want to see pictures of people strung out in the streets. I wanted to hear stories of Haitians rising from the rubble chanting “combien faire je dois mon dieu” (How much do I owe my god?).

Our Contribution

On February 25th I attended TU4Haiti (Towson’s Benefit Concert) which was held in Paws. I expected the worst and received more than I had bargained for. It opened with a small segment in which a girl whose father is Haitian said some trite Haitian phrases.  One of the first acts was a girl who did a poem about how racist Costa Rica is and how sorry she is for them. To say the least the performances were far from “benefity”; they were not about Haiti – not even about the tragedy. Instead it was a BSU/Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle event. Half way through the night there was a segment about how WONDERFUL the presidents of these two organizations are – they were given gifts on behalf of some department or the other.

Where were the facts? They were embedded in a pamphlet shown to me by my Haitian friend. What did she show me? They the pamphlets concentrated only on the negative socioeconomic issues which plagued Haiti as well as the crime and violence. She could not take her eyes off a line which referred to the people of the country side as “Creole-speaking Peasants”. WOW…what a blow to the quality of the people.

We Are the World

After TU4Haiti, I decided “It can’t get much worst” and finally sat down to watch “We Are The World.”

The video opened with Lionel Ritchie talking about the initial intention of the recording and the Jaime Fox spoke about the new relief effort. When Fox spoke I thought it was a confirmation of my suspicions as he reeled off a list of producers involved in the production. “Yes, another promotional effort posing as a charitable act” I thought, but I continued to watch.

Needless to say, I was proven wrong. The video wasnt filled with astonishing imagery of children bloody on the street corners; it showed Haitians dancing and bonding in the wake of disaster. There were shots of the countryside, and it showed positive relief efforts. It also promoted togetherness in a cross cultural platform by showing us how different races of people can interact to do something meaningful.

Most importantly the song included the point that we must “rebuild after the rubbles gone.” So many people are talking about Haiti relief, but few are concentrating on the fact that relieving Haiti from the effects of this earthquake is not a relief to Haiti. Haiti needs more than a couple people caught off guard by the shock of an earthquake. They need people to see how they have been systematically predisposed to impoverishment because of political forces which cut off their access to monetary funding. People need to know how the influence of world powers such as the United States and the UN have impacted Haiti’s economic crisis. (We may think we are in a recession – but imagine what state Haiti is in as the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere!)

FURTHERMORE we need to be exposed to the culture of these people. Because even though they are in crisis they still thank god everyday. What we view to be people who have nothing, are people who are rich in spirit and thankful for life. I am willing to “be the world” if that’s the world we are talking about!

When i walk into any building here at Towson there is an overwhelming amount of information being delivered to me. The Towerlight is placed by the entrances, theree are bulletin boards and kiosks advertising events and in the union there are screens placed by entrances and sitting area. Its like I can’t move on campus with out some form of media trying to steal my attention.

In my classes, almost all my teachers use YouTube videos and websites as teaching aids. Which means pop up ad’s and websites with ad’s in the margins of the page. My assignments are also mainly posted on blackboard or emailed to me. this means I have to open a web browser to do my homework and assignments.  The job I have on campus requires me to type up documents and email them to my supervisor. Again, ad after ad attacking me.

I also walk to school from an apartment building near the mall. I’ve never noticed how many buildboards there are and how many stores post ad’s in their store windows. Not to mention the library digital announcement board advertising the library while telling me the temperature and time.

It wasnt difficult to stop using my phone or to avoid web browsing, but WOW, media seems to find me every where I go.

At school I listen to music between classes, read the Towerlight and check my mail. At home I do my homework on my laptop, watch the shows that I miss (because I don’t have cable) online, and check my mail. When I’m in bed falling asleep I usually have my phone and I-Touch under my pillow and I check them periodically for mail, texts and app updates throughout the night and when I wake up in the morning. Are you seeing a trend? Mail, texts, even app updates. It’s like I have a constant need to know if my devices are trying to tell me something. I am more worried about unread messages than what the actual messages say.

I know I’m not alone though. I even found a 2008 video from CBS that discusses the effect of media usage on kids. I don’t think I’m as bad as the “atypical” American teen. But I also grew up in a third world country where I had limited access to entertainment devices (gaming systems, i-pods etc) due to exorbitant prices. I got my first I-pod last year because it was a prize for winning an easter egg hunt at TU; prior to that I listened to CD’s on my computer and read books all the time.  This Christmas my brother decided to upgrade me to the I-Pod Touch. I went the first week without using it but since I’ve opened it, I havent left home without it! The CNBC documentary displays it correctly: we are living in the Planet of the Apps.

What am I getting from using these apps and using all the websites I use?  When I stream videos on my computer, play with my app’s, check my inbox, surf the web, I am presented with all kinds of ad’s. Most of the time I think I just look over them. Yet for somereason I can describe each pop up that says “CLICK HERE FOR…” perfectly, and I can tell you what all the new free apps are because of the news feed from my Mafia Wars. So does that mean that these advertising techniques are working? I dont use any of the advertised products (well, sometimes the apps if installing them gives my extra points in Mafia Wars) but I know what all the products are. If some one were to ask me where to get videos online, I could tell them about the Netflix pop up with the red background, and I guess that means I can advertise for Netflix. I do get some level of entertainment but isn’t there more to do with my life than recieving messages in my inbox from Phoenix University? Maybe I should go back to reading books and listening to CD’s