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Video: TheLoop21.com's coverage of the 82nd Academy Awards

crystal — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:41:02 -0800

TheLoop21.com presents coverage from the red carpet of the 82nd annual Academy Awards. See video below as Jazz Smollett interviews some of your favorite celebrities from the red carpet. We have video with Mo'Nique after right her Best Supporting Actress Oscar win as well as red carpet interviews with the rest of the 'Precious' family, Zoe Saldana, Quincy Jones, Queen Latifah, Anika Noni Rose and Tyler Perry. It's an exciting time right now for people of color in Hollywood. Come experience a part of the magic as TheLoop21.com interviews some of your favorite celebrities on Hollywood's biggest night.

Bank Of America To Soon Rid Overdrafts On Debit Cards

chandrea patterson — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:14:37 -0800

According to The Associated Press, as new regulations intended to place limitations on overdraft fees approach, Bank of America will soon eliminate debit card overdrafts altogether.

This means the debit card users will no longer have the option of using more money than what is available in their accounts. On July 1, a new Federal Reserve rule will prevent banks from charging overdrafts fees without customer permission.

AccuWeather Describes Hurricane Season As 'Above Normal' Threat

chandrea patterson — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:09:16 -0800

According to BusinessWeek, weather service AccuWeather Inc. says the 2010 hurricane season will be an "above-normal threat to Gulf and East coasts in the U.S.

The forecaster predicts about five hurricanes and two to three of them reaching shore. The service also foresees about 17 named storms forming in the Atlantic Ocean.

Chief Justice Calls Obama's SOTU 'Political Pep Rally'

chandrea patterson — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:08:21 -0800

According to The Associated Press, John Roberts described President Barack Obama's 'State Of The Union' address as a 'degenerated political pep rally' on Tuesday.

The U.S. Chief Justice said the political process has become 'very troubling' and that senators purposely ask questions for justice nominees to which they don't know the answer.

Googles Joins In On App Market Business

chandrea patterson — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:07:22 -0800

According to BusinessWeek, Google Inc. has introduced its newest innovation in the technology industry, creating its own app market to compete with the popularity of Microsoft's pioneering service.

Google's approach will target developers rather than the average consumer looking to buy apps. The market will serve as a forum for business software developers to promote their ideas.

Study Shows Varying Sleep Habits By Ethnicity

chandrea patterson — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:06:31 -0800

According to WebMD, a new national survey shows that varying sleep patterns according to ethnicity, although all groups seem to lack the recommended hours of sleep.

Blacks reported 6 hours and 14 minutes of sleep on workdays, as Hispanics reported 6 hours and 34 minutes. Asians showed 6 hours and 48 minutes while Whites had 6 hours and 52 minutes of sleep.

Nine States See Decrease In Unemployment

chandrea patterson — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:05:20 -0800

According to BusinessWeek, last month the unemployment of nine states decreased as 30 states saw an increase in the rates.

Michigan showed the largest differential, with a 14.3 percent decrease in unemployment. The state is still among the highest in jobless rates despite the drop.

Black Author Wins Matrix Copyright Infringement Case

devona walker — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:42:35 -0800

Sophia Stewart, the African American author of The Matrix will finally receive her just due from the copyright infringement of her original work, several websites are reporting today.

A six-year dispute has ended involving Sophia Stewart, the Wachowski Brothers, Joel Silver and Warner Brothers. Stewart’s allegations, involving copyright infringement and racketeering, were received and acknowledged by the Central District of California, Judge Margaret Morrow presiding.

Stewart, a New Yorker who has resided in Salt Lake City for the past five years, will recover damages from the films, The Matrix I, II and III, as well as The Terminator and its sequels.

She will soon receive one of the biggest payoffs in the history of Hollywood, as the gross receipts of both films and their sequels total over 2.5 billion dollars. Stewart filed her case in 1999, after viewing the Matrix, which she felt had been based on her manuscript, ‘The Third Eye,’ copyrighted in 1981. In the mid-eighties Stewart had submitted her manuscript to an ad placed by the Wachowski Brothers, requesting new sci-fi works.

According to court documentation, an FBI investigation discovered that more than thirty minutes had been edited from the original film, in an attempt to avoid penalties for copyright infringement. The investigation

also stated that ‘credible witnesses employed at Warner Brothers came forward, claiming that the executives and lawyers had full knowledge that the work in question did not belong to the Wachowski Brothers.’

These witnesses claimed to have seen Stewart’s original work and that it had been ‘often used during preparation of the motion pictures..’

The defendants tried, on several occasions, to have Stewart’s case dismissed, without success.

A Consumer Bill Gives Exemption on Payday Loans

devona walker — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:23:35 -0800

Senator Bob Corker, the Tennessee Republican who is playing a crucial role in bipartisan negotiations over financial regulation, pressed to remove a provision from draft legislation that would have empowered federal authorities to crack down on payday lenders, people involved in the talks said. The industry is politically influential in his home state and a significant contributor to his campaigns, the New York Times reports.

The Senate Banking Committee’s chairman, Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, proposed legislation in November that would give a new consumer protection agency the power to write and enforce rules governing payday lenders, debt collectors and other financial companies that are not part of banks.

Late last month, Mr. Corker pressed Mr. Dodd to scale back substantially the power that the consumer protection agency would have over such companies, according to three people involved in the talks.

Jihad Jane: Pa. Woman Tied to Plot on Cartoonist

devona walker — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:18:57 -0800

A Pennsylvania woman who called herself JihadJane was tied Tuesday to an alleged assassination plot against a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the prophet Muhammad atop the body of a dog, the New York Times reports.

In an indictment unsealed Tuesday, federal prosecutors accused Colleen R. LaRose, an American from the Philadelphia suburbs, of linking up through the Internet with militants overseas and plotting to carry out a murder.

Ms. LaRose, 46, was arrested in Philadelphia in October, but her case was kept under seal. Although the indictment does not identify the target, a law enforcement official said her case was linked to the arrests Tuesday of seven Muslims in Ireland in connection with a scheme to kill the cartoonist, Lars Vilks. A group linked to Al Qaeda had put a $100,000 bounty on his head for the cartoon, which the group perceived as an insult to Islam.