READ MORE: Elbow, James Harden, Los Angeles Lakers, Metta World Peace, NBA, NBA Playoffs, Oklahoma City Thunder

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James Harden Elbows Metta World Peace (TNT)

At the tail end of the NBA’s regular season Lakers guard Metta World Peace was accused of landing an intentional elbow to the side of Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden’s head resulting in a multiple game suspension. Last night in game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals the two teams faced off again. Late in the second quarter Harden landed an elbow of his own on World Peace as he dribbled behind his back. The Huffington Post reports:

Remember that vicious elbow that Metta World Peace delivered to the head of James Harden late in the regular season? It appears that Harden, despite being concussed on the play, does too.

WATCH JAMES HARDEN ELBOW METTA WORLD PEACE

During Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinal series between his Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA’s most potent reserve landed an elbow of his own to World Peace’s head. While the key baskets that Harden scored as the Thunder rallied past the Lakers late in Game 2 may ultimately lead to a more meaningful measure of vengeance, the elbow probably won’t hurt in the regard.

Late in the first quarter of Game 2, Harden eluded World Peace with a nifty behind-the-back dribble out near midcourt. As Harden blew by, he caught World Peace flush in the face with his left elbow. The shot seemed to stun World Peace momentarily as Harden freed himself up for a foray into the paint.

Click here for the full story.

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Article source: http://www.thegrio.com/sports/james-harden-elbows-metta-world-peace-in-game-2.php

READ MORE: Hockey, Ice Hockey, Popeye Jones, Seth Jones, Sports

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Seth Jones

In a sport where there aren’t many black faces, Seth Jones, 18, ranks as one of the best on the ice. Jones plays for the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League. In April he won his second straight gold medal at the World Under-18 Championship in the Czech Republic. Ebony has the full story:

Black hockey players don’t seem to come around that often. When they do, generally they’re not American born. Professional hockey has an air of racism attached to it as we saw in this past season that began with a fan in New York throwing a banana on the ice as Philadelphia Flyers’ Wayne Simmonds (the only Black player on the team) was attempting a penalty shot and ended with an onslaught of racist tweets from Boston fans angry that a “nigger” ended their season after the Washington Capitals’ Joel Ward scored the game-winning goal in overtime to knock the Boston Bruins out of the playoffs.

On the flipside, the NBA is more than 80% Black and although its’ players are the most disliked by fans, they manage to find comfort and camaraderie in the league.

That’s what makes this story so compelling.

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Article source: http://www.thegrio.com/sports/seth-jones-the-best-under-18-hockey-player-in-the-country.php

MIAMI (AP) — Court records show a Miami college student intends to plead guilty to making threatening posts against President Barack Obama on Facebook.

A change of plea hearing is set Wednesday for 20-year-old Joaquin Amador Serrapio Jr. He had previously pleaded not guilty.

Federal prosecutors say Serrapio posted threats on Facebook in February coinciding with a speech Obama gave at the University of Miami. Serrapio attends a different school, Miami-Dade College.

One post threatened to put a bullet in the president’s head. Another asked if anyone wanted to help with a presidential assassination.

There’s no indication Serrapio intended to act on the threats. His lawyer has said Serrapio never wanted to hurt the president. The lawyer didn’t immediately respond to an email Thursday.

Serrapio faces a maximum five-year prison sentence.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Article source: http://www.thegrio.com/politics/miami-dade-college-student-to-plead-guilty-to-obama-threat.php

Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative has inspired a province in Italy to dedicated a 1,400-year-old olive tree to the first lady. The ancient breed known as “The Queen” from the province of Lecce is seen as a fitting symbol for Michelle, because her promotion of fitness mirrors the health benefits of what many call the Mediterranean diet. Olive oil is a main component of this style of eating, which encompasses the food cultures of countries such as Italy.

“The first lady has launched the ‘Let’s Move’ campaign for a healthier lifestyle and diet … in perfect harmony with the requirements of a Mediterranean diet,” the province said, as reported by the AFP news service.

To honor this commemoration, the Lecce province will gift the White House with approximately 26 gallons of extra-virgin olive each year made from fruits of “The Queen” starting in the fall. Combined with the yield from the first lady’s organic White House garden (and a batch of balsamic vinegar) that will make quite a bit of fortifying salad.

Michelle’s activities to promote healthy eating and end childhood obesity will be further reflected in a coming episode of the Food Network show Restaurant: Impossible. In the coming June 13 episode, the first lady tasks show host Robert Irvine with the challenge of revamping the facilities of a program that provides healthy meals to underprivileged children.

Follow Alexis Garrett Stodghill on Twitter at @lexisb

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  Michelle Obama © introduces members of the Major League Soccer champion Los Angeles Galaxy, including (L-R) Sean Franklin, David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Todd Dunivant, during a question-and-answer session with school-age sports fans in the State Dining Room of the White House May 15, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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  First Lady Michelle Obama speaks alongside David Beckham (L) during a ‘Let’s Move’ soccer event with players from the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Major League Soccer (MLS) champions, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, May 15, 2012. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/GettyImages)

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  First lady Michelle Obama speaks about her ‘Let’s Move’ campaign to get kids active during the United States Olympic Committee Media Summit 2012 at Hilton Anatole on May 14, 2012 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Wade/Getty Images for USOC)

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  U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama waves to the graduates as she walks across the stage with Chancellor Harold Martin at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NCAT) Commencement May 12, 2012, in Greensboro, NC. Michelle Obama was honored with a Doctorate in Humanities after speaking to the graduates (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)

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  U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama speaks to graduates at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NCAT) Commencement, May 12, 2012, in Greensboro, NC. Michelle Obama was honored with a Doctorate in Humanities. (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)

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  U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama reacts to cheers from the graduates at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NCAT) Commencement May 12, 2012, in Greensboro, NC. Michelle Obama gave the commencement address and received a Doctorate in Humanities. (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)

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  First Lady Michelle Obama a(2nd L) nd Dr. Jill Biden (2nd R), the wife of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, participate in a Joining Forces service event at the Vice President’s residence at the Naval Observatory May 10, 2012 in Washington, DC. Obama and Biden joined with Congressional spouses to assemble Mother’s Day packages that deployed troops have requested to be sent to their mothers and wives at home. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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  U.S. First lady Michelle Obama speaks at a Joining Forces service event at the Vice President’s residence at the Naval Observatory May 10, 2012 in Washington, DC. Obama and Dr. Jill Biden joined with Congressional spouses to assemble Mother’s Day packages that deployed troops have requested to be sent to their mothers and wives at home. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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  First lady Michelle Obama (L) and Dr. Jill Biden, the wife of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, and the Vice President’s dog Champ arrive for a Joining Forces service event at the Vice President’s residence at the Naval Observatory May 10, 2012 in Washington, DC. Obama and Biden joined with Congressional spouses to assemble Mother’s Day packages that deployed troops have requested to be sent to their mothers and wives at home. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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  First lady Michelle Obama ® participates in a Joining Forces service event at the Vice President’s residence at the Naval Observatory May 10, 2012 in Washington, DC. Obama and Dr. Jill Biden joined with Congressional spouses to assemble Mother’s Day packages that deployed troops have requested to be sent to their mothers and wives at home. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Article source: http://www.thegrio.com/specials/life-and-style/michelle-obama-province-in-italy-dedicates-1400-year-old-olive-tree-to-first-lady.php

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The billionaire said to be weighing a proposal to resurrect incendiary comments by President Barack Obama’s former pastor shelved the idea Thursday after Obama and Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney denounced the tactic.

An aide to Joe Ricketts, founder of TD Ameritrade, said the proposal to draw the Rev. Jeremiah Wright into the presidential campaign — and the issue of race, by extension — went too far.

The New York Times reported Thursday that Ricketts’ Ending Spending Action Fund, a conservative super PAC, was considering a proposal for a $10 million TV ad campaign highlighting Wright’s sermons.

The blueprint, titled “The Defeat of Barack Hussein Obama: the Ricketts Plan to End His Spending For Good,” was devised by a group of Republican strategists, one of whom confirmed its contents for The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss private working sessions.

Brian Baker, president of the super PAC, said Ricketts was not the author of the 54-page plan. Baker blamed consultants.

“Not only was this plan merely a proposal — one of several submitted to the Ending Spending Action Fund by third-party vendors — but it reflects an approach to politics that Mr. Ricketts rejects and it was never a plan to be accepted but only a suggestion for a direction to take,” Baker said in a written statement.

Romney had urged the independent group, which favors his candidacy, to abandon the Wright strategy and to focus instead on his bedrock issue, the economy.

“I repudiate the effort by that PAC to promote an ad strategy of the nature they’ve described,” Romney told the conservative website Townhall.com. “I would like to see this campaign focus on the economy, on getting people back to work, on seeing rising incomes and growing prosperity — particularly for those in the middle class of America.”

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina criticized the plan as a “campaign of character assassination” and accused Romney “reacting tepidly in a moment that required moral leadership in standing up to the very extreme wing of his own party.”

Messina noted that Republican Sen. John McCain, Obama’s opponent in the 2008 presidential race, had rejected using Wright and Wright’s sermons against Obama.

Messina commented before Romney’s interview with Townhall.com, and issued no comment after Romney urged Ricketts’ group to abandon the effort.

McCain made clear four years ago that he wanted to challenge Obama on his record, not on the words or deeds of those around him, and forbade adviser Fred Davis from incorporating Wright into their advertising plans.

But Davis, a colorful Hollywood consultant, clearly wanted another chance to go use the strategy against Obama.

“Our plan is to do exactly what John McCain would not let us do: Show the world how Barack Obama’s opinions of America and the world were formed,” Davis’ proposal said. “And why the influence of that misguided mentor and our president’s formative years among left-wing intellectuals has brought our country to its knees.”

Davis’ firm said in a statement Thursday that the document — which called for “hitting Barack right between the eyes” — was only a proposal and did not win Ricketts’ approval.

Wright became a problem for Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign when videos of the pastor’s sermons surfaced. In a 2003 sermon, Wright said black people should condemn the United States.

“The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no, no, God damn America, that’s in the Bible for killing innocent people,” Wright said at the time. “God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme.”

Wright, who preached at the Chicago church Obama once attended, became such a distraction for Obama that he ended up delivering a major speech on race relations to try to quell the controversy. He also severed his ties to Wright.

For his part, Arizona Sen. McCain said he had no regrets over his handling of the Wright issue.

“I remain proud of our campaign and proud of what we were able to accomplish, and I would do it over again,” McCain told reporters Thursday at the Capitol. He said the matter seemed dead after Romney repudiated the proposal.

He shrugged when asked whether independent groups should take up matters such as Wright’s remarks.

“It’s a way for political operatives to continue to make money,” McCain said.

Another top Republican, House Speaker John Boehner, of Ohio, declined to be drawn into the debate.

“This election is going to be about the economy,” he said when reporters asked him to react to the proposed ad campaign. “I don’t know what these other people do or why they do it.”

Ricketts is the founder of Nebraska-based TD Ameritrade Securities and owner of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. He has been active in conservative politics for years, most recently in Republican Deb Fischer’s upset win this week in the Republican Senate primary in Nebraska.

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Fouhy reported from New York. Associated Press writer Charles Babington in Washington contributed to this report.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Article source: http://www.thegrio.com/politics/billionaire-wont-air-obama-wright-campaign-ads.php