The talk at the water cooler

What about that 7,000 billion we as tax payers is going to pay for?

Jennifer Hudson Engaged to Reality Star

Stocks retreat amid new Wall Street landscape

Candidates split on strength of economy

Record TV Premieres - Sarah Palin & Michael Phelps Boost SNL Ratings

What are you talking about at the water cooler?

The next 44th President-Obama the first African American has been elected
Why haven't this guy been charged for the murder of Jennifer Hudson family

Author Eddrick Dejuan

Evelyn is a woman scorned who
divorces her cheating retired pro-football
player husband. Unsatisfied with just a
divorce she starts a male escort service
as a way of taking revenge on her best
friends husbands allowing their wives to
cheat as well --using their husbands'
money. As she trains and molds her first
escort Andrew, they fall in love.

Before Evelyn, the innocent and young
twenty-three year old Andrew had a
problem with getting women to be more
than just friends with him, after Evelyn
gets a hold of him, his entire world
changes.

Why Do Mens Lie?

When I mean lying, I don't only mean lying to other women. Men will lie to each other with impunity about anything and everything under the sun, from the number of women he has slept with and his "alleged" size, to how much he bench presses at the gym.

Let's put the theory on the table. Men love to lie, but they are absolutely horrible at it. Women rarely lie, but when they do, it's a story so good that it could be the basis for 100 episodes of a Spanish soap opera.

You see, men who date have to lie. Part of the reason is that women force men to lie. An attractive woman comes down the street, and a man better say she's ugly and full of cellulite, or face the wrath of the dreaded Gucci handbag on the head.

Your woman put on a few extra pounds, you better say that she's in the best shape of her life, or else buying that handy bottle of hand lotion is as exciting as your love life is going to be for the next few weeks.

But beyond the faults women might have, men don't always have to lie. Yet they do as instinctively as they grab their privates on an hourly basis. Lies just shoot out of men's mouths with the ferocity of a machine gun.

These lies are often at the tip of their tongues, ready for any situation, and often so full of holes that they make Swiss cheese look like a water dam.

Woman accused of beating fiance at prenup party

A Poulsbo woman was jailed after being accused of beating up her fiance at their prenuptial party. Kitsap County sheriff's deputies said the woman's 12-year-old son told her he saw her fiance kissing one of her women friends early Thursday morning.

Deputies said the woman, 31, gave her friends the boot, told her fiance to leave, too, and then started hitting him in the face.

When he left the house, they say, she tackled him football-style, punched him some more, threw his watch into the bushes and broke his glasses.

Responding to a 911 call from her son, deputies arrested the woman for investigation of fourth-degree assault.

Sheriff's Lt. Kathy Collings said the woman was released from jail later Thursday.

There's no word on whether the marriage took place.

Rhythm and Blues pioneer Jerry Wexler dies at 91

Rhythm and Blues pioneer Jerry Wexler, who helped build Atlantic Records into a music powerhouse in the 1950s and 1960s with artists like Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles, died in Florida on Friday at age 91, Atlantic Records said.

Along with Atlantic's Ahmet Ertegun, Wexler revolutionized R&B music and built a record label that had few rivals in its day, pioneering Atlantic's move into "Southern Soul" music.

But his influence was not limited to R&B. He helped guide the careers of many artists including rockers Led Zeppelin.

"Jerry brought a rare combination of creativity, intelligence, wit, artistic sensibility, and business savvy to the evolution of Atlantic from a small independent label into a major industry force," Atlantic said in a statement.

Wexler was born in the Bronx, New York, in January 1917 and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, he worked for music publication Billboard magazine as a journalist where he coined the term "Rhythm and Blues."

A passionate jazz fan, Wexler joined Atlantic in 1953 working alongside Ertegun, who died in 2006, as Atlantic forged a partnership with the Memphis-based Stax Records -- the home of Otis Redding and members of Booker T. & The MG's. Other music stars he produced included Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave and the Drifters.

Later in his career, Wexler was instrumental in signing Led Zeppelin to Atlantic, produced albums for Bob Dylan and Carlos Santana and aided the career of the Allman Brothers by helping their manager, Phil Walden, set up Capricorn Records.

Others in the Atlantic stable whose careers were guided, in part, by Wexler included Dusty Springfield and Willie Nelson.

Wexler was a partner at Atlantic and remained an executive until 1975 when he left his post as Vice Chairman. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

Gospel singer Winans focuses on empowering youth

At a time when scantily clad female socialites are powerful enough to influence everything from pop music to presidential elections, it can be difficult to tout the virtues of a lower hemline and a life of purity.

But for gospel vocalist CeCe Winans, a multiple Grammy and Dove award winner, it is a passion — and a responsibility she takes seriously.

"I have to teach people what I know worked for me. I'm responsible. But what they poured into me, how they blessed my life — the older generation — now that I'm a part of 'the older generation,' it's my responsibility to pour into the generation that's come after me."

In 2005, Winans launched her first annual "Always Sisters" Conference in Nashville, Tenn. The conference targets women aged 13-26 with seminars like "The Power of a Princess." Invited guests have included Whitney Houston and Maya Angelou.

The first conference hosted 600 young women. The 2007 conference drew well over 3,000 for two days of teaching on teenage pregnancy, building self-esteem and dating. This year's conference had to be rescheduled, but they were planning to accommodate 5,000.

Winans current dream is to take the conferences across the country. She recently held a Q&A session for teens throughout the New York City area at Brooklyn Tabernacle Church.

"It's about saving our youth. ... A lot of our youth don't understand their value. They just accept the lies that the enemy has told them about their worth, about what they can accomplish and about what they should settle for," Winans said. "I'm fired up about firing up young people to understand their power and their worth."

Winans, 43, lives in a suburb just outside Nashville with her husband of nearly 25 years, Alvin Love II. She was raised by two of the most famous parents in gospel music, David and Delores Winans, also known as "Mom and Pop Winans." She and her nine brothers and sisters are among the first families in Gospel music.

Winans' career first took flight as one-half of the brother-sister duo "BeBe and CeCe Winans." From 1988's "Heaven" to the 1996 release "Count on Me," Bebe and CeCe Winans released a steady stream of albums, many that are now certified gold and platinum.

Their R&B-flavored gospel was criticized for producing genre-crossing romantic ballads with lyrics like "I'm lost without you/so don't ever go away" where the subject of affection wasn't always clearly divine. Since then, R&B and Contemporary-styled Gospel has come to dominate the charts and crossover appeal has become the goal for many top artists.

After a nearly 10-year break, the two are working on a new album to be released sometime next year. Tour stops are planned in the U.S and Africa.

"I love singing with Bebe, we have a great time on stage, in the studio. ... We have a great time, we do what we do, and so, it's not something that's weird, I think I'm more at home with that than even by myself."

Though Winans says she'll be singing until she "takes her last breath," her passion for helping young women will always play a major role in her career. Last year she released a devotional journal for young women titled "Always Sisters: Becoming the Princess You Were Created to Be."

"I could do these girls' conferences full-time, because it's just life-changing. When you take out time and you see those faces and you see the encouragement, and you get them to realize who they are and whose they are, it's just nothing else compared to that to me."

____

On the Net:

http://www.cecewinans.com

Author Linda R. Herman

Life for Sade Peters is picture perfect. With a fabulous home in upscale Atlanta, Georgia, Sade is living the life most of society only read about in magazines. A successful novelist, Sade is married to the man of her dreams, Andre Peters, an equally successful sports agent. Couple that with a set of fraternal twins, and you have all the makings of the contemporary modern day Huxtables. However, what life looks like from the outside, may not necessarily match the inner workings of this household. The Down Low is a real and earth-shattering truth, and Sade's happiness abruptly ends when she is faced with this reality. Life as Sade knows it changes within the blink of an eye when she soon discovers that both she and her husband are HIV positive. Imagine walking through life in Sade's shoes. Who is to blame when faith and trust is tested tremendously?

Author Monica L. Jones

Using her knowledge and talent to wheel and deal as a sports attorney, Gina St. John is an intellectual beauty in a career dominated by men. With clients who include some of the most talented, rich and famous individuals in the world of sports, Gina finds herself in the company of several virile men. After a failed engagement and two and a half years of selective social isolation, she considers a return to the dating scene.
Tall, Attractive, charismatic and popular, Steven had a reputation for being a gentleman who knew how to woo a woman. As one of the top automotive engineers at a top automotive corporation, he was a prime catch. After attending a Gospel Convention, Steven’s life is completely turned around. He hands in his letter of resignation, attends bible school, and becomes a Minister of the Gospel.
While attending homecoming at their alma mater, Gina and Steven’s path cross. It's a welcomed meeting for two friends who once shared feelings of affection. After years of missed opportunities, they decide to give love a try. Little does Gina realize that being the girlfriend of a minister brings pressure, gossip, pranks, and public scrutiny. As Steven’s church responsibilities become overwhelming, so does his inflated ego. When Gina lands Malcolm Jones, a premier, exceedingly attractive and charming Professional Basketball Player as a client, Steven’s confidence, security and ego may be deflated.
Will Steven be able to sustain his anointing as Gina is pursued by numerous rich, famous and attractive men, namely Malcolm Jones? Can Gina maintain her composure while being the victim of ridicule, lies, and pranks? Or will these and other issues threaten what they believe is a relationship that was meant to be?

Click on the book to get your copy today!

Delta Air doubles fee for second checked bag to $50

Delta Air Lines on Tuesday doubled the fee to check a second bag for domestic flights to $50 from $25 to help offset record fuel prices.
Delta announced a number of baggage fee increases on domestic and international flights, including a rise in the fee for items that require special handling such as surfboards or ski equipment.
Delta also increased the fee for a third checked bag from $80 to $125 on domestic flights and from $150 to $200 on international flights. It also raised fees for bags that exceed its weight allowance.
These changes will apply to tickets bought on or after July 31 for travel on or after August 5.
"As fuel costs remain at record levels, Delta believes revising the fee structure for excess bags and specialty items is essential to generate the necessary revenues to offset record fuel costs while continuing to offer these services to customers," the airline said in a statement.
Amid record fuel prices and a slowing U.S. economy, airlines are cutting routes, capacity and jobs and raising fares and fees to survive.
Delta said its First Class, Business Elite and Medallion customers will still be able to check up to three bags at no charge and customers on international flights can check a first and second bag at no charge.
Delta said all of its customers can still check a first bag free of charge on domestic flights and check two bags free of charge on international flights.

'Extreme Makeover' house faces foreclosure

More than 1,800 people showed up to help ABC's "Extreme Makeover" team demolish a family's decrepit home and replace it with a sparkling, four-bedroom mini-mansion in 2005.
Three years later, the reality TV show's most ambitious project at the time has become the latest victim of the foreclosure crisis.
After the Harper family used the two-story home as collateral for a $450,000 loan, it's set to go to auction on the steps of the Clayton County Courthouse Aug. 5. The couple did not return phone calls Monday, but told WSB-TV they received the loan for a construction business that failed.
The house was built in January 2005, after Atlanta-based Beazer Homes USA and ABC's "Extreme Makeover" demolished their old home and its faulty septic system. Within six days, construction crews and hoards of volunteers had completed work on the largest home that the television program had yet built.
The finished product was a four-bedroom house with decorative rock walls and a three-car garage that towered over ranch and split-level homes in their Clayton County neighborhood. The home's door opened into a lobby that featured four fireplaces, a solarium, a music room and a plush new office.
Materials and labor were donated for the home, which would have cost about $450,000 to build. Beazer Homes' employees and company partners also raised $250,000 in contributions for the family, including scholarships for the couple's three children and a home maintenance fund.
ABC said in a statement that it advises each family to consult a financial planner after they get their new home. "Ultimately, financial matters are personal, and we work to respect the privacy of the families," the network said.
Some of the volunteers who helped build the home were less than thrilled about the family's financial decisions.
"It's aggravating. It just makes you mad. You do that much work, and they just squander it," Lake City Mayor Willie Oswalt, who helped vault a massive beam into place in the Harper's living room, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.