Whether you know him as Puff Daddy/P Diddy/P Poppa Diddy Pop, rapper Sean Combs has been producing and rapping on hit records for the past decade.

Now his son, Justin is going be making the hits except he won’t be doing it in the studio but out on the football field as he’s being recruited by many BCS schools including Illinois to play division one college football:

Combs, a 5-9, 175 pound cornerback is being recruited by the University of Illinois and University of Virginia, as well as mid-major programs UAB, Middle Tennessee State and Wyoming.

“I talked to the coach at Illinois, and they told me that they were going to give me an offer,” Combs said. “They seemed very excited. We talked about the academics, the football team, the campus, the life there and stuff like that just so I could know a little bit about it. I am going to go out there and see the campus soon before my season.”

I guess you can say football runs in the family since his father played in high school at Roman Catholic Mount Saint Michael Academy and help lead his team to a state championship in 1986.

A man in Louisiana was arrested after cops pulled over his Chevrolet pick-up truck and found that it was being driven by his 8-year-old son.

Meanwhile, cops told the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Billy Joe Madden, 28, was passed out drunk as his son was driving the family from Mississippi to Texas.

Cops said they received an early morning call from a motorist who noticed the truck driving erratically and peered in to see the tot sized driver behind the wheel.

Madden's 4-year-old daughter was also in the car, sitting in the back seat, cops said.

No one was injured in the potentially deadly situation, but the children were turned over to child protective services.

Madden, meanwhile, was charged with allowing a minor to drive, keeping an open container in the vehicle, driving without a seat belt, two counts of child desertion and two counts of no child restraint, according to the newspaper.

He remains in Livingston Parish Detention Center in lieu of a $1474 bail, the sheriff's deputy told Reuters.

ONLY IN THE SOUTH! WE GOTTA DO BETTER

With this week's announcement that Research in Motion is cutting 10 percent of its workforce, the BlackBerry death watch moved into high gear.

The smartphone that's been a corporate status symbol for more than a decade faces a rapidly declining market share amid new competition, while the company has suffered a series of missteps in both strategy and execution.

Even the management shakeup announced on Monday wasn't what Wall Street had been hoping for. RIM's stock is down more than 50 percent this year.

With Apple's iPhone and smartphones based on Google's Android operating system stealing RIM's thunder in both the consumer and corporate spaces, the BlackBerry's outlook appears grim.

"Surviving in the context of being a formidable force across the industry as it was in its glorious days? That is not going to happen," says Anil Doradla, analyst at William Blair.

That doesn't mean all is lost for RIM and the BlackBerry platform. It's still wildly popular in international markets, and smartphones powered by a new operating system are coming next year.

But analysts say the company needs to act quickly and effectively, which it's had a hard time accomplishing over the past several years.

Too Little, Too Late?

Judging from the numbers, it's obvious that fewer people want BlackBerrys.

According to market research firm comScore, RIM held 24.7 percent of smartphone subscribers in the three-month period ending in May, down 17 percent from a year ago.

In the corporate market, traditionally RIM's bread and butter, IT departments are increasingly allowing individual users to choose their own mobile devices, and more of them are choosing iPhones.

The company has taken notice. RIM is set to unveil smartphones based on version 7 of the BlackBerry operating system.

But critics have long complained that BlackBerry OS has gotten long in the tooth, especially compared with sophisticated platforms like Android and Apple's iOS.

Next year, RIM will unveil BlackBerry devices based on QNX, the operating system that powers RIM's PlayBook tablet. QNX promises to deliver performance and features that better compete with iOS and high-end Android devices.

But RIM has been snakebitten by a series of execution missteps, including product delays and releasing new devices that seem half-baked, such as the PlayBook's curious lack of built-in e-mail capabilities.

Most alarming to Wall Street, there's a sense of sluggishness in a company that operates in a rapidly changing industry.

"With QNX they have a real next-gen operating system," says Tavis McCourt, analyst with Morgan Keenan. "Those phones that come out next year will be much more competitive with the high end of the market. I think they're doing every they need to do, it just should have been started four years ago instead of one year ago."

But Doradla, who maintains a "Hold" rating on RIM shares, says there's little reason to be excited about the BlackBerry platform in the near term.

"The question is between now and early next year when the QNX comes in, what is holding a customer to stick with a BlackBerry phone?" he says. "I don't have the answer."

Dominance Lost

Despite the near-term gloom, analysts point out there are factors that work in RIM's favor.

Although BlackBerry smartphones are falling out of favor in the United States, they're still wildly popular overseas.

"There are entire regions where you'd much rather be RIM than Apple," McCourt says, noting that the devices hold a strong position in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, several European countries, and Asia (though not in China).

Also, businesses have made significant investments in BlackBerry Enterprise Servers, so they're not likely to abandon the platform completely.

McCourt sees the corporate market playing out as a duopoly with BlackBerry and the iPhone. Doradla points out that given RIM's strong presence in corporate enterprises, the company is likely to remain viable in the long term.

"In terms of security and reliability, the company's email services are well known and accepted, so they're always going to have niches and be present in some key markets," he says.

Earlier this year, RIM opened its BlackBerry Enterprise Server to enable support for iPhone and Android smartphones, enabling IT departments to centrally manage those devices on a single system. The move addresses the reality that more organizations are supporting multiple mobile platforms.

But Mark McKechnie, an analyst at ThinkEquity, believes the company needs to go farther by opening up its network operations center, or NOC, to other smartphone platforms.

"They've created this great infrastructure that all the corporations use to secure their e-mails," he says. "They collect about $5 per month per subscriber. But if you're going to have a problem competitively with your handsets, then that asset—the NOC—is a declining asset."

In a recent research note, McKechnie said that of ThinkEquity's $6 earnings-per-share estimate for fiscal year 2013, $4.25 comes from NOC recurring revenue, $1.75 from the handset business.

"You could still have RIM be a niche supplier to the BlackBerry servers, but the market's a heck of a lot bigger when you start throwing in the Apples and the Androids and whatever other technologies people want to bring in from their homes and run on the corporate network," McKechnie says.

The fall from being the dominant provider to a niche player is nothing new in the technology industry. But analysts say in RIM's case, it's a situation that could have been avoided.

"It's not as if these mistakes were made three quarters ago," McCourt says.

"These were big strategic mistakes that were made years ago and now they're feeling the pain," he said. "Ironically they've figured that out now, but it takes a few years for the new strategy to take hold. They probably don't have more than two years to re-engage the high end of the market before their brand is permanently damaged here."

Patriots wide receiver Chad Ochocinco spoke to the media on Saturday, 
July 30, 2011.

Q: Welcome to New England, how is it to be here? CO: It's good to be in heaven. It feels really good.

Q: You were talking about comparing Foxborough to heaven, is the whole process that serendipitous?

CO: Yeah, it's exactly what I thought it was. Being able to come in here - the first meeting as soon as I got here with Mr. [Robert] Kraft [was] unbelievable. He welcomed me with open arms. I spoke with coach [Bill] Belichick and he did the same. We had our normal talk, our normal chat like we always do when I get the chance to play against him. It sort of went the same way and other than that, I am ready to rock and roll.

Q: You have been hinting at this for quite some time now, the possibility that you could end up with the Patriots. When did you really have an idea that it was really possible and more than something that could happen?

CO: I don't know, for a little bit.

Q: You have obviously got a giant personality and you generally carry out your business in a different way than the Patriots generally do. Going forward, do you have any plans to tone things down or are you going to continue to be “Ocho?”

CO: I will always be me. It has been a part of my game to always be me, but there is a certain way the Patriots do it and it's easy for me. I've always been a chameleon so, I am going to blend in and do it the Patriot way, which is win. I think Bill [Belichick], we had our talk and without him even having to saying anything- there is no need for some of the stuff I did before. There's no need for it.

Q: Are you grateful to Cincinnati for letting you go and the Bengals for being willing to trade you out?

CO: I'm just thankful for the experience. The [Cincinnati] Bengals drafted me and I like to always say that the fans made me who I am today. I am grateful for all that [Cincinnati fans] have done and I'm grateful for all that Mike Brown has done for me, being able to provide for my family and things of that sort. Especially [coach] Marvin [Lewis], regardless of what everybody thinks from the outside in, kudos to Marvin and everything he has done and [for] everything he has put up with with me. I thank Cincinnati and the organization and everything they have done for me. It's a new chapter in my life and I'm happy to be here. It is going to be a little quite. You won't get the same Chad you are use to and I probably won't be talking to the media much, probably not at all really. I just want to play ball and ride the wave.

Q: For 10 years, you were in one place and eight years under the same coach, and in a few days everything changes. Is this all kind of still sinking in for you?

CO: No, not at all. Once I walked in here and Mr. Kraft and Belichick gave me my angel wings I was set and I'm going to soar.

Q: You were the best receiver in football from 2002-2007. You haven't been as productive statistically since then.

CO: It's hard to maintain a high level of productivity when things are always up and down. The thing about this place [is that] it's consistent. It's always been consistent on the offensive side of the ball and defensively, so that always me to be able to be consistent also. There is only so much that I can control and the position that I was in, in Cincinnati I did the best I could to my ability, and I did it in sort of a noisy way and that says a lot for me - to be able to talk it and still walk it. To be able to come here, regardless of who is in, they get it done here, regardless. I call it riding the wave; I am going to enjoy it.

Q: What did you have to do to get your number?

CO: Nothing. This was Mr. [Aaron] Hernandez's way of greeting me here. He gave me the number and I didn't have to pay anything, I just shook his hand and I said, “thank you.”

Q: Are you going to reward Aaron Hernandez with a nice night out after a big game?

CO: Yes. I drive a Toyota Prius, so I was going to let him use my Prius on the weekends, and that's about the best I can do right now. I have some left over McDonald's coupons since I don't eat there anymore.

Q: What kind of relationship have you had with Tom Brady over the last couple of years and what's it like being with him the last couple of days?

CO: Tom and I are cool, we are really cool. This has been a joy. I don't get to talk to him much except when we played him, but we have had conversations on and off the field. I respect him; he is the best at his craft. I've always called him a surgeon and it's going to be fun being one of his patients, so I am going to enjoy it.

Q: What do you think about this group of wide receivers with Wes Welker and that group?

CO: Good, they are good. I am watching [Wes Welker], we all have different styles of play and all of us bring something different to the table, but they are really good. Everybody is proven here, even myself. I have come in and proven that I can play in this offense and just have fun quietly and that's about it.

Q: Do you consider this a rebirth? Reenergizing your career?

CO: Yeah, I guess that's a way to put it if you want to.

Q: What has Tom Brady told you about the key to success here and what you have to do to work with him?

CO: Just play, that's it. He knows what I can do already, just play. My job becomes that much easier because of him, because of my surroundings and there's nothing extra I have to do. That's it.

The Colts have Peyton Manning in the fold for five more years.

Manning, the Colts’ franchise quarterback since 1998, has agreed to a five-year, $90 million contract, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen is reporting.

Colts owner Jim Irsay has said that Manning deserves to be the highest-paid player in the league, but Manning said he was willing to take less than the Colts were offering if it meant they’d have more salary cap space for some of his teammates. Mortensen reports that Irsay was willing to go up to $100 million over five years.

We don’t yet know how the numbers break down — how much is guaranteed, how big a signing bonus Manning received — but Manning will average $18 million a year for five more years. Manning agreed to a deal with the same average value as Tom Brady got on his four-year, $72 million contract with the Patriots.

And Manning will be the Colts’ quarterback through the 2015 season, when he’ll be 39 years old.

The Florida State Attorney's Office wants Casey Anthony to cover the costs -- more than $140,000 -- incurred in relation to her prosecution, according to documents revealed Thursday.

Anthony was found not guilty earlier this month of murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee in a high-profile trial that gripped the nation. Since her release from Orange County Jail in Orlando, Fla., on July 17, after spending nearly three years behind bars, her whereabouts have been unknown.

Anthony was convicted of four counts of giving false information to police officers, but because of time already served and other factors, she was set free.

On Thursday, prosecutors filed 281 pages of documents detailing a range of expenses related to her trial -- including airfares and hotel accommodation for witnesses, and payments to experts -- totaling $141,362, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

The State Attorney's Office wants Anthony to pay for its prosecution and investigative costs and intends to address the matter at a hearing Aug. 25.

The $141,362 bill does not cover all expenses associated with Anthony's case.

Earlier in the week, it was revealed that work done by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation came to around $82,000.

Expenses incurred by the Orange County Sheriff's Office, which headed the investigation, have yet to be submitted.

140k for Casey? Thats nothing! Hustler offered her 500k today to spread eagle. 140k is a small price to pay to get off for murdering you child. 

BEIJING — Taxi driver Jin Yinjian has some advice for those alarmed by China's increasingly muscular military, including its first ever aircraft carrier: Get used to the flexing.

"I am proud we will have our first aircraft carrier," Jin says. "It's a sign of China's growing strength, as all great countries should have aircraft carriers."

As the Pentagon plans for U.S. forces to exit Iraq and Afghanistan, it is keeping one eye trained on the rising threat in the East. For two decades China has been adding large numbers of warships, submarines, fighter jets and — more significantly — developing offensive missiles capable of knocking out U.S. stealth aircraft and the biggest U.S. naval ships including aircraft carriers.

At the same time, China has announced that its territorial waters extend hundreds of miles beyond its shores, well into what its neighbors and the United States consider international waters. It has installed more than 1,000 ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan, a democratic island nation and U.S. ally. Vietnam, the Philippines and Japan all have complained to the United States about confrontations on the high seas with China.

China says it is simply developing defensive weapons and protecting its interests. But military analysts say the United States appears to be taking a different view, citing the Pentagon's development of a new class of bombers that can fly for long periods outside of the reach of radar.

The Long Range Strike Bomber "is a deterrent to those who would seek to deny our access," says Air Force Maj. Gen. Noel Jones, director of operational capability requirements for the Air Force.

Jones doesn't mention China as the potential adversary for the bomber. He doesn't have to, says Roger Cliff, an independent defense researcher, specialist on China and former Pentagon official.


"China is one of the countries that they certainly have in mind for this bomber," Cliff says. "China's offensive capability will be steadily growing for the next decade. By the end of this decade, we really can't just count on fending off the blows. They will be able to deliver ballistic and cruise missile attacks."

China is a joke. They envy Americans power and dominance and they seem desperate to compete. China is like a giant peacock. They want to bully other asian countries in the region the U.S is not having it. The U.S is still a superpower and China knows the U.S still holds the cards. Money cannot buy innovations and advancement which the China doesn't have. China has it's toys and developments but it will take more than one aircraft carrier and long range missles to fight with the U.S.

Chicago police shot a 13-year-old boy on Monday night. Police said the teen pointed a weapon at them, but his parents are telling a different story.

The parents identified their son as Jimmel Cannon. The boy is talking and recovering at Stroger Hospital, according to his parents, but was shot 8 times, with wounds to his hands, shoulders and legs.

The shooting happened in the 1000 block of North Kedvale Avenue in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood. Police said they were called to the area at about 11 p.m. Monday to investigate shots fired. They saw the boy, who matched a description. Police said he had a weapon and refused to drop it when police told him to.

The boy's parents, Kenyatta Cannon and Jimmy Porter, said the boy wasn't holding anything and had his hands in the air when he was shot. They said their family was attending a birthday party at Kenyatta Cannon's mother's house Monday night and Jimmel's little brother was with him when the shooting happened.

Jimmel’s parents said the boy was supervised at the time of the incident, as well.

Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden told the Sun-Times Media Wire the weapon turned out to be a BB gun but that police acted appropriately, because toy guns are often indistinguishable from the real thing and the officers feared for their lives.

There was another police shooting on the West Side around 8 p.m. Monday that left a man in critical condition.

Police said Joe Banks, Jr. ran away when they tried to talk to him near Sawyer and Ohio. Several officers chased him and said he pulled out a gun and refused to drop it. He was then shot.

No officers were injured.

On Monday, Joe Banks, Sr. said his son didn't deserve to be shot.

"[Chicago police] are trigger happy," he said. "My son is not a gang banger, he's not selling drugs. He's a plumber. We're a decent family."

He shouldnt of been holdin the bb gun around cops. Sh*t im scared to even whip my cell phone or wallet out around them. They trigger happy as fu*k so why u gonna provoke them with a bb gun?

Just Say No!!!