For All Of You Wyclef Jean Fans Out There:

(he said dryly...)

according to the smoking gun website, Wyclef Jean's Haiti-oriented charity isn't exactly an NPO "per se":

From The Smoking Gun.com

Wyclef Jean Charity's Funny Money
Haiti earthquake aid pours into group that has enriched singer

JANUARY 14--The Haiti earthquake has already triggered hundreds of thousands of donations to musician Wyclef Jean's charitable foundation, which expects to raise upwards of $1 million a day in the disaster's wake. However, Internal Revenue Service records show the group has a lackluster history of accounting for its finances, and that the organization has paid the performer and his business partner at least $410,000 for rent, production services, and Jean's appearance at a benefit concert. Though the Wyclef Jean Foundation, which does business as Yele Haiti Foundation, was incorporated 12 years ago--and has been active since that time--the group only first filed tax returns in August 2009. That month, the foundation provided the IRS with returns covering calendar years 2005, 2006, and 2007--the only periods for which it has publicly provided a glimpse at its financial affairs. In 2006, Jean's charity reported contributions of $1 million, the bulk of which came from People magazine in exchange for the first photos of a pregnant Angelina Jolie (the actress reportedly directed that the publication's payment go to Jean's charity, not her personally). As seen on the following pages from the foundation's 2006 tax return, the group paid $31,200 in rent to Platinum Sound, a Manhattan recording studio owned by Jean and Jerry Duplessis, who, like Jean, is a foundation board member. A $31,200 rent payment was also made in 2007 to Platinum Sound. The rent, tax returns assure, "is priced below market value." The recording studio also was paid $100,000 in 2006 for the "musical performance services of Wyclef Jean at a benefit concert." That six-figure payout, the tax return noted, "was substantially less than market value." The return, of course, does not address why Jean needed to be paid to perform at his own charity's fundraiser. But the largest 2006 payout--a whopping $250,000--went to Telemax, S.A., a for-profit Haiti company in which Jean and Duplessis were said to "own a controlling interest." The money covered "pre-purchased...TV airtime and production services" that were part of the foundation's "outreach efforts" in Haiti. No further description of these services was offered, though the return claimed that "the fees paid are below market" and that the use of Telemax was the "most efficient way of providing these services." The group's tax returns also report "consultant" payments totaling $300,000 between 2005-2007, while the 2006 return reported nearly $225,000 in "promotion and PR" costs. These expenses are not itemized further in the IRS returns.

"The Fear" or "Looking the Statistical Gift Horse in the Mouth"

This semester, i've not been operating at the top of my game, and my courseload is harder than ever. I haven't had the gumption to force myself to study as much as i normally would. I have a statistics test tomorrow, and i'm scared of how i'll do. the first test for any class is always the scariest, because prior to that, you don't really know how an instructor is going to test. My saving grace is that i've done the math for the class's points for the semester, and if you attend every class and score perfectly on the online workshops and practice tests (which is possible for EVERYONE because you can retake the exact same test and it tells you the answers, before you email the results to the teacher) then you essentially have what i consider to be a guaranteed "starting grade" of 34% and some decimal change. This means that to get an A, you need to score 56% or higher (on average) for all the other things- REAL tests, etc. to get a C, you only need to get a 36%, and to get a perfectly respectable B, you only need to get 46%. That's REALLY not setting the bar very high... i am pretty sure that i can just read each chapter's review section, do the practice tests online a couple times a piece and maybe go over the in-class powerpoints that the teacher made available online and still get an A for the semester... at LEAST a B, even if i bite it HARD all semester long. I don't like to approach school this way, but with a language class from hell and BIO, it seems like maybe it would be smart to be conniving instead of studious in this instance- especially since this is my last math class for my degree, and it's kind of silly that i have to take it anyway. nurses don't USE statistics, practically speaking, and if they TECHNICALLY do use them, it's so elementary a 5th grader could do it. What kind of scares me and disturbs me is the fact that the way this class is set up, i could get a good grade without ever LEARNING the course material. i'll get a 4.0 for testing... well, at a mid-range F level or higher. I have to admit, i think that's kind of shameful- for myself for taking advantage of a situation like that, and for the school for creating the opportunity for unearned success.

If any of the kids in that class do the same thing, and they're trying for a mid-range to serious science or math oriented degree, they might actually be screwed when they get to whatever comes after statistics. or maybe not... i think stats is kind of its own thing? anyway.

Ha Ha: Fuck You, Cambridge PD

Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr was accosted by police for going into his OWN HOME last thursday. He is not only a Harvard Professor, but also a former PBS host, and was named by Time Magazine as one of the 25 most influential people in the United States in 1997.

Needless to say, this has not gone over very well.

From The Associated Press via MSN.com:

Charges against Harvard scholar dropped
Cops responding to report of break-in arrested black scholar at home

BOSTON - Prosecutors on Tuesday agreed to drop a disorderly conduct charge against Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. after the noted African-American scholar accused police of racism when he was arrested at his home following a report of a break-in there.

In a statement, the city and police department of Cambridge, Mass., said they had "recommended to the Middlesex County District Attorney that the criminal charge against Professor Gates not proceed."

"The City of Cambridge, the Cambridge Police Department, and Professor Gates acknowledge that the indicent of July 16, 2009 was regrettable and unfortunate," the statement continued. "This incident should not be viewed as one that demeans the character and reputation of Professor Gates or the character of the Cambridge Police Department. All parties agree that this is a just resolution to an unfortunate set of circumstances."

Earlier, Gates' supporters said he had been the victim of racial profiling.

Gates had forced his way through the front door of his home because it was jammed, his lawyer said Monday.

Cambridge police say they responded to the well-maintained two-story home near campus after a woman reported seeing "two black males with backpacks on the porch," with one "wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry."

The woman, Lucia Whalen, is the circulation and fundraising manager at Harvard Magazine, a news and alumni magazine affiliated with the school. The magazine's offices are down the street from Gates' home.

By the time police arrived, Gates was already inside. Police say he refused to come outside to speak with an officer, who told him he was investigating a report of a break-in.

"Why, because I'm a black man in America?" Gates said, according to a police report written by Sgt. James Crowley. The Cambridge police refused to comment on the arrest Monday.

Gates — the director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research — initially refused to show the officer his identification, but then gave him a Harvard University ID card, according to police.

"Gates continued to yell at me, accusing me of racial bias and continued to tell me that I had not heard the last of him," the officer wrote.

Handcuffed on porch

Gates said he turned over his driver's license and Harvard ID — both with his photos — and repeatedly asked for the name and badge number of the officer, who refused. He said he then followed the officer as he left his house onto his front porch, where he was handcuffed in front of other officers, Gates said in a statement released by his attorney, fellow Harvard scholar Charles Ogletree, on a Web site Gates oversees, TheRoot.com.

He was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after police said he "exhibited loud and tumultuous behavior." He was released later that day on his own recognizance. An arraignment was scheduled for Aug. 26.

Gates, 58, has refused to speak publicly, referring calls to Ogletree.

"He was shocked to find himself being questioned and shocked that the conversation continued after he showed his identification," Ogletree said.

Ogletree declined to say whether he believed the incident was racially motivated, saying "I think the incident speaks for itself."

Some of Gates' African-American colleagues say the arrest is part of a pattern of racial profiling in Cambridge.

Allen Counter, who has taught neuroscience at Harvard for 25 years, said he was stopped on campus by two Harvard police officers in 2004 after being mistaken for a robbery suspect. They threatened to arrest him when he could not produce identification.

"We do not believe that this arrest would have happened if professor Gates was white," Counter said. "It really has been very unsettling for African Americans throughout Harvard and throughout Cambridge that this happened."

Sharpton: 'New low'

Civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton said he will attend Gates' arraignment.

"This arrest is indicative of at best police abuse of power or at worst the highest example of racial profiling I have seen," Sharpton said. "I have heard of driving while black and even shopping while black but now even going to your own home while black is a new low in police community affairs."

Ogletree said Gates had returned from a trip to China on Thursday with a driver, when he found his front door jammed. He went through the back door into the home — which he leases from Harvard — shut off an alarm and worked with the driver to get the door open. The driver left, and Gates was on the phone with the property's management company when police first arrived.

Ogletree also disputed the claim that Gates, who was wearing slacks and a polo shirt and carrying a cane, was yelling at the officer.

"He has an infection that has impacted his breathing since he came back from China, so he's been in a very delicate physical state," Ogletree said.

Lawrence D. Bobo, the W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard, said he met with Gates at the police station and described his colleague as feeling humiliated and "emotionally devastated." He said he hoped police would drop the charges.

The Middlesex district attorney's office said it could not do so until after Gates' arraignment. The woman who reported what she thought was a break-in did not return a message Monday.

Gates joined the Harvard faculty in 1991 and holds one of 20 prestigious "university professors" positions at the school. He also was host of "African American Lives," a PBS show about the family histories of prominent U.S. blacks, and was named by Time magazine as one of the 25 most influential Americans in 1997.

"I was obviously very concerned when I learned on Thursday about the incident," Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust said in a statement. "He and I spoke directly and I have asked him to keep me apprised."