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The Puerto Rican Community Holds Annual Parade On Fifth Avenue

Puerto Ricans are celebrating their culture in Manhattan at the 55th annual Puerto Rican Day Parade, but this year's event has an added political element as some marchers are protesting alleged racial profiling by police.

Puerto Ricans celebrated their culture on the Upper East Side on Sunday at the 55th annual Puerto Rican Day Parade, which this year had the theme of "Puerto Ricans And Higher Education."

More than two million people lined the parade route to check out traditional costumes, music and dancing and onlookers came early for a prime viewing spot. 

President Felix V. Matos Rodriguez of CUNY's Hostos Community College served as grand marshal. 

New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz marched as Athlete of the Year, along with New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony and elected officials including Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor Andrew Cuomo.

"It feels good seeing this parade, coming to it as a kid and being able to enjoy with everybody else. It's a good time," said Cruz. 

"It's something we do every year. So we come out here every single year as a family and friends and just have a good time and show that we represent Puerto Rico," said one parade-goer.

"I want my kids to know their heritage. I want them to feel what I feel: the proudness, the pride of being a Puerto Rican," said another.
NY1 Noticias' Jon Inoa and Carleth Keys Sonia Manzano, the actor who plays Maria on the PBS children's program "Sesame Street," was the parade's godmother and stressed the importance of education among Puerto Ricans.

"Apparently a lot of our youth are in trouble and they're not finishing high school or going into college. So I think a parade is a great way to bring attention to a problem and hope that people will solve it," said Manzano. "That's what we do on 'Sesame Street,' you make a joke and you have fun out of serious problems, and then people really start to think about it." . Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senator Charles Schumer, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) were just a few of the politicians in attendance. Actor/comedian John Leguizamo, Also Evelyn Lozada and Ricky Martin! Musician/activist Wyclef Jean, New were some of the celebrities at the annual parade.

The parade marches along Fifth Avenue from 44th Street to 79th Street and has been an annual event in New York City since 1958

Weekend Box Office Report: 'Madagascar' Breaks Out, 'Prometheus' Catches Fire

What looked like a tight race on Friday turned out to not really be much of a competition, as Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted handily defeated Prometheus over the three-day weekend. That being said, even if it didn't quite reach the astronomical levels some had been expecting, director Ridley Scott's return to sci-fi still had one of the best second place debuts in history. The Top 12 earned an estimated $172 million this weekend, which is up 30 percent from the same frame last year when Super 8 and Judy Moody both underperformed.

Madagascar 3 debuted to a strong $60.35 million at 4,258 locations, which is the fourth-highest opening of the year and the seventh-highest ever in June. It was a tad lower than Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa's $63.1 million, but was about in line with the first Madagascar's $61 million four-day Memorial weekend debut. It's also right in line with DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda, which earned $60.2 million at about the same time in 2008.

The fact that Madagascar 3 retained 96 percent of Madagascar 2's opening revenue is a minor miracle considering how family-skewing sequels have been getting punished lately. Just last year, DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda 2 was off 21 percent from its predecessor, and Happy Feet Two and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked both opened to about half as much as their previous entries.

Madagascar 3 overcame this sequel-itis issue for two main reasons. First, it had a great spot on the schedule: the last animated hit was The Lorax over three months ago, and there hasn't been anything specifically targeted at families yet this Summer. Paramount/DreamWorks also did a great job differentiating this entry from the previous ones with the vibrant new setting (Europe, instead of Africa), and the much-maligned but very effective "Wig Out" campaign (sure, Chris Rock's "circus afro" song is grating, but it's also insanely catchy).

The audience skewed female (56 percent) and younger (54 percent under the age of 25), and they awarded the movie a strong "A" CinemaScore. 3D ticket sales accounted for 45 percent of the box office, which is identical to the 3D share for Kung Fu Panda 2 last year.

While it had to settle for second place, Prometheus still earned an impressive $50 million in its opening weekend. That's off from Inception's $62.8 million, though it's a significant improvement over Super 8's $35.5 million from the same weekend last year. It's the second-highest opening of director Ridley Scott's career behind 2001's Hannibal ($58 million), and it's also a new record for the Alien franchise ahead of Alien Vs. Predator's $38.3 million (though ticket sales were about on par with that entry).

Prometheus's debut ranks 12th all-time among R-rated movies, and among action-oriented ones it was behind The Matrix Reloaded ($91.8 million), 300 ($70.9 million), Watchmen ($55.2 million) and Wanted ($50.9 million).

This may not be the monumental opening many were hoping for, but by pretty much any measure it's an unqualified success. Dark, "original," R-rated sci-fi movies are a tough sell, and on paper Prometheus resembled recent duds Pandorum and Sunshine (total of $10.3 million and $3.7 million, respectively). Of course, Prometheus was a big-budget Ridley Scott movie getting a nationwide release from a major studio, so it was always going to be significantly bigger than those titles, but to get this high is really a tribute to 20th Century Fox's incredible marketing effort. When the attention-grabbing teaser trailer landed in December the movie immediately shot to the top of many must-see lists, and future material (including some cool viral videos) was equally enticing. Also, for most of the campaign there wasn't an explicit connection made to Alien, which made the movie feel like a must-see original movie event.
The audience was 57 percent male and 64 percent 25 year of age and older.

3D accounted for 54 percent of ticket sales, while IMAX contributed 18 percent (nearly all of which is included within that 3D figure).
While this is a great start for Prometheus, its ultimate success really comes to down to whether or not it holds up in the coming weeks. Without a CinemaScore available, and with a steep 25 percent drop from Friday-to-Saturday, the movie's long-term prospects are highly questionable. Sometimes discussion-ready movies develop must-see word-of-mouth (here's looking at you, Inception), but if the movie is frustrating enough (which anecdotally seems to be the case for some people with Prometheus) that doesn't necessarily happen.

Choke-Out, Creflo Dollar Releases Statement & Says: “I would never use my hand”

On Friday, I shared the shocking news surrounding mega-church pastor, Creflo Dollar. A number of outlets reported that the 50-year-old church leader, who is the senior pastor of World Changers Church International in suburban Atlanta, had been arrested in his home, because of an incident involving his 15-year-old daughter. Deputies responded to a call of domestic violence at the home around 1 a.m. The pastor and his daughter were arguing over whether she could go to a party when Dollar “got physical” with her, leaving her with

“superficial injuries.”
Other outlets reported that the altercation between father and daughter was much more serious, noting that Creflo:
“intentionally caused physical harm to his teenage daughter by grabbing her around the neck and choking her…”

He was released and over the weekend, shared the following statement:
“As a father I love my children and I always have their best interest at heart at all times, and I would never use my hand to ever cause bodily harm to my children. The facts in this case will be handled privately to further protect my children. My family thanks you for your prayers and continued support.”
At this point, we aren’t sure who’s telling the truth, but who do you believe? Dollar or his 15-year-old daughter?

Whitney Houston’s Family Pissed at Cissy’s Book Deal

Last week, we confirmed that Cissy Houston was in the process of writing a memoir about Whitney Houston, with a February 2013 release date (marking the one-year anniversary of the iconic star’s death). Ms. Cissy even confirmed and released a statement:

“When I lost my daughter Nippy (Whitney Houston’s nickname), the world lost one of the most beautiful voices and an extraordinarily beautiful and charitable woman…In sharing our story in this book, I hope to give her fans something to treasure, the way we all treasured Whitney. We are still receiving thousands of letters each day from her fans, and I hope reading this book will provide a deeper understanding into my daughter’s true story.

And while many Whitney fans are THRILLED about this memoir, some family members are not-so-pleased. Allegedly, sources close to the family say the majority of Whitney’s money went to her daughter, Bobbi Kristina, and that the motivation behind Cissy’s memoir is merely an attempt to make money. The source tells TMZ:

“She will try to come out looking like the world’s greatest mom, when in actuality, she wasn’t.”

Ouch.

Was Manny Pacquiao Robbed?

Saturday evening, the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley went down in Sin City. The fight, which was the biggest fight of Bradley’s career, ended with him ultimately winning (reportedly, he was to make a minimum of $5 million). So what’s the big fuss? Before the decision had been made, many thought Pacquiao had won, but two judges decided otherwise, giving Bradley a split decision. We hate to bore you, but here are the numbers:
Bradley won five of the last six on two scorecards and four on the third. He won 115-113 on the scorecards of judges Duane Ford and C.J. Ross.
Pacquiao landed 253 punches to 159 for Bradley
Compubox statistics show Pacquiao landed more punches in 10 of the 12 rounds

If you watched the fight Saturday night, do you believe that Pacquia should have won? Or did Bradley clearly win the fight? To me whatever Pacquiao and his latest comments about Pres Obama and Gays were disgusting. Regardless he got paid and PAID BIG!

Former NFL player Wade Davis discusses being a closeted gay man in the NFL

There has yet to be an openly gay athlete in the three major sports’ leagues in America ( NFL, NBA & MLB)

34-year old Wade Davis played in the NFL for 4 seasons as a Corner back. During Davis’ football career, which included stints with the Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks — he never told anyone that he was gay. Davis recently gave an interview to SB Nation where he discussed living life as a closeted gay man in the NFL
At one point Wade mentions that it will probably have to be a superstar to take the step and be the first openly gay player in the L, if the guy wanted to keep his job. The 53rd man on the team probably won’t last. He later retracts that statement but he has a point. Teams thrive off of star players and the feeling is that guy #53 on the roster can be easily replaced. At some point it will be a reality but it feels like football will be one of the last leagues to get on board.

Former teammate, Jevon Kearse has said if he had known at the time Davis was gay, it wouldn’t have been an issue for him.
“I know there have been a lot more than just Wade,” Kearse said. “It’s just becoming more acceptable, which is a good thing so they can come out and not feel secluded.”

VID:

I often wonder how many times teammates look at the guy who goes the hardest with procuring females or “making it rain” in the strip club as Davis mentions and wonder if he’s actually covering something up. I’ve always found that even if people aren’t open with their preference, bits and pieces of their true self slip through to those closest to them.

Good Morning America's' Robin Roberts battling blood disorder

Robin Roberts, who overcame breast cancer five years ago, is battling another health scare. The “Good Morning America” anchor announced Monday that she has myelodysplastic syndrome, a disease of the blood and bone marrow, that was likely caused by her cancer treatment.

The 51-year-old anchor learned of the diagnosis on what was supposed to be a victorious day: when "GMA" beat NBC’s “Today” show in ratings for the first time in 16 years, she said in a statement on the network’s website: "Talk about your highs and lows!" Roberts said. She expects to undergo a bone marrow transplant this fall, with her sister as her donor.

"My doctors tell me I'm going to beat this — and I know it's true," she said in the statement. “ If you Google MDS, you may find some scary stuff, including statistics that my doctors insist don't apply to me. They say I'm younger and fitter than most people who confront this disease and will be cured."

Roberts will begin chemotherapy immediately. The network's medical correspondent, Dr. Richard Besser, also said in a statement on the website that he was consulting with Roberts about MDS, a malignant disorder of the bone marrow, sometimes known as pre-leukemia, that typically affects older people and can also be triggered by cancer treatment.

Roberts will continue appearing on the morning show but is expected take several months off after the transplant to recover. We all wish Robin well as she battles this!

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ENJOY YOUR EVENING EVERYODY!