By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
"The Great Gatsby” is the Hope Diamond of American cinema — priceless, enviable, impossibly tacky and bad, bad luck. Many filmmakers have stepped up to the challenge of capturing its quintessentially American story of self-invention, and just about all have whiffed memorably and expensively. Australian director Baz Luhrmann has broken the curse.
Pop icon Beyonce called the amount of criticism she and husband Jay-Z faced for their vacation in Cuba "shocking" in an interview that aired Monday.
If you do a search on the Internet for the wealthiest black businessmen, the results may (or may not) come as a surprise to you. The list is dominated by athletes and entertainment figures; in fact, only two of the names that consistently come up are what you would consider traditional businessmen Robert Johnson (worth $550 million) and R. Donahue Peebles ($350 million).
As Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, on Sunday called the entertainers' visit to the communist island "hypocritical," The Associated Press reported that two other Cuban-American politicians want to know why the Treasury Department approved the trip.
The murder trial of abortionist Kermit Gosnell was given a media blackout by the major news networks and illegal border crossings jumped as Congress tried to put together an immigration bill. On the international stage, Cuba greeted rapper Jay-Z and the entertainer claimed in song that he was given clearance by the White House. Here's a recap, or wrap, on the week that was from The Washington Times:
Calling the duo's trip "a squandered opportunity," Republican Rep. Matt Salmon on Friday again blasted Jay-Z and Beyonce for vacationing in Cuba while failing to confront the communist nation's poor treatment of its own people.
Although the White House said it wasn't involved, rapper Jay-Z boasts in a new song Thursday that he got "White House clearance" for his recent trip to Cuba with wife Beyonce.
The Brooklyn Nets are losing one of their biggest names as they prepare for the playoffs.
Beyonce's and Jay-Z's widely criticized fifth anniversary trip to communist-run Cuba was blessed by the Obama administration, Reuters reported Tuesday morning.
Beyonce and Jay-Z celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary in Havana last week as official guests of a regime that busily beat and arrested black civil rights activists known as the "Rosa Parks Civil Rights Movement."
rapper Jay-Z and the entertainer claimed in song that he was given clearance by the White House.
The Wrap: From 'Gun Free Zone' signs for gun grabbers to N. Korean nuke threats, the week that was →
People may now be talking those issues, he added, but it isn't because of the couple's trip.
Jay-Z, Beyonce should learn from U2's Bono, Rep. Matt Salmon says →
