WTF Moment Deep Look: Roxanne's Revenge hoax

I love Slate.com. In late August, The New York Daily News posted a story about an 80s rapper who transformed from a pregnant teenager in the projects to an doctor with an IVy league degree. The story focused on 80s rap star Roxanne Shante, who at 14 earned fame for her 1984 single "Roxanne's Revenge." This song was released a year before i was even born, so while she is way before my time, this story is bizare and intriguing. The article tells how the teenage-mother rapper was screwed out of royaltys and stressed out living in the projects of Queens Bridge. In the article, the rapper claims that she had a contract with record label Warner Music, which binds the label to pay for her education for life. According to the article, Shante had to battle with her record label to get them to pay but eventually won. She received an undergraduate degree in Marymount Manhattan and a PHd in Psychology from Cornell, all funded by Warner Music. The article includes a quote from Russel Simmons (not to the NYDN) about "Dr. Shante's" accomplishment. It goes on to say that sh according to this story reported by slate.e is now practicing in New York.
However, a recent report by Slate shows this

Cinderella story to be nothing more than a fairy tale.

.
In his story, Slate reporter Ben Sheffner uncovers the sham. The Slate article revealed:
That she doesn't have a PHD
She never enrolled at Cornell
Ny has no record of her practicing psychology
She was enrolled at Marymount for a semester but never graduated
While Shante later admitted to Slate that she doesn't have a PHd she still calls her self a doctor. Also, Warner Music claims in the slate article that although NYDN claims to have contacted them for contact, no such contact was ever made. Despite a lack of proof to confirm her story Shante insists that her education was paid for by Warner and "an annoymous doner". She insists that she attend both schools, clarifying that she earned a masters not a PHd. She insists that she registered under a false name b/c of domestic violence issues and possibly filled out the application wrong.
Um, you are smart enough to get a masters from Cornell, but not smart enough to fill an application correctly?
She also suggested that there was a computer error. The whole story was strange
Is this a "Jason Blair" affair on a smaller level...or was the NYDN reporter taken for a ride?
As an aspiring journalist the story upsets me. The NYDN has Miss Shante quoting the dean of Marymount claiming she helped Shante fight to get the money from Warner. Shouldn't the dean have been called to confirm this fact and give a direct quote? this whole story baffles me because, while I am sure that people who grew up listening to her music remember her, but I'm sure many have forgotten her or never knew in the first place? What purpose does this serve to Shante? Or the reporter? Such a random made-up story...

When Did Glamour and Cosmopolitan become Seventeen and YM?

Today, while at the cafe at Barnes and Nobles, my friend B and I got some coffee and flipped through magazines.
"Can you get me the issue of Glamour with Miley Cyrus on the cover?" B asked.
"Sure," I replied rolling my eyes, not at the request but that she was their cover girl. She was 16, why is she on their cover anyway?
When I was growing up, I remember my mother reading women's magazines such as Glamour and Marie Claire etc. I remember that most of the people on the cover of the magazines seemed to be about my mom's age (twenties-thirties). Is my memory failing me or are "Women's" magazine's getting younger?
Perhaps my memory of the magazines my mother read when SHE was my age are foggy and false, but I can't help but feel like Women's magazines have become too teeny bopperish.
All three of these stars gracing the women's magazine covers shown here are DISNEY STARS. Aren't these magazine's for women in their 20s? Granted, I know teens read them, and pretty much always have, but aren't they supposed to be catering to WOMEN and not little girls?
Sorry, I don't care how "grown" she thinks she is, Miley Cyrus is a child! She is not "grown up." Anyone who has ever seen her web videos she posts with her friends that she is clearly a child (not hating, it's good. She should be acting like a kid, she is one).
Worse though is seeing Ashley Tisdale on Cosmopolitan striking a pose and trying to look sexy. I hate to hate on females, but I must say I don't find her that attractive. Plus, since she visited Serendipity (all three girls shown here have, actually).
I know that she is kind of a brat. I don't care how old she is, I can't think of a Disney star as a sex symbol that I want to see on Cosmo.Can the Disney stars please stay in Disney?
I don't get so annoyed by Beyonce and Brittany etc so much, even though teens like them, many of of their fans were kids and teens when they came out and are now in their 20s, so they are crossover celebrities.
The immaturity extends inside to the content as well. Do females really want to read about being Hannah Montana? Am I the only one who feels foolish reading a magazines with articles like "Does he like you?" in it (hello, Teen Magazine circa 1997!).
Maybe I am just in the process of outgrowing these types of magazines?

Okay, at this point it seems EVERYONE and their mother has weighed in on this whole Chris Brown and Rhianna situation: Roseanne Bar, Jay-z, Terrance Howard, reporters and bloggers across the country. And now, i must jump on the band wagon and insert my two cents. n alleged photo of Rhianna, revealing her bruises from the alleged attack have recently been posted on gossip site TMZ.com. The pictures themselves are disturbing, but what's further disturbing is that they are even posted at all.

Ever since the announcement on Grammy Night, that police were seeking Chris Brown on charges of assault and criminal threats, the media has been in a frenzy. Frankly, I find it all sickening. A google news search of Chris Brown finds over 35,000 hits. The thing that annoys me about the constant media frenzy is that the media is having a field day w/o any facts. This evident from the various accounts of the situation reported in the media: He punched her, he bit her, he choked her and threatened to kill her, it started because she punched him first, it started over a text, they fought because she gave him an std....the variations are never ending.

My annoyance at the situation isn't the gripe of a Chris Brown Lovin' Group chick, angered that he's being caste in a bad light. He deserves the bad press for abusing his girlfirend. What angers me is that the media is making money sensationalizing the story. A young woman was bruitalized and the media is seeing dollar signs. The Tmz picture is disgusting and tactless.
Equally as repulsive was the fact that MTV aired a documentary last week "Chris Brown and Rhianna Love in trouble." How they made a documentary on situation when facts haven't been released from sources of any authority is beyond me-but go on MTV, make a buck. (Toya's World discusses this as well).MTV has generated a string of non-news news stories surrounding the event.