Outkast rapper Big Boi faces drug charges

AP - This image provided by the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department shows Antwan Patton, also known as Big Boi, after his arrest on Sunday.

MIAMI — Miami police arrested Outkast rapper...Big Boi on Sunday for possessing
ecstasy and other drugs that the performer's lawyer later characterized as "contraband."

Media reports cited the Miami-Dade County Corrections Department's website as listing the rapper, whose real name is Antwan Patton, as having been arrested for having ecstasy, MDMA powder and Viagra, for which he had no prescription.

The Miami Herald reported that Big Boi faces a fourth count of possession of drug paraphernalia. Celebrity website TMZ.com said he was arrested by customs officials exiting a cruise ship, and that he'd been booked into jail in the afternoon but was released after posting a bond.

On the singer's official Twitter account, Big Boi initially tweeted "Fresh Out Baby!" and later, "...they said it was the Love Boat..." But details of the arrest could not be confirmed on Sunday evening.

An attorney for the rapper issued a statement saying he expects Big Boi will beat the charges.

"While Big Boi was traveling with his group and friends, a small amount of contraband was found in the collective luggage," attorney Daniel Kane said in a statement.

"I am confident when the entire facts are aired Big Boi will be completely exonerated."

{Outkast was formed by Andre' Benjamin (who later became known as Andre 3000) and Patton (Big Boi) in the 1990s with a distinct brand of southern-influenced hip hop music...}

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters.TODAY News

'Since when does abortion have anything to do with slavery?' - posted by Mishall Rehman on Wed, Jun 22, 2011

An anti-abortion billboard with a picture of an infant profile is creating controversy in a community. (Source:KTVU/CNN)

According to the Radiance Foundation, abortion and slavery have a lot more in common than you might have thought. And to make sure you see the link between the two, the Alpharetta-based foundation has started a campaign to prop up nearly 50 billboards across metro Atlanta.

The billboards feature such slogans as "The 13th Amendment Freed us. Abortion Enslaved Us" and "Abortion makes three-fifths human seem overly generous." The billboards popped up across metro Atlanta on Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.

The billboards are part of a campaign targeted at persuading black women from resorting to abortions. Black women account for 30 percent of abortions but are only 12 percent of the population.

The campaign has raised many eyebrows from organizations like the NAACP who told the Huffington Post that likening slavery to abortion is slightly offensive:

"Comparing abortion to slavery certainly raises major concerns," Hilary Shelton, director of the Washington bureau of the NAACP, told HuffPost in an interview. "Women are not forced to have abortions the way they were in servitude. Slavery was about not having the right to make any decisions. Women were actually bred to produce children for the purposes of profit. This is so far removed from that, that if it weren't such a serious issue, it would almost be laughable."

The foundation also launched other similar campaigns across the country in the past to target black women from contributing to the so called abortion "epidemic."
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