Elizabeth Gates is like many young people in their 20s. She’s gifted, talented, energetic and hardworking. A writer at the Daily Beast, Gates recently suffered a stroke, which surprised her and others, since she is only in her 20s. After an evening out at a bachelorette party, she woke up with what she thought was…

Known as the Modern Day Matchmaker, Paul Carrick Brunson is using Twitter to connect people searching for love. The matchmaker stumbled across his strategy by simply trying to help his brother get more followers and possibly a date. He started by describing his brother’s background qualities and posing questions such as what would he do…

Rapper T.I. and wife Tameka “Tiny” Cottle were arrested late Wednesday night on drug charges after police smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from their car, allegedly. They were arrested for possession of a controlled substance during a traffic stop on Hollywood Boulevard. Now we understand how these two got together. Neither one of…

Southern Sudan’s parliament may vote to secede from the Khartoum-based north if an independence referendum scheduled for Jan. 9, 2011, is delayed. Under the terms of the peace deal signed in 2005 to end the north-south civil war, the oil-rich region can take such action. John Duku, Southern Sudan’s former mission chief to Kenya, says,…

Aging black politicians getting indicted is becoming commonplace. This time it’s Maryland State Senator Ulysses Currie, who is chairman of a legislative committee that steers $32 billion in state spending. Currie is accused of using his influence to benefit the grocery store chain Shoppers Food Warehouse. The 73-year-old was indicted by a federal grand jury…

Superstar alternative soul man Cee-Lo Green has done it again. In 2007 he had the entire planet bopping to his hit “Crazy,” as one half of the international sensation Gnarls Barkley, with his other half Danger Mouse. He’s done it again, igniting the Web with a track entitled, “F@#$ You.” It’s hot, catchy, clean and…

UPDATE (5:05 p.m.): The Discovery Channel suspect has been shot and the hostages are safe. Police officers shot the suspect at about 4:50 p.m., Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger told reporters. All three hostages are safe and out of the building. “The suspect is in custody,” he said. Manger said he had no information…

Fresh from our “What were you thinking?” file, Texas Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Democrat who was first elected to Congress in 1992, provided 23 scholarships totaling $25,000 to two of her grandsons, two of her great-nephews and an aide’s son and daughter, The Dallas Morning News reported. Johnson, who served on the board of…

Corporate profits aren’t just rising in absolute terms — they’re rising in relative terms. Corporate profits as a percentage of GDP are back up to nearly record highs. The quarterly GDP report released by the U.S. Commerce Department provided detailed data on corporate profits, which stood at $1.5 trillion in 2007, falling sharply to $1.26…

The Charlotte Bobcats made a $250,000 donation to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) scholarship fund to help defray the costs of middle school athletics this academic year. The donation is the largest ever made by a professional sports franchise to CMS, and the largest single donation CMS has received to date in response to budget cuts…