Pimpin’ All Over DC

Photo by flickr user <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/iwillshootyourhead/3151028041/">A. Gibson</a> used under a <a href="http://www.creativecommons.org">CC</a> license.

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Rapper Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, of “Yous A Ho, “What’s Your Fantasy,” and “Obama is Here” fame, will be speaking at a National Press Club luncheon on Friday. The event follows “Accelerating Energy Innovation: Lessons from Multiple Sectors” and precedes a “New and Old World Wine Tasting Benefit,” so please don’t get confused. You want more details? I’ve got more details:

The entertainer created the Ludacris Foundation in 2001 to increase leadership through education, healthy lifestyles and community engagement. The luncheon precedes the Foundation’s annual Benefit Dinner, to be held for the first time in the nation’s capital on October 24 at the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center.

Yes, Ludacris is headed to the Ronald Reagan building after his luncheon at the National Press Club. No word yet on when Lil Jon gets his luncheon. If you want a preview of the kind of insights you can expect from the luncheon, behold this, from the press release:

In today’s world we have new issues and new challenges. The old way of looking at these issues and challenges have not rendered the outcomes we want. Logical thinking, while necessary is not sufficient – we need lateral thinking (thinking outside our current frame of reference). We need a new type of leadership.

I’m not paying the admission fee ($17/$28/$35 members/guests/general admission) for this, but please let scoop [at] motherjones [dot] com know if you go.

Also, quick question for @APStylebook: What’s the appropriate style for rendering Lil Jon’s (and Lil Wayne’s and Lil’ Kim’s) names?

 

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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