Once upon a time, free cigarettes were handed out at Congressional Black Caucus events and Rep. Edolphus Towns was referred to as "Marlboro Man" as a nod to his campaign contributions from Big Tobacco. None of this goes on anymore, but the CBC still has a complicated relationship with the tobacco industry, which makes the recent flavored-cigarette ban a sticky problem. Many think that the bill, which bans all flavored cigarettes except for menthols, which are disproportionately smoked by blacks, has racial implications. It's causing a rift in a CBC already divided over the Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton drama.

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Congress is trying its hand at regulating tobacco, and the first order of business is legislation that, in an attempt to decrease the allure of smoking among young people, bans flavored cigarettes like cloves. While it's unknown how this whole legislation experiment will pan out, one thing is clear in Big Tobacco's uncertain future — black folks won't have to give up their Newports or Kools anytime soon.

A glaring omission in this ban on cigarette flavorings is menthol, which will remain just as legal as ever. Those in the tobacco regulation business see this as a very obvious — and potentially dangerous — example of legislators bowing under pressure from big tobacco. A loss of menthol cigarettes, which make up a quarter of cigarette sales, would mean a loss of big money… and black consumers. While a quarter of white smokers smoke cigarettes with menthol, a whopping 75 percent of black smokers do.

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• The band is made, and one day I will forgive Puffy for confusing my DVR by making the live show go overtime and forcing me to find out the winners from Wikipedia. [MTV]

• If Kanye West is the new Michael Jackson and 50 Cent says Michael Jackson could sell more records than him, where does that leave the September 11 battle? [SP]

• Alright, I might just have to watch Dancing With The Stars this season. Tori Spelling? Mel B? Gisele? It will be like a reality TV dance competition version of Us Weekly. [TMZ]

• R. Kelly shoots down rumors he's going on tour with Keyshia Cole and says he's currently preparing for his trial. By preparing for his trial, he means writing hundreds of "Trapped in the Closet" episodes. [SOHH]

• These researchers are crazy. Why on earth would tobacco companies advertise more in black neighborhoods? [Physorg]

• In honor of the upcoming NY Fashion Week, which celebs do you think have earned fashion honors? [BLife]

Apparently, it takes 33 key steps to ruin a black city. New Orleans followed them all. [LW]

The NAACP questions the MLB's commitment to recruiting more black players. [SI]

British American Tobacco and Phillip Morris International are probably in deep trouble for marketing cigarettes directly to Nigerian children. [TO]

So something good came out of Snoop getting banned from Australia. [HS]

The Essence Festival, which starts tonight, is back in New Orleans. This is a good thing, because Houston really wasn't cutting it. [TP]

Calling it genocide is a bit of a stretch, as there is a significant amount of free will involved in the (initial, at least) purchase and use of cigarettes, but it's hard not to notice that certain cigarette ads are geared directly toward African Americans. Surprise! There's a new $1 billion lawsuit against the major tobacco companies (these things never go out of style) brought on by a Florida woman whose mother and grandmother both died cigarette-related deaths.

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