• Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday is coming up. What to get the man who had something, then was imprisoned and had nothing and now has everything? [AA]

• How 'bout something we don't know: "Biased system packs prisons with young black men" [PB]

• Police are searching for anyone with information about the "improvised explosive device" that ripped through a Times Square military recruiting station early this morning. [CR]

• "Lesson of Defeat: Obama Comes Out Punching" [NYT]

• Bill Cosby keeps the pressure on in Ohio. [WTOL]

• Republicans are ignoring the GOP this election season? Okay, well, that means everything is status quo, then. [LW]

• A group of Maryland students are collecting interviews from several of the states oldest blacks for a project that is turning out to be the most comprehensive studies of black life in the region. [WP]

• What happens when your own past intersects with your work. [USAT]

• "What gives you cause for hope or despair when it comes to race in America?" [MSNBC]

• The South African "urine stew" video is just a tip of the iceberg. [AA]

Hundreds of tough broads took to the streets of Johannesburg today to show solidarity with a woman who was sexually assaulted for wearing a miniskirt.

The women marched to the taxi line where Nwabisa Ngcukana, 25, was groped and beaten last month by a nasty group of cab drivers and passersby, who said she was dressed too provocatively.

At the taxi rank the groups clashed, with some of the women baring their breasts in defiance and some of the cabbies hurling insults like "prostitute." Nonhlanhla Mokeona, a protester with the group People Opposing Women Abuse, said, "What we want to highlight is that women have rights - they have the right to choose what to wear."

Last week, South Africa's National House of Traditional Leaders, its highest council of tribal and community elders, said that women often wore short skirts in traditional ceremonies. Not that it should matter, but it helps.

IN THE SPIRIT OF APARTHEID Black students at the ironically-named Free State University in South Africa are protesting on campus after a video, shot in September, surfaced showing white students feeding black housekeepers at their residence hall urine stew.

In one scene from the video, a student mixes what looks like a beef stew in a plastic bowl and adds garlic and other items. Then he tells the camera he will add the "special ingredient."

The student then urinates into the mixture, which he later stirs up and puts in a microwave. Other students can be heard laughing on the tape.

The next scene shows a different student urging at least three housekeepers to drink cups full of the stew, saying, "This is our dorm's 'Fear Factor.' We want to see who has the best 'Fear Factor.'"

The students staged the video to protest the university's attempt to integrate the residence halls. [CNN]

• Well, the New York Times enjoyed Lil Wayne's concert last night. [NYT]

• A black Republican goes for the hard sell. [NM]

• Maybe our National Association of Black Journalists can send an emissary to South Africa to help handle this issue. [AA]

• Dr. Dre is launching a line of "premium alcohol." As a producer/rapper, it was his logical next step. [CM]

• I once thought this presidential race would never get old… [TRS]

Say what you will about Mike Tyson's intelligence, but, based on his facial expression at a charity banquet in Johannesburg, SA, today, he can tell when he's not wanted. Women's groups in South Africa are incensed that the convicted rapist is being invited to charity events in a country with one of the highest rates of rape. Based on their criticism, African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma — who was found not guilty of rape two years ago — was a no show at the event. [MSNBC]

Just when Oprah Winfrey thought the abuse scandal at her South African school was almost over, the judge granted the defendant in the case a month-long reprieve to meet with her attorneys.

The Sebokeng Magistrate Court Thursday delayed the case against 27-year-old Virginia Mokgobo, giving the former employee of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls slightly more than a month to consult with her lawyer over the case.

Magistrate Arend van Wielligh granted the brief reprieve to allow Mokgobo time to meet with her attorneys; she was ordered back to the court on Jan. 16. At that time, Wielligh is also expected to set a trial date for the case.

The last thing Miss Winfrey wants or needs, what with the full plate of obligations she has served herself, is for the nasty scandal to be drawn out any further. [E!]

Earlier today, Oprah Winfrey held a press conference to discuss the scandal at her South African Girls' School, where a former dormitory matron is accused of physically and sexually abusing students. In true Oprah form, she takes full responsibility for the incident, although she admits that the day-to-day operation of the school is not overseen by her. Basically, she seriously needs to bulk up the hiring process. Non-abusive help is so hard to find.

When abuse scandals hit a normal school, people are fired and counselors come in to help students. Maybe a school district gets sued.

When abuse scandals hit Oprah's school, every single student gets their own cell phone with her number in it so they can call whenever they need her. If one of those phone doesn't show up on Ebay within the next couple of weeks, I will have a renewed faith in humanity. [People]

Now that all the gory details of Oprah Winfrey's school scandal at Oprah Winfrey's South African school are out, Winfrey, who has made multiple trips to and from Africa in the past few weeks, is struggling to diffuse the situation and regain the trust of students and their families.

"I've disappointed you. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," the talk show queen told families in an emergency meeting at the South African school in Henley-on-Klip, south of Johannesburg…

Oprah, who has spoken openly about being abused as a child, gave the girls her personal telephone number, her e-mail address and her postal address so that they could contact her around the clock.

She also suspended both the principal and another dormitory matron. I seriously doubt Oprah would cut corners when it came to hiring, and I am almost positive this sexually abusive dormitory matron just slipped through the cracks. Is it possible to feel bad for a billionaire?

[NYDN]

As details emerge, it's apparent that the rumored crisis at Oprah's South African school went a bit further than some unauthorized corporal punishment. A South African newspaper printed the allegations — which are certain to disgust Oprah, a child abuse victim– against a fired dormitory matron at the boarding school.

The woman, who has since been removed from the campus, allegedly grabbed a girl by the throat and threw her against a wall. Other alleged charges were that she swore and screamed at the girls, assaulted them and had sexually fondled at least one of them, according to Rapport newspaper.

The alleged incidents went public after one of the pupils ran away from the school because the abuse had become intolerable, according to Rapport. Her parents immediately notified the school…

The TV mogul met with the school’s executive and private investigators and held a two-hour meeting with the parents of her students, who were flown to Johannesburg from all over the country. A report by a private investigator flown in from the United States to conduct an inquiry with a South African counterpart has been turned over to the local police.

It's pretty ballsy to try some shady shit at an Oprah-owned facility. She does not like to be crossed. I guess they didn't show her James Frey episode in South Africa.

[EUR]

If you were wondering why Oprah Winfrey did not show up to an awards show last week honoring her friend Julia Roberts (because I was certainly losing sleep over the question), it turns out there is some drama going on at the media queen's much-hyped school for girls, and Child Protection Services, South African and U.S. police, and Oprah herself were called in to handle a situation involving the misconduct of a dormitory matron. I think we can all imagine what that means.

The details are being kept confidential, but the girls are being offered psychological counseling. Countdown to the inevitable attacks from Oprah's critics begins now.

[E!]

• South African blacks are slowly but surely entering the country's thriving wine industry. [LAT]

• Lil Romeo: college basketball player and owner of the "official snack of hip hop." [EUR]

• Busta Rhymes basically just lives in court these days. [WNBC]

• The College Board might be bringing AP African American History to high school kids. [IHE]

• A Jackson family member is cheap and creepy? No! I mean, we are talking about a guy who named his kid Jermajesty. [TMZ]