Back in music, Ma$e says being rich is OK with God

Back in music, Ma$e saysbeing rich is OK with God
ATLANTA -- According to Ma$e, God doesn't mind when people adorn themselves with flashy jewelry.
"He don't have no problem with you blinging," the rapper said in an interview with The Associated Press, during which he wore a jeweled necklace and bracelet.
God's heavenly abode proves that he's the real king of bling, Ma$e added.
"His gates are pearly, his house is about 10 stadiums big, the streets are gold -- you do the budget on that kind of place," said Ma$e, 26.
Ma$e retired from rap in 1999 to follow a religious calling, but returned to hip-hop this summer with the album "Welcome Back," which is free of the cursing, drug references and womanizing that peppered his earlier work. Ma$e continues to preach in the Atlanta area.
Although Jesus preached about the difficulties of a rich man getting into heaven, Ma$e said wealth isn't a bad thing.
"God don't have no problem with you being rich, as long as he can get a dime off a dollar. Any dude you get rich and he can't get you a dime off a dollar, that's a stingy dude," said Ma$e. "If I get you rich, and you can't give me a dime off the dollar I gave you, I wouldn't fool with you."
Hip-hop's Wyclef Jeanpromotes peace in Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Hip-hop star Wyclef Jean visited Haiti to try to help end a wave of violence that has left at least 79 people dead, including several police officers and two street gang leaders.
The singer met with community and gang leaders in Bel Air on Sunday as gunshots rang out. The neighborhood, filled with supporters of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's, has become a flash point for violence.
Jean said he planned to talk to all sectors of Haitian society during his four-day visit to promote dialogue and plans for a peace concert in December.
The U.S. presidential election could help or hinder the process, he told The Associated Press.
"Everyone is watching the elections so close from here," he said.
"I think if [President] Bush comes in power then there's not too much of a negotiation with Haiti. It's more like whatever ... he wants to do he's just going to do it," Jean said in an interview Monday.
"I think if [John] Kerry became president, he would bring peace. There would be a dialogue," he said of the Democratic nominee.
In Paris, Flynt discussesconcerns over election
PARIS -- Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt celebrated his 62nd birthday at his Paris strip club, with a nervous eye on the presidential election back home.
"Perhaps it will be necessary that I think of moving elsewhere, but actually I don't even dare to think of it," Flynt told The Associated Press on Monday during a party with friends and family at his 2-year-old Hustler Club, just off the Champs-Elysees.
Flynt said he feared the re-election of President Bush would lead to an erosion of civil liberties, citing the 2001 anti-terrorism Patriot Act.
"I hope that the undecided really will raise the question of personal freedoms before voting, but personally, I feel sick thinking of four more years of Bush in charge," he said.
Notable death
Peggy Ryan, who teamed with dance partner Donald O'Connor in movie musicals such as "This Is the Life" and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," died Saturday, a hospital said. She was 80. The cause was complications from two strokes, said her friend Dottie Fusch.
Ryan danced and acted in more than two dozen films, but her most memorable roles were with O'Connor. The duo became known for high-energy, complex routines in films like "Mister Big" in 1943 and 1944's "Chip Off the Old Block," "The Merry Monahans" and "Bowery to Broadway."
Today's birthdays
Country singer Charlie Walker is 78. R & amp;B singer Earl "Speedo" Carroll (The Cadillacs; The Coasters) is 67. Singer Jay Black (Jay and the Americans) is 66. Commentator Patrick J. Buchanan is 66. Actress Stefanie Powers is 62. Author Shere Hite is 62. Rock musician Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) is 60. Singer-songwriter K.D. Lang is 43. Rock musician Bobby Dall (Poison) is 41. Actor David Schwimmer is 38. R & amp;B singer Alvin Chea (Take 6) is 37. Rock singer-musician John Hampson (Nine Days) is 33. Rapper Nelly is 30. Rapper Prodigy (Mobb Deep) is 30. Actor Danny Cooksey is 29.