samurai sh#t (Anwar X Meth)

hagakure (Rosario X Denzel)

rememberin' Mac Dre

WU Movie (patiently waiting)

Wu-Tang Movie Trailer

Full Moon tonight

Full Moon
11.13.08
6:18am
EST at 1:18am
New Moon
11.27.08
4:56pm
EST 11:56 am

The Full Moon increases positive ionic ratios which accounts for the strange and aggressive behavior. The Full Moon occurs approximately every 27.3 days. When the Sun and The Moon are on the opposite side of the Earth, which is directly connected to low barometric pressure in which, positive ions increase 3 times the amount of negative ions. The earth has a negative charge; therefore negative ions are expelled from the Earth. Positive ions, or the lack of negative ions cause serotonin hyperfunction syndrome or “irritation syndrome”. Positive ions are directly related to Human mood disorder or depression which is treated with drugs that blocks serotonin hyperfunction, which have chemical side effects. Immerse yourself in negative ions.

How: Himalayan Crystal Salt

Himalayan Crystal Salt has a similar PH balance of H2O. Himalayan Crystal has a fine crystal structure which minute amounts of H2O are dispersed when heated amplifying H2O potency and absorbing pathogens which have a positive ionic base, then destroying them. In turn decreasing positive ions giving you a feeling of well being!

Where: Fini’me Green

Enjoy the Full Moon tonight!


December
Full Moon
12.12.08
4:38 pm
EST- 11:38 am
New Moon
12.27.08
12:23 pm
EST- 7:23 am

Letters To My Soul Mate

Ok … this is ya boy Noiz checking again (I love blogging on Shade Tree as you can tell … lol). Well to day I’m going to talk about fear. Yes fear. You know … a frightening thought, or other entity that causes uneasy feelings. Notice the key words; thought and feelings. To put it simply, fear is all in our minds.

Recently a close friend told me that “Most people are afraid of what they don't know or understand” and of course I arrogantly replied “Not me”. To be totally honest, I truly believe that there wasn’t much left on this earth for me to be afraid of. Oh- was I ever wrong! I was afraid to let God choose my love for me. I had this idea of who this person would be before I allowed God to send her to me. I was still trying to control my fate so that I wouldn’t get hurt again like I have been in the past.S

omeone once said that dwelling on the past leads to sorrow and dwelling on the future is the cause of fear. This is the very reason we should all live in the MOMENT. What we are doing this very moment in time is the only reality we know. Whether it’s cooking breakfast for the fam or sitting in front of your computer with a cool class of OJ. Or relaxing and stretching out on the couch because the kids are gone to school. This is the moment we live in; the NOW. When we really sit back and absorb the vastness of now, we start to appreciate every breathe we take, every word we say, every thought we have in our mind and at this point is when worry is thrown to the wind. We also start to think LIFE IS TO SHORT TO PASS UP A ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY OF LOVE. If we really sit and think about it, we realize that, hey – we may never have this moment again.

Many who have read my work and hopefully will read my book My Life: An Open Book –Love and Truth (shameless plug), know that I try to relay a message of self acceptance, forgiveness, unconditional love and the value of speaking truth at all cost. Well, little did I know; practicing what you speak is a WHOLE lot easier than just writing words.

I had searched for love for so long that I had forgotten what is was that I was looking for. Everyday it was something different. I’d pray “God bring me someone intelligent”, he’d send me and intelligent female, only to find out she was also narcissistic and disrespectful. So then I’d pray “God send me someone who is respectful and humble”, and right on time he sent me someone who was humble as apple pie and just as right as rain on a hot summer day. Ahhh … but, she also had self esteem so low I couldn’t go to the store without her calling every five minutes to see where I was. This continued this way for a few months. Until I realized that I was basing my wants on fear. Fear that if I wasn’t specific, then God wouldn’t send me what I wanted. Not knowing that God sends us who we need and not who we want.

Needless to say, I gave up for a while. I spent a lot of time alone and started writing about love. Then I started writing about the love that I wanted in my life. I started a series of letters called “A Letter to My Soul Mate” and there are four volumes.See I created in mind, the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

It wasn’t about how she looked or what type of career she had or even what her past was like. I just knew that if I started to ask God for someone who made me FEEL l the way I felt when I wrote these letters … then I would know … “That’s her, my Soul Mate”. So, I left caution to the wind and started writing these letters as if we had already met. There’s more to this story than I could ever fit in a blog – but maybe my book will tell the rest (shameless plug #2)

When we start to ask God to bless our hearts with love then he will send us the specifics not the other way around. Let go of fear and claim love … don’t find it … claim it!

It’s yours!

A Letter to My Soul Mate – Vol. 1

I had a dream about you last night. You may not believe me but it’s true. Let me see. It was around two o’clock Saturday night and I saw two moons in a star riddled sky. The clouds were pillow like with violet linings. I saw beauty shining quietly over mountainous silhouettes. I’ll bet I was dreaming of the set of our future love story. It could only be called “Destiny”. A glorious take on how Chance met Fate in a galaxy called Love.

Looking above, I dreamed of us as constellations, adjacent by the same star. Have you ever seen a dove fly under moonlight or white petals dancing on ocean waves? In my dream, the night was as bright as the day and the hills and valleys were always behind us.

Awed, dazed and smiling; I just wanted to be blinded by beauty once more. Sore from running to your heart; I stared into your eyes and fell asleep again. Feeling my soul leave my skin is an experience called “Out of Body”. It was actually like I slipped into a deeper … reality. You’re probably laughing because you dreamed of me too.

This is a letter to my soul mate and today I rip it in two. There is a piece for me and a piece for you. Now, this is what we’ll do. I’ll rent a balloon across the land and toss your half to you. So if you find the other piece … the woman I dreamed of … was you.

A Letter to My Soul Mate – Vol. 2

I was gazing at the stars last night and had delightful dreams of you. I have no idea of who you are but I hope that we’ll meet soon. I have a feeling you read my work, but you’re hesitant to speak. It’s probably because you think I say these things to every woman I meet. But truth be told, I rarely date and I barely send replies to all the messages I get; I guess I’m kind of shy.

Or maybe it’s the opposite, I’m older and now I’m wise. So trust me, If you contact me; today we’ll start our life.

This is a letter to my soul mate and today I rip it in two. There is a piece for me and a piece for you. Now, this is what we’ll do. I’ll rent a balloon across the land and toss your half to you. So if you find the other piece … the woman I dreamed of … was you.

A Letter to My Soul Mate – Vol. 3: Computer Love

You’ve read my poems but you’d never let me know it. See, Myspace has a feature that keeps your pic from showing. You’re saying, “I know him …” your mind races. “Just another player, swooning the ladies with grace and words”. You’ve read at least one third of my work, but still can’t work up the nerve to say “Hi”.Well on the flip side, I know you too. You use the excuse of being too cute as a decoy for accepting the truth. Our souls are connected … I know it. We haven’t even met and yet I’ve walked into your life through writing.

I’m reciting the stories of our future and you’re in front of your computer like, “His pic is attractive, but his mind is cuter.I wrote two poems specifically for you … A Letter to My Soul Mate, volumes one and two. This is volume 3, but hopefully you’ll open the door. At last we’ll meet and I won’t need volume 4.

This is a letter to my soul mate and today I rip it in two. There is a piece for me and a piece for you. Now, this is what we’ll do. I’ll rent a balloon across the land and toss your half to you. So if you find the other piece … the woman I dreamed of … was you.

Boyz II Men singer Responds to Beyonce’s Boy

Wow…this one is something to chew on. The first R&B battle in a minute. Not really a beef though. Just a few choice words from Boyz II Men singer Shawn Stockman on Beyonce’s “If I Were A Boy.” Take a listen and share your thoughts.

We miss you Dirt McGirt!

Know Your Worth

I wrote this poem for those who are willing to do anything for money. Some go as far as to sell their souls and give up who they are inside to gain the the material things of the world. Everyone who reads this poem and the words I'm writing at this very moment PLEASE UNDERSTAND. If my riches don't come from God ... to be more specific ... Jesus ... I'd rather live poor on this earth. Because I believe that Jesus died for me to be rich in heaven.

His teachings were that of unconditional love and unconditional faith. Faith is what defines me. There is no ritual on this earth that can achieve what prayer and meditation can. There is no job on this earth that can pay me enough to denounce the name of Jesus. There is no love on this earth that can seperate me from the love of Christ.

I have issues ... yes. But money ain't one. I get every morning and thank God that he made me who I am. I thank him for the two beautiful girls that he blessed me with. I thank him for a mother and father that were destined to have me as a son. I thank him for the friends in my life ... true friends. Although they may be few in number they have blessed me with the riches that no earthly coin can compare to.

So, some may say "By ANY means neccessary" I say "By the ONLY means neccessary" .... Jesus!

He has a place for you and me ... will I see you there?


Would a million be enough?
Or trillion cut diamonds maybe …
Or maybe a Mercedes Maybach
Going Mach 3 on
3 lane highways

Oh No
I say … not even
No cruise on elegant steamships
Nor all the gold in Egypt
Could amount to
My worth

You can own all the
Oil in Texas
Then buy the
Presidents Election …
Win the lottery
In 5 successions …

And still …
You wouldn’t be close

You can live as the
Modern Jetsons
Have billionaire connections
Have a Rolex for every second

And still …
It’s just not enough

How ‘bout the strength
As that of Sampson’s
Or the heart of Olympic Champions
Or a chance to just be young again …

My friend …
It still wouldn’t add up

Not all the chips in Vegas
Not all the finest faces
Nor all the cutest babies …

Could even touch my worth

Not all the tea in China
Or all the power of Midas
My worth is simply priceless
No earthly coin can price it

So what? … you ask
If I had a tag
What would my number be?
When God creates a number
THAT BIG …
The world will no longer be

Matthew 6:21
Matthew 6:33
Philippians 1:21
Philippians 4:13

Shadetree Exclusive:Annie Leibovitz Photographer

Annie Leibovitz was born on October 2, 1949, in Waterbury, Connecticut. While studying painting at the San Francisco Art Institute, she took night classes in photography, and in 1970, she began doing work for Rolling Stone magazine. She became Rolling Stone’s chief photographer in 1973. By the time she left the magazine, 10 years later, she had shot 142 covers. In 1983, she joined the staff at Vanity Fair, and in 1998, she also began working for Vogue. In addition to her magazine editorial work, Leibovitz has created influential advertising campaigns for American Express and the Gap and has contributed frequently to the Got Milk? campaign. She has worked with many arts organizations, including American Ballet Theatre, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Mark Morris Dance Group, and with Mikhail Baryshnikov. Her books include Annie Leibovitz: Photographs (1983), Photographs: Annie Leibovitz 1970–1990 (1991), Olympic Portraits (1996), Women (1999), American Music (2003), A Photographer’s Life: 1990–2005 (2006), and Annie Leibovitz at Work (2008). Exhibitions of her images have appeared at museums and galleries all over the world, including the National Portrait Gallery and the Corcoran Gallery, in Washington, D.C.; the International Center of Photography, in New York; the Brooklyn Museum; the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; the Centre National de la Photographie, in Paris; and the National Portrait Gallery in London. Leibovitz has been designated a Living Legend by the Library of Congress and is the recipient of many other honors, including the Barnard College Medal of Distinction and the Infinity Award in Applied Photography from the International Center of Photography. She was decorated a Commandeur in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. She lives in New York with her three children, Sarah, Susan, and Samuelle.

Tribute To Motown by Annie Leibovitz

Style Wars

Run 'em!

Deadly Products

Manufactures continually use ingredients that cause known and unknown harm to our Planet. This means you, me, our children, our animals and our environment suffer on a daily bases from the use of hair and body products. Reading ingredients, becoming aware of everything that you throw in the trash, everything that you pour down the drain will make a great difference to you and our environment.
Look up some of you favorite products @ cosmeticsdatabase.com

Are You Really Ready for Love?

Ahhh … love. That wonderful unexplainable feeling inside you that makes you do the craziest things. You know I once told someone that I would climb the highest mountain in the world for them … just because I thought I was in love. Now keep in mind I was like 15. A brother is 32 now and mountain climbing just ain’t me. LOL.

Wow … it’s amazing the physical lengths we are willing to go through in the name of love. Fella’s, y’all also know the financial lengths we will go through to prove our love (don’t act like you haven’t been there …lol.

But what is love? This may be the most rhetorical question of the ages thus far, but really? What is love? I thought I understood what love was when I was younger. But I have recently fallen in love and I am destined to understand what constitues love. I always thought that love was sharing, caring, laughing, having a good time and just plain ol’ peachy. I thought love was getting the kids ready for work and helping my significant other pay bills on time. You know … I even thought that love was also hinged upon how good the bedroom performance was (although that one still weighs heavily on my mind:-). Hey I’m not perfect.)

But then I spent a lot of time alone and I started to ask myself … have I ever really been in love. I mean, I’ve had the house with the dog and a big yard. My girl stayed laced in the finest things. We had friends and family over all the time and we talked about problems. But still … the “Love” faded.What I’ve come to realize lately is that love really is synonymous with truth. Those who have read my poetry know that this is a consistent theme in my work. It’s because I truly believe this. So, when I digressed on past relationships there was always one major element that didn’t exist. Truth. I never let them see the REAL me.

All this time, I was happy being the person that they wanted me to be. It also seemed as if they played along and put on the mask of the person they thought I wanted them to be. Both of us afraid of letting each other see our true selves. Oh, it’s perfect when someone is always saying the right things and back rubs feel just right and the bills are paid on time. But when the proverbial "honey moon" is over … where does the love go?

In the time I spent alone I realized that most people associate love to things. Meaning they feel loved when the stars are visible in the sky or the moon is shining just right on the ocean waves as they cruise through the Caribbean. Christmas time and Thanksgiving are excellent times to display love with all the nostalgic feelings surrounding them. That diamond ring your fiancé bought with one third of his paycheck … yeah you feel the love right now don’t you … lol.

Well this is my take on love. Love is this the dirty socks left in the corner of the room because your boyfriend is too lazy to make his way to the hamper? Or all that damn hair your girl leaves in the sink and the tub and in the brush and on the floor around the toilet. Love, is knowing that your spouse has an attitude problem but you know they’ll get over it. It’s waiting in the mall for hours just to find one matching shirt or always having to remember things for someone who forgets things all the time. It’s being so mad that if you could light someone of fire with your mind … you would. But you don’t because you couldn’t picture yourself living another day without that person.

Someone once said that we LIKE people BECAUSE, but we LOVE them ALTHOUGH. Meaning that although our mates drive us up the wall … there is some innate feeling inside of us that is so strong (perhaps from the first moment we met them) that tells us that everything is going to be fine. I also learned that to truly love someone, we must help them become the best versions of themselves and that they should be willing to return the favor.

Yes, love is laughter and weddings and first dates and flowers and new watches (I love watches for anyone paying attention … lol). It is wedding anniversaries and birthday parties. It’s even the feeling we get when we look into their eye right before you lay them down. But it’s also arguments and long talks, being ignored because they just can’t take anymore of your mouth. It’s telling them the truth even if it hurts.Love is give and take.

Love is that feeling I got when I saw her ... it felt effortless and natural. Love is how I feel about MYSELF now.

Get Sick | Feel better

HOWTO: Make Ginger Tea from Kevin Rose on Vimeo.

the Oooh Child

The Influence of Rap Culture: The Hip-Hop Era

In the mid 1970’s the South Bronx in New York gave birth to a form of expression that has sparked a cultural revolution; enter the Hip-Hop era. Teens and adults alike have embraced the Hip-Hop culture like none other in recent American history. Hip-Hop is composed of four basic elements: graffiti, break dancing, scratching or disc jockeying and the most popular and notarized element, rap. Unfortunately, the most notarized element, rap, has also been the unwarranted target of individuals who use this art form to perpetuate their own prejudices. Rap artists have now been accused of creating a negative influence that promotes violence, drug use and crime among urban youth. Although those issues are often the subject of many recent songs, rappers did not create those problems. Social, economic and political disenfranchisements are issues that critics must address if they wish to ‘clean up’ rap. What these critics of rap fail to realize is that the artist are simply the product of the venue they have been exposed to their whole lives and this is evident through the stories they tell.
Over the course of history music has been influenced by all aspects of culture. In fact, many historians believe that music predates written language. Prehistoric music was influenced by the sounds of nature; birds singing, wind whistling, waves crashing and perhaps the sound of the leaves rustling on a cool summer night. The composers of such music utilized their milieu as a canvas to paint musical renditions of life as they knew it. Much can be said about music today.
Although, since prehistoric times the evolution of human civilization has developed technological advances in communication such the telephone, internet, television, and satellite radio; music is still looked upon as a reliable form of expressive communication. The formula for creating music is still, to some extent, primitive. The artist uses an array of sounds that compliment the experience the artist wishes to impart with his/her audience.
So, if it has been proven that music, regardless of genre, is primarily influence by the experience of the composer or artist, it would be only logical to assume that rap artists are no exception to the rule.
Since the times of slavery in America, the communication among blacks has often been viewed as a threat to those who wished to suppress the progression of the oppressed. It seems that over one hundred years later history is not without repetition. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia states, “Rapping in hip hop music can be traced back in many ways to its African roots. Centuries before the United States existed, the griots (folk poets) of West Africa were rhythmically delivering stories over drums and sparse instrumentation.” They go on to say, “Blues music, rooted in the work songs and spirituals of slavery and influenced greatly by West African musical traditions, was first played by blacks (and some whites) in the Mississippi Delta region of the United States around the time of the Emancipation Proclamation … and others have argued that the blues were being rapped as early as the 1920s."
People will always find something wrong with the music that they cannot relate to. Rock and roll and Elvis Presley are no strangers being criticized by individuals who where out of touch with their genre. “Parents hated it, Clergy condemned it, and Teenagers craved it. Despite the criticism, Rock 'n' roll during the 1950s drastically changed popular music and became an influential element in teenage culture across the nation …” This is how Leonie Pompa (2005) described the early perception and later impact of Rock and Roll. The attitudes and feeling that teens felt during this time period differed greatly from what their parents where used to. The artist during the 1950’s could relate their own experiences with the audience. Any time an art form can connect to the heart or soul of the fan, it no longer becomes art; it becomes a means of release or a way to cope with everyday life. What Rock and Roll did in the 1950’s was show empathy through music as Rap music does today.
Even such musical and dance art forms such as the Waltz still had opposition. Lori Heikkila (1996-2007) the author of an article about The Waltz explains “The waltz was also criticized on moral grounds by those opposed to its closer hold and rapid turning movements. Religious leaders almost unanimously regarded it as vulgar and sinful. Continental court circles held out obstinately against the waltz. In England, (a land of strict morals), the waltz was accepted even more slowly.” It is evident that religious and political leaders have opposed many art forms that derived from the less privileged. The Waltz was originally created by peasants, but has now become a dance of the elite. People fear what they don’t understand and that is why tolerance is important.
Western societies have always adapted to forms of music that were at first condemned. William L. Benzon (1997) the author of Making Music History: Africa Meets Europe in the United States of Blues, tries to tie in how root form of music created by African Americans has been embraced non-blacks only after the culture of the music was understood.
The author goes on to say “European-American racism has used African America as a screen on which to project repressed emotion, particularly sex and aggression. One aspect of this projection is that whites are attracted to black music as a means of expressing aspects of themselves they cannot adequately express through music from European roots. Thus 20th century expressive culture in the United States has been dominated by an evolving socio-cultural system in which blacks create musical forms and whites imitate them. It happened first with jazz, and then with rock and roll …The emergence of rap, from African America, and minimalism, from European America, indicates that this system is at a point where it is ready to leave Western expressive culture behind as history moves to the next millennium.”
Can bad or tasteless lyrics be confined to one musical genre? Sex sells no matter what musical genre you refer to and most often the indulgence of drugs can be linked to almost every genre (depending on what the listener considers a drug). Garth Brooks has had a few pretty provocative songs in his day. Does this mean that if inner city youth hear his music they will want to “have friends in low places where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases their blues away.” Or if trailer park youth in Alabama heard that song they'd want you to “give [them] an hour and they'd be high as the ivory tower.” I feel that given their situation and social setting they are exposed to it is more than likely they taught Garth a thing or two. "A little less talk if you please a lot more loving is what I need. Lets get outta here and start interacting," from Toby Keith's song "A Little Less Talk and More Action" I don't think Toby Keith is talking about networking over the internet here. Many of those who oppose rap would say that rap advertises to the listeners that sex and drugs will make them cool or popular. Or that perfecting your skill in bed will make you more popular with the opposite sex and that this leads to many problems that are found in the inner-city. Is this the case for Toby too? I could quote literally a million songs other than rap that use provocative content to sell records yet, rap is still looked upon as the cause of violence, drugs and crime to many people. Rock and Roll, one of the earliest music forms to use drugs and sex as selling points was once looked at the same as rap. Yet every year at the company picnic or Christmas party.... There it is. Is it safe to say that music has no influence what so ever on people and that if people were going to do something there are far more contributing factors than who they listen too on the radio?
Many lobbyist claim that rap music is responsible for violent and drug related crimes in urban communities. They fail to realize that the rap or hip-hop community is only a product of its environment. To end the negativity in rap, we must first tackle the issues that dwell within the urban setting.
To clean up the negativity in any music one must first clean up the artist environment. Conditions of the American ghettos before rap are evident in urban crime rates before rap, the influence of drugs on crime before rap and the history of disenfranchisement toward African American males before rap. Disenfranchisement is the cause for crime, drugs, teen pregnancy and other social issues; in any race. I believe that race and social class are used to keep the masses from realizing that we're all in the same boat irregardless of the latter.
According to Teenpregnancy.org, "When asked about the reasons why teenage girls have babies, 78 percent of white and 70 percent of African-American teenagers reported that lack of communication between a girl and her parents is often a reason teenage girls have babies.1 " That's only an 8% variance. They go on to say that, "The birth rate for black teens aged 15 to 19 fell 48 percent between 1991 and 2006. Hispanic teen birth rates declined 22 percent between 1991 and 2005." So if the “trampy” lyrics of the hip-hop genre are deemed to be responsible for negativity, how does one explain this decline? Teenpregnancy.org says, "Teen pregnancy is closely linked to poverty and single parenthood." Poverty is in fact a very serious cause of teen pregnancy anywhere, any race. They go on to say, "Out-of-wedlock childbearing (as opposed to divorce) is currently the driving force behind the growth in the number of single parents, and half of first out-of-wedlock births are to teens. Therefore, reducing teen pregnancy and child-bearing is an obvious place to anchor serious efforts to reduce poverty in future generations." They make no relation to these claims and race or the music they listen to. However, in almost every situation poverty is an issue. Ceci Connolly wrote an article in Washingtonpost.com (2005), As Teen Pregnancy Dropped so Did Poverty. Although the author is saying that to reduce poverty you must first reduce teen pregnancy (almost the opposite of what Teenpregnancy.org says) we can see that they are closely related. Again, music is not a factor but poverty is.
I feel that rap does not negatively affect the black communities because the communities we are referring to are already doomed due to the issues I previously named. I feel that the true propaganda resides with the political and other “supremist” groups who "doop" all races into thinking that one race is less venerable to the ills of society than others. Tim Wise, Anti-Racist activist states, "According to racial separatist Jared Taylor of American Renaissance a relatively highbrow white supremacist organization, black crime rates are so disproportionate relative to those of whites that it is perfectly acceptable for police to profile African Americans in the hopes of uncovering criminal activity. His groups report The Color of Crime which has been touted by mainstream conservatives like Walter Williams purports to demonstrate just how dangerous blacks are, what with murder, robbery, and assault rates that are considerably higher than the rates for whites. That these higher crime rates are the result of economic conditions disproportionately faced by people of color Taylor does not dispute in the report. But he insists that the reasons for the disparities hardly matter. All that need be known is that one group is statistically more dangerous than the other and avoiding those persons or stopping them for searches is not evidence of racism, but rather the result of rational calculations by citizens and police. Although in simple numerical terms, whites commit three times more violent crimes each year than blacks, and whites are five to six times more likely to be attacked by another white person than by a black person, to Taylor, this is irrelevant. As he has explained about these white criminals: “They may be boobs, but they’re our boobs.” This type of behavioral justification affects us all. Inequality hurts everyone and there are factors that contribute to the issues in urban communities but rap or any other music form just doesn't. The fact is that such claims are purely subjective in nature. The facts are that social issues in our country and others (such as the UK) contribute the most. This goes back to my original statement; rap artist are a direct reflection of the venue they've been exposed to their whole lives. It's like the age old question "What came first, the chicken or the egg?" In this case, the environment rappers have been exposed to is the proverbial egg, laid by disenfranchisement, that has hatched a generation of music that is reflective of its surroundings. We need to tackle the issues that cause such turmoil and stop pointing the finger at the wrong source.
Being a child of the inner city and a major connoisseur of the art form, I can definitely say that crime and drugs have been around far before rap was even thought of. Personally knowing that rap artists are direct products of the environment they’ve been expose to through economic, social and political disenfranchisement will weigh heavily on my decision to be dedicated to fixing these issues. Knowing that many people who hate rap and cannot quote one verse or name one current artist are using rap as a vice to perpetuate their own prejudices will be a challenge. Also, knowing that if it wasn’t for these artists telling the stories of what inner city youth are and have been exposed to the world may still be turning a deaf ear to the situation.

that Eastside

Tyson Foods Injects Chickens with Antibiotics Before They Hatch to Claim "Raised without Antibiotics"

"Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat processor and the second largest chicken producer in the United States, has admitted that it injects its chickens with antibiotics before they hatch, but labels them as raised without antibiotics anyway. In response, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) told Tyson to stop using the antibiotic-free label. The company has sued over its right to keep using it."
(read more here.)

Executive hints at end of 'Winfrey Show'

"The Oprah Winfrey Show" may cease airing in 2011 when Winfrey walks away from the U.S. TV talk show, an executive says...."

read more here

Good Therapy (church!)