What would you do if you opened your electric bill and it was a whopping $108,000 with the taxes and fees equaling $16,000? Yeah, I'd be on the phone quick with the electric company too, especially when the payments are automatically set up to come out of my checking account. Read below to get the details of the story.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times:

Kathy Rajter is one of the thousands of Oak Park residents who now get their energy supplied by a third party — Integrys Energy — under the village’s new electrical aggregation program.

When the first bill under the new program reached her mailbox last week, Rajter was keen to see her “savings.”

What she saw was a bill for $107,625.16.

“The taxes (and fees alone) on the bill were $16,000,” Kathy Rajter said.

She and her husband, David, had used 2,236 kilowatt hours the previous month, when their bill was $276. The new bill showed them consuming a whopping 1.6 million kilowatt hours, a total more in line with a large industrial customer.

Obviously, a mistake had been made — one that could have created huge problems for the Rajters this Friday, when her electric bill was to be automatically deducted from her checking account.

Sometimes I hate turning on the news because all there seems to be being reported is death, death, and more death. And even when it's not death being reported, it is something else that seems to make the heart heavy. This morning was no different. Police are saying a shooting that has left 5 dead inside of a Norcross, Georgia spa is an apparent murder-suicide. According to msnbc.com news services:

Updated at 7:43 a.m. ET: NORCROSS, Ga. -- A gunman opened fire at a spa in an Atlanta suburb on Tuesday, leaving five people dead in what authorities described as a murder-suicide.

Surveillance video shows a man walking into the spa and getting into an argument with someone, then opening fire, police said.

"It appears he walked in, had some conversation with one of the victims and the shooting started," Norcross Police Chief Warren Summers told Atlanta television station WAGA.

Summers told reporters at the scene that preliminary evidence suggested the shooting may have been a murder-suicide.

Kobe Bryant is applying the same relentless single-minded determination displayed on the basketball court in his efforts to reconcile with his wife, Vanessa.

Bryant is said to be “aggressively” pursuing Vanessa since he moved out of their estate in Orange County, Calif., for the past three weeks — and Vanessa has been listening intently, the media reports.

We watched as the Los Angeles Lakers record-breaking shooting guard lavished his wife with a $4 million ring after his infamous excursion to the snow-capped mountains in Colorado a few years back. But it’s being reported that he gave her more ostentatious jewelry to floss with in an effort to win back her favor.

We know that, as it stands, Vanessa Bryant is about to come up big time if she follow through with the divorce filings. She and her mother are living in one of the “Black Mamba’s” two mansions and the Mrs. could swipe about $75 million of her husband’s fortune.

If Vanessa Bryant does withdraw the legal divorce documents, it will instantaneously alter the perceptions of her as a gold-digger who waited until the 10-year deadline to get, as Eddie Murphy roared famously in his classic concert film, “half!” It would also probably serve as insurance against Vanessa Bryant ever appearing on the scandal-ridden reality cesspool of a show, “Basketball Wives.”

*****Well now, I guess Kobe has finally gotten the clue that it's cheaper to keep her. He does need to come up with a new way to get back in her good graces though. The jewelry angle is so played. Will she or won't she go for it, that is the question. $75 million is a big motivator to say NAY!

SOURCE<

Many aspects of our health are genetically linked. According to researchers from the Institute of Cancer Research at the University of London, there's a 57 percent chance that a girl will start menstruating within three months of the date that her mother began.

Here are 9 other women’s health conditions that experts say we may have inherited from our mothers.

1. Migraines

There’s a 70-80 percent chance that you’ll suffer from migraines if your mother did. Researchers believe that a flawed gene may cause severe headaches and can be passed on. If this gene is defective, outside factors, like light, are more liable to trigger pain centers in the brain that cause headaches.

Other triggers include sensitive foods like chocolate, coffee, cheese, citrus fruit and red wine and should be avoided. Also, be aware that hormones during your menstrual cycle can set them off.

2. Breast Cancer

Women who carry the mutated gene BRCA1 or BRCA2 are more at risk to develop breast cancer. Most women who have the defective gene will develop cancer at a very young age, says cancer geneticist, Dr. Elizabeth Rapley.

As a preventative measure, it’s extremely important for women to get mammograms after age 40. If you have a blood relative who has had breast cancer, you can also get genetically screened and be more closely monitored. Some women, who have the mutated gene and a family history of cancer get prophylactic mastectomies to reduce their chances of developing the disease.

Leander Jackie Grogan is a native of Houston, Texas, graduate of Texas Tech University, and novelist of thirty plus years. His excellence in writing extends over a multiplicity of genres, with six novels having been distributed in eleven countries and five different languages. His second short novel, Exorcism At Midnight, has become a leading seller with e-book distributors in the US and Canada. He has won numerous local and national awards in creative writing for radio, print and the web.

Besides having authored a number of nonfiction articles in such national publications such as the Houston Business Journal, AdWeek, Dallas Weekly, Jet and Business info Magazine, Grogan is author of a current business bestseller, What’s Wrong With Your Small Business Team?; at one point in 2011, holding the #44 spot in the small business category on Amazon.com. Grogan also serves as a guest blogger for the national crime/suspense writer’s website, Murder by 4, has written and produced three local spiritual comedies, and some years ago, had a work of fiction published in Hustler Magazine.

Join us Saturday at 8:00 pm EST as we get to know the man behind the pen. Tell a friend to tell a friend to tell a friend about us. See you all Saturday night.<

We have tackled this issue time and time again and we always find ourselves giving different reasons as to why men cheat. But, why are we making excuses for the act of infidelity? It seems as though men’s cheating has become the topic of the day. Well, *news flash*, men have always cheated and they probably always will. But why has it become so fashionable to discuss infidelity? Join us Friday night at 10:30 pm EST as we try to figure this thing out. Tell a friend to tell a friend to tell a friend about us and we will see you all Friday night.<

Poncier Lynch is a published Author of 2 books, Velvet and The Union, both of the Velvet series. The Union will be on sale any day now. She speaks at book clubs, book signing events, group meetings, and she travels. She was born in Colón Rep. of Panamá, and currently resides in Newport News, Virginia with her family where she now writes full-time. She is currently working on two more novels. She has Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology, and is also a member of Cambridge’s Who’s Who.

Join us Friday at 8:00 pm EST as we get to know the woman behind the pen. Tell a friend to tell a friend to tell a friend about us. See you all Friday night.<

Historically, the impact of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among the African American community is well documented. Of the estimated 184,991 HIV infections diagnosed for adults and adolescents from 2001 to 2005, more (51 percent) occurred among African Americans than among all other racial/ethnic populations combined.

The seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), the major cause of genital herpes, has been assessed during 1999 to 2004 was 40.3 percent among African Americans and 13.7 percent among whites (a three-fold difference). Human papillomavirus (HPV) is another viral STI in which prevalence of high or low risk types of HPV infection among women ages 14 to 59 was found to be 39.2 percent among African Americans and 24.2 percent among whites.

Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning the general public of a new potential anti-biotic resistant strain of gonorrhea. Gonorrhea, one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the United States, is increasingly showing resistance to one of the last known effective antibiotic treatments. Gail Bolan, director of the CDC’s sexually transmitted disease prevention program, published this warning in The New England Journal of Medicine last week.

No other race or ethnicity had a gonorrhea rate comparable with that among African Americans. In 2005, approximately 68 percent of the total number of gonorrhea cases reported to the CDC occurred among African Americans. Gonorrhea rates among African Americans are highest for adolescents and young adults, and disparities are greatest for adolescent men. Although disparities for men who have sex with men (MSM) are not as great as for heterosexual populations, STD rates for both the white and African American MSM population are high.

According to the CDC, gonorrhea has a long history of developing immunity to antibiotics. Now, however, 1.7 percent of gonorrhea is now resistant to cephalosporins, the last line of defense against gonorrhea — a 17-fold increase since 2006, when about one 10th of one percent of gonorrhea was believed to have resistance to cephalosporins.

The disease has been estimated to affect 600,000 Americans annually, causing burning with urination, abdominal pain, itching, and genital discharge.

The epidemiology of sexually transmitted disease disparities for African American communities in the United States, mostly determined by population-based studies, clearly show a disproportionately higher burden of STIs in African American communities compared with white communities. These disparities exist for both viral and bacterial STIs, and are greatest for bacterial STIs such as gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis.

SOURCE: rollingout.com<

The inspiration for Nicki Minaj's attention-grabbing, Grammy Awards ensemble -- a red medieval cape - has been explained.

The outfit is a costume from a movie she has written.

In an interview with the Associated Press Wednesday, Minaj discussed why she wore the shocking outfit, showed up with an actor dressed like a pope, and orchestrated a performance of her songs "Roman's Revenge" and "Roman Holiday" that mocked an exorcism, featured dancing monks, involved a levitation, and depicted altar boys kneeling in front of scantily-clad women. The character Roman Zolanksi is one of Minaj's alter egos.

"You know how people write plays and movies? That's what I did," Minaj told the Associated Press. "I wrote that and I gave the world a tiny little preview of what was to come. And so I have to perform it on the set in which it would be in the movie, right?" she said, dismissing her critics.

Say what? It may be a high possibly with the disheartening passing of The Voice Whitney Houston, that Oprah Winfrey may be contacted to possibly play Savanna Jackson in the highly anticipated sequel to Waiting to Exhale.

Prior too, execs have been at a stand still about where to move in the film due to Whitney's sudden death.  They have been reported in saying that the film will go on but no one has been sought out to step into the Savanna role, yet now, eyes are looking to Oprah.

The controversy over cord research continues to go strong but as more cases of success in helping combat various illnesses arise, the amazing story of Carol Mulumba will be added to the case.  Carol was born with a severe case of Sickle Cell Anemia.

According to The Grio,

When she was 6 she started to have small strokes and doctors warned she could die from one.That's when Carol underwent a stem cell transplant using cells from her brother Mark's banked cord blood. The procedure worked.

Carol was cured of sickle cell anemia and has been disease free for three years.She now enjoys school, playing outdoors and the taste of food.

She even traveled to Washington D.C. where she talked with President Obama about her treatment."Now I feel great. I have no pain and I don't have to visit the doctor all the time," she says.

Her mom calls the procedure "more than a miracle."

Carol is not the only patient benefiting from cord blood.

This is something beautiful to share about surviving cancer and the importance of bone marrow donations. The picture was also capativating and the story just touched the heart. Melinda Muniz was a Leukemia victim when she was married to her long time significant other and father of two of her four children.  Their love was enough to gain her a second chance and a blessing, read below.

From Goodmorning America (via Yahoo):

Melinda Muniz's first wedding photos were taken in her hospital bed as she was fighting a deadly leukemia, 50 pounds thinner, pale and literally at death's door.

A priest had agreed to come to her bedside in June and marry the 35-year-old social worker to her decade-long boyfriend, the father of two of her four youngest children.

But in October, thanks to pioneering doctors at Thomas Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia, where she received chemotherapy and a half-match bone marrow transplant, Muniz was given a second chance at life.

And last week, feeling strong and looking healthier, she was given a second shot for her wedding photos -- in a white gown and under much healthier conditions.

Al is riled up and mad at the NYPD...again.  This time over gay slander and possible espionage? Huh? That's right. Mr. Rev. Al believes that the NYPD has implanted spy bugs and placed rumors about his sexuality in hopes to discredit Mr. Sharpton.

According to Huffington Post:

A day after a Huffington Post blogger and NYPD gadfly Len Levitt wrote a post alleging that the New York City Police Department planted spies inside the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network headquarters in Harlem, Sharpton has threatened to sue the city.

So sad! Singer Ray J was seen, bleary-eyed and dressed in a hooded sweatshirt, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel Sunday morning, distraught over the death of Whitney Houston. Ray-J was at the hotel Sunday with three companions, being consoled over the sudden passing of his former girlfriend.

“Whitney dead,” Ray J said multiple times. “Whitney dead. We all gotta live with that.” His friends attempted to console him but Ray J was reportedly distraught. He made demands of the hotel’s frazzled employees and quieted his friends with expletives, according to The L.A. Times.

The singer mentioned “missed calls” from Houston. “We all gotta live with that.” When asked for a comment by reporters, one of Ray J’s companions said, “Nothing right now.”

CVS/pharmacy launched Project Health (Proyecto Salud in Spanish) a wellness program delivering more than $21 million worth of free health screenings to multicultural communities. The national leading retail pharmacy started this program to prevent disease through early detection, following the success of the To Your Health campaign. Project Health will offer an array of free comprehensive health risk assessments and screenings during five disease-specific national health awareness months from American Heart Month (February) to Diabetes Awareness Month (November). Over 1,000 Project Health events are scheduled for 2012 in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. Events are also planned at CVS/pharmacy locations in Puerto Rico.

“We know that for a variety of reasons multicultural populations have difficulty accessing and benefiting from preventive care,” said Troyen A. Brennan, M.D., M.P.H., executive vice president and chief medical officer, CVS Caremark. “Making this issue even more disconcerting, these same patients disproportionately suffer from certain treatable conditions, like high blood pressure and diabetes. Through Project Health, CVS/pharmacy will work to achieve better health outcomes among multicultural populations and is once again making the commitment to helping people on their path to better health.”

As you probably already know, there are a ton of creams, serums, and cleansers out there designed to help your skin. But some of the best beauty ingredients out there may just be in your...kitchen!

Here are five ingredients that experts love for their beauty-boosting properties:

• Papain.

This enzyme, found in papayas and pineapples, gently eats off dead skin cells, decongesting clogged pores and helping with skin texture and cell turnover. You can blend up a fresh papaya and use it as a mask, or crush some papaya enzyme tablets into your moisturizer to make a hydrating, gently exfoliating mask.

• Olive oil.

Olive oil is a great cleanser and moisturizer; it's an amazing makeup remover, and you can get it all off afterwards with a little face wash. Putting a drop on any dry body skin you might have or acne scabs will also soften them up.

NIKKI TRUE LIVE is going to be a show filled with grown and sexy conversations, entertaining topics, and of course Nikki True giving advice and talking about everything from love,life and yes sex!

GOD, Sex, and YOU - When it comes to your sex life where does religion fit in? Are you really thinking about your savior when your screaming OH GOD? Tune in when I tackle the controversial topic of sex and religion.

So Save The Date Sunday, Feb 12, 2012 at 11pm EST. Call 347-989-0573 then go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/seriously-sensual

Listen to NIKKI TRUE LIVE on air and tune in and get ready to be turned on.

Kinky Kisses-Nikki True

NikkiTrue.com<

According to TMZ:

Whitney Houston died this afternoon ... a rep for the singer told the Associated Press.

Houston won two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards during her record-breaking career. Her album "Whitney" was the first female album to ever debut at #1 on the Billboard Charts. She has sold 200 albums world wide.

A family in Bremen, GA is extremely lucky this week because this situation could have went a whole other way. Seven year old Britteny Baxter wandered away from her mother while in Walmart this week. A man approached her and then grabbed her, trying to carry her out of the toy aisle she was in. The abductor did not expect Baxter to put up a fight:

“I was screaming and kicking and trying to get away and he put his hand over my mouth,” Brittney said in an interview in her family’s home just hours after the incident occurred.

Brittney’s fight proved effective as Woods quickly dropped her to make an escape from the store.

“He just dropped me and went and ran off,” Brittney, a second-grader, said.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is pressuring Congress to extend a payroll tax cut for the rest of the year as another deadline nears for Congress to act or see taxes go up for millions of working people.

Lawmakers agreed in December, after much bickering, on a two-month extension, but that runs out at the end of this month. Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday that Congress "needs to stop this middle-class tax hike from happening. Period. No drama. No delay."

Obama said the economic recovery must not be jeopardized by a failure to stop payroll taxes from rising, and he urged listeners to add their voices.

"I hope you'll pick up the phone, send a tweet, write an email, and tell your representative that they should get this done before it gets too late. Tell them not to play politics again by linking this debate to unrelated issues. Tell them not to manufacture another needless standoff or crisis," Obama said. "Tell them not to stand in the way of the recovery. Tell them to just do their job. That's what our middle class needs. That's what our country needs."

With the Academy Awards a little more than two weeks away,Tavis Smiley had Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer on his PBS show. Davis is up for 'Best Lead Actress' and Spencer is up for 'Best Supporting Actress'. In the video below, Smiley brings up the argument that some are making in the African American community regarding the two actresses possibly winning Oscars for their roles "The Help". He says that he is happy for Davis and Spencer getting accolades but he is "ambivalent" about the two receiving praise for their roles as maids. Check out the video and discuss:

Watch Actresses Viola Davis & Octavia Spencer on PBS. See more from Tavis Smiley.<

Author Kai Storm is a new face in the Urban Literary world, has brought us a shining jewel called Alani’s Bigger Hustle. Kai was born in Panama in 1972 and came to New York in 1981 with her mother. She discovered her writing gift as a junior at Boys & Girls High School when an English teacher gave her an assignment to develop a story from just one paragraph and since then, her pen was hot. Thru the years, Kai continued to write any and everything not only to keep her gift alive but also for therapeutic reasons, either way her pen and paper kept her sane.

In December 2007, Kai decided to pen the first three chapters of Alani’s Bigger Hustle. Only after she submitted the first three chapters did she decide to write the rest of the book “just to see what I would do with it”, and when she pushed this out, it was nothing but fire!

“This story literally lived inside of me since I was 12 years old, it grew up with me and I knew one day it would be out in the world for all to see, it just had too!”

Signed to Twenty First Street Urban Editing & Publishing, LLC, they along with Kai, brought Alani’s Bigger Hustle to life.

Join us Friday at 8pm EST as we talk to the woman behind the pen. Tell a friend to tell a friend to tell a friend about us, and we'll see you all Friday night.<

We got the pictures BAY-BAY!

Nate Dogg's world-famous rap friends turned their backs on the singer when he needed them most ... refusing to pitch in one cent towards his medical costs ... this according Nate's former associate, who's on the hook for the $300k bill.

TMZ broke the story ... Nate's estate AND a record label owner named David Michery... were sued by the medical facility where Nate lived from 2008 to 2010 after suffering a massive stroke. A judge recently ruled in favor of the facility, which means David needs to pay up ... or else.

David tells TMZ ... he DID vouch for the bill back in 2010 ... but only because nobody else would step up to the plate ... "none of Nate's so-called rapper friends."

Billy Clay Payne, Jr. and Billie Jean Hayworth were murdered last month after deleting Jenelle Potter from their Facebook profile. Marvin Enoch Potter Jr. and Jamie Lynn Curd have been charged with the crimes.

Mike Reece, a Johnson County Sheriff comments on the incident:

“It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen,”

“Once you’ve crossed her, you’ve crossed her father (Enoch Potter, Jr. ) too,”

The Sheriff reports that both victims were shot through the head and that Mr. Payne had his throat cut. The couple was found dead with their eight month old baby laying unharmed in the mothers arms.

So far, no charges have been place on Jenelle, but The sheriff remarks that this is not the first time she has had problems regarding Facebook. Several harassment charges were filed against her in the past relating to her activity on Facebook.

RO Smith, Curd’s attorney says:

” [it's] safe to say there’s more to it than the Facebook problem, it appears.”

Source: webpronews.com <

With the White House under fire for its new rule requiring employers including religious organizations to offer health insurance that fully covers birth control coverage, at 12:15 p.m. ET, President Obama will announce an attempt to accommodate these religious groups.

The move, based on state models, will almost certainly not satisfy bishops and other religious leaders since it will preserve the goal of women employees having their birth control fully covered by health insurance.

Sources say it will be respectful of religious beliefs but will not back off from that goal, which many religious leaders oppose since birth control is in violation of their religious beliefs.

One source familiar with the decision described the accommodation as "Hawaii-plus," insisting that it's better than the Hawaii plan - for both sides.

In Hawaii the employer is responsible for referring employees to places where they can obtain the contraception; Catholic leaders call that material cooperation with evil. But what the White Housewill likely announce later today is that the relationship between the religious employer and the insurance company will not need to have any component involving contraception. The insurance company will reach out on its own to the women employees. This is better for both sides, the source says, since the religious organizations do not have to deal with medical care to which they object, and women employees will not have to be dependent upon an organization strongly opposed to that care in order to obtain it.

Source: ABC News<

(blackmediaSCOOP) O.M.G! The popular TLC show My Strange Addiction has found another crazy azz “interesting” story. The show features a man who’s addicted to having sex WITH his car! Not on his car or in his car….WITH his car!

That car aint even hot…wth! Peep the video for the full scoop…

*stomps feet and claps* You know you R.A.C.I.S.T, you know you R.A.C.I.S.T!!!! *kicks you in your throat* Don't tell me racism doesn't exist anymore or is becoming erased.  If you do, I'll call you a liar.  During a basketball game in Pittsburgh, a team decides to show some school spirit by distracting the other team by running out in a banana suit and making monkey noises. *blinks and pulls out my bat* Read below,

Vile racism raised its ugly head during a boys basketball game near Pittsburgh on Friday when fans of a nearly all-white suburban school ran on the court in banana suits and made monkey noises to taunt the players for their rivals, who play for a school which is predominantly African-American.

As reported by a variety of Pittsburgh media outlets, the Monessen Valley Independent and WPXI prominent among them, the annual basketball rivalry game between Pittsburgh (Pa.) Brentwood High and Monessen (Pa.) High turned extremely ugly when the two teams tried to head to their respective locker rooms for halftime. Before the players could leave the floor, three fans from the visiting Brentwood student section ran onto the court in full body banana suits.

The fans surrounded the Monessen players and allegedly began making monkey noises and hurling racial epithets at the Monessen players, with no one entering the fray to stop the horribly inappropriate catcalls from coming.

It gets worse,

A Missouri teen is given life with possible parole in brutal killing of a 9 year old girl, in St. Martins, MO, a small town outside of Jefferson City. Associate Press (via Yahoo) explains,

A central Missouri teenager who confessed to strangling, cutting and stabbing a 9-year-old girl because she wanted to know how it felt to kill someone was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Alyssa Bustamante, 18, pleaded guilty in January to second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the October 2009 slaying of Elizabeth Olten in St. Martins, a small rural town west of Jefferson City.

The judge also ordered the teen to serve a consecutive 30-year term in the armed criminal action charge.

Bustamante was 15 years old when she confessed to strangling Elizabeth, repeatedly stabbing her in the chest and slicing the girl's throat. She led police to the shallow grave where she had concealed Elizabeth's body under a blanket of leaves in the woods behind their neighborhood.

With her hands shackled to her waist and her feet shackled together, Bustamante rose and faced Elizabeth's mother and siblings before she was sentenced Wednesday.

Sadly after the brutal murder, the teen documented that,

Looks like those darn College kids are at it again. Put your collective old head fist down and pay attention.  According to The Clutch (via Associate Press), a Pa. university is offering a unique take on preventive care for their students.  Located at their student health center, students are able to not only purchase condoms, pregnancy tests and decongestants but they can also for only $25.00 obtain the Plan B "morning after" pills all from a nice vending machine.

The machine has been in place for about two years, and its existence wasn't widely known until recently. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is contacting state officials and the university to gather facts, agency spokeswoman Stephanie Yao said Tuesday.....

...Consumers have long been able to insert a few coins for the likes of aspirin, ibuprofen, antacids and other common over-the-counter remedies. But some experts see a worrisome trend in making drugs like Plan B, which is kept behind the pharmacy counter, available in a vending machine.

The complaints about the machine only has begun to spark in the recent years.  I'm interested in how many people have used it, because clearly it's working fine and no abuse has been noted. Things that make you think, read more (here).<

If someone told you there were eight foods that could make you more beautiful and help you feel a lot healthier, you’d want to eat up, right?

Consider this your grocery list.

Problem: Thin, Dry Hair

Fix: GREEN TEA

The benefits of green tea keep piling up, and here’s another one: The caffeine in tea slows the production of a chemical that shrinks hair follicles and results in thinner strands. He recommends two to three cups of tea daily. (Coffee drinkers, your morning cup of java can have the same effect.) But if you’re plagued with dry, flaky scalp or hair loss, it may be a sign that you’re not getting enough zinc. Meet your 8 milligram daily quota with a variety of zinc-rich foods like crabmeat, yogurt, baked beans, green peas and pumpkin seeds.

Problem: PMS

Fix: MILK or CHEESE

When women don’t get enough calcium, they may experience more severe cramps, mood swings and bloating. Research found that 1,200 milligrams of calcium a day (the amount in about two slices of Swiss cheese plus a glass of skim milk and a yogurt) can cut premenstrual symptoms by as much as 48 percent. If you tend to get headaches during your period, you may be low in magnesium. A quarter cup of almonds or cashews can help you meet up to 30 percent of your day’s needs for the mineral.

Oh snap, there’s drama over at CNN after contributor Roland Martin sent some nasty anti-gay tweets during the Super Bowl game!

Now GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) is calling on CNN to fire him! Following H&M’s Super Bowl commercial featuring soccer player David Beckham, Martin tweeted this to almost 95,000 followers and it set off a fire storm…. two sides went back and forth and now CNN insiders tell BMS that executives are looking into the matter. We’re told it’s not looking good for Martin.

If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him! #superbowl

02/05/2012 7:22 PM via  Reply Retweet Favorite

Facebook

@rolandsmartin

rolandsmartin

The tweet followed H&M’s Super Bowl commercial featuring soccer player David Beckham. FYI, Martin is a regular guest on CNN and a commentator on TV One, a news network available in more than 36 million homes.

GLAAD fired back with this…

.@rolandsmartin Advocates of gay bashing have no place at @CNN #SuperBowl #LGBT

02/05/2012 8:35 PM via  Reply Retweet Favorite

Mobile Web

@glaad

GLAAD

Martin replied by tweeting…

@glaad @CNN well you’re clearly out of touch and clueless with what I tweeted. Way to assume, but you’re way off base.

02/05/2012 8:36 PM via web Reply Retweet Favorite

@rolandsmartin

rolandsmartin

The two sides went back and forth and we’re told it’s not looking good for Martin.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The recording was forgotten, and so, too, was the odd twist of history that brought together Malcolm X and a bespectacled Ivy Leaguer fated to become one of America's top diplomats.

The audiotape of Malcolm X's 1961 address in Providence might never have surfaced at all if 22-year-old Brown University student Malcolm Burnley hadn't stumbled across a reference to it in an old student newspaper. He found the recording of the little-remembered visit gathering dust in the university archives.

"No one had listened to this in 50 years," Burnley told The Associated Press. "There aren't many recordings of him before 1962. And this is a unique speech — it's not like others he had given before."

In the May 11, 1961, speech delivered to a mostly white audience of students and some residents, Malcolm X combines blistering humor and reason to argue that blacks should not look to integrate into white society but instead must forge their own identities and culture.

At the time, Malcolm X, 35, was a loyal supporter of the black separatist movement Nation of Islam, now based in Chicago. He would be assassinated four years later after leaving the group and crafting his own more global, spiritual ideology.

Remember when your parents used to tell you to stay out of grown folks business? Well, we at SS don't want you to. We want you to join us Saturday as we discuss a whole range of topics that deal with grown folk business. You already know how we do it over here so you know this show is about to be too hot for your speakers. Tell a friend to tell a friend to tell a friend about us and we will see you all Saturday night at 10:30 pm EST!<

Have you ever found yourself sleeping with the enemy? Whether it was finally admitting your attraction to a person you thought you hated, or sleeping with a person that you know is no good for you? Join us Friday night at 10:30 pm EST as we tackle the topic of sleeping with the enemy. Tell a friend to tell a friend to tell a friend about us and we will see you all Friday night.<

Join us Friday night at 8:00 pm EST as we do an author spotlight on Mr. Keshawn Dodds. Along Mr. Dodds’ career journey, he has also become a published author of a juvenile fiction series, which is known as the "Menzuo~Solar Warrior’s," series. Keshawn has written eight books within the series, and has currently republished the first book, "Menzuo (MEN-ZOO-O) in the Calling of the Sun Prince," in August of 2010. He is in the process of republishing the second book in the series, "Menzuo S.W. (Solar Warriors) Legend of the Blue Diamond." We hope to see you all Friday night as we get to know the man behind the pen.<

The Internet is blowing up with reports that Eddie Murphy is dead. NOT TRUE.

We made some calls, and Eddie is very much alive.

The frenzy was triggered by MediaFetcher.com. The site has been spinning bogus stories about other celebs they claim are dead but are not -- including Jon Bon Jovi, Charlie Sheen, Adam Sandler, TooShort, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Luke Perry, Jack Black, Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Tom Green, Mac Miller, Tiger Woods, George Clooney, and others.

Pavlov's dog could have figured this out quicker.

Source: TMZ.com<

Roseanne Barr -- who famously butchered the National Anthem -- has filed official documents to become the Green Party's nominee for President of the United States of America.

Barr -- who has been waging a Twitter and Facebook grassroots, digital campaign -- has just made it official.  She wants to carry the Green Party banner in the November election.

Click the link below to watch how she butchered the National Anthem:

http://www.youtube.com/v/SkhbpeL-8sY

Barr says she's sick of Democrats and Republicans, whom she believes are not working in the best interests of the American people.

So what, you ask, is Roseanne pushing?  The answer is simple ... pot.  She wants marijuana legalized and sold strictly domestically.<

How is Willow Smith going to whip her hair back and forth ... when she doesn't have any?!

The 11-year-old singer posted a photo of her on her WhoSay account yesterday, showing her with a completely bald head.

No word yet on why she picked up the razor, as she posted the pic without any text or comment.

Her famous father, Will Smith, recently shaved his head too ... and mom Jada has always had short hair as well.

Does she look better buzzed or with all her crazy extensions? Vote in the gallery above!

Source: toofab.com<

Video Lounge: Blurb B.O.B – Strange Clouds & OMG Girlz – Gucci This

B.O.B – Strange Clouds ft. Lil Wayne & Young Jeezy

OMG Girls – Gucci This (Gucci That)

Take a walk to The Corner to listen

I posted a picture that I'd found of Maia Campbell about one or two weeks ago. That picture sparked so much feedback that I had to go out and find an update on her situation. I had to find someone who would know more about her current situation. I just felt like there had to be someone or something out there that could help her. I'm happy to report that what I found is the greatest news I could hear. I found an interview, a radio interview, from December of 2011 and it seems as if Maia has started on the right track and road to recovery. We are now in 2012 and I'm hoping she is still on the road to recovery. Take a listen to the 3-part interview below.

Remember Hawk from Spenser?, How about Captain Sisko from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine? Welp, looks like actor and badassness Avery Brooks has been arrested for a DUI.

According to Bossip (via eonline) the Captain,

... was arrested last night in Connecticut on suspicion of driving under the influence.

The 63-year-old actor was picked up after police received a complaint of a person driving erratically nera the intersection of Belden Hill and Seir Hill Road, the Wilton Police Department confirms.

I heart his badassness, can we get him some help and get him back into film?<

Khaild el-Hakim is on a mission to bring Black History to every block, one bus at a time.  His dedication and drive to education using such a inspirational method has drawn attention from several mover and shakers including some rap moguls.

Huffington Post reports that,  (read more at the link)

El-Hakim runs the Black History 101 Mobile Museum, a traveling collection that he curates out of a 30-foot-long, 12-foot-wide trailer.

University of Detroit-Mercy architecture students designed the structure's interior, which can accommodate about 15 people. Outside, the trailer is decorated with a mural by Detroit graffiti artist Sintex. Its exhibits draw upon an archive of over 5,000 objects that include slave chains, a Ku Klux Klan hood and a document signed by Malcolm X.

El-Hakim said some of the museum's more popular exhibits include "NECESSARY!" which celebrates the legacy of Malcolm X and other black revolutionary leaders; the "3 Ms" exhibit, which looks at Martin Luther King Jr., Motown and Michael Jackson; and a hip-hop exhibit called "And the Legacy Continues ..."

The museum got its start as an teaching aid for el-Hakim's Detroit students and has been operating now for 21 years.

"The early days were mainly using artifacts in my classroom as a teacher in the Detroit Public Schools," el-Hakim told The Huffington Post. "I would use artifacts to introduce concepts such as Jim Crow to my students. Also, I would set up mini-exhibits at community events, such as Kwanzaa celebrations."

Inspired by Minister Louis Farrakhan's call to improve communities around the country at the Million Man March, el-Hakim took the project mobile in 1997.

I support this look. Can he come to the midwest?<

Nicki Minaj is officially a part of BET's selective and random, often having no sense or after the fact, Ban list.  Sadly, I have to say, good. The song is HORRIBLE and should have never seen the light of day.  Am I saying that due to the moniker? Nah, not so much, but I am saying it because frankly this is one of Minaj's weakest, laziest and lyrically lame tracks and it should be banned due to it being developed. Sorry. Remix Sh*tted on em, and try again later, thanks! *Nicki Minaj Eye*

According to TMZ (via Huffington Post):

The network is refusing to show "Stupid Hoe," according to TMZ. The network, which had long been criticized for airing sexually suggestive music videos, wouldn't say why they chose to keep the clip off the air, but TMZ cites sources that said the video — in which Nicki repeat the refrain "You a stupid hoe" over and over and shows what appears to be her bare buttocks — to be too raunchy. The video hasn't been getting much love on YouTube either: as of this morning, nearly two-thirds of all the people who voted on the video have "disliked it."

Told you the video sucked, and you can watch it below!

We have some breaking news. It's being reported that Don Cornelius was found dead and it appears to be suicide.

The outspoken ex-lover of former Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, Kola Boof, went HAM on Saturday on Twitter! The isht-talkin’ African author has allegedly been sleeping with Djimon Hounsou, the husband of fashion mogul (and BDR ex-wife) Kimora Lee Simmons, with her FULL knowledge! Not only did Boof drop that bomb, but she also had some very unpleasant words for Kimora. We’re not sure exactly why Kola was so angry with Simmons, but she did not bite her thumbs when logging onto Twitter and airing her OUT!

Check out the Tweets down below. We have no idea what started the one sided war of words, but it sure as heck was interesting.