Franklin D. Roosevelt - "There are as many opinions as there are experts."

~~~

UNTIL THE DAY I DIE, I WILL FOLLOW, REPORT AND SEND UPDATES ON THIS CASE. ANYONE WHO SAYS THEY ARE INTO HIP HOP AND DON'T CARE ABOUT THE MURDER OF BIGGIE SMALLS AND/OR TUPAC SHAKUR... JUST ISN'T HIP HOP TO ME. You don't gotta obsess over it, but you sure should care enough to read something once in a while, and think about the injustice! Peace to Voletta Wallace and Afeni Shakur:

The roster of defendants in the Notorious B.I.G. unlawful death suit may be lengthening to include Marion ''Suge'' Knight.

The claim was brought by the slain rapper's family against the city of Los Angeles and a federal judge has ruled that it may be amended to include several other defendants, including record executive Suge Knight and current and former LA cops, according to the Associated Press.

Former patrol partners of the LAPD, David Mack and Rafael Perez have long been rumored to be in connection to the 1997 shooting death of B.I.G. (real name Christopher Wallace). Both have continued to proclaim their innocence.

The Wallace family accuses the LAPD and specifically Mack of being responsible for B.I.G.'s death. It also alleges that Knight and Reggie Wright, Jr., a former LAPD officer, conspired with Perez and Mack, who is serving 14 years in a federal prison for bank robbery, to carry out the killing.

New evidence shows Perez was on duty the night of B.I.G.'s slaying and may have been at the scene. The new evidence also supports the addition of Knight and Wright into the suit.

Thomas Reichert, an attorney for the city, said the new evidence was "old wine, new bottles."

Knight's attorneys Laurence Strick and Daniel J. McCarthy could not be reached for comment.

~~~

Rich Rapper Anthem:



~~

This guy is way too slept on. Give him a chance.
Tech N9ne - Girl Crazy.



~~~

Beanie Sigel and Jay-Z talking about broke mofos. They call it 'gutted'. Peace to Spine magazine!

http://www.spinemagazine.com/music/november/beaniesigel/gutted.mp3

~~~

Busta Rhymes and Spliff Star and the third and final member of Flipmode - Wreak the Villain (hmmm...). Peep it:

www.mtv.com is tight with their Mixtape Mondays segment, nuff respect!

411: The best hypeman in the past 10 years ditching arguably the best live performer in rap right now? After an Internet interview last week with Rampage, rumors have abounded that Spliff Starr left Busta Rhymes' Flipmode Squad. Ramp said himself, Spliff, Rah Digga and Baby Cham were starting a new camp called the Famous Millionaires Squad.

Insert the sound effect for the buzzer signaling a wrong answer. Ehhhhhn. Not only is Spliff still performing with Bust, the two are making music together as the Flipmode Squad.

"I don't know what the f--- Rampage is talking about," Spliff said last week. "I know me, Rampage, Rah Digga and Baby Cham, everybody is doing their side things. Spliff Star is Flipmode though. Because not only is Busta my CEO and the boss of the sh--, that's my brother. I'm not about all that 'Busta ain't down.' I'm down with everything Busta does, just like he's down with everything I do. ... And all that Rampage said about Busta and the cops, all that is bullsh--. ... Besides that, me and Busta are still rocking. I'm a loyal cat. Robin won't leave Batman. Me and Busta are Batman and Robin."

Busta e-mailed us a statement about the project: "Flipmode is the next movement."

While Busta works on his next Aftermath release, Spliff is recording his independent debut, About Time. "Busta be acting like he don't got a deal," Spliff said, noting Rhymes' hunger. "He works hard. His album is crazy now, man. Him and Pharrell just did a monster. We just did a show last night in Denver — us, Chamillionaire and E-40. After the show, Busta and E-40 was in a hotel working on [recording software] Pro Tools, and they have a banger. And guess who produced it? 40's son Droopie. No samples either.

"Later on, I have a street album coming called Contraband, which is on my own label, Paper Route Records. That's coming out on Flipmode/ Paper Route," he continued.

Queens' own Superstar Jay just finished the new Flipmode mixtape called The Full Course Meal. "Well, Flipmode is me, Busta and Wreak the Villain," Spliff Starr added about the street CD. "We have all original beats on there. It's strictly hot street sh--."

"It's five tracks with Busta, another five with Spliff and five with Wreak the Villain," Jay elaborated.

Jay, who also dropped the mixtape I Own the Streets, is putting together his May album, Why Not. He says it will be a sample-free LP but promises to have dope tracks nonetheless. "You're going to have G-Unit on there, Kool G Rap, LL, Diplomats. A whole lot of people, man. Trey Songz."

Joints To Check For:

* "Step Up" by Busta Rhymes. "Busta took it back on a J Dilla beat," Jay said. "He used a beat Dilla gave him, and he did a Greg Nice flow: 'Bus-ssta Rhymes on the M.I.C., see!' He's having fun with it. He's actually doing an all-J Dilla mixtape soon, rapping over all-J Dilla beats. On this song, he's talking about how nice he is on the mic. You know Busta, he goes crazy with it."

* "All Hail" by Busta Rhymes. "It's a real street beat," Jay described. "He gets real gritty. Busta also introduced his new artist Wreak the Villain. Wreak comes from Long Island, and I knew Wreak from a legendary store called Long Island Central Station. On the record, they're showing skills. ... I love working with Busta. Just to be at the caliber Busta is at, he's still in tune with the streets. He's willing to put that work in. He wants to be relevant in the rap game as well as the mixtape game. You meet artists of his caliber who don't really care about the mixtape game. It's crazy because one moment Busta is calling you asking what he's gotta do to get the streets hot. He's like, 'Who's the hottest? What I gotta do to be the hottest?' "

* "Walk With Me" by Freeway (featuring Busta Rhymes). "That joint is crazy," Jay said. "They are all going in on it. The lineup is crazy. You think about when Roc-A-Fella was going against D-Block, now they're combining. You just heard the Styles and Beans records, now you hear Jada and Free on this song. Then you have Busta Rhymes in the circumference, you would never think that would happen."

~~~

Some people need to be reminded of these things (I know it's kinda ghey, but it's still a good refresher to see how selfish you are) :

Communication
Communication is generally accepted as one of the most important elements of a successful relationship. Certainly the cause of romance benefits directly from the development of communication skills by allowing us to convey appreciation, respect, encouragement, and love. These expressions may be transmitted in a variety of ways including: body language, in writing, and, of course, verbally.

• Everyone loves receiving mail. Yet in this age of e-mail, faxes and cell phones, how often do you receive personal correspondences in your post box? Take time to write your dear one a hand-written note, greeting card, or postcard. Put on a stamp, and send it through the good old-fashioned mail.

• If it is okay with your spouse's employer, email him or her a quick update on what's going on in your day. This is a easy way to stay in touch, and since it can be read at one's leisure, does not interrupt important business.

• Leave a short love note for your sweetheart, tucked in an unexpected place, such as a shirt pocket, briefcase, lunch, or purse. "Sticky notes" are great for leaving quick expressions of love on a bathroom mirror, computer screen, or steering wheel.

• Remember Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty in Gunsmoke? That popular television program featured the most subtle of romances. Yet the characters' subtleties were highly communicative. Try a warm look from across a crowded room, a blown kiss, loving smiles, knowing nods, timed winks, and flirtatious glances.

• Strong verbal cues demonstrate security in a relationship. As often as possible, tell your beloved that you want, need, and love them.

• Common politeness is often neglected in day-to-day interactions. Get back in the habit of using phrases like "please," "thank you," "you're welcome," and "excuse me."

• Get in the practice of noticing the little things. "Boy, that shower looks great; thanks for cleaning it." Timely compliments show that his or her efforts are not taken for granted.

• Compliment your partner at least as often as you did when you were dating.

• A brief phone call will also be valued before an important meeting or interview to offer encouragement and boost confidence.

• Upon returning home, meet at the door and greet each other pleasantly with "Good to see you," or "I thought about you a lot today." Wait to discuss the ills of your day until after you have both had some time to relax.

• At least once a week, as an after dinner treat, retire to your porch, patio, deck, or den to get reacquainted.

• Begin a disagreement with a hug and words of commitment, "First, remember that I love you. Now, let's talk about what is going on."

• Declarations such as "You were right," "I will always love you," "You amaze me," "You are so smart," "You are so sexy," "You are my best friend," "You are my favorite person," and “What a cool idea," need to be said on a regular basis.

• Sometimes the most powerful words you can say are simply "I'm sorry."

• Tell your spouse when he or she is doing things right: "I love it when you call me your bride" or "I appreciate the way you stuck up for me just now!'

• Say only positive things about your partner to other people: "My husband's a great cook," or "My wife is so thoughtful."

~~~

And then of course, THIS is real (not all of it, but enough of it to think about) :

This story was originally titled "The Female Brain Unplugged" in the November 2007 issue. Subscribe to Canadian Living today and never miss an issue!

It’s 9:30 a.m. and Mauri, a girlfriend, and I are laughing, as we do most mornings, over the minutiae of our lives. Funny, but not fascinating – until we hit the topic of irritating things men do.

It’s a big subject to tackle before a second coffee, but Mauri is fearless. “We’re going on a trip,” she starts off. “We have 50 million things to cover: laundry, emptying the dishwasher, watering the plants, getting snacks for the car. And where is my husband while I’m running around, turning off the lights and locking the door?” she demands triumphantly. “In the car! Honking the horn, shouting, ‘What the hell are you doing? Hurry up!’”

Why are we so different?
I laugh out loud – it has happened so often to so many friends, it’s like a communal memory. But it made me wonder: Why do men and women think so differently?

The answer is in our head, says Dr. Louann Brizendine, a neuropsychiatrist at the University of California in San Francisco and author of The Female Brain (Morgan Road Books, 2006). Locked away in the skulls of both sexes are organs that, despite having the same structures and general functionality, are nevertheless unique.

Brain scans from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) reveal that this diversity is “complex and widespread,” says Brizendine. (MRI uses radio waves and a magnetic field to provide detailed pictures of internal organs and tissues; fMRI uses MRI to measure quick, tiny metabolic changes in active parts of the brain.) “The principle hub of both emotion and memory formation – the hippocampus – is larger in the female brain, as is brain circuitry for language and observing emotions in others,” says Brizendine. She adds that women have 11 per cent more neurons governing language and hearing than men do.

Embracing the differences
These observations go a long way toward explaining why no two humans – male or female – are alike, says Jennifer Burkitt Hiebert, a psychology researcher at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. “It’s important to remember that intelligence is the same between the sexes.” However, she says, there are sex-related variations, and “Our differences need to be embraced so we can benefit from each other.” To do that, we first need to educate ourselves.


Men vs. women: Communication and empathy
Communication
Linda, my stepmom, has what she calls the "50 per cent rule." It goes like this: men hear half of what you tell them, remember half of what they hear and repeat half of what they remember.

Cathy Campbell, 43, a career counsellor and mother of two in Halifax, can vouch for that. She recalls when she and Mike, her husband, bumped into an old friend. Cathy asked about the friend’s sister, who had cancer. "[The friend] looked at me funny and said, 'Well, I told Mike last week that she’s terminal now. Didn’t he tell you?' It was terrible news. Why didn’t Mike remember to tell me?"

Maybe he couldn’t because his brain, like most male brains, doesn’t attach the same degree of meaning to emotional information. Whether it’s distressing news or an exhilarating moment, women are able to recall emotional details more vividly because their amygdala – the brain’s mistress of emotion – is more sensitive to emotional nuance and more likely to send messages to be tagged as a memory by the hippocampus. "The biggest sex difference is what the male and female brain is paying attention to," says Dr. Stephan Hamann, a University of Toronto–educated cognitive neuroscientist now at Emory University in Atlanta. "Men do hear the message but they just don’t attach as much emotional meaning to it."

Empathy
If there’s one thing that Chris Vacher, 30, a church music director in Orangeville, Ont., can’t tolerate, it’s gossip. So when he heard his wife Sonya, 27, discussing a friend’s divorce, he let her know how he felt about it.

Gossiping? More like empathizing, says Sonya. "Women need to have background information about each other," she says, "because we need to understand."

According to research, she’s right. Some scientists believe that women’s greater number of mirror neurons increases their empathy. In a British study at the University College London, researchers administered weak and strong electric shocks to female subjects and used an MRI to measure their brain’s response to the pain. Later, their partners received the same treatment. The women were told how strong the mens' jolt was. According to the MRI results, the women’s brains reacted to the knowledge of their partners’ pain as if it was their own.

Our daily talk-fests with female friends do something positive for us, too; we feel enjoyment, because when we communicate, the brain releases dopamine (the feel-good hormone) and oxytocin (better known as the bonding hormone). "We’re not talking about a small amount of pleasure," says Brizendine. "[Our hormonal response] is the biggest, fattest neurological reward you can get outside an orgasm."

Sex and the 20-second hug
I recently caught up with a university friend I hadn’t seen in 25 years. When I spotted him, my heart leaped and I hugged him. And hugged him. I felt reconnected. He looked a bit confused.

Little wonder. When it comes to men and women, not all cuddles are created equally. A 20-second hug floods the female brain with oxytocin, which creates such a sense of connection that University of New South Wales researchers in Australia are now using it to help troubled couples during therapy.

Men also release oxytocin through affection and tenderness, but their brains are more apt to link it to sex. In a recent fMRI study, Hamann showed university students sexually arousing pictures. Both sexes reacted, but the men’s amygdala and parts of the hypothalamus (parts of which govern sexual pursuit and which are twice as large in men as they are in women) lit up like Parliament Hill on Canada Day. In evolution, men had to have a quick response to visual stimulis. Males who didn’t have it also didn’t have the reproductive advantage, and they didn’t survive.

Spatial awareness
Jennifer Burkitt Hiebert tried – really tried – to give clear directions when her parents drove into Saskatoon recently to meet her for lunch. "I said, 'Go to the second McDonald’s on 8th St.' Mom was happy with that, but Dad? He wanted to know how many blocks and in which direction," she sighs. "I never know."

Funny, since Burkitt Hiebert’s University of Saskatchewan doctoral research deals with how testosterone affects spatial awareness. The male hormone "gives men an innate ability to find their way," she says. "They’re generally better at spatial tasks like map reading and using directions."

Women, on the other hand, navigate using visual landmarks. They tend to have better visual memory, verbal skills and fine-motor coordination, says Liisa Galea, associate professor in the department of psychology in The Brain Research Centre at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. "So a guy might notice he parked near the mall’s west entrance, but a woman will remember it was the entrance with the pink-shirt display."

Aggression
A car swerves dangerously in traffic, cutting off Pauline Barker, 48, of Winnipeg, and Peter, her husband. Pauline gasps and hangs on for dear life while Peter explodes, yelling expletives and shaking his fist at the departing maniac. "When he’s driving, he has zero patience for bad drivers," says Pauline with a laugh. "I might get scared, but otherwise, I don’t get upset about them."

Why the difference? "Threatening situations evoke primal feelings," which manifest differently in the two sexes, explains Tara Perrot-Sinal, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Men react with aggression because their hormones take a short, direct pathway through their brains. Women, on the other hand, respond with fear and feelings about protection. They feel anger as much as men do, says Brizendine, but their hostility goes through a weighing-up process aimed at self-preservation: anger in women can be better moderated because women’s brains don’t react to stress in the same way that men’s do.

Stress
It’s 3 a.m. and Lisa Robins, 36, a mother of two, is lying awake, the victim of too-much-to-doism and a great deal of stress. Dean, her husband, is snoring gently beside her. Although the couple work together at a small family business in Ottawa and share anxieties, they don’t share the same methods of dealing with them.

"How do I deal with stress? I talk to my friends and I have sleep disorders," says Lisa. "Dean will call a company and yell at them over an extra $3 charge on a bill. He vents, then he feels better."

Completely different reactions – but also fairly typical, says Perrot-Sinal. When a man is stressed, his heart rate and blood pressure skyrocket, and he reacts with a stronger fight-or-flight response. "Men have a higher physiological stress response than women," she says, "but they bottle it up and suffer more from atherosclerosis, hypertension and coronary disease."

Except for the high-hormone phase after menstruation when women are notably calmer than men, we feel pretty much the same amount of stress. But rather than lashing out, we tend and befriend – become protective or talk through issues with friends. The oxytocin we release as a result also keeps us in good health; a University of North Carolina study has found that the bonding hormone lowers women’s blood pressure and stress hormones.

Confrontation
Three years ago, I broke up with Nathalie. We’d known each other across 20 years and three continents, but our values had radically changed. The decision to end our friendship didn’t come lightly. I fretted. I tried talking. Eventually, sick at heart, I wrote a letter, cutting her out of my life. Russel, my husband, didn’t get it. "Just tell her to get lost," he suggested helpfully. "That’s what I’d do."

Of course he would. Men will walk on hot coals to avoid a heated, drawn-out scene with those they know, but are happy to use a few blunt words to resolve conflict with anyone else, says Brizendine. That’s because their testosterone-driven mind focuses less on maintaining relationships than competing in the pecking order.

Women, on the other hand, hate a simmering, below-the-surface disagreement. "In women," says Brizendine, "conflict is more likely to set in motion a cascade of negative chemical reactions, creating feelings of stress, upset and fear." Faced with such situations, we do what our foremothers did for millennia: use affiliation circuits in the limbic system and cortex to confront a problem by talking it over with those we trust.

Reading faces
My dad is cursed with two lifelong problems: he can’t read faces and he has a memory like Swiss cheese. It drives Linda, his wife, crazy. Just before going to a cocktail party, for instance, she’ll work out a signal with him that means it’s time to go. "He’ll agree to it. Then, four hours later when I’m frantically winking and nodding from across the room, he’ll just look blank. I’ll ask him, 'Didn’t you remember?'" says Linda. "And he’ll say, 'Remember what?'"

Unlike women, most men can’t discern subtle facial signals, says Brizendine. This difference becomes apparent early on in life. According to a 2004 Canadian study, by the time she’s almost three months old, a girl’s ability to hold gazes – possibly an indication of her ability to read facial expressions – jumps 400 per cent beyond a boy’s, guided by the amygdala along with the hippocampus and insula, structures that rule memory and gut feelings.

Men, on the other hand, are guided by – you guessed it – testosterone, which means they can instantly read anger, threat or extremes like crying, but they’re less capable of interpreting subtleties. Some researchers believe Asperger’s syndrome (a high-performing form of autism, one characteristic of which is an inability to read faces) is an extreme male-brain phenomenon, possibly caused by an overabundance of testosterone.

Multi-tasking
All of this still doesn’t fully explain why Mauri can juggle snacks, dogs, laundry and kids, yet miss nothing in preparation for that family vacation. So I ask her husband, Dean, a broadcaster in Ottawa, for his side of the story. It’s simple, he says. Men are just better at focusing on one task at a time. "Give a guy a list and he’ll work through it," he says. "I was once asked why I hadn’t packed rubber pants for our baby daughter when we went out. Well, I was told to pack baby powder, diapers and a change of clothes. Not rubber pants." He sounds exasperated. "Was it on the list? No, it was not."

Turns out, this isn’t his fault, either. Brains are divided into two hemispheres; men use specialized regions in one side or the other to complete tasks sequentially. Women use both sides equally to complete multiple jobs. Even during sex, women must turn off their preoccupied amygdala before they "turn on" – which explains why women are three to 10 times less likely to reach orgasm than men. "Just as women have an eight-lane superhighway for processing emotion while men have a small country road," remarks Brizendine, "men have O’Hare International Airport as a hub for processing thoughts about sex, whereas women have the airfield nearby that lands small and private planes."

It’s a state of affairs Perrot-Sinal says exists to instruct us. "We complement each other because we’ve evolved in a dynamic relationship. Our roles are changing; we need to keep sight of the fact that we’re equal, but different."

OH GOD, DID THEY END IT OFF WITH SOME SUPER-TRUTH! LOL

AND HERE WE GO AGAIN. ROUND TWO.... FIGHT!

1. Take your partner's breath away.
Do something amazingly thoughtful and out of the ordinary. These events solidify you in the person's limbic brain.

Taking someone's breath away involves surprise, in a wonderful way, even if it is a small gesture of love. You can also teach your partner how you want to be surprised. If you like chocolate, tell him to hide some around the house in creative places so that you can find them throughout the day and think of him. If you like flowers, tell him or her to send them on occasion. Another wonderful little surprise is to leave notes in pockets so that he or she can find them throughout the day. Another idea is to pick up your partner from work for a surprise gourmet lunch in a beautiful park. Find out what makes your partner tick and then find a way to tie it into your little plot to bring more joy and pleasure into his or her world.

2. Do something special on a regular basis.
One of the best ways to make yourself unforgettable is to do things for your partner on a regular basis. Make his or her nervous system expect your call, want to hear your voice, miss your touch or the look into your eyes. Giving someone greeting cards, paper cards, or e-cards on a regular basis is a wonderful way to stay connected. Being your partner's first call in the morning and last call at night helps to solidify you in his or her neural networks. Many greeting card companies and florists have programs to remind you on a regular basis to send something special. It is the reinforcement of thoughtfulness that makes a difference.

3. Frequent, loving eye contact (some culture call it eye gazing) is an especially powerful connection tool for bonding.
Eye contact enhances intimacy. No eye contact decreases bonding and connectedness. New York psychologist Professor Arthur Arun has been studying the dynamics of what happens when people fall in love. He has shown that the simple act of staring into each other's eyes has a powerful impact. He asked to strangers to reveal intimate details about their lives to each other. They did this for an hour and a half. The two strangers were then made to start into each other's eyes without talking for four minutes. Afterward, many of his couple confessed to feeling deeply attracted to their opposite number, and two of his subjects even married later.

4. Learn what pleases your partner sexually.
Their pleasure should be your pleasure, if you want to make your love life unforgettable. Gain skill in the things that make him or her happy, in what turns him or her on, in what brings joy. Making this a priority will give you many, many dividends.

5. Teach your partner what you like.
Most people get joy by pleasing others. Be an expert communicator by sharing your wants and desires. The brain loves the sounds of excitement. Make sure when your partner is pleasing you that you let him or her know.

6. Sexual novelty can boost lasting love.
Some people like routine. It makes them feel safe and comfortable. Others need variation and new challenges. Look for ways to bring novelty into your intimate relationships.

Do things differently, from the way you kiss your partner, to the way you show love, to the activities you do together.

7. Do something a little edgy.
Along the same lines as novelty, getting your partner's heart rate up may make her more interested in you. She might interpret the rush as a feeling of excitement for you. One experiment showed that if people experience fear on a date, they often misinterpret that feeling as love. So dates at a theme park might be more successful than a science lecture (unless it is on the neuroscience of sex). A bungee jump might even seal your relationship for life. If you do this with an anxious partner, however, he or she may leave you behind forever to avoid the fear. It is important to individualize these suggestions to your partner. For example, being a passenger with someone who drives fast may be exciting for partners who need excitement and speed, but it may be a disaster for someone who is naturally more cautious.

8. Use every sense.
Utilize all of your partner's senses to make yourself unforgettable. Our five senses are the vehicles that bring the outside world in. They are what sees, hears, tastes, smells and feels so that we can know another person. A large portion of the brain is dedicated to your senses. It has been estimated, for example, that 50 per cent of the brain is dedicated to vision. Use these senses to embed yourself deeply into the sensory circuits of your partner's brain.

9. Do something great for someone your partner loves.
When we take care of important people in our partner's life, we take care of him or her. This is one of the most powerful bonding techniques I know. When you care for your partner's children, parents, friends, employees, or even pets, the partner's limbic brain is grateful and you become more deeply embedded in his or her consciousness.

10. Summarize and immortalize loving moments.
When you have great moments with your lover, write them down and send your missive to him or her. When you experience a great moment, that by itself helps to embed it into memory; when you then take the time to write it down, it helps to further engrain it into the memory tracks of the emotional brain.

~~~

I had a dream last night, I was in a riot. Some close friends were there and weren't doing shit to make life better, they were actually increasing our chance of fucking up our lives with naive ignorance. I was frightened, angry, violent, resourceful, cautious, cognizant, and action-oriented. There was hundreds of people there. It was chaos. It was hell on earth. It was another fucking premonition of future fuckory. Why do I keep dreaming of these things?

I don't know, but it was good to talk to my mom last night for an hour. Peace to Kanye and Donda. "Yeah yeah I don't wanna be broke when I'm 31".

FYI: To the Beautiful Women of the world: I'm coming for you all, wink wink, nudge nudge :)

Adhimu, over and out