Every day, we wake up with a choice. We can choose to embrace the day as a new opportunity to learn, grow, and make a positive impact on the world, or we can let fear, doubt, and negativity hold us back. It's easy to get caught up in the challenges and obstacles we face, but it's important to remember that these challenges are what shape us into who we are. Each obstacle is a chance to learn something new, to become stronger, more resilient, and more capable than we were before.
But we don't hav
Police say a woman was caught trying to sneak her common-law-husband out of a Mexican prison in a suitcase following a conjugal visit.
A spokesman for police in the Caribbean state of Quintana Roo says staff at the prison in Chetumal noticed the woman seemed nervous and was pulling a black, wheeled suitcase that looked bulky.
Spokesman Gerardo Campos said on Monday that prison guards checked the bag of 19-year-old Maria del Mar Arjona and found inmate Juan Ramirez Tijerina curled up inside in the foetal position.
Ramirez is serving a 20-year sentence for a 2007 conviction for illegal weapons possession.
The most important reason that relationships fail today is communication! Communication today is over ruled by passion and what it leads to. The importance of knowing who you are going to share your life with means nothing if a booty call was the foundation for the relationship.
The ideal of building a strong bond with the woman or man of your dreams is something that you must define! When we go through life searching for that mythical male or female, they all seem to fall short. For the true definition of a perfect woman and great relationship is more than words. Unfortunately if your relationship is based solely on the merits of a physical relationship 90% of the time, they just don't last!
The most important thing that we all need is knowledge. That characteristic that we all possess as a man or woman is the ability to connect... You see when you know what you don't want, it makes it easier to find what you need... Relationships built on substance last a lifetime, while those built on minutes of pleasure just don't last! When you take your time and and get to know the person then you have an opportunity to find true happiness...
Now lets face the facts, you have been living your life in the sign of insanity. You base all your relationships on the same script. When you keep doing the same thing and expect different results, that is insanity!
Communication is just not mental, its physical as well. Some men and women go through a life time hoping to change something about their mate and they end up settling for a life of unhappiness. We see it everyday when a man or woman walks away from a relationship that they have 10 or more years in that relationship.
So now that we know why relationships fail, is it safe to say that with time, effort and a laundry list of what we want and don't need would be a key to a successful one?
RICHMOND, Va. – In the most significant change to U.S. cigarette packs in 25 years, the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday released nine new warning labels that depict in graphic detail the negative health effects of tobacco use.
Among the images to appear on cigarette packs are rotting and diseased teeth and gums and a man with a tracheotomy smoking.
Also included among the labels are: the corpse of a smoker, diseased lungs, and a mother holding her baby with smoke swirling around them. They include phrases like “Smoking can kill you” and “Cigarettes cause cancer” and feature graphic images to convey the dangers of tobacco, which is responsible for about 443,000 deaths in the U.S. a year.
Each label includes a national quit smoking hotline number.
The labels will take up the top half — both front and back — of a pack of cigarette packs. Warning labels also must appear in advertisements and constitute 20 percent of an ad. Cigarette makers have until the fall of 2012 to comply.
Mandates to introduce new graphic warning labels were part of a law passed in 2009 that, for the first time, gave the federal government authority to regulate tobacco, including setting guidelines for marketing and labeling, banning certain products and limiting nicotine.
The announcement follows reviews of scientific literature, public comments and results from an FDA-contracted study of 36 labels proposed last November.
In recent years, more than 30 countries or jurisdictions have introduced labels similar to those being introduced by the FDA. The U.S. first mandated the use of warning labels stating “Cigarettes may be hazardous to your health” in 1965. Current warning labels — a small box with black and white text — were put on cigarette packs in the mid-1980s.
The FDA says the new labels will “clearly and effectively convey the health risks of smoking” aimed at encouraging current smokers to quit and discourage nonsmokers and youth from starting to use cigarettes.
“These labels are frank, honest and powerful depictions of the health risks of smoking,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.
American Cancer Society CEO John R. Seffrin applauded the new labels in a statement, saying they have the potential to “encourage adults to give up their deadly addiction to cigarettes and deter children from starting in the first place.”
The new labels come as the share of Americans who smoke has fallen dramatically since 1970, from nearly 40 percent to about 20 percent. The rate has stalled since about 2004. About 46 million adults in the U.S. smoke cigarettes.
It’s unclear why declines in smoking have stalled. Some experts have cited tobacco company discount coupons on cigarettes or lack of funding for programs to discourage smoking or to help smokers quit.
While it is impossible to say how many people quit because of the labels, various studies suggest the labels do spur people to quit. The new labels offer the opportunity for a pack-a-day smoker to see graphic warnings on the dangers of cigarettes more than 7,000 times per year.
The FDA estimates the new labels will reduce the number of smokers by 213,000 in 2013, with smaller additional reductions through 2031.
Tobacco use costs the U.S. economy nearly $200 billion annually in medical costs and lost productivity, the FDA said. Tobacco companies spend about $12.5 billion annually on cigarette advertising and promotion, according to the latest data from the Federal Trade Commission.
The World Health Organization said in a survey done in countries with graphic warning labels that a majority of smokers noticed the warnings and more than 25 percent said the warnings led them to consider quitting.
While some have voiced concerns over the hard-hitting nature of some of the labels, those concerns should be trumped by the government’s responsibility to warn people about the dangers of smoking, said David Hammond, a health behavior researcher at the University of Waterloo in Canada, who worked with the firm designing the labels for the FDA.
“This isn’t about doing what’s pleasant for people. It’s about fulfilling the government’s mandate if they’re going to allow these things to be sold,” Hammond said. “What’s bothering people is the risk associated with their behavior, not the warnings themselves,”
In places like Canada, Hammond said smokers offended by some of the images on cigarettes packs there started asking for different packs when they received ones with certain gory images, or used a case to cover them up. But smokers said those warnings still had an effect on them.
Canada introduced similar warning labels in 2000. Since then, its smoking rates have declined from about 26 percent to about 20 percent. How much the warnings contributed to the decline is unclear because the country also implemented other tobacco control efforts.
The legality of the new labels also is part of a pending federal lawsuit filed by Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds American Inc., parent company of America’s second-largest cigarette maker, R.J. Reynolds; No. 3 cigarette maker, Greensboro, N.C.-based Lorillard Inc.; and others.
Tobacco makers in the lawsuit have argued the warnings would relegate the companies’ brands to the bottom half of the cigarette packaging, making them “difficult, if not impossible, to see.”
Who is Curtis James Jackson III? The music world knows him as 50 Cent,[1] better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American Grammy Award winning rapper and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003) and The Massacre (2005). Both albums achieved multi-platinum success, selling over twenty-one million copies combined.[2]
Get Rich or Die Tryin' has been certified 8 times platinum by the RIAA[2] and has sold over 15 million copies worldwide.[3] His album The Massacre has been certified 5 times platinum by the RIAA[2] and has sold 11 million copies worldwide.[4] Both albums sold more than twenty-six million copies combined.[5]
50 Cent is one of the richest hip hop performers, having a gross worth of $440 million in 2008. On December 11, 2009, 50 Cent was ranked as the 6th best artist of the 2000-2009 decade by Billboard Magazine. (Also ranking as the 4th Top male artist and as the 3rd Top rapper behind Eminem and Nelly)[7] He was also ranked as the 6th best and most successful Hot 100 Artist of the 2000-2009 decade by Billboard Magazine.[8] Billboard Magazine also named him the #1 Rap Song Artist of the 2000-2009 decade.[9] His album Get Rich or Die Tryin' was ranked as the 12th best album of the 2000-2009 decade by Billboard Magazine.[10] With his album The Massacre ranking as the 37th best album of the 2000-2009 decade by Billboard Magazine.[11]
50 Cent began drug dealing at the age of twelve during the 1980s' crack epidemic.[3] After leaving drug dealing to pursue a rap career, he was shot nine times in 2000. After releasing his album Guess Who's Back? in 2002, 50 Cent was discovered by rapper Eminem and signed to Interscope Records. With the help of Eminem and Dr. Dre—who produced his first major commercial successes—he became one of the world's highest selling rappers. In 2003, he founded the record label G-Unit Records, which signed successful rappers such as Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo. 50 Cent has engaged in feuds with other rappers including Ja Rule,
Jackson was born July 6, 1975, grew up in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens in New York City. He grew up without a father and was raised by his mother Sabrina Jackson, who gave birth to him at the age of fifteen. Sabrina, a cocaine dealer, raised Jackson until the age of eight, when she was murdered. Twenty-three at the time, she became unconscious after someone drugged her drink. She was then left for dead after the gas in her apartment was turned on and the windows shut closed.[4][5] After her death, Jackson moved into his grandparents' house with his eight aunts and uncles.[1][6][7] He recalls, "My grandmother told me, 'Your mother's not coming home. She's not gonna come back to pick you up. You're gonna stay with us now.' That's when I started adjusting to the streets a little bit".[8] Jackson grew up with his younger cousin, Michael Francis, who earned the nickname "25 Cent" for being his younger counterpart. Francis raps under the stage name "Two Five".[9] Jackson began boxing around the age of eleven. At fourteen, a neighbor opened a boxing gym for local kids. "When I wasn't killing time in school, I was sparring in the gym or selling crack on the strip", he recalled.[10] In the mid 1980s, he competed in the Junior Olympics as an amateur boxer. He recounts, "I was competitive in the ring and hip-hop is competitive too... I think rappers condition themselves like boxers, so they all kind of feel like they're the champ".[11] At the age of twelve, Jackson began dealing narcotics when his grandparents thought he was at after-school programs.[12] He also took guns and drug money to school. In the tenth grade, he was caught by metal detectors at Andrew Jackson High School. He later stated, "I was embarrassed that I got arrested like that... After I got arrested I stopped hiding it. I was telling my grandmother [openly], 'I sell drugs.'"[8]
On June 29, 1994, Jackson was arrested for helping to sell four vials of cocaine to an undercoverpolice officer. He was arrested again three weeks later when police searched his home and found heroin, ten ounces of crack cocaine, and a starter gun. He was sentenced to three to nine years in prison, but managed to serve six months in a shock incarceration boot camp where he earned his GED. Jackson said that he did not use cocaine himself, he only sold it.[1][13][14] He adopted the nickname "50 Cent" as a metaphor for "change".[15] The name was derived from Kelvin Martin, a 1980s Brooklyn robber known as "50 Cent". Jackson chose the name "because it says everything I want it to say. I'm the same kind of person 50 Cent was. I provide for myself by any means".[16] 50 Cent started rapping in a friend's basement where he used turntables to record over instrumentals.[17] In 1996, a friend introduced him to Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC who was organizing his label Jam Master Jay Records. Jay taught him how to count bars, write choruses, structure songs, and make a record.[18][19]
50 Cent's first official appearance was on a song titled "React" with the group
Onyx on their 1998 album Shut 'Em Down. He credited Jam Master Jay as an influence who helped him improve his ability to write hooks.[11] Jay produced 50 Cent's first album, however it was never released.[4] In 1999, after leaving Jam Master Jay, the platinum-selling producers Trackmasters took notice of 50 Cent and signed him to Columbia Records. They sent him to a studio in Upstate New York where he produced thirty-six songs in two weeks.[5] Eighteen were included on his unofficially released album, Power of the Dollar in 2000.[20] He also started the now-defunct Hollow Point Entertainment with former G-Unit affiliate Bang 'Em Smurf.[21][22]
50 Cent's popularity started to increase after the successful but controversial underground single, "How to Rob", which he wrote in half an hour while in a car on the way to a studio.[15][23] The track comically explains how he would rob famous artists. He explained the reasoning behind song's content as, "There's a hundred artists on that label, you gotta separate yourself from that group and make yourself relevant".[15] Rappers Jay-Z, Big Pun, DMX, and the Wu-Tang Clan replied to the song[23] and Nas, who received the track positively, invited 50 Cent to travel on a promotional tour for his Nastradamus album.[7] The song was intended to be released with "Thug Love" featuring Destiny's Child, but two days before he was scheduled to film the "Thug Love" music video, 50 Cent was shot and confined to a hospital due to his injuries.[24]
On May 24, 2000, 50 Cent was attacked by a gunman outside his grandmother's former home in South Jamaica, Queens. He went into a friend's car, but was asked to return to the house to get jewelry. His son was in the house while his grandmother was in the front yard.[5] On returning to the back seat of the car, another car pulled up nearby. An assailant then walked up to 50 Cent's left side with a 9mmhandgun and fired nine shots at close range. He was shot nine times—in the hand (a round hit his right thumb and came out of his pinky), arm, hip, both legs, chest, and left cheek.[4][8][25] The face wound resulted in a swollen tongue, the loss of a wisdom tooth, and a small slur in his voice.[7][8][26] His friend also sustained a gunshot wound to the hand. They were driven to the hospital where 50 Cent spent thirteen days. The alleged shooter, Darryl "Hommo" Baum, was killed three weeks later.[27] Darryl Baum was also Mike Tyson's close friend and bodyguard.[28]
Mike Tyson, offered $50,000 towards a "hit" on two members of a violent gang suspected of killing Darryl Baum. The allegation was made by Dwayne Meyers, another former member of the Cash Money Brothers (CMB), a Brooklyn street gang accused of drug trafficking, kidnapping and murder.
Meyers, who along with several CMB members was indicted in 2005 for drug dealing and murder, made the claims as he testified at the trial of Abubakr Raheem.[29]
Raheem is accused of driving a getaway car after two turf-war killings.
50 Cent recalled the incident saying, "It happens so fast that you don't even get a chance to shoot back... I was scared the whole time... I was looking in the rear-view mirror like, 'Oh shit, somebody shot me in the face! It burns, burns, burns.'"[8] In his memoir, From Pieces to Weight: Once upon a Time in Southside Queens, he wrote, "After I got shot nine times at close range and didn't die, I started to think that I must have a purpose in life... How much more damage could that shell have done? Give me an inch in this direction or that one, and I'm gone".[1] He used a walker for the first six weeks and fully recovered after five months. When he left the hospital, he stayed in the Poconos with his then-girlfriend and son. His workout regimen helped him attain his muscular physique.[4][8][30]
While in the hospital, 50 Cent signed a publishing deal with Columbia Records. However, he was dropped from the label and "blacklisted" in the recording industry after it was discovered he was shot. Unable to find a studio to work with in the U.S, he traveled to Canada.[31][32] Along with his business partner Sha Money XL, he recorded over thirty songs for mixtapes, with the purpose of building a reputation. 50 Cent's popularity rose and in 2002, he released material independently on the mixtape, Guess Who's Back?. Beginning to attract interest, and now backed by G-Unit, 50 Cent continued to make songs. They released the mixtape, 50 Cent Is the Future, revisiting material by Jay-Z and Raphael Saadiq.[20]
In 2002, Eminem listened to a copy of 50 Cent's Guess Who's Back? CD. He received the CD through 50 Cent's attorney, who was working with Eminem's manager Paul Rosenberg.[24] Impressed with the album, Eminem invited 50 Cent to fly to Los Angeles, where he was introduced to Dr. Dre.[4][18][24] After signing a one million U.S. dollar record deal,[18] 50 Cent released the mixtape, No Mercy, No Fear. It featured one new track, "Wanksta", which was put on Eminem's 8 Mile soundtrack.[20] He was also signed to Chris Lighty's Violator Management and Sha Money XL's Money Management Group.
In March 2005, 50 Cent's second commercial album, The Massacre, sold 1.14 million copies in the first four days—the highest in an abbreviated sales cycle[35]— and peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 for six weeks.[39] He became the first solo artist to have three singles on the
Billboard top five in the same week with "Candy Shop", "Disco Inferno", and "How We Do".[40] Rolling Stone noted that "50's secret weapon is his singing voice - the deceptively amateur-sounding tenor croon that he deploys on almost every chorus".[41]
After The Game's departure, 50 Cent signed singer Olivia and rap veterans Mobb Deep to G-Unit Records. Spider Loc, M.O.P., and Young Hot Rod later joined the label.[42][43] 50 Cent expressed interest in working with rappers outside of G-Unit, such as Lil' Scrappy of BME, LL Cool J from Def Jam, Mase from Bad Boy, and Freeway of Roc-A-Fella, some of whom he recorded with.[44] In September 2007, he released his third album Curtis, which was inspired by his life before Get Rich or Die Tryin'.[45] It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 691,000 units in the first week.[46]
In 2005, 50 Cent made a cameo appearance on The Simpsons episode "Pranksta Rap", in which he makes light of his legal troubles. The same year, he starred alongside Terrence Howard in the semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin'. He starred in the 2006 film, Home of the Brave, as a soldier returning home from the Iraq War, traumatized after killing an Iraqi woman.[56] 50 Cent is working on a role as a fighter in an Angola State Prison in Spectacular Regret alongside Nicholas Cage, and is set to star opposite Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in 2008's Righteous Kill, a movie regarding a police death.[57] He also started the film production companies G-Unit Films in 2007 and Cheetah Vision in 2008.[58][59] In August 2007, 50 Cent announced plans to launch a dietary supplement company in conjunction with his movie Spectacular Regret.[60]
On October 13, 1997, 50 Cent's then-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins gave birth to a son, Marquise Jackson.[3][63] The birth of his son changed his outlook on life, "when my son came into my life, my priorities changed, because I wanted to have the relationship with him, that I didn’t have with my father".[64] He credited his son for inspiring his career and being "motivation to go in a different direction".[65] 50 Cent has a tattoo of "Marquise" with an axe on his right biceps. "The axe is 'cause I'm a warrior. I don't want him to be one, though",[32] he explains. He also has "50", "Southside",
and "Cold World" inscribed on his back because "I'm a product of that environment. It's on my back, though, so it's all behind me".[32] 50 Cent dated actress Vivica A. Fox in 2003.
After a few months, he announced their split up on the The Howard Stern Show when pictures from a photo shoot they did ended up on the cover of Today's Black Woman magazine without his knowledge.[66][67]
50 Cent expressed support for President George W. Bush in 2005 after rapper
Kanye West criticized him for the slow response in assisting the Hurricane Katrina victims.[68] If his felony convictions did not prevent him from voting, he claimed he would have voted for Bush.[69] He later stated that Bush "has less compassion than the average human. By all means, I don’t aspire to be like George Bush".[70] Despite his frequent use of anti-gay slurs in music and speech 50 Cent claims not to be homophobic, saying, "Absolutely. I say faggot all day...That don't mean it's bad," and implying that he loves his lesbian or bisexual mother[71]
In 2007, Forbes recognized 50 Cent for his wealth, placing him second behind Jay-Z in the rap industry.[72]
He resides in Farmington, Connecticut, in the former mansion of ex-boxerMike Tyson.[73] He put the mansion for sale at US$18.5 million to move closer to his son who lives in Long Island with his ex-girlfriend.[74] On October 12, 2007, the Mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut declared it "50 Cent Curtis Jackson Day". He was honored with a key to the city and an official proclamation.[75] One of his homes in New York purchased for 2.4 million dollars in January 2007 and at the center of a lawsuit between 50 Cent and ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins caught fire on May 31, 2008 while he was out of town filming for a movie in Louisiana. [76] Before signing with Interscope, 50 Cent engaged in a well-publicized dispute with rapper Ja Rule and his label Murder Inc. Records. The rappers engaged in mixtape "disses". 50 Cent claimed the feud began in 1999 after Ja Rule spotted him with a man who robbed him of his jewelry.[66] However, Ja Rule claimed the conflict stemmed from a video shoot in Queens because 50 Cent did not like seeing him "getting so much love" from the neighborhood.[77]
In March 2000, while at The Hit Factory studio in New York, 50 Cent had an altercation with Murder Inc. associates. He was treated for three stitches after receiving a stab wound.[66][78] Rapper Black Child claimed responsibility for the stabbing, saying he acted in self-defense because he thought someone reached for a gun.[79]
An affidavit by an IRS agent suggested that the label had ties to
murder of Jam Master Jay and the shooting of 50 Cent. An excerpt of the affidavit read:
The investigation has uncovered a conspiracy involving McGriff and others to murder a rap artist who has released songs containing lyrics regarding McGriff's criminal activities. The rap artist was shot in 2000, survived and thereafter refused to cooperate with law enforcement regarding the shooting. Messages transmitted over the Murder Inc. pager indicate that McGriff is involved in an ongoing plot to kill this rap artist, and that he communicates with Murder Inc. employees concerning the target.[31]
Before releasing The Massacre, 50 Cent recorded a song, "Piggy Bank", which was leaked before the album's release. The song takes aim at rappers including Fat Joe, Nas, and Jadakiss.[80] Fat Joe responded with a song, "My Fo, Fo", accusing 50 Cent of taking steroids, hiding in his home, and being jealous of The Game. Jadakiss also responded with a song, "Checkmate", and said that 50 Cent was trying to "create a buzz for his new album".[81] The "Piggy Bank" music video portrays animated caricatures of Jadakiss (as a Ninja turtle), Fat Joe (as an overweight boxer who receives a knockout), Nas (as a kid chasing a "milkshake" truck in a Superman costume), and The Game (as Mr. Potato Head).[82]
50 Cent spoke negatively about Bad Boy Entertainment mogul Sean Combs and recorded a song, "Hip-Hop", revealing the reasons behind his negative feelings: primarily, a contract dispute over Mase. In the song, he implied that Diddy knew about The Notorious B.I.G.'s murder and threatened to expose him through former associates.[83] The feud was resolved, with both rappers appearing on MTV's TRL and Sucker Free, respectively, stating that there were no longer problems.[84]
stating that Jim Jones outsold their albums despite being signed to an independent label and that his group, The Diplomats, had a distribution deal from several labels.[85] Both rappers released "diss" songs with videos on YouTube. 50 Cent suggested in "Funeral Music" that Cam'ron is no longer able to lead The Diplomats and that Jim Jones should take his place. Cam'ron responded with "Curtis" and "Curtis Pt. II", in which he makes fun of 50 Cent's appearance, calling him "a gorilla, with rabbit teeth".[86] 50 Cent responded by releasing "Hold On" with Young Buck.[87]
In early 2005, 50 Cent began a feud with The Game, whom he was close to before releasing his debut album The Documentary. After its release, 50 Cent felt The Game was disloyal for saying he did not want to participate in G-Unit's feuds with other rappers and even wanting to work with artists they were feuding with. He also claimed that he wrote six songs on the album and was not receiving proper credit for his work, which The Game denied.[88]
50 Cent later dismissed The Game from G-Unit on Hot 97 radio. After the announcement, The Game, who was a guest earlier in the evening, attempted to enter the building with his entourage. After being denied entry, one of his associates was shot in the leg during a confrontation with a group of men leaving the building.[89][90] When the situation escalated, both rappers held a press conference to announce their reconciliation.[91] Fans had mixed feelings as to whether the rappers created a publicity stunt to boost the sales of the albums they had just released.[92] Nevertheless, even after the situation deflated,[93] G-Unit criticized The Game's street credibility. The group denounced The Game and announced that they will not feature on his albums. During a Summer Jam performance, The Game launched a boycott of G-Unit called "G-Unot".[94]
After the Summer Jam performance, The Game released a track, "300 Bars and Runnin'", which addresses 50 Cent and G-Unit.[95] He continued his attacks in a Stop Snitchin, Stop Lyin' DVD. After numerous songs aimed at G-Unit, 50 Cent responded to The Game's rebuttals on mixtapes. One track, "Not Rich, Still Lyin'", imitates The Game, attacks his credibility, and mentions his feud with his brother, Big Fase 100.[96]
The Game also released mixtape covers parodying the group. After he displayed pictures of G-Unit dressed up as the Village People, 50 Cent posted a cover of The Game's head on the body of a male stripper.[97] Although he was signed to Aftermath Entertainment, The Game left the label and signed with Geffen Records to terminate his contractual obligations with G-Unit.[98]
