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GRAMMY AWARD WINNER CHRIS BROWN TO RELEASE FORTUNE ON MAY 8

“TURN UP THE MUSIC” VIDEO VIEWED OVER 8 MILLION TIMES WITHIN WEEK OF PREMIERE

“STRIP” HEADS TOWARDS #1 SPOT AT URBAN RADIO WHILE BROWN SCORES
FOUR TOP 10 R&B/SOUL SONGS AT iTUNES

BROWN WOWS FANS DURING SURPRISE NBA ALL-STAR HALFTIME PERFORMANCE

[New York, NY – March 1, 2012] – Grammy Award winner CHRIS BROWN will release his eagerly anticipated new album Fortune on May 8th (RCA Records). Fortune will be available in both Standard and Deluxe editions; the latter will include additional songs and a special collectable cover. Both editions of album are currently available for pre-purchase at Chris Brown “TURN UP THE MUSIC” | The Official Chris Brown Site and come with an instant download of “Turn Up the Music.” Fortune will also be available for pre-purchase at iTunes on April 10th.

Leading the way to the May 8th release is the album’s infectious first single “Turn Up The Music,” written and produced by The Underdogs and Fuego. Described as an “energetic pop banger” by Billboard, “Turn Up The Music” debuted last week at #10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Brown’s directorial debut video for the song debuted at #1 on VEVO and has been viewed over 8 MILLION times within its premiere week.

On Sunday (2/26), Brown surprised fans when he joined Pitbull’s high energy NBA All-Star Game halftime show. The crowd took to their feet as Brown assisted on Pitbull’s “International Love” and segued into an exhilarating performance of “Turn Up The Music.”

With “Strip” heading towards the #1 spot at Urban radio, his Grammy Award winning album F.A.M.E. currently #2 on iTunes’ Top R&B/Soul Albums chart and four (4!!!!) Top 10 songs on iTunes’ Top R&B/Soul Songs charts (#1 – “Turn Up The Music,” #3 – “Strip,” #6 – “Look At Me Now” and #7 – “Beautiful People”), there’s no denying Chris Brown’s star power.

Sometimes it seems like a monotonous drumbeat: marijuana has never killed anyone, marijuana has never killed anyone. But advocates don’t only repeat it because it’s true, they also repeat it because it’s so very rare.

From guns to terrorists to household appliances to deer, just about everything has the potential to kill you. But not cannabis. It is a non-toxic plant and to use enough to overdose is quite literally impossible for a human being.

As we know, some things are more deadly than others. Few things are deadlier than legal prescription drugs, as evidenced in the video below where we learn a startling statistic. Every 19 minutes someone dies from taking prescription drugs.

And what’s the answer to this apparent problem from the FDA and pharmaceutical companies? More prescription drugs and long commercials about side effects.

Oh, and paying off politicians to suppress medical marijuana in any way possible. Imagine the commercials:

“Side effects of medical marijuana may include: pain relief, increased appetite, laughter, happiness and not killing someone every 19 minutes.”

Seemingly undeterred that their heated protest of JCPenney has done little to further their cause, conservative group One Million Moms has its sights now set on Toys ‘R’ Us.

As Right Wing Watch and Towleroad are reporting, One Million Moms has threatened Toys ‘R’ Us with a boycott because the toy chain is carrying the controversial Archie comics issue featuring the wedding of Kevin Keller, an openly gay character.

The group — a division of the American Family Association — writes on its website:

These comic books are sold at the front checkout counters so they are highly visible to employees, managers, customers and children. Unfortunately, children are now being exposed to same-sex marriage in a toy store. This is the last place a parent would expect to be confronted with questions from their children on topics that are too complicated for them to understand. Issues of this nature are being introduced too early and too soon, which is becoming extremely common and unnecessary.
The trip to the toy store turns into a premature discussion on sexual orientation and is completely uncalled for. Toys ‘R’ Us should be more responsible in the products they carry.
UPDATE: No word from the toy retailers just yet, but Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater has released a statement in defense of his publication’s gay marriage issue. “As I’ve said before, Riverdale is a safe, welcoming place that does not judge anyone,” he wrote. “It’s an idealized version of America that will hopefully become reality someday. We’re sorry the American Family Association/OneMillionMoms.com feels so negatively about our product, but they have every right to their opinion, just like we have the right to stand by ours. Kevin Keller will forever be a part of Riverdale, and he will live a happy, long life free of prejudice, hate and narrow-minded people.”

Of course, the planned protest comes on the heels of One Million Mom’s much-publicized threat to JCPenney after that retailer appointed Ellen DeGeneres as its spokeswoman.

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Teachers beware: The bad apples in your classrooms may be the ones left on educators’ desks.

One instructor at Balderas Elementary in Fresno, Calif., learned this lesson first-hand as three fifth grade students were expelled Saturday for attempting to poison their teacher.

According to Fresno TV station CBS47, two boys and one girl attempted to feed their teacher rat poison in a cup of coffee and, later, in the frosting of a cupcake. The CBS affiliate reported that the plot was uncovered two months after an attempt when “a parent was bragging that her son saved the teacher’s life by preventing her from drinking the poisoned coffee.” The boy in question was allegedly the one who came up with the idea in the first place.

The incident occurred the week before the school’s December vacation, after the young boy urged a female classmate to bring in some rat poison leftover from work being done at her home. KMJ News reported that the boy told her to “Bring some of that, we have rodents too.”

Fresno Teacher’s Association President Greg Gadams told KMJ News that “a systematic ‘lack of action’ on the part of Fresno Unified breeds these problems because they ‘provide nothing for these students beyond disciplinary action.’”

The three students — two age 10 and one age 11 — have been transferred to the Phoenix Academy, which Raw Story reported regularly enrolls expelled students. According to the website, at least one teacher at their new school is openly concerned about the children.

“I believe the police should press criminal charges against these students,” teacher David Cross told Raw Story. “They’ve openly admitted they’ve done it.”

Gadams expressed similar sentiments, telling KMJ News that the students should be charged for their actions as the alleged poisoning attempt was clearly premeditated.

A sixth-grader at Balderas Elementary School told CBS47, “I heard that they reason why they did it was because they didn’t like the teacher… Because [they're] strict.”

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A new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology has linked hair relaxers to uterine fibroids, as well as early puberty in young girls.

Scientists followed more than 23,000 pre-menopausal Black American women from 1997 to 2009 and found that the two- to three-times higher rate of fibroids among black women may be linked to chemical exposure through scalp lesions and burns resulting from relaxers.

Women who got their first menstrual period before the age of 10 were also more likely to have uterine fibroids, and early menstruation may result from hair products black girls are using, according to a separate study published in the Annals of Epidemiology last summer.

Three hundred African American, African Caribbean, Hispanic, and White women in New York City were studied. The women’s first menstrual period varied anywhere from age 8 to age 19, but African Americans, who were more likely to use straightening and relaxers hair oils, also reached menarche earlier than other racial/ethnic groups.

While so far, there is only an association rather than a cause and effect relationship between relaxers, fibroid tumors, and puberty, many experts have been quick to point out that the hair care industry isn’t regulated by the FDA, meaning that there’s no definite way to fully know just how harmful standard Black hair care products really are.

Fibroid Facts

Fibroids are tumors that grow in the uterus. They are benign, which means they are not cancerous, and are made up of muscle fibers. Fibroids can be as small as a pea and can grow as large as a melon. It is estimated that 20-50% of women have, or will have, fibroids at some time
in their lives. They are rare in women under the age of 20, most common in women in their 30s and 40s, and tend to shrink after the menopause.

According to US studies, fibroids occur up to nine times more often in black women than in white women, and tend to appear earlier. The reason for this is unclear. Also women who are overweight may be more likely to have fibroids. This is thought to be due to higher levels of estrogen in heavier women.

Although the exact cause of fibroids is unknown, they seem to be influenced by estrogen. This would explain why they appear during a woman’s middle years (when estrogen levels are high) and stop growing after the menopause (when estrogen levels drop).

Most fibroids grow within the wall of the uterus. Health care providers put fibroids into three groups based on where they grow:

• Submucosal (pronounced sub-myou-co-sul) fibroids grow just underneath the uterine lining.

• Intramural (pronounced in-tra-myur-ul) fibroids grow in between the muscles of the uterus.

• Subserosal (pronounced sub-sir-oh-sul) fibroids grow on the outside of the uterus.

Some fibroids grow on stalks (also called peduncles, pronounced ped-uncles) that grow out from the surface of the uterus, or into the cavity of the uterus.
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But check out big girl on the right at the end.