Question of the Day!

Why do people insist on holding their cell phones while driving when they can use an ear piece?
This will be one of my many questions that come up each day. I drive around and I see people running lights, running stop signs, and making unneccessary WIDE turns. All because they are driving with one hand. Now I'm not dogging everyone because there are some skilled one handed drivers out there. But come on is an ear piece that expensive? I mean you already brought the phone. If I come close to another person almost hitting my front end because there turn was too wide because they couldn't use both because they were talking on the phone I'm going to scream. Yes they may sound like a venting but I mean really am I asking too much from people?

Eric Benet Apologizes

LOS ANGELES -- Eric Benet is singing an apology to ex-wife Halle Berry. Benet said lyrics in his upcoming album include an apology, but he acknowledges she's heard it all before.
"I think somewhere along the way, she's heard everything," he told "Access Hollywood" in an interview broadcast Tuesday. "Maybe she hasn't heard the songs, but she's heard everything I have to say."
Ladies is he worth it? I don't think so. He had to go. Halle stood by him long enough but he messed up.

Is Michael Jackson Going to Jail?

Okay, the jury has been selected and the trial is about to begin. They are putting on trial for molesting a 13 year-old cancer patient. Do you think he did it? By the way, whatever happened to R. Kelly's child molestation charges? I have a friend who is a HUGE fan of R. Kelly's and believe that he can NEVER do wrong. My friend has all his CD's including the songs he didn't actually sing but wrong produced or wrote the lyrics. From 112 to the dude "Romeo". Anyway, it is amazing though how they selected people to be on the jury that once visited Neverland or is a fan. I thought the jury suppose to be made up of people who don't really know the case? Oops sorry this is Michael Jackson. Whatever he is famous for everyone is going to know about him.

Cover Your Underwear

I was watching 106 & Park today and Free was on there talking about how Virgina is trying to pass a law that will not allow you to wear pants that shows your thongs or your shorts. Now the gov't has gone too far when they are trying to tell people how to dress in the street.

Why Not You? 5 Ways to Overcome Self-Doubt

Date: Tuesday, February 01, 2005
By: Valorie Burton
Before I began writing books and speaking, I would often study authors and speakers who were doing what I wanted to do with my life. Their lives seemed somehow magical - like they knew some special secrets that I didn't have access to. Of course, that wasn't true. I had within me everything I needed to begin living the purpose for which I was created. What many of them had was a strong belief in their ability to live their dreams. They also had perseverance. They believed in themselves and their potential for success so much that they refused to give up when success didn't happen in their timing. They believed it would come eventually - and it did. I began asking myself, "Valorie, why not you? You could fulfill your dream of inspiring others through your writing. Just begin doing it."

This month, I want to encourage you to simply believe in your own possibilities and stay the course as you pursue them! I am amazed at how often we stand in awe of the accomplishments of others, as though we cannot achieve similar things. If you find yourself doing this, I encourage you to stop looking at what everyone else has accomplished and begin appreciating your own talents, experiences, abilities and potential.

You can have the life you were meant to live and successfully pursue the things that matter most to you, but first you must believe that you can. This is a basic foundation for success. You must expect success - and then take action and persevere based upon those expectations. In my book Listen to Your Life, I talk about cultivating an attitude of positive expectancy.

If a video camera had recorded your life over the last week, what would I say you were expecting? Would your actions indicate that you are expecting success? Consider these five strategies to help you overcome doubts and cultivate an attitude of positive expectancy:

1. EXPECT DOUBT AND OVERCOME IT WITH TRUTH.
When you are pursuing important goals, doubts will surface. Expect them, but do not allow them to govern your actions. Make a list of your most persistent doubts and then counter them with the reasons that you can overcome those doubts. For example, if you begin to doubt your ability to be disciplined because in the past you have not stayed on track with your goals, remind yourself that this is a new day and you are evolving into a stronger and more disciplined person.
Your past does not dictate your future.

2. REMEMBER THAT WITH GOD, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.
When you are living within God's will for your life and fulfilling your unique purpose, you will experience "divine favor." Don't become overly concerned when you cannot figure out how something will happen. Simply continue taking steps forward in faith and God will meet you
at the point of your limitation.

3. FAILURES AND MISTAKES ARE LEARNING TOOLS.
Doubts and fears are often cultivated when we fail or make mistakes. We begin to doubt our abilities. But failure today does not mean you will fail again tomorrow - not if you learn the lesson in your failure. So perhaps your relationship failed or you failed in school or at work. I spent my entire first year of college on academic probation, yet graduated in three years at the age of 20 and earned my master's degree a year later at the age of 21. My first-year failure was no indication of my academic or professional future. In every experience, ask yourself, "What did I learn from this experience that will empower me to succeed the next time around?" Then keep on pushing forward!

4. TAKE ACTION EVERY DAY TOWARDS YOUR VISION.
Two weeks ago, I challenged you to identify your vision in the five key areas of your life - relationships, finances, health, work and spiritual life. When you take consistent action towards a vision that is based on your life purpose, you begin to see opportunities flow into your path. Doubt can cause a vicious cycle in which you are paralyzed by fear and as a result, never take action. When you don't take action, you also don't attract opportunities into your path. Thus, you reinforce your own doubts. Take consistent action and you will break the cycle of fear and doubt that can keep you stuck.

5. TALK TO YOURSELF.
Yes, that's right. Talk to yourself! Proverbs 18:21 tells us, "Life and death is in the power of the tongue." Sometimes you simply have to practice positive self-talk. When you are feeling doubtful, tell yourself, "I CAN do this." "It's possible." "I have what it takes." Speak positively about yourself and your circumstances, and you will discover new strength to move forward in positive ways. Sometimes you can't wait for others to encourage you. You have to encourage
yourself!

N.Y. radio station suspends morning crew

Date: Thursday, January 27, 2005
By: Associated Press

NEW YORK - The host of a New York morning radio show and the rest of her on-air crew were suspended indefinitely Wednesday for airing a tasteless song parody that mocked victims of the catastrophic south Asia tsunami.

"What happened is morally and socially indefensible," said Rick Cummings, president of Emmis Radio, in announcing the disciplinary action. "All involved, myself included, are ashamed and deeply sorry. I know the members of the morning team are contrite. They know their actions here are inexcusable."

The song, a parody of the charity single "We Are the World," aired last Friday on Emmis station WQHT-FM, known locally as Hot 97. The station was subsequently flooded with thousands of angry phone calls demanding the firing of morning show host Tarsha Jones, known on air as Miss Jones.

The DJ offered an on-air apology, and the station initially announced that she and a half-dozen other members of the morning team would donate a week's salary to tsunami relief. The station, in a statement posted on its Web site, said management later decided "stronger action was necessary to demonstrate the severity of the situation."

The song included references to "screaming chinks" and orphaned children "sold into child slavery." The chorus began, "So now you're screwed, it's a tsunami, you'd better run ... go find your mommy."

The decision to suspend the DJ and her crew was immediately hailed by groups upset over the song.

"I think this is definitely a step in the right direction," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations. "The egregious nature of this offense mandated something beyond a week's pay."

Others had called for advertisers to boycott the station and for Emmis to fire its staffers - a call reiterated by City Councilman John Liu, whose Queens district includes a large Asian population.

"It's clearly not sufficient," Liu said. "Miss Jones and (sidekick) Todd Lynn need to be terminated, taken off the air permanently."

The death toll in the tsunami is estimated at anywhere from 144,000 and 178,000, with more than 140,000 more people still missing.

Hot 97 has been criticized for poor taste before. In 2001, two different morning hosts were suspended after an on-air mocking of the plane crash death of R&B singer Aaliyah.

Group: Tsunami May Affect Many for Years

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 8:28 a.m. ET

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- As many as nine out of 10 people affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami may suffer from post-trauma stress and other emotional troubles for years because of the disaster, experts said Wednesday.

More than 200 mental health experts from about a dozen countries including India, Sri Lanka, the United States and Australia convened in Bangkok to discuss how to best treat the millions of tsunami survivors.

``We can expect that between 50 percent and 90 percent of the population will experience symptoms such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, which, if they are not treated, can last for several years,'' said Jonathan Davidson, director of the anxiety and traumatic stress program at Duke University in the United States.

Recovery cannot take place unless the problems are recognized and treated appropriately, he said. The Dec. 26 tragedy killed at least 158,000 people in 11 nations and left hundreds of thousands homeless.

Sensitivity to local cultures is a crucial element in providing post-traumatic care, said Alexander McFarlane, head of the psychiatry department at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

Mental health counseling as a form of modern medical treatment, standard practice in the West, is not widely recognized or accepted by many Asian people.

``Often there are very different beliefs within communities about the nature of human suffering. If you don't deliver your health care in a way that matches those beliefs, the offered assistance will not be taken up,'' said Alexander McFarlane, head of the psychiatry department at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

Some counseling in Asia has been carried out in a religious context. In Thailand, teams of Buddhist monks trained in psychology have been doing outreach work in tsunami-affected areas.

Nearly 5,400 Thais and foreign tourists died in the disaster, with about 50,000 Thai villagers in all affected along a 400-kilometer (250-mile) stretch of coastline on the Andaman Sea, said Somchai Chakrabhand, director general of the Thai health ministry's department of mental health.

He said about 50 percent have had normal stress and anxiety reactions, while another 30 percent cannot sleep or look at the sea. Another 20 percent with severe anxiety show symptoms such as an obsession with waiting for the return of their loved one.

There has been one known suicide: a bar hostess in Phuket whose boyfriend died in the tsunami, Somchai said.

Initiatives in Thailand include 100 mental health teams -- about 400-500 experts in all -- dispatched to the affected area. They have counseled about 10,000 people so far.

The organizers of Wednesday's meeting included the U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer and Thailand's Public Health Ministry.