You can’t fade this queen…

Take this one to the strip club and see if you don’t make a pretty dollar…

DIVA!

Quote:

1. The black man’s devaluing and disrespect of the black woman has led to many black women viewing black men as villains, a burden to them and society and a liability rather than as a best-friend, father, husband, and ally.

2. Black men have proven themselves to be complete failures on so many levels…the main level being fatherhood. Being a parent is suppose to be the most important “job” that one can have, but instead of embracing the role and responsibility black men choose to run in the opposite direction. This leaves black women to play the dual role of mother and father.

3. Many Black men have adopted a “baby boy” type mentality. They expect black women to “mother” them and cater to them the way a mother would. Their expectations are too high for any woman and ridiculous to say the least. This type of black man needs to be pushed to do the simple things that come easy to other races of men. Example: Most men like to set off on their own at some point early in life…however, these type of men need to be pushed to move the hell out of their parent’s house.

4. Black men don’t value their bodies or they’re minds. While black women are reaching higher and higher in terms of higher education black men are regressing and falling further and further behind. As far as their bodies are concern, black men don’t comprehend the concept of safe sex. They are constantly putting their bodies on the line with unprotected sex and passing the shit on to black women….or other black men for that matter.

5. Black men don’t believe in monogamy. Often black men have more than one black woman at a time and are responsible for fathering several out of wedlock children by several different women. Example: Lil Wayne…shaking my damn head!

6. Black men often want black women to look pass their flaws (unemployment, low wages, street life activities), but rarely do black men look pass the flaws of black women. Often black women are made to feel they are inferior to other races of women due to black men constantly nagging and comparing them to other races or women. This is where the black man’s love for a “European” standard of beauty comes into play.

7. Black men don’t know the meaning of romance. Trying to get a date beyond McDonald’s or an all you can eat buffet is hard for a black woman. Often black men will make it very clear that her trip with him anywhere comes at a price therefore she better be ready to spread those legs later.

8. Black men have successfully damaged their image. Gold teeth, sagging pants, and white tees have become the dress code for too many. It’s embarrassing to be seen in public with these individuals. Black women often find themselves having to tell black men how to dress. It’s not just the so-called thugs either….very often black nerds lack any since of style and self-worth.

9. Black men are not ambitious enough. It’s hard to find a black man today who wants to be a doctor or a lawyer. Many black men only think about sports and entertainment both of which are LONG shots in terms of a career. A large number of black women are ambitious and take the common sense approach of going to college so there tends to be a clash here.

10. Black men are easily misled. Black men have done more damage to the black community than any white man could ever do by selling drugs to the community. Though they are quick to point out the fact that white men are importing the drugs into the country rarely do they acknowledge the fact that the white man isn’t forcing them to sell it to their own people.

Source
What do you think?

I’ve been natural for about 10 years now.  Everything I feel about my hair can be summed up by this video….

And when you get sick of it, throw a wig on top of it.

Ever find yourself stressed out and need a distraction?  Music is my distraction.  Check out these great artists… and if you don’t feel better afterwards, you have no soul.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no2_7cC3IDU]

Check out this neat article I wrote about soil-less mediums… it was published in the March edition of the OK Master Gardeners’ “Blooming News.”

==========================

You see all of the snow outside and think to yourself, “guess I can’t do anyting in the garden yet”. Not true, you could get emersed into seed starting indoors. This article will discuss the different media available to help you
with your little seedlings.
Sponges
This year I’m using Park’s Jumbo Bio Dome. In each hole of the polystyrene Bio Dome is a “bio sponge,” a preformed plug of sterile medium with a hole already drilled in the top. The bio sponge is simply the best way I’ve
ever found to reliably germinate and grow on seeds. I plant 1 — ONLY ONE — seed in each bio sponge, even for difficult-to-germ varieties, and they nearly always sprout. In all my years, I’ve just never had results like this from any other seed-starting medium, and I’ve tried them all twice. The bio sponge offers the perfect blend of aeration and moisture to help seeds of all kinds grow and cuttings to root! I’ve had a couple of years experience with Bio Dome and I absolutely love it. You don’t have to water seeds as often, the Bio Dome also comes with a seedling fertilizer and when they’re full grown, you just take the sponge out and place the plant directly into the ground.
Available at Parkseed
Coconut Coir
Natural 100% coconut fiber for starting seeds and cuttings. It’s the ideal medium for certified organic growing applications. Lightweight and easy to handle. Expands instantly! Netting-free = no worries.
Soiless Plugs
These are a unique matrix of composted organic material bound together by plant-derived polymers. They are created through a scientifically controlled process which produces large populations of beneficial microbes in
the plug media. These naturally occurring beneficial microbes colonize young roots and help young plants to maximize nutrient uptake. The optimal air-to-water ratio within the plug matrix causes explosive early root growth.
Pellets
Made from sphagnum peat from specially selected peat bogs. Lime and a special fertilizer with a low ammonium content are added to the peat in order to stimulate growth. You just plop them in some water and watch them expand!
Peat Pots & Strips
The most biodegradable way to start seeds indoors. When it’s time to transplant, set pot and all into the soil. Made of peat and wood fiber with soluble fertilizer added. No transplant shock! Start seeds and cuttings
indoors, then plant pot and all in your garden. Roots penetrate walls and pots disintegrate, leaving peat to enrich the soil.
Gelatin?
If you’re a “Thrifty Gardener” like me, you’ll love this article that recommends using gelatin to start seeds. Gelatin is the perfect medium to grow seeds, especially those difficult to start seedlings. Gelatin is made from animal bone and therefore has high level of nitrogen and other minerals. Add to that the sugar from the gelatin mix and water and you have a perfect place to grow those little seeds

You will need:
Seeds Gelatin mix (like jello)

Water Sterilized containers such as baby food jars or small yogurt containers Sheet of clear plastic or piece of glass Powdered cinnamon
Prepare your gelatin per package instructions.

Pour at least 2 inches of liquid gelatin into sterilized containers such as recycled baby food jars or small yogurt containers.
Once the gelatin mix has cooled, push at least 3 seeds in each gelatin filled container.
Place your containers in a warm, sunny spot and cover with clear plastic or glass.
Be mindful of mold forming BUT DON”T DISCARD YOUR SEEDLINGS! Just dust with a little powdered cinnamon to keep the mold in check.
Once your seedlings have sprouted and are about an inch or two tall, remove the gelatin and seedlings and transplant them (in the gelatin) into the seed starting mix that is described above. The gelatin will continue to “feed” your seeds as they grow and you have less risk of injuring your new seedlings.
Or you can make your own plugs
And here’s a great website that shows you how to make your own soil blocker
Potting Blocks
Happy Gardening!

If I’m ever down and need a quick pick-me-up, I watch these videos and I instantly feel better.

The first video was introduced to me by my nephew.

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Photo Credit: Jeff Westbrook

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Can anyone name a movie that came out recently starring a black man who wasn’t a sociopath? Someone who had a terrific screen presence, like a young Paul Robeson? And he portrayed a character who was complex and fully drawn? Did he respect black women, too?

Anybody see that movie? I didn’t. But surely it’s out there somewhere, right? An alternative to those Tyler Perry films portraying black men as Satan’s gift to black women? But where is it?

Maybe I didn’t hear about it because of all the buzz over Perry’s “For Colored Girls,” which opened Friday and is based on Ntozake Shange’s 1975 stage play, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf.”

Or maybe I didn’t hear about it because I was retching too loudly after seeing “For Colored Girls” – and reading so many inexplicably glowing reviews.

“This movie is powerful,” Demetria L. Lucas wrote recently in Essence, the nation’s premier magazine for black women. “It is incredible. The performances in it are astonishing, but most of all, this film will leave you lifted.”

Me, I thought the movie should have been renamed: “For Black Men Who Have Considered Homicide After Watching Another Perry Movie.”

“Oscar buzz, breaking news,” read the Hollywood Reporter on Friday. “Will ‘For Colored Girls’ blindside Tyler Perry’s critics?”

Too late. I was blindsided while watching the movie, especially when superstar Janet Jackson appeared onscreen looking like Michael Jackson with breast implants.

“Don’t laugh,” says Shadow and Act, an online publication about black films and filmmakers. ” ‘For Colored Girls,’ an Oscar contender?”

Oscar for what?

In the category for best infection of a black woman with a sexually transmitted disease that renders her infertile. . . . And the winner is: black man.

For best down-low, double-dealing husband who has sex with wife while sneaking around having sex with men on the streets. . . . And the winner is: black man.

For best portrayal of a guy who at first seems nice but turns out to be a rapist. . . . And the winner is – OMG, his third of the night – black man!

“You may need some time alone after viewing ‘For Colored Girls,’ ” wrote Tonya Pendleton for BlackAmericaWeb.com. “Whatever you may think of the fact that it was Tyler Perry who finally brought the award-winning 1974 Ntozake Shange stage production to the big screen, it will move you.”

So will ex-lax.

“You will want to know that two kids get thrown out the window by their father,” wrote Jane Nosonchuk for Hamptonroads.com. “The scene is well done.”

Do I hear another Oscar nomination?

“The men in the movie are all bad guys except for the cop,” Nosonchuk wrote. “They are a means to an end rather than any lead characters. Also, a back-room abortion may disturb some.”

You think?

What an awful year for movies featuring black actors. Samuel L. Jackson in “Unthinkable.” Thoughtless would be more like it. “Brooklyn’s Finest” had a nice cast, with Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes. But Richard Gere and Ethan Hawke got top billing. “Our Family Wedding” with Forrest Whitaker was okay. But how many black wedding comedies can you watch? Even preacher T.D. Jakes is coming out with his own copycat wedding movie next year.

Surely Spike Lee and Denzel Washington could team up for a sweeping historical drama – say, a black sharecropper’s son, educated in a one-room schoolhouse built by slaves in Alabama, who grows up to become one of Wall Street’s most powerful CEOs.

Smarter than Gordon Gekko, but more complex. With a cameo appearance by former Merrill Lynch chief executive Stanley O’Neal.

Maybe you saw the kind of movie I’m talking about. If not, maybe it’s time to make one.

Source

Are you a lonely drag queen that wishes you were a woman?  Or are you just a man who wants to have a few laughs by wearing a fake vagina.  Either way, you’re in luck.

Now retailing for $180.  And what cracks me up is that they include the asshole…

just in case you lost the one you had.

It’s no secret that a man’s sexual function declines with age. As his testosterone level falls, it takes more to arouse him. Once aroused, he takes longer to get an erection and to achieve orgasm and, following orgasm, to become aroused again. Age brings marked declines in semen volume and sperm quality. Erectile dysfunction (ED), or impotence, is clearly linked to advancing years; between the ages of 40 and 70, the percentage of potent men falls from 60% to roughly 30%, studies show.

Men also experience a gradual decline in urinary function. Studies show that a man’s urine stream weakens over time, the consequence of weakened bladder muscles and, in many cases, prostate enlargement.

And that’s not all. Recent research confirms what men have long suspected and, in some cases, feared: that the penis itself undergoes significant changes as a man moves from his sexual prime — around age 30 for most guys — into middle age and on to his dotage. These changes include:

Appearance. There are two major changes. The head of the penis (glans) gradually loses its purplish color, the result of reduced blood flow. And there is a slow loss of pubic hair. “As testosterone wanes, the penis gradually reverts to its prepubertal, mostly hairless, state,” says Irwin Goldstein, MD, director of sexual medicine at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego and editor-in-chief of The Journal of Sexual Medicine.

Penis Size.  Weight gain is common as men grow older. As fat accumulates on the lower abdomen, the apparent size of the penis changes. “A large prepubic fat pad makes the penile shaft look shorter,” says Ira Sharlip, MD, clinical professor of urology at the University of California, San Francisco.

“In some cases, abdominal fat all but buries the penis,” says Ronald Tamler, MD, PhD, co-director of the Men’s Health Program at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. “One way I motivate my overweight patients is by telling them that they can appear to gain up to an inch in size simply by losing weight.”

In addition to this apparent shrinkage (which is reversible) the penis tends to undergo an actual (and irreversible) reduction in size. The reduction — in both length and thickness — typically isn’t dramatic but may be noticeable. “If a man’s erect penis is 6 inches long when he is in his 30s, it might be 5 or 5-and-a-half inches when he reaches his 60s or 70s,” says Goldstein.

What causes the penis to shrink? At least two mechanisms are involved, experts say. One is the slow deposition of fatty substances (plaques) inside tiny arteries in the penis, which impairs blood flow to the organ. This process, known as atherosclerosis, is the same one that contributes to blockages inside the coronary arteries — a leading cause of heart attack.

Goldstein explains that another mechanism involves the gradual buildup of relatively inelastic collagen (scar tissue) within the stretchy fibrous sheath that surrounds the erection chambers. Erections occur when these chambers fill with blood. Blockages within the penile arteries — and increasingly inelastic chambers — mean smaller erections.

As penis size changes, so do the testicles. “Starting around age 40, the testicles definitely begin to shrink,” says Goldstein. The testicles of a 30-year-old man might measure 3 centimeters in diameter, he says; those of a 60-year-old, perhaps only 2 centimeters.

Curvature. If penile scar tissue accumulates unevenly, the penis can become curved. This condition, known as Peyronie’s disease, occurs most commonly in middle age. It can cause painful erections and make intercourse difficult. The condition may require surgery.

Sensitivity. Numerous studies have shown that the penis becomes less sensitive over time. This can make it hard to achieve an erection and to have an orgasm. Whether it renders orgasm less pleasurable remains an open question.

If there’s a silver lining to these presumably unwelcome changes, it’s this: Experts say these changes need not ruin your erotic life. One recent study involving 2,213 men in Olmstead County, Minn., showed significant declines in erectile function, libido, and ejaculatory function — but only moderate decreases in sexual satisfaction. “Older men may be less likely to perceive these declines as a problem and be dissatisfied,” concluded the study’s authors.

As Goldstein puts it, “The most important ingredient for a satisfying sex life is the ability to satisfy your partner, and that doesn’t require peak sexual performance or a big penis. As long as a man’s partner enjoys sexual intercourse, he feels like a god.”

Source

Protect your assets in comfort with the SKECHERS Work: Shape-ups X Wear Slip Resistant – Magnate Safety Toe shoe. Smooth or scuff resistant leather and synthetic upper in a safety toe slip resistant…

Skecher’s  Shape Ups

Studies Show Epidemic That Could Be Stemmed by Cervical Cancer Vaccine Gardasil

For years now, doctors have urged young women to be vaccinated against the human papilloma virus (HPV), which is believed to cause cervical cancer.

But now, growing research in Europe and the United States is implicating HPV in a rising number of cases of head and neck cancers in men, and many doctors are recommending that all boys be vaccinated as well.

Doctors say that changing sexual behaviors — earlier sex, more partners and especially oral sex — are contributing to a new epidemic of orpharyngeal squamous cell cancers, those of the throat, tonsils and base of the tongue.

These cancers can be deadly, and are striking men at a younger age and in increasing numbers.

“There’s a lag in information,” said Dr. John Deeken, a medical oncologist at Georgetown University. “We physicians have done a poor job of advertising the fact that boys and girls should have the vaccine.”

“This kind of cancer traditionally affects males who have been smoking and drinking all their life, and now in their mid-60s they are getting head and neck cancer,” he said. “However, HPV cancer we are seeing in younger patients who have never smoked.”

Two decades ago, about 20 percent of all oral cancers were HPV-related, but today that number is more than 50 percent, according to studies published by the American Association for Cancer Research.

Similarly high rates have also been seen in Europe, where a new Swedish study has shown a strong correlation between oral cancers and oral sex. Oddly, the rising rates have not been seen yet in the Southern Hemisphere in Australia and New Zealand.

Each year, more than 30,000 new cases of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx are diagnosed, and more than 8,000 people die from oral cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Cure rates are higher than for smoking-related throat cancers, but still only 50 percent.

Today, men are more likely to get oral cancer than are women, but as the epidemic grows, that could soon change.

“We expect in head and neck cancers that 85 percent are men and 15 percent are women,” said Deeken. “But over the coming years that could become equal.”

“It’s going to take a couple of decades to see the trend turning around,” he said. “The epidemiological risk factors are past sexual partners as well as marijuana exposure, not just oral sex.”

Human Papilloma Virus Affecting More Men

HPV is the most common sexually-transmitted infection. Those who are infected often have no symptoms and pass it on to their partners through genital contact during vaginal and anal sex. It can also be transmitted during oral sex and, more rarely, during deep kissing through saliva.
PHOTO Growing research in Europe and the United States is implicating the most common sexually transmitted disease in a rising number of cases of oropharyngeal squamous cell cancers and many doctors are recommending that boys be vaccinated, as well.
Research increasingly shows that Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), believed to cause cervical cancer in… Expand
Research increasingly shows that Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), believed to cause cervical cancer in women, may also be causing head and neck cancers in men, perhaps because of an increase in oral sex. Women can be vaccinated against HPV. Many doctors are recommending that boys be vaccinated as well. Collapse
(Digital Vision/Getty Images)

There are more than 100 strains of the virus. Some cause genital warts, but others can result in cell changes that decades later can become cancerous. Each strain is identified by a number; oral and cervical cancers are caused by HPV sub-types 16 and 18.

HPV can also cause cancers of the vulva, vagina, penis and anus, and there is some evidence it is associated with esophageal and lung cancers.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Gardasil for girls in 2006 and for boys for treatment of genital and anal warts in 2009. The vaccine can be given at any age, though it is most effective given young people before any sexual exposure.

Doctors say it could prevent 10,000 more cases of oral cancer a year.

Several deaths associated with the vaccine led doctors to advise caution in the rush to promote widespread use of the vaccine, and doctors say there is a lack of public awareness of its role in preventing cancer.

“With any new vaccine, you have to err on the side of caution, but every year we know more about it,” said Deeken. “But we have to ask the question: What do we do for the spouses and kids of our patients? I don’t see any downside to vaccination at this time. My son and daughter will get it.”

Because humans are the only reservoir for HPV, “it could be eliminated like smallpox,” he said.

The research isn’t new, but it has not received wide attention, perhaps because of taboos associated with oral sex.

Oral sex has become more commonplace; people have more sex partners and have sex earlier in life — all behaviors linked to HPV-related oral cancers, according to a study in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Emerging Infectious Diseases report.

A study at the Swedish Karolinska Institutet showed the risk of developing oral HPV infection increased with a rise in lifetime oral or vaginal sex partners. It also cited “open mouth kissing.”

The study included 542 American students, and noted similar increases in such cancers in Britain, Finland and The Netherlands.

But Dr. Kevin Cullen, director of University of Maryland’s Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center, is not sure only oral sex is to blame.

“It’s hard for me to believe sexual behaviors have changed that much in 15 to 20 years,” he said. “It may be that as happens, epidemics get enough people infected and an infection begins to take off, and that may have happened with HPV at some point.”

A study Cullen did last year found that HPV-related oral cancer in African Americans were less common than whites, perhaps because of negative cultural attitudes about oral sex.

“But it looks like blacks are beginning to catch up with whites,” said Cullen.

Scientists also don’t know why women tend to develop cervical cancer while men have more throat cancer. “Maybe women are better able to transmit to a man than a man to the oral mucosa of a woman,” said Cullen.

Doctors also think that cancer is likely to develop in the first area of exposure ? in women, usually the vagina. The woman may then develop later immunity in the throat.

But with more oral sex, often before vaginal sex, female throat cancers could increase, they say.

Very little HPV was seen until the 1980s. “It was very rare in our archives,” said Cullen. “But each year we looked, it was more prevalent. Why, no one is really sure.”

And doctors say those numbers have not yet peaked.

“There is increasing evidence that boys as well as girls should be vaccinated,” said Cullen. “Men and women are increasingly going to face the burden of cancer, and we have a tool to prevent it.”

Why the medical community has not fully embraced vaccination is not clear.

“The lead time for development of oral cancer is in decades, so to do definitive studies would take decades to do,” he said. “[The FDA] picked the simpler task of preventing HPV warts in the short time frame.”

Resistance has also come from safety concerns, as well as the fear by some groups that vaccination for a sexually transmitted disease will promote sexual behavior.

Cervical cancer just may just be “sexier” than throat cancer, said Dr. Ranit Mishori, a family physician in the Georgetown University School of Medicine.

“We don’t think about oral cancer except in smokers,” she said. “There is no question HPV is the cause of most oral cancers, but it’s partly an awareness issue relating to our kids’ sex life, and who wants to talk about oral sex?”

Convincing parents to vaccinate their sons as well as their daughters is a “hard sell,” said Mishori.

“Oftentimes it’s the moms who take the kids to the doctor, and we tell them we have this great vaccine that can prevent their daughter from getting cervical cancer,” she said. “Moms can easily relate.”

But it’s harder to tell her “to give her son three painful shots so that he won’t transmit it to his girlfriend in the future and might not transmit cancer or have oral cancer himself,” said Mishori.

As for potential side effects with the vaccine, Mishori said those concerns are “pretty minor compared to the potential.”

“It hasn’t been around too long, but it’s been tested on thousands of women,” she said. “The fact that the vaccine prevents cancer is astounding in itself.”

Source

THE secret of a long life is abstinence from sex, scientists revealed yesterday.
A team from the University of Sheffield believes nuns and spinsters who stay away from the pleasures of the flesh outlive sexually active adults.

The “no sex” strategy for survival came from results found studying the sex lives of beetles at the university’s department of animal and plant sciences. They discovered that mealworm beetles, which mate every day, die young, while those which avoid mating live for much longer.

Dr Michael Siva-Jothey, the leader of the team, said: “Nuns tend to have a longer lifespan than women with children and most people know of someone with a maiden aunt who seems to live forever. The question is, why?

“The beetles which mate die sooner than the beetles which don’t mate. The mechanism is not the same in humans, but the principle is the same.

“In beetles, mating released hormones needed to produce sperm in a male or eggs in a female and that had a negative effect on the immune system.

“The assumption then is that if the immune system is downgraded, that leads to a loss of longevity. It is fair to assume that would be the same with other organisms including humans, because mating has a dual effect – a positive one, but then a negative one on the immune system.

“That is important to evolutionary biologists. The goal of evolution is not to live longer but to leave as many offspring as possible so if you produce a lot of offspring and die young then you have done your job in evolutionary terms.

“It makes perfect sense if you try to understand how sexually transmitted disease evolved and spread. The best time for a disease to find a host is during sexual activity when the immune system is weakened.”

The findings are just one in a long line of evidence that suggest that males live longer if they abstain from sex.

In 1997, Dr David Gems, a geneticist at University College London, found that males who remain celibate are more likely to survive into a ripe old age.

He discovered that males are actually designed to live longer, but any help from nature is wiped out by the pursuit of sex.

Dr Gems reached the controversial conclusion while studying nematode worms.

* Source: The Scotsman