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Chris Brown Talks Fame, 'Fortune,' Rap + R&B in New Interview
Chris Brown sat down with MTV and talked about everything from artists who influence him to artists that he inspires with his own music — and why he's capable of both singing R&B and spitting serious rhymes."Bobby Brown and a lot of the young cats back in the day — they kind of set the standard for 'fly teenager who sings to all the girls,' you know? They're the legends in that so [I have] the utmost respect for all of them as far as the music," Brown said. "I just try to get it where I fit it as far as the music," he laughed. "I do my deed and move."
Brown says of his new album, "i think it was important to go back to the basics of what people love me for, and that's my R&B. "You know, the crooner kind of records," he laughed, "me singing. On this album you get to see the different textures within Chris Brown. All in all you get that R&B guy again. I get a chance to be more mature and adult but at the same time still cater to my younger audience."
Brown's new album is part of why he doesn't agree with other artists who claim that R&B is dead. "I think people are quick to jump on cliches and jump on fads. With me, I don't intend to do it or put myself in that box," he said. "I would never say one fad is dead because everything always reinvents itself, as far as music, as far as fashion — everything, you know? So maybe because it's not getting the recognition or the time that it needs — give it time, it'll come back around." Wise!
Though he's getting back to his "crooner" roots, Breezy has made a name for himself lately through his rapping. "With the hip-hop and the rapping, I wouldn't say it's a hobby, but it's more about me expressing myself," Brown said. "As far as my fans and my management, at first that wasn't the 'key,'" he laughed. He talks about how his manager was adamantly against him rapping early in his career, but that 'Look at Me Now' changed her mind. "My first No. 1 was 'Look at Me Now' and I didn't sing on the record at all," he noted. "It just was a rap song, and I was like, 'Well cool!' As long as they're going for it, I'll keep doing it."
Tune in to the video below to hear why Brown isn't afraid of the artists he inspires and the transition from 'F.A.M.E.' to 'Fortune,' as well as how he gets in the zone when he dances onstage. Breezy also talked about his bit part in the hit Steve Harvey star vehicle 'Think Like a Man' and how it came to fruition — including a possible crush on a co-star — and on his most challenging movie role to date.
Watch Chris Brown's Full MTV Interview


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U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
Company Forced Sexually Hostile Environment on Women, Including Coaxing Them Into Sham Marriages, Federal Agency Charged
DALLAS – Courtesy Building Services, Inc., a janitorial and construction service which has offices in Dallas and Fort Worth, has settled a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today. Under a consent decree, the company will pay a former employee $27,500 in damages and attorney fees, and agrees to monitoring by the EEOC to ensure compliance with the law for a period of seven years.
The EEOC's suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division (3:09-CV-0911-D), charged that the company subjected female employees to a sexually hostile work environment.
Specifically, according to the EEOC, former operations manager Melissa Gaona and other women were forced to work in a "good old boy" atmosphere where comments about women's bodies and references to the strip club across the street were a constant occurrence. Male management personnel frequently commented on how women, including employees, looked, suggesting that Gaona enhance her breasts with implants. A male sales representative frequently used the word "whore" in referencing women. According to Gaona, one of the sales rep's vulgar refrains was, "As long as you have t--s, you'll have a job." She was also subjected to unwanted touchings. After suit was filed, the company posted a memo on "Rules," which asked employees not to act "so loud or dirty."
Further, the EEOC said that Courtesy pressured Melissa Gaona and other women to enter into fraudulent marriages with foreign nationals whom they did not know to help them gain U.S. citizenship.
"I wanted to get ahead, but my boss told me I wasn't going to amount to anything if I didn't try one of these marriages," said Gaona. "I felt dirty the whole time that I worked there. Changing that situation for other women that might work there was worth fighting for."
Sexual harassment violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
In addition to monetary relief, the company is enjoined from requiring or suggesting that employees marry strangers for citizenship schemes in the future. The company will inform the EEOC of any complaints of sexual harassment, including pressure to enter into sham marriages, for the decree's entire seven-year term. The company will also revise its sexual harassment policy and procedures to ensure that employee complaints are addressed, and provide avenues for reporting violations and conduct annual training on the laws against sexual harassment in the workplace and the proper procedure for investigating complaints. Courtesy will also post a notice to employees on this consent decree that details the reporting procedures.
"Pressuring an employee toward entering into a marriage that she does not seek or want, with veiled threats of the consequences is, in and of itself, a form of sexual harassment," said EEOC Supervisory Trial Attorney Toby Wosk Costas. "Businesses cannot use their roster of female employees as a source of sham marriage prospects for foreigners hoping for citizenship. When this scenario occurs, the EEOC will act to ensure compliance with the law."
Regional Attorney Robert Canino of the EEOC's Dallas District Office added, "When an employer encourages unwanted relationships or liaisons between their female employees and customers, clients, or other third parties, Title VII's protections are going to come into the picture. The sexually offensive conduct of using an altar to alter working conditions is clearly unlawful."
The EEOC enforces federal laws that prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the agency is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.

subset: commoncrawl


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Phillip Wells was born during 1797 in Suffolk County, New York. He died in 1864 in Accomack County, Virginia.
Phillip married Evelyn Workman in 1817 in Westchester County, New York. Evelyn was born circa 1798 in New York. She died about 1880 in Accomack County, Virginia.
They had the following children:
Phillip Wells was born about 1819 in New York. He died on 16 Sep 1906 in Halifax County, Virginia.
Frederick Wells was born about 1819 in Westchester County, New York. He died in 1897 in Virginia.
Paul Wells was born circa 1822 in Westchester County, New York. He died in 1822 in New York.
Paula Wells was born in 1824 in Westchester County, New York. She died in 1893 in Pennsylvania.
Elizabeth Wells was born in 1828 in New York. She died on 25 Sep 1900 in Halifax County, Virginia.
Peter Rutherford Wells was born in 1831 in Virginia. He died in 1889 in Ohio.
Grace A. Wells was born in 1833 in Accomack County, Virginia. She died in 1923 in Virginia.
Martin W. Wells was born about 1837 in Accomack County, Virginia. He died in 1900 in Virginia.
Helen Mary Wells was born about 1840 in Virginia. She died in 1881 in Halifax County, Virginia.
Joseph C. Wells was born on 21 Sep 1842 in Virginia. He died on 26 Jun 1909 in Virginia.
Charlotte Wells was born in 1845 in Virginia. She died in 1919 in Virginia.


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Off to be runner 9 for Nuun's Team Lemonade! Follow our journey on twitter via #nuunhtc #teamlemonade
Seaside here we come!
|Last year's VIP Potty pic with Kerrie!
|Pre-race hydration is KEY. Watermelon NUUN helps with this!
|Hanging out with the awesome ladies of OnlineShoes.com and Brooks Running last year. These killer pink kicks have been my running STAPLE since this pic!
|Goofy Goob & I
|Sleeping Goober
|Finish line smile
|K, me, Lolo post-race
|Me and my best friend. So proud of her!
|Megan & I before the race
|Stretching is important
|Megan, Meghan, Meghan, Megan


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Recent strength in cotton prices could result in an increase in U.S. acreage in 2010, including California and Arizona, according to Jarral Neeper, president of Calcot, speaking at the Ag Market Network's December teleconference.
"This year, California planted 190,000 acres, and it's completely within reason that we could get close to 300,000 acres in 2010. It could be more if we get adequate water. We also could see an increase in Arizona cotton acreage, perhaps to as high as 200,000 acres."
Neeper says that total U.S. cotton acreage "could be up by as much as a million acres this year, maybe more depending on where prices go in the spring. But I don't think we've seen prices get high enough yet."
A million-acre increase in cotton acres with modest abandonment and a 1.4 bale yield on the additional acres, "would give us an additional 1.4 million bales of cotton and a crop approaching 14 million to 15 million bales.
"Fifteen million bales combined with an expected carryover of 4.5 million bales comes to 19.5 million bales, which won't be terribly excessive for the 2010 crop year."
On pricing, Neeper says growers "have a little time to wait before they do anything. The nearby contract is going to stay high enough to keep new crop elevated. If we go into the early part of 2010, and the nearby contract – March or May – continues to 79 cents to the low 80s, it's going to help bring new crop up with it."
Mike Stevens, with Swiss Financial Services, says this bull move is different from the one in 2008. "Fundamentals continue to follow the market up. Investors and speculators are comforted that they are not buying into a bubble that will pop like it did in the 2008 debacle.
"Then again, you can't discount the track record of (hedge funds). Most days, we're not trading old fashioned supply and demand fundamentals, but the flow of money seeking a return against a reasonable risk."
Stevens said Deutsche Bank, a major international bank, "released a report Dec. 11 called, 'Ten Reasons to Go Long Agriculture.' The report included a chart valuing commodities in real terms. They listed 20 commodities from expensive to cheap in relation to their prices in 1972. Guess what they rated the cheapest in real terms, you guessed it, cotton.
"Speculators, investors, fund managers all take note of this kind of research, and they're the ones driving this boat. From my perspective, cotton prices seem stretched out and a bit overbought, but yesterday (Dec. 14, when prices spiked higher) showed me wrong. The market has some room to move to the upside. It would be foolhardy to not realize that it could stay in an overbought condition for a long while."
The market has an upward bias, added Carl Anderson, Extension economist, Texas A&M University. "I would be cautious about fixing a price for your entire crop. Right now, I'm comfortable with these prices, and I'm not really pushing to fix prices beyond 15 percent to 20 percent of the crop."
Anderson says that new crop futures prices would likely have to exceed 80 cents per pound to entice Delta farmers to plant more cotton in 2010, "unless the price of soybeans falls sharply. I think March will have to buy some acres, so in several months, I think we could see the mid-80s or possibly the high-80s if the speculators jump on board."
Stevens feels that the potential for increased cotton acreage in China will pressure December 2010 prices. "But I think it will be pulled up close to 80 cents.
Meanwhile, the nearby market still has a lot of breathing room on the upside, according to Stevens. "Much to the chagrin of the mills, they're going to have to do something. The speculators are continuing to take it up – 78 cents to 82 cents is a very reasonable target."
Neeper believes new crop December "has a shot at 83 cents and could perhaps go as high as 87 cents by sometime this spring."
e-mail: email@example.com


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Report abuse before it is too late
Staff writer
Small communities are more likely to have a higher rate of hidden elder abuse — a reality that makes Paul Shipp of Kansas Legal Services sit up and take notice.
"It's hard because they don't want to report whoever is abusing them," he said. "It's usually a child or a spouse — someone they count on, someone that knows that they need them so they can remain independent."
Shipp, who spoke to Marion Seniors Wednesday, is just one of the many legal servants in Kansas who are concerned about elder abuse. While many people, he said, think immediately of physical abuse when it's mentioned, he said senior citizens can also be abused emotionally or financially — most often by their own family members.
"It's difficult to get those calls," he said.
Shipp said the best thing that people can do is report any signs of elder abuse. While financial abuse can be difficult to spot, Shipp said it is possible — as long as a third-party has access to the accounts.
"If, for instance, you see that a woman in her 80s or 90s has bought a house full of gym equipment, you can pretty much guarantee that she isn't going to use it," he said. "Nine times out of 10, these cases usually come when the spouse dies, and they take in their child or grandchild. They know they aren't going to be here for long and so they give the money to someone else, even if they have to give up their food budget for the week."
Withdrawal from social activities is another sign of physical or emotional abuse.
"They don't want people to see their black eye, and have to either lie or say that their family member did this to them," he said. "So, they just stay in their house or apartment and don't come out. That's when you know something's going on."
Shipp said people are often afraid of reporting an incident of possible elder abuse or neglect; they don't want to get in another person's business. But, in the process, the lawyer said they are only enabling the abuser to get away with unlawful actions.
"You should always report your suspicions," he said. "You could save someone's life or, at the very least, drastically improve the quality of their life."
Shipp said it's important to call the appropriate authorities — either the police or Adult Protective Services — as close to the incident as possible, so that the senior in question can get the help that he or she needs.
"You're not going to get sued," Shipp said. "There are laws to cover you; no matter what happens, it's always good to report it and be wrong, rather than to not report it and be right."
To report suspected abuse, call the Kansas Protection Center at 800-922-5330.
Last modified May 16, 2013


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Maria was my OH's 3 x Great Grandmother. She is the STEERS ancestor that I now know the most about, mostly thanks to the records kept at the London Metropolitan Archives (LMA).
Maria STEERS was born in [allegedly] in
in approximately 1815. How she met Thomas Bradshaw STEERS and moved to Durham I'm yet to find out. London
I assume that she married Thomas B STEERS, however as I've not been able to find a marriage entry they could have been happily living in sin.
Thomas and Maria first appear on the 1851 census, living one assumes as husband and wife in Bethnal Green at 5 Old Nichol Street. They have five children at this point in time;
Ellen STEERS, born about 1834
William STEERS, born some time between 1840 and 1845
Eleanor STEERS, born about 1841
Anna M STEERS, born about 1844
Watson STEERS, born about 1846
Now all the evidence I have say that the children were born in
Hull, Yorkshire. Yet the same evidence tells me that the family lived and worked in . London
[This family are interesting like that, and I'll get to the knowledge bit soon.]
I cannot find any evidence of the children being born in
, or any reason why the family would be up there. Anyway back to Maria. Hull
Maria worked as a needlewoman, an embroidress and a braider. This was an acceptable occupation for a woman in Victorian England. Whilst the family appeared to move around the Bethnal Green and Shoreditch areas of London.
Thomas died in 1868, leaving Maria alone as her children had all moved out.
Maria next appears in the records on the 1881 Census, she's in the Middlesex District Lunatic Asylum, St. Bernard's; better known as Hanwell. Today Hanwell is still a Mental Health Hospital, the site (renamed Three Bridges Regional Secure Unit), is run by West London Mental Health NHS Trust and up until a couple of weeks ago I worked with Consultants and Nurses from this Trust and this hospital. It's odd how things are connected. The records from Hanwell have been deposited at the LMA (reference H11/HLL/B/…) and it was to these records I turned on Saturday.
I had made a previous attempt to find Maria's records but I was not really sure what I was looking for and it wasn't my primary goal for that trip so I ran out of time.
Thanks to the partnership between Ancestry and the LMA I had managed to locate Maria's burial record. She was buried on 19 December 1881 at All Saints, Edmonton, Enfield but unfortunately I was unable to locate her gravestone (see here for more information about that trek). However I had a date with which to start looking.
The first thing I did was to request the "Register of Female Deaths, Discharges and Returns" that covered 1881 (H11/HLL/B/15/003).
Maria was there. This record told me that Maria had died in the Asylum. She died on 13 December 1881 aged 59. Her cause of death was given as 1. Whitening softening of the brain with epilepsy 2. Exhaustion due to epilepsy.
She was admitted to the Asylum on 21 June 1877, and as such had been there for 4 years, 5 months and 22 days. Her "mental disease" was given as dementia, which she had had for upwards of five years.
It was routine for autopsies to be carried out on those that died in the asylums, unless they were asked not to by family members. The records of the autopsies were also deposited (H11/HLL/B/28/004) so I ordered the ledger which covered 1881 and sure enough, she'd had an autopsy performed.
As well as providing the cause of death, the autopsy also showed that Maria had a slightly fatty heart, pneumonia on both lungs and chronic bronchitis. Her liver was recorded as being "fairly healthy" It was very odd to see the weights of the organs written down and I'm still trying to decipher the doctor's handwriting and meanings of the medical terms.
My next thought was that now I had an admission date I could look up the admission record and see what else that could tell me. This was located within H11/HLL/B/05/009.
Maria was admitted to the asylum on 21 June 1877 aged 60, suffering from mania. She was admitted from 25 Fellow Street near Haggerstone, in the parish of Shoreditch on the authority of J Finnes and W Elsey. They noted that she was not epileptic, suicidal or dangerous and that her health was "good, body fairly nourished" and that "on admission there was a bruise on right arm". Her first attack occurred at the age of 60 and had been occurring for 6 months, 2 weeks.
After confirming that Maria was admitted to the asylum I ordered the Case Notes which covered Maria's time in the asylum (H11/HLL/B/19/026). It is these case notes that have provided the most information.
The case notes repeat the information from the admission record but there are a few differences;
Age on admission here is given as 55
Age of first attack is given as 60, but the admitting attack is recorded as being the first attack. Confusing huh!
Maria's religion is given as Wesleyan, which may explain why I haven't been able to find a marriage or baptism but it doesn't explain why she was buried in an Established Church.
The question regarding epilepsy was first answered "No", but this was then changed to Yes on 21 December 1878 so she must have been diagnosed during her final years.
Instead of "Next of Kin", the ledger has "Friends Address", here William STEERS of 17 River Street, Caledonian Road is listed.
Further details are provided as a family history was provided by "Her daughter Mrs H. Lambert Locks Wharf, Angel Road, Edmonton".
Mrs Lambert tells the doctors that her mother was the eldest of 7 children and all of her brothers and sisters are still alive. Maria had a total of 9 children, 3 of whom are still alive and the youngest was 25.
Her affliction is described as hereditary. The supposed cause of this attack is described as "trouble caused by her son". Maria is described as "hard working and industrious" with "cleanly" habits. She had blue eyes, was tall and weighed 8 stone 8 lbs (56kg) when she was admitted. She had a "clean tongue" and a "good appetite".
The history given states that her "mother cut her throat, like to drink much and take opium" and of her father "no faiticulais known" (which I take to mean nothing was known about his mental state).
Mental State on Admission
Here appearance is somewhat sad and dispirited, and her ceremony is greatly impaired…she couldn't tell how long she has been here, or where she came from. Says that a short time ago she used often to hear voices of her dead father and mother talking to her, but that she has not heard them lately.
About 12 months ago her memory began to fail and she would mistake one of her sons for another and did not always know where she was. Walked about jerking her body backwards and forwards. She had very much trouble with her elder son who seems to be a great scoundrel and on one occasion deliberately invoked a cure upon her (about 7 years ago). This always pressed much on her mind.
The rest of the case notes refer to her time in the asylum. She suffered many "severe [epileptic] fits", was "demented…forgetful…lost" and spent most of her time wandering around the ward or gardens.
The time leading up to her death, Maria suffered many severe fits and was first weakened then paralysed on one side of her body (most likely to have suffered a stroke).
Also included in Maria's case notes was a letter from her son, William. I will be transcribing this in a later post but it was very satisfying to see William's signature.
Marie lived a long and seemingly difficult life. I've now got a few more leads to follow in finding this family. I was extremely satisfying to find these records and makes all the research worth it.


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Former Monkey Tree owner and longtime Island baker Adam Cone has opened a pizzeria in Seattle's International District.
The restaurant, which he is running with his brother Aaron Crosley-Cone, is called World Pizza, located at 672 S. King Street. It serves whole pizzas, pizza by the slice, salads and beer and wine, he said.
The Monkey Tree's espresso machine is also in place, he said, adding, "Visually, it's not unlike The Monkey Tree."
Cone, who ran the Monkey Tree for four years before he and his two business partners decided it was time to try something new, has enjoyed a strong following on Vashon, where he continues to bake for Guiseppe's, the restaurant located in The Monkey Tree's former digs.
His pizzeria opened three weeks ago, and sometimes, he said, "The whole café is filled with Vashon people."
Cone and his brother owned a pizzeria by the same name from 1992 to 1996 in Belltown. The new place, in the heart of the International District, is across the street from a small park where people often do Tai Chi.
"It's really pretty special," he said of his new location.