Yasmin Shiraz

Kid with Gun!

I recently came across a report out of the Guardian newspaper that says that US gunmakers are going after America’s youth in an attempt to bolster gun sales. Yeah, you read that right!

GUNMAKERS going after OUR YOUTH!

Shouldn’t there be a law somewhere against that? According to the article I read, youth will be targeted with “junior shooting shows” and “pump-action shot guns.” I shake my head because guns and the people that own them have contributed GREATLY to the amount of violence that we currently have in society.

A portion of the article read:

The National Rifle Association, the hugely powerful lobby that campaigns to uphold the second amendment right to bear arms, knows how crucial such young guns are to the gun-rights cause. Firearms manufacturers know it, too. As Handguns Magazine put it, “Children are our salvation in the fight for liberty and the preservation of the shooting sports.”

“We can win this battle, if we all try,” proclaimed New England Firearms, a gun-maker, in an advert aimed at kids. “It will be an old-fashioned wrestling match for the hearts and minds of our children,” echoed the NRA as it launched a campaign to “invest” in America’s youth.

The metaphors might be extravagant, but the sentiment is accurate. America’s gun interests do indeed have a struggle on their hands to engage the country’s kids, for the simple reason that gun ownership is steadily declining. Over the last 30 years, the percentage of American households that have guns in the home has tailed off from a high of 54% in 1977 to 34.5% in 2006.

When I read stuff like this, I think about the 8 year old boy who killed himself when he accidentally shot himself in the head at a gunshow in Western Massachusetts. People, what are you thinking? Guns should not be targeted to kids any more than cigarettes, alcohol or other hard core drugs. What does the NRA have to say when a young person accidentally kills themselves or someone else because they thought they knew how to handle a gun?

The video of the newsstory of the boy who accidentally killed himself is below:

I’m introducing a new personal tips column for the visitors of my blog ‘cause I see people have been too disrespectful. In other words, folks need to get tightened up real quick.

Emotional Abuse: Don’t allow it!

When you allow people to talk to you and treat you any kind of way, you allow yourself to be emotionally abused! Its like you’re saying, “I don’t respect or care about myself so I’m going to let you talk to me or treat me like I’m worthless.”

With the technology boom, I’ve noticed a HUGE lack of respect between people so I wanted to speak up on it. These are key areas that people need to be put in check so they don’t emotionally abuse you. Below are rules to live by! Feel free to use them with the people that you know.

1)    If I text you and your phone is on, text me back. If you don’t, I’m cutting you off because you obviously don’t care about me or you would have returned my text.

2)    If I call you and leave you a message and you don’t call me back in a decent time frame (8 hrs or less,) I’m cutting you off. Why? Because people who value me and my time, call me back quickly. (Emergencies and REAL hecticness are the exceptions to this rule! But you shouldn’t have to wait 72 hrs for a return call!)

3)    If we talk in the morning about doing something in the afternoon, and you don’t show up, don’t call me and don’t text me with a good explanation for the no-show, you’re phone number is as good as deleted from my phone. Don’t play games with me.

If you’ve been allowing people to emotionally abuse you, watch your life change when you implement these rules. Stand up for yourself. When people refuse to respect you, it shows that they have no respect for themselves!

I hope you can appreciate these Rules to Live By! The Rules will come on every Sunday!

I’ll be on WVON, The Talk of Chicago at 9:08am CST talking about girl fights and my film which documents girl fights, Can She Be Saved? I’ll be on with guest host, Monique Caradine. We’ll be taking live calls and you can listen live at www.wvon.com. We’ll be talking about what you can do to reduce teen girl fights in your community. I hope you tune in. The trailer to my film is below:

Andrea Thomas

I was doing some research today on girl fights and came across a teen girl who was attacked TODAY! According to news reports out of Chicago, Andrea Thomas, 16 was attacked while sitting in her sister’s car. The reason for the attack? A dispute stemming from her SISTER’S previous romantic relationship.

Andrea was apparently an innocent bystander and was nonetheless stabbed in the back around 2:30pm CST.

The family is saying that she will recover but this is yet another attack that was unncessary.

Please look at the trailer below of my film, Can She Be Saved? It documents teen girl fights in the US. This film was made to be shared with teen girls about why they are fighting. The goal is to “Stop The Violence.”

I look forward to your feedback. The film is for sale on my site at the store.

I’m always searching the internet for fun, interesting and news worthy things to share with my readers. I came across this clip from a past Tyra Show which alleges that three words can change a person from not being interested in you to being really interested in you. If you are currently dating, I want you to view the clip below and use the three words and see if it makes a difference. Email me or post comments and let me know. I want to know if saying those three words can make a person want to date you….  I want to feature your success stories on this site! Good luck!

Jay Z and Beanie in better days

As some of you know, former Jay-Z protege, Beanie Sigel, is dissing Jay-Z with a song entitled, “How I Can Kill Jigga Man.” I swear there was absolutely NO CREATIVITY involved in this track. It was like Beans said, “What can I write to shock everyone?” Two minutes passed. Then he said, “Oh, I know, I’ll say, ‘I’ll kill him on a record.’ Yeah, that’s it. That’ll get lots of people to take notice and buy my album.”

Beans looks like the worst kind of traitor /Judas with this record. In the Roc-A-Fella “Hard Knock Life” days, Beans couldn’t get enough of Jay-Z. Now that he’s out of lockdown and signed to 50 Cent he writes a song, “How I Can Kill Jigga Man” ? Seriously. This song is weeeeeeaaaaakkkkkk.

I like music, I like creative art forms. But when people are really just trying to get stuff started, that’s the worst kind of artistry. It lacks genuine creativity! I covered hip hop when Biggie and Tupac were both alive. So I have no love for anyone who writes a song about killing somebody. That’s some BS.

I spoke out against the East Coast/ West Coast beef and I’m speaking up now. I encourage everyone who reads this blog not to support an artist who IRRESPONSIBLY puts lyrics out that promote death to another artist.

It is what it is. I’ve said it. Feel free to comment.

I’ve been off for a few days, but I couldn’t let another day pass without commenting on Rihanna’s interview with radio host Angie Martinez. A whole lot of stuff was said, but the paragraph below is what I take issue with:

On her nude photos leaking:

Which ones? The hot ones? They should be hot, they were for my boyfriend at the time. If you don’t send your boyfriend naked pictures then I feel bad for him. Trust me I was [freaked out], that was the worst thing that could possibly ever happen to me. I just feel like my privacy was taken before that and then when that came out I was like “Oh great! So, Now there is nothing they don’t know about my private life”. It was humiliating and embarrassing… – Rihanna

To Rihanna’s young fans:

DO NOT take her advice and send your boyfriend naked pictures of you. In most states, if you are under 18 and you send naked photos to your significant other, you can be charged with possession and sending child pornography. If you receive nude photos of someone under 18, you can be charged with possession of child pornography.  These charges carry serious prison time. Whether you send a photo via cell phone or email, in most states this qualifies as distribution of child pornography.

I’m disappointed with the recklessness of Rihanna’s comment. Her statement did not seem to seriously take into account the numerous women who have taken nude photos (Vanessa Williams, Cameron Diaz) and/or have participated in sex videos (Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, Pamela Anderson) that were ultimately made public and caused these women major embarrassment. For her to recommend sending nude pictures in one breath and then to later say she was embarrassed is pretty stupid.

When and if you decide to take a nude photo or participate in a sex video, you ought to know that the possibility that it’ll be leaked is very high. If you don’t care, then that’s on you. But I would never recommend anyone to send another person naked photos.

***There are already cases in the US where teens have been charged with possession and distribution of child pornography for doing exactly what Rihanna mentioned. Don’t let this happen to you.***

Feel free to leave your comments.

The full transcript to the Rihanna interview is here: http://www.champmag.com/?p=14784

In the spirit of the holiday, I couldn’t resist posting Jay Leno’s Obama Turkey joke. Now, I gotta put my cornbread casserole in the oven!

Be Thankful & Get Your Grub On!

I wish all my readers, fans, family and friends a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. In the spirit of this occasion, I have written my 5 Thanksgiving Hopes for you.

Here are my 5 Thanksgiving Hopes:

1. I hope you surround yourself with good food and good people.
2. I hope that you make this Thanksgiving memorable for years to come.
3. I hope you can forgive a family member who has hurt you.
4. I hope you will reach out to someone who is less fortunate.
5. I hope you will appreciate who you are, love yourself and be fabulous today!

Be well… We will connect again soon.

Much love–Yasmin

Adam Lambert went on CBS Early Show this morning and defended his performance and talked about why some people are in an uproar about his performance. Watch the video and let me know what you think of his comments?

Watch CBS News Videos Online