Wheew, I’ve been gone for some time but you haven’t been forgotten. Spring is in the air, a new beginning.

It’s been a few tough months. Lots of folks are struggling. Many friends have lost their jobs. Others struggling with the aftermaths of natural disasters. It is a time to recognize and come together.

Here in New York, sometimes it’s difficult to recognize that we are in a depression. The restaurants are busy, theaters are full, tourists are shopping. But, if you pay close attention, it’s not hard to notice that something is amiss. There are more and more “For Rent” signs on storefronts. The much loved and needed mom and pop shops can no longer survive. I lost so many of my favorite spots last year due to rent increases. The local coffee shop in the West Village, where students, local neighbors and low key celebrities would congregate over yummy pea soup and burgers, my healthy food market, my fave bistro for Steak Frites, the hole in the wall bar with the awesome jukebox…all gone. Unfortunately, these spaces will be replaced by big corporate retail or fast food chain restaurants. They are the only ones that can afford the exorbitant rents.

We have a “new” President that promoted change. He has been in office just over a year now. We are still in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are still arguing over health care, we still have same sex marriage conflicts. According to Politifact, Mr. Obama has delivered on 96 campaign promises, compromised on 33, broken 16, and is working on 272 of the 500 promises he made during his campaign. I have my fingers crossed that he won’t let us down.

Twenty-five years after the first queen of hip-hop was stiffed on her royalty checks, Dr. Roxanne Shante boasts an Ivy League Ph.D. – financed by a forgotten clause in her first record deal. “This is a story that needs to be told,” Shante said. “I’m an example that you can be a teenage mom, come from the projects, and be raised by a single parent, and you can still come out of it a doctor.”

Her prognosis wasn’t as bright in the years after the ’80s icon scored a smash hit at age 14: “Roxanne’s Revenge,” a razor-tongued response to rap group UTFO’s mega-hit “Roxanne, Roxanne.”

The 1984 single sold 250,000 copies in New York City alone, making Shante (born Lolita Gooden) hip hop’s first female celebrity.

She blazed a trail followed by Lil’ Kim, Salt-N-Pepa and Queen Latifah – although Shante didn’t share their success.

After two albums, Shante said, she was disillusioned by the sleazy music industry and swindled by her record company. The teen mother, living in the Queensbridge Houses, recalled how her life was shattered.

“Everybody was cheating with the contracts, stealing and telling lies,” she said. “And to find out that I was just a commodity was heartbreaking.”

But Shante, then 19, remembered a clause in her Warner Music recording contract: The company would fund her education for life.

She eventually cashed in, earning a Ph.D. in psychology from Cornell to the tune of $217,000 – all covered by the label. But getting Warner Music to cough up the dough was a battle.

“They kept stumbling over their words, and they didn’t have an exact reason why they were telling me no,” Shante said.

She figured Warner considered the clause a throwaway, never believing a teen mom in public housing would attend college. The company declined to comment for this story.

Shante found an arm-twisting ally in Marguerita Grecco, the dean at Marymount Manhattan College. Shante showed her the contract, and the dean let her attend classes for free while pursuing the money.

“I told Dean Grecco that either I’m going to go here or go to the streets, so I need your help,” Shante recalls. “She said, ‘We’re going to make them pay for this.'”

Grecco submitted and resubmitted the bills to the label, which finally agreed to honor the contract when Shante threatened to go public with the story.

Shante earned her doctorate in 2001, and launched an unconventional therapy practice focusing on urban African-Americans – a group traditionally reluctant to seek mental health help.

“People put such a taboo on therapy, they feel it means they’re going crazy,” she explained. “No, it doesn’t. It just means you need someone else to talk to.”

Shante often incorporates hip-hop music into her sessions, encouraging her clients to unleash their inner MC and shout out exactly what’s on their mind.

“They can’t really let loose and enjoy life,” she said. “So I just let them unlock those doors.”

Shante, 38, is also active in the community. She offers $5,000 college scholarships each semester to female rappers through the nonprofit Hip Hop Association.

She also dispenses advice to young women in the music business via a MySpace page.

“I call it a warning service, so their dreams don’t turn into nightmares,” she said.

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons said Shante is a shining role model for the rap community. “Dr. Shante’s life is inspiring,” Simmons said. “She was a go-getter who rose from the struggle and went from hustling to teaching. She is a prime example that you can do anything, and everything is possible.”

When a reporter asked Semenya about the rumours surrounding her gender following her victory on Wednesday, she said: “I have no idea about that.

“I don’t know who said that, I don’t give a damn about it.”

Spokesman Nick Davies said the IAAF had first asked the teenager to undergo a gender test after she posted a world leading time of 1 minute 56.72 seconds at the African junior championships in Bambous, Mauritius, at the end of July.

Davies said doctors in South Africa had already begun testing Semenya but because of the complexity of the process, it would be some time before the results were available. Until then, she was clear to run.

Controversy about the athlete then reached a head when she won Wednesday’s final in a time of 1:55.45, the best time in the world this year.

Semenya’s mother, Dorcus, told the BBC: “Caster is a girl, her birth certificate says she is a girl. This my girl, I give birth to that girl from my womb and I am not doubting.

“I know everything with Caster, no questions.”

John Wass, professor of endocrinology at Oxford University explained the basics of the gender verification test.

“There are three aspects to determine whether a person is a man or woman,” he told BBC Radio 5 live.

“The first thing is your chromosomal sex, you can scrape the inside of the mouth and get a few cells and that usually takes a fortnight or so – XX is a woman and XY is a man.

“The second is what you actually look like… you have a look to see what there is in terms of external genitalia.

“And the last aspect is what you feel you are.

“I think it is likely that the tests will be conclusive.”

The official IAAF policy document on gender verification states that one of the steps required for handling such cases is that “the athlete is referred to the investigating authority in confidence for further investigation and advice”.

The IAAF announced it had asked Semenya to take the gender test before she competed in Wednesday’s 800m final in Berlin.

Former Olympic heptathlon champion Denise Lewis described the treatment of the South Africa as “absolutely dreadful”, adding: “It’s awful she had to compete with this hanging over her head.

“It should have been sorted out much, much sooner than this.”

Four-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Johnson agreed, saying: “The consensus is that it is highly unfair and embarrassing to the athlete.”

But the American added: “At the same time we’ve had so many athletes who have doped over the last decade in this sport, so we know people will cheat for success.

“I think what the IAAF is doing is the right thing in terms of dealing with the situation, but the way they’re dealing with it is all wrong.”

Great Britain’s Jenny Meadows could have her bronze medal elevated to silver if Semenya fails her test.

She said: “There’s nothing we can do as athletes and it’s a difficult situation for Caster herself to be in but we’ve got to leave to to the discretion of the IAAF.”

Treatment of Semenya has caused anger in her native South Africa.

The country’s ruling party, the ANC, called on South Africans to rally around “our golden girl”.

“Caster is not the only woman athlete with a masculine build and the International Association of Athletics Federation should know better,” an ANC statement read.

Gideon Sam, president of South Africa’s Olympic governing body, said: “We condemn the way she was linked with such media speculation and allegation, especially on a day she ran in the final of her first major world event.

“We have every faith in Athletics South Africa and the team they selected to attend the World Championships in Berlin.”

What is swine flu?

Swine flu is a type of influenza virus which normally affects pigs. But it has ‘crossed over’ to infect humans before, and the current strain of the virus has now affected many people in Mexico. The concern is that it seems to be spreading between people and might cause a wave of infections around the world.

There have been more than 1,600 cases of swine flu in Mexico in recent weeks, and over 100 deaths. But in other countries, where people travelling from Mexico have caught the disease, infections have been milder, and no-one has died. There have been confirmed cases in the US, in Canada and in Spain. Other suspected cases are being investigated in other countries.

What are the symptoms of swine flu?

Symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of normal winter flu. People have a feverish illness, along with one or more of the following symptoms: cough, sore throat, headache, tiredness and muscle aches. Some people also lose their appetite, and some have reported vomiting and diarrhoea.

What should I do if I get symptoms?

If you’ve been to Mexico or the US, or another country that may have been affected by swine flu, the UK’s Health Protection Agency says you should keep an eye on your health for the seven days after your return. If you develop flu-like symptoms during that time, you should stay at home, and contact your GP by telephone, or phone NHS Direct. Make sure you tell them where you’ve been travelling.

You may need tests, which might be carried out at home, or in hospital. Until you have your test results, you should avoid contact with other people. You should also take sensible hygiene precautions to avoid spreading the virus.

• Cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, use paper tissues and dispose of them straight away.
• Wash your hands frequently with soap and water.
• Wash surfaces like door handles with a normal cleaning product.

It’s important that your children also cover their noses and mouths when coughing or sneezing, and wash their hands frequently.

How can I protect myself against swine flu?

At the time of writing, there have been no confirmed cases of swine flu in the UK. However, it’s possible the virus will spread to the UK. Taking sensible hygiene precautions, such as those listed above, will help avoid spreading or catching the virus. Frequent hand-washing has been shown in clinical studies to prevent the spread of cold and flu viruses.

What treatments work for swine flu?

The anti-viral medicines oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) are being used to treat people with swine flu. Testing has shown that the swine flu virus is susceptible to these medicines.

From:

Health Protection Agency. Swine influenza advice for the public. April 2009. Available at the Health Protection Agency (accessed on 27 April 2009).

When I put my virginity up for auction in September, it was in part a sociological experiment — I wanted to study the public’s response. Now it seems that the tables have turned, and the public is studying me.

I’m a 22-year-old woman who recently earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Women’s Studies, and soon I’ll be entering a Masters Degree program in Marriage and Family Therapy. During the time in between, in addition to my regular 9-to-5, I’ve been exploring my upcoming thesis project: the value of virginity. To be more specific, I’ve put my own virginity up for auction on the Moonlight Bunny Ranch website, and I recently received my highest bid so far: a cool $3.8 million.

In addition to bids, however, I’ve also received an astonishing, sometimes unnerving, amount of media attention. Many of these reports have portrayed me inaccurately, however, so let me tell you what this is all about.

This all started long before September. In fact, it started in college, where my eyes were opened by my Women’s Studies professors and fellow classmates. I came to understand the role of “woman” spanning culture and time. At the university level, I was given permission to think differently and form a moral code of my own design. College opened my eyes. Continue

The L Word spin-off: It will star The L Word’s Leisha Hailey and will be a “very different, substantially different show” from The L Word, he says.

Hailey’s character Alice Pieszecki goes to jail, where the new show would be set. While The L Word, which will conclude as a series after its yet-to-premiere sixth season, focuses primarily on a community of lesbians, the spin-off would involve a broad spectrum of characters, including some lesbians, Greenblatt says: “It’s a big group of characters and there’s a few lesbians in that group, but it isn’t the exact makeup of what The L Word was.”

When asked if it is a “female Oz,” he says that was “not a bad description,” though it would not be as dark as Oz, the gritty, former HBO series.

Three guest stars appear in the pilot and may or may not go forward on the series should it get picked up: Melissa Leo (Frozen River), Famke Janssen and Laurie Metcalf.

Greenblatt says he expects to make a decision about the pilot, which he has not yet seen cut together, in the next couple of months.

Can someone tell me why Showtime is determined to spoil the entire sixth season of The L Word? If the writers were going for a mystery thriller based on who killed Jenny, and now we know Alice lands in jail, is there really any suspense for the last eight episodes? Oh my, do I see a shark down there?

Openly lesbian , a 65-year-old whose Jan. 31 elevation to the post of Prime Minister would have seemed the longest of long shots thirty years ago, at the start of the former flight attendant’s political career.

Or, perhaps not: this is a woman whose determination and perseverance have set her apart from others in the tiny nation’s government, a woman who once formed her own party before recommitting to the Social Democratic Alliance.

With Sigurdardottir having taken the reigns of national leadership and Iceland headed toward membership in the European Union, the promise of hope for a nation beset by deep economic woes–and the Jan. 26 fall of a government that had lost the trust of its people–far outweigh the sexual orientation of the new leader.

Even so, Sigurdardottir’s assumption of the role of Prime Minister marks an historic step forward: never before has an openly GLBT individual been prime minister of a nation.

The cause was colon cancer, said her longtime publicist, Andrew E. Freedman. Full article