It’s the time of the year again to recognize the various music industry artists in the United States. The 2012 Grammy nominees have been announced. Familiar names were mentioned, expectations were met, but we’ve also witnessed surprises. Everybody expected Adele to dominate all the artists after getting six nominations but Kanye West proved to be the top dog after raking seven nominations including Song of the Year and Best Rap Song.

Here are some of the 2012 Grammy nominees.

For the Album of the Year, Adele’s 21 has been nominated along with Foo Fighter’s Wasting Light, Lady Gaga’s Born This Way and Bruno Mar’s Doo-Woops & Hooligans. Completing the list of Album of the Year nominees is Rihanna’s Loud.

For the Song of the Year, The Cave by Mumford & Sons will try to take the award from Kanye West’s All Of The Lights. Bon Iver’s Holocene has also been nominated. Bruno Mar’s Grenade and Adele’s Rolling In The Deep were also nominated.

Adele and Bruno Mars clash heads again, this time in the Best Pop Solo Performance category with their songs Someone Like You and Grenade, respectively. Lady Gaga entered the scene with her hit You and I being nominated. Pink’s F***in’ Perfect and Katy Perry’s Firework also joined the list.

For the Record of the Year, the nominees are Rolling in the Deep by Adele, Holocene by Bon Iver, Grenade by Bruno Mars, The Cave by Mumford & Sons and Firework by Katy Perry.

The 54th Grammy Awards night will be held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The event will be broadcasted on CBS. For more information regarding the 2012 Grammy nominees, visit the Grammy’s website.

The Internet is flooded with so many exaggerated health claims and empty promises. Because of this, Shane Ellison was inspired to carry on his mission and that is to be able to provide people with self-empowerment products that can deliver measurable results so that people will have a better chance to live healthy and happy. Shane Ellison is an award winning pharmaceutical chemist who authored Over-The-Counter Natural Cures. This book will teach you how to be in charge of your health using 10 lifesaving supplements. With the help of this book, you can get rid of your prescription drugs and turn to natural cures with the help of safer and easy to find supplements which Shane recommends.  A graduate of BS Biology at Fort Lewis College, Shane Ellison also has an MS in organic chemistry from Northern Arizona University.

By reading Over-The-Counter Natural Cures, you will have better understanding about the causes of heart disease, depression, cancer, and lack of energy among others and the book will also show you the natural cures for such conditions. Other things that you can learn from Over-The-Counter Natural Cures include how to harness nutrient logic, bolster your immunity firewall, optimize your hormonal intelligence, how to use inexpensive detox cure from Mother Nature, and many others. The book has been awarded with the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award.

When Shane Ellison was still an undergraduate, he has already been a recipient of the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Grant. He was awarded twice for his studies in biochemistry and physiology under Dr. Sherrie Byrd and Dr. Les Sommerville. When Shane finished his graduate thesis in medicinal chemistry, he was awarded with the Graduate Student of the Year award by the Northern Arizona chemistry faculty. Today, Shane Ellison is known as “The People’s Chemist” and continues with his advocacy about consumer health. He also founded The People’s Chemist.com where you can find health products that you will not ordinarily find in your local grocery store.

UFC 133 served as a catalyst for several fighters’ climb to the upper rankings of their respective divisions. “Sugar” Rashad Evans proved that he is the top contender for the Light Heavyweight title after defeating the re-invigorated, Tito Ortiz. Evans came from a long 14-month inactivity due to a knee injury while Tito Ortiz just came off an impressive submission victory over Ryan Bader last month in UFC 132.

Round 1. Evans opened up the fight with great hand speed and footwork. Ortiz tried to exchange with the Ultimate Fighter winner and eventually attempted for a takedown. Ortiz held Evans for a bit but struggled to completely take the top control. After Evans went back on his feet, he swarmed Ortiz with combinations and caught a huge takedown. Evans continued to swarm Ortiz with punches and elbows until the bell rang, signifying the end of the first round.

Round 2. In the second round, Ortiz seemed a little tentative with his striking, Evans continued to use his speed advantage and secured another takedown, but this time, Ortiz held on to a guillotine choke attempt. The choke hold was tight and Evans seems to be in big trouble but he kept his composure and was able to escape the submission attempt. Evans regained top control on the side and rained down blows on Ortiz. I saw Ortiz doing his best to roll out of the bottom position, using the wall as a springboard for a possible reversal. But Evan’s top control was solid and caught Ortiz in a crucifix position. Ortiz’s last significant offensive move was a knee bar attempt which was easily shrugged off by Evans. When Ortiz got to his knees, Evans connected a lethal knee blow to his solar plexus (between the chest and the stomach region). Ortiz was visibly hurt, tumbled down and curled up. Evans jumped on the opportunity and rained more blows to the aching Ortiz. Referee Dan Miragliotta stops the fight with 12 seconds remaining in the second round.

Title shot for Rashad Evans. Sugar was supposed to face Shogun Rua for the title on UFC 128, but because of a knee injury, he was sidelined and his former training partner, Jon Jones, replaced him and captured the title. He was then supposed to fight Jones for the title on UFC 133 but Jones was sidelined due to another injury. The championship seems to evade Evans. After winning this fight, Evans is again in line for the title and he will face the winner between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and current champion, Jon “Bones” Jones. I personally want to see a Bones vs Sugar fight but a rematch with Rampage can also be interesting.

What’s next for Ortiz? I’d rather make a separate blog post about it.

Vitor Belfort wins Vitor Belfort style. And the “Phenom” is back after knocking out Yoshihiro Akiyama in the first round. Belfort showed to the world why he became so popular and one of the most feared strikers in MMA by quickly demolishing “Sexyama” with devastating punches. Rogan mentioned that Belfort is still the most dangerous contender for Anderson Silva’s title even though he was knocked out in their last fight. If the KO didn’t happen, Silva could have been in a huge trouble. Let’s see if Belfort gets another title shot after SIlva faces Yushin “Thunder” Okami on UFC 134/Rio.

Brian Ebersole stops Hallman. Ebersole defeats another seasoned UFC veteran by putting out Dennis “Superman” Hallman. Ebersole was also given an additional $70,000 for the “thanks for getting those horrifying shorts off TV as soon as possible” bonus.

MacDonald is a rising star. Another stand-out in the UFC 133 event was Rory MacDonald who defeated UFC veteran, Mike Pyle via TKO in the first round. Rogan said MacDonald may be the next GSP or he could be even better.

The just recently concluded fight breaks my heart. I am a huge Fedor fan and I would love to see him get back to the winning track. But unfortunately, in his Strikeforce heavyweight fight against Dan Henderson, he succumbs into another saddening defeat. Dan Henderson defeated Fedor via TKO in the first round. I just read about the news on Wikipedia. Yes, I haven’t seen the fight yet and I don’t think I can handle watching Fedor being destroyed. Update: I have already seen the fight, and it’s even worse than just reading about it. Fedor had him for a bit there, but Henderson survived the flurry and landed a huge uppercut from behind which put Fedor face down on the mat. My chest hurts.

Okay enough with the drama-queen mode. Let me tackle Fedor’s future in the MMA world. Will he continue to fight after three heart breaking defeats? I think the initial decision of Fedor would be a retirement. But no one knows for now. I honestly think he should not retire yet. As I mentioned in my earlier post, Fedor still has a good number of years ahead of him. But let’s face it, getting back at the top of the MMA mountain seems to be a fading chance. It is still possible though, but Fedor needs to change things around him.

Fedor needs to change training camps. I personally think that Fedor is not having the best training that he can have. He’s got a tremendous skill set, from striking to grappling and submissions. But all these tools could go nowhere if not equipped with a high level of training partners and coaches.

Fedor needs to surround himself with highly motivated training partners. Motivation is indeed a huge factor in determining whether a fighter can be successful or not. Fedor seems to lack motivation. This was also observed by Henderson. But of course we can never judge the heart of another man. Only Fedor can tell if his motivation is lacking or not.

Fedor can still continue fighting. But in what division? Henderson has been in the middleweight division for the bulk of his fighting career. And he beat Fedor decisively. Will Fedor be fit enough to compete in the heavyweight division? That’s a decision to make for the Last Emperor.

Fedor should be less “wild” in his attacks. This has caused him the fight against Werdum. And this time, with Henderson. Fedor seems to be plunging in reckless abandon mode when he smells blood. Werdum and Henderson capitalized on this by staying calm and collected. Fedor was also caught in the face after aggressively bull-rushing at Henderson during the first 15 seconds of the fight. I think Fedor needs to work on that. Technique over aggression can be the key to his return.

Early stoppage? Fedor mentioned, “I think [the stoppage] was early, I don’t want to say anything bad about the referee or anything, but it seems to me it was early. I was clearly hit, but I wasn’t hit flush and directly. I think I could have continued, but the referee decided to stop it.” Actually when I saw the fight video, it was clear that Fedor went lights out for a second after being hit by Henderson from the back. But when Fedor turned around, he seemed to have regained consciousness and was trying to defend Henderson’s flurry. I don’t know if I’m just being biased. I’m not taking anything away from Henderson. He was the winner of this fight.

For now, no one knows what’s in store for the Last Emperor. Will he continue fighting? Or is it curtains down for the MMA legend who once was considered by many as the best of all time? These questions will be answered soon.

Juan Corona, the 22 year old suspect of homicide from Camden was arrested in Connecticut. According to police reports submitted to Hartford Courant, a man that matches the description of Corona was seen entering a business on Ward Street. The U.S. Marshal’s Task Force ordered to arrest a man that has a tattoo of an Indian on his cheek. Corona was leaving a Hillside Avenue apartment when he was arrested. He is now being held as a fugitive. Corona is going back to New Jersey and he will face charges for the death of Elaido Castro.

Castro was the 36 years old from Camden who has been shot several times while he was sitting in a Chevrolet Astrovan. He was found dead at around 2 a. m. on July 24 in Vine Street in Camden. Incidentally, another 25 year old man has been shot also. He was immediately brought to Cooper Hospital. Fortunately, he survived and is now being treated for some injuries and he is already out of danger. Elaido Castro together with the 25-year-old unidentified man were shot outside a late night party in Camden. However, there are no reports saying whether the two were at the crime scene as guests of the party or not.

BBC reports that according to France’s BEA authority, the 2009 Air France crash in the Atlantic Ocean was due to pilot errors. BEA said that the pilots did not have sufficient training. The crash happened on June 1, 2009 and there were 228 people on board the Air France flight. The Air France came from Rio, Brazil and was headed to Paris. Unfortunately, four hours into the flight, it plunged directly to the Atlantic Ocean killing all 228 people on board.

Just recently, the black box recorders have been recovered and investigators are now getting full understanding of what really happened on that fateful day of June 1, 2009.

Accordingly, the junior pilots on board the Air France depended only on the plane’s computer instead of controlling the situation manually. According to the Safety Director at UK consultancy Ascend Aviation, Paul Hayes, “It seems obvious the crew didn’t recognize the situation they were in, for whatever reason, and more training could have helped.”

Incidentally, the captain was not on the cockpit during the disaster. The situation was already irreversible when he returned. Had he been present earlier, he may have done something to prevent the crash because he has more expertise flying the plane manually. BEA issued a report particularly tackling 10 new safety recommendations. Air France on the other hand denied the ruling that training of its pilots has caused the tragedy.

The upcoming Strikeforce event this Saturday will feature a heavyweight superfight between two MMA legends, “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko and “Dangerous” Dan Henderson. Fedor is looking to bounce back from a two-fight losing streak while Hendo will aim to be the third fighter to stop the once unbeatable legend.

Henderson is coming off a two-fight winning streak, beating Renato Sobral via KO and taking the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight title by stopping Rafael Cavalcante.

How can Dan Henderson stop Fedor Emelianenko? The key to this is by using his wrestling. Henderson is an NCAA Division 1 wrestler and has represented the United States in international wrestling competitions. Henderson needs to take Fedor down and control the tempo of the fight. And from there he can inflict damage via ground and pound. In Fedor’s most recent fight, he was man-handled by Antonio “Big Foot” Silva. He lost the fight via TKO at the end of the second round.

But Henderson won’t enjoy the size advantage that Big Foot had. Dan Henderson has competed in three weight classes namely, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. But Hendo is a natural 205-pounder in a 5 foot 11 inch frame. Fedor on the other hand is a natural 230-pounder and is an inch taller than Hendo. We’ve seen in the Big Foot fight that size became a huge factor that helped Silva in controlling Fedor on the ground. What Henderson needs to do is to set-up his takedowns. He can probably open up with his lethal right hand to give him a higher chance of taking Fedor to the ground. But take note, Fedor has a lethal power punch as well and he has excellent submissions from the bottom.

Will Fedor get back to the top of the division? If Fedor wins this fight, it will surely boost his rankings. However, it won’t be that much since Henderson is not a natural heavyweight. But hey, it’s Dan Henderson. A win against Hendo is surely a big one.

Win or lose, what’s next Fedor and Hendo? If Henderson wins, he will be remembered as one of the fighters to ever defeat The Last Emperor and this will boost his rankings as a heavyweight. A light heavyweight title defense is definitely next in line. I can say that Henderson has nothing to lose, given that he’ll be fighting in a different weight class and his Strikeforce Light Heavyweight title is not on the line. The bigger pressure is on Fedor. If Fedor wins, he can get back into the mix by taking on another top heavyweight. A rematch against Fabricio Werdum could be a good path. Or he could probably take on Alistair Overeem. If Fedor loses, I don’t know. I’m not saying that he should retire. He still has a good number of years ahead of him but I do think he should change training camps, further enhance his natural talent and develop more tactics to complement his array of skills. And hopefully he frees himself from the hands of his managers.

I know many MMA fans are excited to see this. Fedor fans are hoping for a huge come back. I am a Fedor fan and I am rooting for him on this one. Strikeforce: Fedor Vs Henderson will be on Saturday, July 30, at Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Update: Henderson Stops Fedor via TKO in the First Round – After Thoughts

According to the family of Madeleine McCann, there is a huge possibility that the missing child has been sighted in India. According to local police, there has been an investigation following a report that a British woman has seen a six year old girl last Friday that matches the description of Madeleine in a marketplace in Leh City, in Northern India.

According to a report released by the Chandigarh Tribune newspaper, the girl was accompanied by a Belgian man and a French woman. Apparently, they were saying that they are the biological parents of the girl. The police took their passports for further investigation.

Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann hired private detectives but it seems that travelling to India is not in their recent agenda. However, these private investigators are already coordinating with the local police as they continue to look for Madeleine.

A statement from the McCann family through their spokesman Clarence Mitchell states that, “The private investigators currently searching for Madeleine have been aware of this report from India for several days, and have been working to establish its veracity.”

While her parents were dining with friends nearby, Madeleine was left in the family’s holiday flat in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3, 2007. She has gone missing since then.

A couple of topsy-turvy situations that involve NFL quarterbacks are soon to be clarified. If reports from the three sports’ giants (NFL Network, ESPN and FOXSports) are true, Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb is soon headed with the Vikings. This will come to reality after he agreed to restructure a contract amounting to eight figures this 2011. Washington on the other hand will have to get two draft picks. This will include a sixth rounder in 2012 and one more conditional draft pick.

McNabb was acquired by the Redskins during last year’s draft. This was perhaps his worst season as an NFL starter and he obviously struggled throughout the season. During the final three games, McNabb was benched and Coach Mike Shanahan considered QB Rex Grossman. However, McNabb’s contract with the Redskins is $78 million for five years. Washington has the option to withdraw now after they have paid McNabb $3.5 million. The trade is quite a hefty amount unless he agreed to bargain. In the 2011 draft picks, the Vikings picked QB Christian Ponder on the 12th. If McNabb is acquired, Ponder will have the time to adjust to the NFL and Shanahan’s Redskins on the other hand will most likely go on with QB’s John Beck and Grossman who apparently is signing again with the team.

Studies show that besides heredity, stress is one of the major factors that cause psoriasis. And because Kim is in a lot of stress lately preparing for her wedding, this may have triggered the psoriasis. Maybe dealing with the diagnosis would be a lot easier if she could lower her stress levels. Fortunately, psoriasis is curable although there are other sorts of things that can trigger the disease such as dry air, alcohol, skin injuries and upper respiratory infections among others.

Kim Kardashian can be considered as a vain person. In fact she admitted that she had all the hair from her body removed through laser and she never denied having Botox treatments. So you can just imagine how shocked she was when she discovered that she has psoriasis, not to mention that her wedding is coming very soon. Apparently, Kim deals with her condition by openly talking about psoriasis just like what LeAnn Rimes did.