Snoop at Midlife: More Lion Than Dogg

Just call him Snoop Lion.

Snoop Dogg, the veteran West Coast rapper, says he underwent a spiritual and artistic rebirth while making a new album in Jamaica last February. He abandoned rap as his preferred mode of expression, wrote more than a dozen songs in a traditional reggae style and opened up to a documentary film crew about his long and sometimes violent journey from teenage gang member to a middle-aged hip-hop superstar. Along the way, he says, he shed the name and persona of Snoop Dogg and was rechristened Snoop Lion by Rastafarian priests.

“I have always said I was Bob Marley reincarnated,” Snoop told a crowd of reporters at a news conference at Miss Lily’s, a Caribbean restaurant in New York. He added: “I feel I have always been a Rastafari. I just didn’t have my third eye open, but it’s wide open right now.”

The news conference was to release the first single from the album “Reincarnated,” which was written and recorded over three weeks in Jamaica.
Wearing a Rasta knit cap, sunglasses and a Kobe Bryant jersey, Snoop held forth about positivity, good vibrations and being “called by the spirit” to begin singing reggae. Now that he had reached the midpoint of his life – he turned 40 last year — he said he wanted to renounce violence and write in the reggae genre, which he called “music of love.” The new songs, he said, might give him “a chance to perform for kids and grandkids,” something he felt his work as a rapper would not let him do.

Snoop described his decision to do the album as a spiritual revelation, but others involved in the project said it was, in fact, carefully planned and executed.

He brought along the hit maker Diplo to produce the tracks and hired a team of three songwriters, led by Angela Hunte, who wrote “Empire State of Mind,” the 2009 hit for Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. He also had in tow a group of documentary filmmakers from Vice Media, led by the producer Codine Williams and the director Andy Capper. The album, his 12th, will be released later this year by Vice Records. The film, also titled “Reincarnated,” will make its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

There was more than a whiff of midlife crisis in Snoop’s remarks. He said he was tired of being a hip-hop artist, of the young man’s macho bluster inherent in the form, and he felt the songs he had done so far did not reflect the wisdom he had gained from being a 40-year-old father of three.

“There comes a point where you say I done it all, or there isn’t much more to do,” he said. “This was like a rebirth for me.”

“Rap is not a challenge to me,” he said. “I had enough of that. It’s not appealing to me no more. I don’t have no challenges. I’m ‘Uncle Snoop’ in rap. When you get to be an uncle, you need to find a new profession so you can start over and be fresh again. I want to be a kid again.”

Yet, when asked, Snoop stopped short of saying he would never make another rap album.

Snoop said he experienced a religious epiphany early on in his trip when he visited a Nyabinghi temple in Scotts Pass, in the Clarendon section of the island. A trailer for the documentary showed him smoking marijuana with Rastafarian priests, who renamed him Lion. There were then more scenes of Snoop meeting local people, smoking weed, climbing in the hills. “This is paradise,” he says on the film.

The rapper said he then set out to make a traditional album of what he called “true reggae music,” gritty and unpolished, with roots extending back to rocksteady musicians like Ken Boothe and Alton Ellis. “We wanted it to feel like a record out of a 1970s collection,” he said. “When you look back you give respect and love and that is what this record is all about. It’s about giving homage to those who created reggae music.”

For the first time, Snoop sings most of the songs on the new album and does very little rapping, Diplo said. The album is also a departure for him lyrically, as he takes a more peace-loving approach to life and politics than he has in the past. One song, for instance, “No Guns Allowed,” is a plea for the banning of handguns, a position he says he has finally come around to.

“I have always wanted to make a song that could really stand for something,” he said. “I could never make a song called ‘No Guns Allowed’ because I was supposed to be a gangsta.”

Curiosity's Mars exploration: Is it worth the money?

Saturn has its famous rings and Jupiter is the granddaddy of the solar system, but no planet has entranced earthlings quite like Mars.
Humans have launched 40 spacecraft to the Red Planet, lured by the prospect that life might once have existed in what is now dry rocks and sand. The latest machine to make the journey is NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory, a hulking, souped-up lab-on-wheels that will plunge toward the Martian surface next week.

But even as excitement builds, some wonder: Is Mars exploration a good investment?

RELATED: Are you scientifically literate? Take our quiz!

It certainly doesn’t come cheap. It’s hard to calculate a total price tag, but over the 48 years that NASA has been launching missions to Mars, Americans have spent a significant sum. The Viking missions alone cost nearly $1 billion — in 1970s dollars. The twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity cost a total of about $1 billion to build and operate as well.

Curiosity, as the Mars Science Laboratory rover is known, is over budget at $2.5 billion.

Some in the federal government have suggested it’s time to roll back the spending. President Barack Obama’s fiscal plan for 2013 would cut NASA’s funds for Mars exploration from $587 million to $360 million.

Proponents insist Mars science is vital for the U.S. More visits to our next-door neighbor could answer lingering questions about Earth’s history, reinforce U.S. prestige and get more children interested in science.

It also could bring humanity closer to answering the ultimate question: Are we alone in the universe?

“It’s the search for the meaning of life,” said Alden Munson, a senior fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, a science and technology think tank based in Arlington, Va.

America’s love affair with Mars can be traced to astronomer Percival Lowell, who turned his telescope to the Red Planet in the 1890s and thought he saw an intricate system of canals that must have been built by intelligent beings. He never found them, of course, but Martians became a science fiction mainstay.

Earthlings got their first up-close view of Mars’ rocky surface in 1965, when Mariner 4 flew by and photographed a surface that appeared as dead as the moon’s — lacking water or active geology, two prerequisites for life.

But later missions, from the Mariner 9 orbiter to Spirit and Opportunity, helped establish Mars as a useful comparative laboratory for studying climate and geophysics on Earth. They demonstrated that the planet was once warmer and wetter than it is now. Long ago, it may have been a hospitable cradle for life.

When planetary scientists assembled recently at the behest of the National Academies to set research priorities for the next decade, the search for conditions that would allow life to emerge on Mars topped the list.

Obama reflects on his biggest mistake as president

(CBS News) President Obama's biggest mistake during his first term, he told CBS News in an exclusive interview, has been putting policy over storytelling. Mr. Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama sat down Thursday with "CBS This Morning" anchor Charlie Rose in the White House Blue Room, where they discussed the failures and successes of his administration as he heads into another election, among other things. "When I think about what we've done well and what we haven't done well," the president said, "the mistake of my first term - couple of years - was thinking that this job was just about getting the policy right. And that's important. But the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the American people that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism, especially during tough times." Mr. Obama acknowledged the dissonance between others' perception of his strength as an expert orator, and his own. "It's funny - when I ran, everybody said, well he can give a good speech but can he actually manage the job?" he said. "And in my first two years, I think the notion was, 'Well, he's been juggling and managing a lot of stuff, but where's the story that tells us where he's going?' And I think that was a legitimate criticism." Pressed by Rose about what he felt he needed to explain better to the American people, the president corrected that he wanted to do more "explaining, but also inspiring." "Because hope is still there," Mrs. Obama added. For more of the interview with President and Mrs. Obama, watch "CBS Sunday Morning" this Sunday, July 15, and "CBS This Morning" on Monday, July 16.

Judge Maintains Injunction Against Mississippi Law on Abortion Clinics

JACKSON, Miss. — Lawyers debated before a federal judge on Wednesday whether a new law governing abortion clinics in Mississippi should remain blocked or go into effect and thus set in motion a process that could lead to the closing of the state’s lone abortion clinic. Before a quiet but full courtroom, Judge Daniel P. Jordan III of United States District Court, a Republican appointee, calmly but pointedly pressed the lawyers, who were urging him either to lift a temporary injunction against the law he set in place on July 1, the day the law was to go into effect, or maintain it. At the end of the hearing, Judge Jordan allowed the injunction to stand while he considered more evidence. He gave no indication of when he would deliver a broader ruling, but lawyers expected it soon. The law, which the Legislature passed by broad margins last spring, requires physicians at any abortion clinic in the state to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. Because there is only one clinic and the two physicians who perform abortions there do not have such privileges, the law could end up stopping nearly all abortions in Mississippi. Legislators backing the law have insisted that it is meant to safeguard the health of women. They say that such a rule, which is in place in several other states, is a necessary precaution in case complications occur during a procedure. The clinic, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, has responded that such complications are extremely rare and says that in any case it already has a standing transfer agreement with a local hospital as well as a physician on staff who has admitting privileges, though this doctor does not perform abortions. The clinic also argues that Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, and the law’s chief legislative backers have barely concealed the real motive behind the law: to stop all abortions in the state. “Whatever urgent interest the state asserts, the issue is: can women have access to abortions, which they are constitutionally allowed to do? And the answer is no,” Michelle Movahed, a lawyer at the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing the clinic, said in court. The discussion was less about the larger constitutional issues of the law and more about whether the clinic, which for now remains in operation, was under immediate threat. In the weeks leading up to July 1, State Representative Sam Mims, the law’s sponsor, publicly urged state health officials to force the clinic immediately to stop performing abortions if it was found to be out of compliance. Days later, health officials notified the clinic that it needed to prove that it had met its new obligations on or before July 1. But in court on Wednesday, lawyers from the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office said the statutory process of enforcing a new law was actually a long one that could take several months, including a “reasonable time” for the clinic to come into compliance as well as time for hearings and appeals. The prospect of the clinic’s closing, they said, is still uncertain and, in any case, a long way off. And in the ensuing months the physicians at the clinic, who have applied to seven local hospitals and are awaiting responses, may achieve compliance anyway. “The actual constitutional right — as opposed to mere inconvenience to the plaintiffs — will be unaffected for at least 60 days under the new law, likely much longer, and, indeed, will only be impacted if plaintiffs ultimately fail to obtain hospital admitting privileges,” read one of the state’s briefs. But lawyers for the clinic argued that if physicians simply waited for the administrative process to play out, they could not continue to perform abortions without being in “knowing violation” of the law. Without a hold on the new law, the lawyers said, the physicians and other employees at the clinic would be committing state crimes by performing abortions during the next few weeks or months, and could face prosecution or revocation of their medical licenses. At one point in the hearing, a lawyer for the state told the judge that the state board of health had approved new rules in accordance with the law that very morning. While the new rules essentially just bring health department rules into uniformity with the new law, the judge decided to examine them before making a decision. And with that, both sides were left simply to wait.

How RIM's new marketing chief sees its developer prospects

Frank Boulben, the new chief marketing officer at Research In Motion, did his homework before joining the company. Boulben, who jumped off the sinking ship that was wireless startup LightSquared, tapped his Rolodex of contacts and friends within the carrier and developer communities to see if the RIM position was a job worth taking. To his surprise, he found there was still a lot of support behind RIM and BlackBerry. In particular, his friends were high on BlackBerry 10. Boulben, who jumped off the sinking ship that was wireless startup LightSquared, tapped his Rolodex of contacts and friends within the carrier and developer communities to see if the RIM position was a job worth taking. To his surprise, he found there was still a lot of support behind RIM and BlackBerry. In particular, his friends were high on BlackBerry 10. "The feedback was positive," Boulben told me in an interview. "From a technical standpoint, they like the platform and what it can deliver." Having been with the company for about four weeks, Boulben offers a perspective of a newcomer to RIM, one unburdened with the stresses and struggles of the past few years. His take on the developer support is that things are surprisingly strong. I've talked about the lengths that RIM is going to in order to attract developers, including using cash incentives and guarantees. Boulben said BlackBerry 10's ease of use and technical capabilities are still luring developers. The company has also lined up carrier-billing agreements to make it easier for developers to charge for apps and in-app purchases. I expressed my skepticism about the interest. So he offered up as further evidence the various BlackBerry Jam developer events the company holds around the world. Boulben said they continue to sell out. "There is a lot of enthusiasm," he said. "We will have a critical mass of applications." He said he's been impressed by the support the company has gotten, both on the developer and carrier sides. Many of the developers are eyeing the current base of 78 million BlackBerry users, betting that a lot of them will upgrade to BlackBerry 10, Boulben said. RIM, however, recently made the disappointing decision to delay the release of BlackBerry 10 to next year, pushing it back from its original launch target in the second half. It's just the latest in several delays for the platform, which originally was supposed to debut in the second half of last year. The delay hasn't dampened the enthusiasm, Boulben said. More importantly, he said carrier support remains strong despite the delay. He added that some carriers find the first-quarter 2013 launch schedule to be better since there are other phones to support in the latter half of this year. Boulben said he plans to keep interest up on BlackBerry 10 by eventually talking more about the capabilities of the smartphone. As marketing chief, he'll have his work cut out for him in keeping the brand relevant over the next few months, particularly with a slew of rival phones coming out. He believes that next year will bring renewed success. All RIM needs is a good product, and Boulben is optimistic. "The (BlackBerry 10) platform is truly differentiated," he said. "It's not a me-too smartphone. It will really introduce a step change in the smartphone experience."

opposhoulian

Scott Harrison has targeted another world title after enjoying a winning return to the ring by stopping Hungarian teenager Gyorgy Mizsei Jr. The 34-year-old former WBO featherweight champion, now a lightweight, won in the fourth round. It ended a six-and-a-half year absence after years of personal problems, including a spell in a Spanish prison. "Hopefully I'll get a chance for a world title in the near future," the Scot said after the fight in Glasgow. Continue reading the main story “In the past, I was training to lose weight, but now I'm improving my fitness and strength” Scott Harrison "It was a privilege to be out there in front of the fans. "I want to thank them for coming out to support me. "Throughout my suspension, I have always kept myself in shape no matter what you read in the papers about me being at death's door. "In the past, I was training to lose weight, but now I'm improving my fitness and strength. "As the fight went on, I was punching harder." Harrison showed at the Kelvin Hall that he still had the punching power that led to numerous world title defences in his heyday. He put the previously unbeaten opponent down four times before the referee stopped the International Masters lightweight contest amid concern over a blow to the head. It was Harrison's first appearance since a successful defence of his WBO featherweight title against Nedal Hussein in 2005. Harrison relinquished his belt in 2006 after failing to make the weight for a defence and checked into the Priory Clinic in Glasgow to treat problems with alcohol and depression. The Cambuslang boxer lost his licence and continued to struggle with personal problems and served two-and-a-half years in a Spanish prison after being found guilty in 2009 of assault and attempted theft of a car in Malaga three years earlier. Mizsei Jr, who had been been a late replacement for Frenchman Brahim Bariz, had won his seven professional fights but was put down three times in the second round at the Kelvin Hall. A succession of right hooks forced the stoppage midway through the fourth.