Who is 50 cent?

50 Cent

Curtis James Jackson III  was born on July 6, 1975. He is better known by his stage name 50 Cent. He is an American rapper and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003) and The Massacre (2005). These albums have been certified eight times and five times platinum , respectively, by the RIAA (The Recording Industry Association of America.) Get Rich or Die Tryin'  has sold over 15 million copies worldwide while The Massacre has sold 11 million copies worldwide.

Drug dealer

Born in South Jamaica, Queens, Jackson began drug dealing at the age of twelve during the 1980s crack epidemic. After leaving drug dealing to pursue a rap career, he was shot at and struck by nine bullets during an incident in 2000. After releasing his album Guess Who's Back? in 2002, Jackson was discovered by rapper Eminem and signed to Interscope Records. With the help of Eminem and Dr. Dre, who produced his first major commercial successes, Jackson became one of the world's highest selling rappers. In 2003, he founded the record label G-Unit Records, which signed several successful rappers such as Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo. Jackson has also engaged in feuds with other rappers including Ja Rule, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Cam'ron, Rick Ross, and former G-Unit members The Game and Young Buck.

Success

Jackson has pursued an acting career, appearing in the semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin' in 2005, the Iraq War film Home of the Brave in 2006, and Righteous Kill in 2008. 50 Cent was ranked as the sixth best artist of the 2000–2009 decade by Billboard  magazine. The magazine also ranked him as the fourth top male artist and as the third top rapper behind Eminem and Nelly.

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Who is Lady Gaga?

Her early life

Lady Gaga's original name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. She was in New York City on March 28, 1986. She is the eldest child of Italian American Joseph Germanotta, an internet entrepreneur, and Cynthia. She is left-handed[17] and began learning to play piano aged four. She wrote her first piano ballad at 13 and began performing at open mike nights (is a live show where audience members may perform at the microphone) by age 14. Lady Gaga was raised a Roman Catholic.

At age 17, Gaga gained early admission to the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and lived in a NYU dorm on 11th Street. There she studied music and improved her songwriting skills by composing essays and analytical papers focusing on topics such as art, religion, social issues and politics.[18][28] Gaga wrote an 80-page thesis on pop artists Spencer Tunick and Damien Hirst; research that prepared her for her future career focus in "music, art, sex and celebrity.". However, she didn't finish her studies and to start her career as a singer and sonwriter.

Her career

Lady Gaga started her career by signing contract with Def Jam Recordings at the age of 19 and larter with songwriter and producer RedOne. She began experimenting with drugs soon after, while performing at neo-burlesque shows.

"Iwent to a Catholic school but it was on the New York underground that I found myself."

Her father did not understand the reason behind her drug intake and could not look at her for several months
Lady Gaga's real career started with Akon who recognized her vocal abilities, and signed her to his own label, Kon Live Distribution.

Gaga came to prominence following the release of her debut studio album The Fame (2008), which was a commercial success and achieved international popularity with the singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". The album reached number one on the record charts of six countries, accomplished positions within the top-ten worldwide, and topped the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart while simultaneously peaking at number two on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. Achieving similar worldwide success, The Fame Monster (2009), its follow-up, produced a further two global chart-topping singles "Bad Romance" and "Telephone" and allowed her to embark on a second global headlining concert tour, The Monster Ball Tour, just months after having finished her first, The Fame Ball Tour. Her second studio album, Born This Way, is scheduled for release on May 23, 2011 after the arrival of its eponymous lead single "Born This Way", which achieved the number-one spot in countries worldwide and was the fastest-selling single in iTunes history, selling one million copies in five days.

Influence and success

Inspired by glam rock (a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles) artists like David Bowie, Elton John and Queen, as well as pop singers such as Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Amy Winehouse, Gaga is well-recognized for her outré sense of style in fashion, in performance and in her music videos.

Her contributions to the music industry have garnered her numerous achievements including five Grammy Awards, among twelve nominations; two Guinness World Records; and the estimated sale of fifteen million albums and fifty-one million singles worldwide. Billboard named her both the Artist of the Year in 2010 and the top selling artist of 2010; ranking her as the 73rd Artist of the 2000s decade. Gaga has been included in Time magazine's annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world as well as Forbes' list of the 100 Most Powerful and Influential celebrities in the world. Forbes also placed her at number seven on their annual list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women.

Albums

• The Fame (2008)
• The Fame Monster (2009)
• Born This Way (2011)

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Who is Bin Laden?

Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was a member of the wealthy Saudi bin Laden family and the founder of the jihadist organization al-Qaeda. Bin Laden was responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets around the world. Because Bin Laden was an advocate of violent extremist jihad, Osama bin Laden lost his Saudi citizenship and was disowned by his billionaire family.

His Beliefs

Osama Bin Laden beliefs were extremist and were based on distorted interpretations of Islamic texts.

• Osama believed that the restoration of Sharia law - the code of conduct or religious law of Islam - will set things right in the Muslim world.
• All other ideologies such as pan-Arabism, socialism, communism, democracy must be opposed. 
• He believed Afghanistan under the rule of Mullah Omar's Taliban was "the only Islamic country" in the Muslim world. 
• Osama consistently dwelt on the need for violent jihad to right what he believes are injustices against Muslims perpetrated by the United States and sometimes by other non-Muslim states.
• The need to eliminate the state of Israel, and the necessity of forcing the US to withdraw from the Middle East was one of his goals. 
• He also called on Americans to "reject the immoral acts of fornication (and) homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling, and usury," in an October 2002 letter.
• Probably the most infamous part of Osama's ideology was that civilians, including women and children, are legitimate targets of jihad.

These beliefs, along with violent expansive jihad, have sometimes been called Qutbism (the ideology of Sayyid Qutb)

The death of Bin Laden

Bin Laden was on the American Federal Bureau of Investigation's lists of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and Most Wanted Terrorists due to his involvement in the 1998 US embassy bombings. Since 2001, Osama bin Laden and his organization had been major targets of the U.S. War on Terror. Bin Laden and fellow al-Qaeda leaders were believed to be hiding near the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
On May 1, 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama announced on national television that bin Laden had been killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan by American military forces and the Central Intelligence Agency and that his body was in U.S. custody

Who is James Blunt?

His life

James Hillier Blount, famous as James Blunt, is an English singer, songwriter and musician, and former army officer. He was born on 22 February 1974 at an army hospital in Tidworth, Wiltshire, England. He spent his childhood living in England, Cyprus, and Germany, while his father, a Colonel in the British Army Air Corps, and military helicopter pilot, was posted at various times. James Blunt has two younger siblings. His father instilled in him a love of flying, and he earned his pilot's licence at age 16. The Blount family has a long history of military service, dating from the 10th century. He became an officer in the Life Guards, a Cavalry regiment of the British Army, and served under NATO in Kosovo during the conflict there in 1999. While posted to Kosovo, Blunt was introduced to the work of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF or "Doctors Without Borders"). Since then, Blunt has supported MSF by holding meet-and-greet auctions at many of his concerts. He also fights for environmental causes.

His career

James Blunt's debut album, Back to Bedlam and single releases, including You're Beautiful and Goodbye My Lover, made him famous in 2005. His repertoire can be best described as a mix of acoustic-tinged pop, rock and folk. After recording on the independent American label Custard Records, Blunt won two BRIT Awards (the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards), two Ivor Novello Awards (named after the Cardiff born entertainer Ivor Novello- These are awards for songwriting and composing), and by 2006 was nominated for five Grammy Awards. The following year, he released his second album All the Lost Souls (2007). Blunt's third studio album, Some Kind of Trouble, was released in November 2010. Worldwide, Blunt has sold over 15 million albums.

Who is Dan Brown?

Dan Brown

Dan Brown is an American author of thriller fiction. He is best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code.

Early life

He was born on June 22, 1964,  in Exeter, New Hampshire, USA. He is the eldest of three children. His early life was influenced by his parents:

• His father, Richard G. Brown, was a teacher of mathematics, and wrote textbooks from 1968 until his retirement in 1997.
• In Addition both of his parents are also singers and musicians, having served as church choir masters.

After graduating from Phillips Exeter, Brown attended Amherst College. Brown spent the 1985 school year abroad in Seville, Spain, where he was enrolled in an art history course at the University of Seville. Brown graduated from Amherst in 1986. 1991, he moved to Hollywood to pursue a career as singer, songwriter and pianist. It was there that he met Blythe Newlon, a woman 12 years his senior, who later became his wife. Dan Brown Started teaching to support himself.

Secrets and Puzzles

The presenece of secrets and puzzles in Dan Brown's novels has their origine in his childhood. In fact, mathematics, music and languages were a common characteristic of his education. When he was a child, he participated in elaborate treasure hunts devised by their father on birthdays and holidays. For example on Christmas Brown and his siblings did not find gifts under the tree, but followed a treasure map with codes and clues throughout their house and even around town to find the gifts. In addition this, Brown spent a lot of time working out anagrams and crossword puzzles.

Career

After dabbling with a musical career, Dan Brown started writing. He read Sidney Sheldon's novels and was influenced by his style especially in the novel The Doomsday Conspiracy. He was inspired to become a writer of thrillers and started working on Digital Fortress, setting much of it in Seville, Spain, where he had studied in 1985. His wife, with whom he co wrote a book with his wife, 187 Men to Avoid: A Guide for the Romantically Frustrated Woman, did much of the promotion of the novel when it was released.
Brown subsequently wrote Deception Point and Angels & Demons, the latter of which was the first to feature the lead character, Harvard symbology expert Robert Langdon.
Brown's first three novels had little success. However, when he released The Da Vinci Code, it quickly became a bestseller, going to the top of the New York Times Best Seller list during its first week of release in 2003. It is now credited with being one of the most popular books of all time, with 81 million copies sold worldwide as of 2009.
Brown's next novel featuring Robert Langdon, The Lost Symbol, was released on September 15, 2009.It had a huge success and according to the publisher, on its first day the book sold over one million in hardcover and e-book versions in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada. The story takes place in Washington D.C. over a period of 12 hours, and features the Freemasons.

Writing habits

Because Dan  Brown does a lot of research, he spends years writing his novels. He has a habit of rising at 4:00am when there are no distractions (a practice he began with Digital Fortress when he had two daytime teaching jobs) and when he feels most productive, in order to give symbolic importance to the first order of business each day. He keeps an antique hourglass on his desk in his lof where he does his writing, so that he can stop briefly every hour to do push-ups, sit-ups and stretching exercises to keep his blood flowing.
Recuring themes in his books include Chritianity, historical events, codes, puzzles, treasure hunts, secretive organizations and academic lectures on obscure topics.

Bibliography

• Digital Fortress, 1998
• Angels & Demons, 2000
• Deception Point, 2001
• The Da Vinci Code, 2003
• The Lost Symbol, 2009

Who is Katrina Kaif?

Katrina Kaif is a British Indian actress and former model. She was born in Hong Kong. Her father is Indian and her mother is British.

Early life

Her parents divorced when she was very young. She began her modeling career at the age fourteen; her first job was for a jewelry campaign. She continued modeling in London under a contract with the Models 1 Agency and did campaigns for houses such as La Senza and Arcadius, and even walked on the London Fashion Week. She moved to Mumbai after meeting London-based filmmaker Kaizad Gustad, who gave her a part in his film Boom (2003). In India, however, filmmakers were initially hesitant to sign her because she could not speak Hindi. But later she was offered a series of roles.

Movies

• Kaif saw moderate success with the 2005 film Sarkar, where she played the bit part of Abhishek Bachchan's girlfriend, and Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya (2005), where she was paired opposite Salman Khan.
• In 2007, Kaif appeared in her first major hit movie, Namastey London, wherein she starred as a British Indian girl alongside Akshay Kumar for the second time after the box office letdown Humko Deewana Kar Gaye (2006). 
• Her run of hit films continued with Apne, Partner, and Welcome.
• In 2008, she played the villain role for the first time in Abbas-Mustan's hit action thriller Race. She played the role of Saif Ali Khan's secretary who is secretly in love with his hostile stepbrother (played by Akshay Khanna). Kaif's second release of the year was Anees Bazmee's production Singh Is Kinng, opposite Akshay Kumar. The film was a big success at the box office. Kaif's final release of the year, Subhash Ghai's Yuvvraaj, was a commercial failure, but its script has made its way into the Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for artistic merits, original screenplay with a substance, and the film as a whole.
• Kaif's first release for 2009, New York, with John Abraham, was a critical and commercial success. Kaif's performance was highly regarded.
  She next played a bit role as a biker chick in the multi-starrer action film Blue, popularly known as India's first underwater thriller, which performed decently at the box office. The film was not successful.
  At the year's end, she appeared in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, with Ranbir Kapoor, and De Dana Dan with Akshay Kumar. Both films were commercial successes.
• Kaif's first film of 2010 was Raajneeti, where she appeared opposite Ranbir Kapoor. The film did extremely well at the box office, receiving a blockbuster status. She is also starred in Farah Khan's Tees Maar Khan with Akshay Kumar. The film was released on 24 December 2010. Although the film was not successful, Kaif's item song Sheila Ki Jawani was a hit.
  

Success

Aside from film acting, she has a number of endorsement deals, and is one of the top paid Bollywood actresses in this respect. Katrina Kaif was also voted the sexiest Asian woman in the world by Eastern Eye in the years 2008, 2009 and 2010.

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Who is Abdelkebir Khatibi?

Abdelkebir Khatibi

Abdelkebir Khatibi (11 February 1938 – 16 March 2009) was a Moroccan literary critic, novelist and playwright. He was born on February 11, 1939 in the Atlantic port city of El Jadida and died on March 16, 2009. He was greaty influenced by  the rebellious spirit of 1960s counterculture in his late twenties. In his writings, he challenged  the social and political norms upon which the countries of the Maghreb region were built.

His career

A native of the Atlantic port city of El Jadida, Abdelkebir Khatibi was born in the middle period of Morocco's 44-year (1912–56) status as a French protectorate. A French-speaking member of the educated class, he studied sociology at the Sorbonne, receiving a doctorate in 1967. His dissertation, Le Roman maghrébin (The Maghribian Novel), which examines the question of how a novelist could avoid propagandizing in the context of a postrevolutionary society, and its follow-up, Bilan de la sociologie au Maroc (Assessment of Sociology Concerning Morocco) were both published shortly after the Paris Spring unrest of May 1968. He won numerous awards including the Grand Prix de l'Académie française (1994), the Grand Prix of Morocco (1998), Award of l'Afrique méditerranéenne/Maghreb (2003), and the prize of la Société des Gens de Lettres (2008) awarded for the first time to an arab author.

Bibliography

Major books

• Études sociologiques sur le Maroc [Sociological Studies Regarding Morocco] (1971)
• La Mémoire tatouée [Tattooed Memory] (1971) ISBN 2-264-00220-4
• La Blessure du nom propre [The Wound Under Its Own Name] (1974)
• Le Livre du sang [The Book of Blood] (1979) Gallimard ISBN 2-07-028677-0
• De la mille et troisième nuit [From the Thousand and Third Night] (1980)
• Amour bilingue [Bilingual Love] (1983); Love in Two Languages (1990 English translation by Richard Howard, published by University of Minnesota Press)
• Un été à Stockholm' [A Summer in Stockholm] (1992), Flamarion ISBN 2-08-066473-5
• Triptyque de Rabat [Rabat Triptych] (1993)

Plays

• La Mort des artistes [The Death of the Artists] (1964)
• Le Prophète voilé [The Veiled Prophet] (1979)