Wassup Bda? 2011 is already two weeks old. Only 50 left! I have some concerns about the state of the world. Across the Sargasso Sea to the shores of our American cousins we heard news of a heinous shooting incident in Arizona that has left a city and a state reeling to find answers.One issue of concern is the mental health of the man arrested for committing these gross acts. I raise it because usually when America sneezes Bermuda catches a cold. It is clear that the dude arrested has mental problems but although there were signs early on that he needed help, mental health is not something to which many of us pay much attention until something like this happens.So in the spirit of being proactive, I submit that we need to pay greater attention to the mental health of our people. More on this later, after the Top 20.Improving to #1 this week is Bottoms Up by Trey Songz featuring Nicki Minaj. I now know why she reminded me of Lil Kim. They're both sexy rappers but industry insiders have told me that Lil Kim hates on Nicki because she can't accept that she has been replaced by a younger, possibly cuter female. Geesh! Chicks! Why can't y'all heffas just get along? Get over it Kim, you're over the hill. It happens to all of us.Tumbling to #2 is pop icon and queen Rihanna with her hit Only Girl In The World. Nobody in the industry is as popular and hot at the moment. Her CD is the stuff of legends; several hits in the charts and all of the songs are slammin'. Up to #3 is Can't Be Friends by Trey Songz. Falling to #4 is Just A Dream by Nelly. Nelly just quietly keeps dropping hits. No fanfare, just the hits.Ke$ha's hit pop single, We R Who We R races up the charts to #5. Slipping to #6 is DJ Got Us Falling In Love by Usher featuring Pitbull. Pitbull is an interesting cat. He turned 30 last weekend and had a monster party on South Beach. Man, I was in South Florida last week but couldn't get there. Must have been slammin!Topping out and dropping to #7 is Holding You Down by Jazmine Sullivan. Falling to #8 is Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars. Down to #9 is Teenage Dream by Katy Perry.Up to #10 is Like a G6 by Far*East Movement featuring Cataracs & Dev. This track will have you singing along and bopping your head. Improving to #11 is Raise Your Glass by Pink. Improving to #12 it's What's My Name by Rihanna featuring Drake, one of the hits referenced earlier from Rihanna's chart topping CD. Tumbling to #13 is Dirty Picture by Taio Cruz featuring Ke$ha. Down to #14 is Champagne Life by Neo. Falling to #15 is I like it by Enrique Iglesias featuring Pitbull.Now the new tracks. Soaring over all the other new tracks to #16 is Firework by Katy Perry. This hit is also racing up the international pop and dance charts. No surprises there. Jumping to #17 is Louder (Put Your Hands Up) by Chris Willis, a huge dance track that is getting props worldwide and simply kicks. Improving to #18 is Grenade by hot new artist Bruno Mars.Down to #19 it's Hello, Good Morning by Diddy and tumbling to #20 this week is To Paris with Love by Donna Summer.Now back to this week's word dealing with mental health problems proactively. But before we do this, I must take a moment to comment on my fellow contributors to this fine newspaper. I read columns by the other writers and am impressed by the quality of their work. However, I do wish to single out one, Martha Myron. I so enjoy her submissions and commit them to the collective digestion of the Bermudian public. Her recent piece on getting organised for the new year was powerful, real, good advice.But I digress; back to mental health. We should learn from the mistakes of others. America isn't the only country with a high incidence of people who are mentally disturbed, unstable, dysfunctional, etc.If you don't believe me read the news, look around, open your eyes, see what's happening in Bermuda and you will see that some of the nonsense that is happening in Bermuda has to make us question the mental health of the perpetrators.Senseless shootings are still taking place in Bermuda. People are driving whilst under the influence of drugs and alcohol; endangering themselves and others. The drug trade is huge and growing! There seems to be no end to the gang violence and thug life phenomenon that is attracting our young men and women!Too many of our young people are wandering aimlessly through life with no sense of direction or purpose. Too many adults are in the same predicament and parents are not raising their children correctly.All of this tells me that a large number of people living in this Country are mentally and emotionally unstable and need help. If we do not address this in a proactive, pragmatic, systemic, holistic and comprehensive manner we will see no improvement or change to the status quo of today.Case in point, I remember in 2006 a gang expert from the US told us that if we didn't do certain things we would have the escalated gang problem that we have today, with regular shootings, murders, etc. We didn't do these certain things and whilst I will not say this is why we have the gang problems we have today, it surely does make you wonder and he might have reason to say, “I told you so”.It is not too late to begin to address the mental health of those in our community who need assistance in this area. If we don't, we shouldn't be surprised if one day some maniac right here in Bermuda commits a similar crime to the one committed in Arizona a week ago. We still have time to prevent this from happening. But we must act now ... DJLT.