Friday, July 01, 2005

NYPD Arrest 181 Black Men in Queens After Cop Shot in the Leg

Happy Canada Day! :)

(...)

We begin today with a case of a police dragnet in New York City. On June 14th, Officer Christopher Wiesneski of Queens was shot in the leg with his own gun while trying to arrest a man smoking marijuana.

During the next three days, police mounted a massive dragnet in the community. A total of 181 black men in the Queens neighborhoods of Cambria Heights and Laurelton were arrested on misdemeanor charges and quality of life violations.

Some who were were arrested report that they were grabbed by the cops, handcuffed and not given any explanations at the time of their arrests.


SOURCE - http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/01/1430228

(...)

Just Rappin' With Some Doods...

Happy Canada Day! :)

(...)

Why they love 2Pac in Africa...

---------------------------------------------------------------

...and other anomalies in the argument.

hey davey,

i met you in T-Dot and love the knowledge you bring.

however, i've got to say that the definition of "musician" has always been unfairly restricted generationally, and i'm afraid you're doing the same thing here. it is easily possible to make it inclusive, if you figure that:

a) some rappers put so much "feeling" into their voice that they even cross-over into other languages (i.e. 2Pac), and that has to be a musical achievment. translating "emotion" into "music" so any human being can feel it is a phenomenal skill that many traditional musicians struggle for years to acquire.

b) knowing when and how to use one's voice is key to making any music, and fitting in harmoniously with other instruments (or beats) is a similar challenge for both rappers and singers. many takes of a song may be necessary, many different intonations, flows, etc., and yet much like a singer the first take has a certain fresh magic to it at times. i would even argue that freestylers while at their worst are simply being lazy, at their best they know when they've truly hit it musically or not - see Jay-Z's "Fade To Black" for more.

c) it's not all about talent: Madonna, Dylan, Cobain, and many others have created "music" with half the "talent" or "pure vocal ability" of many women in your average Baptist church. Mariah Carey has a beautiful voice she uses horribly, and many of the best sounds have been made by those who strayed far from any classical notions of singing, e.g. Marley, Charles, Sinatra, etc...

d) lyrically, i'd say rappers have the edge even as "musicians". they decide what to say and how to match the lyrics to the music, whereas many singers receive pre-packaged instructions (and then maybe add flair) in order to be used as tools for someone else's vision of a song.

so, as far as i'm concerned the best rappers got a spot at the musicians headz-table, and their versatility will only increase as hip hop grows and adopts more musical influences and less rules on what defines it...

peace,
BK

(...)

Appropriation of Voice vs. Paradigm Inclusivity

----------------------------------------------------------------

I think it's clear that as the argument gets volleyballed back and forth it narrows considerably: black people invented hip hop and deserve all the credit for it; others are free to create some as long as they respect the architects.

That's fair enough.

However, moving forward...

Arguments like this can be as dangerous and divisive as other dogmas, as the room for nuances is limited by the hints of racism in disagreeability. I am absolutely convinced this topic is necessary to bring up regularily - we WILL forget if we are not reminded of hip hop's origins and legacy. (Many say we have.)

However, for hip hop to succeed it needs to do what it naturally did: be the most versatile and inclusive form of music in history.

The most inclusive paradigms win. They make the best parties, they include the most comfortable people, and they cross-barriers and boundaries both physical and mental. If we can find a way to make this work well for the most people, then we're laughing...

I see some of hip hop's questionable evolution into a glossy global phenomenon as evidence of a few non-traditional revolutionary role models. It may be a stretch, but if done well then stretching traditional rule-restraints can't hurt...

When I see Snoop Dogg and Lil' Jon pimpin' porno and crunk worldwide, I don't just see caricatures, I see an evolution in global social acceptance that is legitimizing lifestyles many want to live without harming anyone else. When I see the Durrrty South reppin' it with ice-grills, rims, and sizzurp, I don't just see wild-partying, I see people held down for so long now holdin' it down with so much pride that the world has to respect and admire them. When I see white people keepin' it as real as The Beastie Boys did back in the day, the youth of other cultures finding their voices in hip hop, and a growing generation of fans growing up to represent the culture...

I see revolution...

Peace, (NOW!!!)
BK

(...)

Em came up battling, 50 came up on mixtapes...

---------------------------------------------------------------

...so really, it's a cinch: Em's 10th bullet would finally kill Fiddy, unless he was wearing a lyric-proof vest! :P

plus 50 would just play to his gun-talkin' thug strengths while Em would aim for punchlines, and in a battle in front of a crowd just waiting for them, punchlines win.

if you battled like most "lookin' at they' shoes thug rappers" with nuthin' but cold similes and metaphors for fuckin' someone up, you'd get smoked. whereas if you threw nuthing but battle-rhymes over a beat, it's often too angry and a-rhythmical (i.e. squeezing words in for punchlines vs. timing them for the beat) to be as good.

even Em complains about his first album feeling like this, as he was just coming off his battle-career. Talib Kweli sometimes rhymes like a battle-rapper, he complained he wrote out his rhymes first and then squeezed them into the beat on "Reflection Eternal". it's still a great album, but takes a few listens to truly get all the double-time lyrics. i saw him in do a concert at a battle-event in T-Dot, and he stopped the show to say: "When I say throw ya hands up, y'all throw ya hands up! All right?"

i gotta be honest: we didn't hear him the first time. (bad sound at hip hop concerts too.)

but just count how many battle-rappers have blown up, you'll still see way-more on the corner. still, Em did and it can be done, so good luck to all those who can get rich while tryin', y'all do come out with some of the wickedest shit, and anyone who flip it truly crazy off the dome (Big L, Jay-Z, Big'n'Pac, Em, Cassidy, Moe Dee...) is going someplace truly cool to get it.

so, don't get it twisted: i think in a straight-thug-off, while Em is still crazy, 50 would out-thug the shit out of him. however, we can't forget what makes the best battle, one of the realest styles in hip hop, and for now it's still nuts-swangin' beat-bangin' whip-smart lyrical-lacerations...

peace,
BK

_________________

...

Black Krishna Brand

Philosophy - blackkrishna.blogspot.com/

Music - www.soundclick.com/bands/0/blackkrishna.htm

...





Thursday, June 30, 2005

"Korea turned out to be B.S., Vietnam was B.S., and Iraq is B.S. It's all political. All these people are dying in vain ..." - Ted Anderson, 73

grandpa simpson this dood ain't...

and don't even front...

he's put in work...


(...)

From Ted Anderson, 73, a Korean War veteran and former police chief in New Jersey: "We still have thousands of troops in the [demilitarized zone] in Korea 50 years after the fact. It's going to be the same thing 50 years from now in Iraq."

(...)

Bush invoked bin Laden and Sept. 11 in his speech, stressing the non-Iraqi "terrorists" who have congregated in Iraq to make the country "a central front in the war on terror."

Said Anderson, who spent nine years in the Navy and Marines: "They just play up on the fear. It used to be the domino theory and stopping communism. There was a picture, The Russians Are Coming, The Russians are Coming. Now it's `The Terrorists are Coming, The Terrorists are Coming.' After 9-11, I think we overreacted a little bit. We're not using our heads."

(...)

Said Anderson: "Korea turned out to be B.S., Vietnam was B.S., and Iraq is B.S. It's all political. All these people are dying in vain ... I was in for nine years, so don't go waving a flag in my face and say I'm not being patriotic."

(...)

damn homie...

ya killin' ya old clique...

i mean...

how da fuck you gon' flip on 'em like dat?

damn son...

they must be some punk-ass bitches...

f'shizzle...


(...)

From:

June 29th, 2005 6:51 pm
Backing for Bush on Iraq is gone, local veterans say
Michael Mayo / South Florida Sun-Sentinal
SOURCE - http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3166

(...)

Epilogue:

For a *limited time only* at a Blockbuster near you, rent:

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara



"At my age, 85, I'm at age where I can look back and derive some conclusions about my actions. My rule has been try to learn, try to understand what happened. Develop the lessons and pass them on."



"I was on the island of Guam in his command in March of 1945. In that single night, we burned to death 100,000 Japanese civilians in Tokyo: men, women, and children."

"LeMay said, 'If we'd lost the war, we'd all have been prosecuted as war criminals.' And I think he's right. He, and I'd say I, were behaving as war criminals. LeMay recognized that what he was doing would be thought immoral if his side had lost. But what makes it immoral if you lose and not immoral if you win?"



"What makes us omniscient? Have we a record of omniscience? We are the strongest nation in the world today. I do not believe that we should ever apply that economic, political, and military power unilaterally. If we had followed that rule in Vietnam, we wouldn't have been there. None of our allies supported us. Not Japan, not Germany, not Britain or France. If we can't persuade nations with comparable values of the merit of our cause, we'd better reexamine our reasoning."

(...)

CHIGGIDY-CHIN-CHECK YO'SELF, BEFORE YOU WRECK YO'SELF - http://www.sonyclassics.com/fogofwar/

TO TEACH DA YOUTH - http://www.sonyclassics.com/fogofwar/_media/pdf/lessonPlanFOG.pdf

Comment Sense

sorry i missed it...

comments are rare...

appreciated...

but rare...

i'll keep an eye out...


(...)

From: Friday, June 24, 2005

Left-Hooks, Glass-Jaws, Shattered Dreams...

2 Comments:

Anonymous said...

If there is a moral to the piece just posted it is simple: people with a specialty in one area can say lots of foolish and plain silly things when thy decide to address issue outside their area of competence. The writer would do well to stop bad mouthing The Left so much and begin to deal with facts...the US went into Iraq because of 9/11? Even the conservatives and liberals do not think that in the U.S.

3:32 PM

Anonymous said...

True...

But since none of us are omniscient, it's conceivable that we're all a little bit wronger than any Platonic ideal argument...

And the US may have gone into Iraq because:

a) it was part of the whole Reichstag/Pearl Harbor/Northwoods Documents neo-con 9/11 plan...

b) they couldn't control Saddam as easily anymore after sanctions...

c) they are worried about "peak oil" and want to control the world's reserves...

d) they are really spreading their fascist perversion of democracy and really believe they can "make history"...

e) any combination platter of the above...

The point I made with the title is still valid: we've got to be able to work with those who are supportive yet critical of the Left = THAT'S THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE ON EARTH.

If the Left is hyper-sensitive to criticism it becomes too insular and paranoid, and putting in work with an honest critic's critique is worthwhile.

It may be tough, but...

I hardly think he chose to write this because he's unsupportive. He's just another voice on the Spectrum of the Left we'll need to produce the diversity of opinions necessary to win...

Peace, (NOW!!!)
BK

12:01 AM

SOURCE - http://blackkrishna.blogspot.com/2005/06/left-hooks-glass-jaws-shattered-dreams.html#comments

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

These are the NY Times that try men's souls...

clearly...

they have character flaws...

clearly...

lying is their default strategy...

clearly...

they are capable of anything...

clearly...

anything is possible...


(...)

The Mike Malloy Show

With host Mike Malloy, 10PM-1AM

As you are making plans for your Fourth of July celebration, consider this: The US has locked up hundreds of children in Iraq and Afghanistan - without charge and without access to their parents or legal representation - as "terror suspects." They are treated in much the same way, as adult prisoners, including the use of animals to terrorize them. They also are raped by their guards or other detainees. Does this official US policy against children qualify as sick? Degenerate? Vile? How much of this must we continue to support before we say "enough?" Further, a decision apparently has been made in the Bush Crime Family to use naval vessels as floating torture facilities. The use of prison ships allows interrogators the luxury of torturing people in international waters out of the reach of US law. This is who we have become. Mike will discuss the topic tonight.

SOURCE - http://www.airamericaradio.com/

(...)

The New York Times
Op-Ed Contributor

Arrested Development

By ARLIE HOCHSCHILD
Published: June 29, 2005
Berkeley, Calif.

LAST month John Miller, director of the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, said that half the victims of human trafficking may be children under 18. Children are "at the center" of the problem of trafficking, which, Mr. Miller noted, is one of the great human rights issues of the 21st century. Yes, children should be at the heart of our concern for human rights. But that concern should start with the children detained in American prisons in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantánamo Bay.

Under international law, the line between childhood and maturity is 18. In communications with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the Pentagon has lowered the cutoff to 16. For this reason among others, we don't know exactly how many Iraqi children are in American custody. But before the transfer of sovereignty from the Coalition Provisional Authority to an Iraqi interim government a year ago, the International Committee of the Red Cross reported registering 107 detainees under 18 during visits to six prisons controlled by coalition troops. Some detainees were as young as 8.

Since that time, Human Rights Watch reports that the number has risen. The figures from Afghanistan are still more alarming: the journalist Seymour Hersh wrote last month in the British newspaper The Guardian that a memo addressed to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld shortly after the 2001 invasion reported "800-900 Pakistani boys 13-15 years of age in custody."

Juvenile detainees in American facilities like Abu Ghraib and Bagram Air Base have been subject to the same mistreatment as adults. The International Red Cross, Amnesty International and the Pentagon itself have gathered substantial testimony of torture of children, bolstered by accounts from soldiers who witnessed or participated in the abuse.

According to Amnesty International, 13-year-old Mohammed Ismail Agha was arrested in Afghanistan in late 2002 and detained without charge or trial for over a year, first at Bagram and then at Guantánamo Bay. He was held in solitary confinement and subjected to sleep deprivation. "Whenever I started to fall asleep, they would kick at my door and yell at me to wake up," he told an Amnesty researcher. "They made me stand partway, with my knees bent, for one or two hours."

A Canadian, Omar Khadr, was 15 in 2002 when he was captured in Afghanistan and interned at Guantánamo. For 2½ years, he was allowed no contact with a lawyer or with his family. Seventeen-year-old Akhtar Mohammed told Amnesty that he was kept in solitary confinement in a shipping container for eight days in Afghanistan in January 2002.

A Pentagon investigation last year by Maj. Gen. George Fay reported that in January 2004, a leashed but unmuzzled military guard dog was allowed into a cell holding two children. The intention was for the dog to " 'go nuts on the kids,' barking and scaring them." The children were screaming and the smaller one tried to hide behind the larger, the report said, as a soldier allowed the dog to get within about one foot of them. A girl named Juda Hafez Ahmad told Amnesty International that when she was held in Abu Ghraib she "saw one of the guards allow his dog to bite a 14-year-old boy on the leg."

Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, formerly in charge of Abu Ghraib, told Maj. General Fay about visiting a weeping 11-year-old detainee in the prison's notorious Cellblock 1B, which housed prisoners designated high risk. "He told me he was almost 12," General Karpinski recalled, and that "he really wanted to see his mother, could he please call his mother."

Children like this 11 year old held at Abu Ghraib have been denied the right to see their parents, a lawyer, or anyone else. They were not told why they were detained, let alone for how long. A Pentagon spokesman told Mr. Hersh that juveniles received some special care, but added, "Age is not a determining factor in detention." The United States has found, the spokesman said, that "age does not necessarily diminish threat potential."

It's true that some of these children may have picked up a stone or a gun. But coalition intelligence officers told the Red Cross that 70 percent to 90 percent of detainees in Iraq are eventually found innocent and released. Many innocent children are swept up with their parents in chaotic nighttime dragnets based on tips from unreliable informants. "We know of children under 15," Clarisa Bencomo of Human Rights Watch told me, "held for over a year at Guantánamo Bay, whom the government later said were not security risks." Even if a child is found guilty, he or she should be treated humanely, rather than tortured or "rendered," as the C.I.A. puts it, to third parties that torture.

AMBASSADOR MILLER is right. Children matter. To really place them "at the center" of our human rights concerns, the United States should hasten to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child, from which only we and Somalia abstain. And if the Pentagon must detain children, it should do so in separate facilities, with access to family, and under humane conditions that include the offer of rehabilitation and education.

Finally, the Pentagon should open all prisons to human rights inspectors. By taking these steps, the United States could begin to reverse some of the terrible harm that continues to be done to children in our name.

Arlie Hochschild is a professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the co-editor of "Global Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy."

SOURCE - http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/29/opinion/29hochschild.html?oref=login

(...)

Yahoo! News

US suspected of keeping secret prisoners on warships: UN official

Tue Jun 28, 3:42 PM ET

VIENNA (AFP) - The UN has learned of "very, very serious" allegations that the United States is secretly detaining terrorism suspects in various locations around the world, notably aboard prison ships, the UN's special rapporteur on terrorism said.

While the accusations were rumours, rapporteur Manfred Nowak said the situation was sufficiently serious to merit an official inquiry.

"There are very, very serious accusations that the United States is maintaining secret camps, notably on ships," the Austrian UN official told AFP, adding that the vessels were believed to be in the Indian Ocean region.

"They are only rumours, but they appear sufficiently well-based to merit an official inquiry," he added.

(...)

The use of prison ships would allow investigators to interrogate people secretly and in international waters out of the reach of US law, British security expert Francis Tusa said.

"This opens the door to very tough interrogations on key prisoners before it even has been revealed that they have been captured," said Tusa, an editor for the British magazine Jane's Intelligence Review.

Nowak said the prison ships would not be "floating Guantanamos" since "they are much smaller, holding less than a dozen detainees."

Tusa said the Americans may also be using their island base of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean as a site for prisoners.

Some 520 people suspected of terrorism are currently being held without trial at Guantanamo and others are in camps the United States has refused to acknowledge, the human rights organization Amnesty International has said.

The United States has said that prisoners considered foreign combattants in its "war on terrorism" are not covered by the Geneva Conventions.

SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050628/wl_afp/unrightsusattacks_050628194245

(...)

more fun stuff is coming...

intelligence is key...

after all...

they don't seem very smart now...


(...)

Yahoo! News

Bush OKs Shake-Up of Spy Agencies

By KATHERINE SHRADER,
Associated Press Writer
20 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush granted the new national intelligence chief expanded power over the FBI on Wednesday and ordered dozens of other spy agency changes as the White House heeded a presidential commission that condemned the intelligence community for failures in Iraq and elsewhere.

But almost as soon as the details were unveiled, the White House was defending itself against suggestions that the moves were simply adding more bureaucracy without making changes that could have prevented misjudgments like those made on Iraq.

"It's an unfair characterization to say it's simply a restructuring," said Bush's homeland security adviser, Frances Fragos Townsend, who led the 90-day review of the recommendations from the president's commission on weapons of mass destruction. "It's a fundamental strengthening of our intelligence capabilities."

(...)

In its scathing 600-page report released in March, the commission called the spy community "dead wrong on almost all of its prewar judgments" about Iraq's weapons.

(...)

Among the most significant changes the White House offered Wednesday, the Justice Department will be directed — with congressional approval — to consolidate its counterterrorism, espionage and intelligence units under one new assistant attorney general for national security.

The White House ordered the creation of a National Security Service inside the FBI. And Bush sought to strengthen the hand of the new national intelligence director over the FBI, giving him expanded budget and management powers over the bureau.

(...)

A number of Bush administration critics welcomed the reforms. President Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, called the changes to Negroponte's authority over the Justice Department and the counterproliferation center "very positive."

"All of this is moving boxes to some degree," said Berger. "I do think that in this case organization is important. ... The real test is how it is implemented."

(...)

"I think we now know what the shape of the animal is going to be," Berger said, "and we have to make sure that the animal is ready to hunt."

SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050630/ap_on_go_pr_wh/intelligence_commission;_ylt=AjX2aoOZYD4KfclfMrhbEXis0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-

“Disinformation Now!”

hey...

nobody's perfect...

i wonder though...

tactically...

this is a hot-potato...

i mean...

it's one of these unmentionables...

like a nuclear trump card...

it could blow-up in your face...

then again...

this is just a blog...

Amy's got a hit TV show...

like Jon Stewart's...

and...

c'mon...

that's really cool...

like having a hit movie...

like Michael Moore's...

that would be wikkid...

so...

i still hate to say it...

but why should we "hate" to "say" anything...

still...

mainstream street-cred is key...

if you can't get that...

if the villagers chant...

"burn 'im! he's a witch! burn 'im!"...

you're screwed...

it's too bad...


(...)

then again...

this is just a blog...


(...)

Amy Goodman, Left Gatekeeper

by Scott Loughrey

SOURCE - http://baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/6523/index.php

Amy Goodman should be regarded as a Left Gatekeeper (LG). Left Gatekeepers, like the journalists in George Orwell’s 1984, function to promote the official propaganda of the state. They amplify what is not credible while excluding other voices from challenging the government’s lies of the day.

(...)

Amy Goodman used to be a hero of mine. She was particularly heroic in the 1991 massacre by Indonesian military forces in a Santa Cruz, East Timor graveyard. Her deeds there (along with journalist Alan Nairn’s) are the kinds of events that people would get medals for by the President in a sane world.

However, since 9/11/01 Amy Goodman (and her internet/radio program Democracy Now!) has achieved enormous popularity while continuing to fail to challenge the Bush regime where doing so is most needed. In particular, whenever the topic of terrorism on US soil is brought up on her program she can be counted upon to repeat government propaganda.

(...)

By broadcasting the government’s official story of 9-11 Democracy Now! continues to reiterate faulty science. For example, a key component of the Bush regime’s propaganda includes the implication that the number 650 is equal to the number 2000. If more Democracy-activists were aware that the Bush regime was making this assertion it could galvanize the resistance to it. Still, Amy Goodman and DN! continue to tolerate the lie that the two numbers are equal. To the disgust of a growing number of people DN! refuses to include a guest on her show which disputes this (and similar) scientific point(s) advanced by the government.

(...)

Last September (9/23/03) Democracy Now! made one of its very rare forays into discussing the events of 9-11. Amy Goodman had on two guests, Peter Lance and Richard Miniter. Amy billed the meeting as a “debate”. Both men are authors and were prominently hawking their recent books. Crucially, neither man contradicted the other much.

(...)

was this by design?

how the hell do you discuss this?

one may have to frame the conspiracy as being challenged...

otherwise there is absolutely no way some people will give conspiracy a chance...

curiously the guests didn't contradict each other...

curiously DN! still called it a debate...

curiously DN! usually do their homework...

curiously DN! must have known...


(...)

650 = 2000

Amy Goodman needs to allow an articulate guest to appear on her program capable of mentioning that it is impossible for burning jet fuel to have caused the destruction of the North and South towers of the World Trade Center. Jet fuel is refined kerosene, which burns at about 650 degrees Fahrenheit in the open air. Meanwhile, steel cannot be forged adequately until it is heated up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit for a significant amount of time.

(...)

i don't believe it...

i don't know why...

i don't believe it...

they must have made it up...

they must be lying just for the fun of it...

man...

a bunch of sicko's i tell ya...

just go and get cable ya crazy bastards...


(...)

i have no PhD in "jet fuel"...

nor a PhD in "kerosene"...

nor a PhD in "smelting"...

so...

it's unbelievable...

it's unverifiable...

it's un-googleable...

and thus...

it's impossible...


(...)

i don't believe it...

after all...

i have absolutely no proof...


(...)

Morpheus

"I imagine that right now you're feeling a bit like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit hole."

"You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, that's not far from the truth."

"Unfortunately, no one can be told what The Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself."

"I'm trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the door. You're the one that has to walk through it."

"You take the blue pill, the story ends here, you wake up and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill...and I'll show you just how deep the rabbit hole goes."

(...)

More-pheus

"The Matrix is a system Neo, that system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see?. Business men, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand most of these people are not ready to be unplugged, and many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it. Were you listening to me Neo, or were you looking at the woman in the red dress? Look again."

(...)

Trinity

"Wake up Neo."

"Follow the white rabbit."

(...)

An exchange with a Pacifica staffer

A Pacifica employee writes:

"Dear Scott:

Is it only on the issue of 9-11 that you feel Amy Goodman is deceiving or keeping information from the public? Or do you feel it she does this often and consistently?

It seems to me that, except for 9-11, she regularly and vigorously challenges the projects, policies, and pronouncements of those in power. If this is so, what reason would she have for reversing her practice on just this one issue?

Do you feel she mouthes the 'official' explanation out of a hidden agenda, or because she may sincerely believe it? The former does not seem to be consistent with the general thrust and content of her show throughout the years."

My reply:

"She's not deceiving. It isn't like she has a full understanding of what she's saying. It is more that she is incurious. She has shut off large intellectual discussions and because she isn't exposed to them, she has no need to question the ideas behind them.

A book could be written about the propaganda function she provides the Bush regime. Bush and his current spokesperson (Scott McClellan) are famously inarticulate. Meanwhile, Amy, with her arresting eyes and very sincere appearance lends enormous credibility to propaganda elements used by the Empire.

I singled out Amy in the article to try to reach a segment of her fanbase. However, the same points I made with her could be made with Counterpunch, Z Magazine, Norman Solomon, Noam Chomsky, Edward Herman, etc. In their own ways they are each performing the propaganda function of telling their audience that Al Qaeda really exists; that it destroyed the WTC; that Saddam Hussein is really captured; that a war has been taking place in Afghanistan, etc.

When you have Noam Chomsky telling his audiences that he refuses to look into 911 anomalies then he has confirmed the official story of 911. His stature means far more than if Bush or McClellan say something about it. In truth, the Bush regime has to be counting on Chomsky and Goodman to sell these fictional propaganda elements. They are being used, and AG and NC don't seem to mind.

I read Michel Chossudovsky (www.GlobalResearch.ca). Chosso attacks the Bush regime by attacking their propaganda on a regular basis. He's infinitely more valuable to the Resistance than is Chomsky at this time. (I have been a Chomsky admirer for years.) However, Chosso has never been on Amy's program and there seems to be no plans for him to make his debut. That's an enormous ommission from AG. It also personifies in a nutshell the difference between truly fighting them and actually repeating their propaganda.

peace,
Scott"

(...)

"ding! ding! ding!"

great round...

maybe it's just me...

but i'm tempted to call this one a draw...


(...)

Epilogue:

Rabbit-holes are fun...

The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions

Professor David Ray Griffin

VIDEO
Broadcast On C-Span 2
Thursday, April 28, 2005

David Ray Griffin is professor emeritus at the Claremont School of Theology, where he taught for over 30 years (retiring in 2004). He has authored or edited over two dozen books, including "God and Religion in the Postmodern World," "Religion and Scientific Naturalism," and "The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11."

Professor Griffin covers topics he says have been inadequately answered by the commission. These include questions surrounding the attack on the Pentagon, the way in which the World Trade Center towers collapsed, and the behavior of President Bush and his Secret Service detail following notification that a second plane had hit the WTC. The talk was hosted by the Muslim- Jewish- Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth (www.mujca.com) and took place at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Includes Q&A.

SOURCE - http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8765.htm

"No news out of Iraq means that something so horribly dangerous is going on that nobody can report it."

AMY GOODMAN: We're talking to Patrick Cockburn, who has been reporting from Iraq extensively, just won the 2005 Martha Gellhorn Prize for War Reporting. You also talk about turning points in this last year in Iraq, two critical points among them: the capture by U.S. Marines of the rebel stronghold of Fallujah.

PATRICK COCKBURN: Yes. I think that the -- every so often, events like that occur that are billed as a turning point in the war. And, in a way, it's gotten easier for the U.S. military, for Washington, to do this, because ironically as the situation deteriorates, it becomes more and more difficult for journalists, for the media, to report properly. You know, if I was to, let's say, go south, take the road south from Baghdad, I would get about 20 miles before I was killed. Any Westerner would be killed on that road. The same is true of all the roads connecting Baghdad with the other provinces.

So when somebody like Iyad Allawi, who you mentioned earlier, the former prime minister, said, stood up in Washington last year just before the election and said only three out of four Iraqi provinces, three out of four of 18, were truly dangerous, everybody in Iraq knew this was untrue. But it's very difficult to go and prove that by the very fact that if you’re going into most of these provinces, you simply won't make it. So in a way, the atrocities committed by Zarqawi has made it much easier for the administration to pretend that no news is good news. In fact, no news out of Iraq means that something so horribly dangerous is going on that nobody can report it.

SOURCE - http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/29/1434212

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Program teaches inner-city students to debate

not a bad idea...

not bad at all...


(...)

Inner-City Students Learning to Debate

By DOUG GROSS,
Associated Press Writer
Mon Jun 27, 9:06 AM ET

ATLANTA - Adrienne Glover admits to getting emotional when her inner-city school's debate team faces experienced, well-funded squads from exclusive private schools.

The emotion? Joy.

"It's really fun when you beat them," said Glover, 14, a student at Benjamin Mays High School in southwest Atlanta, where all the pupils are minorities and half qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. "They think they're so good."

Mays is part of the Urban Debate League — part of a national program started by Atlanta's Emory University in 1985 that instructs public school students from poor areas in the traditionally upscale art of debate.

Leaders at Emory reasoned that debating would provide students in Atlanta's inner-city schools with communication skills useful in conflict resolution, advocacy and other aspects of their lives.

Since then, the program has gradually grown and now, through the National Debate Project, includes more than 2,000 middle and high school students supported by leagues in 17 cities.

The leagues work with schools, recreation directors, public housing officials and others to establish, fund and support debate teams in areas where the competitive talkathons are far from traditional.

"Historically, if you're white and male and affluent, this is a game you play," said Melissa Maxey-Wade, the Emory-based executive co-director of the National Debate Project. "But when you level the playing field, everybody wins."

Students in urban debate leagues from New York City to Los Angeles made up about half the roughly 120 students attending Emory's National Debate Institute, a two-week summer camp at the university that recently concluded. The camp gives debate team members a crash course on topics expected to dominate debate competitions in the coming year.

This year's topic for high school debaters nationwide was civil liberties and the USA Patriot Act, the anti-terrorism measure passed shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks.

One afternoon at the camp, Glover was acting as timekeeper in an Emory classroom as four students debated whether the act needs to be scaled back.

The two teams took turns stepping to a podium and making rapid-fire speeches, reading as much of their arguments into the record as possible in a limited amount of time.

When they were done, their opponents stepped up and, like defense attorneys, worked to poke holes in the other side's argument — from questioning whether a speaker's opinions were backed by documented facts to making him prove he knew the definition of terms such as "pre-emptive arrest" and "military detention."

Fifteen-year-old Sarayfah Bolling, a sophomore at Atlanta's Southside High School, said the skills she's honed on her school's debate team have already led to at least one benefit — she wins more arguments with her mother.

"I like to argue," said Bolling, laughing. "You can pull out those logical things she can't think about."

Glover says she's been teased by classmates who have never heard of competitive debating and don't understand why she sometimes misses basketball practice to attend debate competitions.

She says she just uses the opportunity to try to get her teammates involved.

"I tell them it's fun," said Glover, who described herself as a straight-A student. "I tell them, 'You should come; it'll help get those F's up.' "

For Ed Lee, debate did more than that. It changed the entire course of his life.

Lee was a student at Harper High School in Atlanta when he joined a debate team sponsored by the Urban Debate League. Before that, school had never clicked for him.

"I was not one of those students who saw themselves going to college before starting to debate," said Lee, who earned a master's degree from the University of Alabama in 1999 and is currently director of the university's debate team.

Lee, who was one of the instructors at the debate institute camp and will join Emory's faculty as a debate coach in the fall, said he enjoys working with urban debaters, even if they don't stay with the game.

"I consider myself training the next generation of community activists," he said. "Some will be lawyers, some will be teachers, some will be nurses and some will be on the custodial staff.

"But hopefully all of them will be enabled to make their voices heard."

___

On the Net:

National Debate Project: http://www.nationaldebateproject.org

(...)

SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050627/ap_on_re_us/urban_debaters

"C'mon, what's 50 Cent's here, 50 Cent's there, really gonna do?"

50 Cent Donates G-Unity Scholarships To Former High School

Monday - June 13, 2005
by Carl Chery

50 Cent's G-Unity foundation has just donated 10 scholarships worth $31,000 to Queensborough Community College in Bayside, Queens, New York.

The scholarships will cover one year's tuition and a $300 book stipend. The Jamaica, Queens rapper attended Andrew Jackson High School in Cambria Heights in his native borough. The school is now called Campus Magnet High School. According to G-Unity consultant Nina Biggar, Fiddy dropped out, but later obtained his GED.

According to director of development Laura Kotkin, the scholarships will be awarded to Campus Magnet High School students and two students from Queens' Springfield Gardens High School and Hillcrest High School.

Since 50 wants the scholarships to go to "forgotten" students, applicants need only a minimum high school average of 70 or C to be eligible. Applicants must write a 500-word essay and submit two recommendations from teachers, guidance counselors or work supervisors. Applications must be turned in by June 24th and the winners will be announced July 15th.

"Stars emerge from all segments of a high school class, not just the top," 50 Cent said in a statement. "It is my goal to help some kids who haven't met their full potential yet."

With the scholarships, Queensborough becomes the first college G-Unity has worked with and the $31, 000 donation is among the three biggest grants the foundation has provided to date. Earlier this year, the foundation supported music education by donating $150,000 for the Boys Choir of Harlem and $100,000 to the Compton Unified School District in California. Biggar revealed that G-Unity intends on renewing the Queensborough scholarships if the applicants successfully complete their first year.

"I think he [50 Cent] really wants to give an opportunity to kids who've shown a lot of improvement but don't follow in the classic scholarship guidelines," stated Biggar. "It will give teachers a really good opportunity to watch out for the kids who have improved."

SOURCE - http://www.sohh.com/thewire/read.php?contentID=7192

(...)

Game and 50 Give $200K To Compton Schools

By Remmie Fresh

On April 7, the Game and 50 Cent presented a pair of checks totaling $200,000 to help the Compton Unified School District and its ailing arts and music program, which has been dormant for several years.

The pair made the donations through their respective companies, The Black Wall Street and The G-Unity Foundation. Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records were also party to the contribution, which was placed in the school district’s Education Foundation.

"This is what Black Wall Street is all about," said The Game in a statement. "Building an empowerment within our community. I’ve seen first hand what music can do so I’m hoping this can make a difference in people’s lives."

While they’ve had their differences, 50 and Game both concur that they are bent on giving back to the community.

"G-Unity’s goal is to lend a hand to the people who need it most. This donation is just the beginning of what we’re hoping to do," 50 Cent stated. G-Unity Foundation recently made a contribution to a charity in the name of the late Jam Master Jay.

The Compton Unified School District, its employees were reportedly ecstatic about receiving the money and were planning to rebuild its programs.

"This magnificent donation couldn’t have come at a better time. For the first time in many years, we can purchase musical instruments and provide music programs for our elementary school students," stated District Superintendent, Jesse Gonzales.

Last month, after ending heated rap beef, Game and 50 donated a total of $253,500 to the Boys Choir of Harlem.

SOURCE - http://www.tapekingz.com/news.htm

(...)

50 Cent Sues Video Production Company

Published: 2005-06-07

Rapper 50 Cent has sued three video production companies saying the companies used footage from an interview without honouring an agreement to make a charitable donation to his charity the G-Unity Foundation.

50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson III, agreed to do an interview with Czar Entertainment Inc. about 1980’s criminal Kelvin Martin who also went by the name 50 Cent. In return Czar Entertainment was to make the donation but failed to do so using the footage for a DVD called The Original 50 Cent: The True Story of the Legend Who Inspired the Biggest Name in Rap.

50 Cent wants a court order barring Czar Entertainment, Premo Pictures and Vision Plant Pictures from selling the DVD. The lawsuit also seeks damages and any profits from the DVD.

Writer: Trent McMartin

SOURCE - http://www.soulshine.ca/news/newsarticle.php?nid=2096

(...)

hmm...

seems like a nice dood...

well...

maybe it's all just a $500,000 publicity stunt...

who knows....

still it's good for the keeeds...

and he seems like a nice dood...

so you almost feel bad for him when...


(...)

Lindsay Lohan rejects 50 Cent

June 21, 2005, 12:20:49

Lindsay Lohan turned down a date with 50 Cent - because she has a crush on Eminem.

The sexy actress claims the rapper tried to get her number from her publicist after watching her in teen comedy 'Mean Girls'.

However, Lohan refused the star's romantic advances because she wants to hook-up with 50's mentor Eminem. She said: "50 called my agent for my number. I was freaking out! The first thing I thought was, 'Where's Eminem? I'm in love with him'".

The pretty star says 50 isn't the only hip-hop star lusting after her. Lohan, 19, claims both P-Diddy and music mogul Damon Dash have asked her out on dates.

She told America's New York Post newspaper: "Black guys love me, Damon Dash, P Diddy I don't know why".

SOURCE - http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/46522004.htm

(...)

then again...

he may have dodged a 10th bullet...

.
.
...................................
.
.

Liam Gallagher Wanted To Humiliate Robbie Williams

June 28, 2005, 6:39:30

GALLAGHER: 'I'D LOVE TO HUMILIATE ROBBIE WILLIAMS AT LIVE 8'

OASIS singer LIAM GALLAGHER would have loved the chance to perform at the Live 8 concert in London next Saturday (02JUL05) - if only to reignite the band's row with singer ROBBIE WILLIAMS.

Oasis had to pass on Live 8 organiser SIR BOB GELDOF's offer to join the star-studded line-up at Hyde Park because they are already booked to perform in their hometown of Manchester on the same night.

But Gallagher is disappointed, because he would have loved to humiliate former TAKE THAT star Williams, who is performing at Live 8 and with whom Oasis have a long-term feud.

He says, "We'd have been there without a doubt.. I'd love to. Y'know why I'd love to do that gig? First of all, it's fucking awareness and all that stuff.

"I just love to go on and do four fucking songs and really fucking rip it up.. And walk off and fucking flick Robbie Williams in the eye and say: 'Follow that, you dick!'"

SOURCE - http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/entertainment/66882004.htm

(...)

wow...

he sounds quite hostile...


(...)

TEEN OLSEN PARTIES WITH OASIS

MARY-KATE OLSEN was seen coming out of British rockers OASIS' dressing room in an inebriated state after attending their recent gig at New York City's Madison Square Garden.

The TWO OF A KIND star, who found fame starring in TV shows with her twin sister ASHLEY OLSEN, was reportedly carried out of the room by her bodyguard and taken to recover in the VIP bathroom.

The actress' representative tells PAGESIX.COM, "Whatever the implication is, it's ridiculous. She was just hanging out with the band. Nothing went on whatsoever."

27/06/2005 05:30

SOURCE - http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/teen%20olsen%20parties%20with%20oasis

(...)

poor fiddy...

(sigh)

but you know what they say...

nice guys finish last...

"The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be..."

The Old Gray Mare
Adapted Spiritual
Written By: Unknown
Copyright: Unknown

The old gray mare,
She ain't what she used to be
Ain't what she used to be,
Ain't what she used to be
The old gray mare,
She ain't what she used to be
Many long years ago.

Many long years ago,
Many long years ago,
The old gray mare,
She ain't what she used to be
Many long years ago.

The old gray mare,
She kicked on the whiffletree,
Kicked on the whiffletree,
Kicked on the whiffletree
The old gray mare,
She kicked on the whiffletree
Many long years ago.

Many long years ago,
Many long years ago,
The old gray mare,
She kicked on the whiffletree
Many long years ago.


SOURCE - http://www.kididdles.com/mouseum/o007.html

(...)

This rhyme has stood the test of time...

To wonder why may seem out of line...

It is what it is...

It was what it was...

It says what is...

But not why or 'cause...


(...)

"But if I ran the zoo,"
Said young Gerald McGrew,
"I'd make a few changes.
That's just what I'd do ..."
- Dr. Seuss, "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish"


Dr. Seuss knew a thing or two about customer data analysis. His children's classic One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish embraced the fundamental diversity of the human race. Similarly, embracing the fundamental differences among your customers and their changing relationships with your brand lets you enhance your loyalty strategy - despite continual downward pressure on your budget.

SOURCE - http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/11/7008.html

(...)

This rhyme has stood the test of time...

To pervert why may seem out of line...

I guess it's fine...

I guess it's fine...

I guess I don't want to whine...


(...)

Now here's a little story - I've got to tell,
About three bad brothers - you know so well,
It started way back, in history,
With Adrock, M.C.A., and me - Mike D...
- The Beastie Boys, "Paul Revere"


SOURCE - http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Paul-Revere-lyrics-Beastie-Boys/61D63E95C4B99E3448256BBC0026225E

(...)

This rhyme has stood the test of time...

(...)

Monday, June 27, 2005

It's Not A Conspiracy: If You Have That Much Power, That's Really What You Think About.

Uh-oh.

It's the middle of the summer and I'm still on this shit.

Uh-oh.


(...)

Man...

(...)

As long as it all makes sense, that's cool.

That's really it.

That's peace of mind.

And from there, it's on...


(...)

Peace by Peace...

(...)

I got a bunch of random ideas that people have never heard and find useful, so here's another one.

(...)

But first, I saw this wicked quote on this wicked Che poster yesterday, it was at a youth centre where i did wicked gig fo' da keeds...

See if you feelin' this...


(...)

"Let me say, at the risk of sounding ridiculous, that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love."
- Che Guevara

(...)

Wicked eh?

(...)

TV vs. Internet

I remember scuba diving in Thailand.

It was wicked.

Malaysia too.

Wicked.

"If we couldn't see the sun risin',
Off the shore of Thailand,
Would you ride then,
If I wasn't drivin'?"

- Jay-Z, "Can I Get A...", Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life

There was a cute Scottish blondie gurrrl there among a bunch of other Euro's, pasty-party-people who you'd never think would be scuba diving instructors.

(No metaphors, please, we may be British.)

I remember asking her and others how they enjoyed living in a tropical paradise among friends and teaching scuba-diving for a living.

They liked it.

They liked it a lot.

Go figure...

(...)

They told us of drinks and songs on the beach, and an ultimately relaxed, safe and friendly lifestyle. They also told tales of night-swims, with crews of professional divers going deep enough to feel nitrogen narcosis, or "getting really high" by going deeper than they should, and in a loopy daze chasing after random fishies as they swam by. They always had a blast, and they usually had someone there to remind them that they'll die if they don't pop up to the surface soon.

(The designated diver?)

(...)

I remember a random question from one of us students:

Q. "So, how long do you chase the fish for?"

A. "Well... it depends. But really, until we get bored. Then, we may go chase another fish for as long as we want. Until we get bored."

(...)

Sounds reasonable...

(...)

Don't know why it stuck...

(...)

But peep this: the television vs. the internet.

Which one is better for you?

Instinctively there's a bunch of answers favouring the latter, especially now that you can also watch TV on the internet.

But still, I harken back to the wisdom of the beach-bums for fresh insights into emerging technology in the information age.

(...)

See, informational TV will give you as much information as they decide to.

Whether it's 30 seconds or 30 minutes of a story, they decide.

The problem: we may need different amounts of information on different issues to make enough sense of the world to give us peace of mind.

Not ultimate omniscient knowledge.

Peace of mind.

(...)

Perhaps you're a huge Michael Jackson fan, and 30 second updates of this month's Trial of the Century are simply not enough to keep you satiated.

Maybe you get all twitchy, maybe your falsetto acts up.

Maybe you actually get more shook by the rapid-fire soundbits than if you hadn't heard them at all.

Now, you can channel this (see: James Brown, Usher, Justin Timberlake)... but what if you're not a multi-millionaire recording artist?

What then?

Perhaps hearing 30 seconds of Fallujah blew up (or Zarqawi blew it up), or Bin Laden's back (or he never left), or gays might get married (or they might not), or whatever your favoured issues are ain't enough.

In fact, just getting enough half-knowledge (if that) to freak the crap outta you may actually be worse.

A steady diet of this crap combined with the olde "if it bleeds, it leads" news maxim means we're constantly off-balance, and constantly assaulted by random freaky factoids about the big blue marble we all share.

After all, ignorance is bliss.

Unfortunately, in the information age it is also impossible.

(...)

So, in the era of 24-hour news networks, 24 million stories a day, and corporately controlled information hierarchies designed to pacify and position populations to purchase pop-culture, maybe bits'n'bytes are not nourishing enough for you.

After all...

You decide what you wanna eat, right?

And how much?

(...)

So, that's ye olde internet vs. ye olde television.

If something's bugging you, on the internet you can look it up, and keep chasing it like chasing a fish until you're bored of it.

Or excited by it.

But definitely not scared of it.

This isn't specific to any type of information, it works for any and all information.

Just get as much as you need.

"They" want to tell you what's important to you, how important it is to you, and how much you should know about it.

"You" can decide for yourself...