It's 2006... Happier New Year! :-) "Hey Johnny and Jackie Artsy: What the hell inspired you to say THAT???"

From the "Concert for Hurricane Relief" on NBC, Friday, September 02, 2005...


West and Mike Myers had been paired up to appear about halfway through the show. Their assignment: Take turns reading a script describing the breach in the levees around New Orleans.

Myers: The landscape of the city has changed dramatically, tragically and perhaps irreversibly. There is now over 25 feet of water where there was once city streets and thriving neighborhoods.

(Myers throws to West, who looked extremely nervous in his super-preppy designer rugby shirt and white pants, which is not like the arrogant West and which, in retrospect, should have been a tip-off.)

West: I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family, it says, "They're looting." You see a white family, it says, "They're looking for food." And, you know, it's been five days [waiting for federal help] because most of the people are black. And even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite because I've tried to turn away from the TV because it's too hard to watch. I've even been shopping before even giving a donation, so now I'm calling my business manager right now to see what is the biggest amount I can give, and just to imagine if I was down there, and those are my people down there. So anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help -- with the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible. I mean, the Red Cross is doing everything they can. We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way -- and they've given them permission to go down and shoot us!

(West throws back to Myers, who is looking like a guy who stopped on the tarmac to tie his shoe and got hit in the back with the 8:30 to La Guardia.)

Myers: And subtle, but in many ways even more profoundly devastating, is the lasting damage to the survivors' will to rebuild and remain in the area. The destruction of the spirit of the people of southern Louisiana and Mississippi may end up being the most tragic loss of all.

(And, because Myers is apparently as dumb as his Alfalfa hair, he throws it back to West.)

West: George Bush doesn't care about black people!

SOURCE - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090300165.html



"And I know the government, administer AIDS,
So I guess we just pray, like the minister say..."

- Kanye West, "Heard 'Em Say"



"These ain't conflict diamonds, is they Jacob?
Don't lie to me man!
See, a part of me sayin' keep shinin',
How?
When I know of the blood diamonds?
Though it's thousands of miles away,
Sierra Leone connect to what we go through today,
Over here, it's the drug trade, we die from drugs,
Over there, they die, from what we buy from drugs,
The diamonds, the chains, the bracelets, the charmses,
I thought my Jesus Piece, was so harmless,
'Til I seen a picture of a shorty armless..."

- Kanye West, "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" (Remix)



"How'd they stop, the Black Panthers?
Ronald Reagan cooked up an answer!
You hear that?"

"Who gave Saddam anthrax?
George Bush got the answers!"

- Kanye West, "Crack Music"



(...)



Secret Service probes Eminem 'Bush threat'

The Secret Service is trying to determine if any action needs to be taken regarding a lyric from shock rapper Eminem that may be a threat to President Bush.

Eminem has the president in his sights in his new song ''We as Americans,'' apparently wishing he were dead.

According to the Drudge Report, the nation's top-selling rapper rants:

"F--k money. I don't rap for dead presidents. I'd rather see the president dead. It's never been said, but I set precedents and the standards and they can't stand it. ... We as Americans. Us as a citizen. We've got to protect ourselves ..."

A Secret Service probe is routine when something that could be construed as a threat to the president is brought to agents' attention, reports CNN.

''We are aware of the lyric and are in the process of determining what action, if any, will be taken,'' Secret Service spokesman John Gill told the news network.

SOURCE - http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35976







"Imagine it pouring, it's raining down on us,
Mosh pits outside the oval office
Someone's try'n'a tell us something,
Maybe this is God just, sayin' we're responsible,
For this monster, this coward,
That we have empowered,
This is Bin Laden, look at his head noddin'!
How could we allow?
Something like this?
Without pumping our fists, now?
This is our, final hour!
Let me be the voice, and your strength, and your choice,
Let me simplify the rhyme, just to amplify the noise,
Try to amplify, times it, multiply it, by six...
Teen million people, all equal at this high pitch,
Maybe we can reach, Al-Qaeda, through my speech?
Let the president answer, a higher anarchy!
Strap him with an Ak-47, let him go, fight his own war,
Let him impress daddy that way!
No more blood for oil, we got our own battles,
To fight on our own soil,
No more psychological warfare,
To trick us into thinking we ain't loyal,
If we don't serve our own country,
We're patronizing a hero?
Look in his eyes, it's all lies!
The stars and stripes,
Have been swiped, washed out, and wiped,
And replaced with his own face, Mosh now, or die!
If I get sniped tonight, you'll know why,
'Cause I told you to fight!"

- Eminem, "Mosh"

SEE THE VIDEO AT:

http://www.gnn.tv/content/eminem_mosh.html

"Why would niggaz push pounds and powder?
Why did Bush knock down the towers?
Why you around them cowards?"

- Jadakiss, "Why?"

"Well it appears it's 'bout time, to get to the point:
That's why I write rhymes, including this joint,
I'm here to anoint, all those with a point,
And all those who know flows,
Can helps us to point,
Fingers at finds, that open our minds,
And help all the blind, feel what we find,
And we feelin' in kind, those who've been kind,
Enough to feed us stuff,
To stay on the grind,
I'm stayin' with mine, my words are my own,
But the thoughts that feed 'em, aren't always home-grown,
Sometimes I'm at home,
With nothin' on my mind,
With nothin' much to say,
Waste-away 'til I find,
The fuel for my fire, helps me sire my thoughts,
And I'm happy to say, I love those who fought,
I love those who bought, into the idea of "win",
I love those who pay dues, by slowing the spin,
By seeing them as kin, I see a way, to win,
And a way, for the way, what we say, can sink in!
Track-back from the backpacks, pages of prose,
So who got us hip?
To our friends and our foes?
Who's in the know?
Who's earned our trust?
Who's turned a labor of love?
Into a labor of lust?
Who's got the passion?
To help us fashion a way?
To make a better world?
What the hell did they say?
It'll be hell to pay,
If fans can't figure it out,
If instead of a drum-beat,
A piece is a shout!
If what it's about?
Is protecting the source?
I mean...
Something set us off...
This confirms the "Of course!"
And,
Gives us another horse, to bet-on,
Another force, to let-on,
That we've all, been lead-on,
We're being force fed-on,
The lies of the day; it's okay, we'll transcend,
Artists speak truth better, than our best experts and friends,
Instead of following trends, we'll follow our hearts,
Instead of following faith, we'll have faith, in our parts,
And the people are smart, when their hearts, match their wits,
And they can cut through the stank, from Think-Tankin' twits,
Like peaches'n'pits, the seeds are the soul,
And the fruits of our labor, is recognizing our goal,
Every work is just coal, until it's a diamond,
Whether it's painting or picturing, sculpting or rhyming,
I admit, I'm two-timing,
Cheating on my brain,
But I'm planning on beating,
The bleating refrain,
You like what I said?
Thanks!
Here's some more for your memory banks,
'Cause every party-platform, has to have a few planks,
I like "Democracy NOW!", and "Truthout.org",
They'll help us escape, the fate, of "The Borg",
Know "Prisonplanet.com", and "Infowars.com",
Convinced me 9/11: was really caused by bombs!
"Air America Radio", then eases my stress,
While "The Randi Rhodes Show", is one MILF'y address!
Got some "Crooks and Liars", to set me on fire,
And "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart",
Makes it fun screaming "Liar!"
We got "Rabble.ca", and "The CBC",
And as long as they stay free,
They might save, the country,
Check "Counterpunch" over lunch,
Or "Michael Moore" in the morn,
Feelin' so gassed up,
I forgot to check for my porn!
Hear "Arundhati Roy", it's a joy, she's a dream,
And my man "Sy Hersh", takes me behind the scenes,
Got some "Noam Chomsky", and some "Tupac" too,
You can't see 'em relate?
Hell - I make my own glue!
Hell - I make my own clues!
But the raw data still matter,
And while I'm swingin' for the fences,
I still respect other batters..."

- Black Krishna, "Hey Johnny and Jackie Artsy: What the hell inspired you to say THAT???"



Peace by peace,
BK



_________________

...

Black Krishna Brand

Philosophy - http://blackkrishna.blogspot.com/

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

...

It's 2006... Happier New Year! :-) "Audit: U.S.-Led Occupation Squandered Aid" (Yahoo! News)

U.S. Army Capt. Pat Costello, left, goes over the details of a contract to refurbish the Al-Qala'a Police Station while building contractor Mohammed Sheet Yaehyah counts money, July 31, 2003, in the northern city of Tall Afar. The money is part of a wide ranging project to repair and rebuild Iraqi infrastructure throughout the country. ( AP Photo/Sergei Grits )

Yahoo! News

Audit: U.S.-Led Occupation Squandered Aid

By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer 45 minutes ago

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Iraqi money gambled away in the Philippines. Thousands spent on a swimming pool that was never used. An elevator repaired so poorly that it crashed, killing people.

A U.S. government audit found American-led occupation authorities squandered tens of millions of dollars that were supposed to be used to rebuild Iraq through undocumented spending and outright fraud.

In some cases, auditors recommend criminal charges be filed against the perpetrators. In others, it asks the U.S. ambassador to Iraq to recoup the money.

Dryly written audit reports describe the Coalition Provisional Authority's offices in the south-central city of Hillah being awash in bricks of $100 bills taken from a central vault without documentation.

It describes one agent who kept almost $700,000 in cash in an unlocked footlocker and mentions a U.S. soldier who gambled away as much as $60,000 in reconstruction funds in the Philippines.

"Tens of millions of dollars in cash had gone in and out of the South-Central Region vault without any tracking of who deposited or withdrew the money, and why it was taken out," says a report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, which is in the midst of a series of audits for the Pentagon and State Department.

Much of the first audit reports deal with contracting in south-central Iraq, one of the country's least-hostile regions. Audits have yet to be released for the occupation authority's spending in the rest of Iraq.

The audits offer a window into the chaotic U.S.-led occupation of Iraq of 2003-04, when inexperienced American officials — including workers from President Bush's election campaign — organized a cash-intensive "hearts and minds" mission to rebuild Iraq's devastated economy.

But the corruption and incompetence documented in the reports reveal that much of the effort, however well-intentioned, was wasted.

The failure of the rebuilding effort has been borne out most vividly by the rise of a virulent anti-American insurgency that has claimed most of the 2,237 U.S. military lives lost since the war began.

In some cases, auditors could find no trace of cash, much of which came from Iraqi oil revenues overseen by the occupation authority.

"Those deficiencies were so significant that we were precluded from accomplishing our stated objectives," the auditors said of U.S. officials in Hillah being unable to account for $97 million of the $120 million in Iraqi oil revenues earmarked for rebuilding projects.

An October 2005 audit found documentation for the spending of just $8 million of that money.

Negligence proved deadly in at least one case. Three Iraqis plummeted to their deaths in an elevator in the Hillah General Hospital that was certified to have been replaced by a contractor who received $662,800.

Also in Hillah, occupation officials spent $108,140 to replace pumps and fix the city's Olympic swimming pool. But the contractor merely polished the old plumbing to make it look new and collected his money.

When the pool was filled, the water came out a murky brown and the pool's reopening had to be canceled. The reports did not identify the contractors involved.

Auditors have asked the U.S. ambassador to recover a total of $571,823 that the reports describe as overpaid funds.

In some cases, cash simply disappeared.

Two occupation authority field agents responsible for paying contractors left Iraq without accounting for more than $700,000 each. When auditors confronted their manager and asked where the money was, the manger tried to clear one of the agents through false paperwork.

"This appears to be an attempt to remove outstanding balances by simply washing accounts," the auditor said. The two agents were not identified and there was no word on whether the pair were referred for prosecution.

One report describes mismanagement of more than 2,000 small contracts in south-central Iraq worth $88 million. Occupation staffers or those they supervised handed out millions to companies that never submitted required competitive bids or that were paid for unfinished work.

Other examples cited in the reports:

_Only a quarter of $23 million entrusted to civilian and military project and contracting officers to pay contractors ever found its way to those contractors.

_One contractor was paid $14,000 on four separate occasions for the same job.

_Of $7.3 million spent on a police academy near Hillah, auditors could account for just $4 million. They said $1.3 million was wasted on overpriced or duplicate construction or equipment not delivered. More than $2 million was missing.

_U.S. personnel "needlessly disbursed more than $1.8 million" of the estimated $2.3 million spent for renovating the library in the Shiite holy city of Karbala.

_The library contractor delivered only 18 of 68 personal computers called for and did not install Internet wiring or software. The computers worked only as stand-alones.

_The U.S.-led security transition command spent $945,000 for seven armored Mercedes-Benzes that were too lightly armored for Iraq. Auditors were able to account for only six of the cars.

_At one point, several paying agents kept cash inside the same filing cabinet in the Hillah vault. One agent took $100,000 from another's stack of cash to clear his own balance. "This was only discovered because the other paying agent had to make a disbursement that day and realized that he was short cash," the report says.

___

On the Net:

Special Inspector General: http://www.sigir.mil/audit(underscore)reports.html

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SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060129/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_squandered_aid

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