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Blues Talkin’

Fight to Save Internet Radio

Next week I’ll travel to Washington D.C. to meet with my congressman and senators in an effort to Save Internet Radio.

I will be working with the SaveNetRadio Coalition to make sure our already limited music choices don’t dwindle even further. On May 2, 2007, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) dramatically increased the amount of royalties that Internet radio services must pay record labels and recording artists.

Now, I’m sure you’re wondering why I would be concerned that the government is telling the Internet radio stations who have been playing my music that they should pay me more money.

The reality is that the major record labels and their royalty collecting agency, Sound Exchange, convinced the CRB to increase royalty rates by 300-1200%. This will increase broadcasting bills for net radio broadcasters to levels that will put many of them out of business. The Internet radio broadcasters who have supported artists like me would be eliminated by the major corporations who have lost their monopoly on the distribution and promotion of music largely because of the freedom of the Internet. Continue reading

Political Favors: The Real Paris Hilton Story

The Paris Hilton saga is only news because the famous, privileged rich kid got off when so many people arrested for similar violations would be rotting in jail for much longer than 45 days, and certainly wouldn’t be released after serving only a few hours because they were crying to mommy.

But the real story of this Hilton soap opera may be WHY she was let go in the first place.

According to this report on www.news.com.au (from Agence France-Presse), Hilton’s billionaire grandfather donated to Sheriff Lee Baca’s re-election campaign. Was Paris’ release the payback?

And it turns out Lee Baca has been accused of favoritism toward Hollywood’s rich and famous before.

He was the officer who failed to report actor Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic tirade after the star was arrested for drink-driving.Gibson had filmed television advertisements for one of Sheriff Baca’s pet causes – an education fund for policemen’s children.

Celebrities including Sylvester Stallone and Dustin Hoffman have also backed Mr Baca’s election campaigns since 1998.

With all of the coverage this case has received, will the mainstream media pick up this story or will they protect the sheriff, the rich kid, her grandparents and themselves?

News.com.au: Why was Paris Hilton Released?

Russell Simmons’€™ Knock Down, Drag Out Book of ‘€˜Love’ Tour

Originally posted by Nadir at LastChocolateCity.com

Talk about poor timing.

Russell Simmons released his book, Do You: Laws To Access The Power In You To Achieve Happiness And Success, right as the argument about hip hop’€™s often misogynist lyrics reached a fever pitch.

The result? He is answering (or dodging) more questions about hip hop lyrics during his book tour than he is being asked about his book.

So when the hip hop mogul sat down recently with NPR’s Farai Chideya, he got so flustered she thought he was going to walk out. Continue reading

Charlie Foxtrot at Guantanamo Continues

Originally Posted by Nadir at LastChocolateCity.com

The Bush regime’s already flimsy case for holding 385 detainees at concentration camps in Guantanamo, Cuba fell apart this week when two military judges dismissed the cases of the only two detainees who face charges.

All charges were dropped against Canadian Omar Khadr and the case against Yemeni national Salim Ahmed Hamdan was thrown out because the Pentagon failed to establish proper jurisdiction for the tribunals at its island purgatory. But this partial victory only complicates and prolongs the incarceration of the men and boys who have been held in violation of the Geneva Conventions for five years. Continue reading

Doing It The Hard Way

Originally posted by Nadir on LastChocolateCity.com

The San Antonio Spurs have dispatched of a very tough Utah Jazz team in five games, and will take the next week off waiting to see who their opponent will be in the NBA Finals.

And the Detroit Pistons?

They are struggling their way through another seven game series with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Come on, now! Why do the Pistons feel the need to do it the hard way every single year? As much as the Detroit press and Pistons fans complain that the team is often guilty of taking the night off to its detriment, they have not changed that perception.

Many pundits are blaming Chauncey Billups, the team’s leader, for the sub-standard performance. Not only is “Mr. Big Shot” not living up to his name, some say he is making poor decisions and playing without the heart necessary to win a championship.

So what gives, Chauncey? Are you more concerned about your impending free agency than another championship? What are you doing? Continue reading

Bush Finally Admits He Wants Permanent Bases in Iraq

The Bush White House is finally admitting what we know they have always wanted – permanent bases in Iraq.

From Reuters:

President George W. Bush would like to see a lengthy U.S. troop presence in Iraq like the one in South Korea to provide stability but not in a frontline combat role, the White House said on Wednesday.The United States has had thousands of U.S. troops in South Korea to guard against a North Korean invasion for 50 years.

Most astute observers have known from even before the invasion of Iraq that there was every intention of putting permanent bases there. The nation’s strategic location is too valuable to lose especially with the loss of bases in Saudi Arabia.

Bush has constantly stated that troops would leave Iraq “when the job is done”. Now we understand. The job won’t ever be done.

Reuters

Cindy Sheehan Calls it Quits

Originally posted by Nadir on LastChocolateCity.com

Cindy Sheehan has had it. The mother who began her crusade to end the Iraq War by camping outside George Bush’€™s Crawford, Texas ranch after her son, Casey, was killed in Iraq, issued her resignation as “the face” of the anti-war movement in a post on the DailyKos website this Memorial Day.

The activist has endured a storm of criticism throughout her two-year campaign, and that storm grew stronger last week when she renounced ties with the Democratic Party over their refusal to cut off funding for the imperial occupation in Iraq.

I am deemed a radical because I believe that partisan politics should be left to the wayside when hundreds of thousands of people are dying for a war based on lies that is supported by Democrats and Republican alike. It amazes me that people who are sharp on the issues and can zero in like a laser beam on lies, misrepresentations, and political expediency when it comes to one party refuse to recognize it in their own party. Continue reading

Bush Grants Himself Dictatorial Powers

On May 9, President George W. Bush signed National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD 51″ and Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-20. This document entrusts the president with leading the entire government, not just the Executive Branch in the event of “a catastrophic emergency.”

The document describes a catastrophic emergency as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government function.” As Matthew Rothschild of “The Progressive” points out, “This could mean another 9/11, or another Katrina, or a major earthquake in California, I imagine, since it says it would include ‘localized acts of nature, accidents, and technological or attack-related emergencies.'”

Many observers have been expecting a second 9/11 or a new Gulf of Tonkin incident as a pretext for war against Iran. With announcements that a new surge will result in the doubling of troop strength in Iraq, ships filled with 17,000 sailors and marines entering the Persian Gulf off the coast of Iran and war games that culminate in an amphibious landing in Kuwait, the Bush administration is making its move to escalate this war without end.

Bush stared the punk Democrats in Congress down, and they sold the American people out again by agreeing to continue funding his wars. With all of administration’s abuses of power, the Dems should have impeached Bush and Cheney long ago. The fact that they still cower in his face is telling.

This new directive along with the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and The Insurrection Act of 2006 set the stage for a dictatorial takeover if any emergency arises, from a “terror attack” to a sunk aircraft carrier to a hurricane.

But don’t take my word for it. Read the information for yourself.

Bush Anoints Himself as the Insurer of Constitutional Government in Emergency

New presidential directive gives Bush dictatorial power

Race, Tribalism and Basketball

Originally posted by Nadir on LastChocolateCity.com

In an article for the online magazine, Slate, former NBA player, Paul Shirley, currently in the Spanish pro league, recounts the lonliness of the white American basketball player.

Though he makes a great living playing ball in “€œthe second-best basketball league in the world”€, Shirley complains about the racism that he has encountered in the NBA. He believed other players didn’€™t respect his game specifically because he was white.

Of course, Shirley is not best known for his basketball skills. According to his listing in Wikipedia, Shirley’s biggest claim to fame was the online diary he kept as the Phoenix Suns’ twelfth man on their 2004-2005 playoff run, and the blog he writes for ESPN.com. He was cut at the end of that season, and failed to make the Minnesota Timberwolves roster at the beginning of this season. Ironically, Shirley mentioned the $10 million, 5-year contract of white Timberwolf Mark Madsen as the reason he was released.

Paul Shirley offers an interesting perspective on what life is like as a racial minority. White Americans currently make up only 6 percent of NBA players (75 percent are African-Americans and 19 percent are foreigners). Though the winners of the last three MVP titles are of European descent, they aren’t white Americans (two-time winner Steve Nash is Canadian and this year’€™s MVP, Dirk Nowitski, is German). According to Shirley, this is a problem for white American men who aren’t believed to be as talented as Black and foreign players. Continue reading

Relax! Work Less and Save the World!

Originally posted by Nadir at LastChocolateCity.com

This is a cause we can ALL get behind!

From Alternet.org

“We now seem more determined than ever to work harder and produce more stuff, which creates a bizarre paradox: We are proudly breaking our backs to decrease the carrying capacity of the planet,”€ says Conrad Schmidt, an internationally known social activist and founder of the Work Less Party, a Vancouver-based initiative aimed at moving to a 32-hour work week -€” a radical departure from the in early, out late cycle we’ve grown accustomed to. “Choosing to work less is the biggest environmental issue no one’s talking about.”

Americans work more hours than anyone else in the industrialized world. According to the United Nations’ International Labor Organization, we work 250 hours, or five weeks, more than the Brits, and a whopping 500 hours, or 12 and a half weeks, more than the Germans. So how does ecological damage figure in to the 40-plus workweek?

Do the math: Longer hours plus labor-saving technology equals ever-increasing productivity. Without high annual growth to match productivity, there’€™s unemployment. Maintaining growth means using more energy and resources, both in manpower and raw materials, which results in increased waste and pollution.

So chill out. Stop working so hard. Live a little. Life is too short. Your grandchildren will thank you, and you’ll thank yourself.

Alternet.org: Why Working Less is Better for the Globe

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© Nadir Omowale