What Ever Happened To...

Brand Nubian?

CNN.com - South Africa plans to change capital's name - May 26, 2005

Sweet

Young Bolivians Adopt Urban U.S. Pose, Hip-Hop and All - New York Times

Paz a todos mis hermanos latinoamericanos.

Blacks urged to form independent political movement

Let's do this

What Ever Happened To...

Apache?

(couldn't find a link)

What Ever Happened To...

Craig Mack?

What Ever Happened To...

Special Ed?

Common's Album Dropped Yesterday

...in case you didn't know.

Dean: Blacks Annoyed by Party's Outreach - Yahoo! News

"African-Americans are annoyed with the Democratic Party because we ask them for their votes four weeks before the election instead of being in the community now and that's a mistake I'm trying to fix," he said. "There's a new generation of African-American leaders and a new generation of African-Americans. We can't go out and say could you vote for us because we were so helpful during the civil rights era."

Hmm...I wonder if Howard Dean is reading these post?

His words sound alot like what I said in a recent post titled "Meet the Press"

Could it be that the Democratic National Committee Chairman has Joined the Cipher?

Hey Howard, if you're out there, drop me a note!

:-)

What Ever Happened To...

Lords of the Underground?

Gangsta

"Senator, in everything I said about Iraq, I turned out to be right and you turned out to be wrong and 100,000 people paid with their lives; 1600 of them American soldiers sent to their deaths on a pack of lies; 15,000 of them wounded, many of them disabled forever on a pack of lies..."

-British MP George Galloway in a statement to United States Senate 17 May 2005

What Ever Happened To...

Fu-Schnickens?

Senators Avoid Battle Over Filibusters - Yahoo! News

Aahh, a deal was reached last night. I watched the announcements and some of the Senate speeches from before and after the deal was announced.

It's great that the Senate has come to a deal and has decided not to spiral downward into an abyss that threatens democracy.

Meet the Press

On "Meet the Press" yesterday Tim Russert showed some statistics to Howard Dean about his core followers- most of whom are apprarently white, liberal, affluent, and do not outwardly express their religious views. While Dean made a good point that the data was flawed since it only looked at those on the internet, Russert raises some issues that have been present since the presidential election- that Dean doesn't have a wealth of grassroots support outside of the affluent white liberal community.

It is undeniable that Dean- despite his own noble intentions- doesn't have a lot of weight outside of the white liberal community.

What happened to his statements about white people talking to white people about race?

I understand he has to play politics as party chairman, but if the Democratic Party is going to be pulled back from the brink of extinction, it's not going to be done by affluent white liberals.

Demographics supports this notion- the United States is becoming less white, and the GOP already has the "scared white man" vote locked up. The Democratic Party right now is like a chain-smoker who doesn't understand why his/her lungs hurt, or a couch potato who doesn't understand why s/he isn't losing weight.

The more I think about it, the more I recognize the need for independent Black politics. Not an independent Black political party- that would be putting all the eggs in one basket. We must have a multi-party approach to singular agenda- Democrats, Republicans, Greens, Libertarians, whoever.

The Democratic Party betta get right or get left.

What Ever Happened To....

Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock?

Confessions

Honesty is the best policy, and I gotta be honest with ya'll.

I think the Democrats should vote on the judges instead of attempting to use a filibuster.

At first I was all about filibuster because even though the Republicans have a majority, the Democrats still represent Americans too, and they have to stand up for the people that put them in office.

But then I started thinking that this whole government shut down thing if the nuclear option goes through can make Democrats look like spoiled children. The Republicans won the majority of Senate seats, they have the power in the Senate- this is the reality which must be faced.

I know I'm the odd man out on this one, but the Democrats lost elections, that's why things are the way they are. Democrats have no one to blame but Democrats.

Republicans have been giving it to the Democrats for just over 10 years now, and it's too little, too late.

Now I don't want Bush's nominees making it to benches and think the GOP power grab is evil and dangerous. But as this point, it would be better to come up with a compromise, claim victory, and get ready for the 2006 elections.

Seriously, 2006 better be on the brain like white on rice. If Democrats try to shut down legislative activity it'll just make Democrats look bad which isn't good for...2006. See what I mean?

Democrats need to work on rebuilding the party and re-introducing themselves to the American people.




Oh and yeah, I do think the GOP power grab is evil, because when people concentrate on their own power that much- global domination even- they're leaving God out of the equation.

Are we the City on the Hill or the Golden Calf?

Just because you say you serve God doesn't mean you actually do.

World Bank: Poor Nations' Aid $20B Short - Yahoo! News

STOP

BEING

GREEDY!!!

PROOF

Have ya'll heard about the British memo uncovered a couple of weeks ago which talks about the U.S. and British plan to invade Iraq...from July 2002?

What more do you want? Is this not the smoking gun?

Let us not forget that NO weapons of mass destruction were found.

NONE.

I cannot believe how heavily the American public sleeps. This is really incredible. This is like Star Wars, for real. The republic becomes an empire. Stop this madness, please!

This isn't about liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican. This is about truth and justice. The blood of innocents has been shed. And for what?

For what?

This story has gotten so little attention in the American press, even though Representative John Conyers has tried to draw attention to the memo.

Even conservative Paul Craig Roberts is calling for Bush's impeachment.

Drop It Like It's Hot

Common's new album BE hits stores tomorrow. Of course plenty of it has been leaked on the internet for some time now.

If you didn't know it already, the album is hot. HOT!! I plan to give a full review later on, but for right now I'll just say that Common is bringing hip hop back to the gritty, street-griot style of its roots. Of course Kanye West's production just makes it all that much the more hotter.

Common was on Jay Leno last week or something like that, performing "Corners," one of the tracks from the new album. Yeah, that's the joint with the Last Poets (I told you the album is hot!).

Common's performance was tight, except I would have liked for him to stop jumping around the stage and bending over so much.

Nuclear Option?

Do you know what it means if Bill Frist get his "Nuclear Option?"

In case you don't, let me explain:

The President appoints federal judges and Supreme Court Justices- for life. Once you're a judge you're a judge.

BUT, the President's pick has to be confirmed by the Senate.

Right now, the Senate is dominated by the Republican Party, so pretty much anyone who the President nominates would be confirmed.

To counteract this, the Democrats use the filibuster to prevent a few- 4%- of the judges the President nominated from coming to a vote.

A filibuster is in action when a member of the Senate keep talking and talking and talking and talking in order to prevent a vote from taking place- in this case, a vote on those 4% of Bush nominees.

Well, this has some of the Republicans- namely Bill Frist- pretty upset. Notice I say some, because not all of the Republicans roll the same on this issue (some are working hard with Democrats to find a solution, a compromise).

So Bill Frist announced the "nuclear option," in which he will ask to end debate on the grounds that it is holding everything up and call for a vote to end debate. Dick Cheney, as President of the Senate (the Vice-President of the United States serves as the President of the Senate), will grant the request. The Republicans, using their majority, will vote to end debate, thus effectively extinguishing the filibuster.

No filibuster, no obstacle to the remaining 4% of Bush's nominees coming to a vote before the Senate in which Republicans hold 55 of the 100 seats.

NOTE: I'm not an expert on Senate rules, so I may be slightly off with my explanation- but just click the links for more info

Some Nerve

I cannot believe that Sen. George Allen of Virginia had the GALL to stand there during Senate debates and compare the Democrats use of the filibuster to throwing away the judicial nominees like crumpled pieces of paper.

I cannot believe he had the AUDACITY to say we shouldn't treat the jugdes like that because they're human beings.

What about the civilian death toll from the invasion and occupation of Iraq?

What about the millions of working poor right here in the United States?

What about the millions of people- men, women, and children- without healthcare?

Are THEY not human beings?

THIS is why you gotta watch C-SPAN. He said it right there on national televsion.

Muslims dispute Zarqawi over killing innocents - Yahoo! News

Finally some sensible reporting.

Rent or Own?

Hip hop today is really missing a full spectrum. So much of it today is phoney garbage with an emphasis on getting a fat check as opposed to "keepin' it real."

The title of 50 Cent's album, Get Rich or Die Tryin', exemplifies this notion.

But it's funny though, because people think getting a huge record contract means that they run stuff. I'd love to have a fat check myself, but we have to understand that if you're getting a check from someone else, you're still dependent on them. What happens when the checks stop coming in?

You're still dependent on someone else. It's basically like renting yourself. You don't own your own image- you just rent it while someone else markets and sells it and they give you a cut. Tomorrow if you fall off MTV it'll be a whole different story.

What if P. Diddy, S. Carter, Master P. and Dr. Dre formed a distribution company- at least just for domestic sales.

That would be hot.

Maybe we just haven't gotten there yet- but I believe we will. I know that, as a people, we haven't had the best experience over here- but with all the things we have gone through over the centuries the fact that we're still surviving makes me grateful to God and proud to be Black.

Report: Chappelle in Psych Facility - Yahoo! News

May the Peace and Blessings of God be upon Dave Chappelle. Amin

Small Elementary Class Size Boosts High School Grad Rates - Yahoo! News

Are you paying attention yet?

GOP Courting Steele to Run for Maryland Senate

It's really astounding how the GOP is doing a much better job than the Dems at reaching out to people of color. To their credit, they are promoting candidates of color and speaking to issues that resonate with voters of color (school choice, institution of marriage, religion).

Meanwhile, the so-called "left" is still trying to figure out which way to get to the dance. A prime example of this is Air America Radio: based in NYC, Air America took over Afro-centric WLIB but the only well-known Black host they have is Chuck D. I believe there is one other Black host and I think the rest of the hosts are White. No strong African American/African perspective; no strong Latino perspective; no strong Asian American/Asian perspective.

If so-called "liberals" keep chugging without staying connected to the tried-and-true supporters of the Democratic party (African Americans and other ethnic minorities), they may find themselves left behind.

N.H. May Charge Poorest for Medicaid - Yahoo! News

Disgustingly unjust

Reid Offers Olive Branch on Bush Nominee - Yahoo! News

Hmmm...let's see what effect, if any, this has.

Brothers face Belgian trial over Rwandan genocide - Yahoo! News

Rwanda, Rwanda

Study: Africa Worst Place for Moms, Kids - Yahoo! News

How you gonna write a headline that says Africa is the worst place for moms and kids?

This is the miseducation stuff I was talking about.

How about a headline on the wealth that's been streaming out of the African continent for centuries?

Where do you think all that bling bling and ice comes from?

How about some focus on how DeBeers controlls 40% of the global diamond industry. You know who started DeBeers? Cecil Rhodes

Do you know who Cecil Rhodes is? White supremacy and British imperialism in human form. He was a prime figure in European conquest and plundering of the African contient. Part of his conquested areas were known as Northern and Southern Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Oh yeah, he also founded the Rhodes Scholarship.