N. Africans Joining Iraq Islamic Fighters
By TODD PITMAN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 28 minutes ago
DAKAR, Senegal - Up to 20 percent of suicide car bombers in
Iraq are from Algeria, a sign of growing cooperation between Islamic extremists in northern Africa and like-minded Iraqis, a senior U.S. military official said Tuesday.
The American officer said terror cells in the Middle East and northern Africa were increasingly joining forces as they face crackdowns in their own countries, leading to a stepped-up flow of money and Islamic extremists to Iraq.
Forensic investigations have revealed that 20 percent of suicide car bombers in Iraq are Algerian and roughly 5 percent come from Morocco and Tunisia, according to the officer with responsibilities in Europe and Africa. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity, preferring for reasons of protocol to let U.S. commanders in Iraq speak on the record.
The majority of foreign bombers in Iraq are believed to come from countries in the Persian Gulf, mainly Saudi Arabia and Yemen, U.S. officials say.
The officer said the numbers had increased, but gave no specific figures. He said increasing efforts on the part of Algerian, Moroccan and Libyan security services to combat local terror cells have resulted in extremists joining international operations. But he warned they would later return home.
The United States has reacted by funneling more money and troops into north and northwest Africa to train and equip armies to combat the growing threat from local terror and insurgent groups like Algeria's Salafist Group for Call and Combat, which is believed to have links with
Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States.
The Algerian group was accused of involvement in kidnapping 32 European tourists in the Sahara in 2003 and launching a raid into Mauritania this month that left 24 people dead.
Last week, U.S. troops from the European Command — which overseas U.S military interests in Europe and most of Africa — kicked off a two-week counterterrorism training exercise called Flintlock involving forces from Algeria, Chad, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Nigeria, Tunisia and Morocco.
The officer said north African Islamic militant groups were providing some cash to the insurgency in Iraq — about $200,000 so far, mostly funneled through Europe to Syria and into Iraq.
Underground European networks were providing more cash, while African networks were providing manpower — mostly unskilled militants used to drive and then detonate car bombs that have killed thousands.
Once in the country, extremists join up with the al-Qaida-linked network of Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Islamic militants are traveling through Turkey, into
Iran and crossing into Iraq — many times through unpoliced areas along Iraq's vast border.
A handful of Islamic fighters were believed to be returning to their home countries as well — people who can plan, work communications devices and design and set off explosives, the officer said.
America's military involvement in Africa is largely aimed at preventing terrorists from establishing sanctuaries in the region's unpoliced deserts and jungles, particularly those where Muslims are a majority.
Many local insurgent or terror groups are self-funded, he said, financing themselves via petty crime and smuggling operations. The Sahara desert's remote trade routes have long been believed a haven for human and drug traffickers.
The officer said there were no known permanent training camps in Africa. Instead, terror networks are now looking for "training opportunities" like the 1990s war zones in Bosnia,
Chechnya and Afghanistan, and Iraq today.
U.S. military involvement in Africa will soon be the largest it has been in decades, at least financially.
EUCOM pushed to expand an initial $6 million program that covered Chad, Mauritania, Niger and Mali to Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal. Now called the Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Initiative, it is to be funded with $100 million a year for five years.
Beasties win in court....
" A Los Angeles U.S. Court of Appeals judge has determined that the Beastie Boys won't have to pass the wallet to composer James Newton, who sued the band in 2000 for looping his flute recording "Choir" in the 1992 song "Pass the Mic." Last year, the Beasties won the original case when a California court determined that the group paid ECM Records sufficiently to sample Newton's six-second, three-note sequence, and was therefore not guilty of copyright infringement. The appeals judge upheld the decision. ..."
MTV NEWS
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Beastie Boys are a group from the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan.
The Beastie Boys have had unusually long lived international critical acclaim and commercial success. They are one of the longest-lived hip-hop acts, whose rock-and-punk-influenced rap has had a significant impact on artists in and outside of the hip hop community. Their recordings and live performances often include MCing, funk, jazz and rock.
The three main members of the Beastie Boys are of Jewish heritage. They are well known for their rapidly changing and often experimental musical style (which is generally considered risky in popular music), jocular and flippant attitude toward interviews and interviewers, obscure cultural references and kitschy lyrics, and performing in highly unique matching suits.
The Beastie Boys' success has made them the highest selling hip hop group and the fourth highest selling hip hop artists behind Tupac Shakur, Eminem, and Jay-Z.
MTV NEWS
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Beastie Boys are a group from the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan.
The Beastie Boys have had unusually long lived international critical acclaim and commercial success. They are one of the longest-lived hip-hop acts, whose rock-and-punk-influenced rap has had a significant impact on artists in and outside of the hip hop community. Their recordings and live performances often include MCing, funk, jazz and rock.
The three main members of the Beastie Boys are of Jewish heritage. They are well known for their rapidly changing and often experimental musical style (which is generally considered risky in popular music), jocular and flippant attitude toward interviews and interviewers, obscure cultural references and kitschy lyrics, and performing in highly unique matching suits.
The Beastie Boys' success has made them the highest selling hip hop group and the fourth highest selling hip hop artists behind Tupac Shakur, Eminem, and Jay-Z.
Cats be lyin' to these young Iraqis to get them to do insane stuff in the name of Islam...Damn shame...
Iraqi Bombers Claim They Were Deceived
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHARA, Associated Press Writer Fri May 27, 4:47 PM ET
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Wisam Younis' sole ambition in life, he said Friday, is to kill Americans. So he claimed surprise when he discovered his car bomb had killed eight Iraqis and wounded more than 80 outside a Baghdad restaurant. Younis and brothers Badr and Yassin Shakir are charged with murder and face the death penalty in the May 23 attack.
"We did not know that the attack would target innocent people and we were deceived. We were eluded by enthusiastic ideas and money," said Younis, barefooted and with bruised and swollen hands. An insurgent leader promised him $1,500 for the bombing, he said.
"Our doctrine is to wage jihad against the Americans," Younis, wearing a stained beige traditional robe, told an Associated Press reporter as police stood over him. "Driving out the occupiers is the demand of all Iraqis... I wish to die in the battlefield instead of prison."
Baghdad police paraded out the three Sunni Arabs to help put a face to an deadly insurgency, and to show that Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari means business with a plan to encircle Baghdad with tens of thousands of security forces.
The display also was meant to reassure a public whose discontent with the Shiite-led government has been high because of its seeming inability to provide security and crush the insurgency.
Car bombings and other violence have led to more than 650 deaths since al-Jaafari's government was announced April 28, according to an Associated Press count.
A Marine was killed while taking part in a counterinsurgency operation in Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, the military said Friday. He died Thursday, making him the second Marine killed in Operation New Market, which involves more than 1,000 Marines, sailors and soldiers.
Two U.S. soldiers were killed Thursday when insurgents shot down their helicopter, the military said. U.S. officials were investigating the crash of the OH-58 Kiowa helicopter near Buhriz, a former Saddam Hussein stronghold north of Baghdad.
In other violence Friday, a policeman and a bystander were killed in an ambush in the northern city of Mosul, police Brig. Saeed Ahmed said.
A suicide car bomb attack on a police patrol instead killed two civilians Friday in Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad, police Lt. Khudhair Ali said. Six policemen were among 18 people wounded, Dr. Mohammed al-Zubaidi said.
In Baghdad, a factory guard was killed when four mortar rounds landed on the building, said police 1st Lt. Sadoun Abdul Ridha. Four other people were wounded.
Iraqi authorities are preparing for what a U.S. general described as "a very large operation" involving more than 40,000 Iraqi police and soldiers backed by American troops and air support.
Operation Lightning has received planning and logistical support from U.S. troops who are keen to train and equip Iraqi security forces so they can eventually take over security in the capital.
"This is a significant move by the Iraqi leadership. It is a transition from a defensive posture to an offensive posture. It is raising the profile of the Iraqi security forces in pursuit of attacking terrorism in Baghdad," said U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Don Alston, spokesman for the multinational force in Iraq.
It was unclear why Defense and Interior Ministers Bayan Jabr and Saadoun al-Duleimi chose to announce the operation before it fully got under way — making it known to the insurgents it was designed to capture.
An Internet statement posted Friday in the name of the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq terrorist group challenged authorities, saying the government crackdown will "not deter (them) from fighting for God."
The statement, which could not be authenticated, apparently refers to Jabr and al-Duleimi as the "two unbeliever apostates, followers of the worshippers of the cross, (who) have announced they are deploying 40,000 cowards and apostates in Baghdad."
Operation Lightning aims to single out attackers such as the three men who police said confessed to bombing the Habayibna restaurant in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood. The bomb exploded at lunchtime when police officers usually gather at the restaurant.
"Since April 18, we have had more than 600 civilians killed, many of them specifically targeted.
Bombs are going off near elementary schools. This is wanton. They have declared war on the civilian population of Iraq," Alston said of the insurgents.
The violence, mostly targeting Iraqi security forces and Shiites, also has led to an increase in sectarian tensions. Sunni Muslims who dominated under Saddam's regime are thought to make up the core of the insurgency.
"We are displaying these criminals to show to the Iraqi people that we are working to achieve security and we are in the street determined to defeat the terrorists," said Brig. Sadiq Jaffar, head of the elite Hussein Brigade.
Younis and the brothers, both in their mid 30s, were arrested late Wednesday by Hussein Brigade forces, police said.
Police allege Badr Shakir was responsible for detonating the remote-controlled bomb while his brother was the link between his cell and the main planner, a man known as Abu Karam.
Younis, the alleged designated getaway driver, was the first to be detained, and singled out the others, police said.
____
Associated Press writers Paul Garwood and Patrick Quinn in Baghdad contributed to this report.
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHARA, Associated Press Writer Fri May 27, 4:47 PM ET
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Wisam Younis' sole ambition in life, he said Friday, is to kill Americans. So he claimed surprise when he discovered his car bomb had killed eight Iraqis and wounded more than 80 outside a Baghdad restaurant. Younis and brothers Badr and Yassin Shakir are charged with murder and face the death penalty in the May 23 attack.
"We did not know that the attack would target innocent people and we were deceived. We were eluded by enthusiastic ideas and money," said Younis, barefooted and with bruised and swollen hands. An insurgent leader promised him $1,500 for the bombing, he said.
"Our doctrine is to wage jihad against the Americans," Younis, wearing a stained beige traditional robe, told an Associated Press reporter as police stood over him. "Driving out the occupiers is the demand of all Iraqis... I wish to die in the battlefield instead of prison."
Baghdad police paraded out the three Sunni Arabs to help put a face to an deadly insurgency, and to show that Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari means business with a plan to encircle Baghdad with tens of thousands of security forces.
The display also was meant to reassure a public whose discontent with the Shiite-led government has been high because of its seeming inability to provide security and crush the insurgency.
Car bombings and other violence have led to more than 650 deaths since al-Jaafari's government was announced April 28, according to an Associated Press count.
A Marine was killed while taking part in a counterinsurgency operation in Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, the military said Friday. He died Thursday, making him the second Marine killed in Operation New Market, which involves more than 1,000 Marines, sailors and soldiers.
Two U.S. soldiers were killed Thursday when insurgents shot down their helicopter, the military said. U.S. officials were investigating the crash of the OH-58 Kiowa helicopter near Buhriz, a former Saddam Hussein stronghold north of Baghdad.
In other violence Friday, a policeman and a bystander were killed in an ambush in the northern city of Mosul, police Brig. Saeed Ahmed said.
A suicide car bomb attack on a police patrol instead killed two civilians Friday in Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad, police Lt. Khudhair Ali said. Six policemen were among 18 people wounded, Dr. Mohammed al-Zubaidi said.
In Baghdad, a factory guard was killed when four mortar rounds landed on the building, said police 1st Lt. Sadoun Abdul Ridha. Four other people were wounded.
Iraqi authorities are preparing for what a U.S. general described as "a very large operation" involving more than 40,000 Iraqi police and soldiers backed by American troops and air support.
Operation Lightning has received planning and logistical support from U.S. troops who are keen to train and equip Iraqi security forces so they can eventually take over security in the capital.
"This is a significant move by the Iraqi leadership. It is a transition from a defensive posture to an offensive posture. It is raising the profile of the Iraqi security forces in pursuit of attacking terrorism in Baghdad," said U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Don Alston, spokesman for the multinational force in Iraq.
It was unclear why Defense and Interior Ministers Bayan Jabr and Saadoun al-Duleimi chose to announce the operation before it fully got under way — making it known to the insurgents it was designed to capture.
An Internet statement posted Friday in the name of the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq terrorist group challenged authorities, saying the government crackdown will "not deter (them) from fighting for God."
The statement, which could not be authenticated, apparently refers to Jabr and al-Duleimi as the "two unbeliever apostates, followers of the worshippers of the cross, (who) have announced they are deploying 40,000 cowards and apostates in Baghdad."
Operation Lightning aims to single out attackers such as the three men who police said confessed to bombing the Habayibna restaurant in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood. The bomb exploded at lunchtime when police officers usually gather at the restaurant.
"Since April 18, we have had more than 600 civilians killed, many of them specifically targeted.
Bombs are going off near elementary schools. This is wanton. They have declared war on the civilian population of Iraq," Alston said of the insurgents.
The violence, mostly targeting Iraqi security forces and Shiites, also has led to an increase in sectarian tensions. Sunni Muslims who dominated under Saddam's regime are thought to make up the core of the insurgency.
"We are displaying these criminals to show to the Iraqi people that we are working to achieve security and we are in the street determined to defeat the terrorists," said Brig. Sadiq Jaffar, head of the elite Hussein Brigade.
Younis and the brothers, both in their mid 30s, were arrested late Wednesday by Hussein Brigade forces, police said.
Police allege Badr Shakir was responsible for detonating the remote-controlled bomb while his brother was the link between his cell and the main planner, a man known as Abu Karam.
Younis, the alleged designated getaway driver, was the first to be detained, and singled out the others, police said.
____
Associated Press writers Paul Garwood and Patrick Quinn in Baghdad contributed to this report.
I'm on a serious peace vibe today. It's all about this black apricot tea with raw honey, grilled fish and yoga...
Not to mention a little chess. I have been overwhelmed by my own thoughts. The stress of finishing Volume 2 of my book. I have not been training at a jiu jtisu academy lately. Chess it overtaking the passion that was/is still jiu jitz.
My mind have been so unfocused....Add to that allergies knocking' me out the box and it all adds up to one sad soldier.
So, I'm gonna chill with ym daughter today. Go grab the new season 2 Samurai Jack DVD and marinte with my family tonight.
Right before I take on a big project, I get into freeze mode...
It's not about writers block...
It's fear...
Can I really write?
Will people like Vol. 2 like the did Vol. 1?
The mind ties itself up in a knot of doubt, hesitation and fear of the unknown...
I got sick last night...
That was weak...
I gotta go to the post office....
I gotta get centered though...
I can't keep this up...
We writers are so moody...
PRT, was in town- I missed it...
Sway and Tech had HELLA fools in town, Chino XL, Rhymefest, Talib- missed it...
So, I need a pick me up...
Time to get my prayer on...
I think some yoga some tea, and some grilled fish and some Samurai Jack is just what the Dr. ordered....
It's time to go within....
- Holla at a sick scholar
My mind have been so unfocused....Add to that allergies knocking' me out the box and it all adds up to one sad soldier.
So, I'm gonna chill with ym daughter today. Go grab the new season 2 Samurai Jack DVD and marinte with my family tonight.
Right before I take on a big project, I get into freeze mode...
It's not about writers block...
It's fear...
Can I really write?
Will people like Vol. 2 like the did Vol. 1?
The mind ties itself up in a knot of doubt, hesitation and fear of the unknown...
I got sick last night...
That was weak...
I gotta go to the post office....
I gotta get centered though...
I can't keep this up...
We writers are so moody...
PRT, was in town- I missed it...
Sway and Tech had HELLA fools in town, Chino XL, Rhymefest, Talib- missed it...
So, I need a pick me up...
Time to get my prayer on...
I think some yoga some tea, and some grilled fish and some Samurai Jack is just what the Dr. ordered....
It's time to go within....
- Holla at a sick scholar
Yeah dude, I dunno if you heard but uuuuh, THE WAR IS OVER!!!!!
Japan Says WWII Soldiers in Philippines
By TERESA CEROJANO, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 19 minutes ago
MANILA, Philippines - Japanese diplomats investigated claims Friday that two former Japanese soldiers have been hiding in the mountains of the southern Philippines since World War II.
The health ministry, in charge of repatriating Japanese overseas, said it was sending an official to the southern Philippine city of General Santos on Saturday to join Japanese embassy officials attempting to reach the pair.
The diplomats failed in their attempt Friday to arrange a meeting with the two men, officials said, and were left waiting in a hotel in the port city 600 miles south of Manila. They were scheduling another meeting Saturday through a Japanese mediator who had contacted the mission.
"We are doing our best to contact the mediator. ... We will just continue to wait. We hope there will be new developments tonight or tomorrow," Japanese Consul Seiichi Ogawa said.
Yu Kameoka, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's spokesman, said in Tokyo the two men apparently were reluctant to meet with officials because of the large number of people, including reporters, waiting to see them.
"According to a man who is mediating, the two men are rather worried about meeting with so many people gathered in General Santos, including those from the media," he said, adding no time has been set for a meeting.
Media reports in Japan said the two octogenarians lived on the southern island of Mindanao and used equipment suggesting they were former soldiers, with one report saying they were separated from their division and later wanted to return to Japan but feared they would face a court-martial.
Koizumi said in Tokyo he hoped the mystery would be cleared up soon. "We are checking it now," he told reporters. "It is a surprise if it's true, but we have to check first."
Goichi Ichikawa, the chairman of a veterans group in Japan, said he first alerted the Tokyo government of reports about the men in February, asking that they be rescued as soon as possible.
Ichikawa said he learned of at least three Japanese men living in the mountains of Mindanao from someone who went there late last year.
"It's amazing they were able to survive for 60 years," Ichikawa told reporters in the Japanese city of Osaka. "Of course I was stunned."
In September, a Japanese national in the lumber business ran into the men in the mountains, the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun reported. It was learned later that they wanted to go back to Japan but were afraid of facing a court-martial for withdrawing from action, the newspaper said.
Another source told the paper there may be more than 40 other Japanese soldiers living in the mountains, and they all want to return to Japan, the Sankei said.
Japan's Kyodo News agency said the two may be Yoshio Yamakawa, 87, and Tsuzuki Nakauchi, 83. But the health ministry declined to confirm the report, saying they could not disclose any information until officials have identified them.
Embassy officials "want to meet directly with those two persons to find out if they are really Japanese soldiers, (and to find out details) beginning with their names and age," official Masaru Watanabe said.
By TERESA CEROJANO, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 19 minutes ago
MANILA, Philippines - Japanese diplomats investigated claims Friday that two former Japanese soldiers have been hiding in the mountains of the southern Philippines since World War II.
The health ministry, in charge of repatriating Japanese overseas, said it was sending an official to the southern Philippine city of General Santos on Saturday to join Japanese embassy officials attempting to reach the pair.
The diplomats failed in their attempt Friday to arrange a meeting with the two men, officials said, and were left waiting in a hotel in the port city 600 miles south of Manila. They were scheduling another meeting Saturday through a Japanese mediator who had contacted the mission.
"We are doing our best to contact the mediator. ... We will just continue to wait. We hope there will be new developments tonight or tomorrow," Japanese Consul Seiichi Ogawa said.
Yu Kameoka, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's spokesman, said in Tokyo the two men apparently were reluctant to meet with officials because of the large number of people, including reporters, waiting to see them.
"According to a man who is mediating, the two men are rather worried about meeting with so many people gathered in General Santos, including those from the media," he said, adding no time has been set for a meeting.
Media reports in Japan said the two octogenarians lived on the southern island of Mindanao and used equipment suggesting they were former soldiers, with one report saying they were separated from their division and later wanted to return to Japan but feared they would face a court-martial.
Koizumi said in Tokyo he hoped the mystery would be cleared up soon. "We are checking it now," he told reporters. "It is a surprise if it's true, but we have to check first."
Goichi Ichikawa, the chairman of a veterans group in Japan, said he first alerted the Tokyo government of reports about the men in February, asking that they be rescued as soon as possible.
Ichikawa said he learned of at least three Japanese men living in the mountains of Mindanao from someone who went there late last year.
"It's amazing they were able to survive for 60 years," Ichikawa told reporters in the Japanese city of Osaka. "Of course I was stunned."
In September, a Japanese national in the lumber business ran into the men in the mountains, the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun reported. It was learned later that they wanted to go back to Japan but were afraid of facing a court-martial for withdrawing from action, the newspaper said.
Another source told the paper there may be more than 40 other Japanese soldiers living in the mountains, and they all want to return to Japan, the Sankei said.
Japan's Kyodo News agency said the two may be Yoshio Yamakawa, 87, and Tsuzuki Nakauchi, 83. But the health ministry declined to confirm the report, saying they could not disclose any information until officials have identified them.
Embassy officials "want to meet directly with those two persons to find out if they are really Japanese soldiers, (and to find out details) beginning with their names and age," official Masaru Watanabe said.
Let me tell you something...When God wants to knock you down, you gitz knocked the F!@# down- aiiight? but i aint mad at good architecture..
Engineers Design Tsunami-Resistant Homes
By MIKE KUNZELMAN, Associated Press Writer Fri May 27,10:34 AM ET
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Not long after the devastating December tsunami, a team of structural engineers from London visited Sri Lanka and noticed a trend as they surveyed destroyed homes: Walls facing the sea were leveled, while those perpendicular to it were standing.
That inspired a group of researchers from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology' Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University to design what they're calling a "tsunami-safe(r) house" that is less likely to collapse under wind and pounding surf.
Instead of having four solid walls, the tsunami-resistant houses have thick concrete-block corners and exterior walls made of bamboo. The houses, about 80 of which have already been built, are designed to be built on top of blocks of concrete or wood, one or two feet above the ground.
The design allows waves to wash through the bamboo walls while the concrete structure of the house remains standing, said Carlo Ratti, director of MIT's Senseable City Laboratory.
"Of course, you would have water in the house, and there is no way to avoid that, but the houses will be much more resilient," Ratti said.
Buro Happold, a London-based engineering firm, used computer models to show that the houses would be five times more resistant to a tsunami than Sri Lanka's traditional homes.
"When the wave comes through, the water flushes everything out, but the walls remain standing," said Domenico del Re, a structural engineer at Buro Happold.
The design is for a home measuring about 400 square feet that would cost roughly $1,200 to build. It was designed to be made from materials readily available in Sri Lanka.
By MIKE KUNZELMAN, Associated Press Writer Fri May 27,10:34 AM ET
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Not long after the devastating December tsunami, a team of structural engineers from London visited Sri Lanka and noticed a trend as they surveyed destroyed homes: Walls facing the sea were leveled, while those perpendicular to it were standing.
That inspired a group of researchers from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology' Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University to design what they're calling a "tsunami-safe(r) house" that is less likely to collapse under wind and pounding surf.
Instead of having four solid walls, the tsunami-resistant houses have thick concrete-block corners and exterior walls made of bamboo. The houses, about 80 of which have already been built, are designed to be built on top of blocks of concrete or wood, one or two feet above the ground.
The design allows waves to wash through the bamboo walls while the concrete structure of the house remains standing, said Carlo Ratti, director of MIT's Senseable City Laboratory.
"Of course, you would have water in the house, and there is no way to avoid that, but the houses will be much more resilient," Ratti said.
Buro Happold, a London-based engineering firm, used computer models to show that the houses would be five times more resistant to a tsunami than Sri Lanka's traditional homes.
"When the wave comes through, the water flushes everything out, but the walls remain standing," said Domenico del Re, a structural engineer at Buro Happold.
The design is for a home measuring about 400 square feet that would cost roughly $1,200 to build. It was designed to be made from materials readily available in Sri Lanka.
Dude makes some killer point.....*sigh* either that, or he's old....like me *sigh*
THE BARBERSHOP NOTEBOOKS: Why Hip-Hop Sucks, Part 1[27 May 2005]
by Marc Lamont Hill http://popmatters.com/columns/hill/050527.shtml
Hip-Hop sucks. There, I've said it. After years of ignoring my feelings and hoping that things would change with the next album, video, or artist, I have finally accepted the fact that hip-hop simply isn't good anymore. The swagger is gone. Hip-hop is still cool but it's no longer fly. It's still hot but it's no longer dope. Most important, hip-hop is no longer fun. I can't say for sure when it happened, but somewhere between Wu-Tang's grimy "Protect Ya Neck" and the Ying Yang Twins' disgusting "Whisper Song", hip-hop became boring and predictable.To be sure, my disaffection is likely a natural response to having recently suffered the indignity of turning to the local urban radio station and discovering that one of the songs that I listened to in high school had been relegated to the "old school lunch hour".
Consequently, like any newly made hip-hop "old head", I now invoke a degree of nostalgia in order to protect my most precious memories of the recent past from what Stuart Hall calls the "tyranny of the new". As such, I must hate a little on the new stuff in order to keep the old stuff fully relevant and valuable to me.Nevertheless, I maintain that we have reached a low point in hip-hop culture. But unlike most of my friends who have elected for early retirement from hip-hop fandom, I am not content to simply walk away in a self-righteous huff. Instead, I am willing to put my issues on the table in the small hope that things can turn around. After all, unlike Common, I still love H.E.R. I just can't find H.E.R.In this recurring series, I provide some of my explanations for hip-hop's decline. Moving beyond the more frequently discussed issues like wanton materialism, female objectification, or corporate co-optation, I point to some equally critical issues within hip-hop that have pushed me to this point.
Here goes:Where my girls at?Although hip-hop has always been a hyper-masculine boys club, quality female representation has dipped to an all-time low. No one has picked up the baton once carried by MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, or Salt n' Pepa and successfully run with it. Even the sex driven (and often ghostwritten) acts of Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown have been reproduced as uninteresting caricatures like Khia and Trina. While Missy Elliot's creativity and old school flavor keep the music fun, her lyrical abilities are drastically sub-par. Artists like Bahamadia and Jean Grae keep the underground alive with their top shelf skills, but their lack of selling power makes it difficult for them to start a movement. Our brightest hope was Lauryn Hill before (she became) Unplugged, when she ranked among the illest MCs on the planet, male or female. Word on the street is that she's on the road to personal and lyrical recovery. We'll keep our fingers crossed.
They don't freestyle no mo'Not so long ago, freestyling was a centerpiece of hip-hop culture. In order to be considered a complete MC, an individual had to be literally battle tested in the world of improvisational rhyming. Until the mid-'90s, the mixtape market, live shows, and local ciphers all served as fertile sites for freestyle raps from both seasoned veterans and hungry up-and-comers. Today, mixtape and live show "freestyles" are little more than album pre-releases and verses retrieved from the cutting room floor. Even worse, many underground and national rap venues (like BET's Freestyle Friday) privilege predictable one liners, insults, and clearly rehearsed verses over the raw, perfect imperfections of an authentic freestyle. There are exceptions, of course, like Toni Blackman's "Freestyle Union" movement, as well as rappers like Common who aren't scared to drop a verse from the dome in front of thousands. Nevertheless, the future of the freestyle is pretty grim.Manufactured rap warsLike the freestyle, MC battles have been the lifeblood of hip-hop culture since the '80s.
LL Cool J vs. Kool Moe Dee, Roxanne Shante vs. Real Roxanne, KRS One vs. MC Shan, and most recently Nas vs. Jay-Z, have all marked highpoints in hip-hop history. While there is certainly no shortage of battles in today's rap world, there has been a dramatic shift in the quality, authenticity, and motivations for the latest rap wars. Since the overwhelming commercial success of the Nas vs. Jay-Z feud, it seems that every new MC must find someone to beef with in order to make his or her mark and boost record sales.
Perhaps the most transparent example of this is 50 Cent, who managed to stir controversy with Nas, R. Kelly, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, and Game right around the time of his album release date. In addition to the WWF-esque feel of the battles, the lyrical quality of the latest feuds has waned considerably. Instead of engaging a spirited game of the dozens filled with personal and professional disses, most rappers use the songs as a space to make personal threats and air dirty laundry.
For this reason, it is no surprise that so many of today's beefs have extended beyond the songs and into the streets.The Superproducer While hip-hop has always had its share of elite producers, the last 10 years have given birth to a new breed of "superproducers". Beginning with the ever-present P. Diddy (née Puff Daddy), this group of overexposed hit men has moved from behind the boards and into the videos and songs of their artists. Superproducers like the Neptunes (particularly Pharrell) and Kanye West have become so large and appear so frequently on the songs they produce that they almost always overshadow their artists. Furthermore, superproducers have created sounds so distinctive and, as of late, predictable that the hip-hop Top-40 sounds like one big remix album.
For example, even Lil Jon' himself would have difficulty distinguishing between the beats for his 2004 mega-hits "Freek-a-leek" and "Yeah!" Another consequence of this sonic oligarchy has been the construction of barriers for many talented young producers to gain access to the big stage because of their lack of star power or failure to reproduce the sounds de jour. The only viable alternative for many is to serve as a ghost-producer for the giants of the day and patiently wait for a chance to get noticed. The only catch is that the role of ghostproducer requires them to constrain much of their own creativity in order to approximate the sounds of the super-producer. The rich get richer . . .To Be Continued.
***
Marc Lamont Hill is one of the youngest members of the growing body of "Hip-Hop Intellectuals" in the country. His work, which covers topics such as hip-hop culture, sexuality, education, and politics, has appeared in numerous journals, magazines, books, and anthologies. In 2005, he was named by Ebony Magazine as one of Black America's 30 future leaders. He is currently working on several book projects, including New Dilemmas of the Black Intellectual (with Gregory Seaton), Media, Learning, and Sites of Possibility (with Lalitha Vasudevan), and a book of African American cultural criticism. Marc Lamont Hill is an assistant professor of Urban Education and African American Studies at Temple University. Trained as an anthropologist of education, he holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
by Marc Lamont Hill http://popmatters.com/columns/hill/050527.shtml
Hip-Hop sucks. There, I've said it. After years of ignoring my feelings and hoping that things would change with the next album, video, or artist, I have finally accepted the fact that hip-hop simply isn't good anymore. The swagger is gone. Hip-hop is still cool but it's no longer fly. It's still hot but it's no longer dope. Most important, hip-hop is no longer fun. I can't say for sure when it happened, but somewhere between Wu-Tang's grimy "Protect Ya Neck" and the Ying Yang Twins' disgusting "Whisper Song", hip-hop became boring and predictable.To be sure, my disaffection is likely a natural response to having recently suffered the indignity of turning to the local urban radio station and discovering that one of the songs that I listened to in high school had been relegated to the "old school lunch hour".
Consequently, like any newly made hip-hop "old head", I now invoke a degree of nostalgia in order to protect my most precious memories of the recent past from what Stuart Hall calls the "tyranny of the new". As such, I must hate a little on the new stuff in order to keep the old stuff fully relevant and valuable to me.Nevertheless, I maintain that we have reached a low point in hip-hop culture. But unlike most of my friends who have elected for early retirement from hip-hop fandom, I am not content to simply walk away in a self-righteous huff. Instead, I am willing to put my issues on the table in the small hope that things can turn around. After all, unlike Common, I still love H.E.R. I just can't find H.E.R.In this recurring series, I provide some of my explanations for hip-hop's decline. Moving beyond the more frequently discussed issues like wanton materialism, female objectification, or corporate co-optation, I point to some equally critical issues within hip-hop that have pushed me to this point.
Here goes:Where my girls at?Although hip-hop has always been a hyper-masculine boys club, quality female representation has dipped to an all-time low. No one has picked up the baton once carried by MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, or Salt n' Pepa and successfully run with it. Even the sex driven (and often ghostwritten) acts of Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown have been reproduced as uninteresting caricatures like Khia and Trina. While Missy Elliot's creativity and old school flavor keep the music fun, her lyrical abilities are drastically sub-par. Artists like Bahamadia and Jean Grae keep the underground alive with their top shelf skills, but their lack of selling power makes it difficult for them to start a movement. Our brightest hope was Lauryn Hill before (she became) Unplugged, when she ranked among the illest MCs on the planet, male or female. Word on the street is that she's on the road to personal and lyrical recovery. We'll keep our fingers crossed.
They don't freestyle no mo'Not so long ago, freestyling was a centerpiece of hip-hop culture. In order to be considered a complete MC, an individual had to be literally battle tested in the world of improvisational rhyming. Until the mid-'90s, the mixtape market, live shows, and local ciphers all served as fertile sites for freestyle raps from both seasoned veterans and hungry up-and-comers. Today, mixtape and live show "freestyles" are little more than album pre-releases and verses retrieved from the cutting room floor. Even worse, many underground and national rap venues (like BET's Freestyle Friday) privilege predictable one liners, insults, and clearly rehearsed verses over the raw, perfect imperfections of an authentic freestyle. There are exceptions, of course, like Toni Blackman's "Freestyle Union" movement, as well as rappers like Common who aren't scared to drop a verse from the dome in front of thousands. Nevertheless, the future of the freestyle is pretty grim.Manufactured rap warsLike the freestyle, MC battles have been the lifeblood of hip-hop culture since the '80s.
LL Cool J vs. Kool Moe Dee, Roxanne Shante vs. Real Roxanne, KRS One vs. MC Shan, and most recently Nas vs. Jay-Z, have all marked highpoints in hip-hop history. While there is certainly no shortage of battles in today's rap world, there has been a dramatic shift in the quality, authenticity, and motivations for the latest rap wars. Since the overwhelming commercial success of the Nas vs. Jay-Z feud, it seems that every new MC must find someone to beef with in order to make his or her mark and boost record sales.
Perhaps the most transparent example of this is 50 Cent, who managed to stir controversy with Nas, R. Kelly, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, and Game right around the time of his album release date. In addition to the WWF-esque feel of the battles, the lyrical quality of the latest feuds has waned considerably. Instead of engaging a spirited game of the dozens filled with personal and professional disses, most rappers use the songs as a space to make personal threats and air dirty laundry.
For this reason, it is no surprise that so many of today's beefs have extended beyond the songs and into the streets.The Superproducer While hip-hop has always had its share of elite producers, the last 10 years have given birth to a new breed of "superproducers". Beginning with the ever-present P. Diddy (née Puff Daddy), this group of overexposed hit men has moved from behind the boards and into the videos and songs of their artists. Superproducers like the Neptunes (particularly Pharrell) and Kanye West have become so large and appear so frequently on the songs they produce that they almost always overshadow their artists. Furthermore, superproducers have created sounds so distinctive and, as of late, predictable that the hip-hop Top-40 sounds like one big remix album.
For example, even Lil Jon' himself would have difficulty distinguishing between the beats for his 2004 mega-hits "Freek-a-leek" and "Yeah!" Another consequence of this sonic oligarchy has been the construction of barriers for many talented young producers to gain access to the big stage because of their lack of star power or failure to reproduce the sounds de jour. The only viable alternative for many is to serve as a ghost-producer for the giants of the day and patiently wait for a chance to get noticed. The only catch is that the role of ghostproducer requires them to constrain much of their own creativity in order to approximate the sounds of the super-producer. The rich get richer . . .To Be Continued.
***
Marc Lamont Hill is one of the youngest members of the growing body of "Hip-Hop Intellectuals" in the country. His work, which covers topics such as hip-hop culture, sexuality, education, and politics, has appeared in numerous journals, magazines, books, and anthologies. In 2005, he was named by Ebony Magazine as one of Black America's 30 future leaders. He is currently working on several book projects, including New Dilemmas of the Black Intellectual (with Gregory Seaton), Media, Learning, and Sites of Possibility (with Lalitha Vasudevan), and a book of African American cultural criticism. Marc Lamont Hill is an assistant professor of Urban Education and African American Studies at Temple University. Trained as an anthropologist of education, he holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
VERY interesting report by the U.S. Army on Islam and warfare (take your time and read it all)
"U.S. forces, particularly those involved in psychological operations, need to be educated in aspects of Islamic history, law, and culture. As Islamic militants quote and violently interpret verses from the Quran and hadith, U.S. and allied forces should not plead ignorance, but achieve a higher level of familiarity with religious and other aspects of Muslim culture. U.S. and allied forces may better comprehend the specific dilemmas of our Muslim allies if they are familiar with the messages of jihadist and moderate Islam. Alternatively, they should consult experts who are well-versed in these matters."
"When the Prophet Muhammad finally realized his role as a Messenger of God, he taught and preached nonviolently for 14 years in the midst of a hostile Meccan population. He and his followers were subjected to hatred, persecution, and violence. Finally, the Prophet and his followers were invited to migrate to a new community, Yathrib, that would become the city of Medina. The people of Yathrib extended that invitation as they wanted the Prophet to adjudicate their disputes. The Muslims were not safe there, however, and fought their Meccan enemies until they defeated them, next expanding to threaten and then defeat the Sassanians and eastern provinces of the Roman empire. During this period, Islam's first principles of war developed."
-U.S. Army Report on Islamic Warfare
***
So interesting how WELL the government understands Islamic theology and philosophy...Yet, virtually every step they make in the Muslim word is flawed, or seemingly antagonistic....
***
"When the Prophet Muhammad finally realized his role as a Messenger of God, he taught and preached nonviolently for 14 years in the midst of a hostile Meccan population. He and his followers were subjected to hatred, persecution, and violence. Finally, the Prophet and his followers were invited to migrate to a new community, Yathrib, that would become the city of Medina. The people of Yathrib extended that invitation as they wanted the Prophet to adjudicate their disputes. The Muslims were not safe there, however, and fought their Meccan enemies until they defeated them, next expanding to threaten and then defeat the Sassanians and eastern provinces of the Roman empire. During this period, Islam's first principles of war developed."
-U.S. Army Report on Islamic Warfare
***
So interesting how WELL the government understands Islamic theology and philosophy...Yet, virtually every step they make in the Muslim word is flawed, or seemingly antagonistic....
***
DO YA THANG MOS, BRING IT TO 'EM TALIB KWELI!!! FREE ASSATA SHAKUR!!!
Rappers Mos Def, Talib Kweli and dead prez spoke in support of former Black Panther Assata Shukur at a press conference yesterday (May 25) at New York’s City Hall.
Charles Barron, councilman from Brooklyn's East New York called the meeting as a response to a million dollar bounty on the political fugitive, who now resides in Cuba.
Barron also introduced a resolution that seeks presidential clemency for Shakur, claiming that she the victim of “trumped-up charges and a kangaroo court with an all-white jury.”
Both Mos and Kweli stated that they feel Shakur was unjustly convicted for the murder of a police officer in 1973.
While maintaining her innocence, Shakur escaped prison in 1979, after claims of experiencing deplorable, inhumane treatment.
"It's time people know the truth about Assata Shakur, that she's innocent," Mos Def said.
During a recent concert by rapper Common, Mos Def altered the words to his song “Umi Says” and inserted lyrics like “I want Assata to be free/ Hands off Assata...remember Malcom....hands off Assata.”
Concurring, Talib Kweli said, "Meeting her made her human...her autobiography [“Assata: An Autobiography”] changed my life."
The rappers met Shakur when they visited Cuba with Black August, a yearly show dedicated to political prisoners.
With the million dollar bounty on her head, federal authorities have deemed Shakur "120 pounds of money” and labeled her a “domestic terrorist” on the same list as Bin Laden.
Barron, also a former Black Panther, stated that the bounty isn’t an attempt at justice, but suggestive of vengeance.
"I’m infuriated that a bounty has been put on her, placing her life in danger. She is a hero to our community," Barron said.
Barron’s resolution has already been blocked by Speaker Gifford Miller, who said the measure will never even get a hearing or vote, labeling Shakur a “convicted cop killer who broke out of prison and has fled the country.”
The Cuban government, led by Fidel Castro, has continued to grant Shakur asylum despite the bounty.
www.allhiphop.com
Charles Barron, councilman from Brooklyn's East New York called the meeting as a response to a million dollar bounty on the political fugitive, who now resides in Cuba.
Barron also introduced a resolution that seeks presidential clemency for Shakur, claiming that she the victim of “trumped-up charges and a kangaroo court with an all-white jury.”
Both Mos and Kweli stated that they feel Shakur was unjustly convicted for the murder of a police officer in 1973.
While maintaining her innocence, Shakur escaped prison in 1979, after claims of experiencing deplorable, inhumane treatment.
"It's time people know the truth about Assata Shakur, that she's innocent," Mos Def said.
During a recent concert by rapper Common, Mos Def altered the words to his song “Umi Says” and inserted lyrics like “I want Assata to be free/ Hands off Assata...remember Malcom....hands off Assata.”
Concurring, Talib Kweli said, "Meeting her made her human...her autobiography [“Assata: An Autobiography”] changed my life."
The rappers met Shakur when they visited Cuba with Black August, a yearly show dedicated to political prisoners.
With the million dollar bounty on her head, federal authorities have deemed Shakur "120 pounds of money” and labeled her a “domestic terrorist” on the same list as Bin Laden.
Barron, also a former Black Panther, stated that the bounty isn’t an attempt at justice, but suggestive of vengeance.
"I’m infuriated that a bounty has been put on her, placing her life in danger. She is a hero to our community," Barron said.
Barron’s resolution has already been blocked by Speaker Gifford Miller, who said the measure will never even get a hearing or vote, labeling Shakur a “convicted cop killer who broke out of prison and has fled the country.”
The Cuban government, led by Fidel Castro, has continued to grant Shakur asylum despite the bounty.
www.allhiphop.com
More Drama at GITMO and the desecration of Qu'rans...
Detainees in Cuba Make Quran Allegations
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer 32 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The conflicting accounts of how U.S. military guards handled Muslim prisoners' Qurans at Guantanamo Bay show two sides of a psychological war between the terror suspects and their holders.
Detainees have claimed guards used the holy books as a weapon to break their will to resist interrogation. The Pentagon asserts that some detainees fabricated their claims in a calculated effort to agitate the wider prison population and undermine the control of the U.S. military.
In the latest disclosure, declassified FBI reports showed that detainees at the U.S. naval prison in Cuba told FBI and military interrogators on a number of occasions as early as April 2002 — three months after the first prisoners arrived at the makeshift prison — that guards abused them and desecrated the Quran.
"Their behavior is bad," one detainee is quoted as saying of his guards during an interrogation by an FBI special agent on July 22, 2002. "About five months ago the guards beat the detainees. They flushed a Quran in the toilet."
Lawrence Di Rita, chief spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, said Wednesday that U.S. military officials at Guantanamo Bay had recently found a separate record of the same allegation by the same detainee, and he was re-interviewed on May 14. Di Rita said Thursday that the detainee recanted his earlier story.
Di Rita said U.S. commanders have documented a number of cases in which detainees tore pages out of a Quran, or ripped off the cover, and then blamed the guards. This was designed, he said, to stir outrage among other detainees and disrupt the order imposed by the guards.
The statements about guards disrespecting the Quran echo public allegations made many months later by some detainees and their lawyers after the prisoners' release from Guantanamo Bay. The FBI documents show a consistency to the allegations and are the first indication that Justice and Defense department officials were aware in early 2002 that detainees were accusing their guards of mistreating the Quran.
One told an interrogator in March 2003 that guards had repeatedly mishandled the Quran. The detainee asked why the United States, as a supporter of freedom of religion, was using the Muslim holy book as a weapon.
Still another said in October 2002 that he and other detainees had been "beaten, spit upon and treated worse than a dog."
Separately on Wednesday, Amnesty International urged the United States to shut down the prison, calling it "the gulag of our time." White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the human rights group's complaints were "unsupported by the facts" and allegations of mistreatment were being investigated.
Some 540 men are being held at Guantanamo Bay on suspicion of links to
Afghanistan's ousted Taliban government or the al-Qaida terror network. Some have been jailed for more than three years without charge.
Di Rita said the charges of deliberate Quran desecration by U.S. military personnel were "fantastic" and "not credible on their face" because U.S. commanders were careful not to inflame passions among the detainees.
"Commanders knew it was a very sensitive issue and they didn't need the trouble," the spokesman said. Di Rita said some detainees had been trained to make such false claims as a psychological tactic.
Indeed, the FBI records cite at least one instance in which a detainee is said to have falsely claimed that a guard had dropped a Quran. "In actuality the detainee dropped the Quran and then blamed the guard. Many other detainees reacted to this claim," the FBI document said, and that sparked an uprising "on or about 19-20 July 2002."
In an April 6, 2002, FBI interrogation, one of the detainees said guards had been "pushing them around and throwing their waste bucket at them in the cell, sometimes with waste still in the bucket, and kicking the Quran."
Another detainee stated he had been beaten unconscious at Guantanamo Bay in the spring of 2002, a period in which U.S. interrogators were pressing hard for intelligence information they believed some of the detainees held on the planning, structure and tactics of
Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network.
The newly released FBI records do not indicate whether the allegations were investigated or substantiated.
In response to a recent Newsweek story, later retracted, that U.S. officials had confirmed allegations of Quran desecration at Guantanamo Bay, Pentagon officials have said repeatedly that they have turned up no credible, substantiated claims that U.S. military guards had deliberately treated the Muslim holy book with disrespect.
Di Rita said the Pentagon had not seen the new FBI documents until they were made public Wednesday by the
American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU said it had received them in response to a federal court order that directed the FBI and other agencies to comply with the organization's request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Large portions of the interrogation summaries were blacked out by FBI censors before being released to the ACLU.
In January 2003, the military issued a three-page written guideline for handling a detainee's Quran, including a stipulation that it should be handled "as if it were a fragile piece of delicate art," and that it not be placed in "offensive areas such as the floor, near the toilet or sink, near the feet or dirty/wet areas."
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer 32 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The conflicting accounts of how U.S. military guards handled Muslim prisoners' Qurans at Guantanamo Bay show two sides of a psychological war between the terror suspects and their holders.
Detainees have claimed guards used the holy books as a weapon to break their will to resist interrogation. The Pentagon asserts that some detainees fabricated their claims in a calculated effort to agitate the wider prison population and undermine the control of the U.S. military.
In the latest disclosure, declassified FBI reports showed that detainees at the U.S. naval prison in Cuba told FBI and military interrogators on a number of occasions as early as April 2002 — three months after the first prisoners arrived at the makeshift prison — that guards abused them and desecrated the Quran.
"Their behavior is bad," one detainee is quoted as saying of his guards during an interrogation by an FBI special agent on July 22, 2002. "About five months ago the guards beat the detainees. They flushed a Quran in the toilet."
Lawrence Di Rita, chief spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, said Wednesday that U.S. military officials at Guantanamo Bay had recently found a separate record of the same allegation by the same detainee, and he was re-interviewed on May 14. Di Rita said Thursday that the detainee recanted his earlier story.
Di Rita said U.S. commanders have documented a number of cases in which detainees tore pages out of a Quran, or ripped off the cover, and then blamed the guards. This was designed, he said, to stir outrage among other detainees and disrupt the order imposed by the guards.
The statements about guards disrespecting the Quran echo public allegations made many months later by some detainees and their lawyers after the prisoners' release from Guantanamo Bay. The FBI documents show a consistency to the allegations and are the first indication that Justice and Defense department officials were aware in early 2002 that detainees were accusing their guards of mistreating the Quran.
One told an interrogator in March 2003 that guards had repeatedly mishandled the Quran. The detainee asked why the United States, as a supporter of freedom of religion, was using the Muslim holy book as a weapon.
Still another said in October 2002 that he and other detainees had been "beaten, spit upon and treated worse than a dog."
Separately on Wednesday, Amnesty International urged the United States to shut down the prison, calling it "the gulag of our time." White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the human rights group's complaints were "unsupported by the facts" and allegations of mistreatment were being investigated.
Some 540 men are being held at Guantanamo Bay on suspicion of links to
Afghanistan's ousted Taliban government or the al-Qaida terror network. Some have been jailed for more than three years without charge.
Di Rita said the charges of deliberate Quran desecration by U.S. military personnel were "fantastic" and "not credible on their face" because U.S. commanders were careful not to inflame passions among the detainees.
"Commanders knew it was a very sensitive issue and they didn't need the trouble," the spokesman said. Di Rita said some detainees had been trained to make such false claims as a psychological tactic.
Indeed, the FBI records cite at least one instance in which a detainee is said to have falsely claimed that a guard had dropped a Quran. "In actuality the detainee dropped the Quran and then blamed the guard. Many other detainees reacted to this claim," the FBI document said, and that sparked an uprising "on or about 19-20 July 2002."
In an April 6, 2002, FBI interrogation, one of the detainees said guards had been "pushing them around and throwing their waste bucket at them in the cell, sometimes with waste still in the bucket, and kicking the Quran."
Another detainee stated he had been beaten unconscious at Guantanamo Bay in the spring of 2002, a period in which U.S. interrogators were pressing hard for intelligence information they believed some of the detainees held on the planning, structure and tactics of
Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network.
The newly released FBI records do not indicate whether the allegations were investigated or substantiated.
In response to a recent Newsweek story, later retracted, that U.S. officials had confirmed allegations of Quran desecration at Guantanamo Bay, Pentagon officials have said repeatedly that they have turned up no credible, substantiated claims that U.S. military guards had deliberately treated the Muslim holy book with disrespect.
Di Rita said the Pentagon had not seen the new FBI documents until they were made public Wednesday by the
American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU said it had received them in response to a federal court order that directed the FBI and other agencies to comply with the organization's request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Large portions of the interrogation summaries were blacked out by FBI censors before being released to the ACLU.
In January 2003, the military issued a three-page written guideline for handling a detainee's Quran, including a stipulation that it should be handled "as if it were a fragile piece of delicate art," and that it not be placed in "offensive areas such as the floor, near the toilet or sink, near the feet or dirty/wet areas."
The wisdom of our children cannot be underestimated
The Purest Cynics are in Kindergarten
LiveScience StaffLiveScience.com Wed May 25, 6:03 PM ET
Kids in fact appear to be better at it than you.
The study involved 20 children each in kindergarten, second grade and fourth grade. They were told short stories in which the characters made statements that were in their best self-interest in competitive situations.
Outright lies were generally recognized by all the children. But when the statement could affect the outcome of a close contest, the second graders, compared to the younger children, exhibited more savvy in recognizing cases in which self-interest might also involve inaccurate claims.
"As adults, we recognize that a person's self-interests, such as their desire to win recognition or fit in with their peers, can influence what they say and believe about the world," said Candice Mills, a graduate student in the Department of Psychology who worked on the study. "Our research shows that children may be more gullible than adults, but the seeds of doubt are also present from an early age and develop dramatically in the elementary school years."
If the seeds of doubt are planted early, they also appear to flower pretty quickly.
In a separate test in the same study, the kindergartners were the most likely to think characters were lying, whereas the older children tended to attribute inaccurate statements to pure mistake.
"Most elementary school age children are in fact harsher judges of others than adults and older children," said study leader Frank Keil, a professor of psychology and linguistics. "It seems that, early on, it is much easier to see falsehoods as caused by deliberate malice than as caused unwittingly by desires."
Related Stories:
Children Beat Adults in Memory Contest
Scientists Say Everyone Can Read Minds
Study Finds Kids Can't Hit Slow Pitches
TV Turns Kids into Bullies
LiveScience StaffLiveScience.com Wed May 25, 6:03 PM ET
Kids in fact appear to be better at it than you.
The study involved 20 children each in kindergarten, second grade and fourth grade. They were told short stories in which the characters made statements that were in their best self-interest in competitive situations.
Outright lies were generally recognized by all the children. But when the statement could affect the outcome of a close contest, the second graders, compared to the younger children, exhibited more savvy in recognizing cases in which self-interest might also involve inaccurate claims.
"As adults, we recognize that a person's self-interests, such as their desire to win recognition or fit in with their peers, can influence what they say and believe about the world," said Candice Mills, a graduate student in the Department of Psychology who worked on the study. "Our research shows that children may be more gullible than adults, but the seeds of doubt are also present from an early age and develop dramatically in the elementary school years."
If the seeds of doubt are planted early, they also appear to flower pretty quickly.
In a separate test in the same study, the kindergartners were the most likely to think characters were lying, whereas the older children tended to attribute inaccurate statements to pure mistake.
"Most elementary school age children are in fact harsher judges of others than adults and older children," said study leader Frank Keil, a professor of psychology and linguistics. "It seems that, early on, it is much easier to see falsehoods as caused by deliberate malice than as caused unwittingly by desires."
Related Stories:
Children Beat Adults in Memory Contest
Scientists Say Everyone Can Read Minds
Study Finds Kids Can't Hit Slow Pitches
TV Turns Kids into Bullies
The NOI, Farrakhan and MM March and Other Tough Questions...a long rant...it's jumpy and yes, there are typos....it's all off the dome...
Louis Farrakhan. Just say his name and watch the tension in the room change...
Who is he? Depends on who you are. To some he is the Saviour of the Black man in AmeriKKKa (that's right,I used Cube's triple K- a lil pro-Black throwback).
To others, he is the unconvinced co-conspirator in the murder of Malcolm X aka Al-Hajj Malik Al-Shbazz. To others, he is a hater of White people and Jews. To others, he's a great violin player. To others, he's just crazy.
But no matter what you think of him, you can't think about America and race issues and not have this eloquent, intelligent, passionate man come to mind.
I learned of Farrakhan after listening to PE. I had seen him before and heard him before, but I did not put the voice with the face and make his connection to the NOI until "Nation of Millons".
In 1988 I was young, Black and gifted. I was also 18, and Black men were dying around me in droves. Racial tension was VERY high coast to coast.... Cops were killing brothers and beating them like it was in part of the job description ("serve protect and break a N!##@ neck"). This was the ear of NWA, PE, Do the Right Thing, Bernhard Getz, Yusuf Hawkins and all kinds of personal racial drama...
I felt very alone in terms of being understood- culturally and emotionally speaking. But the NOI and Louis Farrakahn spoke to me...They spoke volumes...I recently found an old tape I made in 1990 of my favorite Farrakhan clips....It's 45 minute long and came from about 10 different talks...He is probably one of the greatest Black speakers EVER....do you remember him on Donahue when he was on 2 days in a row?!?! I still have that on tape....AMAZING...You cannot fake that kind of courage and wisdom...He was spontaneously demolishing people with truth...He had the best mentor to help him be that way to, so, it's not a surprise.
I had friends joining the NOI all the time. Some of the best behaved, most polite, most sincere, most well spoken, well dressed and most respectful and courageous men I have ever known were in the NOI.
I saw them protecting Hip Hop shows. Making sure Black women were respected on the streets and calling things as they saw them. I personally know men who were crack dealers and REAL THUGS who changed their entire lives and became upstanding citizens because of the NOI. SEEN IT WITH MY OWN EYES...The teachings of Elijah Muhammad DID that. I can't deny it.
But I had one problem. I have always believed that the NOI killed Malcolm X. I have always believed that Louis Farrakhan had a hand in that murder.
Nevertheless, I went to go see Khalid Muhammad at the age of 19 at San Francisco State. You might remember him from being on PE's "Night of the Living Baseheads" as well as on Ice Cubes best album ever- "Death Certificate".
So, I go to see him, and he's good. Real good. Has the crowd on fire. But I hear him diss Malcolm. I got up and walked out. The NOI, as much as I respected them, was not fit to disrespect a man who died for Allah, in his pursuit of justice for the Black man of North AmeriKKKa.
Later Khalid would become so consumed with race that he's get himself kicked outta the NOI (imagine that) and eventually die of an anuerism (sp?). I personally felt his mind was so engrossed in Black vs. White he just keeled over.
Anyway, long story short, ok, the NOI was there for me in a major way in a way that the black church, and even African American Sunni Muslims were not able to.
But the Malcolm thing bothered me still.
Then, Betty Shabazz made peace with Farrakhan.
I never knew Malcolm. I was born AFTER he died.
In an interview with Barbara Walters he admitted that much of what he spoke at the time of Malcolm's death created and atmosphere that led to him being killed...He clearly was trying to atone...What he really knows is between him and Allah (SWT)...Still, it was the first time I saw him make any acknowledgments like that...
But Malcolm was like a second father to me between the ages of 19 and 25.
And Betty Shabazz was no sell out. She was his WIFE... If she could make peace with him, I had to let go of my grudge.
I can't quote any sources now, but I seem to remember him at the MMM or before it atoning for things he said against the Jews in past speeches and sid he wanted to reach out to rabbi's and create a more genuine peace with the Jewish people.
Since the MMM I don't remember seeing anything that he has said or done that can be seen as anti-semetic.
But then there is another problem. This one is theological.
I don't believe Elijah Muhammad was a Prophet or a Messenger. I Don't believe that Fard Muhammad was Allah in the flesh. I don't believe the White man is the devil (though I must admit I was unsure for a minute). If you wanna know how I could EVER consider it go read Ralph Ginzburgs 100 Years of Lynchings....I can give you a few books after that if you like....But I don't believe in the mad scientist Yacub and the grafting of White devils...I don't believe that the Black man is God....I don't believe in spaceships and mother crafts. ....Devils come in all colors...Some of them are in the Black community...Crack dealers, REAL pimps, murderers and car jackers...Thems is devils to...
I believe that there are enough accomplishments by real African Muslims (like the Moors of Al-Andalusia) and all across the West African region (for starters) that there is no need for Devil talk and spaceship myths. Timbuktu, is a great example of African Islamic wisdom...
I often wondered by the book "Message to the Black Man" was never printed in Arabic (at least to my knowledge).
After reading it, I understood. I have seen nothing in any Muslim Sunni text that remotely supports much of what is in that book as it related to Prophets...Espcially the extensive writing about Moses (going to Europe and sleeping in a circle of fire etc.)...
I have more theological issues but I don't wanna get too deep into that...Whatever they believe, they have the right to do it....Besides, if you weigh the number of White deaths at the hands of NOI members vs. BLACK deaths at the hand of WHITE CHRISTIANS in this country ALONE....the reality might shut down your brain if you could get an accurate number...As extreme as the theology can appear, very little violence can be attributed to the NOI....How they practice is between them and Allah (SWT)....The same goes for me...
So now he calls for another March...
I took that day off with my wife...Big shouts out to Monty (my old manager at food 4 less) for supporting me on that day....He was my manager, and even though some of the Whites at my job were belly aching (and a few buckdancin' uncle Tom Blacks to!!), he knew the event had good intentions and did not sweat giving me that day off...But I spent that day at home with my wife, and it was good...An amazing thing to behold.
I see the Black community in shambles...
I agree we need another March...
Truth is, no other Black leader could call it and get people there...
Then the ADL comes after Russell...
Now, real quick, I feel like the Jewish community in a large part has become very separated from the Black community since the civil rights era....I'm curious as to how that happened...
THEN, Russell fires back...
I think at the end of the day, if Farrakhan has said nothing that we can connect to Anti-Semitism since the firat MMM the Jews may want to let their demonization of him go...If he has, then we need to look at what was said and hold him accountable...
BUT, people can and do change. I have changed a lot....A LOT, and a lot of my changee, was rooted in forgiving....Forgiving others, forgiving myself, my friends...Holding onto to certain kinds of pain for too long can be bad...
As spiritual people, I like the think the Jews know this better than anyone else.
I don't support racial or spiritual hatered on any level- by anyone.
But I do think that people need to give people room to change, time to change.
I also think forgiveness is the key to the power of all religions...
It's the one thing God gives us, that we NEVER give one another...
When was the last time America was attacked, and TURNED THE OTHER CHEEK? What was the FIRST TIME?!?! Was there ANYTIME we have seen this nation use it's Christian ethics on a major scale that did not involve killing other people?!?!?
At some point, someone has to let go and agree to start anew...With themselves and others...
I was not at all happy with the lack of follow up by the NOI and Black America as a whole after the last march...I never saw an itemized statement about who collected how much money and a breakdown of how that money was SPENT...
Nobody, not ONE organization, no "leader" can do what Farrakhan is doing...
I don't agree with him theologically...
But I must say that no one has done more for young Black men than he has in the last 20-30 years....
American Jews cant claim that, the Black Church cant claim that, African American Sunni's cant claim that, Immigrant Muslims can't claim that...
I think it's all time we allowed one another to make mistakes, but forgive....I'm speaking to myself as well as anyone else here...
Personally connecting with God's compassion is the only way authentic peace will ever be made between Muslims, Jews, and the Black community in general...
We're all here in North America...We all won't agree on all that we see one another say or do...But without REAL compassion....Nothing will change....
Too much time, too many ego's, TOO LITTLE HONESTY and too many scarrs on the soul have left us untrusting of one another...
Lets make it real...whatever we are doing lets make it real....Or, don't bother....I'm talking to Jews, Muslims, Black Folks, White Folks, Asians, Latino's and everybody in between....Lets make the peace and the compassion real, for once....
ALLAH U AKBAR!! GOD IS THE GREATEST!!!
Who is he? Depends on who you are. To some he is the Saviour of the Black man in AmeriKKKa (that's right,I used Cube's triple K- a lil pro-Black throwback).
To others, he is the unconvinced co-conspirator in the murder of Malcolm X aka Al-Hajj Malik Al-Shbazz. To others, he is a hater of White people and Jews. To others, he's a great violin player. To others, he's just crazy.
But no matter what you think of him, you can't think about America and race issues and not have this eloquent, intelligent, passionate man come to mind.
I learned of Farrakhan after listening to PE. I had seen him before and heard him before, but I did not put the voice with the face and make his connection to the NOI until "Nation of Millons".
In 1988 I was young, Black and gifted. I was also 18, and Black men were dying around me in droves. Racial tension was VERY high coast to coast.... Cops were killing brothers and beating them like it was in part of the job description ("serve protect and break a N!##@ neck"). This was the ear of NWA, PE, Do the Right Thing, Bernhard Getz, Yusuf Hawkins and all kinds of personal racial drama...
I felt very alone in terms of being understood- culturally and emotionally speaking. But the NOI and Louis Farrakahn spoke to me...They spoke volumes...I recently found an old tape I made in 1990 of my favorite Farrakhan clips....It's 45 minute long and came from about 10 different talks...He is probably one of the greatest Black speakers EVER....do you remember him on Donahue when he was on 2 days in a row?!?! I still have that on tape....AMAZING...You cannot fake that kind of courage and wisdom...He was spontaneously demolishing people with truth...He had the best mentor to help him be that way to, so, it's not a surprise.
I had friends joining the NOI all the time. Some of the best behaved, most polite, most sincere, most well spoken, well dressed and most respectful and courageous men I have ever known were in the NOI.
I saw them protecting Hip Hop shows. Making sure Black women were respected on the streets and calling things as they saw them. I personally know men who were crack dealers and REAL THUGS who changed their entire lives and became upstanding citizens because of the NOI. SEEN IT WITH MY OWN EYES...The teachings of Elijah Muhammad DID that. I can't deny it.
But I had one problem. I have always believed that the NOI killed Malcolm X. I have always believed that Louis Farrakhan had a hand in that murder.
Nevertheless, I went to go see Khalid Muhammad at the age of 19 at San Francisco State. You might remember him from being on PE's "Night of the Living Baseheads" as well as on Ice Cubes best album ever- "Death Certificate".
So, I go to see him, and he's good. Real good. Has the crowd on fire. But I hear him diss Malcolm. I got up and walked out. The NOI, as much as I respected them, was not fit to disrespect a man who died for Allah, in his pursuit of justice for the Black man of North AmeriKKKa.
Later Khalid would become so consumed with race that he's get himself kicked outta the NOI (imagine that) and eventually die of an anuerism (sp?). I personally felt his mind was so engrossed in Black vs. White he just keeled over.
Anyway, long story short, ok, the NOI was there for me in a major way in a way that the black church, and even African American Sunni Muslims were not able to.
But the Malcolm thing bothered me still.
Then, Betty Shabazz made peace with Farrakhan.
I never knew Malcolm. I was born AFTER he died.
In an interview with Barbara Walters he admitted that much of what he spoke at the time of Malcolm's death created and atmosphere that led to him being killed...He clearly was trying to atone...What he really knows is between him and Allah (SWT)...Still, it was the first time I saw him make any acknowledgments like that...
But Malcolm was like a second father to me between the ages of 19 and 25.
And Betty Shabazz was no sell out. She was his WIFE... If she could make peace with him, I had to let go of my grudge.
I can't quote any sources now, but I seem to remember him at the MMM or before it atoning for things he said against the Jews in past speeches and sid he wanted to reach out to rabbi's and create a more genuine peace with the Jewish people.
Since the MMM I don't remember seeing anything that he has said or done that can be seen as anti-semetic.
But then there is another problem. This one is theological.
I don't believe Elijah Muhammad was a Prophet or a Messenger. I Don't believe that Fard Muhammad was Allah in the flesh. I don't believe the White man is the devil (though I must admit I was unsure for a minute). If you wanna know how I could EVER consider it go read Ralph Ginzburgs 100 Years of Lynchings....I can give you a few books after that if you like....But I don't believe in the mad scientist Yacub and the grafting of White devils...I don't believe that the Black man is God....I don't believe in spaceships and mother crafts. ....Devils come in all colors...Some of them are in the Black community...Crack dealers, REAL pimps, murderers and car jackers...Thems is devils to...
I believe that there are enough accomplishments by real African Muslims (like the Moors of Al-Andalusia) and all across the West African region (for starters) that there is no need for Devil talk and spaceship myths. Timbuktu, is a great example of African Islamic wisdom...
I often wondered by the book "Message to the Black Man" was never printed in Arabic (at least to my knowledge).
After reading it, I understood. I have seen nothing in any Muslim Sunni text that remotely supports much of what is in that book as it related to Prophets...Espcially the extensive writing about Moses (going to Europe and sleeping in a circle of fire etc.)...
I have more theological issues but I don't wanna get too deep into that...Whatever they believe, they have the right to do it....Besides, if you weigh the number of White deaths at the hands of NOI members vs. BLACK deaths at the hand of WHITE CHRISTIANS in this country ALONE....the reality might shut down your brain if you could get an accurate number...As extreme as the theology can appear, very little violence can be attributed to the NOI....How they practice is between them and Allah (SWT)....The same goes for me...
So now he calls for another March...
I took that day off with my wife...Big shouts out to Monty (my old manager at food 4 less) for supporting me on that day....He was my manager, and even though some of the Whites at my job were belly aching (and a few buckdancin' uncle Tom Blacks to!!), he knew the event had good intentions and did not sweat giving me that day off...But I spent that day at home with my wife, and it was good...An amazing thing to behold.
I see the Black community in shambles...
I agree we need another March...
Truth is, no other Black leader could call it and get people there...
Then the ADL comes after Russell...
Now, real quick, I feel like the Jewish community in a large part has become very separated from the Black community since the civil rights era....I'm curious as to how that happened...
THEN, Russell fires back...
I think at the end of the day, if Farrakhan has said nothing that we can connect to Anti-Semitism since the firat MMM the Jews may want to let their demonization of him go...If he has, then we need to look at what was said and hold him accountable...
BUT, people can and do change. I have changed a lot....A LOT, and a lot of my changee, was rooted in forgiving....Forgiving others, forgiving myself, my friends...Holding onto to certain kinds of pain for too long can be bad...
As spiritual people, I like the think the Jews know this better than anyone else.
I don't support racial or spiritual hatered on any level- by anyone.
But I do think that people need to give people room to change, time to change.
I also think forgiveness is the key to the power of all religions...
It's the one thing God gives us, that we NEVER give one another...
When was the last time America was attacked, and TURNED THE OTHER CHEEK? What was the FIRST TIME?!?! Was there ANYTIME we have seen this nation use it's Christian ethics on a major scale that did not involve killing other people?!?!?
At some point, someone has to let go and agree to start anew...With themselves and others...
I was not at all happy with the lack of follow up by the NOI and Black America as a whole after the last march...I never saw an itemized statement about who collected how much money and a breakdown of how that money was SPENT...
Nobody, not ONE organization, no "leader" can do what Farrakhan is doing...
I don't agree with him theologically...
But I must say that no one has done more for young Black men than he has in the last 20-30 years....
American Jews cant claim that, the Black Church cant claim that, African American Sunni's cant claim that, Immigrant Muslims can't claim that...
I think it's all time we allowed one another to make mistakes, but forgive....I'm speaking to myself as well as anyone else here...
Personally connecting with God's compassion is the only way authentic peace will ever be made between Muslims, Jews, and the Black community in general...
We're all here in North America...We all won't agree on all that we see one another say or do...But without REAL compassion....Nothing will change....
Too much time, too many ego's, TOO LITTLE HONESTY and too many scarrs on the soul have left us untrusting of one another...
Lets make it real...whatever we are doing lets make it real....Or, don't bother....I'm talking to Jews, Muslims, Black Folks, White Folks, Asians, Latino's and everybody in between....Lets make the peace and the compassion real, for once....
ALLAH U AKBAR!! GOD IS THE GREATEST!!!
My top ten live concert experiences...
10. Fresh Fest 1- Run DMC, Whodini, Fat Boys, Cool J, nuff said....One of the highlights of the night was they turned all the lights out during an itnermissiona nd just played Mantronix "Needle to the Groove"...NOBODY had felt bass like that before....Grandmaster D and JMJ rockin' S!@# in the same night....? OMG....I had never seen beat juggling before that night...My jaw dropped....Jermaine Dupri was a strutter and he used to do this routine under a green laser....OFF THE HOOK!!!
9. Fesh Fest 2- See above, only more madness....
8. NWA and Eazy E at a roller rink in Richmond CA- Off the hook....Cube was not there becuse his dad would not let him tour...Thats what Eazy said at the time....I met him....Nobody really knew what they looked like at this point in their career.....Unless you knew Dre. and Yella from wereckin Cru....They rocked it...they sang- "Where is Eazy? Where is Eazy?"...."Here I am...Here I am".....Amazin...Somebody got shot in the parking lot....They shut it down....I got photos of that night...
7. Tupac and Serch, Townsend (GAVIN CONVENTION)-OFF the hook. I was talking to Pac he said for me to come with him...I was an MC and like everybody else...We were cool...Not that close but he knew I fought hard to free his uncle (Geronimo Pratt) and he knew my rap stuff was positive...So he's walking by me and he taps my arm....says like, 'Yo Bishop, come with me man..."I'm forgetting who I'm talking to and I'm like "Hold on man...I wanna be down but hold on"....He says "OK man, you gonna regret it" and took off....Like, 3 minutes later he's ont eh stage with Serch, they start busting freestyles and Serch is going off about "Tieneman Square, Bush don't care, 'cause he's planing the same thing right here" all kinds of ill political shit....Pac grabs the mic and rips....He gives the mic back to Serch....Later that night I saw Pac and he was laughing 'I TOLD you to come with me fooool, I tolf you!!!"....I laughed hard, but I gotta admit.....I don't think I would have done well on stage with them two...They were on fire for those 5-7 minutes....on fire.....I had skill...But now, I was never like Serch or Pac....And it showed that night...
6. Run DMC, Townsend- They did "Together Forever" live. Thats all I have to say. This was the same night as Pac and Serch.
5. Beasties at Civic Center, I don't rember the year (maybe 91)- They killed it...Henry Rollins and Cypress Hill opened up...I was on the floor but as soon as they hit the stage a HUGE MOSH PIT started....I went to the upper level to watch....The pits looked like blenders with bodies in them...I took my buddy Tiger with me...He though they were fighting I had to explain the MOSH to him....Brothas don't get down like like that....LOL!
4. Ice T at The Stone in SF- I don't remember much about the time frame except that "Cop Killer" was all the rage in mainstream press. Ice T came out with Bodycount and tore it up...me being a suburban Black cat, I loved rock anyway....So, I saw him using rock as a tool to F!@# with Cops as genious....pure genious....the Stone is gone now...Used to be on Broadway in SF (remember when cats used to cruise in the tunnel...hmmmm those were the DAYS)...But I'll never forget it...Never...
3. Public Enemy at the Shoreline theater 1989- This was off the chain, I ditched work at Tower Records to go...I told my boss I was sick, she knew I was lying, had comp tickets and had spies at the show....What they did NOT have however, was backstage....LOL!!!! Kid n Play, Queen Latifah and Digital Underground were also on the bill...Everybody rocked it....I stayed backstage on and off for most of the show....It was a warm, windy night....It got really windy byt he time PE hit the stage...I went out into the crowd to see it....Shoreline has a big hill that you can sit on and look down at the crowd from....I went to the top...
The S1W's set it off, the crowd goes buckwhyld.....Then after a psycho intro they open with Terrordome....The wind is blowing his jacket back like he is in a tornado....The crowd is yelling ALMOST louder than the speakers are blasting....The SW1's have their "marine whites" on and they tore that stadium apart....bolt, by bolt....my manager tried to say her folks saw me, but she never fired me, no real witness....But I was a witness to the power of PE....That night, it would have taken a nation of millions to hold us back....I never really stood in AWE of an MC before....until that night....He seemed like the eye of a storm...
2. KRS ONE, Maritime Hall (the day after BIG got shot)- KRS is probably the best MC I've ever seen live....No entourage, no dancers...A mic, a turntable and a stage- he's on it...I had seen him perform a few times already and as most people in Hip Hop, I am a fan... don't know if it was because BIG had passed, or if he was worried for his own safety (probably not) but he gave his soul on the stage that night...For the first time in a long time I saw B-boys on the floor while he rapped....I saw cats building on wisdom in the hallway inspired by his rhymes....Tight show...Had hella fun....
1. Prince at San Jose State- If you never saw Prince in concert, I have to say you missed something MAJOR....I don't believe the planet will see the likes ofa musician and hshowman like him for many, MANY decades to come. I waited till I was like, 25...Too long once I saw how incredible he was...His fans are possibly the most loyal of any artist I have seen before...He closed it, get this...By doing an encore performance where he did a guitar battle with Carlos Santana and then hit a berzerk piano solo and killed it....No show I have EVER seen compares to that....Thanks Prince, for tearing down the house...
9. Fesh Fest 2- See above, only more madness....
8. NWA and Eazy E at a roller rink in Richmond CA- Off the hook....Cube was not there becuse his dad would not let him tour...Thats what Eazy said at the time....I met him....Nobody really knew what they looked like at this point in their career.....Unless you knew Dre. and Yella from wereckin Cru....They rocked it...they sang- "Where is Eazy? Where is Eazy?"...."Here I am...Here I am".....Amazin...Somebody got shot in the parking lot....They shut it down....I got photos of that night...
7. Tupac and Serch, Townsend (GAVIN CONVENTION)-OFF the hook. I was talking to Pac he said for me to come with him...I was an MC and like everybody else...We were cool...Not that close but he knew I fought hard to free his uncle (Geronimo Pratt) and he knew my rap stuff was positive...So he's walking by me and he taps my arm....says like, 'Yo Bishop, come with me man..."I'm forgetting who I'm talking to and I'm like "Hold on man...I wanna be down but hold on"....He says "OK man, you gonna regret it" and took off....Like, 3 minutes later he's ont eh stage with Serch, they start busting freestyles and Serch is going off about "Tieneman Square, Bush don't care, 'cause he's planing the same thing right here" all kinds of ill political shit....Pac grabs the mic and rips....He gives the mic back to Serch....Later that night I saw Pac and he was laughing 'I TOLD you to come with me fooool, I tolf you!!!"....I laughed hard, but I gotta admit.....I don't think I would have done well on stage with them two...They were on fire for those 5-7 minutes....on fire.....I had skill...But now, I was never like Serch or Pac....And it showed that night...
6. Run DMC, Townsend- They did "Together Forever" live. Thats all I have to say. This was the same night as Pac and Serch.
5. Beasties at Civic Center, I don't rember the year (maybe 91)- They killed it...Henry Rollins and Cypress Hill opened up...I was on the floor but as soon as they hit the stage a HUGE MOSH PIT started....I went to the upper level to watch....The pits looked like blenders with bodies in them...I took my buddy Tiger with me...He though they were fighting I had to explain the MOSH to him....Brothas don't get down like like that....LOL!
4. Ice T at The Stone in SF- I don't remember much about the time frame except that "Cop Killer" was all the rage in mainstream press. Ice T came out with Bodycount and tore it up...me being a suburban Black cat, I loved rock anyway....So, I saw him using rock as a tool to F!@# with Cops as genious....pure genious....the Stone is gone now...Used to be on Broadway in SF (remember when cats used to cruise in the tunnel...hmmmm those were the DAYS)...But I'll never forget it...Never...
3. Public Enemy at the Shoreline theater 1989- This was off the chain, I ditched work at Tower Records to go...I told my boss I was sick, she knew I was lying, had comp tickets and had spies at the show....What they did NOT have however, was backstage....LOL!!!! Kid n Play, Queen Latifah and Digital Underground were also on the bill...Everybody rocked it....I stayed backstage on and off for most of the show....It was a warm, windy night....It got really windy byt he time PE hit the stage...I went out into the crowd to see it....Shoreline has a big hill that you can sit on and look down at the crowd from....I went to the top...
The S1W's set it off, the crowd goes buckwhyld.....Then after a psycho intro they open with Terrordome....The wind is blowing his jacket back like he is in a tornado....The crowd is yelling ALMOST louder than the speakers are blasting....The SW1's have their "marine whites" on and they tore that stadium apart....bolt, by bolt....my manager tried to say her folks saw me, but she never fired me, no real witness....But I was a witness to the power of PE....That night, it would have taken a nation of millions to hold us back....I never really stood in AWE of an MC before....until that night....He seemed like the eye of a storm...
2. KRS ONE, Maritime Hall (the day after BIG got shot)- KRS is probably the best MC I've ever seen live....No entourage, no dancers...A mic, a turntable and a stage- he's on it...I had seen him perform a few times already and as most people in Hip Hop, I am a fan... don't know if it was because BIG had passed, or if he was worried for his own safety (probably not) but he gave his soul on the stage that night...For the first time in a long time I saw B-boys on the floor while he rapped....I saw cats building on wisdom in the hallway inspired by his rhymes....Tight show...Had hella fun....
1. Prince at San Jose State- If you never saw Prince in concert, I have to say you missed something MAJOR....I don't believe the planet will see the likes ofa musician and hshowman like him for many, MANY decades to come. I waited till I was like, 25...Too long once I saw how incredible he was...His fans are possibly the most loyal of any artist I have seen before...He closed it, get this...By doing an encore performance where he did a guitar battle with Carlos Santana and then hit a berzerk piano solo and killed it....No show I have EVER seen compares to that....Thanks Prince, for tearing down the house...
SOURCE vs. IOVINE PT. 1- Remeber that post a few weeks back when i TOLD you that a rap war was on the horizon?!?!?
All this S!@# with The Source and Iovine is what I WAS TALKING ABOUT!!. I had a front row seat to all of this S!#@.... A few weeks ago I got a call from The Source to do a joint on Iovine.
I agreed. I realized that they had not called me for a piece in my last joint on E-40 in 1998....but whatever.
Anyway, what happened over the next 7-10 days was insane.
Basically, Kim Osorio left, That Fahyim dude TRIED to take over and they started trying to pressure me for the story...
Meanwhile, I got NO support from them in terms making the story happen.
I was trying to do a piece on Iovine.....What makes him great, what are the good, bad and possibly ugly things his success has meant to Hip Hop culture and the rap industry...
I am an author and a journalist....I am no F!@ING hack writer looking to do hate pieces...
Anyway, still with no support I went looking for insights on this guy....
The quotes I got where honest, and realistic....
Nothing hate filled...Nothing with potential to do make Iovine look like a devil....
The more I dug, the more respect I got for this guy as a businessman...Even if I don't agree with all the kinds of artists he chooses to promote....
Nonetheless, there were many people who would not give me any quotes...
They did not believe The Source could do an objective piece on Jimmy, given the Eminem beef....This, was seen as an extention of that...It made sense...
But I was trying to sell MY INTEGRITY as a reason The Source would nto make this a bash piece...That was the only way I got my quotes from those I got them from....The Source has no integrity....
Now, nevermind that Em CRUSHED Zino and The Source in various articles and in songs over and over again....Nevermind that Em after crushing them made "Toy Soldiers" as a peace offering when he did not have to....
Anyway, shit started getting ill and I will get into that tomorrow in depth... Long story short, they tried to use me to attack Iovene, I would not do it and their new Editor, FAHIYM IS THE REAL SLIM SHADY...
One Love,
Adisa Banjoko "The Bishop of Hip Hop"
P.S. Remember the word "integrity" for Pt. 2.....See you tomorrow.
P.S.S. The Source is sinking, with good reason.
I agreed. I realized that they had not called me for a piece in my last joint on E-40 in 1998....but whatever.
Anyway, what happened over the next 7-10 days was insane.
Basically, Kim Osorio left, That Fahyim dude TRIED to take over and they started trying to pressure me for the story...
Meanwhile, I got NO support from them in terms making the story happen.
I was trying to do a piece on Iovine.....What makes him great, what are the good, bad and possibly ugly things his success has meant to Hip Hop culture and the rap industry...
I am an author and a journalist....I am no F!@ING hack writer looking to do hate pieces...
Anyway, still with no support I went looking for insights on this guy....
The quotes I got where honest, and realistic....
Nothing hate filled...Nothing with potential to do make Iovine look like a devil....
The more I dug, the more respect I got for this guy as a businessman...Even if I don't agree with all the kinds of artists he chooses to promote....
Nonetheless, there were many people who would not give me any quotes...
They did not believe The Source could do an objective piece on Jimmy, given the Eminem beef....This, was seen as an extention of that...It made sense...
But I was trying to sell MY INTEGRITY as a reason The Source would nto make this a bash piece...That was the only way I got my quotes from those I got them from....The Source has no integrity....
Now, nevermind that Em CRUSHED Zino and The Source in various articles and in songs over and over again....Nevermind that Em after crushing them made "Toy Soldiers" as a peace offering when he did not have to....
Anyway, shit started getting ill and I will get into that tomorrow in depth... Long story short, they tried to use me to attack Iovene, I would not do it and their new Editor, FAHIYM IS THE REAL SLIM SHADY...
One Love,
Adisa Banjoko "The Bishop of Hip Hop"
P.S. Remember the word "integrity" for Pt. 2.....See you tomorrow.
P.S.S. The Source is sinking, with good reason.
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