Saturday, April 23, 2005

Remember, we got Nixon... Of course that was "Watergate"... Dem "gate's" sho' help I tellya...

...so how come 30 years later that's the last real "gate" we've seen?

Nipplegate?

Rathergate?

"Who gives out the "gate's" anyway?"
- Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

(...)

Democrats block Bush nominees

By Sheryl Stolberg and Michael Janofsky
The New York Times
Saturday, April 9, 2005

yay!!!

But some fear tactics may backfire if Republicans shift rules

wha?!?

WASHINGTON When Senator Bill Nelson of Florida stepped before the microphones to announce that he would use "every parliamentary procedure that is available to me" to block the nomination of Stephen Johnson to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, he became the latest Democrat this week to stand in the way of President George W. Bush's nominees.
.
Even before Nelson's announcement on Thursday, Senator Barbara Boxer of California declared Wednesday that she would put a hold on Johnson's nomination, a move that could block a Senate vote indefinitely.
.
Also Wednesday, two other Democrats - Senators Patty Murray of Washington and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York - announced that they would hold up the confirmation of Lester Crawford, the White House nominee for commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
.
The procedural tactics, coupled with stiff Democratic opposition to the nomination of John Bolton for the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, amount to a mini-war against some of Bush's nominees.
.

(...)

Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, warned that if the Democrats continued to hold up White House nominees, Bush might simply evade the confirmation process altogether by putting his nominees in place while Congress was in recess, as he did with two judges during the last Congress.
.
"If the Democrats want to change the rule to require 60 votes," Norquist said, "the Republicans will change the rule to require no votes."
.

aw crap...

SOURCE - http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/08/news/congress.html

(...)

Racism,
Classicism,
Fascism,
Mad-isms,

Mad-schisms,
As we break away--
From, our prisons,

Visions of religions,
As--
Labours of love,
Fears faced, and replaced,
By looking above...

- Black Krishna, Song: "2008"

Rapterrible...

Great...

The first day of the NBA Playoffs...

The first day of intense NBA vicuriousity...

The first day of the CBA Raptors perennial vacation...

Great...

(...)

And who did we just promote to the guy running the guy running the show?

(...)

(I think you can tell a lot about a guy when he's the the guy who screwed things up so bad he got the next guy fired.)

(...)

ESPN - NBA
Updated: April 22, 2005, 10:01 PM ET

Although critics are quick to point out his failings, Paxson was responsible for ridding the Cavaliers of some burdensome contracts " leftovers from previous GM Wayne Embry " that prevented the team from improving with offseason moves.

Paxson traded Shawn Kemp and his four-year, $70.8 million contract to Portland in 2000. He also freed the team of other awful contracts that Embry and former principal owner Gordon Gund handed out in the late '90s.

SOURCE - http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2042839

(...)

Raptors.com

(April 18, 2005) -- Richard Peddie, president and chief executive officer of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, announced Monday that Wayne Embry will serve as Senior Basketball Advisor to the President. Embry joined the Toronto Raptors organization in June 2004 as Senior Advisor to the General Manager.

Wayne Embry brought more than 40 years of NBA experience, both as a Hall of Fame player and as a Hall of Fame front office executive, to the Toronto Raptors this season, and he’s made important contributions behind the scenes,” said Peddie. “While for a variety of reasons, Wayne was only able to advise Rob Babcock to a limited degree this season, he will now be more available to Rob and will be able to advise me on the basketball matters that are under my umbrella as president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

SOURCE - http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/PR_embry_050418.html

(...)

Ahh yes, the guy who screwed up The Cavs is telling the guy who screwed up The Hawks what to do to The Raptors.

Great...

Both Sides Are Not Equal: Their Side Is Evil.

Can’t take, the raw shit,
I gotta say, the raw shit,
Gotta flip, a pop-hit,
To blow ya mind, just a bit,

Rewind, just a bit,
Back in time, was the shit,
Bill Clinton, grabbed his dick,
While Lewinsky, got a lick,

We never beefed, with his bitches,
Made peace, with his sitches,
Saw the opp, for some riches,
Punkin’, World Bank, snitches...

- Black Krishna, Song: "Chokin' On Chomsky"

(...)

Yahoo! News

(...)

White House to Enforce Abortion-Fetus Law

Sat Apr 23,12:47 AM ET White House - AP

By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration said Friday that it would enforce a nearly 3-year-old federal law that requires doctors to attempt to keep alive a fetus that survives an abortion.

In making the announcement, the Department of Health and Human Services Department said it was an attempt to educate the public about the little-known law. Officials said they didn't know how often a fetus survives an abortion and would not say whether there have been any complaints about a lack of enforcement.

(...)

"What really happened, today?
What the hell, is Bush, trying to say?
What really happened, today?
What should I do: shop or pray?"

- Black Krishna, Song: "What Really Happened Today?"

(...)

SOURCE - http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&ncid=718&e=10&u=/ap/20050423/ap_on_go_pr_wh/abortion_fetus

(...)

2 Evangelicals Want to Strip Courts' Funds

[Ed note: Why the hell is the title of this article "2 Evangelicals Want to Strip Courts' Funds"? Is 2 lonely nutty evangelicals really a front-page story? Is that really the story???]

Fri Apr 22, 7:55 AM ET Top Stories - Los Angeles Times

By Peter Wallsten Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — Evangelical Christian leaders, who have been working closely with senior Republican lawmakers to place conservative judges in the federal courts, have also been exploring ways to punish sitting jurists and even entire courts viewed as hostile to their cause.

An audio recording obtained by the Los Angeles Times features two of the nation's most influential evangelical leaders, at a private conference with supporters, laying out strategies to rein in judges, such as stripping funding from their courts in an effort to hinder their work.

The discussion took place during a Washington conference last month that included addresses by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who discussed efforts to bring a more conservative cast to the courts.

Frist and DeLay have not publicly endorsed the evangelical groups' proposed actions. But the taped discussion among evangelical leaders provides a glimpse of the road map they are drafting as they work with congressional Republicans to achieve a judiciary that sides with them on abortion, same-sex marriage and other elements of their agenda.

(...)

"We set up the courts. We can unset the courts. We have the power of the purse," DeLay said at an April 13 question-and-answer session with reporters.

(...)

"Very few people know this, that the Congress can simply disenfranchise a court," Dobson said. "They don't have to fire anybody or impeach them or go through that battle. All they have to do is say the 9th Circuit doesn't exist anymore, and it's gone."

(...)

"It’s the dawn, of the neo-con,
Spawn, of a hellish-bond,
Church, state, and biz,
Nazi-kids, of an older-God,

That’s why we in the streets,
That’s why we ridin’ beats,
‘Cause next-these-motherfuckers—-
Takin’, Rosa Parks, seat!!!"

- Black Krishna, Song: "Chokin' on Chomsky"

(...)

SOURCE - http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&ncid=2026&e=5&u=/latimests/20050422/ts_latimes/2evangelicalswanttostripcourtsfunds

(...)

Moussaoui Pleads Guilty in 9/11 Conspiracy

2 hours, 43 minutes ago U.S. National - AP

By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN, Associated Press Writer

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - With the first U.S. conviction from a Sept. 11 case in hand, federal prosecutors face a new battle over whether Zacarias Moussaoui should receive the death penalty for plotting with al-Qaida against Americans.

(...)

"We missed, Osama,
In, Tora-Bora,
If it was you,
You really think they’d ignore, huh?"

- Black Krishna, Song: "Bomb Dropping Shenanigans"

(...)

SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050423/ap_on_re_us/moussaoui

(...)

Roadside Bomb Kills 9 Iraqi Soldiers

6 minutes ago Middle East - AP

By THOMAS WAGNER, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A string of explosions rocked the Iraqi capital and other parts of the country Saturday, including a roadside bomb that exploded near an Iraqi army convoy on the outskirts of Baghdad, killing nine soldiers and wounded 20, police said.

When the surviving soldiers responded by opening fire, they shot and killed the driver of a civilian car, said police Lt. Ahmed Abud.

The attack occurred near the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, which was at the center of a prison abuse scandal last year after photographs were publicized showing U.S. soldiers humiliating Iraqi inmates.

(...)

Knowin’ truth in Iraq,
Caught, Seymour Hersh,
I thought it was bad,
He said it was worse,

His curse,
Pulitzer-Prize, eyes-wide,
Since the massacre, at My Lai,
He can’t tell a lie...

- Black Krishna, Song: "Chokin' On Chomsky"


(...)

SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=4&u=/ap/20050423/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&sid=84439559

(...)

Top Officers in Abu Ghraib Case Cleared

29 minutes ago White House - AP Cabinet & State

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON - Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, faulted by some for leadership failures in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, has been cleared by the Army of all allegations of wrongdoing and will not be punished, officials said.

Three officers who were among Sanchez's top deputies during the period of the prisoner abuse in the fall of 2003 also have been cleared. An Army Reserve one-star general has been reprimanded, and the outcome of seven other senior Army officer cases could not be learned Friday.

(...)

"You know, I hate to see,
Uncle Tom’s Grabbin’,
You know, I can’t,
Just, let it be...

You know, I hate to see,
You, back-stabbin’,
This, isn’t how,
It’s meant, to be..."

- Black Krishna, Song: "Uncle Tom's Grabbin"

(...)

"But shit’s changed, now,
Bush, is on the range, now,
Shootin’ savages, for sport,
Cow-boys, scream "Pow!"

- Black Krishna, Song: "Chokin' On Chomsky"

(...)

SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050423/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/prisoner_abuse_army

(...)

Chairman of Voting Reform Panel Resigns

Fri Apr 22, 5:02 PM ET Politics - AP

By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The first chairman of a federal voting agency created after the 2000 election dispute is resigning, saying the government has not shown enough commitment to reform.

"All four of us had to work without staff, without offices, without resources. I don't think our sense of personal obligation has been matched by a corresponding sense of commitment to real reform from the federal government," he said.

(...)

"When, I see Bush, on TV,
I make, a hard left,
‘Cause, when they finally come for me,
There may be, none left..."

- Black Krishna, Song/Poem: "How Do We Stop The Next Columbine?"

(...)

SOURCE - http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&ncid=536&e=2&u=/ap/20050422/ap_on_go_ot/election_reform_resignation

(...)

BONUS:

Bush Bulges

No really...

"Belief and disbelief require an equal measure of proof."
- Black Krishna

So please...

Explain away the pictures...

Motion pictures...

Songs... books... people...

SOURCE - http://homepage.mac.com/c.shaw/BushBulges/PhotoAlbum15.html



(...)

BONUS:

proof...

CONFIRMED! KARL ROVE met with NY TIMES Editor before Bulge story was "killed" !!!

According to New Yorker Magazine's, Nicholas Lemann, in a non-Bulge related column, KARL ROVE met with the New York Times' executive editor BILL KELLER for cocktails on October 22nd, 2004. This meeting was 3 days before the Times' "spiked" story on the bulge was originally set to run in the Times, and 5 days before the story was ultimately killed by Keller.

SOURCE - http://www.bushwired.blogspot.com/

(...)

BONUS:

pudding...

The New Yorker

FEAR AND FAVOR
by NICHOLAS LEMANN

Why is everyone mad at the mainstream media?

Issue of 2005-02-14 and 21
Posted 2005-02-07

Just before last fall’s Presidential election, Bill Keller, the executive editor of the Times, and Philip Taubman, the paper’s Washington bureau chief, went on the road to inspect the candidates’ campaigns. In Florida, on October 22nd, they arranged to have drinks with Karl Rove, the White House’s chief political strategist, and Dan Bartlett, its head of communications. It was supposed to be a friendly get-together, and that’s how it went for the first few minutes, until Keller asked Rove what he thought of the Times’ coverage. It’s the sort of question that editors often ask important people, in the same spirit that a politician asks, “How’m I doing?,” usually hoping for an answer somewhere in the lower-middle range of politeness and candor. But Rove, Keller told me not long ago, “pounded on us for two cocktails’ worth of conversation.” Saying what? “It was three kinds of things,” Keller explained. “It was Bush accomplishments we had ignored, flaws in the Kerry record that we had put inside the paper, and a number of pieces we had done looking hard at the Bush record. In their view, that all amounted to arming the Kerry campaign.”

Keller and I were talking in his office in the Times newsroom at nine one morning, a moment when most newspaper offices are empty and expectantly quiet, like a theatre a couple of hours before the curtain. Keller took his time describing the conversation, to suggest that he wasn’t dismissing the criticisms out of hand. “Your initial reaction, especially in someone as ferocious as Rove, is to drop into a defensive crouch,” he said. “But I try not to do that. I listened, with a fair measure of skepticism, because a lot of it is calculated. But there was some genuineness to it. He went through a long litany of complaints. I do think he was channelling a feeling about the New York Times that’s out there in the land, that we should be concerned about, or at least aware of.”

One item that particularly drew Rove’s ire was a Times front-page story, by Ford Fessenden, which appeared on September 26th, under the headline “a big increase of new voters in swing states.” As Keller remembered it later, in an e-mail message to me, Rove “fired off complaints like a Gatling gun, some specific, some generic, some about specific writers, some about specific elements of specific stories.” When I spoke to Rove about his conversation with Keller, it was obvious that, to his mind, the September 26th story was No. 1 among the Times’ journalistic misdeeds during the campaign. The story left the impression that the Democrats’ organization was vastly superior to the Republicans’, especially in Florida and Ohio. Getting out the G.O.P. vote in those two states had for several years been one of Rove’s main projects, and he spoke about the article in roughly the same tone as a writer discussing a bad review of his magnum opus. He gave me a highly detailed, twelve-point critique, and then, in the interest of conciseness, he boiled down the twelve points to two or three.

(...)

A better understanding of conservatives seems manageable, but there is another possibility, which is much more worrisome, at least to journalists who work in the mainstream media. It is that during the years of heavy shelling—through impeachment and the Florida recount and then the rough 2004 campaign—what they consider their compact with the public has been seriously damaged. Journalism that is inquisitive and intellectually honest, that surprises and unsettles, didn’t always exist. There is no law saying that it must exist forever, and there are political and business interests that would be better off if it didn’t exist and that have worked hard to undermine it. This is what journalists in the mainstream media are starting to worry about: what if people don’t believe in us, don’t want us, anymore?

SOURCE - http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?050214fa_fact1

(...)

"Fuck “Fair and Balanced” Fox,
They ain’t, being subtle,
When they go, hard-right,
They harder-right, for rebuttal,

And fuck CNN,
“You can’t trust, CNN”
Bum-rush, CNN,
Before they lie to us again..."

- Black Krishna, Song: "Chokin' On Chomsky"

Monday, April 18, 2005

The Blueprint - Volume 1: Seeds - PART TWO: Paid Political Prisoners

The Blueprint - Volume 1: Seeds

(...)

PART TWO: Paid Political Prisoners

(...)

"I wanna be rich..."

"I wanna be rich..."

"I don't want nobody poor..."

"But I wanna be rich..."

(...)

"And when I'm rich..."

"And when I'm rich..."

"If I still fight for the poor..."

"Don't bitch about my sitch..."

(...)

Don't dis Michael Moore,
Feeling smug 'cause he's sure,
He's made a mill' now,
Still fights for the poor!

You got big plans?
For when you get rich?
Cop a phat-ass ride?
Cop a skinny-ass bitch?

Where's the itch to fix-a-sitch?
Think bigger now son!
Where's the rest of the picture,
It's gonna be one world won...

- Black Krishna, song/poem: "How Do We Stop The Next Columbine?"

(...)

Swoosh!

Tiger Woods drives, his lithe mega-racial frame wrapped proudly in Nike microfibre contorting mightily, the ball traveling precisely 300 yards as oohs and ahhs erupt into applause.

The fans gasp, the dreams of a million golfers made all-too familiar: sandtrap.

Crap.

Calmly, everyone recognizes: even the mighty Tiger must play the ball where it lands.

How he plays it will determine his greatness.

(...)

Where are we?

(...)

Achtung Baby!!!

(...)

Usher...

So smoooth...

So sexxxy...

So-phisticated...

Good-lookin' homie...

Nice cribs...

Nice rides...

Nice ice...

Nice...

(...)

Yeah!!!

(...)

"People in developing countries will benefit more, both financially and emotionally, by becoming part of the global economy, instead of being written off with big aid checks."
- Bono

"We carry the story of the people who make our clothes around with us."
- Edun Jeans

"Throw it down big man!!! Throw it down!!!"
- Bill Walton

(...)

Bling me the head of Hypocrisissy!

Bling me!!!

Bling me so I can cast thee in Corporate Carbonite!

Bling me!!!

(...)

Who gets to get to get the chain?

Who gets to get to get the bling?

Who gets to get to get the point?

(...)

"And in this corner, at 26 years of age and 165 lbs of shirtless chocolatey goodness: Usher!!!"

"And in this corner, at 44 years of age and 165 lbs of open-shirted Guinnessy goodness: Bono!!!"

"Ladies and Gentlemen..."

"Let's get ready to rummmble!!!"

(...)

"Uh-oh, Usher moved dangerously there exposing his weakness for kids..."

"But what the?!? A devastating Confessional uppercut!!! Just beating cheating into retreating!!!"

"He's sorry... but he's horny... he's been bad... but he's good..."

"He's a star!!!"

Bling me the giant platinum icey U!!!

Bling me!!!

(...)

"Uh-oh, Bono moved dangerously there exposing his weakness for bling..."

"But what the?!? A devastating blow to 3rd World Debt!!! Just beating cheating into retreating!!!"

"He's sorry... but he's rich... he's been bad... but he's good..."

"He's a star!!!"

Bling me the giant platinum icey B!!!

Bling me!!!

(...)

Yank, the chain...
Flush, the bullshit...
Down, the drain...
Let...
The water...
Get clean...
Again..."

- Klyde Broox, aka - Mr. Po' Magic, "Yank The Chain"

(...)

Okay-okay-okay-okay!

Fine.

If Usher gets a chain, Bono gets a chain.

If Usher gets a girl, Bono gets a girl.

If Usher gets to cheat, Bono gets to cheat.

If Usher gets to sing'n'bling'n'ting, Bono gets to sing'n'bling'n'ting.

There.

You happy?

(...)

Wyclef in a Bentley,
Screaming "Free Haiti!!!"
Chasing pretty ladies,
And politicians, dat's shady...

- Black Krishna, song: "Simplified Soldier"

(...)

You do more you get to do more.

You are not a Paid Political Prisoner.

You are not crucified by your giant platinum crucifix.

You are not allowed to stupidly savage Save The World Soldiers.

(...)

You can try...

Or...

You can try...

(...)

"In one segment addressing the Free Trade Zones, we meet workers who sew five-six days a week for American corporations to earn the legal minimum wage of $30 U.S./week ($1200 - $1500 Jamaican dollars/week)."

http://www.lifeanddebt.org/

The best film I have ever seen to explain how "3rd World Debt" was set up to create helpless feeder systems for cheap labour, with evil loans far beyond any rational discourse between any two parties obliterating my high school World Issues course.

(And any guilt I had about skipping it.)

(Some great reggae riddims too...)

(...)

I think it's racism. (I am not alone.)

I think it's pretty clear. (I am not alone.)

I think it's post-colonial petty-cash moves. (I am not alone.)

I think it's piss-poor perpetuating punk'd as prophecy. (I am not alone.)

(...)

Poverty is slavery,
We livin' off thievery,
We givin' so we free to be,
Strapped to the economy...

- Black Krishna, spoken word: "Poverty Is Slavery"

(...)

THE BULLSHIT ENDS NOW.

THE HYPOCRISY ENDS NOW.

THE CANNIBALEFTYISM ENDS NOW.

THE BRAINLESS EATING OF BRAINS ENDS NOW.

MMM...

BRAINS...

(...)

"Armchair Activists: Activate Analogies!"

"How Would You: Spend Your Money Funny!"

(...)

"Where Do You: Draw The Line!"

"When Do You: Know It's Mine?"

(...)

We live here. All of us.

We enjoy time here. All of us.

We want to be rich here. All of us.

We want to buy things here. All of us.

We tear down heroes here. All of us.

(...)

So. From. Now. On.

(...)

The more you do...

(For all of us...)

The more you get to do...

(From all of us...)

(...)

Go!