Gitmo=Illegal

Got this via Drudge... It's good news that the Supreme Court ruled this way because Gitmo clearly isn't adhering to international law or what I may have termed in a more innocent time, 'American moral values.' Plain and simple, Gitmo is horrible for America's global reputation and hinders the safety of Americans abroad. So, good job Supreme Court and Justice Kennedy! However, we'll wait and see what the Supreme Court has up its sleaves over the next few years *ahem* abortion.
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Supreme Court Blocks Bush, Gitmo War Trials
Jun 29 10:32 AM US/Eastern

By GINA HOLLAND
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that President Bush overstepped his authority in ordering military war crimes trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees.

The ruling, a rebuke to the administration and its aggressive anti- terror policies, was written by Justice John Paul Stevens, who said the proposed trials were illegal under U.S. law and international Geneva conventions.

The case focused on Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni who worked as a bodyguard and driver for Osama bin Laden. Hamdan, 36, has spent four years in the U.S. prison in Cuba. He faces a single count of conspiring against U.S. citizens from 1996 to November 2001.

Two years ago, the court rejected Bush's claim to have the authority to seize and detain terrorism suspects and indefinitely deny them access to courts or lawyers. In this follow-up case, the justices focused solely on the issue of trials for some of the men.

The vote was split 5-3, with moderate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy joining the court's liberal members in ruling against the Bush administration. Chief Justice John Roberts, named to the lead the court last September by Bush, was sidelined in the case because as an appeals court judge he had backed the government over Hamdan.

Thursday's ruling overturned that decision.

Bush spokesman Tony Snow said the White House would have no comment until lawyers had had a chance to review the decision. Officials at the Pentagon and Justice Department were planning to issue statements later in the day.

The administration had hinted in recent weeks that it was prepared for the court to set back its plans for trying Guantanamo detainees.

The president also has told reporters, "I'd like to close Guantanamo." But he added, "I also recognize that we're holding some people that are darn dangerous."

The court's ruling says nothing about whether the prison should be shut down, dealing only with plans to put detainees on trial.

"Trial by military commission raises separation-of-powers concerns of the highest order," Kennedy wrote in his opinion.

The prison at Guantanamo Bay, erected in the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States, has been a flash point for international criticism. Hundreds of people suspected of ties to al-Qaida and the Taliban _ including some teenagers _ have been swept up by the U.S. military and secretly shipped there since 2002.

Three detainees committed suicide there this month, using sheets and clothing to hang themselves. The deaths brought new scrutiny and criticism of the prison, along with fresh calls for its closing.
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I got the story here.

Shakti, the Indian (American) "diva"

Peep game on Shakti. Definately an example of how Hip-Hop culture transcends a lot of what people commonly associate with it.

Shakti.

Mistakes do happen.

What's up y'all. There's a new book coming out by Roni Sarig called Third Coast: Outkast, Timbaland, And the Rise of Dirty South Hip Hop. Indeed, it is an accomplishment for Mr. Sarig to be releasing his third book, and I'm definately going to read it. However, I am slightly troubled by the false claim (at least on amazon) that it is the, "first in-depth look at a regional phenomenon that has exploded into a worldwide sensation: Dirty South Hip-Hop...(and) to explain the character and significance of down South rapping to fans as well as outsiders." That simply is not true. Tamara Palmer released a book called, "Country Fried Soul: Adventures in Dirty South Hip-Hop" over a year ago (March 2005). I read her book this past fall on the subway between home and college, it was real tight. Her writing was insightful, entertaining, and at times transportive. Seriously.

Of course, I'm sure Mr. Sarig's book is going to be dope too. I'm looking forward to reading it. Nonetheless, I think props should be given where props are due, and in my mind the credit for the, "first in-depth look at" Souther Hip-Hop belongs to Miss Palmer.

NOTE: You can check out cover art, reviews, etc on amazon.com should you desire.

PEACE.

Mistakes do happen.

What's up y'all. There's a new book coming out by Roni Sarig called Third Coast: Outkast, Timbaland, And the Rise of Dirty South Hip Hop. Indeed, it is an accomplishment for Mr. Sarig to be releasing his third book, and I'm definately going to read it. However, I am slightly troubled by the false claim (at least on amazon) that it is the, "first in-depth look at a regional phenomenon that has exploded into a worldwide sensation: Dirty South Hip-Hop...(and) to explain the character and significance of down South rapping to fans as well as outsiders." That simply is not true. Tamara Palmer released a book called, Country Fried Soul: Adventures in Dirty South Hip-Hop over a year ago (March 2005). I read her book this past fall on the subway between home and college, it was real tight. Her writing was insightful, entertaining, and at times transportive. Seriously.

Of course, I'm sure Mr. Sarig's book is going to be dope too. I'm looking forward to reading it. Nonetheless, I think props should be given where props are due, and in my mind the credit for the, "first in-depth look at" Southern Hip-Hop belongs to Miss Palmer.

You can check out cover art, reviews, etc on amazon.com should you desire.

PEACE.

Gay Hip-Hop

Photo Credit: Sugartruck Recordings.

One of the topics that came up occasionally in the interviews for my book is homosexuality and its role in Hip-Hop culture. The following is an article by Lisa Hix that I found in the SF Chronicle about a bunch of rappers who happen to be gay, don't want to dodge the issue, and apparently aren't too shaby.
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Deep Dickollective
Oakland gay hip-hoppers started out by mocking spoken-word community, but now they're serious about excelling at craft

Lisa Hix
Thursday, June 22, 2006


With a name like Deep Dickollective, you would expect this Oakland gay hip-hop group to stimulate the nether regions. While they do perform playful rhymes about cruising the Ashby Flea Market, the emphasis here is on deep, as in stimulating the frontal lobe.

As with conscious hip-hoppers Blackalicious or Hieroglyphics, D/DC raps intellectual diatribes designed to challenge lazy thinking about race, homosexuality and identity.

D/DC's Juba Kalamka explains the name: "We didn't want to be coy. We didn't want anyone to be able to get around queerness, to get around sexuality or race. We wanted that to be foreground, we didn't want them to make any mistake when they were listening to it."

Kalamka, an early member of the influential '90s crew Rainbow Flava, is considered a godfather of the "homo-hop" movement, although he wouldn't say so. When Kalamka, Tim'm T. West and Phillip Atiba Goff, all academic types, formed Deep Dickollective in 1999, it was originally a scathing send-up of the pretense of the spoken-word community. But D/DC quickly became a serious hip-hop venture, and now features Kalamka, West, Jeree Brown, Rashad Pridgen, Leslie Taylor, Ryan Burke, Baraka Noel and Marcus Rene' Van. Kalamka credits the evolution of the Internet for bringing the homo hoppers together: All the queer boys and girls practicing rhymes alone in their rooms suddenly had a way to connect with one another, through Judge Muscat's Phat Family listserv, Mistermaker's GayHipHop.com and even MySpace. And a nationwide scene flourished, including Deadlee, Johnny Dangerous and the Bay Area's Katastrophe and JenRO, who would meet at Oakland's Peace Out festival. Alex Hinton chronicles the evolution of this tight-knit circle in his film "Pick Up the Mic," screening at the Frameline Festival at the Castro tonight.

It seems like an obvious irony to rhyme about gay pride in a genre dubbed misogynistic and homophobic, but Kalamka says that's making hip-hop and black culture the scapegoat for all our social woes. After all, most musical styles -- rock, punk, jazz, country, etc. -- have a history of hate.

"Queer hip-hop in a lot of ways is killing the bogeyman in the gay community," Kalamka says. "If you talk about gay, white upper-middle-class men ... they have had a convenient kind of bogeyman for a long time in the threatening straight hetero-normative black male. It's just kind of an easy and lazy event for classism and racism.

"But the truth be told, hip-hop doesn't create public policy. Hip-hop didn't create the Defense of Marriage Act. Hip-hop didn't create the climate in which kids like Sakia Gunn, Matthew Shepard, Brandon Teena and Gwen Araujo (are killed). That's not a new thing: The ills of society getting laid at the feet of disenfranchised people."
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www.deepdickollective.com

iUnit *harhar*

50 Cent Negotiating With Apple For Branded Line Of Home Computers
By Nolan Strong
www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=5798

Rap star 50 Cent is entering the world of technology and is currently in negotiations with Apple's CEO Steve Jobs to produce a line of affordable home computers to inner-city residents.

According to a recent article in Forbes, 50 Cent, born Curtis Jackson and his high powered manager Chris Lighty of Violator management, are negotiating the branding deal with the computer /software giant.

"I'm creating a foundation that will be around for a long time, because fame can come and go or get lost in the lifestyle and the splurging," Fifty Cent explained to Forbes. "I never got into it for the music. I got into it for the business."

"He [Jobs] is setting a new standard in the music business," Lighty added. "Let's just say we get each other."

The company hopes to close the gap between sales in iPods, which have earned over $3 billion verse $2 billion from software and personal home computer sales.

Behind Jobs' leadership and the runaway success of the iPod and iTunes, Apple controls over 80% of the digital music market.

Additionally, Apple has sold over 1 billion songs over the past five years. The company started selling music videos and television shows which have sold over 15 million copies since October of 2005.

50 Cent, who is plans on releasing his untitled third album by Christmas, ranked among the Top 10 earning celebrity entertainers in Forbes' recently released Forbes Celebrity Power 100 List.

The rapper earned almost $41 million dollars, mostly from record sales and branding deals that include a clothing line, a line of sneakers, a video game and his G-Unit line of clothing, which was launched in partnership with Marc Ecko in July 2003.

50 Cent ranked #8 in the Top Ten, behind Howard Stern, Steven Spielberg, Tiger Woods, rock group U2, Oprah Winfrey, The Rolling Stones and Tom Cruise, who topped the list by earning over $67 million in 2005.

Book Available

The book is now available to buy online. Email ohiheardaboutthat@gmail.com with the subject line "buy book" and I'll send you a PayPal invoice. The book costs $20 plus shipping.