Kanye West - "Devil In A New Dress"
Leaked track from Kanye's new album "Dark Twisted Fantasy" in stores November 16th.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
The Beslan Massacre
The Beslan Massacre
It’s been six years since the Beslan Massacre – what some have referred to as Russia’s 9/11 – where over 1,000 men, women and children were taken hostage at a school for three days. In the end, nearly 400 of them were murdered, 156 of whom were children. The particular details of this atrocity have the power to silence me, so I’m going to step aside and make way for the words of once innocent children who have forever been scarred by Islam’s jihad.
Iranian student group releases anti-Israel computer games
Iranian student group releases anti-Israel computer games
Government back group produced games to celebrate al-Quds day; Iranian chief of staff: Teheran could strike "Israeli nuclear site" if attacked. A government-backed Iranian student group released two anti-Israeli computer games, “Devil Den 2” and “Freedom Convoy,” to commemorate the last Friday of Ramadan, referred to by Shi’ites as al-Quds Day.
Both games were produced by the School Students Basij Organization, which is affiliated with Iran’s Education Ministry.
RELATED:
'Jerusalem Day paves the way for Israel's collapse'
Iran to replace Google with ‘Oh Lord’
Devil Den 2 is about “the Israeli protocols,” the director of the organization, Muhammad Saleh Jokar, said during a ceremony announcing the release of the two games on Thursday, the eve of Quds Day.
“The illegitimate regime has said in its protocols that they will abolish all beliefs,” Jokar was quoted as saying by the Iranian Mehr News Agency.
“We have witnessed that the foundations of the illegitimate Zionist regime have been weakened and our younger generation must be familiarized with the protocols and the inhuman ideology of the regime,” he added.
The second game, Freedom Convoy, is based on the Israel Navy’s May 31 raid on the Mavi Marmara. Jokar described the maneuver, part of an Israeli effort to prevent ships from breaking the blockade of the Gaza Strip, as an Israeli attack, referring to the six foreign vessels as the “Freedom Flotilla.”
A number of Iranian military commanders, including Basij (volunteer forces) Commander Brig.-Gen. Muhammad Reza Naqdi and the deputy commander of the Armed Forces Headquarters, Masud Jazayeri, attended the ceremony.
“The downfall of oppressors is carried out by God...In the most pessimistic view, there will be no trace of the Zionist regime in 15 years,” Naqdi was quoted by Mehr as saying during the ceremony.
The “Zionist regime’s” place in history will be similar to those of the former Soviet regime and South Africa’s apartheid government, Naqdi added.
Jazayeri said that the games have been produced as an alternative for users who are being flooded with games manufactured by the US and Israel. He typified computer games as “soft weapons” – nonviolent measures used to change the population’s point of view – and said the US and Israel were using soft weapons against Iran alongside the “hard weapons” at their disposal.
According to the report, Iran plans to produce six additional sequels to “Devil Den.” The first installment in the series was released in 2009.
Many copies of the two new games were distributed free of charge to demonstrators participating in the al- Quds Day rally in Teheran.
Also at the rally, Iran’s military chief of staff said Teheran could strike Israel’s alleged nuclear facility if the Jewish state were to attack Iran’s nuclear sites.
Gen. Hasan Firouzabadi said Iran hopes there won’t “be a need to target the nuclear facility of the Zionist regime,” but if there is, Israel would receive “dreadful retribution.”
The rally is often used by Iranian officials to issue threats against Israel.
AP contributed to this report.
Artist and Producer Needed For Martial Law Album to be Distributed Through Island Def Jam/Vacant Lot Records
Artist and Producer Needed For Martial Law Album to be Distributed Through Island Def Jam/Vacant Lot Records
Vacant Lot Records, an independent New York record label who has worked with DMX, Jay Z, Mary J Blige, TI, Scarface, Silk The Shocker, Jadakiss and more, is looking for the hottest producer and artist (one of each) to feature on its Martial Law Album, distributed through Island Def Jam/Vacant Lot Records. At least one Sonicbids member is guaranteed to be featured.
The company is an emerging force in the Urban Music Industry. Singers, rappers and spoken word artists are welcome to submit as long as the submitted songs/beats are not typical. Dame Grease (founder of Vacant Lot who has also sold 35 million records) is looking for unusual tracks with creative twists.
Exposure for Martial Law will come from DJ networks, heavy radio campaigns, online, film, A&R and marketing professionals. Winners will be featured on the Martial Law album, in the media, physical copies and during public performances in selected areas. There will be online/physical distribution.
Martial Law will feature Dame Grease and other Major artists on his release. Formed in 1997, Dame Grease has accomplished major success in the Urban Market.
---
Press Reviews
Dame Grease Preps Artwork For Upcoming Album "Martial Law"
SOUL PITCH STREET WIRE
If you Been Following the Wave Gang Movement and I Know You Have cause we Have our very Own JAY Z saying on a Drake Record that's he's the Owww man! and we all know Max B didn't create Owww but actually made it his signature. Then Jay Z should reach out to Vacant Lot And say that Owww over a Dame Grease Beat! Now that would be something to Oww about.. for more information
Artist of the Week - Dame Grease
BRM MAGAZINE
On a Harlem, NY avenue, sometime in the late ‘80s, a thirteen-year-old Damon Blackmon, now known as Dame Grease, would remark to his friends that, “You’ll notice the sun don’t shine on this side of the block.” Upon further introspection he would state “We gotta go to the rooftop; we don’t have to be here.”
DAME GREASE NEWS
BILLBOARD MAGAZINE
Dame Grease has collaborated with such prominent New York rap artists as DMX, the LOX, and Nas. He even took a chance producing the enigmatic Tricky, primarily recognized as a trip-hop producer. Following this courageous project, he formed his own label, Vacant Lot, and began work on his debut release, Live on Lenox Ave., in which he produced superstar ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
Superbroke, Superfrugal, Superpower?
Superbroke, Superfrugal, Superpower?
In recent years, I have often said to European friends: So, you didn’t like a world of too much American power? See how you like a world of too little American power — because it is coming to a geopolitical theater near you. Yes, America has gone from being the supreme victor of World War II, with guns and butter for all, to one of two superpowers during the cold war, to the indispensable nation after winning the cold war, to “The Frugal Superpower” of today. Get used to it. That’s our new nickname. American pacifists need not worry any more about “wars of choice.” We’re not doing that again. We can’t afford to invade Grenada today.
 |
| Thomas L. Friedman |
Ever since the onset of the Great Recession of 2008, it has been clear that the nature of being a leader — political or corporate — was changing in America. During most of the post-World War II era, being a leader meant, on balance, giving things away to people. Today, and for the next decade at least, being a leader in America will mean, on balance, taking things away from people.
And there is simply no way that America’s leaders, as they have to take more things away from their own voters, are not going to look to save money on foreign policy and foreign wars. Foreign and defense policy is a lagging indicator. A lot of other things get cut first. But the cuts are coming — you can already hear the warnings from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. And a frugal American superpower is sure to have ripple effects around the globe.
“The Frugal Superpower: America’s Global Leadership in a Cash-Strapped Era” is actually the title of a very timely new book by my tutor and friend Michael Mandelbaum, the Johns Hopkins University foreign policy expert. “In 2008,” Mandelbaum notes, “all forms of government-supplied pensions and health care (including Medicaid) constituted about 4 percent of total American output.” At present rates, and with the baby boomers soon starting to draw on Social Security and Medicare, by 2050 “they will account for a full 18 percent of everything the United States produces.”
This — on top of all the costs of bailing ourselves out of this recession — “will fundamentally transform the public life of the United States and therefore the country’s foreign policy.” For the past seven decades, in both foreign affairs and domestic policy, our defining watchword was “more,” argues Mandelbaum. “The defining fact of foreign policy in the second decade of the 21st century and beyond will be ‘less.’ ”
When the world’s only superpower gets weighed down with this much debt — to itself and other nations — everyone will feel it. How? Hard to predict. But all I know is that the most unique and important feature of U.S. foreign policy over the last century has been the degree to which America’s diplomats and naval, air and ground forces provided global public goods — from open seas to open trade and from containment to counterterrorism — that benefited many others besides us. U.S. power has been the key force maintaining
global stability, and providing global governance, for the last 70 years. That role will not disappear, but it will almost certainly shrink.
Great powers have retrenched before: Britain for instance. But, as Mandelbaum notes, “When Britain could no longer provide global governance, the United States stepped in to replace it. No country now stands ready to replace the United States, so the loss to international peace and prosperity has the potential to be greater as America pulls back than when Britain did.”
After all, Europe is rich but wimpy. China is rich nationally but still dirt poor on a per capita basis and, therefore, will be compelled to remain focused inwardly and regionally. Russia, drunk on oil, can cause trouble but not project power. “Therefore, the world will be a more disorderly and dangerous place,” Mandelbaum predicts.
How to mitigate this trend? Mandelbaum argues for three things: First, we need to get ourselves back on a sustainable path to economic growth and reindustrialization, with whatever sacrifices, hard work and political consensus that requires. Second, we need to set priorities. We have enjoyed a century in which we could have, in foreign policy terms, both what is vital and what is desirable. For instance, I presume that with infinite men and money we can succeed in Afghanistan. But is it vital? I am sure it is desirable, but vital? Finally, we need to shore up our balance sheet and weaken that of our enemies, and the best way to do that in one move is with a much higher gasoline tax.
America is about to learn a very hard lesson: You can borrow your way to prosperity over the short run but not to geopolitical power over the long run. That requires a real and growing economic engine. And, for us, the short run is now over. There was a time when thinking seriously about American foreign policy did not require thinking seriously about economic policy. That time is also over.
An America in hock will have no hawks — or at least none that anyone will take seriously.
Friday, September 3, 2010
'Jerusalem Day paves the way for Israel's collapse'
'Jerusalem Day paves the way for Israel's collapse'
By JPOST.COM STAFF AND AP
09/03/2010 11:07
Ahmadinejad says "the Zionists are hypocrite racists" at rally on Quds Day, the last Friday of Ramadan; mob attacks home of opposition leader.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Israel "hypocrite racists" and a Western invention as Iranians celebrated International Jerusalem Day on Friday, the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, with rallies against the "Israeli occupation of Palestinian land by Israel" being held across the country, according to a report by Iranian news source PressTV.
Iranians held rallies in cities including Teheran, Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly adressed a Jerusalem Day rally in Teheran, saying "the Zionists are groups of hypocrite racists who have been operating under the pretext of following Jewish religion principles."
Ahmadinejad added that Israel is a Western invention meant to promote colonialism and materialism.
He also said that direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are a ruse, and that American negotiators are accomplices to Israeli "crimes" against Palestinians.
"Only Palestinians can decide on their own lands, not foreign powers," PressTV quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
Iran's ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Hamid-Reza Asefi said that Jerusalem Day threatens Israel more than any diplomatic or non-diplomatic measure, according to PressTV.
"By their glorious presence [in the Jerusalem Day rally], the Muslims of the world will tell the oppressed nation of Palestine that they are still beside the Palestinian people and ideals," Asefi reportedly said on Thursday.
According to Asefi, Jerusalem Day, also known as Quds day, has given the Muslim world confidence.
On Thursday, Iranian Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri told Iranian news agency IRNA that Jerusalem day "appears to pave the way for the collapse of Israel and its allies, namely the US and Britain."
"Now that the world public opinion has changed over the Israeli atrocities, and the popular resistance has gained momentum, the Zionists appear to be waning," Jazayeri added.
He also said that the talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority were bound to fail.
The late Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeinei declared Jerusalem Day to mark the last Friday of Ramadan and called for world rallies in favor of the Palestinians and against Israel.
PressTV quoted the Khomeinei as having said Jerusalem Day is "a day of confrontation between the oppressed and the oppressors."
Crowds attack home of Iranian opposition leader
Pro-government militiamen attacked the home of an Iranian opposition leader with homemade bombs and beat one of his bodyguards unconscious, an opposition website reported, in an apparent attempt to keep him from attending a key rally on Friday.
Mahdi Karroubi's guards had to fire gunshots in the air to clear crowds that broke down the door of his home on Thursday night after days of gatherings outside, said the Sahamnews website, which supports Iran's pro-reform movement.
The report said the attackers were members of the plainclothes Basij militia that led the crackdown on the protests that swept the country in response to allegations of fraud in President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's June 2009 re-election. Karroubi was one of the pro-reform candidates who ran against Ahmadinejad.
Crowds again encircled Karroubi's residence on Friday, as Iranians filled a central Teheran square for the annual state-sponsored rally known as Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day.
The government uses the occasion as an anti-Israel outpouring and to show its support for the Palestinians. But last year, Karroubi and other opposition leaders used the day to gather tens of thousands of their own supporters into the streets, and violent clashes broke out with security forces.
Crowds of hard-line protesters have gathered at the gate of his building for several days, apparently because they believed he would try to attend the rally again this year, though none of the opposition leaders has called for demonstrations.
Karroubi's son, Hossein, told The Associated Press Friday that dozens of hard-liners were continuing to damage the opposition leader's home and that police were not responding to the scene.
Karroubi, a cleric, and Mir Hossein Mousavi were the two pro-reform candidates who ran against Ahmadinejad in 2009. Mousavi claims he won the election but that it was stolen from him through massive fraud.
On Friday, Mousavi condemned the attack on Karroubi's home, saying it proved the government's "enmity against Israel is an excuse" for attacking opposition figures. "Karroubi and figures like him and other freedom-seekers are the real enemies of authoritarians."
Mexico army kills 27 members of drug cartel in shoot out near U.S. border
Mexico army kills 27 members of drug cartel in shoot out near U.S. border
Last updated at 12:58 PM on 3rd September 201
Soldiers killed 27 suspected cartel members in a raid and gun battle near the U.S. border that has seen a surge in drug gang violence.
A reconnaissance flight over Ciudad Mier in Tamaulipas state spotted several gunmen in front of a property, according to Mexico's Defence Department.
When troops on the ground moved in, gunmen opened fire, starting a battle that killed 27 suspected cartel members, the military said.
 |
| Aftermath: Soldiers stand next to weapons seized at a warehouse in Tamaulipas, Mexico, after a gunfight with drug gang members which left 25 dead |
The statement said two soldiers were injured but none was killed.
Earlier, a military spokesman had said the shootout happened when troops on patrol in neighbouring Nuevo Leon state came under fire from a ranch allegedly controlled by the Zetas drug gang.
The spokesman said the troops returned fire at a ranch, known as 'The Stump'.
A defence department statement later said the shootout took place in Tamaulipas.
Authorities rescued three people believed to be kidnap victims in the raid, according to the statement.
The military said troops seized 25 rifles, four grenades, 4,200 rounds of ammunition and 23 vehicles.
 |
| Investigation: Detectives retrieve evidence from the scene in the wake of the shooting |
 |
| Raid: The military said 25 rifles, four grenades, 4,200 rounds of ammunition and 23 vehicles had been seized |
Violence has surged in north-eastern Mexico this year since the Zetas broke ranks with their former employer, the Gulf cartel, making Tamaulipas one of the country's most dangerous battlegrounds.
In June, gunmen ambushed and killed the leading candidate for state governor a week before the elections. And in May a mayoral candidate in Tamaulipas was assassinated.
In August, Mexican marines discovered the bodies of 72 Central and South American migrants believed to have been gunned down by the Zetas after refusing to smuggle drugs, in what may be the deadliest cartel massacre to date.
The dead migrants were discovered at a ranch about 100 miles from the US border in Tamaulipas.
The Zetas began as a gang of drug assassins but have since evolved into a powerful cartel.
Drug violence has claimed more than 28,000 lives since President Felipe Calderon intensified a crackdown on cartels after taking office in late 2006.
 |
| Bloody scene: The body of one of the cartel members lies by the road after the shootout. His hands are cuffed. |
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Israeli-Palestinian conflict takes center stage in Washington
Israeli-Palestinian conflict takes center stage in Washington
From Ed Henry and Alan Silverleib, CNN
September 1, 2010 10:25 p.m. EDT
Washington (CNN) -- Ahead of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians on Thursday, President Barack Obama said Wednesday night that he was "hopeful -- cautiously hopeful" that the talks could achieve a two-state solution to the long running Mideast conflict.
"Though each of us holds a title of honor --- president, prime minister, king --- we are bound by the one title we share,"
Obama said on a stage with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the leaders of Egypt and Jordan.
"We are fathers, blessed with sons and daughters," Obama said. "So we must ask ourselves what kind of world do we want to bequeath to our children and our grandchildren."
The president was speaking at the start of a working White House dinner with Netanyahu, Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Each made remarks before the dinner.
"We don't seek a brief interlude between two wars, we don't seek a temporary respite between outbursts of terror," Netanyahu said. "We seek a peace that will end the conflict between us once and for all... for our generation, our children's generation and the next."
Netanyahu and Abbas condemned attacks against the Israelis in recent days.
"We do not want any blood to be shed -- one drop of blood from the Israelis or the Palestinians," said Abbas. "We want peace between the two countries... let us sign a formal agreement for peace and put an end to this long period of suffering forever."
In earlier remarks from the White House Rose Garden, Obama said that "this moment of opportunity may not soon come again."
With the U.S. war in Iraq drawing to a close, the Middle East moved front and center for administration officials Wednesday as Obama held a series of high-stakes meetings with Israeli and Arab leaders.
Obama huddled behind closed doors at the White House with the Israeli and Arab leaders.
On Wednesday night, Obama called the talks "very productive."
But he also pointed to challenges ahead. "We are under no illusions," he said. "Passions run deep... there's a reason that the two-state solution has eluded previous generations --- this is extraordinarily complex and extraordinarily difficult."
"But," he continued, "we know that the status quo is unsustainable."
Obama and Netanyahu met first on Wednesday, briefly addressing reporters to condemn, in Obama's words, the "senseless slaughter" of two men and two women Tuesday near the West Bank city of Hebron.
"Terrorists ... are purposely trying to undermine these talks," Obama said. "The message should go out (that this attack) is not going to stop" the United States from backing Israel and the peace process.
Later, after meeting with Abbas, he said that "we are making progress" in negotiations.
During his meetings with Abbas and King Abdullah, according to the White House, Obama was joined by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, National Security Advisor Gen. James Jones, and former Sen. George Mitchell, among others. Mitchell is Obama's special envoy for Middle East peace.
At stake is a unique "window of opportunity" for a breakthrough in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within the next year, according Mitchell. Talks have been stalled for a year and a half.
The hurdles, however, remain steep. One immediate threat is the looming September 26 expiration of Israel's 10-month freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat indicated to CNN this week that if Israel does not extend the freeze, direct talks may quickly fall apart.
Netanyahu will have "closed the door in my face" if settlement construction resumes, Erakat said. Pressed on whether the Palestinian delegation would walk out of talks at that point, Erakat said that "we will not be able to go."
Netanyahu can have settlements or peace, but he can't have both, Erakat said.
Another roadblock to any comprehensive deal is the Palestinian view that any two-state solution must include a handover of all the land Israel captured in the 1967 war, along with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. While Netanyahu has expressed openness about a Palestinian state, he has expressed strong opposition to a Palestinian takeover of East Jerusalem.
The issue of Hamas control of Gaza, Erakat noted, also remains a "major problem." While Gaza is generally considered to be part of any future Palestinian state, Hamas has refused to recognize Israel's right to exist and is not a part of the talks. Hamas leaders are frequently in conflict with the more moderate Abbas and his Fatah organization, which has the upper hand in the West Bank.
Mitchell, however, told reporters Tuesday that both Netanyahu and Abbas are noting polls showing fear of intensified conflict if negotiations fall apart.
This is "a moment in time within which there remains the possibility of achieving the two-state solution," Mitchell asserted. "The alternatives ... pose far greater difficulties and far greater problems in the future."
Several top officials close to the negotiations conceded to CNN that it is hard to be optimistic about a peace deal at the moment. They downplayed expectations, saying that nobody directly involved in the talks expects a deal to be reached this week. But simply resuming talks was a critical step, and a comprehensive Middle East peace deal has been one of Obama's top foreign policy goals, they said.
"The biggest breakthrough would be an agenda [emerging Thursday] for a second round of meetings soon to move forward," one top official actively engaged in the talks said.
Clinton is set to play the main role in the talks on Thursday, hosting a meeting at the State Department with Netanyahu and Abbas.
CNN's Hala Gorani and David Molko contributed to this report
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)