Drunk Fans

Apparently more than one person reads this site. How do I know more than one person reads this site? I just got a call from a bunch of drunk students who go to Roanoke College me. When they called they asked me to say "goodmorning Seattle." I did. Even thoughy I don't know why it would be any more morning in Seattle than it is in Virginia. I know not to argue with drunk people. For those who are asking, yes, I am sober and am usually sober at 3:30AM on Wednesdays.

I find it kind of cool though that people could find me through technology. I have no idea how they found my site. I do know that they figured out, eventually, that my screenname and the name of my email address matched. They were able to make the connection and find my phone number on my profile. Kind of cool really.

Hey guys if you are ever plan on calling again try and do it at reasonable hours say before 2AM or After 8:30AM. I think I'm going to sleep soon. I hope this is not too incoherent a post. (That would describe all my posts.)

I Want My Candy!
"They got a war on drugs so the police can bother me." - Tupac
The Drug Czar remarked on Washington Journal that the $23 Billion spent on the war on drugs is not that large an amount of money if you realize that the nation spends $19 Billion on candy. So let's get this straight I could get a war on drugs or my fair share of free candy. I'd take the free candy any day.

Henry Payne writes in National Review what we can learn about the failures of urban planning from 8 Mile. Quote:

And so we have 8 Mile. It is sober reminder that at the dawn of the 21st century, America's greatest challenge is not to be more civil to those among us who "look different." Legally, minorities have achieved the means to fight injustice in this country. Today, much greater injustices are being perpetuated by government policies that are depriving inner-city children of the hope to grow up in stable families and communities.

AllHipHop.com is reporting that police are planing on arresting Curtis Scoon any day now. It is reported that police have DNA evidence linking Curtis Scoon to the scene of the crime. Jam Master Jay may have owed Scoon as much as $10,000. JMJ claimed he did not owe the money and was then shot over the $10,000. A sad story of peacefull man being shot over nothing.

David Carr is optimistic of the chances of Chinese society moving closer to a free society. I hope he's right.

Looks like Suge Knight is going back to jail.

Jesse Ventura On TV

Jesse Ventura is currently in negotiations to do a news talk-show on one of the major cable networks, probably MSNBC. Ventura would be a hell of a lot better than Matthews or O'Reilly is now.

BlogCritics has an interview up that was done with Jam Master Jay six weeks before his tragic death.

UPDATE: Jam Master Jay was a peacefull man. RUN-DMC made peacefull music. I don't understand how one could come to any other conclusion. JMJ never bragged about his possesions or pretended to be any type of "gangsta" thug. To think otherwise is to not know anything about Jam Mater Jay.

Greg Beato has an essay on Eminem's recent album.

(Link via Matt Welch)

Conservatives Can Joke About Foreign Countries but Rappers Better Not Mention Violence
Some conservatives are awfully hawkish; maybe even a little too irrationaly hawkish. First, Ann Coulter proposed bombing France after Afghanistan. Now, Johan Goldberg has suggested bombing Canada. Why does he want to bomb Canada? Because they are made up of too many pacifists. Canadians have correctly criticized him for making such a ridiculous statement. Conservatives will just brush this off as a humurous joke. Maybe it is and I just don't get it. I just hope conservatives realize what has been said in the past by fellow conservatives before they criticize rappers like Eminem for violent lyrics although he doesn't intend to do whunat he talks about just like Jonah Goldberg didn't really want to blow up a building in Canada. Just as Jonah's suggestions were his way of dealing with problems Canada may have; Eminem dealt with the problems with his mom and wife by talking about killing them. Do I advocate violence in music? No. Do I advocate bombing industrialized countries like Canada or France? No. I just don't like people having a double standard.

Ken Layne is back and as good as ever. QUOTE:

One thing I find semi-interesting is how the Bush White House is turning into a big-government FDR scene. When's the last time a president launched massive domestic make-work efforts like federalized airport security and this Homeland New Deal or whatever it's called? This domestic security thing is going to employ a helluva lot of people. And I know a few people who plan to get seriously rich selling gizmos to the government.

That's the probably the worst 'graph in his latest blog posts.

Harry Allen celebrates Jam Mater Jay's life and Run-DMC's contributions. It ends with a great quote from DMC:

"After we give him his tribute, and bury him with dignity, his legacy's gonna live on. But as long as that legacy lives on, simultaneously, there has to be an idea that goes along with it."

Jim Treacher sets the media straight on Jackass imitators.

Newsday has an interview with Missy Elliot in which talks about improving the state of hip-hop. Quote:

"I want kids of this generation to see that everything is cool, that there's some kind of unity in hip-hop. We all found something that's really important to us, and music is all we've really got."

Orin Kerr explains the differint types of judicial activism.

Davey D has some suggestions on what the hip-hop community should really do in the wake of Jam Master Jay's death.

AllHipHop.com has an updated report on the search for Jam Master Jay's killer. The main suspect is Curtis Scoon of Queens and Georgia. Scoon has apparently hired a high priced attorney for his defense. Scoon fled from police during negotiations for his rest under fear of death threats.

New York Newsday reports that RUN-DMC is no more. The group will do no more performances. The group decided to call it quits after the death of Jam Master Jay. Looking back I wish I had seen one performance of RUN-D.M.C.

The Village Voice frames the current state of hip-hop movies as remeniscing on the struggle to make it in the hip-hop community. The author argues that the current state of the hip-hop industry consists of highly paid artists in just another industry. Although that is true to a point hip-hop culture has always been about the small bussinessmen, or hustler, trying to make his way up in the ghetto. While Jon Caramanica claims there is a remeniscing of hip-hop's "infantile capitalist" state I look at this more of the success of an artist creating something out of nothing; the true American capitalist experience.

Cedric Muhammed questions Tim Russert's connection between the sniper and hip-hop.

Hip-Hop needs to embrace the philosophy and direction of The Zulu Nation. The Zulu Nation was an organization formed in the early 1970's by members of the Black Spades who were tired of the gangster lifestyle. The Zulu Nation, led by Afrika Bambaataa, created an organization to organize youth in the hip-hop community and provided protection from asorted gang violence. Those in the hip-hop community must do something to curb the surrounding violence. This may be the only way to prevent the tragic deaths like those of Jam Master Jay.

This website has some pretty funny cartoon music videos.

Which Founding Father Are You?

Can They Catch Jam Master Jay's Killer?

Chuck Karczag posts speculation about the killer being hard to find. I am afraid this may be the case. Will the police let this one stay unsolved just like the Tupac and Biggie murders? On the other hand the police do have videotape from security camera of the shooting.

Eric Raymond connects the anti-war movement to communists.