50 cent sell a new opiate to the masses

So Curtis Jackson will be getting a television show on MTV. Viacom must be drooling. The executives there must salivate inbetween laughter at the thought that a ex-convict, crack drug dealer, making them money legally. It’s such a dumb idea that it probably will work.

50 cent, will have a program on MTV where people will compete in a business oriented reality program. Now my initial thoughts are these



Expanding on that thought I wonder what the competitions on this program will be. Who can take the biggest drag on a crack pipe? Who can stand longer after being shot? Who can run from the police on foot the fastest?

Perhaps I’m being too harsh. This high school dropout might actually be smarter than the things he has done in the past. He might have taken time in prison to educate himself. But I doubt it.

I obviously have a problem with unrepentant drug dealers that are glorified and promoted by corporations that wish to profit off of the worst aspects of the Black community. I dislike the fact that this sell-out will get pennies on the dollar to showcase a program where other people (inevitably mostly Black I assume) will run around looking foolish to make even fewer pennies on the dollar – if they win – all for the amusement and benefit of Sumner Redstone, Viacom, and such.

Think about it. In the 1970’s it became impossible for these people to make money degrading Blacks publicly. In the 1990’s they saw and developed the ability to continue to disenfranchise and minimize Blacks via a medium that was already there, rap. They created and promoted gangsta rap, using the worst representation of the Black community – drug dealers. In effect they now have Black minstrels that go out and say words (especially the n-word) that they can’t say for fear of lawsuits, and rap in money while watching music videos that allow them to envision their greatest fetishes.

Am I against 50 cent having a show on MTV, BET, or any cable or television channel? Unless it’s a program where he is promoting people getting cleans and sober, or having drug dealers apologize for the death and pain they create, no I don’t. Because anything else is the blatant attempt to profit off of his infamy and usability.

In 5 years Curtis Jackson will likely be a fleeting thought. He will likely be relegated to some top 40 playlist when radio stations revisit the past hits. He’ll pop up on a VH1 remembering the 2000 program. But likely that will be it. Because he is not memorable. He is not unique. He is barely capable of being called an artist. And with his loss of fame will go his money, I’m sure.

But until his 15 minutes are up, after he has been milked for every dime he can squeeze out of young White teens in the suburbs and the Black community, he will be dropped as fast as every other rapper you can’t name from the past decade that was once the top.

If you see this program on MTV - 50 Cent: The Money and the Power – know that you are filling the coffers of men that collect money for the buffoonery of 50 cent. If you watch this know that you are spitting on the graves of crackheads that died so that Curtis Jackson could wear the latest trend in clothing at one point in his life. Because every dollar and dime that goes to anything with 50 cent is another dagger in the backs of people Curtis Jackson poisoned and never looked back on.

But if you disagree, if you have a reason I (or anyone) should see this show, please let me know. I’d love to hear that argument.

Guns 'N Roses cause guns and arrest

During the last 3 days I’ve been suffering from a sprain in my shoulder. It’s making my typing difficult to do, especially in the amounts I normally do. Considering how much I’ve written on the Democratic National Convention, I haven’t been able to do much more.

But when I saw this I had to tell you about it. Bloggers beware, the FBI are cracking down.

Now I do respect the laws of the nation, and the FBI. But they have gone way too far. It seems that Kevin Cogill, of Antiquiet, was arrested by the FBI because he put 9 songs from the upcoming Guns ‘N Roses Chinese Democracy album on his site.

The FBI arrived at dawn, reportedly en masse. They arrested Cogill with no lack of impending doom as you might expect. And the reason why is that he released the songs ahead of time, breaking copyright laws. Even though the songs had been removed by the time of arrest.

Since when is that the proper response? Since when does the FBI bother with a copyright issue? Isn’t this normally an issue that lawyers resolve with a stroke of a pen, threatening a lawsuit if the material is not removed (which it was)?

This is overkill, and a problem for bloggers of all sizes. If ABC News, or MTV, the news media, or Sirius Radio played the songs before release (which radio stations have long done) there would never be FBI closing down those companies. The DJ responsible would never be yanked of the air until they can make bail. They would never have to face criminal charges in court.

We bloggers are powerful, there is no question. I reach 119 countries each month on this blog alone. I write for about 40 blogs (when I’m in good health) each month. And I am often controversial and critical in what I write. I’m sure that I piss off various parts of the Government, politicians, entertainers and celebrities, Hollywood, athletes, countries, racists, and a host of others on a regular basis. Does that mean I should fear the police?

My posts have been usurped by other websites that I don’t write to. PrettyShady.com stole my post on Brawlin'at the Belmar - my first BMX Pro-Am dirt jumping tournament, calling me an employee. [They also have false information on their contacts – protecting them from being told to remove information] But I didn’t decide to get the FBI to arrest them for violating my copyrights. [I do not authorize the wholesale copying of my posts or content, though excepts with links and/or full credit are permissible.] But the precedent stated means that I could have done that instead of letting them know to remove the copied material or face a lawsuit.

If the FBI can arrest a blogger for releasing a song early, what is next? Arrests because you used a public photo (with credit to its source) of a politician in a negative post? Possession of a podcast or post on a laptop or cell phone means federal charges for distribution or receiving stolen goods? And how long is it before a blogger just gets arrested because they wrote something someone else did not like.

I think about it now and I suppose that the movie previews that I do might violate a copyright, in that the person that got the video clip may or may not have had permission. Does that mean I should expect the FBI at my corporate office looking to arrest me, SWAT team in tow? Just because I think Oliver Stone is a politically biased loudmouth?

This may not sound serious, but my fellow bloggers it is. Stay aware.

I just hope the bloody Guns ‘N Roses album will be worth even half this trouble. But I doubt it.

Viacom just doesn't stop Part 3 - 8.21.2007.4

Concluded from Viacom just doesn't stop Part 2...

Many wish to target the parts of the Viacom machine. It is a good concept and effective to a degree. Change of one portion of their multiple arms does have an effect. Yet serious change to all the parts might only be possible in addressing the most important part of the corporation, its shareholders.

If you are tired of your mother, sister, girlfriend, wife and/or daughter being equated to a drug-addled, stupid, lump of flesh place on the earth for the mere pleasuring of any guy with money in his pocket, you might want to check your 401k and stock investments. If you are more than the potential subject of a police line-up, are only connected to Grand Theft Auto by the video game, can spell the word investment and know what it means, have meaningful relationships, all without the aid of a government handout you also might want to check with your stockbroker. Pull all of your shares and any mutual fund that owns Viacom except one share.

The reason to keep one share of Viacom, or a reason to buy one, is so you can go to the annual shareholder meeting and bring up a referendum on why the management has such disrespect for African Americans. Done with a letter signed by each shareholder that agrees with this question and a copy of this question and the signed letter of those asking going to each advertiser of VH-1, MTV, and BET. That can get Viacom to change regardless of the direction Redstone and Dauman seem to continue to take.

In the meantime, I see less and less of a reason to watch the programming of the Viacom company. It’s beyond insensitivity, as the post from Miss J states. This is active stereotyping and exploitation in my view. I cannot support such actions by lending my viewership. Can you?

This is what I think, what do you think?

Viacom just doesn't stop - 8.21.2007.2

I noticed something today at one of the blogs of a fellow blogger I know, Miss J author of La Femme Américaine Noire. It was a post on VH-1 and the story was something I missed completely. At issue was the cancellation of a planned VH-1 program featuring interracial dating. A topical issue and one that raises the ire of quite a few Black women.

What I learned was both troubling and inflammatory, though not terribly surprising. Here are Miss J’s words on the subject.

What I was NOT happy about was their reason behind doing it. Supposedly, the REAL reason was because they didn't feel a show with "educated" sounding black women would get ratings. Comments from the site that featured the story about this show being shelved included a few from black employees of VH-1.

Here is one quote: "I am the employee that leaked the information about the reason Vh1 turned down this reality show Interracial Love. It was told to the creators that this was not something Vh1 was looking to do right now and it did not fit with their network. The truth is that we was told to tell the creators this however that is not what was said behind closed doors. The truth is that this show does not fit the mold just as they said however they left out the part what also was said. This is word for word what was said, 'This is not a good fit for us here at Vh1 we are not interested in showing this family or black women in the positive light this show wants to. It is our thoughts that the viewers are more interested in seeing black people in a ghetto role. This show will not sell. Black women are looked at as being ghetto and not educated so we need to pass on this project.'”

I have always found Miss J to be a credible blogger, with insight and attention to detail. I have no doubt that the information on the VH-1 program is as reliable as is possible to determine. That is where I find a sadness and irritation. Not with Miss J, but VH-1 and Viacom it’s parent company.

Viacom seems to have the least understanding of and interest in African Americans, while at the same time a dedicated interest in profiting from this same target group. We are just a means of exploitation, as concluded by the actions of this public corporation. I don’t mean exploited like Nike targeting $150 sneakers to inner city teenagers with the concept that they will allow the kids to become professional basketball players or other athlete entertainers. I mean exploited as in the proliferation of gangsta rap music as the only option in the music genre, promoting drugs and violence.

Viacom owns VH-1 in addition to MTV and Black Entertainment Television (no connection to this blog). At each cable channel the main attempts to provide programming that directly attracts African Americans involves gansta rap, music video hoochies, drugs, violence, materialism, misogyny, lack of education, alcohol, and poverty. You might say where are those things happening? You didn’t see that, where did I?

Continued in Part 2...