I shall set aside my disdain for Timbaland for a second and talk about a lil nugget of a quote from him.
And for personal reasons I'd like to work again with Ginuwine.
Say WORD?!!
Now, I've talked before about how some of the songs on JT's album sound like they were meant for Ginuwine. The vibe. Let's face it, before there was a Sexyback, there was a PONY! And I think a new Ginuwine album would sound perfectly 'modern' in 2007/08. No 'changes' to the formula just for the sake of change.(which is the idea behind Timbaland's solo album, he's tryin to prove something I guess)
"I knew I wanted to do something different musically," he says. I got criticized for that. Labels wouldn't give me a shot. They were saying, 'He's lost it; he's over.'"
I could go on about how Timbaland's 'sound' isn't drastically different from the 'ol days'. The only thing different are the types of artists that he has chosen to work with.(Besides Missy, and oh, he's supposed to be working with Eve, M.I.A, Chris Brown, Curtissss, Missy and Madonna upcoming)
But that's not what I'm here to talk about.
I'm ALL FOR a new Ginuwine jawn. Some of that mid-nineties CLASSICSuperFriends shit.
Not for the nostalgia of it (okay, maybe a lil bit), but because I think JT's album proves that the typical/classic Timbaland formula still sells.
Now, I'm curious to hear what he'll do with M.I.A.? And I STILL CAN'T FIND MY CD!!!
I already told ya'll my Rage and Wu story, now they're at it again.
Foxy Brown says the po-po roughed her up. Apparently, the cops 'took her down' during her arrest. DAYUM! Video footage of that would be fuckin priceless.
DefJam, fucked up, say it isn't SOHH Reckless? Still waiting on RED GONE WILD!
And how does EVERY single post get into DipSet? Someway, somehow?
Moving on…
Dr. Dre says Detox will be out this year. Do you believe him?
Ciceroe wrote about the Game and Buck situation, that now involves Jeezy. Nahright.com has some video footage of what went down. Man…Buck has some hoe tendencies.
Also from nahright, G-Depsigned a 10yr contract w/Diddy for $350,000?? What is he, stupid? And why is G-Dep smashin mobile phones up in a t-mobile store?? Cuz he's stupid?? Maybe??
Recently, Glenn Greenwald appeared on the The Alan Colmes Show with Frank Gaffney over an article Gaffney had written suggesting that Democrats criticizing the Iraq war are guilty of treason and should be hanged.
Frank Gaffney was doing all this, using a BOGUSAbraham Lincoln quote, which he later admitted was untrue, but alas, that didn't stop him from continuing on using already debunked 'factoids' contained in the Duelfer Report on Saddam Hussein's WMD programs.
Here is a 'lie-by-lie' breakdown of the claims Gaffney made during his appreance on Colmes' radio show (per Glenn Greenwalds' open suggestion):
(First, the Duelfer Report is an interesting document in an of itself, as Charles Duelfer himself writes in the Introduction, 'This report will deny the reader any simple answers.' The report also makes it clear that the reader will be bringing his/her own 'assumptions and logic' to the table when examining the findings of the report as they apply to broader questions like 'Was the Iraq War wrong?' etc. etc. This is simply an examination of Gaffney's explicit claims he made during his radio appearance with Glenn.)
1.) @8:52 of part 2 of the interview emphasis mine
The Iraq Survey Group…found…there was a 'hot' production line for chemical and biological agents in Iraq, that there were plans to ramp it up when sanctions were lifted, which was imminent, and to place the products of those lines into aerosol cans and perfume sprayers for shipment to the United States and Europe, that's…, that's documented fact.
The inference being, Saddam would give them to al-Qaeda, which is why we had to invaded Iraq.
2.) @14:50 of part 2 of the interview emphasis mine
Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Distruction programs and plans to ramp them up and use them against us…he had production of these chemical and biological agents and he planned to put them in weapons to ship to the United States. Now that's the kind of thing that did require, I believe, the liberation of the country (Iraq).
Again, we had to take Saddam out, or else.
The basic debunking of both these claims by Gaffney appear, really (literally), on a single page of the Duelfer Report.
Gaffney's intent was to suggest, that because Saddam had 'bad intentions', and was simply waiting for his chance to unleash all his WMDs (or worse, give them to terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda), that regime change was the only course of action. (For those of us who are willing to 'accept the facts' about what the ISG (Iraq Study Group) said about Saddam's weapons programs)
In short, Frank Gaffney is guilty of the same tactic he accuses Glenn of during the interview. Ignoring facts that don't support his central argument.
Telling 'half-truths' in an attempt to help bolster his 'half-lies'.
When Frank Gaffney says that Saddam was just 'waiting for the sanctions to be lifted' before he reconstituted his weapons programs, that's 'true'.
From the 'Key Findings' section of Volume III: Iraq's Chemical Warfare Program
Saddam never abandoned his intentions to resume a CW effort when sanctions were lifted and conditions were judged favorable
But everything else, is NOT so true, or at best 'stretched' in order to support the war.
There are caveats and 'if/then' clauses all over the report in regards to 'what it all means' in terms of the larger questions of 'Global Terrorism' and the like.
Saddam did NOT have 'hot' chemical and biological production lines. ( I suppose by 'hot' Frank means 'actively producing or flip-a-switch and start producing' )
Iraq constructed a number of new plants starting in the mid-1990s that enhanced its chemical infrastructure, although its overall industry had not fully recovered from the effects of sanctions, and had not regained pre-1991 technical sophistication or production capabilities prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).
They had factories, but not the 'technical sophistication' to produce any weapons.
Continued: emphasis mine
ISG did not discover chemical process or production units configured to produce key precursors or CW agents. However, site visits and debriefs revealed that Iraq maintained its ability for reconfiguring and ‘making-do’ with available equipment as substitutes for sanctioned items.
Again, with a caveat, they may have been able to 'make do' and get something started if they really wanted to, but nothing to confirm any intent to do so prior to OIF.
More:
Discussions concerning WMD, particularly leading up to OIF, would have been highly compartmentalized within the Regime. ISG found no credible evidence that any field elements knew about plans for CW use during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
They had no pre-invasion plans to use chemical weapons as a 'last stand' option if the United States invaded the country. (Use 'em if ya got 'em, right?)
Frank might try to pick on this part so I'll include it:
ISG uncovered information that the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) maintained throughout 1991 to 2003 a set of undeclared covert laboratories to research and test various chemicals and poisons, primarily for intelligence operations. The network of laboratories could have provided an ideal, compartmented platform from which to continue CW agent R&D or small-scale production efforts, but we have no indications this was planned. (See Annex A.)
So, they had secret labs, but…reading on:
ISG has no evidence that IIS Directorate of Criminology (M16) scientists were producing CW or BW agents in these laboratories. However, sources indicate that M16 was planning to produce several CW agents including sulfur mustard, nitrogen mustard, and Sarin.
No evidence of actual production, but indications of future plans (I plan to retire at 50)?
What about the issue of moving production from location to location to avoid inspections:
ISG investigated a series of key pre-OIF indicators involving the possible movement and storage of chemical weapons, focusing on 11 major depots assessed to have possible links to CW. A review of documents, interviews, available reporting, and site exploitations revealed alternate, plausible explanations for activities noted prior to OIF which, at the time, were
believed to be CW-related.
But what did they find: emphasis mine
ISG investigated pre-OIF activities at Musayyib Ammunition Storage Depot—the storage site that was judged to have the strongest link to CW. An extensive investigation of the facility revealed that there was no CW activity, unlike previously assessed.
No CW activity. The same pretty much applies to the biological weapons (BW) program as well.
To repeat, Charles Duelfer warns the reader at the beginning of the report that 'Readers will draw their own conclusions about various national and international actions and policies'. And how!!!
But let us be clear that Frank Gaffney's use of the 'facts' found in the Duelfer Report leave much to be desired. The 'imminent threat', 'boggieman' narrative that led up to the Iraq invasion was an exaggeration. The policy of containment through sanctions was working. Regardless of whether or not Saddam was just waiting in the weeds for the UN to forget about him so that he could continue on his quest for chemical and biological weapons at some later date.
The debate as to whether or not the preemptive military strike against Iraq was wrong, or not, really shouldn't obscure the fact that the Frank Gaffney's of the world will lie, lie, lie when given the chance.
**UPDATE**
Totally unrelated to the topic at hand…um yeah…so I get home from work to find out that my girlfriend of 4 years has packed up half her shit and moved out.
Foxy Brown has been arrested in Florida. Due to a 'situation' that happened in a beauty supply store. Why is it that every time Foxy comes into contract with people in the 'beauty' industry…the police get called? Remember the last case she caught was over a $20 manicure. Trife…
The couple who kept some of their adopted kids in cages, gets two years. WTF? Not to play the race card, but GOD DAMN if they catch a nigga with some rock cocaine. Sheeeeeet!
New videos courtesy of Honey Soul. Gnarls Barkley, Musiq, and Joss Stone featuring Raphael Saadiq. I took a quick listen to that Joss Stone, she's puttin a lil bit of STANK on it chirren. And Soul Man said he thought Raphael's production 'wasn't sounding right'?? Nevermind him.
Audioslave is OVER. Chris Cornell has left the band. Ya'll did hear that Rage Against the Machine is reuniting for ONE SHOW coming in April? DAMN, that's gonna be some shit! Chris says his album will also feature a cover of 'Billy Jean'. No your eyes have not failed you. That's MJ kidz! Sidebar: Chris also seems to now have a 'never say never' attitude towards a Soundgarden reunion. Hmmm.
Speaking of MJ, dude is singing backup on some 'rappers' track featured on Myspace. Oh, Pras is on the track too. In case you cared.
Diamond Dave talks Van Halen. I know I said I wasn't payin close to $100 to see ANYBODY, but damnit, if David Lee Roth brings it like the Golden Days, fuck. Just to see it live for myself might just be worth it. I won't tell ya'll how I missed my chance at seeing Rage back in the day, all cuz funky ass Wu-Tang skipped out on the show (and didn't announce it until the DAY OF) and pissed me off so bad I didn't even wanna go to the concert anymore.
Fall Out Boy debuts at #1 with 260,000 units sold. Lemme get this out of the way, I can't STAND Fall Out Boy. Do you hear me? They SUCK live.
Norah Jones #2 236,000
Daughtry #3 76,000 (Sidebar:Some friends of mine were on the radio yesterday playing a Valentines Day couples game and I was recording it for them, anywayz, the chick on the radio say's that Daughtry is a 'real rocker'. Muahahahahah!)
But the REAL news is my boy Robin Thicke has moved up to #6 with 61,000. A 17% increase over last week. Slow burn bitches, slow burn.
May I also note that Mr. Timberlake is at #10. A lil bump from his Grammy performances with 48,000, up from #16 last week. According to some 'What Goes Around' is supposed to be the 'sleeper' single on the album?(along with some other song that has yet to be released) We shall see. I did see the video for it though. Eh.
Did ya'll hear the lil rumor about Lilly Allen saying Corrine Baily Rae was 'BORING'?
Oooooh! CAT FIGHT!Nah, just playin. (I'm playin about a cat fight, not about Lily saying it, just to be clear) But I happened to watch Lilly Allen's Conan performance this morning…
me thinks Ms. Allen might wanna pump her brakes a lil bit. Yeah boo. You wasn't doin to much ya damn self.
I'll have more later. Bossman wants me to do some busy work. So busy work I shall do.
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