music of the week
Month: August 2014
The Untold Story of The Arab Islamic Slave trade
Judge: Shakira’s Hit Song ‘Loca’ Ripped Off From Dominican Songerwriter’s Work
it’s not the first time Shakira and company copy somebody’s music
It was an international hit in 2010, but a federal judge has found that pop singer Shakira’s Spanish-language single “Loca” was copied from another songwriter’s work.
According to The Hollywood Reporter
, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan ruled Tuesday that the Colombian singer’s song infringed on the work of Dominican songwriter Ramon Arias Vasquez, who wrote “Loca con su Tiguera” in the late 1990s.
While the song was released in both Spanish and English, the copyright lawsuit focused mainly on the Spanish version. As a result, Hellerstein dismissed the claims against the English-language track, citing lack of evidence.
Mayimba Music, which holds the rights to Vasquez’s song, sued Sony Corp and several other Sony subsidiaries in 2012. The judge found only two of them liable, Sony/ATV Latin and Sony/ATV Discos, for distributing Shakira’s song in Spanish.
Hellerstein said Shakira’s single was based on a 2007 song by Dominican rapper Edwin Bello Pou, better known as El Cata, which also copied Arias and was distributed by Sony
According to THR, Vazquez testified he had written the song in the 1990s after being inspired by his sister’s relationship with a street tough guy. He told the court that about eight years ago he met Pou and showed him two of his songs, including “Loca con su Tiguera.”
Pou denied this happened and said the song was his, inspired by his relationship with his ex-wife. He recorded the song and it made him famous
Hellerstein found that Vazquez’s version and Pou’s song have a similar structure and both are driven by hooks framing one long verse.
“These hooks play a similar function in both songs,” he wrote in his findings. “Similar rhythm in both hooks drive the songs. The repetitions are slightly different, but the differences do not affect the song.”
Although Shakira’s version uses the word “tigre” (tiger) instead of “tiguere,” which is Dominican slang to be tough street guy, Hellerstein said the meaning was the same.
The judge said because Shakira’s version is based on Pou’s song, who copied Arias’ work, “whoever wrote Skakira’s version of the song also indirectly copied Arias.”
Damages and a permanent injunction requested by the Mayimba against Sony will be determined at a later date.
Atheist Experience – Bible is not the evidence of god
#womenagainstfeminism for Aug 25, 2014
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Hey CNN, what about 3 grieving dads? by 5723Michael
Women only tv company self destructs over petty female infighting
Over in one corner sat Alice, a strong-minded 27-year-old who always said what she thought, regardless of how much it might hurt someone else. In the other corner was Sarah, a thirtysomething high-flier who would stand up for herself momentarily – then burst into tears and run for the ladies.
Their simmering fight lasted hours, egged on by spectators taking sides and fuelling the anger. Sometimes other girls would join in, either heckling aggressively or huddling defensively in the toilets. It might sound like a scene from a tawdry reality show such as Big Brother, but the truth is a little more prosaic: it was just a normal morning in my office.
The venomous women were supposedly the talented employees I had headhunted to achieve my utopian dream – a female- only company with happy, harmonious workers benefiting from an absence of men.
It was an idealistic vision swiftly shattered by the nightmare reality: constant bitchiness, surging hormones, unchecked emotion, attention-seeking and fashion rivalry so fierce it tore my staff apart.
When I read the other day that Sienna Miller had said there was no such thing as ‘the Sisterhood’, I knew what she meant.
I can understand why people want to believe that women look out for each other – because with men in power at work and in politics, it makes sense for us to stick together.
In fact, there was a time when I believed in the Sisterhood – but that was before women at war led to my emotional and financial ruin.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1168182/Catfights-handbags-tears-toilets-When-producer-launched-women-TV-company-thought-shed-kissed-goodbye-conflict-.html#ixzz3BPnD1WJW
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As an Asian American, I Care About Ferguson and Race Relations
In the immediate aftermath of the police shooting of unarmed black teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, I wanted to listen, observe, and amplify the voices of African Americans. As an Asian American woman, I don’t know firsthand what it’s like to befollowed around by security while shopping or to be stopped by police while jogging in an unfamiliar neighborhood. But I do know that racism is real, and I’ve also familiar the blank stares and disbelief from people who have not personally experienced the effects of racial discrimination.
http://www.blogher.com/asian-american-i-care-about-ferguson-and-race-relations
Creationist doesnt Understand The Burden of Proof – The Atheist Experience
Tim Wise, “White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son” | Talks at Google
A #womenagainstfeminism moment for Aug 24, 2014
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Advertisement removed after muslim resident expresses offense
A sign on a lamp post at the bottom of the Winooski Circle displayed the words “Yield Sneakers Bacon” until Friday morning. The bistro owners took it down.
It got there as part of “Operation Bloom.”
A city program put it in place to keep its flower beds beautiful. If businesses do some gardening they can post an advertisement where they do it, but the word “bacon” on the Sneakers Bistro sign started a discussion about diversity on the Winooski Front Porch Forum.
It started with a post from one woman who wrote that the sign was insensitive to those who do not consume pork. She said as a Muslim she is personally offended by it.
Muslim: I was bullied for criticizing Hamas
What happens in Syria, Egypt, Iraq or Gaza has an impact every day right here in the Valley.
Even in America, leading Muslim organizations and clerics bully with threats of ostracism those Muslims who dare to dissent. Old-guard ideologues, too, used to monopoly control, make it crystal clear to their Muslim critics: Take us on and we will make an example of you as a traitor to the Muslim community (the ummah).
http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2014/08/23/muslim-intimidation-eid-sermon/14445117/
Aboriginal men murdered at higher rate than aboriginal women
Tina Fontaine was pulled out of a Winnipeg river last Sunday afternoon. Police are treating the 15-year-old’s death as a homicide.
Three years ago, her father was beaten to death and discovered on Halloween, 2011. Eugene Fontaine was 41. Two men would later plead guilty to manslaughter in the case.
The Fontaines were aboriginal. Together, they tell the story of a homicide epidemic that has been ravaging indigenous communities for decades.
Between 1980 and 2012, 14 per cent of female murder victims with a known ethnicity were aboriginal, far exceeding their 4 per cent share of the female population, according to Statistics Canada.
But 17 per cent of male murder victims were also aboriginal during that time. In total, nearly 2,500 aboriginal people were murdered in the past three decades: 1,750 male, 745 female and one person of unknown gender.
StatsCan’s figures differ from those compiled by the RCMP, which released a report in May saying 1,017 aboriginal women had been murdered since 1980. It also noted that the “solve rates” for murders involving aboriginal and non-aboriginal women were virtually the same: 88 and 89 per cent respectively. The report did not address male murder victims.
Tina Fontaine’s death has inspired renewed calls for a public inquiry into the problem of missing and murdered aboriginal women, the ubiquitous five-word phrase that has catalyzed much of the public outrage around the condition of Canada’s aboriginal population.
The RCMP found that 105 aboriginal women were missing for at least 30 days as of last November in cases where the reason for their disappearance was deemed “unknown” or “foul play suspected.” StatsCan does not keep track of missing persons, and the RCMP declined to compile statistics on missing aboriginal men.
But statistics show that aboriginal men are murdered in greater numbers, and at a higher rates relative to the general population, than even aboriginal women. That has prompted some to wonder if the singular focus on one gender is misplaced.
Michele Audette, president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, is among them. Asked why activists haven’t broadened their focus to include violence against aboriginal people in general, she said: “It’s a good question, to be frank with you. For me, if you’re a woman or a man, you don’t deserve to be murdered.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has rejected calls for a public inquiry. At a press conference Thursday, he said, “We should not view this as sociological phenomenon. We should view it as crime. It is crime against innocent people, and it needs to be addressed as such.”
Though violence is pervasive in aboriginal communities, cutting across demographic lines, aboriginal women are more likely to be victims of violent crime, including spousal abuse, than either aboriginal men or other women.
Twelve out of the 33 missing women whose DNA was found on serial killer Robert Pickton’s farm outside Vancouver were aboriginal. The Pickton case helped focus attention on the plight of missing and murdered indigenous women.
But when it comes to aboriginal homicide rates, the gender split tracks closely with the Canadian average. In Manitoba, where the Fontaine family lived, more aboriginal people have been murdered in the past three decades than non-aboriginal, though the province is just about one-sixth native. Seventy-one per cent of those nearly 500 aboriginal homicide victims were men.
Despite this, many national organizations stand by the focus on murdered and missing aboriginal women.
“The RCMP does not have plans to broaden the National Operational Overview on missing and murdered aboriginal women to include all Aboriginal Peoples,” said RCMP spokesperson Greg Cox in a statement.
David Gollob, spokesperson for the Canadian Human Rights Commission, said his organization would also stand by its call for a public inquiry that focuses on women. “It is conceivable that a public inquiry into murdered and missing aboriginal women and girls could touch on broader issues of violence and victimization of aboriginal people,” he wrote in an email.
“However nothing refutes the fact that the nature and obvious severity of the rate of victimization of aboriginal females is an ongoing national tragedy.”
Northern Illinois University Blocks Students’ Access to Harmful Sites, For ‘Civility’
Northern Illinois University is restricting students’ access to certain websites. For their own good, of course. The internet is a dangerous place, and we wouldn’t want students inadvertently coming across something controversial, now would we?
Students who attempt to visit an unauthorized site through the campus network are redirected to a creepy“Web Page Access Warning.” The “warning” is that the students are about to go somewhere that probably violates NIU internet policy. One student reported the policy to Reddit after he received a warning for trying to access the Westboro Bapist Church’s Wikipedia page. That’s right, its Wikipedia page.
NIU cites “common sense, decency, ethical use, civility, and security,” as its various rationales for the policy. Yes, a public institution of higher learning believes that it is just common sense—and ethical—to dissuade students from visiting websites deemed harmful by administrators.
Susan Kruth of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education writes that NIU’s internet policy is laughably unconstitutional:
http://reason.com/blog/2014/08/21/orwellian-university-blocks-students-acc
Feminism at work: College men increasingly wary and mistrustful of college women.
The consequences of rape culture hysteria and an epidemic of false rape cries at colleges
visiting a female escort or a sex worker is a lot safer!
As former social chair of the Sigma Chi fraternity at Harvard University, Malik Gill wants to appear especially welcoming to girls who come to the house for parties.
Yet, Gill, who starts his junior year in a few weeks, says he won’t be offering a female classmate a beer.
“I don’t want to look like a predator,” the 20-year-old economics major said. “It’s a little bit of a blurred line.”
Sex and relationships are always tricky terrain for college students. Those arriving this year are finding schools awash in complaints and headlines about sexual assault and responding with programs aimed at changing campus culture that has been blamed for glorifying dorm-bed conquests, excusing rape and providing a safe haven for assailants. For many young men, it’s an added dimension in a campus scene that already appears daunting, said William Pollack, a Harvard Medical School psychologist.
Michael Brown
#IfTheyGunnedMeDown: Michael Brown
Michael Brown (1996?-2014), an American student, was yet another unarmed Black person killed by the police. On Saturday afternoon, August 9th 2014, the police gunned down Brown in broad daylight in Ferguson, Missouri. The police let his body lie there for hours. Days of protest have followed, turning violent Sunday night.
According to eyewitnesses: Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson were walking down the street when a police officer drove by and told them to “get the fuck on the sidewalk.” When they did not, the police officer backed up his car. When he had trouble getting out of his car, he took Brown by the neck, choking him and reached for his gun. The gun went off, the officer was bleeding. Brown and Johnson ran for their lives. The officer got out of his car and shot Brown. Brown turned, fell to his knees with his hands up…
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Austin Stone Church vs. The Atheist Experience
Nicki Minaj ‘Anaconda’ & the silence of Negro women by 5723 Michael
Living in Anglo-America 
