ByronCrawford.com

Naomi Klein - The Shock Doctrine from New Orleans to California

My boo, on Breakdown FM, talking about the Shock Doctrine and how it relates to the financial problems out in California. If you want an actual mp3, consult iTunes. (The other day, some guy in the comments section wanted to know where you could download a podcast. Seriously?) The sound quality here isn't the best in the world, but what are you gonna do, actually enjoy your Friday night? I'm busting a shift at the BGM, but I already listened to it last night, because I'm consistently two steps ahead of the game. I was writing about Naomi Klein on hip-hop sites before it was all trendy.

Job opportunity for college students

I accidentally clicked on a wrong link somewhere, and I stumbled upon a new site from Reality Kings called Dare Dorm. Supposedly, it's videos of college kids getting it on in their dorm rooms. I thought it might be some ol' bullshit, like how Bang Bus really is random hoo-ers who need $600 to pay for an abortion, but the videos themselves are staged, but this looks like it might really be a program where they're paying college students to produce pr0n.

A separate page on the Dare Dorm site (which I didn't spend any more time on than I absolutely had to) breaks down how to make your own video, for which they're paying $10,000.

And I quote:

1) Round up some crazy friends

Go around your dorm and round up the wildest guy and girl party animals. Show everyone Daredorm, so they see what its all about. Right about that time, its probably a good idea to decide how much money each person is going to make if you get the $10,000. Grab your camera and have a good time.

2) A Decent video camera

You're not shooting Lord of the Rings 4 here... but you dont want to use a shitty camera. So, leave your parents 50 lb home porno beta max camera in the closet. We suggest using something like Sony HD mini DV, Panasonic HD or a Flip Video Ultra HD. You wanna try and keep as many lights on as possible... dark lit rooms equal doo doo videos.

3) Documents needed

This is the most important step. Every single person appearing in the video MUST sign proper 2257 and model releases. To download a copy of the contracts that each person must sign click here. A scanned drivers license MUST be included with each signed release. So to be extra clear, EVERY single person in the video needs to have a signed release AND a scanned copy of their drivers license. In the release, the person filming (probably you) is the "Producer" of the video.

DareDorm (NSFW, natch)

Quoted: Gore Vidal on Roman Polanski

Speaking of rape, here's Gore Vidal, in the Atlantic, echoing the points of my post on Roman Polanski. It just goes to show great minds think alike. No homo.

The Atlantic: In September, director Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland for leaving the U.S. in 1978 before being sentenced to prison for raping a 13-year-old girl at Jack Nicholson’s house in Hollywood. During the time of the original incident, you were working in the industry, and you and Polanski had a common friend in theater critic and producer Kenneth Tynan. So what’s your take on Polanski, this many years later?

Gore Vidal: I really don’t give a fuck. Look, am I going to sit and weep every time a young hooker feels as though she’s been taken advantage of?

The Atlantic: I’ve certainly never heard that take on the story before.

Gore Vidal: First, I was in the middle of all that. Back then, we all were. Everybody knew everybody else. There was a totally different story at the time that doesn’t resemble anything that we’re now being told.

The Atlantic: What do you mean?

Gore Vidal: The media can’t get anything straight. Plus, there’s usually an anti-Semitic and anti-fag thing going on with the press – lots of crazy things. The idea that this girl was in her communion dress, a little angel all in white, being raped by this awful Jew, Polacko – that’s what people were calling him – well, the story is totally different now from what it was then.

***

I can't remember if it was in the HBO documentary or not, but I read somewhere recently that the mother had an ongoing relationship with Roman Polanski, then the daughter banged him, and when the mother heard her bragging about it on the phone, she called the cops on Roman Polanski to spite him.

A Conversation With Gore Vidal [The Atlantic]

Noz: Teenage hoodrat grave dance a "jazz funeral"

True Story: I knew, when I saw that video yesterday, that some douche (not necessarily Noz) would try to claim it was an ancient African ritual. I even mentioned as much in my post today.

Gang rape, or group sex gone awry?

I asked this question about a similar incident, a couple of years ago, and I ended up getting into a lot of trouble with one of those angry black woman blogs. Fortunately, I'm pretty sure the vic in this case is hispanic.

Given the nature of the crime, and the age of the victim (ahem, survivor), it's hard to tell her race. But something tells me that, if she'd been black, Mr. Do would have been on the case by the end of last week. Lest we forget, gang rape is his specialty.

Also, two of the perps who have been arrested so far are hispanic, and I don't know if blacks and hispanics out there in California get along well enough to have group sex - especially if the guest of honor, if you will, is hispanic.

Gagan said police arrested three of the suspects Tuesday night. They included Salvador Rodriguez, 21, as well as a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old whose identities were not released because they are juveniles, he said.

A 19-year-old, Manuel Ortega, and an unidentified 15-year-old were arrested earlier, he said.

It must be weird being the one guy in his 20s, at a teenage sex party, like the hispanic equivalent of Wooderson in Dazed and Confused. It could be worse. He could have been at home just thinking about having sex, rather than out willing that dream into being. But he probably didn't enjoy it as much as he could have.

I wonder if they at least let him go first. Once you get to be more than a few spots down in the batting order, so to speak, you'd have to be pretty committed to getting some stank. Which is not to say that I definitely wouldn't wait my turn, depending on it who it was, and (of course) provided it was consensual. (I'm no monster.) I'd just make sure to bring a warm towel.

Strategy-wise, you might be better off sticking around until the later innings, in case the away team goes unconscious, in which case you're gonna wanna high tail it. Even if things start out on the up and up, they could get out of hand, and people will think it was a rape all along. Whereas, if you wait until it's almost over, you can get a pretty good idea of how it's gonna be portrayed in the media.

Just a few things to keep in mind. I'm not saying any of them are relevant to this case, because honestly I don't know. I know hispanic men struggle with something known as machismo, which is not as prevalent amongst black men (and perhaps this is why we're not willing to work for a living), but I prefer to think the best about people, at least until I'm told otherwise.

Five arrested in alleged gang rape; juveniles being charged as adults [CNN]

My grandparents deserve better than this

My bad, if this is something we brought over from Africa, like not being able to conjugate the verb be.

Ron Mexico version after the jump.

New York Times most emailed synergy bonus

When I saw, yesterday, that an article about teenage runaways trading sex for a place to stay had made the New York Times' coveted most emailed list, I figured I'd read it - not because I'm looking for strategies on how to score with teenage runaways (or any woman, for that matter), but because I'm interested in helping people, natch.

Then I scrolled down the page of the New York Times app on my iPod Touch, and come to find out another article about teenage runaways made the most emailed list. This one was about how the recession is leading to an increase in the number of teenage runaways. Bonus!

I only skimmed the second article. That first one, though, is interesting than a motherfucking. It's definitely worth a look, if you want to learn about the pimp game. Since I saw those documentaries on HBO, when I was a kid, I've been fascinated with how some guys can talk women into bringing them the money they made from having sex with men, while some guys can't even talk a woman into having sex with them, for free.

The following passage explains how the girl pictured above was turned out, so to speak.

She ran away from her group home in Medford, Ore., and spent weeks sleeping in parks and under bridges. Finally, Nicole Clark, 14 years old, grew so desperate that she accepted a young man’s offer of a place to stay. The price would come later.

They had sex, and he soon became her boyfriend. Then one day he threatened to kick her out if she did not have sex with several of his friends in exchange for money.

She agreed, fearing she had no choice. “Where was I going to go?” said Nicole, now 17 and living here, just down the Interstate from Medford. That first exchange of money for sex led to a downward spiral of prostitution that lasted for 14 months, until she escaped last year from a pimp who she said often locked her in his garage apartment for months.

“I didn’t know the town, and the police would just send me back to the group home,” Nicole said, explaining why she did not cut off the relationship once her first boyfriend became a pimp and why she did not flee prostitution when she had the chance. “I’d also fallen for the guy. I felt trapped in a way I can’t really explain.”

If you like women with huge cans (which is understandable), and you don't mind them being a bit distended and painful-looking, you might want to holler at this broad. You could probably have all she has to offer, in exchange for a few canned goods. That might even be why they're called canned goods.

For Runaways, Sex Buys Survival [New York Times]

Recession Drives Surge in Youth Runaways [ibid]

Jasiri X "Dear Debra: A Letter to BET"

Nikki D: Nicki Minaj is not a rapper

Tell us something we don't know.

Here's Nikki D, the first female rapper signed to Def Jam, still salty about not being invited to this year's VH1 Hip Hop Honors.

XXLMag.com: So what do you think about some of the new female MCs that are out now?

Nikki D: There aren’t any out! Who’s out? You mean, Nicki Minaj? That’s not a rapper. That’s a girl with her ass on the screen. Nice hairdo and she’s saying some things but she’s not a rapper. She’s not an MC. She’s an artist. She’s an entertainer. There’s a difference. She can go out there and open her mouth and say whatever but people ain’t listening to her. They looking at her. And rapping is about the skill. It ain’t about your fat ass. It ain’t about your set of titties. It ain’t about that long-ass weave.

XXLMag.com: Damn, Nikki, want to let off any more steam?

Nikki D: I would like to say to everybody involved at the VH1, whoever was involved in Hip Hop Honors, all of the executives, everybody who had anything to do with that shit, you’re wrong for sitting there and watching that shit happen like that. It ain’t just about me but it’s about me and all the other people who were not included in that bill. There are a lot of other people besides Nikki D that wasn’t there but to just leave out the first female rapper signed? Yeah, that was some shitty shit.

***

I heard T La Rock, the guy who started Def Jam with Rick Rubin, before there was a such thing as a Russell Simmons, wasn't invited. They probably didn't want to invite anyone who might show up asking for money.

FEATURE: Nikki D, Ladies First [XXL]

Peter Rosenberg on why Combat Jack got into blogging

I was out earning a meager living yesterday while this entire exchange, involving Rosenberg, Noz, eskay et al., was going on. Living in a shanty town is still not free.