As salaamu alaikum

what up family.. in making the acquaintance of a lot of wonderful people across the world here on mypace, i am greeted by salutations of all kinds. there is one greeting in particular that stands out the most to this brooklyn native. it is one that holds a great deal of respect to the recipient. due to my cultural upbringing, aka the streets of BK, I at one time returned the greeting with a customary and a more simple response. although i knew the intent of the greeting, hearing it was always unsettling.

with every rise & setting sun that i am blessed to witness, it is becoming hard not to properly & respectfully address this salutation. for those that don't know, i am a Muslim (i know, you heard it all before). Muslims believe that there is only one God. we do not associate ANY partners with The Almighty. Doing so is a grave sin, one that The Creator says will NOT be forgiven. If you're uncertain on the Islamic viewpoint on the oneness of God I then ask you to reference the first commandment in the Torah.

Anyway when you greet me with "peace god", it cuts me to my core. I know it is not meant to be disrespectful, in fact I understand it as a form of respect. I also know of it's origin & having knowledge of self. However based on my belief it is a title that belongs to only one, and God I am not.

I'm human and I know that habits and customs are challenging to shake, cigarettes, cursing, immodest girls and the dreaded "N" word, OH MY!!!! be that "peace god" is habitual for some of us i'll just add it to the list. either way i'm wasting the precious air The True God has blessed me with if i don't speak on it, man... to me this issue is way more important than promoting the next piece of music i might put out. let's put out this knowledge yall..

This is said in love not hate so don't take it as a slight. Just know if I return the greeting with la ilaha illa Allah (there is no God, but God) that is my way of returning the greeting in addition to sidestepping the sin. Also I don't post comments that say peace god.

If you want to know more about Islam please pay a visit to your local Mosque. There are many warm brothers & sisters there who can answer your many questions. also there are many authentic websites out there filled with information. My favorite is www.islamicity.com

peace...

From a Friend of a Friend

On Monday, January 28, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) begins the
hearing that will determine mechanical rates for every songwriter and
music publisher in America.  It will be the most important rate
hearing in the history of the music industry because in addition to
setting rates for physical products, rates will be set for the first
time ever for digital products such as digital downloads, subscription
services and ringtones.

The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) will be representing
the interests of songwriters and music publishers and will be fighting
vigorously to protect those interests to ensure that musical
compositions are compensated fairly.

On the other side of this fight stands the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) and the Digital Music Association
(DiMA).  Both the RIAA and DiMA have proposed significant reductions
in mechanical royalty rates that would be disastrous for songwriters
and music publishers.  This is literally a fight for the survival of
our industry.

To give you an example of what is at stake, the current rate for
physical phonorecords is 9.1 cents.  The NMPA is proposing an increase
to 12.5 cents per song.  The RIAA, however, has proposed slashing the
rate to approximately 6 cents a song - a cut of more than one-third
the current rate!

For permanent digital downloads, NMPA is proposing a rate of 15 cents
per track because the costs involved are much less than for physical
products.  The RIAA has proposed the outrageous rate of approximately
5 - 5.5 cents per track, and DiMA is proposing even less.

If you find that troubling, it gets worse.  For interactive streaming
services, which some analysts believe will be the future of the music
industry, NMPA is proposing a rate of the greater of 12.5% of revenue,
27.5% of content costs, or a micro-penny calculation based on usage.
The RIAA actually proposed that songwriters and music publishers
should get the equivalent of .58% of revenue.  This isn't a typo -
less than 1%.  And DiMA is taking the shocking and offensive position
that songwriters' and music publishers' mechanical rights should be
zero, because DiMA does not believe we have any such rights!

The initial hearing will last four weeks, with the three permanent
Copyright Royalty Judges hearing arguments Mondays through Thursdays
from 9:30 am - 4:30 pm each day.  At the conclusion of the initial
hearing, there will be more discovery, followed by a rebuttal hearing
in May, and a final decision expected on October 2.

The NMPA will be spending millions dollars in this proceeding to
protect the interests of songwriters and music publishers against the
much larger record labels and digital media companies.  And although
we face such an enormous fight, we have an incredible advantage - we
represent songwriters, without whom the record labels and digital
music services could not exist.

Please forward this to anyone who is involved in the songwriting and
music publishing industry.