The People Of Wal*Mart Rap

I had the greatest intentions of completing the Best Of The 2000's post. A lot of other projects came in and happened in between.
So that's a wrap, at least for now. I came across this video after a night out with friends. My friends and I were actually drawing pictures of people we know who are just some characters.

This video is by JDirty and he made up a rap about the website, The People Of Wal*Mart

COMING SOON: The 2000s - The Decade Of Decidin'

In the Y2K the digital music revolution became full force. It was in the late 90s that MP3s began to appear, here and there, on messageboards and virtual trading posts. In 1998 a big cross-section was infamous for posting, Who's got MP3s of the new___INSERT ARTIST(S) HERE___
A college kid named Shawn Fanning developed the first fully functional Peer-To-Peer network and pissed off an aging Lars Ulrich enough to draw the attention of the Whole Wide World. Napster. Com started as a free file-sharing site in 1999 and was shutdown in 2001 before a corporate buy-out. Metallica, a band as dependent on the standard commerce of the record industry did not have the technical foresight to see the upcoming paradigm shift. In 2007, Radiohead, another multi-millionaire rock group offered up their album for any price to the end user.
And Bill Gates who found much success in the previous decade, saw his archnemesis Steve Jobs finish building his Apple Empire. Gates has been quoted saying that his family isn't allowed to bring Apple products into the home. I'm not sure if he was joking or not. Around the time Napster was being corporatized, Apple introduced the iPod. Shortly after the Twin Towers were a fiery heap of twisted metal, college kids were coming out of University Square with thin white wires attached to white ear buds in their coat pockets. The first generation iPod sold itself without an ad campaign. ----to be completed----10/10/09

Bleak For The Future?

From the BBC

As the world's population grows, competition for food, water and energy will increase. Food prices will rise, more people will go hungry, and migrants will flee the worst-affected regions.

That's the simple idea at the heart of the warning from John Beddington, the UK government's chief scientific adviser, of a possible crisis in 2030.

Specifically, he points to research indicating that by 2030 "a whole series of events come together":

• The world's population will rise from 6bn to 8bn (33%)
• Demand for food will increase by 50%
• Demand for water will increase by 30%
• Demand for energy will increase by 50%

He foresees each problem combining to create a "perfect storm" in which the whole is bigger, and more serious, than the sum of its parts.

Population growth threatens food, water and energy shortages

"Can we cope with the demands in the future on water? Can we provide enough energy? Can we do it, all that, while mitigating and adapting to climate change? And can we do all that in 21 years' time?" he asked the SDUK 09 conference in London, in March.

Some of the problems reinforce each other, in obvious ways. For example, intensive agriculture swallows up large amounts of water and energy.

But Professor Beddington also points to other complicating factors and worrying possibilities.

CLIMATE CHANGE

WATER SCARCITY See where water will be scarce

There is a risk that climate change will have drastic effects on food production - for example by killing off the coral reefs (which about 1bn people depend on as a source of protein) or by either weakening or strengthening monsoon rains.

Also, some scientists are predicting that the Arctic will be ice-free by 2030, he points out, which could accelerate global warming by reducing the amount of the sun's energy that is reflected back out of the atmosphere.

URBANISATION

Not only is the world's population predicted to grow (until the middle of the century, at least) but more people are moving to live in cities, Professor Beddington points out. The growth of cities will accelerate the depletion of water resources, which in turn may drive more country dwellers to leave the land.

INCREASING PROSPERITY

As people become wealthier in some parts of the world, such as China and India, their diets are changing. They are consuming more meat and dairy products, which take more energy to produce than traditional vegetable diets. Like city dwellers, prosperous people also use more energy to maintain their lifestyle.

BIOFUELS

The more land is devoted to growing biofuels, in response to climate change, the less can be used for growing food.

Source information: Energy data graphic derived from World Energy Outlook © OECD/IEA, 2008, figure 2.2, p. 81 and modified by BBC News.

Professor Beddington says he is optimistic that scientists can come up with solutions to the problems and that he is encouraged by signs that politicians are listening more to scientific advice.

But he adds: "We need investment in science and technology, and all the other ways of treating very seriously these major problems. 2030 is not very far away."

The President's 100th Day Hoopla Is Over Now

It's finally over. The over-sensationalized news media fixation also known as the "First 100 Days of the Obama Presidency" is now a wrap.
Jon Stewart did a fantastic piece on The Daily Show last night on the topic. I had to wait 24 hours for it leave my mind before I attempted to take a look at this.

Firstly, I think the 100 days timeframe goes back to the Kennedy Administration to when JFK said the President Of The United States' job should not be measured by one hundred days, but by one thousand days. But he got merked, so what did he know. 100 days it is, the media purports.
And holy Shi'ite Muslim Sectarian Party did the television news media have a field day, fuck - a field month with this 100 day nonsense.
But the BBC put together a very substantive, comprehensive analysis of the developments of the new administration

Also an interactive map that sees how the world views Barack Obama
Here's my $0.02 [soon to be adjusted for inflation]
It's 100 days! 100 days following 2920 days of damage. I'm no mathematician, but I think the task of a new Presidential administration to accomplish some meaningful new policies and restore and sustain prosperity and betterment for its nation needs to be more than 14 weeks.
This is just like people to put so much pressure on a brother.
Off the top of my head, the new Administration has rolled out new bailouts for more banks and now automakers. Guantanamo Bay's closure is in full effect.
Accountability on the interrogative torture methods are out in the open - the Neo-Cons have had their vacations abruptly interrupted.
The doors to new healthcare reform have been reopened. Alternative energies are being explored, cultivated. Those Green jobs the President promised in his campaign, I've heard from a couple of people who now have them.

Much of the campaign promises have been realized already. The only thorn I see in Obama's side is the War in Afghanistan. But most of all, like many will find in the above links, people are finding the President to be the antithesis to Governor Bush and his 8 years in stolen office.

29 Brilliant Music Videos

Stumbled onto this page some time ago. Definitely is a nice collection of videos, some of that didn't get enough attention when they dropped.

Videos by:

UNKLE
Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue
Radiohead
Moby
The Strokes
Arctic Monkeys
Sigur Ros
The Avalanches
Blur
Boards Of Canada
Daft Punk
RJD2

29 Brilliant Music Videos

The January Thaw

Something I recognized once was that January is typically an uneventful month - here in the States. It may be on a symbolic level; a new beginning (as far as the calendar makes it)
It may be the culmination of the previous year with the end of the holiday season, for all its greatness and woes, has forced us all to slow down. So we can work our way back to to it again.

I always take politicians words with a bag of salt. I learned this from my old man.
I was in junior high when Bush Sr. was running for President.
H.W.'s centerpiece campaign promise was, "Read my lips, no new taxes!"
He was elected for one term. Only to generate new taxes.

In the essence of time and importance, I'll leave it to that sole example.

I noticed something different this week. My Web news feeds used to have 2, maybe 3 - very predictable articles about the same U.S. governmental policies at work. The radio reported it similar, a few pieces on the stalemate positions, punctuated with some concern.
It's interesting to see those same news feeds - with now 4 to 6 articles on new, somewhat surprising executive moves:

Gitmo - otherwise known as Guantanamo Bay - in the beginning stages for shutdown.
Waterboarding, and all forms of interrogative torture methods - BANNED
Economic Stimulus - this one based on rebuilding U.S. infrastructure (highways, roads, bridges) - being written up for a bill as I type this

I have my feelings about all three of these major game-changers, but I want to hear some of yours. So leave a comment below.

The Line Between The Internet & Television Begins To Blur

Once upon a time, right here at this little blog of mine, I made mention and gave props to a fledgling cable network called 'The Tube." It was the only TV network in this age of new information and new media that continuously played music videos. Well, they folded a couple of years ago due to financial difficulties.

In the middle of this year during my obsessive viewership of the Presidential primaries, I tuned into "Current TV"
This is a description off their website:

Since its inception in 2005, Emmy award-winning Current TV has been the world's leading peer-to-peer news and information network. Current is the only 24/7 cable and satellite television network and Internet site produced and programmed in collaboration with its audience. Current connects young adults with what is going on in their world, from their perspective, in their own voices.

With the launch of Current.com, the first fully integrated web and TV platform users can participate in shaping an ongoing stream of news and information that is compelling, authentic and relevant to them.

Current pioneered the television industry's leading model of interactive viewer created content (VC2). Comprising roughly one-third of Current's on-air broadcast, this content is submitted via short-form, non-fiction video "pods". Viewer Created Ad Messages (VCAMs) are also open to viewer's participation.

Current's programming ranges from daily pop culture coverage to political satire in "SuperNews," unprecedented music journalism in "The Current Fix," and unique insights into global stories through Vanguard and Citizen Journalism.

Yeah, that's what it is.

Interesting.

Innovative.

Interactive.

I should contact their marketing department and sell them that. :-)

And here's where it is on your TV:

• channel 358
  directv
• channel 196
  dish network
• channel 107
  comcast
• channel 189
  at&t u-verse
• check listings
  time warner