- In the worlds of business and politics, photo ops are a way of life. At building dedications, dudes in suits pick up golden shovels and pretend to shovel dirt for pictures, when donations are made to charitable organizations, the leaders of those groups involved in the donation pretend to unload boxes for the cameras and so on. We all know and accept these facts, but shouldn’t it be a little different when the situation is not donation or building opening but one of the worst natural disasters in recent memory? Of course, the disaster in question is the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the still-failing effort to stop the leak and clean up the resulting mess. As President Obama visited the Gulf Coast on Friday to assess the situation up close, you had to know there would be ample photo ops with hard-working members of the cleanup crews, showing the president was right there on the front lines, talking to those who are working around the clock to clean this mess up. What you may not have known was that BP shipped workers into Grand Isle, Louisiana, for President Obama's visit to the oil-stricken area and sent them away once the president left the region. That’s what one Gulf Coast official accused BP of doing, claiming that "a number of buses brought in approximately 300 to 400 workers that had been recruited all week," Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts said. Making matters worse, Roberts said the workers were offered $12 an hour to come out to the scene at Grand Isle and work, but only while the president was there. Nothing like trying to polish your public image by padding your worker base in an area where you knew the most powerful man in the Western Hemisphere would be, BP. That clearly screams eyes on the prize and dedication to cleaning up the spill above all else. Fact is, I understand that at this point, your reputation could not be much worse. Most of the American public hates you and many of them are boycotting your gas stations. However, wasting time, resources and fuel to bring in extra workers to an area just so you can make your failing cleanup effort look better on TV and in pictures is feeble, disingenuous and offensive. Any doubt about why the workers were there was erased when they beat it out of the area once Obama departed, so did the workers, he said. BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles tried to downplay the claim Friday evening, saying it’s not unusual to see people wrapping up work in the afternoon. "These individuals are working out in the heat of the sun. These are long days. They start early in the morning, and they stop early in the evening," he said. "So the fact that they were leaving the location late in the afternoon was not unusual. It's not associated with the president arriving." Mmm hmm, sure thing, Douggie. I can't imagine any company making such an obvious and blatant attempt at a cheap public relations ploy in the face of a massive natural disaster…….….
- Good news, everyone! The voice of our generation - his words, not mine - is back from exile! Kanye West has been laying low, wearing his butt-ugly sunglasses and interrupting unsuspecting people in Hawaii for a while now and no one has heard much from him. During this time, rumors have had him working on a mysterious new album and preparing for a triumphant return to the music scene. At long last, we finally have some results to listen to from those recording sessions in paradise in the form of a new song that may or may not be part of a forthcoming full-length album. “I guess every superhero needs his theme music,” West says at the start of a newly leaked song called “Power.” However, don’t let that opening line fool you. On the whole the song is pretty dark, edgy and angry. It’s not a superhero song by any means, including lines like, “No one man should have all that power.” It’s unclear who West is referring to with those words, especially since his arch nemesis, W., is no longer in office. He also reserves lyrical space for people who have mocked him in the past (“F— SNL and the whole cast”), explaining his recent absence from the public eye (“I just needed time alone with my own thoughts”) and other assorted topics. The words also include ramblings on unrelated topics - “How’s ‘Ye doing? I’m surviving,” and “I was drinking earlier, now I’m driving.” The song also mixes in a back-and-forth exchange with singer Dwele. All of this is laid over an eclectic, erratic beat that builds with clapping, screaming and other sounds into a prog-rap groove that samples King Crimson. Ironically, as much as we know about this song, West’s label is still keeping quiet about “Power” and not confirming whether it will be part of his next album or not……….
- Chaos averted - for now, Nepal. Your nation narrowly escaped a political sh*t storm on Friday when the leading political parties reached a last-minute agreement to prevent the dissolution of Parliament and provide another year for country to complete its peace process. Staring down a midnight deadline, Nepal’s Maoists reached agreed to a very generally worded deal with leaders of two other major political parties in which the they agreed to extend the term of Parliament, the Constituent Assembly. In return, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal agreed to tender his resignation at a to-be-determined point in the future to “pave the way” for a new government. The measure was taken up just before midnight and passed an hour later after parliamentary leaders approved it. As much as I love countries having functioning governments to rule over them, a large part of me wishes the Maoists had stuck to their demands for the resignation of the prime minister before Friday’s deadline as a precondition for extending the assembly. When the prime minister refused, the Maoists should have stuck to their guns and forced him to reconsider, with threats of violence if necessary. Getting a written promise of a future resignation just isn’t the same. As far as legal documents go, the agreement is remarkably short, weighing in at a few short pages and centering on three main points. The agreement also promised that other major issues in the struggle between the parties would be addressed in an extended legislative session and during the drafting of a new constitution. “We are firmly committed to consensus and cooperation to take the peace process to a logical conclusion and to immediately complete the remaining tasks of the peace process and to accomplish the historic responsibility of writing a new constitution,” the agreement read. Such is life in a nation undergoing a transition from feudal monarchy to secular democratic republic. The peace process is four years in the making and was only allowed to begin after the Maoists agreed to end a 10-year guerrilla war (another thing I love in life, guerrilla warfare). An interim constitution has governed the country the past few months and Friday was supposed to be the deadline for drafting a permanent one. That deadline has basically been pushed back for now, which gives the two sides more time to address issues like the fate of the more than 19,000 former Maoist soldiers living in camps monitored by the United Nations. Opposing parties question whether Maoists were truly committed to democratic principles like separation of powers, but the Maoists have their own questions and concerns. They also have a significant chunk of Nepal’s power, having won a plurality of seats in the Constituent Assembly and formed a government in 2008. Of course, they stepped down after nine months in a political dispute, but have since demanded that they be allowed to form a “national consensus” government to oversee the drafting of the constitution. Regardless of how this turns out, hopefully we get some more late-night legislative drama to enjoy as the process rolls onward…………
- For all of the ‘80s rock dorks out there, "Rock Band 3" may soon become your favorite video game of all time. Rumors are swirling that instead of a keyboard being included in the game - as was teased in the "Green Day: Rock Band" demo - there will instead be a keytar-like instrument supported for the system. For non-‘80s music fans, a keytar is a keyboard-guitar hybrid that is basically a keyboard with a strap, held like a guitar. It will be the only new instrument for the game, which is noteworthy in and of itself because game maker Activision had explicitly stated that they were focusing on software and not hardware in order to cut costs. To work around these concerns, the peripherals for the game will be created by an outside company - Mad Catz. Mad Catz will be creating all the "Rock Band 3" instruments and bundles, while EA will only be distributing the software. There will be a variety of bundles with different combinations of instruments available, and there will be bundles that are exclusive to certain retailers. If you already have guitars, you’ll need to purchase a bundle for drums. If you need everything, there will be a comprehensive package to cover it all. Some stores may elect to not clutter up their shelves with ginormous boxes and simply stock the game. This should allow the focus of the launch to be kept on the software, which will have a "pro" mode included in the game that will require proper technique, necessitating actual skills on guitars and bass. Mad Catz is clearly hoping to create a product more like an actual guitar, building on its long-standing license to release Rock Band peripherals. With the company’s experience in the field, it makes perfect sense for EA to turn this aspect of the game over to Mad Catz. Also keep in mind that “Rock Band 3” is still in the works and not on sale yet, so all of this could change in small ways over the days and weeks ahead………
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