C-Murder, Sees Murder

I figured straying away from politics would help ease the mid week hangover, but that just wasn't the case. C-Murder, brother of Silkk the Shocker and Master P (been a long time, hasn't it) is facing 10 years in prison for the attempted murder of 16-year-old Steve Thomas. C-Murder (Corey Miller) unloaded on a club in 2002, when he was denied entrance. That's the Cliff Note's version.

Honestly, I'm more concerned with the psychological imparity of people in these current times. C-Murder chose his name because he "sees murder everywhere", as if this title entitles action... and to be given 10 years in prison (I say given because it was a gift) when video footage clearly shows him aiming a small gun (looks like a .32 special) at a crowd of people. High priced attorneys are doing amazing things in this day and age, if we could only get this crowd to work on empowering our youth's education, redefining the constitutional rights of other or directing new innovation in the energy sector... I guess we can't have our cake and eat it too.

Homo-Genius Proposition

"Historically, domestic partners of Foreign Service members have not been provided the same training, benefits, allowances and protections that other family members receive," the notice says. "These inequities are unfair and must end."

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is preparing a notice to all diplomatic personnel about the inequalities affecting U.S. diplomats and their partners. This notice is to alleviate the discrimination of same-sex relationships within the U.S. State Department, allowing for same-sex partners the eligibility of participating in special early-round applications for jobs at embassies, health-care and other benefits. The State Department withheld these benefits, citing the Defense of Marriage Law that protects federal law from allowing same-sex marriage (and the goods/bads that come along).

There is no definite time as to when this notice will be officially released, as the correspondent responsible for releasing this information to CNN is to remain nameless and is not available for comment; but the movement towards gay/lesbian rights is slowing growing.

This is the right thing to do.

I Left My Heart In San Diego

Ladies and gentlemen, its been fun. San Diego has been the home to some of my most memorable moments (love the alliteration) and in truth, I will miss it here. The job market isn't what it used to be, as we all may know, and I'm over the search. I've decided that packing up and moving back isn't giving up, its taking a break.

My months of May and June will be my last times spent here in San Diego (ironically I'll be in the Bay Area for more of that time) so I would love to see and hang out with as many of my friends as I can before its all over.

Like I always say, "it's not goodbye, it's I'll see you later".

Peace and much love.

Chester French Revolution

Chester French is giving away free music.

D.A. Wallach and Max Drummey met at Harvard, but found music to be their true calling and producer/artist Pharrell Williams thought the same as he signed this almost perfectly sculpted group (named after the famous sculptor Daniel Chester French) to his StarTrak/Interscope label. The idea to give away free music is slowly growing popular as we’ve witnessed other artists (such as Nine Inch Nails) also giving away their albums for free or for far below market value, all for the sake of getting their names heard. “She Loves Everybody”, a Chester French hit single, scored some love on HBO’s Entourage and can be found on their new album that just hit stores last month, “Love the Future”.

Refund or Reform?

Growing healthcare issues are among the concerns for modern day Americans, but President Obama will announce on Monday that he has secured the commitments of several industry groups to control the growth in the cost of health care. This private sector pledge could reduce $2 trillion in health care costs over the next 10 years; there are six trade associations representing unions, hospitals, insurers and the drug industry on this commitment. Unfortunately the “How” is unclear as there are questions of where the ‘cost savings’ can be implemented, but the main difference is the contrast in health treatment: going for “better” care, as opposed to “more” care.

Better budgeting is the position that the Obama Administration is taking, as it should (in time) free up resources for other incentives; such as education. As of now, American families can look forward to an average annual savings of $2500. This is the first step to a modern healthcare system that can now accommodate more of the population.

The Obama administration is positioning health care reform as critical for getting the deficit under control; for freeing up resources for other initiatives, such as education; and for reducing the burden on American families.

"Reducing the skyrocketing cost of health care is the only way to create a health care system that works for all Americans; after all, what good is access to a system that we can't afford?" said the spokesman, AARP Director of Public Policy John Rother.

Basking In The Sun

Reading the news daily often brings about random stories, most of which are uninteresting or redundant. One, however, caught my eye just a day ago, about basking sharks and their migration patterns. Eco-babble, maybe, but when I was a kid I wanted to be a marine biologist, and this story was just down-right interesting! A little history, sharks have been creatures that have been widely studied over the course of written history as they are mother nature’s perfect killing machines; but what has been recently discovered, can change the spectrum of how we look at these creatures and how to assess their behavior.

It took researchers roughly one year of data gathering to decipher the directions, depths and even the preferred temperature of the basking shark; as they swim from their northern home in New England and travel across the equator to South America. What I knew about sharks growing up in the San Francisco bay area (lots of great whites) is that sharks generally took to colder waters (skipping the tropical sharks like the Maco or the Bull shark) and this was the case for the basking shark until this data was collected. I’m still baffled at how young our information stream is, where every day turns the new corner to an ever encompassing road of knowledge.
Thank the Discovery Channel for Shark Week, and Chris Gotschalk for the picture.

Nas and Kelis, Over

"You can hate me now..." the music trails off in my head as I think of all the Nas albums I've owned and religiously listened to over the years, and the thought of my favorite hip hop couple dwindling seemed to strike like a bolt of lightning. Kelis and Nas have been a married couple for five years and nine months and will be celebrating the birth of their first child (Nas’ second) in just a couple months. A pregnant Kelis was reported commenting on her husband’s infidelity and cheating ways, she said to VIBE, as she officially filed for divorce this last Thursday.

Nas didn’t comment to MTV, last month, during an interview on his Grammy Nomination for “Untitled” which released last year and has already hit Gold standing on record sales. Nas even stated that he wanted to let the fans decide the name of his child, “I've been thinking about kinda putting something online: ‘Choose his name,'" Nas told MTV with a smile. "You get a couple stacks for that. We take care of you for that. You win something real. But we're thinking now."

It’s always a mess when there is a celebrity divorce, especially when there are kids involved; hopefully this one is settled with little media interference (like that’s going to happen).

Electro Hip Hop...

Me gusta.

Hip Hop/Electro. Sounds like an interesting collaboration of music, don’t you think? Well two kids from San Jose, CA thought this when we were still drooling over Justice’s D.A.N.C.E. Based in the Bay Area, Sean Richards and Dominic Lopez rock some of the hippest productions to hip hops mainstream chart toppers, with Mr. Me Too (Pharrell/Clipse) standing out amongst all the gems in the playlist. Check out their tracks on REMIXTAPE Vol. 1 and 2, as these kids will be bringing this new sound to the industry in due time. Electro has been an every-growing popularity amongst the 14-25 crowd as its heart stopping loops and drum and bass beats generally keep the crowd moving for hours, sounds of DEADMAU5, Crookers, Justice, Simian Mobile Disco, just to name a few, can be heard on the airs and in college dorm rooms in higher frequency. Stay tuned-in.

Stop. Drop. Roll.

It’s hard to figure out how to classify break dancing. Is it an art form, with all the twists and turns and perfectly coordinated stunts? Should it be called a sport because of its intense necessity for muscular perfection and flexibility? Maybe it’s an interpretation of music, as bread dancing always finds a way to change to the beat. The Red Bull BC One is a tournament which takes competitors from all around the world to showcase their talents, abilities and particular styles of break, with a bracket system and five panel judges to call the winning contender to move on to the finals.

I have been following the BC One since 2005 when I was randomly browsing through videos online and came across one of the most talented break dancers I’ve ever seen: Lilou. Competing for France, Lilou was born in Algiers and represents his Palestinian heritage and pompous attitude hard on the dance floor, being the first Champion of the BC One tournament in 2005. Throughout the years the competition has grown more advanced and prestigious with a new Champion selected every year, as the elite of the elite nations contended vigorously. The BC One of 2009 will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa on the 22^nd of September. Check out this trailer and some footage from the finals in 2005, France’s Lilou versus Korea’s Hong 10.