The Current Affairs Thread

[Pashernate_Lover]

How did this happen? Isn't that single a decade old? I remember seeing them (Supported by Korn, sadly... a sign of them times) more than 10 years ago before they broke up and eventually got back together and them disappearing from the radio. Seriously, how did they pop back up like that? And in England?

[helmoz]

when it was decided that legally downloaded songs were allowed to count towards single sales in the charts, people started organising online campaigns to get old songs back in the charts for a joke (e.g. rick astley's "never gonna give you up"). a couple who organised some of the biggest campaigns did a campaign for RATM's "killing in the name" to be the number 1 single in the charts at christmas, as a kind of rebellion against "x factor" winners always getting the xmas no 1 spot ("the x factor" is like "american idol," and for the past few years whoever's won it has got the xmas number 1 - the show gives them a hell of a lot more publicity than the average musician, so they get an unfair advantage. now that "top of the pops" (the UK chart show) has gone, "the x factor" is the only prime-time music programme on british TV, which is a very depressing thought really).
rage did get the xmas no 1 , purely based on people downloading "killing in the name," without them even re-releasing it as a single. it was pretty amazing as firstly they didnt have the free publicity that joe mcelderry (this year's winner of "the x factor") had, and secondly "killing in the name" only counted in the chart if you downloaded it separately from the rest of the album, whereas joe's single was available as a download single and as a CD single.
i think it was a brilliant result as it got a rock song to the top of the singles chart for what feels like the first time in ages and it got people talking about non-"x factor" music again. "the x factor" is one of the most popular TV shows in this country and people talk about it all the time, but sometimes it's impossible to talk to people about music that isnt from it - "x factor" singers are the only musicians people are interested in now! we used to have musicians competing with each other for the xmas no 1 and people used to place bets on who would get it. when the x factor came along about 5 years ago it practically killed that tension off - it got heaps of publicity, people stopped noticing that other musicians were releasing songs at the same time, so the x factor winners always got the xmas no 1. it was turned into practically a one-horse race.
the rage campaign changed that and hopefully it will spark a permanent change as im getting bored of the fact that the only music you ever seem to see or hear in this country nowadays is from "the x factor"! it does find talented singers and the winners always seem to be nice people so it's not like i dont want them to do well, but they always sing bland songs and i think it's a total waste of talent, and the focus on singing talent only and no other talent means that the talents of writing songs and playing instruments have taken a back seat. pretty much every year, the x factor winner's debut single has sounded just like the previous year's except for the voice: there always seems to be the same song structure (basically a westlife ballad with one difference: after the big downbeat just before the final chorus, a choir comes in to sing backing vocals), song length, backing music, lyrical theme (either a love song, a song about winning (i.e. a thinly-veiled song about the x factor) or a song that could be interpreted either way to be about love or winning), and even the videos look the same.

[Boxguy]

...and the focus on singing talent only and no other talent means that the talents of writing songs and playing instruments have taken a back seat.

Sometimes not even on singing talent:



*shudder*

[Pashernate_Lover]

*GAH*!!! Boxguy, how did you find a pic of my high school boyfriend with a badly done flat top added??

I'm sorry to hear about the X Factor extravaganza of disappointment though, and it is hilarious that RATM won, but Rick Astley would have been way more LOLsome.

[Boxguy]

The Repblican Party's dumb bimbo poster girl leading lady has landed a job that she actually has the qualifications for!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8453223.stm

[Pashernate_Lover]

Yeah, I saw that... cracked me up. She calls it fair and balanced news... she is insane. That isn't news, it is bad opinions including claims that there were 0 terrorist attacks on the US during the reign of terror known as GW Bush's presidency.

In other news: Californian Prop 8 goes to court today to try to get gay marriage legalized. I hope it ends well!

[Boxguy]

Fox News: We distort. You comply.

Here's to the hopeful destruction of Proposition 8!

[Boxguy]

So no we have professors shooting their department colleagues after being denied tenure. insane.

[Boxguy]

So who all voted today in the UK general election? Were any of you turned away at closing time? Do any of you know someone who was turned away?

<personal-injection>
I'm surprised that UK law is somewhat harsh on who gets to vote at the closing of the polls. Here in Kansas anyone who is in line to vote (inside or outside of the polling center) at the time the polls close gets to vote. The procedure is that a polling station worker gives the official last individual in line at closing time a special card indicating that they're the last individual who should be allowed to vote. As far as ensuring that no outside influence occurs with those queuing outside at closing time Kansas law prohibits electioneering with ~50 feet (I believe) of any polling center, punishable by fines and jail time. Perhaps changing the UK election procedures to something along these lines could greatly relieve the travesty seen tonight.

Oh, and greatly surprised/somewhat glad (though I don't like showing my personal political thoughts on Tuaisceart Éireann/Northern Ireland/Norlin Airlann) to hear the news of the Alliance taking Oirthear Béal Feirste/East Belfast from the DUP.
</personal-injection>

[helmoz]

bit late but... i voted, i didnt have any problems getting in and i dont know anyone who did. some areas had this problem while others didnt. its a bit of a strict rule but the thinking is, "we gave you all day to vote, if you wanted to do it so badly you could have come here earlier." i can kind of see their point of view, but a lot of the polling stations did mess up and could have been better organised to process the large volumes of people (they could have hired extra staff for example, im sure they wont have trouble finding people who want to work if unemployment is as bad as we're always told it is). there were opinion polls in the weeks leading up to the election that indicated higher turnouts than last time, so they cant say they werent warned.
there was a lot of talk of revamping the system as a result of this, which wouldnt be a bad idea; as it is at the moment, it must be a nightmare for people who, say, have to work shifts or commute very far, and therefore find it hard to get to the polling station during its opening hours.
i dont really know a lot about northern irish politics tbh so i cant really comment on that.

[Pashernate_Lover]

Being in America when OBL was killed is very surreal. Very... morbid. International responses? Responses from others in the United States? Strange times...

[helmoz]

just my tuppence worth... when i saw american people on the news celebrating bin laden's death in the streets, it kind of reminded me of when you see footage of people in places like asia and the middle east celebrating someone's death (or burning flags or effigies of people) - i can see why people feel that way, but it's still a bit morbid and weird to watch. on the other hand, it's funny seeing how people are the same wherever they are in the world.

i'm curious about whether anyone outside the UK has heard about the illegal practices that have been going on at our newspapers, particularly "the news of the world," and what the reaction is abroad?

[Boxguy]

I've kept tabs on the NOTW debacle. You probably heard that US authorities are launching a probe of News Corp. after the discovery that the mobile/voicemail break-ins likely extend to families of September 11th victims, and that News Corp. is having to foot the bill of the investigation.

This might be a pipe dream, but I hope this brings News Corp. and Rupert Murdoch's empire crashing down, if anything for the demise of Fox News. I can't stand the vitriol that comes from the network - which is more or less the propaganda arm of the Republican party - and am embarrassed by the large number of Americans who hang on every word of the network's pundits.