Machine Gun is the first single off of Portishead’s latest release, Third, which came out in April 2008. This song differs from other Portishead songs due to its industrial influenced sound. The repetitive and always constant drum beat bears resemblance to it’s name, machine gun. The music video for this song shows the band in the studio. Watch it for yourself:

Listen to the first NINJATRON episode or get Machine Gun separately, or purchase the album

published on ninjatronicslab.com at http://ninjatronics.blogspot.com/2008/11/portishead-machine-gun.html

A ringtone that repeats the word “condom” sung in different melodies to spread the word of safe sex in India. According to Yvonne MacPherson, this is the “first time a mobile ring-tone had been used to communicate a social or public health message.” So far, the ringtone has been downloaded over 270,000 times and is helping to spark conversations about safe sex and to break condoms out of being a taboo subject (no pun intended).

Digital Tools Being Used: mobile cell phones (more info at MobileActive and ICT4Peace)

published on DigiActive.org at http://www.digiactive.org/2008/09/19/sex-education-from-a-mobile-ringtone/

Description: To follow up on Talia’s post about the 3rd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, a game has been developed by Global Kids and Game Pill in efforts to raise youth’s awareness about the “ongoing relief efforts in New Orleans“. The game, Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Cresent City, is played from the point of view of Vivica Waters, a fictional character who is searching for her mother in the aftermath of Katrina. Along the way, Vivica must help her fellow neighbors-in-distress while dodging debris and braving the rising flood waters. The accompanying website is full of resources and educational information about Hurricane Katrina’s impact in New Orleans along with ways to get invovled to help out.

PLAY THE GAME NOW!

published on digiactive.org at http://www.digiactive.org/2008/09/01/tempest-in-cresent-city-an-online-game-about-hurricane-katrina/

Joan Osborne
Little Wild One (2008)
http://www.joanosborne.com/
ON SALE NOW: Joan Osborne’s Little Wild One

Joan Osborne’s seventh studio album and latest release, Little Wild One, came out in September. This album is sure to receive a lot of attention as it’s the first time Osborne has re-united with Rick Chertoff, Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian since her album, Relish, which launched her into the spotlight with her controversial what-would-Jesus-do song “One of Us”. The songs on this album have a poppy Americana and alt-country feel.

On Little Wild One, Osborne continues her religious theme by opening with “Hallelujah in the City” which contains a chorus of “hallelujah’s”, and again with references to angels in the piano-driven “Cathedrals.” Despite her religious lyrics, Osborne is a strong advocate for reproductive, LGBT and women’s rights, among other issues. She’s also had quite a few intimate encounters with women which she openly speaks about in an interview with Velvet Park.

In the first single off the album, “Sweeter Than the Rest” Osborne sings: “I am crossing Brooklyn ferry with the clouds to my west and I know what I’m missing, some are sweet but you are sweeter….than the rest”. Osborne pays homage to her New York City home multiple times on this album. She turns the tempo down a bit with one song written soley by herself, “Meet You in the Middle” and then turns that tempo back up with the exotic world sounds of “Can’t Say No.”

Little Wild One’s atmosphere is a great sound to accommodate those family gatherings during the Holidays.

published on outimpact.com at http://www.outimpact.com/album-reviews/joan-osborne-little-wild-one

Californians Against Hate has researched and named the top 12 financial contributors to the “Yes on Proposition 8” campaign that heavily influenced people in key states to discriminate against and take away the rights of LGBTQ people in America. For those of you who haven’t been paying attention, Proposition 8 is an amendment to the Constitution that restricts same-sex couples from marrying. Despite all the efforts and progress which allowed and recognized same-sex couples the right to marry, and despite the many same-sex couples who did get married, Proposition 8 overrides all of those marriages. It is amazing to me that our Country still has such a conservative mindset even after electing President Obama, who views all people as equal no matter their sexual orientation.

The Dishonor Roll names these 12 contributors along with hundreds of other individuals, businesses, organizations and churches that funded hatred and discrimination to stay alive in our Country. The Knights of Columbus made it to the top of the list with donations amounting to $1,425,000. Among the top contributors include the National Organization for Marriage ($1,041,134.80), Focus on the Family($539,643.66), American Family Association ($500,000) and Concerned Women for America ($409,000).

William Bolthouse of the Bolthouse Foundation gave $100,000 towards pro-Proposition 8 campaigns. Their website makes it a point to state that The Bolthouse Foundation is separate from Bolthouse Farms and that all financial contributions made by each are based on the decisions of each entity and do not reflect on the other. So not only do the new owners of Bolthouse Farms disagree with the The Bolthouse Foundation on Proposition 8, but they also give medical benefits to employees with same sex partners and have donated a generous amount of money to LGBTQ organizations. With that said, I can drink my Bolthouse Green Goodness drinks guilt-free!

One thing that seemed to be common among the people who made it onto the Dishonor Roll is that a lot of them are alumna of Brigham Young University. If the sanctity of marriage is so important, why are there not stricter rules for getting a divorce? Or a stricter process to get married? Getting married should be just as hard as getting U.S. Citizenship.

The Dishonor Roll has been a great resources for queer activists who are boycotting and have staged demonstrations against companies such as Hoehn Motors ($25,000), Cinemark Cinemas ($9,999), and A-1 Storage ($693,000) to name a few of the larger contributors. Queer activists are also boycotting many Mormon owned businesses as well. We can still vote with our wallets to show these bigots that we are not backing down on our rights. Hopefully in the next 4 years all of the bigotry will reverse itself. With the leadership of a President who really cares about equality for every human being I believe it can happen.

William Control
Hate Culture
Official Website: http://www.williamcontrol.com

William Control is the side project of Wil Francis of the Seattle based post-hardcore band, Aiden. The album, Hate Culture, is a collection of Francis’ techno-industrial, new wave, Depeche Mode-influenced songs. The album serves as Francis’ form of self medication as it’s packed with dark songs full of suicide references. Desperation and depression are just a few of the reoccurring themes to be found on Hate Culture.

The songs on this album are a reflection of Francis’ past. In his teenage years he felt very lonely and was not opposed to seeking violence as an outlet. In 1999, he went to jail for planning a mass shooting in Seattle. Upon being released, he decided to turn his life around and get back into playing music. In a Suicide Girls’ interview he claimed that “once again, music saved life, like it’s done over and over again.”

The first track opens with Francis stating “I am William Control… and I do NOT want you to like me” and then launches into the danceable “Beautiful Loser.” The album’s title track, “Hate Culture”, opens with futuristic, new wave synths and a slowly evolving drum track. The album is a nonstop gothic saga that tragically ends with an acoustic guitar accompanied by a sad violin waging the war between hate and love in William Control’s world.

published on outimpact.com at http://www.outimpact.com/album-reviews/william-control-hate-culture

Witness, an organization dedicated to creating exposure of human rights violations all over the globe through the use of video, has launched a beta version of The Hub. The Hub is a collection of videos that focus on human rights issues. Anyone can create an account and upload a video as long as it relates to human rights. Each video page has information and resources about the issue and links to the campaigns where you can take action.

Activists in China have been uploading videos to The Hub to show instances of police violence upon civilian protesters. The videos were originally uploaded to Chinese video hosting sites, but were quickly taken down. There is also a heavy focus on the 2008 Olympics and how bringing the Olympics to China has only made their human rights worse.

If you or your organization have a video already made, the ease of use is simple. Just follow these steps to create an account and upload your video.

published on DigiActive.org at http://www.digiactive.org/2008/07/11/tools-the-hub/

Grassroots organizers have been attacking big corporation by using their ads against them. Have you ever seen an ad for a makeup product that has been tested on animals? There’s no way you would ever buy or support that company, so clicking on that banner ad would probably never cross your mind. Now, activists and organizers have been actively seeking out these banners by searching for specific keywords to find them so they can click on them and NOT buy their products, resulting in a loss in ad revenue for the business. Once they are at the website of the company, they then go to the Contact page to send them an e-mail explaining why they are protesting.

When doing a search to see exactly which organizations were doing this type of protest, information could not be found. This may be because of the anonymity that organizers wish to keep so they are not held accountable for costing these businesses money.
The purpose of the action is to cost businesses money by clicking on ads with no intent to purchase their project. This costs the company money and also tells them that people are boycotting the purchase of their product for certain reasons.

The tactic sounds great in theory, but just like in most cases, most things are in favor of big business. There was an instance where Google was sued due to click fraud and ended up refunding the businesses that were affected.

This would be a fairly easy tactic for any organizer and can be used for many different issues

published on DigiActive.org at http://www.digiactive.org/2008/07/02/tactic-using-ad-clicks-to-protest-corporations/

Melange Lavonne
The Movement
http://www.melangelavonne.com
ON SALE NOW: Melange Lavonne’s The Movement

Melange Lavonne is an African American, female rapper. She is also an openly out lesbian. She describes her music on her MySpace page as “Christian Rap” and also identifies herself as a Christian. The songs on her album, The Movement, touch on real issues that are often not talked about. The album opens with “Gay Bash” in which she outright calls Christians who hate on homosexuals hypocrites. This song brought a smile to my face because everything she said were things that I wish more people would stand up and say.

This is an important album for our society to hear right now because it speaks so many truths on many different topics from gay parenting to global warming. The issues are real not only to Lavonne, who raps from a very personal standpoint about her life and the obstacles she has faced from being openly gay, but to every single person who has questioned their sexuality or been judge, discriminated or hated because of it.

Lavonne had a rough time coming out which included losing her College Basketball Scholarship and going through suicidal depression after not being fully accepted by her parents. She was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease and has been battling the cancer for years. She has also been a victim in an abusive lesbian relationship which she talks about in Domestic Violence.

Although the topics Lavonne covers in her songs are often hard to be heard in mainstream music because they are so honest, it is such a relief that someone is standing up and creating visibility with their music, especially in the hip hop / rap scene which is polluted with so many misogynist and sexist content. Her song, “The Game” addresses issues of stereotypical sexism, racism and the sensationalized glamour of thug life in hip hop culture. Lavonne blames the ignorant lyrics of today’s rap songs on the record executives, saying: “he’s the one that allowed the ignorant shit to flow through.”

It’s rare to find a good rap song with meaningful lyrics these days. You can tell that Lavonne puts a lot of thought into every word she chooses in her songs. In an article on AfterEllen, Lavonne states “There’s never a song where I write and have the facts screwed up. I love hip-hop because I can articulate in about four minutes what I can in a conversation.”

The first time I listened to The Movement, I started nodding my head, and not because of the beat; I was nodding in agreement of everything Lavonne said.

published on outimpact.com at http://www.outimpact.com/album-reviews/melange-lavonne-the-movement/