The Virtual Union

Hollywood, CA – For some people life never seems to get going. For others it seems to start and stall. For a rare few life explodes, giving them success beyond their wildest dreams. Some people start fast and stall late, while others become late bloomers. Life carries no promises for anyone, no matter the background, no matter the family into which they are born. No matter what we believe when we are young the realities of real life and the real world often surprise us in both good ways and bad. Scrape TV

Belgrade, Bosnia and Herzegovina – At minimum there are two hundred billions stars in the Milky Way galaxy. At minimum there are two hundred billion galaxies in the Universe. We have found circumstantial evidence of life on Mars and other bodies in our own meagre solar system. With so many possibilities in the Heavens, there is great likelihood that life exists throughout and could even be plentiful. As yet we have not discovered evidence of such, but the vast possibilities ensure that the search will continue for a long time to come. Scrape TV

Washington, D.C. – Thousands of people stranded from their families, air traffic grounded, millions of dollars going down the drain and absolutely nothing anyone can do about it. The eruptions at the Icelandic glacier Eyjafjallajökull have highlighted for many the sheer power of the Earth to continue to dominate humanity. Like the earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, and China earlier this year, the eruptions have shown that despite all our advances, despite all our sophistication, Mother Nature is still very much in charge and is more than ready to remind us of that fact. Scrape TV

Paris, France – Some have and continue to argue that the beauty of the world could never have happened without a divine inspiration. Others have argued that the beauty of nature is all the more remarkable because it is the result of natural processes rather than created by the hand of a creator. While the vast majority of people believe the former, the only evidence we have ever uncovered suggests the latter. Whatever the truth, it is our quest to uncover the answers that makes us human and ultimately the best expression of whatever created us and our world. Scrape TV

London, U.K. - After complete humiliation and failure in the 2010 United Kingdom elections earlier this year, Nick Griffin, leader of the anti-immigration British National Party, was again nationally embarrassed, after being controversially refused entry to attend a Buckingham Palace garden party, from claims he had abused his invitation for political purposes.

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “Nick Griffin MEP will be denied entry to today’s garden party at Buckingham Palace due to the fact he has overtly used his personal invitation for party political purpose through the media. This in turn has increased the security threat and the potential discomfort to the many other guests also attending.” Scrape TV

Atlanta, GA – In the 1980’s the realities of Hollywood were pretty bleak for people of certain ethnic dispositions. True there were roles for sidekicks and criminals, but there were very few leading men of colour. Through the nineties that would change with the success of Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Jaime Foxx, and Samuel L. Jackson whose success paved the way for colour blind casting. While that success is no doubt welcome for younger players, those people who laid the groundwork by never getting their shot still had to suffer. Scrape TV

San Francisco, CA – The free market system has undoubtedly been the most successful financial system ever created. While there are certainly flaws, as witnessed by the recent mortgage meltdown, the core elements of the system remain an undeniable success. In recent years more and more oversight has come into to the system, limiting the freedom, but the success of the United States economy, which currently stand at one quarter of the world’s economy, has proven that the free market can and does work, particularly for those who are able to play the system properly. Scrape TV

Geneva, Switzerland – Arguably, there has been no technology that has had such a dramatic effect on human culture as the internet. Impacting virtually all aspects of human society, from entertainment to communication, the internet has created a paradigm shift in human interaction as dynamic as the printing press did, or the telephone. The internet though is still young and still only at the precipice of potential. With massive populations in China, India, and Africa only starting to get connected, the upward potential of the internet is huge and likely to further change society in ways we cannot even imagine. Scrape TV

London, U.K. – Like any popular medium, video games have been beset by critics and pundits for its portrayal of violence. Though no scientific study, and no practical experience, has ever found a real link between violence in entertainment and violence in the real world, every time a particular medium becomes popular it is targeted as the harbinger of the end of human culture. While the motivations for such claims may be genuine, or they may be political piggy backing, the net result is the same time and time again, not a whole lot. Scrape TV

Hollywood, CA – There are perhaps only two living people in the horror genre that truly deserve veneration. While others have made great and ground breaking contributions to the age-old medium, there are two people, George Romero and John Carpenter, who has stood heads and should above all others. While Romero created the Zombie genre and perhaps all of the great films in it, Carpenter has had a more varied career, scaring audiences with serial killers, aliens, haunted cars, and even Satan Himself. Together they are truly horror royalty and deserving of all the acclaim they have been given over the years. Scrape TV