The Virtual Union

Arlington, VA – No matter the culture, no matter the religion, no matter the politics there is one area in life where all people agree that respect should be paid. That one place is in death. Different cultures have different traditions, some sombre, some bizarre, but the one constant throughout the world and throughout history is respect and fealty to the departed and the lives they lived. Even in warfare where soldiers are obligated to put people into the grave, the respect once their opponents have passed remains true and honest. Scrape TV

Venice, LA – As if the people of Louisiana didn’t have enough to worry about already. Still recovering from the devastation that Hurricane Katrina over the state in 2005 the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico further compounded their pain and suffering. While such trauma may pale in comparison to other places, say their Gulf neighbour Haiti, the suffering for individuals is just as profound no matter where they live. Whether it’s financial dislocation or the sheer oppressive nature of one disaster being piled on top of another, the people of Louisiana have been through enough. Scrape TV

Los Angeles, CA – For more than two decades one show was defined and redefined the police procedural. One of the of the oldest and most well worn genres in television history, police shows have been the meat and potatoes of the medium since the beginning. When it first debuted on September 13, 1990, ‘Law & Order’ was an immediate hit that forever altered the structure and nature of police shows. Showing all aspects of the criminal justice system the show gave a revolutionary perspective on the system that keeps us organized and safe. Scrape TV

Washington, D.C. – For almost as long as humanity has been organizing in societies as self aware beings we have been predicting our eventual demise. Apocalyptic visions of holy wrath, natural disasters, and devastating warfare have filled our common conscience for centuries. Of course, the Earth has suffered such events in the past and will again in the future but our stories often time are not warnings to prevent such catastrophes, they are celebrations of the end of life on the only planet we have ever called home. Scrape TV

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