Category Archives: Social

Attitudes & behaviors in society; looking at the past, present, and future characteristics among people.

Where the beef should lie

September 11, 2008 d dot b Leave a comment

Where the Beef Should Lie

Rappers, misdirection, media

Rappers constantly beef with each other, of all the other musical genres, hip-hop music has to have the most animosity amongst its artists. Rappers have gained a career (a la 50 cent) by dissing and feuding with other rappers and their respective camps, and of course, some rappers have also perished of beef (R.I.P. Tupac & Biggie). The causes and reasons for beefing are self-serving at best; it can be looked at an attempt for one rapper to gain notoriety for dissing another or it can stem from a real personal beef that began before the music. Lately, it has been the former, as many rappers will diss others so that they can get heavy rotation in the rumor mill and spill cycle – this usually happens just around the time when they are releasing an album. At times though, the reason for beefing can seem silly at best, some of these beefs include:

– DFB beefing with D4L over who created the ‘Lean with it rock with it’ dance
* note: both groups are irrelevant

– Ice-T dissing Soulja Boy because he thinks he is corny

– 50 Cent dissing Ja Rule for singing on the tracks, but then 50 Cent makes a career of singing on tracks (’21 Questions’, ‘candy shop’, ‘ayo technology’)

– The rise of local/up and coming rappers jacking somewhat-established rappers (like Yung Berg), taking their jewellery, and showing such jewellery on YouTube
* note: YouTube jackings of rappers is a growing and alarming trend, rappers need to get their insurance game up!

Not one to condone beefing or dissing, but I think that rappers need to step up their game and take their dissing/beef to the next plateau; I mean verbally attacking a fellow rapper, saying that you are going to kill him, rob him, et cetera, is not that realistic – rappers should really be beefing with people that are detrimenting their community and society. Hip-Hop, in its childhood was heralded as a genre to address social issues and injustices, the classic song ‘The Message’, had a real message of how politics, media, and the government had left many inner city New York communities in perils.

Somewhere, along hip-hop’s progression, the pursuit of using music for ‘social messages’ subsided for the pursuit of material wealth. Well, if a rapper is going to ‘clap’ at anyone, it should not be his fellow brethren, it should maybe be somebody like:

Bill O’Reilly
The popular Fox News pundit has a successful show called the O’Reilly Factor, where the tagline is ‘No Spin Zone’, this guy has been described as a neo, fascist, racist, biased reporter – everything from calling Michelle Obama Barrack’s “Baby Mama”, to actually challenging rappers; O’Reilly made Ludacris lose a sponsorship deal with PepsiCo over O’Reilly’s rant of Ludacris and his questionable misogynistic lyrics.

Lou Dobbs
If I see another report on illegal immigrants from this guy, I will go crazy. Dobbs complains how jobs are being taken from Americans by migrant workers, but what he fails to realize most times that the jobs that are being ‘taken’ are the ones that average Americans will not do.

GWB
I think Kanye said it best in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but I have to give rappers credit – they have took jabs and shots at GWB, while more underground rappers have dedicated whole songs to his legacy.

Besides this list, I am sure that rappers can find other sources for beef than another rapper that may or may not have stole their dance, swag, or jewellery.

.:: d.b ::.

Family, Logic, Love, Relationships, Social, Work

WikiP: ‘Trust’

July 11, 2008 d dot b Leave a comment

Trust
Virtues: relationships, predictive actions, past knowledge

I‘ve always known wikipedia to be a good resource for historical facts and events, but it never really dawned on me that wikipedia can be used as a dictionary – to look up terms and definitions of everyday words. Well, apparently to my knowledge, wikipedia is also some sort of a dictionary, but where dictionary.com only gives you the definition of a word, wikipedia gives you the definition and concepts behind the word, and relational concepts.

For example, let’s look at the word ‘Trust‘:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_%28social_sciences%29

Trust is a relationship of reliance. A trusted party is presumed to seek to fulfill policies, ethical codes, law and their previous promises.

Trust does not need to involve belief in the good character, vices, or morals of the other party. Persons engaged in a criminal activity usually trust each other to some extent. Also trust does not need to include an action that you and the other party are mutually engaged in. Trust is a prediction of reliance on an action, based on what a party knows about the other party. Trust is a statement about what is otherwise unknown — for example, because it is far away, cannot be verified, or is in the future.

And it goes on, and on. Reading this, I particularly find the line ‘Trust is a prediction of reliance on an action, based on what a party knows about the other party.‘ to be very telling as it really does not matter how long you have known someone to ascertain if you trust them, what is important is how much knowledge and/or insight you have on an individual – one can get that intel in years or in a matter of minutes. Family, lifelong friends should be ‘trustworthy’, but we may only perceive them as such because of the notion that such people should be the ones that we ‘trust’. Well trust me, trust can be found in the oddest of places with even the oddest of people, as trust should really be based and predicted upon the reliance of an action – based on what you know about an individual.

I believe I always have had this notion for years, but have never been able to articulated quite like the wiki has (but, I never really had the desire to do so either). Its very hard to say that I can fully trust someone – because we base trust on how we would hope/anticipate people to act in certain situations. Its a cliche to say well, “I hope they will do the right thing”, but that ‘right thing’ varies from individual to individual. It would be best to base your trust based on the immediate action + what prior information you know about the individual.

For example:

You would not trust him with your kids:

Michael Jackson

You would not trust him with your 15 year old daughter:

R. Kelly

You would not trust her with keeping a secret:

Karrine Superhead Steffans

You would not trust him (Ike Turner) with your personal safety:

Ike Turner & Tina Turner

You would not trust his word:

O.J. Simpson

In all, you would not trust these people in the examples that I prescribed, but that does not directly correlate that you would not trust them in other scenarios: R. Kelly could be able to give you good advice & direction regarding the music industry, O.J. may be a trustful source of information for football skills & techniques, and Karrine ‘Superhead’ Steffans may be a good source of intel on how to keep a man … any guess on how she would do that? (LOL).

But, in all importance, we all need to put our trust in ourselves as we must be confident and, we must try to attain a sense of surety that the decisions we make will be the ‘right’ one.

.:: d.b ::.

Health, Social, Technology

Masdar City

July 6, 2008 d dot b Leave a comment

Masdar City
The Green City in an Oil Rich Country

The project is headed by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (ADFEC). Initiated in 2006, the project is projected to cost US$22 billion and take some eight years to build, with the first phase scheduled to be complete and habitable in 2009. The city will cover 6 square kilometres (2.3 sq mi) on a site 6.4 km² (2.5 sq mi) in size and will be home to 50,000 people and 1,500 businesses, primarily commercial and manufacturing facilities specialising in environmentally-friendly products, and an expected 40,000 workers will commute to the city daily. It will also be the location of a university, the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), which will be assisted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Automobiles will be banned within the city; travel will be accomplished via public mass transit and personal rapid transit systems, with existing road- and railways connecting to other locations outside the city.

Masdar City will be the latest of a small number of highly planned, specialized, research and technology-intensive municipalities that incorporate a living environment, similar to Novosibirsk, Russia or Tsukuba Science City, Japan.

Renewable Resources

Masdar will employ a variety of renewable power sources. Among the first construction projects will be a 40 to 60 megawatt solar power plant, built by the German firm Conergy, which will supply power for all other construction activity. This will later be followed by a larger facility, and additional photovoltaic modules will be placed on rooftops to provide supplemental solar energy totalling 130 megawatts. Wind farms will be established outside the city’s perimeter capable of producing up to 20 megawatts, and the city intends to utilise geothermal power as well. In addition, Masdar plans to host the world’s largest hydrogen power plant.

Water management has been planned in an environmentally-sound manner as well. A solar-powered desalination plant will be used to provide the city’s water needs, which is stated to be 60 percent lower than similarly sized communities. Approximately 80 percent of the water used will be recycled and waste water will be reused “as many times as possible,” with this so-called greywater being used for crop irrigation and other purposes.

The city will also attempt to reduce waste to zero. Biological waste will be used to create nutrient-rich soil and fertiliser, and some may also be utilised through waste incineration as an additional power source. Industrial waste, such as plastics and metals, will be recycled or repurposed for other uses.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masdar_City

.:: d.b ::.

Isn’t it messed that one of the world’s richest oil nations is taking this green initiative, while nations such as the United States have not even considered taking on such a project?

Social, Work

Pussification pt. 2: No, I don’t subscribe

July 3, 2008 d dot b Leave a comment

Pussification pt. 2: No, I don’t subscribe
A more succinct way of disagreement
View pt.0 and get familiar

Society has become increasingly tolerant and sensitive to the needs of others; looking at our etiology we have come a long way from the tyrant, barbarian behaviour of our ancestors. As of late, after the feminist and civil rights movement, in an era I like to call ‘social movements’, we have a hard time of saying ‘no’ to the simplest of things. ‘No’ is a refusal skill that implies a disagreement or rejection to something (concept, question, etc.). Instead of saying ‘no’ we will substitute our disagreeable or rejectable response for longer, and more sensitive responses that can lead to ambiguity – meaning the respondee may be lead to believe that there is hope to their question.

So why do we do this? Having respect, and being respectful for others feelings could be a reason; as we are taught such behavior from a young age. However, we can still have respect for others, and their feelings, without embodying the qualities of pussification (pretentiousness, fake, ambiguity, non-genuine, not ‘keeping it real’).

Here are some real world examples on how you can un-pussificate yourself:

Can you help me out and do some of my work?

old: “I’ll see if I can get around to it”
try: “No, I’m not going to do your work”.

Did you mess up on that 1st quarter report?

old: “I’m not sure, I don’t think I did that”
try: “No, I don’t have any recollection to what you are referring to”

Honey, can we go see Sex and the City?

old: “I’ll see, I got a lot of things to do later on”
try: “No, that is for chicks, I’m a man”.

Do you like my outfit?

old: “Its okay”
try: “No, its wack – it needs work.”

Want to hit up the club tonight?

old: “Not really, I’m kind of busy tonight, and the club is kind of expensive, and I’m trying to save my money”
try: “No, that club that your going to is weak and has ugly women”

In all, people respect those that give respect, and furthermore, people can – or at least should, respect an honest opinion. Its okay to disagree with someone – there may be some notion or perception that saying ‘no’ may lead to an argument of some kind, when in all honesty it is not a start of an argument per say, but the start of a discussion, a dialogue of sorts. An open exchange of opposing, differing, and even similar views – try it sometimes, you may be surprised with the results, and even with what you learn.

.:: d.b ::.

~ Life in B Major ~

Social

I Don’t Know her anymore … (that’s a good thing)

June 20, 2008 d dot b Leave a comment

I Don’t Know Her Anymore … (That’s a good thing)
Discourse: change, history, adaptation Type: poetic style

I was told all about her;
Her nasty past – filled with chains, whips, confinement, guns;

She was troubled;
Filled with hate and fear for others, she built her self-esteem at the expense of others;
Breaking spirits, hopes, and dreams was synonymous with her name – as she rose to great powers;

Everyone wanted to have a piece of her though, a piece of her ‘dream’ – as her dream promised personal fulfillment for others whom worked hard and were dedicated;
For a long time, many were scared of her sight, her glare, her voice, her disdain for others;
She even separated herself from others – only to associate with those that resembled her;
And for those that were separated from her, were meant to feel below feces;
She enacted rules to sustain her behavior, guns to enforce her behavior, and persuasion & repetition to germinate her behavior;
However, the ‘goodness’ in man eventually led to a subside of her behavior;
And even thought her rules were gone, she had left a mark – a putrid stain that will never be forgotten;

Now, I don’t get her, she seems so different;
Giving hopes and dreams to those she views different, but the difference I can’t measure – don’t even no where to start;
As it appears she is allowing a pigment change over her deep-entrenched red heart;
Maybe she has changed for the good – a complete 180 of what she was before;
Or perhaps it’s a change that will only be understood with time – as no amount of money could provide solace to all she hurt;
But her change may be retribution enough to those that had lost all hope with her;
One man is testing how much she has changed or is changing;

She was lost, and maybe, just maybe she has been ‘found’ or is in the process ‘finding’ … only time will tell

.:: d.b ::.

Economics, Social

Tip What? pt. 3

June 4, 2008 d dot b Leave a comment

Tip What? pt. 3
The ‘Included’ Tip Get Familiar with Tip What pt. 1 & Tip What pt.2

I was recently out with a large group of people at a cafe/restaurant; roughly there were 10 of us. The joint was well designed, ambience was positive, and we were all enjoying the sweet delicacies of ice cream, crepes, and other fattening artery clogger-foods. When it was time to boogie, the waitress never asked if we wanted one receipt or separate receipts – she proceeded to give us one receipt with everyone’s orders. I was fine with that; my portion totaled to like $4.74, so I believe I gave like $6 or $7 – figuring that it would cover taxes and would even add to a tip for the waitress. However, I was quickly prompted that I had to throw in $10 due to a gratuity that was already calculated into the bill. I obliged, but I was taken aback – it should be up to the customer if they choose to give a tip or not. Furthermore, automatically calculating the tip into bill is like a ‘slap in the face’; the restaurant is pretty much saying ‘you are going to pay a tip, regardless if you like it or not’. I guess restaurants engage in this practice because they figure with groups, they may not subscribe to socially practice of tipping (which is x% …. I don’t even know, because I don’t practice that foolery), meaning that the group may still tip, but below the ‘acceptable norm’. And in retrospect, maybe the restaurants do this because dealing with groups can be problematic for their wait staff – for our group, some of the orders will wrong on the bill, some of the ‘fresh fruit’ was far from it, and a lot of the group members were not really pleased with their meal. I mean, look @ me; I really wasn’t going to tip anyway – and I’m sure many of the other group members were going to follow in a similar fashion.

Its a very good thing though that I wasn’t paying the bill for the whole group, because I would have ignored that ‘auto’ tip, and maybe even do a D&D (best way to work out calories … instantly!).

P.S. d.b or its affiliates does not endorse Dine & Dashing at any restaurants, cafes, or the like.

Xtra Thought ~~
Look out for great pieces about D&D in the future though! D&D’s are best done in foreign cities and when on vacations though.

Let’s hope this effect is something of the past ….

Producer of Things