We came across this vigil and wanted to pass it along to anyone who wants to attend.  It’s a beautiful memorial…

Our prayers are with the families and victims involved during this painful and difficult time.

On Monday night, the cast of "The Voice" paid tribute to the victims of the Newtown Massacre, in the inspired words of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."  If you, Las Cruces, would like to do something to show your support to the families and victims, like this post, or let us know in a comment below.

Alicia Keys has just released the video for "Brand New Me," which finds the singer right where she belongs--behind her piano, doing what she does best.  Leave a comment, and let us know what you think of it!

Our thoughts and prayers are going out to everyone in Newtown, CT, on this day of historic tragedy.  So far, 26 have been confirmed dead, including 18 children.  Aside from the Virginia Tech massacre, this is the largest school shooting in our nation's history, and comes on the heels of the Portland mall shooting.  You can watch live NBC News coverage HERE.

When DMX Spits "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer,"
2.2 Million People Watch It On YouTube.

Investigators say two would-be hit men from Albuquerque may have had their sights set on the teen mega star; Justin Bieber.

They had it planned down to the ties they were going to use to strangle to the pop star and three other people. A warning, the details are pretty graphic.

Still, you shoud read it... HERE and HERE.

Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez have called it quits, ending their relationship after almost two years together. 

According to various reports, it was Selena who pulled the plug on the relationship sometime last week.

The two first sparked dating rumors in November 2010 when they were spotted dining together at an IHOP, but didn't go public with their relationship until February 2011. 

Gomez was often the target of rabid Bieber fans, who constantly attacked her for dating their beloved Biebs.

The couple battled break-up rumors multiple times -- most recently earlier this week when Justin was seen hitting up a Broadway play with a group of people that included 19-year-old Victoria's Secret model Barbara Palvin. 

So we're guessing he'll be just fine.

Read more HERE!

Rihanna previously revealed the cover art for her upcoming album Unapologetic, and with her first single "Diamonds" reaching No. 1 on Billboard "R&B/Hip-Hop Songs" last week, the pop princess continues to build momentum and shares the tracklisting for her forthcoming seventh studio LP. The album is slated to include 14 tracks for the standard release, and three additional tunes as well as a 20-minute bonus DVD for the deluxe edition. Minus any features set to appear on the album, you can check out the tracklist for both editions down below. Rumor has it that RiRi's second single should be surfacing soon, but until then be sure to mark your calendars for November 19, the date you can expect Unapologetic to hit shelves.

Rihanna - Unapologetic (Tracklist)

Standard edition:

1. Fresh Off The Runway
2. Diamonds
3. Numb
4. Pour It Up
5. Loveeeeeee Song
6. Jump
7. Right Now
8. What Now
9. Stay
10. Nobodys Business
11. Love Without Tragedy / Mother Mary
12. Get It Over With
13. No Love Allowed
14. Lost In Paradise

Deluxe Edition:

15. Half Of Me
16. Diamonds (Dave Aude 100 Extended)
17. Diamonds (Gregor Salto Downtempo Remix)
Bonus DVD, never-before-released footage and Rihanna’s Loud Tour recorded live at London’s O2 Arena (20 mins)

  If you grew up in the era that I did, give or take, you probably remember Rock The Vote as a powerhouse in delivering American politics to young voters.  Yet, if you’ve been paying attention in this election year, Rock The Vote might seem conspicuously absent.  It certainly has to me.

  Rock The Vote was founded in 1990, and has registered more than 5 million young people—including an astounding 2.5 million in the 2008 election.  In the Nineties, they were so firmly-entrenched with MTV, I always believed that Rock The Vote was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the network.  It’s not.  It’s actually an independent, nonpartisan and nonprofit organization, which was simply using MTV to reach its target demographic—and quite effectively, I should add.

  I intended to write this column about how MTV’s latest initiative, Power of 12, is no match for the incredibly effective Rock The Vote campaign.  And I suppose that thesis still holds.

  If you’re unfamiliar with MTV’s Power of 12—well, you probably aren’t alone.  The lackluster effort comes across as unserious and juvenile, in ways that Rock The Vote never has.  Recent headlines on the Power of 12 website include “Which Kardashian Would Make The Best President,” “Nick Jonas Will Vote Absentee,” and a story about Jersey Shore’s “The Situation” asking CNN’s Wolf Blitzer why he should vote.  To make matters worse, the site features a “Fantasy Election” element—as though the only way to engage young voters is to make it like their fantasy football leagues.

  No, really.  If you were trying to design a spoof site to target young voters, you couldn’t do worse.  Instead of providing a little insight into ideas that matter to young voters—like Pell Grants, jobs plans, the DREAM Act, or insurance policies that effect 18-24 year olds—they offer profound quotes from celebrities like Olivia Wilde, saying “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain.”

  If Power of 12 has gone largely unnoticed in this election cycle, it’s with good reason.  Where Rock The Vote brought real issues, backed by the heft of real celebrities who believed in specific causes, MTV’s latest failure delivers reality stars hem-hawing their way around unimportant issues.

  Rock The Vote, as it turns out, is still around. They’ve got a fairly active Facebook page, and the website RockTheVote.org is still in full swing.  They have been traveling to college campuses to register young voters this year—as that is the primary mission of Rock The Vote.  And they still do a decent job of bridging the worlds of politics and popular culture.  In fact, last month they released a voter registration PSA featuring Miley Cyrus, Neil Patrick Harris, Josh Duhamel, Tony Hawk and others.  I’m not real sure why Rock The Vote has all but disappeared from our collective consciousness, but it certainly seems that it has.

   MTV, in all fairness, is not doing everything wrong.  (Although, as someone who remembers watching music videos on MTV, and as someone who still hasn’t learned to appreciate Jersey Shore, I’d probably say that they’re doing most things wrong.)  Their initiative to engage young people in social responsibility, “Act,” is actually pretty impressive.  It tackles a whole host of important issues, from gender equality around the world to bullying.  And it does it in a way that makes civic and social engagement seem pretty cool.  You can check it out at act.mtv.com.

  That’s what Rock The Vote used to do.  It made it cool to get involved, to be engaged, and participate in the democratic process.  We need more organizations like that.  We need more young Americans to commit to making a difference.                                                      

Originally printed in “Pulse,” 10/25/2012.
© Damien Willis, 2012.  All rights reserved.