So by now all you desinauts out there know how good bhangra music is. It's becoming a phenomenon in America. Who knows that there is good music developing in Rajasthan though?
Check out some of these videos, then keep an ear out for the emerging Rajasthani sound. I think there's something here that's going to blow up big. And don't even make fun of how ridiculous there videos are. Have you seen Daler Mehndi lately?
Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Darra, Pakistan
This is a great video about the gun markets in Darra, Pakistan. This is like Pakistan's wild west.
Bomb Iran? Uh, how about not.
Imagine the nightmare of a war with Iran. Consider how fragile our economy is now. Add the extra burden of paying for another war, hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Then think about what would happen when the price of oil goes up to $200 a barrel, which is realistically could if we further destabilize the region. Going to war with Iran would seriously- and perhaps permanently- damage our economy.
We're actually considering war with Iran because they are developing nuclear power facilities? We just sold nuclear technology to India, and seem to have no problem with Israel and Pakistan having nuclear weapons. No wonder the world thinks we're a country full of hypocrites.
McCain expressed a serious, dangerous lack of judgment when he joked about bombing Iran. We can't afford to have a president who is apparently eager to get us into a war with Iran.
We're actually considering war with Iran because they are developing nuclear power facilities? We just sold nuclear technology to India, and seem to have no problem with Israel and Pakistan having nuclear weapons. No wonder the world thinks we're a country full of hypocrites.
McCain expressed a serious, dangerous lack of judgment when he joked about bombing Iran. We can't afford to have a president who is apparently eager to get us into a war with Iran.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Udaipur looks nice.
I've sort of always wanted to go to Udaipur. It looks nice.
Here are some videos that make this place look pretty.
Here are some videos that make this place look pretty.
Drunk Skinheads for Obama
So crazy people threaten to kill the president all the time. It's kind of not that big of a deal.
Basically, these young skinhead guys talked about some ridiculous, racist violence online. They were drunk. I'm pretty sure. That's what happens when crazy people drink and chat with fellow skinheads.
But what great press for Obama!
For some reason, everyone who wants to vote for Obama on November 4th is convinced that something bad is going to happen.
Is it that he's a black man in an America filled with drunk skinheads and guns? Is it the memory of the past two elections getting snatched away at the last minute? Do people actually care this time maybe?
Basically, these young skinhead guys talked about some ridiculous, racist violence online. They were drunk. I'm pretty sure. That's what happens when crazy people drink and chat with fellow skinheads.
But what great press for Obama!
For some reason, everyone who wants to vote for Obama on November 4th is convinced that something bad is going to happen.
Is it that he's a black man in an America filled with drunk skinheads and guns? Is it the memory of the past two elections getting snatched away at the last minute? Do people actually care this time maybe?
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Mitt Romney for president!
Wow. Now I want to vote for Mitt Romney. This is about as lucid as those meth heads. Better visuals though.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
John McCain for President! Several Powerful Arguments.
Oh my god the racism. Here's footage of an Obama monkey doll at a Palin rally. You've got to be kidding me.
Evidently old racist people are really convinced that Obama is Muslim, which is the scariest thing next to black.
Oh. Good. Political insights from racist meth heads. Now the issues are crystal clear.
Evidently old racist people are really convinced that Obama is Muslim, which is the scariest thing next to black.
Oh. Good. Political insights from racist meth heads. Now the issues are crystal clear.
Friday, October 24, 2008
TED Spread
This is an important indicator right now. The TED spread is the difference between interest rates for euros and dollars. When credit is healthy, it is low (like 1 or 2). It was at a 5 but is now down to like 2.7.
Here's a link to what the TED spread is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED_spread
You can check it on Bloomberg:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=.TEDSP:IND
The credit market is abating. That ends the surreal part of this crisis. Now we still have a lot of credit default swaps and mortgaged based derivatives out there, so there's going to be more turmoil on Wall Street for a little while. That could still be sort of weird.
After that, it's just a recession. We have them. It's not the end of the world.
The thing to be afraid of in all of this is that our entire economy is just based on a series of bad idea. There are plenty more problems that could through us into future recessions. Unregulated free market capitalism is dangerous in the long run. Investors know this, but got greedy with deregulation.
I am hopeful about the economy in the long run if the next government is smart about regulating some of these dangerous financial products. Otherwise, we have bad problems.
Good thing Obama's going to win! Who knows, but he's much more likely to stand up to the Wall Street lobbyists and update the regulatory framework.
I take great comfort in the fact that Warren Buffett has been giving council to Obama. For real. At least we know that someone is giving him an elite education in the issues.
Here's a link to what the TED spread is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED_spread
You can check it on Bloomberg:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=.TEDSP:IND
The credit market is abating. That ends the surreal part of this crisis. Now we still have a lot of credit default swaps and mortgaged based derivatives out there, so there's going to be more turmoil on Wall Street for a little while. That could still be sort of weird.
After that, it's just a recession. We have them. It's not the end of the world.
The thing to be afraid of in all of this is that our entire economy is just based on a series of bad idea. There are plenty more problems that could through us into future recessions. Unregulated free market capitalism is dangerous in the long run. Investors know this, but got greedy with deregulation.
I am hopeful about the economy in the long run if the next government is smart about regulating some of these dangerous financial products. Otherwise, we have bad problems.
Good thing Obama's going to win! Who knows, but he's much more likely to stand up to the Wall Street lobbyists and update the regulatory framework.
I take great comfort in the fact that Warren Buffett has been giving council to Obama. For real. At least we know that someone is giving him an elite education in the issues.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
step away with those fistfight ways
Another difference between Dick Cheney's cartel and us? When they feel like it, they can send lots of people with guns to do what they want. Dick Cheney doesn't get in fistfights.
Power always rests on violence, and the ability to threaten violence.
Here's a little Biggie Smalls tribute to Dick Cheney's infinite wisdom.
Things Done Changed video.
Power always rests on violence, and the ability to threaten violence.
Here's a little Biggie Smalls tribute to Dick Cheney's infinite wisdom.
Things Done Changed video.
gangsterized players think deep
So here I am, thinking about Dick Cheney again, meditating on the Prince of Greed, trying to figure out what makes him so successful.
Dick Cheney and his cartel, they are different from you and me in an important way. They plan ahead, in a coordinated way, and execute their plans systematically. We all react, alone, haphazard and isolated. Of course they win and we lose. That won't change until we change the way we do our thing.
Here's some old school props to Dick Cheney. Geto Boys, ancient, edited, but still so fly.
Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangster video.
Dick Cheney and his cartel, they are different from you and me in an important way. They plan ahead, in a coordinated way, and execute their plans systematically. We all react, alone, haphazard and isolated. Of course they win and we lose. That won't change until we change the way we do our thing.
Here's some old school props to Dick Cheney. Geto Boys, ancient, edited, but still so fly.
Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangster video.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Regulation: The Missing Word
You know what word we're not hearing enough when people talk about this economic crisis? Regulation.
This is not like the Great Depression. Everyone keeps making the comparison, but there is one fundamental difference. Our real economy, however you want to measure that, is pretty okay. It's not great, but not terrible. Oil prices are still too high, and we're paying way too much for the war that's keeping it that way. There was some crop destruction from the floods in the Midwest this summer. There are other little things, and it adds up. But more or less, the real economy is not so terrible.
We're in this mess because economic speculators- what we call Wall Street- invested lots of money in a few financial products that aren't properly regulated.
By now, everyone knows that banks were giving out too many iffy loans. Credit was too cheap and available. People got subprime mortgages they couldn’t actually afford, because the banks relaxed their lending policies.
One big reason the banks were so eager to give out questionable mortgages is that they could resell them. Mortgages, bad and good, were bundled together to create securities. With the suspiciously enthusiastic cooperation of bond-rating agencies, these securities were approved as safe to trade. Since they were based in part on inappropriate loans, these securities were actually much less safe than anyone would admit. In fact, they were downright dangerous. These securities should have been properly regulated from the start- and so should the commercial bond-rating companies that said they were safe to trade.
Or consider another example of a financial product that needs regulating, credit default swaps (CDS). Credit default swaps started out as a form of insurance for bond investors. People holding bonds would pay a small percentage of the bonds’ value each year to a company that would guarantee to pay the full price of the bonds if the original issuing corporation failed. In this sense, credit default swaps were just another kind of insurance.
Trading these things proved to be very lucrative for a while. People got into trading credit default swaps without even owning the actual bonds in the first place, to the point that this speculative approach became the norm in the CDS market.
The problem is that when the companies that originally issued the bonds actually started to fail, all these other firms that traded in credit default swaps were left owing huge amounts of money to each other. No one actually had the cash on hand to cover these debt obligations, or knew what debts other firms owed, and that led to a meltdown of the big investment banks.
Despite the fact that prominent investors such as Warren Buffet warned that credit default swaps should be regulated just like other forms of insurance, they weren’t. Investment banks successfully argued that since the traders involved with the CDS market were ‘sophisticated investors’, they didn’t need government oversight. In retrospect, it is painfully clear that they did need regulation.
Whoever the next president is (Obama!), he needs to make sure that the regulatory system is reformed to match modern markets. Otherwise, we’ll just end up in this kind of mess over and over again.
This is not like the Great Depression. Everyone keeps making the comparison, but there is one fundamental difference. Our real economy, however you want to measure that, is pretty okay. It's not great, but not terrible. Oil prices are still too high, and we're paying way too much for the war that's keeping it that way. There was some crop destruction from the floods in the Midwest this summer. There are other little things, and it adds up. But more or less, the real economy is not so terrible.
We're in this mess because economic speculators- what we call Wall Street- invested lots of money in a few financial products that aren't properly regulated.
By now, everyone knows that banks were giving out too many iffy loans. Credit was too cheap and available. People got subprime mortgages they couldn’t actually afford, because the banks relaxed their lending policies.
One big reason the banks were so eager to give out questionable mortgages is that they could resell them. Mortgages, bad and good, were bundled together to create securities. With the suspiciously enthusiastic cooperation of bond-rating agencies, these securities were approved as safe to trade. Since they were based in part on inappropriate loans, these securities were actually much less safe than anyone would admit. In fact, they were downright dangerous. These securities should have been properly regulated from the start- and so should the commercial bond-rating companies that said they were safe to trade.
Or consider another example of a financial product that needs regulating, credit default swaps (CDS). Credit default swaps started out as a form of insurance for bond investors. People holding bonds would pay a small percentage of the bonds’ value each year to a company that would guarantee to pay the full price of the bonds if the original issuing corporation failed. In this sense, credit default swaps were just another kind of insurance.
Trading these things proved to be very lucrative for a while. People got into trading credit default swaps without even owning the actual bonds in the first place, to the point that this speculative approach became the norm in the CDS market.
The problem is that when the companies that originally issued the bonds actually started to fail, all these other firms that traded in credit default swaps were left owing huge amounts of money to each other. No one actually had the cash on hand to cover these debt obligations, or knew what debts other firms owed, and that led to a meltdown of the big investment banks.
Despite the fact that prominent investors such as Warren Buffet warned that credit default swaps should be regulated just like other forms of insurance, they weren’t. Investment banks successfully argued that since the traders involved with the CDS market were ‘sophisticated investors’, they didn’t need government oversight. In retrospect, it is painfully clear that they did need regulation.
Whoever the next president is (Obama!), he needs to make sure that the regulatory system is reformed to match modern markets. Otherwise, we’ll just end up in this kind of mess over and over again.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Captain Bhangra Da
So you know that anything ridiculous enough to be called Captain Bhangra is going to be great. Plus, added bonus, tv dance contest footage. This is the future of dance, America. Buy the clothes.
Ravinder Singh Captain Bhangra De video.
Ravinder Singh Captain Bhangra De video.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Manak-E
You just have to appreciate all the energy Manak-E puts into his music. Manic energy, even...
Aaja video.
Boliyan video.
Ik Hor Glassi video- Death Row beat!
Aaja video.
Boliyan video.
Ik Hor Glassi video- Death Row beat!
Meditations on Dick Cheney
I have to admit, I spend a fair amount of time thinking about Dick Cheney. It's not because I care all that much about him as a person, it's what he represents. Dick Cheney, Dark Prince of Greed, embodies all the powers and ambitions of the gangsters who run our country. And in a really twisted way, that's a beautiful thing. Well, at least there's something to learn from him.
Mostly, I wonder what makes us different than Dick Cheney. How is it that people like him have so much control over the lives of people like us? What makes them so special? More importantly, how can we achieve some kind of freedom from crooks like him?
One big difference between people like Dick Cheney and people like us is their ability to take advantage of this economic collapse. When a recession (or depression or whatever we'll end up calling it) hits, people like Dick Cheney have a huge advantage. They have access to such large amounts of cash that they can go bargain shopping. They buy all the companies, real estate, goods, stocks, and etcetera that they please. A recession is a great opportunity for guys like Dick. It allows them to perpetuate and expand their wealth and power.
How do people like us get to that point? What do we do so that next time there is an economic crisis, we can profit from it instead of being destroyed by it? There must be a way.
Mostly, I wonder what makes us different than Dick Cheney. How is it that people like him have so much control over the lives of people like us? What makes them so special? More importantly, how can we achieve some kind of freedom from crooks like him?
One big difference between people like Dick Cheney and people like us is their ability to take advantage of this economic collapse. When a recession (or depression or whatever we'll end up calling it) hits, people like Dick Cheney have a huge advantage. They have access to such large amounts of cash that they can go bargain shopping. They buy all the companies, real estate, goods, stocks, and etcetera that they please. A recession is a great opportunity for guys like Dick. It allows them to perpetuate and expand their wealth and power.
How do people like us get to that point? What do we do so that next time there is an economic crisis, we can profit from it instead of being destroyed by it? There must be a way.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Miracle Berry
Miracle berry (Synsepalum dulcificum) is a small red berry from West Africa, where it is traditionally used as a flavor enhancer. It is similar in appearance to a cranberry.
It has no real taste, but an amazing ability to make sour foods taste sweet. The effects last about an hour.
After eating a miracle berry, sour fruits like limes and lemons taste extremely sweet, strawberries taste like they are dipped in sugar, tequila tastes like it is mixed with lemonade, and stouts taste like chocolate milk.
Miracle berry has an amazing political history in America. Check out this video from Democracy Now.
It has no real taste, but an amazing ability to make sour foods taste sweet. The effects last about an hour.
After eating a miracle berry, sour fruits like limes and lemons taste extremely sweet, strawberries taste like they are dipped in sugar, tequila tastes like it is mixed with lemonade, and stouts taste like chocolate milk.
Miracle berry has an amazing political history in America. Check out this video from Democracy Now.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Brand Nubian
This is another NY hip hop group people don't know enough about. Brand Nubian has been together since 1989, and they still perform on a regular basis. Check in with SOB's on Varick Street, they play there pretty often.
They are 5 Percenters, a Harlem offshoot of Islam. Brand Nubian combines an incredible old school flow with lyrics that reflect their religious beliefs.
Allah U Akbar video.
Wake Up video.
Slow Down video.
All For One video.
Punks Jump Up video.
They are 5 Percenters, a Harlem offshoot of Islam. Brand Nubian combines an incredible old school flow with lyrics that reflect their religious beliefs.
Allah U Akbar video.
Wake Up video.
Slow Down video.
All For One video.
Punks Jump Up video.
Big L
It's too bad people don't know about Big L. He was one of the most talented rappers in NY, from Harlem. He was shot to death in 1999 before he really got the fame he deserved.
Put it on video.
Put it on video.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Biggie Smalls at 17
This is the earliest video of Biggie Smalls rapping I've ever seen. I think it's from 1989. Holy shit was he talented.
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