Cheers mate! That’s my best attempt at Australian for Devon, my homey down in Canberra who found this blog while searching for Pakistani rock! Sometimes the Internet is a beautiful, beautiful thing. Anyway, let’s get on with it.

IN THE NEWS

Redefine confinement without trial? Yes we can!

Barack Obama really convinced me, at times, that he was going to bring change that we could “believe in”. But as the ever-wise Pervez Musharraf said recently about his opinion of Obama: policies are based on a county’s interests, not the individual’s. You still have to come off as if something has changed, so when Barack Obama wiped his ass with the constitution and proposed confining criminals for crimes they MAY commit, without trial, he had the good thinking to at least redefine it as Indefinite Preventive Detention. Now what will Obama supporters remember more: Obama famously announcing that he would shut down Guantanamo Bay, or this announcement which basically makes the first announcement meaningless?

North Korea tested another nuclear device and nobody outside of the Pacific Rim gives a crap.

A Toronto man who had swine flu has died, making it about 4000-2 in the battle of regular flu vs. swine flu. “One death is a tragedy, one million is a statistic.” – Joseph Stalin. Just saying.

The ROM hosted an informal discussion as part of its Doors Open program this year, which unfortunately turned into another city hall debate over the merits of the Crystal extension. This city had the same hatred for our City Hall in the 60s, and I guess some things will never change. It’s a refreshing building for a city that is embarrassingly conservative and mundane considering its amazing diversity. Hate the design but don’t hate the initiative.

Canadians are spending less on luxury on non-essential items, while Seth Godin writes a genius little article on the difference between luxury and premium, and why brands are losing their on-the-fence clientele to the recession.

Right-wing radio mouthpiece questions how bad waterboarding really is and offers to try it out himself. Lasts about six seconds and shortly thereafter declares that it is “absolutely torture”.

ZOMG, think using cloth bags are good for the environment? Think again, tree hugger. They are hazardous to your health! …says the Canadian Plastic Industry Association.  Ugh, I hate corporate lobbying. Just because of this, I will now actually begin to use cloth bags.

BETWEEN THE LINES

Totally random.

Mary Roach delivers 10 things you didn’t know about orgasms, which is undeniably interesting.

Susan Boyle delivered again last night, singing ‘Memory’ from the musical ‘Cats’. Her “ugly” appearance is probably working to her advantage to be honest. She’s now the fifth most watched viral video ever on YouTube!

Not quite sure how to say hi? Here you go! I’m sure around the world, hi’s have started everything from life-long happy marriages to corporate mergers. They’ve also probably instigated ass-kickings. Just being realistic. :)

Unfortunately Pakistani news sites don’t have a concept of archiving content, so thank God for blogs that do. Here’s a summary of a classic article from Prof. Khwaja Masud on charismatic leadership and social change. I was explaining it to a friend recently to explain my support for Barack Obama despite his inexperience, but fear that his charisma could weaken the pluralistic culture that comes from having a shitty president like George W. Bush. Anyway, I used Hitler to show the flip side. BTW, creating a parallel between Obama and a mass murderer is a great way to lose legitimacy when explaining something.

And finally, another genius, GENIUS ad.

SONG OF THE DAY

Not sure if I’ll have this with every article, but there’s so much good music out there, I guess as long as I keep discovering it I’ll keep sharing. BTW please forward any awesome tracks, especially if you’re living outside of North America.

All Smiles – Our Final Roles As Birds

Sayonara grasshoppers,

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