Why don't I just give you all my secrets before the magic show?

Of Development and Debt

This is by one, Daniel Davis, who blogs also at Economics and similar, for the sleep-deprived.

He makes a few dismissive comments about Dave's recommended book there, in his post on Crooked Timber, but on the whole I'd say it's a pretty good, if a little 'overly economicist-y' summary of the current problem. It's actually not any new information, I guess, if you read it you'll find yourself saying " uh-huh yeah but, so?" a couple of times. But it does lay it all out for you.

Oh yes, and because snarky bloggers aside, sometimes it's just good to know howstuffworks. Here is comprehensive 7-parter that I will end up reading in it's entirety for class, but not before...

I go buy a box of cookies at the Dep and to watch some television (with my dog).

Lates,

NPR Radio Special on Consumer Debt

I am hard at work on a Friday night doing my research for the "Global Debt Crisis in 5 minutes or less" presentation and I came across this radio show which I will probably listen to some of.

It's about the US debt culture, which - not surprisingly - laid the groundwork for some global shifts in economic practice around developing a countries capacity to thrive on negative balances.

Uh.. that's all I can say now that makes me sound like a pencil head, I have more readings to get through before I can really you know, tie it all up in 5 minutes or less...

Here's the link to the show : A Nation in Debt

A Quick Read on Political Economy, SAPs, and Economic Imperialism

It's called "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man." It's by John Perkins, a guy who claims to have actually been an "economic hit man" before suffering a some sort of guilt-induced breakdown.

Probably not the most rigorous in its explications of the programs and policies, but it's an easy read. And it's pretty heavily dramatized/narrativized, so it's compelling for a book about economics.

All Voices

I am going through one of those TMI ( too much information) moments with respect to the internet, so I'll leave it up to someone else to actually read through this site :

All Voices



It's a site that collects and maps news stories from around the world. Interestingly it was started in Pakistan, which hasn't been enjoying terribly "free" press since the elections started.

Hope everyone is having a good reading week.

Kevin Rudd's apology speech to Australian Aborigines

Gilbert Gil

Did anyone get a chance to see Gilbert Gil yesterday? I really hope someone decided to go see him because it was amazing. Basically he was calling for an 'open source' or 'hacker ethic' towards cultural development on the internet. Very interesting and I would love to gush about it with whoever went.

We love baseball, hot dogs, Tomlinson and Chevrolet

Hey all, here are the videos I used in my presentation. I don't have a copy of the questions on me at this time (they're on my home computer) but I'll post them up tomorrow.

Who Shot JR?



DuckTales in Bulgarian, just for Svetla. The multilanguage one can be found on YouTube.



Chevy Ad



Holden Ad



KFC Ad



As well, this ad got a lot of back press. Read about it here. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-07/14/content_641065.htm

I love how a religion based on vegetarian ideals is heralding a chicken sandwich. The more I think about it, the more glad I am that I served veggie hot dogs...

What this got me thinking about is Lorna's reference to 'Glocalization.' Is this ad a sign of multinational companies trodding on the toes of the local religions? Or an illustration of the emerging cultural exchange? Of course the answer that its both at the same time and thse issues aren't binary nor are they mutually exclusive. Tying it back into Tomlinson, the ad can probably be read as an indicator of the emerging global capitalism and the thrust of 'modernity' as 'cultural fate.' Here Octavio Paz's claim that global cultures are 'condemned to modernity' is bolstered. Thoughts? Critiques? Financial donations?