Letter to my congressmen in support of the Public Option

Dear Representative James Moran:
The US health care system is in deplorable state. Upon repatriation for any number of reasons your ~7 million expatriates are the only citizens of OECD member countries with no social health protection mechanism in place to assist in transitioning back home.

As a voting constituent in the 8th Congressional District of VA, I respectfully urge you to vote for a strong and comprehensive public option that guarantees all Americans with the choice of a public health insurance plan, as proposed by President Barack Obama.

This reform package, which aims to provide all Americans with access to affordable health insurance, must include a strong and comprehensive public option that:

• is available to ALL Americans on DAY ONE. Co-ops or triggers weaken the public health insurance option and make it ineffective. I ask you to oppose these proposals.
• is national, available everywhere, provides transportability and thus a continuum of benefits.
  
• has government-appointed decision-makers and thus are accountable to Congress.
• provides substantial bargaining leverage against providers and pharmaceutical companies.

I also ask you to put a statement on your web site's home page supporting these points. As aptly stated by our fellow American expatriates in Canada: health insurance in a civilized society is a collective moral obligation, not a discretionary consumer good.

We voted for Change in 2008 and I ask that you support what voters have overwhelmingly demanded from our representatives. I look forward to reciprocal support for you on the 2010 ticket.

Sincerely,

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Look up your representative(s) in the House here.

Look up your US Senators here.
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Where is Khmer culture going?

Terminalnomad Photography

With such rapid pace of progress, Cambodia eagerly embraces a bright future. That's the upside. What's disheartening is that it's a future that chases inspiration externally-- specifically from the West, while rejecting its own rich legacy and heritage.

Silence about the Khmer Rouge period

With the KR trials commencing, spotlight is on the reaction of the Khmer population. But collective suppression of this period in history is the prevailing practice. Even the international community avoids the issue: aid funding for mental health has been nil, despite numerous requests and rampant indication of need. What little dialogue is had about tribunal activities is mostly aimed at foreigners and international scholars, researchers, interns.

Khmer kids have not an inkling of the import of the Khmer Rouge period. It's not taught in school, barely mentioned in the home, and no discourse is had in the public sphere. To be ignorant of it is one thing, but I was shocked on arrival that my new friends flat-out deny these atrocities ever even occurred. They say it's just old people talking to scare them... Here Seth Mydans reports on how Cambodia's youth know little about the Khmer Rouge atrocities (NYT):

Some older people get so upset at their children for not believing that they say, ‘I wish the Khmer Rouge time would happen again; then you’d believe it,’ Mr. Ty Leap said.

Thought leaders, influencers and the professional cadres were largely eliminated during the KR period, true. But a complete dismantling of the Khmer social infrastructure is reinforced by this large-scale avoidance of the topic. It is a rift, chasm, disconnect that winds and rends through the entire fabric of Khmer society.

Frayed social networks

For thousands of years Buddhism has been the pillar of social cohesion-- a vanguard of Khmer culture and moral authority in matters of social and even political affairs. But the abbots' and monks' relevance has deteriorated, largely from decimation of the top ranks of the Buddhist order. This left a fragmented social system and a void, at a time it is most needed.

We're witnessing the extinction of many art forms, from music to fine arts, with little local advocacy. Such cultural expressions usually boom after conflict periods; it is part of a society's healing process to document memories. But the arts are unsupported, even from the royal family, many of whom including the King are gifted artists. This point is very telling by itself. The royal family does not reside in-country, and the King is (was?) a dance professor in France who spends little of his life here. What better way to convey the message to your people that Khmer culture is sub-par than to abandon the very channels for social expression.

My colleague's father was a renowned painter prior to the Khmer Rouge period, and his works hang in the National Museum in Phnom Penh. Thoroughly impressed, K requested an interview. Her response? His art is so old, why would he be interested in it when she can introduce him to more exciting contemporary artists instead. She was sure to add that good artists have had training in the West or from Westerners-- her father "only" knew Angkorian style.

These are just a few instances of the absence of pride among Khmer for anything Cambodian.

Foreigners' role in advocating Khmer culture

The generations after the KR only ever knew to aspire to the whims of endless armies of westerners bringing our ideas to them, experimenting on a societal scale at will and for the most part unchecked. Khmers are conditioned to worship the power of the dollar. They're exposed to and want the excesses they see on the pirated Hollywood blockbusters: fast cars, fast money, throwaway relationships, soundbyte politics and a consumption lifestyle-- all a complete flip of the essence of Cambodian philosophy towards life. China, India, Thailand, etc, have all chosen to embrace modernity. But their quest for progress is continuously negotiated against the substance of their cultural identity. Khmers seem not to have this.

Instead of coming from within, foreigners (for lack of elder Khmer mentors) are showing the youth what's cool about their own Khmer culture. Through the filters of foreign taste, Khmer are learning to appreciate the finer elements of their own traditions. The context is displaced, disconnected, inorganic.

For me, growing up in the US, I was taught the essence of my Filipino heritage in the home, and learned my new country's cultural nuances through social situations. Most of us have the luxury of this foundation from which to forge our identity, whichever direction that may go. I reject some Filipino and American traditions on the basis that I had grasp of the context. Cambodian kids are given little context from which to move forward.

So what's in store for Cambodian culture?

Mentors from within the country are still few relative to the boomer population post-KR, but this cadre is steadily growing, (thankfully) embracing their Khmer identity and taking the lead to advocate for it. Ever so slowly, foreigner guidance will give way to this new generation of elders. But it'll take entire lifetimes. In the meantime, a cultural schizophrenia guides the direction of progress in Cambodia...

Irrawady dolphins in the Mekong

Only four (five?) groups of freshwater dolphins are left in the world, mainly due to habitat loss and hunting-- two in S. America and three in Asia. Here in Kratie, Cambodia, there are between 20 to less than 100 of the Irrawady dolphins. With such low numbers they are functionally extinct. They come to the Kratie area of the Mekong during the dry season (practically the only attraction there) and head up to Myanmar for the rest of the year.
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Faces

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the health insurance debate

There is so much dialogue on the issue of health insurance coverage, on FB, the blogosphere, tweetscape, news. Everyone has an opinion on the best system (popular option seems to be single-payer) and so much energy is batted around the design of a universal scheme.

What I want to see is a growing dialogue on the root issue, which is the big pharma-medical financial incentives megastructure. From the agriculture policy to who funds continuing medical education to lobbying heft on the Hill, there is NO ONE AREA of lifestyle NOT touched by this monied interest. Look around, do some research, and you will find that even the most innocuous facets of life and decisions made is heavily if not directly influenced by Big Pharma.

Those who insist that there are laudable national health insurance designs in France, Scandinavian countries, and Japan (or elsewhere beyond the top 3 in coverage schemes) must look at the books. Populations in these universal coverage programmes are ageing, expecting more high-tech innovations in care, demanding more options and access. These lead to increased financial liabilities to the health system. They are all to one extent or another unsustainable in their current form in the long run. And that is with regulation in place for big pharma much more stringent and patient-focused than we have in the US.

Dialogue--and legislative action-- has been taken up in these oft-cited "model" countries on how to make access to health and medical care affordable without bankrupting the system. There needs to be a sound legislative and policy framework before we can talk about coverage and financing designs.

Culinary alchemy and Taste science

Being a former French colony, Cambodia isn't new to the critical taste buds of sophisticated palates. But even though it's produced few consistent culinary winners (even at the posh establishments), the little engine that could that is Phnom Penh is nevertheless exploring global epicurean trends. Excellent wine selection and a streaming influx of gourmands and chefs with star experience indicate it's ready to take on the challenge.

We had a spectacular dessert event last night by one of these chefs, complete with flavour pairings and wine. It's always interesting to look at food beyond the function of sustenance, and it's definitely more fun with fellow foodies (otherwise gastro-physics is just another rocket science uninspiring to the average chowhound like me). Now I ramble around topics so bear with me!

First wine. Consider the Euro-centric language of wine discourse: leather component in a malbec, pine on the nose of a cabernet, pepper at the back end in a syrah, etc etc.. It's greek to the aspiring 'Asian' palate, where socialisation of tastes and aromas differ vastly from Western sensibilities. That lack of communication retards the potentially wider appeal of wine. But take this same science of tasting to gastronomy and somehow, emotively, diverse 'languages' can better communicate. Why the difficulties with wine when the universal language of food is readily understood?

Now food tasting. Molecular gastronomy, enter stage left. The trend is still too experimental for wide appeal, but it boils down to matching the major chemical components of food or wine (or volatile molecules) with others containing the same compounds, so that when put together they achieve a savoury synergy (ever seen the animation Ratatouille?).

For example, try these pairings in recipes: wasabi with maple, soy sauce and malt, strawberry and coriander-- the possibilities are endless (for someone with no talent for creating a tasty meal, consulting the chemistry makes cooking seem almost easy... no?). Network graphs like the one below illustrate how the components of different food products relate to each other, as a tool to inspire the creation of original recipes. (wonder if that'll help me?!)


Get past the rather dull narration and this video explains it well, using chocolate and asparagus as starting points for pairings:


So back to my dinner. One of the other guests was a chef who created a nice treat for dessert. He put together small bites for each of us, strategically placing discordant taste elements on a spoon to hit the palate at a desired sequence: lychee mousse and reduced coconut cream at the front, espresso gelatin at the back, followed by a sip of De Bortoli Black Noble (Botrytised Semillon). We were also instructed to savour a small taste of each alone in the mouth to accompany a sip of wine. So I found that the lychee and coconut paired extremely well with it, while the coffee was overpowered and receded at the first hint of wine.

The next round was a chocolate cake topped with a dollop of rich chocolate mousse, a caramel stripe, pickled beet in balsamic and honey, beet jelly. (The extraneous elements were also incorporated in the cake.) These were paired with a very good Cabernet Sauvignon, and the routine above was repeated.

The point? To hone the taste buds. Do you know the average person can't tell apart the fruit flavours in ice cream until they're prompted? But why bother sharpening your taste buds, you ask and so did I. Purely for the multisensory, sophisticated eating experience (naturally) (or maybe so you can articulate that bite of sweet currant from the merlot)! The proliferation of tasting menus at top restaurants in major cities is testimony to this trend, welcome by both gourmands and foodies alike.

Wine and food are great conversation pieces aren't they, and in that spirit, here's a smattering of the foodie chatter for 2009:

Spice pairings for 2009 courtesy of McCormick, the largest spice company in the world:

Cayenne & Tart Cherry
Chinese Five Spice & Artisan-Cured Pork
Dill & Avocado Oil
Garam Masala & Pepitas
Mint & Quinoa
Peppercorn Mélange & Saké
Rosemary & Fruit Preserves
Smoked Paprika & Agave Nectar
Tarragon & Beetroot
Toasted Sesame & Root Beer

Top trends for home cooks and restaurant-goers in 2009 by Epicurious:

"Value" is the new "Sustainable"
The Compost Pile is the new Flower Garden
Peruvian is the new Thai
Noodle Bars are the new Sushi Joints
Ginger is the new Mint
Smoking is the new Frying
Regional Roasters are the new Starbucks
Portland (Maine) is the new Portland (Oregon)
Rustic Food is the new Molecular Gastronomy
"Top-Rated" is the new "Critic's Pick"

Food: What Not to Miss in 2009 by The Guardian, who sees foodies taking back the day given the present economic climate:

Spending more not less
Reclaiming the steak
Digging the scene
Home, sweet homestead
Re-entering the atmosphere
Pop-ups
The unbearable smugness of foodies

The January issue of Bon Apetit puts peanut butter and Peru on the short list for 2009 food trends... mmmmm...!

And this video sums up the functional, less waste, environmentally-minded, budget-conscious foodie trends the hospitality industry expects in the coming year:

Has the entertainment factor gone, post-Bush?

When the prevailing social constructs are blown to hell and back with the election of a black man to the White house [sic], there are social repercussions of a most disturbing kind, namely, what the heck do we do for entertainment now?? It was totally within the realm of political correctness to poke fun at Palin, who embodied the stupid white bimbo persona to a tee, and of course we had eight years of Bush, the perfect caricature of the cowboy simpleton we've come to love (or not) from decades of Westerns. Ditto with all the other white males (and females) whose daily grind and spiel are immortalised in the reels of Saturday Night Live and the late night cadre of satire and wit.

But what do we do with Obama? Granted, he doesn't provide much fodder for wit in the gaffes and boneheaded blunders department that Bush was so obliging with. But why can't we get a good laugh at the expense of this Commander-in-Chief? As with any unchartered territory, this massive ideological shift presents extremely dangerous grounds for comedians of any color and progressives of all objections. Someone of such historical significance can be brought down for the sake of a simple joke, sure, but it's a colossal gamble just beyond the ability of our prevailing cultural zeitgeist --just yet.

And a telling commentary on progress in race relations...

Unprecendented heights of popularity worldwide and mammoth support for Obama aside, I hope we can move past this social hiccup where comedy runs smack into race, cuz it's only been four days and all the seriousness is gettin' kinda dull...
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... and the Inaugural Madness continues!!

Because for a moment so long anticipated, celebrating once is not enough... This time a cocktail party, so more mellow and in a stylin' swank joint. I include the menu prices for future gasp factor.


ALL-NIGHT PARTING SHOTS $2
Rejoice y’all! At long last, Bush is disembarkitating!
Burning BUSH (Tequila)
Dead-eye DICK (Vodka Caramel)

CELEBRATE “A NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM”
Raise a glass to the new President of the United States!
ALE to the Chief $1 (Tiger Draught)

BEVERAGES YOU CAN BELIEVE IN
Coke
Sprite
Ginger Ale
Lime Juice
Lime Soda
Juice Box
Montfleur
BARACK Berry Chill

CENTRIST LIBATIONS $3
Obama-politan
MICHELLE-mojito
BIDEN Margarita
YES WE DID Bubbly Cocktail

ROAD TO THE WINE HOUSE $2.20/glass
(CHOW "Exclusive" Red or White)

RECESSION-PROOF CHOW BITES $3
Fish Cakes
Calamari
Spring Rolls
Choi Mei

BILLION DOLLAR BAILOUT OPTIONS (served with a side of Optimism)
Sirloin Steak $15
Salmon Steak $10
Pad Thai $5
Nasi Goreng $5

Inauguration/Bush era Post-mortem press roundup

And yes, I know the political and economic machinery was already in place before Bush took the reins. The question is-- on top of the endless list of other sectors and industries (not to mention competitiveness of the United States abroad) left in ruins as a direct result of this administration-- how much did (the thankfully departed) Bush influence the economic collapse? Here, TIME/CNN highlights the not-so-smart calls. Since I hate click-whore web setups, I'll just list them here.

1. The Return to Deficits: Bush’s tax cuts and spending increases — and clear disdain for the pay-as-you-go approach that had brought deficits down in the 1990s — brought a return to permanent deficits.

2. Iraq: Even if you STILL think we had a logical reason to go to Iraq, and that the war brought benefits to the U.S., does the $1-3 trillion dollar (and growing) price tag justify this huge blunder?;

3. Tax Cuts for the Rich: Bush came to Washington facing almost diametrically opposing economic conditions, yet he offered up the same Reaganomics solutions.

4. Financial Regulation: What is true is that most Bush-era financial regulators were less than enthusiastic about the very act of regulating, and that Bush’s “ownership society” push glossed over a lot of potential dangers.

5. Telling Us to Go Shopping: After 9/11, Bush didn’t call for sacrifice. And people blindly heeded the call to go shopping.

6. Energy Policy: What energy policy?

7. A State of Denial: Every Administration spins and sugarcoats the economic truth. But the Bush White House took this disingenuousness to new levels (dissent is apparently non-Christian, against democracy, against the troops and against the US)

8. The Muddled Bailout: The main problem was the flagrant incompetence out of both Paulson and the White House in handling the financial rescue.

And Floyd Norris in the Business Section of NYTimes has this to say:

...the economic record of President George W. Bush was largely a disappointing one. During his administration, the country grew at the slowest overall pace of any recent president, whether measured in gross domestic product or employment. The last president to preside while the stock market did worse was Herbert Hoover.

Economic performance was actually good for much of the middle years of Mr. Bush’s eight-year term, but it began and ended with recessions.

Some of the disappointment with Mr. Bush may stem from the fact that he took office at the end of a huge boom, in both the economy and the stock market.

“No matter who took office in 2001, they were destined to oversee dashed expectations regarding the economy, the markets and the geopolitical outlook,” said Robert Barbera, the chief economist of ITG. “It was all captured in the lunacy of the $5 trillion surplus on the horizon. That vision required no wars, no recessions and a nonstop spectacular bull market for equities.”

“That said,” he added, “it certainly did not have to come to this.”

Barry Ritholts sums it up very well:

The main problem I see in Bush’s economic approach was an odd form of Reagan worship. Despite wildly disparate economies, Bush adopted Reagan’s approach. That the market had just collapsed, rather than was in year 14 of a secular bear market, rates were low and going lower, and the biggest Tech boom known to man were all but ignored.

Imagine a doctor who was once successful prescribing Penicillin to a patient with an infection. The next sick person comes in with diabetes — and he prescribes Penicillin again. The Penicillin supply-side school of medicine is genuinely shocked when the patient dies.

I wrote about this back in 2002-03: The epitome of the Bush approach to the economy was to vigorously apply Reagonomics directly to the forehead, despite a very different set of fiscal and economic conditions.

Surprise! The patient died!

Given all of this, Alan Abelson of Barron's offers a reason why we haven't been attacked since 9/11, in Parade of the Basket Cases.

Thanks to his vigilance, this nation was spared a terrorist attack after 9/11. And so it was, for which we are all profoundly grateful. And only the most vehement Bush-basher would sniff that the real reason for the absence of an attack was that Mr. Bush did such a thorough number on the country all by himself that the terrorists figured, why bother?

No argument that he is leaving an economy in absolutely awful shape. Our budget deficit is ballooning toward the trillion-dollar mark and isn’t likely to stop there. We are mired in the worst recession since the grandaddy of them all in the ’30s; its end is by no means in sight. The stock market after crashing 35% to 40% last year (depending on which bourse you follow) has started off ‘09 on the wrong foot, not an auspicious omen for the year as a whole.

Unemployment is pressing remorselessly higher, housing is a wreck, industrial production is contracting at the wickedest rate in 35 years, the retail business is in the dumps almost across the board. Detroit is about as near to running on empty as you can get without grinding to a halt. There is a whiff of deflation in the air.
Not all of this, obviously, is Mr. Bush’s fault. But it happened on his watch. Not the kind of stuff, we are afraid, that shining legacies are made of.

So it doesn't exactly come as a surprise when the blogosphere starts hopping with this piece of news: moving into the White House is kind of like going from an XBox to an Atari! (I like the part about Bush complaining of the missing keys on the keyboards when he moved in.)


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Top 10 things we'll miss about Bush

#1 might have to be the entertainment factor ...

..and circulating about cybersphere today is this fun piece about the tech-savvy Obama team descending into the dark ages of the White House IT infrastructure. "Like going from Xbox to Atari", one of his aides said. Have I mentioned lately how much I like our freakin' cool new Techie-in-Chief??
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Watching Obama's Inauguration in Phnom Penh

That was a pretty nice event.. Lots of energy and a huge crowd at the Gym Sports Bar: we had about 180 people throughout the night and well past 230am-- was not a good idea to have an 8am meeting like some folks did! And check this piece out, a short blurb on the Phnom Penh Post (though you need to subscribe to get the entire article).
And here, our two most favorite things-- ZULU and BARACK-- we just found our theme for the Mardi Gras Madness event!


And on a side note, a hmmm moment... Bush will be the first ex-president not to get a lifetime security detail. [[cocking head to the side]]] ..of all the living POTUSes that'd need it most...!
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...hark the Twelfth Night revelries [sic]

Christmas is amazing for the fact that everyone-- even strangers-- gets caught up in the goodwill and cheer and carries it forward. But then that atmosphere fizzles after the New Year, and it isn't even a nice segue into calmness-- more like someone pulls the plug and abruptly the party's over so go home.

Not so in New Orleans. The end of the holidays marks the start of another season also tied to the winter solstice, Mardi Gras. The trees and lights don't go down, they just get the green, purple and gold ornaments added in. Adults get to be kids again and it all starts with the Twelfth Night Revelers bal masque!

Avoid the French Quarter frat scene-- where Mardi Gras is reduced to a tacky garish spectacle that metrosexual yupster tourists looking for fast hard fun so they can feel cool lap right up-- and you'll see the magical transformation of N'awlins into a formalised make-believe world of monarchic rule in all its pomp, finery and regalia. Twelfth Night brings to life the Lord of Misrule, the Goddess of Chance, the enchanted courts with its jesters, the aristocratic pompadours and rituals of old.... Any life list should include this Mardi Gras and an invitation from a Krewe to either the Bacchus, Rex or Endymion Ball. These galas are an entire year in the making and are extraordinary sensory events.

I thought about this because K and I went to a dinner party the other night. One of the couples could hardly speak English and we command just a lick and a half of French, so needless to say our conversation with them wasn't hopping. Then “la galette des Rois” came out, and suddenly conversation knew no boundaries, starting with this most token of culinary traditions associated with the run-up to Fat Tuesday across cultures.

The French "King Cake" is a flaky puff pastry with a dense center of frangipani-- totally unlike our King Cake (I sooo want a Gambinos king cake delivery right now!). It's served traditionally to draw the King to the Epiphany, with the youngest person in the group (likely a child) sent under the table to pick at random who gets the next slice of cake. The slice with the trinket in it (a collectible porcelain baby jesus in olden times) designates that person the new "King" (regardless of sex), and it becomes her/his turn to bring a cake to the next party.

(Ours had a glass duck, and I had the treat of finding the first trinket of the season. And we're having dinner again with that couple tomorrow!)

So N'awlin's King Cake (brought over by the French settlers) kicks off the Mardi Gras season, with the Twelfth Night Revelers using it to choose the Queen for their Ball... The Gambinos family is renowned for the past decades for their King Cakes. They will even deliver... So we are in the Carnival spirit, along with all the Tulane alums and Louisianans(sp?) in Phnom Penh. Unfortunately this year won't be the year of the masqued gala (we're too busy celebrating Bush's departure to plan another event!), but the annual festivities must continue-- even if it's just a Pimps and Hoez murder mystery affair ;-)

countdown to a new era

I have to say that Keith is the most amazing graphic artist ever. He just reaches into his creative depths and pumps them out. How cool is this?? We plan on making the Huffington Post again, as well as the other major news carriers, so keep an eye out for live feed from Cambodia! (and I'm angry with Ben for planning his dinner party on the same night and without me!!)

Bye George!

Join us in the countdown pandemonium nearly a decade in the making, and share in the merriment of 43's imminent and much anticipated departure! What started with some hanging chads in the Fall of 2000 will finally come to an end! No weapons of mass destruction will be unfound; no Vice Presidential shotgun will be uncocked! Watch the West Wing purge of 8 years of carnage and idiocy and toast the End of an Error at two events!

If you can't catch the Beltway action on the 20th, then join us at the Gym Bar for the LIVE inaugural soul cleansing! In honor of the Accidental President, we celebrate his departure with a nostalgic trip down memory lane with a Pub Quiz before commencing with the ceremonies. So get your game on, test those brain cells, have some fun and win great prizes! And in true Phnom Penh tradition sure to inspire a drinking problem worthy of Bush's past, the evening will end in a special toast to the return of reason and a period that can only head in one direction-- up!!

And no festivities worth the 8 exhausting years of getting beaten up, stolen from, knocked down, lied to and laughed at can end with one event! The going away revelries for our favorite cowboy continue at CHOW on Saturday 24 January with a rebroadcast of the most exciting POTUS torch pass in a generation! We wanted change and we made it happen! So once again, let's GIDDY UP, GET GLAM and PARTY HARD-Y with friends who helped make history!!

Book review: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

Wow. Despicable characters trapped in contrived lives freefalling to hell. No plot. Hackneyed social commentaries. And yet, I loved it!! Don't read it for a good story. If you want technical brilliance and stylistic writing-- cartwheeling between streams of consciousness, juggling fury with humor, in pretentious yet witty ramblings-- you'll enjoy this work.

Xmas tunes: Trans-Siberian Orchestra with Hellsing!

the group's an all-star heavy metal cast. who'd've thunk punk metal rockers with their v guitars goes with classical music goes with dracula anime?? music's such a unifier...







fun eh?... i see the cringing... :-)
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Facebook Terminates Relationship, Couple Stumped

"I just wanted to toggle a few things," marveled NA, a relatively new user of the public relations megatool. Her husband KK, suddenly single, is being treated for Facebook hysteria. "It's gone viral!"

Over the weekend, by simply changing details in their profiles, Facebook remastered the events and issued a statement that the couple ended their relationship, thereby driving traffic through the roof. "I was deleting info that doesn't necessarily need to be public and it somehow got twisted and broadcast," says K, as the couple found themselves in a quandary with Facebook for attempting to withhold personal information. "I mean, our friends and family know we're married. Why bother posting it?"

"What's happening-- who am I married to now?" demanded a baffled N, while K asked more plaintively, "Would I have to move again?"

But Facebook responded that that information is released only on a need-to-know basis. It did, however, retract its request for the couple's dental records.

"I just worry with them being so far away in a country with crocodiles and-- and-- mosquitos!" commented one of the parental units, wringing her hands. "If it says so on Facebook it must be true!"

The dramatic affair left an unnamed relative, whose son's sister-in-law's nephew's dog walker has a facebook account and apprised her of the doomed couple, with a case of "the vapors".

The couple plans to issue a joint smiley-face statement to reassure friends and family... right after N figures out what the poke feature is for.


We love you guys, thanks for calling/emailing to ask if we're ok! We are! :-)

....and thanks to JW , who masterfully exploited the comic potential and principal-authored the article above for the FarEastern Onion Syndicate! ;-)
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Music out of Africa!

Love the Christmas season! Here are some tunes from African artists that'll be on my cocktail party playlists next week. I was introduced to some of these genres by Nirmal, who has the best music selection, sound system and pad in all Asia (which don't get him brownie points from the neighbors)! Think layered carpets, a soft glow from lamps draped in silk scarves, candlelight dancing behind the apsara figurines and artwork glaring through the wisps of incense smoke. Sigh, when's the next long weekend??


Ismaël Lô Wassaliane
Senegalese singer, guitarist and harmonica player. Very folky peaceful music, and rich textured voice.


Juliana Kanyomozi Kanyimbe
Love her voice! The music is heavily influenced by pop and R&B, and this one is gospel..(?), which sends me wondering what gospel music is. Is it the content or structure..?


Khadja Nin Sambolera
Another incredible vocalist. Born in Burundi but her music career took off in Belgium. Her songs are statements on humanitarian topics and the struggle against inequality of all kinds. She also has particular affinity for environmental issues. This song (in Swahili) was a phenomenal success that put her on the map, a mix of traditional African and Afro-Cuban rhythms with modern pop.


Amadou & Mariam Senegal Fast Food
Guitarist Amadou Bagayoko and singer Mariam Doumbia met at a school for the blind in Mali as teens, where they formed a musical duo. They've been together ever since. This whole album's pretty fun to listen to.


Lura Nha Vida ("My life")
Born in Portugal to parents who'd emigrated from Cape Verde, Lura was a stage dancer when African star Juka asked her to sing backup on his upcoming album. This song propelled her to popularity beyond her country.


Henri Dikonguè Ndol'Asu
This singer and guitarist from Cameroon mixes different elements of makossa, bikutsi, rumba and reggae into this fun number.


And this one from Daara J is just wild. He's got dancehall reggae, hip hop, and tongue twisters all rolled into his rap.

...on the auto industry bailouts

Jeffrey Sachs is for and Joseph Stiglitz is against.
But this poster says it better:

When in dire financial straits, it's.....

More here.
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