Sunday, February 22, 2009

econ data galore.

want some data? because i just found more than i could ever know what to do with...

econmagic, damodaran.

im probably going to need help from these guys...

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

coke.

ill never look at a coke bottle the same way again.



so the other day, me and my parents were getting lunch at edos (best restaurant in richmond, says me) and i (unusually) ordered a coke.

when i got it, it came in one of those old fashioned bottles and my mom started laughing. i didnt get it.

then she and my dad explained how back during the days of the savak in iran, they used to torture people by forcing bottles and other random objects up their butts.

they told me that during the time of the revolution, there was a joke about a guy who (after being tortured) said "i was really glad when i saw it was a coke bottle, because i knew id get a break about half way through."

i laughed too.



Monday, February 16, 2009

pakistan.

are you serious?

the pakistani government, secular by most accounts, has always been mixed up with islamic militancy. for years, they courted islamic militants against the soviets in afghanistan (along with america) and they used islamists against india in kashmir.

like america, lately theyve been dealing with some serious blowback. unfortunately for pakistan, their threat is existential.

one unintended consequence of the war in afghanistan was to push thousands of ak-wielding quran-toting fanatics into the already restive provinces of northwest pakistan, further destabilising the already shaky political foundations in pakistan.

as much as i recognize musharrafs mistakes, he got one thing right when he warned that the country wasnt stable enough for free and fair democratic elections. he may have had his own motivations, but that doesnt necessarily make him wrong. despite the suspicion and conspiracy theories, i for one believe his opinion was vindicated by the bhutto assasination. im not saying its an excuse for dictatorship, but the threat from islamic militants is indeed too powerful for pakistanis to have truly free and fair elections. theyll probably have to be resigned to the next best thing, elections where leaders and their supporters are under constant threat of assasination by militants.

"Nonetheless, despite his mistakes, he has been that rare phenomenon in Pakistani politics — an honest man with good intentions who tried to serve his country to the best of his abilities. In a country that has suffered so much over the years from corrupt and self-serving politicians, there have been too few figures like him."


now that the musharraf era is over in pakistan, the question remains... how does an aspiring presumably liberal democracy confront a growing islamist threat from within? well heres a stupid idea i can almost guarantee will not work.

that said, pakistan is still at a crossroads. my hope and hers...


...is that pakistan might learn soon enough that these taleban wahabbi islamist fucks arent content hanging out in their own little corner of the world. theyre religious the way this guy was religious.

not exactly the type of people who understand timeout in the corner. (of the country.)

so lets hope her vision triumphs. and not just for pakistan.

coco jambo.



ummm... what?

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

the middle east getting graphic.

wow. (via mr bren.)

ps... some days are better than others. i feel like hamas just won again.

my only hope is that peres will give livni the first shot at forming a coalition. otherwise it looks like abbas and fayyad will have these tools as partners for peace.

if you look back in my blogs, ive been dreading the return of netanyahu since oh say forever... netanyahu and lieberman make those "no partner for peace" claims during arafats time seem almost hopeful.

lieberman, whose speeches are often segwayed with chants of "death to arabs," is now kingmaker for "americas strongest ally" in the middle east.

good luck obama... americas been making some interesting friends.

(ouch.)