Shortcut to heaven

Beautiful being, big brown eyes
Butchers breath, brings your demise
Sharpened knife, ready with rope
Shortcut to heaven, forlorn hope

What sacrifice, fat wallets bring
Outbid your neighbour, take virtual swing
Beef biriyani, kebab with ghee
Prayers once over, consume with glee

To give away, what one treasures most
For greater good, not pride nor boast
Values forgotten, rites evermore
Seasonal bribes, baksheesh galore

I’ll hear you call, day-night long
For you this poem, this dirge this song
As you gasp for breath, as your eyes roll
My sign of piety, your death will toll

The World's Best Commercials, 2011-12

Coldplay’s haunting classic ‘The Scientist’ is performed by country music legend Willie Nelson for the soundtrack of the short film entitled, “Back to the Start.”
The film, by film-maker Johnny Kelly, depicts the life of a farmer as he slowly turns his family farm into an industrial animal factory before seeing the errors of his ways and opting for a more sustainable future.

“The more you watch Canal+, the more you love cinema”
Credits
Agency : BETC Paris
Director: Matthijs van Heijningen
Production Company: 75 Continue reading “The World's Best Commercials, 2011-12”

Why capitalism wants us to stay single

Ewan Morrison: what I’m thinking about … why capitalism wants us to stay single

‘Now that the market is cashing in on the buying power of single people, the radical choice is to get married’

Woman-taking-off-wedding--007 — Photograph: Alamy

We like to think we’re free in the free market; that we’re beyond the forces of advertising and social manipulation by market forces. But there is a new social trend – the rise of ‘the single person’ as model consumer – that presents us with a paradox. What we one though of as radical – staying single – may now be reactionary.
The long-term relationship, like the job-for-life, is fast being deregulated into short term, temporary arrangements with no promise of commitment, as sociologist Zygmunt Bauman has been warning us for over a decade. It’s hard for two people to be self-employed, with no promise of a stable future, together. Capitalism now wants us to be single. Continue reading

What the World Eats

As colleagues are out there trying to? provide relief to the people affected by cyclone Sidr. As I talk at my book launch of “Nature’s Fury” in Glasgow. The mail from Kenneth Van Toll reminding us on World Human Rights Day, of the disparity in people’s lives provides food for thought.

The people of Bangladesh have some of the lowest ecological footprint in the world, but they are the ones who will pay the price for the effects of? the world’s biggest consumers.

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Today, poverty prevails as the gravest human rights challenge in the world. Combating poverty, deprivation and exclusion is not a matter of charity, and it does not depend on how rich a country is.
By tackling poverty as a matter of human rights obligation, the world will have a better chance of abolishing this scourge in our lifetime…Poverty eradication is an achievable goal.

Louise Arbour
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
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What The World Eats

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Germany : The Melander family of Bargteheide

Food expenditure for one week : 375.39 Euro or $500.07
Favorite foods : fried potatoes with onions, bacon and herring, fried noodles with eggs and cheese,
pizza, vanilla pudding

United States : The Revis family of North Carolina

Food expenditure for one week : $341.98
Favorite foods : spaghetti, potatoes, sesame chicken

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Japan : The Ukita family of Kodaira City

Food expenditure for one week : 37,699 Yen or $317.25
Favorite foods : sashimi, fruit, cake, potato chips

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Italy : The Manzo family of Sicily

Food expenditure for one week : 214.36 Euro or $260.11
Favorite foods : fish, pasta with ragu, hot dogs, frozen fish sticks

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Great Britain : The Bainton family of Cllingbourne Ducis

Food expenditure for one week : 155.54 British Pounds or $253.15
Favorite foods : avocado, mayonnaise sandwich, prawn cocktail,
chocolate fudge cake with cream

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Kuwait : The Al Haggan family of Kuwait City

Food expenditure for one week : 63.63 dinar or $221.45
Family recipe : Chicken biryani with basmati rice

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Mexico : The Casales family of Cuernavaca

Food expenditure for one week : 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09
Favorite foods : pizza, crab, pasta, chicken

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China : The Dong family of Beijing

Food expenditure for one week : 1,233.76 Yuan or $155.06
Favorite foods: fried shredded pork with sweet and sour sauce

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Poland : The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna

Food expenditure for one week : 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27
Family recipe : Pig’s knuckles with carrots, celery and parsnips

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United States : The Caven family of California

Food expenditure for one week : $159.18
Favorite foods : beef stew, berry yogurt sundae, clam chowder, ice cream

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Egypt : The Ahmed family of Cairo

Food expenditure for one week : 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53
Family recipe : Okra and mutton

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Mongolia : The Batsuuri family of Ulaanbaatar

Food expenditure for one week : 41,985.85 togrogs or $40.02
Family recipe : Mutton dumplings

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Ecuador : The Ayme family of Tingo

Food expenditure for one week : $31.55
Family recipe : Potato soup with cabbage

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Bhutan : The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village

Food expenditure for one week : 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03
Family recipe: Mushroom, cheese and pork

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Chad : The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp

Food expenditure for one week? : 685 CFA Francs or $1.23
Favorite foods : soup with fresh sheep meat

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