Veritas Vos Liberabit

End of 2010 & Jan/Feb round-up

2011-02-12T16:47:00.009Z

Greetings friend,

How has life been treating you? Done anything interesting recently? Unfortunately, work has been increaingly demanding over the last month or so, rendering me bereft of sufficient energy to put digits to plastic recently.

My dear blog, I am so sorry to have neglected you so much over the last year or so. I feel that we have become estranged lovers, only reuniting for fleeting visits of dispassionate and gratuitious sex. I promise to be more attentive. I know I say this every time, but stay with me. You know I'm good for you.

So...onto my usual ramblings. Although I am on the whole continuing to enjoy work, I really haven't had any proper time off since I started this job at the beginning of July 2010. In almost 8 months I have not had more than 4 consecutive days off (and the times I did this were either to write my Masters diss or rave it up in Berlin - hardly relaxing experiences!). Once work has calmed down this week (I hope), I plan to take a long weekend off very soon - sadly I still do not have an intimate female relation in my life, so am thinking of heading somewhere alone for a few days to read, listen to music, walk, think - I need some catharsis, and sometime soon. Thankfully, music as always, provides me this on a daily basis.

And onto new music. Well, I vowed to wrench myself out of my depression that was creeping and building throughout November and December; can honestly say that I am in a much better place in general - feel in control of work, making (the right) people notice my capabilites, got a pay rise, have been socialising more with friends, and maintaining good relations with family. Just about. OK, granted I am still drinking too much, not exercising nearly enough, and eating crap at least twice a week. But to coin a phrase, at least I'm not a "pig in a cage, on antibiotics." Sorry, I'm massively digressing. Be patient.....I think part of the process of lifting myself out of a low ebb (aside from the days getting longer) is by finding new, and affecting music. And boy, have I found quite a few gems recently.

Pantha Du Prince - 'Black Noise'. God knows how this very talented chap got through my net, but boy, is he a fantastic producer. Black Noise is an abolutely immense album from start to finish. I would say it's quite hard to define PDP's sound - maybe akin to Trentemoller crossed with Isolee perhaps. Essentially this album can and should be listened from start to finish, a rarity these days. Trying to describe the album sound is also hard - crossing micro-house, techno, ambient and minimal. I knew on first listen that this guy is German. There just seems to be a very definite, precise, tuned sound, with lush production values that Germans seem to be able to execute so well. Anyway, this hasnt't left my phone for months and doubt it will for quite some time. My fave track is definitely 'Stick To My Side' which has Noah Lennox (of Animal Collective) on vocals. Absolutely immense.

I have also recently decided to re-visit Atlas Sound's 'Logos'. Having been unaware of Bradford James Cox and his band Deerhunter until about a year ago, this album is wonderful. Definitely not an eletronic album, more indie or alt-pop or even pysch-pop. Has a couple of amazing tracks on there, one by Laetitia Sadler from Stereolab. Melancholy but lush at the same time.

Very new acquisitions....

I have just downloaded Isolée's new album 'Well Spent Youth'. On first listen I can see that this album could be as good as 'We Are Monster' or ''Rest'. Given Rajko Muller's extremely high production values, and level of detail, I will need to give this at least a couple more listens, and on my decent quality earphones before I can really review it properly though. Still, exciting stuff nonetheless.

Finally, I have just downloaded Gold Panda's first full LP, 'Lucky Shiner', having heard good things. And well, it is superb. First impressions remind me strongly of The Field, so if you like quite repetitive but melodic and really well crafted elecronic music, then this might be for you. But then, I suppose all elelctronic music is repetitive so not a particularly useful comment! There's also definitely a strong Four Tet influence in there too. It's currently reminding me of Everything Ecstatic or Rounds. Certainly this album has an immediate appeal, but also clearly has bags of depth. I know I will be re-visiting this quite a lot. Once again, superb production and beautifully put together. I feel there's a very strong sense of nostalia running through this album, which in my current state, is definitely no bad thing.

Well, that's my verbal diarrhoea over for now. I hope that my writing will propel you to check out some of the new music I have been listening to. Or if not, made you think just a little. Would love to hear any of your thoughs on James Blake's new album. Just gave it a first liften on Spotify. I can see he's clearly a precociously talented guy, but don't quite get the hype. Next big thing? Can someone please enlighten me?

As always, thanks for reading. I will do my utmost to keep my blog fitter, happier and more productive. Like a pig, in a cage, well you get the point.

Currently listening to Gold Panda's 'Lucky Shiner'.

Peace.

Schneider TM - 'Light 3000'

2010-12-27T12:29:00.004Z

Greetings,

Just re-stumbled upon this absolute gem. For those that don't know (tsk!) this is a remix of The Smith's 'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out', from the seminal The Queen Is Dead. album of 1986. I remember first reading about this in one of Jockey Slut's "Top remixes In Tenular List Format" in about 2002. As sacrilegious as this sounds, especially if you're a Smiths fan, I actually prefer this to the original, and wanted to share this with you.

Futuristic, melodic electronica. Gorgeous.

Albums of 2010 Pt I (and return to blog)

2010-12-25T22:34:00.001Z

Greetings readers,

It is with great glee that I return to this blog, after nothing less than a whole year of radio silence. Shameful I know, but you should also know that I have been a very busy boy, distracted by what has been an incredibly eventful year; 2010 has seen me complete my Masters degree at the LSE, and re-commence gainful employment with a small-sized boutique consultancy in West London. Oh, and I turned 30. So no longer a wee whipper-snapper.

Trying to summarise a year of events and my thoughts into one blog post would be difficult, and I'm not even exactly sure how I would structure this. So, I'm not. I'm going to talk about music, and some of my favourite albums of 2010, which I think has been a great year for electronic music. However, before I do this, I would like to share a philosophical thought with you. I recently watched a brief video clip on the BBC entitled "Five Minutes With: Alain de Botton". Some of you will know that Alain is a notable public intellectual, philospher, essayist and general all-round interesting guy (not that I've actually read that much of his stuff). Anyway, during this interview Alain states that the reason he (and I suspect many other people) read and write is borne out of anxiety. And well, this really resonated with me. Certainly I share this sentiment. My most prolific period of blogging/writing has been when I have been unhappy/unemployed/depressed or simply had some sort of frustration or energy that has needed an outlet. So I think on reflection, when I am at my happiest, I am often at my busiest and most contented, and therefore less likely to share inner thoughts like I am doing with you now. No doubt the more attuned amongst you will be wondering why exactly I am now being driven to tap these keys incessantly. Well, that is for me to know, and you to find out. Unless of course you have the misfortune of knowing me well enough to answer this question!

OK, so I digress. Well there have been a number of excellent albums that I have listened to this year so in no particular order here goes:

Scuba - 'Triangulation'. I'm literally ending my first full listen of this (yes I know, not cutting-edge anymore) and can honestly say the album is phenomenal. Listening to this, it seems clear to me that dubstep as a genre really has matured and gone global. And with Scuba and his residency at Berghain, it's clear that Teutonic Berlin 4x4 precision has had a clear impact on the Hotflush boss's riddims. Something very exciting seems to be happening in the UK (London, Bristol...) and Berlin in parallel, and I'm pleased and proud that a Brit is running a highly respected night that is pushing sonic boundaries in the world epicentre of techno. Can't get nuff of dem technoid-dub-riddims. Yougetme? Tight.

Mount Kimbie - 'Crooks and Lovers'. Again, another recent acquisition. Although I've only listened to this album about three times, it's already a fave and one I'm sure I'll keep going back to. Also on Hotflush Recordings, these guys have definitely taken dubstep to the next level (post-dubstep is how music journos seem to be describing this new sound). Am loving the influence of African-electroid-funk that seemed to have really been injected into the scene with the sound of Mujava's 'Township Funk' on Warp a couple of years ago. Deep, introspective but with warmth too. Nice shit.

Actress - 'Splazsh'. On reading the review to this album earlier in the year on Bleep, I was immediately drawn to it. Critics in all corners have lauded 'Splazsh' as being one of those albums that is incredibly hard to define or categorise, much to the frustration of musos everywhere I'm sure. To be quite honest, it took me quite a few listens to really get into this album; suffice it to say my persistence was worth it. The way I would describe this album is that it is akin to listening to a carefully constructed lo-fi ambient science-fiction house record best experienced when stoned, alone in the dark. It also has some interesting and amusingly-titled tracks, my fave being 'Bubblebutts and equations'. Weird other-wordly shit that is well worth getting your teeth into if you're looking for something a little more abstract and out-there, but still with that ever-so-important discernible house groove.

Caribou - 'Swim'. Well, this has got to be by far and away the album that I have most listened to in 2010. Interestingly, I didn't think this album was that amazing on the first few listens. But what has struck me is just how well crafted and fun this electronic pop LP really is. I have been aware of Caribou, aka Dan Snaith, for quite a while. Certainly I have enjoyed listening to his previous releases (including as Manitoba), and remember getting quite into the 'folk-tronica' scene that seemed to be emerging back in the early-ish noughties with other such acts like Four Tet and Prefuse 73. Anyway, this album contains some wonderful tunes with gorgeous melodies, catchy vocals and bags of depth. It's an album that you can listen to on the commute to work, chilling at home with your mates smoking a sply, or dancing to in your living room post-club at 6am. Just gets better and better. Highly recommended.

OK well, that's it for now. What I have learned from blogging is that less is often more. So I will try to make my posts less like essays and more like punchy opinion pieces. Or some shit like that. In my next post I plan to cover the second instalment of fave 2010 albums including Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem and other such delights.

If you're still reading, thanks for coming back. I will do my best to write more regular blog posts, pending on work and other commitments. In the meantime , I hope you are having a lovely Christmas, wherever you are, and whatever you're doing.

Currently listening to Scuba's 'Triangulations'.

Peace.

Favourite Albums of 2009

2009-12-10T12:31:00.007Z

Greetings readers,

I hope this finds you well, and glad to see you have not deserted me entirely given my reasonable hiatus from this blog. I have recently set up a new blog (serial blogger, I know) at the LSE which has somewhat pre-occupied me, but I have resolved to give this more love and attention from here onwards. The prodigal son has returned.

OK, so onto business. Well, I wanted to share with you my favourite albums of 2009. Some of these are actual releases from this year, some are older, but they constitute my favourite, and likely most listened to albums of 2009. Yougetme? Plus I just don't have enough time to listen to enough new music these days. Well, that's my excuse anyway.

1. Fever Ray - eponymously titled [2009]
2. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport [2009]
3. Philip Jacaszek - Treny [2008]
4. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion [2009]
5. Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling [2008]
6. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago [2008]
7. The XX - eponymously titled [2009]
8. Sigur Ros - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust [2009]
9. TV On The Radio - Dear Science [2009]
10. múm - Finally We Are No One [2002!]
11. The Field - Yesterday and Today [2009]
12. The Antlers - Hospice [2009]
13. Grizzly Bear - Veckaitimest [2009]
14. Little Dragon - Machine Dreams [2009]

Clearly I have a thing for Swedish and Icelandic electronica!

I promise to accompany each album with a little personal review when I eventually have some proper time but one must prioritise...

Peace,

F.

US Senate announces health care bill, but will tyranny of the minority prevail?

2009-11-19T10:43:00.005Z

Harry Reid, Senate majority leader, has announced his version of health care reform:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/health/policy/19health.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Its braver and more radical than many expected from the Senate even a few months ago. However, three Senators are currently holding Reid to ransom with threats not to support the legislation:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/health/policy/18senate.html?fta=y

Due to the Senate's super-majority rules, Reid needs the votes of all three. The three are: Blanche Lincoln (Arkansas), Ben Nelson (Nebraska) and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.

The three poor, rural states these Senators represent hold a combined 3% of the total US population. Tyranny of the minority indeed! Imagine if the 1945 Labour government had to hold up the NHS legislation in order to meet the concerns of three MPs from Norwich, Shropshire and Anglesey...

Quick US health reform update

2009-11-10T11:00:00.004Z

The House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill on Saturday, and the Senate has produced a merged bill which should hit the floor soon. After that, the two legislatures have to negotiate a combined bill to send to Obama's desk. Here's a quick rundown on the two bills and their differences:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aJU5kC3UDPaw&pos=8

If one of these passes, it will be the largest and potentially most significant piece of welfare legislation passed in the US (perhaps anywhere) in decades. 35 million people, nearly the population of Poland, will find themselves with health care coverage for the first time. Stakes are high right now in the US.

One step closer towards health care reform

2009-11-08T14:40:00.004Z

The House of Representatives has backed Obama's health care bill narrowly winning by a 220-215 vote. Interestingly, every single Republican opposed the bill with the exception of Joseph Cao, from New Orleans.

You can see footage in the House as the bill is finally passed, above.

Finally, America seems to be moving in the right direction.

Expect a more detailed account of things from either myself, or Rob Ford, soon.

Thanks for reading,

Faisal.

Who supports the BNP, and why?

2009-10-31T17:55:00.005Z

Hi Latif fans,

Quick post here in response to Faisal's comments about the BNP. I have recently been doing some research on BNP supporters (Someone has to do it!) What we found is reflected in the title of our paper: "Angry White Men". Your typical BNP supporter is a middle aged, working class man living in the North of England, who left school at sixteen, and hates all of the existing parties. He probably used to vote Labour (if he voted at all), but feels betrayed by them because he has seen no benefits in his area from Labour government and particularly because he believes they lost control of immigration. He is very likely to live in a constituency where Labour have been in charge for decades and where there is a large Muslim population nearby.

John Gray is right that these angry white Northerners feel bewildered pace of social and economic change in Britain, and disenchanted with a society that no longer has a place for them. But this line of argument can be taken too far. The BNP are not a product of "globalisation", and their supporters are not as sophisticated as John Gray. In fact, there is little evidence that economic factors - like unemployment, welfare dependence or local deprivation - have any connection to BNP support.

The BNP do well in deprived areas, its true, but they are also absent from plenty of others. The story is culture. The BNP harness resentments and prejudices, and to do that they need someone to blame - and the scapegoat du jour is, alas, Muslims. There is a strong and consistent link between BNP support and the size of the local Muslim population. One of my colleagues (Roger Eatwell) has called this the "cumulative extremism" dynamic - the perception of extremism among Muslims leads Islamophobic white working class voters to mobilise defensively against them. The presence of the BNP and racist attacks, in turn, can polarise the Muslim community and encourage more hotheaded elements to retaliate, which in turn boosts the BNP further...We see this dynamic also in the sudden appearance of the England Defence League, which is essentially a bunch of football hooligans angry about Muslim extremist demonstrators at the funeral processions of soldiers in Luton.

The BNP are therefore a symptom of something cultural, not something economic. Namely, the widespread, and deeply wrong, belief that British Muslims do not adhere to British values and represent a threat to the rest of the population. Anyone who knows Faisal can see this argument has no basis, but it is now touted about regularly in tabloids, and bad Channel 4 documentaries about "terorrists in our midst" and so forth. It is becoming the conventional wisdom, and this is greatly helping the BNP. This argument urgently needs addressing. I don't think Britain is on the road to Kristelnacht, but our political leaders need to speak out in favour of Muslims as valued, moderate and thoroughly British citizens, as the overwhelming majority indeed are.

You're more likely to die from horse riding than taking ecstasy

2009-10-31T11:30:00.007Z

Greetings readers,

Fare the well? Am still living life in the fast lane, what with socialising, work and such like. However, this morning I thought I would take some time out to read, reflect and share some of my thoughts. So, the BBC's breaking news is that Professor David Nutt, the UK's former chief drugs adviser, and member of the independent drug advisory panel, has been forced to quit his post. This is in response to the fact that Professor Nutt spoke out about Gordon Brown's decision to re-classify cannabis from a Class C drug to a Class B. Indeed, the home secretary, Alan Johnson, wrote a letter to Nutt detailing how his comments had "undermined the scientific independence of the council". Nonsense.

The fact of the matter is that cannabis creates only a "relatively small risk" of psychotic illness and is actually less harmful than nicotine and alcohol, as Nutt put this in a recent lecture. If you don't believe me, read the scientific evidence. It's all there. No wait, that would be far too rational. Actually, ignore the independent, robust, scientific evidence, and enforce your archaic, myopic, presbytarian values onto the whole of British society. Gordon Brown - you are an imbecile living in the dark ages. In fact, this wasn't supposed to be such an anti-establishment polemic, but it really does rile me when politicians set up so called 'independent' advisory panels comprising of eminent scientists, and then decide to ignore their advice based on their own, sad, misguided pre-conceptions. Come on Alan, Jacqui, I'm sure you did a bit of 'puff' at Oxford, right? No, my mistake, you passively inhaled, and you didn't like the feeling....

But hold on a minute, two million people in this country alone do like the feeling. Don't they have a voice? And does sacking Professor Nutt really send out a particularly good message to future scientists? Not only does it seem foolish to completely ignore scientific evidence, but also somewhat abhorrent that the cabinet will not tolerate criticisms levelled against some of their (incorrect) policy making.

A sad day for policy indeed.

Thank you for reading,

F.

The March Towards Extremism?

2009-10-22T10:37:00.008+01:00

Greetings readers,

I hope this finds you in fine fettle. It appears I have neglected my precious blog over the past few weeks but with good reason: I have been running at 100 miles an hour what with the start of my new course and the resumption of living in London.

So, onto business. Well, unless you are a cave-dwelling troglodyte, are foreign, or just completely uninterested in British politics (heathen!), then you will know about a particularly 'special' Question Time this evening. Ah yes, the wonderful Beeb have decided to give an unprecedented platform to the leader of the British National Party (BNP), Nick Griffin.

Now I am completely torn on this issue. First of all, if any of you know me personally, then you will know that I am a second generation British Asian. I am proud to be British, and proud for everything this country stands for. In particular, I am deeply proud of our political and legal system; still a beacon of democracy, and a model that is highly respected, and envied throughout the world. Yes, this country has its flaws, and yes, we have a dark, imperial past, but on the corollary, I am indeed an absolute product of the British empire. In the best possible way I would like to think!

One half of me is deeply worried and sceptical over the fact that the BNP is being given a platform on the most respected political TV show in the country. Does this therefore legitimise the BNP, and mean that the party has now entered mainstream politics? I know that about one million Britains (shame on you) voted with your feet in June, giving the BNP two seats in the European parliament. But I know, and pray, that not all one million of you are racist, homophobic, misogynists.

I attended a public lecture last night entitled, "The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Ten Years On", delivered by Professor John Gray, emeritus professor of European Thought at the LSE. And I must say, it was rather fascinating. Now i'm not going to go into the minutiae of the lecture, but what was interesting was how Professor Gray was somewhat political in reference to his thoughts over Nick Griffin's attendance at QT. Indeed, what he did say is that the collapse of the financial markets, rising unemployment, increasing debt, and a general malaise has led to many people being rather disenchanted and disenfranchised by the current state of British politics. This, sadly, has led to many marginalised people to vote for the BNP.

Now much as I abhor the BNP, and everything it stands for, the simple fact of the matter is that they now are now represented electorally, and should be given a platform to air these views. The Green Party and UKIP are just, if not even more marginal, and they have been given air time on QT. If you believe in democracy, and the political process, then sadly we must cede to the fact the BNP have a 'right' to be on national television.

People have argued that the because the BNP only allow whites into its party, that it is therefore an illegal party, contravening the Race Relations Act. Indeed, Mr Hain, the Welsh secretary has argued the point vehemently. In addition, ex-London mayor, Ken Livingstone, has said that there is likely to be a spike in racist attacks following the BNP's airing on QT this evening. Apparently, there is usually a spike in racist attacks following the BNP being elected in a certain area. This makes me feel rather uneasy.

What I hope is that the gloomy climate which we are now in does not turn more people into voting for far-right parties. Perhaps an extreme point, but the rise of Nazi Germany followed economic depression, and this pattern has been seen repeatedly in history. Now I am not saying that Britain, or indeed Europe, is going that way, However, we MUST stop the BNP, and all of its political allies marching forward. Indeed, it is imperative we do so. For Britain, for Europe and for humanity.

Rant over.

Thank you for reading,

Faisal.

Fuck Buttons article on Glass Magazine

2009-10-06T17:26:00.006+01:00

Hello readers,

I hope this finds you in fine fettle. Just a quick one to let you know that my latest article on Fuck Buttons is now up on Glass Magazine, and you can check it out, here.

All comments, as always, are most appreciated!

Thanks,

F.

Health Reform in the US II: What Obama proposes, and why passing reform is so tough

2009-09-30T22:20:00.004+01:00

Hello again, Latif fans! Rob Ford here with the second part of my primer on the US health care debate. This time I’ll be covering what Obama and the Democrats propose, and why passing the reforms is so tough. More of an essay than a post by now, but hopefully you’ll find it interesting...

As I detailed in the first part of the guide, the three major problems with US health care at present are that it is expensive, inefficient and unjust. How does Obama’s plan to correct these problems? It’s worth noting for starters that there isn’t one “plan” – in fact there are several quite different plans working their way through parts of the American legislature, an issue I’ll come back to later in this post. For simplicity I’ll focus on the core elements of the plan, and refer to these as the “Obama plan”.

Let’s start with justice. The fact that America is the only developed country in the world that does not provide a minimum standard of health care to all its citizens has long been a thorn in the side of the Democrats, America’s left(ish) party. Every Democratic President from Roosevelt on has tried to expand health care coverage, though with varying success. All of the reforms currently on the table look to address this, but not in the way the NHS solved this problem in Britain. Obama does not intend to create a government funded, government run free to all health service. The private basis of American medicine will be left essentially unaltered. Instead, the Obama plan would make it a legal requirement that all Americans take out basic health care and provide large subsidies to poorer Americans to enable them to do so. Those who decline to take out coverage will be fined. The plan also addresses another major injustice of the current system: it would ban insurers from refusing to provide coverage to those who have previously been ill. Such “pre-existing condition” clauses are very common in insurance policies, though many Americans are not aware of them until they find out their medical bills are not covered. The insurance market more generally would be more tightly regulated, reducing private insurers’ discretion over what they will cover and what share of medical costs they can force their customers to pay themselves.

On the minus side, the plan will force a lot of lower middle class parents into a difficult choice: pay up to 12% of their incomes to purchase health care, at a time when money is tight, or face fines and other penalties from the government. The government provides money to help out the poor, but its not a lot and many struggling families could get stuck with big bills. So – good, but not great. 7/10

Next up: cost. The Obama plan makes some efforts to bring costs down – Obama has struck deals with drug companies to reduce the costs of medications and has pledged to reduce the fees the government pays doctors for their services through programmes like Medicare. So far, so good. Except this is really chipping away at the edges of the problem. The first big cost generator in the US is the decentralized nature of the insurance market – individual private insurance companies negotiating with doctors and pharmaceutical companies on their own don’t have much bargaining power, so the docs and drug companies can squeeze big increases from them. By contrast, the NHS negotiates all its drug contract centrally, and has enormous bargaining power – indeed, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is so powerful that other European governments follow its guidelines in their own price negotiations. The result: us lucky Brits pay a lot less for our meds. The Obama plan as it stands does nothing about this. Some of the bills have a proposal the Americans call “the public option” – a proposal to create government insurance plans to create in the private market. This has been fiercely resisted on the grounds that it is the first step down the road to “socialized medicine”. It probably would be – an insurance plan with the government’s tax raising powers behind it would be able to outcompete private plans. But that’s the point. It is “socialized medicine” – government directed or coordinated provision of health services – that delivers high quality health care at reasonable costs. Its what American pensioners have –and they like it. Its what American war veterans have – and they like it too. But Obama won’t even be offering a weak version of it to the rest of the American public.

Obamacare scores badly on the second major cost driver as well. As mentioned in the previous post, most Americans under 65 get their health care through their employees, who in turn get a huge tax break for offering it. As a result, when health care provides jack up costs, most Americans don’t notice – it doesn’t show up in their salary or their bills. The employers notice, but the pain is blunted by the big tax rebates they pick up on the cost increase. As a result, there’s no one to push back against the upward pressure on private costs. And if private costs go up, government provided medical costs go up too – the government has to pay the same rate or the doctors won’t work for them and the drug companies won’t sell them drugs. Obamacare does precisely nothing to deal with this problem, largely because the tax relief on health care is that rare example of a policy both company directors and trade unions fiercely want to keep. It would be political suicide for a Democratic president to withdraw it. Score: 3/10

How about inefficiency? Bad news here also...several thoughtful writers, including doctors, have written that a major cause of inefficiency in the US system is the way doctors are paid. In the UK, doctors receive a set wage from the government, which rises with seniority or with high performance. In the US, doctors don’t get most of their income this way. Instead they charge fees for every consultation they do, every procedure they recommend, every drug they prescribe. Would you trust a mechanic who gets paid based on how much he finds wrong with your car? Thought not. Yet hundreds of millions of Americans trust their lives and welfare to doctors who have a massive, MASSIVE economic incentive to find things wrong with them. The result is predictable: there is evidence of enormous over-diagnosis, over-prescription and over-treatment in the US system. In many cases, the results are actually harmful for Americans’ health. And what does Obamacare do about it? Not a lot – there’s some arm waving in the direction of better incentive structure, but the government can’t correct this unless it take a much larger role in the overall system – i.e. “socialised medicine” again. And Obama won’t go there. Score: 2/10

The Politics, or, where it all gets complicated

So all in all, OK on the justice front but not great on the cost and efficiency front. And that’s largely because what’s being proposed is so timid. Why not be more radical? Where is America’s Nye Bevan? Here’s where the politics comes in. In Britain, when Labour wanted to create a National Health Service all it needed to do was introduce a bill in the House of Commons and get its MPs to vote for it. In America, its much more complicated, due to their wonderful idea “the separation of powers”. Obama does not sit in America’s legislature, and can’t tell it what to do. He can say what he would LIKE to happen, but then its up to the members of the two legislative branches House of Representative and the Senate to write the legislation and vote on it. The actual business of writing laws is handled by Congressional Committees, and a big complex bill like heath care has to pass several committees – three in the House of Representatives and two in the Senate. Then in each chamber the different versions of the bills have to be “reconciled” – that is, turned into a single bill. Then they have to be voted for in the committees again. THEN the whole membership of each chamber has to vote on the combined bill. THEN the bill the House of Representatives has passed has to be reconciled with the bill the Senate has passed in what is called a “Conference Committee” between the two legislatures. Then the hybrid bill passed by this conference has to pass a vote again in each of the two chambers.

Got that? Thought not. Here’s a summary version:

To pass health care, all Obama has to do is...
1. Get three House committees to write legislation and pass it
2. Meld these three bills into a single bill, and get the committees to pass them again
3. Get the whole House to pass the melded bill
4. Get two Senate committees to write legislation and pass it
5. Meld these two bills into a single bill, and get the committees to pass them again
6. Get the whole Senate to pass the melded bill.
7. Take the bill the House passed and the bill the Senate passed, and get the two chambers to meld these into a single bill
8. Get each chamber to pass the melded bill again
9. Sign the bill!

Simples! When the Founding Fathers said their system was designed to prevent government tyranny, they weren’t kidding. Obama’s party has large majorities in both branches of the legislature, and the President has already made impressive progress in negotiating this obstacle course: all of steps 1-4 are in the bag. The trouble is steps 5-7 are much tougher, because they involve the full Senate.

Why is the Senate a problem. Two words: disproportionality and filibuster. When America was founded, the constitution provided two senators for every state, regardless of its population. This was a concession to the small states who worried about being dominated by the bigger ones. What has resulted is precisely the opposite. California, with 37 million people, gets two Senators. So does Wyoming, with 500,000. As a result, the Senate is hugely disproportional, with the views of people from low population states over-represented. You can get a majority in the Senate using senators who represent only one sixth of Americans. Unfortunately for Obama, the small states tend to have right wing electorates who don’t like health care much.

The second problem is the filibuster, which is a complicated issue but essentially gives any single Senator the ability to indefinitely block, and thus doom, any piece of legislation by talking about it for as long as they like. Senators have often exercised this right in all-night talkathons that can last 20 hours or more. Senate opponents of the health care reform will certainly use this power if they can. The only way to prevent it is called a “cloture motion”, which forces Senators to vote rather than waffle. And cloture requires the votes of 60 out of the 100 Senators. So Obama doesn’t just need 50 votes, he needs 60. How many Democratic Senators are there? 60.

So the great big choke point is this: assuming the Republican opposition remains united (which currently looks reasonable), for health care to pass EVERY SINGLE Democratic senator has to vote for it. Every single Senator is potentially pivotal, and they all know it. Obama and the Democratic Senate leaders have to craft a bill that 60 hugely powerful individuals from a wide range of different states and with a wide range of different ideological outlooks and views of health care will all vote for. And not just once : they have to vote for the original Senate bill and then also for the version that is melded with the one from the more ideologically left wing House of Representatives.

This is a monumentally difficult task. And this, in turn, is why health care is so hard to reform and why the Obama reforms are so timid: what he’s offering is probably as much as he can get the Senate to agree to. And there’s the rub: if health care fails, or doesn’t deliver what Americans expect it to, disappointed Americans shouldn’t blame Obama, or the Republicans, or the health care lobby, or Fox News. They should blame Washington, Jefferson, Adams and the rest of the Founding Fathers who decided to privilege small states at the expense of large ones, and enabled the rural right wing electorates of 20 empty states to hold the other 5/6ths of their compatriots to ransom.

Berlin, September 2009 - slideshow

2009-09-23T11:18:00.008+01:00

Created with flickr slideshow.
Spent a few days visiting an old friend now residing in Berlin. A phenomenal city, as you can see.

Health Reform in the US Part 1: How American Healthcare Works (or not)

2009-09-17T21:40:00.006+01:00

Thanks to my friend Faisal for inviting me to contribute to his excellent blog. My name’s Rob Ford, and I’m an academic working at the University of Manchester studying political science and sociology. I’m also an American Politics nut. So given Faisal’s interest in the current health care debate, I’m going to open with a little primer on health care in the US, a strange beast indeed.

In Britain, we all have a right to free health care paid for out of our taxes (specifically, out of national insurance), though we can opt to take out private insurance too if we want to. The doctors are all employees of the state, though they can opt to take on private patients too, and are played a flat wage based on seniority and specialisation. The government makes the decisions about what drugs and treatments to pay for, and how much, and through organisations like the National Institute of Clinical Excellence has proved to be a tough bargainer over drug prices.

Every aspect of this is different in the US. Most Americans do not get any health care free of charge – they have to pay a private insurance company to provide it. However, in most case it is not the individual who pays, but his employer, thanks to a massive government tax break which encourages all large American companies to offer health care benefits to their employees as part of their contract. However, employers are under no obligation to provide this benefit and many can, and do, refuse to insure their staff. Most Americans – probably two thirds – get their insurance through this system, either directly as the wage earner or indirectly through benefits also offered to spouses and kids. The insurance companies, however, are under no obligation to insure all illnesses, and they can (and do) impose charges for treating some diseases or people, or refuse to insure them altogether.

That’s not the end of the story, though. The American government, despite what the right wing Republicans say, is also heavily involved in the system. Two programmes enacted by Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s – Medicare and Medicaid – provide government funded health care to millions of Americans. Medicare gives every American over the age of 65 with free health insurance coverage – a sort of NHS for pensioners. Medicaid provides health insurance for the poor: although the coverage it offers is very limited and probably reaches only 40% of the American poor. On top of this, a more recent programme called S-CHIP provides free health insurance to the children of lower middle class parents too wealthy to qualify for Medicaid but too poor to afford private insurance.

What does all this add up to? A lot of money, for starters. America’s health care system is almost twice as large as any other rich country’s, consuming 16% of GDP. Every sixth dollar spent in America is spent on something connected to healthcare. The cost of providing health care to employees is an enormous burden for many American companies: it was a key factor in the bankruptcy of General Motors and Chrysler.

However, this money is spent very unequally. While wealthy and upper middle class Americans have world class health care, with no expense spared, those at the bottom have limited coverage or no coverage at all. About 15% of the poorest Americans have no health coverage at all. As most people get coverage through their jobs, they risk losing it (for them and their families) if they are made redundant. And if they get ill while in one job, then move to another, their new insurer can refuse to cover them or make them pay a lot more. As a result, health care costs are the number one cause of bankruptcy in America and unemployment is an even more scary and stressful business than it is here. Imagine if losing your job meant you, your wife and your kids can no longer get medical care if you get sick. Nice system, huh?

However, despite this injustice and insecurity , the performance of the US system is not that hot. America doesn’t rate very highly on most health care outcomes, and the mediocre performance they get comes at an enormous cost.

Its a complicated, inefficient, grossly unjust, massively expensive system that has been slowly bankrupting American companies and the American government for decades. Its pretty obvious to everyone that it doesn’t work. So what is Obama trying to do to fix it, and why is he finding it so hard? Tune in next time for the answers...

Carter says rejection of health care reform is racist

2009-09-16T14:15:00.006+01:00

Greetings readers,

How are we today? I sense a seasonal change at the moment - there's a a nip in the air, and the autumn leaves are beginning to fall. Still, there's something rather nice about the changing of the seasons, something which the Japanese seem to have a very special place in their heart for. Anyway, enough of my philosophical ramblings! I just wanted to share some thoughts on an interesting BBC article I have just read centering around recent comments made by former US President, Jimmy Carter. In a recent speech, the former president said that much of the vitriol against President Barack Obama's health reforms and spending plans is "based on racism".

In this public meeting Mr Carter was attending, he then went on to say there was "an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president". At the same time, Republican Joe Wilson was rebuked by Congress in a House vote for his outburst of "you lie" last week, aimed directly at Barack Obama mid-health care speech. The House resolution of disapproval described it as a "breach of decorum". Quite right I say. Indeed, there appears to have been a spate of such outbursts, and angry town hall meetings which have been held in vitriolic response to Obama's proposals for radical health care reform. However, many, including Carter, believe that this behaviour is as a consequence of something that runs deeper than just a rejection of policy: inherent racism.

"Those kinds of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national programme on health care", Mr Carter went on to say at a public meeting in Atlanta. "It's deeper than that". Interestingly, it has been pointed out that Joe Wilson was once junior aide to a segregationalist politician - and that he was one of the few politicians to vote for the Confederate flag to fly over the state congress in his home state. A suspect character in my eyes.

Perhaps his outburst in Congress last week wasn't quite the innocent mistake it initially seemed. Of course, all of this is conjecture, but I am in no doubt that President Carter's recent remarks will have raised an eye-brow or two. Apparently Obama graciously accepted Joe Wilson's public apology over his outburst. However, it will be interesting to see how Obama responds to these recent remarks made by Jimmy Carter. No doubt the consummate professional in him will remain silent, ambivalent at best. However, it would be really interesting to know what the man in The White House is really thinking.

Currently listening to Resident Advisor Mix 172 by Still Going. NYC in the house.

Thank you for reading,

F.

Obama in defiant and combative form

2009-09-13T11:16:00.012+01:00

Greetings readers,

I hope you are having a nice weekend. I am pretty busy at the moment, what with preparing to move back to London, flying to Berlin for a few days, and preparing for an interview with Fuck Buttons (apologies for the language to those of a more conservative disposition!). Anyhow, I thought I would squeeze in a short blog post about Obama and his recent speeches on health care to Congress and a large crowd in Minneapolis, respectively.

So on Thursday, Obama delivered an emphatic speech to Congress on his health care reform bill. My understanding was that he was not only garnering Democrat support, but alse appealing to moderate Republicans in order to forge some sort of middle ground. However, I must admit that I have only watched snippets of the speech, and read parts of the transcription, which you can find here, courtesy of the Huffington Post.

What I am aware of, and indeed the rest of America, is Republican Joe Wilson's outburst at Obama, calling him a liar, with respect to his claim that his health care reforms would not cover illegal immigrants (video clip below). As rude and impudent as this was, it only served to show quite how heated the health care debate has become, and what a bunch of uncouth idiots the Republicans seems to be. Although Rep. Wilson has made a public apology for his outburst, I am in no doubt that this will have (hopefully) affected his political career irreparably.

Obama then went on to make a further health care speech yesterday, to a large audience in Minneapolis; the largest city in Minnesota, a state in the north of the mid-west, which is apparently Democrat leaning and has a low proportion of uninsured inhabitants. In this speech Obama seemed defiant, combative and unyielding, in which he refused to accept no change on his domestic priority. He went on further to say he would not allow the special interests to "use the same old tactics to keep things the way they are", and went on to say rather defiantly, "I will not accept the status quo. Not this time. Not now". Strong words indeed. Check out the video, courtesy of the BBC, here.

Meanwhile, protesters in Washington marched from the White House to Capitol Hill, a path that I trod earlier in June this year. This was in in order to attack Mr Obama's administration for what it called out-of-control spending - on health care, the stimulus packages and the bailout of the banking and car industries. Clearly, a lot of Americans are also malcontented with the status quo.

I applaud President Obama's efforts for health care reform, a bill that would expand coverage to 97% of Americans. Yes, I appreciate that this would come at a cost of $900bn to the Americans, but surely it just isn't right for a quarter of the population of the richest country on Earth to have little or no access to decent health care at all? To me, equity is more important than efficiency, and further increases the relevancy and urgency of introducing cost-effectiveness measures in US health care policy. Americans, if you're reading this: surely it is achievable to create the same health outcomes at no extra cost. You just need to make it happen.

Currently listening to a mix by Move D, courtesy of The Bunker. Deep, groovy, and pulsating with old-skool house piano breakdowns and bags of soul. It has it all. David Moufang: you are a legend.

Thanks for reading,

F.

Fuck Buttons - "Surf Solar"

2009-09-10T10:31:00.017+01:00

Greetings readers,

How are we? Just wanted to share Fuck Buttons' new 7" (edited) release, Surf Solar. This version has been edited down to under 4 minutes, though unsurprisingly, the album version will be over 10 minutes long. Once again, FB have come up trumps. Like a natural extension to their incredible first LP, "Street Horrrsing", Surf Solar has the trademark 4x4 kick-drum, discordant guitars, beautiful key changes and shimmering synths. At the same time the tune sounds fucked up and tortured yet retains a wonderful sonic sheen. Epic doesn't begin to decribe it. I cannot wait to hear the full 10-minute version, and for the release of the new album, "Tarot Sport", produced by Andrew Weatherall (legend), on October 12th. My fingers will be poised, ready for download. Am hoping to drum up some support and see FB on October 27th at Heaven for their only London tour date this year.

Elsewhere, I'd like to give you a heads up of a friend's new night called "Outfield" at Berlin's hottest, newest club, "Dice". Indeed two good friends of mine will be playing, Raw Hedroom and Max Cooper, with Maetrik headlining in Room 1 and Jay Shepheard in Room 2. Will be expecting high-quality house and techno throughout. Anyhow, will be flying out to Berlin next Friday for a few days, and cannot wait! Have never been before and only heard great things about the city.

Will also be moving back to London next week in anticipation of my Masters at the LSE. Have found a really nice flat with a live-in owner in South Tottenham, near the Stamford Hill border. Will be getting my fresh Challah and bagels in regularly!

Currently listening to surprise surprise, Surf Solar, by Fuck Buttons.

Thanks for reading.

Peace,

Blogging: It's Good for You. Fact.

2009-09-06T11:13:00.011+01:00

Greetings readers,

I seem to be writing rather prolifically right now - think it has something to do with the fact that I am nearing my return to London in preparation for my Masters at the LSE and have suddenly become very busy. Plus I am going to visit a friend in Berlin the week after next. They say laziness breeds laziness, but by the same logic, the opposite also seems to ring true. Anyway, this post is a slight departure from all the health policy posts I have been making. I have just read a fascinating Scientific American article from last year detailing the neurobiological aspects of blogging, and indeed, how it seems to be therapeutic for those that blog regularly.

According to the article, scientists have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral loads in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. Amazing. Being very candid for a moment, I would say that in retrospect, I probably entered a phase of depression earlier this year with job woes and lack of money. However, within a couple of weeks of applying to the LSE I decided to resume my blog with renewed vigour, and have been on a metaphorical high ever since. Not only has blogging helped me regain confidence, it has allowed me to channel my focus and creativity, develop a network of like-minded contacts, and given me the ability to think 'big' and have a vision. In essence, blogging has been nothing short of fantastic for my self-esteem.

Anyhow, the SA article goes on to explore the neurobiological and physiological underpinnings towards blogging. Indeed, conditions such as hypergraphia, an uncontrollable urge to write, and writer's block, have been implicated as an explanation behind the drive bloggers have to communicate. Certainly, I share this hypothesis, as my blog posts are very rarely pre-meditated, more as a consequence of being in a certain 'receptive' mood, and normally having just read something interesting. This is no doubt accompanied by an increase in blood flow to my pre-frontal cortex and limbic system.

Indeed, it is the limbic system which controls our drives, whether they are related to food, sex, appetite, or problem solving. Therefore if blogging is compulsive, and related to our drives, the limbic system must also be implicated. Very interesting indeed. Furthermore, the article goes on to mention how blogging might also trigger dopamine release, similar to stimulants like music, running and looking at art. Personally, what I really like to do is listen to music whilst blogging, and drinking a cup of tea. Triple dopamine hit no doubt.

What is really interesting in this article is the mention of how some hospitals have started patient-authored blogs on their web sites as clinicians begin to recognise the therapeutic value. Unlike a bedside journal, blogging offers the added benefit of receptive readers in similar situations. I guess what this invokes is a sense of shared empathy, which can only be a good thing for those people who are ill, or in a recovery phase.

Given my personal experience of blogging and this rather interesting clinical evidence, I'm in no doubt that I shall continue to blog, or at least write expressively as long as I live.

Currently listening to "The Hawk is Howling" by Mogwai. Reflective, magisterial, angry, sombre and hopeful. All at the same time. An amazing album by an amazing band.

Thank you for reading,

Peace,

F.

NHS reforms: equity and efficiency at no extra cost

2009-09-05T10:40:00.007+01:00

Greetings readers,

How are we today? Looks like the weather has improved for the weekend. Nice. Well, from the picture above you will most probably have concluded that this will be a successive post about the NHS. Yes, I'm sure I can hear an audible groan. But wait! This is going to be a positive post based on some very encouraging research recently published by the LSE and Dr Foster Intelligence, a public-private partnership that aims to improve the quality and efficiency of health and social care through better use of information. My kind of organisation.

According to the LSE press release, a team of researchers led by Zack Cooper and Julian Le Grand (great name) retrospectively examined changes in waiting times for patients undergoing three key elective procedures in England between 1997 and 2007 (hip replacement, knee replacement and cataract repair). They then analysed the distribution of those changes between socioeconomic groups. The findings are published in BMJ.com.

In 1997, those from more deprived areas waited longer for treatment than those from more affluent areas. But, by 2007, this phenomenon had disappeared. In fact, in some cases, patients from more deprived areas were waiting less time than patients from more affluent areas. Furthermore, in 1997, the poorest fifth of the country waited more than 3 weeks longer for a hip replacement than the wealthiest fifth. In 2007, the least advantaged got a knee replacement at exactly the same time as the wealthy.

So it seems as though the government's introduction of market-based reforms including patient choice and provider competition has not led to a rise in inequality for the least well-off patients. Far from this, it appears that there is real equity between the poorest and richest with regards to NHS waiting times. We should surely take this as a very positive sign that the government is doing something very right. Pat on the back for you, just this once.

Interestingly however, the LSE press release concludes that the research findings "cannot prove what policy mechanisms led to reductions in waiting times and improvements in equity". So either a complex and detailed piece of research needs to be commissioned to identify and delineate just what these mechanisms are, or we just accept the fact that things are improving in the NHS, and hope they continue to do so. The blind leading the blind perhaps?

Zack and Julian have also written an interesting and rather more political piece in the comments section of the Guardian online. In it, they describe how the NHS is improving on almost every indicator of quality; productivity is up, waiting times are down and patient satisfaction is at an all-time high. However, they partially dismiss these improved indicators as merely a function of increased spending, but to something more complex, linked to the government's recent market-led NHS reforms. Indeed, the argument seems to distance itself from McKinsey's recent proposal to cut the number of NHS jobs by 10% in order to increase efficiency.

The salient point here is that it is possible to reduce NHS spending without compromising the quality of health outcomes or the equitable distribution of care. This reminds me of the Time article I read whilst in the States earlier this year, citing the Mayo Clinic, as an examplar to be studied and followed. Indeed, as Zack and Julian both allude to, it will be interesting to see what further reforms will be implemented by the next political party in power. Whichever one it is, I sincerely hope that they have been paying attention to the encouraging research and indicators that show that 60 years on, the NHS is still doing its job, and doing it well.

Currently listening to "Saturdays= Youth" by M83, and in particular, "Couleurs". Synth-pop doesn't get much more epic than this. Incroyable....

Thank you for reading,

F.

Don't mess with our NHS (Pt II)

2009-09-03T18:47:00.017+01:00

Greetings readers,

And how are we today? Hopefully the miserable weather has not been depressing you too much; it really feels like Autumn has arrived prematurely. Indian Summer this certainly ain't. Anyway, from the picture above you will no doubt have worked out that the subject of my soliloquy in this post is the NHS. Ah yes, our favourite topic of discourse (and of the Americans it seems) and debate on this grey isle

This morning, the Today programme featured a debate between Niall Dickinson, head of The King's Fund, an independent health care think-tank, and Carl Emmerson of the Institute of Fiscal Studies. The two men were discussing the government's recent rejection of advice by management consultants, McKinsey & Company. Given my brief foray into management consultancy, and my interest in health care, this certainly grabbed my attention.

Anyhow, it has transpired that the government commissioned McKinsey to look into ways to cut costs and increase efficiency in the NHS. And surprise surprise, what has McKinsey's advice been? To cut the NHS workforce in England by 10% over the next 5 years. This would involve closing 137,000 clinical and admin posts in order to save £20bn by 2014. What is particularly galling about this is the fact that no doubt the government spent a small fortune paying McKinsey for its professional services with taxpayers money in order to then be given the most abundantly obvious advice! This will no doubt propagate all the stereotypes about management consultants and launch a thousand more jokes about the profession. Quite a large part of me is now relieved I didn't get a job with A T Kearney!

In addition to staff cuts, McKinsey also advised that a recruitment freeze should start within two years and medical school places might have to be reduced. Now I am no politician, but were the government (and whoever in particular commissioned McK.) so myopic so as not to realise that spending a small fortune on consultancy would not offer them anything drastically new? And furthermore, surely McKinsey should have realised that suggesting significant NHS job cuts and a recruitment freeze of our beloved NHS, the third largest employer in the world, just wouldn't wash politically, nor carry any favour with the British public?! Sometimes you have to wonder whether some of these management consultants actually have any common sense whatsoever. My experience tells me otherwise, but McKinsey are certainly doing well to change my opinion on this.

Essentially what Niall Dickinson and Carl Emmerson were saying was that there is no real necessity for job cuts, but that according to this BBC article, NHS employees "need to find new ways of working, being more productive and being more efficient". It always seems to go back to the NHS mantra of 'efficiency, efficiency, efficiency'.

Listen to the discussion from the Today programme here.

Interestingly, the BBC news article featured a graph showing the number of NHS staff over the last 12 years: there has been a steady increase year-on-year, particularly in terms of admin and support staff. Of course I am sure that McKinsey's advice was based on rigorous, robust and highly data-driven analysis. However, for all the energy expended in order to make these recommendations, the simple fact of the matter is that the NHS is a sacrosanct organisation which has helped millions of people in Britain over the last 60 years. Unfortunately this means that any suggestions to change the organisation at a macro-level are therefore invariably, also a political consideration.

Currently listening to Trentemøller's mix entitled "Harbour Boat Trips 01, Copenhagen" (again). A very good and eclectic mix indeed. Check it out here.

Thank you for reading,

F.

Glass Magazine online: my debut article

2009-08-26T09:25:00.007+01:00

Greetings readers,

Just a quick post to let you know about a new project I am involved with, Glass Magazine. This is how Glass describes itself:

"Glass evokes a sense of clarity and simplicity, a feeling of lightness and timelessness; a source of reflection and protection.

Glass magazine aims to bring integrity and guardianship to creative culture, by providing access to the genuinely inspiring adventures in fashion, art, music and design that allow us to further imagine and create.

Like glass, the artistic realm can be fragile and fleeting, but is blessed with a beauty and power that we want to share with our readers.

All these elements subtly come together, just like grains of sand, to make our magazine. A simple, honest, thought-provoking journal of curated modern culture focusing on sustainable luxury in our sometimes over-whelming, complicated times."

OK, so it may sound a little pretentious and atypical of some of my usual jaunts, but I have been given the freedom to write on anything I want as long as it is obviously in keeping with the Glass aesthetic (thus far!).

Anyway, I have written my first article on an old friend, Max Cooper, entitled "Symmetry in Music and Mathematics". I would be extremely grateful if you could have a read, and in the process check out the rest of the magazine. Glass also has a quarterly printed version, so if any of this particularly tickles you, please spread the word, and keep on reading.

Thanks for your time as always.

Peace,

F.

Parallel Trading renders UK Drug shortage

2009-08-24T19:17:00.005+01:00

Greetings readers,

Unusually, only a day has passed since my last post, but felt compelled to share some of my thoughts on both BBC and HSJ articles I have just read relating to drug shortages in the UK. Yes, you read that correctly; pharmacists are warning that patients are suffering because of a shortage of some medicines.

Apparently, due to the weak pound, many pharmacists have been profiteering by buying in surplus amounts of drugs, and then selling them on to more attractive markets, where a quick profit can be made. This is known as "parallel trading" (or "skimming") in the industry where drug shortages are commonplace in less affluent European countries such as Spain or Greece. However, the pound is currently relatively weak compared to the Euro, meaning that many branded drugs are now worth more in places like Scandinavia and Germany than they are here in the UK. What a turn up for the books! It feels as if we are being relegated to second-class status within the European hierarchy!

The British Association of European Pharmaceutical Distributors secretary general, Richard Freudenberg, has said that parallel traders were generally only interested in importing drugs where there was a 20 percent difference between what they paid and what they could sell it for. But the pound has fallen by more than 20 percent in the last 12 months, wiping out much of that potential profit. Essentially, what this means is that the fall in the pound has made a lot of drugs "unviable for importation". This is definitely a concern, as the think-tank, the Office of Health Economics estimates parallel imports make up 12 percent of the UK pharmaceutical supply.

So not only are less drugs being imported into this country, but many of them are being exported into Europe to make a profit. In simple terms, we are being hit by a double whammy.

Accordingly to an article in the Health Service Journal, "drug manufacturers and wholesalers have begun rationing the amount of certain drugs each UK pharmacist, GP and hospital dispensary can buy. Pharmacists report that in some cases patients have had to wait days for their drugs". Indeed, individual pharmacies are now being monitored for "unusually large orders", suggesting they might be selling surplus drugs on to Europe.

Writing this article has really made me question the ethics behind the phenomenon of parallel trading. It seems as though in times of relative prosperity, we are happy to import drugs from poorer European countries, thereby rendering a drug shortage in those places (but getting our drugs cheaper). However, when the proverbial tables are turned, and we begin to suffer drug shortages, there is surprise surprise, an audible outcry.

Perhaps it is time we reviewed the practice of parallel trading, not just during the bad times, but in the good times too.

Thanks for reading,

F.

A Stench of Oil Diplomacy in the Air

2009-08-23T10:10:00.017+01:00

Greetings readers,

And how are we on this rather lovely Summer's day? For once I have no complaints about the weather - will hopefully be having a rather splendid BBQ later today!

So onto more serious matters. Well, if you have been following the news recently, then you will already know what the topic of debate is about in this post from the photo and title: the release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi the Lockerbie bomber, from prison this week. Now I'm not quite sure I actually have a concrete position on this, but felt compelled to write something seeing as the whole event has blown up on both sides of the Atlantic, and how I certainly have my suspicions that a little bit of oil diplomacy is going on here.

So, as usual, the Americans have got their noses into something that had nothing to do with them, flexing their diplomatic muscle; the head of the FBI described the release of Megrahi as a "mockery of justice". Indeed, Scotland's former first minister, Jack McConnell also said it was a "grave error of judgement". According to today's BBC article, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Colonel Gaddafi reportedly told a TV station that Megrahi's case was "always on the negotiating table" during trade talks. However, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson rebuked these comments, describing them as "offensive". The sceptic in me however, is not so sure.

Megrahi was apparently freed by the Scottish Government on compassionate grounds due to the fact that he has terminal cancer. Boo hoo. The fact of the matter is that he was convicted of the murder of 270 people in the Lockerbie bombing in 1988; if you believe in the rule of law, and due process, then he is a guilty man. Fact. In my opinion, freeing Megrahi on compassionate grounds makes the Scottish Government, and Scotland as a whole look weak. OK yes, one could argue that the decision makes Scotland look like a compassionate country but ultimately, Megrahi was convicted of killing 270 innocent people. He should have died in prison. Now forgive me for sounding like a Daily Mail reader, but for once I agree with the Americans.

To make matters worse, Megrahi was given a hero's welcome on landing in Tripoli on the eve of the first day of Ramadan. To top it off, Colonel Gadaffi was there to personally receive him. Indeed, many Libyans present were even waving Scottish flags - to be honest I found this particularly disgusting. Apparently a memo was leaked detailing how Gordon Brown requested that Megrahi be received in a discrete and sensitive manner. Surely that's like putting a hungry, fat kid in a sweet shop and asking him not to eat any sweets. Red rag, bull anyone?

I read somewhere that Libya will soon be in the top 10 oil producers in the world. Given this, I have to wonder whether there really were some "under the table" discussions going on behind the release of Megrahi. Or whether this notion is just too sceptical and conspiratorial. If not, then presumably the Scottish were also in talks with the rest of the UK. I mean, Scotland is only a small country and I can't imagine Libya getting that much leverage out of her. No, more likely the rest of the UK were also complicit, with Whitehall surely being a key player in the whole process. Ha, gives a whole new slant on "due process"!

According to another BBC article I have just read, the Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz was in Tripoli on the day Megrahi returned to Libya, and was seen publicly apologising to the Libyan people in a news conference. Why? I hear you ask. Well, in 2008, Colonel Gaddafi's son Hannibal and his wife were arrested and detained by the Swiss police for allegedly beating two of their servants. Surprise surprise, the move infuriated the Libyan governement and it was not too long before Swiss companies and nationals were driven out of the country and the oil taps were half shut. Whoops. It seems that the Libyans have very evidently flexed their oil muscles. Yep, I can see the biceps rippling now.

I do have to agree that many of these complaining British and American politicians are blatantly guilty of "disingenuous posturing". Sadly once again, the rule of law and due process have given way to oil diplomacy so we can all feed our excessively consumptive lifestlyes here in the West (myself included). Unfortunately, this decision has also reflected rather badly on a devolved Scotland on the international stage.

Hey, at least we (the English) had nothing to do with it.

Currently listening to a rather good mix by Trentemøller entitled "Harbour Boat Trips in Copenhagen" - it starts off really folky and downtempo, and then starts to build into some nice 4x4. However, it still remains fairly slow and downtempo, with some interesting EBM, indie and electronica tracks in there. Very soundtrack-y and atmospheric. Definitely one for a lazy Sunday, cotching with your mates. Or perfect for reflective, solitary listening, as I am doing now. Anyway, check it out here.

One last thing - come on England, you can bring back the Ashes. 10 wickets, 2 days. We have the weather on our side....

Thanks for reading.

Peace (in the Middle East),

F.

And the (now Transatlantic) health care debate rages on...

2009-08-14T12:41:00.015+01:00

Dear oh dear - Cameron has had to step in and rebuke Daniel Hannan's NHS-bashing comments publicly. Whilst over the other side of the Atlantic, the health care debate continues to rage on with adjectives describing the NHS such as "Orwellian" and "evil" being bandied about. God those Americans are the masters of hyperbole and shameless rhetoric.

Listen to the feature from the Today programme from this morning. Apparently we have the "highest death rate and the lowest recovery rate in Europe". But have YOU actually verified any of these statistics? No, I thought not. Anecdotal right-wing fear-mongering is good enough for you I'm sure....

Daniel Hannan on Fox News bemoaning the state of the NHS

2009-08-12T22:24:00.017+01:00

Greetings readers,

Just a short blog post today as have suddenly become very busy with other commitments! So above lies a YouTube clip of Dan Hannan, a conservative MEP, on Fox News in April this year bemoaning the state of the NHS. Watching this for the first time has infuriated me to say the least: this gutless man has seemingly sided with the ignorant, scare-mongering, conservative, Republican political right in the States with a shameless and blatant attack on our beloved NHS. And to top it all, he chooses the disgustingly right-wing news network, Fox News, to promulgate his utter shite to the American people. Not only that, but he has the gumption to openly criticise our public health policy, our doctors and NICE whilst sycophantically brown-nosing the American public over their "superior" health care system. I dare you to come back here and repeat your earlier comments Dan Hannan! You are not even worthy of being sentenced to one of our so called "Death Panels"...

Unfortunately it seems that the majority of the American public do not understand the complexities of a health care system in which one in six of their own people do not possess medical health insurance. To make matters worse, Republicans like Sarah Palin are scare-mongering ordinary American citizens into imagining dystopian scenarios upon adopting "Obama-care", such as the sentencing of her own child with Down's Syndrome to "Death Panels". I have never heard such hyperbolic and shameful drivel in my entire life! Nonetheless I applaud you Sarah Palin, for adding the personal touch; am sure they taught you that in Politics 101. Obama was definitely right: you are a dumb "lipstick on a pig".

What spurred me to write this article was actually reading the BBC's recent article on how anti-reform campaigners in the US have been directing criticisms across the Atlantic at the NHS. Indeed it appears our very own Dan Hannan has been busy spouting his drivel on the Fox News airwaves once again. How very kind of him. I think perhaps the least we could do to repay our debt to him would be to strip him of his citizenship, post, assets and ship him back to America. No wait, he'd probably end up running for Congress.

Well, good riddance to you, we certainly don't need your sort round these parts.

If you would like to read a well balanced, informative blog post surrounding the ongoing health care debate written by an actual American, you could do worse than checking out Dr Steven Novella's recent blog entry (Dr Novella is an academic clinical neurologist at Yale University School of Medicine as well as president and co-founder of the New England Skeptical Society). Here he presents a reasoned argument for the most effective way of utilising resources from a clinician's perspective. Notice how I didn't use the word "rationing" once....

Anyway, will try and update soon with some more coherent thoughts. It's late in the day and my brain seems to have disintegrated somewhat.

Currently listening to Passion Pit's EP, "Chunk of Change". Wouldn't describe it as particularly amazing but it is fairly good as far as twee, synth heavy, indie-electro-pop bands go. Their track "Sleepyhead" grabbed my attention straight away, as I recognised it from the Fiver/Five USA adverts that have been on recently. Hot Chip are definitely better.

Thanks for reading,

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained: Harnessing the Power of Social Networks

2009-08-04T14:19:00.014+01:00

Greetings readers,

And how are we on this miserably overcast Summer's day? All I ask for is a few days of uninterrupted sunshine on this Godforsaken isle. Anyway, today I have decided to write about a somewhat atypical topic to my usual blog posts, but nonetheless relevant, and increasingly important to all of us in the modern electronic age: social networking (and using it to create a powerful brand).

The fact that you are reading this already indicates to me that you are reasonably technologically savvy, own a computer or laptop and are probably under the age of about 35. Right? In fact, I could probably deduce a lot more from you given the fact that you are very likely to be one of my "friends" or "connections" through Twitter, Facebook, Flickr or LinkedIn. Now I have to make it clear from the outset that I am certainly no expert in this field and do not want to take a didactic approach to this blog post. However, during the last few months I have spent a large amount of time developing my blog, and very recently have realised that I have been inadvertently building myself a brand. That's right, the Latif Brand.

So to put context to my ramblings. Well, currently I am working as a freelance writer, having managed to sign up to a couple of agencies where I can bid for work. This is as much to provide a means of income as it is to ensure that I continue to flex my intellectual and digit muscles as much possible. Indeed, as I have mentioned in previous posts I will be going back to university to study a Masters at the LSE in less than two months. And so onto my master plan: to continue to spread the word about my blog to as many people as possible, and create a distinct and powerful brand which people will start to associate with me. Of course, you may now be asking the question: yes, OK, but to what purpose are you doing this? Well, granted I will be the first to admit that I a little bit narcissistic, and have ambitions of power and recognition! However, the real end goal is to basically develop myself as an expert in the field of health care and more specifically health economics, WITHOUT a PhD/full-on academic credentials. At the very least I would love to establish myself as an outspoken, informed, intelligent and reasoned individual in the field who is quite simply, eminently employable. That's right, it's all about creating myself a brand in order to get my dream job (government/think tanks/consultancy - are you listening?).

Here are several steps that I have taken which have rapidly increased traffic to my blog:

1. Sync your blog/website to social networking sites. e.g. Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn.

2. If you have Facebook and Twitter, sync them to each other! Can you really be arsed to send a tweet/status update twice?!

3. To create a multimedia-rich experience, embed photos from sites like Flickr and YouTube into your blog. This proved to me much easier than I originally thought it would be and does not require any knowledge of HTML code.

4. Put your blog/website link into your email signature. Trust me, people who see this for the first time will not be able to resist clicking on this out of sheer curiosity! Well, that is the idea anyway.

5. Obviously send FB/Twitter updates when you have new content on your blog. Of course, if you are already synced you will not need to do this, but there's no harm in shouting this to your known world anyway.

6. Start following popular blogs and leave comments. This will invariably create a trail back to yours.

7. Write authoritative blog pieces like this one! If useful and written well, people will (hopefully!) keep coming back...

8. Write interesting content, and update it regularly. As to how often you update is entirely up to you as long as you are fairly frequent and consistent. Otherwise people will simply forget about you and your blog!

9. Enjoy what you write - do not write on topics of which you are ill informed upon. People will clearly see through this. Ideally you should write on something that you are passionate and well informed on, whatever it is. Someone out there will find it interesting.

10. Give your blog personality! Use pictures, photos, videos, logos, graphics and plugins wherever appropriate. However, most importantly, write well! If you do, readers will take you much more seriously, and will likely come back for more!

11. Add your blog to Technorati, a real-time search engine for blogs. Although there were well over 110 million blogs registered to Technorati at the last count, this also means that in theory, you have 110 million other blogs to link to! I have just joined, and understand that a good way to increase your "blog authority" (number of links from other blogs made to your blog) is to link to the most popular ones, like the Huffington Post (see what I just did).

The salient point here is to create something that is distinctive and represents you. Once you have done this, you should create and integrate your social networks to maximum effect, driving traffic into your blog. This will eventually lead to a powerful brand, and fame/recognition/money/jobs/sex [delete as appropriate].

Personally I plan to continue developing my blog whilst a student (and where better to meet people and spread your message?) with a view to hopefully landing a dream job by September 2010. However, if this plan doesn't come to fruition I can honestly say that I absolutely love writing, so I guess the moral of the story is nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Just to be blatantly nepotistic for a second, I would like to plug my good friend Ben Slater's new artistic project, Glass Magazine, and his portfolio, here.

Currently listening to Peter Van Hoesen's recent mix from "Get The Curse", and can honestly say this is one of the best mixes I have listened to in ages. Driving, deep, moody, atmospheric and very epic. Quite reminiscent of Slam at their peak so if you like epic synth stabs, chord progressions, Detroit and Chicago sounds, you're in for a treat...

As always, thank you for reading.

Peace,

F.

Britain's Drug Laws: Lessons from "The Wire"?

2009-07-30T09:38:00.019+01:00

Greetings readers,

I hope this finds you in fine fettle on what is a bright Summer morning on this grey, rain-infested isle. So this morning, I was rather interested to hear the drugs debate (part MMLXIII) between Roger Howard, CEO of the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC, catchy...), who provide "independent and objective analysis of UK drug policy", and Iain Duncan Smith (cha-too), chairman of the Centre for Social Justice, a centre-right political think-tank, which he set up. Combined with the BBC's article on this same topic, I felt compelled to proffer some of my own thoughts on this never-ending topic of debate.

So essentially, Roger Howard is suggesting that police should take a "smarter" approach to tackling drugs in order tor reduce the levels of violent crime. The UKDPC's recent report on the issue apparently says the government's strategy focuses too much seizures and arrests, and not enough on reducing harm. Indeed, Roger Howard cited the example of the US city of Boston, where murder rates apparently fell when the police offered amnesty to drug dealers on the proviso they stopped killing each other. In fact, the situation was a little more complex than this: drug dealers were given an ultimatum to either accept a programme of rehabilitation and "get out of the game", or face the police coming down on them harder than ever before. This makes complete sense to me. It's hardly as if the police in Boston took a softly softly approach.

I'm not entirely sure exactly where I stand on this ongoing debate. I suppose I am progressive and liberal but believe that a pragmatic approach is most important. To slightly tangentialise, I think we need to take one step back and re-address the classification system. I can hear the audible yawn as I type this! But seriously, I think the UK needs to wise up and take a more enlightened approach. Personally, I think we should de-criminalise drugs altogether, and follow a policy more like they have in Portugal. I genuinely believe that once you have de-criminalised drugs, there will be a net benefit to society. Yes, there will inevitably be a period of difficult transition, and drug use and corresponding crime is likely to spike, but ultimately you will take the drugs market out of the organised crime syndicates' hands, and be able to offer cleaner, purer and safer drugs to users. This will not only reduce the number of deaths, but will also add to "de-mystifying" drugs to young people, who often start taking drugs out of sheer rebellion (and boredom). Trust me, I know from experience. Kids will basically become less interested in drugs.

But let's put our feet firmly back on the ground for second. I know that de-criminalisation is not going to happen any time soon, or indeed in my lifetime. So to the problem at hand. Well, people will always take drugs. Fact. Whatever your position on this contentious topic, a significant portion of society get their kicks one way or another. According to figures from the British Crime Survey and Office for National Statistics, over 10% of the population consumed at least one drug between 2006-7. About 8% used cannabis, 2% ecstasy, and almost 3% in the case of cocaine. In absolute terms that's nearly 5 million people smoking cannabis, and almost 2 million people taking cocaine. WISE UP. Drug taking transcends every age and socio-economic group of society! I genuinely believe that we should at least revert cannabis back to a class C drug (bravo, Jacqui Smith, you idiot), and make ecstasy and cocaine class B drugs. Or perhaps make cocaine a class A/B drug, as it can be very harmful and addictive. OK, so I'm really having a rant now, but you get the message. ESTABLISHMENT, ARE YOU LISTENING? COME ON, YOU ALL DID A BIT OF "PUFF" AT OXFORD, RIGHT? Liars, the lot of you.

Anyway, back to the debate. I'm currently working my way through series 2 of "the Wire", and must say it is absolutely fantastic. I am totally hooked, and drawn in. And it is interesting to see how crime and drugs are inextricably linked. But as D'Angelo, one of the main characters in the drama says in series 1, "it don't gotta be like this" (the game). At the end of series 1, the po-lice do get Barksdale, but on such a minor sentence, it ain't even worth it (thanks to his slimy Jewish lawyer). So whilst Barksdale (head honcho of this drugs operation, supplying drugs to the towers and low rises) gets sent down, he simply hands over the business to the next chain in command, Stringer Bell. And of course he makes sure that the trustworthy young recruits working for them are brought up the chain, given more responsibility, and therefore more reward. Ultimately, the cycle of dealing, violence, extortion, money laundering and homicide continues. During the period of transition, other gangs try and deal on Barksdale's patches, but are beaten down. Violence breeds violence. And as naive as I am to the drug dealing criminal underworld, I doubt that things are very different over here. Breaking up well organised crime syndicates is nigh-on impossible. Yes, there are some dumb foot soldiers on the ground, but the people at the top are far from stupid, and probably have their heads firmly round the concept of free-market economics. Go figure.

Personally I am with Roger Howard, despite the fact that he was beaten down by Iain Duncan Smith (cha-too). I think that if we accept the greatest transgression to the fabric of society is killing another person, then changing drug policy to tackle this is a step forward. I am all in favour of introducing safe houses and organised places where addicts can go and take drugs safely, with clean syringes and other paraphernalia they need. I am also in favour of drug rehabilitation programmes, and do not believe that locking up users is the answer. Essentially this will render public places like local parks safer, and allow kids to play freely and without danger. It will also allow police to closer monitor the drugs trade, and ensure that less users die from dirty drugs, syringes and secondary complications. As Mr Howard put it, "it doesn't mean don't arrest and seize, it means you do it in a smarter way so that you constantly think of how it will have a sustainable impact".

Listen to the debate from the "Today Programme" here.

Law enforcement on the drugs trade is of course necessary, but let us not forget that it is a market that has several million consumers in this country alone. It's not about getting the harmless users out there, it's about protecting them, our kids and society at large.

Rant over.

Thank you for reading.

Currently at the end of my first listen of Moderat's eponymously titled debut album, and have found it to have real depth, and fantastic production. A marriage between Apparat and Modeselektor was always going to be a real aural treat. "Rusty Nails" in particular is a real dubstep delight (even if they did rip off Burial, just a little bit).

Peace,

F.

America, June 2009 - slideshow

2009-07-26T12:56:00.012+01:00

Created with flickr slideshow.
Low-res "action" photos taken on my 2 megapixel phone camera whilst out in the States in June this year, including (but not exclusively):

My sister's place in Lake Sherwood (CA), downtown LA, glitch-hop party at a sneaker store in downtown LA, Santa Barbara, Washington DC and couch-surfing in San Francisco.

Obama's Health Care Reform: Is "Socialised Medicine" such a terrible prospect for Americans?

2009-07-23T12:10:00.020+01:00

Greetings friends,

Thanks for tuning in once again to my blog (devotees - you know who you are!). OK, so for some reason I have decided to write yet another serious post. God knows, perhaps I am coming down with a bout of swine-flu; better get on the NHS swine-flu hotline and get my order of Tamiflu in! No, actually it's primarily because I am trying to keep my mind active and focussed towards the impending start of my new Masters course. And because whilst I was in the US for three weeks in June this year, I couldn't help but notice that Obama's proposals for US Health Care reform had completely divided the nation, and certainly captured my latent interest. So for anyone reading this you will have to excuse me for crystallising my own thoughts and understanding on this very topical of issues for Americans.

I have recently read some interesting and informative articles on the current US health care debate, notably in Time magazine, and an article written by Philippa Thomas for the BBC. In addition my eldest sister and brother-in-law, whom I recently visited in the States, work in regulatory and pricing & reimbursement at a senior level for a large biotech company in California, respectively. Having had several conversations with them also, I now feel that I am starting to understand the American psyche, and correspondingly, why so many Americans are opposed to the new bill that Obama is proposing at the moment.

So it appears that right now Obama is lobbying America's doctors, including what was apparently a rather blunt message at the annual conference of the American Medical Association (AMA). During this speech he made it clear that the AMA will bear much of the responsibility for reining in the huge cost of American health care. Currently, the system operates on a "fee-for-service" basis meaning that doctors receive a fee for each service they provide such as an office visit, test, procedure, or other health care service. Ultimately this means that the system is based on quantity, not quality, and it is my understanding that many Americans perceive more contact time with doctors and hospitals with a "better" standard of health care. However, as much as I have canonised doctors in the past (my father was a successful GP), it does appear that the model in the US "has taken the pursuit of medicine from a profession - a calling - to a business", as Obama put it. Essentially, like everything else in America, what should perhaps be a sacrosanct profession in one sense has been commoditised as a consequence of free-market economics. And surely this just ain't right. Right?

There are now apparently 47 million Americans with absolutely no health care insurance and a further 25 million with sub-standard insurance. That's roughy a quarter of the entire population of the United States. Quite simply, this statistic shocks me and (NHS) jibes aside, I am rather proud to be a citizen of a country with a "socialised" form of health care, as the Americans put it. Surely that is a mark of a truly civilised country, which takes responsibility for ALL of its citizens, and does not deny a significant proportion of its people access to vital health care! Do not get me wrong, I am not fundamentally opposed to free-market liberalism but am willing to pay higher taxes if it means that the old lady next door can get her hip replaced courtesy of the NHS.

I have also been rather interested to read articles on "Comparative Effectiveness" (CE) in the States. Essentially there is talk of developing some sort of regulatory body like the National Institute of Health & Clinical Excellence (NICE) like we have over here. Indeed, I read a rather informative Time article which went into some great depth highlighting the differentials in costs at the most prestigious teaching hospitals in the United States. The salient point was made with regards to the "Mayo Clinic" in Minnesota, which appeared to have siginicantly lower costs per patient (cannot remember any precise numbers) but essentially the same outcomes. Clearly this sort of data shows that quality health care CAN be provided for less. Indeed perhaps we should all look at the Mayo Clinic as an exemplary model.

I think perhaps America's fear of socialised medicine is incredibly deep rooted; in 1948 Truman's plans for health care reform faltered in the face of cynicism about "Russian-style communism". More recently, in 1994, the health care initiative sponsored by the then First Lady Hillary Clinton was by all accounts, an abject disaster. "The American Dream" seems to be a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it is possible to achieve anything if you put your back into it, but on the other, you better hope that life doesn't deal you a bad hand, because as sure as hell no one else is going to pick you up. That, in a nutshell, is the philosophy behind capitalism. I think (I have been listening to Professor Michael Sandel's Reith Lectures recently...).

America spends roughly 16% of its GDP on health care (double the average spending of OECD nations), roughly one sixth of GDP. This is big business. The American libertarian thinker, Michael Cannon, who heads health policy analysis ay Washington's Cato Institute thinks that big reform is needed - but reform that puts financial power into the hands of the individual consumers, not another vast government bureaucracy. He estimates that it will cost around $2tn to cover all of America's uninsured over the next 10 years. A staggering figure. This will clearly create a burden on various stakeholders: doctors and hospitals will probably be tasked with providing more with less funding, thereby bringing the debate of comparative effectiveness right to the fore. The burden might also fall on workers, if salaries fall as employers are required to provide broader health insurance. The burden might also fall on taxpayers, facing more or higher taxes. Ultimately, to make universal health care work, everyone is going to have to sacrifice. As Michael Cannon puts it, what the government is really doing now is "trying to find the path of least resistance".

To me, America seems to be an incredibly greedy, selfish and divided country. On the one hand you have the wealthy who can afford full, private health insurance and college fees, thus ensuring that they propagate good health, education and ultimately wealth. On the other hand, clearly an underclass who are barely literate, uninsured and with no hope of ever breaking their cycle of poverty. Now I am not saying that the situation here in the UK (and Europe) is perfect, but right now I would rather live in a country where it is perhaps more difficult to achieve affluence, but at least people can live in the comforting knowledge that there is at least a socialised health care safety blanket called the NHS. God bless it, and all its failings. Perhaps we should stop grumbling and be thankful for what we have. Now I've just gotta get my hand on some of that Tamiflu...

Thank you for reading.

Currently listening to a rather lovely deep and chilled live mix entitled "Lipse" by my old friend, Max Cooper.

Peace,

Personal genetic testing: what lies beneath

2009-07-15T14:43:00.010+01:00

Greetings friends,

Fare thee well? After just a few short days since my last post, I have been moved enough to write a short piece on my current thoughts about personal genetic testing. Having read a very interesting article on the BBC website by Dr Ainsley Newson, an ethics expert at Bristol University, I have decided to proffer some of my own personal thoughts on the subject. This is particularly pertinent to me since I will be studying health policy, including biomedical ethics, very soon indeed.

So what's the deal? Well, it was only back in 2000 that first human genome sequence was first published. And it seems that we have come a long way since then. Apparently, for around $400, several online companies will already sell you a "snapshot" of your genome. Most practically, this will estimate your risk of developing certain diseases. However, on a much more trivial level, it could also "predict whether you are likely to enjoy the bitterness of broccoli", as Dr Newson says.

But with exponentially increasing processing power (Moore's Law), genome sequencing can now be done much faster and cheaper - apparently you can now get your whole genome sequence for $50,000, and this is set to fall to $1,000 pretty soon. In short, the service will become a commodity. So what's the problem I hear you cry? Let's say that I decided to pay the $50,000 going rate to get my whole genome sequenced by a private company offering the service. The results come back and show that I have a very high chance of developing heart disease in later life. Well, this wouldn't be so surprising given I have a familial history of it, and am in a demographic that is genetically susceptible to the disease, sadly. Nonetheless, this probabilistic approach could vastly extend and improve my quality of life in the long term in that I could start to take proactive action in changing my lifestyle, so as to delay the onset of the disease. It is possible I could even avoid ever getting heart diease. Prima facie, this is surely a great thing, and when extended to the myriad disease states, can only be an excellent tool for mankind if applied in the right way.

There are however, inherent ethical issues that also spring to mind. Should third parties have access to these data? And should we test babies or children? What if the testing becomes so advanced that it becomes possible to sequence the whole genome of an unborn foetus? Will the abortion rates increase correspondingly? And what about the health insurance consequences? And could this really prove whether someone being homosexual really is down to their genetic makeup. The ethical and philosophical quandaries are endless...

Dr Newson argues that ultimately this sort of genetic testing should be very carefully regulated by the medical profession. ie. clinicians who are trained in the field and can interpret best the genetic information provided by genome sequencing. But she also treads the argument that there may be a risk of paternalistic 'doctor knows best' attitude, denying people the right to their own genetic information. My issue with this is that I am not actually sure whether much of the medical profession (i.e. GPs and clinicians) are clued up on genome sequencing and the ethical implications relating to it. I have several friends who are are doctors in their late 20s in a variety of fields and I am not so sure they would be more clued up than myself. And I certainly don't claim to be an expert. So perhaps, medical curricula will have to change accordingly, and current doctors will have to be trained if this technology does eventually diffuse.

At the end of the day, since this service will soon become affordable to the masses, it will not be possible to stop such testing unless it is heavily regulated. Dr Newson argues that this is not paternalism but "responsible consumer protection". I agree with this statement in principle. However, I do not think it will stop people with the means and funds (with no clinical training) to go ahead and get their genome sequenced. She further argues that it could "provide a drain on NHS resources as people consult GPs, who may lack the required knowledge for support and interpretation", supporting my earlier comments.

Nonetheless, once affordable, I will be seriously considering getting my whole genome sequenced. Surely you would want to know what lies beneath..?

Currently listening to Jon Hopkins's latest album, "Insides", and finding it to be a beautiful accompaniment to writing this piece.

Thanks for reading,

F.

Las noticias y revisión de música

2009-07-12T10:57:00.020+01:00

Hola amigos,

Thanks for tuning in once again to this slightly Spanish-influenced blog, I'm sure you have noticed (title meaning - "News and music reviews"). So, I have been back in Blighty for a couple of weeks now, and have acclimatised to the real world. My States high has well and truly ended but has certainly left with me an indelible imprint: I am sure that the recent music that I have been listening to has, on reflection, been noticeably influenced by my three weeks over the other side of The Pond. Though this could easily be explained by the fact that I have been reading Pitchfork Media quite frequently, and heeding many of their album reviews. A combination of both probably.

Anyway, onto new music. Well, over the last couple of weeks I have discovered quite a few new albums, including Luomo's "Convivial", various albums by M83, Apparat's "Walls" and perhaps most importantly, Grizzly Bear's recent offering. So having read the recent PM review of Grizzly Bear's most recent album release, "Veckatimest", who gave it 9.0, I had to download the album. The band itself are Brooklyn based, and are actually on Warp Records, which was another reason I was drawn to them. Anyway, according to Wikipedia, their sound is categorised as "experimental rock, folk rock and is most dominated by the use of acoustic guitars and vocal harmonies". I concur. I would say that they sound a little bit like a cross between The Beach Boys ("Pet Sounds"), Fleet Foxes, Arcade Fire and Animal Collective. I am certainly digging the whole experimental, psychedelic, folky sound at the moment, particularly because it is quite chilled and downbeat (which is good for my current period of introspection). My fave tracks on the album are "Ready, Able", "Two Weeks" and "While You Wait for the Others", though on my second proper listen, the album is really growing on me. Anyway, as if not to big up the album enough, Fleet Foxes hailed "Veckatimest" as album of the decade, whilst Grizzly Bear are Jonny Greenwood's favourite band. Plaudits done. Go check out the album if you are into any of the above bands I have just mentioned and want something with beautiful vocal harmonies, amazing song structures, gorgeous orchestral arrangements and loads of depth.

The other band that I want to mention is M83. I was surprised to discover this band had been around for the best part of a deacde with quite a prolific back catalogue. This is especially since I am pretty into the whole shoegaze electronica scene. Anyway, the band is/was comprised of two Frenchman, Anthony Gonzalez, and formerly Nicolas Fromageau, and was formed in Antibes in 2001. M83's most recent album, "Saturdays =Youth" sounds more like avant synth-pop that any kind of shoegaze electronica, and I simply can't get enough of arguably the standout track, "Couleurs", which is this dance-floor oriented, epic, eight and a half minute synth-pop anthem. It's blatantly a little cheesy, but sometimes that's all you need and want. From reading reviews and one cursory listen, I imagine that M83's magnum opus is probably their album from 2003, entitled "Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts", which sounds like it would nestle in nicely between Ulrich Shnauss & Brian Eno. I.e. it is a beautiful, textured, soundscaped album with more than a hint of ambient eletronica. I defninitely need to spend more time on it.

Other albums I have recently been listening to include Apparat's "Walls", which is a lovely piece of mostly vocal-driven downtempo electronica, and Luomo's "Convivial", which is a very interesting and slickly produced house album. Kind of reminds me of German/French producers like Isolée and I:Cube, though I wouldn't necessarily put the album into the "micro-house" genre.

So, onto other affairs. Well, I recently received an offer from the LSE to study the MSc in International Health Policy which I am very pleased about. Have now accepted the offer, and am starting to make arrangements; think I will move back to London around mid-September, as the course begins at the end of the month, in effect. Am thinking of going for a flatshare with randoms in Hackney - this will hopefully be relatively cheap, easily accessible on the bus to Aldwych (LSE) and near most of my friends. Am obviously a little tentative that I will be living on a student's budget, but well, that will be part of the challenge. Anyway, I genuinely feel that I have reached a level of maturity where I will be able to take everything in my stride, and certainly have the drive to do such a course right now. Am also glad that my general boozing and hedonism is well under control! I think as an undergraduate (and even doing my first Masters) I was simply too pre-occupied with partying and boozing all the time. So there is no doubt in my mind that I will be going for a dictinction, and at the very least, a merit. We shall see.

I think the only other thing worth mentioning is the fact that I am intensely learning Spanish, courtesy of the Rosetta Stone programme, which I have recently acquired. After just a week's intense learning, I must say that I am extremely impressed, and had I paid the £350 odd for levels 1-3 (!), would probably have considered this value for money. In a nutshell, the programme teaches you Spanish in the way that you first learned your mother tonuge. I.e. by constantly making associations with pictures and objects, and by using clever patterns and cues. I am particularly enjoying the way that the programme starts with simple words relating to real-world objects and people, and then starts to build upon this, to form proper sentences. I am aiming to complete all three levels by studying an average of about one hour a day over the next two months or so. I will then hopefully be ready to enroll on the fast-track Modern Foreign Language course at intermediate level at the LSE (in conjunction with my main course). This will entaal 2 hours per week of teaching over 20 weeks, incorporating assessments throughout and at the end. As long as I am dedicated, I should be able to achieve this, and hope to be reasonably conversational come June next year. I am certainly very excited by this prospect, and will probably join the Spanish society, not least so I can converse with hot Spanish/Latina women!

Anyway, I'm all out of words, and my neck is starting to ache.

Hope you're all good in the hood.

Peace,

F.

A "hella cutty" spot in 'Frisco...

2009-06-24T18:42:00.019+01:00

Word-up homies,

This is the last post from my travels in the States. And boy, it has been immense!

Last week I went to Washington DC with my my mum and sister; my sister was attending an oncology conference so kindly booked us flights and rooms so we could check out the city whilst she was there. The hotel itself was actually in Maryland, a different state altogether, and was about 10 miles north-west of central DC. However, it was literally a few minutes from the nearest metro station, so we were able to travel to and from DC with ease. To to honest, I wasn't blown away by the city, but did enjoy seeing all the grand buildings making up the corridors of power. Whilst there I was able to see: The White House, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Capitol building, Supreme Court, Library of Congress, Botanic Gardens, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and Museum of African Art. Perhaps because I am not an American, and have never really taken a massive interest in American history, the historical significance of the city did not resonate with me as much as it probably would for American nationals. Nonetheless, DC is a beautiful city, with a nice, liberal feel and a fantastic metro system that frankly puts the tube to shame. The other salient features of the trip include my surprise at how humid and hot the climate was out there, and quite how fantastic the crab cakes were. They are supposed to be a real delicacy in the region, and did not fail to impress! Over the four days we were in DC we were fortunate enough to eat at some very nice restaurants including an excellent Thai, where we had some rather lovely Flounder, and Legal Sea Foods, which is a very well regarded sea food chain exclusively on the East Coast.

So, having returned from DC, I had a flight scheduled to San Francisco the next day. This was something that I was really looking forward to. I had managed to find a couch surfing host called Andy who I ended up getting on with really well. Would like to say that we are now pals, and will definitely be looking him up next time I am in the city.

So on to my assessment of 'Frisco: stunning, laid-back, liberal, bohemian, great weather, friendly people, amazing public transportation system, washed-out acid hippies, hipsters, homos, weed, mushrooms, technology and just generally cool as fuck. On landing in SF International Airport, I promptly made my way to Haight-Ashbury, which is the area Andy lives in, and is a short walk from Golden Gate Park. It is full of beautiful, historic Victorian houses, is very hilly, and has a road called The Haight which runs through it and seems to be the lifeblood of the area. It also has a lovely mix of liberal intelligentsia, hipsters and families too. Granted, The Mission district probably has a greater concentration of young hipsters (probably like Shoreditch/Hoxton) but I preferred the feel of Haight-Ashbury, and would perhaps liken it to an area like Stoke Newington in London. Though much cooler and hip.

It was actually Father's Day on the day I arrived so Andy was out with this pa playing golf. His Swedish girlfriend, Josie, kindly let me in, gave me a key, and then promptly left as she had things to do. So, on Andy's suggestion, I headed to Golden Gate Park with ice cream in hand, and promptly discovered hippie hill. Granted, I had heard about the historical significance of this place, particularly the gatherings that happened here back in the acid-soaked 60s, and to this day, it still feels quite special. Having found the circle of drummers and all the acid heads, I promptly parked myself on the hill, soaked up the atmosphere, watched the freaks and enjoyed passively inhaling the pungent weed fumes that were drifting past me from every angle. However, it wasn't long before I decided to chat to some dudes who turned out to be mostly Israeli hippies, and on reflection was a good decision! One of them just handed me a large mushroom which I promptly munched, and then I smoked some of the their spliffs. In return I went on a beer mission, so we sat there chatting shit for a couple of hours. Didn't think that the mushroom had done much, but then found myself to be mildy tripping and high which was nice; not too intense, no paranoia, and a feeling of warmth and easiness which was perfect for my mental state at the time. Ended up going back to these guys' house and smoked a bong, had some more beers and listened to tunes. Random, but cool. The best thing though, was the fact that they lived about 10 minutes away from Andy so managed to walk to his fine, even in my intoxicated state!

Got to Andy's and we immediately got on well - was open about the fact I had been drinking and smoking, and taking shrooms, which I think he was actually quite impressed by! We promptly smoked more, had some more beers, and listened to some wicked tunes. It was obvious we were going to get on well.

The next day we managed to cover lots of ground. Andy took me downtown for a bit which was cool. Then we went to Golden Gate Park, and probably managed to roam a third of it, including taking in some awesome "cutty" spots with some giant redwoods and lovely rose gardens. Andy taught me that in SF speak, a cutty spot is a good place to basically chill, with "hella" meaning very much, or I guess, hell of. So that explains the meaning to the title of the post. We smoked some more, and he took some cool photos as he is pretty into his digital art and photography. Not only that, but he is into producing electronic music, and played me a couple of his tracks, live. A real creative. He would undoubtebly get on with my crew back in England, particularly my mate Benjy. However, his whole being really reminded me of my friend Simon. Everything from his physique, mannerisms, personality and interests. Just goes to show that there really are very definite personality types out there. And that's not to take away from the obviously quirky and individual characters that all my friends really are.

Anyway, after much chilling in GGP, we headed to The Mission, which is obviously where the Spanish conquistadores must have originally set up base, and is evident by the European-influenced architecture of the buildings, and the large presence of Mexicans (as well as Hipsters) in the area. We ended up going to this cool Taqueria, where I had my first proper experience of authentic enchilladas. And boy, were they delicious! We then went onto Dolores Park, which is the Hipster hangout in the area, and really reminds me of Hoxton Square. Had a smoke and chill, and then managed to catch the end of this spoken-word night at a place called "Brain Wash" downtown which was cool. Then ended going on to a party (on a Monday night!) at an amazing Victorian house in a different part of the city, where I briefly met some cool, interesting and friendly people who all digged my English accent (and humour, of course).

In between, Andy I managed to chat philosophy, religion, politics and music. Cheesy as this may sound, I totally fell in love with the city, met some really cool people, and definitely made a new friend, albeit over just two (intense) days. So big props to Andy for hosting me, I had a hella good time! You are more than welcome to visit me in London any time! I am already thinking about my next trip to the States, which will no doubt involve re-visiting Frisco, and spending more time with Andy and checking out all the hot spots.

Flying back to London in a few days; have had some great chill and some amazing times. Have completely revised my position on Americans and the United States. Yes, the country's foreign policy sucks, yes, there are some obviously ugly facets about the country, namely its arrogance, excessive consumption, wastefulness and extreme capitalist model, but it is also a country of enduring optimism, warmth, spirit, and that wonderful feeling that anything is possible. For that, I salute you America, you have been a great host....

Peace,

F.

Sneaker pimpin' glitch-hop

2009-06-14T16:51:00.011+01:00

Sup homies...

How are we doing? As always, well I hope. So on Friday evening I went into downtown LA to hook up with a contact of an old friend Gaz, through the electronic music industry. The dude in question is called Bryant, and lives just off Sunset Boulevard on the edge of Hollywood, in an area called Silverlake. The neighbourhood itself has a really nice, laid back feel; a nice mix of Hispanics, blacks, middle-class white families and of course, hipsters. Anyway, Bryant is a freelance electronic music producer and sometime employee of Lemur, which is how he hooked up with Gaz. Would describe him as a friendly, introverted, shy stoner who obviously loves his tech. Although at first I found Bryant to be a little hard to crack, it wasn't long before we were getting on just dandy! Bryant lives with two other guys, Henry and Joel, who are also electronic producers; from what I gather Henry does commercial stuff for movies whilst Joel specialises in playing the sitar and guitar. Their front living room is a music studio that is absolutely loaded with tech - I have never seen such expensive and lovely sounding monitor speakers...

Back to the main narrative. The four of us, and their friend, Laura who is a professional violinist and eletronic producer went out for some Thai food which was nice. Then on the way back Laura spotted a party going on at a sneaker store run by some friends of hers. Best decision ever. Turns out it was a glitch-hop night being held at a sneaker store! Since we had VIP status we had access to free Belvedere vodka cocktails all night! The music itself was nothing special - glitch-hop isn't exactly a new phenomenon, and artists like Prefuse 73 have been honing that sound for years and years. Nonetheless, it was cool to hang out with all these LA hipsters and glitch heads in this random sneaker store in downtown LA. What I liked about the night (and that part of the city) was quite how ethnically diverse and open it seemed to be. To be honest it felt like an extension of London, albeit with way more Hispanics!

Anyway, we stayed there til 11 and then went back to Bryant's gaff where we proceeded to drink and smoke more (these guys are big smokers and have access to medicinal-grade marijuana). Nuff said. Also met some LA hotties who all loved my accent (and of course charm and wit - I definitely have a new-found confidence here, helped by the fact that the women here are so easy to talk to and forward). More of their friends swung by, and we promptly had a party accompanied by Henry dropping loads of his really interesting production: his thing at the moment is dub-step, which has a distinctly West coast take and is certainly a little less grimey than some of the shit coming out of London and the UK at large. Still, it's definitely interesting to hear how a particular sound originating from one place can be taken, assimilated and then evolved into something which retains the core elements but is obviously discernibly different. West coast dubstep. You heard it here first.

Anyway, if any of you are interested in hearing Henry or Joel's stuff, check out these websites:

http://www.puretoneproductions.com/henrystrange/HOME.html (the home page shows Henry in the living room/studio)

http://www.myspace.com/thedvine (Joel's myspace page)

The next day Joel said he would take me to a proper "OG burger joint" since I expressed an interest in eating a coronary-inducing American burger. We went to Tommie's, which is this stripped down, legendary burger joint in downtown LA. And boy, was the shit good: I had myself a chilli cheese burger with fries and a drink and it was damn tasty. And massive. And nearly killed me. Still, I can now say I have had a proper fat American burger. Not only are the portions ridiculous, but for a drink, they just give you an empty one-litre cup which you can fill and re-fill to your heart's desire. To me, that speaks volumes about how the US is a land of consumerism, excess and wastefulness. Nonetheless, the customer service is SO much better than in Europe, and generally I have found American people to be very polite, friendly, courteous and helpful. Then again, I am rolling in an affluent part of California. That said, I am already reviewing and revising my opinion of Americans in a much more favourable light.

So big props to Bryant, Joel, Henry and Laura and all the other LA peeps that I met. Thanks for your hospitality - you are more than welcome to hit me up in my crib anytime in London (once I am settled again).

Off to Santa Barbara this morning with the family. It is on the coast, and is about 60 miles north of where I am now, in Ventura County. The sun is shining and life seems good right now.
Hope you all had suitably excellent weekends. I have definitely found someone to stay with in San Francisco: unfortunately, Angelica bailed on me as her new room mate wasn't comfortable with the plan. So now I am staying with a graphic designer called Andy who seems really interesting and friendly. Have also approached some cool women to hook up with whilst I am there through CS.org. Hopefully they will get back to me!

Stay tuned friends.

Peace,

F.

LA-tif Living LA Vida Loca

2009-06-09T23:45:00.008+01:00

Word-up fellow citizens...

How are you? Well, I hope. Not actually a huge amount to report right now, but felt the need to "check in" as they say. So, the pic above is the view of my sister's back garden, complete with requisite pool (pool boy not included in photo). To be honest, the weather is fairly unimpressive right now: the temperature is hovering around the 64 F mark, and it is dull and overcast. The only improvement over the weather in the UK is that it very rarely rains in the Summer season here, so I suppose that is one saving grace. However, the first day we were here it was a beautiful 82F with uninterrupted sunshine from dawn til dusk. Ah well, you can't have everything.

The salient feature of my trip thus far rather sadly, was probably my rather lovely experience at LAX. This was something that had been preying on my mind running up to my flight out, particularly given I had heard some rather unnerving stories of other British Asian Muslim men who had had less than welcoming experiences entering the US. And boy, US Border Control did not fail to deliver. Having passed my mum through fine, my passport was promptly passed to two other border control guys, who looked at me rather suspiciously; at this point I knew something was up. I was then taken aside by this dude who promptly interrogated me about my background, job, education, where I had been and the purpose of my stay. He made me write my sister's address and contact details as well as my own in the UK, on a piece of paper. He then made me wait whilst he input these details onto their IT database. This was all after having my finger and thumbprints taken, electronically. To say the experience was uncomfortable would be an understatement: I was genuinely scared and a little intimidated. The main thing was that I kept my cool throughout though I think the security guy definitely sensed my anxiety and tried to placate this by telling me that he was "mandated to perform such procedures" in some ridiculous American accent. Don't get me wrong I'm not anti-American, but what I take massive issue with is US foreign policy, and the country's rather hostile and arrogant attitudes towards foreigners, in particular Muslim males. Basically, it's shitty fitting a terrorist profile, and doesn't help that my first name is actually Mohammad. That, plus the fact that in recent years, Britain seems to have been a hub in the Al-Qaida terrorist network. Oh shit, the CIA are probably onto me now for even mentioning this...

Moving on to something more upbeat, I have been preparing to spend a couple of days and nights in San Francisco, which is about 400 miles north of LA. I have heard really good things about the city, particularly relating to the fact that it is supposed to have a really laid back, liberal vibe and is really ethnically diverse and tolerant in outlook. Have decided to fly from LAX which will take less than an hour and a half to San Francisco International Airport, which is about 10 -15 miles south of the city. Having thought about my limited budget, and not really being up for staying alone, I signed up to "Couchsurfing.org", having met many couchsurfers in London a couple of years ago when I lived with my friend, Greg, on Brick Lane. To be honest, most of the couchsurfers seemed really sound, and rather strangely, I feel considerably less sceptical at this point in my life than I did then. This is probably because I am jobless and preparing to go back to full-time education so feel relatively mentally and spiritually free . Anyway, having signed up I have been looking for interesting, open-minded hosts in San Francisco, and was drawn towards the profile of a 26 year old art curator called Angelica, who lives in "Mission District", which I gather is in the cool, boho part of the city. I liked her taste and style, and found her half-Korean background to be rather interesting so decided to send her a message (will also have to admit that she is really pretty in a kooky way though my intentions are honourable, honest guv!). She has promptly got back to me with her number so I may well be staying with her when I head to SF in a couple of weeks. Watch this space.

My itinerary also includes going to Washington DC with my mum and sister for 4 nights next week, and a trip to San Diego for a night the day after I am due to return from SF. However, this week my mum and I have been mostly chilling, as my sister, her husband and their two boys are at work/school. My eldest nephew, Nathan, graduates from high school in a couple of days so I will be going to his graduation ceremony, and then for a Chinese afterwards. Will be interesting (and perhaps a little nauseating) seeing all these wide-eyed 18 year old Californian kids whooping and such like. Still, can't really begrudge them their moment. Nathan is off to The University of California Irvine, to study Medicine (well pre-Med, Biology major) so is well and truly keeping it in the family. My ma is of course, over the moon about this, seeing as none of her kids managed to become doctors...

Anyway, sorry if this entry has been a little dry, but it should give you a taster of things to come. Props to my boy, Rico, for giving me the inspiration for the rather silly, but appropriate title.

Peace out hombres,

F.

Disseminated Primatemaia

2009-06-05T11:05:00.009+01:00

Right, back to business...

The image above is supposed to represent the destruction of the Earth and is very relevant to what I am currently reading: Straw Dogs, written by John Gray. The book was actually written in 2002 when the author was Professor of European Thought at the LSE (retired now) and unsurprisingly an authority in his field. Although I am still only on the first chapter, I can see that this book is very much a dark, even apocalyptic look at the human species, and how essentially, we are all animals, no better or worse than the rest of the animal kingdom. We are simply the most highly evolved species at the top of the food chain, who have this incredible responsiblity to be the ultimate custodians of planet Earth, and our fellow inhabitants of the planet. Yet the picture John Gray draws is not of this highly intelligent, evolved, self-conscious species who has mastered technology, but of this repugnant, rapacious and ultimately savage species ("disseminated primatemaia" literally meaning a plague of people). Shame on you. Still, I think it is refreshing (and balanced) to read something of this nature, and indeed, I am finding the book compelling, thought provoking and highly provocative. We're all doomed, if you believe John Gray. Should provide good holiday reading anyway.

The other book I have bought for my holiday is "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga, which won the Man Booker prize in 2008. Don't know a huge amount about it except it is set in India and is the story of a rickshaw-wala's son and how he leaves home and sets about finding riches and making his way in the world. Can tell it will be right up my street, and I certainly like to balance a bit of non-fiction with fiction these days. It can't always be cerebal innit.

So, am off to LA tomorrow and must say, am getting pretty excited now. Have been checking the weather report, and looking at historical data for June (yes, I know I am a geek) and it looks like the average temperature will be about 25 degrees with virtually no rainfall whatsoever. Granted, July and August are quite a bit hotter, but I think a constant 25 degrees or so with almost uninterrupted sunshine will suit me perfectly. Have spent several hours sorting out tuneage for the journey, including some LSE and New Statesman public lectures on various global issues including topics as diverse as "The NHS over the next 10 years" to "America: a decling hegemon" which should hopefully be thought provoking, informative and interesting. Am also planning on doing some intensive Spanish learning out there so have taken my self-teach book and obviously the audio on my mp3 device. Am hoping that being so near the Mexican border, and the fact California has so many hispanics will have a positive effect on my Spanish learning. You never know, I may even bust some out with some unsuspecting Latinos/as if I'm feeling super confident.

Music: have recently procured Lindstrom & Prins Thomas' new offering entitled imaginatively, "II". I've had one listen through and must say that the album sounds more like Pink Floyd than anything resembling disco. I.e. it is an extremely proggy, krautrock-influenced and instrumental piece of music. Not entirely sure what I make of it so far, as I was expecting something altogether more housey and disco-influenced. Still, I shall definitely persevere as I think the album needs at least another listen. On a similar note, have also recently got the Animal Collective's new offering entitled "Merriweather Post Pavillion", which received a staggering 9.6 on Pitchfork Media recently. That in itself, was all the impetus I needed to get the album. Have had a cursory listen and must say it does sound pretty interesting, especially since I am still not that familiar with the AC's stuff. For the uninitiated, the AC's sound is very avant-garde, experimenal, pschedelic folk-rock. Well, that is my stab at describing their sound. But for the elctronic heads there's plenty of discordance, bleeps and solid kick drum action in there. The band seem to have this incredibly devoted, cult following who seem to think they can do no wrong so I am willing to persevere. As I write this however, I am listening to Carl Craig's "Sessions". The man is a Detroit legend. 'Nuff said.

Anyway, that's how for now. Will update with pics and ramblings of my trip to the States. Will be taking in a few nights in Washington DC so will hopefully get to shoot some hoops with Barack at some point.

Inabit amigos,

F.

The Incredible Human Journey

2009-05-28T12:10:00.008+01:00

Word-up to your mommas.

How are thee? Well, I hope. And so to begin....

As promised now follows a soliloquy on a fascinating programme I have been watching on BBC2, entitled, "The Incredible Human Journey", presented by Dr Alice Roberts. Now Dr Roberts is no ordinary presenter, she is a medical doctor, anthropologist and lecturer in anatomy at Bristol University. Not bad. Plus she also happens to be quite attractive, which always helps in keeping up my attention levels! Was reading some article in one of the broadsheets in which a male journalist recently described her as "swoon-inducing". Wouldn't necessarily go that far, but she definitely strikes me as down to Earth, as well as obviously being incredibly well informed and passionate about her subject matter. You could blatantly have a pint with said academic and chew the anthropological fat....

Anyway, enough about Alice (!). What I have been thoroughly enjoying is the way she has been presenting the "Out of Africa" theory which basically suggests that all modern humans descend from the same branch of people from Africa. It's not a new theory by any means, but it is still mind-blowing. And humbling. Whatever racial, religious and cultural differences between human-kind exist seem so insignificant at the thought that we all share the same ancestry that is probably only about 100,000 years old. Suck on that.

What I am finding particularly interesting is the way Dr Roberts charts the first Africans' migration out of Africa, through the Arabian peninsula, and then East into Asia Minor, and Asia at large. Very interestingly, a lot of the Chinese genuinely believe that they are actually an entirely different species, descended from Homo-Erectus. Apparently, Chinese kids are taught this at school, and led to believe that they are "special" (state propaganda anyone?). Not so sure. I definitely shared Dr Roberts' scepticism when confronting a top Chinese professor of Anthropology. Although his arguments were compelling, equipped with this amazingly intact "homo-erectus" skull he presented, I'm not so sure. You could see Dr Roberts' deference to an old distinguished academic, but also still her very definite scepticism. The way academia should be I guess. Though when she then met a thoroughly modern Genetics professor who had performed some incredibly detailed and thorough testing of this same theory (at The Chinese Academy of Sciences), all the evidence pointed to the fact the Chinese people do actually descend from Africa. Conclusive I thought. (Though I am biased towards modern science...).

All this reminded me of a book I read not long after I graduated in Neuroscience, entitled "The Blank Slate", written by Steven Pinker (legend). I think the title is fairly self-explanatory: are humans born with a blank slate? The book basically discusses nature vs nature and is fascinating. One thing I found particualrly interesting was Steven Pinker's list of human universals; those behaviour traits that are absolutely universal between all human beings. To be honest, as a young wide-eyed graduate, I found this staggering, and humbling. It makes you re-assess the futility of feuds, disputes and wars. And what really is the point of religion in this context? Surely it really is divisive.

Anyway, click here to see the list for anyone who might be interested.

I haven't got started on Dr Roberts' charting the progression of humans into Europe, and the explanations behind typical European facial characteristics, as well as why they became white. But to be honest, I can't recommend watching the programme yourself. It's perfect Sunday night fodder, on at 9pm on BBC2, so you can watch it whilst doing your ironing. Or whatever. Plus there's always iPlayer....

Back to music, that old chestnut. Well, I am currently on my third or fourth listen to Allez Allez's latest mix, by "Exercise One", who are this duo from Berlin who had some notable releases on K7! back in the day. The mix is certainly one of the best I have listened to in ages, taking in Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Aphex, Radiohead and Daft Punk. Very eclectic, and always fun. Not sure if they are Anglophiles, or whether the mix is a bit of a nod to the Brits, but I am loving it nonetheless. Anything which drops "Windowlicker" and "Unfinished Sympathy" has gotta be the shiz, in my humble opinion.

Off to a friends' engagement party somewhere in North London on Saturday, and really looking forward to it. A couple of mutual friends are DJing from about 11 til 3, but I have been asked to put together some "bar tunes" from 7 till 11pm. The Exercise One mix is definitely in there.

Until next time suckers.

Peace,

F.

More music musings...

2009-05-27T10:16:00.007+01:00

So,

Here I am again, after just a day's break. Clearly I have much to talk about. Further to my last post, I'd like to talk more about some of the amazing music I have been listening to. Where to start?

Well, currently I am listening to Fever Ray's eponymously titled debut offering. For the uninitiated, Fever Ray is Karin Dreijer Andersson, one half of the sibling duo, The Knife, who many of you will know. There are definitely similarities in the production style with The Knife, namely that the music is still basically synth-pop, all arpeggiated and such. But unlike The Knife's techno leanings, Fever Ray goes down the haunting, ethereal gothic route. Not that I am expert mind, but I can certainly hear The Cure and Depeche Mode in there. And maybe even Ryuichi Sakamoto. Although this is much more chilling. Apparently it's the sound of a new mother's sense of frustration and isolation when still awake with child in the middle of the night. And boy, can I sense that. Brrrrr! But the production is absolutely amazing. And the album is growing on me with every listen.

What else have I been listening to? Probably too much to tell for one blog, but would definitely have to single out Fuck Buttons' debut album offering, "Street Horrrsing" as absolutely incredible. The Bristol duo have certainly put out a shimmering, magisterial post-rock effort of epic proportions. Basically, if you like Mogwai, you will probably like Fuck Buttons. Although dare I say it, FB have slightly more "dancey" elements and incorporate more melody, so may be easier to digest for anyone new to the "soft-loud" dynamic sound that Mogwai basically invented. All the tracks are absolutely incredible, and average about 8 minutes in length, so not for the fainthearted. The standout track is probably "Bright Tomorrow" which incorporates a steady 4x4 kick-drum, slow, chugging synths, brooding visceral guitars, and ends with the sound of a screaming, eerie tortured voice all laiden on top. Crescendo is certainly the word. Amazing. Oh yeah, and I absolutely love FB's abstract artwork (see above), which has definitely been given my mate Ben's seal of approval (and he is a graphic designer don't you know).

Other albums I been listening to recently include Junior Boys' latest release, "Begone Dull Care", which continues the Canadian duos interesting and well produced retro synth-pop sound. And TV On The Radio's latest album, "Dear Science". Now granted, this was a bit of a wild card for me, especially given I don't listen to that many bands. But having been given 9.1 by Pitchfork Media, I had to take this seriously. And after a few listens, I have deifinitely got into the sound. I guess I would describe TVOTR as rock, but with some electronic leanings, which is probably why I rate them. Some real standout tracks, including "Love Dog" which is like a beautiful, lullaby. Have really fallen for Tunde Adebimpe's voice. Very soothing indeed.

I suppose the album I have been most looking forward to has been Nathan Fake's eagerly anticipated sophomore effort, "Hard Islands". Don't think I need to harp on about how bloody good "Drowning in a Sea of Love" was. Electronica shoe-gazing at its finest. Apparently, Nathan Fake produced that album whilst still living with his folks in Norfolk, whilst his second album offering was produced from his new abode in Hackney. And boy can you tell. It is a much tougher, hard-edged prospect. Pretty much techno, though with the Nathan Fake/Border community IDM tag stamped all over it. I.e. still very interesting production, still with shoegaze elements and has plenty of glitch. That said, I have been pretty disappointed. The tunes just aren't as catchy. No really discernible melodies as far as I can hear. Think the standout track is "Fentiger", the last on the album, that has a big synthy breakdown mid-way through, that probably most resembles stuff from the first album. Don't get me wrong, Hard Islands is still a decent album, but it was always going to be hard to match the amazing effort of DIASOL. Will be interesting to hear what Nathan Fake's third LP is like. Though not sure if I can wait another 3 years...

Well, that's about it for now. Could drone on a lot more, but my neck is starting to ache.

Next blog: I wll probably be talking about quite how much I am enjoying watching "The Incredible Human Journey" on BBC2, presented by Dr Alice Roberts. It is absolutely fascinating, and should be of interest to anyone who has ever thought about where modern homo-sapiens has come from, and how we have adapted and evolved into different races, cultures and creeds. Plus Alice Roberts isn't exactly hard to look at, though don't want to sexualise someone who is clearly a proper scientist. Still, I am a red-blooded male...

Peace,

F.

I've never heard of "Boards of Canada" (!)

2009-05-26T12:21:00.009+01:00

Word-up to the blogosphere....

It has been well over a year since I last decided to promulgate my nonsensical ramblings. So much to tell. But being a verbose individual, I may have to focus my thoughts on one or two pertinent things going on in my life. If you're reading this, then welcome back, or thank you for joining my forum for shit talk...

So, what's happening in my world? Well, spent last Summer working as a contract management consultant through FreshMinds. Was pretty awesome work. Did three and a half months doing strat consultancy for W H Smith with a senior consultant, who I ended up becoming pretty good friends with. Tried to get a permanent position in a consulting firm, and had a few interviews, including a second round one with AT Kearney, but alas, to no avail. This was whilst the financial markets where seemingly imploding so it became increasingly more difficult to even get noticed by decent consulting forms. Coupled with no prior consulting experience and recruitment freezes at a lot of firms, I have certainly been left high and dry.

So, this year I have been getting progressively more depressed and disillusioned. Have had four interviews with three different firms, including a final round interview/presentation with Thomson Reuters ( Centre for Medicines Research) for a Business Analyst position which I thought I absolutely nailed. Put so much effort into what I thought was an intelligent, informative, reasoned, and professional presentation on the "Future Challenges Facing the Pharmaceutical Indsutry". However, in hindsight, and based upon questions posed to me following the interview, I think my style was too consultancy-focused, and dare I say it, too challenging. To be honest I think that CMR were looking for a data cruncher really, and I don't quite fit that bill. Their loss, I say.

So, spent most of February and March studyng for the GMAT (General Management Admissions Test) which is the entrance exam business schools use for MBA courses. Like no other exam I have ever done, and arguably the hardest. Still, I actually got really into it, and thoroughly enjoyed the personal challenge. Ended up getting 690 (out of a maximum of 800) on the MCQ section, and maximum marks on the essay section (6/6), which I was very pleased about. Put me just outside the 90th percentile in the former, and in the top 13 percent in the latter. However, once I finished the GMAT at the end of March, I spent the whole of April entering a phase of pretty bad depression: basically had no job, no money, no focus, and no mates around me. Stuck in Leicester living with the old dear. What a miserable existence. Decided that applying to do an MBA course at this stage would not be at all worthwhile, given the fact that I only have 3 years of professional experience, which is hardly solid. Plus MBA courses at my top choice schools (Imperial, Cass, Warwick) are in the order of £30k, and that is just fees alone.

So, after some soul searching, and a brief encounter with the LSE website, I have found a couple of fantastic courses that I have just recently applied to. My first choice is an MSc in International Health Policy (Health Economics) followed by a second choice in MSc Biomedicine, Bioscience & Society. Both have a nice mix of theory and pratical application, and are vocational in outlook. The MSc in IHP includes a Summer internship with a consultancy, private industry (e.g. Pharma company) or government department/agency so the opportunities are plentifold and very diverse. I haven't been accepted yet, but I am certainly very excited, and definitely feel ready to take on a Masters at the LSE for one year. Start date is begining of October, so if I get accepted, I will have the Summer to get my proverbial shit together.

Have so much more to talk about, including some amazing mixes and albums I've been lsitening to over the last couple of months, especially now I have discovered BitTorrent. Shhhh! Suffice to say, once again, music has been my saviour through this difficult period. I definitely like to embrace whatever I am feeling with music, so there has been a glut of ambient/folk/gothic shit over the last month or two. Interestingly though, I have started to listen, and appreciate more upbeat music again, notably the Field's new offering, "Yesterday and Today". In the same vein as "From Here We Go Sublime", though dare I say it, better. Not sure about Alex Willner's take on the early-mid-90s rave/hardcore classic " Let Me Be Your Fantasy" by Baby D though!

I am currently on my second listen of Seth Troxler's new Resident Advisor mix. Not knowing a huge amount about him, I thought he was very much part of the US Detroit/Chicago house scence, so have been pleasantly suprised by his mostly downtempo, eclectic mix taking in artists as diverse as Animal Collective, Jimi Hendrix, Arthur Russell and some interesting 80s European synth-pop at the end. Nice. Has been the perfect soundtrack to my imminent return.

The title to this post is of course ironic, but you will already know that if you know me. I have a an old school mate, who granted, isn't really into electronic music, but was still shocked to hear he'd never even heard of the BoC. What world is he living in...?!

Stay posted. I will definitely be hitting this blog up regularly from here onwards. I promise!

Peace...

Transexuals in Iran

2008-03-03T17:38:00.002Z

I recently watched a programme re transexuals in Iran- apparently it is the only Islamic state where sex change operations are permitted (due to being predominantly Shia). Now although this might appear to be progressive or 'enlightened' to many of us in the West, homosexuality is still punishable by death. Which seems like a paradoxical state of affairs to me! I watched with interest as the documentary followed a seemingly gay guy who clearly had a sexual preference for men have to go undergo a sex change op so he could then have his birth certificate changed to a woman, and for all intents and purposes be a woman in the eyes of the state. Essentially his homosexuality is seen as a disease which must be cured, and once performed, be 'stomachable' by society at large. Apparently this chap couldn't get work as he would be ridiculed (or worse) working with men, and not allowed to work with women as he was still classified as being a man. Got me thinking once again about how much freedom we have in Britain. And also ties in nicely with recent debate sparked by the Archbishop of Canterbury about whether Muslims in this country could be self-goverened under Sharia Law. As a progressive Muslim, I think this is a terrible idea and believe we should have one set of rules under which everyone must adhere to.

After a 4 month hiatus from this blog, I feel that it's time to vent spleen, and share with the world my inner thoughts once again. Currently employed by The Institute of Business Consulting where I am a 'Commercial Activities Manager'. Kind of fell into the role after some really harsh luck recently. Not exactly what I want but the money is fairly good, my colleagues are really sound, and it's not far from home. Still want to get into something science-based, and ironically, management consultancy.

Music: Recently dowloaded Autechre's new album, Quaristice, which I've listened to just over once. Being a recent convert to Ae, I'm still finding it hard to get into their sound. Apparently, this is one of their most 'instant' albums since LP5, though I think I need to persevere! Otherwise, just picked up Hot Chip's new album which sounds quite good, though not blowing me away. Really want to download Carl Craig's new 3 hour retrospective, entitled, rather imaginatively, 'Sessions', though trying to hold back as been spending too much recently! And Allez-Allez are consistently churning out top-notch mixes. The Moroder's most recent mix is pretty good, though not quite up to the AA residents' standard.

Anyway, gonna check out now. The next blog will probably revolve around a book I've just bought on Amazon entitled 'How Sadness Survived: The Evolutionary Basis of Depression', written by this interesting English psychiatrist and academic.

Hopefully won't leave the next blog for so long!

Currently listening to the BBC World Service.

Peace,

F.

Birthday Part II

2007-10-27T15:10:00.000+01:00

So, I don't really have much to report today, just wanted to exercise my brain and digits before destroying another few thousand brain cells. This evening my birthday celebrations proper, will ensue. Am going for a curry at a legendary place in Whitechapel called 'Lahore Kebab House' followed by drinks afterwards. About 26 people should turn up so should be a right laugh.

Kind of funny actively being the centre of attention when you think about it. I mean, I quite like being the centre of attention anyway, but when it's pre-organised, thinking about it makes me strangely cringe.

Currently listening to the recent Chemical Brothers Essential Mix live from Koko in Camden. Pretty good considering I'm not the biggest fan of them anymore.

The picture above represents a reward circuit I randomly found. As you can see there's a marked difference between 'drug addicted' and normal. Food for thought.

Peace,

F>

Sick fuck

2007-10-26T13:34:00.001+01:00

This sick little bastard has been jailed for apparently urinating on a dying woman after she collapsed on the street. The story goes that he was with two friends when he saw her collapse. He first tried to rouse her by throwing a bucket of water over her, but then proceeded to urinate and put shaving foam on her. She was declared dead at the scene.

Apparently, this guy, Anthony Anderson shouted "this is You Tube material" as she lay dying on the ground. Him and his friends also recorded the scene on a mobile phone. Now I'm sorry for suddenly becoming a Daily Mail reader, but what the HELL has happened to society when this kind of thing can happen? If I met this guy I would probably rip him apart, limb from limb, then record the incident, and post it on You Tube.

Scum. Right, better get back to my Zen...

F>

Future of Human Species/3001: The Final Odyssey

2007-10-25T15:48:00.000+01:00

I've just read a very interesting article in the BBC News based upon a theory by Evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics. He predicts that the human race will split in two: a genetic upper class and a dim-witted underclass will emerge. Can this really be true?

This is slightly worrying seeing as I more resemble the chap on the right! Apparently the human race will peak around the year 3000 and then decline due to its dependence on technology. Which is quite interesting seeing as I am currently reading Arthur C Clarke's 3001: The Final Oddysey. The protagonist, Frank Poole ends up floating in space for about a thousand years due to a bungled mission. Because it's so cold, his metabolism stops completely meaning that he is effectively pickled in space, only to be revived in 3001. By this time there have been major technological advances including people's immune systems being severly weakened.

Back to the article. Apparently, the human race will evolve into giants between 6ft and 7ft tall, while lifespans will have extended to 120 years. Physical appearances will also change in men and women. The former will exhibit symmetrical facial features, look athletic, and have squarer jaws, deeper voices and bigger penises. Blimey. The same sort of thing goes for women. I suppose one good thing in my opnion will come of this: racial differences will be ironed out producing a uniform race of coffee-coloured people. To me, this all points towards breeding with a tall, blue-eyed, white woman. I'm thinking Scandi
navian or Northern European. To be honest, my preference has always been to go for women shorter than myself, but could still go for a little Nordic beauty!

What is more worrying when considering the human race in say 10,000 years is that we will have had such a reliance on technology and medicine that we will have lost most of our social skills: communication, love, empathy, trust, respect and so on. Now I suppose I am propagating this myself by merely spending so much time on this blog and my laptop! So I suppose it's really important to get the right balance between interacting with technology and interacting with our fellow man. Which is pretty obvious I guess.

I suppose what else is interesting is when we think human race will reach its 'peak'. Obviously Science & Technology have advanced the human race massively, and I have always found Moore's Law rather fascinating, but at what point will our reliance on this really start to become detrimental? Or has this already happened? In which case, when was the 'Golden Age' of mankind? Personally, I am happy being a citizen of the 21st Century.

I am 27. And I already feel old. Watching the 'kids' play with technology is slightly disconcerting. I consider myself reasonably 'tech-savvy' without being a geek. But isn't it a little worrying that kids out there are almost entirely communicating through the medium of the web? And mobile phones. Where will it all end? I can envision a human race devoid of any real 'feelings', communicating through highly developed computers that their brains are connected to. Living in aritificially created environments to minimise bugs and infection. A highly sterile world where the only thing you can hear is the 'click click' of super-advanced computers. I suppose I'm getting rather dystopian. Like the classics '1984' and 'A Brave New World.'

'A pig, in a cage, on antiobiotics....' as some band or other once famously sang.

Definitely food for thought.

Currently listening to an old radio show of Rednetic Records on Resonance FM. Illuminating and interesting.

Peace,

F.

BIrthday

2007-10-24T11:22:00.000+01:00

So, it was my birthday yesterday, and must say, I had a really awesome day. One of the best on memory. The day was really a two parter, so here goes with the deconstruction:

Part Un

Woke up and started looking for interesting things to do in the afternoon. Since the weather seemed to be such a beautiful, sunny, crisp Autumn day, I decided that the South Bank would be an excellent place to go. Trawled through Times BFI films currently on, and found a really interesting sounding French film called 'Heartbeat Detector', directed by Nicholas Klotz. Decided it would be a perfect way to spend the afternoon and booked two tickets. Then hooked up with a friend, Lauren, who had the day off, and headed towards the river.

We got there, and decided to go see the 'Crack', or 'Shibboleth' as it's actually properly entitled. Did that, had same discussions I had with Chris two days earlier, and then decided to have lunch at The Gourmet Pizza Company on the river. Went with Peking Duck pizza, since I am a real fan of Hoi-Sin Sauce. Was pretty good. And the service was excellent. The waitress, German possibly, was really helpful and attentive. Which makes me all the more guilty for not leaving a tip. We honestly totally forgot. Shocker!

Anyway, then went and had a pre-film spliff on a patch of grass behind the London eye. Got nicely stoned and went into film. And blimey, even having read the blurb, the film was intense. And surreal. And confusing. Now I did really enjoy the film, but altogether felt that it moved too slowly, and since it didn't really have a proper, linear plot, my stoned brain struggled! Nonetheless, the acting was top-notch, direction and cinematography was very good, and the soundtrack was really interesting: Schubert, Ian Curtis and techno. I will definitely have to watch it again soon, and know it's on at the ICA in about 2 weeks. Still, a very interesting take on the new corporate world, free markets, and a dark Nazi-Germany past that's still an enduring legacy for many Europeans. Perhaps a little too long at 143 minutes though.

Part Deux

So left film, and enjoyed a very crisp walk back to the East End. Walked through the City and headed to one of my favourite pubs, The Pride of Spitalfields, on a cheeky side street off Brick Lane. Now was only planning on a few drinks with a few mates but think 13 people actually turned up, which was touching. A few pleasant surprises too. Started off gently on the beers but ended up turning into a session several beers and shots later. Oblivion. Don't remember getting home but thankfully must have been with Chris.

Ridiculously dehydrated and quite hungover this morning, but extremely happy. Being unemployed for so long has made me realise what really matters in life. And it's not money, or material goods. It simply is having an amazing group of loyal friends, and a close-knit family. And for me personally, being able to pursue what intellectually stimulates me. And that is all the more reason why I must go into a job that allows me to do this, at least partially. Thus, I must work in Pharma based research and analysis. And this all still points towards market research/Consultancy. It will happen. Just gotta stay positive.

Currently listening to a really beautiful, haunting, ethereal mix by Sutemos DJs (Lithuanian electronica!).

Fin de Blog.

Peace,

F.

Crack

2007-10-21T21:15:00.000+01:00

This weekend has been wicked. On Friday eve I went for drinks in both West and East London culminating in being rather inebriated at the Tea Bar. This was followed by obliteration at a friend's house involving a large bottle of rum, weed and a small amount of pharmaceuticals. Some things never change.

Woke up, felt rough so had some Codeine. Sorted me out. Then went to Wagamamas with a few friends in Angel, which was nice. We then headed back East in preparation for England's encounter with South Africa in the RWC Final. Was a good match but S.A. were simply too good and although disappointed, I think the result was a fair one. Still, proud the way England played with so much spirit and heart. Enjoyed singing 'Jurasalem' in full voice with a bunch of randoms having imbibed several beers by the end of the match. Then it was on to another local pub and then more 'frolicking' back a friend's just off Brick Lane. Passed out on floor. Again. Classy.

So, decided to return home to ruffle my unused duvet. But ended up going to see the 'Crack', Doris Salcedo's new art 'piece' in the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern. And let me tell you, it is some crack. Walked the entire length of it twice and actually didn't bore or tire at all. Which was surpising, since it is, well, a crack. Hmmm. Now granted, I'm not the artiest person in the world, but there's something slightly odd about passing a piece of 'art' as a very large crack. That said, I've only briefly read the concept behind it; that this crack is supposed to in some way be symbolic of the divide between nationalities anc cultures. Is that right? And if so I did find it ironic since the crack was being happilly enjoyed by people of all different creeds and colours. Maybe the crack is a secularist. I don't know. To be honest, I was secretly hoping that a small child would fall into it and a scene would emerge. Obviously I wouldn't wish any harm of the poor kid, but well, that would have been funny.

Anyway, on the way home I witnessed that scariest thing I think I have ever seen on the streets of London. Chris (my flatmate) and I were driving down Commercial Street when we saw two rival Asian (Bangladeshi probably) gangs clashing on the street. Brandishing baseball bats and other such weapons. Now Chris didn't actually register the situation til quite late but I did and basically told Chirs to "fucking get out of here quickly." Jesus. We nearly ran a couple of them over in the process. Thankfully I could hear sirens by the time we got to the end of the road. Still enough time to batter or stab someone though. I don't know why those guys were sparring, but my guess is that it was over something ridiculously trivial. And if not, can you ever justify that kind of behaviour? Really reminded me of the Chelsea Milwall Firm clashes in The Football Factory.(Although Chris thinks it was more like 'Streets of New York'). Oh, and these guys were brown and it wasn't about football.

Anyway, it has been a cracking weekend, full of excess and debauchery but balanced by coffees and culture. This coming week should be a good one. My birthday's on Tuesday and there seems to very oddly be at least three or four close friends who aren't working that day. So we're all going to the Natural History Museum and like, hanging, man.

Anyway, felt the need to 'check in' as they say. Hope you all had suitably excellent weekends! Think I might treat myself to a digital download of Modeselektor's new album, Happy Birthday! I've read a review and it sounds totally next level. For some reason Berlin can do wrong with me at the moment.

Tschuess erstmal.

Peace,

F.

Interviews

2007-10-19T12:35:00.001+01:00

Interviews are strange things, especially when you're the interviewee. I had an interview this morning in Fulham at a place called The Research Partnership. It's for the position of a Research Executive (all Pharma/Life Science related). The first thing I noticed about the firm was how non-corporate it is. Both interviewers were about my age, maybe slightly younger, and both were wearing what I would term as 'smart casual', but funky with it. The guy Tom, looked like he'd walked straight out of Franz Ferdinand. Hip, I suppose, but not my thing, man. The toilets were unisex, and in both cubicles, the actual comode lid was the Union Jack. Quirky, I guess.

Anyway, the interview only lasted about 45 minutes: the first half dominated by myself talking through my CV, the second half almost entirely composed of the lady speaking to me about the firm! Easy, though not much of an interview. No really tough, searching questions. They were actually on the defensive as they highlighted they simply couldn't offer me the kind of salary I have had in finance. Have been in exactly the same position with a similar firm and in the end we actually talked numbers. Am sure that was the reason I did not get an offer. Thankfully, we didn't talk numbers this time, merely that I was fully expecting a salary cut but this is what I wanted blah blah blah...

On the journey there and back kept listening to the last 10 minutes or so of a mix called 'Spring Showers' by Philip Sherburne. I know I sound cheesey but the last tune in particular is so emotional. Techno of epic proportions. Reminds me a lot of 'Jaguar' by Aztec Mystic/Rolando. The tune's called 'Tagesschau' by Solomun & Gebruder Ton on Diynamic. Essential.

Looking forward to watching 'Blackmail', one of Hitchcock's early films at Trafalgar Square later. Will be free and open air so should be a good laugh. Get a few tinnies in with mates etc. And tomorrow it's England South Africa in the RWC Final. Come on England!!

Peace,

F.

Music

2007-10-18T15:05:00.000+01:00

I don't know why, but music seems to be the only medium that really works for me. As long as I can remember, I have been really into music. It's amazing looking back at how my taste has changed, relative to the period, my environment and technology (and the drugs I've been consuming). Nonetheless I know that it will be the single thing that I turn to to create, or reflect my emotions.

Being unemployed for a period of time, with only my laptop and broadband for company in the day, I have had the opportunity to really explore, and discover amazing record labels, blogs and the like. Just recently, I've discovered this amazing blog by 'Allez-Allez', which is a London-based night that seems to be into avant-garde, electronic music. Seems quite funny since a lot of their nights are in and around the East End, where I live, yet I've only discovered them now. Anyway, have already downloaded most of their back catalogue of mixes, and must say, the quality is top notch (with the exception of a mix by Samim). Highly recommended.

There's everything from house, techno, IDM, heavy soul, jazz, disco, film soundtracks and so much more. And it all seems to be so fresh and inventive. Am particularly impressed by Joakim, a French DJ/producer who owns Tigersushi, and a guy called Philip Sherburne, who seems to really know his techno. Been doing a little research, and this guy really is a scribe. Think he writes reviews for Pitchfork and The Wire amongst many others. Plus his mixes are really solid, minimal (in a good way) techno. Sounds very Germanic, which in this case, is definitely a good thing.

Anyway, that's where I'm at for now. Be sure to check out the links below if anything I 've mentioned is your ting...

Jah-bless,

F.

http://www.philipsherburne.com/
http://www.allez-allez.co.uk/