Sunday, February 26, 2006

Nasty Girl !!

Recently, a good friend of mine introduced me to the latest Hip-hop sensation, 'Nasty Girl' by Notorious B.I.G. For those who have been living on the moon for last 20 years, Notorious B.I.G. is considered the savior of the East Coast hip-hop scene and enjoys Elvis-like status in the hip-hop music industry. He has made an everlasting impact on the industry, but due to the 'notorious' nature of the business, signified truly by his name, he himslef fell victim to the gang violence that plagued inner-city America during the latter part of the 20th century. That's right, he has been dead since 1997 but Biggie is not to be left behind when it comes to following the latest trend of making records after death. If Lennon and Elvis can do it, then why must Biggie be left behind?

'Nasty Girl' is the first video to come out from the album, "Biggie Duets: Last Chance", featuring collaborations from all the shining stars of the 'bling-bling' industry. According to the album's master producer, Diddy (or P. Diddy, or Puff Daddy, one of those perhaps), the song is about loving women and expressing sentiments. Listening more into the lyrics it comes to the attention that its not just about loving women but all the creative ways one can employee to love them. Objectification and symbolism of women as recreational toys in the hands of rich and famous gets a new meaning in the song. And the video makes full effort in highlighting this fact so that the viewers fully understand how to treat a 'nasty girl'.

Biggie starts the song by clearly stating his point of view:


I go, on and on and on and
Don't take them to the crib unless they bon'in
Easy, call em on the phone
and platinum Chanel cologne and
I stay, dressed, to impress
Spark these bitches interest
Sex is all I expect

Not to be outdone, Diddy comes up with his own set of demands:


I need u to dance, I need u to strip
I need u to shake Ur little ass n hips
I need u to grind like Ur working for tips
N give me what I need while we listen to prince


The complete lyrics, which do make an interesting read, can be found by following this link.

The case of women's use as a marketing product is not something new, however, the growing phenomena should be a grave concern to the feminsts groups who seem very busy with pro-choice issues only. 'Nasty Girl' is simply following the industry practice of female exploitation and cruising along the freeway due to the absence of any sort of protest over such practice.

This exploitation is not simply limited to the hip-hop world. This month's issue of Vanity Fair proudly exhibits two Hollywood leading ladies deprived of all their clothing with a fully dressed male fashion icon. The ladies who chose to bare it all for Vanity Fair's Hollywood issue are Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson, while no one thought of asking Tom Ford, fashion designer, to disrobe. Some may call it art but it seems that talent is not the only thing that a female actress needs to make headlines in Hollywood. Both the females have been critically acclaimed for their various roles and have earned countless nominations and awards for their work. However, the prevalent social norms, four decades after the feminist movement, still demand them to remove their clothing in order to earn a higher place in Hollywood. On the other hand, the marketing team at Vanity Fair gave itself a pat on its own shoulder for correctly using naked actresses to increase the magazine's subscription by 3,000 and earning 5 million website visits since the launch on the issue.

Whether its Diddy celebrating recording industry's giant using a song called 'Nasty Girl' or the case of Vanity Fair using naked actresses for its Hollywood issue; the use of women as a marketing tool speaks volumes of the status modern society has given to the female sex. Alarming is also the mode of acceptance such practice has received from the women, themselves, who are quite oblivion to the capitalistic nature of exploitation business. While most young girls would readily sing along with Black Eyed Peas as Fergie sings "my humps, my humps, my lady lumps" and provokes men to "check it out", only few would pay attention to the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, U.S. First Lady, "Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

Nasty, indeed.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Outsourcing Blues!!

While the workers in many American factories and service industry contemplate about the impending doom of their jobs about to be outsourced, India and China on the other hand are fiercely competing with each other for those jobs. As a growing phenomena in the American workplace, its not uncommon for our average American murgha to loose out his job to the hard-working and ever-ready Harold & Kumar. Making a murgha out of the middle-class Americans, the Indians and Chinese are willing to take over all sorts of jobs for a fraction of the cost. And whats with all the complaining about American jobs!! Can someone please tell these fools that there is no such thing as an 'American job'. Wake up from the American Dream and start living in the true reality of globalization. However, I would never argue that there is a certain job that will always stay with Americans since they are so darn good at it : the tough job of taking over sovereign regimes in the name of liberty and democracy. China and India are in no mood to compete for those job, so whoever is scared of being outsourced should join the US Army. They have a number of long-term projects coming up such as Iran and North Korea.

As for outsourcing homework to India, check out www.rentacoder.com and www.guru.com. There are many Harold and Kumars on these sites who are more than willing to do your homework for $5 - $100 via email. And the best thing about it all is that you can always charge it to daddy dear's credit card, assuming daddy still has his job and it hasn't been outsourced to Harold & Kumar as well; just not as yet!!


Cross-posted at: Desicritics.org

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Monday, February 20, 2006

President's Day and the Murgha President

Today, the third Monday in February is celebrated all across America as President's Day Holiday. The holiday is officially in commemoration of George Washington's birthday which fell on February 22, 1732 and reminds everyone around the world about the greatness that resonated with the words "President of United States of America. Great men like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln held this office and laid the building blocks of a society based on democracy, liberty and respect.

Sadly, the greatness of those men and the might of their character is put to shame by the current incumbent of the office, George Walker Bush. Also known as Junior Bush, the President is more popular for his comical acts than any of his policy initiatives. The President, or as I call him the Murgha President, has made a fool out of himself on a daily basis and does not fail to provide the viewers with a reason to laugh. Conversely, the President has ensured that the Late Night Shows and Comics don't have to work too hard to come up with fresh material everyday. He himself has taken the solemn duty to fulfill this task, and hence make the world a happier place. To many average Joes, President's comical "Bushisms" and acts of wisdoms relay a small glitter of hope. An office, once considered the 'hardest and most respectable job in America', has become an attainable goal to many average Joes all across the world. With a leader like this, how can you blame the American kids for the drop in their high school grades!! A nation's youth is always inspired by its own leaders than any other historical characters. When the American youth looks at their own President in such comical situations and 'mishaps', its hard for them to find inspiration.

Murgha President Video of the Day: A video collection of President George W. Bush at his hilarious best, with Bushisms and sound bytes to keep you laughing for hours.

Murgha President Top 5 Quotes from last year:

1. "I'm occasionally reading, I want you to know, in the second term." -- Washington, D.C., March 16, 2005

2. "I think I may need a bathroom break. Is this possible?" --in a note to to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a U.N. Security Council meeting, September 14, 2005 (View photo)

3. "Wow! Brazil is big." George W. Bush, after being shown a map of Brazil by Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brasilia, Brazil, Nov. 6, 2005

4. "Listen, I want to thank leaders of the -- in the faith -- faith-based and community-based community for being here." George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 6, 2005

5. "The relations with, uhh -- Europe are important relations, and they've, uhh -- because, we do share values. And, they're universal values, they're not American values or, you know -- European values, they're universal values. And those values -- uhh -- being universal, ought to be applied everywhere." George W. Bush, at a press conference with European Union dignitaries, Washington, D.C., June 20, 2005

Sadly, its hard for anyone to compare and compile any jokes of President Bush without leaving many and many other equally comical and utterly stupid incidents. However, the small compilation of above mentioned incidents clearly land President George W. Bush with the rarely sought title: THE MURGHA PRESIDENT.

Cross-posted at: Desicritics.org
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Thursday, February 16, 2006

Cartoon on Cartoon



© Khalil Bendib 2006. You can see more of Khalil Bendib's cartoons at www.bendib.com or order his book, It Became Necessary to Destroy the Planet in Order to Save It, from Plan Nine Publishing at www.plan9.org.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Musharraf's cigar making headlines in India

President Pervez Musharraf is known to be in headlines across the globe for all the right and wrong reasons but rarely he makes headlines that would give him a celebrity stature. And even rarer it is for his 'half-smoked cigar'. Yet, one of the leading headlines circulated by an Indian newspaper, Newindpress.com features Musharraf's half-smoked cigar. Newindpress.com broke all records in accurately breaking the news about how Musharraf's half-smoked cigar turned memento for Chappell's wife on her visit to Pakistan. According to the newspaper, the half-smoked cigar is the most precious thing Judy, wife of India cricket team's coach, will be taking back to India from Pakistan.

Never have a cigar gotten so much attention in this part of the world, nor the cigar was another CBM (Confidence Building Measure) sponsored by the India-Pakistan peace talks. But kudos to the media and its ability to make news out of anything, the cigar managed to steal the headline spot. On the insistence of the news-hungry media to fetch all the details, Judia informed, "I picked up the cigar with a tissue paper and am carrying it with me to India."

From the details that have emerged so far, Judy came across Musharraf's half-smoked cigar during one of his meetings with the Indian Cricket Team. Musharraf, oblivious to his celebrity charisma in India, was careless enough to forget the cigar in the ashtray and provided the perfect opportunity to Judy to carry out her mission. Hats off to Judy, who managed to sneak the cigar right under the ISI's nose. Maybe this cigar will someday turn up on Ebay or maybe it will end up in a museum, but surely it has a certain value attached with it after this incident. However, this incident has forced me to realize that West and Indians both seem particularly fascinated by Pervez Musharraf's personality and charisma. Maybe, we should exploit this avenue into generating some revenue. Risking harsh criticism, I would boldly suggest making Musharraf posters, T-shirts, cigars, guns and other memorabilia available to the visiting foreigners. It may as well help as in surpassing our GPD growth rate of 8%, just maybe ...

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Monday, February 13, 2006

St. Valentine, Cupid, Osama and Murgha!!


February 14, mostly referred to as Valentine's Day, unsuccessful in finding its actual history and traditions, yet celebrated across many cultures and countries across the globe, makes its mark on us yet again, without failing. Just when we are all surrounded by high energy prices, low productivity rates, corrupt politians, the governments that are spying on their own citizens, new plots of terrorism being broadcasted by the President, civilizations clashing with each other and the entire global order going in disarray, all is not lost. Don't fear, St. Valentine is here with his scantly-dressed friend Cupid and they are both here so that we can focus on issues that will be directly affecting us in a day or so. Iran may have nukes, Hamas may threat Israel but there is nothing worse than the wrath of your partner, expecting gifts, chocolates and flowers. Simple excuses like 'I made a donation on your behalf to the Hurricane Katrina Fund' or 'Your valentine day gift is ME' may result in irreparable damage!

Surprisingly it is also the only day that Homeland Security doesn't offer overtime to its over-worked employees, since its the only calendar day yet untargetted by Osama Bin Laden. Either, Osama is too busy trying to locate the nearby Hallmark's store in Afghanistan or he is simply too scared to call upon the anger of his four wives, combined. Whatever the case maybe, its truly considered a relatively 'safe' day in the post 9-11 world, thanks to St. Valentines.

However, its not so safe for the murghas since this is the day when love is truly judged by the size of the gift and the brand of chocolates. Its not only the day when the lovers celebrate their love and profess their true feelings to each other, but its also a day when they don't feel shy to contribute $1.3 billion dollars towards the economy, according to the National Retail Federation. A great national service rendered by no other than St. Valentine and Cupid; even Batman and Robin could not have done the same for the economy. Greeting Cards Association also informs us that over 1 billion Valentine Cards are purchased around Valentine's day. A surprising fact is that 85% of those valentine cards are purchased by women. Hence, the murghas of the day are not only the males but the women are also made into a murgha by St. Valentine and Cupid.

Yet its a more troubling day for the murghas who are courting more than one lover at the same time. Nancy Keates of Wall Street Journal interestingly points out that its a crisis day for cheaters: "Valentine's Day is the biggest single 24-hour period for florists, a huge event for greeting-card companies and a boon for candy makers. But it's also a major crisis day for anyone who is having an affair." Another industry benefiting from the St. Valentine's business savvy approach is the private investigator's business. "If anything is going on, it will be happening on that day," says Irene Smith, who says business at her Discreet Investigations detective agency, as much as doubles - to as many as 12 cases some years - on Valentine's Day.

Murgha Website of the Day: Cupid Cupid Bush Valentine
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Saturday, February 11, 2006

Mixing Cartoons and Religion!!



Courtesy: Time Magazine Catroon of the Week

- click on the image for the full-scale version.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

When the Murgha "comes home to roost"

The Muslim furor on the controversial cartoon issue and the 'clash of globalization' usually reported with the unrest and protest all over the Muslim World, recently showcased an interesting incident. According to AP, a leading and popular Iranian newspaper has announced an international competition for cartoons on Holocaust. This announcement comes as an interesting turn in the whole issue and has backfired into the West's reaction to the controversial issue with a biased claim of upholding Freedom of Expression. The Iranian newspaper, Hamshahri, left no doubt in the minds of proponents of freedom of speech that this contest was announced only as a reaction to the Danish newspaper's publications of cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed. Many conclusions can be inferred from this unique announcement, but its hard to deny that its clearly an 'out of the box' and somewhat creative way of displaying a non-violent protest.

Such a non-violent means of protest, that may even raise Ariel Sharon's eye-brows from his hospital bed, has raised many interesting questions. "Does the West extend freedom of expression to the crimes committed by the United States and Israel, or an event such as the Holocaust? Or is its freedom only for insulting religious sanctities?" Hamshahri wrote, referring to the Prophet Muhammad cartoons.

The Iranians have clearly showed that they are not only hell-bent on acquiring nuclear technology but they are the only Muslim country that is ready to challenge the West's established ideologies and total disregard of religious sensitivities. Now the only question remains is how far will the West go to protect its ideology and at what cost? Is it possible that in coming days, a mysterious bomb may explode at the Iranian newspaper's office? It may be the same mysterious circumstances where American missiles 'accidentally' blew up the Al-Jazera's headquarter in Baghdad or the bombs that somehow landed in the pharmaceutical (aka "Chemical Weapons") factory in Sudan. While the commoners like us may never gain the ability to understand the scale of these mysteries, it should not surprise us if they still occur in coming days.

In 1963, at the time of President Kennedy's assassination, Malcolm X gave a frank comment about the assassination being the case of "the chickens coming home to roost." Maybe this time the murgha has returned to roost in the West's backyard and the next few days will, indeed, show the way in which the guardians and saviours of Freedom of Expression will react to the return of the Murgha.

Friday, February 03, 2006

Osama's Dilema


© Khalil Bendib 2006. You can see more of Khalil Bendib's cartoons at www.bendib.com or order his book, It Became Necessary to Destroy the Planet in Order to Save It, from Plan Nine Publishing at www.plan9.org.

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