Libya: Third face of the same coin?

The two previous "People's Uprisings", in Tunisia and Egypt, were seemingly handled entirely by citizens armed only with their desperation and idealism.

They rose up against the visible symbols of an oppressive system. And they removed the ones that seemed to be controlling their, and their nation's, destiny.

Unfortunately, neither the system nor their destiny seems to have changed much!

Now that the so-called "World Leaders" have decided to intervene in Libya, let us wait and see if the "International Community" manages to do better than the people of Tunisia and Egypt.

However, if a military-backed group comes out on top AGAIN - well, then it should give all right thinking people food for thought.

Perhaps then, someone will get to play a game of "Follow the Money":
- Who will arm the armed forces?
- Who will finance the re-construction programmes that will inevitably follow?
- Who will win those lucrative infrastructure contracts?

Will it be the usual suspects?

Meanwhile, let us all pray for the innocents in Libya caught in the crossfire. Let us not forget that they are not watching the flames and carnage on cable TV. It's outside their bedroom window.

How is solving the world's problems like dentistry?

Well, when nothing else seems to work, take the root out. And the pain will go away.

Even Albert Einstein once said, “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

The following video is how Dennis Kucinich, a US Congressman from Ohio State puts it.

Ok, this man's got a pair... In the late 70s, at age 31, Dennis - the youngest mayor of a major US city, Cleveland - refused to privatise the city's electric utility company, and the local mafia put out a 'hit' on him! He refused even when a bank forced the city to go broke!

(Later, actually twenty years later, the city council honoured him for his courage in standing up to the financiers - and having saved the city close to $200 million between 1985 and 1995!)

In 2007 and 2008, he tried to impeach Cheney and Dubya, respectively.

Dennis Kucinich was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2004 and 2008 elections. Imagine that.

Here, he is speaking to a crowd in Tahrir- sorry, Wisconsin...

In the beginning he might sound like any politician leading a crowd on with an utopian welfare-state faiytale. And you'll be thinking just how is he planning to get any of it done? He tells you... but you got to wait till the 14th minute. Can you?

(And by the way, you can substitute the name of the nation and the city with any in the world. His idea still holds.)

The destination is unclear, but the journey has begun

Three more ministers have left Tunisia's interim government, following the resignations of the prime minister and two others, after weeks of protests about the caretaker authority. (Emphasis mine.)

In Egypt there is the surprise resignation of the Prime Minister.

But the protests continue.

All over the globe, it is the same thing... Winning the stated aim isn't enough. There seems to be something else that the Collective "feels" it must do.

"I am an idealist. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way," said Carl Sandburg (1878 – 1967), the American writer and poet.

Is there a Tahrir Square in Wisconsin?

The Police Union in the State of Wisconsin announces solidarity with students, workers and Wisconsin residents occupying the State Capitol in Madison!

The date is February 24, 2011.



There's more here. And here.

Et troisième...

We had a lot of fun creating this narrative for a forthcoming 5-litre, 416bhp, V8 sport sedan - the ISF from Lexus.

First, let's see what happens when Lexus takes off the Savile Row overcoat and the monogrammed gold cufflinks; and loosens the silk necktie. Shocking, indeed!


All because (now, I'm assuming this) some muscle-car jock pissed-off a bunch of timid, bespectacled automobile engineers... who have access to a exclusive Formula One standard race track and some serious number-crunching hardware.


Now, after teaching muscle-car boy the difference between "drag" and its "coefficient", they need to sell some of these "Eat my dust, s'il vous plaît" machines. No problem. We have an App... sorry, Ad, for that too.


One more.

We had pitched for a Private Banking brand... It may sound a bit vain, but perhaps, we should've landed the account on the strength of this concept alone. Ok, that is vain.

Portfolio, La Deuxième

In case, I've given the feel lately that I've stopped loving Advertising... perish the thought. It is just that I've been unable to upload stuff to my 'Portfolio page'. (Blogger and I have a bitter sweet marriage of convenience.)

So it's got to come here, for now.

Anyway... These are some of the prettier-looking print ad thingys I've done lately.

The following series of ads had been done for the newest Media & Media Services Directory in the country. It's a real mixed-bag audience. So we dropped the temptation of omg!-that's-sooo-clever ads, and went back to basics and a drawing board. Literally. The result was sheer simplicity - the unvarnished sort of claims someone might actually be persuaded to believe.

UMS has got Advertising...


Direct Contact & Activation...


Public Relations & Media Management...


Corporate Events...


And we've got the most prolific Digital & Internet shop in town...



There is this interesting little gem that came along when no one expected...



When time permits, I do try my hand at the odd poster and logo design.

The following is something I simply loved doing... The petite à-la-francaise-style 'coffee cup & cookie' doodle - and of course, the cheeky Copy.

And while sometimes, the stuff I "cobble together" gives my Art guys a hell of a time cleaning up - (sorry guys) - this was not one of those times.




And here's a poster I did for the Creative Department. (Got to remember to take a printout soon!)

The Art and Layout is mine. The profound words, Bill Bernbach's.



Here's a unreleased concept for a feline cause...

Food Currency, anyone?

In theory, increasing the supply of a currency eventually lowers its value - and fuels inflation. And when rising cost-of-living is the issue you are trying to tackle, such a move could be viewed as counter productive in the longer term.

On the other hand, when people genuinely need assistance - especially for food - what other choice are there?

I'm no economist, but I think there may be a way to introduce money to subsidise food purchase WITHOUT pushing up inflation. It seems like a wild idea - but there are precedents!

I am talking about introducing a 'secondary' currency, called "FOOD CURRENCY"!

In the United States, the Electronic Benefit Tranfer (EBT) is a debit card that replaced the earlier "Food Stamps Program".

But I'm not a fan of rationing food - and especially not for pushing the consumption of pre-packaged food... So maybe this FOOD CURRENCY could be a real physical currency circulated in a closed loop 'fresh food cycle' going from the governement to buyers to fresh food retailers to local farmers who in turn could redeemed it from the government, partially in regular (primary) currency, and partially for tax-breaks and/or organic agro-inputs. Thus subsidsing producers and consumers of fresh locally-grown food.

Positive impact on healthcare, employment generation and lower import bills are just the beginning...

Since there is no usurious bank debt or other interest component weighing down the currency; and the only thing it can be considered to be pegged against is 'fresh food', a tangible increasingly valuable commodity, there is a distinct possibility that a FOOD CURRENCY will not only be stable, but actually appreciate in value even though it is created out of thin air!

Hey, I'm not an economist, but this just feel like commonsense. And right now, I'd rather go with commonsense than high-falutin' economics.

After all, just look where all the smart financiers and economists have got us today...