Mad Men is a great TV show, partly because it acknowledges recent cultural history. Martini lunches, overt office flirting, smoking in the car with the kids unbuckled, it’s hard to believe they got away with that stuff! Other of their bad habits have stayed with us though, they’re just not as obvious.
This is an excellent short documentary on the current economic reality facing Saipan and the effects of globalization in the CNMI. They make Saipan out to be the canary in the coal mine; a view of the dangers America is facing, namely, empty factories, ruined malls, political corruption, and human exploitation. (Also a hint of China paranoia.)
It paints a grim picture of the place I’m heading to in three short weeks, but looking beyond the doom and gloom the video makes a better introduction than some other videos I’ve seen.
(For those of you outside the US where Hulu is broken, this link should work.)
Have you heard that Denny Rehberg (Montana’s only US house representative) filed a lawsuit against the city of Billings because trees on his 1000 acre subdivision were scorched in a massive 2008 fire. According to him the fire department “breached its duty” when they decided not to risk their lives to protect his landscaping. Well, old Denny was in Missoula last week and Gabe Fershong asked a great question. Check out the (unfortunately truncated) video of their exchange.
Good save Denny, I hope you enjoy your free time after the elections in November.
Via 4&20 Blackbirds
Just because you’re in a weak band called The All-Nighters doesn’t mean you can’t tear it up. Cheers to you cover band drummer!