Fat Buddha Store Blog // All the News

Jacqui Smith, harbringer of doom and dodger of expenses claims, is at the forefront of the database plan for the UK. What this means is an attempt to file all data about emails, phone calls, text messages, carrier pigeons etc. So a great new protest has kicked off for this. Government wants your emails? Send them all of them. On June 15th, "cc" every email to the home office-presumably this will cause a bit of an issue for number ten's servers. Privacy is worth standing up for...try the website at CCJacqui Smith or the Facebook group. Mark

That's the motto of all-powerful, Internet megalith that is Google . In even looking up the stock for Google, it was best to use Google. If I had trouble opening a bottle of Irn Bru or piercing the plastic on a carton of juice, I'd probably use google. They'd inevitably find a solution. Google Maps, Stock, Mail, Video, Store, Shopping, Earth, Translate, Labs, News, Codes, Catalogues-the blog I'm writing here is powered by Google. Oh, and it's a search engine as well. Apparently. This is simple market economics-Google is better at providing these services. They provide faster, more efficient services that work and, ergo, people use them. Ergo, more people use them than any other brand doing the same thing. This level of total dominance is hard to spot in many other, particularly emerging, new tech, markets. Yes, there are massive companies that loom over most industries, but Google has almost total control over a huge swathe of 'public' space. This Guardian ...

Was sent this brilliant video on the tactics of advocates of the Union of the UK to demoralise, demonise and dismantle the movement for Scottish (and English) independence. 

So it finally came true. Congrats to the big man-as some of you may be aware, Barack Obama won the American election on Tuesday. You may also be aware of certain things surrounding this election, so I feel pretty stupid repeating them here. It was the longest, most expensive election in US history. It was the largest Democrat win since 1992 I believe. And Obama is the first non-white president. That last sentence is key, mainly because it's what I want to talk about. Because ultimately, what can I, a wee know-it-all minor writer from Scotland, possibly say that hasn't been said about this already?  But all I've really seen over the last few days is the anticipation over a black president. I fully understand how momentous this-living in Brooklyn over the summer tuned me in to be able to appreciate what this meant to America and the black community in particular. Yet the key achievement of a black person reaching the white house is not just the fact itself-it's the shift...

Todays the day America makes the ultimate choice. Citing! Over the past year or so brands have been going crazu with Barack Obama flavoured goods, heres some of the best: David Choe does it best with his art: Guess who i'd vote for? Fraser.

I've tried to avoid politics on this blog but I'm afraid it can go on no longer. I have to vent a little about this issue. Recently, Gordon Brown, a PM so beloved by all his people was very down in the dumps.  Poor Gordon. Gordon felt that people were not being proud enough of being "British" and so to cheer himself up, Gordon thought it might be good if the British Library held an exhibition on " Britishness ". Which, in case you haven't noticed, is Gordon's favourite word, ever. In the whole, wide world.  Perhaps Gordon didn't expect the British Library would take him up on the offer and throw two fingers up to him with their exhibition, "Taking Liberties." Now, this exhibition, in a very satirical and downright cheeky way, displays that " Britishness ", to them, is the appreciation of freedom and strong support for the values and powers that entails. By Gordon's lot practically tearing the Magna Carta to pieces, thro...

One thing that still takes me by surprise when I'm out and about in Glasgow is the friendly nature of it's people. Yeah I know that's a bit of a cliché, but nonetheless it's true. These days it's all too easy to just see the scum/ned population especially as they're a such a vocal element in our society but there's a rich vein of warmheartedness running deep through this place I call home. To be honest I don't really consider this very often, in fact most times it takes a steady accumulation of tiny encounters to open my eyes to this extremely cool thing that I'm ashamed to say I've taken for granted more often than not. The pubs, clubs and shops I like to frequent all have one thing in common, it's that little extra touch of humanity. The smile, the conversation even that little extra look of recognition makes these little encounters that much more pleasant. Even the fact that I'm writing on this blog is connected to what I'm talkin...