01_manifest1

02_rock-pupsy

03_galaktika

04_glob

05_12_monkeys

06_i_wanna_be_your_boyfriend

07_kreks_peks_feks

08_belarus_freedom

09_klip

10_zorachki

11_trybeckoi

12_ribka_zolotaja

To my mouth
Frozen shut
Mother’s son
Paper cut
Belarus
Belarus
Belarus
Belarus

Pressing wine
Brighter sun
Black and white
Fading on
Belarus
Belarus

To be honest, at first I was amused and thought that they actually taped video in Belarus for it looked so familiar! In reality, the whole clip was made in Minnesota and I am still not sure what a connection between this band and Belarus is, but their music and video revoked so many memories! Could there be some hidden message or idea, considering that this video features cross country skiing which is loved and promoted by an avid winter sports enthusiast Alexander Lukashenka? Who knows, but I believe should Belarus ever make a bid for Winter Olympic Games, this clip has a good chance to become a part of promotional campaign.

Needless to say that it is not surprising.

Human rights activists recorded numerous facts of violations of election laws during the whole election campaign, early voting, and this day. Many candidates weren’t registered, candidates didn’t have equal conditions for agitation, people were made to vote early. Moreover, there are proofs of ballots boxes opening and ballot stuffing. Low rate of opposition parties representatives in election commissions – only 47 people out of 69.865 (o.07 per cent), demonstrates, according to the opposition, there will be no fair votes counting again.

The opposition says: the “parliamentary election” can’t be recognised legitimate, and urge the Belarusians to come to October Square of Minsk at 8.00 pm on September 28 with a demand of new free election. For more up to date information visit charter97.org

So, what’s the price? Well, the starting bid is $1500 and ‘buy it now” option is valued at $7500. Looks a bit expensive, but a seller says that these domain names were registered well before most of us, ordinary folks, even heard about the deal between these two firms. Well, in this case you have to pay Nostradamus-eque premium. The only slight issue here is that the deal between ML and BofA seems to be finalized in the first quarter of 2009 and so between now and then a number of different scenarios could negatively impact it. But I guess you have to risk sometimes to make money. After all, this is a strategy that worked so well on the Wall Street for decades, but it also brought down many of the most famed firms down in a matter of days.

On more tangible side of business, there is some activity in selling cups, mugs, pins, canceled stocks, photos, posters and t-shirts associated with many financial firms. There are many noticeable items but nothing beats a “Toast with Initials”. Yes, you heard it right, a “toast with initials” is directly related to the latest financial crisis and here is why. Here is a background story on the “mysterious toast” as posted on EBay:

“Toast With Initials”
I’m not a superstitious person and I don’t believe in ghosts, but this evening the strangest thing occurred. I decided to have toast with milk; I placed 1 slice of bread into my toaster and poured myself a glass of milk. When the toast was done, I removed it from my toaster and placed it on the kitchen table. As I was about to take a bite, I saw the initials “LB”. I immediately dropped the slice of bread on the floor because I could not believe there were initials on my toast. The bread hits the floor on the reverse side and there I notice an even more noticeable image. The other side was branded with the initials of “BS”.
My first inclination was to think that there were two ghosts in my home, but I do not know anyone with the initials of “LB” or “BS”. Then it hits me, they are not initials of individuals instead, “LB” and “BS” stand for Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns respectively. What else could it be?
I called my wife into the kitchen and we both stared at the toast for about 1 hour. I was going to throw it out, but a friend said that discarding these kinds of things is bad luck; I had to give it to someone else. Therefore, I have decided to auction the toast here on eBay.
The toast is wrapped in aluminum foil to preserve freshness.
All the money raised will be donated to the Children’s Diabetes Foundation.
Please bid with confidence as I have 100% feedback.
Please view my other auctions.
All sales are final

To see the pictures of this “mysterious toast” go here. Happy bidding!

All jokes aside, it seems that this credit crunch signals the end of traditional banking and financial thinking. And it also proves that the Wall Street is not for the faint of a heart