The World This Week
– that the Nazi regime was responsible for about 35 million dead during World War II. (Unfortunately we couldn’t make Hitler die 35 million times for his crime. And the coward took his own life!!)
– that California has cancelled the execution of a convicted killer over ethical issues surrounding the lethal injection method. Michael Morales was convicted of the rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl in 1981. Lawyers for Morales had successfully called for the presence of anaesthesiologists during his execution, arguing that he would suffer extreme pain because of the mix of drugs in the three-part injection. (So what about the suffering his victim went through? It is not a matter of revenge or whatever. It is simply a just fate to befall such a criminal.)
– that the identities of 2,600 employees of the CIA can be found easily on the internet, according embarrassing revelations about the U.S. spy agency. (So much for Homeland Security.)
– that the family of missing white supremacist lea-duh Jack van Tongeren today say they are concerned for the neo-nazi group lea-duh who probably skipped bail because he feared for his life. They also called for the former Vietnam veteran and lea-duh of the ultra right-wing Australian Nationalist Movement (ANM) to give himself up. Van Tongeren and another ANM member, Matthew Billing, are wanted by police after skipping bail two weeks ago, ahead of their trial in Perth on March 20 for allegedly plotting to firebomb four Chinese restaurants in 2004. (Show some ‘white supremacy’ by having the guts to claim trial, asswipes, and not be another ball-less wonder like Adolf Hitler.)
– that Slobodan Milosevic claimed before his death that he risked being poisoned, his legal advisor said, fueling swirling rumours over the demise of the former Yugoslav lea-duh while on trial for war crimes. (But who would poison him when almost the whole world wants to see this criminal against humanity brought to justice?)
– that the UN war crimes tribunal fended off speculation that Slobodan Milosevic was poisoned in its custody, citing provisional tests that showed no signs of foul play. The Netherlands Forensic Institute had cited the immediate cause of death as a heart attack but did not say what brought it on, allowing Milosevic’s supporters to voice suspicions of poisoning. (You don’t need to poison someone to kill him. According to David Morrell in one of his ‘Brotherhood of the Rose’ novels, a injection of certain chemicals can cause a massive cardiac arrest and the residual constituents of the injection would leave no one any the wiser about what killed the victim.)
– that Saddam Hussein, after days of withering testimony about his involvement in the killings of 148 residents of a small farming town, decided he’d had enough. He’d been called a torturer and a murderer and toward the end of a court session, he sternly sought to command the courtroom’s attention. The essence of his comments: “Of course I did it. I am Saddam Hussein, and at the time of lea-duhship I am responsible. It is not [my] habit to rely on others.” (Funny he didn’t have that much balls when the Americans caught him. He should have fought the Americans with his pistol when they found him in his own dog hole. At least he would have died with some dignity.)
– that Saddam Hussein also denounced his trial as a ‘comedy’ in his first formal testimony and called on Iraqis to resist the U.S.-led occupation, prompting the judge to order a closed session. “I call on the people to start resisting the invaders instead of killing each other,” he told the Iraqi High Tribunal, which is trying Saddam and seven co-defendants over a massacre of Shiites in the 1980s. (The ‘comedy’ can’t continue with its chief clown and comedian, Saddam Hussein.)
– The U.S. military will leave the notorious Abu Ghuraib prison and turn it over to Iraqi authorities after a new detention facility is completed in some three months, the U.S. command said. Once the U.S. moves detainees to the new prison at Camp Cropper and other facilities, Abu Ghraib will be returned to Iraqi prison authorities, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. (‘New Abu Ghuraib’ would be a great name for this facility.)
– that Mahmoud Abbas said the world should give the terrorist group Hamas a chance to moderate as it prepares to form a gover-min. Abbas said Hamas must change its policies. But he also appealed to the international community to keep up financial support for the ‘Palestinians’ and respect the results of democratic elections on January 25 that brought Hamas to power. (The chance to moderate has always been there. It is up to Hamas to take it.)
– that Hamas lea-duhs visited Saudi Arabia to seek aid from the oil-rich kingdom for a ‘Palestinian’ gover-min headed by the terrorist group. Mohammad Nazzal, a Hamas lea-duh in exile, said the delegation would be led by Hamas’s top lea-duh, Khaled Meshaal, and meet Saudi King Abdullah. (“Pay up! Pay up! You can’t have my people fighting your proxy war without paying up!”)
– that the people of Zimbabwe have been told to dig deep into their pockets to fund celebrations for Mugabe’s 82nd birthday. Three million Zimbabweans are short of food, according to independent estimates, but Mr Mugabe will still hold his biggest ever birthday party this weekend in the city of Mutare. (Mugabe, beware of the fate of Nicolae Ceaucescu.)
– that Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger terrorists are extorting money from Tamils living in Canada, Britain and Europe to fill their coffers for a final war against the island’s gover-min, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said. The Tigers have threatened expatriate Tamils and their families with violence unless they contribute often thousands of dollars and many ex-pats have been told they can only visit relatives back home if they pay up first, the group said. (So much for these terrorists calling themselves ‘freedom fighters’.)
– that China rejected a U.S. report that branded it one of the world’s worst human rights offenders, instead accusing Washington of hypocrisy and its own ‘serious violations’. (Gitmo. ‘Nuff said.)
– that China has denounced a comment by Japan’s Foreign Minister Taro Aso Arsehole after he called Taiwan ‘a country’. Japan’s foreign ministry denied Arsehole’s remark was a change of Tokyo’s official position, which recognises China’s claim to Taiwan. China also rejected a Japanese proposal to jointly develop disputed gas fields in the East China Sea. Ties between China and Japan have deteriorated recently because of rows over energy and history. (The evil intention and attempt of Japan to drive China into a military confrontation over the gas field disputes and Taiwan is clear.)
– that dozens of Taiwan independence activists demonstrated outside the de facto U.S. embassy in Taipei demanding Washington review its ‘One China’ policy which opposes any change in the island’s status. The demonstrators raised their fists in air while chanting slogans and holding placards reading ‘Respect Taiwan’s mainstream opinions’ and ‘Support President Chen (Shui-bian)’ during the rally in Taipei. (A few dozens thinking they represented ‘Taiwan’s mainstream opinions’ should just be ignored.)
– that without firing a bullet, China can force Taiwan to its knees in a week with a massive trade war in the event that the self-ruled island formally declares statehood, a prominent Chinese economist says. (Right. Why waste Chinese bullets to kill Chinese?)
– that a Republican congressman has questioned whether the U.S. would defend Taiwan if provocative actions by the island’s lawmakers were to spark a military conflict with China. “If a conflict with China were to be aided by inappropriate and wrongful politics generated by the Taiwanese elected officials, I am not entirely sure that this nation would come full force to their rescue,” said Senator John Warner, the powerful chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Speaking at a committee hearing, he described Chen Shui-bian’s decision to cease operations of the National Unification Council (NUC) as ‘one of those unfortunate incidents that seem to continue to arise’. The council was set up in 1990 by the then-Kuomintang government to examine unification with China. (“Just buy our weapons. That’s as far as we will go in ‘defending’ Taiwan.” – U.S.)
– that thousands of slogan-chanting opposition demonstrators took to the streets of Taipei in the second rally in a week protesting against Chen Shui-bian. Protesters complained that the independence-leaning Chen is pre-occupied with cross-strait matters and ignores pressing livelihood issues closer to home. “There are a string of problems challenging this country such as gover-min corruption and serious credit card and cash card payment defaults. They need the lea-duh to show his concern,” said opposition lea-duh Ma Ying-jeou, head of the KMT. (Maybe it’s high time for Taiwan to have its own Edsa and throw out the likes of Chen and his troublemaking lackeys.)
– that the Hong Kong Disneyland is too crowded, a senior Chinese tourism official said, hinting that another Disney park is necessary. The comments by Mr Shao Qiwei, director of China’s State Administration of Tourism, came a day after Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng said his city was preparing to build China’s second Disney theme park. But a Disney spokesman said no agreement has been reached on the park in Shanghai so far. The Hong Kong park was widely criticised in January when it turned away hundreds of Chinese New Year holidaymakers from mainland China as it was packed to capacity. (It must have been an eye-sore to the Shanghainese to see so much of Chinese money going out to benefit Hong Kong. Part of China or not!)
– that North Korea cannot return to six-way talks on its nuclear programs unless the U.S. ends its financial crack down on Pyongyang’s assets, Yonhap news agency quoted a senior North Korean official as saying. The comments from Ri Gun, North Korea’s deputy chief envoy to the talks, reiterated rather than hardened North Korea’s stance but came as pressure builds for Pyongyang to return to the table. (In simpler terms, all they wanted is more money.)
– that Gloria Arroyo announced she had broken up a coup plot and declared a state of emergency. The attempt came as people across the country celebrated the popular revolt that ousted Ferdinand Marcos 20 years ago this week. (The Philippines bestowed upon the world People’s Power and has changed the lives and fate of many countries, like South Korea and the Ukraine. It has also led to a heart breaking atrocity – Tian-anmen. Sadly, 20 years since then, the fate of their country remained unchanged. They should let Fidel Ramos back to the Presidency.)
– that Gloria Arroyo will extend a state of emergency she declared over an alleged coup plot after a weekend standoff with Marines renewed political tensions, her spokesman said. “I believe the public will understand that the lifting of Proclamation 1017 will be slightly delayed,” spokesman Ignacio Bunye said on Philippines radio, referring to the emergency declaration. (Copy Cat! ‘State of Emergency’ is Arroyo’s version of Ferdinand Marcos’ ‘Martial Law’.)
– that Gloria Arroyo warned that she would not hesitate to order another clampdown after imposing a week-long state of emergency to quash an alleged coup attempt. Arroyo said last week’s coup bid would have destroyed democraZy in the Philippines if it had triumphed. (As if what she has done hasn’t done the same.)
– that Thailand’s biggest opposition party said it may boycott the snap election called by Thaksin Shinawatra for April 2. (So that’s what they understand by democraZy? How can the people decide if they don’t even stand for election? F@cking politicians.)
– that women in Indonesia marked International Women’s Day with a march to pressure Parliament to drop an anti-pornography Bill. It seems an unlikely protest for a day focused on women’s rights. But the demonstrators fear the Bill could lead to penalties of up to 12 years in prison and fines of up to 2 billion rupiah for such simple acts as kissing in public and baring of legs or shoulders. (The Indonesian Parliament needs a lesson on the meaning of the word pornography.)
– that Indonesia has 9,634 islands which have yet to be named. The Ministry of Home Affairs, which gave the figures yesterday, said 7,870 others have been named. “One of the reasons why these outer islands have not yet been named is the lack of the gover-min’s attention, including its small budget allocation,” the Antara news agency quoted the ministry’s secretary-general Progo Nurjaman as saying. He said the allocation in the 2006 state budget for surveys and data gathering was only 3.2 billion rupiah – about S$560,000. (Give me that S$560,000 and I’ll name all of them for you, starting from ‘Pulau tanpa Nama Satu ‘ – Island No-name / Un-named #1. In fact, I’ll even give the Indons a $56,000 discount if they let me do it. * Pardon my broken Melayu *)
– that Sammy Vellu, Malaysia’s Works Minister, was swamped with 2,600 text messages and hundreds of calls on his cellphone after he asked the public to direct their complaints to him, reports said. He said his mobile phone has not stopped ringing since he gave out his number during a television show after viewers complained about inefficiency at his ministry. “I received so many calls and messages that I think my phone may quit on me soon,” he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times. (Maybe when his phone goes kaput, he should go too.)
– that on Feb 26, Malaysian police arrested the man suspected of shooting dead nightclub owner Lim Hock Soon on Feb 15, catching a suspect in another Singapore murder in the process. Tan Chor Jin, 39, – nicknamed ‘One-Eyed Dragon’ was captured when police stormed a room at the five-star Grand Plaza Parkroyal hotel in the heart of the Kuala Lumpur tourist zone at about 4am. (They needed a big break after all the bad press from the squatting ‘China girl’ and the ‘gambling botaks’. This was it.)
Singapore This Week
– that the Singapore Police Force is saying of its latest initiative to send letters to parents of youths below 17 years old seen loitering in public places is not a curfew but rather, a preventive measure. (Singaporean parents needs the police to remind them to buck up on their parenting.)
– that a AVERAL LIM suggested that the reason why teenagers are staying out late is that entertainment centres catering to them are closing later. The popular E2Max gaming centre in Orchard Cineleisure opens all night on weekends. At Parklane Shopping Centre, many LAN shops open till 3am. KBox also offers packages from midnight to 5am on weekends. He suggested that all entertainment centres should be banned from opening after 11pm. (Might as well just close them after the last daily prayer at the mosque everyday. The ‘teen problem’ of staying out late is merely a consequence and outcome of failed parenting.)
– that according to reports in Malaysian newspaper The Star, copies of the Tammy sex video in DVD and VCD format have been found on sale in Penang. Enterprising roadside vendors there have been downloading the two sex video clips onto CDs and DVDs and selling them for between RM$10 (S$4.50) and RM$20 a copy, up to five times what they charge for illegal DVD copies of the latest Hollywood blockbusters. (Move over Qu Meifeng and Paris Hilton. Tammy is here.)
– that Tammy, the student in sex video said, “We didn’t intend to be porn stars. I have done nothing wrong… Everyone does it.” (We are clearly making advanced technology available to monkeys without teaching them the dangers of it. And I love this ‘Everyone does it’ argument. Because they are saying that ‘eating shit is alright if a lot of people around them also eat shit’. And by the way, a lot of people around me doesn’t go around telling people whether they made sex videos of themselves. So I don’t know where she get the idea that ‘everyone does it’.)
– that onlookers vent anger and some even try to stop police car as the stepdad of Nurasyura Mohamed Fauzi, suspect for murdering her, is taken away. Some called him an animal, others hurled obscenities at him and one man even tried to break the police cordon to get at him. (Now I finally figured out what the ice-cream seller and one of the bystanders were arguing about when I walked pass the junction of Talma Road and Geylang Lorong 10 when I was heading to a bus stop along Guillemard Road the other night.)
– that severe erosion over the past few years has caused parts of the reclaimed shoreline along the East Coast Park and Pasir Ris to recede. Surveys mapping the physical contours of the beaches and surrounding waters are under way. The final report may take up to two years to complete, said a BCA spokesman. One possible reason for the excessive erosion is that the breakwaters – stone and concrete structures built to protect the beaches – have not been as effective as expected, said Prof Tan Soon Keat, a coastal engineering expert from NTU. (Maybe they can dismantle that golf course they are building across from Marina South and dump the sand at these places to reclaim what was lost.)
– that for torturing a 1.5 month-old kitten until her left eye protruded and her nostrils were stained with blood, David Hooi Yin Weng got away with only three months’ jail. The kitten’s injuries were so severe she had to be euthanised. (This criminal should be castrated.)
– that more than 70% of bus delays are due to traffic conditions. The outcome is that bus captains would not always be able to stick to the schedules because of traffic jams and this invariably results in bunching and overloading. (Traffic jams may explain overloading. But bunching?)
– that a teacher had to be treated for depression after being harassed by a parent – and this is something the Education Ministry intends to get tough on. Those who harass teachers or verbally abuse civil servants could be taken to task. (The maturity of some people!)
– that ‘genius’ WONG HOONG HOOI wrote this in an online letter on the Stooge Times forum titled ‘English not the mother tongue of Asians’: “Chinese who have the vision and resolve that there should be greater plurality in a truly globalised future should hold on to their mother tongue – putonghua.” (Funny. My mother and her mother, and my father’s mother, do not speak Putonghua. Is it a surprise why our Chinese standards remain dismal, when we can’t even grasp the concept of ‘mother tongue’ properly?)
– that ‘genius’ NORMAN HO MENG KEAT suggested in an online letter on the Stooge Times Forum that ‘we can perhaps modify the system to shut down the lift when someone smokes inside’ to ‘discourage residents from smoking in lifts’. (Doesn’t matter if the lift might also contain old folks, kids, and people rushing home or to work. All of these people will be trapped in the lift along with an inconsiderate smoking f*ckwit.)
– that Chiam See Tong says he is not too worried with the Tali-PAP’s strategy to recapture opposition wards by appointing Lao Goh to support its candidates in those areas. Chiam, who is also Secretary-General of the SPP and Chairman of the SDA, says: “The impact will be marginal because what gets people to vote is whether they have been moved to do so, so the most important thing is not Goh Chok Tong but the voters themselves.” (The problem is what goodies will Lao Goh be promising to entice Singapore’s usually myopic voters, Chiam.)
– that Lao Goh Chok Tong says he has been asked to help win back the two opposition wards of Hougang and Potong Pasir in the next General Election. Lao Goh says: “I am not too concerned over the candidates. I am concerned over the interest of the residents. So I want to find out from Eric Low and Sitoh Yih Pin, and of course through the visits down to Hougang and Potong Pasir, what are the needs of the residents, what problems do they have, what are their hopes, what facilities do they need, what amenities can we give them? (Hopefully, they might just prefer to have a thorn at the side of the Tali-PAP to keep things interesting.)
– that the Tali-PAP will start introducing its new candidates – revealed Baby Lee, who is also the party’s Secretary-General. Baby says the Tali-PAP is aiming to win all the constituencies in the upcoming General Election, including the opposition wards of Hougang and Potong Pasir. (And will there be those who dares to hope that such a terrible, history reversing outcome wouldn’t happen? The people only needs to give the Tali-PAP the legitimacy of rulership through the elections. There is no need to give it absolute power.)
Trivial, Jokes and Thoughts from Discussions
– that hackers have managed to get Windows XP running on an Apple Mac computer. The success ends a competition started to see if the feat was even possible when Apple unveiled computers that used Intel chips. (An expected outcome. Microsoft should release a version of Windows for Macs. Or the hackers should take it further by coming up with a hardware that can turn Macs into just another PC clone.)
– that Yahoo Mail will now let people register usernames that include the word ‘allah’ after a ban designed to thwart prejudice went astray. The existence of the ban made a bit of a splash on the Web after it was reported. It seems the situation has been a problem since at least June 2005, judging from a Web page (which includes profanity) created by someone named ‘Kallahar’, who said Yahoo barred him from registering his name. Apparently, ‘allah’ was not banned by Yahoo until after 2000, the site says. (It was unnecessary for such a ban in the first place. ‘Well done’, Yahoo.)
– that Google is planning a massive online facility that could store copies of users’ hard drives – a move set to spark alarm among civil liberties campaigners. Plans for the ‘GDrive’, previously the subject of rumour among computer experts, were revealed accidentally after notes in a slideshow were wrongly published on Google’s site. (Sounds like a good new avenue to distribute MP3s.)
– that there was a big hoo-ha over the matter of a clinic refusing to accept patients coming in near their closing hours. (For these people special people who can ‘suddenly’ get sick near a clinic’s closing time, they should sign a contract with a clinic and have their own standby doctors. And there should be an SLA stating that the doctor must respond within 2 hours, even during the most ungodly hours.)
– that according to Dan Brown in his book ‘Deception Point’ – “with over 1.25 million known species and another 500 thousand still to be classified, the Earth’s ‘bugs’ outnumbered all of the other animals combined. They made up 95% of all the planet’s species and 40% of the Earth’s biomass. (Shocking. But it is pretty obvious because having been through NS can probably tell you that one of the first organism he sees during training are some kind of bug.)
– that their resilience are as impressive as their abundance. They are found in the Antarctic and the desert and even survived the radiation at ground zero of a nuclear blast. (Well, they outlived the dinosaurs too, didn’t you notice?)
– that the poles actually got their name from the polar bears. Arktos in Greek for bear. (Now that helps you remember why there are no bears in the Antarctic – Anti-Arktos. And of course there are no penguins in the Arctic because the bears would likely have eaten them as appetizers)
– that a lawsuit against the publisher of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ for breach of copyright could taint the novel and delay the much-anticipated movie version. Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, authors of the 1982 nonfiction book ‘The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail’ are suing publisher Random House, Inc. over the allegation that parts of their work formed the basis of Dan Brown’s novel, which has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide and remains high on best seller lists nearly three years after publication. (And we thought we heard the end of stuff like these when NTP and Research In Motion reached a settlement.)
– that a baffled Andy Tierney blasted the Hinckley and Bosworth council busybodies over his £50 litter bin fine, saying: “I did the right thing.” And he vowed to fight the pompous fixed penalty notice, issued for dumping two junk mail letters. It accused him of committing ‘an offence under Section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990’. It continued: ‘Domestic refuse from your property was dumped into a street litter bin… the fixed penalty is £50.’. (That doesn’t explain why everyone in Singapore just swept their stupid junk onto the floor from the letter box, though.)
– that ‘Crash’ beat ‘Broke-ass Brokeback Mountain’ as best Oscar picture. (A well deserved win for ‘Crash’.)
– that Isaac Hayes has quit ‘South Park’, where he voices Chef, saying he can no longer stomach its take on religion. “Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored,” he continued. “As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices.” (It is my considered opinion that much of ‘South Park’ can be considered offensive by some and I don’t see Mr Hayes objecting to it then.)
– that ‘South Park’ co-creator Matt Stone responded sharply in an interview, saying, “This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology… He has no problem — and he’s cashed plenty of checks — with our show making fun of Christians.” Last November, ‘South Park’ targeted the Church of Scientology and its celebrity followers, including actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, in a top-rated episode called ‘Trapped in the Closet’. In the episode, Stan, one of the show’s four mischievous fourth graders, is hailed as a reluctant savior by Scientology lea-duhs, while a cartoon Cruise locks himself in a closet and won’t come out. Stone said he and co-creator Trey Parker ‘never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin.’ (Is Matt Stone accusing Hayes of double standards and hypocrisy?)
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– that there will be no more dogfights for the Tomcat. The last two squadrons of the sleek, Cold War fighter jet returned home from their final deployment on 10 March 2006, two decades after the warplanes were glamorized in the 1986 Tom Cruise movie ‘Top Gun’. The Navy plans to replace the F-14, a two-seat fighter with moveable swept-back wings, with the F/A-18 Super Hornets. (Bye bye, Tomcat. There was a time I never liked the fighter. Now I am sad to see it go.)
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