The Natural Selection Award

– that a fugitive wanted for a double homicide in the U.S. was arrested after he posted his name, photo and address on an online dating website. Calvin Bennett, 26, allegedly killed Mr Pierce Odell, 79, and his wife Mary, 78, during a botched burglary in Nashville. People who saw his photo on the dating site reported him to the police after seeing his photo on a popular television show, America’s Most Wanted, police told Reuters. (If this vile criminal gets hanged, it’s definitely natural selection at work again.)

The World This Week

– that Donald Rumsfool quit after Democrats rode Americans’ anger and frustration over Iraq to victory in the recent congressional elections. (Good riddance to bad rubbish.)

– that after announcing the resignation of Donald Rumsfool at a White House news conference, Warmonger Bush said he recognised that many Americans voted in the Congressional elections ‘to register their displeasure with the lack of progress being made’ in Iraq. The departure of Rumsfool, 74, a key architect of the increasingly unpopular decision to invade Iraq more than three years ago, could set the stage for a change in war strategy, some analysts said. Naming former CIA chief Robert Gates as the new Defence Secretary, Warmonger said he and his national security team would meet with Democratic legislative lea-duhs to brief them on the latest developments in Iraq and listen to their views on ‘the way forward’. (The only way forward for America would probably be to pump Iraq’s oil dry or just leave them to rot.)

– that John ‘Flip-Flop’ Kerry insisted his ‘botched joke’ about Warmonger Bush’s Iraq policy would not undermine a possible White House campaign in 2008. “Not in the least,” Flip-Flop said when asked if the furor over his comment had caused him to reconsider a 2008 race. “The parlor game of who’s up, who’s down, today or tomorrow, if I listened to that stuff, I would never have won the nomination. (Nah. It won’t hurt him. It’ll just hurt his party and it’s not like Kerry will give a damn.)

– that ‘Flip-Flop’ said he is still considering a second run for the White House in 2008. ‘Flip-Flop’, who was defeated by Warmonger Bush, at the last election, said: “My team’s confident and strong. My decision will be around the turn of the year.” (Just give up. You don’t stand a chance against Hillary Clinton.)

– that Chile’s former military ruler Augusto Pinochet has said he takes political responsibility for everything that happened during his 18 years in power. In the statement read by his wife on his 91st birthday, he defended his bloody 1973 coup, saying he had acted in Chile’s best interests. More than 3,000 people were killed or ‘disappeared’ while Pinochet was in power from 1973 to 1990. He is facing indictments in two cases of human rights abuses and tax evasion. “Today, near the end of my days, I want to say that I harbour no rancour against anybody, that I love my fatherland above all,” the statement read by his wife Lucia Hiriart said. “I take political responsibility for everything that was done.” (If Pinochet would put his head into the noose and let the Chilean people play with the gallows lever, they would be happier.)

– that Australia’s ‘imam’ was rushed to hospital after fainting ahead of a meeting of Islamic community lea-duhs amid growing calls for his resignation over a series of explosive remarks. Sheikh Shit Taj Aldin al-Hilali collapsed at Sydney’s Lakemba mosque as he prepared to meet with Lebanese Muslim Association officials who run the mosque and are under intense pressure to sack the ‘cleric’. (Had Allah decided to recall this shithead for more personal interview, it would be ‘Allahu Ackbar!!’ indeed!)

– that the controversial ‘cleric’, who reportedly suffers from asthma, was in a stable condition in Canterbury Hospital, the hospital said after reporters gathered outside saw an ambulance collect a patient and race from the mosque. Lebanese Muslim Association Tom Zreika refused to confirm Hilali had collapsed but said that ‘due to unforeseen circumstances, we were unable to continue our private meeting’ with the sheikh shit. “He’s OK,” Zreika added. (Getting oneself checked into a hospital is always the best technique to stall for time.)

– that Australia, like the U.S., has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. (Not a surprise since to do so they will probably need to eliminate all of Australia’s methane producing cows.)

– that NATO countries will endorse a plan next week to widen the alliance’s role to include counter-terrorism, prevention of cyber attacks and security of natural resources, the Financial Times reported. (Does security of natural resources include whales?)

– that Tony B-liar provoked a storm after apparently admitting that the invasion of Iraq by the United States and Britain was ‘a disaster’. B-liar did not use the words himself, but appeared to agree with the assessment of the interviewer Sir David Frost on Al-Jazeera’s new English-language channel. (Too bad the British people had to pay for his silly mistakes simply because he wanted to suck up to Warmonger Bush.)

– that B-liar said military force alone cannot defeat terrorism, acknowledging that solving the Mideast crisis was key to curbing violent extremism, while Pervez Musharraf admitted local militants were aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan. The meeting between the two lea-duhs, crucial players in the U.S.-led war on terror, led to the signing of security, aid and education packages aimed at promoting a moderate brand of Islam and preventing Pakistan becoming a haven for extremists bent on attacking Western interests. (见人说人话，见鬼说鬼话。[Literally means ‘Singing a different tune when meeting different people.’])

– that heroin should be prescribed to drug addicts to curb crime, the deputy chief constable of Nottinghamshire has said at a drugs conference. Howard Roberts told an Association of Chief Police Officers’ conference in Manchester the idea should be assessed. He said the treatment would cost £12,000 a year per addict but added that drug users steal property valued at an average of £45,000 a year. The idea is being piloted in London, the South East and North of England. (I have a suggestion to cut that figure to £0 a year. Just shoot the mofos. End of story.)

– that while Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz reiterated this week that he does not plan to resign from the IDF, senior officers have said that they believe Halutz will quit once the final committees of inquiry into the military’s performance during the war in Lebanon submit their findings within a month. With public opinion polls showing 70% of Israelis in favor of his resignation and generals from within the IDF asking him to step down, Halutz, these officers claimed, would have a tough time sticking it out if he is blamed for the results of the war in additional investigative reports. (Surprisingly how some people shamelessly try to stay on and refuse to take responsibilities.)

– that Hamas has raised the price for the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit and is now demanding 1,400 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, a senior Hamas official. (Ariel Sharon would have just levelled every Palestinian house until Shalit is found, dead or alive.)

– that the terrorist group Hamas warned Israel of a third uprising unless there was progress toward a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders. Hamas lea-duh Khaled Meshaal issued the warning at a news conference in Cairo, telling the U.S. and Europe they had six months to seize a ‘historic chance’ to settle the conflict once a Palestinian unity cabinet is formed between Hamas and rival group Fatah. (Meaning: They have already planned ahead for the terrorist activities 6 months from now.)

– that ‘Palestinian’ terrorists fired several rockets at Israel from Gaza just hours after a ceasefire aimed at ending five months of bloodshed in the coastal strip took effect. The truce, which has raised the possibility of moribund Middle East peacemaking being revived, is designed to end rocket attacks and halt a crushing Israeli army offensive in Gaza. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for firing three rockets at southern Israel and said it would not agree to a ceasefire unless Israeli military activity also ended in the occupied West Bank. No one was hurt in the attacks. (One moment it’s Fatah. The next moment it’s Hamas. Then its ‘Islamic Jihad’. What’s next so you f*ckers can keep breaking the truce?)

– that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposed that he would help the U.S. calm Iraq if Washington changes what he described as its ‘bullying’ policy toward Iran. “We are ready to help you, Ahmadinejad declared while addressing a group of members of the Basij paramilitary group, affiliated to the elite Revolutionary Guard. But Iran’s firebrand president took the US to task, questioning its motives for invading Iraq. (Like how? By turning Iraq into Iran’s calm little satellite and vassal Shi’ite state?)

– that the insurgency in Iraq is now financially self-sustaining, raising tens of millions of dollars a year from oil smuggling, kidnapping, counterfeiting, connivance by corrupt ‘Islamic’ charities and other crimes that the Iraqi gover-min and its U.S. patrons have been largely unable to prevent, a classified U.S. government report concludes. The report, obtained by The New York Times, estimates that groups responsible for many of the insurgent and terrorist attacks are raising $70 million to $200 million a year from illegal activities. It says $25 million to $100 million of that comes from oil smuggling and other criminal activity involving the state-owned oil industry, aided by ‘corrupt and complicit’ Iraqi officials. (The U.S. should just get out and let them rot.)

– that Pakistani lawmakers passed amendments to the country’s rape laws, ditching the death penalty for extramarital sex and easing a clause on making rape victims produce four witnesses to prove the case. (If you are witness to a rape and did not stop it, you are technically an accomplice. Would you stand as witness? High time they abolish this nonsense. Welcome to the 21st Century.)

– that the amendments enraged ‘Islamic’ fundamentalists but won cautious support from human rights activists, who wanted the controversial laws scrapped altogether. (Of course. Now it has become a lot harder for them to stick their dicks where it doesn’t belong and walk away scot free.)

– that China intends to build one of the world’s biggest solar power stations at a cost of 765 million dollars. The 100-megawatt facility, to be built in Dunhuang, an oasis town in northwest China’s Gansu province, will be a collaborative effort between the local gover-min and Beijing’s Zhonghao New Energy Investment. (And Singapore still insists it is not economical.)

– that financial analyst Spencer White made headlines in Hong Kong when in an analysis released, the Merrill Lynch strategist first warned that the city’s worsening pollution would drive professionals away. Then came the shocker advisory: The firm’s clients should sell stocks of Hong Kong’s big property companies and buy those of their Singapore counterparts. The analysis was reported widely in the Hong Kong media because it was the first time that a big investment bank had spelt out how worsening pollution could undercut Hong Kong’s competitive edge. (Wait till Spencer White sees the smoke pollution from Indonesia here in Singapore.)

– that Chen Shui-bian stressed his belief that Taiwan must rapidly develop its military capability to combat the growing threat from China. Speaking to Japanese politicians and scholars in Tokyo via video conference, Chen said: “History shows that any peace agreement without the backing of a strong national defense force would eventually turn out to be empty words. Such agreements could be scrapped easily by invaders.” (And how willing is a strong national defense force to shed its blood for the political agenda of people like Chen?)

– that the U.S. warned Chen Shui-bian not to press ahead with plans for constitutional reform that would be sure to inflame tensions with China. Chenraised the issue again during an interview published in the Financial Times of London in which he suggested Taiwan could ‘freeze’ its 1947 constitution and adopt a new one. The suggestion, already evoked last month by Chen, raised the prospect he might seek to adopt a constitution asserting Taiwan’s separation from China before he leaves office in early 2008. (The Americans should just wash their hands clean of this matter and let the Chinese settle their unfinished civil-war.)

– that Taiwan opposition lea-duh Ma Ying-jeou admitted one of his aides had forged receipts to claim Ma’s expenses as Taipei mayor, and apologised for the latest political scandal to rock the island. Ma, chairman of the opposition KMT and a possible contender for the 2008 presidential race, admitted to ‘serious administrative flaws’ but said he was not personally involved in the affair and would not quit the mayoralty. “I feel awful and ashamed since the incident is a violation of the principles which I have always observed – self-discipline and clean politics,” he told a press conference. (Maybe it’s high time he checked if those people are planted by his own rivals within the party, or by opponents outside the party.)

– that the smoke that shrouds the region has spilled over from the skies into the diplomatic arena. It emerged that Indonesia had taken strong exception to Singapore’s suggestion, made at the UN General Assembly late last month, to seek international expertise to tackle the problem. After that it even summoned Mr Ashok Mirpuri, Singapore’s envoy to Jakarta, to express its unhappiness. (What’s there to be unhappy about? Singapore and the region aren’t going to let you blackmail us for more money through inaction while we choke in smoke.)

– that when Singapore called for a wider effort at the UN on Oct 25, Indonesia’s response was testy. Its representative, Ms Adiyatwidi Adiwoso Asmady, said the move was ‘tantamount to interference in the domestic affairs of Indonesia’. She added: “Where there is already a bilateral and regional arrangement for addressing a problem, let us make full use of them instead of misusing the UN forum in a frenzy of naming and shaming.” (Asmady, if I shit in my backyard and the smell goes over to your place, and I tell you that when you went complaining to the village chief, how the hell would you feel, you Indonesian bitch?!)

– that Indonesia’s Industry Mini$ter Fahmi Idris is still upset at Singapore’s decision to raise the smoke issue at the UN General Assembly. To register his protest at the move, Mr Fahmi boycotted a meeting of the Indonesia-Singapore joint steering committee on the Batam, Bintan and Karimun special economic zones, according to Antara news agency. (Sure. Let us also cut the number of Indonesian maids and international cooperation between us and them. Let us also increase tariffs on all Indonesian products / produce. Look here, you Indonesian kriffing f*ckwits, WE are upset too!!)

– that about 12,000 families in the Indonesian provinces of Aceh and Nias island have yet to find permanent homes, almost two years after being hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami. Plans are to complete another 128,000 houses by the end of next year, said Dr Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, director of the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Executing Agency for Aceh and Nias. (Their President should send this message to this guy: “Give me results! Not excuses!!”)

– that several senior dUMNO ministers expressed shock over Mama-thir’s attacks on his successor just hours after ‘peace talks’ between them. They questioned his sincerity and said his decision to go public after a private meeting with Abdullah Badawi could worsen the rift. (There are 3 things that drives a man crazy: Money, Power & Women. You go figure out which one drove Mama-thir nuts.)

– that Sultan Iskandar of Johor said this at a mosque after performing Hari Raya Aidilfitri prayers, according to a Bernama report: “If one has already been pensioned, just behave like a pensioner, what is the use of making more noise?” (Maybe he’s got a constant erection like a juvenile elephant bull in heat, and he need to let people know about it?)

– that Abdullah Badawi said he was saddened that Mama-thir chose to attack him with ‘stronger doses of venom’ after their failed ‘peace talks’. Breaking his silence over the meeting, Abdullah told reporters that he had hoped that his predecessor would have waited for a detailed response to his grievances. But, he said, Mama-thir went public ‘with stronger doses of venom’. (And I am not surprised if the anti-venom will cost a lot of money, and even the goodwill of a neighbouring country.)

– that Abdullah said he had planned to give a detailed reply, in person or in writing, as he did not have the time then to respond to all of Mama-thir’s complaints, which took up one-and-a-half hours of the session.”There were times when I really wanted to interrupt because I did not agree with what he was saying. But if I did that, Tun may not be able to tell me everything he wanted to. People would then say Pak Lah kept interrupting,” Abdullah said. He added that from the outset, he wanted to give his predecessor the chance to say all he wanted to say. (And you sat there and be lectured for one and a half hour like an idiot or a subordinate? No wonder Mama-thir think you soft and went for the jugular. You should just smile and tell him, “I call the shots now. Geddit, you vociferous f*cker? Now shut up and listen.”)

– that when asked about the Sultan of Johor’s reported statement that Mama-thir should behave like a ‘pensioner’ and stop ‘making noise’, he said the Sultan’s view reflected the feelings of many people. (Maybe they needed the Agong to ask that twit to shut up or strip him of all his Tun, Datuk and Tan Sri titles. Make him a real nobody like Anwar.)

– that Rafidah Aziz, who wept publicly when Mama-thir announced his retirement, has turned on her mentor. The one-time protege said the former lea-duh had ‘crossed the line’ with his attacks on Abdullah Badawi, and urged members of the ruling dUMNO not to waste time on ‘peace making efforts’. (She can see where the wind is blowing and where the power now truly lies. Mama-thir should give her a pat on the shoulder and say “Well done, Rafidah! Well done!”)

– that Mama-thir suffered chest pains and thus the expected showdown at the annual dUMNO assembly may have to wait. (Even heaven is giving him a sign to shut up and stop.)

– that Malaysia’s affirmative action-based economic policies have raised concerns among the country’s educationists. Some fear that the New Economic Policy (NEP) may cause polarisation and prevent national integration efforts. (Isn’t it a little too late now?)

– that Abdullah Badawi said his gover-min will not pursue economic strategies adopted two decades ago by Mama-thir. The comments are the latest salvo in a bitter feud between the two men which has raged this year, creating fears of a split in the ruling party. (Until Badawi drives the wooden stake through the heart, this is far from over.)

Singapore This Week

– that Chong Shih Wai, once singled out in the media for his entrepreneurial spirit, the 22-year-old with an IQ of 160 made the news for all the wrong reasons. He and fellow aNUS undergraduate, 21-year-old Jorim Foo Hsuan Lei, were convicted of running a credit card cloning syndicate. The six members of the syndicate were handed sentences of up to three years and nine months for their roles in the fraud, which cheated local banks out of $80,000. (Just 3 years 9 months for that?)

– that a survey has shown that overcrowding of buses, long waiting times, and overlong bus journeys continue to be commuters’ top grouses about Singapore’s bus services. (They mean after so many years they haven’t found out? Just take a look at every bus service – not including those which now ends up in Marina because of the NE line – and see just how many have their routes changed over the years.)

– that 64 first-generation SMRT trains will be fully upgraded by 2008. The face-lift makeover will cost $142 million and will include slip-resistant flooring, wider seats for the horizontally-challenged, live flow fans to improve air circulation and more grab bars and handles. There will also be 2 designated spots for the wheelchair-bound. (And trains will now come 10 minutes apart to make up for that $142 million?)

– that while Singapore has long been known as a ‘Clean and Green’ city, it may lose some of its shine if litterbugs have their way. According to the National Environment Agency (NEA), the number of litterbugs is rising and young Singaporeans accounted for more than half of the number of litterbugs caught this year. (Fines no longer work. It’s time to humiliate these anti-social little bastards.)

– that a Stooge Times poll also reveals majority have blasé attitude and those in under-30 group make up 50-70% of litterbugs. (It’s time to make CWO as painful and as humiliating as possible. In fact, we should even have a weekly ‘Singapore Litterbug’ competition just like ‘Singapore I-duh’.)

– that last year, eight students aged 14 to 16, from a popular girls’ school, sought treatment for eating disorders. Two were diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, a disease which made them go on starvation diets because they thought they were fat, when they were in fact underweight. Another two were suffering from bulimia, which makes patients induce vomiting after meals in an effort to lose weight. Both diseases can cause serious illness and even death. The other four patients would not disclose exactly what kind of disorder they had, but they are part of a large number of students from all-girls schools who are obsessed with weight loss. (Ah, the ‘Stick Insect Syndrome’. There’s only one solution to that: Baygon.)

– that Wong Wua Kan Seng reiterates a familiar tagline – urging Singaporean couples to have three or more children. Wong is speaking at a graduation ceremony for kindergarten children. (Perhaps many will have a dozen children if Wua Kan Seng would offer to pay for everything until they start earning their own money.)

– that instead of harping on what the gover-min can do to bridge the social divide, the spotlight in Parliament fell on Singaporeans. And there were some home truths told, too. ‘A nation of complainers’ and ‘a society increasing reliant on the gover-min for help’ were among the sadder – and harsher – labels mentioned. MP for Sembawang GRC Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman started the ball rolling when he called for ‘reflection and soul searching’ among Singaporeans. Dr Maliki noted Singaporeans had become increasing reliant on an ‘efficient system’ that handles issues on the municipal and national level. He said: “When the lift landing of our flat is not clean … we call the town council; when there are mosquitoes in the neighbourhood, we call the NEA… if things don’t improve, we go to our MPs or tell the media.” (It’s the Tali-PAP that should be doing some soul searching instead. Who after all these years tell Singaporeans that they don’t know better and exclude them from the decision making process? Who, keeps telling Singaporeans that their party is ‘the best’? And why would those who aren’t the best even bother and how dare ‘the best’ now whined about the ‘increased burden’ that Singaporeans now cast onto their shoulders?)

– Marine Parade GRC MP Lim Biow Chuan called on Singaporeans to be more gracious and compassionate and said Singapore is fast becoming a nation of complainers. While the gover-min can set the tone, he urged Singaporeans to be ‘encouragers’ – not only in encouraging fellow citizens, but also pushing the society to be an inclusive and cohesive one. (Why don’t they start admitting that while the system is efficient, it is not necessarily – EFFECTIVE – ?)

– that Thailand has assured Singapore that the Temasek-Shin Corp deal will not affect bilateral relations. New interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont conveyed this to Baby Lee at their meeting in China. Both lea-duhs said they would like to see the good bilateral relations continue and prosper. Mr Surayud said he does not want the Shin Corp issue to be politicised. (So did we give them an arm and a leg to prevent us losing everything in this ‘Shit’ Corp deal?)

– that Chia Ti Lik, a member of WP’s Central Executive Council (CEC), quit in apparent protest of a party ban on members speaking freely on the Internet. His resignation was the second in three days; WP member Goh Meng Seng had quit after his harsh postings on online forums. (Why don’t they just start a forum on their own party website just like the Young Tali-PAP? I am quit sure the WP have talents who could moderate their forums properly. But again, after one looks at what happened to Mr Brown… maybe the WP made the right choice after all.)

– that 2 young members of the WP’s lea-duhship have been tasked to take charge of the party’s website, following the recent resignation of two senior members, including its former webmaster Goh Meng Seng. Mr Brandon Siow, 31, who stood as a candidate in East Coast GRC in the last General Election, is now the party’s webmaster. Miss Glenda Han, 30, secretary of the party’s youth wing, has been appointed deputy webmaster, taking over from Mr Siow. The new appointments, which were announced on the party’s website, came after Mr Goh resigned from the WP last month. The reason he gave was that he had given the party a ‘bad image’ in a disagreement he had with WP critics on an online forum. (Poor, poor Madcow did the right thing to protect the party.)

– that NTUC Income is still the slowest in processing claims from Shield-type insurance, a MOH report card revealed. Though the insurer has improved on its processing speed – by 10 days – since the last quarterly update in August, it still took about 18 days to work on claims, compared to four to six days taken by its rivals. Great Eastern is the speediest, overtaking previous chart-toppers AIA and Aviva, by taking just four days to process claims. (They learn from gover-min mah. Take money very fast. Pay money slower than snail.)

– that new HDB flats are then priced below their equivalent market values so that buyers enjoy a substantial market ‘subsidy’. (In other words there isn’t a cent paid out of the gover-min to you. What you are really given is just a discount from them. And if you want your ‘subsidy’, then you need to sell it to some other luckless a**hole in the market at its market value.)

– that the gover-min is committed to helping poor Singaporeans. But there is no ready-made panacea to the problem of rising wage inequality worldwide and the Republic will have to find its own mix of policies to tackle this growing challenge. While Europe, Japan and the U.S. have each found ways to redistribute wealth, none is a perfect model for Singapore, said Tharman Shanmugaratnam Squeeze-u-dry-ratnam. “There is no pat answer, no simple set of solutions that comes in a ready package for countries to adopt,” he said in a speech yesterday at the opening dinner of an annual conference of the Federation of Asean Economic Associations. (If you, who are touted as one of the top talents this country has to offer, have no answer then are you really top talent?)

– that the impending GST hike from 5% to 7% is also about tilting the playing field in favour of the lower income group. (Oh really? A person earning $1000 could hardly spare $70 even though a person earning $10,000 will be paying $700 of GST if they both spent everything.)

– that the Health Ministry will ask for any increase in GST on subsidised patients’ medical costs to be fully offset, said Khaw Boon Wan. He said in Parliament he would make this recommendation to the Ministry of Finance. MOH has already been absorbing, in full, GST charges for subsidised patients since the tax was introduced in 1994. This comes up to some $30 million each year. (唱戏归唱戏…　不过这句最像人话。[For a wayang, this line sounds the most human.])

– that about 10,000 foreign workers and another 10,000 permanent residents a year will be affected if Khaw Boon Wan reduces or removes the subsidy they receive at public hospitals. Khaw told Parliament earlier this month he sees no reason why gover-mion subsidies should go to non-citizens. He prefers to use the relief to give poor Singaporeans better hospital coverage. (About damned time some of the Tali-PAP’s ridiculous anti-citizen measures are checked and reversed.)

– that Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Lam Pin Min Cheow Been wants the gover-min to differentiate between PRs and foreigners. Lam Cheow Been, who serves on the Gover-min Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Health, said: “PRs also contribute to our economy and pay income tax, so they should enjoy some form of subsidy as well.” Unlike employment pass holders, foreigners on work permits generally do not earn enough to pay taxes. (F*ck you, ok? How about the fact that they also enjoyed other perks simply being an expat in this country? Not to mention the employment opportunities this country provided for them? Is there another dumb country which provide subsidies for non-citizens?)

– that alms seekers dressed up as monks and nuns appear to be operating once again in Singapore, begging at hawker centres and wet markets across the island. From Tiong Bahru to Ang Mo Kio to Bedok North, there are almost daily sightings of these alms-seeking figures – who are believed to be foreigners – and residents are getting tired of them. (When will Singaporeans learn? In spite of the Singapore Buddhist Federation’s repeated declarations that according to Buddhist teachings, the alms bowl is strictly for collection of food, Singaporeans continue to fall for it. Wake up!!)

– that a new platform for the gover-min, unions and employers to get together to deal more effectively with issues affecting Singapore’s workers will be launched in January. Called the Singapore Tripartism Forum, it is initiated by the NTUC in a bid to take discussions between them beyond the current emphasis on employment issues. To coax greater participation from top executives of companies, the discussions will focus more on ‘big picture’ issues like macro-economic trends rather than specific issues on labour and the workplace. (* Yawn *).

Trivial, Jokes and Thoughts from Discussions

– that China’s leading web search engine has been cleared of copyright infringement by a Beijing court. Baidu.com faced a lawsuit from music companies after posting links to sites offering illegal music downloads. But the ruling said the service did not constitute an infringement as the music was downloaded from webservers of third parties, state press reported. This overturns an earlier ruling, which had ordered Baidu to pay a distributor of EMI 68,000 yuan. (Long live Baidu!)

– that the U.S. and Russia host the bulk of the world’s child abuse websites, according to the British-based Internet Watch Foundation. It reported that 51% of child abuse content was traced back to the US and 20% to Russia. The U.S. has a high proportion of abuse sites partly due to the large number of Internet users, servers and ISPs while Russia lacks a centralised authority to deal with the issue, Reuters reported. (Child abusers should be treated as sub-humans and shot publicly with 0.5″ cal. heavy machine guns.)

– that Ana Carolina Reston, a 21-year-old anorexic model who weighed only 88 pounds has died of generalized infection, a hospital said. The hospital said the infection that killed the 5-foot-8-inch model was caused by anorexia nervosa, a disorder characterized by an abnormal fear of becoming obese, an aversion to food and severe weight loss. The model’s cousin, Dani Grimaldi, told the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper that Reston also battled bulimia, an eating disorder marked by binge eating that is followed by vomiting or the use of laxatives. (If you are afraid of getting fat, do exercises. You may go on dieting, but not self-starvation.)

– that Britney Smears filed for divorce from Kevin Federline citing ‘irreconcilable differences’, which probably came as no surprise to anyone. From the moment the two were married, they were tabloid targets, their every affectionate gesture or teary-eyed fight detailed in gossip magazines and on entertainment shows. (Awwww shucks. I should have placed a bet on that. Sure win money!)

– that Spears and Federline wed in the fall of 2004 – twice. The first time, apparently, to try to divert the media’s attention from the second wedding a few weeks later, which according to the divorce papers was the real one. Federline explained then that their lawyers used the extra time to finalize a prenuptial agreement. (You can always bet on it that a divorce is inevitable when a pre-nup is being signed. Coming up next: Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas.)

– that Elton John has said organized religion should be banned because it promotes homophobia and turns some people into ‘hateful lemmings’. “I would ban religion completely, even though there are some wonderful things about it,” the British singer said in an interview with the Observer newspaper. “Religion has always tried to turn hatred toward ‘gay’ people. It turns people into hateful lemmings and it is not really compassionate.” (There is also nothing compassionate about accepting Elton John and his likes.)

– that Ian McKellen – who acted as Gandalf and Magneto – is homosexual. (Wow. No wonder the entire LoTR movie looked a little queer and a blogger Shadowfox says Magneto is a faggot.)

– that Nadya Hutagalung fled Australia for Singapore about 11 years ago with her one-year-old son and just $100 in her pocket to escape her abusive boyfriend. (Wife and girlfriend beaters are just the lowest lifeform on earth.)

Doesn’t it sound familiar?

Every time we complain about a hike, be it public transport fares or some other shit, the excuses given are always the same.

Must have been some kind of template with a random generator to throw out the follow standard responses: ‘We haven’t done so for donkey years.’ ‘We need to ensure we are profitable.’ ‘Our costs have gone up.’

Is it MY problem if your total operating costs have gone up?! It is your duty to look into keeping your costs down! That’s not mentioning you are profitable now! And if you hasn’t gone for a raise for years, and allegedly absorbed some of the GST, am I supposed to be grateful for that?! It’s not like the absorbed GST is given as some kind of rebates to me!!

Why do we continue to put up with this crap and allow this selfish practice to persist?

The reason is damned simple. Because it is a small loss spread over a large number of people to make it unprofitable for each individual to fight back. After all, the cost needed to fight this will probably cost more than the amount of increase they will suffer individually. Above which, this country doesn’t have the system – be it laws or NGOs – in place to protect the individual, unlike the United States.

CASE in Singapore is a kriffing mofo joke!!

Thank you, 66.6%.

Funny. If it’s all about ‘we win some, we lose some’, then just let local Singaporeans with their dismal standards go and compete, right? Not to mention, are there no other better and more economical methods to promote sports? It’s simply that ‘su bway ki’ (can’t afford to lose) and ‘everything we must be number-one’ attitude that resulted in this (in my considered opinion) completely money and time wasting ‘Foreign Sports Talent’ (FST) scheme.

Above which, it isn’t really true that to have them practise in Singapore alongside our athletes, it would raise the level and standard of play. Why can’t we just arrange for friendlies for our players with overseas ones? Doesn’t it serve the same purpose as well. Is the FST really necessary in that case?

Sure, there is a possibility that our players may reach a certain percentage of the standard of the ‘imported’ foreign players, but the foreign players may as well just never improve because they are always playing against mediocres! And that is perhaps evident in why they at times looked promising and then suddenly crash out of the competition with big losses when our hopes are high! Have these foreigners really motivated our players, or have our dismal standards here destroyed the talent, if he / she is one to begin with?

In fact, I suspect that even if we managed to buy the entire Brazil Soccer Team over, we might not get the World Cup anyway. Surely, they will probably keep trashing our local Ass-League teams. But then they probably trash them so often they start to think they are so damned talented and invincible and they start slacking on training. Will the Brazil Soccer Team still be the team we original bought?

We might perhaps even do better saving that money and help our low income group instead after all, the glory from these athletic achievements are only fleeting. We should stop believing that our nation’s hard earned collective wealth can allow us to just buy just about anything.

Perhaps, the Cut Waste Committee should look into cutting these un-necessary expenditure, along with the elected President, MM and SM posts, and those un-necessary campaigns like ‘Speak Mandarin’, ‘Speak Good English’ and ‘4 Million Smiles’, to help the country save some money.

I suspect with all that cuts, we might even save enough money to help us cut 1% from the GST raise too!

Happy with your Christmas Present for 2006, Singapore?

And this is the funniest part of all: ‘the hike is necessary to finance the enhanced social safety nets, needed to help the lower income group, and he emphasised that the offset package will more than counter the rise in GST.’

Touching huh? Weeping yet at the immense kindness Baby Lee has shown to the less fortunate of this country? Raising your hopes that when you reach old age there’s a safety net for you?

Just WHAT kriffing safety nets? The kind which even in death wouldn’t qualify or the kind in which a camel will sooner navigate a pinhole before you will even qualify for a single cent of it?

A lot of asslickers will probably buy this bullshit and think 2% more is ‘sup sup sway’ and not 威力无穷… but keep this up and we 不能不穷！！

For the 66.6% of kriffing cipets who voted Tali-PAP: 此恩此德，俺没齿难忘！！

It’s too little and too late.

It was a legitimated tackle by Lucas Neill, and neither was it a late tackle or dangerous play. The fact is that Grosso deliberately dived by tripping over Neill and cheated the Socceroos of their well deserved victory.

And that the acting Shit-talians then went on to win the World Cup right under the nose of Les Bleus is one of those many injustice that is rampant in this sick world.

Shit-taly and referee Luis Medina Cantalejo will pay for this injustice. And it is my curse that for the next 60 years from 2010, Shit-taly will never touch the World Cup again!!