The World This Week

– that the latest prediction is that Arctic ice may melt completely in the summer months as soon as 2040. (Poor Polar bears.)

– that 2006 may well be the year that is remembered as the year of dying dictators, with Milosevic, Pinochet and Saddam dying one after another. (How much more time to go before Soeharto joins them?)

– that after stonewalling environmental groups for years, the U.S. finally acknowledged that polar bears are under threat from declining Arctic ice levels. As a concession, it has proposed listing them as a threatened species, the first time the U.S. has directly linked global warming with the threat to a species. Though environmentalists have been pleading for mandatory controls on the emission of carbon dioxide – the gas said to be the chief culprit in heating up the atmosphere – Warmonger Bush has, until now, steadfastly brushed them aside. The U.S. is responsible for more carbon dioxide emissions than any other country. (Maybe it would have been better had Al Gore been president.)

– that the U.S. gover-min has drawn a chorus of fierce protests from politics and industry after once again refusing to label China a currency cheat. The Treasury Department, in a twice-yearly report on global exchange rate policies, said Chinese currency reforms so far have been ‘considerably less than is needed’ to rebalance world trade. But the report, not for the first time, concluded that no major US trading partner meets the ‘technical requirements’ to be labelled a currency ‘manipulator’ under US trade law. Among incredulous reactions from those who want to see China punished over its trade practices, calls mounted for a new approach to Sino-US economic frictions. (Well, these guys wants China to sell more U.S. treasury bonds in their possession is it?)

– that with at least eight slayings in New Orleans in the first week of the new year, officials are considering a curfew to help stem the violence, the police superintendent said. (Like I have said before, there is no use trying to rebuilt this evil city as it is. They should just fill it in and built a new one right on top of its ruins.)

– that Pat Robertson , an American Conservative Christian broadcaster says God told him a terrorist attack will result in ‘mass killing’ in the U.S. in the second half of 2007. (If it didn’t come to pass, are we allowed to stone this false prophet to death?)

– that Arnold Schwarzenegger, who once taunted Democrats as ‘girlie men’, called for an end to partisan bickering and a focus on innovative centrist policies. (Some might be asking if Schwarzenegger has become a ‘girlie man’ himself.)

– that the Australian Defence Department is investigating why a rocket launcher was found by a man at a rubbish tip in central Queensland. James Maloney said he bought the rocket launcher for $2 at the recycling centre for the tip at Yeppoon, near Rockhampton and he believes the launcher is an inoperable, single-use model from the Singapore military. He believes it was used in an exercise at the nearby Shoalwater Bay military training area. (If it was one of ours, it would be quite a bad joke.)

– that Paris famously rude inhabitants have long been a headache for tourism authorities who have made repeated attempts to persuade Parisians to be more friendly to visitors. (Are they any worse than Singaporeans in terms of attitude?)

– that Germany’s interior minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, said that he would seek a constitutional amendment to allow security forces to shoot down hijacked aircraft, if need be, to protect the country from terrorist attacks. Schäuble, a leading conservative in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s gover-min, said the Constitution should be amended to include a state of ‘quasinational defense’. This clause, he said, would give the military the legal right to shoot down a hijacked plane. Under current law, the gover-min can declare a state of national defense only if the country is attacked from outside. Schäuble said the Constitution did not take into account the events of Sept. 11, 2001, in which terrorists hijacked several aircraft and flew them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington, causing thousands of deaths. (What’s there to stop them from shooting down a plane that isn’t on a 9-11 style suicide mission?)

– that a Danish art group that pokes fun at world lea-duhs targeted the Iranian president, Mahmoud Mahbouk Ahmadinejad, by placing an advertisement in a Tehran newspaper with an insulting hidden message. Beneath a picture of the president, a series of apparently sympathetic statements were arranged such as ‘Support his fight against Bush’ and ‘Iran has the right to produce nuclear energy’. The advert was attributed to Danes for World Peace. However, the first letters of each phrase, when read from top to bottom, spell out S-W-I-N-E. The English-language Tehran Times, the conservative daily that printed the half-page advert, had apparently not detected the hidden message. (Even swines would find it insulting to be associated with this genocidal schmuck.)

– that Somali ‘Islamists’ urged foreign Muslim fighters to join their ‘holy war’ against Ethiopia after days of heavy fighting between ‘Islamist’ and pro-gover-min troops. The ‘Islamists’ and pro-Somali gover-min fighters have been firing artillery and rockets at each other across frontlines, killing dozens and wounding hundreds. (Yes. Muslims should join the Holy War, against these blasted infernal ‘Islamists’ who are committing mass murder in the name of God.)

– that the Ethiopia’s Air Force launched bombing and missile raids on towns across central Somalia. The attacks were the first official reaction by Ethiopia’s military to powerful ‘Islamists’ who have taken control of much of Somalia since June and which Addis Ababa fears will boost hardline ‘Islam’ inside its own borders. Confirmation of the attacks follows weeks of denials that Ethiopia was not involved in military action against ‘Islamic’ elements within Somalia. (Shocking. And I just realised that Ethiopia has Su-25s and Su-27s.)

– that thousands of Somali and Ethiopian troops were closing in on the last remaining stronghold of a militant ‘Islamic’ movement. Somalia’s prime minister called for dialogue, but warned that any resistance would be met with force. The military advance on Kismayo marks the latest move in a stunning turnaround for Somalia’s gover-min, which just weeks ago could barely control one town, its base of Baidoa, while the Council of ‘Islamic’ Courts controlled much of southern Somalia. (It’s the Horn of Africa’s version of Afghanistan and the Taliban all over again. In a few years, we will still hear about fighting in these places. After all, a regime propped up by an un-welcomed foreign gover-min never last long.)

– that Israel is willing to transfer $100 million to ‘Palestinians’ for humanitarian needs, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s spokeswoman said after Olmert met with Mahmoud Abbas. However, Miri Eisin said the money will be released only if a way is found to transfer the now-frozen funds directly to ‘Palestinians’ – without going through the Hamas-led gover-min. (And how are they going to prevent the money finding its way to Hamas, after that?)

– that Mahmoud Abbas declared Hamas’ militia in the Gaza Strip illegal, and the terrorist movement responded by defiantly announcing plans to double the size of the paramilitary unit. (What a joke. More likely it would be Hamas that would declare Abu Mazen illegal.)

– that a grainy cell phone video of Saddam Hussein’s execution triggered international criticism, with Britain’s deputy prime minister calling the leaked images ‘unacceptable’ and the Vatican decrying the footage as a ‘spectacle’ violating human rights. (Hitler probably made the right choice to kill himself before the Allies got to him.)

– that Warmonger Bush said that Saddam Hussein’s execution should have been carried out in a ‘more dignified way’, but the Iraqi lea-duh had received justice, which his victims had not. (Warmonger must be so happy now that ‘the man who tried to kill his dad’ isn’t around anymore.)

– that British finance minister Gordon Brown has condemned the way Saddam Hussein was hanged as ‘deplorable’ – in contrast to Tony B-liar, who has so far stayed silent on the execution. Brown, expected to take over as premier when B-liar steps down this year, said: “Now that we know the full picture of what happened, we can sum this up as a deplorable set of events.” (猫哭老鼠假慈悲。[Crocodile Tears.])

– that Tony B-liar’s office later said B-liar believed the manner in which Saddam was executed was ‘completely wrong’, adding to criticism aired by senior ministers and Blair’s likely successor Gordon Brown. (What’s the damned point? A lot more Iraqis were killed because of this unlawful invasion of a sovereign nation.)

– that new UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon ran into trouble on his first day of work over Saddam Hussein’s execution when he failed to state the UN’s opposition to the death penalty and said capital punishment should be a decision of individual countries. The UN has an official stance opposing capital punishment and Mr Ban’s predecessor, Mr Kofi Annan, reiterated it frequently. Mr Ban, however, took a different approach, never mentioning the UN ban on the death penalty in all its international tribunals, and the right to life enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948. (Humans who behaved like beasts has got no human rights. Once found guilty, they should be killed for the beasts that they are.)

– that Iran has urged the UN Security Council to condemn Israel’s ‘clandestine development and possession of nuclear weapons’ and to consider slapping sanctions if the Jewish state refuses to scrap its arsenal. In a letter to Qatar’s UN envoy Nasser Abdulaziz al-Nasser, the president of the Council for December, Iranian Ambassador Javad Zarif cited Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s apparent admission last week that Israel possesses nuclear weapons. (Iran has the least of rights to urge for anything when it blatantly seeks to possess nuclear weapons on its own. Sanctions should be imposed on Israel, all nuclear armed military powers for owning, and Iran for aspiring to own nukes aka the Cocoon of the Devil.)

– that opponents of Iran’s ultra-conservative president won nationwide elections for local councils, final results confirmed, an embarrassing outcome for the hard-line lea-duh that could force him to change his anti-Western tone and focus more on problems at home. Moderate conservatives critical of Mahmoud Mah-bouk Ahmadinejad won a majority of seats in last week’s elections, followed by reformists who were suppressed by hard-liners two years ago. (It remains to be seen just how one mullah differs from another.)

– that Iran’s top nuclear negotiator said during a visit to China that Teheran will continue to honour the principles of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Chinese state media reported. The pledge by Mr Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s national security council, was reported the same week that the Iranian gover-min said it was keeping open the option of quitting the treaty. (No one can trust Iran in view of Ahmadinejad’s current antics.)

– that Al-Qaeda’s deputy lea-duh said that any Muslim woman who wears the veil in Western countries is a supporter in what he described as a fight between Islam and ‘Zionist Crusaders’. Ayman al-Zawahri issued what amounted to an al-Qaeda New Year message to the world in an audio tape posted on the internet, calling on terrorist groups in Iraq to unite and urging ‘Palestinians’ not to co-operate with the ‘Palestinian’ Authority. (The so-called ‘Zionist Crusaders’ probably would fight for the right for your women to wear a veil as much as they would fight against the shitheads who forced them to wear it.)

– that a Taleban commander confirmed that Akhtar Mohammad Osmani, the rebels’ military chief in southern Afghanistan, was killed in a U.S. air strike. The terrorists initially denied reports of his death. (A good thing innocent civilians were nowhere nearby when this shithead got what he deserved.)

– that Pakistan said it will plant land mines and build a fence on parts of its long, rugged frontier with Afghanistan to meet criticism it does too little to stop Taliban and al-Qaida guerrillas from crossing the border. Relations have been souring between the neighbors, which are key U.S. allies in its war on terror groups. Afghan and NATO officials contend militants operate from sanctuaries in Pakistan, but the Islamabad gover-min insists it does all it can to stop them. (These Pakis are really doing all it can to stop them… verbally only.)

– that China needs a strong and credible military, the gover-min said in a key policy document, citing what it termed security challenges it cannot ignore, such as Taiwan’s independence drive, the U.S. – Japan alliance, and North Korea’s nukes. (And with that the Americans and Japanese will further justify its anti-China stance even more strongly.)

– that China has expressed ‘serious concern’ over reports that Japan and the U.S. might plan a coordinated response in the event of an armed conflict over Taiwan. “China expresses serious concern over this,” foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular briefing. “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China. Any arrangement or consideration should respect and abide by the principle of one China.” The ‘one China principle’ states that both the mainland and Taiwan belong to the same entity and that this entity is ruled from Beijing. (These bastards are just giving themselves an excuse to stick their noses into China’s own business.)

– that Shoichi Nakagawa Baka-gawa, a top policymaker has called for Japan to ‘correct’ its view on World War II sex slaves, saying the gover-min should reconsider its apology. Baka-gawa, policy chief for Shinzo Schizo Abe’s LDP, said in an interview with the conservative Sankei Shimbun newspaper that the gover-min should review a 1993 statement of regret. (No problem. You can do that after you send your daughter over to serve as a sex slave.)

– that Baka-gawa has been outspoken calling for Japan to consider the long-time taboo of going nuclear after North Korea tested its first atom bomb in October. He defended his remarks which drew a flurry of criticism. (They should just turn him into another ‘kami’ for Yasukuni.)

– that Schizo Abe has renewed his pledge to rewrite Japan’s post-World War II pacifist constitution in his New Year policy statement. “It’s been 60 years since the constitution went into effect,” Abe said in the statement. “It’s time for us to write a constitution that suits the new era,” said Schizo, the first Japanese PM born after World War II. (And perhaps it’s time to start new wars too.)

– that Japan is allowing researchers to study 11 royal tombs – the graves of ancient emperors, sealed centuries ago – in a move that may shed light on the myth-shrouded origins of Japan’s imperial family. The tombs to be opened up include one for the Emperor Nintoku, who is thought to have died in 399 A.D. The secretive Imperial Household Agency has until now refused to let the public, and even scholars, enter the old tombs, saying the spirits of past emperors should not be disturbed. (What maybe disturbed is probably not just the spirits but some myths that began propagating sometime after the 1860s.)

– that suggestions by some scholars that the imperial line originated elsewhere – for example, on the Korean peninsula – have been attacked as an insult to the Japanese people. (And imagine the humiliation if they found out some of their ‘historical facts’ were not only myths, but fiction.)

– that the South Korean gover-min is handing out gifts for office workers who promise not to visit brothels this holiday season. “If you promise yourself to make it a healthy night out at the end of the year, and if you recommend this to others, we are giving lots of prizes,” the Ministry of Gender Equality said in an Internet posting. (If the prizes are good, can always take them first and then do it after the end of the year.)

– that Wu Shu-chen did not appear in court as her trial on corruption charges continued, officials said, following her collapse last week at the start of proceedings. Wu asked to be excused from the hearing after doctors at the National Taiwan University Hospital where she has been treated advised her not to go, said a spokesman for the Taipei district court. The hospital has recommended that Wu seek additional treatment due to low blood pressure, which could make her again lose consciousness. (She didn’t seem all that weak previously. The courts should get a second opinion.)

– that Wu was discharged from hospital on New Year’s Eve, 16 days after collapsing at the start of her high-profile trial on corruption and forgery charges. Television images showed a nurse at National Taiwan University Hospital carrying her to a van, which took her home to the nearby presidential residence. Hospital spokesman Lin Ho-hsiung told reporters that “Wu’s health has stabilized…the special medical team recommended that she be discharged from hospital.” But he declined to say if Wu would be able to attend her next court hearing in January. (She will be back in the hospital again to avoid going to court to face the evidence of her crime.)

– that a major earthquake measuring magnitude 7.1 rocked Taiwan, rattling high-rise buildings and disrupting telephone services. Authorities said there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The US Geological Survey said the quake was 10 kilometres (six miles) deep, 57 miles from Kao-hsiung, Taiwan. The Taiwan central weather bureau reported there were two quakes. The country’s worst, a 7.6-magnitude quake, killed some 2,400 people in September 1999. (Will this earthquake herald the end of the rule of the DPP just like the 1999 one did for the KMT?)

– that Chen Shui-bian’s son-in-law Chao Chien-ming has been sentenced to six years in prison and fined 30 million Taiwan dollars for insider trading, according to a court spokesman. Chao, a doctor suspended by the National Taiwan University Hospital over the scandal, was convicted of making gains valued at 4.27 million Taiwan dollars through the illegal deal, said Liu Shou-song of the Taipei district court. (Someone should put another person in the same cell with him… with an umbrella.)

– that Chao’s father Chao Yu-chu drew a five-and-a-half year prison term in the same case and was given a further three years in jail for embezzling 11 million dollars in political donations to the president. He was also fined 30 million dollars, Liu said. (Finally there’s at least some semblance of justice done.)

– that Chen Shui-bian insisted in his New Year’s message that the island’s sovereignty lay in its own hands, rejecting Beijing’s ‘one-China’ policy’. (What else is new from this despicable lil’ shit?)

– that Hong Kong’s monetary authority chief has played down the prospect of pegging the city’s currency, currently linked to the US dollar, to China’s yuan, a report has said. Joseph Yam Chi-kwong said that the yuan would become an internationally significant currency like the US dollar and the euro, possibly leading other nations to peg their currencies to it. But he added the Hong Kong dollar would not follow suit until the yuan was fully convertible, according to the report (They might as well just do it before Hong Kong businesses are hurt by the exchange rate.)

– that the Philippines bowed to pressure from Washington over custody of a U.S. Marine convicted of raping a Filipina, transferring him to the American embassy in Manila. Officials and the U.S. embassy spokesman said Lance-Corporal Daniel Smith was taken from a jail in the capital. His case has become a headache for the gover-min, which agrees with Washington that under the terms of a Visiting Forces Agreement he should remain in U.S. custody while he appeals. (The VFA was never rectified by the American Congress. The Philippines gover-min has shown that it’s got no backbone.)

– that a row has broken out in the Philippines over the transfer of a U.S. marine convicted of rape into U.S. custody, but Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said the move was aimed at preserving bilateral ties. Critics say the transfer of Lance-Corporal Daniel Smith from a Manila jail to the custody of the U.S. embassy amounted to contempt of court since no tribunal had granted the required permission. (If it wasn’t for the fact that there is no choice yet offered for replacing Arroyo, the Filipinos would have removed her by popular uprising a long time ago.)

– that Philippine journalists who have been the target of a barrage of libel suits by the husband of Gloria Arroyo are fighting back. All members of the media who have been sued by Jose Miguel Arroyo filed a $400,000 class-action suit late last week. They alleged that he violated the freedom of the press and expression. (Has he got something to hide that he didn’t want the press to write about?)

– that families of Australian victims of the 2002 Bali bomb blast expressed outrage and disgust at an Indonesian decision to overturn the conviction of a terrorist Muslim ‘cleric’ linked to the plot. John Howard said he was upset for the families of the 88 Australians who died in the explosions, but said Canberra could not change the ruling by a judge that cleared firebrand ‘cleric’ Abu Bakar Bashir Ba-shit. (The Indonesians never did have the political nor the moral courage to deal with what is wrong in their country.)

– that George Soros was late for a meeting last week with Mama-thir because he could not find a tie to wear, according to daughter Marina Mama-thir. (Well, maybe it was because of some cheese-pie he was having that he’s late…)

– that homosexuals should not govern mostly Muslim Malaysia, Mama-thir Mohamad said in a court filing, challenging a lawsuit by his former deputy, Anwar, who was sacked amid allegations of sodomy. “I strongly believe we cannot have a prime minister who is homosexual,” Mama-thir said in the 48-page statement. “Malaysia is officially an Islamic country.” (Had this not been a under-handed attempt to discredit Anwar, I would have clapped for Mama-thir.)

– that Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Mohamad Hasan urged Nilai Memorial Park, a privately owned cemetery, to demolish a monument commemorating those who fought against the Japanese invasion during the WWII. The controversy began when Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin said monuments for ‘communists’ were erected in Sarawak and Nilai. (They would probably believed that had the Chinese not fought the Japanese, the Japanese would have given them a paradise as long as they exclaim “Dai Nihon Teikoku Banzai!” and bow to the Japanese Emperor and his murderous army.)

– that ‘Education Mini$ter’ Hishamuddin Hussein – 3rd in line to the post of PM – once threatened the non-Malays not to question the social contract, ketuanan Melayu or ‘Malay rights’, by waving a kris at the dUMNO AGM in 2005. (Some education. Had he done that outside the dUMNO AGM, someone might have put a bullet in between his eyes.)

– that a high court judge in KL sent prominent political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda to jail to await trial for the sensational murder of a Mongolian model, after denying him bail. Judge Datuk K.N. Segara rejected an oral plea for an extension of Abdul Razak’s bail, but said he would hear a formal application on Jan 19. (This is even worse than what Took Leng How did to Huang Na. He should be sentenced to die in the same way the model was killed.)

Singapore This Week

– that when a group of university students were shown photographs of some lea-duhs who have helped shape modern Singapore, none of them could identify them. Recounting this, Ambassador-at-large Professor Tommy Koh said at a gathering of academics and diplomats that more should be done to perpetuate the social memories of Singapore’s former lea-duhs, a number of whom have passed on. Prof Koh was speaking at the launch of a book to commemorate the life and work of the country’s first foreign minister, Mr S Rajaratnam, who died earlier this year. (Why stop at renaming roads and buildings to that effect? Rename islands too. And we hereby rename Singapore as… Lee Kuan Yew Island.)

– that more married women with at least an upper secondary school education entered the Singapore labour force and brought home a bigger chunk of the bacon last year, as compared to 2000. But such economic participation to meet Singapore’s increasing manpower demands has come at the expense of the fertility rate, as families with both spouses working have fewer children than their sole-career counterparts. (It is also the general attitude of women who earns more money than the husband to look down on them.)

– that Lim Swee Say Shee Shee has given Singapore workers this assurance in the event that CPF rates go up this year: your total pay package will also increase. But this does not mean workers will get their normal pay increment in full, plus the higher CPF contribution employers may have to pay. What will probably happen is some employers will moderate the pay increase, said Mr Lim in his first interview since becoming NTUC secretary-general on Jan 1. (What’s the point? I would be happier if CPF stays the same and the pay increment isn’t being meddled with by the NTUC so I get more take home pay to deal with the impending GST increase.)

– that with the unions now calling for the rate to be restored and the workers feel that it’s payback time, but employers – particularly those from the SMEs – are worried about their bottomline. (And well, I am a worker and I don’t feel it’s payback time. CPF increase only helps to put money into gover-min pockets and I don’t get to see that money unless I survive long enough til my retirement. And God knows what the age of retirement will be by then?!)

– that companies want a longer time frame to prepare for it. Otherwise, they would be forced to take the easy way out by cutting back on take-home pay and bonuses. While Lim Boon Bway Heng has assured employers that the rise would not exceed 3%, ApexPal CEO Douglas Foo said that SMEs would find it difficult to cope with even 1% or 2% hike. (It’s technically, a restoration, Douglas Fool. Not that I agree with it anyway.)

– that employers call on the gover-min to allow them more flexibility to reward their employees. (And you mean we can trust you bastards to do that and not reward yourselves first?)

– that 2 days after parts of Singapore were deluged by floods, people across the island abruptly found themselves without electricity for nearly an hour. As the power went out, the shutdown left a trail of people affected in its wake. Work ground to a halt for some as power went out in office buildings. Gridlocks ensued as traffic lights stopped blinking at some junctions, while a few ERP gantries shut down. (Nice. It should have shorted out the gantries and the entirety of this infernal system.)

– that according to a statement from Senoko Power Limited, the power failure came about as gas supplies from Petronas in Malaysia to the station were interrupted, resulting in two generators being unable to generate electricity. This was the first time such an incident has occurred since the gas supply’s inception in 1992. (And what can they do about that? Sue Petronas?)

– that while surfing online job portals at home recently, IT manager N Prasannakumar was flabbergasted when he came across one particular requirement in an advertisement. It read: Non-Indians preferred.The advertisement, posted by service provider Frontline Technologies on Dec 21, aimed to fill an opening for a project manager. Irked, Prasannakumar, a 39-year-old Singapore PR, wrote to Today urging companies to adopt an ‘equal opportunity’ stance without bias towards any nationality or race. (Well, sometimes it might not be a case of discrimination. The HR and the staff in Frontline maybe able to tell you more on the preference or prejudice, depending on the point of view.)

– that Jopca Solutions offered a software which costs $200 to forward just incoming messages and double that if you want outgoing messages as well. The difficulty is in sneaking the targetted phone out for the company to install the software. Also, the software is compatible with only certain models of mobile phones like the Nokia N70 and 6000 series phones. (Anyone who finds his / her spouse installing this on their phones should divorce that person if he is not guilty of cheating on them. It is completely offensive to invade another person’s privacy.)

– that lawyer Adrian Tan, director at Drew & Napier said, “Anyone using or selling the software can be found guilty under the Telecommunications Act for the fraudulent retention of messages.” Mr Bryan Tan, director of Keystone Law Corporation, said software users are also in breach of the Computer Misuse Act for installing software without the owner’s permission. If found guilty, users can be fined up to $10,000 or jailed up to three years, or both. The only instances where using the software is legal is when the owner of a targeted mobile phone consents to the tapping or when parents use it to check on their children who are not yet legally adults, said lawyers. Tapping your spouse’s or employee’s phone is not justified even if the phone is bought and registered under your name. (Should even give the jokers who spied on their spouse and employees a few stroke of rottan so they will learn their lesson.)

– that PI Mr Dennis Lee, owner of Covert Acquisition, who uses similar software in the course of his work, said the system is not just for catching cheating spouses. Mr Lee said he handled a case where a father was wondering where his son had obtained money to buy branded goods. After he installed the program, he found that the son was a runner for a bookie in Geylang and put a stop to it. Mr Lee said, “I stand by that particular case because it saved the son from trouble.” (At least there’s some meaning to the existence of this technology.)

– that Geylang Polyclinic has the longest waiting time among its peers, while in Sengkang, you can probably zip in out and out of its polyclinic in under an hour. In a detailed report on 18 polyclinics, the MOH found that it takes about 10 minutes to get registered at most clinics, while consultation time takes between 20 and 40 minutes. (Well, maybe the idea is to make the waiting time so unbearable you go to private clinics. Just joking…)

– that off-peak car (OPC) owners driving into Johor will have to comply with the same rules as in Singapore, or risk being fined and having their cars seized. Motorists spotted on Johor roads outside of the prescribed hours without the necessary day-permit will be fined RM300 and have their cars towed away. Under Singapore’s law, OPCs, identified by their red number plates, can be driven only from 7pm to 7am on weekdays and from 3pm on Saturdays. They may be used the whole day on Sundays and public holidays. Owners who drive outside of the prescribed hours must purchase and display a supplementary licence that costs $20 a day. According to Johor’s Road Transport Department [Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan Johor, or JPJ], the same rules have always applied to Singapore OPCs in Johor, except that they were not strictly enforced in the past. This is going to change, as the Johor authorities will start clamping down on errant OPC drivers from now on. (Well done. They have finally learn from Singapore how to be lawfully evil already.)

– that LTA said that Singapore’s laws governing the OPC scheme and the displaying of day-licences only apply to OPCs when they are driven on Singapore roads. But she added: “Outside Singapore, owners and drivers of Singapore-registered vehicles should be aware of and comply with the vehicle and road traffic laws of the country that they are in.” (That’s such a fine example of how to be politically correct.)

– that off-peak cars from Singapore can be driven in JB during peak hours, said Malaysia’s High Commissioner to Singapore, Datuk N. Parameswaran. Asked about reports of a new rule banning these cars from JB roads during peak hours, he said there was ‘no such thing’. Any Singapore-registered car with adequate insurance coverage can enter JB without restriction, he added. (They must have decided that such un-neighborly actions are at this moment unnecessary.)

– that a Singaporean man brutally hacked to death in Johor Baru by a gang of masked men was on Singapore’s wanted list – as a suspect in the murder of a teenager who died after severe beating at Chinatown Shopping Centre four years ago. Teo Guan Kah, 28, fled Singapore soon after the February 2003 attack. He has been living in Malaysia since. He also assumed a fake identity complete with a different name, age and false passport. (Poetic justice has finally caught up with him.)

– that the recent heavy rains triggered landslides that threatened some homes and flooded plant nurseries along Thomson Road, but other areas prone to flooding in the past were unscathed. And even though the Dec19 deluge was the third highest daily rainfall in Singapore in 75 years, only a few areas were flooded. And that, says Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, shows ‘that the drainage system we have put in place has worked’. (Except for Thomson Road, that is. Makes me wonder if he wouldn’t scream had the drains around his house worked except for one which made the water enter his house.)

– that last year, ComfortDelGro took 17 million bookings, a 20 per cent rise on 2005. Even July’s fare hike it seems, has not persuaded more people from saving up to $4 by flagging a taxi on the road. (What it would really indicate is that the July fare hike has simply exacerbated the problem whereby commuters are unable to get a cab by flagging it down.)

– that the LTA has said it will do more to address the enduring problem of commuters not being able to get a taxi during peak hours and in the evenings. (Like how? By sticking its head in the ground and believe that more and higher surcharges will ease the problem?)

Trivial, Jokes and Thoughts from Discussions

– that 2 sociology professors, Stephen J McNamee and Robert K Miller Jr, recently co-authored a book titled The Meritocracy Myth. The book identifies various factors, aptly referred to as ‘social gravity’, which tend to prevent advancement and keep people in the places they already occupy, regardless of their talent. Social gravity includes the distorting effects of inheritance causing unequal starting points in the race to get ahead, the effects of who you know and ‘fitting in’, simple luck, unequal access to educational opportunities, declining prospects for self-employment in business, and discrimination on the bases of race, sex, age, sexual orientation, physical disability, region, religion and physical appearance. (Social gravity in Singapore = Tali-PAP and discrimination is based on which political party you joined.)

– that with so many distorting factors, the Singapore model of meritocracy must be actively engineered to counter the forces of social gravity, to better approximate a system where those who are truly the most capable are identified. Otherwise, the elite is likely to ossify and perpetuate itself – not because of superior ability, but because of access to resources and opportunity. One area with room for change may be the award of scholarships. (Thanks to the likes of Wee Shit Min. In fact, what’s the damned point of giving scholarships to children of the rich and those in power? The state can gladly save some resources by denying it to these freaking freeloaders who clearly can afford an education many times over. After all, even Khaw Boon Wan suggest that those who can afford it should be given less subsidies.)

– that another area to look into is the mentality of branding. For example, there is a perception that a non-scholar in the civil service can only expect to progress so quickly in his career whilst a scholar is on a different track. A truly meritocratic system does not cease to assess upon graduation; it is constantly vigilant to identify those who are capable and, ideally, blind to their branding. (Like real. Even in the SAF, scholars make high ranking officers faster, and it does not necessarily have anything to do with merits.)

– that important attributes of humanity such as passion, empathy and compassion should also take their place in a meritocracy, instead of the single track of brilliance in study and work. That will also send the right message to the youth. Finally, it should also be acknowledged that rewards cannot be reserved only for those who are of merit. In the final analysis, the society, including its elite, exists for the better good of every one of its members, great and small. Even those who are admittedly of little merit have this – they are a part of society and deserve the same respect as does any human being. Meritocracy is just a social tool – it cannot eclipse humanity. (Singapore is a pseudo-socialist state that is completely devoid of humanity. There can be no greater betrayal to the ideal of Promethean humanism found in socialism than in Singapore.)

– that it costs up to US$500,000 to lay a single kilometre of submarine fibre-optic cables, and cable repair ships charge about US$25,000 a day. (The cost of Internet connectivity finally comes to light.)

– that Sony has been convicted of misleading the French public and told to pay damages to a consumer watchdog for selling downloadable songs that only run on its own music players. France’s Union Federale des Consommateurs (UFC) took Sony’s French and British subsidiaries to court in February 2005 over the music download site Sony Connect. The lawsuit also targets Apple, maker of the popular iPod, whose case is expected to reach the courts soon. Music files downloaded on the Sony Connect website are ‘locked’ with what is known as digital rights management [DRM] software, which means they only run on Sony’s own players. (Such detestable anti-competition practices in the name of protecting copyrights and intellectual property has to be punished.)

– that the iPod is perhaps the most over-rated piece of shit that exists. For e.g. the iPod’s very specific video formats – you need to download movies either directly from the iTunes store or using a direct-to-iPod-format solution. (Well, this statement probably isn’t really justified but it’s deliberately said to piss off all you Jobs-worshipping iDiots. Above which, the anti-competition practice of making only videos and music available on iTunes playable on the iPod only is sooooo Microsoft. You Jobs-worshipping fags actually can swallow that and call it… protecting intellectual property but if Microsoft has done it you would have screamed bloody murder.)

– that a Brazilian court has ordered the YouTube website blocked for failing to withdraw a compromising video of supermodel Adriana Cicarelli on a beach in Spain, a local newspaper reported. The ex-wife of Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo was filmed by a paparazzi at a beach in Cadiz smooching, writhing and having sex among the waves with another Brazilian, Renato Malzoni. The couple sued Globo Organisations, which runs several websites, IG and YouTube for posting the video. While Globo and IG withdrew the video, the popular video website YouTube did not. (Get a room the next time, Adriana.)

– that a few years ago, a gover-min that did not agree to IMF conditions would find itself denied credit not only from the Fund but from the much larger World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, G-7 gover-mins and even the private sector. This was the major instrument of Washington’s influence in the region, and helped bring higher interest rates, tighter budgets, privatization, indiscriminate liberalization of international trade and capital flows and the abandonment of development strategies. (No wonder the likes of Chavez and a whole bunch of leftist gover-mins are mad with the U.S.)

– that Irish rock star and rights campaigner Bono has been awarded an honorary British knighthood. “Her Majesty The Queen has appointed Bono to be an honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in recognition of his services to the music industry and for his humanitarian work,” the embassy in Dublin said. However, bestowal of an honorary award does not confer the title, Sir, on the holder. (And U2 fans will still worship him like a god.)

– that Holocaust-denier David Irving has vowed to fight back against ‘worldwide attempts’ to silence him and to renew debates about the Nazi genocide and WWII. A day after his release from jail, the British historian called for a boycott of Austrian and German historians until legislation that led to his imprisonment is repealed. Irving repeated the assertion that led to his conviction in an Austrian court last year, namely that Adolf Hitler was not party to the Nazi genocide of European Jewry and that the number of those killed was exaggerated. (This shameless liar deserved whatever he has gotten and the news shouldn’t even bother to report any news about him.)

– that Flora, a pregnant Komodo dragon living in a British zoo, is expecting eight babies in what scientists said could be a Christmas virgin birth. Flora has never mated, or even mixed, with a male dragon, and fertilized all the eggs herself, a process culminating in parthenogenesis, or virgin birth. Other lizards do this, but scientists only recently found that Komodo dragons do too. (Nature never cease to amaze us.)

– that European bears have bad news for us. They don’t hibernate any more. Scientists in Spain report bears are now staying awake all winter long. Research indicates the warmer winters and lighter snow means bears in the Cantabrian Mountains now stay awake all winter, and find plenty to eat. Scientists say this is just one more effect of global warming. (The surprises we get for fxxking up our environment is amazing. And this is just a minor one.)

– that soldiers trying to seize control of one Mexico’s top drug-producing regions found the countryside teeming with a new hybrid marijuana plant that can be cultivated year-round and cannot be killed with herbicides. The plants’ roots survive if they are doused with herbicide, said army Gen. Manuel Garcia. The new plants, known as ‘Colombians’, mature in about two months and can be planted at any time of year, meaning authorities will no longer be able to time raids to coincide with twice-yearly harvests. (Time to just napalm the damned things.)

– that the University of Virginia study showed a majority of older mice died while being subjected to the equivalent of a Washington to Paris flight once a week for eight weeks, The Washington Post reported. More intense forms of jet lag sped up the death rate in the elderly rodents, the study found. (Well, does it make the mice more horny too? It is rumoured that air-stewardess become sex crazed from too much flying.)

– that snakes could sense an earthquake 120 km away, three to five days before it happens. “When an earthquake is about to occur, snakes will move out of their nests, even in the cold of winter,” Mr Jiang Weisong, director of the earthquake bureau in Nanning, southern China, said. “If the earthquake is a big one, the snakes will even smash into walls while trying to escape.” (The things animals can teach us or warn us about…)