The World This Week

– that two U.S. doctors have suggested the sale of organs such as kidneys should be legalised to meet the rising demand. They said bids to increase the donor pool were failing, and a black market in organ sales was booming. (Comical tragedy – Man sold one kidney only to discover that remaining one failed.)

– that at least when it comes to such mishaps as the Sony BMG Music Entertainment fiasco, the best way to deal with rootkits is to outlaw them, an official from the Department of Homeland Security suggested. (Thou shall not put on my PC, software which hides itself and prevents itself from being removed.)

– that reminiscent of 1980s Japan-bashing, Washington is revving up criticism of China to rectify a burgeoning trade deficit, but its options are limited and any retaliatory actions could backfire, analysts say. To appease constituents facing job losses in America’s industrial heartlands, U.S. lawmakers have proposed legislation to downgrade trade relations with China and impose punitive tariffs on Chinese goods flooding the U.S. (But the problem isn’t really just China, isn’t it? With China as final assembly point for many products for companies from Korea, Japan etc, the trade deficit with China has other beneficiaries.)

– that glorification of terrorism will become a crime in Britain now that parliament has backed Tony B-liar’s version of a key part of a new anti-terror law prompted by the July bombings in London. Banning the glorification of terrorism has been a key plank of Mr B-liar’s effort to give police and prosecutors tougher tools to confront terrorism in the wake of the July 7, 2005, attacks on three London subway trains and a double-decker bus. B-liar has taken the issue of glorification so seriously that he used his speech at the UN General Assembly last September to appeal to other nations to outlaw those who praise or celebrate acts of terrorism. (Well, define ‘terrorism’ in the British context.)

– that Dresdner Bank controlled a company which had a hand in building Nazi death camps, funded the dreaded SS and was closely associated with the economic infrastructure of the Third Reich. Like other German corporates who were involved in this terrible period in the country’s history, it is determined to acknowledge responsibility and, where it can, make amends. In recent years, for example, Dresdner has been raising money to rebuild the Church of Our Lady, destroyed by Allied bombing attacks on Dresden in 1945. Wulf Meier, a bank board member, said that “the results of this research confront us with historical facts, which present the history of our bank in the Nazi era in an extremely critical light. We accept these truths, even if they are painful. The bank accepts moral responsibility for its behaviour.” (Which is what makes the Germans morally superior to the despicable Japanese.)

– that French President Jacques Chirac has ordered the asbestos-lined warship Clemenceau to return to French waters after a ruling by the highest court. The court had demanded an end to the transfer of the decommissioned warship to a breaking yard in India after complaints from environmentalists. (That’s a pleasant surprise, provided they didn’t just recall the ship because they have something to hide.)

– that Silvio Berlusconi incurred the wrath of the Vatican after comparing himself to Jesus Christ. Italy’s outspoken multi- millionaire prime minister has caused a storm with the comments, which came on the first day of official campaigning for April’s general election. Speaking at a party rally in the Adriatic port city of Ancona, Mr Berlusconi said: “I am the Jesus Christ of politics. I am a patient victim, I put up with everyone, I sacrifice myself for everyone.” (Jesus Christ also had to die for a greater purpose. And then he rose from the dead. Try dying first, for a purpose greater than the salvation of mankind, Berlusconi, before you even try and compare yourself to Jesus Christ.)

– that Kate Jamieson, a gambler accused of defrauding the Bendigo Bank of more than $7 million, claims Melbourne’s Crown Casino enticed her with limousine rides to the Melbourne Cup and other luxury freebies. “I started to gamble heavily because of the things I could get or what they would give me, for example free meals, accommodation, trips to the tennis, football, Grand Prix (and) Melbourne Cup, often travelling there by limousine,” she said. “I was totally seduced by this because it was a side of life I had never seen before.” (She might as well say the Devil made her do it.)

– that Israel’s compulsory military service is to be gradually reduced to two years from the current three years in a move that would save millions of pounds a year, defence minister Shaul Mofaz said. The reduction would begin next year. (Did they expect Sharon’s wall to protect them forever?)

– that Israel’s next parliament must determine the country’s permanent borders, said acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Ane he set a four-year time frame for drawing the line between Israel and the West Bank. Olmert was speaking at a special session marking the anniversary of the founding of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. He did not say how the borders would be drawn, leaving open the option of unilateral Israeli action. (Did they pick this idea up from Caesar Hadrian.)

– that Mahmud Abbas told the new Hamas-dominated parliament that he would continue working towards a negotiated Middle East peace agreement while urging the international community and Israel not to ‘punish’ voters for electing the terrorists. In his speech at the Ramallah-based parliament’s inauguration, Abbas warned the new intake of deputies that there was no military solution to the conflict with Israel – a state whose right to exist Hamas refuses to recognise. (* sigh * There is no point beating up a people so beaten that the only thing they have to lose is their lives.)

– that a dozen former Communist Party officials and senior scholars, including a one-time secretary to late chairman Mao Zedong, a party propaganda chief and the retired bosses of some of the country’s most powerful newspapers, have denounced the recent closing of a prominent news journal, helping to fuel a growing backlash against censorship. A public letter issued by party elders, dated Feb 2 but circulated to journalists in Beijing, appeared to add momentum to a campaign by a few outspoken editors against micro-management, personnel shuffles, and an ever-expanding blacklist of banned topics imposed on China’s newspapers, magazines, TV stations and websites by the party’s secretive Propaganda Department. (There is no reason to control the papers when it isn’t spewing lies or sensational news but frank opinion about faults in the party.)

– that China has decided to allow the re-opening of an investigative newspaper shut down last month, its editor has said. The Bingdian (Freezing Point) will hit news stands on 1 March, Li Datong said. But he said Communist Party officials in charge of the weekly would not allow him and his deputy to work there. (Thought control by controlling who gets to write is far ‘better’ than thought control through access denial.)

– that Japan’s most powerful media baron, stinging in his criticism of Junk-ichiro Konkz-umi’s visits to the Yasukuni war shrine, says the Japanese lea-duh’s move stems from ignorance. Konkz-umi worships at a shrine that glorifies militarism, said Mr Tsuneo Watanabe, chairman of the Yomiuri Shimbun group, who equates war criminal Hideki Tojo with Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. “This person Konkz-umi doesn’t know history or philosophy, doesn’t study, doesn’t have any culture,” Mr Watanabe said in one of several interviews in which he questioned the rising nationalism he had previously cultivated in the pages of his main newspaper, the Yomiuri Shimbun. The daily, with a circulation of 14 million, is the world’s largest. (That would be what Konkz-umi wants us to believe so we under-estimate him.)

– that a Japanese consular official who committed suicide in Shanghai was blackmailed by Chinese intelligence agents who set him up with a woman to obtain classified information, Taro Aso Arsehole said. “They approached him, offering to arrange a sexy woman for him. Then he was blackmailed to give away secret codes for classified information. It is clear from a suicide note he left.” Arsehole said the Japanese official killed himself in May 2004 after having an affair with the woman. The Foreign Ministry said there was no sign that the official leaked information. (Well, show me what researches you were doing on every whale you guys were killing, then I’ll start to believe Japan.)

– that the KMT has dropped a bombshell on Taiwan’s political arena. In an advertisement in the pro-independence Liberty Times, the party said independence is an option for Taiwan’s future – if the majority of Taiwanese accept the idea. The statement is a departure from KMT’s traditional stance, which used to reject Taiwan independence. (When the KMT embraces all Taiwanese views, then what need is there for the incompetent DPP as an alternative? Ma Ying-jeou clearly intends to make the DPP obsolete.)

– that the KMT’s listing of independence as one of many possible options for Taiwan has drawn a reaction from Beijing. The party confirmed that a high-level Chinese official had asked the KMT to clarify whether there was a change in its position, which is eventual unification with China. Beijing did not express displeasure after it was assured that the policy remains unchanged, said Mr Chang Jung-kung, KMT’s mainland affairs director. (It is still one of the options for the Taiwanese people, if they decide to test if China’s a sick cat or a real tiger.)

– that more people in Taiwan blame their President for the rising political tension between the island and China than they do his Chinese counterpart, according to a poll released. Among 806 respondents, 41.8% said Chen Shui-bian hurt cross-strait relations more with his words and deeds, while only 14.3% blamed Hu Jintao for the tensions, according to the poll conducted on by cable station ERA Television. (There would be all manners of peace as long as Chen keeps his mouth shut.)

– that Ma Ying-yeou has renewed his appeal for the island to maintain the status quo in its relations with rival China after recent advertisements by his party sparked concern from Beijing. “The status quo (across the Taiwan Strait) should be sustained as it is in the greatest interests of Taiwan,” Ma, chairman of the KMT, told reporters upon his return from Europe. (China can probably even accept this until 2047. Hahaha…)

– that Indonesia is set on beefing up its presence on its outermost islands to prevent territorial disputes with neighbouring countries. A team of 17 ministries and gover-min bodies is working on a detailed work plan to manage and develop over 92 small islands on the fringes of its territory this year. The initiative was first spelt out in a presidential decree signed on Dec 29. The 92 islands, each of which is less than 2,000sq km in size, are dotted along the sea border separating Indonesia and Singapore, Malaysia, East Timor, the Philippines, Vietnam, Australia and India. (Better do it before a particular neighbour decide that the last few rocks they took previously wasn’t enough.)

– that Mama-thir has defended Iran’s right to produce electricity under its nuclear programme. Mama-thir, in Cuba for a globalisation conference, sided with leftist Latin American lea-duhs sympathetic towards Iran in the international dispute. “Many countries use nuclear power in order to generate electricity, and I don’t see why Iran cannot use the same source of energy for producing electricity for their own country,” Mama-thir told journalists. (Say, if I said I am going to wipe your country off the face of this Earth, and then I start building reactors with the potential to build the weapons necessary to carry out my threat, will you trust me, Mama?)

Singapore This Week

– that Lim Boon Heng Bodok, who led his GRC to a resounding 79.8% victory in the last general election is raring for another battle at the polls. He called on the opposition to contest in Jurong GRC, saying the WP and SDA should put up a fight if the SDP failed to field a team of candidates in the coming general election. Speaking to about 250 people at a Chinese New Year dinner at Jurong Green Community Club, Mr Lim hoped that residents would be given a chance to ‘cast their verdict on the work of their MPs’. (Ask the PM to turn the GRC back into a SMC and you will get your chance.)

– that Lao Lee threw a suggestion to opposition MPs Low Thia Khiang in Hougang and Chiam See Tong in Potong Pasir: They could contest in GRCs if they could now find four or five candidates to form a team as good as the PAP’s. (And if the entire team screwed up, we will return to the ‘joyous’ days of one party rule. Thanks, but no thanks.)

– that Singapore has disputed a recent Malaysian newspaper report which said the Causeway is a source of pollution in the Johor Straits. Singapore’s High Commission to Malaysia has written to the newspaper editor on the matter. Malaysia’s New Straits Times quoted an expert on water quality as saying ‘the only way out now is to demolish the Causeway and release the water’. The expert claimed a report had found conclusive evidence that discharge from the Kranji sewage and Senoko plants had contributed to the deterioration of water quality in the Strait. (Interesting how everytime disputes arise when our elections are near.)

– that those under 17 spotted loitering in void decks, parks and other public places after 11pm may be stopped by cops, who will talk to them and may even write to their parents. The police want them off the streets late at night for their own safety and to curb rising youth crime. A police spokesman said last night: “As an added service to parents, officers will assess the need to inform them through mail of their child’s whereabouts.” (Is that a not so subtle hint to some parents that they aren’t doing their jobs properly?)

– that a phone is being pinched, snatched or forced from its owner every two hours. Criminals’ obsession with slick and expensive phones – termed the ‘crime of our times’ by social workers – has reached a point where thugs do not even bother asking for the wallets of those they are robbing. What is also fuelling the surge in cellphone thefts is the insatiable market for cheap second-hand phones, which makes the sale of stolen property very lucrative. (And when will they do the sensible thing to block IMEI numbers?)

– that second-hand phone dealers are required by law to check the identity cards of those who want to sell phones. They have to keep records of the phone’s particulars, the date of purchase and the name and contact details of the seller. If they do not, they can be fined $100. If they repeatedly fail to keep proper records, the shop owner can be jailed for up to six months and have his licence suspended. (Maybe they need to have a few high profile sentencing of mobile phone thieves as a deterrent effect.)

– that the tighter checks do not always mean second-hand phone shops turn away sellers who do not want to leave their name or contact details. Out of 40 shops which The Sunday Times team visited, at least eight were willing to discuss under-the-table deals outside their premises. Said one of them, who gave his name as Andy: “We will take your phone and sell it in Malaysia or Batam for you.” (It’s high time phones come with some kind of self-destruct timer, whereby the owner needs to reset every now and then with a base station at home.)

– that the strict watch on second-hand phone shops has forced thieves to turn to online auction sites like Yahoo and eBay as their marketplace. A search through both these sites show at least 300 sellers in Singapore offering mobile phones with ‘no accessories or charger included’. (IDA and the Telcos should stop playing taichi.)

– that a civil servant sewer serpent was charged over hoax e-mails about terrorist attacks. Neo Khoon Sing, 36, an NEA senior manager was charged with e-mailing false alarms to gover-min feedback websites about possible terrorist and bomb attacks. (Just like an ancient Chinese King playing around with smoke signals to fool his own vassals, such hoaxes is not funny.)

– that some 700,000 Singapore men who are serving National Service and former NSmen who have completed their duty received a special cash ‘salute’ to recognise their contributions and sacrifice. They will receive cash payouts of between $100 and $400. Old soldiers will benefit the most from the one-time ’40th Anniversary NS Bonus’ announced. They will each receive $400 on May 1. That same day, men in full-time NS and those in Operationally Ready NS units who have not finished their NS training cycles will receive $100. Though their cash bonus is smaller than that of NSmen who have finished their training cycles, those still serving NS will be eligible for a permanent award worth $300 once their NS liabilities end. (And those who failed to serve NS should be made to pay to defray some of the cost.)

Trivial, Jokes and Thoughts from Discussions

– that chimpanzees have been shown not to come to the aid of others, even when it would pose no cost to themselves. (That’s why they are still ‘monkeys’. And there’s a lot of these in human skin.)