Away from April 6 – 12th. There will be no updates during this period.

The World This Week

– that plans to create an internet domain specifically for pornographic websites have been rejected. The proposal for the .xxx domain was voted out by the overseer of the net’s addressing system, seven years after the ideas was first put forward. (That’s odd. It’s a good idea to have all ‘pR0n’ registered under one domain. Makes life easier for filtering such content from minors.)

– that in his first weeks as defense secretary, Robert Gates repeatedly argued that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had become so tainted abroad that legal proceedings at the U.S. base would be viewed as illegitimate, according to senior administration officials. He told Warmonger Bush and others that it should be shut as quickly as possible. Gates’s appeal was an effort to turn Bush’s publicly stated desire to close Guantanamo into a specific plan for action, the officials said. (But they should put Dick-head Cheney and Donald Rumsfool in there first.)

– that Warmonger Bush has apologised for the sub-standard living conditions for wounded U.S. troops at the Walter Reed Medical Center. During a visit to the flagship military hospital, Warmonger promised the problem would be fixed. “It is not right to have someone volunteer to wear the uniform and not get the best possible care,” he said. (He forgot one thing. Blame Rumsfool.)

– that Warmonger Bush offered to give Moscow a detailed explanation of his plans for an anti-missile shield in Europe, the Kremlin said, as Washington tried to cool Russian anger over the scheme. Warmonger and Vladimir Putin, discussed the planned shield in a telephone conversation on the day the Czech prime minister said he was opening talks with the U.S. on hosting part of the missile defence system. (Is Warmonger offering some oil from Iraq to Putin for free?)

– that a Saudi prince accused of using his diplomatic immunity to smuggle two tonnes of cocaine worth over €15.5 million into France is due to go on trial in his absence in Paris, amid allegations that French authorities deliberately bungled the investigation to avoid offending the rulers of the wealthy and powerful Arab kingdom. Nayef Bin Fawaz al-Shaalan, 53, a grandson of Saudi Arabia’s founding monarch, Abdulaziz, is one of ten people facing charges relating to a shipment that allegedly arrived on his Bermudas-registered private Boeing 727 at a Paris airport in 1999. (2 tonnes?! 20g is death sentence in Singapore. He would have to die 100,000 times here. Makes one wonder how many barrels of oil the French gets for free to botch the investigation.)

– that a German judge has stirred a storm of protest here by citing the Koran in turning down a German Muslim wife’s request for a fast-track divorce on the ground that her husband beat her. In a remarkable ruling that underlines the tension between Muslim customs and European laws, the judge, Christa Datz-Winter, said the couple came from a Moroccan cultural milieu in which it is common for husbands to beat their wives. The Koran, she wrote, sanctions such physical abuse. (If Christa Datz-Winter thought that was funny, no one is laughing.)

– that a Dutch court has added a new item to the list of activities eligible for tax relief – drug running. Judges of Arnhem ruled a fisherman convicted of smuggling drugs could deduct the cost of buying and shipping hashish from his income on his tax return. (Is there anything that is actually illegal in Holland?)

– that sources in the ‘Palestinian’ Authority say that any Israeli attempt to rescue kidnapped IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit would lead to his death. According to the sources, cited by Arutz Sheva’s Hagai Huberman, Shalit is being held in a booby-trapped building. The PA sources further asserted that senior Fatah and Hamas terrorist leaders, as well as senior security officials from Egypt and Israel, know many details about the location where Shalit is being held. However, the PA sources added, the relevant security forces believe that an attempt to rescue him is likely to lead to his death. (Ariel Sharon would have mounted a rescue no matter the outcome.)

– that new ‘Palestinian’ textbooks teach 12th graders in the ‘Palestinian’ Authority that hating and working to destroy Israel is a religious duty, according to a new report published by ‘Palestinian’ Media Watch [PMW] that will be presented to the Knesset Education Committee. The report quotes the textbook titled ‘Arabic Language, Analysis, Literature and Criticism’, in which the authors write of the 1948 war: ‘Palestine’s war ended with a catastrophe that is unprecedented in history, when the Zionist gangs stole ‘Palestine’ and expelled its people from their cities, their villages, their lands and their houses, and established the State of Israel.‘ (Some people have lived a lie all their lives, and expect others to live on with it when they die.)

– that Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels conducted a two plane daring night-time bombing mission on a key air force base beside Sri Lanka’s only international airport. They managed to bring them home again before the air force’s superior warplanes could shoot them down. (If the Sri Lankan army was any good, this war would have been over a long time ago.)

– that public support for Shinzo Schizo Abe’s gover-min has sunk to 35%, a poll showed as the hawkish young premier marked a difficult six months in office. The cabinet’s approval rating has slumped from 67% shortly after he took office in late September, dropping 1% from February alone, the Mainichi newspaper reported. (When one plays more politics than doing real work, that’s the end result.)

– that Schizo, under fire for his remarks on World War II sex slaves, apologised again to the ‘comfort women’, saying he stood by a landmark 1993 statement. Abe, questioned in parliament by a leftist lawmaker on whether he would apologise to comfort women, said he was ready to do so. (Why did he even revisit this topic? It would have been forgotten other than the court cases that pops up every now and then. Why he bite that American bait was puzzling.)

– that Japan clandestinely asked Yasukuni to honour war criminals, showing the gover-min was closely involved in what has turned into a major diplomatic row, reports said. A document dated January 1969 shows the shrine consulted the gover-min on plans to list the names of top, or Class-A, war criminals, ‘without making it public’, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said. The Yasukuni shrine discreetly added the names of 14 Class-A war criminals, who include hanged wartime premier Hideki Tojo, in October 1978. Another document dated April 1958 said the welfare ministry urged the shrine to list the names of hundreds of lower-ranking class-B and class-C war criminals. (Will they have Hirohito in there too? Maybe they should have Konkz-umi in there too when he dies.)

– that Thaksin Tham-sim Shinawatra’s wife was charged with tax evasion, in the first criminal case brought against his family since the coup six months ago. Pojaman Shinawatra, her step-brother Banpot Damapong and her personal secretary Kanchanapa Honghern were charged with tax evasion and perjury, court officials said. The case, which could see all three go to prison, stems from a 1997 deal in which Pojaman and her step-brother sold shares in Shinawatra Computer and Communication, which later became Thailand’s telecom giant Shin Corp. The charges are not related to last year’s controversial sale of Shin Corp to Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, a move which sparked street protests that eventually led to the September coup. (Time to pay for one’s greed.)

– that MFA said Indonesia has not released the detained vessels carrying granite. It was responding to media queries on whether Indonesia had released the vessels, following the meeting between George Yeo and his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirajuda in Nuremburg earlier this month. (Waiting for us to ‘ransom’ the vessels?)

– that while Singapore has been caught up in the excitement of trying to bring Formula 1 [F1] racing to its shores, Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Minister Azalina Othman Said finally broke her country’s silence in a candid interview and admitted she was worried by the developments and she does not want F1 engines to roar in Singapore. (They are kiasu too.)

– that Malaysia said that to attract funds into its growing Islamic banking sector, it will go easy on longstanding policies that favour ethnic Malays. Just last week, it had held out similar carrots to attract foreign investors to park funds in Johor’s ambitious Iskandar Development Region [IDR] project. Foreign Investment Committee rules stipulate all companies in Malaysia must be at least 30% held by Malays and indigenous groups, or bumiputras. But Malaysia is now keen to get local and foreign Islamic financial institutions to apply for licences to conduct business in foreign currencies. To make it more attractive for them, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi – speaking at a keynote address to an Islamic finance forum – said that the rules would be relaxed to allow foreigners to own 100% of Islamic financial institutions. (First, dismantled most of Mama-thir’s delusions of grandeur. Then, not so unfriendly towards Singapore. Now this. No wonder Mama-thir is hopping mad.)

– that Malaysian transport minister Chan Kong Choy has denied a report that Malaysia and Singapore have approved construction of a bullet train rail linking the two countries, saying the plan is still being mulled. (There’s SIA and MAS flights in and out of KLIA to consider.)

– that tens of thousands of low-income civil servants serpents in Malaysia are moonlighting in second jobs, according to a news report published. Civil serpents in Malaysia are not paid well, and the last salary revision was 15 years ago, said Mr Omar, head of the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Service. (Did they regret being born in the wrong country? Should be born here. Pay raise regularly, act like king, and never had to admit your mistakes.)

Singapore This Week

– that Lim Shee Shee is confident workers understand the need for a review of civil $ervice and mini$terial pay. Speaking to the media at the Prophet Mohammed Birthday celebrations, Shee Shee says unionists have continued to reach out to the ground to explain the issue, that having the right talent in gover-min, could help strengthen tripartism. (When was the last time he spoke to a REAL worker? And perhaps he should try and make the guy getting only $290 from the PA Scheme understand this so-called ‘need’.)

– that the gover-min plans to spend up to $400 million to jazz up the visual arts scene with the conversion of the former Supreme Court and City Hall. (Makes one wonder how many percent of the GST went to that!)

– that sky-high prices at luxury launches such as Sky@Eleven, One Shenton and One North Residences over the past three months have lifted the private property market to a quarterly gain of 4.6%, according to flash estimates from the URA. The property price index rose from 130.2 points in the previous quarter to 136.2 points in the first quarter of this year, the highest increase in seven years. (Just don’t expect your everyday Joe to come up and say ‘Hallelujah!’ to that.)

– that the gover-min would not hesitate to ‘demolish’ those who crossed the line – i.e. floating subversive views anonymously – , Balek-rishnan also indicated it would not waste its time chasing every anonymous political blogger. On people who take anonymous potshots, Dr Balek-rishnan added: “No revolution in human history was started by anonymous leaders. Any political lea-duh worth his salt will sooner or later be unmasked and, therefore, can be dealt with or engaged on political terms, one on one.” (Easy to swat the fly – the blogger – out of the sky, but harder to swat a dandelion – the idea – into the submission.)

– that Lao Lee said Australia is no longer the ‘white trash of Asia’. That was how Lao Lee had described the country in the 1970s, but he said Australia is very different now. He made these comments in response to a reporter’s question after being conferred an honorary degree of laws by the Australian National University [ANU]. (Is Australia even part of Asia in the first place?)

– that Philip Fail-lip Yeo said Singapore would not have a future if the younger generation does not have a value system. On the sidelines of the opening of a new research and development plant in Singapore, Fail-lip questioned the value system of the younger generation. (Everyone has a value system. It might not necessarily be the one Fail-lip, or everyone else, can agree with.)

– that this started from an invitation by Fail-lip to a Chen Jiahao, a 25-year-old blogger who is a PhD student and a former Public Service Commission scholar, to join him for tea and turned into a heated online spat. Chen agreed to meet Fail-lip for tea but wanted another party to be present. He also wanted to record their conversation and post it on his blog. Fail-lip turned that idea down, saying he had wanted to invite Chen on a one-to-one basis and not to be ‘interrogated’ with the presence of a ‘witness’ and have the conversation published. (Maybe Chen wants to show off to a chick that he’s talking with a big shot?)

-that the to-and-fro exchange continued and it included topics such as how the young should speak to an older person. (Or an attempt by someone elderly stating the obvious to try force a concession? In Chinese, that’s what we called, 倚老卖老。)

– that the existing meter currently read manually by SP Services staff every other month would be gone, and in it’s place would come a new device that would display, and refresh half-hourly, the amount of electricity you have left. That is how all homes could be buying electricity, from their provider of choice, under the world’s first proposed prepaid electronic system linked to “intelligent” meters in the future. (So what is going to happen when the prepaid credits run out? Half way through your favourite show, the power goes off?)

– that according to sources, MCYS is considering building the permanent F1 track facility off the East Coast Parkway, near the Changi Naval Base, which could cost between US$150 million and US$200 million. (Right. And can Balek-rishnan explain why there isn’t a little more money for those on the Public Assistance plan when he can spare that kind of money?)

– that Balek-rishnan tell the media that one of its roles is to expose gover-min wrongdoings. “If there is something wrong in Singapore, if there is a problem, it must be reported. If a minister is corrupt or incompetent, he must be exposed… I expect the press to whistleblow,” Balek said during a question-and-answer session at the Foreign Correspondents Association [FCA]. (They probably won’t bother. After all, with the kind of pay a mini$ter gets, they are all squeaking clean. No corruption. No corruption at all. Anyone who writes something like this is probably up to no good and should end up like FEER.)

Trivial, Jokes and Thoughts from Discussions

– that researchers in China are looking for paper mills to process fibre-rich panda excrement into high-quality paper. Officials at the Chengdu giant panda centre said the idea came to them after a visit to Thailand, where they found paper made from elephant dung. (Maybe they should find a way to ferment human crap and use the gases to produce electricity.)

– that research suggests that we are hard-wired with a strong and intuitive moral impulse – an urge to help others that is every bit as basic as the selfish urges that get all the press. Infants as young as 18 months will spontaneously comfort those who appear distressed and help those who are having difficulty retrieving or balancing objects. (Thanks for restoring my faith in mankind.)

– that UN health agencies recommended that heterosexual men undergo circumcision because of ‘compelling’ evidence that it can reduce their chances of contracting HIV by up to 60%. But experts at the WHO and the UN AIDS agency said that men must be aware that circumcision is only partial protection against the virus and must be used with other measures. (Like how did they come to that conclusion? They get a circumcised man to have sex with an AIDS infected woman and found that it took them more times to get infected?)

– that Sun Ho denied that a report on the Taiwanese media that she was sexually abused by a ‘neighbour uncle’ for 5 years. (Everything exists for a reason. Including so-called ‘malicious rumours’.)

– that in an explanation to a customer who wrote to the press about SIA’s bad service, SIA explained that airlines would normally practise a certain level of overbooking to take into account passengers who fail to turn up for the flight despite holding confirmed bookings. (Just how many percent of overbooking is SIA’s ‘a certain level’?)