– that thanks to a new charity drive started by Microsoft, IM-obsessed teenagers can now tell their parents that by staying online, they’re helping charities like the Sierra Club, Unicef, and the National AIDS Fund. The initiative, called “I’m,” is centered around a unique little gimmick: start a conversation in Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger with the word “I’m,” and Microsoft will donate a (small) portion of Messenger’s advertising revenue to one of its partner charities. (Yes. It is not an urban legend. It is not a hoax. It is real. Check this out… but U.S. only! Tiew!!)

The Stupid Shitty-Porean Award

– that a SIAO KIAN KIONG wrote this in Voices of TODAY on 2 Mar 2007: “Being a homemaker is a self-centred decision, made only for the benefit of one’s family. On the other hand, National Service is compulsory and it involves sacrificing for the nation. NSmen have the sacred task of defending the nation in time of war, to the extent of laying down their lives for their country. To put the homemaker on the same pedestal as that on which we place NSmen is an affront.” (Makes one wonder how Ah Siao’s mother would have felt hearing what this Siao Ding Dong has said. Maybe she really did find him in the ‘boon soh tung’ [rubbish bin] behind Pearl Market {珍珠巴刹后面的垃圾桶}. In fact, is there anything more selfless than making the decision to devote one’s self to one’s own children and home? And the editor who allowed this piece of shit to be published should be shot for insulting the reader’s intelligence.)

About the GST Raise…

– that rebutting Opposition MP Low Thia Khiang’s suggestions that the gover-min was ‘insincere’ in helping odd-job workers, Lim Swee Say Shee Shee took pains to explain why these workers needed to contribute to Medisave first in order to receive Workfare. Citing real-life examples, Shee Shee said that what such low-wage workers needed the most were enforced savings to meet their housing, medical and retirement needs. Said Shee Shee: “I don’t understand [what Mr Low is saying]. By putting the money in CPF, is this not real money? Is the money of less value? Is he saying that low-wage workers won’t need a home, won’t ever fall sick, or won’t need to retire someday?” (It is also hard to understand how that would help them when they can’t use it now. Above which, what good is there when you take 2% from them up front, then put back 1.5% into their CPF which they can’t even touch even in their dire straits, while their next better alternative is to be splattered all over the MRT tracks?)

– that besides Mr Low, several MPs had also earlier questioned the gover-min’s move as they felt that what these odd-job workers needed were upfront cash to meet daily needs, rather than savings for the future. (Either that’s something too difficult for million dollar mini$ter$ to understand or there is some ultra-complicated cum ultra-confidential reasons behind putting money in the CPF which they can’t explain in simple terms to make us understand.)

– that Tharman Thumby Shanmugaratnam borrowed the words of an 18-year-old to sum up Budget 2007. “He says, and I quote, that ‘the overarching priorities for Singapore’s fiscal policies remain starkly simple: To ensure Singapore’s long-term economic survival, and its survival as a cohesive unit.’ This is in fact what this Budget has been about,” said Thumby as he shared with the House the winning entry from RJC student Daniel Ong for the Budget essay competition. (Maybe Daniel Ong study study too much until brain dead already. In a few years he will be a gover-min scholar, and don’t be surprised another 15 years down the road this guy will be one of the mini$ter$ giving the people the same load of shit on TV.)

-that Thumby said ‘necessary, simple, effective and fair’, were the guiding principles behind the gover-min’s fiscal policies drawn up to arrest the widening income gap and stay ahead of the global competition. (Fair? According to who? Nothing in the world is fair because there’s no universal standard of fairness.)

– that Thumby says the GST increase, when coupled with the Workfare scheme, is not regressive. In fact, Thumby said, the lower income group would be better off with Workfare and the GST offset package. (Oh really? On paper maybe. And at most for the next few years when they are still getting the so-called goodies everyone is paying for. What happens after that?)

– that under Singapore’s current tax system, the top 20% of households will contribute more than half of the taxes collected by the gover-min. At 54% of total taxes, this amount is also about four times as much as what the bottom 40% of Singaporeans are paying in taxes. (What Thumby need to understand is that $50 is ‘sup sup sway’ to the top 20%, but it meant a lot more to the lower income so just take your million dollar logic and shove it up your arse.)

– that Thumby said removing GST from essential items like rice and salt may seem like a good way to help the poor but it will benefit the rich the most. (Obviously Thumby still doesn’t understand $50 means more to the poor than to rich fxxks like him.)

– that Thumby gave four reasons to make his case: the low-income group does not spend a lot on essentials; the GST from essentials comes mainly from the rich and foreigners; to make up for lost revenue, the GST on other items would have to go up; and the difficulty of deciding just what is an essential item. (Crap. For one thing, if it has been difficult to decide what is an essential item then how did Thumby come up wit the idea that the rich and foreigners pays more for them, and that the poor spends a lot less on them? The poor eats lesser rice than the rich? Stop taking us for idiots.)

– that Thumby revealed that according to the Household Expenditure Survey, the low-income households spend just 5per cent of their expenditure on the eight essential items [rice, salt, sugar, edible oil, soya sauce, vegetables, flour and fish]. Even after adding other non-cooked food items (9%) and utilities and public transport (13%), the total is only about a quarter of their expenditure. (So how is it difficult to decide that rice, salt, sugar, edible oil, soya sauce, vegetables, flour and fish are essential when he could name them?)

– that the gover-min will lose $450million in tax revenue, of which only about $30million comes from the low-income. (That 30 million means a lot more to the low-income than what the 420 million means to the rich. Above which, come on lah… you take $420 million less you also don’t need to pay out your so-called goodies! And the people would probably be more grateful they can get a breather.)

– that GST on other items would have to be higher if essentials are exempted. (And how often does the poor use some of these? Think luxury tax, Thumby. People like you should pay more tax for a Porsche or the 2nd car!)

– that it hits the middle-income harder, as seen in Australia and Ireland, where essentials are exempted but GST on other items goes up. (Then the middle-income should learn how to rein in their expenditure and spend less on non-essentials.)

– that using using the example of rice, Thumby noted that the more expensive brands of rice are well-stocked at NTUC FairPrice. “FairPrice tells us that most of their customers prefer higher-quality rice, and not just the rich-end customers,” he said, adding: “Should we cover Pearl Rice from Niigata, Japan, that incidentally had a wonderful food review from Teo Pau Lin of The Straits Times? I read it on the ST foodies website. But it comes with a price – $14.24.” (Yes, Thumby, all essentials in its raw form should be exempted. And Pearl Rice from Japan is $14.24 because farmers in Niigata has a higher standard of living and should be paid more, not so much because it’s a luxury. Geddit?)

– that Thumby asked, “should we extend it to chapati, which for some groups is an alternative staple to rice?” he continued, referring to the Indian bread. (No. Because it’s made. The baker provided a service… so GST liable. That too difficult for your puny brains, Thumby?)

– that gover-mins, find it hard in practice to tell people what is essential and what is not. Hence, the list grows, more revenue is lost, a higher GST rate on other items is needed, and the low-income benefit less. Thumby said: “This is why the best way is for us to help the lower-income group directly and let them decide on what they want to spend on instead of exempting essentials.” (Actually, Singaporeans would accept whatever you Tali-PAP shitheads tell them. They would be none the wiser if you asswipes had argued that essentials should be exempted. Or rather, whichever you argue, Singaporeans simply ‘lan-pa-pa-lan’…)

– that there must be a more permanent way to help those burdened by GST increases, beyond the ad hoc offset measures, Inderjit Singh. Inderjit suggested: Exempt certain basic products and services from the GST. A ‘more permanent’ solution is to zero-rate essential items, he suggested. The exempted items can include basic foodstuffs such as rice, flour, salt and sugar; education at all levels; health care; and the buying and renting of HDB homes. (Get a thicker pillow and dream on.)

– that Sylvia Lim’s speech was rebutted by 3 Tali-PAP MPs, who said she had not given the gover-min due credit for the prudence and generosity of its budget. The NCMP had criticised the gover-min’s decision to raise the GST, saying it had revenue from various sources and a stronger fiscal position than was reported. (What due credit? Due credit for making us all pay for this budget? There will be due credit if the Tali-PAP came up with money from their own pockets!)

– that the civil service will likely get a salary adjustment later this year, and the announcement on this is expected in April. This comes amid a tighter labour market and as the civil service faces higher attrition rates. The salaries of civil servants serpents here are benchmarked to their counterparts in the private sector and the last major salary revision was seven years ago. (That probably explains why GST up 2%, Corporation Tax down 2% but CPF only up 1.5% and also why no property tax cuts. And let’s face it… these jokers seems to get better bonus and pay than most of their counterparts in the private sector.)

The World Since the Lunar New Year

– that U.S. stocks rebounded after 27-Feb-2007 from their biggest plunge in four years after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S Bernanke Barnie said the economy will continue growing and the nation’s largest financial institutions advised investors that the bull market is not over. (Anyway, Greensperm… oops… Greenspan only say a recession maybe possible at the end of the year. He didn’t really said there will be a recession. Haha…)

– that the U.S. vowed to press ahead with a plan for a missile defence shield in eastern Europe to guard against attack from Iran, with or without the approval of NATO allies. The head of the Pentagon’s Missile Defence Agency said Washington may want to put radar even closer to Russia – which opposes the plan – in the Caucasus, in addition to planned sites in ex-Warsaw Pact members Poland and the Czech Republic. (The U.S. has no respect for those countries that prostitutes themselves to the Americans for economic benefits.)

– that Tony B-liar was facing an embarrassing diplomatic set-back as the U.S. gave a cool response to his offer to base missiles from a planned ‘Star Wars’ defence shield in Britain. It emerged that B-liar has been privately lobbying the U.S. for several months about intercepter rockets for the proposed anti-ballistic missile system. (Well, you can’t withdraw from Iraq and not make Warmonger Bush unhappy. It’s also high time you stop sticking your warm face to the American’s cold ass.)

– that Abu Qatada, a radical and suspected key Al-Qaeda figure, lost an appeal against deportation from Britain to Jordan. Authorities hailed the decision, saying Qatada – in custody since a clampdown on terrorists following the July 2005 suicide bombings in London – was a clear threat to national security. The terrorist sympathizer argued that he risked being tortured if deported to Jordan – a claim rejected by the British Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) ruling on the appeal. (Maybe they should just put him on the island where they exiled Napoleon.)

– that European plane maker Airbus announced that it will cut 10,000 jobs over the next four years, in an attempt to save €5 billion by 2010. The aircraft maker said in a crisis statement that it will sell or close Varel and Laupheim production sites in Germany and Saint-Nazaire-Ville site in France. Across Europe, 4,300 job cuts will go in France, 3,700 in Germany, 1,600 in Britain and 400 in Spain. Half of the redundancies will be made among the 56,000-strong Airbus work force and remainder from subcontractors, CEO Louis Gallois said. (Have fun with the German Unions.)

– that Pakistani security forces captured one of the Taliban’s three top lea-duhs, a senior security official and Taliban sources said. The capture of Mullah Obaidullah Akhund marked the first Pakistani arrest of a senior lea-duh of the terrorist militia since it was driven from power in Afghanistan in 2001 and thousands of its fighters fled into Pakistan. (Are they finally cleaning up their act or is it all for show?)

– that the U.S. has expressed concern at the level of Chinese military spending and called for greater transparency in Beijing’s budget. Dick-head Cheney recently said that China’s military build-up and its missile test, in which an inactive weather satellite was destroyed, were not consistent with its stated goal of peaceful development. China hit back with a spokesman for the foreign ministry in Beijing accusing the U.S. of acting like a nosy neighbour. Qin Gang said China’s policies were aimed only at defence, rejecting claims of opaque spending policies. “What’s your response if your neighbour keeps peeking into your house through a crack in the door and yelling ‘Open the door, let’s see what’s inside’?” Mr Qin said. “Will you call the police?” (The world has currently more to fear from the Americans than the Chinese.)

– that Japan has pledged to keep whaling as its troubled fleet headed home early from Antarctic waters, while opponents exulted at the pullout and vowed to ramp up pressure against the hunt. The fleet, which had been hounded by environmentalists, is sailing home to Japan a month earlier than planned after its mother ship was badly damaged by fire. (Time for Greenpeace to re-arm and refit, and make sure the next time round this blasted whalers come by, they can make the frigid waters of the Antarctica their permanent home – i.e. they will get to come, but never get to go back.)

– that historians say at least 200,000 young women, mostly from Korea but also from China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Taiwan, were forced to serve as sex slaves in Japanese army brothels. (Just like the Japanese say that there is no evidence that massacre was committed in Nanking, and the numbers can’t be verified, they will argue that there is no evidence any woman was forced into prostitution by the Japanese Army during the war and the allegations can’t be verified. Modus Operandi, don’t you think?)

– that Schizo Abe will stand by Japan’s apology for forcing Asian women to have sex with Japanese troops decades ago, an aide said, following Asian nations’ outcry over Schizo’s recent denial of coercion. Hiroshige Seko, special adviser in charge of Abe’s public relations, was referring to a statement issued by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, apologising to victims of sex slavery. (Did Schizo really think anyone would let his comment be?)

– that Japanese scholars deny that force was used to round up the women as sex slaves, blaming private contractors for any abuses. Schizo sided with these critics, saying there was ‘no evidence to prove there was coercion’ and says Japan will not issue another apology for its World War II military brothels. (Someone should tell these Japanese shitheads that lack of evidence isn’t the same as evidence of lack.)

– that South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-Soon criticised remarks by Shinzo Schizo Abe questioning Tokyo’s enslavement of Asian women during World War II as ‘not helpful’. Min-Soon was asked about comments made by Schizo who disputed if Tokyo was responsible for the enslavement of thousands of mostly Korean women during World War II. (It won’t be surprising that the Japanese probably imagined that all these women enslaved by the Japanese Army in WWII did it like their own AV actresses – i.e. they loved it and they did it for the money. Doesn’t matter they paid them donuts to begin with.)

– that a top ruling party official says Japan risks becoming another province of China, once again raising the spectre of a Chinese military threat just as relations between the two countries are improving. Shoichi Siow-Chee Nakagawa, 53, policy chief of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), said in a speech: “If something goes wrong with Taiwan, within the next 20 years, we could become another province of China.’ At a press conference later the same day, he told reporters: “Once the Shanghai Expo is over in 2010, China may again become a non-pacifist nation. If Taiwan comes completely under the control of China, Japan may be next.” (The Japanese will have to commit mass hara-kiri for that to happen.)

– that North Korean lea-duh Kim Jong Il has been preparing a military-led collective lea-duhship to rule the communist country after his death, a news report said. Kim, who turned 65 recently and was picked by his father to take over the reins, has given up dynastic succession for various reasons, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted diplomatic sources in Beijing as saying. (All his sons must have been great disappointments. If not, the mothers must have pissed him off. Maybe another 200 years from now there will be a Korean version of ‘War and Beauty’ [金枝玉孽] during the period of the Northern Kim Dynasty…)

– that Taiwanese separatists marked the island’s ‘2-28’ conflict in 1947 as the start of the Taiwan independence movement, on the 60th anniversary of the incident. (Might as well say since 1895 when they fought the Japanese occupation forces. But again, it is not a surprise people without any legitimacy would want to be associated with some event or people with significance. For e.g. Empress Wu Zetian labelled her dynasty as ‘Zhou’ so she could claim lineage to the ancient Zhou Dynasty.)

– that historically, the ‘2-28’ conflict was sparked by a dispute between tobacco agents and a cigarette vendor in Taipei on Feb 28 1947, resulting in Chinese strongman Chiang Kai-shek’s sending in KMT troops to put down the riots. An estimated 18,000 to 28,000 Taiwanese were killed. (There was nothing about Taiwanese Independence in that. It was simply a popular reaction to social injustice perpetrated by the KMT at that time.)

– that a grandson of Chiang Kai-shek filed a libel suit against Chen Shui-bian after Chen said Chiang was responsible for the 1947 massacre of thousands. John Chiang, also a KMT lawmaker, demanded Chen pay one dollar in symbolic damages and run apologies in newspapers for sullying Chiang Kai-shek’s reputation. He also filed a criminal libel suit against Yu Shyi-kun, head of the separatist DPP, on the same charges. (Chen has nothing to show for more than 6 years of his incompetent rule except for his uncanny ability to drive a wedge between groups of his own people.)

– that a group of female Taiwanese opposition lawmakers demanded Chen Shui-bian apologise for making what they deemed ‘sexually harassing’ remarks to a reporter. Chen was criticised for replying with a smile ‘I am thinking about you’ when asked by a female reporter what he was thinking while planting rice seedlings in a tour to the countryside. (It’s not even surprising if he thinks often of other women. After all, he probably has more reasons to made ‘the mistake any man will make’ than Jackie Chan. And any man can understand why.)

– that China called on the U.S. to cancel a missile sale to Taiwan, saying it violated Washington’s one-China policy and created instability in the Taiwan Strait. The U.S. Defence Department told Congress it had approved the possible sale of Raytheon-built missiles to Taiwan for use on its F-16 fighter jets. The sale is worth up to US$421 million. (In response, China should just veto any sanctions on Iran.)

– that according to General Saprang Kalayanamitr, recent friction between Thailand and Singapore was not Singapore’s fault, but Thaksin’s Tham-sim’s. (Tham-sin should just retire with whatever wealth he still has and stop being an eye sore.)

– that Thailand’s finance minister and deputy prime minister Pridiyathorn Devakula announced that he had resigned, citing differences with the prime minister over the handling of the economy. Pridiyathorn, appointed after a coup ousted Tham-sim five months ago, said that he was stepping down partly because of a recent controversial attempt to appoint a key Tham-sim ally to a top economics post. (He probably either had enough of the recent flops or he didn’t want to be the hatchet-man to rob Shin Shit Corp from Temasek.)

– that top Indonesian officials appeared to have backtracked on claims that the recent ban on sand exports to Singapore was linked to negotiations on the extradition treaty and border issues. Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda told the Indo Pos daily that Jakarta had stopped the sand sales simply to prevent further damage to the environment. (And that’s not a problem too big for you to solve, just like your annual smoke problems that have the entire region choking?)

– that Indonesia spelled out its plans to fight the forest fires that shroud the region in haze each year, in hopes of convincing potential donor countries and agencies to help pay for the battle. Experts have estimated that Jakarta needs some 600 billion rupiah to bring the problem under control. Its plan includes coordinated measures by various ministries and agencies as well as regional gover-mins. Environment Mini$ter Rachmat Witoelar said his country needs generous financial support to guarantee that those measures produce results. (Simply put: “Pay up. Or be sorry when you smell smoke!”)

– that Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla has blamed Singapore for the slow progress in talks on concluding an extradition treaty, accusing it of seeking to hang on to billions in allegedly corrupt money siphoned out of the country by fleeing tycoons. He made the remarks in response to a question by The Financial Times in an interview. The prevailing view in Indonesia is that corrupt businessmen and politicians hide – and park their illegal gains – in Singapore. (Well, maybe. But who can tell if all of those billions, when returned to your country, won’t be siphoned off again?)

– that Malaysia has shot down a controversial plan by state officials to recruit Islamic ‘spies’ to snoop on unmarried lovers and report them to religious authorities, saying there was no need for such activities. Abdullah Badawi disapproved of the move, saying there were more activities beneficial to Muslims that state religious authorities could focus on. (Indeed. There are more things to worry about than whether unmarried couples are touching, kissing or even fxxking.)

Singapore Since the Lunar New Year

– that CPF returns can be improved but just how much risk people can stomach is not an easy question to resolve, Thumby said. (Whatever… as long as my CPF Housing loan doesn’t go up accordingly.)

– that the 14 town councils run by the Tali-PAP will continue to absorb the GST on Services and Conservancy Charges. They have been doing so for residential flats since the GST was introduced in 1994. When the GST went up from 3% to 4% in January 2003, and then to 5% in January 2004, the town councils absorbed the increases, instead of passing on the additional tax burden to the residents. (Can this report also include the facts about how many times and how many percent S&C charges have gone up since then?)

– that Singapore is monitoring the localised impact of global warming on the country. Mabok Tongue gave the assurance in Parliament in response to a concern raised by MP Lily Neo over the impact of global warming on parts of the island which are made up of reclaimed land. Noting that the most pessimistic scientific predictions indicate that the sea level would rise by at most 70cm to 80cm, Mabok pointed out that land reclaimed in Singapore is some 120cm above sea level. (Right. And when it does rise beyond 1.2m, Mabok won’t be around to be held responsible for it.)

– that Mabok has also clarified that Singapore is not targeting to grow its population to 6.5 million. Rather, the 6.5-million figure – quoted in the Revised Concept Plan – merely serves as a planning barometer for Singapore’s land use and transportation framework in the next 40 to 50 years. Speaking in Parliament during question time, Mabok pointed out that with higher projected population and new economic growth sectors, Singapore would need to optimise land use and explore new ways to create space. (For starters, maybe just flatten his house and make him live in HDB.)

– that Singapore’s Foreign Affairs, and Trade and Industry Ministers have asked their Indonesian counterparts to clarify why the supply of granite has been disrupted in the last few days. This was revealed in parliament by Mabok Tongue – who said the Indonesian authorities have stepped up checks and detained some barges carrying granite materials to Singapore. (Perhaps Indonesian ‘Authorities’ are a little confused by the difference of sand and granite. Just be thankful they didn’t confuse granite with grenade.)

– that the MRT Circle Line, which has been held back for over a year because of the 2004 Nicoll Highway cave-in, could be delayed further. Contractors working on the $6.8 billion project cite the Indonesian sand ban and a possible hiccup in granite supply as being the latest spanner in the works. Already, the cost of pre-mixed concrete has almost trebled to $200 per cubic metre since the sand ban was announced in January. Concrete is nine parts granite to one part sand, although the mix varies according to grades. (With ‘friends’ like Indonesia… who needs enemies?)

– that HDB flats will continue to be affordable – even as Singapore’s population increases, assured Mabok Tongue. Mabok made it clear that this commitment remained a key priority of the gover-min. (By making flats even smaller than they already are?)

– that Singapore is standing firm against organ trading, even if it may save more lives, said Khaw Boon Wan. Speaking in Parliament, Mr Khaw said aside from ethical issues, many find the idea degrading and repulsive. (Hear that, Lee Wee Ling? So shut up, and don’t go crying to papa and your brother.)

– that the police have identified the person responsible for putting online the videos of two suicide jumpers at Admiralty and Yishun MRT stations in December. The two videos, which show two individuals being run over, have been making the rounds among Singapore’s online community. In a posting on his blog after he was questioned, the teenager said: “This is the first time I’m getting into trouble with the law, and it doesn’t feel good at all … At this age, if I get into any trouble with the law, I’m pretty much done for.” (He’s got the attention he wanted. Now it’s time to teach him a lesson in ‘common sense’.)

– that besides new teams, S.League fans can also look forward to ‘live’ matches on Channel 5 for the new season. The ‘live’ matches on Fridays had been aired on Channel NewsAsia for the past three years. (What a waste of TV transmission bandwidth and air time…)

– that the gover-min has rejected suggestions that advertising restrictions could have led to the failure of Crazy Horse Paris – the topless dance revue which pulled out of Singapore. Balaji Baka-ji Sadasivan said the performances were meant for a mature audience and there is a need for some regulatory control for advertisements of adult entertainment. (* Yawn * They will never associate themselves with any failures. So don’t waste time trying to get them to admit it. Just pin it on them and move on. Meantime Eng Wah can borrow a 10lb hammer to bang balls.)

– that Singapore’s fertility woes may well persist if one goes by the results from the Singapore Women’s Pregnancy Survey 2007, which revealed that one in four women in the reproductive age group does not intend to have a child. And when it came to women without tertiary education, this tendency was even higher. Almost half of them – 44% – indicated that they did not plan to have children. (Yep. Be responsible. If you can’t afford to raise them into proper human beings, then don’t have any children.)

– that the majority of women [70.5%] with tertiary education were keen to have children while only 56.4% of women with secondary and primary education wanted children. Their mean ideal age for having the first child was at 27 years old while the mean ideal number of children was 2.3. (Tertiary = higher income = can afford. Of course keen to have children.)

Trivial, Jokes and Thoughts from Discussions

– that Microsoft, the world’s biggest software maker, was ordered to pay Alcatel-Lucent US$1.52 billion for using digital music technology without permission, a federal jury said in the largest patent ruling in history. The victory could see Alcatel-Lucent go after other providers of software and hardware that support MP3 files such as Apple’s iPod and iTunes as well as Sony, Creative and Napster. (A well-done law suit is a good way of re-distributing someone else’s profits.)

– that Apple advises Mac users to write down their passwords, just in case they have forgotten them when they are needed. On its Mac 101 Web site, Apple offers a document called “My Mac Cheat Sheet” (PDF). The document has spaces for Mac users to not just record their Mac OS X related usernames and passwords, but also log-in credentials for e-mail accounts, Internet access accounts and routers. (Just make sure that no one other than you finds it.)

– that a former Canadian defense minister is demanding gover-mins worldwide disclose and use secret alien technologies obtained in alleged UFO crashes to stem climate change, a local paper said. “I would like to see what (alien) technology there might be that could eliminate the burning of fossil fuels within a generation … that could be a way to save our planet,” Paul Hellyer, 83, told the Ottawa Citizen. (Actually, alien technology to get out of this godforsaken hellhole is more important.)

– that a story posted on Drudge stated that Al Gore’s Nashville, Tenn., mansion consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, has sparked lively debate among bloggers of all stripes and political affiliations. The story was basically a reposting of a press release from a self-described ‘independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan’ Tennessee research organization, which said: ‘Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.’ (Clearly, someone in the Bush Regime or the right-winged conservatives with a stake in America’s oil industry didn’t like the pressure Al Gore has put on them with that documentary. There is no greater hypocrisy than Warmonger Bush’s refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocols.)

– that in response, Gore’s office made stated that: ‘Gore’s family has taken numerous steps to reduce the carbon footprint of their private residence, including signing up for 100% green power through Green Power Switch, installing solar panels, and using compact fluorescent bulbs and other energy saving technology. Above which Gore has had a consistent position of purchasing carbon offsets to offset the family’s carbon footprint – a concept the right-wing fails to understand.’ (Gore has no need to answer to Drudge. Its incessant and shameless American right-winged and conservative agenda is a bucket of shit that is the next worst cancer to the world, next to Al Qaeda’s brand of global terrorism.)

– that according to a new documentary by Hollywood film director James Cameron, Jesus had a son named Judah and was buried alongside Mary Magdalene. The film examines a tomb found near Jerusalem in 1980 which producers say belonged to Jesus and his family. According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, six of those coffins were marked with the names Mary; Matthew; Jesua son of Joseph; Mary; Jofa; and Judah son of Jesua. (The Da Vinci Code with the ‘alternate Jesus’ idea has sold so well, that now even James Cameron wants to tap on that. Jesua [or Joshua] is a common Jewish name. If one could believe in the probability that a 1-in-a-million mutation can result in an entirely new species, it would be easier to believe that another family with a father name Joseph can have two sons of the Jesua and Jofa. For starters, has anyone asked how many Johns there are in this world?)

– that Israeli archaeologist Amos Kloner, who was among the first to examine the tomb when it was first discovered, said the names marked on the coffins were very common at the time. “I don’t accept the news that it was used by Jesus or his family,” he said. (In a separate unrelated news… a condom with the name Mao was found. Film Director Jake Kam-lan is expected to make a film titled, “Chairman Mao’s last condom”)

– that the mother of a 196-pound eight-year-old boy, who could be taken into care because of his weight, has defended her refusal to stop feeding him junk food. Single mum Nicola McKeown says her son Connor McCreaddie refuses to eat healthy foods, such as fruit and vegetables. (You are his mother, you dumb witch! You tell him what is good and made him eat what is good and stop trying to justify your own negligence!)