ORD Loh!

Pity about the IC, though. Seetoh's going back to try his luck - good luck to him.

When I went back to camp on Monday, I noticed that 3 people in HQ company were on Medical Leave for depression. Outstanding unit, really. Maybe I should have done the same last year.

Because S1 branch cannot get a vehicle to go down to CMPB, I will not be able to collect my IC on Saturday. Since I'm going to shoot Tasmanian devils on Sunday, this means that I'll only get my IC back when I return. My moment of epiphany will be spoilt! Argh.

---

"See what will happen if you don't stop biting your fingernails?"

--- Will Rogers (1879 - 1935), to his niece on seeing the Venus de Milo

***

Joel Schumacher took over the "Batman" films from Tim Burton and turned them into homoerotic camp. "Suddenly, 'Batman' became 'Starlight Express'".

Haha.

***

2 people bitching at me unreasonably and my evening is spoilt. Or at least 20 mins of it.

***

I believe in the Socratic method of finding truth.

But then, Socrates was sentenced to death by hemlock, so.

***

It's really distasteful and sloppy when a website "www.foo.bar" cannot be accessed when you use the url "foo.bar". Bah.

***

Wowbagger has an interesting piece on conforming to society:

"​​​​My personal tendency is to disregard what others think of me after
I die. I am reluctantly compelled to care about what others think of me when I'm alive only because it greatly expedites things to have others think positively of you or fear you, depending on the circumstances. Having to consider other people's opinions is a terrible burden. It terrified me that I'd have to behave somewhat normally in school so as not to receive negative testimonials. It was terrifying walking along the corridors watching myself every moment, regulating every eccentric urge in case I was being or would be observed. Death would be the ultimate release from public opinion. The final ticket to not caring what other people think. Years ago I was bamboozled by Feynman's irreverent memoirs detailing his supposed disregard for what others think, before real life slapped me out of the delusion that anyone short of a genius could truly do things that way.

One would regrettably be unable to enjoy this release from social pressures. One could do so during one's last days, when one is likely to be patronised and tolerated by one's caretakers. But one would probably be less sentient and less mobile by then, which would eliminate a large portion of the fun.

Yet there are no logical grounds for wanting to be remembered positively if you do not believe in the existence of an afterlife, even supposing that you like the idea (not just the consequences, as I do) of people thinking well of yourself. Only the pre-death anticipation matters. That is, you wouldn't feel any worse if people do not remember you in a good light, as long as you were convinced, when still alive, that they would remember you in a good light. I have commented on this before.

Yes, this means that I do not think going back on deathbed promises is immoral, since nobody is harmed by that."

I wouldn't say that I am/was quite that misanthropic.

I don't see the connection between believing in an afterlife and wanting to be remembered positively, for in no mythological system's afterlife that I can think of does continued joyful existence depend on people thinking favourably of you. One might make an exception for the Chinese afterlife, since you need people to burn paper houses, cars, mobile phones and chocolates for you. However, you could always set up a foundation to keep the paper goods flowing (and the environment polluted) and anyhow, suitably pious descendants would feel obliged to pollute the environment on your behalf even if they didn't like you.

The point about being convinced that people would think well of you is valid, but it raises the question of truth and self-delusion. After all, "the fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact than a drunken man is happier than a sober one".

Regarding the morality of going back on deathbed promises - in a utilitarian sense it certainly would not be moral. Nonetheless, it would be wrong.

***

Another of those all-too-rare Garfield strip that is actually funny.

PatchCRT - fix RunTime Errors on some apps - "A freeware utility, which patches some older MS-DOS EXE files, to permit them to run on fast Pentium CPUs. This speed problem applies only on CPUs which match or exceed the speed of a Pentium 200 (approx), and applies only to some older versions of a specific software module named CRT.ASM, which was part of the Turbo-Pascal offerings from Borland... The symptom is a Divide-by-Zero error message when the app is run on a fast CPU, or a Divide Overflow error message, or a Runtime Error 200 message, or similar. Unfortunately, the error message usually won't simply say that the CPU is too fast!"
For the few who still use MS-DOS applications. Beats running Moslow each time!

Snuffleupagus Murdered - Big Bird "Snuffs" out best friend: "Snuffleupagus, a popular Wooly Mammoth-like creature that inhabited Sesame Street, has been found dead. His killer, an 8 foot 2 inch giant bird, known by Sesame Street locals as 'Big Bird'. Big Bird apparently wanted to prove once and for all to local nonbelievers that Snuffleupagus did in fact exist."

Robert Tilton, The Farting Preacher - The look on his face would really quite odd if he weren't farting.

That Kind of Girl - ff slash is so rare, especially ff slash written by girls. Though the phrase "rubber hotness" still jars me.

"It is one of the strangest inconsistencies of the human being that he will invent reasons and struggle to maintain conditions that are detrimental to his own welfare, aye, that even enslave him." - Joseph Lewis

***

An ode someone composed to the Asian Prince:


A picture speaks a thousand words,
disgusting though it may be,
His face looks like it was his rear,
his features make us hurl.
A bag he should wear, o'er his head,
his eyes should be poked out.
Facial features now on par,
with the ex king of pop.

***

ránathalion, a butterfly dreaming he is a fifteen-year-old boy, is amused by my last batch of search referrals.

Unfortunately, the latest batch is still in the oven baking. And by quoting my odd search referrals, he has sealed her doom, for now the guy/girl/entity who keeps searching for ways to masterbate with household items will get his page too!

***

Game Over Feint
You can type as your enemy is destroying your old town something like "Ok, you won, I'll just let you destroy my town." This trick often works but not against experienced players unless you catch them on a bad game. Often once someone thinks they have won, they stop building units and begin messing around. If you are building up a force of units in secret while they have pretty much stopped production and are using what they have already to hunt you down, you can build up a large enough force to launch a surprise attack on the enemy. In some games, such a force has turned the tide of the game and allowed the defeated player to win.

Typing "has left the game" puts a message such as "Yourname: has left the game." Most people don't notice the ":" or the color of the message which gives it away and actually believe you have left the game. It works on experienced players or whoever has not heard about this ancient trick. The official response to someone who has tried this on you is "nice try."

Ooh. Sneaky.

***

Despite efforts by the school admin to shut it down, it seems the Raffles Model United Nations Conference (RMUNC) is still alive and kicking. As usual, conspiracies abound:

Wired (the usual conspiracies in nation allocation)

RedM-i-x (some other irrelevant lines about Rmun)

***

Things You Would Never Know Without Indian Movies:

A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beatings but will wince when a woman tries to cleanse his wounds.

The hero cannot fall in love with the heroine (vice versa) unless they first perform a dance number in the rain.

Once applied, make-up is permanent, in rain or in any other situation.

Two lovers can be dancing in the field and suddenly, 100 people will appear from God-knows-where and join them in the dance.

In the final scene, the hero will discover that the bad guy whom he was up against was actually his brother and the maid who looked
after him was his mother and the chief inspector was his father and the Judge was his uncle and so forth.

Key English words used in the movie (usually said out loud between sentences) are "No Problem!", "My God!", "Get Out!", "Shut-up!",
"Impossible!", "Please forgive me!"

They drop down to the ground and roll and roll while singing and leap to their feet in different clothings.

They can run around the coconut trees, singing, battling eyelids and throwing glances at each other and change clothes all at the same
time without getting out of breath.

Things You Would Never Know Without Chinese Sword-Fighting Movies:

Being the hero's parents is always unlucky and will usually be killed by enemies when the hero is young and the hero will become an
orphan.

When a man is wounded and dying, he always manages to catch his breath and speak a few sentences to reveal the killer before
dropping his head and being declared dead.

Skilled people are able to fly over roof tops, up trees and across distances without any sweat. But when travelling to towns and
villages, they still have to walk or ride horses.

The heroes need not have to work for money, but will always have gold and silver with them to pay for their food dishes.

The heroes and villains will meet each other very often no matter how big the country is and no matter where they are.

Healing internal wounds in the body is as easy as sitting down cross-legged, palms on the knees and smoke coming out from the head.

They can keep alot of stuff in their sleeves and waistbands and never drop them. Especially a lot of gold & silver ingots.

***

Communist paranoia and hyperbole is so delusional, it is as amusing as it is sad:

'Beijing Froths at the Mouth

In the latest Time magazine (Asia), offers a generally balanced critique by Hong Kong's former Chief Secretary and most popular political figure, Anson Chan, of Beijing's response to the SAR's democratic aspiriations. An excerpt:

For the greater part of the past seven years, China's central government has largely left Hong Kong to govern itself. If we have not done a very good job of it, the blame cannot be laid at Beijing's door. Indeed, until recently, the standing and popularity of mainland leaders in the local community had steadily risen. But since the unexpectedly large turnout of demonstrators for democracy last July 1, Beijing's stance toward Hong Kong appears to have hardened. The central government has moved swiftly to lay down the law as far as the elections of the territory's Chief Executive and members of the Legislative Council are concerned. While Beijing has a constitutional right to do so, the manner in which the central government has handled this whole issue, coupled with its public rhetoric and posturing reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution, have left most Hong Kong people puzzled, hurt and frustrated.

If Chan expected mainland authorities to reflect upon her words, she must be disappointed. Beijing's response has instead been rabid.

China's Central Government Liaison Office immediately branded Chan's remarks "unfounded and irresponsible" and declared her comments a -- big surprise here -- threat to Hong Kong's "stability and prosperity."

Meanwhile, the official central government newspaper, China Daily, published a column by Xu Simin, a former standing member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which unleashed a blistering attack upon Chan, accusing her of "distorting the truth to vilify Beijing". The newspaper further accused Chan of "smearing and attacking the central government" and of being a "pet of the British", "vehemently ambitious" the invisable leader of "a campaign to topple Mr. Tung" of having a "craven desire for power."

Still not finished, Xu declared that:

Chan's attack on and vilification of the central government are in violation of the facts as well as her own conscience. She is not qualified to represent Hong Kong people whom she was trying to mislead.

Chan's total disregard of facts when she tried to discredit Beijing has once again proven that she is only trying to gain fame for herself with her self-proclaimed title of "Hong Kong's conscience". She is not worthy of this reputation and it is now necessary to remove this pretence of hers.

The deeds of this so-called "Hong Kong conscience", who disregards facts and violates conscience, are like the classic story of Hua Pi in "Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio" - full of evil tricks.

The way she attacked and smeared the central government in its handling of the SARS outbreak was similar to what was practised in the "cultural revolution". The way she attempted to seize power was identical to that of the "Gang of Four".

Evil? Identical to the Gang of Four? Jesus, has someone hidden Xu's medication?

Finally, Xu suggested that, since Chan was receiving a retirement pension from the Hong Kong government, she was obligated to support
Beijing's policies and -- displaying the delightful sense of irony for which mainland official are famous -- accused her of having "no tolerance for different opinions."' (Source)

It's no wonder that the use of quotation marks is essential when quoting Communists: If I didn't know better, I'd attribute the overblown language to journalistic bias or translation errors.

This beats the time they called Annette Lu a "lunatic" and the "scum of the nation". But then, as she remarked, "It's quite an honour to be singled out in such an extensive propaganda".

***

What a girl doesn't want - "...hip-hugging jeans and skimpy tops, that's what, says one US teen who's pushing for 'modest fashion'... The US teenager doesn't want low-cut hip-huggers or skintight tops in her wardrobe. Yes, you are reading this right. Some teens DON'T want to bare it all, it seems, and Ella's taken the lead in protesting against what appears to be standard teen fashion these days. The shy, bespectacled teenager is making a stand for modest clothes instead of the saucy looks popularised by the likes of Britney Spears."
How refreshingly rare :)

Official Daniel Radcliffe Hatelisting: Young, rich, talentless and overrated - "Welcome to Talentless: the official hatelisting for Daniel Radcliffe, the most overrated talentless actor ever... Note: to all you Dan fans out there I really don't care how much you love him. So go join his fanlisting and get out. This is a listing for people who dislike him =P"
ROFL

Internet Porn Costs Irish Banker His Job: but was Mike Soden merely trying to cut stress? - "Instead of forcing executives to resign, and spending millions limiting and monitoring internet access and tightening firewalls, companies should think about allowing online access to hardcore pornography on a carefully-restricted basis: perhaps 20 minutes a day (10 in the morning, 10 in the afternoon). Employees would be able to pick their porn slots to suit their working day, and employers would be able to choose which websites were made accessible (perhaps by commissioning pornography for their company intranet). Productivity goes up, heart attacks go down, and no one gets fired for a silly indiscretion. Everyone's a winner."
I love British writing.

Top doc backs picking your nose and eating it - "Picking your nose and eating it is one of the best ways to stay healthy, according to a top Austrian doctor. Innsbruck-based lung specialist Prof Dr Friedrich Bischinger said people who pick their noses with their fingers were healthy, happier and probably better in tune with their bodies."

Wanking your way to weight loss - " A tubby 55-year-old writer named Koyamamyama, who tips the scales at 100 kilograms, had an even better idea. Deciding he might as well have some fun in the process, he headed for red-light districts around he capital... These efforts during a total of four hours of sexual activities came to 43,800 yen, consumption tax included. Did they help? Slightly. Koyamamyama's weight declined from 104.2 kilograms to 102.6. His muscle-to-fat ratio improved from 31.2 percent to 31.8; and his overall body fat ratio fell 0.8 percent."
... Manichi Daily News has really weird articles.

The Forge - Information on Medieval Arms and Armour

Costume-ConNections - Jap Cosplay sucks. Jap Cosplay all cannot make it. Singaporean Cosplay is worse - the costumes look like they are made of cardboard and tracing paper. Western Cosplay is *good*. Just look at what they've come up with (and in various categories - not just Anime characters)

Cows immune to BSE near reality

Really scary Friendster profile

Countdown to Legality - "Wanna know when you can touch them legally?"
There's a countdown timer to legality for each of the 5 people on the page. Not like anyone who tracks the page will ever be able to touch them - legally or not. As a related page remarks: "since they're so far out of your league that you'd have a better chance at getting struck by lightning while scoring the winning touchdown at the Superbowl, most of you are just hoping that they'll do some sort of spread in Playboy. ...which also, will not happen. Oh well, at least you can watch Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in New York Minute, opening this Friday. ...if you're an idiot, that is."

Heavenly bodies.

***

A historian and mathematician dined together and were debating which was the more important discipline. "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it," says the historian. "But think of how mathematics has supported engineering and physics," counters the mathematician. While the historian is temporarily in the bathroom the mathematician slips the waitress a big tip [leave room for Dr. Bob comment] and says "Answer the next question I ask with ‘the natural log of x’". When the historian returns the mathematician continues, "Mathematics is so important I bet even the waitresses here need to know it." The historian accepts the bet and the mathematician summons the waitress over and asks, "Can you help my friend and I settle a bet? What is the antiderivative of the function 1/x?" The waitress replies, "The natural log of x, plus a constant."

Gah.

***

My life inside the Saudi kingdom - The expat life in a well-heeled compound has its compensations, despite the restrictions on entertainment, driving and clothes: "An Arab News article during my time in the kingdom reported that 50 per cent of the nation's road accidents were attributable to women, which, for non-drivers, is some feat and probably goes to show the level of subterfuge the male population must employ to cover its pride. A study of this phenomenon by the University of Al Ahsa concluded that women routinely argued with their husbands or demanded that they stop suddenly at the sight of a nice-looking dress in a shop window, and so caused pile-ups."
Disgusting misogyny.

Inventor's machine is a real kick in the pants - " The idea of a butt-kicking machine first brought snickers and smiles. And then the light bulb went on. And J. Reese Leavitt perceived a business opportunity. He now is seeking a patent for the "Manually Self-Operated Butt-Kicking Machine," and exploring the market potential of the device -- doing research to see who will pay to have some butts kicked."

Orange High graduation remarks plagiarized - "Orange County school board Chairman Keith Cook plagiarized much of the speech he delivered at Orange High School's 2004 graduation ceremony. The speech, which incorporated lessons from the movie "Titanic," was virtually identical to a 1998 speech given by Donna Shalala, then U.S. secretary of health and human services. Cook did not attribute his remarks"

Mammary money-spinners - Even 300 years ago, pictures of breasts sold publications. Chris Arnot reports on research into ballads and the fashion of décolleté: "Certainly, the Venetian ambassador needed no lessons in self-control when confronted by rather more than he wished to see of the elderly "Virgin Queen", Elizabeth I, towards the end of the 16th century. 'He complained of having to face 'her wrinkled dugs',' McShane-Jones says."

Can't stop the pop-ups - "In January, Paul Haigh downloaded Google's toolbar to dispel annoying pop-up ads. By March, they were back."

Spoof of Troy - "It's 1300 BC (more or less), the King of Jericho is smitten by Joshua's favorite prostitute, Rahab, spiriting her away to his walled stronghold. Never ones to be outdone by an arrogant foe, the angry Israelites assemble a gigantic invasion force and besiege one of the most heavily fortified cities in the Middle East. A familiar all-star cast complements the scenic locales, romantic love story and epic battles. Jericho is a historical docudrama inspired by, but not totally faithful to, the Biblical legend. Events are depicted as they may have transpired in reality. YHWH and the other gods are only alluded to as beliefs held by the clashing armies; never does a pivotal part of the story hinge on their actual existence. Will Jericho's mighty walls survive the assault? Will Joshua rescue the love of his life before it's too late? Will the Jerichoans fall for a devious, last-ditch trick involving a huge, wooden Ark of the Covenant? Find out the answers to all these questions, and more, at Cineplex Golgotha this summer!"

***

"Mstislav Rostropovich is internationally acclaimed and acknowledged as the world's greatest living cellist."

Hmm is this because Jacqueline du Pre is dead?

Xephyris: which fantasy author did those names come from? *runs away*

...

***



Source: Imprezzions

***

"The Vietnamese community in Southern California is the largest outside Vietnam. There are upwards of 350,000 in the Southland and over 125,000 in Northern California."

No wonder they can support a pop music industry, and even someone catering to such niche tastes as Wo-hen Nankan :0

***

One day a man is walking down the beach and comes across an old bottle. Picking it up, he pulls out the cork. Sure enough, out pops a genie. The genie says, "Thank you for freeing me from my prison. In return I will grant you three wishes."

The man says "Perfect! I always dreamed of this and I know exactly what I want.

"First, I want one billion dollars in a Swiss bank account."

Suddenly, there is a flash of light and a deposit slip with his Swiss bank account number appears in his hand.

"Next, I want a spectacular house overlooking this beach right here." There is another flash of light and a beautiful house appears on the cliff above them, attended by a full staff.

"Finally, I want to be irresistible to women." The genie disappears into final blaze of light, and the man instantly becomes gay.

(JumboJoke)

***

Interesting Passion of the Christ review I found. Choice quotes:

"Mel Gibson offers an answer, and it’s a gut-turning, child-scaring, vomit-inducing, boring theological nightmare. He works in that rare genre, the Shocking Yet Boring movie."

"Jesus’ character is shown as a somewhat questionable Messiah. It seems to cause him great pain to utter a few words, whether he’s being tortured or not. He is constantly asked perfectly reasonable questions, and he answers with silence and a somewhat drunken look - not made more divine at all by the injuries his face suffers as the movie progresses. If one wasn’t really all that familiar with the character, one would have to wonder - who is this person? Why are we supposed to feel for him? What is his goddamn problem?"

"Mary plays every single scene with the same expression on her face: worry. This is at times appropriate, but mostly, it’s downright puzzling when she’s watching her son being flogged, speared, and kicked. A tear rolls down her face and she clenches her fists, but I have to inform Mr. Gibson that this is how mothers react when their children lose a soccer match; seeing your child turned into shreds of bloody flesh would pull a scream from your throat so primal, no angelic trumpet would cover it."

"This entire stretch of the movie - heck, its last two thirds - are a sadistic tour de force, an exercise in camera angles and special effects that would make Quentin Tarantino go, 'Jeez, I think this is going too far.'"

"The Passion made me decide that if I ever honor a deity again (not that I was smart enough to make a qualified decision the first time), he or she better have something to do with thunder. I want my Savior to kick ass, not redeem by being turned into steak tartar."

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

How low can Jodie go? - "Glamour model Jodie Marsh upstaged dozens of female celebrities last night when she arrived at a star-studded event wearing a 'barely there' outfit. The wannabe star was dressed in a tiny five-inch belt, a top made from two spangley straps that criss-crossed over her chest and knee-high boots. (Warning: Revealing picture)" (Sent to me by my sister)

***

"maybe you can try being normal for once cause that would be really weird"

...

***

I am never *ever* buying Lux Super Rich Shampoo. The first ad featuring Michelle Chia was bad enough (the one of her at the masquerade), but with the newer one, in which she runs around in a room full of gears and finally cranks a lever to "reverse the effects of time" (complete with low class music and ooo-s), marks the nadir of her career.

I wonder if both the team which conceptualised the ad and the person who approved it were drunk - what the hell were they thinking?! Singaporean ads are bad, but even in such an insipid market, they have managed to set new standards for advertisement mediocrity, standards which only Dettol in Malaysia cannot meet.

***

THOR m
Usage: Norse Mythology
Pronounced: THOR
From the Old Norse Þórr meaning "thunder". Thor was the Norse god of strength, thunder and war, the son of Odin. He was armed with a hammer called Mjolnir, and wore an enchanted belt which doubled his strength.

TYR m
Usage: Norse Mythology
Pronounced: TIR
Old Norse form of the name of the Germanic god Tiwaz, related to Indo-European dyeus (see ZEUS). In Norse mythology Tyr was the god of war and justice, the son of the god Odin. He carries a spear in his left hand, since his right hand was bitten of by the wolf Fenrir. At the time of the end of the world, the Ragnarok, Tyr will slay and be slain by the giant hound Garm.

AFAIK, the only Norse god of war was Thor, and Tyr was just the brand of Xianjie's swimming trunks.

[Ed: nw.t: "no, tyr was the one-armed god of war

fenrir bit off his arm because they wanted to chain up fenrir and they built this super zhai chain which was dipped in one of the springs that flowed from yggdrasil's roots tended by the Norns.

they flattered fenrir and said they simply wanted to test the chain on him but he wouldn't believe them unless one of the gods stuck his arm in his jaws. guess who did"

Okay, so I'm not an expert in Norse mythology]

***

Most of the templates on blogskins.com are either: garish, tasteless, full of gimmicks (eg animated backgrounds) or angsty.

It is very depressing. Oh, and a good deal of the most popular/most downloaded skins on Blogskins are done by lower secondary school Singaporean girls. I do not think this is a coincidence.

***

Chinese "Journalism"

Today's headline from the New York Times:

Iran Still Making Nuclear Materials, UN Agency Says

From the Washington Post:

Watchdog Blasts Iran On Nuclear Program

From the Guardian:

Iran uranium find boosts nuclear bomb fears

And from the official Chinese news agency, Xinhua:

IAEA credits Iran for more openness with nuclear plans

From: The Gweilo Diaries

***

Message: 10 Ways to describe if you are haunted..

Do you EVER get an eerie feeling if you are alone at home at nightime, you just feel like you're being watched? Feel like someone is there around that dark corner? That you might have seen toys or dolls moving by themselves??

** Experts say there are some lifebeings that maybe arent alive...thats still walking on earth. Nobody knows the truth. At least..nobody thats still alive..**

The ten ways...

Point 1
If at midnight, the power's out.

Point 2
If your pet dog/cat is sleeping but they're eyes are wide open.

Point 3
If your pet dog/cat is looking at something that you cant see.

Point 4
If your pet dog/cat scratches at the air, or growls or hiss at something you cant see.

Point 5
If something you see earlier on is at one place, later on it is gone or moved someplace else.

Point 6
If theres a shadow of a figure against the wall, but there is no one there.

Point 7
If you hear someone talking or whispering, but no one is there.

Point 8
If suddenly outside the window, there is nothing but black.

Point 9
If you feel like something or someone is touching you.

Point 10
If the hair on your head and body is shooting up.


What other people say about this

~ Anelissa Kok, 16 ~

When I got this letter, I deleted it, thinking it was crap. But, later on, strange things has happened to me. My mother had sex with our dog, and my brother vanished without a single trace.

~ Shaza Reenaz, 32 ~

I deleted this letter as soon as I got it. Thinking that kids were trying to fool me. But the next week, villagers found my 5 year old daugther dead in a river, floating beside a woman with long white hair and a white dress.

~ Kamilul Jalar, 14 ~

I didnt send this letter to other of my contacts. When at the next day, my house was empty. Pure empty. Everything was gone. And what was left was a package full of blood in my cupboard!

~ Mary Loo Mei, 13 ~

I deleted this letter as soon as I finished reading it. I thought it was pure crap. Then, strange things had happened to me lately. My boyfriend ran away from home, and he left a note to his parents that he is going to kill himself. The next week, it was all over the papers that a boy jumped of a high cliff.

If u dont wan this to happen to urself, pass it on in a new bulletin.. it is for ur own good.. dont blame me for not reminding u.. Woo..

This is priceless.

***

Gifted far from being elitist

"I'd draw a parallel with Russian Liberalism before 1917. The GEP program is like the Tsarist 'reform from above' programme that produced a small batch of social elites - the ex-nobility, urban professionals, big industrialists and landowners. These dudes got special education in Western liberal ideas and wanted to pressurize the Tsar into conceding constitutionalist reform. But because they were also the privileged ones in the Tsarist autocracy, they didn't want a violent revolution and drastic social change that would damage their own status.

The end result: the liberals, politically too weak to force the Tsar to concede changes, ended up riding on the coat-tails of the mass revolution of the grubby workers and peasants, and formed the Provisional Government of Feb 1917. But they themselves were horrified by the political demands of the unwashed masses, and apart from making the usual 'liberal' policy changes (rule of law, civil freedoms etc) their social and economic platform was hopelessly reactionary and dedicated (to all appearances) to preserving the position of the industrialists and landowners. The result: the successful Bolshevik Coup of October 1917.

Will the same happen in Singapore? Probably not. The 'disgruntled elite' is far stronger, the workers and peasants quiescent, and the leaders have read Aristotle on the fine art of preventing revolutions and preserving constitutional stability. Now, everyone is made to believe that they must buy into the system and continue supporting the elite who are the only real hope the entire country has for surviving the never-ending waves of economic crises.

Still, one might have thought the same of Brezhnev's USSR in the 1970s - to keep the masses happy with a fig-leaf of nominated 'democracy', in a situation where Marxist ideology had long since decayed into meaningless rhetoric, the government resorted to 'economic legitimation' i.e. paying off everyone proportionate to their importance to the system, and promising a slow but steady advance in economic growth and living standards. Support the Party, toe the line of 'democratic centralism', and we'll all get rich together.

This was sustained for a time via detente and trade with the West, but ultimately economic stagnation and falling growth rates (rings a bell anyone?) necessitated increasingly drastic 'reform from above' until Gorbachev had to make the appeal to the masses to support his policies against the obstructive nomenklatura elite... and guess what, we *almost* have a repeat of Feb 1917 on our hands.

Lessons for Singapore, anyone?"

For more of such, join Jiekai's brainchild: Young Republic