More typing. This time on grammar tests.

Joyful jovial jubilation!


Britain's heart is broken

HUNDREDS of tearful David Beckham fans swamped The Sun's grief helpline yesterday after news of his move to Spain. Some readers were so upset by his departure from Man Utd to Real Madrid that they said they were considering SUICIDE. Others claimed they would have trouble performing in BED with the England skipper playing abroad. And many gay men rang in saying they were devastated by the departure of one of their most popular icons...

Worried Steve, 26, from Sheffield, said: "My wife fancied Becks so much. The heat is now on me to perform in bed and I'm worried about getting aroused."

Another caller, who didn't want to be named, said: "Beckham defined my sexuality. Now he's gone I don't feel I'll be able to perform in bed."

Colin Stuart, 25, from Mill Hill, North London, said: "Becks has helped me realise I am gay. I think I will have problems with my partner now as we both liked him."

Dan, 35, from London, said: "I'm terribly upset. He was a gay icon and I loved him. I can't concentrate on my work."

Student Rob, 21, also from London, said: "He was a gay icon. I feel abandoned now he has gone. I feel empty - I thought he would always be there."

Chef Lee Brown, 23, of Preston, said: "My wife is Beckham nuts and is moving to Spain to be near him. If I don't go our relationship's over."

Another caller who didn't want to be named said: "My friend has Beckham tattoos on his arm and has threatened to cut it off."

Dad Frank Wilson, 33, from London, said: "I've never been so upset. My whole family are crying.

I cried myself to sleep after hearing the awful news.
Grandmother Mary Richards, 85

"I'm going to burn my Manchester United kit and give up my season ticket."

Telesales worker David Phillips, 27, had similar problems.

He said: "My whole family are in tears. What am I supposed to tell the kids?"

Daniel Payne, 21, from Bromley, Kent, said: "I'm so upset. I can't believe he's gone."

And 24-year-old salesman Akhmed, of Oxford, said: "He was like a god to me. I have a tattoo of him on my chest. I feel powerless that he's gone."

Hannah, 17, said: "I've followed Becks all my life. I don't know how I'll get through my A-levels now."

Gran Mary Richards, 85, said: "I cried myself to sleep after hearing the news."

London cabbie Colin Bennett said: "The world's gone mad � he's only a bloody footballer."

Counsellor Dai Lloyd-Hughes: "The most important thing to do if they're upset is talk about it. If their feelings persist they should talk to the Samaritans or visit their GP."

Psychotherapist Mick Walsh: "Because we see Becks so often, many feel they know him personally. Now he's gone it's like someone they know has died."

Hahaha oh dear.

Someone sent me a video, taken surreptitiously on a Clie, of Ho Poh Fun scolding a student. This is probably the modern day equivalent of what I was doing with my Palm IIIc in J2 :)

I was never taught by her, but this is what I always imagined her lessons were like :)

http://synthesis.port5.com/stuff/HPFterror.mov [Not hosted by me, btw]

Enjoy.

Gah. I take a day off, then when I come back my mother makes me type schoolwork for her again.


Learning English for Japs - Home English Home

Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream

Mao Zedong communist posters! God, they even have some against Falungong, the "Evil Cult" - "To combat Falun Gong, the Party has sought recourse to propaganda techniques not seen since the Cultural Revolution. These include character assassination (of Li Hongzhi and others), cartoons reminiscent of the lampooning of class enemies, endless essays depicting the deleterious effect of the doctrine, documentaries exposing movement leaders as frauds and followers as dupes, etc. The "struggle" against Falun Gong has even resulted in a revival of the use of propaganda posters beyond merely educational or congratulary purposes."

M'sia: Don't buy original CDs and DVDs. A rare insight from Ma-laysia: "The refusal of recording companies to lower prices despite repeated calls by the government was helping fuel the trade in pirated movies, music and software, alleged Deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister S. Subramaniam. The minister pointed out that some genuine movie video CDs (VCD)--a popular format in Asia--cost as little as US$2.60, indicating that some profit is possible even at that price. These cheaper discs also do not get pirated, he said. 'Those priced at RM$30 (US$7.90) and above are normally the ones that get pirated. This proves that the price factor is the main reason consumers buy pirated CDs and VCDs,' he told the news daily the New Straits Times."

'In Malaysia, prices are fixed individually by the respective recording company. If one company fixes a price too high, it will find itself priced out of the market.' - Recording Industry Association of Malaysia's General Manager. Right. Not heard of oligopolies, monopoly profits and collusion, has he?

Tailors for cats


Haha.

SNE 86

22. That a father wrote in to complain that the his son's unit wanted donations for the Annual Army Half-Marathon donation card to be at least a certain amount.

The official reply from Mindef was that no minimum amounts were asked for, just guidelines given.

In other words,

-the CO tell the S4 he wants the men to fall in at 0800h

-the S4 tells the OC that the CO wants the men to fall in at 0700h in Smart 4 uniform

-the OC tells the PC that the CO wants the men to fall in at 0600h in Smart 4, SBO, Helmet, and Rifle

-the PC tells the Platoon Sgt the CO wants the men to fall in at 0500h in Full Battle Order

-so the Platoon Sgt tells the men to fall in at 0300h in Full Battle Order and go for 24km Forced march

23. That Pte Teo will now go back to camp and enjoy the blanket party from his Platoon mates because all of them will be enjoying weekend guard duty for the next 20 years (there is no minimum number of guard duties, it is just a guide).

All because "one of you buggers go and complain your fardder mardder over a stoopid donation card".

Next time your enemy come to your foxhole, remember to complain to your fardder marder too.

24. That Pte Teo will now get to enjoy many "coffee sessions" and heart-to heart talks with his CO about the personal problems he seems to be having with his Army Half-Marathon donation card.


"Thought control is a copyright of totalitarianism, and we have no claim to it. It is not the function of government to keep the citizen from falling into error, it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error." - Robert H Jackson

"What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist." - Salman Rushdie

Hi everyone; i know this is short notice- i will be coming back to singapore on 8 july to 20 july. Would love to catch up with u guys (if you're a stranger who stumbled onto gabriel's blog ... i'm sure you're a wonderful person whom i would treasure if i got to know you); unsure if i will have a handphone in singapore so contact me by icq or call me at home. Even better if u can suggest a time/tell me when you're free. For those in JC- school starts already rite? In any case, appointments are more feasible esp if

a) they do not clash with dinner (have to be at home at that time)
b) they are near my house (i.e. places in the west, holland v etc)

My brother will be coming back as well so i'm really looking forward to spending this time with him and my parents.
Will try my best to contact u once i reach singapore, but no promises.
Do u want anything from melbourne? Kai, i'll try to get u fudge ... i'm trying to find a recipe for it now my exams are over actually so if mine turns out okay.... Gabriel kettle chips i suppose... they came up with new flavours u know! called "sensations". Anyone anything else?

I'm going to take over documentation work soon - argh. The day of reckoning had been postponed, but the Fates have finally caught up with me. Argh. Come, Clotho and Lachesis, I fear you not, for Cheong will be to my left, Gollum opposite me, and Boon Wei (my upper study) halfway across the Island in Temasek Poly, but just a phone call away!

Apparently, my sleep is disturbed in more ways than one - the drivers claimed I screamed in my sleep at 2 am one morning while on duty. Also, someone else also thinks that it's impossible to rest well in the medical centre, so it's not just me. Maybe it's the Sudol/Printol that interferes with the body's systems.

I'm being put on a training regimen again. Only, this time it seems that it will be followed up upon by my own Platoon Commander. So maybe it will work this time. Maybe. So maybe pigs will fly (I may pass IPPT), but the Palestinians will never bomb the Kabaa (I'll never pass SOC). On the bright side, I might finally grasp at The Final Solution this time, what with the daily training. Hopefully, it will be enough for my goals, yet not so strong as to incapacitate me seriously.

Sathiesh and Ban Xiong were laughing at Chemistry with me. It's such a joy to find people who appreciate bad TV, and who make snide remarks with you. Anyhow in our attempts to give credit where it is due, we noticed that the male in the female body left his/her legs open, while the female in the male body closed her/his legs. It's the little things like these that make of break a show!

The reservist cookhouse has Wireless Internet Surfing. Wah. But I thought laptops were illegal... Oh well, reservists can do anything, I suppose.

Apparently it is useless to wash any clothes in camp, due to the lack of sunlight, so I will stop doing so.

Jason is keeping track of the number of times I flip the bird. It stands at 4 now. Wah.

Boon Wei and I were at the bus stop when a convoy of trucks rolled past us, and some black sludge spilled out the back onto the road. This sludge smelled like shit - only worse, and we were over the moon when the bus finally came. Meanwhile, the trucks continued speeding on. I think by the time they reached their destination, most of the sludge was gone.


We've just shifted into new bunks, so we're now at the opposite end of the level. During the shifting day, I was on duty, so I didn't have to lug cupboards, but the flip side was that everyone "choped" all the good beds. No matter, the Workshop people will be leaving for good in about a month, and meanwhile I have my Personal Bunk in a Top Secret location. Either that or I can sleep on the floor like I used to do in SMM.

Pros of new bunk:
- More people
- Nearer to water cooler
- Showers are more powerful
- Mobile shoe cabinets
- New pillow!

Cons of new bunk:
- More people
- Hotter and more stuffy if you're not on the top beds just beside the fan
- If you take the top beds, climbing the ladder hurts your feet and transaction costs are high to either mount or dismount the bed
- Smaller cupboard
- Larger lock required for cupboards

To reduce the pain involved in mounting or dismounting the bed, I hit upon the idea of padding the ladder's steps. This was pronounced as being "very you" by Melvin, and is the latest in a line of things I have done against his advice of "Don't do stupid things".


I'm so touched!

Xephyris and Chinx took this picture for me while in Japan ^_^' <-- teardrop




Quotes:

Don't send me porn. I only have 10MB left on my hard disk.

[On screaming in my sleep] You must have been having a good dream. You sounded like you were making love.

[Review of Ju-On] When the show degenerates into Night of The Living Dead mode with a superfluous bunch of zombie schoolgirls, it is bye-bye time.

[On padding the steps of the ladder used for mounting the bed] You provide more entertainment than the TV

[On Lu Rui En] She sounds like she's from RJ... [Me: Do I sound like I'm from RJ?] Yes.

[On Lu Rui En] She can speak properly in this ad, why can't she speak properly in the show?

[Sees me brandishing a fly swatter] What are you doing? [Me: Trying to kill the fly] It's on your hear, dude, it's on your head. [Someone else: What's he doing?] He's trying to kill the fly [Someone else: These people are mad man, these people are mad]

[Geraldine] I don't look that good what

Someone who wants to remain anonymous sent me this labour of love, which should be familiar to some RJ alumni. This person is very endearing and his/her lessons were always very memorable... Needless to say, names have been removed to protect the innocent:

jc1revision5thjune[1].doc


market failure:
goodness gracious me!
when the government wants to do a cost benefit analysis it must know which are private and external costs and benefits, HELLO hello.

Do you understand or not? And then for the other on - eh *** you got it wrong i worked out the answer for you if they give you 2 variables; if they give you mpc and mpm then you still have foreign trade mulitiplier. GO AND READ the notes. i prepared you very well.

YOU BETTER do your work or else I will send you to see the vp. Wah he's very fierce, you think he's very young but wah. i saw him scold ****** (*** ***) so don't play a fool with the big guns here.

If you play the fool - and i know that maths teachers are taking up a lot of your time. I think there is an inefficient allocation of resources like market failure in economics - you are spending too little time on your econs!

Ok question 49, remember the one i did for you change in consumption must be mpc x change in disposable income must cut taxes by a larger amount because indirect measures will save some of the additional income. These are very important concepts which i have explained very very clearly. You must know how to calculate inflation rate... see DRQ/case study in CT 1. you definitely must know this. and if there is inflation, the general price level is rising. the cost of living goes up. even though your inflation rate goes down. Still an increase in the price level. cost of living is living expenses.

(*****: Mrs *** do we need to study the multiplier?)
Of course multiplier need to know if you don't know you die flat ok... money banking prices in - you know the production poossibiltiy slope is the same no international trade. Determination of exchange rate. demand for a countries currencies is a derived demand. Singapore off the Sars list, tourism increases, demand S$ thus appreciation of sing dollar.

Know what is meant by visible and invisible trade. Know measures to correct deficits. you see ah when you devalue your currency and in this case your goods are cheaper. therefore demand must be elastic. Supply must also be elastic. Need excess capacity to meet the increased demand. if don't have, then the price rises again and nullifies the effects of inflation. AND i will reccommend you strongly to do current papers. you can do it ok.

so are there any questions to ask me? let me ask you a question, how many of you have done your mcq until BOP? you CHAM ah. you better do for your a level exams. Don't play the fool ok... mcq is VERY important. Also ah, please relate your case studies to the given preamble. If you give bikini clad answers you will get bikini clad marks. i'm telling you... you go and write all the learn by heart lecture notes cannot pass you you understand or not? you understand or not? and you got to read carefully. I believe you will do well. Henry you have any quesitons to ask me?

(*****: Ya, you know the national income, what is the value added approach?)
--

The markets becoming bullish because the sars virus is being killed by the heat but it will come again in autumn. and if it really comes it will wipe away a lot of people to death.

The capital gains is the gains you receive from the sale of all this. its not included right... i just set to test your understanding... you understand or not... that's why you must be very careful. it will be applied to government departments. definitely... pls ah... government expenditure for national income... the G ah, the G ah, it excludes transfer payments don't anyhow write ah... pls ah... pls be very careful. i expct you to learn very well mr ******'s topic. if you spot ah... you are going to be in big hot soup.

*** ah... i will tie your hands if you don't stop... DING DING... are you scared or not? I think econs you should not be scared... you should be scared of your further maths... they always want to kill you know... me ah, i don't want to kill you, but some people... they just want to CHALLENGE you (referring to mr ******)... to death, no... to the highest of the mountain. You will see stars... and when stars come out of your head ah... you cannot think. Those questions i set... can come out one ah... those questions that we do ah... these are the questions that are likely to come out in the A LEVEL exams.
That's why that time i ask **** **** **** ah,... why you set this question they never lecture that question you know... how can you set a question like this and never inform us...at least you are smart and never do. but there are still some weirdos who go and try... Really weirdos. NEVER try a question that is not to your advantage.

this ** *****... pls ah... don't do things that require too many things inside. that's why i teach you ah... i will only do questions that don't require too much concepts. you're playing TOTO with the teachers if you want to try... you shouldn't play toto.

(***: Mrs ***, what is toto?)
you don't know toto? Aiyah gambling lah... the five numbers, six numbers.... that time i bought you know... the other time i bought i won one thousand dollars. that time i bought ah i went to Bulgaria. i'm very lucky. then i transited at... aiyah dunno where lah... then that place ah the number came out first prize. i bought one dress 480 dollars. the number came out. don't know why i so lucky i can touch. so all these things i bought free. my diamond brooch free. my dress also free. i issue that check to that company, wed or thursday... on Saturday my number came out exactly. Wah that stupid number first prize. my husband ask me why i so STUPID. even when i was young my savings box ah...my sister in law touch ah that number... then she win. the house i buy... true indeed, when i step in ah, came out second prize. sometimes i avail myself of the opportunity, but other times i just cannot lah.

The fortune teller sees my face and told me (Me: Mrs ***, why did you see a fortune teller?) Oh, I never go and see her. You see, because the manager that time I was working not here lah, we go out for lunch then I met her. When she sees my face she says january and may i will strike 4D. just happens this manager of IT, he very pantang, he always ask her. She says his office cannot have pillar, so there's no load on his head. i don't believe in all this ah. She says I'm very lucky. i don't believe in all this... but its still happening to me. i have this luck to touch all this kind of money. only i can touch this kind of money. if other people buy my number, cannot come out.

When i first came as HOD in rjc, first year suay ah never come out that handphones question. second year came out exactly. tell you ah, i can't believe it my tutorial question came out. 1999 also, that's why ******'s brother that year all very happy. i think the ah-curls (UCLES) examiners saw my question. You know why, because my friend she works in ministry, she came to my house and then she said, this question **** *****, very good ah, how come you can set this kind of question so good ah?? then i say i give you one copy, its ok. Then you see, that year, came out that question. (triumphant grin)

(***: Mrs *** they copied your question.)
No. UCLES examiners they cannot copy exactly, how can they copy? they MODIFY. only my students damn lucky ah, they all do damn well. the prelim questions came out. three questions out of four came out exactly in the A levels exams like in my dreams.

(***: what are your dreams like this year, Mrs ***?)
(cackles happily). Aiyah i don't know about this year yet. i never pray hard enough, never dream. aiyar. the ri people go and tell the teachers, there is one HOD in the school very good at spotting question. then the academic head come back and tell me, i very sheepish cos i know they are referring to me. this last year.. the question very tough. they are going to set the same. same question but they are going to rephrase it with a very long preamble. even case study minimum wage i told mr ****** to set, and lo and behold it came out ah.

in 1999, they set questions on low rates of inflation. you better take my advice you better read. i've done for you already. things i do ah, you all think i... i... i ... i don't want to see ah... i haven't taken my temperature. those from the heartland jcs ah they won't do well. you will do well... i got a good record ah.. you have to study to tango with me,. the lowest grade you will get is a C. ok so you need any help or not? Ok you can go now.

David contacted me yesterday, asking me if I wanted to go watch "Revelations" by The Necessary Stage, since someone wasn't able to go and they had an extra ticket.

"It can't be that bad, they've a reputation to uphold" - my favourite bard

I would have gone, just for the heck of it, since I get to stay out tonight (medical appointment) and I'd nothing better to do, but my former maths tuition teacher Mr Seow, uncle and auntie are over today for a Fish Head-Popiah dinner (party).

Besides which, I've long lost my faith in modern theatre being comprehensible and unpretentious, and the ticket was $20 (or was it $30?). And lucky for me too, for I just stumbled across this review by someone whom I had, for some reason, acted rather strangely towards in J2 and thus doesn't like me:

"revelations by the necessary stage was quite a letdown, horrid script. disjointed incomprehensible out-of-point ["on 28th january 1819 sir stamford raffles landed on st john's island.. constellations are starbursts of.. in 1992 singapore launched its courtesy campaign" one after another, all this while the actors had gay sex] after the first 20mins i caught no ball. at least the acting was superb. such a pity. until the end tkx and i just thought we weren't smart or artsy fartsy enough haha but that kinda changed when we were walking out and realised that
NO ONE understood the damn play. sheesh.

still at a loss at what local theatre is trying to prove. everything has to do with sex, deviant sex, homosexuality, abuse, violence, beauty=pain kinda thing.. at the expense of a solid storyline. which is a big fat pity cos the actors have talent.

but the worst part of the show has got to be the post-show feedback form:

if you could spread SARS to any of the characters, which would you choose? and if you were forced to rape one of your siblings at gunpoint, would you rape your brother, sister, or would you rather die?

so damn sick. like honestly, what the eff. that's not art. that's just in complete bad taste."

Somehow, I expected that :)

Dah!

Just finished Dragons of a Lost Star, book 2 in the War of Souls trilogy which Mr Ban Xiong lent me, while I lent him Magician and Silverthorn.

I come all this way, grimacing at the disturbing monotheistic undertones, and I find out that the "One God" is Takhisis!

Gah. I feel so cheated. Couldn't they have come up with something better?

He Who Must Not Be Named: "what do youwant, Morgion?"

Got a hit from this url: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RJC22nd/message/1009. Don't tell me that they're still after me!


Less than a year to ORD!

10-minute non-study period (1839hrs - 1849 hrs)

I know what i want to do after exams! Watch arthouse flicks!
Nowhere in africa
Whale Rider
Balzac and the little chinese seamstress (i'm sure the title in mandarin isn't as icky as the translation)
the 25th hour
The crime of padre amaro
Mrs. Caldicot's Cabbage War
Russian Ark (G - 96m) ( Russian History/Fantasy)
gabriel you might like this one if it ever comes to singapore (film fest?) it's a fantasy-documentary on 300 yrs of russian history

Habla Con Ella (Talk to Her) (MA - 113m)(Spanish Drama)


The Quiet American (M - 101m) (Drama )

He Who Must Not Be Named:

"i have praised your merits as the owner of the largest private gamebook collection in SE Asia to a lot of people"

HAHAHA


Seems Kairen's intel is wrong. Lu Rui En was actually from Commerce. Oh well.


Gah! My third letter to the forum (on the ridiculousness of current copyright laws) didn't get published. I think I shall desist from further exercises in futility.


Shawn Ban quoting someone else (whom I'm not sure wants to be linked):

Something that struck me quite a while ago, but which I've never really gotten around to recording. Anyone who's read 1984 (the novel of the last century, if BBC is to be believed) may recall that one of the propaganda techniques used by the regime in the book was the perpetual state of war. Constant mobilisation against threat fuels nationalism, encourages people to rally behind the leadership, and makes the general population more receptive to restrictions on their liberties.

While actual military campaigns are obviously effective for this purpose, their financial and political expense (those are our boys out there, after all) do place limits on their use. What you really need is something that will bubble merrily just under the surface of the national consciousness for a protracted period of time. What you want is a sustained sense of urgency, an enemy no one can take issue with fighting, a danger that manages to consistently distort society's sense of normality.

War on terrorism, anyone? Or SARS?

Our Senior Medic isn't going for a course after all, so poor Ban Xiong's promotion to Local/3rd Sergeant was all in vain. All the runs at 5:45 am. Being favoured by the CSM. The arrows and saikang. The grumbles of the enlistees. The good mannered jibes. And no extra pay too. At least he hasn't had to pay for the using the facilities of the "wonderful" Midlink Mess, can conduct warmups and doesn't need to march.

I was sent outfield again this week, and we had only Muslim field rations (even though we've no Muslims!), but this time I was more prepared than the previous times. The day before I left, I went on a little shopping expedition to stock up, so in the end I ended up bringing outfield: an insulator of ice (for safety reasons, naturally), a jumbo loaf of bread, a small tin of Pork and Goose Pate (I'm probably one of a handful who have brought such food outfield), a can of luncheon meat, a can of tuna, a can of pork sausages (unconsumed), 2 chocolate bars (1 unconsumed), 4 cans of soft drinks (assorted) and assorted sweets. Bob suggested having chilled wine outfield, but I'm a teetotaller, so :) One officer's verdict: "Si beh well prepared". I still found it hard to summon up the mood to read when I was being bathed in dust, dying of the heat and assailed by hordes of mosquitoes, though.

I bought a $1 fly swatter (Made In China, naturally) in the shape of a frog for use in the Documentation Room. Apparently they've killed 2 flies so far.

I brought some Earl Gray teabags to camp. Mmm. I like Early Gray tea. Its flavour is so exotic, a level above ordinary teas'.

I put some popsicles in the pantry freezer and just under half got stolen. Bah! :(


We were looking at pets in Jurong Point one day, and I got the chance to examine luohan closely. The splotches on their scales are more detailed than I thought they were, but I still can't figure out what (if any) chinese words are supposed to be spelt out on the Luohans' bodies. I suppose it's like the Rorschach test, where you see what you -want- to see. Later, we went to look at pussies. All were lazy (most were sleeping) and arrogant, though, as cats are wont to be, but since the ones we saw were probably pedigree, they were much nicer to look at, with their soft, silky fur, than the strays my sister and brother in law customarily flirt with. Now -these- pussies you want to stroke, not those which scamper around rubbish dumps at night. I still prefer the doggies though. They were mostl lively and glad to see all of us.

I finished my second reading of Raymond E Feist's Silverthorn (joy!) recently, and am on Darkness at Sethanon now. It is sweet intoxication to tread upon familiar, intimate, well loved ground. At the same time, I get the nagging feeling that I should be looking at new material as well. Oh well, one can never finish reading everything, and what is the value of reading things that everyone else has read? As the anecdote one of those Chinese sages related went (and as I read in an AsiaPac Chinese Wisdom comic series), this scholar was walking around with one of those backpack book holder contraptions, and he was berated by an old man, who pointed out that what had been published was already known, so he should instead go out into the world and discover new ideas, whereupon he dumped his books and ran into the forest screaming in enlightenment. Or something like that.

Fabled Lands 6 - Lords of the Rising Sun was on auction at ebay, but the price was ridiculous (21 pounds or so 3 days before it ended). I'd have bid for it if one of the following were true: FL 5 was on offer too, it wasn't eventually going to be offered free online, the price wasn't so darn high and I hadn't lost much of my interest in gamebooks. At least I still have 1-4, bought at Popular Orchard MRT. I doubt they ever shipped 5 and 6 to Singapore. Pity 7-12 were never published.

There won't be Pork satay at the new Satay Club. Pity. Pork satay's the most succulent, fragrant and enticing of the lot.


Professor James Aho, Professor of Sociology at Idaho State University: "Every major world religion has people who have appropriated the label of their religion in order to legitimize their violence". That's not really true. How about Buddhism and Chinese traditional religions?

At this year's PUS (Pre-University Seminar), the students were instructed not to talk to the press "to allow organisers to balance the need to ensure that the activities at the event and interviewees' schedule are not unduly disrupted with the need to facilitate the media in covering the event and interviewing participants". Right. For some reason, though, getting a press officer to be around when the students are interviewed does not "disrupt" the schedule or activities, so their lie rings hollow. I am not very surprised, but I don't think they've ever been this compulsive about white washing their image before - they want to manage the event even down to that level, even though students, when interviewed at this manner of events, usually offer the usual boring platitudes. At least it's not as bad as Aceh, where you can't even quote GAM spokesman, so their "lies" won't cause confusion (as if spreading TNI's lies are any better).

Of the $15 billion that Dubya recently budgeted for the prevention of AIDS worldwide, a third of the money scheduled for prevention is to be channeled into promoting abstinence. What a wonderful way to prevent AIDS. In the same vein, I suggest that America combat Islamic Terrorism by shuttling money to Islamic Charities of dubitable repute to appease them. While they're at it, they might as well slash the defence budget drastically - unilaterally - to proclaim America's peaceful intentions so people won't feel threatened by the USA and will slash their own defence budgets. I am hard pressed to think of a more naive idea. Then again, these are the people who wanted to drill in the Artic National Wildlife Reserve.

ASEAN's response to the latest stunts of Burma's State "Peace" and "Development" Council is characteristically disappointing. "Internally we have to talk to our Myanmar colleague and find out what is going on" - Asean Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong (PM's former Press Secretary). A wonderful line, one that can be used in almost any situation. If the price of Black Market Burmese diamonds suddenly spikes, we'd also "have to talk to our Myanmar colleague and find out what is going on". So, as usual, we must "Bear in mind Myanmar is our member... you cannot go in and tell your family member you cannot do this, you cannot do that." I suppose we should keep mum if our family member rapes her (Ed: not a typo) six year old son, or if our family member beats her husband to a pulp daily, or if our family member murders someone. After all, it's his business, and we have no business interfering in his internal affairs. Perhaps people don't like exposing other's flaws because they fear that their own will come out into view as well.

Engagement is often trumpeted, but too often, it is but a cover for collusion. Even if engagement is tried, it seldom works and the target reaps all the benefits without having to keep up his side of the deal - just look how Kim Jong Il finagled everyone into providing him financial and food aid, while continuing work on his nuclear bombs. For more than a decade, ASEAN has tried "engaging" Myanmar, all to no avail. Because of "engagement" by China and ASEAN, EU and US trade sanctions aren't having much effect, and Than Shwe and friends can enjoy all their luxury goods.


Quotes:

[On fantasy books] My tastes are simple. [Me: Then you'll probably like David Eddings.] No, that one is too simple. The story has no depth at all. They just fight, fight, fight.

I can go outfield. 3 days, 2 nights. No problem. As long as it's not [with the] SAF.

Where are the officers? They're upstairs watching Miss Universe.

[On if I stand in as Senior Medic 2i/c] Then you [can] plan duty for both of us. One weekday [each].

[Me loudly: Ooi!] Why don't you just say "kannina"?

We have no First Sergeants in QM branch because they all either AWOL or go to DB before they become First Sergeants.

Frivolous thoughts on 'How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days':

This is a very good show to watch for girls to learn how to be screwed up. Geraldine should go and watch it, then she can drive Yechao mad. Love fern!

Unlike her mother, Kate Hudson doesn't seem to have a penchant for plastic surgery, since she obviously hasn't undergone the second most popular form of cosmetic surgery in America, which would be the most obvious sort that she would go for. Then again, she's half her mother's age, so. Despite not having undergone that form of surgery, though, it was very obvious she wasn't wearing nipple stickers for the grand ball. Sometimes I wonder why I notice these things.

Usually, in romantic comedies, the guy is the one who professes his stupidity at the end. Refreshingly, the girl did it this time. The guy still had to do the grand end-of-movie-chase, though. How tiresome and sexist.


Is the trailer for Ju On very funny? It's supposed to be a horror show, so how come everyone in the cinema laughed at the start of, and just after the trailer? I guess Singaporeans are inured to horror shows by now.

Is there this one guy in the USA whose job is to provide voiceovers for movie trailers? He seems to have a monopoly of the market.


Ooh. Very... unexpected flash.

What a dumb pussy cat

Asian Prince might not be looking for a princess anymore, but he still keeps a diary!


Ooo I remember this!

Title: Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
Author: Sega

"Magic: Go Figure. Well it�s his game, let him do what he wants. As long as you hold down the �Magic� button, Michael will spin, and knock back enemies near him. When you release the button, he will throw his hat, which will go out a certain distance, and come back like a boomerang. If his hat hits an enemy, they blow up (WTF!? It�s just a hat). The only enemy I�ve encountered that didn�t blow up is the zombie (Yeah, there are zombies). If you hold the �Magic� button long enough, Michael will break into dance, along with all the enemies on screen (Now I know why I found this game enjoyable). At the end of the dance, Michael strikes a pose, and yells out �OWWW!� and all the enemies die. He must be a damn good dancer. I know that doesn�t happen when I dance."

Ahh, the joy of all those (few) console games I played in Primary School at other's houses. Modern console games just don't have this kind of quaint charm, and have fallen prey to the same tendencies that have ensnared PC game developers.

Blogger seemed to have recovered from its outage and locking me out while I was watching the DVD rip of Bridget Jones's Diary.


Stuff from Thursday in Reverse Chronological Order:

Acne Be Gone - a gross and funny zit popping web game

I've been migrated to Dano. And it seems all my old posts have been deleted. Wth?!



I was pissed off with Blogger, so I went to support an RJ alumna by watching a certain Channel 5 drama.

Following in the grand tradition of Channel 5 dramas, it is bad. Only it's so bad, it's funny. There is a campy feel to much of the show, which feels deliberate (as does its bad quality). The extras have wooden acting. Actually, so do the 2 leads, but it's forgivable - indeed to be encouraged, even, since the characters have supposedly switched bodies. I suspect this is all an attempt to capitalise on the traditional 'strengths' of Channel 5 dramas!

I'm rather pissed off that I missed the first two episodes - the first because of my screwy VCR, and the second as Channel 5 inexplicably switched the time slot, so I know neither the premise of the show, nor how they ended up switching bodies (which is a pretty interesting concept for a local drama, actually).

After 3 night shifts at the Shangri-la in a room that smelled of fried onions in the morning, my system was at an all time low. My hands were shaking, my head spinning, my stomach churning and my speech slurred. Even now I still have a residual headache.

The piped music in Shangri-la is tuneful without being muzak-ish (I even heard a harpsichord one day), but there's only a certain amount of times you can stand hearing "The Blue Danube" in 3 nights.

The first night, they'd kept the tea by the time my shift started, but after some not-so-subtle hints to the manager, I was able to give myself a caffeine high the next two nights.

I saw a lot of MID license plates in the day, and contrary to many's assertions, most seemed to be White Mercedes and not White Audis. There were also a few silver and black ones. Bucking the trend, though, I saw 177 MID today, and it is concrete evidence that Singapore is trying to boost cross-strait ties - it's a Proton Wira!


Someone discovered that I didn't like my sides being touched or worse, poked. He then proceeded to tell more than a few people about my vulnerability, so now I am daily assaulted on all sides, putting me in mind of the Nanyang days when some person tried his "gu3 ji2 xin1 fa" (New Tickling Pattern/Skill) on me. Thus, I have been compelled - not wholly with regret - to dust off my dreaded obedience collar, after all the years since it has seen action, when I thought I'd never have to use it again.

It seems that, instead of letting the 46 SAR cookhouse do all the cooking, the 3 cookhouses in camp are alternating between themselves. This past week, it's been the 42 SAR cookhouse that's been doing the cooking and if anything, the food is worse than ever while one meat dish has been sneakily removed from the menu, so obscenities have been hurled all throughout Sungei Gedong, and the canteens have seen their already brisk trade boom.


I've been constantly irked by the ads that PrettiSlim has been taking out in the Straits Times, but those are not the worst of the lot. I was reading Her World's June Issue (which somehow had appeared in the Treatment Room) and PrettiSlim's ad was just... appaling. In no uncertain terms, it told all readers that men care only about your breasts, so you must enhance your breasts to continue to attract your man so he won't hit on your sister. Much has been made of ads which 'degrade' women and most of it is hot air, but this simply takes the cake.

Also seen in Her World - A bikini feature: "Be a Baywatch babe without burning a hole in your pocket". The most expensive set in there was $181.10, and most were at least $80. I guess some people have warped perceptions of relative prices.

Swensen's doesn't have Rum and Raisin Ice Cream anymore, to Ban Xiong's disappointment. I know why they don't serve pork, and even alcohol, but this abandonmnt of culinary principles in the quest for a questionable boost to the bottom line is ridiculous.

The culling of stray cats has raised a big hoohah among cat lovers. Why can't they simply take all the strays home? That would solve many of the problems that stray cats bring, wouldn't it? Then people wouldn't dirty the place by leaving food for them everywhere and not clearing up (unlike my sister), and the cats wouldn't trek the food everywhere.

Someone wrote in to the ST Forum complaining that people weren't respecting each other's religions, and were trying to convert others. He then urged them to 'respect' others' religions and not to try to convert others. However, isn't the very soul of many religions about proselytisation? If you truly believe in your religion, and believe that it is true, then you will try to let others see what you believe to be the light. Not to try to do so would in fact be immoral (looking at it from the point of view of the proselytisers). It's not as if anyone is trying to force anyone else to convert, at least in Singapore. In fact, it's been quite a while since someone ambushed me at an MRT station. But I am prepared! The next time anyone tries, I will be ready! Or maybe I should go on the offensive myself.


Quotes:

[On his days in a hotel] Then all the China girls don't wear [a] bra. In the female locker room. Wah. [mimes taking shirt off]

[Me: Someone said if he doesn't sign on, he'll become a toilet cleaner or road sweeper] He'll go and sell durians. (didn't, he'd have)

[On a regular if he didn't sign on] He'll suffer from low self-esteem. No one to shout at.

[On his SATS] 1600... 1601... I applied to a lot of universities. They didn't take me seriously.

[On using my belt loops to tie a trash bag to] This role suits you perfectly. The walking dustbin.

[On Saikang] That's why. Fuck, I'm an admin supervisor, not a saikang supervisor. [Throws broom to ground]

[On if Change Parade timings are including in the BUC rankings, and why they were cancelled] The CSMs will say - my unit can change parade in record time

I wonder why doctors aren't Halal

[Sign on bread] Please do not use your hand! Use the thongs provided (tongs)

Gah!

Uninstalling Dreamweaver 4 has deleted the directory where my homepage, among other things, is stored.

Gah! Evil!

Furthermore, sundry attempts at un-erasing the files are not working.

I think the only permanent damage is the loss of the last month's updates to my long essay. Hopefully He Who Will Not Be Named will still have a copy of the version I tried to make more lucid [Update: Happily a version from 4th May resides in my Yahoo Briefcase folder. Yeh!].

Oh well. *shrug* The truth can never be totally covered and illuminated all at once. Take it as the will of the gods, if you like :)


Hackers Put 'Bane' in Shadowbane

"The population of an entire Shadowbane town was forcibly moved to the bottom of the sea, where they drowned. City guards turned feral and attacked town residents. Mobs of never-before-seen superpowerful creatures, seemingly spontaneously spawned from the ether, began to prowl the streets unchecked, killing characters in the most painful way possible...

Experienced players looked on in horror as new players were slowly and gleefully dismembered by ax-wielding ogres. Others just laughed and looted the characters' bodies after the ogres were done."

Woah


The Dullest Blog In The World

The beauty business

Quantum History - 100 Things Evolutionists Hate - Something The Associate sent me. Though many of his arguments are bafflingly obtuse, some are actually worth considering, and a simple "we don't know" would answer many of them.

Oddly enough, there are only 93 things on this guy's list, many of which are repeated.

Happily, it's more well done than a more haphazard site which inspired it - Creationists Hate, though that one does also raise many pertinent questions (which are conveniently ignored by the former site in favour of mostly irrelevant sniping)


Microsoft Linux - the premier linux distro

3rd Annual Nigerian EMail Conference

"I am Mr. Laurent Mpeti Kabila, a senior assistant leader of the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone.

I present to you an urgent and confidential request: I request your attendance at The 3rd Annual Nigerian EMail Conference. This is an excellent opportunity to meet your distinguished colleagues, learn new marketing techniques, and spend your hard-earned money. Attending this conference demands the highest trust, security and confidentiality between us.

Dates: November 7 - 9, 2003
Location: Abuja Sheraton Hotel & Casino
Registration Fee: $995 per person

Like most Nigerians, you're probably finding that it's increasingly difficult to earn a decent living from email. That's why you need to attend the 3rd Annual Nigerian EMail Conference."


SNE 85

- That in Singapore, it is possible to be sentenced beyond the maximum penalty allowed for an offence, especially if you are dumb enough to try appealing to the Chief Justice.

Some guy punched his former wife's lawyer in the Family Court in February last year. And for that, he was sentenced to six years' imprisonment. Seven years is the maximum you get for grievous hurt. . He appealed and the Chief Justice upped his sentence to 10 years, way beyond the max.

So say, you were sentenced to hang, and decided to appeal, in theory, you could be sentenced to hang twice.

Reminds me of a line from Hot Shots: "I will keel you until you die from it!"

Of course, this is just my uninformed, uneducated, man-on-the-street observation. I am sure all this is totally legit, justice for all, and so forth. Hey, I don't want to be accused of "usurping of the Judiciary's power derived from the Constitution of Singapore".

"Court of Appeal reserves judgement on Gilbert Louis case

By Asha Popatlal

The Court of Appeal on Monday reserved judgement to a later date on a case of a man who assaulted a lawyer in court.

The State Public Prosecutor argued that the Chief Justice did not act correctly when he raised the jail term of the man beyond the maximum for grievious hurt."

- That according to a recent Life article by Sumiko Tan, the midriff is the new cleavage.

I thought the Butt Crack was the new cleavage. But what do I know?

Oh, this was the same journalist who shared with us intimate details of her hemorrhoids.

Somehow, I haven't and don't feel like saying much, so this fortnightly post will be shorter than a usual weekly post.

I spent a whole week in camp without booking out. Not since SMM have I gone for so long without a bookout, yet oddly, I didn't feel anxious. NS must be getting to me.

I passed my Unarmed Combat G1 grading! My experience can be summed up by Shawn's quote Summing up the tragic tale of my mock grading:

'"Ian: "You won't believe what I'm looking at now. Gabriel Seah doing contact sparring."
Me: "Hahaha. Is he showing aggression?"
Ian: "Haha he just got thrashed by the other guy it was quite tragic."'

The heat these days is oppressive.

Nowadays we are -supposed- to wake at 5:45am. Assuming we come back from breakfast at 6:15am, and roll call is at 7:30am, are we supposed to spend 1 hour doing area cleaning? I think most have thought on this and come to a conclusion - which is why no one wakes up at 5:45am anymore.

Both sides of Boon Wei's glasses fell off, so he began wearing them like Morpheus does. Heh. I wonder how the latter gets them to stay on! Maybe that's why, once he gets them on, he never takes them off.

I saw 2 people who tattooed their IC numbers (and the barcode for the IC numbers) onto themselves - one onto his arm, and another onto the back of his neck. Weird. Maybe the Nameless One should have done that!

I sent a patient to Tengah, and he told me: "Medic, can you accompany me? I'm scared... I don't know what they'll do to me". I was befuddled. It's only reporting sick! Though he *did* get an injection and admitted to the sickbay.

All our food comes from one cookhouse now. The 42 people are happy, since 46 cooks better food than 42. The ATC people aren't. Aww. Oh well, so much for their experiments. I miss their experimental cooking - it's nice to get Roti Prata for breakfast on a Sunday!


Life imitating 'art': Dane acquitted in goldfish blender case - I believe the Flash of the goldfish in a blender was around many years ago


Quotes:

So do you choose the red pill, or the blue pill? [Brandishes 2 pills which are half red and half blue]

[On a fundamentalist] He's living in the Matrix

Armuor HQ (Armour)

He maintain a constant speed, constant acceleration (no)

[On a survey] 'I feel appreciated by my employer.' No.

[On a survey] 'I feel appreciated by society.' Do we get money from the Courage Fund? No.

[Someone from NJC: You actually went for your school prom?] Unlike your school, my school does not hold its prom in the school hall.

[On my scribbling] What did you write? Is it bad? It can't be anything good.

Gah!

Thanks to Channel i's deceptive scheduling, I've missed the first three episodes of Power Rangers Time Force - Force From The Future Pt. 1, Force From The Future Pt. 2 And Something To Fight For.

Luckily, synopses (with pictures) are available. Detailed episode transcripts used to be available, but damnit, the site's down.

At least Channel i has redeemed itself by showing *3* seasons of Power Rangers at once (Lost Galaxy, Lightspeed Rescue and Time Force) and by screening trailers for future episodes. I wish they'd re-run the older seasons, though.


After watching Episode 4, Ransik Lives, I'm actually rather impressed with Power Rangers Time Force. In part, the technology that Toei uses to film Sentai series has improved, making it look slightly more impressive. However, Saban has obviously been trying to pitch Power Rangers to a more mature audience - you even have a cursory discussion of the perils of genetic manipulation now:

"When Wes tells Ransik that those are innocent people out there, Ransik tells him his life story.

In the future, babies are born of test tubes and green goop.

Parents choose the characteristics for their own children.

But when a test tube falls down the sewer, the goop gives birth to Ransik, the first mutant.

Ransik is shunned by society, and gathers all other outcasts to form a criminal empire."

Went for an S05A class BBQ yesterday. Attendance was 18/28, not bad after 2 years, and only just under last year's 20 or so. Twas held at Qingru's place, which stunned me and several others who had not had the chance to step foot on the grounds.

Perhaps the address - Cornwall Gardens - should have alerted me. The place is like a richly decorated manor house, or a 5-star hotel suite. Now we know what opulent, decadent splendour Mr Li lives in :)

Chinx was, as usual, decked out in his customary black, including long pants. I wonder at his not burning to a crisp in the recent oppressive heat. And as with the last time, the Shuyu-Tong-Myo Li-etc clique convened a meeting of the Cult of the Banana. A quick count of 6 of the girls revealed that 4.5 of them had brown hair (ie 1 of them had hair subtly streaked brown). I suppose it's a natural expression of individualism, but I didn't know that they had secret A03 tendencies :) The choice if colour is perplexing, though. What's so good about brown? If you wanna dye your hair, why not go all the way? Green, platinum and blonde, ala the Japanese. For example, Chinx stridently proclaimed his intention to have white hair!

It was Changge's birthday, so following in the time-honoured tradition of physically expressing their friendship, most of the guys dunked him in the pool, and he managed to bring Sing Pou down with him. Sadly, it seems no one ever dunks girls.

After Luther, Katie and Kaimun left, the 2 cliques of girl talk exchanging girls and Pro Evolution (or whatever that PS2 football game is called) watching guys became more apparent, and Chinx and I were the only outcasts left. Damn. Not long after, the evening ended with some of us watching amusedly on as 1 guy and 4 girls squeezed into the back seat of a car going to Holland Village.

It was the first time I got to indulge the secret, hidden side of me that revels in the Compulsive Photo Taking Disorder, and between my shaky hands, attempts to take shots without using the flash and poor manipulation of the "exposure" setting, I emerged with a new motto - "In Auto We Trust". Oh well. Whenever people screw up their shots they just call them "artistic". Mmm. Time to read "Photography for Dummies" on my brother in law's bookshelf.

Tree That Give Meat Instead Of Fruit!

"Fruit from the new Meat Trees, developed by British scientists using gene-splicing technology, closely resembles ordinary grapefruit. But when you peel the large fruit open, inside is fresh beef."

Is this for real?


Buddhists "really are happier"

Dating a Blogger, Reading All About It

Courtesy of The Associate. Original source: http://www.mycen.com.my/duasen/080503_uncleho.html

Fed up of your current work.... hee hee try this!
This should be a good prospect job...esp for those who r coming back to ms'ia to look for job...we r looking forward to financing the deal...


UNCLE HO WANTS YOU!
===================

Uncle Ho Holdings,Malaysia's largest manufacturer, distributor and retailer of quality pirated and bootleg VCDs, DVDs, Audio CDs, CD-ROMS seeks suitable candidates for our rapidly expanding organisation.

From our humble beginnings inPetaling Street in 1998, we are currently operating more than 68,000 outlets in theKlang Valley & Johor Baru. We have managed to secure at least 4 stalls outside every convenience shop, 8 stalls outside every coffee shop and 50 stalls at every pasar malam. We're expanding into every housing and commercial areas, making us the biggest outdoor retailing company in the world with over 16 million discs sold daily.

Our high-tech multi million ringgit manufacturing facilities are now operated on ships anchored in international waters to circumvent local copyright laws. We are gearing for an IPO (Initial Public Offering) and are in the process of applying for MSC status asMalaysia's largest multimedia company.


Be a Franchisee
---------------
We offer exciting and profitable franchising opportunities for retrenched workers, unemployed individuals and ex-convicts.
- Set-up cost is a low RM500, including an inventory of 150 titles, portable iron stands, plywood and red table cloth.
- As the franchisor, we'll provide you with protection against local gangsters, unsatisfied customers, enforcement officers and post bail if required. All confiscated items are our responsibilty and will be returned to you within 2 working days.
- You will be rotated with other resellers from nearby areas to reduce the rate of return or exchange for defective copies.
- For an additional investment of RM1200, a battered 25-year-old car will be provided as a mobile store.
- As part of the Uncle Ho Network, you'll be provided with access to VIEWS(tm)(VCD Inspectors Early Warning System). By placing well trained informers in every enforcement agencies, we're able to eliminate the 'surprise element'.
- While we take every precaution to warn you of impending raids, we highly recommend the purchase of an unlicensed walkie talkie. You'll be able to network with other franchisees through the wireless system and receive additional news and warnings. As the largest purchaser of Motorola GP300 Walkie Talkies, we're also able to supply you units at very attractive prices.


Our Mission Statement
---------------------
- To provide Malaysian youths with employment and a stable source of income.
- To help promoteMalaysia as the top regional technology and multimedia hub in the true spirit of 'Malaysia Boleh'.
- To make available inMalaysia the latest blockbuster 30 days before its international release.
- To fight American hegemony by reducing the profits ofHollywood studios and Bill Gates.
- To place a stall every 25 feet on every five foot ways throughout Malaysia.
- To reduce the rate of defective discs to 25%.
- To send every VHS player into early retirement and to achieve total extinction of the format by by 2004.


Join Us Full Time (Vacancies Available KL/PJ/Cyberjaya)
=======================================================

Reseller (26,000 positions, Nationwide)
---------------------------------------
Job Description: Operate mobile five foot way stalls. Requirements: Preferably chinese males aged 16 - 22 with blond hair. Possession of own waist pouch to store X-Rated titles will be an added advantage.
Benefits: Flexi-hours and additional one 'day off' each year during major annual operasi.

Graphic Artist (3 positions, Cyberjaya)
---------------------------------------
Job Description: Design covers/inlays for movie titles. Copy latest movie listings from IMDB's website.
Requirements: Very rudimentary knowledge of Photoshop. Ability to design blockbuster-looking or porno-looking covers for mediocre movies will be an added advantage.
Benefits: Free 10 copies of (pirated) software programs every month.

Camera Operator (15 positions,KlangValley)
--------------------------------------------
Job Description: Capture movies being screened in cinemas without being noticed.
Requirements: Ability to operate camcorder. Good knowledge of seating positions in major cineplexes so as to capture entire screen without tilt or distortion. Ability to hold your cough for 90 minutes and munch popcorn silently is an added advantage.
Benefits: Free popcorn and movie passes every month.

Purchasing Officer (1 position, Cyberjaya)
------------------------------------------
Job Description: To buy back consficated items at a reasonable price.
Requirements: Preferably Malays. Good negotiation skills. Ex-employees of city and town councils are encouraged to apply.
Benefits: Easy settling of parking summons and other fines.


Please send your resume to:
The Group Human Resource Manager.
Syarikat Kumpulan Uncle Ho VCD, DVD, CD, CD-ROM
Holdings & Group Of Companies (Malaysia) (1998) Sdn Bhd.
E-Mail: carikerja_uncleho@mycen.com.my


Community Service / News / Promotions
=====================================
* As a responsible corporate citizen, we provide free Video-to-VCD conversion for all MAS cabin crew, subject to subject in video.
* We offer big discounts on (un-sellable) art house films and award-winning Iranian movies as a way of promoting quality films to the masses.
* Mother's Day Special - Special pack of 10 movies to watch with your mother non-stop this Sunday.
Guaranteed no sex scenes. Promotional price: RM 30
* New stalls opening in front of KLIA Main Terminal Building this June & in Taman Negara this July.

All thanks to Lin Yucheng, who refused to buy drinks at the movie snack stand, and insisted on going to Basement 1, only to find that Long John Silver's didn't have the spicy chicken combo anymore, following which we went to McDonalds, I missed the first few minutes of the Matrix Reloaded. Oh well, I can always catch it on Kazaa.

Much has been and will be said about it, but I have but one general comment - it's cryptic for the sake of being cryptic. In a way, it's just like literature, or rather, the study of it :) If you look hard enough, I wager you could find deeper meaning in Mickey Mouse cartoons (and many have already in Powerpuff Girls and Looney Tunes). A few minor comments - the Zion disco seems to be patronised by hippies on drugs, ergo the wild gyrations and middle eastern draping clothes. And something about the credits made the many schoolgirls in the audience squeal.

Later, we were walking around, and Yucheng walked into 77th Street, presumably to look at girls' clothes and accessories. Aww.

Yucheng is under the delusion that officers are in high demand among girls seeking to get attached, which is presumably why all his other officer friends are attahced. Hmmph.


Seen outisde a toilet: "The janitor serving you is ~ A/P ~". What does A/P stand for? I've seen s/o and d/o before, but I can't begin to guess what A/P is.

I have it on reliable sources that JC students will be visiting the Island of Doom on Wednesday. Good luck to the girls mounting and dismounting the 5 tonner in their school uniforms! [Addendum: HCJC sent students doing detention for it. And Mr Lim brought the RJ students there!]

Science in the right spirit

More people are seeking a spiritual anchor in these disruptive times.But they should not get themselves trapped in blind dogma. And religion should not distance itself from science

By Richard Lim

'I have often said that if science proves facts that contradict with Buddhist understanding, Buddhism must change accordingly. We should always adopt a view that accords with the facts.'
- The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso

"Yet a faith should not trap the individual in blind dogma and old certainties which are no longer relevant. That is the surest path not to nirvana, but to superstition and stagnation. In extreme cases, that path leads to fear and loathing, and to crimes and atrocities committed in the name of religion.

Religions are, of course, about matters perennial and values that endure. But so much of religion today is about form, with little or no understanding on the part of the faithfuls of the substance.

Some religious leaders may take advantage of this lack of understanding among their flocks to exploit them for their own ends.

But the true religious leader knows that his paramount duty is to help his followers and those outside his faith, to understand more fully the teachings of his religion, and the context in which these teachings can serve the people, not him or his institution."


I wish the Creationists and their gang of fundamentalist ilk were this progressive.

The first order of business for the day is to thrash myself soundly with a big stick.

I was looking at my digital camera, and I suddenly noticed that, due to a design feature of the knob, what I'd thought was playback mode was actually camera mode, and vice versa. With a sinking feeling in the gut of my stomach, I tried connecting the camera to the laptop. And the Twain window popped up.

So that's $23 or so for the hub, $30 for the hardware repair fee and $180 for the new AMD Athlon XP 2000 CPU spent so far on this fiasco. Hallelujah. My wits had deserted me. Mayhap it was a hex.

Anyhow, trying to solve my dilemma, I resolved to try to think like a Rational Consumer and apply Cost-Benefit analysis. Now, we assume that all costs incurred till now are sunk costs. So getting a new CPU will cost $180. A new computer would cost at least $1000, and that's already an impossibly low quote, doubtless with many corners cut. Assuming it lasts for an unrealistic 36 months, a new CPU would be good value if it lasts for more than 6.48 months. Since the hardware warranty is 1 year, rational analysis leads me to conclude that I should get the CPU. Voila. The dismal science does have its uses.

Now that that is done, here follows a retelling of my misadventures for the night.


Today was RJ Evil Cult's (Chorale) concert, Vocal Exploits XV/XVI (I forget). For a myriad of reasons, some conventional, others less so, I had some measure of desire to go down, and less than a week ago, Screwed Up Girl assured me that she'd gotten tickets for all of us. Having the wonderful luck that she has, however, her tickets got sold off, so those of us trusting in her means were screwed. However, it was widely known that The Evil One (TBS), being generous and benevolent, did not mind crashers, so I decided to attempt a crashing for perhaps the first time in my life (which tells you how much of a guai kia I am in many areas). I wouldn't have minded paying $6 for the "Raffles Junior College Building Fund", you understand, but there were simply no tickets left.

Striding into the Concourse, I was met with a barricade, manned by faithful students (probably Councillors, but I didn't look at their badges). Filling up a SARS declaration form, I honestly (if stupidly) ticked yes under "Do you have a cough etc" - since I lie badly and my coughs would have attracted attention anyhow - and was thus turned away by David Liew and friends, as the school somehow did not have any thermometers on hand. Dammit, I am supposed to take my temperature twice daily in camp anyway. I should have brought my own. Anyhow, I was asked to leave, and offered a refund of my ticket, but not having paid anything, I felt compelled to turn down this offer (as I did again later, when I was offered a refund yet again).

Exiting the school and mulling over my options, David, Adela and a certain person who shall remain unnamed (and whose pimples have considerably decreased since the last time I saw him/her - good for him/her!) appeared from some vehicles and egged me on, pointing out that I'd gone all the way there already. And so, refusing to slink away ignominiously, my tail hanging between my legs, I drew upon the intimate knowledge of the RJC school compound I have, which only alumni possess, and secreted myself into the complex by means of a secret entrance (through the science labs), a dilapidated looking area which they'd neglected to barricade.

Skulking around in the shadows by the back gate, waiting for the concert to start and the wakeful vigilance of the ushers to lapse, I was accosted by this girl in beach wear, who called, "Mr Liew!" after me. Oh, the horror! Anyhow, after she realised I was not the person she thought I was, she and her friend stood at one end of the covered walkway and asked, "How is it?". Having no idea what in blazers they were referring to, I wagered a guess that they were waiting for people and wanted to make an impression, albeit the back gate was locked. I was wrong, and was enlightened that she was referring to the posters they'd affixed to the pillars. She then asked me what I thought they were for. Looking at the posters, I saw a vague representation of something, in modern art. I'd only an inkling of what the posters were for, so I cheated and peered closely at them, and saw "Raffles Players" at the top of them. I then replied, "Pretentious plays... Post-modernist pretentious plays" and walked off. I hope she wasn't too disheartened :)

After the concert started I tried, numerous times, to peek into LT1 and gauge the vigilance of the ushers. Amazingly, they remained watchful after the first few songs, and one even popped his head out and asked, "Do you have a ticket?", to which I replied, "No". Others loitered around the doors at various times, and were shouted at by David Liew - 'crashers not allowed' (directly contradicting the instructions of TBS himself!). I'm sure some did get in though, despite his proclamations of having checked all suspected gatecrashers and finding everything to be in order, which is a testament to my abyssal and teething crashing skills (as I said, this is the first time I have tried such a stunt) Hanging around the doors, I heard only snatches of music, so Huijun and Huimei will have to be disappointed (I am flattered that the former thinks that I am better than her in this field because I am more 'musically inclined'). I did see the new costumes, designed by the Boss himself, though. The female costume looks like Malay dress gone hideously wrong, and I will not torture my senses trying to recall its look. The male costume looks a smidgen better - mainly the green cravat has become maroon.

When the small groups came up with their items, I loitered around the LT1 area, and suddenly Shun Loong (in the Combat Medic course now!) and Zher Ee (with a nice mane now!) came running by to greet their juniors. Soon, though, the security force descended upon us three. The other two went up to talk to the choir teacher, and were accused of trying to use her to get in. We then fled to the canteen. We had nary a moment's peace, though, before David Liew came up to chase us three out. The other two proceeded to try to talk with Mr Liew, while I just smiled beatifically, if resignedly. In essence, though we were alumni, we were not even permitted to sit in the canteen, on pain of the calling of the police (even though none of us had a fever), to await the concert's end because we had 'no reason' to be in the school. In the end, we were quite disgusted. Rules are rules, but dumb rules are dumb rules, bureaucrats make a lot of silly ones, and nobody ever follows them. If David Liew wants to go by the book (as usual) though, i suppose that's his prerogative. Maybe it's just me, but RJC has become a lot more strict these days.

I was delayed a little by David Liew, who talked to me surprisingly jovially about various matters, and so lost sight of Zher Ee and Shun Loong. However, they were found, as I predicted, at the McDonalds-Soya Bean outlet in Ghim Moh - a favourite haunt of RJ students, where the former was complaining merrily away to his mother and where the soya bean I drank gave me tummy pain later. I wonder what will come of all this.

With the last hope of doing some of what I'd set out to do, I waited outside the gates. And saw Mengchuan, who proclaimed the concert to be "the best free concert ever" (Grr), and Kelvin, who had both a tulip and a rose ("I'm both a guy and a girl. Guys get tulips, girls get roses. So I'm both!")


I've been advised, on more than one occasion, that the reach of the SAF is far, and so it is not good or 'worth it' to do anything to offend it. Nonetheless, I proceed, with some measure of circumspection and level-headedness. I suppose that's the idealism of youth. Best to get things done before I get too serious-cynical and practical.

Argh.

As some might know, my CPU got fried by an errant USB hub.

I brought it to a shop (a neighbourhood type), and they charge $180 for an athlon xp 2000. However, it's about $140 on average at Sim Lim and supposedly they'll install it for free, and I can bring my motherboard manual down to ask if it's compatible with the chip.

Meanwhile my father's going on about how a new computer will break down less and have a 1 year on site, 2 year carry in warranty. He is also gloating about how he warned me not to upgrade 1 1/2 years ago, and how it was very expensive.

So far: the fan's fallen out last year, and the motherboard exploded when I installed a new power supply. So. Do I get a new one?

If I can get one with a tower unit only, without external peripherals I already have, it should be cheaper, but I'm not sure how many companies offer that service. I thought they only sell bundled systems. And then what happens to my old data? I suspect the warranty will be voided if I install an extra hard disk.


I'm leaning towards going to a shop and buying a new system, asking them to install my old hdds and selling off my old parts for a pittance. My sister brings up a good point - it might be worth the money just to forestall the bitching and nagging.

I don't know why I've run into so many problems with this custom built system. Everyone else seems to be having few or no problems with their DIY rigs. I think money wise I haven't been too short-changed, as compared to if I'd gotten a new computer. In terms of frustration, though...

Predators to Replace Nurses, Thermal Scanners at Changi

"In its effort to improve the detection of potential SARS spreaders, the Gahmen has replaced nurses and thermal scanners at Changi Airport with Predators, violent alien warriors that can detect body heat...."

Finally, something -halfway- decent for a change. I usually get really irritated by talkingcock.com's articles because they are so darn corny, lame, shallow, crass and ultimately - shitty. The basic concept is good, but the writing sucks, more often than not. And to think many lawyers, civil servants and doctors supposedly write for them. Maybe it's to cater to Singaporean's brand of toilet humour. Lucky Mr Brown has just come up with Singapore National Education 84!

"Our nurses and doctors are waging a war with Death itself! What can we do to show our support and concern? I know! We'll write them A National Song!" - Heh

"That even if you need a wheel chair to get around you do not qualify for a claim under Eldershield, so long as you can somehow lower yourself into the wheelchair. If you can somehow move one arm and bring food to your mouth you do not qualify. So long as one hand can clean your ass you are deemed not disabled. It does not matter if you need help to go to the toilet.

Only the truly Vegetable need apply." - Ooh, wicked. I love it.

"That DPM Lee was headhunted too.

"From the Straits Times on 04/10/2002

DPM head-hunted too

'I received an e-mail from a company called Migration Expert Australia. It asked me if I knew that Australia is currently looking for skilled and business migrants, and whether I was interested to become an Australian PR. It invited me to visit its website, and to try out a free virtual points test to see if I would qualify. If I was not interested, never mind, please help forward the e-mail to someone whom I think may be interested.' - Mr Lee, on the global contest to attract talent"

Hey, that looks like the same email my unemployed friend received in his inbox too! Small world, man. I also hear there is a global contest to attract investors in making good money by helping Nigerians get millions out of the country. I get these emails everyday so they must be true." - HAHA.


My 2 month old dry cough has morphed into a moist cough. Perhaps it will become a wet cough soon.

Meanwhile my parents still go on about how having a cough makes you more suscpetible to SARS. Bah.


The Associate would like to point out, and has been pestering me to do so for a while as he is too lazy to do so, that the Imperial Double Headed Eagle I'm using as my current blog head was only adopted by the Hapsburgs after the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Wonderful. The following line will apparently crash IE.

"<input type crash>"

Insert anything else undefined you want in place of "crash" :)


Top 10 Things I Hate About Star Trek - So much for this grossly overrated social phenomenon

Badger rampage injures five

Suddenly, I have 5 people telling me, in the same day, about the RJ Alumni page, as if it's some new and wondrous thing.

Please, it's been around since the end of J2, when I went to have a look. Only now it has a new interface and you can choose avatars. Big deal. Been there, done that.

I did enter my nick as Agagooga, though. *shrug*

It seems that a good portion of my fellow medics go through a vegetarian phase. First Andrew, then Sinsiang, then Yiliang, then Jason for a short while and now Ban Xiong, who seems to have held out the longest. Perhaps this is because the normal cookhouse food sucks. Or perhaps they all have this masochistic streak which can only be satisfied by eating food which is even more lacking in variety than normal cookhouse food. In any case, they are all fair weather vegetarians, never eating the vegetarian breakfast. Hmmph.

Thinking of more unsavoury names for people who call me 'Jiabao', I came up with 'Booger' (For the unenlightened, a booger is the thing which comes out when you dig your nose). Unfortunately, I don't have anyone to call that yet, so I'll just have to wait. Maybe if Sinsiang becomes obnoxious enough, he can dump the 'Bob' and become 'Booger'! On a related note, Ban Xiong suggests 'Tom', 'Dick' and 'Harry' as additional names. Hehe.

I've gotten a Number 3 nametag that says 'AGAGOOGA', and it now takes pride of place on my black camp sling bag above the RJ and RV badges. Yeh! A fringe benefit of getting it is hearing people attempting to pronounce it, and mangling its pronunciation - aww. Some reactions: "what does agagooga mean anyway? sounds like a tribal orgasm", "omg you actually paid for such bo liao crap? You've spent far too long in the army I fear".

Piqued by the rats scuttling around the Medical Centre, I decided to set up an improvised rat trap. I remove the cover from a dustbin, put it beside a water cooler and placed a packet of the 'Black Meal' (where most of the dishes are black and unappealing) at the bottom. The next day, I found 3 small rats at the bottom of the dustbin. I was going to kill them, but had to go out on detail, and by the time I returned, someone else - Max, I'm told - had killed them by pouring Sudol in. I am rather delighted by my success, but Dennis tells me that he caught 6 rats this way before - and without baiting them with food too. More pertinently, the 2 giant rats are strong enough to leap out of the dustbin, so I will have to come up with a scheme to trap them.

For not a short while, I have been doing what few stay-in personnel do - washing my uniforms. I was going to resolve to wash them more often, so that I could wear a new set everyday, due to the curse that has been laid on me which makes me unable to be like others, who use 2 sets of uniforms a week, but I am demoralised, for apparently washing them in-camp does not get rid of the foul odour. Verily, I am vexed.

Our spanking new VCD player is being used to watch Initial D. So far it looks rather brainless, at least when the characters are driving, with beads of sweat running down their faces. I think I have come to a conclusion - Anime is either brainless or inexplicable! Argh. I wonder if I will ever get to use my fair share of it. Probably not, seeing as the TV is always in use when I am in the bunk. No matter, I will take it as my sacrifice for the sake of communal harmony.

Another disadvantage of senseless, overly-rigid and unthinking regimentation: It gets in the way of essential work, all in the pursuit of vague, undefined and unlikely rewards. Methinks it might even lead to degraded combat performance.

We now have to wash the toilet twice a day, at 1:00pm in addition to the morning's area cleaning. Not only is this unfair, it is unnecessary!


It's not fair. Females get all sorts of funky names. Apart from the traditional types of names (eg Agatha, Bernadette), they can be named after months (April, May), precious stones (eg Crystal, Ruby. Though I've yet to see a Lapis Lazuli), virtues or emotions (Joy, Faith, Love... Though oddly no one is called 'Chastity') and god knows what else. How come males get stuck with boring names? 'Frank' is perhaps the only acceptable male attribute-name, though I suspect that Franks are named after the Franks, and not the quality of frankness. I've yet to see a 'Justice' or 'Wisdom" (though we all know and love 'Just Wong'), and the odd exceptions like 'Noodle' are confined to Hong Kong. Perhaps the closest we can get is 'Sunny' - not very impressive next to the stable of girls' names.

More silliness: Project Islamic HOPE claims X-Men 2 is anti-Muslim, for William Stryker is shown wearing a ring with 'Allah' inscribed on it. "'It�s a major slap in the face to Muslims worldwide that this portrayal be made when the X-men in the comics and movies have always fought against prejudice in society', said the group�s director Najee Ali. 'It was done intentionally,' he said. 'It�s another case of Islamic phobia in Hollywood which has always demonized Arabs and Muslims, but after 9/11 we thought that American Jews and Muslims would work together for peace.'" Surely the ring said 'Allah'. How could it not, when the name of Allah occurs naturally in so many places? Why stop at this anyway? William Stryker has a beard and moustache - is Brian Singer trying to say that men with Vietnam Veterans with facial hair are evil, crazed xenophobes and plot for world domination? Also, Magneto is Jewish. Tada - irrefutable proof of anti-Semitism! Xavier is bald and disabled - surely a slap in the face for bald men and advocates for the handicapped. Hell, Nightcrawler and Beast are blue, so for people with rare mutations resulting in blue skin, this is eminently insulting.

I've been playing Little Fighter 2, but somehow I can't attain the proficiency level that others can. Argh.


My mother's idea of a good book seems to differ greatly from mine. Among other things, she likes inspirational titles (like a zillionth helping of Chicken Soup for the Castrated African Hermaphrodite's Soul) and biographies. Perhaps, too, when one ages, one favours books that evoke nostalgia and remind one of one's younger days. Recently, she highly recommended 'Frog Under A Coconut Shell' to me, a book of memoirs by Josephine Chia, a Peranakan (Nonya, to be specific). Now, as faithful readers might know, I am not a fan of local writing as much of it sucks. This is probably true of most types of writing, but somehow it seems to be more noticeable in local works, which all seem to be edited poorly - if at all.

Personally, I found the book immensely irritating. It is perhaps the most indulgent book I have ever read, surpassing, by far, the most horrific of my output. It is basically an extended, cringe-inducing soliloquy. The narrative is often broken for many paragraphs, while the author speculates, comments, reminisces, moralises and pontificates about something only peripherally related to what she was talking about previously. When that doesn't happen, the author jumps from topic to topic and thread to thread haphazardly, through not just time, but space also, with only the slightest amount of cohesion. The undisciplined ranting puts me in mind of Kenneth Tan at his worst.

Perhaps an extract will illustrate my points. Page 22: "As if it was a legacy she had handed me, I too hated the sight of the slaughtered chickens writhing on the ground or running around in a frenzy until they realised that they were supposed to be dead. The vision bothered me so much that I eventually gave up eating chicken or anything that had legs to run around with. Has this something to do with my mother or was this my own uninfluenced choice? Sometimes, I wonder where the Me who is my mother's daughter ends and the Me who is entirely myself begins." This theme is cringe-worthy enough the first time, but when it is repeated several times, it really becomes intolerable. I suspect that the repetition of this, among other themes, is the author's attempt to vindicate herself and assuage her guilt.

The author professes that this book is her mother's story, but bits of her life keep slipping past her guard and into her book, and she even half-apologises with the platitude, "but that is another story". Perhaps a lapse could be tolerated occasionally, but they occur with disturbing frequency and so are unforgivable.

Some parts are unconsciously ironic. Take, for example, this classic line: "He told me that my capacity to learn Arithmetic was minimal, which was true, and that I get all the English tenses mixed up, which was also true". A Freudian slip, perchance?


Quotes:

Have you paid for the VCD player? [Me: Yes!] Well it doesn't look as if you'll be able to use it.

Gabriel! Check it out. [Me: S.C. !] Suck Cock. My name is 'Suck Cock'

[To me] Don't roll up your sleeves, you look like an RGS girl.

All my medics don't have girlfriends. All gay, is it?

I'm setting up a business next time. Lak Sat Bar.

"I have seldom met an intelligent person whose views were not narrowed and distorted by religion." - James Buchanan

"Gods are fragile things; they may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense." - Chapman Cohen

"The universe displays no proof of an all-directing mind." - Auguste Comte

"I don't believe in God because I don't believe in Mother Goose." - Clarence Darrow

"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Richard Dawkins

"I have never seen the slightest scientific proof of the religious theories of heaven and hell, of future life for individuals, or of a personal God." - Thomas Edison

"As men's prayers are a disease of the will, so are their creeds a disease of the intellect." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." - Benjamin Franklin

"Lighthouses are more helpful than churches." - Benjamin Franklin

"The notion that faith in Christ is to be rewarded by an eternity of bliss, while a dependence upon reason, observation, and experience merits everlasting pain, is too absurd for refutation, and can be relieved only by that unhappy mixture of insanity and ignorance called 'faith.'" - Robert Ingersoll

If the Bible and my brain are both the work of the same Infinite God, whose fault is it that the book and my brain do not agree? Robert G. Ingersoll

"The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." - Delos B. McKown

"We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes." - Gene Roddenberry

"It is sad that while science moves ahead in exciting new areas of research, fine-tuning our knowledge of how life originated and evolved, creationists remain mired in medieval debates about angels on the head of a pin and animals in the belly of an Ark." - Michael Shermer

"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand." - Mark Twain

I come here to combat the fraud and illusion of your conventional, institutionalized religion. As with all such religions, your institution moves toward cowardice, it moves toward mediocrity, inertia, and self-satisfaction.
-Frank Herbert, Children of Dune

I'm going to rub your faces in things you try to avoid. I don't find it strange that all you want to believe in is only that which comforts you. How else do humans invent the traps which betray us into mediocrity? How else do we define cowardice? -Frank Herbert, Children of Dune

....it is with God we must be most careful: for He makes such a powerful appeal to what is lowest in human nature -- our feeling of insufficiency, fear of the unknown, personal failings; above all our monstrous egotism which sees in the martyr's crown an athletic prize which is really hard to attain. Lawrence Durrell

If religion cannot restrain evil, it cannot claim effective power for good. Morris Cohen

It is usually when men are at their most religious that they behave with the least sense and the greatest cruelty. Ilka Chase

All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit. Thomas Paine

Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile. Kurt Vonnegut

The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error if error seduces them. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master.; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim. Gustave Le Bon

"God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent--it says so right there on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks, please. Cash and in small bills." Lazarus Long (Robert A Heinlein)

The beauty of religious mania is that it has the power to explain everything. Once God (or Satan) is accepted as the first cause of everything which happens in the mortal world, nothing is left to chance... logic can be happily tossed out the window. Stephen King

Man's best friend is his dogma. Timothy Leary

There is no place in a fantic's head where reason can enter. Napoleon Bonaparte

Only fraud and falsehood dread examination . Truth invites it . Thomas Cooper

Eternal damnation. What a cruel hoax your priests have inflicted on your people. Souls change. Only God is eternal-- and what kind of God would damn any created thing eternally? What sin could possibly be so great? -A. A. Attanasio, The Dragon and the Unicorn


1) If your neighbor's dog killed your child, and you had the power to chain this dog, blast him with blow torches, and the dog not die as a result, how long would you torture the dog for its terrible crime?

A) One Day

B) One Month

C) One Year

D) Eternity

2) As a loving parent, you give life to 5 children and give them free will to do as they see best. Each child goes his/her own way. One becomes a Buddhist, one becomes an Islam, one becomes a Christian, one becomes a Wicca, and one believes in no religion. Only one of your children believes as you do. What would you do regarding your 4 children who do not believe the same way you do?

A) I would kill them.

B) I would disown them.

C) I would torture them for eternity in hell.

D) I would love them and accept them as they are.

3) If you had a critical message and wanted to make sure as many people as possible would get it and understand it, how would you go about it?

A) I would send it in a time when there was no mass communications, or printing presses.

B) I would have my messenger not write anything down regarding my message, trusting others to listen and pass it on accurately and unchanged.

C) I would make sure what is written about my message was contradictory, and very confusing, so people would have a hard time understanding my message.

D) I would write down a clear, non contradictory, simple book and send it with my messenger in a time of mass communication and the printing press.

4) How would you deal with people who did not get your message, or didn't understand it, or didn't believe it was your message because it was so contradictory and confusing?

A) Kill them.

B) Torture them.

C) Damn them to eternity in hell.

D) Understand, Love them and forgive them.

5) If you were omnipotent but invisible, and you wanted to make sure that people knew you were real and wanted them to believe in you, what would you do to make this happen?

A) I would write my name on the face of the moon so all could see and have no doubt of my existence.

B) I would do things that could not be explained in any other way. Like stopping terrible things from happening, like the 911 event, or feeding all the hungry children on earth.

C) I would protect and reward those who believed in me and ignore the plight of those who do not.

D) I would do nothing at all and stay as invisible and undetectable as possible, letting everyone fend for themselves, those who believe in me and those who don't, showing no favoritism.


"It is a counterfeit love that is contingent upon authority punishment or reward. In a nutshell, God had to kill Himself to appease Himself so that He would not have to roast us, His beloved creations, in HELL forever. He loves us more than we can ever comprehend, but if we don't return His affections, He will make us regret it for eternity. Now that is AMAZING GRACE!"

Courtesy of Hell's Kitchen:

Thanks to animal research, they'll be able to protest 20.8 years longer.

According
to the US Department of Health and Human Services, animal research has
helped extend our life expectancy by 20.8 years. Of course, how you
choose to spend those extra years is up to you.

Foundation for Biomedical Research

These people make reservist training sound so fun. No wonder they look forward to it.

Perhaps the best:

"Most important things to put inside full pack is T shirt, shorts, slipper and shower foam ... the rest dont have never mind .. Garters can use rubber band ...

All other important stores that are supposed to be in full pack ?, just say You don't have , not issued to you ... lost ... dog ate it , wife throw away .. all valid excuse ...

I'll never forget my first In Camp ... that time still Xin Jiao ... When they say Relvary at 7:30 ... breakfast to be taken at cookhouse at 7:45... draw stores at 8:30am ... move out by 9:15am ... I thought the timing was very serious like when NSF time ...

For reservists, it translates to ... Wake up at 8:30... 8:45 smoke break, go canteen for breakfast... sit down and talk cock .... 9:30am go back bunk toilet break ..... 10:00am go to look for storeman ... 10:30 go for morning break at canteen .... 11am draw stores .... 12 pm get ready for lunch ... 1pm at the earliest Move out .... look for hawker center for lunch .... throw Combat rations away or leave it in bunk for Bangala worker to take home ...

Got to give it to the Lao Jiaos .. respect them .. "


Tripping De-Light Fantastic - Are psychedelic drugs good for you?