w00tz! Nice funky features from Blogger Pro have been incorporated into normal Blogger (and the former closed down).
Bah. Was forced to stay back for 5BX, then set my alarm for the wrong time and missed it.
How to assassinate a third world despot with only a butt plug and a litre of raspberry coulis - This is so outrageous, it *has* to be a joke.
Was Sigmund Freud a quack?
More rave reviews:
"As for GSSQ. I don't know him personally. I just read on his blog alot. Love his writing. Its the honest, reflective, analytical writing with all the complexities of English. Even by reading it, I can say that the comprehension level required is very deep. Besides, I seem to share similar viewpoints on him on various political issues, exception being religion. =)
I ended up on his site after a bunch of ACJC boys told me that "there's an rjc guy who comments on his blog about girls who zaogeng in his school". Not a bad introduction indeed. Do a search on "Zao Geng" on google and his site will be amongst the top 10 I think! I think he remarked on his blog as well that "people who search for zao geng on google somehow always end up on my site" In the end, his site is more on funny musings and rantings than on such perverted stuff. =)
Ah, memories of the old canteen..."
I still don't know why I always get sex-related search referrals. But then it seems everyone does.
Does the old canteen bit have anything to do with zaogeng-ing? Haha.
Open Source Community Developing Their Own Viruses
'Helsinki, Finland - Open source developers plan to challenge Microsoft's dominance in the world of viruses by developing their own through the Open Virus Project (OVP), and unlike proprietary Microsoft viruses, the open source versions will infect across all platforms.
Heading the development of the OVP is Jukka Koskelin. He explained, "We took a look at the virus marketspace and realized that Microsoft has over a 95% share of all viruses developed. I don't think the Linux community can be taken seriously if we don't increase our share in that area."
"The viruses we're developing will work cross-platform unlike Microsoft viruses which only work on Windows systems. There are ports to Linux, *BSD, Solaris, and yes, even Windows. We should have a Mac port in a couple of months," Koskelin continued'
L'origine de Bert
Thursday, September 11, 2003
It seems that I regularly run into the problem of offending people with what I publish on this humble blog.
Now, I don't post material for the sake of causing offence - my criteria are interest, meaning and significance. Any offence caused is purely peripheral.
Anyhow, anything can offend anyone. Whatever your beliefs, there will always be someone offended by them. For example, if my life revolves around sacrificing lame, green furred kids (the goats, not the children) in bloody, cruel rituals lit by the light of the waxing moon, I'm sure that most people will find that reprehensible. Even though this is what my life revolves around, not many would accept that I could take grievous offence from people merely discussing why they thought my beliefs and practice wrong (if most people in the world thought this way, then Comparative Theology, or even normal theology would be dead, the field of religion sterile and stagnating and the world an alotgether less lively place). Just as most think bloody animal sacrifice is wrong and take offence at it, when I read about how all of us are under a death sentence (nay, worse) for something we didn't do, I take grievous offence, yet I do not raise a hue and cry, but just share my thoughts on why we aren't condemned.
Nobody is forcing anyone to read the conceivably controversial and offensive material posted here (just like no one forces the "moral majority" to watch pornographic movies, but that is another rant altogether), and nothing (well, almost nothing) is directed at specific people. Reactions depend on the individual - your mileage may vary. If you find some paragraphs making you collapse in apoplexy, you are most welcome to skip them, or just give this URL a miss. A suitable analogy might be a girl meeting her friends for lunch, but before that, they are attending a talk by a conservative group which goes on about how foot binding is right and proper, and how females should be circumcised to stop them being over-sexed and unclean. If the girl insists on attending the talk despite cautions from her friends, then she has no right to rail at them. They may not share beliefs, but they can still remain good friends.
Case in point: The discussion that was underway at http://www.therandomwalk.com/archives/000031.html.
I think I am becoming more and more incoherent as the days pass.
Now, I don't post material for the sake of causing offence - my criteria are interest, meaning and significance. Any offence caused is purely peripheral.
Anyhow, anything can offend anyone. Whatever your beliefs, there will always be someone offended by them. For example, if my life revolves around sacrificing lame, green furred kids (the goats, not the children) in bloody, cruel rituals lit by the light of the waxing moon, I'm sure that most people will find that reprehensible. Even though this is what my life revolves around, not many would accept that I could take grievous offence from people merely discussing why they thought my beliefs and practice wrong (if most people in the world thought this way, then Comparative Theology, or even normal theology would be dead, the field of religion sterile and stagnating and the world an alotgether less lively place). Just as most think bloody animal sacrifice is wrong and take offence at it, when I read about how all of us are under a death sentence (nay, worse) for something we didn't do, I take grievous offence, yet I do not raise a hue and cry, but just share my thoughts on why we aren't condemned.
Nobody is forcing anyone to read the conceivably controversial and offensive material posted here (just like no one forces the "moral majority" to watch pornographic movies, but that is another rant altogether), and nothing (well, almost nothing) is directed at specific people. Reactions depend on the individual - your mileage may vary. If you find some paragraphs making you collapse in apoplexy, you are most welcome to skip them, or just give this URL a miss. A suitable analogy might be a girl meeting her friends for lunch, but before that, they are attending a talk by a conservative group which goes on about how foot binding is right and proper, and how females should be circumcised to stop them being over-sexed and unclean. If the girl insists on attending the talk despite cautions from her friends, then she has no right to rail at them. They may not share beliefs, but they can still remain good friends.
Case in point: The discussion that was underway at http://www.therandomwalk.com/archives/000031.html.
I think I am becoming more and more incoherent as the days pass.
Post ID: 106300672114843520
YAILR (Yet Another Incoherent Long Rant):
As if I needed any further pressure, they are now threatening me with withdrawal of my nights off and long weekends (though I haven't had any of the latter for a long time) if I don't lose their 10kg in 5 weeks. Now, BMT's target was 1kg/week and with some effort, I hit 1.5kg/week. So that is why I do not believe 2kg/week is feasible (and neither does everyone else, most of whom suggested I try Marie France for those results). Not unless I go on a hunger strike.
Many know that negative motivation is much less likely to succeed than positive motivation, and brings a whole raft of unintended consequences too. You can lead a horse to water, but if you force it to drink it will drown. Since they persist in giving me 2kg to work towards, I shall not work especially hard towards it, and if they're going to whack me no matter what I do, I might as well not do anything for them - even the threat of death cannot make people achieve the impossible. Also, with the time they want me to spend exercising, I wonder where I will find energy and time to do my work. Perhaps I should relinquish my appointment and revocate.
Someone formulated a theory which might give an insight into why I am feeling so distressed. Others don't mind physical exertions much, and can just "go and train". Thus, they don't see why it upsets me so much, and can tell me to "just train lah, what's so difficult". However, I have an intense, pathological aversion to it. Indeed, on reflection, I realise that after physical exertion, I always feel like I've been raped. I'm supposed to, and have been advised to learn to enjoy exercise and work towards the goals set out for me. However, if I can condition myself to accept what every grain in my body rebels against (though some may say the same of my and Neverending Slavery), what else can I force myself to accept by morphing my personality? High treason towards "my" country (even though currently I have no great love for it)? Wanton killing, rape and looting? Religious fundamentalism? Heartless terrorism? Megalomania?
They won't let me go even for 6 months, after hounding me for 14. If 42 loves me so much, and wants me to do exactly the same thing their men do, and enjoy the same "privileges", maybe I should try to get attached back there and laugh as I sting them, before I am promptly murdered by all the regulars.
Their enthusiasm scares me. Driven relentlessly, I feel like a pack animal. I wonder where from comes their almost-religious zeal, and why they find such glee in tormenting me. No quarter is being given me, and the mental barrier I have erected to keep myself sane gets chipped ever so slightly with each day. Instead of becoming stronger and more confident, I feel I'm becoming weaker, more insecure, and breaking down more. I can but hope that the curse of my gender will be mostly lifted soon, and that the 13 years after that will speed by before I am fully free.
Someone advised me not to do anything to get blacklisted for university or when I go out and work, since supposedly confidential SAF records are available for all and sundry to flip through (though I have doubts about that - maybe it's just an urban legend spread by the SAF to stop people faking depression). But then, it's better to be blacklisted than end up broken, crazy or dead.
Some advise me to change my mindset - since I'm already stuck in hell, I should try to be as happy as I can be, since I can't change it. If everyone had that sort of thinking, though, women still would not have the vote, apartheid would still be practised in South Africa and most colonies would not be independent. If this sort of thinking is so laudable then, POWs should all betray their countries and spill the beans to make their lives easier, since they are stuck in the enemy's jails already and should make the best of it. Child prostitutes should try to enjoy their work, as should child soldiers.
In the middle of the week, I was unfortunate enough to have to go for a 16km route march, albeit without a BCS bag or a fieldpack. Before the route march, all the senior officers came to talk to me. I think by now, I've heard so many motivational talks that I'm semi-immune to them already, not that they ever had much effect on me due to my unwillingness to engage in self-deception. Of course, there was some sense in their words, but there is more than one way to look at the world, and much of it was rhetoric. The first 4km of the march was done at an unearthly pace - brisk walking, I swear. Thus, near the 8km mark, after I'd been pulled and dragged along for a great distance, I fell. After recovery, when I finally reached the 8km mark, my CO promised that if I completed the next 4km I wouldn't need to do the last 4km: otherwise, I'd have to march again on Friday. So in the end, I managed to complete 12km by the skin of my teeth (the RT we had that morning did not help) - proof that positive motivation works much better than negative (see above). Except that at the end I was shouted at, collapsed again and this time broke down in front of 100-200 people. It was probably the longest, most severe breakdown so far (including BMT). I think if this goes on, my screws are going to be loosened. I just want to go somewhere where all the bad people can't hurt me anymore.
I wonder what will come of all this. I still have some way to go before I practice Satyagraha successfully.
"Eat well, keep fit, die anyway"
CCO does bunk cleaning a grand total of once a month (sometimes less). Still, their bunk is not noticeably dirtier than ours. Ditto for the toilets, staircases and all around the HQ Armour building's 4th and 5th storeys. Moral of the story: Daily meticulous area cleaning is useless and just another means of repression.
People keep asking me how to downgrade. My response: If I knew I wouldn't still be around!
NKF just gave out some donation cards. This time, in addition to flaunting their wealth with a nicely designed card, they have given out a VCD bemoaning the plight of kidney patients! That they actually have the money to cut a VCD should be an alarming sign. I wonder why they don't just direct their efforts to *helping* the kidney patients, rather than chasing donations in a never-ending cycle. Why, next year we'll probably see a TV show by the NKF to try to coerce people to part with even more money. Oh wait, we had that already. What's next? A feature film? A "Kidney Disease" monument, made of burnished gold?
I've little energy, desire and mood to do socio-political commentary nowadays. That's a bad portent.
It's odd, really. Some people complain I'm too cynical and negative, while others say I'm too idealistic.
Everyone likes my new phone cover, and they all say it's chio and "doesn't look like a Nokia" except Geraldine, who thinks it's "hideous". But then I think her tastes are the pits too, so :) The cover isn't that well made, though - the shiny metal at the back turned out to be a sticker which wasn't stuck on properly, so I removed it, and one part of the plastic in front popped out when I dropped it (though it was easily fixed). You get what you pay for, I guess.
Apparently the irritatig Jay Chou song with chanting in the background is called "yi3 fu4 zhi1 ming2" (the name of the father?).
The CDs I got at Jurong East could be read by my CDRW drive since, as Xephyris says, "DVD lenses are weaker". In the end, though, the only thing that could install was Europa Universalis: Crown of the North. Bloody pasar malam con artists. In the end I went somewhere where the discs were cheaper, and so far they all work!
Notes on Pirates of the Carribean:
Keira Knightley doesn't look 18. She's really, erm, grown a lot since Bend It Like Beckham, too. She seems to have some magical skills in the show - while she normally wears nighties, at some points where they'd be inconvenient, lo and behold, she's dressed in pajama bottoms (did those even exist for women at that time?)
Johnny Depp looks like a drug addict. And as all the reviews say, he's wonderful in his role.
A band played Arne's "Rule Britannia" at one point. This song was composed in 1740, and I'd imagine took a while to gain popularity. However, I'm not an expert at identifying the time periods Men-O-War and swords of forged steel come from just from their appearance. The phrase "Davy Jones' Locker" was also used at some points. Apparently the first literary reference to this phrase occured in 1751, in Tobias Smollet's The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle. So that further narrows down the time frame. My gut feeling, though, is that the movie is set before 1740, since by that time piracy in the Caribbean was on the decline (but then they *did* say Jack Sparrow was one of the last pirate captains. Or something).
It's not often that you see bullets whizzing through the air in films. At most you just hear them. So seeing them fly was quite interesting. As were the shade-moonlight skeleton-human transitions, which were very fluid.
Lastly, how the hell is this based on the Disney ride of the same name? Though it's been 9 years since I was on it (maybe even 16), so maybe I missed something.
Quotes:
[On everyone ganging up to gang bang me] Wah lau, Gabriel, you're like the number 1 enemy in our unit.
[On my troubles] You can go and kill yourself. We'll build a statue of you... Your arm outstretched, and an eagle on your hand. Before enlistment, people will go there and pray... "Don't let me go [to] NS, don't let me go [to] NS..." Then the eagle will shit on them.
Enciks usually have the opinion of wanting everyone to die. (attitude)
Then I shall tell them I'm sick (Sikh)
As if I needed any further pressure, they are now threatening me with withdrawal of my nights off and long weekends (though I haven't had any of the latter for a long time) if I don't lose their 10kg in 5 weeks. Now, BMT's target was 1kg/week and with some effort, I hit 1.5kg/week. So that is why I do not believe 2kg/week is feasible (and neither does everyone else, most of whom suggested I try Marie France for those results). Not unless I go on a hunger strike.
Many know that negative motivation is much less likely to succeed than positive motivation, and brings a whole raft of unintended consequences too. You can lead a horse to water, but if you force it to drink it will drown. Since they persist in giving me 2kg to work towards, I shall not work especially hard towards it, and if they're going to whack me no matter what I do, I might as well not do anything for them - even the threat of death cannot make people achieve the impossible. Also, with the time they want me to spend exercising, I wonder where I will find energy and time to do my work. Perhaps I should relinquish my appointment and revocate.
Someone formulated a theory which might give an insight into why I am feeling so distressed. Others don't mind physical exertions much, and can just "go and train". Thus, they don't see why it upsets me so much, and can tell me to "just train lah, what's so difficult". However, I have an intense, pathological aversion to it. Indeed, on reflection, I realise that after physical exertion, I always feel like I've been raped. I'm supposed to, and have been advised to learn to enjoy exercise and work towards the goals set out for me. However, if I can condition myself to accept what every grain in my body rebels against (though some may say the same of my and Neverending Slavery), what else can I force myself to accept by morphing my personality? High treason towards "my" country (even though currently I have no great love for it)? Wanton killing, rape and looting? Religious fundamentalism? Heartless terrorism? Megalomania?
They won't let me go even for 6 months, after hounding me for 14. If 42 loves me so much, and wants me to do exactly the same thing their men do, and enjoy the same "privileges", maybe I should try to get attached back there and laugh as I sting them, before I am promptly murdered by all the regulars.
Their enthusiasm scares me. Driven relentlessly, I feel like a pack animal. I wonder where from comes their almost-religious zeal, and why they find such glee in tormenting me. No quarter is being given me, and the mental barrier I have erected to keep myself sane gets chipped ever so slightly with each day. Instead of becoming stronger and more confident, I feel I'm becoming weaker, more insecure, and breaking down more. I can but hope that the curse of my gender will be mostly lifted soon, and that the 13 years after that will speed by before I am fully free.
Someone advised me not to do anything to get blacklisted for university or when I go out and work, since supposedly confidential SAF records are available for all and sundry to flip through (though I have doubts about that - maybe it's just an urban legend spread by the SAF to stop people faking depression). But then, it's better to be blacklisted than end up broken, crazy or dead.
Some advise me to change my mindset - since I'm already stuck in hell, I should try to be as happy as I can be, since I can't change it. If everyone had that sort of thinking, though, women still would not have the vote, apartheid would still be practised in South Africa and most colonies would not be independent. If this sort of thinking is so laudable then, POWs should all betray their countries and spill the beans to make their lives easier, since they are stuck in the enemy's jails already and should make the best of it. Child prostitutes should try to enjoy their work, as should child soldiers.
In the middle of the week, I was unfortunate enough to have to go for a 16km route march, albeit without a BCS bag or a fieldpack. Before the route march, all the senior officers came to talk to me. I think by now, I've heard so many motivational talks that I'm semi-immune to them already, not that they ever had much effect on me due to my unwillingness to engage in self-deception. Of course, there was some sense in their words, but there is more than one way to look at the world, and much of it was rhetoric. The first 4km of the march was done at an unearthly pace - brisk walking, I swear. Thus, near the 8km mark, after I'd been pulled and dragged along for a great distance, I fell. After recovery, when I finally reached the 8km mark, my CO promised that if I completed the next 4km I wouldn't need to do the last 4km: otherwise, I'd have to march again on Friday. So in the end, I managed to complete 12km by the skin of my teeth (the RT we had that morning did not help) - proof that positive motivation works much better than negative (see above). Except that at the end I was shouted at, collapsed again and this time broke down in front of 100-200 people. It was probably the longest, most severe breakdown so far (including BMT). I think if this goes on, my screws are going to be loosened. I just want to go somewhere where all the bad people can't hurt me anymore.
I wonder what will come of all this. I still have some way to go before I practice Satyagraha successfully.
"Eat well, keep fit, die anyway"
CCO does bunk cleaning a grand total of once a month (sometimes less). Still, their bunk is not noticeably dirtier than ours. Ditto for the toilets, staircases and all around the HQ Armour building's 4th and 5th storeys. Moral of the story: Daily meticulous area cleaning is useless and just another means of repression.
People keep asking me how to downgrade. My response: If I knew I wouldn't still be around!
NKF just gave out some donation cards. This time, in addition to flaunting their wealth with a nicely designed card, they have given out a VCD bemoaning the plight of kidney patients! That they actually have the money to cut a VCD should be an alarming sign. I wonder why they don't just direct their efforts to *helping* the kidney patients, rather than chasing donations in a never-ending cycle. Why, next year we'll probably see a TV show by the NKF to try to coerce people to part with even more money. Oh wait, we had that already. What's next? A feature film? A "Kidney Disease" monument, made of burnished gold?
I've little energy, desire and mood to do socio-political commentary nowadays. That's a bad portent.
It's odd, really. Some people complain I'm too cynical and negative, while others say I'm too idealistic.
Everyone likes my new phone cover, and they all say it's chio and "doesn't look like a Nokia" except Geraldine, who thinks it's "hideous". But then I think her tastes are the pits too, so :) The cover isn't that well made, though - the shiny metal at the back turned out to be a sticker which wasn't stuck on properly, so I removed it, and one part of the plastic in front popped out when I dropped it (though it was easily fixed). You get what you pay for, I guess.
Apparently the irritatig Jay Chou song with chanting in the background is called "yi3 fu4 zhi1 ming2" (the name of the father?).
The CDs I got at Jurong East could be read by my CDRW drive since, as Xephyris says, "DVD lenses are weaker". In the end, though, the only thing that could install was Europa Universalis: Crown of the North. Bloody pasar malam con artists. In the end I went somewhere where the discs were cheaper, and so far they all work!
Notes on Pirates of the Carribean:
Keira Knightley doesn't look 18. She's really, erm, grown a lot since Bend It Like Beckham, too. She seems to have some magical skills in the show - while she normally wears nighties, at some points where they'd be inconvenient, lo and behold, she's dressed in pajama bottoms (did those even exist for women at that time?)
Johnny Depp looks like a drug addict. And as all the reviews say, he's wonderful in his role.
A band played Arne's "Rule Britannia" at one point. This song was composed in 1740, and I'd imagine took a while to gain popularity. However, I'm not an expert at identifying the time periods Men-O-War and swords of forged steel come from just from their appearance. The phrase "Davy Jones' Locker" was also used at some points. Apparently the first literary reference to this phrase occured in 1751, in Tobias Smollet's The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle. So that further narrows down the time frame. My gut feeling, though, is that the movie is set before 1740, since by that time piracy in the Caribbean was on the decline (but then they *did* say Jack Sparrow was one of the last pirate captains. Or something).
It's not often that you see bullets whizzing through the air in films. At most you just hear them. So seeing them fly was quite interesting. As were the shade-moonlight skeleton-human transitions, which were very fluid.
Lastly, how the hell is this based on the Disney ride of the same name? Though it's been 9 years since I was on it (maybe even 16), so maybe I missed something.
Quotes:
[On everyone ganging up to gang bang me] Wah lau, Gabriel, you're like the number 1 enemy in our unit.
[On my troubles] You can go and kill yourself. We'll build a statue of you... Your arm outstretched, and an eagle on your hand. Before enlistment, people will go there and pray... "Don't let me go [to] NS, don't let me go [to] NS..." Then the eagle will shit on them.
Enciks usually have the opinion of wanting everyone to die. (attitude)
Then I shall tell them I'm sick (Sikh)
Post ID: 106300671909697203
Hello!
Just wanted to say that i still exist (hello penny if you're reading this! heehee ... i think it's so funny to communicate by blog to ppl like u in melbourne. I have a joke! Why did the heart suffering from dextrocardia cross the road? To get to the other side! Hahaha ... okay not so funny. Are there any other ocfers reading this? or did you all get put off by the joke? penny how did you find my blog?)
I finished my essay on alzheimer's disease on wednesday! If you want to read it i'll send you a copy. I really enjoyed doing this assignment... and the second half is quite readable too... no jargon. (the first half is scientific jargon abt brains)
What else is there to say about me .... Hello to anyone else reading this. Hello hello hello! I was voting for the new uni student union, and in exchange i got a $8 food voucher, two badges, and a bouncy ball! One of the badges says "Kiss my ass: i voted International Alliance" oh well ... the other one's funny too... it says "Independent. Apolitical. For our union. Student-driven. Need we say more? IA". Can u imagine a political party claiming to be apolitical?
I finally bought hummous from vic market today... can't wait to try it! fresh hummous!! And swords (discount wine shop) was open as well... but i didn't buy anything from there. Ooh i miss dance! and i miss the dancers! For melbourne uni OCF's 13th anniversary a couple of fridays ago 8 of us put on 2 dance items- a jive and a hip-hop self-choreographed and nite after nite we were laughing at one another and cracking up.... there's a video as well and it's hilarious
Just wanted to say that i still exist (hello penny if you're reading this! heehee ... i think it's so funny to communicate by blog to ppl like u in melbourne. I have a joke! Why did the heart suffering from dextrocardia cross the road? To get to the other side! Hahaha ... okay not so funny. Are there any other ocfers reading this? or did you all get put off by the joke? penny how did you find my blog?)
I finished my essay on alzheimer's disease on wednesday! If you want to read it i'll send you a copy. I really enjoyed doing this assignment... and the second half is quite readable too... no jargon. (the first half is scientific jargon abt brains)
What else is there to say about me .... Hello to anyone else reading this. Hello hello hello! I was voting for the new uni student union, and in exchange i got a $8 food voucher, two badges, and a bouncy ball! One of the badges says "Kiss my ass: i voted International Alliance" oh well ... the other one's funny too... it says "Independent. Apolitical. For our union. Student-driven. Need we say more? IA". Can u imagine a political party claiming to be apolitical?
I finally bought hummous from vic market today... can't wait to try it! fresh hummous!! And swords (discount wine shop) was open as well... but i didn't buy anything from there. Ooh i miss dance! and i miss the dancers! For melbourne uni OCF's 13th anniversary a couple of fridays ago 8 of us put on 2 dance items- a jive and a hip-hop self-choreographed and nite after nite we were laughing at one another and cracking up.... there's a video as well and it's hilarious
Post ID: 106327370069624674
Sunday, September 07, 2003
Mensa International - Mensa Workout - From a page Moses sent me. Apparently the next testing date is next Saturday. "Your score was 21 out of 30. That is a very good score, you would have a good chance of passing the Mensa test." - Bah. I wonder what the point of joining is, anyway.
The Gender Genie - Paste samples of writing in and by analysing keywords, it will predict (with a supposed 80% accuracy) what gender the author is.
When Will You Die? - "The World's Most Reliable Death Calculator"
Not all POWs survive - "A forwarded email, about a sergeant who was essentially killed during the Singapore Armed Forces POW training course"
The Stanford Prison Experiment: A Simulation Study of the Psychology of Imprisonment
The infamous 1971 experiment. Reading through the commentary by Philip G. Zimbardo, I am struck by how much the observations and findings apply to Neverending Slavery (to use Chinx's term), and BMT in particular:
1. Consider the psychological consequences of... shaving the heads of prisoners or members of the military. What transformations take place when people go through an experience like this?
The process of having one's head shaved, which takes place in most prisons as well as in the military, is designed in part to minimize each person's individuality, since some people express their individuality through hair style or length. It is also a way of getting people to begin complying with the arbitrary, coercive rules of the institution.
2. The guards were given no specific training on how to be guards. Instead they were free, within limits, to do whatever they thought was necessary to maintain law and order in the prison and to command the respect of the prisoners. The guards made up their own set of rules
I don't think those of non-enlistee rank are given much specific training on how to control their men.
3. At 2:30 A.M. the prisoners were rudely awakened from sleep by blasting whistles... these events provided a regular occasion for the guards to exercise control over the prisoners.
Push-ups were a common form of physical punishment imposed by the guards to punish infractions of the rules or displays of improper attitudes toward the guards or institution. When we saw the guards demand push-ups from the prisoners, we initially thought this was an inappropriate kind of punishment for a prison -- a rather juvenile and minimal form of punishment. However, we later learned that push-ups were often used as a form of punishment in Nazi concentration camps
At first push-ups were not a very aversive form of punishment, but they became more so as the study wore on. Why the change?
Read: Various forms of punishment (including knocking it down) and silly regimental stuff
4. The next day, we held a visiting hour for parents and friends. We were worried that when the parents saw the state of our jail, they might insist on taking their sons home. To counter this, we manipulated both the situation and the visitors by making the prison environment seem pleasant and benign. We washed, shaved, and groomed the prisoners, had them clean and polish their cells, fed them a big dinner, played music on the intercom, and even had an attractive former Stanford cheerleader, Susie Phillips, greet the visitors at our registration desk.
When the dozen or so visitors came, full of good humor at what seemed to be a novel, fun experience, we systematically brought their behavior under situational control. They had to register, were made to wait half an hour, were told that only two visitors could see any one prisoner, were limited to only ten minutes of visiting time, and had to be under the surveillance of a guard during the visit. Before any parents could enter the visiting area, they also had to discuss their son's case with the Warden. Of course, parents complained about these arbitrary rules, but remarkably, they complied with them. And so they, too, became bit players in our prison drama, being good middle-class adults.
Some of the parents got upset when they saw how fatigued and distressed their son was. But their reaction was to work within the system to appeal privately to the Superintendent to make conditions better for their boy. When one mother told me she had never seen her son looking so bad, I responded by shifting the blame from the situation to her son. "What's the matter with your boy? Doesn't he sleep well?" Then I asked the father, "Don't you think your boy can handle this?"
He bristled, "Of course he can -- he's a real tough kid, a leader." Turning to the mother, he said, "Come on Honey, we've wasted enough time already." And to me, "See you again at the next visiting time."
Parents' Visiting Day in BMT, and other displays to the public!
5. [We felt] considerable frustration and feelings of dissonance over the effort we had put in to no avail. Someone was going to pay for this.
The guards again escalated very noticeably their level of harassment, increasing the humiliation they made the prisoners suffer, forcing them to do menial, repetitive work such as cleaning out toilet bowls with their bare hands. The guards had prisoners do push-ups, jumping jacks, whatever the guards could think up, and they increased the length of the counts to several hours each.
6. There were three types of guards. First, there were tough but fair guards who followed prison rules. Second, there were "good guys" who did little favors for the prisoners and never punished them. And finally, about a third of the guards were hostile, arbitrary, and inventive in their forms of prisoner humiliation. These guards appeared to thoroughly enjoy the power they wielded, yet none of our preliminary personality tests were able to predict this behavior. The only link between personality and prison behavior was a finding that prisoners with a high degree of authoritarianism endured our authoritarian prison environment longer than did other prisoners.
7. Prisoner #416 coped by going on a hunger strike to force his release. After several unsuccessful attempts to get #416 to eat, the guards threw him into solitary confinement for three hours, even though their own rules stated that one hour was the limit. Still, #416 refused.
At this point #416 should have been a hero to the other prisoners. But instead, the others saw him as a troublemaker.
Which Backstreet Boy Is Gay?
We are, on fire,
we have, desires,
but one, is that way,
one backstreet boy is gay.
But we dont want to be mean,
since now he's a queen,
dont ask please,
"which backstreet boy is gay?"
Tell me who! Aint sayin that its AJ
Tell me who! Aint sayin that its Howie
Tell me who! I never wanna hear you say:
"Which backstreet boy is gay?"
Now I can see him, he's in womens clothes,
but he dont need an IUD, yeah,
He likes Village People,
he's playin croquet,
his dog is a pekinese.
He is on fire,
his back, prespires,
Wont say, wont say, wont say, WHOS GAY!
He's always sayin: Aint nuthin but a butt-ache,
aint nuthin but a fruitcake,
I never want to hear you say, which one of us is gay?
Tell me who! Aint sayin that its Brian
Tell me who! Aint sayin Nick or Kevin
Tell me who! He's bakin' up a soufflè
Which Backstreet Boy is gay?
Ok, we're all gay.
- by Mikeboyslim
The Gender Genie - Paste samples of writing in and by analysing keywords, it will predict (with a supposed 80% accuracy) what gender the author is.
When Will You Die? - "The World's Most Reliable Death Calculator"
Not all POWs survive - "A forwarded email, about a sergeant who was essentially killed during the Singapore Armed Forces POW training course"
The Stanford Prison Experiment: A Simulation Study of the Psychology of Imprisonment
The infamous 1971 experiment. Reading through the commentary by Philip G. Zimbardo, I am struck by how much the observations and findings apply to Neverending Slavery (to use Chinx's term), and BMT in particular:
1. Consider the psychological consequences of... shaving the heads of prisoners or members of the military. What transformations take place when people go through an experience like this?
The process of having one's head shaved, which takes place in most prisons as well as in the military, is designed in part to minimize each person's individuality, since some people express their individuality through hair style or length. It is also a way of getting people to begin complying with the arbitrary, coercive rules of the institution.
2. The guards were given no specific training on how to be guards. Instead they were free, within limits, to do whatever they thought was necessary to maintain law and order in the prison and to command the respect of the prisoners. The guards made up their own set of rules
I don't think those of non-enlistee rank are given much specific training on how to control their men.
3. At 2:30 A.M. the prisoners were rudely awakened from sleep by blasting whistles... these events provided a regular occasion for the guards to exercise control over the prisoners.
Push-ups were a common form of physical punishment imposed by the guards to punish infractions of the rules or displays of improper attitudes toward the guards or institution. When we saw the guards demand push-ups from the prisoners, we initially thought this was an inappropriate kind of punishment for a prison -- a rather juvenile and minimal form of punishment. However, we later learned that push-ups were often used as a form of punishment in Nazi concentration camps
At first push-ups were not a very aversive form of punishment, but they became more so as the study wore on. Why the change?
Read: Various forms of punishment (including knocking it down) and silly regimental stuff
4. The next day, we held a visiting hour for parents and friends. We were worried that when the parents saw the state of our jail, they might insist on taking their sons home. To counter this, we manipulated both the situation and the visitors by making the prison environment seem pleasant and benign. We washed, shaved, and groomed the prisoners, had them clean and polish their cells, fed them a big dinner, played music on the intercom, and even had an attractive former Stanford cheerleader, Susie Phillips, greet the visitors at our registration desk.
When the dozen or so visitors came, full of good humor at what seemed to be a novel, fun experience, we systematically brought their behavior under situational control. They had to register, were made to wait half an hour, were told that only two visitors could see any one prisoner, were limited to only ten minutes of visiting time, and had to be under the surveillance of a guard during the visit. Before any parents could enter the visiting area, they also had to discuss their son's case with the Warden. Of course, parents complained about these arbitrary rules, but remarkably, they complied with them. And so they, too, became bit players in our prison drama, being good middle-class adults.
Some of the parents got upset when they saw how fatigued and distressed their son was. But their reaction was to work within the system to appeal privately to the Superintendent to make conditions better for their boy. When one mother told me she had never seen her son looking so bad, I responded by shifting the blame from the situation to her son. "What's the matter with your boy? Doesn't he sleep well?" Then I asked the father, "Don't you think your boy can handle this?"
He bristled, "Of course he can -- he's a real tough kid, a leader." Turning to the mother, he said, "Come on Honey, we've wasted enough time already." And to me, "See you again at the next visiting time."
Parents' Visiting Day in BMT, and other displays to the public!
5. [We felt] considerable frustration and feelings of dissonance over the effort we had put in to no avail. Someone was going to pay for this.
The guards again escalated very noticeably their level of harassment, increasing the humiliation they made the prisoners suffer, forcing them to do menial, repetitive work such as cleaning out toilet bowls with their bare hands. The guards had prisoners do push-ups, jumping jacks, whatever the guards could think up, and they increased the length of the counts to several hours each.
6. There were three types of guards. First, there were tough but fair guards who followed prison rules. Second, there were "good guys" who did little favors for the prisoners and never punished them. And finally, about a third of the guards were hostile, arbitrary, and inventive in their forms of prisoner humiliation. These guards appeared to thoroughly enjoy the power they wielded, yet none of our preliminary personality tests were able to predict this behavior. The only link between personality and prison behavior was a finding that prisoners with a high degree of authoritarianism endured our authoritarian prison environment longer than did other prisoners.
7. Prisoner #416 coped by going on a hunger strike to force his release. After several unsuccessful attempts to get #416 to eat, the guards threw him into solitary confinement for three hours, even though their own rules stated that one hour was the limit. Still, #416 refused.
At this point #416 should have been a hero to the other prisoners. But instead, the others saw him as a troublemaker.
Which Backstreet Boy Is Gay?
We are, on fire,
we have, desires,
but one, is that way,
one backstreet boy is gay.
But we dont want to be mean,
since now he's a queen,
dont ask please,
"which backstreet boy is gay?"
Tell me who! Aint sayin that its AJ
Tell me who! Aint sayin that its Howie
Tell me who! I never wanna hear you say:
"Which backstreet boy is gay?"
Now I can see him, he's in womens clothes,
but he dont need an IUD, yeah,
He likes Village People,
he's playin croquet,
his dog is a pekinese.
He is on fire,
his back, prespires,
Wont say, wont say, wont say, WHOS GAY!
He's always sayin: Aint nuthin but a butt-ache,
aint nuthin but a fruitcake,
I never want to hear you say, which one of us is gay?
Tell me who! Aint sayin that its Brian
Tell me who! Aint sayin Nick or Kevin
Tell me who! He's bakin' up a soufflè
Which Backstreet Boy is gay?
Ok, we're all gay.
- by Mikeboyslim
Post ID: 106294998648040527
http://www.littlespeck.com/region/CForeign-Jp-030817.htm
School uniforms
Japanese girls love them
Singapore students can't wait to shed this manifestation of conformity but in Japan, it's the opposite. Todd Zaun. AWSJ.
Aug 17, 2003
TOKYO - Browsing in the trendy 109 department store in Tokyo, 16-year-olds Sumie Tanaka and Saki Sanao are wearing what look like typical Japanese school uniforms: white blouses, navy-blue pleated miniskirts, knee-high socks and matching penny loafers.
But the outfits aren't the teenagers' real school uniforms. They are uniform-like clothes that the two girls from the Tokyo suburb of Saitama have specifically picked out to wear on their shopping trip.
"Everyone is wearing uniforms," says Ms. Tanaka. "They're cute and easy to coordinate."
Once seen as a symbol of conformity and oppression, the school uniform has over the past two years become ultrachic among young Japanese girls.
Many are wearing uniforms, or clothes that look like uniforms, on weekends and after school. Some girls wear uniforms even though their schools have no dress code.
Ozakishoji Co., a uniform maker in western Japan, is seeing stronger-than-expected sales despite a shrinking population of students.
Suddenly, it is incredibly hip to be a high-school girl.
After years of riding the cutting edge of Japan's fickle fashion waves, schoolgirls are seen as the ultimate arbiters of what is cool, and their tastes are monitored by everyone from fashion designers to electronic companies.
Schoolgirls were behind the rise of pop icons like Hello Kitty, and were early and enthusiastic users of e-mail messaging over cellphones.
In the matter of school uniforms, they dream of staying just as they are.
"They know they're under a spotlight," says Yasuko Nakamura, who studies high-school students at Boom Planning Co., a marketing consulting company.
"They cherish their three years in high-school and want others to know" they are students, she says.
The uniform-as-fashion trend hasn't caught on with high-school boys, who aren't caught on with high-school boys, who aren't considered trendsetters.
The uniform's popularity may also be a sign of anxiety about growing up. Japan's long economic slump has severely constrained career opportunities for the young, especially for women.
Uniform Code
Eighteen-year-old Eri Ishida, a student at Chiba Keizai High School east of Tokyo, says she dreads the day she will no longer be able to put on her navy-blue miniskirt, white blouse and burgundy bow.
"When I think that this is my last chance to wear a school uniform, I want to say in school longer," says Ms. Ishida, who plans to study fashion design after she graduates next March.
Matter of Choice
Uniforms weren't always so cool. Decades ago, the school uniform was widely reviled as the most visible symbol of the strict control schools exercised over students.
In addition to imposing inflexible dress codes, many schools forbid students to wear makeup and jewelry.
In the 1970s and 1980s, some students fought, without much effect, to shed their uniforms.
Mikiko Morimoto, now 28, gained national attention in1988 when she refused to wear a uniform to her junior high school in the western city of Takatsuki. "I thought it was important to show I had an identity of my own," she says.
Ms. Morimoto, who now studies physics at a university in western Japan, is bewildered by the sudden popularity of uniforms.
But she says there is a big difference between being forced to wear a uniform and wearing on voluntarily. "If they're wearing uniforms because they want to, what's wrong with that?" she says.
Meanwhile, schools have loosened or eliminated dress codes in an effort to attract students, as Japan's aging society has led to fewer children.
Some tried to update their image by hiring famous Japanese designers to create more fashionable uniforms, with shorter skirts and colorful bows.
Tatsuo Inamasu, a sociology professor at Hosei University, says some students may be embracing the discipline associated with uniforms as backlash against the loosening of school rules.
"They believe it's cool to control themselves to a certain degree by wearing uniforms at a time when you see so much freedom," he says.
Black Market
Of course, that doesn't mean the girls want to dress exactly alike.
In fact, more girls are putting together their own unique uniform ensembles. That is creating a black market in used uniforms.
Many schoolgirls barter with their friends at other schools for skirts, scarves and blouses. Others raid the closets of older sisters or cousins.
To expand her collection, 16-year-old Mina Ozawa recently sneaked into a used uniform sale at a friend's school to shop for skirts and bows. Such sales aren't officially open to outside students.
"I don't care where it comes from, as long as it has a cute pattern or nice color," she says.
One of the most coveted uniform designs is the traditional sailor suit, which features a dark blue skirt, a white blouse that resembles a navy uniform, and a colored kerchief.
Tokyo Jogakkan high school, where female students have worn this style for 70 years, now asks its graduating seniors to refrain from selling their uniforms to students from other schools, according to Masao Maruyama, the school's vice principal.
Tokyo Jogakkan students must also identify themselves when buying uniforms at the two campus shops.
The school implemented the ID check after teens from another school posed as Tokyo Jogakkan students to buy the school's silk kerchiefs - and later sold them on an Internet auction.
The quest for uniforms baffle school administrators, who are struggling to create a curriculum that fosters greater creativity.
"This trend is not good in the sense that [students] may lose some of their own personality," says Hiroshi Oguri, the principal of Tokyo 's Shinjuku high school.
His school has a designated blazer, although students don't have to wear it. But up to 60% of them wear it on any given day.
Still, girls like Sumie Tanaka and Saki Sanao, the pair from Saitama, say they see plenty of leeway to express their individuality through uniforms.
In addition to their miniskirts and white tops, Ms. Tanaka wears a big, burgurdy-colored bow that she chose herself.
Ms. Sanao's white shirt is actually her father's old dress shirt, which gives her uniform a baggy, grunge look.
The outfits, they say, are a world apart from their real school uniforms - knee-length, plaid skirt an feminine blouse - which they tucked away in their school bags during their Tokyo to shopping trip.
The real school uniforms, says Ms. Tanaka, "aren't as cool." ENDS.
(This article: "High-school confidential: Japanese girls in uniforms aren't necessarily students" was published in Asian Wall Street Journal on Aug 5, 2003.)
School uniforms
Japanese girls love them
Singapore students can't wait to shed this manifestation of conformity but in Japan, it's the opposite. Todd Zaun. AWSJ.
Aug 17, 2003
TOKYO - Browsing in the trendy 109 department store in Tokyo, 16-year-olds Sumie Tanaka and Saki Sanao are wearing what look like typical Japanese school uniforms: white blouses, navy-blue pleated miniskirts, knee-high socks and matching penny loafers.
But the outfits aren't the teenagers' real school uniforms. They are uniform-like clothes that the two girls from the Tokyo suburb of Saitama have specifically picked out to wear on their shopping trip.
"Everyone is wearing uniforms," says Ms. Tanaka. "They're cute and easy to coordinate."
Once seen as a symbol of conformity and oppression, the school uniform has over the past two years become ultrachic among young Japanese girls.
Many are wearing uniforms, or clothes that look like uniforms, on weekends and after school. Some girls wear uniforms even though their schools have no dress code.
Ozakishoji Co., a uniform maker in western Japan, is seeing stronger-than-expected sales despite a shrinking population of students.
Suddenly, it is incredibly hip to be a high-school girl.
After years of riding the cutting edge of Japan's fickle fashion waves, schoolgirls are seen as the ultimate arbiters of what is cool, and their tastes are monitored by everyone from fashion designers to electronic companies.
Schoolgirls were behind the rise of pop icons like Hello Kitty, and were early and enthusiastic users of e-mail messaging over cellphones.
In the matter of school uniforms, they dream of staying just as they are.
"They know they're under a spotlight," says Yasuko Nakamura, who studies high-school students at Boom Planning Co., a marketing consulting company.
"They cherish their three years in high-school and want others to know" they are students, she says.
The uniform-as-fashion trend hasn't caught on with high-school boys, who aren't caught on with high-school boys, who aren't considered trendsetters.
The uniform's popularity may also be a sign of anxiety about growing up. Japan's long economic slump has severely constrained career opportunities for the young, especially for women.
Uniform Code
Eighteen-year-old Eri Ishida, a student at Chiba Keizai High School east of Tokyo, says she dreads the day she will no longer be able to put on her navy-blue miniskirt, white blouse and burgundy bow.
"When I think that this is my last chance to wear a school uniform, I want to say in school longer," says Ms. Ishida, who plans to study fashion design after she graduates next March.
Matter of Choice
Uniforms weren't always so cool. Decades ago, the school uniform was widely reviled as the most visible symbol of the strict control schools exercised over students.
In addition to imposing inflexible dress codes, many schools forbid students to wear makeup and jewelry.
In the 1970s and 1980s, some students fought, without much effect, to shed their uniforms.
Mikiko Morimoto, now 28, gained national attention in1988 when she refused to wear a uniform to her junior high school in the western city of Takatsuki. "I thought it was important to show I had an identity of my own," she says.
Ms. Morimoto, who now studies physics at a university in western Japan, is bewildered by the sudden popularity of uniforms.
But she says there is a big difference between being forced to wear a uniform and wearing on voluntarily. "If they're wearing uniforms because they want to, what's wrong with that?" she says.
Meanwhile, schools have loosened or eliminated dress codes in an effort to attract students, as Japan's aging society has led to fewer children.
Some tried to update their image by hiring famous Japanese designers to create more fashionable uniforms, with shorter skirts and colorful bows.
Tatsuo Inamasu, a sociology professor at Hosei University, says some students may be embracing the discipline associated with uniforms as backlash against the loosening of school rules.
"They believe it's cool to control themselves to a certain degree by wearing uniforms at a time when you see so much freedom," he says.
Black Market
Of course, that doesn't mean the girls want to dress exactly alike.
In fact, more girls are putting together their own unique uniform ensembles. That is creating a black market in used uniforms.
Many schoolgirls barter with their friends at other schools for skirts, scarves and blouses. Others raid the closets of older sisters or cousins.
To expand her collection, 16-year-old Mina Ozawa recently sneaked into a used uniform sale at a friend's school to shop for skirts and bows. Such sales aren't officially open to outside students.
"I don't care where it comes from, as long as it has a cute pattern or nice color," she says.
One of the most coveted uniform designs is the traditional sailor suit, which features a dark blue skirt, a white blouse that resembles a navy uniform, and a colored kerchief.
Tokyo Jogakkan high school, where female students have worn this style for 70 years, now asks its graduating seniors to refrain from selling their uniforms to students from other schools, according to Masao Maruyama, the school's vice principal.
Tokyo Jogakkan students must also identify themselves when buying uniforms at the two campus shops.
The school implemented the ID check after teens from another school posed as Tokyo Jogakkan students to buy the school's silk kerchiefs - and later sold them on an Internet auction.
The quest for uniforms baffle school administrators, who are struggling to create a curriculum that fosters greater creativity.
"This trend is not good in the sense that [students] may lose some of their own personality," says Hiroshi Oguri, the principal of Tokyo 's Shinjuku high school.
His school has a designated blazer, although students don't have to wear it. But up to 60% of them wear it on any given day.
Still, girls like Sumie Tanaka and Saki Sanao, the pair from Saitama, say they see plenty of leeway to express their individuality through uniforms.
In addition to their miniskirts and white tops, Ms. Tanaka wears a big, burgurdy-colored bow that she chose herself.
Ms. Sanao's white shirt is actually her father's old dress shirt, which gives her uniform a baggy, grunge look.
The outfits, they say, are a world apart from their real school uniforms - knee-length, plaid skirt an feminine blouse - which they tucked away in their school bags during their Tokyo to shopping trip.
The real school uniforms, says Ms. Tanaka, "aren't as cool." ENDS.
(This article: "High-school confidential: Japanese girls in uniforms aren't necessarily students" was published in Asian Wall Street Journal on Aug 5, 2003.)
Post ID: 106289977925959637
Friday, September 05, 2003
Dashboard Jesus Kills Ohio Teen
CINCINNATI (EAP) - A Cincinnati teenager was killed yesterday when her plastic Jesus dashboard figure was driven into her chest by her car's airbag which inflated during an accident involving two other vehicles.
17-year-old Darlene Fulps of Cincinnati was apparently holding her Jesus figure close to her chest when she ran through a red light and collided with two other vehicles in a busy intersection.
"The air bag inflated and pushed the head of Jesus straight through her heart," said Tom Young, medical examiner at the scene of the accident. "If it wasn't for the plastic Jesus, Ms. Fulps would still be alive today."
"Air bags have saved thousands of lives, but in this case it actually took a life, thanks to Jesus," said police officer Graham Pryor, first officer at the scene.
Robert Fulps, Darlene's father and devout Christian man said "It was just our daughter's time to go, and we can't question the actions of God. My daughter loved Jesus and worshipped Him, and I think she's probably talking to Him in heaven right now."
"We gave our daughter the dashboard Jesus for her birthday last year, and she really liked it," said Mrs. Gladys Fulps. "It's too bad that Jesus ended up killing her, but we believe she's in heaven now, and we're happy for her, and hope to re-unite with her when we get to heaven."
"We're just glad our daughter had Jesus in her heart when she died," said Mr. and Mrs. Fulps.
More quotes:
"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But, this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx
"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." - Robert Redford
"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." - Thomas Brackett Reed
"He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears, but by diligent hard work, he overcame them."- James Reston (about Richard Nixon)
"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand
"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker
"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain
"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." - Oscar Wilde
"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." - Oscar Wilde
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp- posts ... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder
CINCINNATI (EAP) - A Cincinnati teenager was killed yesterday when her plastic Jesus dashboard figure was driven into her chest by her car's airbag which inflated during an accident involving two other vehicles.
17-year-old Darlene Fulps of Cincinnati was apparently holding her Jesus figure close to her chest when she ran through a red light and collided with two other vehicles in a busy intersection.
"The air bag inflated and pushed the head of Jesus straight through her heart," said Tom Young, medical examiner at the scene of the accident. "If it wasn't for the plastic Jesus, Ms. Fulps would still be alive today."
"Air bags have saved thousands of lives, but in this case it actually took a life, thanks to Jesus," said police officer Graham Pryor, first officer at the scene.
Robert Fulps, Darlene's father and devout Christian man said "It was just our daughter's time to go, and we can't question the actions of God. My daughter loved Jesus and worshipped Him, and I think she's probably talking to Him in heaven right now."
"We gave our daughter the dashboard Jesus for her birthday last year, and she really liked it," said Mrs. Gladys Fulps. "It's too bad that Jesus ended up killing her, but we believe she's in heaven now, and we're happy for her, and hope to re-unite with her when we get to heaven."
"We're just glad our daughter had Jesus in her heart when she died," said Mr. and Mrs. Fulps.
More quotes:
"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But, this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx
"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." - Robert Redford
"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." - Thomas Brackett Reed
"He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears, but by diligent hard work, he overcame them."- James Reston (about Richard Nixon)
"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand
"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker
"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain
"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." - Oscar Wilde
"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." - Oscar Wilde
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp- posts ... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder
Post ID: 106277247262094753
Monday, September 01, 2003
You were once my one companion
You were all that mattered
You were once a friend and father
Then my world was shattered
Wishing you were somehow here again
Wishing you were somehow near
Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed
Somehow you would be here
Wishing I could hear your voice again
Knowing that I never would
Dreaming of you won't help me to do
All that you dreamed I could
Passing bells and sculpted angels
Cold and monumental
Seem for you the wrong companions
You were warm and gentle
Too many years fighting back tears
Why can't the past just die?
Wishing you were somehow here again
Knowing we must say goodbye
Try to forgive, teach me to live
Give me the strength to try
No more memories, no more silent tears
No more gazing across the wasted years
Help me say goodbye
Help me say goodbye
You were all that mattered
You were once a friend and father
Then my world was shattered
Wishing you were somehow here again
Wishing you were somehow near
Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed
Somehow you would be here
Wishing I could hear your voice again
Knowing that I never would
Dreaming of you won't help me to do
All that you dreamed I could
Passing bells and sculpted angels
Cold and monumental
Seem for you the wrong companions
You were warm and gentle
Too many years fighting back tears
Why can't the past just die?
Wishing you were somehow here again
Knowing we must say goodbye
Try to forgive, teach me to live
Give me the strength to try
No more memories, no more silent tears
No more gazing across the wasted years
Help me say goodbye
Help me say goodbye
Post ID: 106242671377652268
Sunday, August 31, 2003
Ed: In the vein of my last weekly post, the following few paragraphs will be slightly depressing. They are not, however, a gauge of my current mental state, but of that after SOC. They may also not be as lucid as my normal posts. If you wish, you can skip to the next block of text in this post.
I had SOC again on Thursday. I'm so outstanding that, from one point on, I had S4 on one side of me and my Senior Medic on the other. In fact, I just set a new SAF-wide record for SOC - a good 46 minutes plus!
If anything, I think I'm getting worse and worse at it, and mentally more fragile - and both the IPPT I had the previous day (with a tiring timing of 17:21 for my 2.4) and the rain, making the obstacles slippery, did not help. I've lost much of my confidence for the 'confidence' obstacles, so even though I managed to do them last year at 41SAR (before they renovated the place and made the course much harder), I can't do them now. This time, it was only with plenty of cajoling and attempts, and doing them the non-standard way, that I managed to clear the balancing beam, albeit crawling across - I don't think I've ever walked across, and the Jacob's Ladder (using my arms to support me).
At the ramp, I hesitated, and was asked the classic question, "Are you gonna do it?". After a while agonising, I said "No" and started to walk off, till S4 called my name. I turned around, collapsed and broke down. Later, after the SOC, we were doing the Swing Trainer since many had trouble with it. When it came to my turn, the Conducting Officer asked me to try hanging onto the bar for 3 seconds. After about 2.5, I lost my grip, fell face forward into the sand and broke down again.
So now I'm going to be taken out of SOC until I am "ready" (whatever that means). If the test of readiness is how much confidence I have, I think the day I gather up sufficient courage to walk the balance beam, traverse the Jacob's Ladder and jump off the ramp is the day that I will have the courage to defenestrate myself (or die in some other suitably attention-grabbing way, sew my eyes and other orifices shut or engage in some painful act), preferably for some sufficiently noble and laudable cause like world peace, world hunger, nuclear proliferation, the denial of retro-virals to AIDS patients in South Africa or the abolishment of conscription with no alternative. But then, if I had the courage to do those things, I'd rather have gone to DB for 5 years rather than debase myself, pollute my soul and betray my conscience.
SOC is supposed to train people mentally and build up their confidence. Though it was left unsaid, the cliched adage came to mind: "The best way to conquer your fear is to face it". I suppose, then, that a stint on Fear Factor would do all of us some good. If we should face our fears to conquer them, then those of us who fear dying should have a near-death experience (though those tend to have high fatality rates) or better still - kill themselves. Those who fear bankruptcy should give away all of their money and live penniless, those who fear losing loved ones should have them killed off, and those who fear losing their virginity should lose it. Ultimately, if we fear being surrounded by unfriendly neighbors and having our water supply cut off, we should invade Johor and secure our water forever, to say nothing of conquering our fear! These may not make much sense, but on further thought, you will find that they make sense in a perverted way, as with the original adage. It's just that people don't tend to think critically when trying to motivate themselves, for they prefer lying to themselves. Is it any surprise that the army puts so much stock on feats of purely physical and pseudo-mental natures that claim to train determindation and willpower, while doing absolutely nothing for more important realms like moral courage?
Nevertheless, SOC will continue to be conducted for the majority of Singapore Slaves. As such, I would like to suggest further activities to build confidence and mental strength:
- fire walking
- bungee jumping
- tightrope walking
- dashing across the road in front of a bus
- gambling with one's life's savings
- letting a rattlesnake bite you and injecting the antidote later
I think I can say goodbye to my long weekends. I have been told that I'm supposed to take them when 42 takes them, but then there's Saturday RT each week. If I took mine when 42 was in camp, it might be easier to escape the RT, but now... [Ed: I'm not making much sense.] At least I still have my Friday night stayouts. If I didn't even have those, I'd be under 42 for everything except pay!
During my IPPT, I was running my 2.4 very slowly, because I was tired, and there was SOC the next day. My S1 saw me running slowly the first round, so he can to run with me, while talking to me. Ever so slowly, he began to run faster each round, to try to trick me into running faster (though I *did* notice). In the end, I did 17:21, but was very tired and short of breath. Cunning and effective!
It's madness - there were at least 5 times as many people (>=35) involved in the conduct of SOC (marshallers, safety specialists, etc) as HQ Coy people taking it (7, all medics. adding in the Company Line, about 2-3 times). What a waste of manpower, especially on people like me who can't pass.
One morning we went down for 5BX at 5:30am, but no one came. After half an hour, just before flag raising, I was the first to awake from slumber, and woke the rest, who went for breakfast. I hope this happens more often :)
BMT in my unit is very weird. I saw some recruits doing the artillery drill and practicing file movement around my parade square, and apparently their Bayonet Assault Course is done in the football field.
I saw one officer sweeping his office at 10:30pm one night. This must be the first time I've ever seen an officer doing area cleaning, instead of bullying his PA into doing it, but then he's one of the more exceptional officers in my unit. When I related this anecdote to someone else, he told me about the time when he was the duty clerk, and the duty officer swept the Ops Room while he watched TV. Heh heh.
In 46SAR, people from obese BMT who pass IPPT get a day off. Those who get Silver get 2 and Gold, 3. This is by virtue of obese passes for IPPT contributing 10 times the points to the Best Unit Competition (BUC) than normal people. In 42SAR, however, there's no similar incentive. Bah. [Ed: Not that it'd motivate me anymore but, still.]
Bingxun is being posted to 42 SAR. HAHAHA. As they say, "Welcome to 42SAR. You die. All die!"
Words of the wise: "The army exists as a fom of alternate emplyment to those unable to work with people with a brain and a spine"
Melvin can read my scrawling, probably due to his training as an MOPA. Time to make my writing more messy!
I was at a hospital, and saw that the one year anniversary issue of Seventeen was out. I then remembered that I last bought it when its first issue came out, so I decided to buy the anniversay issue! Sadly, they've removed the hilarious section where they get this cute looking guy to profile himself, and some girls decide whether they'd want to date him (and as someone remarked at the time, the girls look much worse than the guy). Maybe it was too offensive for "Asian Values" (bah).
Nevertheless, there was this amusing section where teenagers sounded off on the other gender:
On Girls:
- "Some girls think they can do anything. Like those who think they can play sport. Stick to the baking, my dears."
- "I have a friend who likes to play volleyball but she's not very good"
- "Girls seem to think they're good at playing therapist and helping people solve problems"
- "They can't park for nuts. And they drive really slow. Except for my mom - she kicks my dad's ass"
On Guys:
- They think they're really cool walking down the street, in their baggy jeans. But they're really not"
- "Guys think they are so good-looking"
- "Guys' jokes tend to be more dirty"
Just for the heck of it, I entered an army friend for a Seventeen competition (sponsoring him to the tune of $0.30). Maybe he'll win some girls' clothes or makeup. Hehe!
A few people were wondering why I bought Seventeen. Well, if girls can read FHM, I reckon I can read Seventeen. Hahaha.
Apparently the LTA spends $42,000 a month removing illegal notices from bus stops, overhead bridges and similar places. They claim it's hard to catch these people, but they can just pretend to be looking for tuition for their son, and then clap the irons on the prospective tutor when they meet up!
More New Age management junk: Walmart calls its employees "associates" who "[share] in the company's prosperity". And of course, Singaporeans are being urged to learn from this - if you can't pay your employees decent wages, why not indulge in meaningless, cost-free measures!
Some of us went to Swensens, but they screwed up the bill, so we got some stuff free of charge (though it wasn't very good). Hah!
In Isetan, I saw this girl in a spaghetti strap who'd tattooed something on her breast. Funky idea! Maybe I should get one on my butt so people won't complain so much in bunk.
Since I got enslaved, pirated CDs have been becoming harder to find. Now, though, there's a stall at the pasar malam at Jurong East MRT with what must be 10 tables of games (more than I've ever seen), including some very old ones - I saw Age of Empires, - Xbox, PS, PS2 and PC (applications too). They'll be open till end October too, though I think they'll be raided before then. So if you want to stock up - notwithstanding my horrible luck, where 6/7 of my CDs did not work - go support local enterprise (as well as keep a viable alternative open for those without broadband and a CD burner)! At the same time you'll be leeching supernormal monopoly profits and evading daylight robbery, while generating plenty of consumer surplus (especially considering most who buy pirated games would never buy the originals even if the pirated ones were not available). But do remember to buy some originals now and then to balance it all up.
Quote:
[On people from obese BMT and doing IPPT once in the unit] You all obese [people] pass, never get anything? [Someone: More training]
Eh Gabriel, you're sick. Why did you buy "Seventeen"? It's a women's magazine. It doesn't have pictures of girls, only of what girls do. [Someone: He wants to understand them better] [You bought it] Just for a tube of facial cleaner? *proceeds to open the magazine's wrapping and read it*
[On an instrumental rendition of Ave Verum Corpus] Hao3 xiang4 you3 ren2 da3 wan2 zan4, shi3 [Translation: It's like someone died after a battle] *salutes*
[Me: People always ask me to introduce RJ girls to them] Yah, I want to know RJ girls. Very chio. I looked at the past years' yearbooks.
[Someone: I want to know more girls.] I can introduce this girl to you. "Kimberly", she's Gabriel's friend. She's always online... I've never met her before, but I find her quite nice to chat to. [Someone: Is she the same size as Gabriel?] About the same size.
National [JC], the girls cannot make it.
[On the above] Because he's interested in JC girls. He's got a fetish for JC girls.
Gabriel, what school were you from? [Me: RJ] Before that? [Me: RI] Stay away from us, we're from ACS. [Ed: I should have said 'Chao Yang'...]
The army exists as a fom of alternate emplyment to those unable to work with people with a brain and a spine (sms)
I had SOC again on Thursday. I'm so outstanding that, from one point on, I had S4 on one side of me and my Senior Medic on the other. In fact, I just set a new SAF-wide record for SOC - a good 46 minutes plus!
If anything, I think I'm getting worse and worse at it, and mentally more fragile - and both the IPPT I had the previous day (with a tiring timing of 17:21 for my 2.4) and the rain, making the obstacles slippery, did not help. I've lost much of my confidence for the 'confidence' obstacles, so even though I managed to do them last year at 41SAR (before they renovated the place and made the course much harder), I can't do them now. This time, it was only with plenty of cajoling and attempts, and doing them the non-standard way, that I managed to clear the balancing beam, albeit crawling across - I don't think I've ever walked across, and the Jacob's Ladder (using my arms to support me).
At the ramp, I hesitated, and was asked the classic question, "Are you gonna do it?". After a while agonising, I said "No" and started to walk off, till S4 called my name. I turned around, collapsed and broke down. Later, after the SOC, we were doing the Swing Trainer since many had trouble with it. When it came to my turn, the Conducting Officer asked me to try hanging onto the bar for 3 seconds. After about 2.5, I lost my grip, fell face forward into the sand and broke down again.
So now I'm going to be taken out of SOC until I am "ready" (whatever that means). If the test of readiness is how much confidence I have, I think the day I gather up sufficient courage to walk the balance beam, traverse the Jacob's Ladder and jump off the ramp is the day that I will have the courage to defenestrate myself (or die in some other suitably attention-grabbing way, sew my eyes and other orifices shut or engage in some painful act), preferably for some sufficiently noble and laudable cause like world peace, world hunger, nuclear proliferation, the denial of retro-virals to AIDS patients in South Africa or the abolishment of conscription with no alternative. But then, if I had the courage to do those things, I'd rather have gone to DB for 5 years rather than debase myself, pollute my soul and betray my conscience.
SOC is supposed to train people mentally and build up their confidence. Though it was left unsaid, the cliched adage came to mind: "The best way to conquer your fear is to face it". I suppose, then, that a stint on Fear Factor would do all of us some good. If we should face our fears to conquer them, then those of us who fear dying should have a near-death experience (though those tend to have high fatality rates) or better still - kill themselves. Those who fear bankruptcy should give away all of their money and live penniless, those who fear losing loved ones should have them killed off, and those who fear losing their virginity should lose it. Ultimately, if we fear being surrounded by unfriendly neighbors and having our water supply cut off, we should invade Johor and secure our water forever, to say nothing of conquering our fear! These may not make much sense, but on further thought, you will find that they make sense in a perverted way, as with the original adage. It's just that people don't tend to think critically when trying to motivate themselves, for they prefer lying to themselves. Is it any surprise that the army puts so much stock on feats of purely physical and pseudo-mental natures that claim to train determindation and willpower, while doing absolutely nothing for more important realms like moral courage?
Nevertheless, SOC will continue to be conducted for the majority of Singapore Slaves. As such, I would like to suggest further activities to build confidence and mental strength:
- fire walking
- bungee jumping
- tightrope walking
- dashing across the road in front of a bus
- gambling with one's life's savings
- letting a rattlesnake bite you and injecting the antidote later
I think I can say goodbye to my long weekends. I have been told that I'm supposed to take them when 42 takes them, but then there's Saturday RT each week. If I took mine when 42 was in camp, it might be easier to escape the RT, but now... [Ed: I'm not making much sense.] At least I still have my Friday night stayouts. If I didn't even have those, I'd be under 42 for everything except pay!
During my IPPT, I was running my 2.4 very slowly, because I was tired, and there was SOC the next day. My S1 saw me running slowly the first round, so he can to run with me, while talking to me. Ever so slowly, he began to run faster each round, to try to trick me into running faster (though I *did* notice). In the end, I did 17:21, but was very tired and short of breath. Cunning and effective!
It's madness - there were at least 5 times as many people (>=35) involved in the conduct of SOC (marshallers, safety specialists, etc) as HQ Coy people taking it (7, all medics. adding in the Company Line, about 2-3 times). What a waste of manpower, especially on people like me who can't pass.
One morning we went down for 5BX at 5:30am, but no one came. After half an hour, just before flag raising, I was the first to awake from slumber, and woke the rest, who went for breakfast. I hope this happens more often :)
BMT in my unit is very weird. I saw some recruits doing the artillery drill and practicing file movement around my parade square, and apparently their Bayonet Assault Course is done in the football field.
I saw one officer sweeping his office at 10:30pm one night. This must be the first time I've ever seen an officer doing area cleaning, instead of bullying his PA into doing it, but then he's one of the more exceptional officers in my unit. When I related this anecdote to someone else, he told me about the time when he was the duty clerk, and the duty officer swept the Ops Room while he watched TV. Heh heh.
In 46SAR, people from obese BMT who pass IPPT get a day off. Those who get Silver get 2 and Gold, 3. This is by virtue of obese passes for IPPT contributing 10 times the points to the Best Unit Competition (BUC) than normal people. In 42SAR, however, there's no similar incentive. Bah. [Ed: Not that it'd motivate me anymore but, still.]
Bingxun is being posted to 42 SAR. HAHAHA. As they say, "Welcome to 42SAR. You die. All die!"
Words of the wise: "The army exists as a fom of alternate emplyment to those unable to work with people with a brain and a spine"
Melvin can read my scrawling, probably due to his training as an MOPA. Time to make my writing more messy!
I was at a hospital, and saw that the one year anniversary issue of Seventeen was out. I then remembered that I last bought it when its first issue came out, so I decided to buy the anniversay issue! Sadly, they've removed the hilarious section where they get this cute looking guy to profile himself, and some girls decide whether they'd want to date him (and as someone remarked at the time, the girls look much worse than the guy). Maybe it was too offensive for "Asian Values" (bah).
Nevertheless, there was this amusing section where teenagers sounded off on the other gender:
On Girls:
- "Some girls think they can do anything. Like those who think they can play sport. Stick to the baking, my dears."
- "I have a friend who likes to play volleyball but she's not very good"
- "Girls seem to think they're good at playing therapist and helping people solve problems"
- "They can't park for nuts. And they drive really slow. Except for my mom - she kicks my dad's ass"
On Guys:
- They think they're really cool walking down the street, in their baggy jeans. But they're really not"
- "Guys think they are so good-looking"
- "Guys' jokes tend to be more dirty"
Just for the heck of it, I entered an army friend for a Seventeen competition (sponsoring him to the tune of $0.30). Maybe he'll win some girls' clothes or makeup. Hehe!
A few people were wondering why I bought Seventeen. Well, if girls can read FHM, I reckon I can read Seventeen. Hahaha.
Apparently the LTA spends $42,000 a month removing illegal notices from bus stops, overhead bridges and similar places. They claim it's hard to catch these people, but they can just pretend to be looking for tuition for their son, and then clap the irons on the prospective tutor when they meet up!
More New Age management junk: Walmart calls its employees "associates" who "[share] in the company's prosperity". And of course, Singaporeans are being urged to learn from this - if you can't pay your employees decent wages, why not indulge in meaningless, cost-free measures!
Some of us went to Swensens, but they screwed up the bill, so we got some stuff free of charge (though it wasn't very good). Hah!
In Isetan, I saw this girl in a spaghetti strap who'd tattooed something on her breast. Funky idea! Maybe I should get one on my butt so people won't complain so much in bunk.
Since I got enslaved, pirated CDs have been becoming harder to find. Now, though, there's a stall at the pasar malam at Jurong East MRT with what must be 10 tables of games (more than I've ever seen), including some very old ones - I saw Age of Empires, - Xbox, PS, PS2 and PC (applications too). They'll be open till end October too, though I think they'll be raided before then. So if you want to stock up - notwithstanding my horrible luck, where 6/7 of my CDs did not work - go support local enterprise (as well as keep a viable alternative open for those without broadband and a CD burner)! At the same time you'll be leeching supernormal monopoly profits and evading daylight robbery, while generating plenty of consumer surplus (especially considering most who buy pirated games would never buy the originals even if the pirated ones were not available). But do remember to buy some originals now and then to balance it all up.
Quote:
[On people from obese BMT and doing IPPT once in the unit] You all obese [people] pass, never get anything? [Someone: More training]
Eh Gabriel, you're sick. Why did you buy "Seventeen"? It's a women's magazine. It doesn't have pictures of girls, only of what girls do. [Someone: He wants to understand them better] [You bought it] Just for a tube of facial cleaner? *proceeds to open the magazine's wrapping and read it*
[On an instrumental rendition of Ave Verum Corpus] Hao3 xiang4 you3 ren2 da3 wan2 zan4, shi3 [Translation: It's like someone died after a battle] *salutes*
[Me: People always ask me to introduce RJ girls to them] Yah, I want to know RJ girls. Very chio. I looked at the past years' yearbooks.
[Someone: I want to know more girls.] I can introduce this girl to you. "Kimberly", she's Gabriel's friend. She's always online... I've never met her before, but I find her quite nice to chat to. [Someone: Is she the same size as Gabriel?] About the same size.
National [JC], the girls cannot make it.
[On the above] Because he's interested in JC girls. He's got a fetish for JC girls.
Gabriel, what school were you from? [Me: RJ] Before that? [Me: RI] Stay away from us, we're from ACS. [Ed: I should have said 'Chao Yang'...]
The army exists as a fom of alternate emplyment to those unable to work with people with a brain and a spine (sms)
Post ID: 106234033987401396
CNN.com - Revealed: How RIAA tracks downloaders - Aug. 28, 2003
Dr. Laura Renounces Orthodoxy
Believe It, or Not - Americans are three times as likely to believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus (83 percent) as in evolution (28 percent).
Congressional Report: The Bush Administration has manipulated, distorted, or interfered with science on health, environmental, and other key issues.
I wonder why I let Tim cajole me into listening to exceedingly queer things like Bartok's The Miraculous Mandarin: "At last she overcomes her reluctance and begins a hesitant dance, which gradually enlivens to a pitch of erotic frenzy, as the Mandarin stares at her. The girl sinks down to embrace him, he begins to tremble in feverish excitement. She flees from him, and he chases her more and more wildly. The Mandarin catches the girl, and they fight." Nevertheless, it does have some merit, and unlike his other works, does not make me want to smash my monitor, so I'll keep it.
Notes on Overture to Gillaume Tell (1829) - "Rossini was satisfied with second rate material when it would take too long to produce first rate material. His operatic overtures were frequently reused and hastily composed. Known for the breakneck speed at which he wrote operas, Rossini purportedly finished composing an aria in the time it took him to cook a pot of noodles. His most famous opera, the Barber of Seville was written in 13 days, and, as was usual for Rossini, the well-known overture was actually taken from another of his operas."
I was intending to play Medieval: Total War, but the CDs I bought yesterday don't work. Even after I took the trouble, time and money to buy a $18.90 (it has 10-20 mins of video clips for you to "adjust your TV" - so that's why it's so expensive!) DVD drive cleaner for my 5 year old and never-cleaned-before drive. *grumble*
Quotable Quotes (ala Lin Yucheng):
"I feel so miserable without you, it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop
"He is a self-made man & worships his creator." - John Bright
"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill
"A modest little person, with much to be modest about." - Winston Churchill
"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow
"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas
"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson
"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating
"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr
"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." - Jack E. Leonard
Dr. Laura Renounces Orthodoxy
Believe It, or Not - Americans are three times as likely to believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus (83 percent) as in evolution (28 percent).
Congressional Report: The Bush Administration has manipulated, distorted, or interfered with science on health, environmental, and other key issues.
I wonder why I let Tim cajole me into listening to exceedingly queer things like Bartok's The Miraculous Mandarin: "At last she overcomes her reluctance and begins a hesitant dance, which gradually enlivens to a pitch of erotic frenzy, as the Mandarin stares at her. The girl sinks down to embrace him, he begins to tremble in feverish excitement. She flees from him, and he chases her more and more wildly. The Mandarin catches the girl, and they fight." Nevertheless, it does have some merit, and unlike his other works, does not make me want to smash my monitor, so I'll keep it.
Notes on Overture to Gillaume Tell (1829) - "Rossini was satisfied with second rate material when it would take too long to produce first rate material. His operatic overtures were frequently reused and hastily composed. Known for the breakneck speed at which he wrote operas, Rossini purportedly finished composing an aria in the time it took him to cook a pot of noodles. His most famous opera, the Barber of Seville was written in 13 days, and, as was usual for Rossini, the well-known overture was actually taken from another of his operas."
I was intending to play Medieval: Total War, but the CDs I bought yesterday don't work. Even after I took the trouble, time and money to buy a $18.90 (it has 10-20 mins of video clips for you to "adjust your TV" - so that's why it's so expensive!) DVD drive cleaner for my 5 year old and never-cleaned-before drive. *grumble*
Quotable Quotes (ala Lin Yucheng):
"I feel so miserable without you, it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop
"He is a self-made man & worships his creator." - John Bright
"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill
"A modest little person, with much to be modest about." - Winston Churchill
"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow
"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas
"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson
"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating
"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr
"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." - Jack E. Leonard
Post ID: 106230979491079753
Thursday, August 28, 2003
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
It turns out that 42SAR is going to whack me with everything they've got. They're all out to get me. I'm going to have to go for 5BX at the unearthly time of 5:25am, RT, company runs, IPPT, SOC and all other forms of physical training, and I suspect a special programme will be tacked on to this already streneous regimen. Now the benefits of attaching out have been reduced to booking out daily and earlier and coming back later (quite important, really), less regimentation and (maybe) stayout on Friday nights. Still worth the $50 pay cut (the money isn't really important to me, anyway), though not quite as good a deal as before.
I don't understand why they are doing this to me. I am already off the list for BUC, but they want to have their cake and eat it - though my failures do not affect them any longer, they feel compelled to whack me still. I am no longer pulling them down, yet they feel compelled to pull *me* down. I sense a few genuinely want to help, but it is drowned by the seeming vitriol of some and the relentless slave driving of the rest. I know that I am just a number or statistic to them, so I am puzzled at the lengths at which they are going to. That they were capable of such I knew, but I did not think they'd actually bother to go to such lengths. Perhaps they are unhappy as it was troublesome to attach me out. Perhaps this fulfils some viceral sadistic need in them. Or maybe it's yet another one of those things which give regulars meaning in life.
To try to psyche me, alien concepts such as "personal gain", making it "part of my daily routine", "having a sense of accomplishment" and "enjoying it" were introduced to me by some. I suppose that those who take pride at being able to do 20 chinups will never be able to understand why some others find that a non-event. I would find about as much pleasure in passing IPPT as in massacring ethnic minorities in gas chambers or gunning down rows of bound and gagged civilians with a machine gun (not that I might never be forced to do either).
Ironically, what the Powers That Be do not seem to realise is that this relentless training is actually counter-productive. When you have SOC one day, IPPT the next and a 8km Route March the third, you cannot - cannot afford to - put in your best effort for each of them. This week, I have IPPT one day, SOC the next, and probably a Company Run the last, all the while with 5BX at 5:25am each morning (my biceps, triceps and thighs are still sore from my last 5BX session on Monday, more than 39 hours ago). And this is not counting the Company Run I managed to escape this morning because I was on duty. My CSM actually wants me to get someone to stand in for me for duty so I can go for each and every Company Run, RT and training session. I wonder if she wants the same for 5BX. If that's the case, I might as well not do duty, since I will never be there overnight.
By pushing me so hard, they are actually draining me of whatever motivation I had for independent training and degrading my performance. I was actually planning on working up a sweat 1-3 nights a week, barring unforseen circumstances, but since I am already going to be tormented in the early morning, morning and afternoon, I have abandoned my embryonic plans. No matter what I do on my own, how little I eat, or how much weight I lose, I will be continually lashed with the whip, so I will not bother doing any of the above. Moral of the story: Forced training often has the opposite effect.
In a way, this bout of troubles is worse than those I faced in BMT, for then I knew that my suffering was transient was would end in 15 weeks, and then I'd stand a chance (however faint) of going to a better place,and could cling on to that faint hope. Now, I stand to suffer for the 9 months and 3 weeks left till ORD (albeit with a 3 week hiatus next month - 2 weeks of overseas leave followed by 1 week of 42SAR's block leave where I'll be gloriously free in camp!). Meanwhile, while I suffer, my work languishes. All this is not helped by the fact that almost all of the "proper channels" of authority do not seem to be sympathetic, and are determined to thresh me repeatedly. The other channels of recourse in the SAF are also said by some who have experience with them to be useless and half-hearted. Thankfully, my Senior Medic has shown some signs of tempering this hellish regime with mercy, and says he will let me rest, but I doubt the practicality of that.
Of course, Devil's Advocates and seemingly well-intentioned people are wont to claim that this sadistic regime is actually "for [my] own good", but as they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and there's always the tale I bring up of the Roman father who killed his daughter after she'd been raped to preserve her (and the family's) honour (Read: For Her Own Good (TM) (their names elude me).
Frankly, I don't know why I am so upset, or why I've been brought to tears over this spate of troubles. When you hear about it (as opposed to seeing it or doing it), it doesn't actually sound too bad. Even I don't find it impossible, though that's not least because I've been holding back for fear of exhausting myself or leaving no energy for the next day or week's fresh trials. My CSM keeps telling me not to show her my "sad face", but what does she want? A suicidal face? Further, compared to some people, especially one I have corresponded with, my troubles are as dust. Maybe I am crestfallen that, once again (as with last December), something has been yanked violently out of my grasp. Maybe I weep for the misery of the human condition.
If nothing else, I've at least found a relatively breezy and private place where I can pour out, if not my heart, then at least my tear glands. As the song goes, "For life is quite absurd, and death's the final word...
Always look on the bright side of death, Just before you draw your terminal breath."
Incidentally, my current rash of difficulties was brought on me by our favourite Poor suffering Local Third Sergeant, soon to be a Poor Suffering Substantive Third Sergeant, the Self-Proclaimed 'Master Of Office' - Tan Ban Xiong. Being short of manpower, he asked me to cover an IPPT, and this resulted in me being sighted and brought back into the spotlight, thus ending my 2 week long honeymoon. In fairness to him, I suppose I would have been forced out of the woodwork eventually, but at least I would have managed to dwell in the Elysian Fields for a while longer.
I am rather pleased with myself, because I taught the (yada yada) Self-Proclaimed 'Master Of Office' a trick. He was painstakingly selecting drawing objects one by one, and I observed him for a while, until I realised that the 'Master Of Office' was not indeed doing it the hard way on purpose, for some unfathomable end, and I taught him how to use the "arrow" function to select multiple objects at a go.
For some reason, I was reminded of this company run I had a few weeks back, when someone had the bright idea of putting me at the front and letting me "set the pace". Of course, S4 was in front of me, and *he* set the pace - probably quite slow for most, but hellishly fast for me. I managed to keep up for maybe 1km before I fell to the back, to the cries of "don't drop!". Well now, if I hadn't dropped [behind], I would have dropped [out], dropped [down] or dropped [dead], so.
I attended my first staff parade where, not only was the briefing kept short and devoid of the usual platitudes about security, I could sit down. Heh heh.
I think I am really lousy at taking care of myself - if not for some helpful people's suggestions, I might not even have gotten my 3/4 day of birthday off.
Circumcision gets you 2 weeks of MC! That beats getting wisdom teeth extracted. Something new to try for people wanting to disappear before ORD, as I messaged to not a few - but not for me.
We had an 8km Route March, and although I was lagging somewhat and feeling dazed, I was proceeding rather better than I expected when someone pushed me. Now, the stragglers are frequently given gentle nudges and pressure to keep them moving along apace. However, I hate that being done to me for, dazed and unsteady, I will lose my balance and come crashing to the ground with a great cacophony - which was what happened, and after I recovered, I moved slower and slower till I ended very much behind everyone. It's at times like these that I give praise to Aten that I will be ON LEAVE during the 24km Route March! After the route march I booked out to enjoy what was left of my birthday off, but it didn't go very well - blisters and foot pain reduced me to painful hobbling, the person I wanted to have tea with was sick, I forgot to bring my old passport so when I arrived at the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) I couldn't get my new one and when I finally got home, I was so exhausted that I ended up sleeping for 2 hours, still feeling drained after I rose.
I wonder why people like to play card games so much. So far, the only one I've been able to muster some form of enthusiasm for is Solitare - I can never remember what constitutes a Royal Flush, Full House and the like, and the joy of throwing down various combinations of cards is lost on me. I suppose this is something people get into just to kill time and to socialise.
I was swapping tales of misery over SAF email with someone, and he said I would be a great online lover and soulmate to girls in distress since I can soothe people very well with words. How embarassing and distressing, yet amusing.
Why does SMRT keep re-recording its public announcements? I swear that I have heard at least 3 variations on the "no eating and drinking" announcement, all uttered by one woman in that oh-so-annoyingly-insincere voice. Maybe they're doing their bid to prime the pump.
Surprising things you read: "A recent study of 1,000 women conducted by Anna Glasier, of the University of Edinburgh, and her colleagues, showed that more than half of those surveyed in Scotland and China disliked having periods (though most Nigerians and South Africans polled did not mind). In Edinburgh, at least, a third would prefer to do away with them altogether." I'd have thought almost all of them would want to do away with their monthly "curse".
The breaking of the latest Middle East truce makes me wonder why Israel killed a supposed Hamas dove. A hawk maybe, but why a dove? This only provides more evidence for conspiracy theories, which look increasingly less implausible. Israeli hawks want to prolong the conflict and hold on to land, and so retaliate at the slightest provocation (or lack thereof), meanwhile insisting on unrealistic periods of "absolute quiet" on the part of the Palestinians (not matched by settlers or the Israeli Defense Forces) till some Palestinians loses his patience and blows himself up. Meanwhile, there must be a million Palestinian organisations providing suicide bombers, and many rogue wings and splinter cells do not fall under the purview of the Palestinian Authority, yet Israel holds the PA responsible for each and every suicide bombing (which all warrant retaliations, while somehow targeted assassinations by them don't).
I don't see the endless circle of violence ending anytime soon - if Israel stops its incursions and restrictions, it will have "rewarded terrorism" and "shown weakness". If they retaliate, they just make yet more Palestinians swear blood feud. All those settlers running around causing trouble does not help matters. On the other side of the fence, Palestinians do not stop bombings for that will show that the policy of repression works and encourages it to continue, and daily plot revenge for the latest indignities. Meanwhile, no one remembers the original provocations (or if they do, do not see them as legitimate provocations), and the endless vengeance and revenge for those acts of vengeance go on. I want to be optimistic, but it seems that unless one wipes or drives the other out, there will never be peace.
It is strange and disturbing that, after 1 1/2 years, I still can't let go, at times. Maybe it's something I instinctively cling on to when I am bored or down.
Inspired by the encouragement and platitudes about thinking positively I've been getting, especially recently, I have indulged in an exercise in Positive Thinking. The seemingly tragic scenario in which I have endeavoured to find the silver lining - the event of Singapore being annexed, conquered or entering into anschluss with a neighbor.
Some of the many good points of such an eventuality:
- No more water worries
- Politically apathetic Singaporeans will rejoice at having even less say in the political process than they currently have
- People won't say that discrimination against non-Chinese minorities exists in Singapore, or that said minorities are being marginalised
- We can complement their economies and engage in "import substitution" (*uhh*)
- Half the male citizen populace will no longer be enslaved - better a Second Class Citizen than a a helot, whom the guard dogs are sent to chase and maim on escape and bring back, yelling and screaming, to be sent to the Chain Gang
Quotes:
I am the Master of Office
Why're you so vexed? [Takes my scribble sheet] Sorry, I can't read your writing. [Me: That's the point.]
[On my troubles] You're gonna become a P Case if you carry on like this
[Me: What do you think of 'Duli Yang'?] What the fuck is that? [Me: Duli yang maha mulia seri paduka baginda yang di pertuan tun tan sri datuk utama seri ** ***] Gabriel, are you speaking in tongues?
[On having to do area cleaning before booking out after RT on a long weekend] No wonder our BUC is so lan [lousy]
[On someone] He thinks like a girl like that. Every word you say, he will go and think of the other meaning.
[Me on being tortured] My new motto is - bo chap.
Lessons in people management: If you push a person too hard, he will become suicidal. First step is [a] protest run, like you.
I don't understand why they are doing this to me. I am already off the list for BUC, but they want to have their cake and eat it - though my failures do not affect them any longer, they feel compelled to whack me still. I am no longer pulling them down, yet they feel compelled to pull *me* down. I sense a few genuinely want to help, but it is drowned by the seeming vitriol of some and the relentless slave driving of the rest. I know that I am just a number or statistic to them, so I am puzzled at the lengths at which they are going to. That they were capable of such I knew, but I did not think they'd actually bother to go to such lengths. Perhaps they are unhappy as it was troublesome to attach me out. Perhaps this fulfils some viceral sadistic need in them. Or maybe it's yet another one of those things which give regulars meaning in life.
To try to psyche me, alien concepts such as "personal gain", making it "part of my daily routine", "having a sense of accomplishment" and "enjoying it" were introduced to me by some. I suppose that those who take pride at being able to do 20 chinups will never be able to understand why some others find that a non-event. I would find about as much pleasure in passing IPPT as in massacring ethnic minorities in gas chambers or gunning down rows of bound and gagged civilians with a machine gun (not that I might never be forced to do either).
Ironically, what the Powers That Be do not seem to realise is that this relentless training is actually counter-productive. When you have SOC one day, IPPT the next and a 8km Route March the third, you cannot - cannot afford to - put in your best effort for each of them. This week, I have IPPT one day, SOC the next, and probably a Company Run the last, all the while with 5BX at 5:25am each morning (my biceps, triceps and thighs are still sore from my last 5BX session on Monday, more than 39 hours ago). And this is not counting the Company Run I managed to escape this morning because I was on duty. My CSM actually wants me to get someone to stand in for me for duty so I can go for each and every Company Run, RT and training session. I wonder if she wants the same for 5BX. If that's the case, I might as well not do duty, since I will never be there overnight.
By pushing me so hard, they are actually draining me of whatever motivation I had for independent training and degrading my performance. I was actually planning on working up a sweat 1-3 nights a week, barring unforseen circumstances, but since I am already going to be tormented in the early morning, morning and afternoon, I have abandoned my embryonic plans. No matter what I do on my own, how little I eat, or how much weight I lose, I will be continually lashed with the whip, so I will not bother doing any of the above. Moral of the story: Forced training often has the opposite effect.
In a way, this bout of troubles is worse than those I faced in BMT, for then I knew that my suffering was transient was would end in 15 weeks, and then I'd stand a chance (however faint) of going to a better place,and could cling on to that faint hope. Now, I stand to suffer for the 9 months and 3 weeks left till ORD (albeit with a 3 week hiatus next month - 2 weeks of overseas leave followed by 1 week of 42SAR's block leave where I'll be gloriously free in camp!). Meanwhile, while I suffer, my work languishes. All this is not helped by the fact that almost all of the "proper channels" of authority do not seem to be sympathetic, and are determined to thresh me repeatedly. The other channels of recourse in the SAF are also said by some who have experience with them to be useless and half-hearted. Thankfully, my Senior Medic has shown some signs of tempering this hellish regime with mercy, and says he will let me rest, but I doubt the practicality of that.
Of course, Devil's Advocates and seemingly well-intentioned people are wont to claim that this sadistic regime is actually "for [my] own good", but as they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and there's always the tale I bring up of the Roman father who killed his daughter after she'd been raped to preserve her (and the family's) honour (Read: For Her Own Good (TM) (their names elude me).
Frankly, I don't know why I am so upset, or why I've been brought to tears over this spate of troubles. When you hear about it (as opposed to seeing it or doing it), it doesn't actually sound too bad. Even I don't find it impossible, though that's not least because I've been holding back for fear of exhausting myself or leaving no energy for the next day or week's fresh trials. My CSM keeps telling me not to show her my "sad face", but what does she want? A suicidal face? Further, compared to some people, especially one I have corresponded with, my troubles are as dust. Maybe I am crestfallen that, once again (as with last December), something has been yanked violently out of my grasp. Maybe I weep for the misery of the human condition.
If nothing else, I've at least found a relatively breezy and private place where I can pour out, if not my heart, then at least my tear glands. As the song goes, "For life is quite absurd, and death's the final word...
Always look on the bright side of death, Just before you draw your terminal breath."
Incidentally, my current rash of difficulties was brought on me by our favourite Poor suffering Local Third Sergeant, soon to be a Poor Suffering Substantive Third Sergeant, the Self-Proclaimed 'Master Of Office' - Tan Ban Xiong. Being short of manpower, he asked me to cover an IPPT, and this resulted in me being sighted and brought back into the spotlight, thus ending my 2 week long honeymoon. In fairness to him, I suppose I would have been forced out of the woodwork eventually, but at least I would have managed to dwell in the Elysian Fields for a while longer.
I am rather pleased with myself, because I taught the (yada yada) Self-Proclaimed 'Master Of Office' a trick. He was painstakingly selecting drawing objects one by one, and I observed him for a while, until I realised that the 'Master Of Office' was not indeed doing it the hard way on purpose, for some unfathomable end, and I taught him how to use the "arrow" function to select multiple objects at a go.
For some reason, I was reminded of this company run I had a few weeks back, when someone had the bright idea of putting me at the front and letting me "set the pace". Of course, S4 was in front of me, and *he* set the pace - probably quite slow for most, but hellishly fast for me. I managed to keep up for maybe 1km before I fell to the back, to the cries of "don't drop!". Well now, if I hadn't dropped [behind], I would have dropped [out], dropped [down] or dropped [dead], so.
I attended my first staff parade where, not only was the briefing kept short and devoid of the usual platitudes about security, I could sit down. Heh heh.
I think I am really lousy at taking care of myself - if not for some helpful people's suggestions, I might not even have gotten my 3/4 day of birthday off.
Circumcision gets you 2 weeks of MC! That beats getting wisdom teeth extracted. Something new to try for people wanting to disappear before ORD, as I messaged to not a few - but not for me.
We had an 8km Route March, and although I was lagging somewhat and feeling dazed, I was proceeding rather better than I expected when someone pushed me. Now, the stragglers are frequently given gentle nudges and pressure to keep them moving along apace. However, I hate that being done to me for, dazed and unsteady, I will lose my balance and come crashing to the ground with a great cacophony - which was what happened, and after I recovered, I moved slower and slower till I ended very much behind everyone. It's at times like these that I give praise to Aten that I will be ON LEAVE during the 24km Route March! After the route march I booked out to enjoy what was left of my birthday off, but it didn't go very well - blisters and foot pain reduced me to painful hobbling, the person I wanted to have tea with was sick, I forgot to bring my old passport so when I arrived at the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) I couldn't get my new one and when I finally got home, I was so exhausted that I ended up sleeping for 2 hours, still feeling drained after I rose.
I wonder why people like to play card games so much. So far, the only one I've been able to muster some form of enthusiasm for is Solitare - I can never remember what constitutes a Royal Flush, Full House and the like, and the joy of throwing down various combinations of cards is lost on me. I suppose this is something people get into just to kill time and to socialise.
I was swapping tales of misery over SAF email with someone, and he said I would be a great online lover and soulmate to girls in distress since I can soothe people very well with words. How embarassing and distressing, yet amusing.
Why does SMRT keep re-recording its public announcements? I swear that I have heard at least 3 variations on the "no eating and drinking" announcement, all uttered by one woman in that oh-so-annoyingly-insincere voice. Maybe they're doing their bid to prime the pump.
Surprising things you read: "A recent study of 1,000 women conducted by Anna Glasier, of the University of Edinburgh, and her colleagues, showed that more than half of those surveyed in Scotland and China disliked having periods (though most Nigerians and South Africans polled did not mind). In Edinburgh, at least, a third would prefer to do away with them altogether." I'd have thought almost all of them would want to do away with their monthly "curse".
The breaking of the latest Middle East truce makes me wonder why Israel killed a supposed Hamas dove. A hawk maybe, but why a dove? This only provides more evidence for conspiracy theories, which look increasingly less implausible. Israeli hawks want to prolong the conflict and hold on to land, and so retaliate at the slightest provocation (or lack thereof), meanwhile insisting on unrealistic periods of "absolute quiet" on the part of the Palestinians (not matched by settlers or the Israeli Defense Forces) till some Palestinians loses his patience and blows himself up. Meanwhile, there must be a million Palestinian organisations providing suicide bombers, and many rogue wings and splinter cells do not fall under the purview of the Palestinian Authority, yet Israel holds the PA responsible for each and every suicide bombing (which all warrant retaliations, while somehow targeted assassinations by them don't).
I don't see the endless circle of violence ending anytime soon - if Israel stops its incursions and restrictions, it will have "rewarded terrorism" and "shown weakness". If they retaliate, they just make yet more Palestinians swear blood feud. All those settlers running around causing trouble does not help matters. On the other side of the fence, Palestinians do not stop bombings for that will show that the policy of repression works and encourages it to continue, and daily plot revenge for the latest indignities. Meanwhile, no one remembers the original provocations (or if they do, do not see them as legitimate provocations), and the endless vengeance and revenge for those acts of vengeance go on. I want to be optimistic, but it seems that unless one wipes or drives the other out, there will never be peace.
It is strange and disturbing that, after 1 1/2 years, I still can't let go, at times. Maybe it's something I instinctively cling on to when I am bored or down.
Inspired by the encouragement and platitudes about thinking positively I've been getting, especially recently, I have indulged in an exercise in Positive Thinking. The seemingly tragic scenario in which I have endeavoured to find the silver lining - the event of Singapore being annexed, conquered or entering into anschluss with a neighbor.
Some of the many good points of such an eventuality:
- No more water worries
- Politically apathetic Singaporeans will rejoice at having even less say in the political process than they currently have
- People won't say that discrimination against non-Chinese minorities exists in Singapore, or that said minorities are being marginalised
- We can complement their economies and engage in "import substitution" (*uhh*)
- Half the male citizen populace will no longer be enslaved - better a Second Class Citizen than a a helot, whom the guard dogs are sent to chase and maim on escape and bring back, yelling and screaming, to be sent to the Chain Gang
Quotes:
I am the Master of Office
Why're you so vexed? [Takes my scribble sheet] Sorry, I can't read your writing. [Me: That's the point.]
[On my troubles] You're gonna become a P Case if you carry on like this
[Me: What do you think of 'Duli Yang'?] What the fuck is that? [Me: Duli yang maha mulia seri paduka baginda yang di pertuan tun tan sri datuk utama seri ** ***] Gabriel, are you speaking in tongues?
[On having to do area cleaning before booking out after RT on a long weekend] No wonder our BUC is so lan [lousy]
[On someone] He thinks like a girl like that. Every word you say, he will go and think of the other meaning.
[Me on being tortured] My new motto is - bo chap.
Lessons in people management: If you push a person too hard, he will become suicidal. First step is [a] protest run, like you.
Post ID: 106190248284990194
Sunday, August 24, 2003
Masturbation 'cuts cancer risk' - So much for centuries of old wive's tales and superstition, fueled by pseudo-religious puritan instincts
Is The Seventh Month Fearful? - Discussion and full text of a provocative pamphlet some evangelistic Christian groups are distributing. I wonder if they'll get fined, and how *they'd* respond if another group or party was to publish a similar pamphlet targeting their own superstitions. [Ed: Just for the record, I actually support this sort of thing, as long as the right of reply is granted]
The Physics Behind Four Amazing Demonstrations - Walking on Broken Glass, Dipping Fingers in Molten Lead, Lying On a Bed of Nails and Breaking a Concrete Block and Picking Up a Piece of Orange-hot Space Tile. So that's how they do it.
The Not Al Page - The most popular songs he didn't even write (or perform)! - "a lot of people had probably found some wacky parody of a popular song and slapped Al's name on it, because everybody knows Weird Al Yankovic is the only musician who's ever done a parody."
De Vulgari Eloquentia -> Links grow out of the ends of bananas - Latest link towards my original homepage. I wonder who this guys is.
THE MOODS OF A WOMAN
An angel of truth and a dream of fiction,
A woman is a bundle of contradiction,
She's afraid of a wasp, will scream at a mouse,
But will tackle a stranger alone in the house.
Sour as vinegar, sweet as a rose,
She'll kiss you one minute, then turn up her nose in another,
She'll win you in rage, enchant you in silk,
She'll be stronger than brandy, milder than milk,
At times she'll be vengeful, merry and sad,
She'll hate you like poison, and love you like mad.
THE MOODS OF A MAN
Hungry.
Horny.
Sleepy.
Is The Seventh Month Fearful? - Discussion and full text of a provocative pamphlet some evangelistic Christian groups are distributing. I wonder if they'll get fined, and how *they'd* respond if another group or party was to publish a similar pamphlet targeting their own superstitions. [Ed: Just for the record, I actually support this sort of thing, as long as the right of reply is granted]
The Physics Behind Four Amazing Demonstrations - Walking on Broken Glass, Dipping Fingers in Molten Lead, Lying On a Bed of Nails and Breaking a Concrete Block and Picking Up a Piece of Orange-hot Space Tile. So that's how they do it.
The Not Al Page - The most popular songs he didn't even write (or perform)! - "a lot of people had probably found some wacky parody of a popular song and slapped Al's name on it, because everybody knows Weird Al Yankovic is the only musician who's ever done a parody."
De Vulgari Eloquentia -> Links grow out of the ends of bananas - Latest link towards my original homepage. I wonder who this guys is.
THE MOODS OF A WOMAN
An angel of truth and a dream of fiction,
A woman is a bundle of contradiction,
She's afraid of a wasp, will scream at a mouse,
But will tackle a stranger alone in the house.
Sour as vinegar, sweet as a rose,
She'll kiss you one minute, then turn up her nose in another,
She'll win you in rage, enchant you in silk,
She'll be stronger than brandy, milder than milk,
At times she'll be vengeful, merry and sad,
She'll hate you like poison, and love you like mad.
THE MOODS OF A MAN
Hungry.
Horny.
Sleepy.
Post ID: 106171061025590967
Limited one time offer!
All who wish to receive varying amounts (depending on my mood) of less than or equal to S$1 via DBS Electronic Fund Transfer, please leave your account numbers and your identities in the YACCS comment box below!
*This rare offer expires as and when I feel like it, but not earlier than 24th August 2003, 23:59hrs
There's something to be said for listening to half a century old recordings. Though they crackle, despite the efforts of the sound engineers, there's character in them. And of course the poor quality conceals some of their flaws *g*
All who wish to receive varying amounts (depending on my mood) of less than or equal to S$1 via DBS Electronic Fund Transfer, please leave your account numbers and your identities in the YACCS comment box below!
*This rare offer expires as and when I feel like it, but not earlier than 24th August 2003, 23:59hrs
There's something to be said for listening to half a century old recordings. Though they crackle, despite the efforts of the sound engineers, there's character in them. And of course the poor quality conceals some of their flaws *g*
Post ID: 106170371450175667
Estimated expenditure for today:
- $28 on sakae sushi (for each of 5 people)
- $8.50 on watching The Medallion
- $2.20 for a Regular (not large!) Drink during the a/m
- ~$10.60 on Pacific Coffee Company Mango blended ice + toasted focaccia cajun chicken sandwich
- $20.95 on a Trevor Pinnock CD
- ~$26 on the last 2 books of the Alexander the Great trilogy (finally!)
There was a poster in San bookshop advertising this book by Russel Chang (who else?!) published by Angsana Books called "Ran$om". The blurb says it's about what happens when terrorists threaten Singapore's water supply and a secret agent is called back into service by the Prime Minister. It sounds so bad, it's good!
- $28 on sakae sushi (for each of 5 people)
- $8.50 on watching The Medallion
- $2.20 for a Regular (not large!) Drink during the a/m
- ~$10.60 on Pacific Coffee Company Mango blended ice + toasted focaccia cajun chicken sandwich
- $20.95 on a Trevor Pinnock CD
- ~$26 on the last 2 books of the Alexander the Great trilogy (finally!)
There was a poster in San bookshop advertising this book by Russel Chang (who else?!) published by Angsana Books called "Ran$om". The blurb says it's about what happens when terrorists threaten Singapore's water supply and a secret agent is called back into service by the Prime Minister. It sounds so bad, it's good!
Post ID: 106165544577288448
Friday, August 22, 2003
The Jobs of War
As mentioned earlier, the posting above article has sparked off a vigorous debate on the S Econs list (mostly on non-economic issues, most of which the authors valiantly try to disguise as economic ones). Some points I have extricated from the interminable posts (ignoring the [admittedly few] patently absurd and brainless ones), and coupled with a few thoughts of my own and an ending by the irrepressible Chinx. Many of the social points I have excised as I have deat with many of them before and want to sleep soon.
On Mercenaries
Recent economic and business history has shown that outsourcing is often a way to both improve the quality and reduce the cost of a service or product. Indeed, the SAF has recognised this - Singapore Technologies provides much logistical and other support to the SAF, military research is not done in-house but instead by DSTA , and SFI provides the food. In the wider context of Singapore, we see CISCO being entrusted with important jobs - even though they are a private company, and Gurkhas are hired for the most important of protective jobs (eg protecting the Prime Minister and President), the last of which makes one wonder why Singaporean soldiers are not good enough to protect the highest powers in the land.
A refrain, oft-heard in a bid to quash the revolutionary - hence both heretical and preposterous - idea of hiring mercenaries, is that mercenaries are loyal only to money, and that they may defect to the higher paying side at any time, hence depriving the nation of security. However, corporations are profit-maximising, so it might be expected, following this logic, that they would charge as high a price, and offer as shoddy a product, as possible. However, this is not so, for the same reason that mercenaries do not switch employers in the heat of battle - branding. Just as companies do not produce defective products for fear of never being able to sell anything again due to customer dissatisfaction, no mercenary group worth their salt would defect, or it'd most likely never be hired again. In any case, seeing the state and attitude of many NSFs and reservists, it is not all that clear that in times of war, they would not defect, surrender or otherwise pack less than their intended punch.
Someone pointed out that since mercenaries fight for the highest bidder, "the side they are fighting for may not be the side that is 'morally correct'". However, when is war waged by sovereign states based on grounds of morality? Saddam Hussein's troops, most of them conscripts, invaded Kuwait in 1990, a clear case of a morally "incorrect" action (if one is wont to argue this way) - just because an army is financed by, and fights on behalf of a nation or state does not make its actions "morally correct". Another raised the issue of controlling mercenaries, which may not feel bound by the rules of International Conflict and military discipline, but then reputable and professional mercenaries adhere to these - more so than disgruntled conscripts who barely know what they are doing, at any rate. More practical considerations are that a small, besieged nation may not be able to outbid its neighbours, and that large mercenary armies do not exist, at least not in this region.
Hence, due to these and other practical considerations, I do not think that a wholy mercenary-based armed forces would be feasible, so perhaps Singapore could use mercenaries to support and supplement a core group of regulars. On reflection, though, since money is the main thing used to entice people to sign on, are the regulars not already mercenaries?
On the Economics of Slavery
A few people pointed out that one cannot really measure the value of defence, and of how society (read: the Government) values it and makes its cost-benefit analysis calculations. That may be true, but no one denies than defence is essential for a country. What we are trying to do is to find a more economically efficient (and hopefully equitable) way of providing it.
NS causes a misallocation of resources, as people who can otherwise contribute mightily to the economy are made - *forced* - to waste their time lingering in clerical positions. Besides, the Slave Pittance does not even begin to compensate individuals for their opportunity costs, let alone their contributions to the nation - the Powers That Be prefer to cut costs and instead dole out non-pecuniary benefits like "honour", "glory" and "the satisfaction one gains from fulfilling one's duty". However, to keep the current gross number of NSFs and to pay them fairly would bankrupt the government. The solution, I feel, is not to keep the Slave Pittance as it is, but to cut redundant jobs instead of doing what is known in economic parlance as "featherbedding" (here, enslaving people for the sake of it even though you have sufficient labour already, and many cannot contribute greatly to the defence of Singapore anyway).
Conscription may or may not be cost-effective - on the one hand, you have unmotivated, incompetent and angry troops, but on the other hand they are dirt cheap, at least in terms of pay. Their ineffectiveness mean that their numbers are deceptive, but then you do not need cannon fodder to be very effective, and they can just overwhelm the enemy with weight of numbers. Personally, I think that cutting the number of Slave Soldiers and making them better motivated through various means, among them pay (as someone once said - "You pay me peanuts, you get a monkey"), would result in a more effective army (and much less misery among the populace at large - but then policy makers do not have to worry about this form of social discontent, since it is not vented in the form of social upheaval or political change, thanks to the unique circumstances of Singaporean society and politics which I will not go into at present). It is always comfortable to revel in the inertia of the current system, as to change things would require too much effort. "The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking" - Galbraith.
If you want to err on the side of caution and get an overly-large army, you might as well go all the way, get Weapons of Mass Destruction and rely on the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction to safeguard Singapore - it'll be cheaper, at any rate. Or as another suggested, "do we even need a military at its present size to defend singapore in the first place. the saf would have you believe that, but thats a really dodgy source of info pertaining to this. all we really need is enough missile launchers and missiles to inundate any pesky neighbour's capital. seriously, destroy the leadership, you win the war."
NB: Better educated people are withheld from the job market for 6 months longer than less educated people. This is another glaring example of economic inefficiency.
On Gender and NS
Some women complain about the NS advantage of males, that they get higher salaries and fast promotions. On paper, this is justified as being compensation for the 2 - 2 1/2 years that they have lost, but in reality, many or most companies (outside of the government) do not have this NS pay differential, and for those that do, it is merely a euphemism for the underlying gender wage differential that exists in most jobs. In any case, it is doubtful whether the "NS differential" adequately compensates males for the opportunity cost of having wasted 2 years of their lives.
On NS being a merit good
"I like to think of defence as not only a public good but a merit good. Just as the governments in many countries make education compulsory (at least until P6 or equivalent), national service is good for us!"
Yeah right. Cursory reading of past entries, and listening to other disgruntled members of the Chain Gang should be sufficient to disabuse anyone of this notion. Anyhow, it is "a tax of 2 and a half years on Singaporean males that is channelled into a public good. Males bear the brunt of the burden, and get some of the benefit - hardly what I would term an optimal outcome." Further, this tax is applied only to male citizens, and not to female citizens, first generation PRs or "Foreign Talent" *cough* - who receive most, or arguably all, of its benefits as well.
To quote my excellent, enthusiastic, effete and erstwhile partner in education Chinx: "Most people who do say National Service is good for us tend to be the people who do not have to suffer through it. Or have yet to. "
"And one does get paid in NS too, not mentioning the free lodging and free food"
Sounds like prison, albeit with higher pay.
"Would each individual value the benefits accrued from National Service more than the benefits of not having gone through army? Congrats to those whose aims in life happen to involve joining the army, but for every such person, there could be many who do not. Perhaps the fact that we are not being allowed to decide for ourselves which path we should take is what irks the economist in us. "
On Regulars and NS
Since I am lazy, getting weary and do not wish to waste the efforts of the great Chinx, I shall quote him here:
"I wish I had your confidence in regulars.
The Army is renowned for not turning away any applicants from its doors, as well as a veritable diamond-crusted rice bowl. Do you think a policy like that is likely to attract smart, energetic people bursting with patriotic pride, or people who can't find a job anywhere else, especially considering today's tight job market?
In fact, this hesistancy in turning away applicants and firing regulars only exacerbates the inefficiencies caused by NS - for one thing, you're giving some regulars a FAR too high salary compared to what they could get outside, and for another, promotion in the army is based more on seniority than on performance, which means you could very possibly have an incompetent Lieutenant Colonel leading a team of crack troops into a suicide battle. To phrase it in an economic sense - you're paying the regulars far above their opp costs, and having a bad manager run a firm of talented individuals. "
Furthermore, promotion for regulars is largely based on seniority rather than performance, so the incompetent ones are hardly separated from the better ones. Performance will hence be affected since the incentives are not quite pegged to it. Essentially, "the army's pretty darn similar to a command economy. Everyone's got a job to do thats been allocated by the management, not determined by the market. Passing orders works faster then introducing laws.. the phenomenon of 'feather bedding', lack of incentives to work hard, improve etc etc.".
The Gospel of He Who MUST Not Be Named
The abovementioned advances his pet theory, that NS is a tool of social engineering leading to both social and political stability - it breeds low level resentment and acts as a convenient target of grumbling, distracting the male populace from other issues, while at the same time leaving them with a subconscious feeling of helplessness against the power of the system.
When I mentioned that girls do not go through NS, he retorted (in person, no less!) that "girls don't start revolutions",
I have yet to conclusively evaluate the merits of his theory, but I must say that there is some modicum of truth in it.
On Social Cohesion
"I don't think that National Service can guarantee that Singapore will not "fragmenting from internal conflict". First, are the problems in "the Philippines, Indonesia, most of Africa, and in earlier years Eastern Europe" due to economic inequality or poverty? I cannot remember the exact statistics but the United States does seem to have a serious case of inequality too, as would most countries that believe in the market as it is inherent in the system that there will be inequalities (perhaps this can be another topic for discussion at some other time).
Second, is the driving force of these coups pent-up violence, or a lack of National Service? I am not sure if introducing National Service would have prevented either internal conflict or inequality/poverty for that matter. If anything, if the idea of having "disgruntled military men" is scary, I wonder how I should react to having half the Singaporean population having military training."
and
"on the entire idea of a social leveller, again, i find this idea completely repugnant. what you're basically saying is that we should, through compulsory NS, disadvantage the talented and educated so that the untalented or uneducated stand a chance. first off, this is a Pareto loss - it's a race to the bottom. you're making the rich worse off, not making the poor better off. that fails John Rawl's test of social justice.
furthermore, if, as so many appear to believe, the poor will be the majority of the people doing voluntary NS, then they will be the primary beneficiaries of higher pay for NS men. similarly, the rich will be the ones foregoing the NS income _and_ paying the higher (progressive) taxes. voluntary NS means a transfer of wealth from the rich to the poor. so if your problem is social equity, then paying people to do voluntary NS actually helps in that department. and it does so in a fair manner that helps the poor, rather than the current unfair manner that harms the rich without helping anyone."
Conclusion
Responding to some ("... people like us who are bored and can't STAND idiots who don't know what the BLOODY FNARK THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT with regards to Neverending Slavery will execute them publicily (sic)"), though not posting the below on the list, Chinx puts it best, as he has always had a more dramatic flair than me:
"It is at times like this I appreciate the knowledge that there is very little any one of you can do to touch me for what I say on this mailing list now that I am no longer a student of RJ. Because it allows me to say exactly what I feel without fear of repercussion, and what I want to say now is this.
You, sir, are an idiot.
Continuing to argue the merits of my case will be rather akin to trying to punch a hole in the wall - serving no purpose but to cause me pain and anguish, the thickness of the wall stopping all attempts at breaking through, and only incur the wrath of my neighbours who think I'm making noise just for attention.
Suffice it to say that as, ironically, of all people, Shengwu and the others sympathetic to my viewpoint have eloquently stated our case. You, on the other hand, have put forth nothing but childishy naive and simplistc arguements.
If this is the kind of S Econs students we're getting nowadays, it's no wonder RJ is in the spotlight of negative press so much nowadays."
As mentioned earlier, the posting above article has sparked off a vigorous debate on the S Econs list (mostly on non-economic issues, most of which the authors valiantly try to disguise as economic ones). Some points I have extricated from the interminable posts (ignoring the [admittedly few] patently absurd and brainless ones), and coupled with a few thoughts of my own and an ending by the irrepressible Chinx. Many of the social points I have excised as I have deat with many of them before and want to sleep soon.
On Mercenaries
Recent economic and business history has shown that outsourcing is often a way to both improve the quality and reduce the cost of a service or product. Indeed, the SAF has recognised this - Singapore Technologies provides much logistical and other support to the SAF, military research is not done in-house but instead by DSTA , and SFI provides the food. In the wider context of Singapore, we see CISCO being entrusted with important jobs - even though they are a private company, and Gurkhas are hired for the most important of protective jobs (eg protecting the Prime Minister and President), the last of which makes one wonder why Singaporean soldiers are not good enough to protect the highest powers in the land.
A refrain, oft-heard in a bid to quash the revolutionary - hence both heretical and preposterous - idea of hiring mercenaries, is that mercenaries are loyal only to money, and that they may defect to the higher paying side at any time, hence depriving the nation of security. However, corporations are profit-maximising, so it might be expected, following this logic, that they would charge as high a price, and offer as shoddy a product, as possible. However, this is not so, for the same reason that mercenaries do not switch employers in the heat of battle - branding. Just as companies do not produce defective products for fear of never being able to sell anything again due to customer dissatisfaction, no mercenary group worth their salt would defect, or it'd most likely never be hired again. In any case, seeing the state and attitude of many NSFs and reservists, it is not all that clear that in times of war, they would not defect, surrender or otherwise pack less than their intended punch.
Someone pointed out that since mercenaries fight for the highest bidder, "the side they are fighting for may not be the side that is 'morally correct'". However, when is war waged by sovereign states based on grounds of morality? Saddam Hussein's troops, most of them conscripts, invaded Kuwait in 1990, a clear case of a morally "incorrect" action (if one is wont to argue this way) - just because an army is financed by, and fights on behalf of a nation or state does not make its actions "morally correct". Another raised the issue of controlling mercenaries, which may not feel bound by the rules of International Conflict and military discipline, but then reputable and professional mercenaries adhere to these - more so than disgruntled conscripts who barely know what they are doing, at any rate. More practical considerations are that a small, besieged nation may not be able to outbid its neighbours, and that large mercenary armies do not exist, at least not in this region.
Hence, due to these and other practical considerations, I do not think that a wholy mercenary-based armed forces would be feasible, so perhaps Singapore could use mercenaries to support and supplement a core group of regulars. On reflection, though, since money is the main thing used to entice people to sign on, are the regulars not already mercenaries?
On the Economics of Slavery
A few people pointed out that one cannot really measure the value of defence, and of how society (read: the Government) values it and makes its cost-benefit analysis calculations. That may be true, but no one denies than defence is essential for a country. What we are trying to do is to find a more economically efficient (and hopefully equitable) way of providing it.
NS causes a misallocation of resources, as people who can otherwise contribute mightily to the economy are made - *forced* - to waste their time lingering in clerical positions. Besides, the Slave Pittance does not even begin to compensate individuals for their opportunity costs, let alone their contributions to the nation - the Powers That Be prefer to cut costs and instead dole out non-pecuniary benefits like "honour", "glory" and "the satisfaction one gains from fulfilling one's duty". However, to keep the current gross number of NSFs and to pay them fairly would bankrupt the government. The solution, I feel, is not to keep the Slave Pittance as it is, but to cut redundant jobs instead of doing what is known in economic parlance as "featherbedding" (here, enslaving people for the sake of it even though you have sufficient labour already, and many cannot contribute greatly to the defence of Singapore anyway).
Conscription may or may not be cost-effective - on the one hand, you have unmotivated, incompetent and angry troops, but on the other hand they are dirt cheap, at least in terms of pay. Their ineffectiveness mean that their numbers are deceptive, but then you do not need cannon fodder to be very effective, and they can just overwhelm the enemy with weight of numbers. Personally, I think that cutting the number of Slave Soldiers and making them better motivated through various means, among them pay (as someone once said - "You pay me peanuts, you get a monkey"), would result in a more effective army (and much less misery among the populace at large - but then policy makers do not have to worry about this form of social discontent, since it is not vented in the form of social upheaval or political change, thanks to the unique circumstances of Singaporean society and politics which I will not go into at present). It is always comfortable to revel in the inertia of the current system, as to change things would require too much effort. "The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking" - Galbraith.
If you want to err on the side of caution and get an overly-large army, you might as well go all the way, get Weapons of Mass Destruction and rely on the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction to safeguard Singapore - it'll be cheaper, at any rate. Or as another suggested, "do we even need a military at its present size to defend singapore in the first place. the saf would have you believe that, but thats a really dodgy source of info pertaining to this. all we really need is enough missile launchers and missiles to inundate any pesky neighbour's capital. seriously, destroy the leadership, you win the war."
NB: Better educated people are withheld from the job market for 6 months longer than less educated people. This is another glaring example of economic inefficiency.
On Gender and NS
Some women complain about the NS advantage of males, that they get higher salaries and fast promotions. On paper, this is justified as being compensation for the 2 - 2 1/2 years that they have lost, but in reality, many or most companies (outside of the government) do not have this NS pay differential, and for those that do, it is merely a euphemism for the underlying gender wage differential that exists in most jobs. In any case, it is doubtful whether the "NS differential" adequately compensates males for the opportunity cost of having wasted 2 years of their lives.
On NS being a merit good
"I like to think of defence as not only a public good but a merit good. Just as the governments in many countries make education compulsory (at least until P6 or equivalent), national service is good for us!"
Yeah right. Cursory reading of past entries, and listening to other disgruntled members of the Chain Gang should be sufficient to disabuse anyone of this notion. Anyhow, it is "a tax of 2 and a half years on Singaporean males that is channelled into a public good. Males bear the brunt of the burden, and get some of the benefit - hardly what I would term an optimal outcome." Further, this tax is applied only to male citizens, and not to female citizens, first generation PRs or "Foreign Talent" *cough* - who receive most, or arguably all, of its benefits as well.
To quote my excellent, enthusiastic, effete and erstwhile partner in education Chinx: "Most people who do say National Service is good for us tend to be the people who do not have to suffer through it. Or have yet to. "
"And one does get paid in NS too, not mentioning the free lodging and free food"
Sounds like prison, albeit with higher pay.
"Would each individual value the benefits accrued from National Service more than the benefits of not having gone through army? Congrats to those whose aims in life happen to involve joining the army, but for every such person, there could be many who do not. Perhaps the fact that we are not being allowed to decide for ourselves which path we should take is what irks the economist in us. "
On Regulars and NS
Since I am lazy, getting weary and do not wish to waste the efforts of the great Chinx, I shall quote him here:
"I wish I had your confidence in regulars.
The Army is renowned for not turning away any applicants from its doors, as well as a veritable diamond-crusted rice bowl. Do you think a policy like that is likely to attract smart, energetic people bursting with patriotic pride, or people who can't find a job anywhere else, especially considering today's tight job market?
In fact, this hesistancy in turning away applicants and firing regulars only exacerbates the inefficiencies caused by NS - for one thing, you're giving some regulars a FAR too high salary compared to what they could get outside, and for another, promotion in the army is based more on seniority than on performance, which means you could very possibly have an incompetent Lieutenant Colonel leading a team of crack troops into a suicide battle. To phrase it in an economic sense - you're paying the regulars far above their opp costs, and having a bad manager run a firm of talented individuals. "
Furthermore, promotion for regulars is largely based on seniority rather than performance, so the incompetent ones are hardly separated from the better ones. Performance will hence be affected since the incentives are not quite pegged to it. Essentially, "the army's pretty darn similar to a command economy. Everyone's got a job to do thats been allocated by the management, not determined by the market. Passing orders works faster then introducing laws.. the phenomenon of 'feather bedding', lack of incentives to work hard, improve etc etc.".
The Gospel of He Who MUST Not Be Named
The abovementioned advances his pet theory, that NS is a tool of social engineering leading to both social and political stability - it breeds low level resentment and acts as a convenient target of grumbling, distracting the male populace from other issues, while at the same time leaving them with a subconscious feeling of helplessness against the power of the system.
When I mentioned that girls do not go through NS, he retorted (in person, no less!) that "girls don't start revolutions",
I have yet to conclusively evaluate the merits of his theory, but I must say that there is some modicum of truth in it.
On Social Cohesion
"I don't think that National Service can guarantee that Singapore will not "fragmenting from internal conflict". First, are the problems in "the Philippines, Indonesia, most of Africa, and in earlier years Eastern Europe" due to economic inequality or poverty? I cannot remember the exact statistics but the United States does seem to have a serious case of inequality too, as would most countries that believe in the market as it is inherent in the system that there will be inequalities (perhaps this can be another topic for discussion at some other time).
Second, is the driving force of these coups pent-up violence, or a lack of National Service? I am not sure if introducing National Service would have prevented either internal conflict or inequality/poverty for that matter. If anything, if the idea of having "disgruntled military men" is scary, I wonder how I should react to having half the Singaporean population having military training."
and
"on the entire idea of a social leveller, again, i find this idea completely repugnant. what you're basically saying is that we should, through compulsory NS, disadvantage the talented and educated so that the untalented or uneducated stand a chance. first off, this is a Pareto loss - it's a race to the bottom. you're making the rich worse off, not making the poor better off. that fails John Rawl's test of social justice.
furthermore, if, as so many appear to believe, the poor will be the majority of the people doing voluntary NS, then they will be the primary beneficiaries of higher pay for NS men. similarly, the rich will be the ones foregoing the NS income _and_ paying the higher (progressive) taxes. voluntary NS means a transfer of wealth from the rich to the poor. so if your problem is social equity, then paying people to do voluntary NS actually helps in that department. and it does so in a fair manner that helps the poor, rather than the current unfair manner that harms the rich without helping anyone."
Conclusion
Responding to some ("... people like us who are bored and can't STAND idiots who don't know what the BLOODY FNARK THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT with regards to Neverending Slavery will execute them publicily (sic)"), though not posting the below on the list, Chinx puts it best, as he has always had a more dramatic flair than me:
"It is at times like this I appreciate the knowledge that there is very little any one of you can do to touch me for what I say on this mailing list now that I am no longer a student of RJ. Because it allows me to say exactly what I feel without fear of repercussion, and what I want to say now is this.
You, sir, are an idiot.
Continuing to argue the merits of my case will be rather akin to trying to punch a hole in the wall - serving no purpose but to cause me pain and anguish, the thickness of the wall stopping all attempts at breaking through, and only incur the wrath of my neighbours who think I'm making noise just for attention.
Suffice it to say that as, ironically, of all people, Shengwu and the others sympathetic to my viewpoint have eloquently stated our case. You, on the other hand, have put forth nothing but childishy naive and simplistc arguements.
If this is the kind of S Econs students we're getting nowadays, it's no wonder RJ is in the spotlight of negative press so much nowadays."
Post ID: 106156245259941588
I'm trying to decide whether this year's birthday was more painful than last year's.
This year, I had a 8km route march in the morning, and when I got back my head was pounding, my feet burnt with each step and I was so exhausted I went to concuss.
Last year, on the other hand, I was charging hills outfield and riding around in an APC.
Bah.
This year, I had a 8km route march in the morning, and when I got back my head was pounding, my feet burnt with each step and I was so exhausted I went to concuss.
Last year, on the other hand, I was charging hills outfield and riding around in an APC.
Bah.
Post ID: 106155847103831292
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
The Jobs of War
Stephen Fidler and Thomas Catn
Financial Times
August 11, 2003
An excellent article on outsourcing defence, the posting of which on the RJC S Economics Mailing List has sparked a lively debate, of which I shall comment on in a future (probably next) post.
Stephen Fidler and Thomas Catn
Financial Times
August 11, 2003
An excellent article on outsourcing defence, the posting of which on the RJC S Economics Mailing List has sparked a lively debate, of which I shall comment on in a future (probably next) post.
Post ID: 106138830757603980
Monday, August 18, 2003
"Regimentation and discipline is extremely useful as a form of employment for CSMs and RSMs" (with apologies to Galbraith)
I can't believe it's been 16 months since I last consumed a day of home MC.
People like to say that there's no point getting 1 day ATTN C when you're already in camp if you do not stay-out, but then these people still book out for nights off, so I don't understand the inconsistency.
I can't believe it's been 16 months since I last consumed a day of home MC.
People like to say that there's no point getting 1 day ATTN C when you're already in camp if you do not stay-out, but then these people still book out for nights off, so I don't understand the inconsistency.
Post ID: 106119227396967294
Sunday, August 17, 2003
When I walked into the Medical Centre after lunch on Monday, it was full of recruits. The sickbay was totally filled - 10 recruits were on beds, 4 on stretchers and 3 sitting down, and half were on drips (probably more were prescribed drips, but they didn't have enough drip stands). In all, I filed about 100 dockets and got 32 medical appointments to make that day. I wonder how long they'll be traumatised before we are swarmed again. Probably not before -we- get over our own trauma.
Ever since I put up signs on the Docu Room door urging it to be kept shut, it's been left open more. I swear people are leaving it open on purpose.
Our "Poor, suffering Local Third Sergeant" Tan Ban Xiong daily makes himself useful. While I was struggling to prepare 19 X-ray appointments, the self proclaimed "Master of Office" (sand Frontpage and Access) hit upothe idea of printing the envelopes, instead of stamping them and then writing on them. So not only is it faster, it is more legible. By acts such as these, he has shown that he richly deserves his (local) promotion!
HQ Company, 42SAR seems to be getting more and more regimental and generally a less pleasant place to live in. I dread my return, especially since I won't have much leave to clear after my planned visit to my sister and brother in law next month. Even though I am attached out, they are trying to stretch their evil tentacles across the Time-Space Continuum and grab onto me - last I heard, they were trying to get me to do 5BX at 5:25am daily, as well as RT on alternate days. If that dreadful scenario comes to pass, the benefits of being attached out will be lessened (and I won't even have the extra $50 as a sop to comfort me). Maybe, as a desperate ploy, I should try to cut my attachment short, and so pull them down for the Best Unit Competition.
The purpose of enforcing Regimentation and Discipline (R&D) is supposed to be that it makes people better soldiers. Oddly enough, R&D seems to apply less the higher someone's rank is (so much for being an example), but I digress. Now, a source in 41SAR, 42's brother unit, told me that they are as slack (or slacker than) 42/HQ used to be when I first came. They don't march, don't eat breakfast and wake up at 7am. Still, they are placed higher than 42SAR in the Best Unit Competition, and it seems their results for ATEC (the unit's final exam) are going to be quite good. Seems that R&D does absolutely nothing to improve a unit's performance or fighting ability, and just breeds resently and pent up anger, frustrating people and making them worse soldiers.
Oddly, since morning 5BX was instituted for RT personnel in 42, SOC RT has disappeared. Maybe the Powers That Be think that somehow, doing pushups helps you in SOC. The logic behind that is really warped.
I wonder what freaky material the SAF No 4 Uniform is made of. It's 50% Cotton and 50% Nylon, supposedly, but somehow it does not behave like either of those fabrics - even if it is less wet than, and sunned more than normal clothing, it smells more.
After the clerks wash the toilet, they spray Jasmine 3-in-1 air freshener ("with aromatherapy essential oils"). What dedication!
Perhaps the irritating of the current crop of popular Chinese Pop songs is by Jay Chou. What drew me to (or rather, repulsed me from) it was this woman in the background shrieking continually in vibrato, and Latin chanting at various points in the song. On asking some people, I found out that it was about some guy who loses his faith in Catholicism but still believes in God. Songs nowadays are getting really weird.
In a trailer for "First Touch", we see a pregnant Malay woman who is told by the doctor that if she has her child, she could go blind. She then refuses to abort the child, saying that "children are a blessing from God. If I abort the child, what sort of mother would I be?" (Looks like not all blessings are good). We then hear "Amazing Grace" (for a Muslim?) played in the background. Well done, Medicorp.
"True Love" is a game popular at present among some medics and drivers. At first, I thought it was a normal Japanese Dating Sim. But then, the Japanese are never normal, are they? One day someone excitedly told me that he had unlocked a new girl in the game - he brought a cat home, had some item, and the cat turned into a girl and had sex with him. Bah.
Channel 8 is holding auditions for some Supermodel contest, and the age range for entrants is 14-21. They're getting younger and younger these days.
I wonder what the fuss is about bar-top dancing, with many bars holding and contests to mark its legalisation. Listening to some passionate souls, you'd think Prohibition had just ended.
US soldiers in Iraq are airing their grievances over the Internet, and some even identify themselves. I wonder if anything has/will happen(ed) to them. I'm sure that there, as here, soldiers are warned against this kind of thing. Soldiers are supposed to seek redress through official channels, but when the highest level of appeal is Dubya, the very one who threw you into this war, I don't think the official channels are going to get you very far.
Why North Korea is so obsessed about getting a Non-Aggression Pact with the USA signed is puzzling. We all know that George Bush is not exactly scrupulous about honouring his treaty commitments, and neither is Kim Jong Il. Definitions are also hard to agree upon - Pyongyang is always going to try antics like racing patrol craft across the 38th Parallel, and then claim that it was a mistake, or that it was allowed for under the Pact. I suspect they know the pact will never be signed, so they're just stalling.
Quotes:
Recent research shows that people believe that Yun Nam is the most effective hair care centre and there are 8 times more Singaporeans who believe that Yun Nam is more poplular than its competitors (popular) (So their advertising campaign is good. So?)
[Me: 'Bob' is a very common name] So is 'cesspit'.
[On my scribbling on my weekly piece of paper] This is like the Islamic writing in the Koran
He needs his beauty sleep. [Me: It doesn't seem to be doing much good] *laughter* [Ban Xiong: One of these days, I'll smother you with my pillow] [Me: Who, me or Melvin?] [Ban Xiong: Both]
[On his rare cookhouse breakfast, including a Tau Sar Delight] Breakfast today was fucked up. How come the curry puff was sweet?
[On shitting on a squat toilet without a pipe] I must use water and my left hand. [Me: And the water comes from the toilet bowl?]
[On my filing 100 dockets] You finished filing all the dockets? [Me: Yeah, man. I finished them all last night] I'm so proud of you
[On not booking out to eat on a night off day] I want to save money. [Me: Then why do you always go to the canteen?] Shut up [Ed: Said person probably ended up eating instant noodles in the bunk, instead of cookhouse food].
[Email on being away] **** will overlook [Company Name] for this period of time (oversee)
[On me] He will go and hunt him, like he hunted the secondary school girls at NCC cover... He will step in front of the secondary school boy or girl and ask, "Excuse me..." (haunt, haunted, would)
[To me] There was this guy, when I was attached to AMS [Army Medical Services]. He went round taking pictures of secondary school girls zaogeng... He talks like you.
Ever since I put up signs on the Docu Room door urging it to be kept shut, it's been left open more. I swear people are leaving it open on purpose.
Our "Poor, suffering Local Third Sergeant" Tan Ban Xiong daily makes himself useful. While I was struggling to prepare 19 X-ray appointments, the self proclaimed "Master of Office" (sand Frontpage and Access) hit upothe idea of printing the envelopes, instead of stamping them and then writing on them. So not only is it faster, it is more legible. By acts such as these, he has shown that he richly deserves his (local) promotion!
HQ Company, 42SAR seems to be getting more and more regimental and generally a less pleasant place to live in. I dread my return, especially since I won't have much leave to clear after my planned visit to my sister and brother in law next month. Even though I am attached out, they are trying to stretch their evil tentacles across the Time-Space Continuum and grab onto me - last I heard, they were trying to get me to do 5BX at 5:25am daily, as well as RT on alternate days. If that dreadful scenario comes to pass, the benefits of being attached out will be lessened (and I won't even have the extra $50 as a sop to comfort me). Maybe, as a desperate ploy, I should try to cut my attachment short, and so pull them down for the Best Unit Competition.
The purpose of enforcing Regimentation and Discipline (R&D) is supposed to be that it makes people better soldiers. Oddly enough, R&D seems to apply less the higher someone's rank is (so much for being an example), but I digress. Now, a source in 41SAR, 42's brother unit, told me that they are as slack (or slacker than) 42/HQ used to be when I first came. They don't march, don't eat breakfast and wake up at 7am. Still, they are placed higher than 42SAR in the Best Unit Competition, and it seems their results for ATEC (the unit's final exam) are going to be quite good. Seems that R&D does absolutely nothing to improve a unit's performance or fighting ability, and just breeds resently and pent up anger, frustrating people and making them worse soldiers.
Oddly, since morning 5BX was instituted for RT personnel in 42, SOC RT has disappeared. Maybe the Powers That Be think that somehow, doing pushups helps you in SOC. The logic behind that is really warped.
I wonder what freaky material the SAF No 4 Uniform is made of. It's 50% Cotton and 50% Nylon, supposedly, but somehow it does not behave like either of those fabrics - even if it is less wet than, and sunned more than normal clothing, it smells more.
After the clerks wash the toilet, they spray Jasmine 3-in-1 air freshener ("with aromatherapy essential oils"). What dedication!
Perhaps the irritating of the current crop of popular Chinese Pop songs is by Jay Chou. What drew me to (or rather, repulsed me from) it was this woman in the background shrieking continually in vibrato, and Latin chanting at various points in the song. On asking some people, I found out that it was about some guy who loses his faith in Catholicism but still believes in God. Songs nowadays are getting really weird.
In a trailer for "First Touch", we see a pregnant Malay woman who is told by the doctor that if she has her child, she could go blind. She then refuses to abort the child, saying that "children are a blessing from God. If I abort the child, what sort of mother would I be?" (Looks like not all blessings are good). We then hear "Amazing Grace" (for a Muslim?) played in the background. Well done, Medicorp.
"True Love" is a game popular at present among some medics and drivers. At first, I thought it was a normal Japanese Dating Sim. But then, the Japanese are never normal, are they? One day someone excitedly told me that he had unlocked a new girl in the game - he brought a cat home, had some item, and the cat turned into a girl and had sex with him. Bah.
Channel 8 is holding auditions for some Supermodel contest, and the age range for entrants is 14-21. They're getting younger and younger these days.
I wonder what the fuss is about bar-top dancing, with many bars holding and contests to mark its legalisation. Listening to some passionate souls, you'd think Prohibition had just ended.
US soldiers in Iraq are airing their grievances over the Internet, and some even identify themselves. I wonder if anything has/will happen(ed) to them. I'm sure that there, as here, soldiers are warned against this kind of thing. Soldiers are supposed to seek redress through official channels, but when the highest level of appeal is Dubya, the very one who threw you into this war, I don't think the official channels are going to get you very far.
Why North Korea is so obsessed about getting a Non-Aggression Pact with the USA signed is puzzling. We all know that George Bush is not exactly scrupulous about honouring his treaty commitments, and neither is Kim Jong Il. Definitions are also hard to agree upon - Pyongyang is always going to try antics like racing patrol craft across the 38th Parallel, and then claim that it was a mistake, or that it was allowed for under the Pact. I suspect they know the pact will never be signed, so they're just stalling.
Quotes:
Recent research shows that people believe that Yun Nam is the most effective hair care centre and there are 8 times more Singaporeans who believe that Yun Nam is more poplular than its competitors (popular) (So their advertising campaign is good. So?)
[Me: 'Bob' is a very common name] So is 'cesspit'.
[On my scribbling on my weekly piece of paper] This is like the Islamic writing in the Koran
He needs his beauty sleep. [Me: It doesn't seem to be doing much good] *laughter* [Ban Xiong: One of these days, I'll smother you with my pillow] [Me: Who, me or Melvin?] [Ban Xiong: Both]
[On his rare cookhouse breakfast, including a Tau Sar Delight] Breakfast today was fucked up. How come the curry puff was sweet?
[On shitting on a squat toilet without a pipe] I must use water and my left hand. [Me: And the water comes from the toilet bowl?]
[On my filing 100 dockets] You finished filing all the dockets? [Me: Yeah, man. I finished them all last night] I'm so proud of you
[On not booking out to eat on a night off day] I want to save money. [Me: Then why do you always go to the canteen?] Shut up [Ed: Said person probably ended up eating instant noodles in the bunk, instead of cookhouse food].
[Email on being away] **** will overlook [Company Name] for this period of time (oversee)
[On me] He will go and hunt him, like he hunted the secondary school girls at NCC cover... He will step in front of the secondary school boy or girl and ask, "Excuse me..." (haunt, haunted, would)
[To me] There was this guy, when I was attached to AMS [Army Medical Services]. He went round taking pictures of secondary school girls zaogeng... He talks like you.
Post ID: 106111023446457827
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of seeing He Who Must Not Be Named.
He seemed incredibly interested at what I would report of the meeting and pleaded with me not to describe how immensely gratified I was to be able to finally glimpse his elusive visage, so I will not gush about how wonderful it was to light his cigarette for him and cough profusely when he breathed the cigarette smoke in my face.
Anyhow, the only thing I will say is that I find his companion remarkably like my sister in being pedantic :)
My 5 month old on-and-off cough seems to have worsened. I think I hear the air wheezing in my lungs.
He seemed incredibly interested at what I would report of the meeting and pleaded with me not to describe how immensely gratified I was to be able to finally glimpse his elusive visage, so I will not gush about how wonderful it was to light his cigarette for him and cough profusely when he breathed the cigarette smoke in my face.
Anyhow, the only thing I will say is that I find his companion remarkably like my sister in being pedantic :)
My 5 month old on-and-off cough seems to have worsened. I think I hear the air wheezing in my lungs.
Post ID: 106110988884264363
Saturday, August 16, 2003
Clay Kitten Shooting - Healthy, wholesome fun for the whole family!
More dumb laws
False advertising - Ad parodies
Funny clips - Taiwanese educational institution site
Webcam-ed School - So much for the RJ video.
The wonders of airbrushing - I never knew so much was possible! Shocking :0
Macintosh testimonials from, among others, an Amish, and a Japanese guy with buck teeth and a yellow raincoat.
Now I *FINALLY* know who See Ar Em (Read: CRM) is!
http://community.webshots.com/user/cheryln_chang
Actually she doesn't look that CRM-ish. If CRM is like that, CFM musn't be too spectacular either.
"no she was more crmy in sch. maybe she got sick of being *****"
More dumb laws
False advertising - Ad parodies
Funny clips - Taiwanese educational institution site
Webcam-ed School - So much for the RJ video.
The wonders of airbrushing - I never knew so much was possible! Shocking :0
Macintosh testimonials from, among others, an Amish, and a Japanese guy with buck teeth and a yellow raincoat.
Now I *FINALLY* know who See Ar Em (Read: CRM) is!
http://community.webshots.com/user/cheryln_chang
Actually she doesn't look that CRM-ish. If CRM is like that, CFM musn't be too spectacular either.
"no she was more crmy in sch. maybe she got sick of being *****"
Post ID: 106103356756905796
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