More bang for the military buck
In the final quarter of last year, savings from suggestions helped to save $62.7 million. This means that for every $1 awarded to servicemen for their suggestions, $144 was saved.
What they don't tell you: Dubious calculations and criteria for cost savings are used, and because servicemen are forced to come up with "cost saving" plans (and have a quota, to boot), ideas of questionable veracity are accepted. Administrative instructions for all activities are supposed to be printed, and for routine activities, each set of admin instructions is 98% identical to that of the previous time's.
Items such as fighter aircraft and missile gunboats are upgraded regularly and replaced only when they are no longer cost-effective to deploy, which means they can have a longer lifespan.
What they don't tell you: We use what is essentially 40 year old technology in many areas. Look how long it took for them to retire the "Super" Skyhawk. And the SM-1 looks positively pathetic alongside a real battle tank.
Outsourcing
Tests to identify those with flying potential are now done in Australia. With a commercial arrangement in place, there is no need to own and maintain a fleet of trainer aircraft for the tests. This saves $7 million a year.
Maintenance of the C-130 aircraft deployed to help in operations in Iraq was farmed out to ST Aerospace.
What they don't tell you: We could probably outsource half of the SAF's combat operations and it'd be cheaper and more effective.
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
It's the people who count in national defence
He focused on three areas: improving training safety standards, better compensation for full-time national servicemen and retirement schemes. At the heart of these measures is the belief that the armed forces must take care of its people.
3 words: "Respect. Care. Dignity". Or rather, the absence of them. Nuff said.
In other words, the SAF must do more with the limited manpower it has. The good news is it already has a headstart - with 'well-educated soldiers who can easily master the technologically sophisticated weapons and equipment'. The armed forces must therefore make every soldier count. Ultimately, however, the sum of a nation's defence is not merely the strength of its military. So women, who are not conscripted, should not feel left out.
Riiiight. On the one hand, the SAF has "limited" (ie not enough) manpower and so must "make every soldier count". On the other, we have effective soldiers, and manpower is not everything. How disingeneous. They're trying to have it both ways.
Although Minister of State (Defence) Cedric Foo rejected a call led by several women MPs to also make national service compulsory for women, he was careful not to play down their role. Indeed, women here already contribute to nation-building and total defence through the workforce. As he put it, they are also 'critical pillars in support of civil, psychological and social defence'.
So men do not "contribute to nation-building and total defence through the workforce"? I believe the workforce participation rate for males is higher than females, and since they earn more, they presumably earn more. Thus, they contribute more to nation-building and total defence through the workforce than women. Is he also suggesting that men do not have important contributions in the realms of civil, psychological and social defence, or that women are useless with regards to military defence? What a sexist view (both ways)!
The experience of the British and Americans during World War II illustrates this principle well. While the men were at the front line, the women were in the factories manning machines and churning out ammunition and even aircraft for troops who were somewhere 'over there'. Even though they had different roles to play, women were no less important than men in the war effort.
So men are only good for the front line and women are only good for manning machines and producing goods. How edifying.
When it comes to national defence, including guarding against the terrorist threat, it is not the sophistication of the technology that counts but how everyone chips in.
Unfortunately, females who think they can chip in more effectively through military defence are denied that chance (signing on does not count) and males who feel they are more effective buttressing other pillars of total defence than military and try to act upon that are thrown into DB.
NS for women? Yet another nay
On the point that women could be trained in nursing during NS to cope better in crises, at home or even in hospital, he said that a proper nursing course would take at least three years. This is longer than the two-and-a-half-year NS period.
Odd, the Combat Medic course takes but 3 months and trains potential medics in more than civilian nursing skills.
As for the argument that conscripting women could solve the Singapore Armed Forces' manpower shortage, he said the shortage was a problem that could be managed by making greater use of technology and outsourcing.
Conveniently, technology and outsourcing are sufficient to ensure we don't enslave women as well, but not powerful enough to stop us from enslaving every person born with male genitalia.
On NS enabling greater social cohesion among men and women, he said its primary purpose is the defence of Singapore.
I hope this means they'll use the "social cohesion" argument for slavery less often in the future. At the very least, enslaving women as well would increase the fertility rate.
'We have to examine whether the objectives of social cohesion and nation-building can best be met by means other than compulsory NS for women,' he said, adding that it would remove them from the workforce at significant cost to Singapore and to themselves.
How about, "'We have to examine whether the objective of national defence (and oft-mentioned sub-objectives of social cohesion, nation-building and social engineering) can best be met by means other than compulsory NS for all men without an option for alternative service, especially for conscientious objectors,' he said, adding that it would remove them from the workforce and the real world and cause them misery, at significant cost to Singapore and to themselves."
L'origine de Bert
Sunday, March 14, 2004
Phrase of the Day: "Scribo, ergo sum"
All the Singaporean file sharers used to be on Kazaa. Simple searches could bring up mp3s of pieces by Singaporean choirs and bands. And also upskirt shots of RJC girls, maybe some of them taken by one guy whose indiscretions we heard about during assembly one day in J1.
Now I don't know where they've all flocked to.
I don't know whether I am more aghast by the fact that this is on sale or the fact that I somehow found it.
Yahoo Auctions. Where you can sell almost anything to almost anyone.
All the Singaporean file sharers used to be on Kazaa. Simple searches could bring up mp3s of pieces by Singaporean choirs and bands. And also upskirt shots of RJC girls, maybe some of them taken by one guy whose indiscretions we heard about during assembly one day in J1.
Now I don't know where they've all flocked to.
I don't know whether I am more aghast by the fact that this is on sale or the fact that I somehow found it.
Yahoo Auctions. Where you can sell almost anything to almost anyone.
Post ID: 107926880955991711
Some people were trying to persuade me to have my lunch at the canteen with them. I explained that high authorities had seen fit to ban me from that sacred paradise, and as a good soldier, it was my duty to follow orders given from on high regardless of provenance, motive or morality. Okay, maybe I didn't *quite* use those words, but that was the gist of it. Anyhow, I then proceeded to explain that I would only desire the services of the canteen on 2 occasions: If the cookhouse food was bad or inedible, or if I was hungry in between meals. On hearing this, the reservist who was walking in front of us turned around and asked if I was "active" (ie a full-time slave who hadn't gotten his parole yet) - maybe I have the look, mannerisms, mien and demeanor or a reservist already. When I replied in the affirmative, he muttered vague words about the food now being good, and my not knowing how bad they had it in the past. To people who say that, as well as those who say that slavery nowadays is not such an onerous and demeaning punishment as in the past, and that hence, we shouldn't complain, I used to give the limb dismemberment analogy: Being a slave last time was like having 2 arms hacked off, and being a slave now is like having 1 arm amputated. Would I rather lose 1 arm than 2? Definitely. But that does not mean I liked being deprived of any appendages, or that I shouldn't complain about it. For variety, I now offer this new analogy:
"I think that prisoners on death row (at least in the USA) don't know how lucky they are. In the past, or in other countries people were, variously, stoned to death - a method of execution both inhumane and painful, put in the electric chair - leaving the body charred, torn to bits by mobs, been torn apart by having each limb tied to a horse and having people ride the horses in different directions, had their heads lobbed off with swords, or placed blindfolded before a firing squad. Some were tried by kangaroo courts, or subjected to vigilante justice. Nowadays, you get a delicious last meal, years of reprieve before the execution, professional lawyers defending you and last rites performed by the prison chaplain. With lethal injection, you die quickly, painlessly, bodily intact and with dignity. You don't know how lucky you are! You have no right at all to complain!"
Some people (eg prison guards and SAF commanders) like to justify their sadism and inflicting of torment on other people by saying that they are doing their job, and the implication is that they don't really want to do what they do. Nazis working in the Concentration Camps tried to use that excuse after the end of the war when they were held to account, but Nuremburg did not buy it, because it was obvious that they weren't just going through the motions.
One of the latest army ads urges people to join the army to "get the respect you deserve". With this ad, the SAF has possibly reached a nadir. As everyone knows, you cannot mandate respect: you must earn it. If you try to mandate it, what you get is a pretence of respect, but it is hollow and meaningless. Those who try to force people to respect them earn nothing except richly deserved contempt. The oft-repeated mantra: "Rank is worn. Respect is earned" acknowledges this, though it leaves unsaid how few people actually earn even half of the respect that their rank supposedly entitles them to, so I do not know what the person who conceptualised this ad was trying to do or say. I forsee that those who are motivated by this ad to sign on will be those with ego problems or with poor self-esteem and they will go on to bully their subordinates in the hope of getting the respect they "deserve", so perpetuating a hallowed SAF tradition and the circle of bullying and contempt. Then again, what's new?
For heliborne training, we had to endure 2 almost-identical lectures and waste time rehearsing with a rundown mock-up of a helicopter. There was also rehearsing with chairs on the parade square (practically identical to rehearsing with the mock-up) but luckily we missed that. I wonder if those who make us do these repetitive, pointless activities realise that we have more important things to do.
It is disheartening that enlistees get shouted at, and even get punished, for mistakes that commanders, especially senior commanders are permitted to make, and of a greater magnitude even. So much for bearing responsibility commensurate to your rank.
My unit vision says that "Every individual matters". I always thought that this was rubbish, but have since realised that it is in fact true - every individual matters of the Best Unit Competition (BUC) for ever failure can pull the unit down drastically.
My unit's latest Routine Orders say that "Servicemen who are caught with contraband items will be summary trailed". I wonder how they can spare the manpower to follow offenders around to make sure that they don't breach security with their contraband. Anything is possible in the name of security, I guess.
The SAF Counselling Centre's motto is "Respect. Care. Dignity." The implication is that elsewhere in the SAF, people don't get either. How true :)
The SAR21 is heavier than the M16, and slightly heavier to use, but for all its faults, it has fewer holes and crevices where dirt can be found during pedantic inspections. It also comes with a handy multi-purpose tool to clean what odd and hard-to-clean locations remain.
The people in Pussy company love to take pictures of them when they're training - maybe they'll burn a commemorative CD for the trainees for a POP souvenir. I notice, however, that they never take pictures of them when they're being punished or being screwed. Bah.
After hearing tales of how numerous people were chased or barked at by the stray dogs in camp, I decided to talk to my CSM about them. It emerged that there actually are dog catchers that we can call down, and that he used to call them down before his overseas posting. Perhaps that is why the number of dogs had increased so much in the last half a year or so - he hadn't been around to call the dog catchers. So now we just have to wait and hopefully our dog troubles will be over soon.
I was at a vending machine and most of the drinks were sold out. One of the few remaining available drinks was "Fanta Grape". My curiosity was piqued, for I've never seen Fanta Grape being sold in Singapore, so against my better judgment I bought 2 cans of the "Fanta Grape", one for me and one for a driver. Sure enough, it wasn't Fanta but "Cheers", a Malaysian drinks brand with a proven record of making horrible tasting and vile drinks. Having spent 80 cents, we resigned ourselves to our fate and drank. After all, the can said "New - improved!", so hopefully it wouldn't taste as bad as the previous time. Unfortunately, we found that it wasn't much better. One person said it was too sweet, and another said the smell reminded him of chewing gum. I suppose that the moral of the story is: Malaysians can't make good canned drinks, since all the drinks whose recipes come from Malaysia taste lousy.
I am saddened. After more than 2 years, I have been struck with footrot, albeit a minor case of it. I think it's because of the day I walked home in the rain, for 2 days later the spots showed up. Or maybe I didn't dry my boots properly and powder after the River Crossing day.
Vincent was asking me if I knew of a blog competition. I said I knew of one, and when he said a friend of his was taking part in it, I said that he'd surely lose. He said that it was a she and that she'd win, and when I remembered that he was from Li Hua Secondary School, I corrected myself and agreed that she would win.
Comment from someone: "I can't believe those guys are still trying to make u keep fit by banning u from the canteen.. they never learn do they. I mean, the end result is all the same, so there's not really much point in trying." Oh well. That's the SAF for you.
Quotes:
[On IQA requirements] 'Once Obese Always Obese'. What a stupid concept.
[Patient in sickbay] Hello, medic. [Me: Yes?] Mei3 ci4 wo3 kan4 dao4 ni3, wo3 jiu4 hen3 kai1 xin1 [Translation: Everytime I see you, I feel happy]
tomorrow preparing for lord march (preparing for a route march the next day)
they want to do some reveration works (renovation)
leave it day first (there)
Those people going Bernai trip (to Brunei)
My policy on area cleaning: the area cleaning can never do finish one lah, trust me (be finished)
[On singing silly army songs] Dang1 bing1 shi4 bao3 hu4 guo2 jia1, bu4 shi4 chang4 ge1 de4 [Translation: Being a soldier is not about singing songs, but about protecting the country]
Servicemen who are caught with contraband items will be summary trailed (summarily trialed)
You should add some sex to your blog because it's too full of shit.
Wah, nice sunglass. SOC pass or fail? [Someone: Fail] Failthen take off sunglass! (sunglasses)
[Ed: He Who Must Not Be Named suggests 100 Plus "as a beverage of reasonable drinkability", though it doesn't "taste of anything really". I didn't know it was a Malaysian recipe, but I don't like it anyway. I must agree, though, that Kickapoo is goot.
Many Singaporean drinks suck, but we have Yeo's and Marigold, so.
He also says that "fanta grape is still available in singapore. i've recently seen it sold at Mos Burgers, and the SJI canteen stocked it 2 years ago (no idea
about now)". Hmm. - 18th March]
"I think that prisoners on death row (at least in the USA) don't know how lucky they are. In the past, or in other countries people were, variously, stoned to death - a method of execution both inhumane and painful, put in the electric chair - leaving the body charred, torn to bits by mobs, been torn apart by having each limb tied to a horse and having people ride the horses in different directions, had their heads lobbed off with swords, or placed blindfolded before a firing squad. Some were tried by kangaroo courts, or subjected to vigilante justice. Nowadays, you get a delicious last meal, years of reprieve before the execution, professional lawyers defending you and last rites performed by the prison chaplain. With lethal injection, you die quickly, painlessly, bodily intact and with dignity. You don't know how lucky you are! You have no right at all to complain!"
Some people (eg prison guards and SAF commanders) like to justify their sadism and inflicting of torment on other people by saying that they are doing their job, and the implication is that they don't really want to do what they do. Nazis working in the Concentration Camps tried to use that excuse after the end of the war when they were held to account, but Nuremburg did not buy it, because it was obvious that they weren't just going through the motions.
One of the latest army ads urges people to join the army to "get the respect you deserve". With this ad, the SAF has possibly reached a nadir. As everyone knows, you cannot mandate respect: you must earn it. If you try to mandate it, what you get is a pretence of respect, but it is hollow and meaningless. Those who try to force people to respect them earn nothing except richly deserved contempt. The oft-repeated mantra: "Rank is worn. Respect is earned" acknowledges this, though it leaves unsaid how few people actually earn even half of the respect that their rank supposedly entitles them to, so I do not know what the person who conceptualised this ad was trying to do or say. I forsee that those who are motivated by this ad to sign on will be those with ego problems or with poor self-esteem and they will go on to bully their subordinates in the hope of getting the respect they "deserve", so perpetuating a hallowed SAF tradition and the circle of bullying and contempt. Then again, what's new?
For heliborne training, we had to endure 2 almost-identical lectures and waste time rehearsing with a rundown mock-up of a helicopter. There was also rehearsing with chairs on the parade square (practically identical to rehearsing with the mock-up) but luckily we missed that. I wonder if those who make us do these repetitive, pointless activities realise that we have more important things to do.
It is disheartening that enlistees get shouted at, and even get punished, for mistakes that commanders, especially senior commanders are permitted to make, and of a greater magnitude even. So much for bearing responsibility commensurate to your rank.
My unit vision says that "Every individual matters". I always thought that this was rubbish, but have since realised that it is in fact true - every individual matters of the Best Unit Competition (BUC) for ever failure can pull the unit down drastically.
My unit's latest Routine Orders say that "Servicemen who are caught with contraband items will be summary trailed". I wonder how they can spare the manpower to follow offenders around to make sure that they don't breach security with their contraband. Anything is possible in the name of security, I guess.
The SAF Counselling Centre's motto is "Respect. Care. Dignity." The implication is that elsewhere in the SAF, people don't get either. How true :)
The SAR21 is heavier than the M16, and slightly heavier to use, but for all its faults, it has fewer holes and crevices where dirt can be found during pedantic inspections. It also comes with a handy multi-purpose tool to clean what odd and hard-to-clean locations remain.
The people in Pussy company love to take pictures of them when they're training - maybe they'll burn a commemorative CD for the trainees for a POP souvenir. I notice, however, that they never take pictures of them when they're being punished or being screwed. Bah.
After hearing tales of how numerous people were chased or barked at by the stray dogs in camp, I decided to talk to my CSM about them. It emerged that there actually are dog catchers that we can call down, and that he used to call them down before his overseas posting. Perhaps that is why the number of dogs had increased so much in the last half a year or so - he hadn't been around to call the dog catchers. So now we just have to wait and hopefully our dog troubles will be over soon.
I was at a vending machine and most of the drinks were sold out. One of the few remaining available drinks was "Fanta Grape". My curiosity was piqued, for I've never seen Fanta Grape being sold in Singapore, so against my better judgment I bought 2 cans of the "Fanta Grape", one for me and one for a driver. Sure enough, it wasn't Fanta but "Cheers", a Malaysian drinks brand with a proven record of making horrible tasting and vile drinks. Having spent 80 cents, we resigned ourselves to our fate and drank. After all, the can said "New - improved!", so hopefully it wouldn't taste as bad as the previous time. Unfortunately, we found that it wasn't much better. One person said it was too sweet, and another said the smell reminded him of chewing gum. I suppose that the moral of the story is: Malaysians can't make good canned drinks, since all the drinks whose recipes come from Malaysia taste lousy.
I am saddened. After more than 2 years, I have been struck with footrot, albeit a minor case of it. I think it's because of the day I walked home in the rain, for 2 days later the spots showed up. Or maybe I didn't dry my boots properly and powder after the River Crossing day.
Vincent was asking me if I knew of a blog competition. I said I knew of one, and when he said a friend of his was taking part in it, I said that he'd surely lose. He said that it was a she and that she'd win, and when I remembered that he was from Li Hua Secondary School, I corrected myself and agreed that she would win.
Comment from someone: "I can't believe those guys are still trying to make u keep fit by banning u from the canteen.. they never learn do they. I mean, the end result is all the same, so there's not really much point in trying." Oh well. That's the SAF for you.
Quotes:
[On IQA requirements] 'Once Obese Always Obese'. What a stupid concept.
[Patient in sickbay] Hello, medic. [Me: Yes?] Mei3 ci4 wo3 kan4 dao4 ni3, wo3 jiu4 hen3 kai1 xin1 [Translation: Everytime I see you, I feel happy]
tomorrow preparing for lord march (preparing for a route march the next day)
they want to do some reveration works (renovation)
leave it day first (there)
Those people going Bernai trip (to Brunei)
My policy on area cleaning: the area cleaning can never do finish one lah, trust me (be finished)
[On singing silly army songs] Dang1 bing1 shi4 bao3 hu4 guo2 jia1, bu4 shi4 chang4 ge1 de4 [Translation: Being a soldier is not about singing songs, but about protecting the country]
Servicemen who are caught with contraband items will be summary trailed (summarily trialed)
You should add some sex to your blog because it's too full of shit.
Wah, nice sunglass. SOC pass or fail? [Someone: Fail] Failthen take off sunglass! (sunglasses)
[Ed: He Who Must Not Be Named suggests 100 Plus "as a beverage of reasonable drinkability", though it doesn't "taste of anything really". I didn't know it was a Malaysian recipe, but I don't like it anyway. I must agree, though, that Kickapoo is goot.
Many Singaporean drinks suck, but we have Yeo's and Marigold, so.
He also says that "fanta grape is still available in singapore. i've recently seen it sold at Mos Burgers, and the SJI canteen stocked it 2 years ago (no idea
about now)". Hmm. - 18th March]
Post ID: 107925639884035951
The "Hainanese" Pork Chop I had for dinner was laced with enough star anise to fell an elephant. I don't think it's even -supposed- to have any star anise. Ugh, I feel sick now.
"The Freaky Brothers" - Courtesy of BitchBert
McDonald's salad fattier than burgers
Funny Pics for Online Use
"How many times have you been brought to the point of cringing when someone on your favorite, normally sane forum posts mindless drivel like "I believe in aliens because people say they were abducted", "the moon landing was faked" or similar? Well, you don't have to take it lying down!
Even though any semblance of actual dialogue is pretty much useless in such cases, where one side has erected a 50 foot wall of concrete around their heads, making fun of the intellectually disabled can still be entertaining. The only important thing to remember is not to overdo it and cease immediately, in the name of fairness, if they somehow begin thinking."
ACJC Counterstrike Map:
"Q: In the preview releases, you modeled two ACJC girls. Tell us more.
AY: The models were more of a technical challenge. I wanted to try my hands at human figure modeling. The biggest problem with doing the model is the skirt. Basically when she walks, you have a skirt and you need to animate the limbs. In other models, the skirt would be attached to the legs. In this case, the skirt had to move independently from the legs. Doing that was challenging. Also, and we had to cover the underneath of the models. (laughs)
Q: Why model a girl rather than a guy, and why do they look like girls straight out from some Japanese anime?
AY: If we wanted a guy, we could easily use the skin of the standard Half-Life model and just modify it. I based it on two existing models that I downloaded, one for the figure and another for the texture. Since they had significantly different structures, I compared the two and slowly modeled them until I had something unique. Since the face of the anime model looked better, I just mapped it on."
Bah.
"The Freaky Brothers" - Courtesy of BitchBert
McDonald's salad fattier than burgers
Funny Pics for Online Use
"How many times have you been brought to the point of cringing when someone on your favorite, normally sane forum posts mindless drivel like "I believe in aliens because people say they were abducted", "the moon landing was faked" or similar? Well, you don't have to take it lying down!
Even though any semblance of actual dialogue is pretty much useless in such cases, where one side has erected a 50 foot wall of concrete around their heads, making fun of the intellectually disabled can still be entertaining. The only important thing to remember is not to overdo it and cease immediately, in the name of fairness, if they somehow begin thinking."
ACJC Counterstrike Map:
"Q: In the preview releases, you modeled two ACJC girls. Tell us more.
AY: The models were more of a technical challenge. I wanted to try my hands at human figure modeling. The biggest problem with doing the model is the skirt. Basically when she walks, you have a skirt and you need to animate the limbs. In other models, the skirt would be attached to the legs. In this case, the skirt had to move independently from the legs. Doing that was challenging. Also, and we had to cover the underneath of the models. (laughs)
Q: Why model a girl rather than a guy, and why do they look like girls straight out from some Japanese anime?
AY: If we wanted a guy, we could easily use the skin of the standard Half-Life model and just modify it. I based it on two existing models that I downloaded, one for the figure and another for the texture. Since they had significantly different structures, I compared the two and slowly modeled them until I had something unique. Since the face of the anime model looked better, I just mapped it on."
Bah.
Post ID: 107919602526487452
Saturday, March 13, 2004
Adobe Reader SpeedUp - Trim the bloat and it loads much faster!
Astrology is bullshit. Astrology is bullshit. Astrology is bullshit.
"Let's stop using the phrase "I'm not religious, I'm spiritual." Every time I hear anyone call themselves "spiritual," it's just after they mention astrology and just before I land a flying elbow to their ovaries... Astrological signs are based off arbitrary Zodiac symbols drawn by people who also believed that light from stars came from vents on burning chariot wheels."
Heart Attack - How to survive one when you are alone
HEART ATTACKS
Read this...It could save your life.
Let's say it's 6.15 pm and you're driving home (alone of course) after an unusually hard day on the job. You're really tired, and frustrated. Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only five miles from the hospital nearest your home. Unfortunately you don't know if you'll be able to make it that far. You have been trained in CPR, but the guy that taught the course did not tell you how to perform it on yourself.
HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN ALONE...
Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing conscious. However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously.
A deep breath should be taken before each cough, the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest.
A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again.
Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating.
The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital.
Tell as many other people as possible about this. It could save their lives !!! Don't think you cannot have a heart attack because your age is less than 40 and you may be fit. Nowadays, due to further widespread deterioration in lifestyle choices ( junk food diets and any use of pharmaceuticals), heart attacks are found among people of all age groups and fitness levels.
[Ed: A medical student advises that "that stuff on heart attack is very unlikely to work.... heart attacks are usually caused because something's already wrong/clogged up with the heart/surround blood vessels, and additional physical/emotional stress puts a strain on the heart," and that " A naturopathic physician is not the same as a medical doctor!!!! N.D. not equals M.D. This coughing manoevure is very unlikely to work. In any case it's impractical; generally when you're having a heart attack you're likely to be experiencing excruciating chest pains and coughing will be the last thing on yr mind." But then, if you're gonna die anyway, I guess it can't hurt. - Added 16/03/04]
Astrology is bullshit. Astrology is bullshit. Astrology is bullshit.
"Let's stop using the phrase "I'm not religious, I'm spiritual." Every time I hear anyone call themselves "spiritual," it's just after they mention astrology and just before I land a flying elbow to their ovaries... Astrological signs are based off arbitrary Zodiac symbols drawn by people who also believed that light from stars came from vents on burning chariot wheels."
Heart Attack - How to survive one when you are alone
HEART ATTACKS
Read this...It could save your life.
Let's say it's 6.15 pm and you're driving home (alone of course) after an unusually hard day on the job. You're really tired, and frustrated. Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only five miles from the hospital nearest your home. Unfortunately you don't know if you'll be able to make it that far. You have been trained in CPR, but the guy that taught the course did not tell you how to perform it on yourself.
HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN ALONE...
Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing conscious. However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously.
A deep breath should be taken before each cough, the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest.
A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again.
Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating.
The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital.
Tell as many other people as possible about this. It could save their lives !!! Don't think you cannot have a heart attack because your age is less than 40 and you may be fit. Nowadays, due to further widespread deterioration in lifestyle choices ( junk food diets and any use of pharmaceuticals), heart attacks are found among people of all age groups and fitness levels.
[Ed: A medical student advises that "that stuff on heart attack is very unlikely to work.... heart attacks are usually caused because something's already wrong/clogged up with the heart/surround blood vessels, and additional physical/emotional stress puts a strain on the heart," and that " A naturopathic physician is not the same as a medical doctor!!!! N.D. not equals M.D. This coughing manoevure is very unlikely to work. In any case it's impractical; generally when you're having a heart attack you're likely to be experiencing excruciating chest pains and coughing will be the last thing on yr mind." But then, if you're gonna die anyway, I guess it can't hurt. - Added 16/03/04]
Post ID: 107916919483242113
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Modified version of the penguin batting game - This one's bloodier, gorier and contrary to expectations, less fun. The bat has become a spiky club, there are landmines and some weird bloodied appendages extending from the ground now, but I prefer the original.
Wondeful story from Myo Li:
When you occasionally have a really bad day, and you just need to take it out on someone, don't take it out on someone you know, take it out on someone you don't know.
I was sitting at my desk when I remembered a phone call I'd forgotten to make. I found the number and dialed it. A man answered, saying
"Hello."
I politely said, "This is Chris. Could I please speak with Robin Carter?" Suddenly the phone was slammed down on me. I couldn't believe that anyone could be so rude.
I tracked down Robin's correct number and called her. I had transposed the last two digits of her phone number. After hanging up with her, I
decided to call the 'wrong' number again. When the same guy answered the phone, I yelled "You're an asshole!" and hung up.
I wrote his number down with the word 'asshole' next to it, and put it in my desk drawer. Every couple of weeks, when I was paying bills or had a really bad day, I'd call him up and yell, "You're an asshole!" It always cheered me up.
When Caller ID came to our area, I thought my therapeutic 'asshole' calling would have to stop. So, I called his number and said, "Hi, this
is John Smith from the telephone company. I'm calling to see if you're familiar with our Caller ID Program?" He yelled "NO!" and slammed down the phone.
I quickly called him back and said, "That's because you're an asshole!"
One day I was at the store, getting ready to pull into a parking spot. Some guy in a black BMW cut me off and pulled into the spot I had patiently waited for. I hit the horn and yelled that I'd been waiting for that spot. The idiot ignored me. I noticed a "For Sale" sign in his car window, so I wrote down his number.
A couple of days later, right after calling the first asshole ( I had his number on speed dial,) I thought that I'd better call the BMW asshole, too.
I said, "Is this the man with the black BMW for sale?"
"Yes, it is."
"Can you tell me where I can see it?"
"Yes, I live at 1802 West 34th Street. It's a yellow house, and the car's parked right out in front."
"What's your name?" I asked.
"My name is Don Hansen," he said.
"When's a good time to catch you, Don?"
"I'm home every evening after five."
"Listen,Don, can I tell you something?"
"Yes?"
"Don, you're an asshole." Then I hung up, and added his number to my speed dial, too. Now, when I had a problem, I had two assholes to call.
But after several months of calling them, it wasn't as enjoyable as it used to be. So, I came up with an idea. I called Asshole #1.
"Hello."
"You're an asshole!" (But I didn't hang up.)
"Are you still there?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said.
"Stop calling me," he screamed.
"Make me," I said.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"My name is Don Hansen."
"Yeah? Where do you live?"
"Asshole, I live at 1802 West 34th Street, a yellow house, with my black Beamer parked in front."
He said, "I'm coming over right now, Don. And you had better start saying your prayers."
I said, "Yeah, like I'm really scared, asshole."
Then I called Asshole #2. "Hello?" he said.
"Hello, asshole," I said.
He yelled, "If I ever find out who you are..."
"You'll what?" I said.
"I'll kick your ass," he exclaimed.
I answered, "Well, asshole, here's your chance. I'm coming over right now."
Then I hung up and immediately called the police, saying that I lived at 1802 West 34th Street, and that I was on my way over there to kill my gay lover.
Then I called Channel 13 News about the gang war going down on West 34th Street.
I quickly got into my car and headed over to 34th street. There I saw two assholes beating the crap out of each other in front of six squad cars, a police helicopter and a news crew.
NOW I feel much better. Anger management really works.
Wondeful story from Myo Li:
When you occasionally have a really bad day, and you just need to take it out on someone, don't take it out on someone you know, take it out on someone you don't know.
I was sitting at my desk when I remembered a phone call I'd forgotten to make. I found the number and dialed it. A man answered, saying
"Hello."
I politely said, "This is Chris. Could I please speak with Robin Carter?" Suddenly the phone was slammed down on me. I couldn't believe that anyone could be so rude.
I tracked down Robin's correct number and called her. I had transposed the last two digits of her phone number. After hanging up with her, I
decided to call the 'wrong' number again. When the same guy answered the phone, I yelled "You're an asshole!" and hung up.
I wrote his number down with the word 'asshole' next to it, and put it in my desk drawer. Every couple of weeks, when I was paying bills or had a really bad day, I'd call him up and yell, "You're an asshole!" It always cheered me up.
When Caller ID came to our area, I thought my therapeutic 'asshole' calling would have to stop. So, I called his number and said, "Hi, this
is John Smith from the telephone company. I'm calling to see if you're familiar with our Caller ID Program?" He yelled "NO!" and slammed down the phone.
I quickly called him back and said, "That's because you're an asshole!"
One day I was at the store, getting ready to pull into a parking spot. Some guy in a black BMW cut me off and pulled into the spot I had patiently waited for. I hit the horn and yelled that I'd been waiting for that spot. The idiot ignored me. I noticed a "For Sale" sign in his car window, so I wrote down his number.
A couple of days later, right after calling the first asshole ( I had his number on speed dial,) I thought that I'd better call the BMW asshole, too.
I said, "Is this the man with the black BMW for sale?"
"Yes, it is."
"Can you tell me where I can see it?"
"Yes, I live at 1802 West 34th Street. It's a yellow house, and the car's parked right out in front."
"What's your name?" I asked.
"My name is Don Hansen," he said.
"When's a good time to catch you, Don?"
"I'm home every evening after five."
"Listen,Don, can I tell you something?"
"Yes?"
"Don, you're an asshole." Then I hung up, and added his number to my speed dial, too. Now, when I had a problem, I had two assholes to call.
But after several months of calling them, it wasn't as enjoyable as it used to be. So, I came up with an idea. I called Asshole #1.
"Hello."
"You're an asshole!" (But I didn't hang up.)
"Are you still there?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said.
"Stop calling me," he screamed.
"Make me," I said.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"My name is Don Hansen."
"Yeah? Where do you live?"
"Asshole, I live at 1802 West 34th Street, a yellow house, with my black Beamer parked in front."
He said, "I'm coming over right now, Don. And you had better start saying your prayers."
I said, "Yeah, like I'm really scared, asshole."
Then I called Asshole #2. "Hello?" he said.
"Hello, asshole," I said.
He yelled, "If I ever find out who you are..."
"You'll what?" I said.
"I'll kick your ass," he exclaimed.
I answered, "Well, asshole, here's your chance. I'm coming over right now."
Then I hung up and immediately called the police, saying that I lived at 1802 West 34th Street, and that I was on my way over there to kill my gay lover.
Then I called Channel 13 News about the gang war going down on West 34th Street.
I quickly got into my car and headed over to 34th street. There I saw two assholes beating the crap out of each other in front of six squad cars, a police helicopter and a news crew.
NOW I feel much better. Anger management really works.
Post ID: 107884398035535259
We interrupt this post to bring you a special broadcast
Ask Jeeves answer: what are the pros and cons of becoming a eunuch?
1) Sounds from the past:
Musica (Musica Musarum Germana) - Jacobus Handl-Gallus
By some Czech choir. Sounds a bit funny, but then I don't think our version was much better.
"Jacobus Gallus (Jacob Handl)
(1550 - 1591)
Gallus was one of the great composers of the Renaissance period. Scarcely known today, Gallus' music stands out as a monument to beauty and spirituality. He was born in 1550 somewhere in Carniola, probably in Ribnica in Sovenia. He died in Prague in 1591."
2) Ad seen in Orchard underpass:
"Brazilian Waxing
Give your loved ones that self confidence with the feeling of being clean, smooth, young and sexy"
Being grammatically incorrect is the least of this ad's faults.
3)Cuba? It was great, say boys freed from US prison camp - James Astill meets teenagers released from Guantanamo Bay who recall the place fondly
"I thank God that my son has come back, but he has changed... He is impatient and refuses to listen to his elders. He has grown disobedient."
4) Bush's flip flops
"So Bush has a site somewhere that tracks Kerry's "flip-flops". Reader TK probably spent three seconds coming up with this list of Bush flip flops. It's not like they're hard to find:
# Bush is against an Iraq WMD investigation; then he's for it.
# Bush is against nation building; then he's for it.
# Bush is against deficits; then he's for them.
# Bush is for free trade; then he's for tariffs on steel; then he's against them again.
# Bush is against the U.S. taking a role in the Israeli Palestinian conflict; then he pushes for a "road map" and a Palestinian State.
# Bush is for states right to decide on gay marriage, then he is for changing the constitution.
# Bush-"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. Bush-"I don't know where he is. I have no idea and I really don't care.
# Bush first says the U.S. won't negotiate with North Korea. Now he will
# Bush said he would demand a U.N. Security Council vote on whether to sanction military action against Iraq. Later Bush announced he would not call for a vote
# Bush was for fingerprinting and photographing Mexicans who enter the US. Bush after meeting with Pres. Fox, he's against it."
Ask Jeeves answer: what are the pros and cons of becoming a eunuch?
1) Sounds from the past:
Musica (Musica Musarum Germana) - Jacobus Handl-Gallus
By some Czech choir. Sounds a bit funny, but then I don't think our version was much better.
"Jacobus Gallus (Jacob Handl)
(1550 - 1591)
Gallus was one of the great composers of the Renaissance period. Scarcely known today, Gallus' music stands out as a monument to beauty and spirituality. He was born in 1550 somewhere in Carniola, probably in Ribnica in Sovenia. He died in Prague in 1591."
2) Ad seen in Orchard underpass:
"Brazilian Waxing
Give your loved ones that self confidence with the feeling of being clean, smooth, young and sexy"
Being grammatically incorrect is the least of this ad's faults.
3)Cuba? It was great, say boys freed from US prison camp - James Astill meets teenagers released from Guantanamo Bay who recall the place fondly
"I thank God that my son has come back, but he has changed... He is impatient and refuses to listen to his elders. He has grown disobedient."
4) Bush's flip flops
"So Bush has a site somewhere that tracks Kerry's "flip-flops". Reader TK probably spent three seconds coming up with this list of Bush flip flops. It's not like they're hard to find:
# Bush is against an Iraq WMD investigation; then he's for it.
# Bush is against nation building; then he's for it.
# Bush is against deficits; then he's for them.
# Bush is for free trade; then he's for tariffs on steel; then he's against them again.
# Bush is against the U.S. taking a role in the Israeli Palestinian conflict; then he pushes for a "road map" and a Palestinian State.
# Bush is for states right to decide on gay marriage, then he is for changing the constitution.
# Bush-"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. Bush-"I don't know where he is. I have no idea and I really don't care.
# Bush first says the U.S. won't negotiate with North Korea. Now he will
# Bush said he would demand a U.N. Security Council vote on whether to sanction military action against Iraq. Later Bush announced he would not call for a vote
# Bush was for fingerprinting and photographing Mexicans who enter the US. Bush after meeting with Pres. Fox, he's against it."
Post ID: 107882600391239951
Monday, March 08, 2004
"some sites are like porno mags
others like dictionary
and some like a bloody film
yours is like a school publication
its .......... just not meant to be commented upon "
Gee.
"Too often, we are told that virtue lies in sacrifice, meekness, service to some good or authority higher than ourselves. When writers and directors try to create a character who embodies such virtues, they almost inevitably come up with a simpleton like Forrest Gump.
By contrast, consider the Iliad and the Odyssey. Those works present many characters who meet Hibbs' call for complex, realistic, and attractive portraits of virtuous men (and, on occasion, women). But those works upheld an ethical framework that valued cunning, pride, and self-interest as well as honor and bravery. When greed, sensuality, and self-interest are considered vices, it stands to reason that only the villains will display those traits. And maybe that attitude, not a fascination with evil per se, is one reason the bad guys in film and TV are often much more interesting than the good guys."
More Than Zero (review of Shows About Nothing: Nihilism in Popular Culture From The Exorcist to Seinfeld)
Utilitarianism is based on two premises... The first premise is the belief in consequentialism. Specifically, that morality is concerned with the effects of actions on the happiness of individuals. The second premise is a belief in a maximization principle. Specifically, the right action is the one which has as its consequence the greatest happiness of the greatest number. It is not easy to realize in today's society what a radical departure the first premise was from the conventional wisdom of its time. The second premise is a foundation of todays ubiquitous use of cost-benefit analysis.
Deontological theories of morality take as their premise the belief that human beings have an intuitive knowledge of right and wrong. Associated with this approach is the belief that human beings have certain rights, and that actions which adversely affect such rights are morally wrong. Historically, one immediately thinks of the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; currently, one is aware of the demands for woman's rights, gay rights, and a variety of economic rights. Since most of us do have strong feelings of right and wrong, there surely is a psychological basis for the deontological approach to morality.
Social contract theory... takes as its premise that there is an agreement between an individual and society in which the individual agrees to submit to the authority of the government and its laws in return for the government's protection of the individual's life and property. These theories were primarily concerned with the moral obligations of citizens and governments.
The deontologist believes that individuals have certain moral rights which cannot be sacrificed for the benefit of others; the consequentialist believes that morally correct action depends on its effects. The primary objection to the deontological view is that, in the absence of religious authority, its adherents provide no alternative basis for their choice of moral rights. Their final appeal, as expressed in many papers, is to "moral intuition" or "what we know is right".
History shows that moral rules evolve over time. A most striking example is slavery. It is now almost universally agreed that the institution of slavery is immoral. Yet almost up to modern times citizens who considered themselves to be highly moral owned slaves. At present only "animal rights" advocates, a small minority, consider it immoral to kill animals for food or use them in medical research. In future times will the present majority who disregard animal rights be considered to be as immoral as those who formerly accepted slavery? The morality of slavery and animal rights is fundamentally related to the question of who are members of the social group to whom the rules of morality apply. One way in which the evolution of morality can be viewed is as the expansion of the concept of society-defined as the group to whom one's moral rules apply-from family, to clan, to city, to country, to all persons, and (perhaps) to animals.
The premises we propose as a basis for moral choices are: What is morally correct depends upon consequences; the desired consequences are those leading to happiness; moral rules should be choices made to promote happiness.
Source: Morality/Ethics - A Philosophical Discussion of the Basis for Contemporary Moral Choices
others like dictionary
and some like a bloody film
yours is like a school publication
its .......... just not meant to be commented upon "
Gee.
"Too often, we are told that virtue lies in sacrifice, meekness, service to some good or authority higher than ourselves. When writers and directors try to create a character who embodies such virtues, they almost inevitably come up with a simpleton like Forrest Gump.
By contrast, consider the Iliad and the Odyssey. Those works present many characters who meet Hibbs' call for complex, realistic, and attractive portraits of virtuous men (and, on occasion, women). But those works upheld an ethical framework that valued cunning, pride, and self-interest as well as honor and bravery. When greed, sensuality, and self-interest are considered vices, it stands to reason that only the villains will display those traits. And maybe that attitude, not a fascination with evil per se, is one reason the bad guys in film and TV are often much more interesting than the good guys."
More Than Zero (review of Shows About Nothing: Nihilism in Popular Culture From The Exorcist to Seinfeld)
Utilitarianism is based on two premises... The first premise is the belief in consequentialism. Specifically, that morality is concerned with the effects of actions on the happiness of individuals. The second premise is a belief in a maximization principle. Specifically, the right action is the one which has as its consequence the greatest happiness of the greatest number. It is not easy to realize in today's society what a radical departure the first premise was from the conventional wisdom of its time. The second premise is a foundation of todays ubiquitous use of cost-benefit analysis.
Deontological theories of morality take as their premise the belief that human beings have an intuitive knowledge of right and wrong. Associated with this approach is the belief that human beings have certain rights, and that actions which adversely affect such rights are morally wrong. Historically, one immediately thinks of the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; currently, one is aware of the demands for woman's rights, gay rights, and a variety of economic rights. Since most of us do have strong feelings of right and wrong, there surely is a psychological basis for the deontological approach to morality.
Social contract theory... takes as its premise that there is an agreement between an individual and society in which the individual agrees to submit to the authority of the government and its laws in return for the government's protection of the individual's life and property. These theories were primarily concerned with the moral obligations of citizens and governments.
The deontologist believes that individuals have certain moral rights which cannot be sacrificed for the benefit of others; the consequentialist believes that morally correct action depends on its effects. The primary objection to the deontological view is that, in the absence of religious authority, its adherents provide no alternative basis for their choice of moral rights. Their final appeal, as expressed in many papers, is to "moral intuition" or "what we know is right".
History shows that moral rules evolve over time. A most striking example is slavery. It is now almost universally agreed that the institution of slavery is immoral. Yet almost up to modern times citizens who considered themselves to be highly moral owned slaves. At present only "animal rights" advocates, a small minority, consider it immoral to kill animals for food or use them in medical research. In future times will the present majority who disregard animal rights be considered to be as immoral as those who formerly accepted slavery? The morality of slavery and animal rights is fundamentally related to the question of who are members of the social group to whom the rules of morality apply. One way in which the evolution of morality can be viewed is as the expansion of the concept of society-defined as the group to whom one's moral rules apply-from family, to clan, to city, to country, to all persons, and (perhaps) to animals.
The premises we propose as a basis for moral choices are: What is morally correct depends upon consequences; the desired consequences are those leading to happiness; moral rules should be choices made to promote happiness.
Source: Morality/Ethics - A Philosophical Discussion of the Basis for Contemporary Moral Choices
Post ID: 107875380848827001
Sunday, March 07, 2004
"With verdure clad" sounds so much more refined than "Now robed in cool refreshing green"
Robert Shaw recordings also tend to sound a little muffled, but at least this one is an English version. Though I do have some issues with the translation (see above).
Apparently Wild Force is the first series to be made by Disney (as opposed to Fox). That explains a lot of things (both good and bad). The special effects are technically better (especially evident with the CG in Forever Red), but somehow they have less character than the campy ones done by Fox.
Anonymous mail I got:
"i really hope that u would continue wiht the work and scan in year 1998 and 2001 yearbooks as well."
Sorry. No can do, bub.
Robert Shaw recordings also tend to sound a little muffled, but at least this one is an English version. Though I do have some issues with the translation (see above).
Apparently Wild Force is the first series to be made by Disney (as opposed to Fox). That explains a lot of things (both good and bad). The special effects are technically better (especially evident with the CG in Forever Red), but somehow they have less character than the campy ones done by Fox.
Anonymous mail I got:
"i really hope that u would continue wiht the work and scan in year 1998 and 2001 yearbooks as well."
Sorry. No can do, bub.
Post ID: 107864916621934796
Saturday, March 06, 2004
Israeli rabbi urges pig fat use to stop bombers
"A prominent Israeli rabbi has proposed hanging bags of pig fat in buses to deter Muslim suicide bombers who may want to avoid contact with an "unclean" animal, an Israeli official says."
If it won't stop Jews from taking the buses, why would it stop Muslims from bombing them? This measure is even supported by their Deputy Public Security Minister.
Look what happened, however, in 2001:
"A Thai lawmaker resigned Tuesday to douse widespread anger he caused by suggesting that Islamic countries guilty of harboring terrorists should be bombed with "pork fat bombs.""
Oh well.
I want to read China's "2003 US Rights Violation Record"!
The Rainbow Plucking Orgy
"Pluck me! Blatant Rainbow inuendo... For those of you who don't know, Rainbow was a credible childrens TV show from the 70's and 80's. This clip was actually broadcast and watched by millions of youngans (maybe)."
The more I watch it, the more suspicious it gets, what with lines such as:
"I think Geoffrey is trying to get him up"
"Yes Bungle, do you have a special friend that you like to play with?"
"Yesterday we played with each other's balls. Are we going to play with our friend's balls today?
"Yes, and we can play with our twangers as well."
(to camera) "Have you seen Bungles twanger?"
"Oh I have, I showed him how to pluck with it."
"We could hear you all banging away"
"Banging can be fun."
"Ooooh yes, and I was banging away all last night with Rod and Freddy."
(looking sad) "Yes, but it broke my plucking instrument."
( to Jane ) "Do you want to blow on my pipe while I'm twanging away?"
"Oh no, I was banging away with Freddy last night. But would you like to play with my maracas?"
(full transcript)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Hmm, which pair should I get? Apparently the former is better for those with flat feet (so says the 46SAR Routine Orders. Curiously, 42SAR's was silent on this matter). Poor suffering got both pairs. Bah.
"A prominent Israeli rabbi has proposed hanging bags of pig fat in buses to deter Muslim suicide bombers who may want to avoid contact with an "unclean" animal, an Israeli official says."
If it won't stop Jews from taking the buses, why would it stop Muslims from bombing them? This measure is even supported by their Deputy Public Security Minister.
Look what happened, however, in 2001:
"A Thai lawmaker resigned Tuesday to douse widespread anger he caused by suggesting that Islamic countries guilty of harboring terrorists should be bombed with "pork fat bombs.""
Oh well.
I want to read China's "2003 US Rights Violation Record"!
The Rainbow Plucking Orgy
"Pluck me! Blatant Rainbow inuendo... For those of you who don't know, Rainbow was a credible childrens TV show from the 70's and 80's. This clip was actually broadcast and watched by millions of youngans (maybe)."
The more I watch it, the more suspicious it gets, what with lines such as:
"I think Geoffrey is trying to get him up"
"Yes Bungle, do you have a special friend that you like to play with?"
"Yesterday we played with each other's balls. Are we going to play with our friend's balls today?
"Yes, and we can play with our twangers as well."
(to camera) "Have you seen Bungles twanger?"
"Oh I have, I showed him how to pluck with it."
"We could hear you all banging away"
"Banging can be fun."
"Ooooh yes, and I was banging away all last night with Rod and Freddy."
(looking sad) "Yes, but it broke my plucking instrument."
( to Jane ) "Do you want to blow on my pipe while I'm twanging away?"
"Oh no, I was banging away with Freddy last night. But would you like to play with my maracas?"
(full transcript)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Hmm, which pair should I get? Apparently the former is better for those with flat feet (so says the 46SAR Routine Orders. Curiously, 42SAR's was silent on this matter). Poor suffering got both pairs. Bah.
Post ID: 107857264668763805
More Search referrals:
Bukit Batok Chinese Medicine Infertility - Chinese Medicine for infertility is more likely to make you *even* more infertile.
are there anymore hentai simgirl games that i can try without signing up - I don't think so.
superhero steven lim - I love Handsome Boy, Steven Lim. Don't you?
"raffles girls" nude - This was followed 20 mins later by: "nanyang girls" nude. Underage Singapore schoolgirl porn sure is popular.
tumbled down factory poser
"infantry jokes" - Here's one. Why was the gay infantry platoon so proud of themselves? Because they were the "Queen of the Battlefield" Har. Har. Har.
sylvester zaogeng - (If it refers to the cat) He's already naked, why do you need him to zaogeng?
medic test american's army game - I don't think that game can model a medic test.
DIY bust enhancement massage - See what they're doing in Thailand.
naked pictures of piqua girls - What are piqua girls?
"pms" and "girls living together" - I think the person was looking for the period synchronisation thing.
Krusty Burger uniforms - See this.
gotong-royong (pot-luck) - Indonesia boleh!
nus blog fuck - I don't think Singaporean students are that open about their sexual liasons just yet.
singapore girls enhance bust advertisement - I wonder if bust enhancement is so popular and in the mainstream elsewhere.
email pictures of xray bottle stuck vagina - Ouch.
underwater tomb at macritchie reservoir - Maybe it contains gold to solve any financial problems Thailand has.
Raffles junior college zaogeng - I'd suggest Kazaa, but it seems Kazaa's dead in the water. I wonder where all the aficionados of S'pore porn have fled to.
Singaporean gays fucking
blog of scgs girls
Can I see Serene's big boobs? - No.
singapore secondary girls naked
gabriel friends - HAHAHA. Ahem.
SAF Ward - A really nice place to be, I'm told. You get to watch TV the whole day. I went there once and it was really spacious and the air was cool.
pussy eating halal - I don't think so. Haram! Haram!
anna hug raffles - ?!
pictures of people eating feces - Eek.
pixel porn gssq.blogspot - ASCII porn I assume
fuck movie chip malay - Chip? V-Chip?
melayu sex weblog
guiness world record for longest earlobes - Should be some Indo-Chinese tribe
forum + "Raffles institution" + gay
samurai swordsmen penis - I doubt they were out of the ordinary.
sword of Gabriel - My sword's rusting due to lack of care. Maybe if I get a good longsword I'll polish it every week.
chio swimwear - More chio than the people in them, at any rate.
"national service" malaysia nude - Birthday suits beat the disgusting blue uniforms anyday!
"plush sushi"
tomoko answers simgirl - Sorry, I didn't manage to complete that game either.
Website of Big Bird and Kermit the Frog Stoned - Bert is Evil has a brother site now?
Erotic elves legolas yaoi - Melding them with the Japanese tradition (and drawing them with gigantic eyes, I assume) is just plain wrong.
"how to" "opt out" eldershield - I doubt my blog's a good source of information on Singapore government policies and mechanics
"travis ho" singapore age - One year my junior.
virus automatically silencing winamp audio
melbourne, muslim housemate
funny girls
nude photos of fucking contests that gets past filters - Filters are pretty easy to bypass.
What is the disease in which females are born with male - Cloacal exstrophy, perhaps? Or Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia? I'm not an expert on intersexuality.
kermit fucks piggy - That'd be a sight. Bestiality!
balanced reports about expats having animals - ?!
I'm thinking of trying NewsMonster but I think most blogs I read don't have RSS/Atom feeds.
Mystery MP3 of the week.
Someone has responded about how Bob Manahan (aka Zordon) died. At least he passed away peacefully in his sleep.
[Addendum: Since the site is now down, here's what it used to say:
"Posted by Rob Petitt on February 07, 2004 at 00:27:05:
The Ultimate Crossover, a dual-author project between Jennifer Bigley and Ellen Brand, is still in production. Basically, Ellen's waiting for Jen to get off her duff and write the first few segments. Watch for updates in The Castle Times as they happen.
Sounds promising, if they actually get down to writing it.
Bukit Batok Chinese Medicine Infertility - Chinese Medicine for infertility is more likely to make you *even* more infertile.
are there anymore hentai simgirl games that i can try without signing up - I don't think so.
superhero steven lim - I love Handsome Boy, Steven Lim. Don't you?
"raffles girls" nude - This was followed 20 mins later by: "nanyang girls" nude. Underage Singapore schoolgirl porn sure is popular.
tumbled down factory poser
"infantry jokes" - Here's one. Why was the gay infantry platoon so proud of themselves? Because they were the "Queen of the Battlefield" Har. Har. Har.
sylvester zaogeng - (If it refers to the cat) He's already naked, why do you need him to zaogeng?
medic test american's army game - I don't think that game can model a medic test.
DIY bust enhancement massage - See what they're doing in Thailand.
naked pictures of piqua girls - What are piqua girls?
"pms" and "girls living together" - I think the person was looking for the period synchronisation thing.
Krusty Burger uniforms - See this.
gotong-royong (pot-luck) - Indonesia boleh!
nus blog fuck - I don't think Singaporean students are that open about their sexual liasons just yet.
singapore girls enhance bust advertisement - I wonder if bust enhancement is so popular and in the mainstream elsewhere.
email pictures of xray bottle stuck vagina - Ouch.
underwater tomb at macritchie reservoir - Maybe it contains gold to solve any financial problems Thailand has.
Raffles junior college zaogeng - I'd suggest Kazaa, but it seems Kazaa's dead in the water. I wonder where all the aficionados of S'pore porn have fled to.
Singaporean gays fucking
blog of scgs girls
Can I see Serene's big boobs? - No.
singapore secondary girls naked
gabriel friends - HAHAHA. Ahem.
SAF Ward - A really nice place to be, I'm told. You get to watch TV the whole day. I went there once and it was really spacious and the air was cool.
pussy eating halal - I don't think so. Haram! Haram!
anna hug raffles - ?!
pictures of people eating feces - Eek.
pixel porn gssq.blogspot - ASCII porn I assume
fuck movie chip malay - Chip? V-Chip?
melayu sex weblog
guiness world record for longest earlobes - Should be some Indo-Chinese tribe
forum + "Raffles institution" + gay
samurai swordsmen penis - I doubt they were out of the ordinary.
sword of Gabriel - My sword's rusting due to lack of care. Maybe if I get a good longsword I'll polish it every week.
chio swimwear - More chio than the people in them, at any rate.
"national service" malaysia nude - Birthday suits beat the disgusting blue uniforms anyday!
"plush sushi"
tomoko answers simgirl - Sorry, I didn't manage to complete that game either.
Website of Big Bird and Kermit the Frog Stoned - Bert is Evil has a brother site now?
Erotic elves legolas yaoi - Melding them with the Japanese tradition (and drawing them with gigantic eyes, I assume) is just plain wrong.
"how to" "opt out" eldershield - I doubt my blog's a good source of information on Singapore government policies and mechanics
"travis ho" singapore age - One year my junior.
virus automatically silencing winamp audio
melbourne, muslim housemate
funny girls
nude photos of fucking contests that gets past filters - Filters are pretty easy to bypass.
What is the disease in which females are born with male - Cloacal exstrophy, perhaps? Or Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia? I'm not an expert on intersexuality.
kermit fucks piggy - That'd be a sight. Bestiality!
balanced reports about expats having animals - ?!
I'm thinking of trying NewsMonster but I think most blogs I read don't have RSS/Atom feeds.
Mystery MP3 of the week.
Someone has responded about how Bob Manahan (aka Zordon) died. At least he passed away peacefully in his sleep.
[Addendum: Since the site is now down, here's what it used to say:
"Posted by Rob Petitt on February 07, 2004 at 00:27:05:
In Reply to: Bob Manahan aka Zordon posted by Agagooga on September 28, 2003 at 05:58:07:
: Does anyone know how he died?
How much information do you want? I can tell you that he passed away in his sleep in San Jose, CA. What I had heard from his brother and father was that it was a heart issue, possibly aneurism. Some might list this as a heart attack.
He was a very close personal friend of mine for many years, going all the way back to the late 1960's. I think of him every day."]
The Ultimate Crossover
The Year: 1997
The Place: Earth's Pacific Rim
The Problem: Zedd and Rita have attacked!
The BIG Problem: There's no Zordon!!
Without the Power Rangers, Zedd's first attacks can't be repelled. The Pacific Rim falls victim to a massive air strike, destroying most major cities and forcing the human survivors underground. But don't count the survivors out just yet....
The Ultimate Crossover pulls characters from:
| Power Rangers VR Troopers Superhuman Samuri Syber Squad Digimon Big Bad Beetleborgs Buffy the Vampire Slayer Seven Days Sailor Moon | Stargate SG-1 Masked Rider The Sentinel Gundam Wing X-Men Harry Potter Action Man Real Ghostbusters Max Steel |
The Ultimate Crossover, a dual-author project between Jennifer Bigley and Ellen Brand, is still in production. Basically, Ellen's waiting for Jen to get off her duff and write the first few segments. Watch for updates in The Castle Times as they happen.
Sounds promising, if they actually get down to writing it.
Post ID: 107854980765724928
NSFs - our very own Banglas, if much weaker and grossly less efficient
We just had our third bunk/furniture moving in 8 months. The second was totally pointless, and the first and this only slightly less so. The abbreviated story is as follows: For BMT, the companies didn't have enough furniture, so HQ moved its furniture down, and got double decker beds and new cupboards. After BMT, some people got posted out and though some were posted in, not enough were posted to make up for the shortfall, so there were extra beds and cupboards. Now, we're having a fourth company, so our double decker beds and cupboards are being sent there, and we are getting our old cupboards and beds back. Now, what we did is the most obvious thing to do in the situations we were faced with, but it is hardly the most elegant solution and some of its many faults will be detailed shortly. I am sure that a better solution could have been conceived, for after all, the SAF is famed for its efficiency, ingenuity and logistical expertise.
I think that, if we'd all contributed $3-5 of our own money to a common pot, we'd have been able to hire maybe 30 banglas [Ed: Affectionate term for Bangladeshi Workers] - our modern day Stakhanovites, and pillars of the modern Singapore economy - to do the bunk shifting, instead of using over 100 of us. This would be possible since they are so much better at doing what they do than we are - it takes 6 of us to move a cupboard up one flight of stairs, but 2 banglas can carry the same cupboard up 3 flights without even breaking a sweat. We would even be able to throw in free breakfast and lunch, killing 2 birds with 1 stone, since our rations are always under-consumed. In fact, if the unit had used the money they'd spent on giving us, a few weeks before, notebook covers with the Battalion logo and vision on them, to hire the banglas, we'd all have appreciated this more. If we'd hired Banglas, we would then have been freed of 2 days of meaningless labour and left to do more productive things, to make (marginally) better use of our various talents and skills.
Now, it's not just because we're lazy that we advocated the hiring of the banglas. There is, as always, a more tenable (to the SAF) reason. With all this furniture shifting, a significant amount of the furniture has suffered irreversible damage - many scratches have appeared on the cupboards, drawer keys have gone missing, clothes hooks have broken, metal parts securing cupboard doors have disappeared, wooden beams on bedframes to support the mattresses have broken, some mattresses have lost their bounciness and burst springs and more. If nothing else, with the number of mirrors that were broken, 42SAR will have bad luck for the next few decades. Now, if we'd hired banglas, who are greatly more skilled at such tasks, and further, can be charged for damages, I doubt if we'd have a tenth of the furniture damage that we now have. Thanks to the SAF's shortsightedness, it had now incurred a greater cost for itself - damaged furniture which will have to be replaced sooner.
Incidentally, at one point we were told to put on our shirts because it was a "safety" issue - without them we'd "get scratched". Like the shirts would protect us much against scratches anyway. And what about the greater risk of heat stroke? Would that not have been more of a safety hazard than scratches?
SAF and the Media
FOUR Singapore Armed Forces soldiers were injured yesterday morning when a bullet, jammed in the chamber of a heavy machine gun, exploded in their faces as they tried to dislodge it.
The incident occurred during a live-firing exercise, after the 0.5-inch calibre weapon mounted on an armoured vehicle jammed while a full-time NSman was firing it.
The stuck round exploded while the NSman and a safety officer tried to rectify the problem.
The soldier who had been firing the gun was the most seriously wounded - shrapnel from the exploding round hit his face and eyes.
He is now in a stable condition and is warded at the National University Hospital.
The safety officer and two other full-time NSmen nearby were also hurt.
They suffered minor injuries and received outpatient treatment at the hospital.
All four soldiers, aged between 20 and 24, are trainees at the SAF's Armour Training Centre at Sungei Gedong Camp in Lim Chu Kang.
I was at first pleasantly surprised that this incident was reported in the papers with only minor inaccuracies the following day and on CNA the same day, for even though there has been a welcome move towards transparency recently, I didn't think that they'd be so forthright. Later, however, the real reason was revealed - the press was at the gates of our camp less than an hour after the event. I assume someone had tipped them off.
Now, MINDEF does not like to report this sort of incident for a variety of reasons: the negative publicity and the loss of trust in the SAF, people knowing that it injures its slaves now and then, speculation and (the most charitable explanation) that it is best to wait for the investigation to conclude, to establish the facts definitively.
Negative publicity should not be an issue, for the SAF should be able to defend its actions and practices in public, if it is able. If it is not, no one should be able to censor such news with the excuse that it would cause a loss of trust in the SAF, for then it would be justified.
Speculation is feared for it could lead to confusion and misconceptions arising in the public, especially in the absence of an official, definitive version of the facts. However, speculation thrives best in the fertile ground of uncertainty and silence, and the SAF, in keeping mum about facts until investigations are complete, and holding slaves to silence with ominous and vague threats, is actually sowing the seeds of its downfall, for there is no harm releasing preliminary findings, or even eyewitness reports, for if nothing is said, it is usually assumed that there is something to hide.
Even if we accept the last explanation, it does seem fortuitous that by the time the investigation ends, no one will care about the incident if it isn't too major, and it will be relegated to a footnote in the papers, below a story about how a cat was saved from an angsana tree by brave firemen, and no one will think to question the why and wherefore of the incident, for news is current and immediate, and no one cares about stale news. If we accepted this kind of excuse, all the news we got would be 2 months old, having had to be researched and vetted by a committee ensuring that the "true facts" of the incident were reported.
Furthermore, the public has a right to know how the flower of their youth are sacrificing their eyesight in the name of Our Defense, especially since this is an army of slaves, press-ganged and thrust wide-eyed into a dangerous new world, and not regulars who have made a Faustian bargain, sacrificing their freedom (and much else) for duty, honour, glory and - dare I say - money.
My 8km route march
As part of our training for Exercise Lancer, we had a 8km route march. As usual, I was placed at the front. Why they persist in placing me at the front dring runs, route marches and what not, I do not know, for I inevitably end up at the back, in the "Gabriel detail". What is more, I block all the people trying to overtake me and get prematurely tired out trying to keep up with the rest at first.
By the time the rest of the company had reached the rest point at the 4km mark, I was about 600m behind the rest of them, so they got a little more rest than they would have gotten otherwise. About midway through the 5th (of 6th) round, a clip on my field pack fortuitiously broke while I was taking it off my shoulders. I then brought it all the way to the safety minivan by bear-hugging it and carried on. My load was now lighter, but after an initial burst of energy, it seemed almost as hard as ever to continue, due to my generalised exhaustion and foot pain (both due to blisters and my collapsed arches).
Near the ending of the last round, I felt my strength ebbing and my breathing became more laboured. I tried to slow down. Then the "motivation" started. People were understandably upset, for they'd walked with me at my torturingly slow pace and wasted a lot of time. However, I'd never asked them to walk with me, and would rather have had them go on by themselves.
The lines and insults that people like to shout to "motivate" others never work on me, for they appeal to my non-existent sense of male pride. Nevertheless, in some odd way they do drag my mental state down.
"Are you a pussy or are you a man?"
Now, obviously one answer is meant to have negative connotations, and another positive ones. Not to me, though. Though I have some antipathy towards cats, pussies are cute, sweet, innocent, lovable and soft. And they purr. To be a "man", on the other hand, has connotations of insensitivity, thinking with your gonads, having no empathy, being testosterone driven and placing value in empty things like puerile physical or foolhardy feats. Anyhow, I never asked to be born male, and to expect ALL males to possess certain attributes and characteristics is sexist. If females can be soldiers, it follows that not all males are suited to be enslaved.
"I let you take off your field pack already, what else do you want?"
Interesting question. How about not having a field pack in the first place? How about not doing the route march? How about being in another unit? How about ORDing now? How about not being enslaved in the first place? While we're there, I would also like someone back, a million in the bank, the Cure for Cancer to be discovered and World Peace.
And so, the cumulative stress was too much to bear, and I broke down again, like I did at the 12km checkpoint of the 16km route march last September - crying, screaming, ululation, lying on the road and banging my fists on the tarmac, and I had to be hauled up and led bodily to the end point.
It is also upsetting that some people seem to think that this is all an act. I suppose only the sight of mangled dead bodies would convince them of the truth of the matter. Oh wait. Death need not necessarily be an intention - it could just be an act gone wrong.
In Sungei Gedong
We had stairs training, starting off with SBO attire and just over half an hour of clambering up the staircases. This was considered "light" and already I felt like fainting. This is not looking good. And apparently it can lead to osteoarthritis in 2-3 decades' time, so we won't be able to claim money from the SAF for it.
I swear - nowadays, 75% of the time, one of the two choices of breakfasts we get is either "fried egg noodles" or "fried Hongkong noodles", and I am unable to discern any difference between the two of them. Furthermore, by the time I eat breakfast, there is almost always only one choice left. Namely, the fried egg/Hongkong noodles. Now, I like fried egg/Hongkong noodles, but eating it almost daily is making me sick.
SFI experiments in breakfast foods can go horribly wrong - who can forget such abominations as the "curry pao" and "sardine pao" from Islamic Food Industries? However, one experiment that has come out well is the "vegetable pao", provided by Khong Guan. This is actually a pao which has soon kueh stuffing inside. It might not sound very nice, but it does taste quite good. Incidentally, I suspect that SFI provides its food suppliers with convenient guinea pigs (ie us) to test out new products, since I've never seen the "vegetable pao" outside of SFI cookhouses, nor, come to think of it the "curry pao" or "sardine pao".
A recent tasty cookhouse innovation is the "Eight Treasure" vegetable dish. I tried counting the ingredients and came up with the following: cauliflower, broccoli, two types of mushrooms (one button), red pepper, green pepper, yellow pepper, celery and carrot. That's 9 ingredients. Oh well.
The fourth combat company of 42SAR has enlisted, and is now doing BMT. This puts them out of sync with the rest, but I guess they're supposed to be special. Hell, they even get Vitamin C pills every night - maybe the SAF is trying to train Biologically-Enhanced Warriors. They new company's name has been changed from "Cougar" to "Paladin". This makes slightly more sense in the sense that "P" is closer to "J", "K", "L" and "S", but breaks with the Great Tradition of naming each company after a cat. Thus, I have chosen to call "P" Company "Pussy" Company.
Some things that piss me off:
- being kept away from my workplace constantly because of various stupid activities, and then being expected to perform my job as if I were around all the time. If it comes down to it, I think I've done less than I am expected to do, but more than I could be reasonably expected to
- people stealing my stationery, especially stationery that I've paid and isn't SAF-issued
- people taking my "stores" for granted, yet refusing to help me acquire more for immediate consumption
Medical Centre
Someone was playing with his saliva and making sounds with it, and a big glob fell on the floor. Ugh. I thought people stopped playing with saliva in primary school.
During enlistment day of my unit's fourth company, there was an obligatory tour of the medical centre, and desperate people were peeking through the blinds at the ah lians and aunties. I remarked on this giving negative utility and someone pointed out that they had nothing better to do. I was amused at someone bringing his dog along, though.
Early one morning at about 7:15, I was proceeding to the medical centre to take over as duty medic. My beret was on, and my lightly-laden (for once) bag slung over my shoulder. As I was entering the School of Armour car porch, a platoon-sized group in PT Kit was filing past. Suddenly, one of them turned around and the following exchange ensued:
Guy: Boss (?) tiam! Good morning Sir! *salutes me smartly*
Me: I'm not a "Sir". You can carry on. Thank you.
Their hair was too long for them to be recruits. Maybe it was too early for their brains to be functioning properly, and they needed blood to go to their heads (the classic SAF excuse for knocking people down).
Whenever I'm the duty medic, my grand staff - made of the finest Ironwood and tipped with a circlet of green jade - will appear: the symbol of my power and authority as the Duty Medic. More importantly, it lets me shut the door without getting out of my seat, and also to thwack people on their butts.
I was sweeping the floor while on duty, and must have looked very lousy and pathetic, for some sickbay patients offered to help me if I lent them my charger. Quite a fair quid pro quo, I think, though some people accused me of exploiting them.
People were inoculating new recruits, and I noticed that almost all of the injection sites had trickles of blood flowing from them. Interestingly, my record is about 1 in 20 injections leading to blood flowing from the site.
Misc SAF
My boots were wet during a river crossing, so my favourite Poor Suffering Substantive Third Sergeant lent me his Gore-Tex boots as my parade boots had mysteriously shrunk. It was the first time I'd worn the new design, and I have to say that they're overrated. There's little difference between well-seasoned boots of the old design and Gore-Tex ones.
The various disingeneous ploys used to "encourage" people are interesting to examine if the aren't being used on you. At the start, they tell you that you've just started, and that you can't give up so easily. When you've reached the midway mark, they say that you've finished half of the exercise and should feel accomplised. Only half of the exercise is left! Also, vague threats of remedial training are waved about. Finally, when you're near the end of the activity, you are told that you're almost done and that you shouldn't give up.
Apparently Captains and Majors visit SAF Psychiatrists as well. Oh well.
Quotes:
[On using real SAR 21s for the river crossing] It seems the 'dummy' is mutually exclusive. Either the person organising is a dummy, or the rifle is a dummy. (It seems that only one can be a dummy -)
[Sign on a laundrette door] Anyone who wanna use the laundrate room please seek permission from the COS or CSM (wants to use the laundrette) (Ed: Damnit, it's written on the door above this stupid sign!]
[On cadets] They're still quite nice people. Wait until they get commissioned, then they become fuckers. Can you imagine Swee Soon if he's commissioned? 'Eh. Hello! Hello!'
[Me to a nice guy about to be posted to a company for BMT: I cannot imagine you knocking down the recruits] Neither can I.
[On engineering] It's like a dump ground. Dumping ground.
[On my filing the medical dockets from the previous day] Why you put back? They're going to report sick again today. (did you put them)
[On me and my stick] You look like a Sergeant Major. Medical Centre Sergeant Major. MSM.
Gabriel, you should get a wife. [Me: So I can - stay out?] Someone to take care of you for the rest of your life (?)
[On the finer points of cursing in Hokkien] [Me: When do you say 'lan jiao' and when do you say 'jee bye'?] Jee bye is when you're du lan [Ed: Pissed off] over something. [Me: Lan jiao is...?] Lan jiao is when someone says something wrong. 'Lan jiao lah!'
We need comfort women in the camp. Then people won't mind staying in, I tell you. A lot of people will sign on... FFI for prostitutes.
[Dennis: Weng! Weng! Weng!] Is that Dennis or Ban Xiong? [Me: *points at Dennis* Ban Xiong doesn't make stupid noises] He doesn't make stupid noises. He only makes stupid comments.
[Me on the Lord of the Rings exhibition: You can see Arwen's dress] Arwen's underwear. [Someone: Only tubby will think of this kind of thing]
[Me on some Ah Lian: I see the crack of someone's ass] That's different. That's more elegant.
We just had our third bunk/furniture moving in 8 months. The second was totally pointless, and the first and this only slightly less so. The abbreviated story is as follows: For BMT, the companies didn't have enough furniture, so HQ moved its furniture down, and got double decker beds and new cupboards. After BMT, some people got posted out and though some were posted in, not enough were posted to make up for the shortfall, so there were extra beds and cupboards. Now, we're having a fourth company, so our double decker beds and cupboards are being sent there, and we are getting our old cupboards and beds back. Now, what we did is the most obvious thing to do in the situations we were faced with, but it is hardly the most elegant solution and some of its many faults will be detailed shortly. I am sure that a better solution could have been conceived, for after all, the SAF is famed for its efficiency, ingenuity and logistical expertise.
I think that, if we'd all contributed $3-5 of our own money to a common pot, we'd have been able to hire maybe 30 banglas [Ed: Affectionate term for Bangladeshi Workers] - our modern day Stakhanovites, and pillars of the modern Singapore economy - to do the bunk shifting, instead of using over 100 of us. This would be possible since they are so much better at doing what they do than we are - it takes 6 of us to move a cupboard up one flight of stairs, but 2 banglas can carry the same cupboard up 3 flights without even breaking a sweat. We would even be able to throw in free breakfast and lunch, killing 2 birds with 1 stone, since our rations are always under-consumed. In fact, if the unit had used the money they'd spent on giving us, a few weeks before, notebook covers with the Battalion logo and vision on them, to hire the banglas, we'd all have appreciated this more. If we'd hired Banglas, we would then have been freed of 2 days of meaningless labour and left to do more productive things, to make (marginally) better use of our various talents and skills.
Now, it's not just because we're lazy that we advocated the hiring of the banglas. There is, as always, a more tenable (to the SAF) reason. With all this furniture shifting, a significant amount of the furniture has suffered irreversible damage - many scratches have appeared on the cupboards, drawer keys have gone missing, clothes hooks have broken, metal parts securing cupboard doors have disappeared, wooden beams on bedframes to support the mattresses have broken, some mattresses have lost their bounciness and burst springs and more. If nothing else, with the number of mirrors that were broken, 42SAR will have bad luck for the next few decades. Now, if we'd hired banglas, who are greatly more skilled at such tasks, and further, can be charged for damages, I doubt if we'd have a tenth of the furniture damage that we now have. Thanks to the SAF's shortsightedness, it had now incurred a greater cost for itself - damaged furniture which will have to be replaced sooner.
Incidentally, at one point we were told to put on our shirts because it was a "safety" issue - without them we'd "get scratched". Like the shirts would protect us much against scratches anyway. And what about the greater risk of heat stroke? Would that not have been more of a safety hazard than scratches?
SAF and the Media
FOUR Singapore Armed Forces soldiers were injured yesterday morning when a bullet, jammed in the chamber of a heavy machine gun, exploded in their faces as they tried to dislodge it.
The incident occurred during a live-firing exercise, after the 0.5-inch calibre weapon mounted on an armoured vehicle jammed while a full-time NSman was firing it.
The stuck round exploded while the NSman and a safety officer tried to rectify the problem.
The soldier who had been firing the gun was the most seriously wounded - shrapnel from the exploding round hit his face and eyes.
He is now in a stable condition and is warded at the National University Hospital.
The safety officer and two other full-time NSmen nearby were also hurt.
They suffered minor injuries and received outpatient treatment at the hospital.
All four soldiers, aged between 20 and 24, are trainees at the SAF's Armour Training Centre at Sungei Gedong Camp in Lim Chu Kang.
I was at first pleasantly surprised that this incident was reported in the papers with only minor inaccuracies the following day and on CNA the same day, for even though there has been a welcome move towards transparency recently, I didn't think that they'd be so forthright. Later, however, the real reason was revealed - the press was at the gates of our camp less than an hour after the event. I assume someone had tipped them off.
Now, MINDEF does not like to report this sort of incident for a variety of reasons: the negative publicity and the loss of trust in the SAF, people knowing that it injures its slaves now and then, speculation and (the most charitable explanation) that it is best to wait for the investigation to conclude, to establish the facts definitively.
Negative publicity should not be an issue, for the SAF should be able to defend its actions and practices in public, if it is able. If it is not, no one should be able to censor such news with the excuse that it would cause a loss of trust in the SAF, for then it would be justified.
Speculation is feared for it could lead to confusion and misconceptions arising in the public, especially in the absence of an official, definitive version of the facts. However, speculation thrives best in the fertile ground of uncertainty and silence, and the SAF, in keeping mum about facts until investigations are complete, and holding slaves to silence with ominous and vague threats, is actually sowing the seeds of its downfall, for there is no harm releasing preliminary findings, or even eyewitness reports, for if nothing is said, it is usually assumed that there is something to hide.
Even if we accept the last explanation, it does seem fortuitous that by the time the investigation ends, no one will care about the incident if it isn't too major, and it will be relegated to a footnote in the papers, below a story about how a cat was saved from an angsana tree by brave firemen, and no one will think to question the why and wherefore of the incident, for news is current and immediate, and no one cares about stale news. If we accepted this kind of excuse, all the news we got would be 2 months old, having had to be researched and vetted by a committee ensuring that the "true facts" of the incident were reported.
Furthermore, the public has a right to know how the flower of their youth are sacrificing their eyesight in the name of Our Defense, especially since this is an army of slaves, press-ganged and thrust wide-eyed into a dangerous new world, and not regulars who have made a Faustian bargain, sacrificing their freedom (and much else) for duty, honour, glory and - dare I say - money.
My 8km route march
As part of our training for Exercise Lancer, we had a 8km route march. As usual, I was placed at the front. Why they persist in placing me at the front dring runs, route marches and what not, I do not know, for I inevitably end up at the back, in the "Gabriel detail". What is more, I block all the people trying to overtake me and get prematurely tired out trying to keep up with the rest at first.
By the time the rest of the company had reached the rest point at the 4km mark, I was about 600m behind the rest of them, so they got a little more rest than they would have gotten otherwise. About midway through the 5th (of 6th) round, a clip on my field pack fortuitiously broke while I was taking it off my shoulders. I then brought it all the way to the safety minivan by bear-hugging it and carried on. My load was now lighter, but after an initial burst of energy, it seemed almost as hard as ever to continue, due to my generalised exhaustion and foot pain (both due to blisters and my collapsed arches).
Near the ending of the last round, I felt my strength ebbing and my breathing became more laboured. I tried to slow down. Then the "motivation" started. People were understandably upset, for they'd walked with me at my torturingly slow pace and wasted a lot of time. However, I'd never asked them to walk with me, and would rather have had them go on by themselves.
The lines and insults that people like to shout to "motivate" others never work on me, for they appeal to my non-existent sense of male pride. Nevertheless, in some odd way they do drag my mental state down.
"Are you a pussy or are you a man?"
Now, obviously one answer is meant to have negative connotations, and another positive ones. Not to me, though. Though I have some antipathy towards cats, pussies are cute, sweet, innocent, lovable and soft. And they purr. To be a "man", on the other hand, has connotations of insensitivity, thinking with your gonads, having no empathy, being testosterone driven and placing value in empty things like puerile physical or foolhardy feats. Anyhow, I never asked to be born male, and to expect ALL males to possess certain attributes and characteristics is sexist. If females can be soldiers, it follows that not all males are suited to be enslaved.
"I let you take off your field pack already, what else do you want?"
Interesting question. How about not having a field pack in the first place? How about not doing the route march? How about being in another unit? How about ORDing now? How about not being enslaved in the first place? While we're there, I would also like someone back, a million in the bank, the Cure for Cancer to be discovered and World Peace.
And so, the cumulative stress was too much to bear, and I broke down again, like I did at the 12km checkpoint of the 16km route march last September - crying, screaming, ululation, lying on the road and banging my fists on the tarmac, and I had to be hauled up and led bodily to the end point.
It is also upsetting that some people seem to think that this is all an act. I suppose only the sight of mangled dead bodies would convince them of the truth of the matter. Oh wait. Death need not necessarily be an intention - it could just be an act gone wrong.
In Sungei Gedong
We had stairs training, starting off with SBO attire and just over half an hour of clambering up the staircases. This was considered "light" and already I felt like fainting. This is not looking good. And apparently it can lead to osteoarthritis in 2-3 decades' time, so we won't be able to claim money from the SAF for it.
I swear - nowadays, 75% of the time, one of the two choices of breakfasts we get is either "fried egg noodles" or "fried Hongkong noodles", and I am unable to discern any difference between the two of them. Furthermore, by the time I eat breakfast, there is almost always only one choice left. Namely, the fried egg/Hongkong noodles. Now, I like fried egg/Hongkong noodles, but eating it almost daily is making me sick.
SFI experiments in breakfast foods can go horribly wrong - who can forget such abominations as the "curry pao" and "sardine pao" from Islamic Food Industries? However, one experiment that has come out well is the "vegetable pao", provided by Khong Guan. This is actually a pao which has soon kueh stuffing inside. It might not sound very nice, but it does taste quite good. Incidentally, I suspect that SFI provides its food suppliers with convenient guinea pigs (ie us) to test out new products, since I've never seen the "vegetable pao" outside of SFI cookhouses, nor, come to think of it the "curry pao" or "sardine pao".
A recent tasty cookhouse innovation is the "Eight Treasure" vegetable dish. I tried counting the ingredients and came up with the following: cauliflower, broccoli, two types of mushrooms (one button), red pepper, green pepper, yellow pepper, celery and carrot. That's 9 ingredients. Oh well.
The fourth combat company of 42SAR has enlisted, and is now doing BMT. This puts them out of sync with the rest, but I guess they're supposed to be special. Hell, they even get Vitamin C pills every night - maybe the SAF is trying to train Biologically-Enhanced Warriors. They new company's name has been changed from "Cougar" to "Paladin". This makes slightly more sense in the sense that "P" is closer to "J", "K", "L" and "S", but breaks with the Great Tradition of naming each company after a cat. Thus, I have chosen to call "P" Company "Pussy" Company.
Some things that piss me off:
- being kept away from my workplace constantly because of various stupid activities, and then being expected to perform my job as if I were around all the time. If it comes down to it, I think I've done less than I am expected to do, but more than I could be reasonably expected to
- people stealing my stationery, especially stationery that I've paid and isn't SAF-issued
- people taking my "stores" for granted, yet refusing to help me acquire more for immediate consumption
Medical Centre
Someone was playing with his saliva and making sounds with it, and a big glob fell on the floor. Ugh. I thought people stopped playing with saliva in primary school.
During enlistment day of my unit's fourth company, there was an obligatory tour of the medical centre, and desperate people were peeking through the blinds at the ah lians and aunties. I remarked on this giving negative utility and someone pointed out that they had nothing better to do. I was amused at someone bringing his dog along, though.
Early one morning at about 7:15, I was proceeding to the medical centre to take over as duty medic. My beret was on, and my lightly-laden (for once) bag slung over my shoulder. As I was entering the School of Armour car porch, a platoon-sized group in PT Kit was filing past. Suddenly, one of them turned around and the following exchange ensued:
Guy: Boss (?) tiam! Good morning Sir! *salutes me smartly*
Me: I'm not a "Sir". You can carry on. Thank you.
Their hair was too long for them to be recruits. Maybe it was too early for their brains to be functioning properly, and they needed blood to go to their heads (the classic SAF excuse for knocking people down).
Whenever I'm the duty medic, my grand staff - made of the finest Ironwood and tipped with a circlet of green jade - will appear: the symbol of my power and authority as the Duty Medic. More importantly, it lets me shut the door without getting out of my seat, and also to thwack people on their butts.
I was sweeping the floor while on duty, and must have looked very lousy and pathetic, for some sickbay patients offered to help me if I lent them my charger. Quite a fair quid pro quo, I think, though some people accused me of exploiting them.
People were inoculating new recruits, and I noticed that almost all of the injection sites had trickles of blood flowing from them. Interestingly, my record is about 1 in 20 injections leading to blood flowing from the site.
Misc SAF
My boots were wet during a river crossing, so my favourite Poor Suffering Substantive Third Sergeant lent me his Gore-Tex boots as my parade boots had mysteriously shrunk. It was the first time I'd worn the new design, and I have to say that they're overrated. There's little difference between well-seasoned boots of the old design and Gore-Tex ones.
The various disingeneous ploys used to "encourage" people are interesting to examine if the aren't being used on you. At the start, they tell you that you've just started, and that you can't give up so easily. When you've reached the midway mark, they say that you've finished half of the exercise and should feel accomplised. Only half of the exercise is left! Also, vague threats of remedial training are waved about. Finally, when you're near the end of the activity, you are told that you're almost done and that you shouldn't give up.
Apparently Captains and Majors visit SAF Psychiatrists as well. Oh well.
Quotes:
[On using real SAR 21s for the river crossing] It seems the 'dummy' is mutually exclusive. Either the person organising is a dummy, or the rifle is a dummy. (It seems that only one can be a dummy -)
[Sign on a laundrette door] Anyone who wanna use the laundrate room please seek permission from the COS or CSM (wants to use the laundrette) (Ed: Damnit, it's written on the door above this stupid sign!]
[On cadets] They're still quite nice people. Wait until they get commissioned, then they become fuckers. Can you imagine Swee Soon if he's commissioned? 'Eh. Hello! Hello!'
[Me to a nice guy about to be posted to a company for BMT: I cannot imagine you knocking down the recruits] Neither can I.
[On engineering] It's like a dump ground. Dumping ground.
[On my filing the medical dockets from the previous day] Why you put back? They're going to report sick again today. (did you put them)
[On me and my stick] You look like a Sergeant Major. Medical Centre Sergeant Major. MSM.
Gabriel, you should get a wife. [Me: So I can - stay out?] Someone to take care of you for the rest of your life (?)
[On the finer points of cursing in Hokkien] [Me: When do you say 'lan jiao' and when do you say 'jee bye'?] Jee bye is when you're du lan [Ed: Pissed off] over something. [Me: Lan jiao is...?] Lan jiao is when someone says something wrong. 'Lan jiao lah!'
We need comfort women in the camp. Then people won't mind staying in, I tell you. A lot of people will sign on... FFI for prostitutes.
[Dennis: Weng! Weng! Weng!] Is that Dennis or Ban Xiong? [Me: *points at Dennis* Ban Xiong doesn't make stupid noises] He doesn't make stupid noises. He only makes stupid comments.
[Me on the Lord of the Rings exhibition: You can see Arwen's dress] Arwen's underwear. [Someone: Only tubby will think of this kind of thing]
[Me on some Ah Lian: I see the crack of someone's ass] That's different. That's more elegant.
Post ID: 107859827981731097
Friday, March 05, 2004
Got a new pair of earphones yesterday, as the ones included with my MP3 player were getting temperamental (the right earphone wouldn't produce sound unless the tension on its wire was just right).
Accompanied by the redoubtable Poor Suffering ("I have a name!"), I was befuddled by the number of seemingly similar earphones that the electronics companies had on offer. In the end, I picked one with a lucky sounding price of $29.90, a pair of Sony NDR-E931LP "Stereo Dynamic Earphones", which were advertised as being "Stable & Comfortable", having a "Thin housing & slim bass duct", "Twin Turbo (fontopia)", a "Neck-chain", a "silent cap" and a "Gold plated stereo mini plug". All of this was greek to me, of course.
Not being an audiophile, all I know is that the sound is better and more vivid than that from my old pair. The $60 or $70 sets will probably be wasted on me.
ConsoleClassix.com - Hundreds of Console Games STRAIGHT to your monitor
Aren't you distributing ROM images?
No. The way our service works is simple. Our clients log into our service, they then can browse a list of available games. Once a user has selected a game our server locks that image so that no one else can use it. This ensures that we are never using more copies of a game than we own, that would be copyright infringement. If the connection between the client and server is broken the game no longer functions on the client and the server unlocks the game for other players. We allow you to rent our games, not buy them. We allow you to access our ROMs, but we don't distribute them.
So you're basically an internet video rental place?
Exactly. There is no ideological difference between our service and that of any common video rental store. We have simply taken a classic idea and brought it to the web. This will certainly become commonplace as the internet expands and bandwidth increases. We are merely spearheading a small piece of a huge industry.
This sounds very fishy. I suppose back in the days these games were programmed, no one thought to include a clause forbidding unauthorised broadcasting or renting.
The PowerGoth Girls
Someone took a picture as the last of the credits of Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" were rolling.
Interesting, most interesting.
Accompanied by the redoubtable Poor Suffering ("I have a name!"), I was befuddled by the number of seemingly similar earphones that the electronics companies had on offer. In the end, I picked one with a lucky sounding price of $29.90, a pair of Sony NDR-E931LP "Stereo Dynamic Earphones", which were advertised as being "Stable & Comfortable", having a "Thin housing & slim bass duct", "Twin Turbo (fontopia)", a "Neck-chain", a "silent cap" and a "Gold plated stereo mini plug". All of this was greek to me, of course.
Not being an audiophile, all I know is that the sound is better and more vivid than that from my old pair. The $60 or $70 sets will probably be wasted on me.
ConsoleClassix.com - Hundreds of Console Games STRAIGHT to your monitor
Aren't you distributing ROM images?
No. The way our service works is simple. Our clients log into our service, they then can browse a list of available games. Once a user has selected a game our server locks that image so that no one else can use it. This ensures that we are never using more copies of a game than we own, that would be copyright infringement. If the connection between the client and server is broken the game no longer functions on the client and the server unlocks the game for other players. We allow you to rent our games, not buy them. We allow you to access our ROMs, but we don't distribute them.
So you're basically an internet video rental place?
Exactly. There is no ideological difference between our service and that of any common video rental store. We have simply taken a classic idea and brought it to the web. This will certainly become commonplace as the internet expands and bandwidth increases. We are merely spearheading a small piece of a huge industry.
This sounds very fishy. I suppose back in the days these games were programmed, no one thought to include a clause forbidding unauthorised broadcasting or renting.
The PowerGoth Girls
Someone took a picture as the last of the credits of Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" were rolling.
Interesting, most interesting.
Post ID: 107850135154648144
Word of the Day: "blancmange"
Petals Around the Rose
This is the sort of thing my JC class liked to play. I was terrible at this sort of game and only got the pattern once.
People used to be driven crazy searching for the pattern. I, on the other hand, learnt how to ignore this sort of stupid games :)
When I was outfield last year, some people started playing this kind of games. I promptly went to a side and lay down.
And now I shall now break the covenant of the petal (ie give the solution). Muahaha!
"u see right
like lets say, i have a 5 (on the dice)
there's 4 dots at the corner, and 1 in the centre. so how many petals around the rose? 4! :P
if there's a 3 dice, then how many petals : 2! :P
so u simply add up all the 'petals' and u get the answer. :P
if u have
2 5 1 1 3 u get 6 petals la."
In my words: The "rose" is actually the dot in the centre of the die when you roll a "1", "3" or "5". The "petals", then, are the dots surrounding the centre dot. Ergo, a "1" has 0 petals, a "3" has 2 petals and a "5" has 4 petals. The number of petals around the rose is therefore the sum of the "petals" on all the dice.
Alternatively: "my solution is the mathematical expression of your solution
odd numbers are those with 'petals' except for 1 which has none
and i subtract the number of odd numbers to 'get rid' of the middle of the 'rose'"
Was checking a search referral and I found that the Sar-vivor rap is finally online.
Original: The Blinking Bastardos, lyrics
Remix (?): http://www.sfcave.com/sars/, lyrics
Confusingly, the page hosting the remix displays the lyrics of the original. Do not be deceived, for the remix doesn't have the golden line: "SARS is the virus that I just want to minus" or the hordes of people dancing and screaming in the background!
Reservations Of An Airline Agent
80s Cartoons reviews - Centurions, Bravestarr
I was reading Island of the Undead (FF #51) when I found out that the page with paragraph 58 has been ripped out. Argh! Gah! Nooo! Sacrilege! !@#$%^&*()
Petals Around the Rose
This is the sort of thing my JC class liked to play. I was terrible at this sort of game and only got the pattern once.
People used to be driven crazy searching for the pattern. I, on the other hand, learnt how to ignore this sort of stupid games :)
When I was outfield last year, some people started playing this kind of games. I promptly went to a side and lay down.
And now I shall now break the covenant of the petal (ie give the solution). Muahaha!
"u see right
like lets say, i have a 5 (on the dice)
there's 4 dots at the corner, and 1 in the centre. so how many petals around the rose? 4! :P
if there's a 3 dice, then how many petals : 2! :P
so u simply add up all the 'petals' and u get the answer. :P
if u have
2 5 1 1 3 u get 6 petals la."
In my words: The "rose" is actually the dot in the centre of the die when you roll a "1", "3" or "5". The "petals", then, are the dots surrounding the centre dot. Ergo, a "1" has 0 petals, a "3" has 2 petals and a "5" has 4 petals. The number of petals around the rose is therefore the sum of the "petals" on all the dice.
Alternatively: "my solution is the mathematical expression of your solution
odd numbers are those with 'petals' except for 1 which has none
and i subtract the number of odd numbers to 'get rid' of the middle of the 'rose'"
Was checking a search referral and I found that the Sar-vivor rap is finally online.
Original: The Blinking Bastardos, lyrics
Remix (?): http://www.sfcave.com/sars/, lyrics
Confusingly, the page hosting the remix displays the lyrics of the original. Do not be deceived, for the remix doesn't have the golden line: "SARS is the virus that I just want to minus" or the hordes of people dancing and screaming in the background!
Reservations Of An Airline Agent
80s Cartoons reviews - Centurions, Bravestarr
I was reading Island of the Undead (FF #51) when I found out that the page with paragraph 58 has been ripped out. Argh! Gah! Nooo! Sacrilege! !@#$%^&*()
Post ID: 107846450101024200
Sunday, February 29, 2004
Jiamin and I got Geraldine the same present.
Hmm.
It *is* a very suitable present. Guess we know her too well. Or maybe we think alike. Or maybe we walked past the same place in Borders it was prominently displayed.
I also finally saw and played the infamous Chu Chu Rocket that Xephyris and Chinx kept talking about in JC. It was too fast paced for me, but that aside I found it heavily overrated.
There was also this disturbing Japanese game - a 2 player version of a 2D one-plane-against-all-odds scroller, but where enemies you killed cross over to the opponent's screen. Did I mention that your choice of "planes" is limited to flying Japanese manga characters including 4 dustballs, 3 androgynous bishounen on some sort of animal (I forgot which sort) and a chick with a pencil? Oh, and it was set to Japanese Dance Music too. That was the worst thing.
Another sorta funny Garfield. Could Jim Davis be bucking up?
Meanwhile, Foxtrot is always funny. They always find something new to make fun of.
Hmm.
It *is* a very suitable present. Guess we know her too well. Or maybe we think alike. Or maybe we walked past the same place in Borders it was prominently displayed.
I also finally saw and played the infamous Chu Chu Rocket that Xephyris and Chinx kept talking about in JC. It was too fast paced for me, but that aside I found it heavily overrated.
There was also this disturbing Japanese game - a 2 player version of a 2D one-plane-against-all-odds scroller, but where enemies you killed cross over to the opponent's screen. Did I mention that your choice of "planes" is limited to flying Japanese manga characters including 4 dustballs, 3 androgynous bishounen on some sort of animal (I forgot which sort) and a chick with a pencil? Oh, and it was set to Japanese Dance Music too. That was the worst thing.
Another sorta funny Garfield. Could Jim Davis be bucking up?
Meanwhile, Foxtrot is always funny. They always find something new to make fun of.
Post ID: 107805940538444610
So much for going there by 12pm.
Hair's done - the guy charged me $8. Maybe he thought I was a student. Would still rather have it done in camp by the ah lian though. Besides saving $5, there's the more important factor - saving time!
Most of phone's problems were solved by turning it off and then on, so I can procrastinate my maintenance trip.
1. Why were u in a pub at 3am? which pub?
Altivo on Mount Faber. I was with HWMNBN and another friend.
2. How did HWMNBN meet mr ong?
Mr Ong strolled into BK while we were sipping our drinks and chatting.
Hair's done - the guy charged me $8. Maybe he thought I was a student. Would still rather have it done in camp by the ah lian though. Besides saving $5, there's the more important factor - saving time!
Most of phone's problems were solved by turning it off and then on, so I can procrastinate my maintenance trip.
1. Why were u in a pub at 3am? which pub?
Altivo on Mount Faber. I was with HWMNBN and another friend.
2. How did HWMNBN meet mr ong?
Mr Ong strolled into BK while we were sipping our drinks and chatting.
Post ID: 107803018995002233
Saturday, February 28, 2004
Things to do tomorrow:
1) Screwed Up Girl's birthday party, which starts at 2pm, but I want to go at 12pm.
2) hair cut (for the 'hygiene inspection')
3) Take photos for NUS application form
4) Send phone to the Nokia Care Centre (Wheelock Place? Damn. Should have brought my warranty card when I met He Who Must Not Be Named today):
- I can't send pictures and tones by IR to other Nokia phones (apparently this might be by design)
- Some midis won't play fully
- Now the radio doesn't work and all calls are routed to loudspeaker no matter what I do
Junxiong says that in NUS, when you take an MC it has to be endorsed by their clinic. Wah lao. Just like the SAF. No wonder they have a clinic there! I was wondering why they were so nice to their students.
1) Screwed Up Girl's birthday party, which starts at 2pm, but I want to go at 12pm.
2) hair cut (for the 'hygiene inspection')
3) Take photos for NUS application form
4) Send phone to the Nokia Care Centre (Wheelock Place? Damn. Should have brought my warranty card when I met He Who Must Not Be Named today):
- I can't send pictures and tones by IR to other Nokia phones (apparently this might be by design)
- Some midis won't play fully
- Now the radio doesn't work and all calls are routed to loudspeaker no matter what I do
Junxiong says that in NUS, when you take an MC it has to be endorsed by their clinic. Wah lao. Just like the SAF. No wonder they have a clinic there! I was wondering why they were so nice to their students.
Post ID: 10779744338180396
Friday, February 27, 2004
According to a recent English-language Gulf News wire report published in The Plain Dealer (Cleveland), teenagers in the port of Dubai, located in Bahrain, who are searching for "exotic highs" are smoking ants or inhaling the fumes they emit when burned. In fact, a small packet of Samaseem - Gulf Arabic for ants - sells for up to $135 in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. According to the report, Dubai police said youngsters are trying ants because they can't afford the usual narcotics, or they believe they won't be prosecuted for getting high on ants.
Maybe I can try this some day.
Competition for Handsome Boy Steven Lim, the eyebrow plucker!
How did this get into my subdomain?!
SMS I just got: "Hygiene inspection on mon. Specs will be inspected by rsm"
Ooh. Nasty.
I won't be going for this (Pared itinerary)
12 Days Best of Egypt & Red Sea
Day 1 - Singapore/Cairo
Day 2 - Cairo-Alexandria
Arrive Cairo and transfer to Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city for a visit to the Turkish/Florentine-styled Montazah Palace and Gardens, Fort of Qaitbay, built on the site of the ancient Pharos Lighthouse and Pompeii's Pillar, a prominent Ptolemaic landmark
Day 3 - Alexandria-Memphis-Saqqara-Cairo
Visit the ancient capital of Memphis and necropolis of Saqqara where the first Pyramids were built for King Zoser - The Step Pyramids. Transfer to Cairo next to visit the Seven Wonders of the World, the Pyramids and Sphinx of Giza. After Lunch, visit the Egyptian Museum with the world's greatest collection of Egyptian antiquities including treasures from King Tut's tomb.
Day 4 - Cairo-Aswan (Nile River Cruise)
Take an early flight to Aswan. Upon arrival, visit the Unfinished Obelisk, granite quarries, Aswan Dam, old Dam and Philae Temple. Transfer to cruise ship for embarkation.
Day 5 - Nile River Cruise
Enjoy a felucca boat ride and view the Aga Khan Mausoleum from afar. Then sail for Temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to the two gods of Sobek and Haroeris. Continue sailing for Edfu.
Day 6 - Nile River Cruise
Visit the Temple of Edfu dedicated to Horus the Falcon God. Sail on to Esna for the lock crossing to Luxor.l
Day 7 - Nile River Cruise
Cross over to the West Bank for a visit to King Tut's tomb in the Valley of the Kings, Queen Hatshepsut's Temple and Collossi of Memnon. IN the afternoon, visit the Temples of Karnak and Luxor.
Day 8 - Nile River Cruise / Hurghada
Proceed to Red Sea Resort of Hurghada. A simple fishing village once, it is now Egypt's best tourist spot with crystal clear waters and pristine reefs. Go on a desert safari and enjoy a Bedouin Dinner under the stars.
Day 9 - Hurghada
Day is free at leisure. You can "catch" the Red Sea Big Five in a glass-bottom boat, go for a dive in the azure sea, or enjoy the many sports available. Relax with a Turkish bath, massage or sauna.
Day 10 - Hurghada-Cairo
-Free and Easy-
Day 11 - Cairo-Singapore
Argh. Alexandria! The Aswan Dam! Thebes! The Pharos! The Pyramids! The Valley of the Kings! All that's missing is a visit to the Oracle of Siwa.
Maybe at the end of the year... I'll go look at what Greece has to offer
In other news:
Mathematician explains parting of Red Sea
"Naum Voltsinger used differential equations to show that strong winds and a hidden underwater reef would have allowed more than half a million Jews to flee to the Promised Land - without getting their feet wet. "
Fascinating.
Maybe I can try this some day.
Competition for Handsome Boy Steven Lim, the eyebrow plucker!
How did this get into my subdomain?!
SMS I just got: "Hygiene inspection on mon. Specs will be inspected by rsm"
Ooh. Nasty.
I won't be going for this (Pared itinerary)
12 Days Best of Egypt & Red Sea
Day 1 - Singapore/Cairo
Day 2 - Cairo-Alexandria
Arrive Cairo and transfer to Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city for a visit to the Turkish/Florentine-styled Montazah Palace and Gardens, Fort of Qaitbay, built on the site of the ancient Pharos Lighthouse and Pompeii's Pillar, a prominent Ptolemaic landmark
Day 3 - Alexandria-Memphis-Saqqara-Cairo
Visit the ancient capital of Memphis and necropolis of Saqqara where the first Pyramids were built for King Zoser - The Step Pyramids. Transfer to Cairo next to visit the Seven Wonders of the World, the Pyramids and Sphinx of Giza. After Lunch, visit the Egyptian Museum with the world's greatest collection of Egyptian antiquities including treasures from King Tut's tomb.
Day 4 - Cairo-Aswan (Nile River Cruise)
Take an early flight to Aswan. Upon arrival, visit the Unfinished Obelisk, granite quarries, Aswan Dam, old Dam and Philae Temple. Transfer to cruise ship for embarkation.
Day 5 - Nile River Cruise
Enjoy a felucca boat ride and view the Aga Khan Mausoleum from afar. Then sail for Temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to the two gods of Sobek and Haroeris. Continue sailing for Edfu.
Day 6 - Nile River Cruise
Visit the Temple of Edfu dedicated to Horus the Falcon God. Sail on to Esna for the lock crossing to Luxor.l
Day 7 - Nile River Cruise
Cross over to the West Bank for a visit to King Tut's tomb in the Valley of the Kings, Queen Hatshepsut's Temple and Collossi of Memnon. IN the afternoon, visit the Temples of Karnak and Luxor.
Day 8 - Nile River Cruise / Hurghada
Proceed to Red Sea Resort of Hurghada. A simple fishing village once, it is now Egypt's best tourist spot with crystal clear waters and pristine reefs. Go on a desert safari and enjoy a Bedouin Dinner under the stars.
Day 9 - Hurghada
Day is free at leisure. You can "catch" the Red Sea Big Five in a glass-bottom boat, go for a dive in the azure sea, or enjoy the many sports available. Relax with a Turkish bath, massage or sauna.
Day 10 - Hurghada-Cairo
-Free and Easy-
Day 11 - Cairo-Singapore
Argh. Alexandria! The Aswan Dam! Thebes! The Pharos! The Pyramids! The Valley of the Kings! All that's missing is a visit to the Oracle of Siwa.
Maybe at the end of the year... I'll go look at what Greece has to offer
In other news:
Mathematician explains parting of Red Sea
"Naum Voltsinger used differential equations to show that strong winds and a hidden underwater reef would have allowed more than half a million Jews to flee to the Promised Land - without getting their feet wet. "
Fascinating.
Post ID: 107788435806142140
If I Were...
If I were a poet,
I would write a sonnet.
It would say "I love you."
Your name would be on it.
If I were a farmer,
I'd give you a bunny.
If I had a beehive,
You would get free honey.
Fa la la (many times)
If I were a baker,
You could have a cruller
If I were a painter,
Choose your favorite color.
If I had some diamonds,
I'd give you a few,
Anything to show you
How much I love you.
Fa la la (many times)
Did you guess my secret?
I am not a poet.
Couldn't write a sonnet,
And I think you know it.
I am not a farmer,
Can't give you a bunny.
I don't have a beehive,
Sorry 'bout the honey.
Fa la la (many times)
I am not a baker,
Don't know bread from batter.
And I am not a painter,
And it doesn't matter.
I don't need a present,
All I have to do
Is look at you to show you
How much I love you.
Fa la la (many times)
--- Kermit The Frog
A song with a vague medieval flavour.
Yeh, I just found this in the unlikeliest place.
I've yet to find Sourwood Mountain and Same Train though.
Post ID: 107784945401253198
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Miriam pulls it off! - The Sun decided to test out the curvy model - who beneath the glam exterior is very definitely a MAN - on the streets of Britain. I'm not sure if this is another one of the Sun's joke articles
Animal Talk - "Click on the pictures below to hear a person making animal sounds in different languages. Do you hear the difference?" - This is really dumb.
Rules are turning our kids into wimps - "When nations compete with each other on ideas, obedience is not an asset; it could be Singapore's undoing."
An American Odyssey: Manifest Destiny - As someone better than me in describing it put it, "An exploration of American culture, its perception of the world and its imperial fitness. Profound, a bit disturbing, and brutally honest."
"Yes, we do have an ideology and, like all ideologies, it doesn't believe it is one. It just believes that it is The Truth. Bush believes in it to a degree which is astonishing. So far as he is concerned, America's way is God's way."
Put up another of my rejected forum letters below the letter that prompted it.
Email forward I got:
"Once upon a time,there lived an ant and a grasshopper. The grasshopper does nothing else but jump around and play.
On the other hand, the ant is so hardworking, looking for food all day long and store them in it's nest.
Looking at his hardworking friend working so hard, the grasshopper ask, "Hey, Ant! U dun have to relax ah? Always busy one. Come and play with me lah.
"To which the ant replied, "I can't lah i have to store all these food."
"Haiyah! Relaxlah. Why u bother storing all these food? When u hungry den go find lah." the grasshopper told the ant again.
"Eh,cannot lah. I have to standby for the coming winter season. Then I no need to panick mah. I think u oso must standby u know." the ant telling his friend.
"Where got time...I go play better. U wanna store food u go ahead lah. I continue playing ok.. bye!" And hop goes the grasshopper. The Ant is a hardworking guy... oops i mean insect. Not like the grasshopper who is so lazy.
And so as days, weeks, months go by,the winter still has not come yet but the ant is still seen searching and storing food. The two friends
happen to meet again.
"Hey Ant! U stil haven't finished storing food ah? Last time all the food all go where? So fast finish ah?" asked grasshopper.
"I got keep but all overdue liao. So cannot eat anymore. All because winter not here yet. Now i have to go and look for new food." sighed the ant.
"But ant ah.. U dun mind i ask ah.. Did u ever have a thought that Malaysia where got winter?" ask the grasshopper again.
"AHHHH????!!!!!" the ant was shocked!
THE END.
The moral of the story is whatever u do better think properly 1st. Dun anyhow hantam only... :)
Sometimes we go too busy in life and following our routine too tightly but most importantly, work towards where you wanna go in your life, what is it that you want, what isit that you REALLY want, what's your dream, is what you are doing now moving towards your dream ? If it's not, dun just keep on working hard n keep on hantam only just because someone in your life told you that this is the way and just because everyone is doing it !! Dun keep on working hard with no direction ....... focus in the direction of your life not your work but your life.
Plan your life, Live life cool ~~~~ ^_^"
Why Christians Should Not Vote for George W. Bush - Amazingly, If there was ever any doubt about the liberal sway of George W. Bush before his Presidency, that doubt should be well cleared up by now for all but only the willfully naïve.
It seems that not all right wing fundamentalist conservatives are for Dubya. I shudder for the day if people like this take over the USA. Just goes to show that you can't please idiots.
The accusation that George Bush is a liberal rests on the following points:
Abortion
'On the campaign trail, President Bush professed to be "pro-life," but... he believes abortion to be justified in cases of rape and incest... such pro-life exceptions that allow the innocent to be killed in some circumstances disqualify President Bush from being pro-life at all.'
The writer then goes on to equate abortion ('child-killing') with the murder of innocents and labels people who support abortion as supporting murder. He says that even in rape and incest cases, the baby cannot be aborted, but I think even most fundamentalist Christians would make an exception for these cases.
'Having a rapist for a dad is not a capital crime, and for President Bush to state that innocent children can justly be killed because of the tragic circumstances of their conception reveals that he doesn’t comprehend the basic principle of the inalienable, inviolable, God-given right to life acknowledged in our nation’s founding documents.'
Unfortunately, I am not familiar with American constitutional law, but I have more than a hunch that this is empty rhetoric. And anyway, since the writer loves quoting biblical verses, I can quote verses from his beloved bible that actually state - encourages - that innocent children (children, mind you, not not-yet-alive fetuses) can justly be killed because of the crimes of their parents. I assume - reasonably, of course - that incest and rape are crimes. (Psalm 109:8-12, Exodus 20:5, Numbers 31:17, Hosea 13:16 and many other places). In fact, abortion is even allowed if the alternative is a miserable life (Ecclesiastes 6:3-5, Ecclesiastes 4:1-3), and even if a miscarriage is caused without any mitigating factors, it is not counted as murder (Exodus 21:22-25), where the punishment is but a fine and not "a life for a life".
'If his daughter wanted to kill her grandmother to get the inheritance early, would he counsel her: "Sweetie, if you want to kill my mom, that’s completely up to you!?"'
A false analogy if I ever saw one.
He is also accused of appointing pro-choice judges in Texas, and of releasing funds to groups that promote family planning (which doesn't necessarily involve abortion, mind you) and provide abortions (even if they do try to discourage them with counselling and the screening of abortion videos). So just because some groups give poor, frightened, desperate women a final recourse, they should be banned from receiving money to do greater good. Right. Now I know why the world is so screwed up.
Sodomy
Apparently, his attempts to change the constitution to ban gay marriages isn't enough for the writer.
Then, for some reason other points are included under the Sodomy section: "Similarly, conservatives fear the judicial activism that is forcing a new religion down our throats, namely, atheistic humanism. We have Federal judges like U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruling that Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has no right to acknowledge God on the job. Conservatives are in an uproar about the judicial tyranny that would cause a democratically-elected, upright man such as Roy Moore, who was only following his state Constitution's precedent in acknowledging God, to be evicted from the state bench."
The writer hasn't heard about the separation of church and state, apparently. He calls this an attempt to enforce "atheistic humanism" on the people, where it is actually ensuring that the basic principle of freedom of (and from) religion is met. What would the Pilgrims say? On the other hand, lugging a large monument inscribed with one of the three versions of the ten commandments in front of the courthouse is considered "acknowledging" their god. This ignores the fact that this is tantamount to a public endorsement and enshrining of a certain brand of religion - an attempt to mix church and state, plainly contrary to the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..."
"The position of this administration is that whatever legal arrangements people want to make, they’re allowed to make, so long as it’s embraced by the state or at the state level."
Even an attempt to pander to a principle beloved of conservatives - states' rights and subsidiarity - cannot satisfy this writer!
"President Bush has stated that he has no qualms about hiring homosexuals, and he has proven it. He has appointed open homosexuals to high government positions at a rate that makes Bill Clinton look like a homophobe!"
Seeing how homophobic this writer is, I suspect he might actually be sexist and racist too, seeing as those who fear/hate/discriminate against one group different from them in one way are more inclined to fear/hate/discriminate against others as well.
"homosexual smear machine began to denigrate and verbally assault him for his beliefs"
This is rich, considering that the christian fundamentalist smear machine tries to denigrate and verbally (sometimes worse) assault others not only for what they believe in, but for what they *are*
'President Bush said he reads the Bible daily, but he confessed to the New York Times, "I don’t necessarily believe every single word is literally true." About the evolution-creation debate, he said, "The verdict is still out on how God created the earth. I don’t use the Bible as necessarily a way to predict the findings of science." In other words, Darwinism may be true according to President Bush. When the Bible and a scientific consensus are at odds, whom do you think that George Bush believes?'
What about the parts when the bible says the earth is flat/square, and that this is at odds not only with scientific consensus, but the truth? Note, too, that he uses the phrase "scientific consensus", not "scientific theory", so he may not believe even things that science has proven beyond all doubt. This writer believes in Creation "Science". If a practitioner of family medicine can believe in Creation "Science", I suppose he can believe that the stork brings babies.
Other issues
"There are many other reasons Christians should conscientiously object to voting for George W. Bush. Certainly, many of these acts are not necessarily sinful, but together they provide convincing proof that George W. Bush is not an authentic conservative."
Why do Christians necessarily have to be conservatives? Bah!
"He demoralized Korean and Japanese Christians by bowing down at a pagan Shinto shrine in Japan, His endorsement of Ramadan, a Muslim fast, at a White House celebration."
Respect for another religion is not akin to taking it up. I suppose then that Christians do not have the right to be offended if non-adherents do not even pay lip service to or retain a veneer of respect for their religion.
"His public profession that Muslims and Christians worship the same God, contrary to the plain teaching of Scripture. (I John 2:22-23, John 14:6)"
Actually, those 2 verses just say, respectively, that those who deny the christ are mistaken and cannot get salvation. Which doesn't mean that they don't worship the same god, just that one side is worshipping him wrongly. Frankly, I'm shocked how far he can twist verses for his purposes, trusting that people won't check them.
"His proposal to increase funding of the National Endowment for the Arts by 15 percent, the highest percentage increase in two decades. That's a total of 139 million dollars in 2005 to finance art, much of which is blasphemous. (Recall the taxpayer-financed painting of a crucifix in a jar of urine.)"
Claiming that one blasphemous art piece means that "much" of the rest are similarly sacrilegious is simply a non-sequiter. Going by this logic, if as much as one cent of donations to a church happens to be lost to corruption, we should all immediately stop giving any money to churches.
"His support of Clinton’s 1995 "assault weapons ban" which outlawed a host of semi-automatic guns."
I'm not sure that, even if the constitution allows them to carry guns, Americans equate that with the right to carry semi-automatic Weapons of Not-Inconsiderate Destruction. I'm sure that people using the guns for self defence will want to pump a whole magazine of 30 rounds into the robber who tries using a penknife or box-cutter on them.
"His endorsement and promotion of the globalist, sovereignty-threatening aims of the United Nations. He has continued the Clintonian policy of sending our soldiers to serve under U.N. commanders on U.N. missions."
It seems that, having lost the Jews as convenient boogeymen due to religious reasons, the deluded and paranoid have now latched on to the United Nations as the new Evil Entity which is trying to Take Over The World.
"In spite of the fact that he campaigned on the promise to veto any campaign finance reform legislation that limited Americans’ freedom of speech, he signed into law the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill that effectively eviscerated the first amendment."
How campaign finance and freedom of speech are linked, I really don't know.
Hell, the only things I agree with are the menace of the Patriot Act and the reckless budget deficits.
It's not that I want to be mean, but when I come across something so plainly shrill and deluded, I feel the urge to expose the empty rants for what they are (though in this case they are already quite apparent)
Animal Talk - "Click on the pictures below to hear a person making animal sounds in different languages. Do you hear the difference?" - This is really dumb.
Rules are turning our kids into wimps - "When nations compete with each other on ideas, obedience is not an asset; it could be Singapore's undoing."
An American Odyssey: Manifest Destiny - As someone better than me in describing it put it, "An exploration of American culture, its perception of the world and its imperial fitness. Profound, a bit disturbing, and brutally honest."
"Yes, we do have an ideology and, like all ideologies, it doesn't believe it is one. It just believes that it is The Truth. Bush believes in it to a degree which is astonishing. So far as he is concerned, America's way is God's way."
Put up another of my rejected forum letters below the letter that prompted it.
Email forward I got:
"Once upon a time,there lived an ant and a grasshopper. The grasshopper does nothing else but jump around and play.
On the other hand, the ant is so hardworking, looking for food all day long and store them in it's nest.
Looking at his hardworking friend working so hard, the grasshopper ask, "Hey, Ant! U dun have to relax ah? Always busy one. Come and play with me lah.
"To which the ant replied, "I can't lah i have to store all these food."
"Haiyah! Relaxlah. Why u bother storing all these food? When u hungry den go find lah." the grasshopper told the ant again.
"Eh,cannot lah. I have to standby for the coming winter season. Then I no need to panick mah. I think u oso must standby u know." the ant telling his friend.
"Where got time...I go play better. U wanna store food u go ahead lah. I continue playing ok.. bye!" And hop goes the grasshopper. The Ant is a hardworking guy... oops i mean insect. Not like the grasshopper who is so lazy.
And so as days, weeks, months go by,the winter still has not come yet but the ant is still seen searching and storing food. The two friends
happen to meet again.
"Hey Ant! U stil haven't finished storing food ah? Last time all the food all go where? So fast finish ah?" asked grasshopper.
"I got keep but all overdue liao. So cannot eat anymore. All because winter not here yet. Now i have to go and look for new food." sighed the ant.
"But ant ah.. U dun mind i ask ah.. Did u ever have a thought that Malaysia where got winter?" ask the grasshopper again.
"AHHHH????!!!!!" the ant was shocked!
THE END.
The moral of the story is whatever u do better think properly 1st. Dun anyhow hantam only... :)
Sometimes we go too busy in life and following our routine too tightly but most importantly, work towards where you wanna go in your life, what is it that you want, what isit that you REALLY want, what's your dream, is what you are doing now moving towards your dream ? If it's not, dun just keep on working hard n keep on hantam only just because someone in your life told you that this is the way and just because everyone is doing it !! Dun keep on working hard with no direction ....... focus in the direction of your life not your work but your life.
Plan your life, Live life cool ~~~~ ^_^"
Why Christians Should Not Vote for George W. Bush - Amazingly, If there was ever any doubt about the liberal sway of George W. Bush before his Presidency, that doubt should be well cleared up by now for all but only the willfully naïve.
It seems that not all right wing fundamentalist conservatives are for Dubya. I shudder for the day if people like this take over the USA. Just goes to show that you can't please idiots.
The accusation that George Bush is a liberal rests on the following points:
Abortion
'On the campaign trail, President Bush professed to be "pro-life," but... he believes abortion to be justified in cases of rape and incest... such pro-life exceptions that allow the innocent to be killed in some circumstances disqualify President Bush from being pro-life at all.'
The writer then goes on to equate abortion ('child-killing') with the murder of innocents and labels people who support abortion as supporting murder. He says that even in rape and incest cases, the baby cannot be aborted, but I think even most fundamentalist Christians would make an exception for these cases.
'Having a rapist for a dad is not a capital crime, and for President Bush to state that innocent children can justly be killed because of the tragic circumstances of their conception reveals that he doesn’t comprehend the basic principle of the inalienable, inviolable, God-given right to life acknowledged in our nation’s founding documents.'
Unfortunately, I am not familiar with American constitutional law, but I have more than a hunch that this is empty rhetoric. And anyway, since the writer loves quoting biblical verses, I can quote verses from his beloved bible that actually state - encourages - that innocent children (children, mind you, not not-yet-alive fetuses) can justly be killed because of the crimes of their parents. I assume - reasonably, of course - that incest and rape are crimes. (Psalm 109:8-12, Exodus 20:5, Numbers 31:17, Hosea 13:16 and many other places). In fact, abortion is even allowed if the alternative is a miserable life (Ecclesiastes 6:3-5, Ecclesiastes 4:1-3), and even if a miscarriage is caused without any mitigating factors, it is not counted as murder (Exodus 21:22-25), where the punishment is but a fine and not "a life for a life".
'If his daughter wanted to kill her grandmother to get the inheritance early, would he counsel her: "Sweetie, if you want to kill my mom, that’s completely up to you!?"'
A false analogy if I ever saw one.
He is also accused of appointing pro-choice judges in Texas, and of releasing funds to groups that promote family planning (which doesn't necessarily involve abortion, mind you) and provide abortions (even if they do try to discourage them with counselling and the screening of abortion videos). So just because some groups give poor, frightened, desperate women a final recourse, they should be banned from receiving money to do greater good. Right. Now I know why the world is so screwed up.
Sodomy
Apparently, his attempts to change the constitution to ban gay marriages isn't enough for the writer.
Then, for some reason other points are included under the Sodomy section: "Similarly, conservatives fear the judicial activism that is forcing a new religion down our throats, namely, atheistic humanism. We have Federal judges like U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruling that Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has no right to acknowledge God on the job. Conservatives are in an uproar about the judicial tyranny that would cause a democratically-elected, upright man such as Roy Moore, who was only following his state Constitution's precedent in acknowledging God, to be evicted from the state bench."
The writer hasn't heard about the separation of church and state, apparently. He calls this an attempt to enforce "atheistic humanism" on the people, where it is actually ensuring that the basic principle of freedom of (and from) religion is met. What would the Pilgrims say? On the other hand, lugging a large monument inscribed with one of the three versions of the ten commandments in front of the courthouse is considered "acknowledging" their god. This ignores the fact that this is tantamount to a public endorsement and enshrining of a certain brand of religion - an attempt to mix church and state, plainly contrary to the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..."
"The position of this administration is that whatever legal arrangements people want to make, they’re allowed to make, so long as it’s embraced by the state or at the state level."
Even an attempt to pander to a principle beloved of conservatives - states' rights and subsidiarity - cannot satisfy this writer!
"President Bush has stated that he has no qualms about hiring homosexuals, and he has proven it. He has appointed open homosexuals to high government positions at a rate that makes Bill Clinton look like a homophobe!"
Seeing how homophobic this writer is, I suspect he might actually be sexist and racist too, seeing as those who fear/hate/discriminate against one group different from them in one way are more inclined to fear/hate/discriminate against others as well.
"homosexual smear machine began to denigrate and verbally assault him for his beliefs"
This is rich, considering that the christian fundamentalist smear machine tries to denigrate and verbally (sometimes worse) assault others not only for what they believe in, but for what they *are*
'President Bush said he reads the Bible daily, but he confessed to the New York Times, "I don’t necessarily believe every single word is literally true." About the evolution-creation debate, he said, "The verdict is still out on how God created the earth. I don’t use the Bible as necessarily a way to predict the findings of science." In other words, Darwinism may be true according to President Bush. When the Bible and a scientific consensus are at odds, whom do you think that George Bush believes?'
What about the parts when the bible says the earth is flat/square, and that this is at odds not only with scientific consensus, but the truth? Note, too, that he uses the phrase "scientific consensus", not "scientific theory", so he may not believe even things that science has proven beyond all doubt. This writer believes in Creation "Science". If a practitioner of family medicine can believe in Creation "Science", I suppose he can believe that the stork brings babies.
Other issues
"There are many other reasons Christians should conscientiously object to voting for George W. Bush. Certainly, many of these acts are not necessarily sinful, but together they provide convincing proof that George W. Bush is not an authentic conservative."
Why do Christians necessarily have to be conservatives? Bah!
"He demoralized Korean and Japanese Christians by bowing down at a pagan Shinto shrine in Japan, His endorsement of Ramadan, a Muslim fast, at a White House celebration."
Respect for another religion is not akin to taking it up. I suppose then that Christians do not have the right to be offended if non-adherents do not even pay lip service to or retain a veneer of respect for their religion.
"His public profession that Muslims and Christians worship the same God, contrary to the plain teaching of Scripture. (I John 2:22-23, John 14:6)"
Actually, those 2 verses just say, respectively, that those who deny the christ are mistaken and cannot get salvation. Which doesn't mean that they don't worship the same god, just that one side is worshipping him wrongly. Frankly, I'm shocked how far he can twist verses for his purposes, trusting that people won't check them.
"His proposal to increase funding of the National Endowment for the Arts by 15 percent, the highest percentage increase in two decades. That's a total of 139 million dollars in 2005 to finance art, much of which is blasphemous. (Recall the taxpayer-financed painting of a crucifix in a jar of urine.)"
Claiming that one blasphemous art piece means that "much" of the rest are similarly sacrilegious is simply a non-sequiter. Going by this logic, if as much as one cent of donations to a church happens to be lost to corruption, we should all immediately stop giving any money to churches.
"His support of Clinton’s 1995 "assault weapons ban" which outlawed a host of semi-automatic guns."
I'm not sure that, even if the constitution allows them to carry guns, Americans equate that with the right to carry semi-automatic Weapons of Not-Inconsiderate Destruction. I'm sure that people using the guns for self defence will want to pump a whole magazine of 30 rounds into the robber who tries using a penknife or box-cutter on them.
"His endorsement and promotion of the globalist, sovereignty-threatening aims of the United Nations. He has continued the Clintonian policy of sending our soldiers to serve under U.N. commanders on U.N. missions."
It seems that, having lost the Jews as convenient boogeymen due to religious reasons, the deluded and paranoid have now latched on to the United Nations as the new Evil Entity which is trying to Take Over The World.
"In spite of the fact that he campaigned on the promise to veto any campaign finance reform legislation that limited Americans’ freedom of speech, he signed into law the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill that effectively eviscerated the first amendment."
How campaign finance and freedom of speech are linked, I really don't know.
Hell, the only things I agree with are the menace of the Patriot Act and the reckless budget deficits.
It's not that I want to be mean, but when I come across something so plainly shrill and deluded, I feel the urge to expose the empty rants for what they are (though in this case they are already quite apparent)
Post ID: 107780125057230829
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Sunday, February 22, 2004
I was reading a book recently when Dennis and Wang stormed in. They were very excited, locked into a loving embrace and were groping each other while giggling. They fell onto me when I was reading on a mattress, and it took a while for me to disentangle myself from the writhing mass of body parts. I then fell on them in turn, crushing them. They then immediately scurried out in shock.
New webbings were issued to those people ORDing after June (ie not me). I was curious to see how different they were, but was disappointed when I found that the only difference between the new and old webbings was the bigger magazine pouches in the new ones. You'd think that DSTA would have made some advances in webbing technology after all these years!
I played a very cunning trick on Guohan a few weeks back. The email promoting his batch of medics to the rank of Corporal had just arrived, and the rest decided to trick him into believing that he'd been promoted too (he's a 2 year soldier, so he won't actually get promoted). He didn't really believe them, so I went to print the promotion notice out, editing his name in. After I'd showed it to him, he appeared quite despondent for the rest of the day.
I read this directive on holding military weddings (yes, there's a directive for everything. That's what the directive writers are paid for!), and noticed that it mentioned that only the bridegroom was allowed to wear the No 1 uniform. But what if the bride is also a military officer? She can still wear the No 1, with the cute hat!
I saw people sparring with "Pugil Sticks" (like those bolsters they used on American Gladiators) during Close Combat Training and was struck by how useless this was for combat purposes, for pugil sticks do not even remotely approximate any close combat weapon to hand on the field of battle. [Update: According to a gung-ho commenter - "USMC grunts train with pugil sticks Over Grown Qtips to develop rifle bayonet fighting skills not hand to hand. I know cuz I did it."]
I think one reason for the popularity of the mongrel, bastardised, creole, pidgin form of "Chinese" that Singaporeans speak is the increasing occurence of English words in Chinese pop songs. For example: "You're my lucky charm" and "Merry merry christmas, lonely lonely christmas".
I am very much taken with an idea I came across recently, that overdeference to and hypersensitivity against offending certain groups - whether racial, gender or religious - is actually a subtle form of discrimination. This meshes well with my stand that affirmative action is actually an insult, for the message behind it is that the respective group is inferior, stupid, useless, lazy, incompetent etc.
Quote:
[Me: I heard you're posting out] *Eagerly* Really? Who did you hear [that] from? True or not? If [it's] true I['ll] kiss you. [Me: You also hate 46?] Of course. Wah na beh.
[To me on Wang] You're the only one who can control him.
[Me on someone diagnosed with computer games addiction: Wah. C2 ah. Why don't you downgrade for porn addiction?] Fuck you.
[Written] carapina (carabina)
cloth hitch (clove)
[On my critique of Junhui's essay] Moral of the story: Never let Gabriel read your essay.
[On a University application essay] Mine is very very different. [Me: What? 'Hey!'?] Hey, jee bye! Hey, jee bye! [Someone: Then they'll ask what's 'hey, jee bye!']
[On being appreciated] Get something more intangible from him. [Me: What, more empty words?] "Good job guys". A "good job guys" is equivalent to 2 days off.
[On his medical appointment] The AH woman - fucking chio. The girl who help me take the X-ray - touch here *touches waist* [Me: She touched you?] Yah.
[On his secondary school days recce-ing the NUS canteens] If you want to look at girls, go to the Arts canteen. If you want to look for guys to laugh at, Engineering is a good bet.
New webbings were issued to those people ORDing after June (ie not me). I was curious to see how different they were, but was disappointed when I found that the only difference between the new and old webbings was the bigger magazine pouches in the new ones. You'd think that DSTA would have made some advances in webbing technology after all these years!
I played a very cunning trick on Guohan a few weeks back. The email promoting his batch of medics to the rank of Corporal had just arrived, and the rest decided to trick him into believing that he'd been promoted too (he's a 2 year soldier, so he won't actually get promoted). He didn't really believe them, so I went to print the promotion notice out, editing his name in. After I'd showed it to him, he appeared quite despondent for the rest of the day.
I read this directive on holding military weddings (yes, there's a directive for everything. That's what the directive writers are paid for!), and noticed that it mentioned that only the bridegroom was allowed to wear the No 1 uniform. But what if the bride is also a military officer? She can still wear the No 1, with the cute hat!
I saw people sparring with "Pugil Sticks" (like those bolsters they used on American Gladiators) during Close Combat Training and was struck by how useless this was for combat purposes, for pugil sticks do not even remotely approximate any close combat weapon to hand on the field of battle. [Update: According to a gung-ho commenter - "USMC grunts train with pugil sticks Over Grown Qtips to develop rifle bayonet fighting skills not hand to hand. I know cuz I did it."]
I think one reason for the popularity of the mongrel, bastardised, creole, pidgin form of "Chinese" that Singaporeans speak is the increasing occurence of English words in Chinese pop songs. For example: "You're my lucky charm" and "Merry merry christmas, lonely lonely christmas".
I am very much taken with an idea I came across recently, that overdeference to and hypersensitivity against offending certain groups - whether racial, gender or religious - is actually a subtle form of discrimination. This meshes well with my stand that affirmative action is actually an insult, for the message behind it is that the respective group is inferior, stupid, useless, lazy, incompetent etc.
Quote:
[Me: I heard you're posting out] *Eagerly* Really? Who did you hear [that] from? True or not? If [it's] true I['ll] kiss you. [Me: You also hate 46?] Of course. Wah na beh.
[To me on Wang] You're the only one who can control him.
[Me on someone diagnosed with computer games addiction: Wah. C2 ah. Why don't you downgrade for porn addiction?] Fuck you.
[Written] carapina (carabina)
cloth hitch (clove)
[On my critique of Junhui's essay] Moral of the story: Never let Gabriel read your essay.
[On a University application essay] Mine is very very different. [Me: What? 'Hey!'?] Hey, jee bye! Hey, jee bye! [Someone: Then they'll ask what's 'hey, jee bye!']
[On being appreciated] Get something more intangible from him. [Me: What, more empty words?] "Good job guys". A "good job guys" is equivalent to 2 days off.
[On his medical appointment] The AH woman - fucking chio. The girl who help me take the X-ray - touch here *touches waist* [Me: She touched you?] Yah.
[On his secondary school days recce-ing the NUS canteens] If you want to look at girls, go to the Arts canteen. If you want to look for guys to laugh at, Engineering is a good bet.
Post ID: 107745151688631693
Talkback! is back, and a new guestbook too. Have fun.
Unfortunately, I'd neglected to backup my guestbook entries, so a good year's worth (Mid-November 2002 to February 2003, October 2003 to November 2003, 20th January 2004-whenever guestpage.com disappeared - mostly spam, hopefully) are lost. Oh well.
Finally! A funny Garfield strip. People claim it used to be funnier, but a look at the first Garfield strip leads one to beg to differ, for back then it was almost just as lame. I'm surprised the free archive stretches back so far though!
Kristin Thomas Spam Poetry - "I write poetry using only the subject lines from the hundreds of pieces of SPAM I get every day."
Unfortunately, I'd neglected to backup my guestbook entries, so a good year's worth (Mid-November 2002 to February 2003, October 2003 to November 2003, 20th January 2004-whenever guestpage.com disappeared - mostly spam, hopefully) are lost. Oh well.
Finally! A funny Garfield strip. People claim it used to be funnier, but a look at the first Garfield strip leads one to beg to differ, for back then it was almost just as lame. I'm surprised the free archive stretches back so far though!
Kristin Thomas Spam Poetry - "I write poetry using only the subject lines from the hundreds of pieces of SPAM I get every day."
Post ID: 107744698202259976
The meaning of life is very simple - it's all about self-gratification, acquiring power, attaining massive material wealth, and crushing your foes. Why, it's so simple I'm surprised you even have to ask. "What you want, take." Everything else is an illusion spun by those in power to prevent people from claiming what's rightfully theirs.
Post ID: 107744338963044990
People often search for the meaning of life, but there *is* no grand, over-arching "meaning of life" for everyone. Life has no meaning beyond what you give it.
Jennifer Tham gets interviewed about her having no children.
XXXX GALUMPIA ADULT XXXX - I think the extra "X" gives you a clue about how it differs from normal "XXX". What you see is not what you get!
Jennifer Tham gets interviewed about her having no children.
XXXX GALUMPIA ADULT XXXX - I think the extra "X" gives you a clue about how it differs from normal "XXX". What you see is not what you get!
Post ID: 107743036481817383
Power Rangers Wild Force is... interesting. It seems to break with the past in some ways, among the most intriguing (rather, disconcerting to me) are the computer animation (argh. Now the zords look a bit like they're from Beast Wars. What happened to good ole people in suits?!), a flying shark zord (very weird), mobile phones as morphers (now I've seen it all) and claws on the morphed rangers (?!). I suppose I'll get used to it in time.
The pilot was horribly shoddy, though, explaining almost nothing. For example, wth is "Princess Shayla"? Maybe it's because we got cheated, as both episodes debuted in the US as an hour long special! I hope episode 2 makes up for the pilot...
Meanwhile, in the US:
"Power Rangers Dino Thunder premiered on ABC Family on February 21, 2004. The series premieres with three Power Rangers (Red, Blue and Yellow). Two others, a Black Power Ranger and a White Power Ranger, emerge later in the storyline. The newest series is highlighted by the return of one-time Power Ranger Tommy Oliver (1993-97). Tommy is now a high school science teacher in the town of Reefside, California, a refuge he returned to after years of working alongside the late scientist Dr. Anton Mercer. Their top secret experiment combined dinosaur DNA and modern technology and resulted in the invention of Dino Zords, creatures of incredible strength and brilliance. Tommy hoped this innovation would benefit man's understanding of dinosaurs but the lab and its secret work was viciously destroyed by a warped scientist, later known as Mesogog, who conspired to return the world to the age of the dinosaurs.
Believing that chapter of his life is closed, Tommy is focusing on teaching but unbeknownst to him, Mesogog intends to see his distorted plan through. Among Tommy's students are: Connor, a star soccer player, Kira, a wannabe rocker, and Ethan, an internet guru and champion on-line gamer. While on a class field trip, the trio comes across ancient Dino Gems, stones from the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaur population long ago. The strange stones have immense power, bond their special magic to each kid and before long, will transform them into superheroes known as the Power Rangers. When Mesogog resurfaces and attacks the city with his fearsome Tyrannodrones - plus two robotic cyborgs, Elsa and Zeltrax - Tommy must quickly teach his three students to harness the power of the Dino Zords - a giant Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops and Pteranodon. Although they are hesitant, the teens rise to challenge. Through the Dino Gems and with their special call out, "Dino Thunder! Power Up!," Connor morphs into the Red Ranger with super speed, Kira becomes the Yellow Ranger with a piercing and powerful scream, and Ethan is the Blue Ranger with the ability to grow impenetrable armor for skin.
Mesogog knows the Power Rangers are the sole obstacle to his plan and sets out to seize the Dino Gems. Then, an important secret about the teens' teacher is revealed - he was once the leader of the Power Rangers. The students implore Tommy to reignite his Ranger powers and ultimately, he joins them as the Black Power Ranger. But the Rangers have another threat upon them when a renegade White Power Ranger strikes the city. Unsure of his motives, it's up to the Power Rangers to first uncover his identity and then somehow convince him to join the ranks and fight evil alongside the Power Rangers. When Mesogog ups the ante in his quest to capture the powers of the Dino Gems for himself, it will be up to five Power Rangers to utilize new Zords, new weapons and new powers to defeat him. All the while, they must keep their Power Ranger identities secret from two fellow students Cassidy and Devin, reporters for the school TV station."
Hmm. Tommy is back! But it'll take 2 years for us to see him in action again (well, there's Forever Red, but that's for 1 episode only, so). I prefer him with his luscious locks, though.
The pilot was horribly shoddy, though, explaining almost nothing. For example, wth is "Princess Shayla"? Maybe it's because we got cheated, as both episodes debuted in the US as an hour long special! I hope episode 2 makes up for the pilot...
Meanwhile, in the US:
"Power Rangers Dino Thunder premiered on ABC Family on February 21, 2004. The series premieres with three Power Rangers (Red, Blue and Yellow). Two others, a Black Power Ranger and a White Power Ranger, emerge later in the storyline. The newest series is highlighted by the return of one-time Power Ranger Tommy Oliver (1993-97). Tommy is now a high school science teacher in the town of Reefside, California, a refuge he returned to after years of working alongside the late scientist Dr. Anton Mercer. Their top secret experiment combined dinosaur DNA and modern technology and resulted in the invention of Dino Zords, creatures of incredible strength and brilliance. Tommy hoped this innovation would benefit man's understanding of dinosaurs but the lab and its secret work was viciously destroyed by a warped scientist, later known as Mesogog, who conspired to return the world to the age of the dinosaurs.
Believing that chapter of his life is closed, Tommy is focusing on teaching but unbeknownst to him, Mesogog intends to see his distorted plan through. Among Tommy's students are: Connor, a star soccer player, Kira, a wannabe rocker, and Ethan, an internet guru and champion on-line gamer. While on a class field trip, the trio comes across ancient Dino Gems, stones from the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaur population long ago. The strange stones have immense power, bond their special magic to each kid and before long, will transform them into superheroes known as the Power Rangers. When Mesogog resurfaces and attacks the city with his fearsome Tyrannodrones - plus two robotic cyborgs, Elsa and Zeltrax - Tommy must quickly teach his three students to harness the power of the Dino Zords - a giant Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops and Pteranodon. Although they are hesitant, the teens rise to challenge. Through the Dino Gems and with their special call out, "Dino Thunder! Power Up!," Connor morphs into the Red Ranger with super speed, Kira becomes the Yellow Ranger with a piercing and powerful scream, and Ethan is the Blue Ranger with the ability to grow impenetrable armor for skin.
Mesogog knows the Power Rangers are the sole obstacle to his plan and sets out to seize the Dino Gems. Then, an important secret about the teens' teacher is revealed - he was once the leader of the Power Rangers. The students implore Tommy to reignite his Ranger powers and ultimately, he joins them as the Black Power Ranger. But the Rangers have another threat upon them when a renegade White Power Ranger strikes the city. Unsure of his motives, it's up to the Power Rangers to first uncover his identity and then somehow convince him to join the ranks and fight evil alongside the Power Rangers. When Mesogog ups the ante in his quest to capture the powers of the Dino Gems for himself, it will be up to five Power Rangers to utilize new Zords, new weapons and new powers to defeat him. All the while, they must keep their Power Ranger identities secret from two fellow students Cassidy and Devin, reporters for the school TV station."
Hmm. Tommy is back! But it'll take 2 years for us to see him in action again (well, there's Forever Red, but that's for 1 episode only, so). I prefer him with his luscious locks, though.
Post ID: 107742571950465503
'As for codes now being found anyway, consider such amusing but telling research as that of computer whiz Don Steinberg. Using a codebreaking computer procedure similar to that of Witztum, Rips, and Rosenberg, Steinberg found not only the Rabin assassination but boxer Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfield's ear, and even the complete sentence "O. J. did it"--encoded in a Microsoft software license agreement! Steinberg's conclusion? "Whenever powerful computers, large documents, and people with a whole lot of free time are involved, anything is possible"' --- On mathematical mysteries
Also: Assassinations Foretold in Moby Dick!
exso - Tell your ex. Tell the world - Spill the beans on your ex-s.
misinformer Games Sneak Preview: Playstation 3 - Hmm. *g*
Also: Assassinations Foretold in Moby Dick!
exso - Tell your ex. Tell the world - Spill the beans on your ex-s.
misinformer Games Sneak Preview: Playstation 3 - Hmm. *g*
Post ID: 107738050161570227
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