"Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped." - Elbert Hubbard

Random Playlist Song: Schubert - Nachtgesang - Gott ist mein Hirt D.706 (The Lord is My Shepherd) (Scharoun Ensemble, pianoforte Johann Fritz)

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I did surprisingly well in my most slack semester yet. Time to work harder next semester.

RV went carolling at the Esplanade 2 Fridays ago but my sources didn't tell me. Bah.

Someone: "wow! you stopped watching tv? how'd you handled that?". Heh.

***

Someone: "i wish i had a gay fren to share beauty tips wif
for now u'll do :P
metrosexual hahahaha"

Me? A metrosexual? Hahahaha.


Caleb on the Early Christians' opposition to the Death Penalty: "This opposition was grounded in a pro-life outlook -- they opposed the death penalty, abortion, military service and torture and advocated welfare for the poor all for this reason. Ah if only modern Chrisitians were as consistent in theri beliefs. These days many Christians are of the 'hang them all', 'duty, honour, country' and 'those bums should get a job and not expect a handout' variety. How sad. To be consistent therefore, Lisheng should also reject military service (unless just war theory is satisfied)
and the death penalty.

[...]

The early X-ians were pro-life in a general way: that is, not only did they oppose abortion, but also the death penalty, and military service. This was not simply a plea for tolerance -- since this is what caused the intolerance in the first place. The romans were very annoyed that X-ian magistrates refused to impose death penalties and became very suspicious -- they refusal of the X-ians magistrates was taken as an indication that they did not accept the acutoritas of roman law. The X-ian opposition to the death penalty was therefore not a way not escape persecution but a *cause* of persecution."

Haha

***

First they came for Napster
and I did not speak out
because I switched to Kazaa.
Then they came for Kazaa
and I did not speak out
because I switched to bit torrents.
Then they came for bit torrents
and I did not speak out
because I switched to ED2K.
Then they came for ED2K
and there was no one left
for the entertainment industry
to blame for their troubles.
So they went out of business,
and now there is only me.


Pastor Martin Niemöller must be rolling in his grave. *g*

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Dyeing Young

"Seen natural black hair in Singapore these days? Yes, it's becoming a rarity. Now, brace yourselves: Kids as young as 11 years old are colouring or rebonding their hair - and their parents willingly pay through their noses for it"

Hahahahahaha

And, not unexpectedly, we have a message from the Guardians of Asian Values:

"What values are we passing on

Thanks to the invasion of J-pop, coloured hair is cool, almost essential in the youth. Just a mere six years ago, when I had a platinum blond head, coloured hair was associated with people who liked to walk on the wild side of life. And today, 12-year-olds are doing it.

If Queenie's mother feels it's worth spending $400 on her daughter's hair, fair play to her. I am concerned, however, about what message we are sending the young ones.

Being of an age where her parents are still very much the role models of her life, I do hope that the message she gets is that while we can afford ourselves some luxuries from time to time, because we've earned it, $400 could feed a poor family for a month. Or if we're less altruistically-inclined, that the money could go some way in helping herself on a rainy day.

In my time, my female friends didn't start paying for $30 haircuts until they were about 18, and even then, it was out of their own pocket money (even the rich ones).

My biggest joy as a father came when my daughter, on one of her trips, picked out a rather costly toy. I mumbled under my breath that it was expensive but thought about buying it anyway. Then three, she put the toy back happily and said: 'It's okay, daddy, this is expensive. I'll look for something else.'

If I succeed at nothing else in life, I'll always be extremely pleased that I at least had successfully taught her the value of money. Hopefully, this will not be lost on Queenie and her friends." [Emphasis mine]

Uhh... Yes. All hail Asian Asceticism. Throw out the 42' Plasma TV and go back to the good ole days when 15' sets were the norm. Scrap the family car and take public transport. Eat rice and soya sauce everyday. That's the way to bring up our children!

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Modern Kids Don't Smile When They Visit Santa

"Kids these days don't smile when they visit Santa Claus, according to research just performed by a noted business school professor. Professor John W. Trinkaus, of the Zicklin School of Business, in New York City, observed children at two large shopping malls and a major department store, noting each child's facial expression as the children visited Santa Claus. Every child was accompanied by a parent or guardian.

What Professor Trinkaus saw surprised and saddened him. More than 95 percent of the children were visibly indifferent or hesitant as they approached Santa. Only one percent of them smiled or showed other signs of happiness. On the other hand, Professor Trinkaus noted, nearly all of the parents were visibly quite happy and excited.

Professor Trinkaus's Santa Claus research extends his already impressive body of work. Earlier this year, he was awarded the 2003 Ig Nobel Prize in Literature.

Also of seasonal note: Professor Trinkaus also recently published a study called "Snow on Motor Vehicle Roofs: An Informal Look," in which he reported that: "Following a snowstorm, a viewing of 4,347 moving noncommercial motor vehicles, which apparently had been outside during a storm, showed about 65% had roofs which had not been cleared of snow deposits -- with vans outnumbering cars by about 2 to 1.""

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The Truth About Christmas

"No – Christmas is NOT of God. It is abomination to Him. It is NOT honoring to Jesus Christ. It only calls forth from multitudes of unthinking people a natural sentimentality and a false worship of Him. The observances of Christmas are in no way inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Christmas spirit is only terrible mockery to Him.

Christmas time is not a season of revival and upbuilding in the Church of God. Instead it is a pagan spell of evil, which spreads spiritual pollution as it rages among churches and believers for the time appointed. Thousands of evangelical believers who would be horrified and deeply depressed to find a professor smoking or drinking or dancing, calmly and deliberately indulge in the idolatries of the heathen at Christmas time. And those who know and love the Truth are counted to be narrow minded and sacrilegious if a protest is raised. So, such honest souls are forced to stand aside and witness annually this glittering cloud of pagan observances descend with a smothering and paralyzing pall on all people. And as we watch parents, who loudly proclaim the necessity of truthfulness in children, who advocate the need of so many social reformations and who bemoan the juvenile delinquency which prevails, deliberately teach their unsuspecting little ones the monstrous Santa Claus lie, we can only cry with the Apostle John "I wondered with great wonder" (Rev. 17:6 R.V.)."


Should a Christian Celebrate Christmas?

"The following outline describes the origin of Christmas (with its associated pagan customs, symbols, and terminology), details the Scriptural support against celebrating Christmas, attempts to show that celebrating Christmas violates the spirit of every one of the ten commandments, attempts to demonstrate that celebrating Christmas does not fall in the realm of Christian liberty, and attempts to debunk eight of the major rationalizations Christians put forth for celebrating Christmas."


I love these fundies :) If only they realised that what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

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The King William's College quiz - Possibly the hardest trivia quiz in the world. I shan't even attempt to answer any of the questions.

How to make an Egg (Guangzhou Style) - "A reporter with Hong Kong-based Chinese magazine East Week enrolled in one such course. To create egg white, the instructor - a woman in her 20s - used assorted ingredients such as gelatin, an unknown powder, benzoic acid, coagulating material and even alum, which is normally used for industrial processes."
Some silly Singaporean prank article, written during the egg shortage.

Scared of Santa photo gallery - "Nothing says Happy Holidays like a photo of sweet little toddlers screaming at Santa"

Why Do Talented Employees Leave Companies? - "Employee attrition leads to loss of experience, wasted training and poor corporate morale. For SAF, NSFs are not free agents and may consciously or subconsciously sabotage operations in revenge... even if the department head has an enlightened perspective on management, its implementation might be sabotaged at the ground level. Direct supervisors might not share the same values or macro-perspective and will manage in a conflicting manner."

Why Be Moral? - "So, is morality an ultimate value or not? This most basic question cannot be given any objective answer. There is no fact of the matter. It is for the most part an issue of values and is therefore ultimately relative and subjective, as is morality itself. Some say yes and others say no, and neither side is mistaken about the matter. Many nontheists would take our title question to be meaningless, and I have no good argument against their outlook."

The MPAA has no idea what’s about to hit them - "There’s not a long way to go before technology makes it possible to anonymously copy whatever you want. Two things work in favor of that outcome - 1) storage keeps getting cheaper, and 2) because everything’s digital, a distribution mechanism that works for one kind of media can be easily adapted to work for all kinds of media. Eventually, there will be enough storage out there that the entire music library of the human race will be able to fit on a card or disc that’s small enough and cheap enough that it will be practical to just hand them out with a cup of coffee."