"How can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter?" - Woody Allen

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Tyra Banks proves her breasts are real - "After Banks asked the men in the audience to leave, Dr. Garth Fisher from ABC’s “Extreme Makeover” performed a touch test and then the sonogram. He concluded: “Tyra Banks has natural breasts; there are no implants.”"
Gah.

Sociological Images » PORN PRODUCER WITH A HEART OF GOLD - "Natural High, a Japanese company that reportedly makes “extreme” pornography. The producer, Sakkun, felt bad that many children in Africa live in poverty and so he sent a porn star to Kenya to have sex with African men (on film, of course). The company gave a Kenyan aid organization one million yen (around $10, 800 U.S.) and 1,000 more (currently about $10.77 U.S.) is donated for every DVD sold... How much choice can these individuals really exercise if, in fact, they are as impoverished as the producer claims? This reminds me of those campaigns to sterilize women on welfare or drug-using women by offering them a sum of money and paying for their operation. Is this consent or coercion?"
Damn Japs; in the sociologist's mind, it is better to give people fewer choices because then they will not be "coerced". Choice is repressive! Bah.

YouTube - Mario Kart Love Song (Original) - "This is a song I wrote about Mario Kart and Love. Possibly my most emo video ever. Yes, I taped yarn to my face... 'You be my princess / I'll be your toad / I'll follow behind you / on rainbow road'"
...

Iraqi justice system falls short - "Iraq is failing to give criminal suspects fair trials and abuse of prisoners appears common ahead of the transfer of thousands of detainees from U.S. prison camps to Iraqi control, a human rights group said on Monday... Impartial administration of justice for all Iraqis was supposed to be a hallmark of the country's break with the abuses of the Saddam Hussein era and help heal sectarian divides after years of horrific violence, it said. "Regrettably, some of the failings in the court's proceedings show disturbing continuity with that period.""
And once again the cycle begins anew, with the oppressed becoming the oppressors

Chess with Fog of War

A Government’s Wet Dream - "In 1965 when we were kicked out of Malaysia, the PAP government saw the need to galvanize this strange new breed of people called ‘Singaporeans’. A year later we saw a national campaign to be a “rugged society”... Then PM Lee Kuan Yew observed “Societies like ours have no fat to spare. They are either lean and healthy or they die.” And so our siege mentality began. Fast forward 40 years later and we’re still at it... the government very often goes out of its way to create an environment that suffocates the very ideal citizen it had hoped to nurture. The “rugged society” campaign began in 1966 but by the 1970s we already told not to spit... Things aren’t so great for the ‘Renaissance Singaporean’ too. The Renaissance Singaporean is supposed to be global yet local; but dual passports are still not allowed in Singapore... The PAP government has got to stop having wet dreams about citizens."

Beijing Clamps Down After Call for Democracy - "The release last week of a human rights manifesto signed by hundreds of mainland scholars, lawyers and ex-officials has prompted a stern response from Chinese authorities who have jailed one signer and contacted dozens."
The people must be protected from dangerous counter-revolutionaries; when people tell me China can have more freedom than Singapore it's like saying Singapore can be colder than Canada - some offices certainly are, but that's besides the point.

'Buy local' not the answer to smaller carbon footprint, professor argues - "As he argues in a recent policy paper (Yes, We Have No Bananas: A Critique of the ‘Food Miles’ Perspective), a New Zealand apple eaten in Spiegel Hall has more “food miles” (distance food has travelled from production to consumption) on it than the indigenous McIntosh, but its production may have resulted in fewer greenhouse gases. New Zealand apples, he explains, are grown during our winter months and do not need to spend long periods of time in cold storage facilities. Desrochers’ paper challenges the recent popularity of movements like the 100-mile diet and has made him a virtual pariah to the anti-Agri Business brigade. “The people who protest my paper circle together like musk oxen. They’re reluctant to debate or consider the data. They’re angry at corporations, but feel powerless to effect change. So they transpose their efforts to something they can relate to: food purchases.”... Desrochers has no illusions of winning over the prevailing (and politically correct) Local Food Plus faction that pronounces: Let’s go the distance so our food won’t have to."

Ecstasy over G spot therapy - "Emmanuele Jannini at the University of L'Aquila in Italy discovered clear anatomical differences between women who claim to have vaginal orgasms - triggered by stimulation of the front vaginal wall without any simultaneous stimulation of the clitoris - and those that don't. Apparently, the key is that women who orgasm during penetrative sex have a thicker area of tissue in the region between the vagina and urethra, meaning a simple scan could separate out the lucky "haves" from the "have-nots"."

'Tis the season to find a lover reveals survey - "A pre-Christmas survey of young people has found that they believe yuletide is the right time to find love, or failing that, maybe a one-night stand. And if neither of these can be found, there's always your parents for a shoulder to cry on. The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups' survey of 338 young people aged between 12 and 29 revealed that three out of four see the festive season as a time for dating, one in four crave just to be loved, and one in 10 would accept a one-night stand as a substitute."

Who has the most Followers on Twitter? (Top 200) (Singapore Edition) | Twitterholic.com - I'm 142?!

Rom-coms 'spoil your love life' - "Rom-coms have been blamed by relationship experts at Heriot Watt University for promoting unrealistic expectations when it comes to love. They found fans of films such as Runaway Bride and Notting Hill often fail to communicate with their partner. Many held the view if someone is meant to be with you, then they should know what you want without you telling them."

The art of music - "Musical scores are not just useful - they can themselves be works of art. This is particularly true of much modern music. So I thought I would show a few interesting, unusual and artistic examples"

Sneaky way to steal 10 cans of milk - "Malaysian shoplifters at work."
Even their shoplifters CMI. Malaysia Boleh!