Melvin's masterpiece! Some field names have been blurred for, ahem, security purposes.


Paul Bunyan: The Story of Paul Bunyan - this comes from the M$ Knowledge Base!

Technology seen in Minority Report that actually exists today: Heliodisplay/ Interactive Free-Space Display and Projection Keyboard.

Sent to me by a friend - Shaping elitist mindset - "What began as a jealous boy-girl dating complaint has developed into a full-blown Internet debate that highlights the divisive impact of Singapore's school ranking system." (from the Sunday Star, some Malaysian newspaper)

Q5. What position was most common for heterosexual copulation in ancient Greece?

A5. Like dogs - the "missionary" position was known but not favoured - at least not by the artists who painted pictures on ancient Greek vases.


Q5 - Early this [Ed: Last] century the Emperor of Ethiopia was impressed by American use of the electric chair for executing criminals, and bought one. What happened to it, and why?

A5. Dr. Bob's answer: There being no electricity in Ethiopia at the time, he used it as a throne. If this trend had been continued after electricity came in, it would have been a very convenient way of disposing of recalcitrant monarchs.


Q1. What proportion of UFO abductions are reported as happening in the USA??

A1. Dr. Bob's answer: 80% - Aliens obviously find Americans the most interesting specimens


Q5. How, or on what occasion, did Attila the Hun die?

Alternative answer: He isn't dead. I've seen him with Elvis in my local supermarket.


Q3 - In 1867 how many different kinds of hammer were being made in Birmingham (UK)?

A3. Dr. Bob's answer: 500


Q4 - What Pharaoh of ancient Egypt had the nickname "Horse Face"?

A4. Dr. Bob's answer: Akhnaten (congenital deformity; there are statues and carvings that show it)


Q1 - What proportion of American households buy no books?

A1. Dr Bob’s answer: 90%


Q1 - In a field of ripe wheat, how big a circle can one man flatten in 30 minutes with simple garden tools?

A1. Dr Bob’s answer: 20m diameter. As has been demonstrated by the Wessex Skeptics, who the following morning had to shoo away various gurus who kept turning up, pronouncing it genuine and waffling on about "No human being can possibly have done this", etc.


Q1 - What percentage of adults lose faith in their religion?

A1. Dr Bob’s answer: 38%


Q2 - If you see a polar bear coming charging towards you, which way should you jump?

A2. Dr Bob’s answer: Left! Left! Everybody knows that most bears are left-handed. Indeed the Inuit of Kalaallit Nunaat (ex Greenland Eskimos) objected to the official seal (sic) of the Royal Greenland Trading Company which depicts a bear extending its right paw. (Dr Bob would like to hear from someone in the area). The bear will swipe with its front left paw; therefore if you and the bear are facing, you wait till the last moment then jump to the bear’s right, which is your left.


Q4 - What European country exports the most hippopotamuses?

A4. Dr Bob’s answer: Hungary (it’s a terrible place, you can’t walk around on the Great Plain without having to bat herds of them off with a stick. The spotty pink ones are the worst - randy old buggers - yes I do believe I’ll have another slivovitch)


Q4 - What does the constellation Sagittarius spectacularly resemble?

A4. Dr Bob’s answer: A teapot. The ancients reckoned they could see a half man, half horse with a bow and arrow, but you can’t find those mushrooms any more. I am amazed and appalled that nobody got this right. Maybe nobody goes outside at night and looks up any more. Get some astronomical software so you can see, on your screens, what you would have seen if you went outside.


But this one seems wrong!

Q3 - A bucket of water, full to the brim, stands on bathroom scales which read exactly 40kg. A large block of wood weighing 5kg is dropped in, and it floats freely. What is the final reading on the scales?

A3. (By Andi Stevenson) - If that greek geezer was right, it would displace it's own mass, so it's still 40kg. But it was DROPPED in, and water would have splashed out - so make that 39kg..

Finally got a new template - the first non-garish template by maystar that's not like all the others that I've seen.

As I told He Who Must Not Be Named when he accused me of being fickle,

"I last changed my template in august
prior to that, april
before that, december

so I'm overdue"

An animal protection group in Jerusalem, Israel, says in the last three months there have been 43 reported cases of people throwing cats out of cars, apparently in an attempt to abandon them to the streets. While most were tossed from cars "at low speed," at least one ended up hitting the windshield of another vehicle. The cat survived.


Babes Against Bush - "What could be more un-American than that election-hijacking, economy-wrecking, war-mongering chimp George W. Bush? What could be more All-American than thirteen beautiful young women, exercising their first amendment right to thumb their nose at our bozo president?... For only $11.00 (plus $1.95 shipping), you too can experience the thrill of thirteen socially-conscious, stunningly-attractive young women escorting you through the weeks and months until inauguration day in January, 2005 - when America finally gets a real president again. Educational, entertaining, and socially responsible without being politically correct...all for less than a dollar per month!"
Right.

Quotes from Either President of the United States George W. Bush or Senator/Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine from the Star Wars Movies

Why do carbonated drinks seem to bubble more in plastic cups? - "The properties and characteristics of a particular member of the plastics family... causes carbonated drinks to bubble more in plastic cups."

"There's a difference between "trivia" and "obscure shit that no-one in their right mind would possibly know or find out without hours of research"."


Gah. My guestbook has been down for at least 2 weeks. Looks like I'll have to find a new one. Luckily I managed to retrieve the archives up till late January, but any entries (mostly spam, luckily!) since then have been lost.


Rossino Mantovano: Lirum Bililirum

Lirum bililirum, li-lirum, lirum, lirum.
Deh si soni la sordina.
Tu m'intendi ben, Pedrina,
Ma non già per il dovirum.
Lirum bililirum, li-lirum, lirum li
Deh, si soni la sordina,
Deh, si soni la sordina,
Le ses an che t'vo mi ben
E che t'son bon servidor,
Ma t'aspet che l'so ben
Ch'al fin sclopi per amor.
Deh, non da plu tat dolor,
Tu sa ben che dig il virum.

Madrigals are so charming.


Wth is Selma Boudovoir whatever?

I believe you're referring to the Jib-Jib, a creature indigenous to the Low Xamen area in Kakhabad. Jib-Jibs are essentially walking hairballs with a STAMINA of 1 and ear-shattering cries. To the best of my recall, they've surfaced in Sorcery! Book 1 and Fighting Fantasy Book 29: Midnight Rogue - in both instances as walking alarm systems who have to be killed in one Attack Round.

Insert gratuitous pop culture trivia: Jub Jub is the name of Selma Bouvier's giant iguana.

JubJubs are very shy creatures.

They aren't aggressive, but they can defend themselves when threatened with their deafening screech.

This is a "jubjub" from Neopets. In another era, jubjubs were creatures in the Old World (Khakabad) from the Fighting Fantasy Universe. Interestingly enough, they also defended themselves by emanating loud noises. Something's very fishy here.

Bah!


Dog Issued Credit Card. Owner Sends In Pre-Approved Application As Joke - Pre-approved cards by spammers actually get issued!

Women Over 40 Biggest Online Gamers - "Think teenagers are spending all night long playing online games on the computer? Wrong -- it's their mothers burning the midnight oil."

MIT student dances with robots

MAKE YOUR OWN PRUNO - "Pruno, a prison wine created from fruit, sugar and ketchup, is such a vile and despicable beast in the California state penal system that prisoners can't eat fresh fruit at lunch."

Escape from Neverland - Play Michael Jackson and snare boys escaping from your ranch. Let one escape and you get raided and go to jail. The part I found most amusing - it uses music and sound effects (the "Ow!") from the old Michael Jackson's Moonwalker game.

relax we understand j00 - Making sense of 1337-speak

Wanted: personal social network coordinator - "Permanent full-time position for a personal social coordinator for a New York-based web designer. Your primary responsibility will be managing my accounts with various online social networking sites including, but not limited to, Friendster, LinkedIn, Tribe, Orkut, Ryze, Spoke, ZeroDegrees, Ecademy, RealContacts, Ringo, MySpace, Yafro, EveryonesConnected, Friendzy, FriendSurfer, Tickle, Evite, Plaxo, Squiby, and WhizSpark."

Why your Movable Type blog must die - "

In the past, blogging was an interesting pastime. Now, with the advent of the ridiculously popular weblog package Movable Type, the Web is in risk of drowning under a tidal wave of morons who throttle search engines with writing that has no purpose and such PageRank-destroying features as "TrackBack"."
But why lambast MT blogs only? Most points apply to many blogs around today.


Interview in the Sunday Times today:

"When we visited a Buddhist temple one day to have a meal, he said we'd have no problems because it was vegetarian. As it turned out, it was vegetarian, but all the dishes were made to taste like ham, beef, chicken and even a suckling pig. We couldn't eat."

What does vegetarian chicken have to do with it? And if they can't eat foods masquerading as pork, then vegetarian bacon bits, turkey ham, turkey bacon and the like are haram too, and MUIS should take away McDonald's Halal cert.


Every Sperm Is Sacred

Composers: David Howman & Andre Jacquemin
Authors: Michael Palin & Terry Jones
From the Movie 'The Meaning of Life'

DAD:
There are Jews in the world.
There are Buddhists.
There are Hindus and Mormons, and then
There are those that follow Mohammed, but
I've never been one of them.
I'm a Roman Catholic,
And have been since before I was born,
And the one thing they say about Catholics is:
They'll take you as soon as you're warm.
You don't have to be a six-footer.
You don't have to have a great brain.
You don't have to have any clothes on. You're
A Catholic the moment Dad came,
Because
Every sperm is sacred.
Every sperm is great.
If a sperm is wasted,
God gets quite irate.

CHILDREN:
Every sperm is sacred.
Every sperm is great.
If a sperm is wasted,
God gets quite irate.

GIRL:
Let the heathen spill theirs
On the dusty ground.
God shall make them pay for
Each sperm that can't be found.

CHILDREN:
Every sperm is wanted.
Every sperm is good.
Every sperm is needed
In your neighbourhood.

MUM:
Hindu, Taoist, Mormon,
Spill theirs just anywhere,
But God loves those who treat their
Semen with more care.

MEN:
Every sperm is sacred.
Every sperm is great.

WOMEN:
If a sperm is wasted,...

CHILDREN:
...God get quite irate.

PRIEST:
Every sperm is sacred.

BRIDE and GROOM:
Every sperm is good.

NANNIES:
Every sperm is needed...

CARDINALS:
...In your neighbourhood!

CHILDREN:
Every sperm is useful.
Every sperm is fine.

FUNERAL CORTEGE:
God needs everybody's.

MOURNER #1:
Mine!

MOURNER #2:
And mine!

CORPSE:
And mine!

NUN:
Let the Pagan spill theirs
O'er mountain, hill, and plain.

HOLY STATUES:
God shall strike them down for
Each sperm that's spilt in vain.

EVERYONE:
Every sperm is sacred.
Every sperm is good.
Every sperm is needed
In your neighbourhood.
Every sperm is sacred.
Every sperm is great.
If a sperm is wasted,
God gets quite iraaaaaate!

Comments attributed to Andy Rooney I was forwarded almost 2 weeks back which I've annotated (original version can be found here):


Andy Rooney said on 60 minutes a few weeks back: (for those of you
that don't know Andy Rooney, he is an 82 year old US TV commentator.)

I like big cars, big boats, big motorcycles, big houses and big campfires.
Good for you. What if I like big government unlike you? To each his own

I believe the money I make belongs to me and my family, not some
governmental stooge with a bad comb-over who wants to give it away to
crack addicts for squirting out babies.
I'm sure that pouring the money into farm subsidies for filthy rich farmers so Third World peasants can't find a market for their crops is a much better use of your money. Taxes exist for a reason - to help the disadvantaged.

Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game.
Weapons of mass destruction don't make you a killer either, but I don't see anyone advocating for all countries to exercise a divine right to hold them.

I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, that is why there are no girls allowed. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING MARTHA BURKE?

I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is an opinion.
If you feel that Jews are big-nosed, skullcap wearing usurers and evil Zionist scum, that's not anti-Semitism, that's an opinion.

I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything, except numbers. The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America. Try to have things like the United Caucasian College Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America, and see what happens. Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door.

I have the right "NOT" to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird, or tick me off.
So I assume others have the right "NOT" to be tolerant of you.

When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70%
of the population is black, that is not racial profiling, it is the Law of Probability.
But the truth is - it's a disproportionate number who get arrested. The reason for the discrepancy lies elsewhere, not the Law of Probability.

I know what sex is, and there are not varying degrees of it. If I received
sex from one of my subordinates in my office, it wouldn't be a private matter or my personal business. I would be "FIRED" immediately!

I believe that if you are selling me a milk shake, a pack of cigarettes, a newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of fact, if you want to be an American citizen, you should HAVE to speak English!
I'm not all that sure all the immigrants who made America great spoke English, so I guess we can discount their contributions.

My father and grandfather didn't die in vain, so you can leave the countries you were born in to come over and disrespect ours. I think the police should have every right to shoot your sorry self, if you threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can't understand the word "freeze" or "stop" in ENGLISH, see the above lines.
So I guess it's okay if you Americans get beaten up by Moroccan police after you accidentally outrage the modesty of some of their women by touching their hands to get their attention. Oh I forgot. Most of you have never been outside of your country.

I feel much safer letting a machine with no political affiliation recount votes when needed. I know what the definition of lying is.
Guess you haven't heard about all the screw ups plaguing the new machines, huh?

I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks, etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other business.
At least they're helping the economy to *grow*, instead of sitting around sulking like Pennsylvania steel workers and whining for trade tariffs just because they can't make steel as efficiently as others.

We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to their interpretations.
Foreign countries did not come over and risk their lives in a war for your independence, so that centuries later you could call them "cheese eating surrender monkeys". And if labour and environmental standards can be imposed willy-nilly all over the third world on pain of sanctions, why not recognise that after 200 years, your constitution is as irrelevant if taken literally as Nostradamus?

I don't hate the rich. I don't pity the poor. I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That doesn't stop you from watching them.

I believe a self-righteous liberal or conservative with a cause is more dangerous than a Hell's Angel with an attitude.
Funny, aren't you one?

I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system that's better, and put your name on the building. Ask your buddy that invented the Internet to help you.
I think the Japanese have every right to make cars that put Detroit to shame and even bankruptcy. And at least they don't run roughshod over their competitors with underhand tactics.

It doesn't take a whole village to raise a child right, but it does take a parent to stand up to the kid; and smack their little behinds when necessary, and say "NO!"
Unfortunately, a smack and a "no" is hardly the worst that happens.

I think tattoos and piercing are fine if you want them, but please don't pretend they are a political statement. And, please, stay home until that new lip ring heals. I don't want to look at your ugly, infected mouth as you serve me fries!

I am sick of "Political Correctness." I know a lot of black people, and not a single one of them was born in Africa; so how can they be "African-Americans"? Besides, Africa is a continent. I don't go around saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from Europe. I am proud to be from America and nowhere else. And if you don't like my point of view, tough.


NB: The above comments weren't actually made by Andy Rooney, and bear a striking resemblance to another piece attributed to George Carlin. See Snopes' investigation.

Andy Rooney himself said that:

"About a year ago, I became aware of a more serious theft of my name and it is so hurtful to my reputation that it calls for legal action against the thief. Hundreds of people have written asking if I really wrote the 20 detestable remarks made under my name that have had such wide circulation on the Internet.

[...]

Some of the remarks, which I will not repeat here, are viciously racist and the spirit of the whole thing is nasty, mean and totally inconsistent with my philosophy of life. It is apparent that the list of comments has been read by hundreds of thousands of Americans, many of whom must believe that it accurately represents opinions of mine that I don't dare express in my column or on television. It is seriously damaging to my reputation."

It just goes to show - "People will accept your ideas much more readily if you tell them that Benjamin Franklin said it first."


Civ 3's devilishly hard. Even at Chieftain (easiest), it wasn't a pushover and now I'm finding Warlord challenging.

Noise merchants take the rap with a dose of opera

A judge has come up with a novel way to punish those who play their car stereos too loudly — he sentences them to a night at the opera.

Offenders who agree to sit in Judge Jeffrey Swartz’s Miami chambers and listen to his favourite operas can have their cases dismissed, avoiding the $460 fine and court costs.

Mr Swartz gleefully doles out his punishment by opera every Monday at his courtroom overlooking the Washington Avenue nightclub strip. His philosophy is simple: "You impose your music on me, and I’m going to impose my music on you."

Most of those brought before him for noise violations are young men stopped with customised car stereos blasting out rap and hip-hop music from subwoofers. He decided how to deal with them after stopping at a red light next to a car playing music so loud that "my car windows were rattling, I could hear the bolts loosening in the engine well".

This week Mr Swartz had two volunteers for trial by opera. He told Gene Tary, 23: "You’re a lucky man, you’re going to be listening to La traviata."

"Never heard of it," said Tary, quickly adding: "But it sounds good."

Joseph Puerto, his companion in the punishment box, said that he was no opera buff, but La traviata had to be better than a $460 fine. "The only time I heard opera before was in a James Bond movie, and that was only for about two seconds," he said.

Mr Swartz, 54, does not choose his opera specifically to fit the crime, in which case he would surely prescribe doses of Nessun Dorma from Turandot for offenders who kept neighbours awake.

Instead he bases his choice on what is playing at the Florida Grand Opera. Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet opens on Wednesday and will debut shortly afterwards in the judge’s chambers.

It does not matter if the offenders enjoy the punishment or not, the judge says. "They either get to appreciate some culture, or it drives them up the wall. It’s a win-win situation," he said.

He does make exceptions. Verdi’s Macbeth is not on his playlist. "It’s too depressing. You need about five Prozacs to avoid suicide." He also refuses to play Bizet’s Carmen. "They’d take to that too easily"

Search Engine Referrals:

related:www.sammyboy.com - My content is related to that on Sammyboy? Wah.

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"women raping man" - I can only visualise one woman raping one man at the same time.

"naked pictures of powerpuff girls - The only thing more disturbing than the Powerpuff Girls - naked pictures of them!

names given to havasupai indian girls in the 1800s and their meanings

anorexia pictures sex free porn - Might as well look at skeletons

primary school sex pics academics

"men in bra"

"hentai allowed in islam" - No, sorry. I don't think so.

depilate men private part hair - Does this have something to do with scrotal infusions?

the origins of tentacle porn - I'd like to know too.

army medic ringtone - Maybe someone will transcribe Medics of the Field someday.

Future Tense Windows Media Neopets - This mades no sense.

jokes abou internal audit - Internal audits are worse than jokes.

hindu pushup technique - One-handed?

toenail dust fetish

rjc short skirt

"pictures of people playing pool "

scgs courage - They forgot sincerity, generosity and service

God's Billboards parody - It seems my page is first!

Anti-NS singapore - Well done. Spot on.

Hentai dos Power Rangers - Lost Galaxy - I don't think so. Whatever a "dos" is.

JHATKA METHOD OF SLAUGHTER - I also want to know what Jhatka is.

duck dodgers hentai - wth. Daffy Duck'd into Hental too these days?!

pictogram for bullshit

learn to vibrate breakdance - They can take lessons from Wo-Hen.

+review prettislim - How about "+review prettibosom"? I hear most of the programs give temporary enlargement only and use pumps, massages and creams. Just like Swedish made penis enlarger pumps.

local mother gets rape or fuck in s'pore

chio rjc blog

ancient baal worship pics - I don't think he has an illustrated handbook of rites.

dangers of electric toothbrush "masturbation" - Whoever you are, please don't get electricuted

acjc adidas - Rich, aren't they? :)

pics of teletubby in the smoke of trade towers - Now *that* is freaky.

chij sluts - I seem to have seen this before.
scgs porn - Ditto

wenshan nude in the public

Outfield Excursion

All the HQ medics were to be sent outfield to set up the BCS (Battalion Casualty Station) for 2 days and 2 nights, so we were told to report to the Medical Centre by 7pm. In the end, we left just after midnight - the SAF is truly wonderful and efficient.

After we'd set up the BCS, I found that due to it being a night setup (thus enclosed so no light could escape), it was extremely stuff and humid inside, and I felt light-headed - almost faint. And so when we finally got to sleep, instead of sleeping in the BCS tentage or our vehicles, I just opened up a stretcher and KO-ed outside the BCS.

It was already past 3 am, so I was hoping to snatch a precious few hours of uninterrupted rest, but alas, this was not to be. We were made to do guard duty in one hour shifts clad in webbing and helmet - which was even more pointless and obviously for show than it would have been, since we had no weapons. If this wasn't bad enough, through the haze of sleep, I dimly perceived our CO and friends running around, and even after they'd left, I couldn't get back to sleep, especially since the insects were beginning to get to me, so I moved back into the stuffy bronco and uncomfortably reposed.

Being in Armour, we were suitably stocked for our journeys, and while sipping some F&N "Cheeky" Cherryade, a flash of inspiration struck and I came up with one more alternate name for F&N's alliterative series of drinks. So now we have: Obiang Orange (?), Gross Grape, Sucky Strawberry, Freaky Fruitade, Cloying Cherryade, Zonking Zappel (?) and Lousy Lychee! (NB: Names with a question mark beside them are not confirmed as yet) I got some alternate suggestions (cheebye cherryade, fucking fruitade, lanjiao lychee) but somehow they don't have the same charm.

Somehow, we didn't get to draw any combat rations, so we subsisted on bread all the way. This was just as well, I suppose, for from what I saw, other people were eating the Muslim Combat Rations, which not only are hot but contain less pasta packets than the Non-Muslim ones. I discovered that Campbell's Chunky soup is good to have outfield, whether virgin or with bread. I think they should give it to us in our combat rations. It would probably be cheaper than what they currently give us (estimates of 1 24hr pack range from $25 to $50, and most of the cost should go to the SFI-produced meal packets, since the rest can be had commercially), especially in bulk, and sure as hell tastes a whole lot better.

Later in the Outfield Experience, I do not know what came over me, but I had a case of "combat stress reaction" - I broke down when my MO scolded me. I'd forgotten to bring some frozen food from the freezer in camp, cutting off one meal's supplies to widespread discontent. Then later, when we were engaging in casualty "play", I fumbled a few times, and got accused of faking blood pressure readings. I was then inconsolable for a while till I was dispatched back to camp to replenish the ice and make good on my forgetting to bring the frozen food.

Later in the fortnight, I was catching up with a week's backlog of work, and discovered an administrative lapse. The MOs questioned why this was so, and questioned the system, but circumstances inevitably made it seem that it was me taking the hit, and I started to crumble again, managing to get dismissed before I lost control completely.

On a detached level, I wonder why these events distressed me so, for I have little or no pride - indeed, I have no small measure of shame - in anything to do with the SAF. Even if I did, these are little things, and not worthy of worry or taking to heart. And - if I'm going to ORD with this sort of temperament, I think I better check myself into IMH.


Days in 42SAR

To commemorate Total Defense Day, we had a turnout just after 4am on Saturday. We'd heard rumours of a turnout, but it was finally confirmed by our Routine Orders, so we were prepared. I actually had woken up a while before the turnout started, after multiple ringing alarm clocks woke me (but unfortunately, not the ones who set them), though I was too lazy to turn them off, and was lying in bed when I heard the fire bell ringing. People got very excited, and more than one person was running up and down the corridor shouting "ORD Loh!". Groggily, we proceeded downstairs with a mess tin, fork and spoon to eat plain porridge with sweet potato chunks which just made us more hungry, listen to a talk and watch a Defense Watch video, the message of which probably sunk in more effectively due to our lowered resistance to brainwashing. I was actually eagerly anticipating us being asked: "What can we learn from this day?", for I had an answer prepared: "Even when defended by a motivated, well-equipped, well-trained, world class, professional army (the British in 1942), we will lose. So we have no hope with a demoralised, half-past six conscript army of slave soldiers."

I miss the days when all the vending machines in our camp sold Root Beer, and one day I spotted the F&N man topping up one of the machine. I asked him if he could put Root Beer in and he replied that his boss dictated what drinks were available, based on "market data". Bah.

We were made to go on a 5km route march in SBO, and as usual, I was in the Gabriel (ie the last) detail. Sometimes, I wonder why they bother.

During company runs and other physical activities, they like to play us weaker ones off against each other, with cries such as "Christopher is catching up!", or "Gabriel is in front of you. How can you let him beat you?". I, for one, am not swayed by these attempts to appeal to a non-existent part of my pride. In a related note, I am always being accused of "not puting in effort". One of these days, I shall put in no effort at all, stop moving and plonk myself down on the ground.

Our old CSM has returned from East Timor, and during a bunk inspection he allegedly proclaimed Wo-Hen Nankan "obiang" and swore at him, so I have been forced to move his pictures onto the inner door of my cupboard. In more uplifting news, though, I have re-telked (however you spell it) my documentation table, and put pictures of my 2 idols underneath it, to widespread disapproval.

42 is becoming more and more ririculous. Now enlistees are not allowed to wear the battalion baseball cap in camp.

We were chosen to participate in a grassroots leaders visit to Nee Soon camp one Sunday. Just as we didn't want to be there, I think the grassroots leaders didn't either. Anyhow, we were kiwing the tracks of our Broncos in preparation. Not only was this tedious and tiring, it was pointless too, for by the day of the visit, one could not tell how we'd slaved over the tracks.

One day when I booked out in No 4, the guard 2ic told me to put on my beret, but he himself wasn't wearing his. Bah.

Some reservists tried to hitchhike out of camp, and one of them was making the sign. So I'm not the only idiot who's tried!

Apparently people in HQ4SAB stay out on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday nights. Wah. [Update: A friend who's in there tells me this isn't true. Just goes to show - don't believe everything you hear in the SAF!]

My WITS team won the "Outstanding Commendable Effort" award. Now, if we could just figure out what that means...

Mandai Range

I got arrowed to cover my company's range at Mandai on Thursday and Friday, and consequently my sleep cycle is seriously disrupted - I woke at 5:10am on Thursday and slept at almost 1:30am, since people took their time shooting at the range. On Friday, I woke at 5:30am (about 4 hours of sleep) and slept just after 12 midnight. However, we had the Total Defence turnout (see above), so I got only about 4 hours of sleep for the second consecutive night.

I did manage to get some sleep at the range - more than the firers, at any rate, but in both quality and quantity it was less than sufficient, due to the rule that at range, no one is allowed to lie down. This rule puzzles me, actually. If the firers don't get to rest properly, they won't shoot properly, especially if it's the second or third day of a range, when insufficient sleep is already having an effect on the firers' performances. Maybe it's just a devious rule drawn up by the SAF to ensure fewer people get Marksman, and so it saves money.

The range itself was quite impressive, as ranges go. The canteen was large and looked like a proper canteen, even coming with a fish pond, public telephone and a dog, and the shooting chambers, toilet and training sheds were all numerous and large.

Medical Centre Musings

The 46SAR recruits are very ardent patrons of our after hours report sick service. It wouldn't be that bad, but for the fact that they come singly, such that sometimes the entire evening can be burnt sending them to see the duty MOs. They should make them wait for 2 hours, then have a tonner send 20 of them to Tengah to see the MO, or have an evening sick parade when they are asked if they want to report sick.

Our medical centre is a veritable rats' paradise. It started with the pantry - if one enters it, there's a good chance that one will see rats scurrying up pipes or scampering across the floor to their hiding places with unearthly speed and dexterity. Now, the infestation has spread. I am told that they now run across the sickbay floor at night, striking abject fear into the hearts of those warded for sore eyes, and they have even been spotted in the waiting area in the main building. I hope that the upcoming renovation will get rid of them once and for all.

After some time, you no longer care - you can no longer afford to. (Un)Fortunately, I haven't reached that stage.

General SAF Thoughts

SAF units always expend all unused rounds (live or blank) after ranges, live firing and exercises. I am told that this is because the paperwork to fill out for returning the rounds is too onerous. Perhaps to save costs, they should make it such that it is easier to return some rounds than expend them all - an incentive, even. Maybe 10% of the cost of returned rounds can be channeled towards the respective unit's welfare fund.

Some doctors interviewed on people who malinger to get fake MCs said that people who do manual, repetitive work and/or are unhappy in their jobs are the most likely to get MCs. This describes the problem the SAF has perfectly.

I wonder why many people are wont to postulate wildly implausible 'what if' scenarios, and then expect others to prepare for all of them, even if the expected benefit is dwarfed by the expected cost.

It's rich, how people can talk about Social Defense as a part of Total Defense, when some parts of the SAF - Armour and Signals, for example, are off limits to certain groups.

I am told in Maju camp, due to the cat infestation, they're getting a day off for each cat they kill. Maybe they should give us a day off for each dog that we kill.


"Fairness" in the SAF

The SAF concept of "fairness" is uniquely warped. Whenever one person manages to pull himself above the others in some small way, perhaps to improve the quality of his life infinitesimally, he will be pulled down promptly by his peers, egged on by the commanders, so that he, once again, is as miserable as they are, to a chorus of "it's not fair to the others". For example, if some people in a group are in the shade, they are told to move into the sun (even if the area of shade is sufficient to accommodate everyone). As a friend puts it, this is the "Crab Bucket Syndrome - a term coined by educational psychologists, describing the phenomena that crabs in a bucket will always pull down the lone crab who’s almost crawled out of the bucket. Prevalent mainly where large groups of oppressed/disempowered people gather hoping no one will rise above his/her station and make the rest of them look lazy. e.g. school, the workplace, the military).

One wonders why, instead of this "one suffer, all suffer" (sic) attitude, they cannot have a "one enjoy, all enjoy" (sic) attitude. Life, after all, is not a zero-sum game, and this mercantilist philosophy can only lead to greater aggregate suffering as the "equal misery principle" is applied. If not everyone can be happy, can not at least some people be less unhappy than the others?

I suspect that this mentality is deliberately encouraged both to play slaves off against each other in trivial matters such as these, such that they fall to petty squabbling and putting each other down and thus are distracted from greater things, and to reinforce the sense in everyone that National Slavery is a must - if one has had to do it, one will be less objecting to one's sons doing it ("I did it. So can/should/must/will you, son"), and will also strenuously object if, in the distant future, they come to their senses and decide to enslave a smaller proportion of the male population ("I had/have to do it. Why shouldn't they?").


"It is hard to think of any neo-conservative who has put on his country's uniforms other than in his dreams" (The Economist) - Deliciously wicked. I love it.

The funniest book I have read in a long while: "How to marry the man of your choice" (Margaret Kent, 1988). Particularly mirth-inducing sections are forthcoming, and I'm not the only one who thinks so as Publishers Weekly commented that "the author's detailed tips on male manipulation comprise a howling, humorous success". (Apparently the book sold for US$95 on initial publication!)

A certain friend of mine - let's call him "Melvin", to preserve his privacy - not too long ago made the mistake of agreeing to let the NKF suck a few dollars off him every month. Since that fateful day, he has changed his mind (or decided he was too lazy to give them his bank account number). He has been pestered by the NKF staff at least 3 times on his handphone, and they have now resorted to emailing him to try to wheedle his bank account number from him. It seems they don't get the message, while he is too shy to tell them the truth (maybe I need to answer the 4th call for him and forcefully turn them away with my holy charms). The NKF is really like the dialysis machines it buys, sucking blood endlessly. The only difference being most, or at least a good portion, of the blood disappears. I wonder where all the money goes to, anyway.
[Ed: Update as of 15/02/04 - They've sent something by snail mail to his house. I offered my services in rebuffing them but "Melvin" declined. For all we know, their overpaid staff will be knocking on his door next!]

Apparently Nokia phones cannot send pictures and ringtones to one another via IR. Evil!

I am told that My Little Pony slash exists, but I'm having finding it. Maybe I need to ask the Internet Search Wizard.


Quotes:

I have a feeling of impending doom.

Silly And Foolish. SAF stands for what. (That's what SAF stands for)

[On the grassroots leaders visit to Nee Soon camp] So are any of our friends' fathers grassroots leaders? Ask them to go. "Very good, very good"

[On safety and learning from mistakes] All wear black. CO killed by a flying baka pole. "Treat it as a learning experience"

[On a route march] I'm your bunk mate. I always take good care of you. Fuck you, walk faster lah!

[Someone: Signal platoon diam! Good morning Sir!] Go away, go away. [Someone: Permission to carry on Sir!] Carry on 20. [Someone: Thank you Sir! Signal platoon at ease!]

[On why there are so many school kids in Bishan] Everybody likes RI guys, so they come here to pick them up.

Once I came to 42, everything went down[hill]. Nothing surprises me anymore.

[On my being in 42SAR for almost 20 months] I don't know how you lasted here so long. You are truly strong.

[On 'How to marry the man of your choice'] This stupid book plants stupid ideas into stupid women.

[On the above] Are you going to write that down? Let me repeat it to you slowly. [Me: No need]

[On my listening to 96.8FM] What the hell are you doing? Do you want me to send you to PCC?

[On my troubles] They seems to have given up on you. Now they only make fun of you. Always seems to call your name. (seem)

[On safety during the airborne course] There ws one guy who was even more vicious. He hoped that ***'d land in a crocodile farm in Southern Thailand.

[Routine Orders] All personnel are reminded to consume porridge for breakfast on Saturday in collaboration to Total Defense Day (commemoration of)

[Me on the black meal: I hope it's not mat food] I think it's mat food. I heard the food today is funeral food.

Are we the only ones who clean the toilet? Sorry, I phrased it wrongly. Are we the only ones who are supposed to clean the toilet?

There's nothing much to do in the Treatment Room. I wonder what Toh Ah Beng does there all day. That's why he goes for so many details... His job is so much easier than mine.

[On my secret garden] Why is my name still there?... And stop forging my signature! [Me: It's not me. It was Melvin]

In commemoration of Valentine's Day, a properly formatted version of an email forward I got:


Need any inspiration for your Valentines card?

These are entries to a Washington Post competition asking for a rhyme with the most romantic first line but.... the least romantic second line:


Love may be beautiful, love may be bliss
But I only slept with you, because I was pissed.
*************************
I thought that I could love no other
Until, that is, I met your brother.
**************************
Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.
But the roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the sugar bowl's empty and so is your head.
**************************
Of loving beauty you float with grace
If only you could hide your face.
****************************
Kind, intelligent, loving and hot
This describes everything you are not.
******************************
I want to feel your sweet embrace
But don't take that paper bag off of your face.
*******************************
I love your smile, your face, and your eyes
Damn, I'm good at telling lies!
************************************
My darling, my lover, my beautiful wife:
Marrying you screwed up my life.
************************************
I see your face when I am dreaming.
That's why I always wake up screaming.
***************************************
My love, you take my breath away.
What have you stepped in to smell this way?
****************************************
My feelings for you no words can tell
Except for maybe "Go To Hell".
*****************************************
What inspired this amorous rhyme?
Two parts vodka, one part lime.

For all those who don't know yet, I'm flying off this saturday morning to melbourne, arriving in the evening. Starting classes on the 16th- next week monday. If you want to catch up with me while i'm still here, drop me a note n i'll see what i can do; otherwise will see you when i get back. Melbourne-ians, call me when i get there! I'll mention "serve programme 2004 sjsm" just to see how many hits are generated from there, heh.

With the latest release, the reasons why I dislike it have become fewer. I suppose I'll have to switch some time (not yet though). Besides, it has a nice icon.


Q: Which is the most dangerous method of electricity generation per kilowatt produced - nuclear, coal, oil, sea (waves), geothermal, or wind?

A: Wind power causes the most deaths (from people injured by, or falling off, windmills) per kWh that is actually produced.


Q: In the USA 3 million teenagers play the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons and in 1992, 28 teenage suicides were related to it. Is this significant?

A: It shows that Dungeons and Dragons has very little to do with teenage suicide. In the USA, the average teenage suicide rate was 1 in 10,000. If anything, this suggests people who role-play are less likely to commit suicide than the average person.

Poke-a-sheep - Perhaps the most SCREWED UP game I have ever seen. God, now I feel like eviscerating some sheep in the most gory way possible.

Building Really Annoying Web Sites - Favourite website of singapore schoolgirls

Dog rape attempt goes astray - A Thai man was mauled when he drunkenly tried to rape a dog which fiercely resisted his advances

Total Defence Feature - "The passing of the Act saw anti-NS marches, the most serious by some 300 people at New Bridge Road, Rochore Canal Road near Albert Street and Kim Keat Road. Tear gas shells were used to disperse the crowd and about 13 people were arrested... Today, most Singaporeans accept NS willingly as part of their duty as citizens."
Pity modern Singaporeans are not as spirited, not after 38 years of social engineering. At least they acknowledge the existence of malcontents like me!

At least they tell you the truth now. From the propaganda, you'd think everyone meekly accepted it at the time.

You want to make a protest about some issue? Tear gas + arrests = rest of population cowed.

Someone paid GBP 6.50 to win an auction for nothing? This is a weird world.

One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge - To date no one has even passed the preliminary tests for this, which is why healthy skepticism about such matters is always warranted.

Pickled dragon mystery - A pickled "dragon" that looks as if it might once have flown around Harry Potter's Hogwarts has been found in a garage in Oxfordshire, England.

Women's Urinal (from a Dairy Queen restaurant in Port Charlotte, FL)

Pop-up killer test

Huge URL Maker

Self confessed spasticated lists (quite amusing)


Dr Bob's September 1999 Quiz:

Muslims hold that God has 100 names - the Merciful, the Compassionate, etc; what is unusual about the 100th one of them?

Dr Bob's Answer: The 100th name is not known to mankind. It is, however, known to camels. Hence the snooty expression of the latter beasts.

Some other answer: I'm not even going to try a funny answer to this one. Look what happened to Salman Rushdie.


In defence of lust

"Within the US, the federal government spends about $1m (£574,000) of taxpayers' money annually on abstinence-only programmes of sex education, even though such programmes increase young people's health risks by making furtive and unprotected copulations their only option. Human Rights Watch has issued a report which says that abstinence-only programmes pose a threat to teenagers' health because information they need is denied to them in schools. A quote from a Texas teacher introduces the report: "Before [the abstinence-only programme] I could say, 'If you're not having sex, that's great. If you are, you need to be careful and use condoms.' Boy, that went out of the window." The report notes that federal programmes often lie to children, for example about the efficacy of condoms."
So these silly abstinence-only programs not only don't work, they have the opposite effect. Hah!

Also amusing: "it has long been known that more prostitutes fly into towns hosting Republican conventions than Democratic ones."


My MP3 player arrived back from Hong Kong today. Their customer service is really good - they didn't charge me anything (not even the Fed Ex bill for the return) even though the warranty had expired and my brother in law had lost the warranty card, and the player is decent. Too bad Frontier Labs products don't seem to be sold in Singapore.

Recognition / Darwin's dangerous idea

Sigh. Just spent 1 hour doing exam papers for my mother. I shouldn't complain, really, seeing
as it's one of the few contributions I make towards maintaining home
and hearth, but this isn't how I envisioned spending my night off.


More recognition:

"can check this out. from a guy who was in rj. pokes fun at the powerful engrish we're exposed to everyday."


Darwin's dangerous idea. Evolution and the meanings of life (Daniel C. Dennett)

An interesting book, if one that frequently goes off on technical tangents that I doubt I would have understood even 2 years ago. The book's attempts to apply Darwinian theory in many other contexts, while interesting (at least when I could understand them), are sometimes unsuccessful, and the connections drawn sometimes seem contrived and a little suspect. At times, the author lets certain biases (largely unrelated to the putative subject matter) show obviously, but he does make attempts at other times at fairness.

While reading the book, it occurs to me that most - almost all, in fact - attacks on evolution are due to gross misunderstandings, deliberate or otherwise, about it.

"Anybody who won a coin-tossing tournament would be tempted to think he was blessed with magical powers, especially if he had no direct knowledge of the other players. Suppose you were to create a ten-round coin tossing tournament without letting each of the 1,024 'contestants' realize he was entered in a tournament. You say to each one as you recruit him: 'Congratulations, my friend. I am Mephistopheles, and I am going to bestow great powers on you. With me at your side, you are going to win ten consecutive coin tosses without a loss!' You then arrange for your dupes to meet, pairwise, until you have a final winner. (You never let the contestants discuss your relation to them, and you kiss off the 1,023 losers along the way with some sotto voce gibe to the effect that they were pretty gullible to believe your claim about being Mephistopheles!) The winner - and there must be one - will certainly have been given evidence of being a Chosen One, but if he falls for it, this is simply an illusion of what we might call retrospective myopia. The winner doesn't see that the situation was structured so that somebody simply had to be the lucky one - and he just happened to be it." (pp 179-180)

Addendum: Driving to Chicago is more intuitive than this

"But engineering has always had second-class status in the intellectual world. From Leonardo da Vinci to Charles Babbage to Thomas Edison, the engineering genius has always been acclaimed but nevertheless regarded with a certain measure of condescension by the mandarin elite of science and the arts. Aristotle did not help matters by proposing a distinction, adopted by the medievals, between what was secundum naturam, according to nature, and what was contra naturam, against nature, artificial. Mechanisms - but not organisms - were contra naturam. Then there were the things that were praeter naturam, or unnatural (monsters and mutants), and the things that were super naturam - miracles (Gabbey 1993). How could the study of what was against nature shed much light on the glories - yea, even the monsters and miracles - of nature?" (pp 188)

"Gould himself has endorsed some of the most daring and delicious of adaptationist Just So Stories, such as the argument by Lloyd and Dybas (1966) explaining why cicadas (such as "seventeen-year locusts" have reproductive cycles that are prime-numbered years long- thirteen years, or seventeen, but never fifteen or sixteen, for instance. As Gould says, "we seek answers to the question, why. Why, in particular, should such striking synchroneity evolve, and why should the period between episodes of sexual reproduction be so long?" (Gould 1977a, p99). The answer - which makes beautiful sense, in retrospect - is that, by having a large prime number of years between appearances, the cicadas minimize the likelihood of being discovered and later tracked as a predictable feast by predators who themselves show up every two years, or three years, or five years. If the cicadas had a periodicity of, say, sixteen years, then they would be a rare treat for predators who showed up every year, but a more reliable source of food for predators who showed up every two or four years, and an even-money gamble for predators that got in phase with them on an eight-year schedule, If their period is not a multiple of any lower number, they are a rare treat - not worth "trying" to track - for any species that isn't lucky enough to have exactly their periodicity (or some multiple of it - the mythical Thirty-four-Year Locust-Muncher would be in fat city)." (pp 246-247)

"We would like to think of ourselves as godlike creators of ideas, manipulating and controlling them as our whim dictates, and judging them from an independent, Olympian standpoint. But even if this is our ideal, we that it is seldom if ever the reality, even with the most masterful and creative minds, As Mozart famously observed of his own brainchildren:

When I feel well and in a good humor, or when I am taking a drive or walking after a good meal, or in the night when I cannot sleep, thoughts crowd into my mind as easily as you would wish. Whence and how do they come? I do not know and I have nothing to do with it [emphasis added]. Those which please me I keep in my head and hum them; at least have told me that I do so.

Mozart is in good company. Rare is the novelist who doesn't claim characters who "take on a life of their own"; artists are rather fond of confessing that their paintings take over and paint themselves; and poets humbly submit that they are the servants or even slaves to the ideas that teem in their heads, not the bosses. And we all can cite cases of memes that persist unbidden and unappreciated in our own minds, or that spread - like rumours - in spite of the general disapproval of that spreading by those who help spread them." (pp 346-347)

"For instance, whatever virtues (from our perspective) the following memes have, they have in common the property of having phenotypic expressions that tend to make their own replication more likely by disabling or pre-empting the environmental forces that would tend to extinguish them; the meme for faith, which discourages the exercise of the sort of critical judgment that might decide that the idea of faith was, all things considered, a dangerous idea (Dawkins 1976, p. 212); the memes for tolerance, or free speech; the meme for including a warning in a chain letter about the terrible fates of those who have broken the chain in the past; the conspiracy-theory meme, which has a built-in response to the objection that there is no good evidence of the conspiracy: "Of course not-that's how powerful the conspiracy is!" Some of these memes are "good," and others "bad"; what they have in common is a phenotypic effect systematically tends to disable the selective forces arrayed against them. Other things being equal, memetics predicts that conspiracy-theory manes will persist quite independently of their truth, and the meme for faith is apt to secure its own survival, and that of the religious manes that ride piggyback on it, in even the most rationalistic environments. Indeed, the meme for faith exhibits frequency-dependent fitness: it flourishes particular in the company of rationalistic memes. In a skeptic-poor world, the meme for faith does not attract much attention, and hence tends to go dormant in minds, and hence is seldom reintroduced into the infosphere. (Can we demonstrate classic predator-prey population boom-and-bust cycles between memes for faith and memes for reason? Probably not, but it might be instructive to look, and ask why not.)" (pp 349)

"Political correctness, in the extreme versions worthy of the name, is antithetical to almost all surprising advances in thought. We might call it eumemies, since it is, like the extreme eugenics of the Social Darwinists, an attempt to impose myopically derived standards of safety and goodness on the bounty of nature. Few today - but there are a few - would brand all genetic counseling, all genetic policies, with the condemnatory title of eugenics. We should reserve that term of criticism for the greedy and peremptory policies, the extremist policies... we will consider how we might wisely patrol the memosphere, and what we might do to protect ourselves from the truly dangerous ideas, but we should keep the bad example of eugenics firmly in mind when we do so." (pp 465)

"As George Williams (1988) note not only is cannibalism (eating conspecifics, even close relatives) common, but in many species sibling-cide (we won't call it murder, since they know not what they do) is almost the rule, not the exception. (For instance, when two or more eagle chicks are born in a single nest, the first to hatch is very likely to kill its younger siblings if it can, by pushing the eggs out of the nest, or even pushing the hatchlings out.) When a lion acquires a new lioness who is still nursing cubs from an earlier mating, the first order of business is to kill those cub so that the lioness will more quickly come into estrus. Chimpanzees have been known to engage in mortal combat against their own kind, and langur monkey males often kill the infants of other males to gain reproductive access to females (Hrdy 1977 ) - so even our closest relatives engage in horrible behavior. Williams points out that, in all the mammalian species that have so far been carefully studied, the rate at which their members engage in the killing of conspecifics is several thousand times greater than the highest homicide rate measured in any American city. This dark message about our furry friends is often resisted, and popular presentations of nature (in television documentaries, magazine articles, and popular books) often engage in self -censorship to avoid shocking the squeamish. Hobbes was right: life in the state of nature is nasty, brutish, and short, for virtually all nonhuman species. If "doing what comes naturally" meant doing what virtually all other animal species do, it would be hazardous to the health and well-being of us all." (pp 478)

"There is no doubt that the sorts of facts we can learn about an individual, or a type or group of individuals (women, people of Asian descent, etc.), can profoundly affect how we tend to regard them and treat them. If I learn that Sam is schizophrenic, or profoundly retarded, or suffers from dizziness and periodic blackouts, I am not going to hire Sam to drive the school bus. When we turn from specific facts about individuals to generalizations about groups of individuals, the situation is more complicated. What is the reasonable and just response of insurance companies to the actuarial facts about the different life expectancies of men and women? Is it fair to adjust their premiums accordingly? Or should we treat both genders alike in the premium department and accept their differential rate of receiving benefits as fair? With regard to voluntarily acquired differences (smokers versus nonsmokers, for instance), we see fairness in making the smokers pay for their habit in higher premiums, but what about differences people are just born with? African-Americans are, as a group, unusually prone to high blood pressure, diabetes runs higher than average among Hispanics, and Whites are more prone to skin cancer and cystic fibrosis (Diamond 1991). Should these differences be reflected in calculating their health insurance? People whose parents smoked in the home while they were growing up run a higher risk of respiratory disorders through no fault of their own. Young men, as a group, are less safe drivers than young women. Which of these facts should count for how much, and why? Even when we deal with facts about particular individuals, rather than statistical trends, there are quandaries aplenty: Are employers-or others-entitled to know whether you have ever been married, have a criminal record, a safe driving record, a history of scuba-diving? Is there a principled difference between releasing information on a person's grades in school and releasing information about that same person's IQ score?" (pp 482)

"We should abandon the fantasy that either science or religion can uncover some well hidden fact that tells us exactly where to draw these lines. There is no natural" way to mark the birth of a human "soul," any more than there is a "natural" way to mark the birth of a species. And, contrary to what many traditions insist, I think we all do share the intuition that there are gradations of value in the ending of human lives. Most human embryos end in spontaneous abortion - fortunately, since these are mostly terata, hopeless monsters whose lives are all but impossible. Is this a terrible evil? Are the mothers whose bodies abort these embryos guilty of voluntary manslaughter? Of course not. Which is worse, taking "heroic" measures to keep alive a severely deformed infant, or taking the equally "heroic" (if unsung) step of seeing to it that such an infant dies as quickly and painlessly as possible? I do not suggest that Darwinian thinking gives us answers to such questions; I do suggest that Darwinian thinking helps us see why the traditional hope of solving these problems (finding a moral algorithm) is forlorn. We must cast off the myths that make these old-fashioned solutions seem inevitable. We need to grow up, in other words." (pp 513-514)

"Save the Elephants! Yes, of course, but not by all means. Not by forcing the people of Africa to live nineteenth-century lives, for instance. This is not an idle comparison. The creation of the great wildlife preserves in Africa has often been accompanied by the dislocation-and ultimate destruction-of human populations. (For a chilling vision of this side effect, see Cohn Turnbull 1972 on the fate of the Ik) Those who think that we should preserve the elephants' pristine environment at all costs should contemplate the costs of returning the United States to the pristine conditions in which the buffaloes roam and the deer and the antelope play. We must find an accommodation... Save the Baptists! Yes, of course, but not by all means. Not if it means tolerating the deliberate misinforming of children about the natural world. According to a recent poll, 48 percent of the people in the United States today believe that the book of Genesis is literally true. And 70 percent believe that "creation science" should be taught in school alongside evolution. Some recent writers recommend a policy in which parents would be able to "opt out" of materials they didn't want their children taught. Should evolution be taught in the schools? Should arithmetic be taught? Should history? Misinforming a child is a terrible offense." (pp 515-516)

"Safety demands that religions be put in cages too-when absolutely necessary. We just can't have forced female circumcision, and the second-class status of women in Roman Catholicism and Mormonism, to say nothing of their status in Islam... A faith, like a species, must evolve or go extinct when the environment changes. It is not a gentle process in either case. We see in every Christian subspecies the battle of memes-should women be ordained? Should we go back to the Latin liturgy?-and the same an also be observed in the varieties of Judaism and Islam. We must have a similar mixture of respect and self-protective caution about memes. This is already accepted practice, but we tend to avert our attention from its implications. We preach freedom of religion, but only so far. If your religion advocates slavery, or mutilation of women, or infanticide, or puts a price on Salman Rushdie's head because he has insulted it, then your religion has a feature that cannot be respected. It endangers us all." (pp 515-516)

"Many a fine New England church, costly to maintain, is in danger of destruction. Shall we deconsecrate these churches and turn them into museums or retrofit them for some other use? The latter fate is at least to be preferred to their destruction. Many congregations face a cruel choice: their house of worship costs so much to maintain in all its splendor that little of their tithing is left over for the poor. The Catholic Church has faced this problem for centuries, and has maintained a position that is, I think, defensible, but not obviously so: when it spends its treasure to put gold plating on the candle sticks, instead of providing more food and better shelter for the poor of the parish, it has a different vision of what makes life worth living. Our people, it says, benefit more from having a place of splendor in which to worship than from a little more food. Any atheist or agnostic who finds this cost-benefit analysis ludicrous might pause to consider whether to support diverting all charitable and governmental support for museums, symphony orchestras, libraries, and scientific laboratories to efforts to provide more food and better living conditions for the least well off. A human life worth living is not something that can be uncontroversially measured, and that is its glory." (pp 519-520)

8 Things Stores Don't Want You to Know - "Supermarkets have learned to locate their bakeries in a place where the smell of fresh bread wafts throughout the store -- which means they wind up selling more of everything." Wah so cunning.

A Modest Proposal For Preventing The Children of Poor People in Ireland
From Being Aburden to Their Parents or Country, and For Making Them Beneficial to The Public [Jonathan Swift (1729)] - "I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout."

Meditation 182 - "When you stand before Him, what will you say?", a reply - Almost exactly echoing my sentiments


Perhaps the most funny (and irritating) song I've heard recently, that sends me into convulsions:

"Max, Don't Have Sex With Your Ex", brought to you by the same people (E-rotic) who gave us "Do It All Night", another amusing tune.

<Image removed on a request. Word spreads really fast.>

What some people do when they are bored - vandalise people featured in newspapers. I thought they stopped doing this in Lower Secondary. Now, whoever said NS makes you more mature?


Reading the entries from before enslavement is quite amusing, for I was much more free with my tongue then :)


Newest comments on How Girls Waste Time:

"ARE U RETARDED
U are talking about girls
U idiot, look at your whole website its a complete waste of time
damn...whos stupid now

ooops"

"Hello, i liked your list. im a girl. and i agree. all we do is waste time. we worry to much about dumb ass things. like "do you think shes mad at me?" and all she did was not notice you in the hall way. WHen guys are much more laid back.. well in most cases anyway. Im sorry to say. I dont like girls. and i feel bad for the guys who put up with girls. if i was a guy...i would most likely be gay just so i would not have to spend my life with a women. Sure its nice that men and woman have equal rights and such.. but that doesnt mean i have to like being around girls... does it? (besides my self.. i can stand my self... you get the point i hope) all in all nice list. it was a good way for me to spend my time... "


The modern generation cannot abide silence. Even if they are not listening to what is playing in the background, they want some noise blaring just to break the silence.

Me on myself: embodying some of the worst traits of both genders :)
Someone: what, you have to serve NS and menstruate?

This post was updated at 12:37AM

I am told that one of the standing orders in the 42SAR Ops Room is that if any fat people are found in any of the three canteens in the camp, the BOS on that day will sign 7 extra, and the person in question 3. Never mind the fact that the BOS cannot be in 3 places at the same time, even if he spends the whole day patrolling the canteens - if 42SAR wants you to do something, you will have to do it, even if it is impossible. They never let reality get in the way of operational readiness, no.

We have been told that if, after our meals at the cookhouse, we are still hungry, we can always drop another chip in and eat a second round. This is surprising, for what we'd always been told had led us to believe otherwise. I wonder if this applies for obese personnel as well.

I think people who have fetishes for mountains of data suffer from insecurity.

When I was booking in on a rainy Sunday morning for duty, I saw a host of dogs in the vehicle sheds, and 2 of them were mating. Perhaps because I had disturbed their sacred ritual, or maybe because the rain had made them short-tempered, I suddenly found myself set upon by a horde of ravenous, rabid stray dogs. I was surprised, to say the least, for usually they are quite amiable - friendly, even. Hurriedly, I closed the umbrella I was using and swung it around wildly, fending off the slavering jaws bared at me. I then quickly bounded over the chain separating the vehicle sheds from the gate area, and went back to the company line by another route. I should have had my staff with me, but it was lying in the medical centre, so maybe I shall have to bring it with me next time whenever I walk around that area. Later in the week, I found that the continuous rain had its effect on more than dogs, for normally nice people became nasty.

During one session of company PT, a stray dog came by and sniffed the admin instructions, and then peed on it. Looks like even the dogs know that my unit sucks

We had a bunk inspection for contraband, which I found most ironic, for the people guilty of possessing the most contraband were the very ones who were doing the inspection. Oh, the injustice of this world! During the same inspection, my beloved pictures of Wo-Hen Nankan, the Asian Prince, were torn down. I was wroth, for they had survived 2 bunk moves and many months (more than a year, even?) of display, but not the caprices of one person. However, new pictures have appeared on my cupboard, and soon will elsewhere.

The SAF has thrown its wraps off Chemical Defence training. Yet another product of the policy of unreasoning paranoia has been discarded. I sense a healthy trend here.

I was curious and tried some Water for Injection. Curiously, it had a faint taste of vanilla about it.

As the magic date approaches, somehow I think I've forgotten what it's like to lead a normal life, and I'm more neurotic and less self-assured now. I do not feel ready to face the world without going through the Civilian Conversion Course (CCC).


"Time travel classified? Good God, why?"

"Hell, boy, didn't you ever work for the government? They'd classify sex
if they could. There doesn't have to be a reason; it's just their policy."

--Chuck Freudenberg to Daniel B. Davis
The Door into Summer, Robert A. Heinlein

This reminds me of the SAF Which is why, to get the true security classification of something you must downgrade its security classification by one level. An interesting book, by the way. Some (well, one, actually) term it "pastoral", but it's refreshing to read relatively upbeat and unpretentious tales. Though the pedophilic tendencies of the main character were somewhat disturbing :0


Marche's frozen yoghurt tastes like cottage cheese. I will never try it again.

'Project Boyfriend' is a java game for handphones. What makes it interesting, however, is that in it you play a girl, where in all other dating sims I've heard of, you play a male. I thought only boys would want to play games such as these, but I guess now girls can live out their screwed up fantasies (though I don't think you get to bed the guy at the end).


Quotes:

[On a LCP driving into the range in an expensive looking car] I threw the cigarette. I thought officer or what. Fuck lah.

Food tastes better when you eat it with your left hand

[On my surviving some of the depredations of slavery] You are 25% female

'Attitude' can't change my life. Only ORD can change my life.

I know a lot of people who read motivational stories, but they still suck.

I don't want to be the people that say [other people's lives are good], I want to be the people other people call 'ah gua peng' [Ed: Sissy Soldier] (someone who says that, someone whom)

[On the combat pay of 42SAR] Receive all the money to go to [a] psychiatrist

Black Shoe Polish is not available for sale temporally because of quality problem (temporarily, problems)

PSI card (PCI)

42 will be celebrating Hari Raya in the field. Celebrating the festival of the mat in the mud.

[On Wo-Hen] Can't take it, can't take it. I need to read FHM, or what.

Life isn't fair. If life were fair, Gabriel would be my CO. (?)

The new MMI is at DSO building right? [Me: Yah] NUS right? [Me: Yeah.] I wouldn't mind working there. All the pretty girls... NUS girls *slurps* [Me: Shrill, anorexic, chinese-speaking ah lians] NUS is full of JC chicks - all should be quite cute.

Andrew:
I returned it to you this month!!! What's happened to your sense of time?

The Associate:
I agree with your acquaintance that it was ironic, for free speech seems to be a pre-requisite for debate. Perhaps saying that your friend expects a debator to have an ideological commitment to freedom of speech is a stretch, for I wager he expects a debator to at least respect the idea of free speech, even if he doesn't have an ideological commitment to it.

If freedom of speech weren't a pre-requisite for debate, then it would be possible to knock down opponents not by refuting their points sensibly, but by saying that points were "immoral", "ridiculous", "racist" or the like, and making them untenable for scoring purposes.