The February Films (review)

Cowboy Bebop is a "space-western" set in the year 2071 . Humans have colonized the solar system, terraforming Mars, Venus, and Jupiter. Enforcing the law in the vastness of space is impossible, so it falls to "space cowboys" (bounty hunters) to track down criminals and turn them in to claim their reward. The Bebop is a ship owned by ex-policeman-turned-cowboy Jet Black, who travels the galaxy with his partner, the charismatic ex-mobster Spike Spiegal. Early in the series they pick up Faye Valentine, a selfish and cynical woman who regularly makes off with their earnings; Ed, a young hacker who has a very odd take on life; and Ein, a corgi with human-like intelligence. Unlike other series there is barely a "main" plotline. The 26 "sessions" of Cowboy Bebop revolve around the individual agendas and histories of the crew. It's the deep character development that makes this show memorable, coupled with the enchanting film noir style. House MD is doubtless one of the most engaging drama series ever shown on TV. Dr. Gregory House suffers chronic pain due to a misdiagnosed thigh infarction that also left him a cripple - and very miserable. He's eccentric, cynical, misanthropic; but also brilliant. Modelled after the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, House and his team of diagnosticians take on difficult cases which have stumped everyone else. House's take on life is what keeps you coming back every episode. The show may be formulaic, and House always abusive, but you can never manage to predict what he says.

House: You have a parasite. Woman: Can you do anything about it? House: Only for about a month or so. After that it becomes illegal to remove — except in a couple of states. Woman: Illegal? House: Don't worry. Many women learn to embrace this parasite.

Oh yes, he does have a heart of gold beneath all that, but he's not going to let you know. The show itself addresses many ethical issues (all medical dramas do), particularly on the tendency of people to lie - "Everybody lies" being House's catchphrase. But it does bring out the shades of gray in many issues and makes you think. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy could have been a great movie. It's based on a series of sci-fi comedy books of the same name. It starts off with dolphins heralding the end of the world with the song So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish! Then we have Arthur Dent, a geeky Englishman who finds out his friend Ford Prefect is actually an alien. Ford saves him from sharing the fate of Earth, which is vapourized by the Vogons to make way for a hyperspace interstate. "There's no point acting all surprised about it, the plans and demolition orders have been on display at your local planning office in Alpha Centauri for 50 Earth years." Ford is also in the process of writing a handbook of the galaxy, hilarious excerpts of which are occasionally read out. They meet Trillian, the only other surviving Earthling; Zaphod, part-time President of the Galaxy; and Marvin, a manically-depressed robot. It turns out that long ago the ultimate computer, Deep Thought, was built to answer the the meaning of life, the universe and everything. When the Ultimate Answer was returned: "42", it was realised that its creators had neglected to define the Ultimate Question. Oh it could have been so much fun. But in a dastardly demonstration of Hollywoodism we are treated instead to Arthur's infatuation with Trillian and the story devolves into a cliched romance. Although admittedly, being an endangered species might alter one's priorities in life...

The Muhamamd Cartoons (again)

The Sarawak Tribune, a 60-year old newspaper, was suspended indefinitely on February 9 and its top officials forced to resign for republishing the cartoons earlier this month. It is ironic that it was headlined "Cartoon No Big Issue Here" since it was the very thing making it into a big issue! Then Guangming Daily was suspended for two weeks starting Feb 16 for printing a picture of someone looking at the caricatures in the paper. The Malaysian press and politicians universally lambasted them and accused them of ignoring Muslim sensitivities. The latest development is The New Straits Times - which had joined in the crucifixition of these two papers - running the syndicated Non-Sequitir cartoon in its comic section on February 20, which commented on the issue. The cartoon showed a street cartoonist, presumably an Arab Muslim, sitting down with a sign next to him saying "Caricatures of Muhammad while you wait". Initially the NST displayed a show of righteous indignance, first at being pointed at in the first place, then for being issued a show-cause letter by the Government. Today, an unreserved apology is published and the NST submissively "will willingly accept any action deemed fit by the Government". The media witch-hunt is far from over, though. Closer to home, a thread was started at my university forums discussing the issue. It went fairly smoothly at first. Indeed, I always thought it admirable that people could take part in (relatively) level-headed discussion there about sensitive topics. One moderate Muslim in particular managed to win over an irate student with his calm views. Sadly it all spiralled downhill after fundamentalist students spammed the threads and instant-messaged their friends online to join in. Someone alerted Student Affairs, and immediately a letter was dispatched to the Student Publication Board (which runs the forums) ordering them to delete all topics which touched on religious, political, or race issues. So now we have a "Rule 14" on the forums prohibiting discussion on these topics on fear of being banned. Living in Malaysia is like living on a bed of eggshells.

The Inspired Cabinet

PM Abdullah Badawi has finally received the inspiration he needed to form a new Cabinet. And what a disappointing one it is! Out of 72 ministers and deputy ministers a total of four were dropped (including Higher Education Minister Dr Shafie Salleh), with the rest of the appointments akin to a game of musical chairs. Noh Omar, the ex-Deputy Home Affairs Minister infamous for his "kalau you tak suka you keluar dari Malaysia" remark, became the new Deputy Education Minister. The other "appointments" saw ministers being reassigned within the Cabinet. Rafidah Aziz was retained, surviving the Approved Permits (AP) controversy, immediately claiming God's mandate and declaring she is still in charge of APs (or isn't she?). Joceline Tan of The Star delivered the requisite fawning analysis with the following whopper:

Those trying to understand the Prime Minister’s rationale behind the changes must remember that his decisions are not solely based on qualifications, ability and performance. Party politics is about compromise and consensus and he has to accommodate the interests not only of his own party but that of the component parties who worked together to bring him the biggest mandate ever won by a prime minister in the general election.

These are astonishing insights indeed, considering that Abdullah also announced a new committee to monitor his Cabinet's performance (has he lost faith in them already?). Naturally, this panel is anonymous and its findings are unlikely to be made public. Abdullah's huge mandate in the previous polls was based on his promises of reform. So far he has not delivered. Now his next chance is the impending Ninth Malaysia Plan. Keep your fingers crossed people!

The Mugging

One of my most memorable expriences was being mugged in Pudu bus station in KL in my first year in university. I was there in the wee hours of the morning on the way to an interview for a scholarship. I was groggy from the journey but still distractedly going over what to say in the interview when two Chinese men sat down next to me and started murmuring something - in Mandarin. That's right, I was being mugged but unaware of it! After getting fed up with my blank stares one of them pointed a small knife at me and patted my wallet. Light dawned. I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared stiff, but after the initial shock some measure of rationality came back to me - although no one seemed to notice, I was still in a fairly public place. I remember asking them to leave me with ten dollars - in Hokkien - so I could still take the taxi to the interview. They asked for my handphone, I pretended to turn out my pockets to show them I didn't have one (I did). Before leaving they took a close look at my watch and decided it wasn't worth stealing...oh well.

The Night of Celebration

This has been a very busy week for me. Night of Celebration IV was held yesterday in the MMU Main Hall. As with every year it was packed with some people standing at the back or sitting on the floor the whole show - due in part because the play had free admission, but also because of the reputation the show has received over the years. The consensus of the audience was that the play was good, but not on par with previous years. I expected this really - we had to shift from a Christmas theme to a "normal" play due to MMU's shuffle of the academic timetable. The script was also a little weak. All appreciated the amount of work put into the play though. The start of the play was hilarious: the VIP was late as usual, but Mark Choo the resident photography/video expert had things all planned. We had a Powerpoint telling the audience to clap and cheer to warm up for the show, then we replayed some trailers and adverts done by him. The audience who were unaware that we were trying to kill time probably thought we were very full of ourselves... Every year after doing the Flash for the play I tell myself "Damn I'm good!!". The following year I look back at what I did the previous year and I say to myself... "My goodness I really sucked." Well this year all I have to say is - Damn, I'm good!

The Introduction Proper

I initially skipped making an introductory post but I think I'm ready to do one now. My mother tells me my blog is too serious; my father cautions me regularly about anything controversial I write about; my sister complains I am too strict about blogging. Blogging can be many things. Some people use their blogs as diaries, some use theirs to promote a product, some use their blogs to inform. While the concept and popularity of blogging may be relatively new, the reason behind it is simple: to communicate. Ours is an age of communication and expression where anyone can have their say, if anyone wants to listen. Writing is the most effective means of communicating and expressing ourselves. You have all the time in the world to write and what you write can be recorded for the future. But writing for the sake of writing is meaningless, writing by its nature must have a purpose. Writing for yourself is no doubt satisfying. It is a chance to put on paper (or screen) what you are thinking, to reflect or to keep for yourself to look back on. Before anyone attempts to understand others one must first understand yourself. Writing for others is the next step, and it is also more fulfilling. What is more meaningful - and more powerful - than the ability to inform and change the perceptions of others? Writing for others also holds you accountable for what you write and challenges you to prove the validity of what you say and think. Both sides gain. And that's why I write.

The Muhammad Cartoons

The controversy, and the picture that says it all. [Edit] It seems the link to the picture was taken down - now THAT really says it all!

The January Films (review)

Saved! (2004) is a satirical teenage comedy revolving around the students of a Christian high school. Jena Malone plays Mary, who is devastated when her boyfriend tells her that he's gay. In her misguided quest to redeem him she ends up pregnant, which leads to a crisis of faith and sets the pace for the movie. Mandy Moore, who mentioned in an interview that doing Saved! was like "scratching an itch" for her, again proves she can act as well as sing (unlike some other people*cough* Britney *cough* Carey *cough* Lindsay *cough* Hillary ). She plays Hilary Faye, the leader of the Christian clique at school who takes it upon herself to take Mary out of her doubts. Her constant recital of Christian catchphrases, exaggerated piety and superiority complex is a jab at the Pentecostal anti-intellectual stereotype. Macaulay Culkin and Eva Amurri round up the supporting cast with excellent performances as Roland and Cassandra. Roland is Hilary's wheelchair-bound brother who wears everyone out with his cynicism and is the only atheist in the movie. Cassandra is a Jew, the antisocial goth outcast of the school who resists Hilary's approaches to convert her. There are many things good about Saved!. It is genuinely funny at times (Hilary directs her clique to kidnap Mary in an attempt to exorcise her out of doubt) and piercing in others (the school headmaster tells Mary's divorced mother that their love for each other is the cause of the problems in the school). And in a reversal of roles it is Roland and Cass, the least religious of the group, who accept and support Mary in her dilemma. It is a thousand times better than the horrific Pamela's Prayer at least... Ghost in the Shell (1995) is a sci-fi anime set in a future where cybernetic implants are common and biotechnology has advanced to a level where the entire human body can be artificially replaced. Major Motoko Kusanagi is one such person, possessing a wholly cybernetic body with the exception of her brain and a small part of her spine. A member of Section 9 of the Internal Bureau of Investigations, which owns her cybernetic body, she and her team are tasked to investigate the emergence of the Puppet Master, a criminal who has the ability to hack into the minds of his victims. A major theme in the movie is the self-entity. In a world where every feature of the body can be artificially duplicated and enhanced save for one's soul (the ghost), the question is what determines who you are. In the haunting opening a man discovers that his entire life was a lie, a product of memories implanted by the Puppet Master. Kusanagi states to her partner that if Section 9 had already duplicated her brain, she might not be aware of it. The Wachowski brothers mentioned in interviews that Ghost in the Shell was an inspiration for the Matrix movies, evident in the similar themes of duality and the ability of the characters to project their "ghost" into computer systems. Ghost in the Shell was ahead of its time both in graphics quality and plot, and is a classic even for people unfamiliar with anime. Fearless (2006) is Jet Li's last movie with a martial arts story (he clarified that it would not be his last action film however). Unfortunately as with all of his other martial arts films the plot is predictable and cliched. A young child fights his way to becoming the greatest fighter in his district, and in his journey becomes arrogant and selfish, culminating in the death of his greatest opponent. In revenge his mother and daughter are killed, which begins a journey of soul-searching. I think I tuned out of the movie at this point. On this journey he stumbles upon a peasant family and helps them work the paddy fields, developing a connection with a girl who is not only blind (cooks well though) but also plays the flute! The film may have a bigger budget than his old films - very obvious from the numerous macro shots - but whatever the amount of icing you use there is only so much cliche you can stomach. The action is no doubt amazing though. Jet Li is as perfect as always and the choreography is spot-on. The fights between the American wrestler and Japanese were sheer pleasure. Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) is a beautiful movie that paints an engrossing picture of a geisha's life. My only major complaint is the language used, for much of the movie it was hard to adjust to Chinese actors playing Japanese who speak English! But that was probably the only way to get American audiences to watch it. It's worth noting that Michelle Yeoh is actually quite good in the movie, something you wouldn't know from her latest films. Gong Li is convincing as Hatsumomo, the aging, upstaged geisha who shared the same dreams as Chiyo (Zhang Ziyi) a long time ago but went unfulfilled.

The Miracle Strain (review - book)

Recently finished reading The Miracle Strain by Michael Cordy. If I had to rate it I'd give it a 1.5/5. His writing is unimpressive, with cliched pulp-fiction descriptions - for example, he went very great lengths to paint a "detailed" picture of the female protagonist that left me more nauseated than aroused. The plot is mildly interesting. He means it to be a controversial one - a geneticist (an atheist) tries to track down the DNA of Christ in order to heal his terminally ill daughter with divine genes. Unfortunately the science behind the story is wildly exaggerated. There are machines that can display a complete hologram of any human based on his DNA (to setup the "shock" scene where he gets a hologram of what Christ looked like). A small team of scientists have managed to decrypt the ENTIRE genetic sequence and rendered the Human Genome Project redundant which sets up most of the story. There are really to how far one's imagination can be suspended... Stories revolving around the origins of Christianity seem to be the rage, which put me off The Miracle Strain. The Da Vinci Code was a much better story anyway. The novel overlooks the most important reason why Christ is remembered - not merely as a healer, but also a teacher and a miracle-worker. One comment in the book did strike me though: A cancerous cell ironically destroys its body because the cell tries to achieve immortality. By ignoring the signals from its body to stop dividing, the cell eventually kills its body - and itself.

The Issue of Faith and Folly

I define faith with the Christian definition from Hebrews 11:

"Now faith is the assurance (or the substance) of things hoped for, the conviction (or the evidence) of things not seen."

Basically faith is a belief in something you cannot see. Faith is a concept which is heavily romanticized in religious culture. All religions profess faith, and without it a religion cannot stand under scrutiny. Scientists have faith too - they call them theories. I have faith that gravity exists although gravity is an invisible force because I accept the Theory of Gravity. But like theories, all faith must be based on some premise or observation. Otherwise it is a blind faith. If I state 2 + 2 = 4 and you merely memorize it and believe it, your faith is blind. If you take the effort to check out the concept by putting 2 apples and 2 apples together, your faith is justified, you have reason to believe that 2 +2 always makes 4. Everything is bound by logic. You cannot accept two contrasting beliefs. If the Catholic says speaking in tongues is heresy but the Pentecostal says speaking in tongues is a spiritual gift, one of them is wrong. They cannot both profess faith to justify their belief against one another. A belief in something which has an incorrect premise is not faith, but folly.

The Birthdays

Still haven't been updating regularly...still on break. My 22nd birthday was last Sunday. Had birthday pizza with some uni friends (Carlos, Fiona, Sangeetha) before I came back here. Yesterday night was Uncle Keat Chong (koo-koo)'s birthday, there was a small family and friends gathering at Casablanca.

The 153th Article

Not really a lot of time to write since I'm back for the holidays. But it's interesting that Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia was featured on Wikipedia today (I don't have to describe what the article is about, do I?). Wikipedia highlights a "particularly well-written and complete Wikipedia article" each day out of its 925,000 entries. It's interesting that even discussing Article 153 is technically illegal in Malaysia..

The Biggest Cabinet

I'm surprised there's no Malaysia Book of Records entry for the biggest Cabinet. After all our Cabinet is bigger than that of India or Australia, and is probably the biggest in the world factoring population size. When PM Abdullah Badawi was being packaged by the MCAPeople's Paper as the person who was going to shake up the country and give us a clean, trustworthy government (funny they never reported anything amiss when Mahathir was in office), a lot of hype centered around the Cabinet reshuffle he was expected to make. His first Cabinet formed in March 2004 was a disappointment even to the most die-hard fan: most of the old guard stayed on, and the Cabinet was actually expanded. I thought a 90% majority in Parliament would mean less red tape, not more. The reasoning at the time was that he needed to win over UMNO in its general elections before making any major changes. That came and went too. Then his wife's illness and subsequent passing was offered as an excuse... Recently the online grapevines and media were abuzz with rumours that Abdullah was (finally) preparing to make his big shuffle. But yesterday the Star reported a quote from the PM on the Cabinet:

“I have no inspiration yet”

Well there you have it - he's still waiting for inspiration. I remember someone commenting on a blog about the saying that went "99% perspiration, 1% inspiration"... It's been two years without anything concrete from our PM in reforming the government. Lim Kit Siang observes that Malaysia has actually fallen from 37th to 39th place in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index. We have seen a year of AP drama, numerous police vs human rights scandals, persecution of the press, dubious elections. But perhaps the absence of action is more worrying. When Abdullah Badawi first took power there were a few high-profile corruption cases that got all our hopes up that something was finally going to get done. Funnily enough I can't recall anything this year - was no one corrupt in 2005? Trying to get information from the Anti-Corruption Agency's website was humorous, the page has not been updated since 2003. Remember the much-lauded Royal Police Commission Report and its 125 recommendations, followed by a rebranding of the police complete with new motto and everything? And yet we still have Squatgate and many many other reports of police abuse. Naturally the PM's solution to Squatgate was to recommend yet another commission. One begins to detect a pattern here. And it has been pointed out that before his ascension to PM, Abdullah Badawi was Home Affairs Minister and hence in charge of the police. Malaysians are becoming increasingly cynical and disillusioned with the Government. Everyday we are drowned with rhetoric from the ministers and rosy pictures from the media, but somehow nothing seems to change.

The Ydorap

Mood: Sleepy Listening to: Something Stupid by Robbie Williams Today I had rice for dinner....mmm. My fingernails are too long, so I cut them, yay :))). I got a paper cut while reading the newspaper, ouch... :(. I sneezed twice today. I think I'm going down with a cold. I'm studying now. My exams are coming soon...sigh :(.

The Time-Traveller

Greetings. I am a time traveler from the year 2036. I am on my way home after getting an IBM 5100 computer system from the year 1975. My "time" machine is a stationary mass, temporal displacement unit manufactured by General Electric. The unit is powered by two, top-spin, dual-positive singularities that produce a standard, off-set Tipler sinusoid.

Sounds like the start of a science fiction novel or movie, doesn't it? It's not. The above is a post made on an Internet message board by "John Titor" on January 27, 2001. Over the next few months he talked online with skeptics and believers before stating that he was returning to his own time on March 24, 2001. He was never heard from again. People claiming to be time-travellers are not unheard of, especially with the anonymity of the Internet. What made John stand out was his ability to describe the theories and physics behind time-travel that fit into existing concepts of spacetime, and black holes. He even posted pictures of his device, and technical manuals accompanying it. He stated that time paradoxes like the grandfather paradox did not exist, but that the Everett-Wheeler model (Many-Worlds Interpretation) - of a multiverse in which all possible actions are carried out - is correct.

Most people were of course very skeptical about Titor's claims. He in turn would often state he was not concerned whether people would believe him, and rather assumed people wouldn't - "What would it take for you to believe in a time traveller?" Skepticism, he said, was what made discussions interesting, rather than people accepting every word he said. He stated his purpose was to gauge the reaction of people to him. Some critics observed he would often parry the most direct questions posed to him, and reflect them on the questioner. But to his credit he did answer many questions about time and time travel, and the future.

Titor made a number of predictions about the future. Some, set in the near future, appeared on surface to bolster his claims as they came to pass. He mentioned that CJD (mad cow disease) would become more widespread but be played down, that Iraq would be accused of possessing nukes, and that the US government would begin to sacrifice civil rights for security (bear in mind his posts predated 9/11). He also knew obscure details, like certain UNIX systems having a year 2038 bug, and the IBM 5100 having hidden functions. He even hinted that the anticipated y2k bug problems did not come to pass because of future invervention.

He often described the philosophies and cultures of his time:

The war had very profound affects on people and how they relate to each other. As individuals, almost everyone in 2036 is very familiar with death. We all have stories of loved ones that have died from disease, war or acts of inhumanity. Most of us have even taken part in dishing the same thing out to the other side. As a result, we have become far more compassionate to the ones we love but mush less forgiving to those who don’t pull their weight. We are more accepting of other’s differences in our community because we depend on them to survive. We are also more conservative with our resources and closer to God because for a period, life on Earth was Hell.

The other major difference is in the concept of good and evil. With multiple worlds come multiple decisions and outcomes. For every good act, there is an equal and possible bad act on another worldline. Taken to the extreme, this must mean that in God’s eyes, there is no total good and total bad in the superverse. It balances itself out to infinity. I believe we are judged on the decisions we make as individuals and the good/evil I see on my worldline is an illusion that has no worth to God. My reaction to it is what’s important to God. Although this may seem rather heartless, it does allow me to see past the evil that people do and acknowledge the core of potential goodness inside them.

He also made apocalyptic statements about the future: Civil war in the US starting 2004-2005, and a third World War in 2015 which would see the US barraged by nukes. At the same time he stated that because worldines diverged (he estimated a divergence of 2% between our world and his), nothing was set in stone and we still could avoid the bleak future he knew. Skeptics observed that this made most of his claims impossible to verify, others said he was bringing a message of hope.

Was John Titor a hoax? Probably. His depiction of the future suspiciously mirrored popular science fiction themes, 2005 has passed with no signs of an American civil war, and his explanations of how his time machine worked was mercilessly shot down by science experts. But his story still entertains, and sparks thought about the direction that the human race is taking, sort of like what War of the Worlds did on radio in 1938. Time-traveller or storyteller, the tale of John Titor remains a memorable Internet legend.

The Year 2005 - Looking Back

Today our planet completes another revolution around the Sun. What have we humans done in the meantime? Six billion beings on the planet, all living their lives, all interacting with one another. That's gotta make for some pretty interesting incidents. Here are some events that caught my eye in the past year: January The world still reels from the Asian tsunami of December 2004. Malaysian deaths number about 70; Thailand, 5,000; Sri Lanka, 30,000; Indonesia reported that it stopped counting bodies. Losses are incalculable, but countries all around the world unite to provide aid. 1st - Freedom of Information Act comes into effect in Britain. It makes public bodies accountable to citizens. "The public will gain a legally enforceable right to know if a public body holds information - and the right to ask for it... replies must be made in 20 working days or less." 12th - US intelligence officially gives up the search for WMD in Iraq. 20th - George W. Bush sworn in for his second term as US President. 30th - Iraq holds first free election for the first time in 50 years. February 13th Shi'ite United Iraqi Alliance wins the first Iraqi elections, capturing half of the vote. Voter turnout was 58%. 16th - The Kyoto Protocol, an environmental resolution aimed at reducing air pollution, takes effect. Notable detractors are the US and Australia. 16th - China replacing US as world's biggest consumer entity. 27th - Million Dollar Baby, the story of an aspiring female boxer, wins Academy Award for Best Picture. March 1st - Malaysia launches effort to deport illegal immigrants following the expiration of its amnesty policy. 2nd - Bill Gates receives honourary knighthood for his business skills and work fighting poverty. 8th - The United Nations passes declaration prohibiting human cloning, with a vote of 84-34 and 37 absentees, ".. as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life" 24th - Soft tissue apparently extracted from remains of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. 31st - Terry Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman at the center of euthanasia controversy, dies. 31st - Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi speaks on Islam Hadhari at Victoria University, New Zealand. April 2nd - Pope John Paul II passes away at the age of 84. The first non-Italian pope since the 16th century, he covered more of the world than any of his predecessors and is credited as a riving force behind the failure of Soviet communism. 8th - Jeremy Jaynes sentenced to 9 years of prison for illegal email spamming. 9th - Prince Charles marries Camilla Parker Bowles at Windsor. 19th - Jospeh Ratzinger becomes Benedict XVI, the 265th Pope. May 4th - Petrol and diesel prices in Malaysia increase for the third time in a year as part of a move to wean consumers off Government subsidies. 8th - Disneyland marks 50th anniversary in Disneyland, Anaheim. 16th - Release of the Report of the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysia Police. 125 recommendations are made to improve the police force. 17th - Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith debuts at the Cannes Festival, ending the Star Wars sexlogy. June 14th - Michael Jackson acquitted of child molestation charges 23rd - Nobel Prize winner Jack Kilby, inventor of the integrated circuit (and the handheld calculator), dies at 81. His work pioneered microchips and personal computers. 24th - UMNO vice-president and Minister for Federal Territory Mohd. Isa Abdul Samad is suspended from UMNO after being found guilty of money politics. July 7th - London wins right to host 2012 Olympics. 7th - London hit by series of terrorist bomb attacks, leaving about 40 dead and 700 injured. 7th - International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz told to answer Tun Mahathir's queries over the Approved Permits (AP) issue. 8th - The G8 summit is held in Gleneagles. The countries involved pledges an increase of 48 billion USD in international aid, and cancellelation of the debt of 18 nations to the IMF and the World Bank. However the summit is criticized for not paying enough attention to trade and environment needs. 9th - Hidden sex scene in controversial video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas sparks outrage. 16th - The sixth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is launched worldwide. 17th - Former Iraq President Saddam Hussein formally charged with genocide. August 4th - South Korean scientists successfully clone a dog. Snuppy, an Afghan hound, was cloned from DNA extracted from the ear of his "parent". 11th - State of emergency declared in Port Klang and Kuala Selangor after haze-induced air pollution exceeded 500 on the Air Pollution Index. 23rd - 31st - Category 5 storm Hurricane Katrina ravages America, the most destructive natural disaster there in recent history. The city of New Orleans is completely devastated. Economic losses are estimated at 100-200 billion USD, deaths at more than 1,000. Its social impact is large, with thousands of families displaced and many reports of anarchy in its aftermath. The US Government is widely criticized for being slow to respond to the crisis. September 11th - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi receives overwhelming mandate to privatise Japan's postal system with a landslide victory in Japan's general elections. 24th - Daniel Lee Chee Hun is crowned Malaysian Idol 2005, garnering 68% of the popular vote, beating Norhanita Bt. Hamzah (Nita). 25th - Full IRA weapons decommissioning confirmed, following its July declaration that it was ending armed conflict in Ireland. October 14th - Daniel Craig replaces Pierce Brosnan as British spy James Bond, the first blond actor in the role. 15th - Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika appeals for food aid, saying all 28 districts of Malawi are suffering food shortages, calling it a "national disaster". 17th - The Human Security Centre, supported by five governments, says armed conflict worldwide has dropped 40% since 1992 with the exception of terrorist attacks. This is attributed to the rise of international activism for peace. 20th - Endon Mahmood, wife of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, passes away. November 4th - New bird flu crisis reported in Asia following outbreaks in China and Vietnam. 4th - The Vatican endorses Darwinian evolution, citing the church's denunciation of Galileo as a "permanent lesson". 5th - The release of THES' World University Rankings sparks debate about the perceived decline of Malaysian public universities. 22nd - Xbox 360 is released in North America. 24th - Seputeh MP Teresa Kok highlights alleged police abuse of a woman in custody in Parliament, sparking a "Squatgate" scandal that raised human rights issues and possibly strained relations with China. December 1st - First face transplant performed on French woman. 2nd - Convicted Australian drug trafficker Van Nguyen executed in Singapore despite repeated diplomatic appeals from Australian government. 4th - Nicol Ann David defeats Australian Rachael Grinham to become the new world number one in squash. 14th - George W. Bush takes responsibility for faulty intelligence in the Iraq War. He insists removing Saddam Hussein had still been necessary. 14th - Science journal Nature reports that the freely editable online encyclopedia Wikipedia is close to the traditional printed Britannica in the accuracy of its science entries. 15th - Iraq successfully holds its first parliamentary elections. 20th - A US federal judge rules that "intelligent design" should not be taught in Pennsylvania public schools alongside evolution theory, criticizing its proponents for disguising religion as science. 29th - Kofi Annan reports to the UN that armed attacks, rape, and pillage continue in Darfur, Sudan after three years despite international efforts to resolve the ethnic conflict. Who knows what the next year holds for us?

The Image of God

I came across a post someone made in an Internet forum this morning. It was a simple one, the sort of thing you initially dimiss as rhetoric, but when you go over it again you realize how profound it is.

"...they say God made Man to look like him, but in truth, Man may have created God to look like him."

The New Burger King!

Burger King will finally be opening a Penang franchise in 2006. What took them so long, I wonder?. Even Malacca got an outlet in the middle of 2005. I've always maintained that it's easy to conquer the fast-food landscape - open an outlet serving:

1. burgers from Burger King,
2. side dishes from Kenny Rogers,
3. chicken from Nando's,
4. french fries and ice-cream cones from McDonald's.
5. [edit - how could I forget] and of course, A&W root beer.

Yum yum.

The Lord of the Rings... by someone else?

"What if LotR had been written by someone else?", a great read from the Straight Dope messageboards. Excerpts:

Dr. Suess's FOTR:. "Gandalf, Gandalf! Take the ring! I am too small to carry this thing!" "I can not, will not hold the One. You have a slim chance, but I have none. I will not take it on a boat, I will not take it across a moat. I cannot take it under Moria, that's one thing I can't do for ya. I would not bring it into Mordor, I would not make it to the border."

LotR by George Orwell: "I cannot read the fiery writing," said Frodo. "There are few who can," replied Gandalf. "It is the language of Mordor, which I will not speak here. Translated into the common tongue, it reads: 'All rings of power are equal, But some rings of power are more equal than others.'"

Merry Poppins, P.L. Travers & Walt Disney: o/` Wraith-wraithery, wraith-wraithery, wraith-wraith-eree, A Nazgul's as nasty as nasty can be. Wraith-wraithery, wraith-wraithery, wraith-wraith-eroo, your luck will run out when I'm looking for you. So give me the Ring, or you're Nazgul, too! o/` o/` Just a spoonful of lembas helps the athelas go down, the athelas go down, the athelas go down. Just a spoonful of lembas helps the athelas go down in a most delightful way. o/` o/` Feed the orcs, tuppence a bag, tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag. o/` o/` Oooh...taurelilomeatumbalemornatumbaletaurealomeanor, if you say it too slow then you won't make it to dinner. Unless you've got some time on hand don't say I didn't warn ya. taurelilomeatumbalemornatumbaletaurealomeanor. o/`

The Christmas War?

It was with bemusement that I followed the brief but intense controversy over the so-called "Christmas War". While this is not the first time secularists and Christians have gone at each other over how they should celebrate Christmas things seem to have been brought to a head with some parties replacing the words "Christmas" with "Holiday". That's right - "Holiday tree", "Holiday season", "Holiday spirit". God forbid this politically-correct paranoia spreads to give us clumsy phrases like "I'm dreaming of a White Holiday", or "My Grown-up Holiday Wish"! The point is that Christmas isn't just any other holiday, even if you aren't a Christian. I'll digress to explain the origins of Christmas. Christ's exact birth date has been long lost in obscurity. "Christ-mass" resulted from a tendency of the Catholic Church to absorb pagan traditions, in this case the celebration of the winter solstice (Yule), which was held on - yes, 25th December. Yule commemorated the birth of Mithra, the Persian god of light. As Roman domination spread, they absorbed Mithra into their culture. After the Roman Empire had adopted Christianity, Pope Julius I decreed that the birth of Christ would be celebrated on the same date, to make it easier for pagans to embrace Christianity. Many familiar Christmas symbols have their roots in paganism: kissing under the mistletoe was part of a fertility ritual; burning Yule logs a tribute to Mithra; Holly and ivy represent the male and female form. The ubiquitous Christmas tree is a hybrid of medieval legend and evergreen trees, symbolizing the rebirth of life. For many years Christmas was a blur of pagan festivity and religious ritual. The "modern" version of Christmas we all know today was born in 1843, with Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The short novel centered on the redemption of the cynical Scrooge, and emphasized charity, family, and hope. The heartwarming story changed the perception of Christmas in England and America. Carols, cards, pudding, and the family dinner are all elements from Dicken's story that became tradition. Today critics point out that Christmas has become too commercialized. Secularists complain of the Christian elements being forced on them, while Christian fundamentalists say the meaning of Christmas has been lost. I just hope they don't waste too much time arguing about it. I believe that Christmas is for everyone. I find it a wonder that in a world filled with cynicism and suspicion, people can still universally celebrate a day where they take time to be together, to hope for the future. David Foster and Linda Jenner put the sentiments of Christmas into beautiful words in their song, My Grown-up Christmas List:

No more lives torn apart, and wars would never start, and time would heal all hearts. Ev'ry one would have a friend, that right would always win, and love would never end: This is my grown-up christmas list.

Merry Christmas, everyone!