Reign in Hell #2- You know how 2 weeks ago I was complaining about Secret Invasion #5 being a issue where everyone just stand around talking? Writer Keith Giffen show how to do it right! As word of Lord Satanus and Lady Blaze's coup against Neron spreads, heroes and villains in the magical world of the DCU wondered which side to take, or even if they should take sides in the conflict. Everyone who is anyone in the magical world has a decision to make, but what made this issue work was the reasons Keith Giffen gave. Everyone has a reason to pick the side they choose, and it made sense! I mean if you are Blue Devil, it make prefect sense to side with the Satanus and Blaze. Keith Giffen made an effort to show why they pick the sides they did, and this was what saved the issue. That plus Tom Derenick and Bill Sienkiewicz's artwork make me give the issue a thumbs-up.
Nova #15- Here was Nova coming out with one issue after another of great to good comics. What happened? The series got hijacked by Secret Invasion! Secret Invasion was an attack by Skrulls on Earth and Nova was nowhere near Earth! Why was he even involed? If the Skrulls hadn't attack him, he will still be ignorant of the Skrull's attack! Can't Marvel just let one series go without bringing it down with unnecessary crossovers?
Avengers: The Initiative #16- Skrull Kill Krew has to be the stupidest name of a supergroup I've ever heard of, but amazingly this issue isn't half-bad. As you can guess this is 'another' Secret Invasion tie-in, but since the Avengers were at the front lines I guess this tie-in worked better than Nova's (read above). I enjoyed Komodo's return and it's always interesting to see the other smaller Avengers team in action (the Desert Stars this time), but the main attraction to me was the appearance of Nick Fury and his Howlers. That's was how it should be done in the Secret Invasion series proper!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Security going mad
In a time of danger, safety is important. But there are times where things just go too far.
In a case of head shaking stupidity, a Muslim woman was asked to leave Venice's Ca' Rezzonico museum, which houses 18th-century Venetian art, by a security guard because she was wearing a veil over her face.
I find this case to be so stupid. The woman was visiting the museum with her husband and children and had cleared security when she entered the building. So how is it that a security guard in charge of one room can override the guards at the entrance of the building?
Another true case of security gone mad. You can read the article from the link below.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080827/od_nm/italy_veil_odd_dc;_ylt=AvM.uY7Gn8FDU8hNjkZF1i.s0NUE
In a case of head shaking stupidity, a Muslim woman was asked to leave Venice's Ca' Rezzonico museum, which houses 18th-century Venetian art, by a security guard because she was wearing a veil over her face.
I find this case to be so stupid. The woman was visiting the museum with her husband and children and had cleared security when she entered the building. So how is it that a security guard in charge of one room can override the guards at the entrance of the building?
Another true case of security gone mad. You can read the article from the link below.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080827/od_nm/italy_veil_odd_dc;_ylt=AvM.uY7Gn8FDU8hNjkZF1i.s0NUE
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Why Not?
Recently the Straits Times had an article about 3 Singaporeans who wanted to give up their Singapore citizenships but can’t because MINDEF want them to do their NS first.
Looking at the article, it seems like a simple case of young men running overseas to avoid NS. But reading the article carefully, I am struck by a simple thing. The 3 brothers have dual- citizenships in Norway and Singapore. They have a Norwegian father and Singaporean mother. I mean when you are born, you take your father’s name right? So the men wanted to be Norwegian instead of Singaporean. What’s wrong with that?
Seem fair and right to me; why not let them give up their Singaporean citizenship. It’s not as if we asked every Singapore PR to give up the citizenship of their home country, why not let the 3 brothers give up their Singapore citizenship.
What was even funnier was Singapore insistence that the 3 brothers served their NS first. Why should they serve NS when they have no intention of ever fighting for our island? It’s not as if they are afraid of the army life, one of the men is a career soldier in the Norwegian army for god sake!
The Singapore government has been known as a pretty inflexible juggernaut but this decision by MINDEF that the brothers must serve their NS first before giving up their Singapore citizenship is amazing! Let them go; they are Norwegian, not Singaporean.
Looking at the article, it seems like a simple case of young men running overseas to avoid NS. But reading the article carefully, I am struck by a simple thing. The 3 brothers have dual- citizenships in Norway and Singapore. They have a Norwegian father and Singaporean mother. I mean when you are born, you take your father’s name right? So the men wanted to be Norwegian instead of Singaporean. What’s wrong with that?
Seem fair and right to me; why not let them give up their Singaporean citizenship. It’s not as if we asked every Singapore PR to give up the citizenship of their home country, why not let the 3 brothers give up their Singapore citizenship.
What was even funnier was Singapore insistence that the 3 brothers served their NS first. Why should they serve NS when they have no intention of ever fighting for our island? It’s not as if they are afraid of the army life, one of the men is a career soldier in the Norwegian army for god sake!
The Singapore government has been known as a pretty inflexible juggernaut but this decision by MINDEF that the brothers must serve their NS first before giving up their Singapore citizenship is amazing! Let them go; they are Norwegian, not Singaporean.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
What Goes Around Comes Around
When the West recognized Kosovo as an independent country earlier this year, I was against it. To me, this was just like opening Pandora’s Box. The West ignored protests from Russia and other countries and recognized Kosovo anyway.
President George W. Bush has now discovered the meaning of ‘what goes around comes around’. Russia now is going to recognized Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent countries. Something the White House is desperate to stop.
I’m against the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia because their case is exactly like Kosovo’s; we can’t just allow every ethnic group in the world to declare independence. The world is messy enough as it is.
The unfortunate thing is…America can’t stop Russia! How can they? America was upfront and centre earlier this year pushing for the independence of Kosovo, so how can they now stop Abkhazia and South Ossetia without looking like total hypocrites.
I hope they succeed in stopping the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but the U.S is the wrong country to lead the charge. They need someone like Spain, which also opposed Kosovo’s independence, to lead the charge. The U.S need to take a backseat on this and let other countries take the lead.
President George W. Bush has now discovered the meaning of ‘what goes around comes around’. Russia now is going to recognized Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent countries. Something the White House is desperate to stop.
I’m against the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia because their case is exactly like Kosovo’s; we can’t just allow every ethnic group in the world to declare independence. The world is messy enough as it is.
The unfortunate thing is…America can’t stop Russia! How can they? America was upfront and centre earlier this year pushing for the independence of Kosovo, so how can they now stop Abkhazia and South Ossetia without looking like total hypocrites.
I hope they succeed in stopping the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but the U.S is the wrong country to lead the charge. They need someone like Spain, which also opposed Kosovo’s independence, to lead the charge. The U.S need to take a backseat on this and let other countries take the lead.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Good Graces in the Olympics
With the conclusion of the Olympic Games, China has had its coming out party it wanted. As host of the Olympics, China had executed 16 days of near-flawless logistics and made no doubt that it can hold such great events.
The spectacular closing ceremony is a little like the opening ceremony, a little too much, but it is over and all eyes will be on London, host of the 2012 Games. With the Games over, China can report their biggest medal haul in Olympic history, topping the gold medal table for the first time in history. Overall, it has been an excellent performance by China.
But it is not one without its blemishes. The internet flaming of Liu Xiang was a joke. The man was clearly injured! He had been injured for months and the injury couldn’t clear up for the Olympics. I can’t understand what’s wrong with the Chinese people blaming him for pulling out when he was injured.
That however was nothing compare to the ‘allegations’ that China field underage gymnasts in the gymnastics competition. I said ‘allegations’ because it’s quite clear to me at least one of the gymnasts is below 16. I know they are not the first country to do this (North Korea, Romania had also been sanctioned before for the same offence) but I think between the gymnastics and Liu Xiang incident, we can clear say that China had a ‘will’ to win.
However there is a thing as too much of a good thing. China, for all its’ success, seems to be a bad winner. The direct opposite of USA, who is a bad loser (they were ROBBED by judges, Usain Bolt and the Jamaicans are taking drugs), China seems to have a desire to win, no matter the methods!
For all its world-class venues and glitch-free organizing, China needs to learn something from the British. After the best showing for decades at an Olympics, there is still no chest thumping from the British. In fact, the British media cheekily call this Olympics “The Great Haul from China”. Newspapers came out with articles that said, “We are British, for heaven’s sake!”
When it comes to good graces this Olympics, the Brits came out tops.
The spectacular closing ceremony is a little like the opening ceremony, a little too much, but it is over and all eyes will be on London, host of the 2012 Games. With the Games over, China can report their biggest medal haul in Olympic history, topping the gold medal table for the first time in history. Overall, it has been an excellent performance by China.
But it is not one without its blemishes. The internet flaming of Liu Xiang was a joke. The man was clearly injured! He had been injured for months and the injury couldn’t clear up for the Olympics. I can’t understand what’s wrong with the Chinese people blaming him for pulling out when he was injured.
That however was nothing compare to the ‘allegations’ that China field underage gymnasts in the gymnastics competition. I said ‘allegations’ because it’s quite clear to me at least one of the gymnasts is below 16. I know they are not the first country to do this (North Korea, Romania had also been sanctioned before for the same offence) but I think between the gymnastics and Liu Xiang incident, we can clear say that China had a ‘will’ to win.
However there is a thing as too much of a good thing. China, for all its’ success, seems to be a bad winner. The direct opposite of USA, who is a bad loser (they were ROBBED by judges, Usain Bolt and the Jamaicans are taking drugs), China seems to have a desire to win, no matter the methods!
For all its world-class venues and glitch-free organizing, China needs to learn something from the British. After the best showing for decades at an Olympics, there is still no chest thumping from the British. In fact, the British media cheekily call this Olympics “The Great Haul from China”. Newspapers came out with articles that said, “We are British, for heaven’s sake!”
When it comes to good graces this Olympics, the Brits came out tops.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Comics this week
Stormwatch #13- After the disaster of the last re-launch, you can understand why I have very low expectations for the latest re-launch of WildStorm. Amazingly, Wildcats, Authority, Gen13 and Stormwatch all came out on time. Will wonders never ceased! Stormwatch (like the rest of the re-launch titles) pick up things right after the excellent 'Number of the Beast' mini-series. The world was destroyed at the end of 'Number of the Beast', and Stormwatch is on the job to pick up the pieces. The title is no longer on the human division but more on the prime team on Skywatch, which I thought was a good move. I also like how Jackson King has returned to splitting up Stormwatch into different teams. Maybe we can have another Authority coming out of this title. A good issue that re-introduced readers to the post-Earth Wildstorm.
Guardians of the Galaxy #4- I think I have left no doubt about what I feel about 'Secret Invasion'. In case you don't know, IT SUCKS! So when I saw this is a Secret Invasion tie-in, I can only shake my head in disappointment. Surprisingly this tie-in works. The reason mainly being that outside a sabotage, no Skrulls turned out. That's great! The issue isn't really about Skrulls but more about the issue of trust. Basically, the team don't have any. The members don't even know each other all that well and this issue played that up beautifully. Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning have crafted another beautiful issue here.
Guardians of the Galaxy #4- I think I have left no doubt about what I feel about 'Secret Invasion'. In case you don't know, IT SUCKS! So when I saw this is a Secret Invasion tie-in, I can only shake my head in disappointment. Surprisingly this tie-in works. The reason mainly being that outside a sabotage, no Skrulls turned out. That's great! The issue isn't really about Skrulls but more about the issue of trust. Basically, the team don't have any. The members don't even know each other all that well and this issue played that up beautifully. Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning have crafted another beautiful issue here.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Singapore Tax-Haven
The corruption and money-laundering scandal that have engulfed former Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian and his family had reached Singapore.
Taiwan's investigators will descend on our fair island to investigate whether the former president moved money through the Singapore banking system to launder ill-gotten money. I know this is a sensitive case, maybe even political case, but I think maybe it’s time Singapore take a look and put in some control on money coming into Singapore.
This is not the first time our banking system has come under international scrutiny. Indonesia has long complained that corrupt officials and businessman in Indonesia move their money out of the country through Singapore; even Nepal’s former prince has made Singapore his home in part because of Singapore financial ‘position’.
Now I love the fact money is coming into Singapore, they are the reason why our property market is holding up so well, but in our search for hot money, Singapore has now gained a little reputation as a tax-haven. I think it is time for Singapore to re-think our position on this. We may gain money from foreign investors due to this reputation but, in the long-term, I think we are doing more harm than good with this reputation.
There is no real need for us to be a financial hub so badly that we turn a blind eye to ‘improper money’. In fact with our status as a port and oil-refinery success, I feel that all these money-laundering/tax-haven accusations are doing long-term harm to our future. Trading partners are usually uncomfortable doing business with people (or countries) with a reputation/ accusations for money-laundering.
Now I’m not saying Singapore did anything wrong (in fact if Singapore don’t do this other countries will) what I am saying is that there is no need for Singapore to be a tax-haven. With our financial and trading position, Singapore does not need hot money as much as other countries. Let other countries deal with the reputation as a tax-haven, Singapore don’t need to.
Chen Shui-bian’s case is not the first to hit Singapore, and it will not be the last. And that I feel is something Singapore can do without.
Taiwan's investigators will descend on our fair island to investigate whether the former president moved money through the Singapore banking system to launder ill-gotten money. I know this is a sensitive case, maybe even political case, but I think maybe it’s time Singapore take a look and put in some control on money coming into Singapore.
This is not the first time our banking system has come under international scrutiny. Indonesia has long complained that corrupt officials and businessman in Indonesia move their money out of the country through Singapore; even Nepal’s former prince has made Singapore his home in part because of Singapore financial ‘position’.
Now I love the fact money is coming into Singapore, they are the reason why our property market is holding up so well, but in our search for hot money, Singapore has now gained a little reputation as a tax-haven. I think it is time for Singapore to re-think our position on this. We may gain money from foreign investors due to this reputation but, in the long-term, I think we are doing more harm than good with this reputation.
There is no real need for us to be a financial hub so badly that we turn a blind eye to ‘improper money’. In fact with our status as a port and oil-refinery success, I feel that all these money-laundering/tax-haven accusations are doing long-term harm to our future. Trading partners are usually uncomfortable doing business with people (or countries) with a reputation/ accusations for money-laundering.
Now I’m not saying Singapore did anything wrong (in fact if Singapore don’t do this other countries will) what I am saying is that there is no need for Singapore to be a tax-haven. With our financial and trading position, Singapore does not need hot money as much as other countries. Let other countries deal with the reputation as a tax-haven, Singapore don’t need to.
Chen Shui-bian’s case is not the first to hit Singapore, and it will not be the last. And that I feel is something Singapore can do without.
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