Yesterday I saw the press conference by U.S. President Barack Obama on the need for America to balance its budget and decrease its deficit. I thought he generally did a good job at the press conference, answering and deflecting tough questions with poise.
However, I have a hard time taking him seriously. For all the talk about America balancing its books and cutting its deficit, the rest of the world has a hard time believing that the U.S. is serious about the matter.
The Republican Party has refused to increase taxes to balance the budget and no one has publicly spoken about the elephant in the room. Take the press conference of Obama for example; for a press conference on balancing the U.S. budget, there is an elephant in the room neither he nor the press spoke of. The 3 wars America is currently involved in!
Currently America is involved in wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya and the U.S. government estimate that these wars would cost around US$1.8 trillion. Most others consider that figure to be a gross underestimate.
Simply put; there is just no way the United States of America can balance its budget while they are fighting 3 wars at the same time. I’m not saying the wars are not worth fighting in; it’s just that no one seriously think America can balance the budget while throwing money in 3 different wars. It just can’t be done.
So for all the talk about tax increase and spending cuts, if America truly wants to balance its budget and cut its deficit, there’s a simple way to do that. Stopping fighting wars you can’t pay for!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
No Business Like Show-business
In show-business, there is no such thing as bad publicity. In fact, sometimes bad publicity might be a good thing because a) it keeps you in the minds of the public and b) it may makes you more important than you really are.
Obviously, the authorities in Myanmar know nothing about show-business because they had just deported actress Michelle Yeoh. Best known for her roles in “Police Story 3”, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Tomorrow Never Dies”, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh was in Myanmar to speak to pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as she would be acting as the Nobel laureate in an upcoming film, “The Lady”. However upon arrival at Yangon's international airport, the actress was detained and then sent out of the country on the next flight.
The backers of “The Lady” need to send a thank you note to the authorities in Myanmar for giving free publicity to the film. “The Lady” is a love story about Ms. Suu Kyi and her late British husband Michael Aris that will be release in October and I had no plans of watching it. I mean it’s a love story for god sake, so I had no interest.
Then this happens and suddenly I think I might go watch the film. I mean for the government in Myanmar to deport a world famous actress, the film must have pushed a few buttons right? So I think I will go see it when it comes out just to see what the authorities in Myanmar are so sensitive about.
Like I said above; the backers of “The Lady” need to send a thank you note to the authorities in Myanmar for doing free publicity for the film.
Obviously, the authorities in Myanmar know nothing about show-business because they had just deported actress Michelle Yeoh. Best known for her roles in “Police Story 3”, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Tomorrow Never Dies”, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh was in Myanmar to speak to pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as she would be acting as the Nobel laureate in an upcoming film, “The Lady”. However upon arrival at Yangon's international airport, the actress was detained and then sent out of the country on the next flight.
The backers of “The Lady” need to send a thank you note to the authorities in Myanmar for giving free publicity to the film. “The Lady” is a love story about Ms. Suu Kyi and her late British husband Michael Aris that will be release in October and I had no plans of watching it. I mean it’s a love story for god sake, so I had no interest.
Then this happens and suddenly I think I might go watch the film. I mean for the government in Myanmar to deport a world famous actress, the film must have pushed a few buttons right? So I think I will go see it when it comes out just to see what the authorities in Myanmar are so sensitive about.
Like I said above; the backers of “The Lady” need to send a thank you note to the authorities in Myanmar for doing free publicity for the film.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Earth and Beyond
“To space and beyond” It seems that the catchphrase of Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story series needs to be changed.
On an island in New Guinea, the environment group WWF (World Wildlife Fund) said that they had found over 1,000 new species that include a river shark, a frog with fangs, and a round-headed dolphin! Now considering how remote and unspoiled the New Guinea rainforest is, discovery of new species might not be surprising, but the big thing is that these 1,000+ new species were found over a 10 year period!
This means the WWF found a new specie at the rate of one every 2 weeks! That probably means that there are other species there that are not found yet. To space and beyond? Maybe it should be “Within Earth and beyond”!
Pictures of some of the new species found
On an island in New Guinea, the environment group WWF (World Wildlife Fund) said that they had found over 1,000 new species that include a river shark, a frog with fangs, and a round-headed dolphin! Now considering how remote and unspoiled the New Guinea rainforest is, discovery of new species might not be surprising, but the big thing is that these 1,000+ new species were found over a 10 year period!
This means the WWF found a new specie at the rate of one every 2 weeks! That probably means that there are other species there that are not found yet. To space and beyond? Maybe it should be “Within Earth and beyond”!
Pictures of some of the new species found
Sunday, June 26, 2011
No Boys Or Girls
A kindergarten that do not address kids as boys or girls; that tell the teachers to avoid words like "him" or "her"; that has no books on "Snow White," "Cinderella" or other classic fairy tales but children's books that deal with homosexual couples, single parents or adopted children?
Amazingly, there is a kindergarten just like that in Stockholm, Sweden. Funded by the Swedish government, the "Egalia” preschool is part of Sweden's efforts to engineer equality between the sexes from childhood onward.
Now I know the issue of gender equality is important in the West, but are you guys (Oops, can’t say that) people serious? Men and women are different. We always have been; we always will be. Not just in the way we look, but also the way we think. I’m not saying men are smarter but when faced with a situation, men and women will typically act and react differently. That is just a fact.
We are different and a kindergarten that does not even teach their kids the meaning/difference of “boys” and “girls” is not going to change that. In fact I would go as far as to say that no amount of social engineering is going to change that. There was a similar experiment in Israel that failed miserable but only after years of trying by the researchers. So "Egalia” should stop using their kids as guinea pigs in a useless experiment and do what kindergartens are supposed to do; teach children properly.
Amazingly, there is a kindergarten just like that in Stockholm, Sweden. Funded by the Swedish government, the "Egalia” preschool is part of Sweden's efforts to engineer equality between the sexes from childhood onward.
Now I know the issue of gender equality is important in the West, but are you guys (Oops, can’t say that) people serious? Men and women are different. We always have been; we always will be. Not just in the way we look, but also the way we think. I’m not saying men are smarter but when faced with a situation, men and women will typically act and react differently. That is just a fact.
We are different and a kindergarten that does not even teach their kids the meaning/difference of “boys” and “girls” is not going to change that. In fact I would go as far as to say that no amount of social engineering is going to change that. There was a similar experiment in Israel that failed miserable but only after years of trying by the researchers. So "Egalia” should stop using their kids as guinea pigs in a useless experiment and do what kindergartens are supposed to do; teach children properly.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Just How Important Is It?
By August this year, Singapore will hold its Presidential Election. With the less-than-stellar performance of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) in the recent General Election (GE), this Presidential Election has gotten the attentions of many Singaporeans as an upset might be on the cards.
With that in mind, Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean has come out to stress that electing a President is very important as the President needs to be “dignified” and it is not like electing a Member of Parliament (MP). Personally I do agree with the DPM that choosing a President is an important decision and Singaporeans should do so after careful thought on the matter.
However, this statement from the DPM has more than a few Singaporeans scratching their heads. You have to admit it seem funny hearing this from a PAP member. For the past few weeks, various government figures, like former Senior Minister S. Jayakumar and Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam, had spoke publicly on the “restrictive” powers of the elected president. Mr. Shanmugam was even quoted as saying that the elected President has no role in advancing policy and only has limited veto powers.
This has led many Singaporeans to say that the Elected President is nothing but a ceremonial role. It most definitely seems that this was the image the PAP wants to put out. That the PAP government was the one in charge and that the President does not have a right to counter or even check the government.
However, there is a real flipside in making the Elected Presidency a ceremonial role. If the Elected President only has a ceremonial role without any real powers, it doesn’t really matters who Singaporeans vote in as President right?
If anything, by making the Elected President into nothing but a ceremonial role, the PAP is making it even more difficult for their endorsed candidate, Mr. Tony Tan. If the President isn’t an important role, it would make much of an impact if vote in someone other than Mr. Tony Tan right?
The PAP probably realise this and that is probably why the DPM has come out to say that the President has a very important role...which is in direct contradiction to what the government has been saying for weeks. So just how important is the role of the President in Singapore?
That I believe will depend on whether the PAP candidate wins the election!
With that in mind, Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean has come out to stress that electing a President is very important as the President needs to be “dignified” and it is not like electing a Member of Parliament (MP). Personally I do agree with the DPM that choosing a President is an important decision and Singaporeans should do so after careful thought on the matter.
However, this statement from the DPM has more than a few Singaporeans scratching their heads. You have to admit it seem funny hearing this from a PAP member. For the past few weeks, various government figures, like former Senior Minister S. Jayakumar and Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam, had spoke publicly on the “restrictive” powers of the elected president. Mr. Shanmugam was even quoted as saying that the elected President has no role in advancing policy and only has limited veto powers.
This has led many Singaporeans to say that the Elected President is nothing but a ceremonial role. It most definitely seems that this was the image the PAP wants to put out. That the PAP government was the one in charge and that the President does not have a right to counter or even check the government.
However, there is a real flipside in making the Elected Presidency a ceremonial role. If the Elected President only has a ceremonial role without any real powers, it doesn’t really matters who Singaporeans vote in as President right?
If anything, by making the Elected President into nothing but a ceremonial role, the PAP is making it even more difficult for their endorsed candidate, Mr. Tony Tan. If the President isn’t an important role, it would make much of an impact if vote in someone other than Mr. Tony Tan right?
The PAP probably realise this and that is probably why the DPM has come out to say that the President has a very important role...which is in direct contradiction to what the government has been saying for weeks. So just how important is the role of the President in Singapore?
That I believe will depend on whether the PAP candidate wins the election!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Comics this week
Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing#1- I’m one of those guys who is looking at DC with a skeptical eye these days. Their upcoming revamp isn’t really filling me with hope for the future and right now, they are screwing up the present with the merging of the DC and Vertigo universes. However I was willing to give writer Jonathan Vankin and artist Marco Castello a chance…I shouldn’t have bothered. Much of the problem I had with this issue comes from John Constantine's reaction to Swamp Thing’s lashing out at polluters. There’s no reason for him to be surprise because Swamp Thing has done similar stuff like this before and even if Constantine is surprised; so what? The John Constantine I read for many years couldn’t care less if Swamp Thing was killing bad guys. There were a few bright spots in this issue; Batman’s “No smoking in the car” for one, but overall this issue was disappointing.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
CoH Going F2P
Just last month, I blogged about the MMORPG “Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures’ going down the Free-2-Play route. The game hasn’t even started the F2P play yet, and already another game has announced that they would also go F2P.
Paragon Studios has just announced that the 7 year old “City of Heroes” will also be going F2P. Much like Age of Conan, City of Heroes will also have a hybrid payment system. This means that just this year, there had been at least 4 different MMORPG (Global Agenda, Champions Online, Age of Conan & City of Heroes) which had all went to the F2P route. That has led many people to ask why this tsunami of MMORPGs going the F2P route?
Two word; Star Wars! Or to be exact; Star Wars: The Old Republic.
It is the most expensive game been made and it has been under wraps by noted developer Bioware for the past few years. It is also suppose to be release late this year. And that is the reason why everyone is going the F2P!
Paragon Studios has just announced that the 7 year old “City of Heroes” will also be going F2P. Much like Age of Conan, City of Heroes will also have a hybrid payment system. This means that just this year, there had been at least 4 different MMORPG (Global Agenda, Champions Online, Age of Conan & City of Heroes) which had all went to the F2P route. That has led many people to ask why this tsunami of MMORPGs going the F2P route?
Two word; Star Wars! Or to be exact; Star Wars: The Old Republic.
It is the most expensive game been made and it has been under wraps by noted developer Bioware for the past few years. It is also suppose to be release late this year. And that is the reason why everyone is going the F2P!
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