Who is better for Singapore?

Months after her candidacy was effectively over, Hillary Clinton finally bowed out of the Presidential race and now there is only 2 serious contender left in the U.S Presidential Election.

Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain, who will be better for Singapore? One thing I will say for sure; this will be a strange race. Not only because Obama is black, but also because of John McCain. Historically, Asia prefer the Republican candidates because they are believers in free-trade and better on security. Strangely, this might not be the case this time.

Not only is McCain weak on trade (because he knows so little about it), he also want America to be in Iraq till the 'job is done'; no matter how long it'll take. Considering how much the Iraq mess has cost America, it might not be the best case for America. McCain is also more gung-ho than Obama on Iran and Afghanistan, so much so that Obama had to raise his language to match McCain. So is McCain better in security? He might be stronger, but that might not necessary be better.

Obama also has faults. Although he had lived in Indonesia when he was younger, he is also an unknown. He is very inexperience. People in America says that he is a good speaker but has no track record for them to follow. They have a point. The fact that he is black will also play a part. The blacks in America will support him, however a good section of whites will not. That is a problem because a united America is better than a diveded America, and Obama might not be the man for that job. And Singapore would want a strong America.

So who is better for Singapore? Your guess is as good as mine.

Alarm at Oil Price

Alarm, alarm, sound the alarm! Wall Street tumbled nearly 400 points on Friday due to a pair of alarming economic news: the biggest gain in the U.S government's unemployment in more than 20 years and a Morgan Stanley analyst's forecast of $150 oil by July 4. In case anyone doesn’t know, July 4 is less than a month from now!

Remember when no one thought oil will break above $100? Those were the good old days. Oil at $150 per barrel is going to hurt everyone, not just the Americans. Malaysia will have to increase prices even more if oil keeps going up. Even Singapore will be affected. As the price of oil goes up, people will start to use less of it. That means less work for the oil refineries which is still the lifeblood of the Singapore economy. Just imagine if the price go up to $200 per barrel!

Singapore is not helped by our Israeli ally. The Israeli are quoted as saying Israel would attack Iran if it doesn't abandon its nuclear program. For all our sake, I hope this is the last time we hear this. The last thing the world needs is yet another war in the Middle East.

Comics this week

Trinity #1- Yes I know. I said I wasn't going to touch this weekly series after the horror of Countdown, but what can I say. I'm a fan of KurtBusiek. On his name alone, I will give this a try. Of course, follow writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Mark Bagley are both plus as well. First off, I'm not too sure about the new format. This issue is split into 2, with 15 pages on the main feature and another 15 on the back-up story. Most people will pick this up due to the trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. I'm not too sure about having a back-up story for 52 issues. It just might not work.
The story itself is off to a good start. Outside an unnecessary cameo by the Flash and his kids, the story was well set-up. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman all have the same dreams and decide to have a chat about this. The scene was well-done. You can clearly see that these are 3 characters who despite their different personalities, can work well together. The backup story featuring Morgaine Le Fey and Enigma didn't do quite as well. They seems to be set-up as the main villains of the story, but Morgaine Le Fey and Enigma pale in comparisons to the Trinity. That's a problem Busiek and Nicieza have to solve quickly. I mean the Trinity are 3 of the most powerful heroes in the DCU, how many bad guys could stand up to these 3 in a group? Not too many I afraid.
A good start, but after the horror of Countdown, Busiek will have to do more to get me to collect all 52 of the series.

Secret Invasion #3- I just knew this was going to happen. Big hints this issue that Tony Stark is a Skrull. I must say this continuing "mystery" surrounding key characters like Iron Man and Captain America is without doubt the most boring part of this series. Is Iron Man a Skrull? Is the dead Captain America a Skrull as well? He didn't turn green when he died, did he? Hello, we have a full invasion going on here. How about less time in the Savage Land and more time on the battlefield? The battle in New York City was without question what saved this issue. When green aliens arrived on Earth, the heroes response and the body count rises. That's an invasion. How about more of that?

Nova #14- I must say the Silver Surfer guest-star has been wasted. Nova is one of the best series in the stand, and frankly he do not need this 'guest-starring to boost sales' gimmick. Beyond a well-workout fight, this issue didn't really do anything for me. A nice but hardly great issue.

NBA Preview

Just a day before Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals and I thought I give my 2 cents on what must be THE dream final for the NBA marketing guys. At the start of the season, I thought it will be Spurs-Celtics...I was damm close, wasn't I?

Now for the breakdown as I see it-
Centre- Pau Gasol must the steal (or donation) of the season (of the decade even), but the Celtics have Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins in the middle. Yes, I know Garnett is the power-forward but see the way he plays and tell me he's not playing like a centre. However, I like the Celtics for this match-up because of Perkins. He was a monster against the Pistons and if he can constantly get 10 rebounds against the Pistons, I like his chances against the smaller line-up of the Lakers. About even but I will go against the gain and say Celtics just win this one.

Forwards- With 2 of their Big 3 in the forward line-up, Boston got this one in the bag. I think Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are going to have their way against the Lakers and I don't think there's too many people who will disagree with me here. In fact the only interesting thing I see here is whether Lamar Odom can limit Pierce's scoring. If he can, Phil Jackson will be a happy man. Celtics!

Guards- Ray Allen has struggled in the playoffs while Rajon Rondo is quite frankly a vastly over-rated player. He is a young talent but prone to making some very stupid mistakes at times. The Lakers has Derek Fisher and a certain MVP named Kobe, last name not needed. What else is there to say? Lakers by a mile.

Bench- They couldn't be more different. Lakers has a young bench with Ronny Turiaf, Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton. All young talent hungry for success while the Celtics has a bench loaded with experience. Sam Cassell, Eddie House, P.J. Brown, James Posey have all been in the game for some time and know what it will take to get that ring. I have to go for the Celtics here due to the experience.

Coach- 'Doc' Rivers has done a good job this year but Phil Jackson is looking for his 10th NBA title. Jackson has got the Lakers into the finals when no one thought they had a chance in hell of getting past the Spurs, Suns etc. Lakers!

Intangibles- The magic word is HOME-COURT! The Celtics may have lost one to the Pistons but at other times they have looked just incredible at home. They didn't just beat teams in Boston, they killed them by 10-20 points! For the Lakers to win the series, they must win in Boston. I don't think they can. Boston due to the home-court advantage.

In the end, I will say the Celtics in 6.

A Survey of Nothing

A survey by a smart, successful man on why there is a growing band of bachelors who refuse to marry? Bachelor Carl Weisman say that according to his survey, men refuse to get married because they are afraid of a bad marriage. Better solo than tied up?

He need a survey for that? Of course men are steering clear of marriage. Why is that a surprise? Since the beginning of time, men has been complaining that marriage is a ball of chain for men. So they are now not marrying...why would anyone need a survey for this? Not only that, I find the survey to be stupid, Mr. Weisman concluded that most men were not afraid of marriage, just a bad marriage.

Of course everyone is afraid of a bad marriage! I will say that both men and women are afraid of a bad marriage. So that's not new either. So what is the survey?

A total waste of time and money!

More Pain Coming

You know things are bad when even the top dogs are getting chased. Wachovia, the fourth-largest bank in the US, has just become the latest US banks to fire its CEO.

Wachovia said that Ken Thompson would be retiring at the request of its board of directors but retiring is just another codeword for getting canned. Not that this is unexpected, the bank lost $708m in the first three months of 2008! For all those who thought the finance crisis is about to over, read this and weep!

As Mr. Thompson's departure illustrate, things are still bad and if legendary investor Warren Buffet is to be believed, things will get a lot worse before it get better. Get ready for more pain

Review of The Witcher

The tagline for The Witcher is; “There is no good, no evil- only decisions and consequences.”

Never before has there been a truer tagline for a PC game. That tagline sums up The Witcher to a T. Based on the book series of the same name by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, the game really don’t have a good or evil side for you to choose.

Unlike say some worlds which all characters are good or all characters are more or less evil, the world in The Witcher is grayer. You see good people doing evil things (in the name of the greater good of course), and he can ally with evil men (because it’s in their interest to help you). If you are one of those guys who like your world in black and white; this is not the game for you. There are scales of gray in almost everyone.

The game tells the story of Geralt, the White Wolf. A white-hair witcher, you suffer at the beginning of the game that most common of diseases…amnesia. You quickly learn that Geralt is a renowned witcher. Witchers are professional monster-hunters who receive special training and have their bodies modified at an early age to provide them with supernatural abilities like quick reflexes and magic. They are paid to kill extremely dangerous monsters which more common monster-hunters cannot survive against. The problem with Geralt is that he has had friends and enemies almost everywhere who remember him but whom he does not remember. Your actions as Geralt will define those relationships and choose his path in the political intrigue of the world of The Witcher.

The game’s story is very good. As it is based on a series of books, there are twists and turns in the plot that exactly means something. Your actions can really change some stuff in the world. In fact, it seems to me that many of the plot's points are triggered by the decisions I’ve made earlier in the game. This gave me a sense that my actions exactly means something, which is something I love. An example is a werewolf you will meet in the game. As a monster-hunter, it’s your job to kill the werewolf, but it’s your choice and it will affect you later on. If you kill the werewolf, his men will come for you later in the game; but if you let him go, later on he and his men will help you against your enemies.

This is but one small part of how your decisions can have consequences in the game. A decision you make in chapter 2 can have consequences in chapter 4, which is about 20 hours playtime later. So make your decisions wisely when you play this game.

The combat system is also a different from most games. You have three fighting styles. The quick style allows for fast attacks with a greater chance of hitting faster enemies; the heavy style deals more damage in exchange for a slow attack speed, and the group style, which features sweeping attacks you can use if you are surrounded by many enemies. This gives some variety to the normal hack/slash action where style and timing are more important than button mashing.

One thing I must say: This game is not for kids. As witchers can’t have kids, the game allows Geralt to have “conquests”. Yes, you can have in game sex with a lot of women in this game. After the act, a female portrait card will show up in your journal for your “memory”. Don’t worry, all the cards are censored and no exact act was shown in the game. Still it must be said: Women, wine and killing! What’s there not to like?

Still there are a few problems in the game. For one thing, the loading time is very, very long. Save before you go into a new map because the loading can be amazing long. Also some parts of the game might not be to your liking. An example is a king you will have to ally with. The king was engaged in an incestuous relation with own sister who born him his only daughter. However he loves his people very much and will do almost anything for them. Outside that little ‘mistake’, he is a generally good king who is respected by his people. Even his enemies will give him a benefit of the doubt. I don’t know about you but I had a hard time not remembering the part of an incestuous relation with his own sister.

The Witcher is a different game than most. Like I said earlier, the nature of the options you faced when playing the game DO NOT fall into the typical black-and-white morality present in most regular computer RPGs. Do you ally with the racist human knights who kill elves and dwarves civilians in the name of keeping order, or do you ally with the elven terrorists who kill human civilians for freedom? Which is the lesser of two evils for you?

For giving you this choice, I say this is one game you should be playing.