When 1 + 1 = 3

I normally don't really like to blog about politics in this country (even though I like reading about it in other people's blog), but for some reason, I just can't stay silent over what I've just read in the news today.

This is not the time for experiments, says PM

By Sharanjit Singh and Audrey Dermawan

29 February, 2008 (New Strait Times)

KEPALA BATAS: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday said the people should not wager the country's future by trying out the opposition. He said forming the government was a serious business and the people could not afford to "conduct experiments".

"It is going to be disastrous if the experiment fails. The risks are just too high.

"I hope such calls for the people to experiment with the opposition will not get any support."

Abdullah was asked to comment on calls by opposition party leaders for the people to give them a chance, even if it was just for one term, by voting against the Barisan Nasional.

The prime minister said the BN had already proven that it could run the country and ensure continuous economic growth.

Now look at what was written in the news a day before:

Najib: Give Barisan four years (The Star, 28th Feb 2008)

PASIR MAS: Give Barisan Nasional four years to rule Kelantan and kick it out if it fails to deliver, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak told the Kelantan people.

The Deputy Prime Minister said Barisan had many plans for the state and wanted a new and developed Kelantan.

“Four years is enough time for us to bring changes and show what we can do,” he said yesterday at the SM Tengku Panglima Raja here.

He said the Federal Government had pumped in a lot of money to build roads and bridges in Kelantan, adding:

“If they want more development at a heightened pace with more dramatic transformation and with East Coast Economic Region (ECER) corridor coming up, the answer is to go with Barisan,” he said.

See anything wrong here? The PM tells us (the states under BN's rule) not to 'try out' the opposition party because this is not the time (when is the time then?) but his deputy tells the people in the state of Kelantan (who is not under BN's rule) that this is the time they should try BN. It's like 'only the things I say and do are right'. Ri-ggght....

Not.

29 Feb folklores

Check this out:

http://www.snopes.com/oldwives/february29.asp

and also

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadie_Hawkins_Day

29th February, 2008

Every four years, something uniques happen. We get an extra day in the year, the US elects a new President, the world competes each other in the Olympics and Prince Khoo celebrates his birthday! Officially, Prince would be 5 years old this year! Yippie. Now he can count his toes!


Sadly, he still ages whether he blows his candles or not. So Prince, being this the first birthday that you're celebrating out of Malaysia, I present to you an imaginary cake. Don't laugh at this cake! This cake is fat free, sugar free, carbo free, cake free, and more importantly, it's free!

Have yourself a wonderful birthday. Give thanks to God for another 4 years and keep praying! Take care and hope to hear from you soon!

Easter 2008

Taken from http://www.snopes.com/holidays/easter/earlyeaster.asp

Do you realize how early Easter is this year? As you may know, Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

Found out a couple of things you might be interested in! Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty rare.

Here 's the interesting info. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here's the facts:

1. The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).
2. The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!
   

Barisan Rakyat

Saw this poster from RPK's Malaysia Today website.

80th Annual Academy Awards' Results

This just up in case some of you didn't catch it:

Best Picture
"Atonement"
"Juno"
"Michael Clayton"
** "No Country for Old Men" WINNER
"There Will Be Blood"

Actor
George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"
** Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood" WINNER
Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Tommy Lee Jones, "In the Valley of Elah"
Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises"

Actress
Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Julie Christie, "Away From Her"
** Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose" WINNER
Laura Linney, "The Savages"
Ellen Page, "Juno"

Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
** Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men" WINNER
Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"
Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton"

Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"
Ruby Dee, "American Gangster"
Saoirse Ronan, "Atonement"
Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
** Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton" WINNER

Director
Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Jason Reitman, "Juno"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
** Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men" WINNER
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"

Foreign Film
"Beaufort," Israel
** "The Counterfeiters," Austria WINNER
"Katyn," Poland
"Mongol," Kazakhstan
"12," Russia

Adapted Screenplay
Christopher Hampton, "Atonement"
Sarah Polley, "Away from Her"
Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
** Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men" WINNER
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"

Original Screenplay ** Diablo Cody, "Juno" WINNER
Nancy Oliver, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco, "Ratatouille"
Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages."

Animated Feature Film
"Persepolis"
** "Ratatouille" WINNER
"Surf's Up"

Art Direction
"American Gangster"
"Atonement"
"The Golden Compass"
** "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street" WINNER
"There Will Be Blood"

Cinematography
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
"Atonement"
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
"No Country for Old Men"
** "There Will Be Blood" WINNER

Sound Mixing
** "The Bourne Ultimatum" WINNER
"No Country for Old Men"
"Ratatouille"
"3:10 to Yuma"
"Transformers"

Sound Editing
** "The Bourne Ultimatum" WINNER
"No Country for Old Men"
"Ratatouille"
"There Will Be Blood"
"Transformers"

Original Score
** "Atonement," Dario Marianelli WINNER
"The Kite Runner," Alberto Iglesias
"Michael Clayton," James Newton Howard
"Ratatouille," Michael Giacchino
"3:10 to Yuma," Marco Beltrami

Original Song
** "Falling Slowly" from "Once," Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova WINNER
"Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz
"Raise It Up" from "August Rush," Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas
"So Close" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz
"That's How You Know" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz

Costume
"Across the Universe"
"Atonement" ** "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" WINNER
"La Vie en Rose"
"Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

Documentary Feature
"No End in Sight"
"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience"
"Sicko"
** "Taxi to the Dark Side" WINNER
"War/Dance"

Documentary (short subject)
** "Freeheld" WINNER
"La Corona (The Crown)"
"Salim Baba"
"Sari's Mother"

Film Editing
** "The Bourne Ultimatum" WINNER
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
"Into the Wild"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"

Makeup
** "La Vie en Rose" WINNER
"Norbit"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"

Animated Short Film
"I Met the Walrus"
"Madame Tutli-Putli"
"Meme Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)"
"My Love (Moya Lyubov)"
** "Peter & the Wolf" WINNER

Live Action Short Film
"At Night"
"Il Supplente (The Substitute)"
** "Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)" WINNER
"Tanghi Argentini"
"The Tonto Woman"

Visual Effects
** "The Golden Compass" WINNER
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"
"Transformers"

Election Fever

In less than 2 weeks, people from Malaysia will heading to the polls to decide who they will want to govern over them. On the way to work this morning, I could see that the streets were already filled with banners, flags and posters of the various parties that are contesting. Dark Blue, Light Blue, Green, and Red are the theme colors of the respective major parties running.

It's a good thing that I registered myself last year so that I can vote this round during the general elections. If you have also registered, and would to check your status, go here. This would be my first time voting, and strangely, I've never felt so 'involved' and 'empowered'. In the previous years, I was always just 'indifferent' towards politics in this country. Maybe its because I was younger back then, or maybe, and probably, I am just 'old' right now. Sigh.

Anyways, for some reason, I've got a feeling that the outcome of this coming elections will be much different that the previous one. I've heard many say that though they have voted for the major government the last round, they are changing their minds this time and will vote for the opposition. Will the BN lose its 95% dominance in the parliament? Who knows. I'm guessing that the reason why people are throwing their support to the opposition is because of the many controversial issues that happened in the past few years. From the government servant who could build himself a mansion to the suppression of the people's voice during rallies, the present government has failed to convince the people that they are FOR the people. The government has just shown that it's protecting itself, and it that way, prove that they are no longer listening to the people. Their attempts to silent the people's woes by bribing them with occasional freebies such as lowering road taxes to giving them a free holiday only show that they are interested in short term effects, rather than feasible long term solutions.

Will the opposition be better in running the country? Not necessarily. But I'm feeling that they can't do much worse than the present one. At least, if the major party is denied of the 95%, it will show that the people of Malaysia will not condone and support a complacent government. Winds of change is coming. Whether the wind will bring about changes of good and bad, I'm still unsure. But at least, we hope, and pray, that things will not remain the same.

I will be voting in the Subang Jaya constituent. Coincidentally, I discovered that an old friend of mine is running for the opposition in the same constituency. If her name is on the ballot, she can be sure to have my vote. If you're voting in Subang Jaya also, you can check out her blog at http://hannahyeoh.blogspot.com to learn more about her before you cast your vote.

Malaysia will decide on March 8th. Lets pray that the elected government will be a government that will be bring about good changes for the people.

The Logan Show

I came across this on the internet. Has anyone watch any of their shows before? I haven't got chance to watch it yet since I'm still at work, but am really looking forward to it once I get home. If you have time, watch it and let me know what you think of it.

Their write-up:

The Next Generation In Late Night TV
Clean comedy has never been hipper and the laughs more gut-wrenching than the skits, bits, and guffaws emanating from the nationally and internationally syndicated The Logan Show hosted by funnyman Logan Sekulow.

Described by the media labelmeisters as a clean alternative to the kingpins of late-night TV comedy, The Logan Show is in reality much more – and much edgier.

It’s all the zany memories millions of American youth have of family, friends, church, music and high school, packaged into a non-stop, half-hour variety venue of stand-up comedy, slap-stick skits and outtakes. Add to all that appearances by the hottest Christian music acts with interviews focusing on Hollywood celebrities and well-known sports personalities.

The Logan Show, with its growing fan base of millions of viewers worldwide, is one of faith and family-friendly TV’s best offerings, and is one of the most popular shows in its category viewed by teens and young adults.

The show takes a bit of the "Late Show," mixes in a smidgen of "Saturday Night Live," then adds a little "Austin City Limits." Sprinkle in a tad of "Conan O' Brien," shake it all up, and "WALLA!" — you’ve got the next generation in late night TV -- The Logan Show!

Sample video here.

Some thoughts on global warming

The global warming issue was probably one of the most hyped-up doomsday message that was spread by the media last year. They attributed many of the natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and floods in India to global warming. Some 'scientist' predicts that within a hundred years, the polar ice caps will melt and will contribute to rising of sea levels to as much as a hundred feet, hence sealing the fate of coastal regions around the world, and all other areas that are less than a hundred feet above sea level.

But just as we enter 2008, news of snow storms and extreme freezing took hold of many news headlines. Until now, no one dared link these weather conditions to global warming, well, as you can see, 'warming' tend to cause hotter temperatures, not cooler (well duh..). So, how is it that within a year, the so called greenhouse effect caused by you and me driving our cars to the local grocery stores has managed to be dramatically reversed?

Another less known fact was that several independent parties conducted temperature measurements around the world concluded that the year 2007 was actually cooler than predicted (by global warming activists), in spite of the increase in atmospheric CO2s. Wouldn't that cause a "wait a minute" moment in your mind? Environmentalists, scientists, politicians, and even your next door neighbor has been harping on what they believe as truth beyond doubt, that is, the more you drive your car, the warmer the earth will become. The more you and I breathe, the more the polar ice-caps will melt. The more the cows poop, the more.. well, you get what I mean. So now, is this so called 'fact' then, still a fact?


Due to the fact that most of my blog readers were born during or after the late 70's, many of us are actually unaware that back in the 1970's, there was a world-wide scare that the earth was experiencing a 'global cooling'. I don't really know much about what people who predicted this said the causes were, but I know enough that it took the attention of many around the world. However, as the years gone by, the scare was overshadowed by other unrelated world events and eventually just faded away like yesterday's news.

Since I'm not planning to further bore you with more of these stuff, my point of writing this is to more of an informer, and hopefully to open your eyes to the truth so that you do not just believe whatever the media dishes out to you. There are plenty of good content out there on the internet that speaks about both sides of this theory, and hopefully, you'd be more a little more informed the next time you suggest your neighbor to save the world by breathing less.

Further reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_controversy
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20070315&articleId=5086