Egosurfing

Egosurfing - Scanning the Net, databases, etc., for one’s own name.

I did just that recently and found that there is town in California that shares my name. It's not the biggest town in the world having a population of only 1621 people but it's a town and it has my name.

The Pope and The Quote

I could do a really long dissection over what the Pope said and how he was wrong to say and that is was bad and stuff and so forth and so on but I won't. Instead I just want to point something out which I think is pretty ironic.

To quote the Pope who quoted Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaeologus:

“Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and then you shall find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

End quote.

So the Muslim world comes out and takes offence at the quote used. Are they wrong to do that? Of course not.

What I think is ironic though, is that apart from the usual ruckus and protest this quote caused, Muslim in some parts of the world attacked churches and killed a nun.
By doing so, they have just proven that what the Pope quoted is correct and very true. Islam appears to be a religion where violence against innocent non-Muslims is accepted and apparently not a contradiction to a "God that is most forgiving; most merciful."

What is our world coming to?

Action and Reactions

There are articles and stories floating out in the internet that I wouldn't have given 2 hoots about until they get the author and publisher sued. Suddenly, there this mad desire to read the original article, just to see what the big deal is. This is normally followed by either 2 reactions:

1) Utter amazement that I didn't realize this before and am glad for the libel suit to bring up this fact. An example of this would be the NKF libel suit against SPH.

2) Disbelief that anyone would even bother suing because of this.....and followed by a sinking suspicion of why are they suing in the first place. Maybe this guy is on to something.

An example of reaction 2) happened today when I read the following 2 articles.

First, the article in the Straits Times that piqued my interest:
PM, MM sue Feer for defamation

Secondly, the article that resulted in the lawsuit in the first place:
Singapore’s ‘Martyr,’ Chee Soon Juan

After reading the FEER article, I failed to see what the big deal was. To most people, me included, CSJ is just some "idiot" that doesn't know better and still believes that violence or as he puts it 'civil disobedience' can create change. Most of the time, he comes of sounding like a 10 year old who hasn't thought through what he wants to say.

So he gives this interview to the FEER. So what? If they didn't sue the FEER in the first place, I would have never read it and couldn't care less. Now, I can't help but wonder.

A Car Named Dusty

My car is now 2 months and 14 days old. It has done slightly over 2000 kilometers and the gone for its first service. So far, so good. The engine has started running better once it went over the 2000 km mark on the odometer. Fuel economy is quite good, averaging 500km or so on a tank of regular petrol. No need for the premium stuff.

The car handles quite well, even over rough coarse chip roads. For a Honda, which a notorious for not having much steering feel, the Civic has better than expected steering feel. In fact, I think the wheel is actually a little under assisted, which I prefer.

Nothing has broken or fallen off. Everything works fine. I still haven't found a way to hook my iPod up to the stereo but that's more from my reluctance to spend $300 on an Dension Icelink.

I have no idea how much space is in the rear as I have never sat there. It's pretty much a nicely upholstered parcel shelf in the car. I've noticed that the 'A' pillars are really thick and it took some getting use to but once you've gotten used to it, the brain kinda fills in the blanks.

Until the next major car milestone.

BTW, the car is named Dusty for 2 reasons. Firstly, it is in memory of a pet dachshund of mine, also named Dusty, that has now gone to Doggy Heaven. Secondly, my brother said the name was appropriate because the car was really dusty. I haven't cleaned it for a while.

Crocodile Hunter Rest in Peace

The news today is that the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, died today after being stab by a stingray in Far North Queensland. He is only the 3rd reported case of a fatality due to a stingray recorded in Australia. You can cheat on a lot of things but you cannot cheat fate.

The news on all channels today dedicated at least 10 minutes to him, a good 1/3 of the 1/2 hour news. On top of that, the current affairs programmes all did a segment on him. The Premier of Queensland made a statement. Even the Prime Minister had something to say. Flowers were being laid at the entrance to Australia Zoo and this continued way into the night. If anything, he appeared to be a man that has touched almost every strata of society, from the powerful to the normal person on the street.

Watching the news and seeing the reaction of the people here, it made me wonder if there was any celebrity back home, be it in the little red dot or the larger country above it, that if they were to suddenly pass away, there would be such an outpouring of emotion?

If Dick Lee passed away, would anyone care? If Siti Nurhaliza's life was tragically cut short, would most people bother? Would the Prime Minister make a statement? The Crocodile Hunter was larger than life. Does anyone back home even come close?

Riverfire

Last night I witnessed one of the most spectacular fireworks displays I've ever seen in my life. Imagine an almost 2 kilometer long stretch of river and 3 bridges, and multiple buildings in the CBD, all lit up from a half-hour long fireworks display.



For me the highlight of the fireworks display was the fact that the RAAF actually had 2 F-111 do a dump and burn barely 300 meters of the ground. That was truly spectacular.

They also had the acrobatic team and these were doing loops around the city and flying really low and all......and the best part of it all, this display wasn't for National Day, it wasn't to celebrate some special event. It was just for the opening ceremony of the River Festival, a 10 day event celebrating the river that is in the middle of the city I live in.

I think, to me, that the ability to do things of this magnitude for something as simple a River Festival makes this country way better than the last one I was in. Not having to justify every single thing, to me, leads to a more creative and vibrant society.

PS. Just my 2 cents worth.....now worth more given the current exchange rate.