My Take on Bill Maher and on other things.

Ok, this is going to be one of posts where i retract what i have said about someone or of some idea and present a whole new perspective on it. Reason?

As we progress through life (in my case the internet and opiniative and political blogs), we often experience new ideas which shape the way we think. And i now have a different opinion of Bill Maher.

Okay, i agree with him on a lot of things, particularly ones which explicitly imply (excuse the oxymoron , just trying to be funny) that this chap is dumb:




It is more with his take on religion i'm at odds with. Okay, i will be frank here. I have zero belief in the existance of a being termed God. I am however agnostic about other ideas of extreme weirdness such as the existance of parallel universes. Half belief if you may, maninly cos String Theory predicts the existance of them. Half incredulous cos String Theory is based on a mathematical proof, and it can't be experimentally tested...so far.

Right, that being said, allow me to state another idea , kind of like a corollary to the one above:

"Beliefs are personal. You cannot criticise what someone beliefs in, and the same goes for the other party"

Now, i disagree with Bill Maher on his stand that religion is in fact (to put it brutally)....idiotic and crazy. That is HIS opinion. And it is not decent to shove that down the throats of people who hold onto religion as a guide to life and as a form of culture...something that gives them an identity for instance.

This is a question of philosophy and belief. There is no stringent ideas or notions about what's true and what's not.

But on another note, an entirely different one. It is necessary for Maher to voice out his opinions and to shove it brutally in front of a nation governed by one who believes God wants democracy everywhere.

Oh wait, hang on.....

I forgot the big man over in the White House has changed.

Maher needs to do this. Cause its his job and lets face it, he's offensive, but funny.....in an offensive way. And what some may think to be funny , is definitely offensive to others. I honestly do not think women would be amused by Borat for instance.


And so the wrap up....


Maher is indecent in the way he goes about shoving his ideas on beliefs about, but you must say, he is funny and is spot on about politics though.

And i love the "Get Real and Common Sense" aura he exudes.

Wonder what he's gonna do now that there's a president with an IQ above 90 in the White House.


Cheers from the,

Matrix

Just Chilling Out

Wonder what constitutes "chilling out"?

Roomie was going on and on about this place called Timbre (@ the Arts House) which apparently is a chilling out place. In his context its just a place with good indie music played by live bands and you have a few rounds while relaxing on large sofas.

Quite appealing to me as i like indie music and am curious about the local indie music scene.

Then over lunch today, i asked Audrey about what constitutes "chilling out".

Drey : "Anything that makes you feel good".

Then i wondered if clubbing constitutes chilling out. Never been clubbing before. So i asked a friend online who happens to work at Zouk.

Me : What do you do in a club?
Her : Dance and drink and not act yourself.
Me : ?
Her : Have you ever been clubbing?
Me : Never
Her : Everyone goes wild
. Me : Drink?
Her : Yah, drink, and dance wildly. Like having sex with your clothes on.
Me : Errr....how do u do that?
Her : Bump and grind la. Seriously you get free shows.


At this point i stopped asking. Clearly clubs are not my chilling out kind of place. Unless they happen to have a few corners with chocolate fountains playing or an all you can eat unagi buffet or something. Or Deepika Padukone or Maggie Q happens to be in em at the moment.

And so I went back to Audrey's theory. And then i started listing down whatever makes me feel good (clearly i'm not studying for my exams next week at this point, Fluid Mechanics revision and practicing can seriously drain you).

On with the post then....

I like:

1) Eating
2) Exploring a city (despite being in Singapore for over a year, i have not explored it properly..tis a sad fact).


And so, to anyone reading this post and is in Singapore, and happpens to know me.... hows about a biking trip from East Coast Park around Singapore looking for good food? I think this constitutes chilling out. Audrey could be our guide (if she's free after the 18th of Dec).

Oh, random info : I'm typing this post out on a brand new Apple IMac keyboard i borrowed from Roomie's new IMac. Its sitting on the table next to mine and i just can't help caressing it. The keyboard however is not good. Not soft enough and i can feel the onset of finger injury aready. Rooomie on the other hand has an ergonomic keyboard which i'm eyeing.




Another random info : Americans finally wisened up and elected president wih an IQ over 90 this time. Now i hope Obama delivers on his campaign promises. I really want to see the US not going gung ho into ridiculous wars. And we all need a stable dollar.

I wonder what Bush will now do? I mean seriously, who's going to hire a guy who screwed up? Big time i mean. And the IQ of 90 is not going to help his emplyment prospects.

Oh wait,




Sarah Palin is the Governor of Alaska (amd she's dumb).

I guess there's still enough idiots in America for Bush to be smarter than. Job prospects OK.


Righto, am feeling a bit guilty. My Kinematics And Dynamics of Machinery book is staring at me form under the packet of Oreo and the eggs. Gah exams!



Cheers Mates!
Matrix

Busy Semester

You know you're busy when.......

1) You have only watched one Man Utd game all season so far....despite having the msn address : hardcoremanutd@hotmail.com


2) When you eat too much and drink too much of these....



3) When your hair looks like this the whole day for months......and you just don't care anymore....



4) When even if they were to wear a tea cloth and swing dance to spiderman's theme song in front of you, you'd rather walk back to your room and work/sleep/eat.


You know you're busy when your post just has a lot of pictures.....


Cheers from,

The Matrix

Aishwarya Rai Burns David Letterman in his own show

WOAH...had no idea she had the ability to burn Letterman...lolx....watch this folks!


Cheers from:

Matrix

The Next Great Rock Ballad?

Check out the video before you continue reading..
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Now, i am of opinion, among the great rock ballads,these are the creme de la creme...

1) Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"

2) The Beatle's "The Ballad of John and Yoko"

3) Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird"


I have more actually, but these three are songs i can sing to and listen to over and over and over again.

And now, I have a new addition to the list:

MUSE's "Knights of Cydonia"

And by the way, that was a LIVE performance, that's just how good this band is.


Cheers Mates!

Matrix

Peace Protests are Bullshit

Okay, i have a confession,

This post is not 100% original. The core ideas here are from a TV show called Penn & Teller's Bullshit. These chaps are realists and talk on controversial and social issues in a show filled with profanity, but get this.....they are absolutely spot on most of the time.

Now on the post proper:

Peace protests are bullshit:

yes, i was wondering the same thing

Now, you'd have to be an incarnation of Hitler orPolpot to not want peace. That being said, this post is not out to slander peace, its out to slander the people who think they are helping to acheive world peace via protest.

Its not the protest per say, its the way people go about it. With an idealistic mentality. That protests, candle light vigils and so on are actually going to bring about peace in the world.

What it merely does is (if it even manages to do so) is to PERSUADE the politicians in Congress to take measures to start the peace process.And ultimately, they are going to not take you seriously because, lets face it, you aren't helping them with a peace plan by just shouting on the streets with banners.....though i do admit, the protests about impeaching Bush have to be taken seriously.


And come on, who's going to take you seriously when you come and try to make a point dressed up like this:

Code Pink Organisation : Women For Peace

These people are absolutely bullshit. On their website they advertise for donations for memorial donations in honor of their co-founder, walk to congressmen's offices dressed up in pink with ridiculous pink foam crowns, and have POTLUCK meetings every Wednesday at a house they own.

HOW THE HELL IS THIS SUPPOSED TO ACHIEVE WORLD PEACE?

If this is the way peace is going to be achieved, the forgive me, the world must be filled with like minded pink loving hippies high on marijuana.

Because who the fuck is going to take you seriously? If you're marching for world peace in general with large and loud banners proclaiming:

Way to go, captain obvious....

.........you seriously are going to get nowhere. You have to be pretty naive to assume you can stop a war raging in Rwanda by protesting on comfy streets in New York. As honorable as it may seem, its pointless. There are more effective and quieter ways to work towards world peace.

What these protests achieve at most is a certain degree of empathy and sympathy. If you're looking for policy change for world peace, it is impossible.

because realistically speaking,

NO ONE COUNTRY CAN MAKE THE WORLD A MORE PEACEFUL PLACE AND STOP WARS EVERYWHERE WITH PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL POLICY CHANGES........

Even the UN has failed to do what it was set up in 1945 to do. The most it has done is to send in TROOPS in troubles spots. Way to go! Nice way to stop a war.

what a peace process has come to be viewed as...it sickens me

Run for congress and try to get some public policies out which make going to war more difficult. Have mass rallies for the politicians or representatives gunning for peace. Or better, start an awareness newsletter or magazine which informs the people to vote out War-Mongers from Cabinet next election.

Penn & Teller rubbished all peace protests and gave what they thought was a solution to world peace, which i agree with.


FREE TRADE AND BUSINESS


It worked for Britain and France. Two countries, used to chopping each other up. Now they trade in Euros with one another, are dependent on each other for trade and business, even though the French pretty much still have the Brits and vice versa.

Malaysia ans Singapore are not at war already because Singapore relies on Malaysia for water, food manufacturing and BRAINS, while Malaysia relies on Singapore for its oil refineries.

The US does consider going to war with Iran and North Korea as they don;t rely on these nations for anything, except for the oil in Iran, which they're not getting anyway and want so badly, war is a good idea.

I don't start fights with my neighbours because good relationships benefit me. It enables me to trade my large collection of GOOD MUSIC for their collection of DVD QUALITY MOVIES.

Stop embargoing unstable nations and engage in free trade with them....make them DEPENDENT on the world so much so that they won't dare stir up trouble in case of later embargos which WILL hurt them.

Because quite frankly, a trade embargo on self sufficient Iran is a fool's errand. They have allies to trade with in the Middle East. Now, if free trade was more open wiht direct trading with the West instead of making policies which force them to get Western goods through the middle men in the pro US middle east nations, the world won't have such problems.

It is not an honorable way of achieving peace. Does not have the selflessness and romantic ring to it which candlelight vigils and mourning has, but it is the most effective.

Of Governance

A government can only be judged by its effectiveness in governing....not by its policies.

This must be an about turn for me in my "anti-Kuan Yew-governing style". Truth be told, i would support even a government with socialistic policies if those policies do indeed work.

Allow me to explain before you start yapping (am going to assume you're an American reading this and is all gung-ho about protecting and upholding Democracy".

You see, as painful as it is for to say this, Singapore has got things right and Malaysia simply has not. Lets take education for instance. Back home we have like...ermm...20 or so universities? Out of which the top three so to speak are University Malaya(UM), University Kebangsaan Malaysia(UKM) and University Teknologi Malaysia(UTM). If there are more, please enlighten me, because i don;t really care at the moment.

Private colleges and unis do not count.

These so called top three have world rankings as follow:

University Malaya - 192

University Kebangsaan Malaysia - 185

University Teknologi Malyaysia - not in the top 200....


Now, Singapore only has 4 major universities, and their world rankings are such:

National University of Singapore - 19

Nanyang Technological University - 61..lol, we have a lot of catching up to do...

Singapore Management University - no idea...management unis are not on the list....and its semi private.


World Engineering School Rankings

National University Of Singapore - 8 (ahead of Cal Tech and Carnegie Mellon)

Nanyang Technological University - 15 (ahead of Cornell, Georgia Tech and Princeton)

Links: Times Higher Education

World Engineering Rankings


And here's the thing...the government is still pumping in cash and setting up labs (I can get one here for myself if i have a good research project) and trying to draw in top researchers with bucketloads of cash.....

Its a rather bullish was of going about things, but hey...its got the unis somewhere....and i got to meet a few nobel laureates in the process......

Shall not digress aymore....

The reason i am feeling a bit supportive of Singapore at the moment is their meritocracy policy, particularly when it comes to education and career opportunities. Bottom line is, if you're good, you're in.

Its the reason the top students from the region, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia come here. STPM's top 3 scorers are here on scholarships......and what has Malaysia done to retain these brains?

NOTHING....not even a JPA scholarship with a bond period of 8 years with the government with shitty pay....as compared to singapore's paltry 3 years......with a PRIVATE company locally or a Singaporean based company overseas.......and we're talking about Malaysia's top pre-U students, not regular SPM scorers.

.....and i kid you not....the Indonesians are bloody brilliant. These are the chaps who come through accelerated programs and from special science education...by which i mean, these guys are trained and groomed for Physics, Math and Biology Olympiad competitions....and some of them are gold medal winners.....


Take this guy for example. Name's Edbert Jarvis Sie, from Indonesia. A Physics Olympiad competitor, and he's so bloody good at what he does, he started TA-ing (teaching assistant) a few physics classes in his 3rd and final year. Currently, he's made a research fellow (maybe an assistant research fellow, not too sure) and he TA's Quantum Mechanics classes for year 2 physics undergraduates.

These are the sort of people Singapore head-hunts and takes in, while their own nations don't give them the opportunities.

Truth be told, Kuan Yew politics is not democracy. The Lee family controls the main ruling party (common knowledge...not explicitly acknowledged), and Temasek Holdings is wealthy mainly due to Lee's political connections.......

But here's the thing, no politician is a Mother Theresa, a selfless sould working solely for the people. You want a leader like that....go to a monastery.

The issue here is, among all the politicians making a little on the side (a lot in Lee's case), Kuan Yew has given back the most to a nation. He has created within 50 years what Malaysia or any other country in the region has failed to do....
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......that is to create a country for the opportunist and the smart, where meritocracy is the way to go, where despite lack of much freedon of expression and stringent laws and censorship, one need not worry about the color of his skin nor his background in order to make it big....just a lot of brains and wit.....
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.....to create a nation with top notch education and brains.....


Singaporeans have a lot of complains, but i do urge you...take a step back, look beyond the censorship ad government control and look at what you have.....

A military research agency which has the smarts to come up with this......

Bionix 2-Armoured Fighting Vechicle

Truth be told, its nowhere near the American's M1 Abrams nor the European's Leapord Tanks, but this......thing......came from a nation independent for less than 50 years.

In 50 years, Singapore has become a quality education hub, is poised to be a research hub, has a well connected public transport system, is drawing in brains from Asia and is one of the safest countries to walk about in...even at 2am in the morning.

They have an ongoing research into water technologies (a polite way of saying they turn what come out of you in the mornings to what you drink at night)....and this tech is being copied and used in the Middle East and Europe.

Not to mention they have caught up with Malaysia and are having a F1 race this Friday.

All this in 50 years!!!!!.....by one chap!!!!!

I am of opinion that Kuan Yew is dangerous. A guy who thinks he alone knows whats good for a nation and just carries out policies with disregard to citizen input into decision making is dangerous...but get this.....HE'S GOT THINGS RIGHT!!!!

And as painful as it is, i must admit, the same cannot be said of Malaysia or any other nation in the region for that matter. The closest we have was Mahatir, but even he could not do what Kuan Yew has done...and most of his development policies on focused on Selangor. Paltry and please don't give the bullshit reason that Singapore is waaay smaller. Size of a nation is poor excuse for lousy governance.

We may have more press freedom, but that is quickly disappearing....more explicitly these days with arrests of reporters and bloggers.....and the misuse of the ISA (Internal Security Act) the latest casualty being a man i respect for his outright way of speaking.....Raja Petra Kamarudin. Detained for 2 years WITHOUT trial.....just cos he's an anti-government blogger.

You know things are bad back home when everyone wants to vote for a chap who strikes me as smart.....yet has an air of dishonesty about him. Anwar my friends, may seem like a saviour at the moment, but i do not trust him 100% even though he does at the moment represent meritocracy and racial equality at the moment.

The general metality among young brains at the moment is to get out of Malaysia while the going is good. To seek opprtunity in a neighbour whose cash greased hands grasp ours warmly, offering us a smile of meritocracy and equality.

This is what we want which our homes have failed to provide.


Cheers and enjoy the week!

Matrix

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