Saddam's "crime against humanity," is it rightly justified?

Those of you that are following the current events, you'll be most likely being repeatedly bombarded by the news of Saddam Hussein's impending execution (well, they've just executed him a few hours ago). However, what you probably didn't notice, and the western media's failure in disclosure, is the way Saddam was convicted based on his "crime against humanity." Today's BBC read:

Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by an Iraqi court on 5 November after a year-long trial over the killings of 148 Shias from the village of Dujail in the 1980s.

A trial in a second case, alleging genocide against Kurds, continues against him.

So, how come Saddam was not convicted and sentenced to death for his alleged genocide against the Kurds? What about the hundreds of Shias he murdered in the aftermath of post-Gulf War uprisings in the early 90's? What about the 1.5 millions of Iranians who died in the atrocity of Iran-Iraq war? Why did the prosecutors hang him in a hurry? Why didn't they give him impartial just in arguably the most important trial of this year?

Saddam was not convicted for the aforementioned genocides and atrocities because the US, Britain, and their allies, often termed "one of us," had all committed similar atrocities against either domestically or in a foreign soil. For the US, it was the murder of Iraqi civilians during the Gulf War. Remember the "Highway of Death," where both American and British bombers targeted fleeing civilians and soldiers, whom had no protection whatsoever against attacks from the air, with precision bombs, strafing after strafing? How then, does the US-backed Iraqi court judge whether Saddam has committed a war crime or a crime against humanity? How do you think they did that?

The US-sponsored criminal court prosecutes any "crime against humanity" case, since the post-World War 2 era, base on what the perpetrator had committed. If the dictator had committed crime which neither US nor Britain has committed in similarity then it is to be judged as "crime against humanity," however, if the dictator committed crime which both countries and their allies has committed in similarity and intensity, such as the brutal massacre of civilians and defenseless soldiers along the "Highway of Death," and US-sponsored Kurdish massacre by the Turkish government, the crime is not to be tried as "crime against humanity." Sometimes, it is not even used as evidence in the "trial."

This is very true as we have witnessed in Iraq recently, notably the trial of Saddam Hussein.

One cannot find what I mentioned above amongst any of the western media, it is only mentioned in literatures written by intellectuals whom are critical of US foreign policy, such as Noam Chomsky. This bias in prosecuting a criminal for the war crimes he/her committed has been stated explicitly in several of Chomsky's books, interviews, and documentaries. This agenda of the elite states behind the prosecution of Saddam would clearly answer Robert Fisk's questions in his most recent article from Independent:

But history will record that the Arabs and other Muslims and, indeed, many millions in the West, will ask another question this weekend, a question that will not be posed in other Western newspapers because it is not the narrative laid down for us by our presidents and prime ministers - what about the other guilty men?

No, Tony Blair is not Saddam. We don't gas our enemies. George W Bush is not Saddam. He didn't invade Iran or Kuwait. He only invaded Iraq. But hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians are dead - and thousands of Western troops are dead - because Messrs Bush and Blair and the Spanish Prime Minister and the Italian Prime Minister and the Australian Prime Minister went to war in 2003 on a potage of lies and mendacity and, given the weapons we used, with great brutality.

Who encouraged Saddam to invade Iran in 1980, which was the greatest war crime he has committed for it led to the deaths of a million and a half souls? And who sold him the components for the chemical weapons with which he drenched Iran and the Kurds? We did. No wonder the Americans, who controlled Saddam's weird trial, forbad any mention of this, his most obscene atrocity, in the charges against him. Could he not have been handed over to the Iranians for sentencing for this massive war crime? Of course not. Because that would also expose our culpability.

And the mass killings we perpetrated in 2003 with our depleted uranium shells and our "bunker buster" bombs and our phosphorous, the murderous post-invasion sieges of Fallujah and Najaf, the hell-disaster of anarchy we unleashed on the Iraqi population in the aftermath of our "victory" - our "mission accomplished" - who will be found guilty of this? Such expiation as we might expect will come, no doubt, in the self-serving memoirs of Blair and Bush, written in comfortable and wealthy retirement.

Of course, the atrocities conducted by the "real" sponsors of the criminal states would always be disguised under the pretext of humanitarian aid and liberation against the dictatorial regimes. The crimes we committed are simply not to be questioned. They're aid and assistance to the "impoverished," although most of them are measured in similar intensity as "crime against humanity." This is not what the US policy makers want you to know!

Who exactly is revolutionizing the media?

So who exactly is revolutionizing the media? Is it really 'you,' as stated in Time's 2006 Person of the Year? Or, is it 'they,' the few multinational conglomerates who dominates the airwaves, newspapers, and the Internet? In a recent commentary from the Christian Science Monitor, 'you' are no longer the backbone in shaping and revolutionizing the 'media', but it is 'them' who do all the molding and manipulation to direct public opinion for their own use. An excerpt from the commentary reads:

Time's cover suggests that everyone has played a role in the world's new, dynamic media environment. But its premise is flawed. The evidence shows that only a small percentage of Americans are really contributing to the Web in meaningful ways - or even at all.

Surveys show that about 70 percent of adult Americans have been on the Internet at some point. That's a big number, but what do those people do?

Only 8 percent - about 12 million? - keep a blog, according to a recent survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Of those bloggers, 84 percent blog as a "hobby" or say it's "not something I spend a lot of time on." And 37 percent of them say "their personal experiences" are their primary topic.

To be fair, other studies that also measure the Web proclivities of users ages 12-18 do show more Net activity, so the potential for growth is there. But looking at YouTube, one can't help but assume a great deal of their time is spent posting amusing video clips. Someone has to put up all those Aqua Teen Hunger Force cartoons.

What the media revolution and Web 2.0 have really done is create a new and interesting class of media. It's not mainstream - at least not yet - but it certainly isn't "You." It's actually more "Them." And if Time really wants to make "Them" the Person of the Year, then why not? There are worse choices.

Come to think of it, it is really 'they' who is in control of the popular masses. In North America, multinational conglomerates are also "persons" where a "person", in legal term, is officially defined "to include any individual, branch, partnership, associated group, association, estate, trust, corporation or other organization, or any government entity." The issue of media control is nothing new, but it has been studied and documented since the "modern-age" of communications began in the 80's. As mentioned in Noam Chomsky's book Rogue States, the multinationals are "to ensure that private [multinational] agencies will control the media and thus be able to restrict [your] thought to vested beliefs." Furthermore:

They seek further to "nullify the customs of ages" by creating "new conceptions of individual attainment and community desire," business leaders explain, "civilizing" people to perceive their needs in terms of consumption of goods rather than quality of life and work, and to abandon any thought of a "share in the decisions which often profoundly modify their way of life," as called for by Vatican extremists. Control of media by a few megacorporations is a contribution to this end. Concentration has accelerated, thanks in part to recent deregulation that also eliminates even residual protection of public interest. In the latest edition of his standard review of the topic, Ben Bagdikian reports a decline in controlling firms from 50 in 1984 to 10 today - huge empires such as Disney and General Electric, though the spectrum has broadened with Rupert Murdoch's entry.

Although this book was written back in 2000, everything in it still holds dearly true up to this day. Their ultimate goal is to indoctrinate the masses with an undeniable urge in "materialist consumption" in which "the negative aspects on others are considered completely irrelevant." This method of mass control is being dramatically simplified, with the help of merger and acquisition booms, and the emergence of a countable number of megacorporations, it has become significantly easier to direct popular masses and opinions to other non-senses, away from the state imperialism and terror, humanitarian aid, violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, apartheid, Global Warming, and Globalization.

So, are 'you' really revolutionizing the media, as stated in Time? Or, are 'you' the victim of a premeditated common goal set by the top 1%? Either way, I sincerely wish you a Merry Christmas, and a wonderful New Year!

"You" named Time's Person of the Year

Congratulations! All of us who shared personal stories, thoughts, political opinions, public diaries, photographies, pictures, homemade musics and videos have been named Time's Person of the Year. This prestigious award is an annual event which Time uses to commemorate a major contributing person, group, entity, idea, and place to the humanities for the entire year, be it good or bad. However, commemorating the users of Internet is hardly attributed from the fact that an average user would actually use the Internet to do good deeds. It is for sure the majority of Internet users are much more able to freely voice their opinions and criticisms nowadays, but how many are putting it to good use?

Undoubtedly, the Internet communities has grown significantly over the past year. Take a look at our own community, the blogosphere. It is predicted that "the blogging phenomenon is set to peak in 2007", but how many of us are willing to stand up and fight for a better world? How many bloggers are indulging themselves in materialistic and consumerism non-sense? What exactly is "user-generated content"? Is it simply to bypass all thoughts so to spread non-sense, junk, empty, shallow, and culture-prohibitive contents? To simply imitate what other people, or news has to said without the critical examinations by ourselves? How can this be the "founding and framing the new digital democracy" when this is simply another form of implicit mind-control, modeled by the government, elite businesses, and major conglomerates?

Like what I mentioned earlier here:

Consumerism and empty pop culture are transforming you and me into mindless, thoughtless, buying-on-impulse zombies. One who is oblivious to the current worldly events.

The idea of the freedom of expression over Internet is no different than the whole pop culture of consumerism. One is no longer logging online to view the worldly events, unbiased news, critical opinions, and activism, but to simply indulge in non-sense such as sharing videos over Youtube, Myspacing, Orkuting, and etc. To perceive this as a new age in the "new digital democracy" is just rhetorically incorrect. It is not a democracy but a twisted form of Fascism, wasteful spending, mind-control, and propaganda. What "you" must do is to resist this form of mind-control and stupidity, and open your lungs to breath the fresh air, to see more broadly, and be aware of what is happening around you. We can no longer close our eyes.

This century will be the utmost critical in determining the survival of the entire human race. If we shun our eyes and ignore Globalization, and Global Warming, more people will suffer and die, and the effects of which will linger on to harm the next generations of you and me. It is up to us to determine how much these two significant events will forever shape and adversely influence the human race. No one else could determine this.

For those enlightened souls, other topics I've blogged over the year include:

1. End of cheap oil: 1
2. Global Warming: 1, 2, 3, 4
3. Human rights: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
4. Consumerism and wasteful spending: 1, 2, 3
   
5. Globalization: 1, 2, 3
   
6. Invasion of privacy: 1

Enjoy!

Iran holds Holocaust conference

Well, after the fiasco this past September. Mr. Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, has amazed us once again with the gathering of a Holocaust Conference this week in Tehran. Quoting from BBC's article and Independent:

President Ahmadinejad's long-promised Holocaust conference opened in Tehran yesterday to an audience including infamous revisionists, racists and anti-Semites. The only speakers who confirmed the Holocaust as a historical fact were a group of rabbis who criticised its use to justify Israeli abuses against Palestinians.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has questioned the scale of the Holocaust, in which six million Jews died.

Its main aim is to create an opportunity for thinkers who cannot express their views freely in Europe about the Holocaust

Participants include a number of well-known "revisionist" Western academics. American David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, is to present a paper.

But a number of Jewish rabbis are also there. One, British Rabbi Ahron Cohen, said he had come to the conference to put the "Orthodox Jewish viewpoint" across.

"We certainly say there was a Holocaust, we lived through the Holocaust. But in no way can it be used as a justification for perpetrating unjust acts against the Palestinians," he said.

I totally agree with what the rabbi said. I know Holocaust doesn't justify the oppression of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, but it does not give an excuse to deny it. Mr. Ahmadinejad will only further widens the existing rift between the west and east, and put Iran in an awkward position once again for its defense of the Palestinian and Iraq issue.

Once you've seen the horror, sorrow and misery the European Jews had to endure during World War II, I promise you that you would not wish to deny it in any way or form. This catastrophic event is something which we should remember by heart and hope the lesson learned would not allow it to repeat on the future generations. It is those who deny it are the true supporters of an oppressive regime and it is those who back it are the true followers of gender inequality and human rights abuse.

This also holds true for all other historic human rights violation, especially on Japan's repeatedly denial of the Nanjing Massacre and the use of women prisoners as "comfort women" during WWII.

History is a wonderful subject, it allows us to reevaluate our past mistake and improvise for the better. We should all learn from history for the betterment of the next generation. This is especially true with the current events, particularly in Global Warming. One well-documented example of how we could learn from the past is in Jared Diamond's book Collapse, where he examined historical evidences on what caused glorious societies of the past to collapse and how these could be correlated to today's world. It's an interesting and intriguing read. I highly recommend it for those who has an appetite for historical facts.

Google, the ULTIMATE evil?

Google - v. to execute an online search of anything, from a reputable online search engine giant Google.

Google - n. world domination, the invasion of privacy, the suppression of freedom of speech, and a working partner of authoritarian and totalitarian state.

So, what exactly is Google? How do you define Google? Is Google merely a harmless online search engine? Or, is it an entity that is more powerful than you could ever imagine? What is its ultimate purpose? For sure, it cannot be "do no evil", since with abundant capitals available from its overblown share price, one of its foremost purpose must be "to serve the interest" of its shareholders and uphold its corporate value by maximizing profit through asset, contracts, and business acquisitions. With this in mind, is there a more sinister, darker, and hidden intent of Google?

A typical user of Google will find its wide range of applications simple, user-friendly, trendy, up-to-date, purposeful, and just purely astonishing. From its spy-eye lookalike Google Earth services to its widely popular, chat-integrated Gmail functions, Google means reliable information transfer, reputable, and up-to-date information database all accessible with a few mouse clicks. Furthermore, it brings great convenience to the end-user off-line through an integrated desktop search engine, allowing one to look for long-lost files in the local hard drive with ease. So, what is there not to like? With the great convenience and support Google brings, what would I, as an end-user, has to lose or sacrifice?

Well, what, you, the end-user often don't know is with great convenience it comes with a hidden cost - the voluntary surrender of all your personal and privacy information. Let's start with Google's Gmail. It seems a great way to build up your contacts, email addresses, telephone numbers so to allow you to send, reply, forward any information you wish with ease to friends, colleagues, relatives, and your loved ones. Convenience enough? What about its personalized homepage service? It allows you to organize news, current events, and other information in an easily identifiable and readable manner. Nice. What about the Google Earth service? One which allows you to pinpoint the location of your family's house, where you've lived, studied, and worked. What about Google Calendar? Where you could map out dates, anniversary events, birthdays of all and everything about you. What about Orkut, the "online networking" community? Where you could disclose everything you possibly ever wish to disclose about yourself, such as your affiliation, political stance, religion, relationship with someone, and even relating yourself to a physical being with photos. Should I go on? Do you know how much information you've voluntarily surrendered to Google?

With each and every online service you sign up on there comes a price of disclosure. However, if the information is dispersed over many companies there wouldn't be a problem since it will be impossible to consolidate them as a whole. But, with Google being the only service provider of all the services you use, it could only mean one thing.

What Google's ultimate goal is to reconstruct a virtual profile of you, in religion, race, name, critical personal information, sex, school you went to, whom you've chatted, emailed, talked to, you name it. The list goes on and on. It could then profile an individual for its next level of data mining. What's this next level you ask? It could be a wide range of things including, from the least harmful, targeted advertisement, user-specific search results, to the most dangerous, the disclosure of information for prosecution and imprisonment of your online activity. Well, you might say that would never happen, but with the gazillion of information Google collects everyday from its billions of users, it's only a matter of time before this happens in a First World society (this has already happened, on several occasions, in totalitarian and authoritarian states such as China and Russia, respectively).

"Great power comes with great responsibility", but this responsibility is often overshadowed and diminished by peer pressure, a desirable expansion of the market, and to meet the bottom line. Although Google may sound much more friendly than its dearest rivals, Microsoft and Yahoo, it is still a corporation with an aim to meet its bottom line to fulfill the insatiable shareholders. It is no better than a typical conglomerate.

Google is aiming for total world domination, starting with the control over your privacy. Once you started using any product offered by Google, you’ll notice they would always “voluntarily” provide you with more of their “essential” services. Only after you’ve used them would you realize your voluntarily act of surrender of all private and confidential information. By then, it’s already too late. You’ve already given it your soul! So, are you the next victim awaiting dissection? It's up to you to find out!

At least that’s how I felt.

Buying away America

Are you buying away America this holiday season? Well, if you're not, make sure you do your part by using your hard earned savings to buy those plasma TV you always wanted. Wait, what about a brand-new Sony PlayStation 3 gaming console? With this little gadget, you and your kids can spend hours and hours playing in front of the plasma TV! Allowing you some quality time to bond with your kids! Or, what about an iPod-compatible home theater system which you always wanted to play your favorite pirated albums? What about those fancy, trendy-looking clothes which you would always want to wear to go to a party? With such a low price at your local Wal-Mart or malls your dreams may just have come true.

What you must not forget is to say thank you to the countless Chinese migrant workers whom has to endure a meager or no pay to just to make your life more enjoyable. Even better, these workers often get paid overtime, have health insurance coverage, live in nice housings, and their children even get a chance to go to local school! What is there not to like?

Other things you should also be more optimistic is that you are trading away America's future by buying products made abroad. This include an exchange of the U.S. job market with cheap foreign produces. For now, it's ok you're trading away low-tech jobs. Wait until you start trading away hi-tech jobs. Now, that would be something we should all be excited about!

Please, be responsible over this holiday season. Please buy away America this season.

While you're at it you might as well buy away your soul and conscience.

On consumerism, pop culture and the hollow self-identity

It is in no doubt that the world we live in today are more free, open, and diverse. But, under this twisted form of freedom in a pseudo-democratic state, are we really free? North America is the premier place in which an average Joe or Jane is always surrounded by mass media, notion of consumerism, and the everlasting, but poison, pop culture. One should then ask, what extend do these have on us, as human beings?

Do we feel more liberated through shopping and buying meaningless produce and products? Do we, as the people in a Western society, feel more comfortable by indulging in pop culture? No, we do not. We are simply following the models and guidelines written by corporate conglomerates and its high executives, with the sole purpose of meeting their bottom line. We are simply transferring the burden and human rights abuse to the unlucky people of the Third World countries, where a worker has to work an average of 40 plus hours to earn a minimum hourly wage of merely few cents just to satisfy the insatiable needs of you and me. Now, what is the justification in that? Are we morally responsible? Have we lose our conscience by indulging in expensive clothes, electronic gadgets, TV sets, and game consoles? Are we retaining our self-identity through soul searching, cultural identification, and self understanding, or is it being molded by Nike labels, Reebok shoes, Levi Jeans, and Gap clothes?

How hollow are we becoming when one has to learn history from franchised movies, fiction novels, and tabloid newspapers? Could we be this stupid, or are we just lazy to search for the truth?

I rarely visit shopping malls, but when I did I would always notice three things. One, the number of malls and its accompanying shops would always outnumber the number of museums and libraries altogether. Secondly, the population density per acre in a shopping mall would always outnumber that of libraries or museums. Finally, by the differences in the level of comfort. For example, in malls you would always guaranteed to have a multiplies of chairs, sofas, lavatories, information services and etc., but in a library and museum you would only have a limited few. Now, doesn't this tell you something?

Consumerism and empty pop culture are transforming you and me into mindless, thoughtless, buying-on-impulse zombies. One who is oblivious to the current worldly events, such as the Palestinian issues, the human rights abuse in China, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, and the environmental problems, namely Global Warming, to just name a few. How are we to notice these when we are so overwhelmed by the indoctrinated buying instincts? This not only applies to the working class but also to the educated elites.

Will we ever wake up in time to save our souls? This answer is for you to figure out. Nobody can write your own destination, you've to write and walk it yourself!

Dear Mr. President

Here's Dear Mr. President from Pink's latest album, I'm not dead. Enjoy!

So, when is Dear Mr. Prime Minister coming out?

At least, a live president is better than a dead one!

Bloggers, stand up!

In a society which values the freedom of expression more than anything else, it is the sole responsibility of everyone, particularly the bloggers, living in North America, Europe and the selective countries in Middle East and Asia, to stand up against the ever-increasing threat to freedom of expression on the Internet. Amnesty International recently issued a 'Call to Bloggers', asking them to stand up for freedom of expression online ahead of a worldwide forum aims to discuss "the future of the Internet". Here's an excerpt from Amnesty:

The call comes as the online world prepares to meet at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF, Athens 30/10 – 2/11) to discuss the future of the internet. Amnesty released a statement to the IGF today and is sending a delegation to ensure that human rights are not sidelined and remain at the heart of the forum’s discussions.

Amnesty’s International's statement also coincides with an urgent appeal on behalf of a blogger in Iran who was detained this month. Kianoosh Sanjari was arrested earlier this month while reporting on clashes between security forces and supporters of Shi'a cleric Ayatollah Boroujerdi. He is being held incommunicado and Amnesty International fears that he may be at risk of torture or ill-treatment. Sanjari had allegedly gone to the home of Ayatollah Boroujerdi in the capital, Tehran, to prepare a report on the clashes that were taking place there.

Amnesty International is calling on governments and companies to ensure that human rights – particularly the rights to freedom of expression, association and the right to privacy – are respected and protected.

Yahoo! via its Chinese partner company, Alibaba, has provided the Chinese authorities with private and confidential information about its users that has been used to convict and imprison journalists. It has also agreed to censor and deny access to information. Microsoft shut down the blog of New York Times researcher Zhao Jing on the basis of a Chinese government request. The company has also admitted that it responds to directions from the Chinese government in restricting users of MSN Spaces from using certain terms. Google has launched a censored version of its international search engine in China.

Amnesty International is also highlighting the cases of prisoners of conscience, imprisoned for the expression of their peaceful views online.

Chinese journalist Shi Tao used his Yahoo! account to email a US-based website about an internal government directive instructing journalists how to handle media coverage of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for "illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities." Yahoo! provided information to the government that was used in his prosecution.

So bloggers, let's stand up for the survival of a free Internet! Google, the provider of Blogger, is also not doing much better as I've noted here.

Freedom of press under attack

No, I am not talking about press freedom in a totalitarian state such as China, Iran and Saudi Arabia. I'm talking about our neighbor down south, the United State of America. Reporters Without Borders recently released the Worldwide Press Freedom Index. This year the U.S. ranks 53rd, 9 places behind its rank last year, which is significantly behind other industrialized, First-World countries, such as Canada which ranks 16. The Christian Science Monitor, citing the index, reports:

Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply deteriorated after the president used the pretext of "national security" to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his "war on terrorism." The zeal of federal courts which, unlike those in 33 US states, refuse to recognize the media's right not to reveal its sources, even threatens journalists whose investigations have no connection at all with terrorism.

Freelance journalist and blogger Josh Wolf was imprisoned when he refused to hand over his video archives. Sudanese cameraman Sami al-Haj, who works for the pan-Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera, has been held without trial since June 2002 at the US military base at Guantanamo, and Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein has been held by US authorities in Iraq since April this year.

The world's worst violators of press freedoms remains unchanged from last year: North Korea, Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Cuba, Burma, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China. Iraq isn't much better, ranking 153rd out of 168 countries.

So what exactly is press freedom? Press freedom is not only to report what's happening in the world today which may impact you and me, but also to report unequivocally the unbiased truth in a responsible manner and be faithful to its audiences. Although the major presses in U.S. have supreme worldwide coverages, they failed miserably in reporting quality news and adhering to an unbiased coverage. Take a look, for example, over the recent controversial speech the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, gave in front of United Nations Generally Assembly. After the speech major U.S. news sources, including Fox News, not only fiercely criticizes Hugo Chavez's ultra-left wing politics, but also denounce the U.N. as an incompetent group of nations, co-conspired with Third-World and totalitarian states to intentionally and ultimately topple the U.S. government and undermine the national security. One of their "journalist", Mr. Eric Shawn, even went as far as written a book, titled "The U.N. Exposed", to further denounce the U.N. as a hopelessly flawed concept, in need of major overhaul and possible disbandment, and suggested how the White House should be more autonomous in its own decisions. Now, how can a major news network be this ignorant and dismissal of true facts when it is the U.S. government whom undermines the security of its own people. It's inconceivable that one can be so ignorant when it is the fact that U.S. had repeatedly exercised its veto power in the past in favor of its allies to undermine U.N.'s goal of international peace and security. Other prominent examples of the twist of truth in U.S. media include the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Iraq invasion, and this summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

So, are the American press truly "free"? Could we rely on them to bring us true perspectives? It's hard to say, but eventually we should all read news from other resources and countries for an unbiased view. If the American press can't faithfully report their news, they're no better than any other government censored news agency in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, or North Korea.

The Canadian presses are not doing much better. The local press, such as CTV, are always one-sided and leaning slightly towards the right. They're also written and reported in a tabloid format to entice and attract mindless viewers. At the national level, CBC is doing a bit better by providing meaningful documentaries and programs for a more educated audience, but then its news is once again biased toward the right.

Other attacks on the freedom of press include last year's cartoon controversy.

Google's ultimate nightmare scenario

We have all heard the recent buyout of Youtube by Google. How Google bought Youtube for $1.65 billion and how it turned the fortunate founders into instant multi-millionaires. But what we don't realize is the gigantic leap-of-faith Google has taken toward this acquisition.

Youtube has grown immensely in recent years largely thanks to its specialized video sharing technology. Any registered user can easily upload a video online to share with peers, family members or strangers. Not only is its video upload is easily, it's channel customization is also one of a kind. With all these fancy decorations readily available to entice one's appetite and its clear stance against massive consumer advertisement, there is no surprise that Youtube is able to captivate, attract and retain potential users, particularly within young adolescence and teenager populations. However, Youtube also has its own set of problems. With the amount of freedom Youtube has given to its users, the number of unauthorized and copyrighted materials being posted is on a steady increase. It is now up to Google to decide what to do. It can either keep its list of audiences and attract other potential members, or be more stringent as to what are posting materials and unleash its advertising technology. Eventually, Google will have to juggle between "ethic" business practices and friendly user environment because for a Nasdaq-listed corporation bottom line is everything.

Same thing is happening right now on our own community, the blogosphere. Google's very own Blogger (a.k.a. Blog*spot), which Google acquired back in early 2003 is now rampant with information (i.e. file) sharing. Take a look for example the illegal posting and download links of popular MP3's originated, surprisingly, not from North America and Europe but from Latin America, where the governing laws on music piracy is weak. With just a few clever searches, one could easily download illegal mp3's from sites as far as Brazil. The downloads are usually redirected to popular file-sharing sites such as Rapidshare, Up-file, and Megaupload, where the web hosting is free, fast and readily available for North American users. Can we blame Google? No, since it is in our own blood to be greedy and, especially for the music lovers, an insatiable appetite to want more. With the rapid criminalization of file-sharing software such as Napster and low-bandwidth services such as Bit-Torrent, going Google is the only way. With blogging becoming ever popular and the tremendous growth of blogosphere, it is only a matter of time before this community becomes the favorite place amongst file-sharing enthusiasts.

What happens then would truly be THE ultimate nightmare scenario for Google. Both Blogger and Youtube would become THE favorite for legal teams of major record companies, movie producers and software developers worldwide. Ultimately, a brilliant and visionary company like Google would be immersed in a pool of lawsuits. It's only way out is to have a deterrent in places like Youtube and Blogger to administer, identify, prevent and take down any potential illegal materials before and soon after they're posted. BBC summarizes the best:

Should Google lose a major YouTube court case and its share price suffers as a result, the company will have to brace itself not just for a deluge of lawsuits from copyright owners but disappointed shareholders as well.

No doubt Google will have to work hard to steer YouTube into safe waters.

Solid content identification, video watermarking, royalty reporting and clearer upload guidelines for YouTube members are a must.

There is just one drawback: For some members that could take all the fun out of YouTube.

Without fun, they might go elsewhere.

And then Google's deal would look much less like a bargain.

For now, Blogger and Youtube are like time-bombs ticking away. Will Google be ready when they explode? Or, will Google be smart and prevent such a traumatic event from happening and at the same time retaining its users? Maybe this is why it's hesitating on releasing Blogger Beta?

Wal-Mart got served

The retail giant Wal-Mart got a rude awakening call this week after been ordered to pay at least $78 million in compensation for imposing unpaid work upon its employees. The retail giant, famous for its "everyday low prices" slogan, is renowned for the mistreatment of its employees, the practice of selling at below-cost, and the outsourcing of its suppliers to many Third-world countries, such as China and India, where they're prime sources of child and cheap labour. Through its marketing practices, Wal-Mart is also implicitly responsible for the growing U.S. trade-deficit, the increase in job loss, and the many closure of local manufacturing companies.

For the impulsive shoppers of Wal-Mart who's reading, please think about and keep in mind all these issues the next time you go to Wal-Mart to buy a bargain. The bargain may be short-term and enticing but the consequences of which would always come back to haunt you. Some consequences of trade-deficit include a loss of international competitiveness, or unsustainable 'booms' in domestic demand. In layman's term they represent currency inflation (i.e. the value of the money you hold dearly in pockets and bank accounts is worth less) and unstable economic trend (i.e. a bubble which bursts without warning).

For a more comprehensive look at the reality of a Wal-Mart economy, see here.

Saudi woman speaks out!

In a society heavily influenced by religion, it is rare to hear people speaking out their concerns. This is especially true in a male dominated society such as Saudi Arabia where a strict adherence to Islamic teachings and Sharia Laws are reinforced everyday amongst its inhabitants. In this part of the world, women are heavily segregated against their will and are often treated differently than their male counterparts on common issues such as marriage, divorce, division of inheritance, education, dress code and occupation, which the women of Western societies often taken for granted. Because of the segregation, woman's rights are constantly under attack and those who sought justice were often turned down, dismissed, threatened, jailed and even murdered.

Meet Ms. Rajaa Al-Sanea, a twenty-four year old author of the controversial book "Banat Al-Riyadh" or "The Girls of Riyadh", which provides fictitious (but understandably true) accounts of four women living in a gender segregated society. The novel depicts the livelihood of these women, particular their relationship between their male companions (i.e. boyfriends and husbands), and how they're often being manipulated, discarded and isolated when they're no longer deemed "attractive" and "useful". This novel has aroused controversy in a predominantly conservative Muslim society. It has been criticised and downtroddened as a book which sales because of the beauty of the author's look. But it has also received warm support and a revived criticism of women's role in the Saudi society. One journalist observed:

It is our tradition not to talk about the ills of our society. We know there are problems in our society, but the general reaction is to keep quiet. We have been taught from an early age that if we talk about the ills of our society, people will laugh at us. We are seen as role models in the Muslim world. And even when we are not entirely perfect, we should pretend that we are. 'Banat Al-Riyadh' deals with four characters. They may or may not represent all of Saudi society. But yes, we do come across the four fictional characters in our daily lives.

There are many other women whom has also spoken out for women's equality in predominantly male society. One prominent figure is Mukhtar Mai. She was gang raped, allegedly on the orders of a village council to punish an offence blamed on her brother. Because of her persisting courage and the willingness to fight against the centry-old practice of discrimination against women, the Western society are more aware of what's going on in Pakistan than a decade ago. And through her and her supporters' relentless protests, women's status and livelihood have become dramatically better than what they're a decade ago, this is especially true in the rural provinces.

So, will we be seeing the same pattern emerging in Saudi Arabia? There could only be an equality between the sexes through persistent and loud protests. This has been repeatedly proven under both the feminist movement and the African-American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's. So, hear me, the Saudi sisters, there is hope and the dream of gender equality is near!

Note: This also applies to sisters living in Indonesia and Iran. Or, any other country which voluntarily imposes the Sharia Laws or any law which suppresses women's rights.

Pope under fire!

The Holy Father, Pope Benedict, is under intense scrutiny for quoting a controversial phrase from the 14-th century Orthodox Christian Byzantine Emperor, Emperor Manuel II Paleologos. In his recent speech at Regensburg University on Tuesday, he quoted: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." when referred to the misuse of religion to justify and spread war (i.e. Holy War). With anything relating to the prophet Muhammad being an extremely sensitive issue from an Islamic perspective, Muslims worldwide are now massing protests against what the Pope said. Some even resorted to violence.

Now with a partial apology from the Pope, the Vatican can only hope this will subdue the anger within the Muslim communities. However, with an apology like this - from the Christian church head - it will for sure fuel the fundamental Islamic extremists. In their eyes, it meant a defeat for the Catholic church that could be useful to rally support and potential recruits to carry out suicide attacks on Western targets in the future.

This is like the Muhammad cartoon all over again. If Islam is really a religion of peace, tolerance and truth, it should be able to withstand the testament of time, just like what Christianity had to go through. If they are truly what they say they are, the dialogues should work both ways. I certainly didn't see the burning of Iranian president's effigy when he repeatedly denied the existence of Holocaust a while ago. Unlike here.

Many, many interesting comments can be found on BBC's website here.

Holocaust cartoons

I'm neither an anti-semite nor having anything against the Jews but since I've provided links to the Muhammad cartoons (refer to my previous posts here and there) I felt responsible to also provide links to the Holocaust cartoons to express my neutrality on the freedom of speech issue. So, here it is! By no mean this is the complete exhibition but if you google hard enough you can probably dig up more.

Finally, for those Holocaust deniers, the Holocaust really happened. It brought sorrow, death, suffering, horror and chaos to the European Jews. You should not deny it when there're ample facts, evidence and numerous books written on this historical event. It is part of the international history and will be remembered for the generations to come!

Spam, in your face!

For those of you who have seen Minority Report, you probably all remember the futuristic, omnipotent eye-scanning technology that can easily locate, pinpoint and track anybody with a blink of an eye. The scanner coupled with a retailer's massive advertising campaign becomes a perfect tool which provides advertisement tailored specific to the individual with a single eye scan, as depicted heavily in the movie. This is what I called the ultimate "spam in your face" as it is virtually impossible to escape the annoying ads. I could not imagine a technology like this in the world we live in today.

Fortunately, as of now, we don't yet have a fully-developed iris-scanning technology. The contemporary technology is constrainted by people's movement. For example, the iris recognition solutions offered by LG Electronics currently requires one to position himself in such a way that the recognition would work (in their literature it is termed 'quickly position themselves properly' before a scan). I'm sure LG currently has few divisions of engineers and computer scientists working towards a solution to combat this fundamental problem. Until then, we're on the safe side. However, the retailers whom masterminded the massive advertising campaign are less forgiving.

With a last year spending of $6.3 billion in the U.S. along by advertising industry, it is no surprise that the retailers are constantly seeking new ways to attract consumers. It is now evident that the ad agencies are fine-tuning the ads from personal ads which targets you and me, to both gender-specific and chronological ads which are specific to the gender type and the time of the day, respectively, for a more profound impact. The advertisers are also targetting the gaming community by offering real-time in-game ads as described in this article from BBC:

Massive Incorporated is a company that delivers advertisements on behalf of clients to video games in real time, known as dynamic product placement.

The company can precisely place and monitor the commercial in any geographical location. They can change the message minute by minute if needed and get instant feedback about the number of seconds a player sees it for and how often.

Soon Massive will debut their newest technology that takes advantage of broadband connections. It does not just replace posters on the walls, but the actual objects within the game, such as vehicles.

CEO of Massive Incorporated's, Mitch Davies says: "We can work with the car companies to launch a new car across 20 different video games in the month of October. And then in November we would show another car, real time, in those same 20 titles."

It was recently reported that EA Electronics is now using this real-time ad placement technology in its upcoming games. Will this massive ad campaign turn off the gaming community? Will the gamers be susceptible to in-game ads? Only time will tell. But, for sure the next time you finish an EA game the only thing you'll remember, aside from its hollow content, is most likely to be what are the latest consumer products and where to buy them. Keep in mind that one of the reason people play videogames is to escape from the ad-plagued TV programs.

What this ultimately comes down to is, can we, as consumers, really escape from the hawkish retailers aiming at saturating our loans, credit card bills, and debts? People say that "technology is for the betterment of mankind", but in a massive consumer culture we're living in today, technology would probably do more harm than good. With ad agencies striving to tailor ads specific to you and me, it is only a matter of time before we surrender all our privacy and personal information.

With the assist of technology, another explosion in the vast culture of consumerism is imminent. It is the ultimate wish of the retailers to turn all of us into brainless drones, buying goods without thinking and be content with our consumerism lifestyles. Are you willing to submit to their control and sacrifice your personal identity?

This will probably be the only update for a while as it'll be harder for me to update more frequently. I'll update more often, but who knows?

Why on Earth would they do that?

Why on Earth would anybody give financial aid, such as this, to the Chinese regime? The People's Republic of China currently ranks fourth worldwide on the IMF's 2005 rank of countries by their national GDP. Its ranking has even surpassed that of UK (rank 5) and Canada (rank 8) and yet the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is planning to donate an additional $200 million to initiate AIDS awareness program across China. When you come to look at this, it is almost as if it is a nice PR stunt to solidify Microsoft's software distribution rights in China. With China's estimated 1.3 billion population, it would be a dream come true for any company to substantiate the distribution of its products in mainland China.

If one has a clear conscience, they would not provide aid to the PRC for whatever reason. It does not justify given aid to a government which spends over $30 billion annually on its military and has been consistently scrutinized over its role on the participation and encouragement of countless human rights abuse. If China really deserves the aid it should have initiated, at least attempted, or put efforts to shorten the gap between its rich and poor, not to wait for foreign aid. With a fourth place in the international GDP ranking, I'm pretty confident that China would do a splendid job to sustain a high standard of living for all its inhabitants. The fact is PRC does not even take the initiative to do that!

The Canadian government is not doing any better either by providing over $50 million in aid to PRC this year. The Canadians and their governing body should be ashame of themselves in giving direct assistance to a repressive state to further enforce and suppress fundamental human rights through many despicable acts, such as forcibly confine, arrest, imprison and torture of its own people. The only two reasons which justifies the aid, which are often discussed behind closed door, are: first, for the Chinese to uplift the many restrictions set against foreign businesses, particularly the Canadian businesses, wishing to establish a market in China, and, second, to establish a Chinese interest in the serious investment of Canadian oil industry, as stated in Forbe's article:

Aside from the trade benefits, Canada's oil sector is also attracting new investment. Through the late 1990s, total investment was just over (U.S.) $6.3 million. However, over the last two years, investment has climbed to almost $30 million. During Martin's visit last month to Asia, Canada and China signed framework agreements to facilitate Chinese investment in Canada's oil sands. China's two largest oil groups, Sinopec and the China National Petroleum Corporation, are considering purchasing significant shares in several Canadian oil firms with licenses to operate in Alberta's tar sands, including UTS Energy and Canadian Oil Sands Trust. Chinese firms are also considering investments in related infrastructure. A Chinese firm is considering a 49% stake in a $2 billion, 720-mile pipeline planned between northern Alberta and the northwest coast of British Columbia. These and other possible deals are valued at some $2 billion to $3 billion dollars.

Other than that there're not many legitimate reasons behind the aid. Please keep in mind the able-body, working-class Canadians are all paying for this aid. Yes, you and I are all paying to enforce a repressive state!

Money can't buy you everything

Plain and simple, it's been proven again and again that money can't buy you everything. Not even a space flight to the International Space Station, as this "space tourist" found out when he paid nearly $20 million US for a 10-day stay in orbit. He probably had a nervous breakdown after realizing it would be much better to wait for the future development in commercial passenger space travel than to be a pseduo-pioneer, buying his way to a space flight. Ha, in your face, Mr. Enomoto! What good does green do when you don't even have the health to enjoy it?

Seriously, these people need to wake up and, instead of wasting money on nonsense, be more aware of the people and the environment around them. Frankly, we're all living under a single, global community called Earth, we're all in this together and inseparable from one another. A mishap from one part of the globe would be felt across the entire community. Be it a disaster, a disease, or the ongoing Global Warming, the effects of which would for sure be carried on for generations to come. It is much better to financially support and combat these problems than to live in denial and be overwhelmed with meaningless spendings.

Manufacturing Consent: Middle East version

If you're like me who doesn't have the time to read over Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent. Here's an updated version of this classic video from Google Video. Enjoy!



Everything should be exactly the same, except we're looking at the ongoing conflict between the State of Israel and Palenstine, not the past Indochina wars in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Iran holds exhibition of Holocaust cartoons

Iran opens up Holocaust cartoon exhibition in the name of defending their God given rights of self expression and free speech. It is obviously an attempt to further torn apart the already gashing rift between the East and West, and further infuriate his insults on the Jewish people. This is in response to the publication of Muhammad cartoons last year by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which depicted Islam's holiest prophet in caricature drawings. Since the publication it has drawn fierce outrage and violent protests across the Islamic countries which resulted in the torching of Danish and Norwegian embassies in the Middle East and the boycott of many Danish and Norwegian products.

Now, let's see how will the civilized, pro-Western nations respond, particularly Israel's response. Will the Israelis also resort to violence to protest against the Holocaust cartoons? Maybe they don't have to since they already have an upper hand in the recent conflict with Lebanon.

Please keep in mind that Holocaust didn't just victimize the Jews, but also countless others whom were deemed as outcasts by the Nazis, such as the disabled, political dissidents, other ethnics, and enemy of the state.

PRC resists the urge to be Americanized

The People's Republic of China has long profited from Western influences and ideologies. Since Deng Xiaoping's economic reform of the late 1980's, China has seen tremendous economic growth and has become a major player of the global trade, especially in the recent years. Although the ongoing development is clearly biased against the rural population, the people, on average, still benefit from this economic boom and are a lot better off than they would've 30 years ago.

The Chinese people are now tasting what it is like to be a First World citizen, from high quality living standard to a pastime in consumerism. However, the transition from a Third World country to an attainable First World standard of living and being a dominant player of the global trade do come with a hidden cost - a cost which may strip away the cultural identity of China. Unlike many Western-influenced countries of Asia Pacific (i.e. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, and etc.) that has long since volunteerily surrendered its full or partial culture identity in exchange of First World living standard, the Communist regime has now realised the impending identity crisis and tries fervently to prevent the hostile takeover, including a recent all out bans of foreign cartoons from prime time television.

Unlike its strict censorship of the Internet and the exclusion of distribution rights of selective movies and videogames, which are necessary for the suppression of anti-totalitarian ideology in a repressive state. This desparate attempt of banning foreign cartoons from prime time television is clearly the PRC's contempt against hostile cultural takeover, often a side effect of Westernization. The word "Westernization" is also misleading when most of the First World ideologies are a direct consequence of American culture. So, it is no longer "Westernization" but in fact "Americanization". Which is even more harmful when you considered most of the American pop culture to be empty and toxic.

So, I wonder when will the PRC succumb to pressure from the US to widen its market and accept its fate as the next Americanized nation? The pressure would sure be unsurmountable especially with the approach of 2008 Summer Olympic in Beijing. Coupled with the accusations of suppression of free speech and expression from the international community, it is only a matter of time before the PRC relent and embrace the true cost of its economic boom!

We, the Canadians, are not doing much better in terms of retaining its own identity. Apart from hockey, native arts and the Molson Canadian, we're not too dissimilar from our southern neighbors.

For the curious few who wish to know more on the invasion of American pop culture across all continents, I strongly suggest Chapter 12 of Rogue Nation by Peter Scowen.

Celebration of Light: A cash cow for the rich and the richest

The 2010 Winter Olympic hosting City of Vancouver is famous for its beautiful sceneries, diverse multiculturalism, friendly neighborhood, and the spicy night scenes. Since 1990, we, the Vancouverites, has had the privilege to host a variety of events, with probably the most memorable and still ongoing event being the annual displays of fireworks. This event started out in the early 90's and continues on to this day as "The Celebration of Light". It is a series of firework exhibitions from different competitors (of different countries) every half week, for up to 2 weeks between late July and early August. The spectacle attracts huge crowd from all over the Lower Mainland to the downtown core, and, with it, brings business, tourism and surging profit to the ever-thirsty entertainment establishments. On the surface, the event is hailed as an invigorating and exciting family-oriented event, a perfect gathering for all ages to enjoy. Yet, what the commentators frequently failed to disclose is the darker and more sinister underlying purpose behind this event.

We all know "The Celebration of Light" is a perfect, legitimate opportunity for the local business to gain a few quick bucks, but what we don't know is the sponsors' intention to purposefully hide the ongoing human-rights abuse, animal abuse and civic unrests of the competing nations, making them oblivious to the commoners. What they are trying to do is to paint a bright and beautiful picture over the impoverished, deteriorating and stenching reality. Their ultimate aim is to brainwash Westerners to a degree such that one would voluntarily visit or take vacation in one of the competing countries.

So, when will the general public wake up and realise they've been undermined by the rich and the super rich, and have been played as a puppet in the arena of the richest? When will the public realize that one of the country is still under an ongoing dispute over its recent presidential-election, and confronts an impending water shortage crisis for most of its inhabitant? And, when will they understand that one of the other country has a long history of human-rights and animal abuse, and is responsible for countless acts of aggression, torture, confinement and murder against its own people?

It is only until we've well fed the rich and the richest would we realize our mistake, but by then it would've already been too late!

Note: The City of Vancouver is no better in handling it's own crisis, just look at the sprawl of homeless people in our backyard!

An Inconvenient Truth

This is a must see movie for those of you who haven't had much exposure to the whole idea behind Global Warming, and who wish to open your eyes and to understand more on what's happening around us and how we, as individuals, could alter, shape and write our own destiny.



Hey, this is my 50th post! Nice! Pretty neat!

Winners and losers of Global Warming

Global Warming, as we all know it, is the consequence of heat absorption by atmospheric greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gases, which are trapped in the atmosphere for a prolonged period of time, mainly arise from man-made activities, such as burning of the fossil fuels, agricultural activities, and etc., to natural phenomena, such as lightening-induced forest fires and volcanic emissions. The effects of Global Warming is inevitable. It's arrival is imminent and it will ultimately affect every living species, either directly or indirectly.

Global Warming will produce both winners and losers. Winners are those who could reek benefits from the climate change, such as the production of beer from the Greenland ice cap and the increase of plant growth in temperate and cool areas, just to name a few. But, eventually, losers will outnumber the winners. In Jared Diamond's book "Collapse", losers will be the residence of coastal cities, people who depends on glacier-fed streams as the source of their water supply, elderlies and young children who are susceptible to the intense and prolonged summer heat, and many others, including the extinction of countless exotic species which could not adapt to a fast changing climate as well as we humans do.

Lest we forget, the ultimate loser will be our next generation, who has to endure, adapt, live, and suffer under the consequences of an ever-changing climate.

So, "what can I do to help?", you ask. The least one you do is adhere to these twelve guidelines. Furthermore, you could also help by being an advocate for the environmentally-aware consumer, boycotting any company which is suspicious of employing environmentally destructive suppliers. Finally, you could also financially support organizations such as World Wildlife Fund.

There're many losers of Global Warming and it is up to us to define how many and who they are!

For a summary of Jared Diamond's work in Collapse, please see this article. For a video presentation of his work, watch this clip from Google Video.

Eye for an eye is never the solution!

With the armed conflict escalating once again in the Middle East, it makes me wonder when will this ever come into an end?

To be honest, I'm not much of an expert in the history of Middle East conflicts, but it sickens me to the utmost degree whenever I hear or read about the ongoing conflicts. Like many of you, I also like to speculate what would end this prolonged, inhumane, and catastrophic crisis. It is in my opinion, and that of many others, that an eye for an eye is never the solution! This method of conflict solving is what has been played out since the inauguration of the State of Israel. What has it gotten us this far? It has only served to pit nation against nation in a perpetual cycle of bloody confrontations, with devastating loss of lives, broken dreams, shattered families, and a deepening of hate. What we need at least to mitigate the current conflict is to let the inhabitants of Middle East realise what the future holds for them, their children and love ones if the bloodshed is to let lose and continue without bound. It is a bleak future and one which has no end in sight.

What we need is a drastic change in the ways of thinking for the leaders, one which would alter their best-adopted strategy of retaliation, assasination and total destruction. Instead of an eye for an eye, a strategy which always resulted in bloodshed and the loss of lives, they should accept each other's differences and move on. Since Israel is clearly on the top of the food chain, Palestine and other Arab states, including Iran, should realize the losing battle, accept their losses and move on. What they should do is to educate their young, further the intellectual development of their countrymen so they would one day be able to stand against this formidable tyranny. When that day comes they would proceed, with utmost precaution, the show of force, in the forms of international trade, development of superior technologies and human resources, which would out compete and stifle Israeli counterparts. This would be the ultimate form of revenge and retaliation over the sacrifice of their people under the oppressing regime.

On the other hand, what Israel should do is accept its neighbor as is and treat them as actual human beings, provide them with food, shelter, water and work. It's utlimate goal should be to provide the Palestinian refugees with a sense of hope, security, and fulfillment. Only through a sense of hope could the existence of extremist ideology amongst the Palestinians be reduced. Mutual understanding is a must to rebuild the long lost relationship between rival nations. Israel should also look at this as an investment of the potential tens of thousands of would-be consumers, buying necessities from Israel which could lead to a potentially boost on the economical wellbeing of the entire nation. Don't think that the Palestinians would never buy necessities made from Israel, people often do amazing things when situation became desparate. If you look from an economical point of view, Israel's current stance would only result in a continuing deterioration of its economic control and viable returns over the entire region.

I know my spectulation is far-fetched, simple minded, naive, ridiculous and improbable to succeed, but eventually it will come to a time where this would be the only solution!

Good ol' corporate greed

Found The Corporation on Google Video and just want to share with everyone.



Good ol' corporate greed. You ask who suffers? Of course, people at the very bottom of the food chain and the working class. We're all in this together! Now, enjoy.

Oil politics and the future of Middle East

Oil politics is nothing new. It has been analyzed relentlessly and repeatedly by scientists, political analysts and government officials. This is not a new topic but its awareness has been in a steady increase thanks to the increase in costs of crude oil, the tumbling market of SUV and the political mindgames Middle Eastern countries play. So, how exactly are we, as the citizen of the Earth, going to be affected by the outcome of this oil politic?

The steady increase of price in crude oil has a pronounced impact on our everyday lives. Whether it's a few cents more at the gas pump, or a slight bump in the prices of goods and services we purchase, our judgement and behaviour are unconsciously being shaped by the true driving force behind our economy - crude oil. You may not agree with me that every move you make is somehow tied with the price of oil. But think about this, how willing are you to drive if the gas pump price escalates to tenfolds of what is now? For the public transit commuters or others (i.e. cyclists and other oil independent individuals), what you don't realize is almost every single item you use is a derivative of crude oil. Household items like a plastic container, a piece of rubber band, or even the cloth you wear are all either completely or contains parts which derived from crude oil. We are all parts of a society which nurishes, links and strives from the oil economy. A world without crude oil will be one without hopes and dreams, and a lack of developement of every kind.

The oil producing countries of Middle East and other major oil suppliers knew our reliance on oil and they exploited it with every ways imaginable. Since they've been given the birthrights to own and operate on the oil currency, they have many distinct advantages which no other First World countries have. Oil provides them with significant leverage when it comes to international trade, negotiation of goods and services, and international politics, where they've all grown to become major players since the 70's. Nowadays, these oil producing countries are even more powerful and can easily manipulate and control of the price of oil in their favor. With the increasing demands of oil from developing countries like China and India further straining the supply, it's only a matter of time before we hit the end of oil (or the next major oil crisis). When that happens, only nations with a huge oil reserve would prevail, and countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Zenezuela will lose their leverage on the international arena. Eventually, it will be a free-for-all for everyone else.

So, for the next half-century, battles will be fought over this important nature resource - crude oil. They will be fought in the name of politics or economic reform. There'll be full-blown, bloody warfare. Battles will be fought on the acquisition of valuable oil fields, on the development of new refinery processes and, finally, on the continuous production of a stable supply.

It is not too late to wake up!

Trotting on the danger zone

With the blogosphere on the rise, it has become increasingly popular and easy to blog online. At any moment, it is estimated that at least one blog is created every second. People often signed on to blog their discontent, to voice their activism, to be heard, to meet new friends, or just to be a part of the blogosphere. What they often don't realize is everything they say or do is open to public scrutiny, thanks to the powerful online search engine and its communities. These people often risk their identities, families, or jobs to voice out their political discontent, environmental activism, or alternate religious viewpoints.

So, it comes to how far are you willing to go. How far are you willing to trot on the danger zone? There will always be Big Brother watching whether you like it or not! It's the ultimate reality of the blogosphere. Nobody is safe! Always watch your back!

Another zombie blog in the making?

Is my blog turning into another zombie blog?

Only time will tell. But, from what it looks so far, it has been a zombie blog for the past few months.

So, what is a zombie blog you ask? A zombie blog is not merely one which dedicates its entire content to the description and/or the proliferation of zombies, nor is it a fanpage dedicating to rocker Rob Zombie. A zombie blog, simply put, is an online blog which has ceased to receive its regular updates, or it is so secluded that it never receives any meaningful hits. This is analogous to a stopped heartbeat. Since a weblog will never be taken down unless it contains obscene, nude, or explicit contents or if the service provider (i.e. blogger.com, in my case) got taken down, this halt in heartbeat simply translates into a zombie blog.

There are many possible ways a weblog could turn into a zombie blog. By far the most popular way is the-heat-of-the-moment. Under this method, a blog usually starts out with many frequent updates, but the updates eventually cease to exist either because the author loses interests or he/she finds it particular difficult to come up with something worth writting (i.e. he /she encounters a writer's block). Many of the wannabe bloggers eventually succumb to this method because it looks deceptively easy at first being a blogger. From the first look of it, blogging to an average person seemed easy enough and could be pursued as a regular hobby. However, as time passes by, it becomes increasingly difficult to update the blog. Interruption usually arises because of family, education, work, relationship, personal, and/or political matters which supersedes one's Internet habits.

Another devastating factor which contributes to the raise of zombie blogs is the loss of interest in blogging. Thanks to the amazing online visitor tracking technology (i.e. Site Meter, eXTReMe Tracking, and StatCounter, etc.) available to bloggers. We're now able to track, with extreme precision, on who, when, what, how a visit comes about to our webpages. This technology provides us with a comfort zone of knowing that the contents we wrote are read by the occasional visitors. We no longer have to wait for a visitor's comment to know that our blogs had a viewer. Through the tracking technology, we become instantly elated each time a visitor or two "stumbled" upon our weblogs. On the other hand, we become agitated and disappointed when there's no single hit few days in a roll. Our emotions ride up and down like a rollercoaster each time we reviewed the tracking results, but eventually it comes to a point where a few hits are no longer enough to keep us excited and going. Our blogs then turns into another zombie blog.

So, there're many ways to turn a blog into a heartless, inactive, zombie weblog. It all depends on how you reach it.

What I intend to do is to revive my blog. What about you?

One bloody, red paperclip

Yes, you've probably heard it a thousand times, it's still all over the news and, yes, like some of you I'm getting sick and tired of hearing it day by day.

So, what exactly am I talking about? Apparently, this guy traded from a harmless, simple, red paperclip to an astounding, single-family, house at Kipling, Saskatchewan, Canada. He did this through a sequence of trades with the intention of always trading for something more than the former item. You may say he could be a marketing genius because he devised and flawlessly executed one hell of an ambitious plan. You may say he's definitely a genius because the plan worked, but the reason it worked ultimately revolves around the other person who traded for something less. This was especially true at the end when the face value of the items he traded easily exceeded 10 or 100 times that of the former items. Without these people who made the serious sacrifices he would have never had gotten to where he is at today.

So, what it comes down to is this. Now, with his fame and fortune, it is up to him to honour the people who brought him to what he is today. If I were him, I would at least give royalty to those whom traded something for less, especially after the earnings I would have made from publishing a book.

Now, where's my paperclip? Maybe I could turn it into something!

Contextual romance from Google

Give your shot if you haven't try it already. You never know, with Google's amazing search engine and services, you might find better match than other dating services.

Try it out, here!

Is there freedom of religion and tolerance in Islam?

Guess what? There's no turning back if you're born Muslim or a muslim convert. You're stuck with this one and only religion for the rest of your life. Unlike the other religions, the religious practices and choice has always been an "open door" policy, Islam, on the other hand, is strict in the sense that it forbids the conversion to another faith.

As life progresses, it is perfectly normal that we may find content, guidance, faith and peace of mind with another religion and wish to convert. We have the freedom to exercise our choice as long as it doesn't offend others. Apparently, this is not the case if you're Mr. Abdul Rahman. Mr. Rahman is an aid worker in Afghanistan who was arrested and charged with religious offense because of converting back to Christianity from Islam. If Islam is a religion of "peace, tolerance, kindness and integrity" as it claims then there should not be this much of an outcry over Mr. Rahman's personal decision. Instead, educated Islamic clerics around the world should stand up and defend Mr. Rahman's right, not just some selected Christian ministries. Nobody can decide for Mr. Rahman. It's his decision and his rights and we should all respect that.

There's also a similar case in India where Christian converts are constantly being harassed and threatened by the Muslim majority.

For more commentary, see BBC's Mood hardens against Afghan convert and even the Pope is pleading for the release of Mr. Rahman.

Hey dude!!! Where's my donut?

That's right. "Where's my donut?" will probably be your question the next you visit Tim Hortons, besides questions like "where the hell is the service?". It is official that Tim Hortons is going for IPO this month. Now, it'll join many other giant fast-food chains and will soon shed its family-oriented practices and become the puppet of its investors.

If you think the service is bad and the donuts are small, wait for a few month until they start cutting workforce and chopping down the food servings to please its investors. That's when you realise the donuts are too small to be fulfilling and the line-up becomes astronomical.

Welcome to the dark side, Tim Hortons!

Pro freedom of speech activists spoke out in Canada

They've been muffled, litigated and threatened, but they've fought hard and long, and, finally, they prevailed. They're the pro freedom of speech activists and supporters of Canada and today they took a stand on the streets of Toronto and in front of the Danish consulate, voicing out the right to publish the controversial caricatures of Muhammad.

Peter Kent, a former news anchor and the Conservative candidate of St. Paul's, Ontario, now the representative of the Canadian Coalition of Democracies stood with democracy and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by saying:

"Any democracy worth its salt should be strong enough to endure the most controversial speech," said Kent, who ran as a Conservative but failed to unseat Liberal Carolyn Bennett in a Toronto riding in the January election.

"That speech cannot be corrupted or compromised or silenced by intimidation or fear of violent reprisal," he said.

"We in Canada and free people around the world have the right to offend and to be offended. We do not have the right to respond to offence with violence."

Other pro freedom Canadian bloggers have also addressed this issue in my one of previous posts. For the curious readers you can find more under Mr. Pat Srebrnik's blogs DontAxe and ITYS - I Told You So where he closely follows the UPEI student newspaper controversy.

We're all human beings

Who would've thought that an imam in a Western society has to endure so much hardship? The imam not only has to guide his people with sound judgements, but has to especially endure the difficulties in a post 9/11 society.

An imam in the Western community is not just a leader of his people but also a councilor, a teacher, a matchmaker, a husband, a father, a symbol of hope and, best of all, the righteous path which bridges the Islamic beliefs with the Western culture. It's amazing how much he endures and he's truly the champion amongst all religious leaders. I certainly have never seen any monk, pastor, or priest who is both a religious figure and also a marriage councilor at the same time.

With the increasing media coverage on Islam, we unconsciously become the victim of the vast Western propaganda and often turn a blind when it comes to Muslims. Most Muslims are decent human beings, just like you and me, and are actually friendly and kind at heart. They're just like the everyday Chrisitians, Catholics, Jews and Buddhists you meet at every street corner. The more you know them the more you feel comfortable around them.

We're all human beings and a family living under the same roof. Irrespective of the faith, we can all live in harmony if we just show a little bit of our altrustic side.