Whichever way you lean politically, whether you are aware of the cable TV wars or not, Rachel Maddow is truly one of the smartest and most eloquent people on cable news television.
Case in point.
Entertaining, to say the least.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Madonnainspired?
Tim Burton's vision of Alice In Wonderland will be out next year but the first promotional pictures for the concept art have been released, and simply put, Mr Burton does not disappoint.
When I saw the photo of good-tipper Johnny Depp made up as The Mad Hatter
I couldn't help but think that the make-up artist perhaps could have been slightly inspired by
...gapped tooth and all! I'm just saying...
When I saw the photo of good-tipper Johnny Depp made up as The Mad Hatter
I couldn't help but think that the make-up artist perhaps could have been slightly inspired by
...gapped tooth and all! I'm just saying...
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Just So You Know
As the world is convulsed into extreme points of views about what they are seeing coming out of Iran, I saw this clip today and felt that it would be good if you knew this part of the story. As is always the case in politics and life, everything lies a deeper shade of gray.
In unrelated news, it's been 8 months since my return to HK. All is good. Even that strange person who resurfaced after more than 4 years of no-contact. Random, indeed!
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
In unrelated news, it's been 8 months since my return to HK. All is good. Even that strange person who resurfaced after more than 4 years of no-contact. Random, indeed!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
This Blows My Mind
While the US media/blogosphere rages on with the controversy of Miss California's stance for 'opposite marriage', my home country saw it's own public debate on the rights of the individual versus the 'community' via the theatre that was the takeover of women's rights advocacy group AWARE by members of a fundamental Christian church.
(Background on this issue can be found here.)
Singapore has such a complex social structure when it comes to 'homegrown' values and the island's aspirations of being a world-class city. How do you reconcile the modernity that one of the richest independent nations in the world enjoys with archaic laws that are essentially holdovers from when the British ruled Singapore? Is this truly a conservative-versus-progressive debate? How do the rules of civil society thrive when religious values are given a moral advantage?
Some might say that this is the liberal left being self-serving, especially when these laws pertain to 'acts of gross indecency' - legal parlance for sodomy - but as demonstrated by these women at the Extraordinary General Meeting, the rights of ALL minorities are affected when the rights of any one minority group is
impinged.
Such an airing of opposing views in defense of such a 'controversial' matter has never happened in Singapore, as far as I can recall, and gives me hope that the country that I was born in might indeed have made the first steps towards joining the civil societies of the world.
There's still some ways to go before Singapore will ever have anything close to this.
But that's OK. Baby steps.
(Background on this issue can be found here.)
Singapore has such a complex social structure when it comes to 'homegrown' values and the island's aspirations of being a world-class city. How do you reconcile the modernity that one of the richest independent nations in the world enjoys with archaic laws that are essentially holdovers from when the British ruled Singapore? Is this truly a conservative-versus-progressive debate? How do the rules of civil society thrive when religious values are given a moral advantage?
Some might say that this is the liberal left being self-serving, especially when these laws pertain to 'acts of gross indecency' - legal parlance for sodomy - but as demonstrated by these women at the Extraordinary General Meeting, the rights of ALL minorities are affected when the rights of any one minority group is
impinged.
Such an airing of opposing views in defense of such a 'controversial' matter has never happened in Singapore, as far as I can recall, and gives me hope that the country that I was born in might indeed have made the first steps towards joining the civil societies of the world.
There's still some ways to go before Singapore will ever have anything close to this.
But that's OK. Baby steps.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Condom Use & The Pope
I understand the need for the Catholic Church to stick to doctrine, but saying things that are not supported by facts is at best, misleading and at worst, an inaccurate and criminal marketing message to keep the faith.
This Pope is in serious need of making the church relevant to today's world, instead of unrealistically thinking that the world lives by his sets of values. And to sell this notion to Africa with its frightening HIV/AIDS epidemic (22 million people live with the disease) is downright criminal.
This Pope is in serious need of making the church relevant to today's world, instead of unrealistically thinking that the world lives by his sets of values. And to sell this notion to Africa with its frightening HIV/AIDS epidemic (22 million people live with the disease) is downright criminal.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Karma & The Cat
You might recall that about 2 weeks ago, in a fit of unhinged frustration over my cats fighting, I put my youngest cat into an animal carrier and released him to fend for himself. The reality of what I did hit me like a brick wall 2 days later, and I was really worried that I might never get over the guilt of abandoning a pet. I tried to make sense of my rash decision, but nothing stuck.
This evening, as I was headed out to get some dinner, I walked around to where I had left Alfie and to my surprise, and relief, he was there. Huddled, scared and slightly shell-shocked. He had been hiding out by the plants around the pool of the condo where my friends Andy & Jody live in. He was initially reluctant to come to me when I called him, but with Jody's help, Alfie ran out into a clearing, which made it easier for me to approach him and bring him home.
As I type this, he's sleeping in my lap, probably relieved to be out of the rain and cold, and hopefully not too traumatized from what I did to him 11 days ago. I'm gonna bring him to the vet in the morning, just so I know that he's OK. And maybe the vet can prescribe something that will calm him down from being super aggressive.
I hope I've corrected some of the negative karma by bringing Alfie back, but I also know I'll be thinking about this for a long time to come. I need to make adjustments to how I conduct my emotional housekeeping.
Alfie's back and a weight's been lifted off my chest, and I'm looking forward to having a proper night's sleep.
This evening, as I was headed out to get some dinner, I walked around to where I had left Alfie and to my surprise, and relief, he was there. Huddled, scared and slightly shell-shocked. He had been hiding out by the plants around the pool of the condo where my friends Andy & Jody live in. He was initially reluctant to come to me when I called him, but with Jody's help, Alfie ran out into a clearing, which made it easier for me to approach him and bring him home.
As I type this, he's sleeping in my lap, probably relieved to be out of the rain and cold, and hopefully not too traumatized from what I did to him 11 days ago. I'm gonna bring him to the vet in the morning, just so I know that he's OK. And maybe the vet can prescribe something that will calm him down from being super aggressive.
I hope I've corrected some of the negative karma by bringing Alfie back, but I also know I'll be thinking about this for a long time to come. I need to make adjustments to how I conduct my emotional housekeeping.
Alfie's back and a weight's been lifted off my chest, and I'm looking forward to having a proper night's sleep.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
