Wael Ghonim: Inside the Egyptian revolution
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Fat government, poor people...
Long time ago, God put two flocks of sheep on grassland: one group at north and one group at south. God also gave them two types of native predator: Lion and wolf.
God told the sheep: "If you choose wolf, I shall give you one, and it's allowed to bite you at its will. If you choose lion, I shall give you two, and you are allowed to choose anyone from the two of them to stay on the grassland, and you can replace it at any time.”
So, the question is: If you are one of the sheep, what will you choose? A wolf or two lions?
It's easy to make your choice, right? Remember your choice, and continue with our story.
The sheep at the south thought that lions are more fiercely than wolf, so they picked a wolf.
The sheep at the north thought that although lions are more fiercely than wolf, but they have the option to choose, so they took two lions.
The wolf started eating the sheep once it entered the herd at the south. The wolf was smaller and it had smaller appetite. One sheep is enough to appease its hunger for days. So the sheep only were hunted once a few days.
The sheep at the north chose a lion and leave another one with God. The lion started eating sheep once it entered the herd at the north. The lion was more fiercely than the wolf and it had much larger appetite. It needed to eat a sheep each day to keep its stomach full. So the sheep is hunted everyday, and they were very afraid.
They asked God to replace the lion. But the lion that stayed with the God has not been eaten anything and it was very hungry. It pounced on the sheep and bite like crazy. The sheep had to run for their life everyday until they didn't have time to eat.
The sheep at the south were grateful that they made the right choice, and they laughed at the sheep at the north for being stupid and chose the wrong predator.
The sheep at the north repented for their choice. They complained to God, and asked God to change their native predator to a wolf. But God said: “No. Once the native predator was chosen, it cannot be changed anymore. You must live with it forever. Your only option is to choose between the two lions.” The sheep at the north have to keep rotating the two lions.
But both lions were the same. Both of them showed no mercy. No matter how they rotate the lions, their situation was always much more miserable than the sheep at the south. At last, they stop rotating. They kept a lion full all the time while letting another one suffered in hunger. They only replaced the lions when the suffering lion was dying.
After a long time of hunger, the suffering lion realized that: Even they are much stronger than the sheep, but its fate is controlled by the sheep. The sheep can send him back to God anytime, and let him suffer and die in hunger.
So it treated the sheep very nice, it only ate the dead and the old sheep and it wouldn't eat the healthy sheep. The sheep felt very surprise and happy. Some of the younger sheep even suggested letting the suffering lion to stay forever. But one of the elder reminded them: “The lion treats us good because it is afraid that we’ll send it back to the God. If we let another lion die, we'll left with no choice and the suffering lion will return to its nature and starts hunting us again.” The sheep agreed with the elder. To prevent another lion starve to death, they replaced it after a few weeks.
And the lion also realized that its fate is controlled by the sheep. In order to stay longer on the grassland, the lion tried its best to please the sheep. Another lion felt so sad that it had to suffer hunger again.
After experiencing such a hard time, the sheep at the north finally can enjoy themselves.
At the mean time, the situation of the sheep at the south became worse and worse because the wolf had no competitor and the sheep couldn't replace it. It started to act wildly. It had to kill ten sheep everyday. It didn't eat sheep anymore. It only drank their blood. The sheep were not allowed to make a sound because they would be killed by the wolf if they do so.
In the end, the sheep at the south could only bemoan: “We should choose the lions in the first place......”
God told the sheep: "If you choose wolf, I shall give you one, and it's allowed to bite you at its will. If you choose lion, I shall give you two, and you are allowed to choose anyone from the two of them to stay on the grassland, and you can replace it at any time.”
So, the question is: If you are one of the sheep, what will you choose? A wolf or two lions?
It's easy to make your choice, right? Remember your choice, and continue with our story.
The sheep at the south thought that lions are more fiercely than wolf, so they picked a wolf.
The sheep at the north thought that although lions are more fiercely than wolf, but they have the option to choose, so they took two lions.
The wolf started eating the sheep once it entered the herd at the south. The wolf was smaller and it had smaller appetite. One sheep is enough to appease its hunger for days. So the sheep only were hunted once a few days.
The sheep at the north chose a lion and leave another one with God. The lion started eating sheep once it entered the herd at the north. The lion was more fiercely than the wolf and it had much larger appetite. It needed to eat a sheep each day to keep its stomach full. So the sheep is hunted everyday, and they were very afraid.
They asked God to replace the lion. But the lion that stayed with the God has not been eaten anything and it was very hungry. It pounced on the sheep and bite like crazy. The sheep had to run for their life everyday until they didn't have time to eat.
The sheep at the south were grateful that they made the right choice, and they laughed at the sheep at the north for being stupid and chose the wrong predator.
The sheep at the north repented for their choice. They complained to God, and asked God to change their native predator to a wolf. But God said: “No. Once the native predator was chosen, it cannot be changed anymore. You must live with it forever. Your only option is to choose between the two lions.” The sheep at the north have to keep rotating the two lions.
But both lions were the same. Both of them showed no mercy. No matter how they rotate the lions, their situation was always much more miserable than the sheep at the south. At last, they stop rotating. They kept a lion full all the time while letting another one suffered in hunger. They only replaced the lions when the suffering lion was dying.
After a long time of hunger, the suffering lion realized that: Even they are much stronger than the sheep, but its fate is controlled by the sheep. The sheep can send him back to God anytime, and let him suffer and die in hunger.
So it treated the sheep very nice, it only ate the dead and the old sheep and it wouldn't eat the healthy sheep. The sheep felt very surprise and happy. Some of the younger sheep even suggested letting the suffering lion to stay forever. But one of the elder reminded them: “The lion treats us good because it is afraid that we’ll send it back to the God. If we let another lion die, we'll left with no choice and the suffering lion will return to its nature and starts hunting us again.” The sheep agreed with the elder. To prevent another lion starve to death, they replaced it after a few weeks.
And the lion also realized that its fate is controlled by the sheep. In order to stay longer on the grassland, the lion tried its best to please the sheep. Another lion felt so sad that it had to suffer hunger again.
After experiencing such a hard time, the sheep at the north finally can enjoy themselves.
At the mean time, the situation of the sheep at the south became worse and worse because the wolf had no competitor and the sheep couldn't replace it. It started to act wildly. It had to kill ten sheep everyday. It didn't eat sheep anymore. It only drank their blood. The sheep were not allowed to make a sound because they would be killed by the wolf if they do so.
In the end, the sheep at the south could only bemoan: “We should choose the lions in the first place......”
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Animal Farm (George Orwell)
We are All Created Equal but Some are "more Equal" than Others!
New UMNO vs Old UMNO. New PIGS vs Old PIGS.
Government, people, constitution, justice, equality, national vision, elites, Peasant, dogs (who are they?) ...
-
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Is It Time?
'
WHEN TYRANNY BECOMES LAW,
REBELLION BECOMES DUTY!
Cowardice asks the question - is it safe?
Expediency asks the question - is it politic?
Vanity asks the question - is it popular?
But conscience asks the question - is it right?
And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
WHEN TYRANNY BECOMES LAW,
REBELLION BECOMES DUTY!
Cowardice asks the question - is it safe?
Expediency asks the question - is it politic?
Vanity asks the question - is it popular?
But conscience asks the question - is it right?
And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Tyranny
.
"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." — James Madison (Federalist Papers)
"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." — James Madison (Federalist Papers)
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Sunday, July 19, 2009
First they came...
.
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
Then they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
I did not protest;
I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out for me
"First they came…" is a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
Then they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
I did not protest;
I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out for me
"First they came…" is a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.
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Saturday, July 18, 2009
Mysterious death at MACC
歐陽捍華 Ean Yong’s political secretary dead at MACC HQ
Look closely at the photos from the scene of 赵明福 Teoh Beng Hock's death.
Some of Oni's observation:
Look closely at the photos from the scene of 赵明福 Teoh Beng Hock's death.
Some of Oni's observation:
- Left shoe sits up neatly about 8 feet from the head right within the border. Appears to be clean and properly laced-up.
- Right shoe looks beaten-up. Surface of the sole shows sign of heavy scraping.
- Slash wound on the right wrist. Bleeding seems fresh (color relatively red and bright). Right fist is clenched. Not wearing a wrist watch.
- Pants ripped at the buttock revealing underwear. Some fabric in the torn area appears to be missing from the trousers. No sign of wallet, mobile phone or keys in the back and left pockets.
- Underwear appears to be torn in the middle.
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Friday, May 15, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Real estate market recovery...
... has some way to go.
Here's what's real and what's not.
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Here's what's real and what's not.
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Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Your Personal Stimulus Package
.
Need help in managing your finance? Have trouble making car payments?...
No problem! Here's how many Americans revive their financial situation. All you need is a plan and a match.
--------------------------------------
Signs of Stress, Fraud on Roadside
Thursday, March 26, 2009
More Vehicles Burned, Ditched in Apparent Schemes by Owners to Get Insurance Payout
Police detective Mark Menzie drove 55 miles into the desert Sunday to inspect the charred remains of a formerly silver Ford Expedition.
Later, he sat in a kitchen on the city's south side where a 19-year-old man confessed to torching his girlfriend's Chrysler PT Cruiser
At noon Monday, Mr. Menzie was picking through the smashed windshield of a 2008 Land Rover in a desert canyon. His police radio crackled as he worked; another car was spotted burning southwest of the city.
Years of no-money-down car loans followed by sinking home values and rising unemployment has made many people desperate over car payments they can no longer afford. For some, the answer is to ditch the car, report it stolen and collect the insurance money to pay it off without hurting their credit.
Authorities report a growing number of cars dumped in the Great Lakes, burned along remote New Jersey roadsides and driven into canals in California. The phenomenon is acute in Las Vegas, where sharp declines in tourism and construction have left thousands of workers unemployed and broke.
Mr. Menzie, a burly 38-year-old detective wearing jeans, dusty work boots and a two-day stubble, toted up a day's work. Four cars burned or wrecked in 24 hours: "Insurance fraud," he concluded. "Lots of desperate people out there."
As a member of the Las Vegas department's auto-theft unit, Mr. Menzie is on the front lines of a phenomenon that police departments and insurance companies worry could be burning out of control.
"The economy is stretching people to the breaking point and some of them are willing to risk criminal conviction," said James Quiggle, a spokesman for the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, an industry-backed group. "They look at this as their own personal stimulus package."... (continue reading here)
Need help in managing your finance? Have trouble making car payments?...
No problem! Here's how many Americans revive their financial situation. All you need is a plan and a match.
--------------------------------------
Signs of Stress, Fraud on Roadside
Thursday, March 26, 2009
More Vehicles Burned, Ditched in Apparent Schemes by Owners to Get Insurance Payout
Police detective Mark Menzie drove 55 miles into the desert Sunday to inspect the charred remains of a formerly silver Ford Expedition.
Later, he sat in a kitchen on the city's south side where a 19-year-old man confessed to torching his girlfriend's Chrysler PT Cruiser
At noon Monday, Mr. Menzie was picking through the smashed windshield of a 2008 Land Rover in a desert canyon. His police radio crackled as he worked; another car was spotted burning southwest of the city.
Years of no-money-down car loans followed by sinking home values and rising unemployment has made many people desperate over car payments they can no longer afford. For some, the answer is to ditch the car, report it stolen and collect the insurance money to pay it off without hurting their credit.
Authorities report a growing number of cars dumped in the Great Lakes, burned along remote New Jersey roadsides and driven into canals in California. The phenomenon is acute in Las Vegas, where sharp declines in tourism and construction have left thousands of workers unemployed and broke.
Mr. Menzie, a burly 38-year-old detective wearing jeans, dusty work boots and a two-day stubble, toted up a day's work. Four cars burned or wrecked in 24 hours: "Insurance fraud," he concluded. "Lots of desperate people out there."
As a member of the Las Vegas department's auto-theft unit, Mr. Menzie is on the front lines of a phenomenon that police departments and insurance companies worry could be burning out of control.
"The economy is stretching people to the breaking point and some of them are willing to risk criminal conviction," said James Quiggle, a spokesman for the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, an industry-backed group. "They look at this as their own personal stimulus package."... (continue reading here)
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Monday, March 30, 2009
The Worst is Over!
.
New Home Sale Up 4.7%. No bullshit?
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New Home Sale Up 4.7%. No bullshit?
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Thursday, March 12, 2009
not so mini Mini-Budget
.
March 11, 2009
Scepticism to M'sia stimulus
KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA'S massive US$16.2 billion (S$25 billion) stimulus package met with scepticism on Wednesday, as analysts questioned if it will avert recession and how cleanly it will be implemented.
Deputy premier Najib Razak announced the package on Tuesday, saying the much bigger than anticipated spending plan would 'contribute towards mitigating the impact of the global contraction on the domestic economy'.
But despite the measure, and a US$1.9 billion stimulus package announced last year, he said the economy could still contract by up to 1.0 per cent in 2009, dumping the earlier forecast of 3.5 per cent growth.
Standard Chartered said despite the size of the plan, 'its ability to keep 2009 growth in positive territory remains in question' and that the deficit, which will jump to 7.6 per cent this year, could threaten credit ratings.
ING was unimpressed by the big-spending initiative, saying it expected the economy to contract by 2.2 per cent this year, and that the government's political woes raised the risk of inappropriate spending.
'The political situation makes us think a lot of the spending will be politically-directed,' it said.
The spending plan is an important test for Mr Najib, who is due to be appointed premier at the end of the month and inherits the task of clawing back support for the ruling coalition after a battering in elections last year.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who was finance minister before being ejected from the coalition in 1998, said there was a grave risk of 'leakage' as the huge amount of funds was disbursed.
'As far as the package is concerned, there is no sign of reforms,' he said.
'Our fundamentals are cracking, we are facing a major crisis. Will Najib stop the practices of awarding contracts to cronies through direct negotiation?'
Analysts at Citibank also said the market would be disappointed with the package after 'the hype created over the past few weeks'. 'Execution is the key, and it is still too early to quantify and build in the benefits,' it said. -- AFP
(The Straits Times)
March 11, 2009
Scepticism to M'sia stimulus
KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA'S massive US$16.2 billion (S$25 billion) stimulus package met with scepticism on Wednesday, as analysts questioned if it will avert recession and how cleanly it will be implemented.
Deputy premier Najib Razak announced the package on Tuesday, saying the much bigger than anticipated spending plan would 'contribute towards mitigating the impact of the global contraction on the domestic economy'.
But despite the measure, and a US$1.9 billion stimulus package announced last year, he said the economy could still contract by up to 1.0 per cent in 2009, dumping the earlier forecast of 3.5 per cent growth.
Standard Chartered said despite the size of the plan, 'its ability to keep 2009 growth in positive territory remains in question' and that the deficit, which will jump to 7.6 per cent this year, could threaten credit ratings.
ING was unimpressed by the big-spending initiative, saying it expected the economy to contract by 2.2 per cent this year, and that the government's political woes raised the risk of inappropriate spending.
'The political situation makes us think a lot of the spending will be politically-directed,' it said.
The spending plan is an important test for Mr Najib, who is due to be appointed premier at the end of the month and inherits the task of clawing back support for the ruling coalition after a battering in elections last year.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who was finance minister before being ejected from the coalition in 1998, said there was a grave risk of 'leakage' as the huge amount of funds was disbursed.
'As far as the package is concerned, there is no sign of reforms,' he said.
'Our fundamentals are cracking, we are facing a major crisis. Will Najib stop the practices of awarding contracts to cronies through direct negotiation?'
Analysts at Citibank also said the market would be disappointed with the package after 'the hype created over the past few weeks'. 'Execution is the key, and it is still too early to quantify and build in the benefits,' it said. -- AFP
(The Straits Times)
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Thursday, March 5, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Hedge Fund AIG
.
Bernanke Says Insurer AIG Operated Like a Hedge Fund
March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said American International Group Inc. operated like a hedge fund and having to rescue the insurer made him “more angry” than any other episode during the financial crisis.
“If there is a single episode in this entire 18 months that has made me more angry, I can’t think of one other than AIG,” Bernanke told lawmakers today. “AIG exploited a huge gap in the regulatory system, there was no oversight of the financial- products division, this was a hedge fund basically that was attached to a large and stable insurance company.”
Bernanke’s comments foreshadow tougher oversight of systemically important financial firms, and come as President Barack Obama seeks legislative proposals within weeks for a regulatory overhaul. The U.S. government has had to deepen its commitment to prevent AIG’s collapse three times since September as the company accumulated the worst losses of any U.S. company.
The company “made huge numbers of irresponsible bets, took huge losses, there was no regulatory oversight because there was a gap in the system,” Bernanke said. At the same time, officials “had no choice but to try and stabilize the system” by aiding the firm... (full story at Bloomberg)
Bernanke Says Insurer AIG Operated Like a Hedge Fund
March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said American International Group Inc. operated like a hedge fund and having to rescue the insurer made him “more angry” than any other episode during the financial crisis.
“If there is a single episode in this entire 18 months that has made me more angry, I can’t think of one other than AIG,” Bernanke told lawmakers today. “AIG exploited a huge gap in the regulatory system, there was no oversight of the financial- products division, this was a hedge fund basically that was attached to a large and stable insurance company.”
Bernanke’s comments foreshadow tougher oversight of systemically important financial firms, and come as President Barack Obama seeks legislative proposals within weeks for a regulatory overhaul. The U.S. government has had to deepen its commitment to prevent AIG’s collapse three times since September as the company accumulated the worst losses of any U.S. company.
The company “made huge numbers of irresponsible bets, took huge losses, there was no regulatory oversight because there was a gap in the system,” Bernanke said. At the same time, officials “had no choice but to try and stabilize the system” by aiding the firm... (full story at Bloomberg)
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