Saturday, October 06, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Blogger Come Good
Jakarta Casual has landed himself a regular column at ESPN Star!
I suspect it's in an effort to keep him quiet about ESPN blatantly plagiarizing the punditry on his blog.
Congratulations in any case!! :)
I suspect it's in an effort to keep him quiet about ESPN blatantly plagiarizing the punditry on his blog.
Congratulations in any case!! :)
Monday, September 10, 2007
Funny
I thought the Israeli Jewish neo-Nazis were hilarious, but this takes the biscuit.
Indonesia's supreme arbiter of right and wrong has ordered that $106m be paid by Time for defaming Suharto! HAHAHAHAHA
Time claimed that the Suharto family stole $73bn, the Indonesian supreme court commented:
I love those supreme court fuckers.
So is it a question of a figure? Would $40bn, $30bn, $20bn be more accurate non-defamatory figures?
(I wish I could come up with something more intelligent, but that judgment and article is satire enough.)
I wonder will Time now leave Indonesia? I wonder is this going to be the new face of repression - the ever-so-legalistic-Singapore-way - sue the hell out of those who raise their heads above the parapet. It's even better in Indonesia, cos the Supreme court will pretty much write a blank check - the court will cut themselves a fat commission in any case.
Indonesia's supreme arbiter of right and wrong has ordered that $106m be paid by Time for defaming Suharto! HAHAHAHAHA
Time claimed that the Suharto family stole $73bn, the Indonesian supreme court commented:
"...the article has damaged the reputation and honour of the grand general of the Indonesian armed forces and former president of Indonesia"HAHAHAHA
I love those supreme court fuckers.
So is it a question of a figure? Would $40bn, $30bn, $20bn be more accurate non-defamatory figures?
(I wish I could come up with something more intelligent, but that judgment and article is satire enough.)
I wonder will Time now leave Indonesia? I wonder is this going to be the new face of repression - the ever-so-legalistic-Singapore-way - sue the hell out of those who raise their heads above the parapet. It's even better in Indonesia, cos the Supreme court will pretty much write a blank check - the court will cut themselves a fat commission in any case.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Kubuntu Freezes
[***This fix is much better -- i.e. it actually works!! :);)***]
Twice over the last few months my Kubuntu started to freeze - another symptom was that I couldn't use hibernate.
I figured out the problem was that the swap partition was not being picked up (text on the bottom right of ksysguard will say that swap is unavailable, and the swap graph should be empty).
Luckily the solution is easy!
In the system settings, go to advanced settings and then click on "Disk and File Systems".
Log into administrator mode, and modify the partition which has no mount point, type, device and is deactivated.
Modify the partition, by ensuring that it's Swap and that the option below is "auto" - not "noauto"!
Now you should be ready to go!
[Edit: the swap partition line in /etc/fstab will look something like this:
UUID=22f029fb-e472-43d4-8e64-a49358a9f890 swap auto 0 0
but should look something like this:
UUID=22f029fb-e472-43d4-8e64-a49358a9f890 none swap auto 0 0
hibernating messes around my swap for some reason, which is kinda crap, will have to look into this further...]
Twice over the last few months my Kubuntu started to freeze - another symptom was that I couldn't use hibernate.
I figured out the problem was that the swap partition was not being picked up (text on the bottom right of ksysguard will say that swap is unavailable, and the swap graph should be empty).
Luckily the solution is easy!
In the system settings, go to advanced settings and then click on "Disk and File Systems".
Log into administrator mode, and modify the partition which has no mount point, type, device and is deactivated.Modify the partition, by ensuring that it's Swap and that the option below is "auto" - not "noauto"!
Now you should be ready to go!
[Edit: the swap partition line in /etc/fstab will look something like this:
UUID=22f029fb-e472-43d4-8e64-a49358a9f890
but should look something like this:
UUID=22f029fb-e472-43d4-8e64-a49358a9f890 none swap auto 0 0
hibernating messes around my swap for some reason, which is kinda crap, will have to look into this further...]
Monday, September 03, 2007
Christine
Debs night. Apparently the Make Up artist that did her make up did Iggy Pop's the weekend before! Good practice :) :P
Breaking the Law
Elvira Arellano (an illegal immigrant) took refuge in a Chicago church for a year, before venturing out and being deported by police - leaving her son (a US citizen) in the States under the guardianship of the church.
A network of teachers and families in France hide and protect immigrants and their kids from deportation.
Somehow sounds like the plot of a Heroes episode - or even echoes of occupied Europe.
In both these cases, I don't think you can say that the Church or the network of families and teachers are morally wrong when breaking the law (what does that tell you about immigration laws?). In fact, I know of no reasonable moral code which judges rights and wrongs based on where one chooses the live.
[And I know for a fact that there is very little (if any) economics based reasoning for restrictions of movement]
A network of teachers and families in France hide and protect immigrants and their kids from deportation.
Somehow sounds like the plot of a Heroes episode - or even echoes of occupied Europe.
In both these cases, I don't think you can say that the Church or the network of families and teachers are morally wrong when breaking the law (what does that tell you about immigration laws?). In fact, I know of no reasonable moral code which judges rights and wrongs based on where one chooses the live.
[And I know for a fact that there is very little (if any) economics based reasoning for restrictions of movement]
Sunday, September 02, 2007
The Economist's Oath (I)
The Economist's Oath (though it may vary, 'The Oath' takes the following, or similar form):
Why? Because (1) there's only a single simple concept underlying all of economics that keeps economists from becoming milkmen or sociologists, and (2) Adam Smith (the founder of modern economics) was a genius at making up silly handshakes (he couldn't earn much from inventing new handshakes, so he started modern economics instead).
Of course this won't come as a surprise to those non-economists who keep tabs on the field, as economists have an illustrious history of intentionally plunging economies into disaster so they can be assured of research grants for years to come.
For example the boys at the IMF and World Bank are lauded by economists the world over for their work during the Asian financial crisis, whereas the old heads at LTCM made a complete cock-up trying to sink the world economy. Economists rarely even speak to the LTCM guys at conferences now, and there was even talk of stripping them of their Nobel Laureates, but the consensus was, however reckless, they were really ballsy.
Obviously, it's quite a dangerous undertaking revealing a secret theory of this magnitude (FYI the boys at the IMF make the Opus Dei look like a bunch of Mother Theresas [or a Bunch of Michael E. Porters if you prefer]). Rumour has it that they tried to do Milton Friedman in on numerous occasions, because he was fed up with the lies and wanted to become a tax accountant instead.
So what is the secret theory which underlies all of the relevant parts of economics? Tune in for part two!
"As an economist I promise never to reveal the secret of The Illusion to a non-economist, unless that one swears to uphold the Economist's Oath in turn. I promise never to perform The Illusion for any non-economists without first practicing the effect until I can perform it well enough to maintain The Illusion of Economics."Upon getting their PhD, economists must repeat the secret oath above. It's similar to the Hippocratic Oath which medical doctors have to abide by, but (1) economists need this oath to stay employed, and (2) they must also must learn a silly handshake.
Why? Because (1) there's only a single simple concept underlying all of economics that keeps economists from becoming milkmen or sociologists, and (2) Adam Smith (the founder of modern economics) was a genius at making up silly handshakes (he couldn't earn much from inventing new handshakes, so he started modern economics instead).
Of course this won't come as a surprise to those non-economists who keep tabs on the field, as economists have an illustrious history of intentionally plunging economies into disaster so they can be assured of research grants for years to come.
For example the boys at the IMF and World Bank are lauded by economists the world over for their work during the Asian financial crisis, whereas the old heads at LTCM made a complete cock-up trying to sink the world economy. Economists rarely even speak to the LTCM guys at conferences now, and there was even talk of stripping them of their Nobel Laureates, but the consensus was, however reckless, they were really ballsy.
Obviously, it's quite a dangerous undertaking revealing a secret theory of this magnitude (FYI the boys at the IMF make the Opus Dei look like a bunch of Mother Theresas [or a Bunch of Michael E. Porters if you prefer]). Rumour has it that they tried to do Milton Friedman in on numerous occasions, because he was fed up with the lies and wanted to become a tax accountant instead.
So what is the secret theory which underlies all of the relevant parts of economics? Tune in for part two!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Old Lady
Village near Semerang. Taken at Agus and Dian's house - thanks to Andy for bringing me along!
Saturday, August 25, 2007
A Closet Atheist?
Mother Theresa, a closet atheist?
Doesn't sound too far off how I feel, except, I accept how I feel and reckon atheism is quite a positive outlook on life!
Doesn't sound too far off how I feel, except, I accept how I feel and reckon atheism is quite a positive outlook on life!
Cigarettes, Alcohol and Jesus
A Malaysian news paper was shut down for printing a cartoon which showed Jesus smoking and drinking beer.
As ever, the Malaysian establishment just makes itself look silly. Christians weren't actually responsible for getting the paper shutdown, a Tamil political party was -- cos it had been on the receiving end of a lot of flack from the paper.
Interestingly the bible has this to say about the matter,
I reckon Jesus wouldn't have taken himself too seriously, and would have enjoyed a cigarette and a pint of beer now and again.
As ever, the Malaysian establishment just makes itself look silly. Christians weren't actually responsible for getting the paper shutdown, a Tamil political party was -- cos it had been on the receiving end of a lot of flack from the paper.
Interestingly the bible has this to say about the matter,
Philippians 1:18. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice.
I reckon Jesus wouldn't have taken himself too seriously, and would have enjoyed a cigarette and a pint of beer now and again.
A Christian, or other admirer of Jesus, who concluded that He DID drink beer honors His essential humanity, and the theological truth that He was like us in every way except for our sinfulness.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Australian Immigration
Australia is hoping to attract British people to migrate there.
At least once a year Australia organises a huge exhibition in Dublin to attract more people to go over there. They also offer working visas to Irish youngsters for a year or two.
Question: do they go to the same lengths to attract Indonesian people to work in Australia? if not, why not?
At least once a year Australia organises a huge exhibition in Dublin to attract more people to go over there. They also offer working visas to Irish youngsters for a year or two.
Question: do they go to the same lengths to attract Indonesian people to work in Australia? if not, why not?
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Islamic Summer of Love
100,000 have met in Jakarta to discuss the creation of an Islamic caliphate - an international state based on Muslim-on-Muslim love. By all accounts, it was the Naughties answer to Woodstock and the Summer of Love.
Ignoring all the "liberal" reasons why Sharia states aren't good ideas, let's focus on some rather more obvious impracticalities.
Muslims are human (obvious I know, but too often it can be forgotten!).
How long did it take for the Acehnese to get some TLC from their *Muslim* bosom buddies in Sumatra, Sulawesi and Java? Where was all the passion for Indonesian on Malay action in the '60s? Where are the saucy Shia-Kurd-Sunni orgies of love? Oh that's right, that sauce isn't even of the ketchup type!
100,000 in the Bung Karno Stadium? Islamic Summer of Love? Pass me an E.
Ignoring all the "liberal" reasons why Sharia states aren't good ideas, let's focus on some rather more obvious impracticalities.
Muslims are human (obvious I know, but too often it can be forgotten!).
How long did it take for the Acehnese to get some TLC from their *Muslim* bosom buddies in Sumatra, Sulawesi and Java? Where was all the passion for Indonesian on Malay action in the '60s? Where are the saucy Shia-Kurd-Sunni orgies of love? Oh that's right, that sauce isn't even of the ketchup type!
100,000 in the Bung Karno Stadium? Islamic Summer of Love? Pass me an E.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Smoking CSR
PR people are fiendishly clever. Most of what they do is now called Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It's a fluffier, friendlier type of PR. People are mostly cynical about PR, but are at worst confused when confronted with CSR (sukses!).
Generally I don't care for motives when individuals, countries or companies do genuine good. If a company gets some good PR through helping a community out everyone wins.
What I do care about, is when a company like Sampoerna (large Indonesian cigarette maker) spends millions on high profile CSR on the one hand, but on the other, is the biggest killer of Indonesians bar none.
Does Sampoerna support lung cancer research or cigarette education? Of course not, it wants to bury its wrongs and its victims in glitzy PR.
I wonder how much it would cost to hire a PR firm on a retainer basis to make the victims of Sampoerna higher profile? What a worthwhile pro bono CSR project that would be! What about it chaps? Use your skillz to help the little guys!
Generally I don't care for motives when individuals, countries or companies do genuine good. If a company gets some good PR through helping a community out everyone wins.
What I do care about, is when a company like Sampoerna (large Indonesian cigarette maker) spends millions on high profile CSR on the one hand, but on the other, is the biggest killer of Indonesians bar none.
Does Sampoerna support lung cancer research or cigarette education? Of course not, it wants to bury its wrongs and its victims in glitzy PR.
I wonder how much it would cost to hire a PR firm on a retainer basis to make the victims of Sampoerna higher profile? What a worthwhile pro bono CSR project that would be! What about it chaps? Use your skillz to help the little guys!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
My Fantasy Football Team
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