News Stories

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

This happened next door.

Retards Firebomb Church Over Allah Row



You know what? I fully support the Catholics conducting similar attacks on the mosques. This "Islam vs Christianity" religious conflict has gone a little too far, and it would be good to stoke an all out civil war to guarantee mutually assured destruction between the two religious parties.

No man, no problem. Although the Quran had explicitly stated that it is a sin to attack a place of worship of another person's religion, no matter the gravity of the opposing believer's acts. Protests are fine, but these acts certainly beyond hypocrisy.

It's going to be racial riots all over again, 1964...

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Retards Firebomb Church Over Allah Row

The attacks are deplorable, but I will strongly caution against portraying it as a clash of religions — quite simply because it appears like one only on the surface.

The issue actually revolves around Malaysia's domestics politics and, as a result, it is of very little interest to foreigners. In other words, please don't add fuel to the fire unless you know what is going on.

(1)
For the past two years, Malaysia has been in political turmoil ever since the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition (comprising the People's Justice Party, Democratic Action Party and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party) won the state elections in Kelantan, Kedah, Penang and Selangor. That's four out of Malaysia's 13 states. The loss of Penang and Selangor, in particular, were two tight slaps across the government's face, as Penang is a wealthy state while Selangor is the state in which the capital, Kuala Lumpur, is located.

Since then, the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition has been on the defensive, seeking many ways, both fair and foul, to disrupt its Pakatan rivals.

(2)
As for Kelantan, it has long been the stronghold of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS). PAS is well-known for being a party of mainly conservative Muslims — some would describe them as Islamic fundamentalists. The party enjoys tremendous appeal in the mostly rural northern state and, try as it might, the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, led by the main Malay party Umno, has not been able to dislodge PAS rule there.

This failing has caused serious rifts within Umno, as many of its members claim that the party is losing credibility among the country's majority Malays. The perception is that Umno is losing its appeal because it is not as "Islamic" as PAS.

(3)
To understand why this is an issue, we need to understand that all Malays are defined to be Muslim under Malaysia's Constitution. In other words, Islam in Malaysia is not just a religion, but also a crucial aspect of Malay identity.

This is precisely why Malaysian Muslims are so highly sensitive about the status of Islam in their country. Any perceived erosion of Islam in Malaysia is inevitably seen as an attack on the special status of Malays in Malaysia.

When you consider that Malaysia is supposed to be the "homeland" of the Malays, it's not difficult to see why Malays should feel so protective about these privileges — especially when there remains widespread lingering resentment over the perceived control the Chinese have over much of the country's economy.

(4)
So, to win national elections in Malaysia, you need the support of the majority Malays. And to win the support of the majority Malays, you need to appear to be model Muslims. In the past, this was a straightforward affair, so long as Umno — a moderate party — could claim to represent all Malays. But the appearance of PAS on the national scene has changed the political landscape completely.

This partly explains why former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had to promote Islam Hadhari ("civilisational Islam"), a concept which advocates the intercompatibility between Islam and economic and technological development, shortly after he took office in 2004. His predecessor, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, never had to burnish his Islamic credentials quite so openly during his 22 years in office.

Unfortunately for Datuk Seri Badawi, the stunning victories by Pakatan Rakyat in 2008 (together with perceived increases in corruption and cronyism) completely destroyed his political credibility. All this eventually forced him to step down in March last year, handing over power to his deputy, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Mr Najib is a popular but highly controversial political figure in Malaysia but, where religion and ethnic issues are concerned, he is widely perceived to be a moderate. For example, in place of Islam Hadhari, he champions his 1Malaysia slogan, which is meant to promote unity and mutual respect and trust among the different ethnic communities in Malaysia.

But even he has had to burnish his credentials as a Muslim and a Malay nationalist in order to command electoral ground, forcing him to walk the tightrope between Malay-Muslim sensibilities and minority non-Muslim concerns.

(5)
Which brings us to these church attacks, which are apparently a response to the recent Malaysian High Court ruling in favour of the Catholic Church's use of "Allah" to describe God in its publication, the Herald.

In what has no doubt been an infuriating political manoeuvre against Umno, PAS has already come out in support of the High Court ruling. Who would have expected a hardline party to endorse this action?

The Umno-led government then probably thought it had an opportunity here to burnish its nationalistic credentials, so it suspended the ruling pending an appeal, on the flimsy excuse that the use of "Allah" in non-Muslim texts could potentially confuse the country's Muslims.

Unfortunately for Umno, it seems to have miscalculated its move this time. In the aftermath of these church attacks, PAS has once again emerged on the higher moral ground.

So, expect a lot of posturing in the days ahead as the Umno-led government tries desperately to mend fences in more ways than one. Whatever the outcome, remember this: It's all about politics, and religion is but one of the many means to an end.

[LynnieS]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Not that early. China is still loaning out the USDs they have stored due to its current volatility and depreciation in value. Once they have traded out all their USDs, they would be at a trade disadvantage due to the significantly lower value and exrate of the RMB.

Loaning out? You mean using these as collateral for repos? That's possible, yes, since it means not dumping the stuff and driving down the worth of their other holdings. At the end, though, these won't be worth too much, IMHO. Repaying (actual value + interest) these will take down a fair amount of the U.S.'s GDP, and the U.S. will need to issue more debt this year; you already have California looking to get cash, and other states may not be in good shape either. Incoming tax receipts for 2009 should be low, I would guess, and for states operating on a low-tax scheme, services there could be hit. Since you need dollars to buy U.S. debt, how much is there left once you take out the extra being "produced" from issuing new debt?

China is supposed to now be the biggest exporter than Germany, but who is buying their products also? The U.S. and the EU are still(?) its 2 biggest partners, but neither is in great shape at the moment. China's trade surplus dropped by US$100 billion for 2009 from 2008; of course, it's also buying a lot of oil and raw materials from places like Australia and Brazil, but whether that continues, who knows.

The RMB's external exchange rate is also tied to the USD (along with a few other countries' currencies), but is also managed to not have its worth up or down too much. Chinese exports should be very competitive as a result.

Egypt tombs suggest pyramids not built by slaves

CAIRO (Reuters) – New tombs found in Giza support the view that the Great Pyramids were built by free workers and not slaves, as widely believed, Egypt's chief archaeologist said on Sunday.
[...]
"These tombs were built beside the king's pyramid, which indicates that these people were not by any means slaves," Zahi Hawass, the chief archaeologist heading the Egyptian excavation team, said in a statement.

"If they were slaves, they would not have been able to build their tombs beside their king's."

How many tombs were found? How many people were buried in each? Is there a chance that some of the tombs were for those who financially supported the building as well? To say that only freedmen built the pyramids based on this is a bit too early, IMHO. To build a project like the pyramids without machinery (or even magic ) takes a lot of manpower. Even with the rich soil of the area to support the leaving of men away from farms, slaves will still need to play a rather large part.

[Solace]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

could someone UK's crimminal justice system to me. To this outsider it seems like the UK system punish the victim and reward the perpetrator.

I didn't read the article like that at all. Since there's no rape mentioned, and it's stated the sex was consensual, I think this statement sums it up best:

What occurred was stupidity rather than malice.

He might have gotten off light but clearly the ruling followed whatever evidence presented to support the case that she was just as guilty as he was. For example -

Thomson was arrested by Royal Military Police after the girl produced the condom which she had kept as a trophy.

Stupidity can be harmful but in this case I think the Judge felt that sending him to jail for fourteen years wasn't the right punishment for something that didn't really hurt either of the people involved.

Besides, he's banned from instructing girls under 16, he can't contact her until she's 16, and he's under 12 month supervision under the custody of his father...so it's not like he's getting out of this unscathed. It also cost him his position in the military, as well as public shame. Compared to her anonymity and counseling, he's still facing a stiffer punishment.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Japanese youths come of age nationwide

Tokyo (Jan 11): Coming-of-age ceremonies (seijin no hi) were held nationwide today, a national holiday, to celebrate the accession to adulthood of those who have reached the age of 20.

Mr Daichi Onishi, a 20-year-old student at Ryukoku University, attended a ceremony in Kobe, which marks the 15th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake this month. Referring to his generation of adults as the youngest to "remember the disaster", Mr Onishi — who lost a 90-year-old great-grandmother in the quake — said in an address to the ceremony: "I want to hand down my experiences to later generations."

In Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, a ceremony was held at Tokyo Disneyland, with Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters congratulating some 1,100 young people on their official arrival to adulthood. "I moved here (to Urayasu) as I wanted to attend the Disneyland ceremony," said Ms Shoko Katsuyama, 20. "It's great that Mickey Mouse helped to celebrate the memorial day."

It was the ninth Disneyland ceremony by the municipality, in which 70 per cent of its citizens who have newly reached adulthood took part. According to the International Affairs and Communications Ministry, around 1.27 million people turned 20 last year, slipping below 1.3 million for the first time since 1968, when the survey started.

- KYODO NEWS

[Haruka_Kitten]

Code red chaos as states begin to burn

It's that time of year again. When we all start running from rural areas like headless chickens because the state has declared those areas Code Red (the worst fire warning issuable). Heat around in Melbourne has risen considerably, with more 40+ days than we would've had 10 years ago. Which is great, considering our air conditioner threw in the towel some time ago.

[Azuma Denton]

Arrested man 'not Hong Kong acid attacker'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8451509.stm


Hmm, Acid Attack on Subway in Hongkong still happened nowadays??


EDIT:
From my country's neighbor (in addition of Saintess Heart's news)
Malaysia church attacks continue in use of 'Allah' row
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8451630.stm


Hmm, quite radical...
In my country, last month, a church was sealed off (forced to seal off exactly) because some locals thinks that the church is noisy...

[FateAnomaly]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Japanese youths come of age nationwide

I find it a bit ironic that coming of age ceremony involves disneyland.

[Ascaloth]

Originally Posted by FateAnomaly

I find it a bit ironic that coming of age ceremony involves disneyland.

What the hell are you talking about? Disneyland is very much a part of adult life for some people, as this video will attest.

[AnimeFan188]

Multiple Anime Expo Staffers Resign in Board Dispute

See:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...-board-dispute

What effect (if any) will that have on AX'2010?

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by FateAnomaly

I find it a bit ironic that coming of age ceremony involves disneyland.

Seconded. Disneyland isn't a symbol of adulthood. It's the largest man-trap ever set up by a mouse.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Japan may restrict surname options for kids

Tokyo (Jan 12): A Bill to be submitted by the Justice Ministry to an upcoming Diet session to revise the Civil Code will require married couples who have chosen to use separate surnames to ensure that their children use either their mother's or father's surname, according to a draft of the Bill obtained by the Yomiuri Shimbun.

The Bill also will raise the legal age of consent to marriage for girls from 16 to 18*.

Justice Minister Keiko Chiba has been an advocate of a system that would allow women to retain their maiden names after marriage and played a leading role in the submission of the Democratic Party of Japan's past Bills on this issue.

But political observers say she changed her stance because of criticism that separate names for children would dissolve family unity.

- YOMIURI SHIMBUN

* shared surnames aside, the risk of getting involved with jailbait in Japan may soon grow... oh noes!

[LynnieS]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Japan may restrict surname options for kids

* shared surnames aside, the risk of getting involved with jailbait in Japan may soon grow... oh noes!

The legal age of marriage for guys in Japan is already 18, so this change just makes both equal. (Edit: Of course, reading the article also says this... )

[Haruka_Kitten]

Originally Posted by Yoko Takeo

Seconded. Disneyland isn't a symbol of adulthood. It's the largest man-trap ever set up by a mouse.

He's right. We visit Disneyland not because we like it but because it's there, in plain sight, on the map, and if you have kids it's like being in a large Shopping Centre or Supermarket: "Daddy, I want..."

[Xellos-_^]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americ...ing/index.html

A lawyer who left a videotape saying Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom would be responsible if anything happened to him masterminded his own death last year, a special United Nations commission said Tuesday after an eight-month investigation.

what a moron.

[iLney]

Originally Posted by LynnieS

The legal age of marriage for guys in Japan is already 18, so this change just makes both equal. (Edit: Of course, reading the article also says this... )

Meh... just lower the latter to 16.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Japan may restrict surname options for kids

Is this a law in search of a problem? What surnames do the children of Japanese parents with different surnames use now? If Shinohara-san and Ikezawa-san marry, would their children have surnames like Hamada?

Hyphenated surnames became popular in the States as women entered the professional ranks and married later. Is this law designed to rule out the equivalent of hyphenated names? Is there even an equivalent in a language based on graphical characters?

[Autumn Demon]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Is this a law in search of a problem? What surnames do the children of Japanese parents with different surnames use now? If Shinohara-san and Ikezawa-san marry, would their children have surnames like Hamada?

Hyphenated surnames became popular in the States as women entered the professional ranks and married later. Is this law designed to rule out the equivalent of hyphenated names? Is there even an equivalent in a language based on graphical characters?

My understanding of it is currently wives must take the surname of their husband and children must take the surname of their father. Opposite of "restricting" surname options, the new law would allow children to take the surname of their mother (and for wives to keep their surname name).

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Internat...3631261932563/

[LynnieS]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Is this a law in search of a problem? What surnames do the children of Japanese parents with different surnames use now? If Shinohara-san and Ikezawa-san marry, would their children have surnames like Hamada?

Hmm, that may be possible, yes. For inheritance within old Japanese families, the heir may need to change his surname as a result in order to take on the responsibility of continuing the that side of the family. This can happen in other countries, though, so it's not unique to Japan. I'm guessing that this law change has to do with inheritance and the family registry rules and regulations.

If you are asking if the parents can arbitrarily give their child a totally different surname, that is not possible.

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Hyphenated surnames became popular in the States as women entered the professional ranks and married later. Is this law designed to rule out the equivalent of hyphenated names? Is there even an equivalent in a language based on graphical characters?

Good question. Never heard of or seen hyphenated names in these languages in the past.

[npcomplete]

Google To Cease Censorship in China, Might Close Google.cn
(source: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/...-to-china.html )

In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google.
...
First, this attack was not just on Google. As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses--including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors--have been similarly targeted.
...
Second, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective.
...
Third, as part of this investigation but independent of the attack on Google, we have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties
...
These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered--combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web--have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.

edit:
latest from http://wikileaks.org/ via http://twitter.com/wikileaks

- Should be noted that Google keeps secret how many user's records are disclosed to US intelligence, others.

- China has been quietly asking for the same access to google logfiles as US intelligence for 2-3 years now.

- Gossip from within google.cn is Shanghai office used as CN gov attack stage in US source code network.

- gossip inside google China is gov hackers found infiltrating google source code repository; gmail attacks an old issue.

if true, I wonder what the source repo attack implies. Planting modified code?

edit:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...rship-firewall

The censorship of Google.cn is already being rolled back and internet users in China are gleefully testing it by searching for "sensitive" words such as "1989 Tiananmen Square". There will certainly be some kind of reaction from the government today, possibly shutting down Google's local servers.

maybe locals can comment? (btw I had no idea sites like facebook and youtube, etc were blocked)