Knowledge Jihad

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I woke up this morning with a voice in the back of my head telling me hold on, only two more weeks of puasa. As i bent over to pick up the NSTP, my lower back popped. Ouch. Perhaps last night I slept in a strange position causing stress on my lower back. As I slowly limped back into the house, I noticed what caused my back pain. The NSTP suddenly put on about 2.5kg. This during fasting month mind you.

Have you noticed how many lines of text are in these special editions, supplements, whatever you want to call them? Almost none. In fact, it's not a special edition of stories, columns or interviews. It is a special edition of advertisers. And just to make sure that those companies who spent money get their due credit and ass kissing points, an advertising directory was put into the back.

Arafat Leadership Over?

Via CNN, Arafat may have leukemia. Something his right hand men vehemently denied at first. Whatever it is, it seems that Arafat's leadership is coming to an end. Considering the Israeli Government considered him irrelevant and would not negotiate with him, we'll see if the situation changes with a new leader. As the Israelis are infamous for MOVING THE GOALPOSTS, I won't hold my breath.

UPDATE: According to a live press conference by the PLO Spokeswoman, doctors have ruled out Leukemia. Additionally, she says that Arafat's condition has improved dramatically.

Detroit News Endorses

NONE OF THE ABOVE. While Jeff Ooi and others keep track of who's backing whom, the Detroit News backs no one. Read the official no endorsement here. Now that's bold.

Proton-VW Partnership

For the past couple of days, the Malaysian Press took out the bugles dusted them off and proclaimed, "Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Proton is on the road to recovery. They have established a strategic partnership with Volkswagen." Via NSTP, Proton gets to produce some VW models. Reading further you get the sense that this is nothing more than an opportunity for Proton to assemble and distribute SOME Volkswagen models. Could this be two desperate companies holding on to each other for dear life? Via Bloomberg, VW reports 7th quarterly drop in profit. Is this the best saviour Proton could come up with? Probably, considering Proton's mandate that they must have control. Imagine your friend encountering some problems. He asks you for help and you oblige. He then gives you a list of mandates that you must adhere to while you are helping him. Make sense? It does in M'sia.

Best Laksa? Australia?

Oh no he didn't! I know he didn't just say that Australians would soon be making better Laksa than the Malay Peninsular! Read the post. See the TWO blasphemous statements. #1. That Australians could make a comparable Laksa and #2. That Singapore's Laksa compares to Malaysia's. Maybe their Chicken Rice but not their Laksa. Please. Hell hath no fury like a fasting man's stomach.

PS....I know that he meant Malaysian and Singaporean Australians making Laksa. It's still not the same.

Oil keeps climbing

As the oil price keeps climbing, the usual excuses come out. War in Iraq, Hurricanes in the Gulf, Strike in Nigeria, etc. Look folks, these are all excuses that cover up the real problem. There is more demand than there is supply. I'm quite bearish on the prospect of having enough oil when my daughter becomes a mother.
Meanwhile, we see reports of various firms striking oil off of East M'sia. All fine and good but please let me know when this oil comes online. Just because you find it doesn't mean you can get it, process it, etc. for cheap. For a real downer, see this.

Dawn of New Era in Indonesia?

SBY, the first directly elected presiden of Indonesia, is forming his cabinet. All of the action at Laksamana. A quick look around the blogosphere shows that most are waiting to see more action than talk before proclaiming a new era in Indonesia.
I've been thinking. Why do M'sians look down on Indons so much? Is it because the only Indons they know are construction workers or maids? For example, I was playing golf with my cousin-in-law (Malay) and we caught up with the flight in front. I asked if he would like to join them (making our play faster). He declined. All he could muster was murmuring Indon under his breath.
If I were M'sian, I wouldn't look down on Indons. I would thank God that every leader since Sukarno has been corrupt or inept. Think about it. If and when, Indonesia comes out of it's slumber, Bye Bye M'sia. They have unlimited natural resources and cheap labor. If they got their act together, they could rival China and India.

Eating and Ramadhan

Look around you. Everywhere. Ramadhan Buffets. I went to my work's Buka Puasa last night. It was at the Mutiara Hotel (Old KL Hilton). Very nice but I stuffed myself until I was sick. We all did. Why? That's not what Ramadhan and self control is about is it? Actually, while lying on my bed deciding if I should make a run for the toilet, I decided that what I did was sinful. From now on, I'm changing my habits. I'm only eating a small meal (ikan, nasi, sayur and maybe putu piring every once in a while) at iftar. For sahoor, i will take dates and water. It's time to get back to what Ramadhan really means.

Idlan wonders why HER (some stupid mat salleh put his instead of her) stomach is so demanding POST-Ramadhan.

Aiz is giving a day by day rundown of Ramadhan. It looks like he ate too much also. What is it about pigging out and feeling sick then suddenly getting spirituality?

Coup in Myanmar?

Via bolehtalk, there are internet rumours about the Myanmar PM being arrested. Thailand PM adds fuel to the fire.

UPDATE: Japan is trying to confirm (Japan Today)

UPDATE: CNN reports that the Myanmar PM is under house arrest.

Upon first hearing the news, I was happy thinking that a new more democratic regime was needed. However, it seems that this is an internal power struggle. Same song, different day until I hear otherwise.

Lots of News. In Reflective Mood.

Sorry it's been so long. During Ramadhan, I always need a couple of days to get used to fasting. There's a lot of news out there.

Samy Vellu may finally be on the hotseat. This is the first time I've seen the man I like to call, BULLETPROOF, taking heavy criticism.

Sharifah Aini may be faking a criminal report. There are plenty of reasons why Sharifah's attackers weren't captured on CCTV. It is however, ironic that this comes after the rumor (later found out to be false) that she was sending cruel messages to Siti Nurhaliza.

Jeff Ooi never did say whether he squealed on Anwar or not. As much as I like the Malaysian Ralph Nader, if he did turn Anwar's information over, he's a hypocrite.