News?

I got this quote from my iGoogle page today.

People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news.
A. J. Liebling (1904 - 1963)

There are also many people who fight tooth and nails to defend the news they "discovered" because to them it's a matter of pride. I am very clever. I found it first. What do you mean it's not true? Be quiet. I will not have a young punk ruin my day.

Fortunately, many of my sisters (it seems men don't like to spread grandmother's stories, perhaps that's why they are not called grandfather's stories) have more sense than that. Most of them upon checking out the evidences and resources are willing to retract the alarming news they shared.

At the grand scheme of things, many of these things matter not anymore. But we Christians claim to have the truth. So, we cannot be take it easy when we quote such and such as true and demand others to take the necessary actions.

Susan Tang wrote a book called the Demand of Love. I say there is also a Demand of Truth. Let's check within ourselves to see are we worthy of the truth that has been given to us once and for all. Are we contending for the truth? Are we confusing truth with fiction? Perhaps in the process of it all, we become as confused as those that are confused by us.

Make no mistake about it. Truth is absolute. There is only one truth. Perception is NOT truth no matter many people believe it to be so.

The next time I received a mail about an urgent plea for me to do something 'if I love Jesus' and I find out it's a hoax, I will still do the same thing, i.e.

1. List the resources
2. Urge the sender to verify before sharing
3. Let her (I don't remember if I ever did it for a he) decide whether she wanted to fix the problem / undo the damage
4. Tell her I think a Christian has a responsibility to remain credible in case we need to share the Gospel (we do NEED to share the Gospel, contrary to popular belief)

As for #3, in my younger days, I once thought to save time, I'd Reply to All with my evidences. The original sender was furious that her mistakes was pointed out without mercy. She complained to all the leaders in the church that I didn't give her face. She stop short of telling me I could not do that to a wife of an important person in the church.

I know don't do that not because I am afraid of such response. I believe one must be responsible for one's actions. You reap, you sow. You caused a problem, you fix it.

Ron said it was George Bush who said Trust and Verify. I found out that Hawk Girl said the same thing in episode 5.13 (season 5, episode 13) of Justice League Unlimited called Destroyer. The episode concluded with this quote.

"Trust half of what you see and none of what you hear."

I'll end a pair of paradoxical quotes from Fox Mulder (another X-Files movie is coming! Are you X-philes ready?)

Trust no one.
I want to believe.

2,200,000 % Inflation Rate

Read this news article from the Associated Press.

What does a 2,200,000 % inflation rate mean? Let me pick up some points to share.

A loaf of bread there is 100 billion Zimbabwean Dollar (that is RM 17.39). This is in a country where unskilled workers earn ZWD 200 billion a month. In other words, for those who are fortunate to get work, they can get 2 loaves of bread a month.

80% are without jobs.

Bus fare could be higher than one month's salary, so people walk to work and sell vegetables in a vain attempt to make ends meet.

The sham of a goverment is printing currency notes of bigger denominations.

Wait till some smart and bright leaders use that as a benchmark to claim their country is doing alright. Before they do that, it will do them well to find out what caused the problem.

Navy SEAL gave his life for his comrades

Navy SEAL paid ultimate price to save buddies

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- When a grenade bounced off his chest and fell to the floor near his fellow troops, Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor acted out of instinct.

President Bush awards the parents of Michael Monsoor a posthumous Medal of Honor.

His actions didn't stem from a lack of training. His instant reaction was to protect his comrades.

The Navy says he committed a selfless act: jumping on the grenade and taking the full force of the blast.

President Bush presented Monsoor's parents with a posthumous Medal of Honor for their son at an emotional White House ceremony on Tuesday.

Bush quoted one of the SEALS saved by Mansoor as saying, "Mikey looked death in the face that day and said, 'You cannot take my brothers. I will go in their stead.'"

Monsoor was one of the U.S. military's most highly trained combatants, a Navy SEAL. He's the first SEAL to receive the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq.

On September 29, 2006, Monsoor was part of a major clearing and isolating operation to root out enemy fighters holding parts of Ramadi, the Sunni insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad.

Monsoor was in a sniper position on a rooftop along with two other SEALs when a grenade flew into his location from out of nowhere. It bounced off his chest and landed in an area where it probably would have killed or seriously wounded all three of them.

Don't Miss

• U.S. Navy: Tribute and biography of Monsoor

Monsoor was in a position to escape before the explosion but instead leapt on the grenade.

"He recognized immediately the threat, yelled 'grenade' and due to the fact that two other SEAL snipers, our brothers, could not possibly escape the blast, he chose to smother it with his body, absorbed the impact and lost his life in the process," said Lt. Cmdr. Seth Stone, Mansoor's platoon commander.

The blast did not kill him right away; he hung on for 30 minutes. His two comrades were wounded but survived the shrapnel that ripped through their bodies.

Stone said: "He essentially saved [the] Navy SEALS on the rooftop and three Iraqi soldiers who were there."

Until this month, when the White House announced that Monsoor would receive the Medal of Honor posthumously, few people knew of his story.

Born in 1981 in Long Beach, California, Monsoor excelled as a high school athlete. He joined the Navy before the September 11 attacks.

In 2004, Monsoor graduated from the basic SEAL training course as one of the top members of his class. By March 2005, he had completed his training and was assigned to SEAL Team 3, Delta Platoon.

In April 2006, that unit deployed to Iraq's troubled and violent western provincial capital of Ramadi. Monsoor would not return home alive.

His five-month stay in Ramadi was marked by constant attacks. As a heavy machine gunner, Monsoor had to stay behind the point man on foot patrols and protect the unit from attacks.

Delta Platoon was involved in attacks on 75 percent of its missions in a highly contested part of Ramadi called the Ma'laab district, according to the Navy.

On a patrol less than a month after arriving in Iraq, Monsoor showed some of his selfless instinct when gunfire hit a fellow SEAL in the leg.

Monsoor "ran out into the street with another SEAL, shot cover fire and dragged his comrade to safety while enemy bullets kicked up the concrete at their feet," according to Navy documents.

He received the Silver Star, the third highest award for valor in combat.

His unit continued to endure the constant barrage of attacks and some 35 firefights with insurgent forces over the scorching Iraqi summer.

Monsoor also was saddled with carrying heavy radio equipment on his back as the "SEAL communicator" who called in tank and other support during firefights.

He received the Bronze Star for his work as an adviser for Iraqi troops.

"His leadership, guidance and decisive actions during 11 different combat operations saved the lives of his teammates, other [U.S.-led] coalition forces and Iraqi army soldiers," according to Navy documents.

But it was his instinct on his last operation on that Ramadi roof that solidified Monsoor's standing as a hero.

No God in European Union

Read this and tell me what you think.

Can a person's personal conviction be separated from his /her job or vocation? If so, where do we draw the line?

"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven." Mathew 10:32

"But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. " Luke 12:9

One Among Many Martyrs

Moving Funeral for Murdered Devout Christian Charity Worker

Mourners have packed a country church in the Burnley area to pay their respects to a young British charity worker found bludgeoned to death in India last November.
by Maria Mackay

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2007, 8:52 (GMT)Mourners have packed a country church in the Burnley area to pay their respects to a young British charity worker found bludgeoned to death in India last November.

The body of devout Christian Michael Blakey, 23, was discovered in a churchyard in Dharamsala in the Himalayas of northern India, where he had been working for seven months for the charity Tong-Len. He had been bludgeoned to death.

Family and friends filled St John the Evangelist Church in Blakey’s home village of Worsthorne near Burnley where they heard moving testimonies of the compassionate and idealistic nature of the young man who had gone abroad to help the poor.

Mourners at the moving funeral service also heard him described as a genuinely remarkable young man.

Mr Blakey's parents, Paul Blakey and Mary Whitford, looked on close to tears as Anna Owen, the director of the charity, gave a eulogy, reports The Wharf.

Mrs Owen said Michael had "more essential goodness than any young man I have ever met" and was "good to the core of his being", who "not only cared for the poor, but acted upon it”.

Many of Mr Blakey's friends from Swansea, where he attended university and lived before he went to India, were in tears at the service.

An outstanding student, he was awarded a first class honours degree in development studies after studying at Swansea.

Andrew Mews said his cousin Michael had a, "thirst for life" and was passionate about his beliefs.

Blakey’s killer has not yet been caught.

China & Russia Veto UN Security Council Resolution on Burma

Read the original post here.

A resolution on Burma proposed by the United States and supported by the United Kingdom has been vetoed on Friday 12 January by China and Russia. South Africa also voted against the resolution, explains Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

The resolution, which called on the military regime in Burma to cease its military attacks on civilians in the ethnic minority regions, to end the violations of human rights and to open up the country to international humanitarian organisations, won the support of the majority of members of the Security Council but was defeated by China and Russia.
It urged the regime, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), to release all political prisoners and begin “substantive political dialogue” with pro-democracy and ethnic groups, leading to a “genuine democratic transition”.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has campaigned actively for a UN Security Council resolution on Burma following the publication in 2005 of Threat to the Peace: A Call for the UN Security Council to Act in Burma, a report commissioned by former Czech President Vaclav Havel and Nobel Laureate and former Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu.
The report, published by international law firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, argued that Burma fulfils all the major criteria for UN Security Council action.

Mervyn Thomas, CSW’s Chief Executive, said: “We are deeply disappointed that China and Russia used their veto against such a moderate and constructive resolution. We are astonished that South Africa, given its own struggle against apartheid, voted against the resolution. It has taken much hard work from organisations like CSW to get the issue of Burma onto the Security Council’s agenda and we will work to ensure it remains there.

“The gross violations of human rights, including violations of religious freedom, combined with the crisis of HIV/AIDS, drug trafficking and refugee outflows should make Burma a matter of serious concern to the international community.”

CSW will be releasing a report – ‘Carrying the Cross: The military regime’s campaign of restriction, discrimination and persecution against Christians in Burma’ – on 23 January, which will call for the continued involvement of the Security Council in Burma.

CSW will also be hosting a delegation of Chin and Kachin ethnic groups from Burma. This delegation will be visiting London, Brussels, Berlin and Washington, DC between 17 January and 15 February.

England, thy name is Islamic nation

I think I have shared that the late Derek Prince once predicted that England will become an Islamic country.

Read the following article for find out the progress.

A spokesperson from the UK Islamic Mission declared that “The hero of Islam is the one who separated his head from his shoulders.”

Another speaker said Muslims cannot accept the rule of non-Muslims. “You cannot accept the rule of the kaffir,” Dr Ijaz Mian tells a meeting held within the mosque. “We have to rule ourselves and we have to rule the others.”

Fortunately, not all muslims are like that. UKIM when contacted expressed that they are concerned about this and has instructed the mosques not to invite such extremists and fundamental speakers.

What are you going to do about it, England?

The Sexual Orientation Regulations and what it means to you

Read this from Christianity Today.

I have it at the bottom.

The late Derek Prince predicted England will be come a Muslim nation. The SOR basically says no one can say homosexual is wrong. If they decide so, they can come to your church for their 'wedding' and you cannot say no. This is just the first of many to come. Beware. Open our eyes and see what's happening. It's no longer just the spiritual realm. It right before our very eyes.

Government Must Protect Right of Christians to Live by Faith
The Sexual Orientation Regulations were upheld by the House of Lords this week and many Christians have voiced their alarm at what affect their coming into being will have on their freedom to live according to their faith.

by Maria Mackay
Posted: Thursday, January 11, 2007, 11:23 (GMT)

The Sexual Orientation Regulations were upheld by the House of Lords this week and many Christians have voiced their alarm at what affect their coming into being will have on their freedom to live according to their faith.

Christian groups have warned that Christian printers will not be allowed to refuse to print homosexual material, while Christian bed and breakfast owners will be forced to accommodate homosexual couples; the Church of England, meanwhile, is concerned that its priests may be sued if they do not perform blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples. Pastors, largely in the black church community, have vowed they would rather go to jail than be compelled to let out their properties to pro-gay groups.

If Christians think these are simply worst case scenarios, they should at the very least be concerned by the ill-boding that such legislation suggests for Christians in the public sphere. Christians are undoubtedly facing tougher times and the public sphere is a place where new checks and balances are making the job of being Christian (as opposed to merely identifying oneself as Christian) increasingly difficult.

The cases in point are numerous: Exeter University’s Evangelical Christian Union is currently embroiled in a court battle with the university’s guild after the latter stripped the ECU of its membership on the basis that it was too exclusive; we have just passed through yet another Christmas season during which Christians have had to fight for the right to celebrate their own festival on their own terms; one local council in London has even threatened to withdraw funds from a Polish family centre if it changes its name to include the word ‘Christian’.

But the line between public and private for people of faith, Christian or otherwise, cannot be so simply demarcated as some behind the pro-secularist agenda would like to have it. For Christians, it is simply impossible to believe, think, feel, breathe and practise one thing behind the closed doors of the church or home only to leave all that behind when they hit the public square. A Christian is a Christian, whether in public or in private.

This is where it may help to remind those driving the secularist/PC agenda of what faith actually is. Faith does not simply mean a belief that God exists. Faith is not simply a word. It is a life. Faith in God is faith in the Bible, and any faith in that requires simultaneously that His Word is lived by. Faith may start in the heart but it ends in the strivings of the hands and feet and the utterances of the mouth. In other words, it ends in actions.

In short, living according to one’s faith implies a great deal of careful navigation through the throngs of daily life but it is this navigation that the government must protect. Implicit in Christian living is the necessity for Christians to live according to their consciences, as shaped by the Bible.

We live in an age of equal rights and of course everyone has the right against unfair subjection to discrimination or violence. But the current climate makes it not unjustified to feel that some rights are regarded as more equal than others. The battle today seems not to be over whether those rights exist but over who has the greater right to have them realised, or which right will prove the first among equals.

The government must make sure that the law is at work to promote all rights with equal attentiveness and that a careful balance is struck between the right of those seeking to live by a particular sexual orientation - or otherwise - and those seeking to live according to their faith and conscience.

In another news story, an elderly couple was awarded ten thousand pounds after a year of harrassment following their desire to put Christian literature alongside homosexual leaflets.

Now you see, the law is there to protect the homosexuals. But Christianity? We will hunt you down. That's essentially what the police in UK is telling us.

Derek Prince has predicted that England will become a Muslim country. Perhaps he is right on something. The British do want God to be out of the way as much as the Americans.

The news article follows.

A Christian couple awarded £10,000 after being questioned by police about their views on homosexuality have spoken of their victory.

Helen and Joe Roberts, of Fleetwood, Lancashire, were questioned after they tried to display Christian literature next to gay rights leaflets.

Retired carpenter Mr Roberts, 74, said he and his wife were absolutely elated about the out-of-court settlement.

The pair had been quizzed for more than an hour by police.

Mr Roberts claimed the incident last December had breached their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion.

The couple had asked for Christian literature to be displayed alongside gay rights' literature and "were astonished" when Wyre Borough Council refused.

During a call to the council to complain Mrs Roberts expressed her religious belief that homosexual practice was morally wrong.

That led to the council informing the police, who then sent two officers to the couple's home to interrogate them on their views.

'Stressful year'
Mr Roberts said: "It has been a long and stressful year, but we are glad we stuck by our principles.

"This is a great victory for Christianity, for civil liberties and for anyone who wants to express an opinion which may go against what the political correctness brigade think.

"It is ludicrous, but at least common sense has prevailed and the council and police have eaten a bit of humble pie.


"This was never about money. It was about principles."

Mr and Mrs Roberts are to donate the £10,000 settlement to the Christian Institute, which supported them during their fight.

A trial date had been set for January, but in a joint statement, the police and council said they had come to an agreement regarding the claim and said they had apologised to the couple for "the way the incident was handled".

They also said policies had been revised to protect all parties.

Jesus as king of a country? You must be kidding

WARSAW, Poland — Lawmakers have drawn up a resolution naming Jesus Christ as the honorary king of Poland, but have failed to win support from the country's powerful Roman Catholic church.

Lawmakers for the ruling Law and Justice party and League of Polish Families as well as the opposition Peasants Party back the resolution, said Szymon Ruman, spokesman for parliamentary speaker Marek Jurek.

However, the proposal currently has the support of only 46 members in the 460-seat parliament, well short of the necessary 231 votes to pass. Ruman said the resolution would likely be voted on sometime after Jan. 1.

Backing from the church in this strongly Catholic country would be crucial for building support for the proposal, but on Wednesday several bishops criticized it, and said parliament should stay out of religious affairs.

"Let parliament deal with passing better laws that we need," Gdansk Archbishop Tadeusz Goclowski said.

"This kind of action, although it may stem from good will, sounds a bit like propaganda," said bishop Tadeusz Pieronk.

Read the news here.

Let's see. Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Fine. Jesus is the king of a country, even an honorary one? No way. That's too much competition and threat for the pope. It goes to show how man compartmentalize their lives. Is Jesus the King of your life? Or is He locked up in a small room in your house, let our only when you need something from Him? Who's the Master here?

Christian dynasty loses rising star

Original post here.

November 23, 2006

BEIRUT: Assassinated cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel was a rising star in one of Lebanon's leading political dynasties.

Gemayel's grandfather, Pierre, founded the Falange party, at one time the leading Christian political body. His uncle, Bashir, was assassinated in a bomb blast in September 1982, days before being sworn in as president.

Speaking to reporters outside the hospital, a shocked Amin Gemayel, Pierre's father and former Lebanese president, called on supporters not to react to the killing with violence.
"I would like to ask those who loved Pierre to preserve the cause. We don't want to do anything instinctively," he said. "He was serving the cause and he died for Lebanon, for freedom and humanity and we should not tarnish his memory by any irresponsible acts."

The Falangists fielded the largest Christian militia during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war between Christians and Muslims, allying themselves first with Syria, and then with Israel during that country's invasion and occupation of the country.

The Gemayel family has been enmeshed in the past three decades of bloodshed between Lebanon's divided communities.

A 1975 assassination attempt against Mr Gemayel's grandfather prompted the Falangists to attack a busload of Palestinian refugees in a slaughter that sparked a 15-year sectarian war.
After Bashir Gemayel was killed in 1982, militiamen stormed Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut, killing hundreds of civilians.

Several years earlier, an 18-month-old daughter of Bashir was killed in an attack targeting him. Two nephews of Bashir and Amin were also killed during fighting in the 1980s.
The younger Pierre Gemayel was elected to parliament in 2000, and again in the 2005 elections that brought an anti-Syrian majority to the legislature.

AP

Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin dies at 44

In a piece of news that will shock and grieve his many fans around the world, Steve Irwin, better known as the Crocodile Hunter (although he'd never hurt any crocodiles) dies in an accident during shooting.

A stringray barb "was driven like a bayonet" into Steve's body. He was pronounced dead on the scene. He is survived by his wife, Terri, daughter Bindi Sue (named after a crocodile from Babinda, and Irwin's dog, Sue) and and son Bob.

You can read the full article here.

Our prayers are with the family.

WWE / ECW Superstart Kurt Angle's letter on his retirement / sabbatical

Kurt Angle one of the best known professional wrestler is retiring. Here's what he said about it.

To all my respective fans in WWE/ECW, The letter you are about to read is not from WWE, nor from my agent, but from me- Kurt Angle…to my all fans.

This is my personal ‘Thank You’ straight from my heart, to all my fans for being here with me and providing me with the most honorable privilege to perform and entertain for you. Thank you for tuning into your TVs weekly, for visiting me at hundreds of house show chanting ‘You Suck’ (I love that phrase), to every single good, bad or indifferent e-mail I’ve received over the past 6 years and continue to receive daily. Thank you for being there and making my life truly blessed.

When I came to WWE, many fans had doubts that an Olympic Gold Medalist in Amateur Wrestling could turn and master the art of Sports Entertainment. To my humble surprise, God graciously granted me the gift to make this exciting transition in my life. Coming into the WWE, I had one goal in mind...to be the VERY BEST! Many say I am; some may say I'm not. But I want you to know with over six solid years of non-stop wrestling action under my belt from all the shows to the world tours...I treated every single match as if it were my last!

I’ve never known a time in my life from training, competition or entertainment that I have not tried to give over 100%. I honestly do not know of any other way to wrestle or perform, and I have always wanted to give YOU, the fans, what I would expect to see. From the entertainment standpoint, (good guy or bad guy), it’s been truly exciting, but I know in my heart that I have not reached my peak. Critics have compared me to very honorable wrestlers like Rick Flair, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker, all of whom I value and truly respect. But there is one BIG difference between us. I am by far the most aggressive and intense athlete of all on the mat. When I step into the ring, I treat it as real, it feels real and then I play it like a real shoot fight.

As an amateur wrestler for 23 years and a pro for 6, unfortunately over the past 4 years I have suffered many injuries. I broke my neck twice and had two major neck surgeries. I’ve fractured my ribs, hip, tailbone, fingers and toes while also tearing almost every major muscle at least one time or another. Injuries have always been a natural part of the business and my life, but where I have failed is not taking the time off to recover. When I’m off the mental stress, sitting back becomes worse than the physical pain. Something tells my inner soul to go back regardless of the condition. The funny thing is, this obsession is what the industry loves, but this obsession can also be my destruction.

Week after week, day after day, 250 days a year on the road can be a living hell for anyone, especially when you’re in daily pain for months on end. It was at home when I began to realize how severe the problems were- when a simple task like taking out the garbage is like a full workout and I needed Motrin in order to get up and do it.

It’s time to rest! After 6 long years, I looked into my wife’s eyes and finally saw that she, too, was severely stressed and worn out due to my livelihood that she had to endure. My 3-year old daughter Kyra basically became my nurse, thinking she had to put ice packs or heating pads on my neck, back and legs because she could see the pain her daddy was in.

At this point, something happened that made me realize that wrestling wasn't the most important thing in my life. I sat down with my wife Karen, who had tears in her eyes. I could see in her face how concerned she was for me. She said, “I love you. I didn't marry you because you were a WWE Superstar. I married you before you ever joined them. Kurt, I’m so worried that if you continue going at this pace, something bad is really going to happen and I don't want Kyra and Kody (our unborn son) to grow up without their father.”

I did take this all to heart, but then, as usual, a couple of days later, I went back on the road, wanting to electrify my new ECW fans. My last event was at the Westchester Arena in White Plains, New York. The show was sold out. The main event was me against RVD. I had a great match against RVD as the fans were cheering for both of us. The more we wrestled (Rob and I wrestle more of a realistic shoot style), the more I wanted to give them. Ten minutes into the match, I severely pulled my groin. Most wrestlers would have quit right on the spot. But the fans were chanting louder and louder "THIS MATCH RULES!" continuously, so I kept going. Compensating for my groin injury, I pulled my lower abdominal muscle off my pelvic bone. Now, I was in trouble, but I looked up at the fans and they were screaming louder than ever.

So Rob and I startedinto our finish, false finish after false finish, back and forth. But the one thing the fans noticed is that I was doing half of the match on one leg. That made it feel even more real for the fans. I can only thank God and the fans for keeping me going, as I was in so much pain. And at the end of the match, I had the opportunity to beat RVD. I set him up for the Angle Slam and Rob countered with a flying DDT. My hamstring blew out. The fans cheered and I could not move in the ring. As the agonizing pain grew greater, I could only look around. Every fan was on their feet giving me a standing ovation. And this was at a house show, not a PPV. My only regret was that I could not stand up and thank them all for it.

To the ones who love me, the ones who hated me and even the ones who loved to hate me- You were and are my inspiration. God was and is my strength and so is my family—my Mom, sister and brothers, my father (God rest his soul), my Manager Dave Hawk and most especially, my wife Karen, who went through hell during my career. She has never given up on me.
Fans, thank you all for the memories. It was quite a ride. I would not trade any of it for the world. As I sit here a bit teary eyed, I do want all of you to know, I will be fine. I will finally get to spend some real quality time with my family… time that is much, much overdue. My plan and goal is to become stronger mentally, physically and spiritually. I, Kurt Angle, will be back! That’s a promise. And that’s DAMN TRUE!

Vince, if you happen to read this, I want to again say thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are a great man!

When we get together, the next cup of coffee is on me. ; )

God Bless,
Kurt Angle

This is outrageous! An example of law being twisted

What has the world come to? The law is there to protect all. When it is played into the hands of inept people or worse, people with hidden agenda, then it is terrible.

Watch as sin and crime stand to gain more from the law.

Note: A yob a a thuggish young boy, a young ruffian or as some said, the antithesis of anything that is good.

Brave Grandma arrested after standing up for herself

By IAN DRURY, Daily Mail

After months of being taunted by a gang of yobs, grandmother Diane Bond finally stood up to them when she was abused while walking her pet dog. During a torrent of foul-mouthed abuse, the frail 64-year-old prodded the teenager ringleader gently in the stomach when he urged her to "Hit me, if you dare".

Moments later, the 5ft 1ins pensioner found herself flat on her back and nursing a broken arm after the 15-year-old boy, who was 7 inches taller, pushed her to the ground. But to add insult to injury, police officers arrested her for assaulting a child after his mother moaned he had been attacked.

Now Mrs Bond must report to a police station 30 miles from her home in Llandrindod Wells, Powys, Wales, at the end of the month to find out if she will be charged. Last night the retired lab technician spoke of her distress. "I am in shock and very, very teary," she said.

"I have never been in any trouble before. I just want to enjoy my evenings walking my dog in peace. I am being treated like a criminal because a gang of yobs have nothing better to do than pick on an old lady."

Residents of her quiet street have complained to the police and council for several months about youths causing anti-social behaviour. In the latest letter to Powys County Council in June, residents said they had suffered an "endless stream" of damage to property and cars, intimidation, vandalism, noise and rubbish being hurled into gardens by up to 30 youths aged 11 to 17.

Signed by 35 fed-up people, it added: "Collectively, we are sick and tired of the situation and our frustration is now close to boiling over."

Things finally came to a head when Mrs Bond, who has two children and five grandchildren, took her terrier Hettie for a walk on parkland near her home. She said a group of about 20 teenagers were loitering on the grass. Three others were standing on a path, deliberately blocking her way.

"As I approached they started shouting abuse at me," she said. "They were taunting me and crowding round me and I was quite frightened because they are big kids.

"After a while one of them, whose name is Billy, spread his arms out wide to show his stomach, and said, Come on, old lady, hit me, if you dare."

"I gave him three prods, almost like playful punches, not hard at all, and next thing I knew I was lying on the ground and I had broken my arm. One youth said I had been pushed.

"I went back home, shaking and crying."

Soon after, two police officers knocked on Mrs Bond's door and arrested her on suspicion of assaulting a minor. "It seemed the lad had told his mum what had happened and she had immediately lodged a complaint of assault," she said.

Mrs Bond, who lives alone, was cautioned and interviewed for nearly three hours by police officers before she was released on bail at about 1.30am.

She has now made a counter-allegation to the police of assault against the youth. But she added: "This sends out the message that if you stand up for yourself, if you try to take action to stop anti-social behaviour, you are likely to end up being arrested."

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Tony Blair said communities had to stand up to yobs in the fight against nuisance behaviour. Mrs Bond's neighbour Steve Simmons, who co-ordinates the Nelson Street - An End To Anti-Social Behaviour campaign group, said: "Diane is a reasonable law-abiding citizen and she has been treated like a criminal for standing up to yobs when the authorities would not.

"It is bewildering. The Government says communities should look after themselves and take a stance against anti-social behaviour. But when we do try to take action, what is the first thing that happens? The blame is put on us."

In May, grandmother Brenda Robinson, 66, of Bournemouth, spent a night in a police cell after being arrested for alleged assault when she gave a rowdy youth a "clip round the ear".

She acted after being abused, pushed and threatened with a plank of wood. Roger Williams, Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, said: "I would have expected the police to have acted slightly more proportionately than arresting Mrs Bond over this.

"It must have been a frightening situation for an elderly lady to be confronted by a gang of yobs, especially in an area with a history of anti-social behaviour, without the police compounding the problem."

Chief Inspector Steve Hughson, of Dyfed-Powys Police, said: "We are aware of the problems in Nelson Street and associated anti-social behaviour.

"Recent patrols in the area by the neighbourhood policing team have greatly reduced incidents of crime and anti social behaviour, to the extent that positive comments have been received by local residents. Therefore patrols will continue."

The force declined to comment on Mrs Bond's arrest.

He will lead us into the new era!

Read this blog.

I have it here in its entirety. What will we do without Senator Ted Stevens?

Thursday, 29 June 2006

Your Own Personal Internet

The Senate Commerce Committee deadlocked 11 to 11 on an amendment inserting some very basic net neutrality provisions into a moving telecommunications bill. The provisions didn't prohibit an ISP from handling VOIP faster than emails, but would have made it illegal to handle its own VOIP packets faster than a competitor's.

Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) explained why he voted against the amendment and gave an amazing primer on how the internet works.

There's one company now you can sign up and you can get a movie delivered to your house daily by delivery service. Okay. And currently it comes to your house, it gets put in the mail box when you get home and you change your order but you pay for that, right.

But this service isn't going to go through the interent and what you do is you just go to a place on the internet and you order your movie and guess what you can order ten of them delivered to you and the delivery charge is free.

Ten of them streaming across that internet and what happens to your own personal internet?

I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?

Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially.

So you want to talk about the consumer? Let's talk about you and me. We use this internet to communicate and we aren't using it for commercial purposes.

We aren't earning anything by going on that internet. Now I'm not saying you have to or you want to discrimnate against those people [...]

The regulatory approach is wrong. Your approach is regulatory in the sense that it says "No one can charge anyone for massively invading this world of the internet". No, I'm not finished. I want people to understand my position, I'm not going to take a lot of time. [?]

They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. And again, the internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a truck.

It's a series of tubes.

And if you don't understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and its going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material.

Now we have a separate Department of Defense internet now, did you know that?

Do you know why?

Because they have to have theirs delivered immediately. They can't afford getting delayed by other people.

[...]

Now I think these people are arguing whether they should be able to dump all that stuff on the internet ought to consider if they should develop a system themselves.

Maybe there is a place for a commercial net but it's not using what consumers use every day.

It's not using the messaging service that is essential to small businesses, to our operation of families.

The whole concept is that we should not go into this until someone shows that there is something that has been done that really is a viloation of net neutraility that hits you and me.

The full audio can be found here.

(Hat Tip: Art Brodsky)

What if civil engineers build bridges the way developers write codes?

Chief Security Officer Mary Ann Davidson has hit out at an industry in which "most software people are not trained to think in terms of safety, security and reliability." Instead, they are wedded to a culture of "patch, patch, patch," at a cost to businesses of $59 billion, she said.

"What if civil engineers built bridges the way developers write code?" she asked. "What would happen is that you would get the blue bridge of death appearing on your highway in the morning."

She was speaking in the WWW2006 Conference in Edinburg, Scotland. She also thought that software developers will never build a plane.

See the whole news article here.

Da Vinci Code

This is taken from MalaysianKini.

Jesus is the rock of our salvation. If we build our house on this rock, it will not be shaken.

Cartoon row and the ‘Da Vinci Code’

Ethos

Feb 15, 06 3:17pm

It is disheartening to see the closure of Sarawak Tribune over the offensive caricatures issue and it is even more disheartening to see last Friday's demonstration against Denmark. However, the only silver lining in the gloomy clouds is the fact that our Malaysian protestors are still able to maintain decorum, control their tempers and avoid any untoward incidents. Kudos to our Muslim friends.

If one could recall the book entitled Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, one would agree that the contents of the book is extremely damning to the entire Catholics faith. But do we see the Vatican coming up in arms against Dan Brown? No. In fact, riding on the popularity of Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown has been able to make his earlier books such as Angel & Demon, Digital Fortress and Total Deception instant million dollars bestsellers. Basking in fame, Dan Brown is certainly luckier than people like Salman Rushdie who had to flee for his life following the Ayatollah Khomeni's demand for his head for his book, Satanic Verses.

Personally, I believe if our faith is anchored upon the solid rock, the likes of Dan Brown and Salman Rushdie can ever shake it, let alone eliminate it. As a Christian, I do not condone the act of degrading other religions. However, all parties need to show certain degree of maturity and not further jeopardise the situation.

Those deplorable cartoons certainly portrayed Islam in a very bad light by linking the religion to terrorism and violence. However, we must remember that by reacting violently out of anger, the supposing falsehood of those cartoons has been affirmed.

Just cartoons

Qu called me and asked me about the cartoons. I didn't know what they were until I did a little digging.

You can find them in this blog, in all their glory.

This is the beginning of the post.

4000 terror attacks after 9/11, the world was still slumbering. But 12 innocent satirical drawings in a Danish newspaper, the kind of cartoons printed daily by the thousands in newspapers all over the world, have changed the geopolitical situation.

Tell me what you think.