Was the "Big Bang" God's Work?

I have always wondered why the Catholic Church felt threatened by science supposedly undermining religion. After all, how much simpler could it be than to say that science exists because God wants it to and then place God one step in front of anything that should be 'discovered'. So, in that sense I am wondering why the recent declaration by Pope Benedict XVI that God was responsible for the "Big Bang" is even news at all?

Yep, the "big bang" happened. But, nothing in the universe that God has created happens by chance. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that God is responsible for the big bang. Simply, what might look like chaos for most of us is in fact a well-thought out and planned act of God.

I will definitely sleep better tonight knowing this, particularly after I watch "The Big Bang Theory" on television. Will you?

Indonesian Actors & Actresses to be Drug Tested...

Actors and actresses are just like anyone else in the community, they have their demons to confront. Sometimes these demons are legal like alcohol sometimes they are illegal like recreational drugs and narcotics. Yet, until yesterday it seemed unlikely that Indonesian actors and actresses were going to be subjected to mandatory drug testing prior to being permitted to work in film or television.

It would be interesting to see a statistical analysis as to whether actors are any more susceptible to drug use than the rest of the Indonesian community. The reality is that a celebrity with a drug addiction or a celebrity caught in possession of drugs and looking at jail time is far more news worthy in terms of shifting papers and selling advertising than is a young kampung girl newly arrived in the big city. Maybe the reporting of celebrity-linked drug offenses serves to distort the seriousness of the problem.

According to the Chief Detective of the Jakarta Police, Anjan Pramuka Putra, the Indonesian Film Actors Guild (Parfi) has requested police assistance in conducting urine tests on actors. In some cases the results may indicate that the actor or actress tested has taken an illicit substance, but the reality is that acting is not a sport and it is unlikely that taking drugs is going to improve performance. In fact, a drug addiction is likely to impact negatively on the ability to work or maintain consistent performance.

For example, an actor or actress may take steroids in an attempt to "buff up" for a role, or to transform their appearance, and in so doing breach the prevailing laws and regulations. Yet, is the intent of the Parfi request to catch all those using any scheduled prescription, recreational or illegal drugs or is it just to catch those with addictions to drugs like shabu-shabu (crystal meth), marijuana, heroin, or ecstasy.

I wonder whether actors and actresses are going to be supportive of the Parfi request. Is it possible that there will be a mass exodus of Parfi members or some kind of actors strike in protest of this invasion of their privacy, particularly considering a urine sample can be tested for a whole lot more things than just to find those using drugs.

Should we be concerned that this is just the first step in mandatory random drug testing for everybody irrespective of who they are or what they do. For example, can prospective employers demand a candidate for a position at their company undertake a drug test as part of the interview process. Or, can the government demand a drug test to be taken before providing a government benefit or paying a tax return. The mind boggles at the possibilities.

Susan Boyle on "The View"...

You know you have made it when people start referring to you by the first couple of letters of your first and second names, and so it is with Susan Boyle or SuBo.

Unfortunately, for SuBo at least, someone forgot to tell her that The View is a live show and not pre-recorded. Therefore, if you do not hit your notes, then you do not hit your notes. There is simply none of this waving of the hands stuff and seeking to start again from scratch. SuBo that is not how live television works.

This little hiccup does not detract from her appeal. It was always a little quirky and out there anyways. What it does show people is that she is ever so human in the way she works and lives. And, that her voice is an exceptional gift no matter what the stage.

Oprah and a USD 68 Million Home in New Jersey...

I must confess, I have watched the Oprah Winfrey show more than a few times. I will probably continue to watch it every now and then, particularly now that she is honouring me by coming to my country, Australia, to do a few "live" shows. So, perhaps, I am guilty of contributing to her billion-dollar fortune and the possibility that she is going to buy a USD 68 million home in the Alpine Estates in New Jersey.

Oprah Winfrey has worked hard and she has worked hard for a long time to develop Harpo Productions and to make the money she has. I do not begrudge her her wealth, her fame or anything else that she has. I am wondering though, "why does she need to spend 68 million on a house with 19 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms spread out over 30,300 sq. ft of home?" After all, she has a partner, Stedman Graham, no kids and a few dogs, if I recall correctly. So, why does she need quite so much space? Is it just because it is there?

Even if her really, really, really good friend Gayle King was to move in and share some housing space, there are still more bedrooms than there are people.

Oh, if you are wondering the house also includes a carriage house, a library, a ballroom, a movie theater, sprawling English gardens, a salt-water pool, and a tennis court. As I said, a lot of space for a small family.

But, when it is all said and done, to each their own. Perhaps, if I had USD 68 million spare then I might be tempted to buy a little bigger than we probably need. And. let's face it, it is a pretty awesome looking spread that she is thinking of purchasing.

Conan O'Brien Moves to TBS...

And, he is still a very funny man!

It would seem that some of the characters that graced our television screens while O'Brien was hosting that other show, The Tonight Show, have followed him to TBS.

The very idea of a Masturbating Bear should be disturbing, but a masturbating bear that pops out ping pong balls for a lottery draw is the epitome of a wacky sense of humour or is that bad taste? In any case, thanks to The Huffington Post for the video.

A disclaimer on the video. Conan O'Brien's comedic talents are not everyone's cup of tea. So, if you have any hang-ups regarding masturbating bears, then please do not click play on the following video.

Glee & Promoting Pedophilia...

Hmmm...

Glee is a TV show that airs on Fox in the US. It is classed as a musical comedy-drama, and it follows the trials and tribulations of high school teenagers as they wend there collective ways through some good old teenage angst issues. Interesting a lot of the cast are not teenagers at all but adult actors playing the role of teenagers. Apart from being a pretty popular TV series, Glee has come in for some closer scrutiny after a recent photo-shoot of some of the 20-something actors (Lea Michele, Dianna Agron, and Corey Monteith) from the show appeared in GQ magazine.

The controversy arose because the Parents Television Council in the US has labelled the photos as "bordering on paedophilia". This in turn raises some interesting legal issues as to how one should proceed when adult age actors who are play the roles of teenagers then pose for sexy photos. Can the sexy photo of a 20+ something actor ever be an image that promotes pedophilia. It would seem that the assumption is that because these actors play the roles of not yet of age teenagers then any image of them that sexualises them is promoting pedophilia.

The reality is that if these young people use their fame to promote themselves through sexy photo-shoots, even ones that overtly sexualise them, don't they have a right to do it? After all, the people involved are all of legal age, and by any definition of the law have a right to make the decisions that they have. The photos themselves are not pornographic and do not violate any decency standards or norms for television or for print media.

Nevertheless, this is an interesting legal issue that extends beyond this particular instance. For example, can purveyors of porn be arrested and jailed for the upload / download of images of adults wearing, or part wearing of, school uniforms? In a lot of jurisdictions the law has been amended or worded in such a way as what the image attempts to convey or the content as being the key determiner in whether an image is classified as child porn.

So, simply if the point is to provide sexual gratification through the belief that one is looking at a naked or near naked child, even where the "child" in question is in fact an adult, then a crime has been committed. At least this is how I understand the law to work (time for more research and update myself on the laws in this area).

Therefore, if that interpretation of the law is accurate, then is it possible to mount a child porn case with images like the ones in GQ? I would argue not. Any reasonable person would know that the young people depicted in these images are adults and not children.

I am not sure how these particular photos promote pedophilia. I must be missing something.

There is Silly, then There is Stupid, and then There is Matt Nicholls...

This post needs to be premised with a disclaimer of sorts. It is based on facts currently available to me. I reserve the right to amend this post should "other" facts come to light which force we into a back down and apology to Mr. Nicholls.

Here we go!

There was a recent shooting death in Sydney of a NSW Police Officer. Constable William (Bill) Crews was involved in a raid on a house in Bankstown (Southwestern Sydney). The raid was drug-related. During the raid Constable Crews was shot in the head and subsequently died. One man has been charged with discharging a firearm with the intent to kill. Another has been charged with the possession of an illegal firearm.

The charges in themselves are interesting in that they highlight the forensics team is still trying to work out who fired the fatal bullet. There is current speculation that Constable Crews may have been shot by a fellow officer. Ultimately, forensics will reveal all with respect to who fired the fatal shot.

However, I digress. Constable Crews is from a reasonably small rural town in NSW called Glen Innes. I passed through there not long back on my way to Moree for a practicum placement. The editor, Nicholls, of the local newspaper, the Glen Innes Examiner, has updated his Facebook status to suggest that the paper can capitalise on the death of Constable Crews and the devastation of the family he has left behind because of his history with the town of Glen Innes.

For Nicholls, the death meant that it was a perfect opportunity to boost the circulation of the Fairfax-owned tome. Not content to leave it there, Nicholls decided that it was worth noting on Facebook that the paper must be looking at exploiting the death for all it is worth by making the most of the tragedy.

Now, Nicholls has denied that he made the offending Facebook posts. Nevertheless, he has been stood down effective immediately. Fairfax has issued an apology for any offense that has occurred to the Crews family.

Here is the commentary part to this post. Even if you were thinking that, and even if you believe that, where was the common sense kick in that said, "do not post this publicly on Facebook?" If we were to be perfectly honest about this whole thing, then it is fair to say that papers, as do magazines and television, endeavour to capitalise on the tragedy that befalls people and their subsequent suffering. That is the nature of the game, is it not?

What is not done is confessing this in public spaces such as Facebook within 24 to 48 hours of the tragedy unfolding. We as people, as consumers of news, are a little more savvy, perhaps cynical, than this. We certainly do not need the editor of the Glen Innes Examiner to be telling us this on his Facebook page.

Final point. The alleged Facebook posts of Nicholls are disrespectful more than anything else. The decision to become a police officer and dedicate your life to the protection of others and the community as a whole is one very few men and women take. Perhaps it is because, for some of us, we are not prepared to lay it all on the line and make the ultimate sacrifice as Constable Crews has done. Maybe this is what we should be considering in this case.

My condolences to the Crews family on your loss.

Fatma, Trans TV, Sex Tapes, Porn, and Defamation -- Legal Issues...

A private Indonesian television station, Trans TV, is pondering the possibility of a criminal defamation action over a sex tape posted on the internet and alleged to be of a Trans TV employee by the name of Fatma.

According to Trans TV they have an employee by the name of Fatma but the video is clearly not of her. The sex tape in question provides a pretty clear shot of "Fatma" so a simple photo comparison might be enough to prove this one way or the other.

I have written elsewhere on this here blog of mine about criminal defamation in Indonesia and the pros and cons of such laws. It is interesting that Trans TV thinks that there is something actionable here in the first place. But, the complaint seems to be based entirely on the belief that an employee sex tape scandal harms the image of the company. Maybe it would, then again, maybe it would enhance it.

I cannot speculate on the reasons for giving the video the title of "Fatma - Trans TV", but if I was to speculate then it would probably be because Indonesians love a good scandal and a TV employee on a sex tape would be good fodder for gossip shows, gossip magazines, and even the rival TV stations.

The funny part of this, if there is a funny part, is that Trans TV has in fact admitted to being in breach of the law, the Anti-Porn law to be precise. The quote from Trans TV via their spokesperson, Hardiansyah reads as follows:

“Our own investigation shows that the video was taken from a porn site and the perpetrator changed the title to ‘Fatma-Transtv’”

The Trans TV investigation revealed that the tape lasts for 2 minutes and 34 seconds, was originally taken on a mobile phone, and was produced on 3 March 2007.

So, this investigation and knowledge that the original video has been taken from a porn site was done by Trans TV. So, does this mean that Trans TV has been accessing internet porn and downloading it in Indonesia? And, then heavens forbid, viewing it in Indonesia? The Minister of Communication and Information is going to be horrified!

I might follow this case as it develops, if it develops, because it will be interesting to see where Trans TV takes their criminal defamation complaint. I will also need to do a little more reading and research. This will not necessarily involve watching Fatma in action, but I have note read anything about who uploaded it, whether it was uploaded in Indonesia or overseas, or who Trans TV is thinking they are going to make the subject of the complaint.

There has certainly been a lot of porn coming out of Indonesia of late. Perhaps Ariel, Luna Maya, and Cut Tari were just the tip of a porn iceberg that is about to come into full view.

Cut Tari -- A Confession!

Well, it seems that Cut Tari has confessed through her lawyer, Hotman Paris, that she is in fact in one of the celebrity sex tapes that have recently done the rounds of the internet. The videos apparently still remain a staple on office computers and phones ensuring that the scandal remains in the public domain.

The alleged reason for leaving the confirmation of her part in the tape was to ensure that she did not preempt or get ahead of the police investigation. This should be read as she was calling the police's bluff and wanting to see whether or not they could prove it was her. If they could not, then no need to confess. However, if the police could prove it was her then she could easily confess at some later point. Nevertheless, the denials up to the point where it becomes impossible to refute the mounting evidence (no pun intended) can always be attributed to an attempt to avoid the shame or humiliation that tends to attach themselves to these sorts of scandals.

Interestingly, Hotman suggested that Cut Tari did not know that she was being filmed. He went onto suggest that men were renowned for video-taping their sexual escapades, quite often on mobile phones and usually without the knowledge of their female partners. Hotman went onto say that Cut Tari had never seen the video, kept it, or distributed it. I can accept, and even believe, that she had not seen the video before the scandal broke. I can believe she did not have a copy of it. And, I can believe that she is not responsible for the distribution of it. Although, I would suggest that she has seen the video now.

A concern is that the Cut Tari tape, in contrast to the Luna Maya one, seems to have been produced using a small handy-cam and not a mobile phone. The image quality is so much better (so I am told) and it does not seem to have been shot through a key hole or using some kind of peeping technology. It is hard to reconcile the video with the idea that Cut Tari was not aware that she was being filmed. Perhaps the court case, assuming it goes that far, will reveal all.

I guess Cut Tari's confession means that it is now a little bit harder for Ariel to deny he is the male star of the video.

Ho hum...

Peterporn...

The Peterporn saga continues unabated but slowly. There is so little happening in this case, and that which does happen takes so long, that it is a wonder that anyone even cares about it. Yet, it has all the key ingredients for great gossip and as such will serve to satiate the Indonesian appetite for celebrity gossip for sometime to come.

The key is that there has been rumoured to be some 32 tapes of Ariel of Peterpan fame bedding a bevy of women, all of whom are Indonesian celebrities of various fame and stature.

I was reading recently that another tape has surface in Sulawesi of all places. It reportedly shows Ariel (aka Nazril Irham) getting down and dirty with Bunga Citra Lestari (aka BCL). This tape has been conveniently converted to the DVD format and is being sold for between IDR 50,000 and IDR 450,000 on the streets. Now, a quick survey of the internet highlights that the clip is supposedly available for download from Rapidshare and Torrentbit, among others. Unfortunately, these all require registration before a download can be initiated, I am just not that interested in downloading the clip. Besides, if it really does exist then it won't be too long before it pops up in a much easier place for download, like YouTube or on someone's blog.

The latest development, as far as I can tell, is that the police have arrested eight people for allegedly being involved in the uploading of the two confirmed videos to date, Luna Maya and Cut Tari. However, the police, by their own admission are doing it tough in the investigation phase as they have not been able to uncover the 'missing link'. This is specifically how did the videos get to those who allegedly uploaded them to the internet.

The case theory is that someone close to Ariel 'passed' them on. Ariel's ex-wife, Sarah Amalia, has been interviewed by police, but police have not suggested that she is a suspect or in anyway involved in the dissemination of the tapes / videos. The police though have not been able to prove this missing link yet. So, it remains nothing more than a theory.

The police have also explained that their failure to move on the two women allegedly depicted in the tapes is that the police have some conflicting expert opinions to sort through before deciding on a legal basis to proceed. As is the tendency in Indonesia, the police want to ensure that the case is legally solid before proceeding. The idea being that the more solid the case is the less likely there is to be an acquittal. On a side, and completely unrelated note, perhaps the police should have thought about this idea when pursuing the Commissioners of the Corruption Eradication Commission. And, perhaps it is something that the Office of the Attorney General might want to consider in determining to end those shenanigans.

Postscript...
The Jakarta Globe are reporting that the police have "changed positions on the sex tape", no pun intended I am sure, and the eight previously arrested have had their status changed from suspects to witnesses. Sounds like things are not going so well on the investigation front.

Chandra on Al Jazeera...

This is a brief video, but provides a little insight into what the issues are and the supposed proof that the police have.

Worth watching. It looks like the Daniel S. Lev Law Library in the background.

Enjoy!

So You Think You Can Dance? With No Panties...Oops!

You really have to wonder why you would go on a television show without any panties on. You have to wonder about this even more when it is a dancing reality TV show. Yet, this is what happened. And this is the video to prove it.

The show might be a reality TV show, but it is not live to air. So, you have also got to be wondering how this little piece of footage made it through the editing process. It would not have been all that surprising if the choice footage was edited out, and then mysteriously found its way on to YouTube or LiveLeak or something. I found it on The Huffington Post.

Looks like Fox could be in for some pretty nasty fines. I am guessing that the Federal Communications Commission, or the FCC, might be taking a closer look at the footage. And, when they do there is likely to be some sizable fine discussed. Now if Janet Jackson's nipple cost USD 550K, then I am guessing a full view crotch shot has gotta cost a little more than that.

I wonder how old she is? Are there child porn issues here? The mind boggles.

However, Fox has issued a statement saying that the young lady is, in fact, wearing panties and the video and accompanying photos show a crease in her panties...Ah, good try Fox.

Sprite or Guinness Anyone?

Apparently, this TV ad for Sprite (not sure about the Guinness one though) has been banned!

I wonder why?

I found these videos over at this site. I have included some tags to this post that are designed purely to push up my visitor stats (I will let you know if it works in a postscript).


EMBED-Banned Sprite commercial - Watch more free videos



EMBED-Guiness Good Times - Watch more free videos

Gordon Ramsay

Poor old Gordon Ramsay has run afoul of an Australian Senate Committee looking at swearing on television. It seems that Mr. Ramsay used the word "fuck" 80 times in a 40-minute program that he makes called "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares".

Now using the word 80 times in 40 minutes is probably not a record (make a note to check the Guinness Book of Records). However, on TV it might be a record for a food program. But most people already know that if they are going to watch Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen it is going to be a full onslaught of coarse language. If you can't handle the heat in the kitchen then get out of the kitchen. Simply, don't watch the show.

The end result here will be things like parental controls being installed on all new digital televisions. A review of ratings classifications and more detail with respect to what phrases like "occasional coarse language' actually mean. In terms of "occasional coarse language" I have never really been able to work out whether that was 10 fucks, shits, dicks, and piss-offs in 40 minutes or was it 20 or 30 or 40. I would reckon 80 fucks in 40 minutes is "frequent coarse language".

The television viewing public need to take a little more responsibility for themselves rather than rely on the government to regulate what we watch. If you do not like Gordon Ramsay or his style then vote by not watching. When his ratings fall the investors will scamper off and Gordon Ramsay will not longer invade our television screens.