Cannabis Tokyo Customs

Here is one for the WTF file or more politely know as the 'are you kidding me' file!

It appears over this past weekend that a training exercise for sniffer dogs at Tokyo's Narita Airport has gone a little bit wrong. Customs in their infinite wisdom slipped a bag of the wacky weed into an unsuspecting air travellers bag on that persons arrival from Hong Kong.

The idea is that the sniffer dogs would be deployed and they would find the dope, a shocked but relieved passenger would then have the whole exercise explained to them, and then all and sundry would go on their respective merry little ways.

Unfortunately, for customs and the sniffer dogs the bag was lost. So, somewhere in Tokyo there is a very confused, and perhaps happy, traveller who has opened their luggage to find themselves a bag of green. Let's hope it is a traveller that knows what to do with it! And that would obviously be to return it to a concerned Tokyo Customs office at Narita Airport.

Hillary Clinton and RFK...

It seems that the mere mention of a former assassinated presidential contender is news worthy for its offensiveness when it is uttered by Hillary Clinton albeit the people who should most likely be offended by it have gone on the record to say that they are not. Yet, the campaign of the other side looks to try and draw some political advantage from the comment that was clearly not intended to offend.

What is interesting here is the undercurrent that is not being spoken. Perhaps, Barack Obama's camp took umbrage to the remark because Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June 1968 after claiming the California Primary and it seemed perhaps he had turned the corner and was on the way to the nomination himself. Maybe Obama's camp thinks that this comment will bring out all the nut jobs looking to assassinate another presidential contender and this would some how justify Clinton's decision to fight for this thing tooth and nail to the end.

This is bizarre logic and stupid! The context and the intent is clearly not that but any suggestion that it is, is in fact something that is offensive.

Obama, as do Clinton and McCain, has secret service protection. Not that this is a guarantee or anything, but it does make it conceivably much more difficult for those wanting their 15 minutes of fame by trying to assassinate a contender. To be fair Ronald Reagan had secret service protection and that did not stop a near successful attempt on his life while he was President.

But back to the comment and the context. Here is what Clinton said:

"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it"

I just do not see how this is offensive and I do not see it to say anything other than; I am still in this race because I think it is important, I still think I can win, and the race is not over.

However, this is what Obama had to say:

"I have learned that when you are campaigning for as many months as Sen. Clinton and I have been campaigning, sometimes you get careless in terms of the statements that you make, and I think that is what happened here. Sen. Clinton says that she did not intend any offense by it, and I will take her at her word on that."

This though is an attempt at political point scoring because it was not such a careless statement but rather an opportunity to twist the context with a view to gaining some kind of political advantage.

The reality here is that people want Clinton to quit sooner rather than later and this is an opportunity to up the ante on that call. Let's face it these remarks have been uttered before in a slightly different form back in March.

The difference between March and now is that it seems like Obama has wrapped this primary election process up. Although there might be a mathematical possibility for Clinton to win with the support of super delegates, no one really considers this to be likely.

However, the family of RFK released a statement via RFK Jr. that went like this:

"I have heard her make this reference before, also citing her husband's 1992 race, both of which were hard-fought through June" and "I understand how highly charged the atmosphere is, but I think it is a mistake for people to take offense."

Surely politicians have more important issues to debate and rake over the coals than this. What about some serious discussion of the issues that define the candidates, their policies,and their respective visions of the future. Now, that would be an issue worthy of some quality press coverage.

Trivia

Do you know that a turkey can run at a speed of 20 miles per hour!

Unfortunately, I do not think that this is fast enough for the turkey to escape becoming dinner!

Cartoons

These cartoons are sure to offend someone and they are not even of the Prophet Muhammad or that other Prophet, Jesus...For the others who read this and check out these cartoons they might even put a smile on your dial!

This is also a reason I should not be on holidays even when it is a national holiday. I should just go to the office and pretend to be inspired to be working. Simply, holidays means too much time to be surfing the Internet for cartoons like this...enjoy!

All cartoons were sourced from this site via this one.


Ummmm...goes without saying, doesn't it?

Friends like these? Open house...

Selfish or what?

Never really liked Reese's and now I know why!

See Mum! Experimentation with drugs and alcohol can have positive outcomes too!

Argh...does this remind you of anyone?

I might have even eaten Rice Bubbles (brand in Australia) if this had been their marketing campaign when I was a kid!

Is it time for a good waxing?

Prom Night

Prom night has never been a tradition in Australia in the way it is a tradition in the US. We, Australians, have the end of year "formal" which is sometimes a slap-up affair. Yet, I just have never felt that it has taken on the same "coming of age" importance that it has in the US.

However, this is a post about wanting to attract attention and push the limits of school dress codes to the absolute limits. In this story out of Houston, Texas, the limits of fashion seem to have been pushed let alone the school's dress code!

The dress might be a bit of a fashion crime but handcuffing the young lady and dragging her off to the cop shop seems a bit extreme!

I am guessing the dress (can you call it a dress?) turned a few heads, particularly those testosterone charged teenagers that would have not been able to help themselves from donning the old beer goggles at their senior prom!

A prom to remember!

A Humorous Hoax...

This is not real but it is very funny, particularly if you have a sense of humor like mine. Originally, this interview was based on a supposed interview conducted in Wales. It then moved to the US. And it seems it has finally ended up in Australia.

It is a portion of an ABC interview between a female broadcaster and General Cosgrove who was about to sponsor a Boy Scout Troop visiting his military headquarters.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: So, General Cosgrove, what things are you going to teach these young boys when they visit your base?

GENERAL COSGROVE: We’re going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery and shooting.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Shooting! That’s a bit irresponsible, isn’t it?

GENERAL COSGROVE: I don’t see why, they’ll be properly supervised on the rifle range.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Don’t you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?

GENERAL COSGROVE: I don’t see how. We will be teaching them proper rifle discipline before they even touch a firearm.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: But you’re equipping them to become violent killers.

GENERAL COSGROVE: Well, Ma’am, you’re equipped to be a prostitute, but you’re not one, are you?

The radio went silent and the interview ended.

Another good one is this:

A couple went on a fishing vacation at a lake resort. The husband liked to fish and generally did so at first light in the morning. The wife liked to idle away her days reading.

One morning after a good couple of hours fishing the husband returned home and decided to catch a few zzzzzzzs. Although the wife was not familiar with the lake she decided to take the boat out and do some reading while rocking gently with the motion of the water.

So, the wife takes the boat out a short distance and drops anchor. She then proceeds to read her book in peace. After a very short while, up comes the local water coppers and they demand to know what she is doing in this part of the lake as it is a restricted fishing zone.

Somewhat incredulously she states what to her seems the obvious' "I am reading my book!"

Sensing his opportunity the water copper decides to press his advantage and repeat that this is a restricted fishing zone and he would have to write her a ticket because the boat contained all the necessary equipment for fishing. In spite of her protestations that she was not fishing the officer persisted in that the only way was to ticket her.

However, when the water copper insisted on a ticket and without missing a beat the woman suggested to the water copper that if he was to issue the ticket then she would have to charge rape. At this point the water copper starts to protest and says but I have not touched you! But alas responds the woman "yes, but you have all the equipment to do so!"

Moral of the story -- never under estimate a woman, never under estimate her intellect, and under no circumstances engage in an argument with a woman!

A Rock and A Hard Place

The big meeting I am destined to have with the big bosses has been put off again until Saturday (10 May 2008). It is destined to have because it is one of those sooner or later meetings that cannot be avoided.

Thankfully, it is not one of those HR or accountant type meetings that my blog colleagues GJJakarta and Greenstump wax so lyrically about! Yet, I am sure that there are some hard yards to be hoed throughout this one...

I am hearing various things about the meeting but none of it from any of the direct participants in it. The beauty of hearsay is that it is just that hearsay. It is great to see that all sorts of people are hearing tid bits and then putting their own spin on it! So, I am invariably somewhere between a huge frackin' pay rise, improved benefits, and conditions and totally fracked! (for those of you who are not avid watchers of Battlestar Galactica, frackin' is the space aged way of saying fucking -- sorry Ma but I have already eaten all of the soap so there is nothing left to wash my mouth out with!)...

In the big scheme of things an increase in salary, benefits, and conditions might be enough to convince me to hang around but I have a feeling that this is not the motivation of my earlier posts. So, anyone who thinks the money will get 'em every time needs to remember that Beatles song about "Money Can't Buy Me Love"...If I have said it once I have said it 1000 times, it is about treading water and I am treading water! Not going forward, not going backwards, just not going anywhere at all and that is the problem!

I sometimes wonder whether after all this time I can in fact go home and settle in to what would be life in Australia. Yet, there are other times where I am so looking forward to it. I want my wife to be able to experience Australian life and I know that I want our kid to grow up in Australia. I had the best time as a kid in Australia and I would not want to deprive my own flesh and blood of those same opportunities.

So, maybe you can now see that it is not about the money. It is about lifestyle, it is about experiences, it is about moving forward and not about standing still! I actually really, really enjoy and genuinely like what I do at the moment, but I just do not see myself doing it for another 10 years. I am not challenging myself and I am not being challenged and something has to give. That "give" is going to be me having to challenge myself and to that end I have to make the move to move because my employers (the big bosses) just are not going to challenge me or allow me to challenge myself within the current framework!

My apologies for boring the hell out of ya with this little bit of personal musing!

The weekend is coming up so maybe I will be in a better mood tomorrow! Then again maybe not!

Anonymous Blogging

This is an old topic but one that I think is worth revisiting!

I am an avid reader of Indonesia Matters and it must be noted that the webmaster is one who prefers to protect his true identity with the anonymous moniker of Patung. However, this is not about Patung or Indonesia Matters per se but rather Indonesia Matters is a place where many prefer to blog anonymously and it is where I have found a good reason why anonymity is not always a good thing!

I am also for free speech. My previous posts attest to this. I am also generally comfortable with anonymous blogging and anonymous writing. Some great literature has been penned under pseudonyms. I am against hate speech and I am against vilification...but that's just me.

I am for a person who has the courage of their convictions to identify themselves when they are advancing arguments that are on the fringes of current debate or where those arguments are outright racist or sexist or premised on distortion of evidence or merely based on anectdotal personal opinion that does not stand up to scrutiny.

I am for people entering into open and frank debate in order to seek solutions rather than merely attempting to inflame and exacerbate old and tired stereotypes! If we are to live in a world that is truly at peace and in harmony then we need to find solutions to those things that harm us!

Thus endeth the sermon!

Blogspot, Telkom, and the Indonesian Government

To be honest I am a little bored of having to use a proxy server as often, if not more often, as being able to directly access my blog through my ISP, Telkom Speedy. As some of my colleagues say, it would be nice to think that this was just a simple case of incompetence and overall bad service! However, there is only so much that one can tolerate before looking for better service, more consistent service, and value for money!

I did not start blogging for any real serious reasons but rather just for fun and to amuse myself! It seems that I have invariably started to amuse, annoy, or offend others into the bargain, which I find amusing in itself that anybody bothers to read the combination of silliness and seriousness that I put into cyber space from this locale. But, thanks though for continuing to stop by and comment.

Now, because I do have a small and dedicated readership (you know who you are), I am going to become a little more serious about the whole thing! I have registered a domain name, therabexperience.com, which is not up and running yet (I only registered like 10 minutes ago)! However, I will continue to post here in blogspot.com while access is available :D

More updates to follow when I have something to update of course!

Men in Underwear

No, this is not an Indonesian version of the spoof film "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" of 1993 (bugger me, was it that long ago?) but rather a brazen early morning robbery in Tangerang (a satellite city off of Jakarta). Yes, eight fellas in nothing but their Calvin's managed to rip off a Tangerang businessmen of some 500 million Rupiah.

They tied up the maid and then ransacked the house. Photo of one of the suspects is attached above...

My questions is this: How hard would it be to see eight fellas running round in their Calvin's real early in the morning? I have seen some strange things in my adopted home but I gotta say that if I saw these fellas, I might not have thought they were robbers, but I would have noticed for sure as you might see the odd underwear clad jogger but a whole club of undies wearing joggers would be odd!

Perhaps they needed the money to buy some clothes!

Boring is as boring does!

The past week has seen the President get a little hot under the collar and admonish some poor regional official for dozing off during the President's speech.

I have gotta be honest here that I have not read or heard the speech, but maybe it was not worth being awake for? And the question then is who should take the blame for a boring speech that sends people to la la land?

Maybe this person was so tired from working hard in supporting and lobbying for his constituents (remembering that a meeting of this nature would be a prime opportunity for this) that a little shut eye could not be avoided…then again maybe they had a big night out the night before in some karaoke joint until 4 or 5 in the morning!

Maybe being obviously asleep is better than having a captain with their eyes wide open but figuratively asleep at the wheel!

It seems that a couple of Indonesians have come out in support of the sleeper by suggesting that the President's speeches are not all that they are said to be and in fact Effendi Gozali, a political communication expert at the University of Indonesia, said this; "He should hire a consultant to provide him with fresh jokes so it is fun to listen to his speech. I think most leaders have done this." Then Indra J. Pilliang of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) chimed in and suggested that this occurred because Yudhoyono's speech was "boring, normative and preaching".

Ouch!

Might be worth checking out the DPR building every now and then and see how full or empty (depending on whether you are “the glass is half full” or “the glass is half empty” type)…This individual might have been asleep at a workshop and perhaps on the job but there are quite a few politicians not on the job at all!

Not a uniquely Indonesian issue as it was not so long ago that the former Australian Foreign Minister and now opposition back bencher, Alexander Downer, decided a long lunch and a game of golf were better options than hanging around in the chamber for boring to and fro on the political front!

It is pretty sad that this is headline news in a country where there are probably a whole range of more worthy subject matter for headlines in Jakarta’s English Language Newspaper! Although a childish outburst by the President is probably newsworthy in the sense that the President might be showing his true colours, but all the same there are more pressing issues that need discussing!

Astro Soccer

Some might prefer football as opposed to soccer but no matter what your fancy in that regard, if you are an Astro subscriber you are getting screwed out of your subscription fees -- you're paying and Astro is not showing!

Aside from the monopoly rights issues that the Commission for the Supervision of Business Competition is looking into, the very fact that there are some 140,000 subscribers to this Pay TV operator who are not getting service begs the question; what's the problem here?

It seems that Astro has failed to pay some administrative fees and as a consequence the Department of Communication and Information has suspended their broadcasting rights. This is presumably until Astro comes good with the outstanding fees that have already beendue and payable for some time. As my good cyber colleague, Jakartass, points out that the outsatnding fees total some USD 20,000 and the block / suspension of services is costing Astro some USD 100,000 per day.

The obvious, and perhaps stupid question for the seemingly stupid Astro people, is why wasn't some of this USD 100,000 big 'uns directed towards paying these administrative fees?

I do not subscribe to Astro because even though it has the EPL the rest of its offerings are a little lame and I get more from my current provider at a cheaper price! Being a die-hard Arsenal fan I would have been a little bit annoyed if I was an Astro subscriber and could not get to see the game particularly when I had paid my fees and the company I paid them to for the privilege to watch the game was too damn incompetent or poorly managed (perhaps they take their name seriously over at Astro and all their employees are a little "spacey" and that's not Kevin Spacey!) to see that my fees got paid to the right people in order to satisfy their legal obligations.

Another example of big business taking their customers for the proverbial ride!

Sad, sad, sad!

An Interesting Thought

For those of you who want to say objectionable, offensive, and downright rude things to each other or to me, and also to those of you that thinking banning and prohibiting access to whole swathes of information and data on the Internet is a fair and proportional response to what is considered a pretty poor excuse for a film, then this is what I have for you to consider...

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

-- Voltaire

Happy blogging!

Bule Gila

In a cynical sense this might just be my contribution to the debate or perhaps I am just looking for hits to increase my blog ranking or something.

I am sure that Indonesia is no different from anywhere else in the sense that there is debate amongst the local population and the expat population revolving around the pros and cons of the relationship and the merits and value of the conduct of this relationship. But this is an Indonesian specific post and issue with regards to the term "bule". Bule gila is literally translated as crazy white person.

The debate is generally academic but it also inspires heated and emotional response from commentators across the board. If you want to have a bit of a squizz at the debate as it rages on somewhat endlessly on other blogs and sites, then you need to go no further than the offerings of Indonesia Matters and Unspun, both of which I read -- daily (time to return the favour gents!). Both are masters at spurring the debate, and why not if people are willing to go hell for leather at the opportunity to spout their respective points of view.

However, I want to restrict my musings to the TV show "Bule Gila". There have been a few offerings of the show and it seems to be back for another season. The show is a sort of a candid camera meets I will do anything to be on tele affair but usually with the full knowledge and participation of the participants.

In essence the show relies on white folk (bule means albino in Indonesian) doing things that are part of everyday Indonesian life. Some classics have seen white fellas dressing up in drag and doing the rounds of the road side eating stalls singing Indonesian songs and begging for tips. Others have seen people pushing food carts around the place trying to sell martabak and other Indonesian food specialties.

The English saying for this probably goes along the lines of "taking the piss" out of oneself. And I guess when it is all said and done, if you want to embarrass yourself on TV then as a consenting adult you have that right. Yet, there are some issues that are worthy of further debate and this is one of those.

Without getting into too detailed a discussion of the word 'bule', it has been noted that the translation of this word is albino. This overtime has come to refer to white people and presumably Caucasians, this then gives the word not only color undertones but racial ones as well. The use of the word gets some people's knickers in a knot. A word can have, depending on its use, benign meanings quite different to their original intent.

An example might be faggots. Faggot originally referred to a faggot of sticks or to a type of meatball but overtime it has morphed into a word with a meaning no longer reminiscent of the original and its utterance can now bring charges of vilification of homosexuals. So, in this regard perhaps the innocence of the term bule has been lost overtime as well. And the use of the word even with the best of intents, that is it is not intended to offend, may in fact cause considerable offence to the hearer of the word.

And the fact that some of us bules might use the word (there is a book with the title Bule Gila and a bar called Bugils which can either be an abbreviation of the book title or the Indonesian word for naked both of which are associated with a prominent Dutch resident in Jakarta) does not mean that this is an attempt to take control of the word and empower ourselves meaning therefore the word is now devoid of any previous racial connotations.

However, once again back to the point. If a television station in Australia or perhaps even in the UK or the USA were to air a show called "Crazy Blackies" or Crazy Yellowies" or "Crazy Reds" there would be a public backlash and uproar even if the shows were intended to be innocent entertainment where particular people are taking the piss out of themselves for the enjoyment of others. Even in Indonesia, I wonder what the reaction would be to TV shows like "Cina Gila", "Batak Gila", "Pribumi Gila" (this one's for you Achmad because I know you have issues with the connotation of the word pribumi), "Kristen Gila", "Muslim Gila", "FPI Gila", or "FBR Gila"? Discrimination and distinction between people is not based purely on the colour of their skin!

To all and sundry, in spite of the intent of the users of the word bule, it must be noted that the word despite the initial descriptive nature to colour has now taken on the form of a word that has racial connotations. Therefore, the only way to truly justify the title "bule gila" is to ensure that the participants in the show are albinos and not just "white people" so the title reflects the original intent. Albinism relates to an unfortunate genetic inability to produce pigment whereas white people are genetically engineered in such a way as they produce limited amounts of pigment.

But, alas, the show really is about taking the piss out of white people and not albinos. Perhaps, this TV show goes on not because the word bule is not racist or offensive but rather the participants do not fully appreciate the term and its meaning. If they do understand the words racial connotations and still choose to participate, then go for it!

Once you distinguish a person on the colour of their skin then you are discriminating against them unless someone, somewhere out there in cyber space thinks that this is simply a case of affirmative action and giving the white folks an opportunity to be on Indonesian TV too :)

We can all agree to disagree and that disagreement does not have to degenerate into name calling and other insulting commentary (even though it may in fact be fun to read sometimes) but it is worth noting that the offensiveness and the insult is determined by the receiver and not the maker of the comment because if it was to be determined by the maker of the comment then people are free to say whatever they want without limitation because based on this logic provided it does not offend the speaker's sensibilities or was not intended to cause offence then it is anything goes and whether that be a case of fortunately or unfortunately this is not how the world works!

To be clear...my point of view is that the word bule is a term with racist connotations and I am yet to be convinced otherwise. I am open to a convincing argument if someone can make one! I think that the TV show is intended not to racially vilify but it is intended to be entertainment that takes the piss out of a particular group of people. The title though is a reflection of the general misunderstanding or ignorance of the racial undertones of the word. I have watched the show a few times but I am not a regular watcher (I think it was on last night but I was probably blogging because I did not watch it).

If anyone is thinking of contacting me to be on the show, don't waste your precious time. I am not interested, but I do appreciate the fact that you think I am crazy :)

Thus endeth the sermon...

Enjoy the remainder of your week...

Site Blocking & Fitna

Fitna is the flavour of the month it seems and blog worthy developments just keep on coming...

MUI, the Indonesian Council of Ulemas, has decided to call for a boycott of Dutch goods in protest of the film. Interestingly, the MUI has not issued a Fatwa about this but rather has decided to make its views known through statements to the press. Two questions: "Is the film not offensive enough to warrant a Fatwa?" and "Is it true that the reason that a Fatwa was not issued was because that Fatwas issued by the MUI have no legal standing and hence a waste of time and paper?"

The MUI plays a role in assisting with policy development and to provide insight as to what religious implications there are in policy or law from the perspective of Islam. Therefore, it has an advisory function but the MUI seems to be a lightweight wanting to fight in the heavyweight division. It simply is not a constitutionally defined law making or adjudicative body.

Now, onto the main point of this blog entry, the blocking of Internet sites and bloggers. The Minister of Communication and Information in his infinite wisdom has issued a letter demanding that all Internet Service Providers (ISP) and Network Access Points (NAP) block the film Fitna in order that it cannot be downloaded by Indonesians in Indonesia.

There are a couple of points to be made here. The call to ban and block comes a little too late as the film has been released on the Internet already and those Indonesians with an interest have probably already downloaded it. Those that haven't will find that it is destined to appear on locally hosted sites that ISPs will have much more difficulty in dealing with. Furthermore, the letter left too much discretion to the imagination of ISPs and NAPs in how to deal with this.

This discretion has seen XL (Indonesian phone company - apologies link is in Indonesian) decide to ban access completely to You Tube, My Space, Meta Cafe, and Rapidshare. This is a somewhat extreme maneuver to ensure that one single film does not enter the jurisdiction of the Republic of Indonesia. It also sets a bad precedent on which the government can capitalize on later when it want to restrict access to other objectionable material. Indonesia seems to be returning to an era of the New Order ++ where information and communication restrictions are potentially more repressive than ever.

So, anyone that relies on access to You Tube, My Space, Meta Cafe, or Rapidshare needs to find an ISP or NAP that is yet to block these sites in their entirety or as some have already done find ways of bypassing the blocks instituted by the ISP or NAP.

The current letter was issued under Article 21 of the Telecommunications Law and not the recently enacted Information and Electronic Transactions Law. However, the provisions in both are similar in the manner in which they intend to deal with issues of religious relations, harmony, gambling, threats of violence, and public order.

To Blog or Not To Blog for a Blog Ranking

I am not so technologically savvy and it took me forever how to work out how I might increase traffic to my blog and I do not think I have been so successful at that in any event. I was going to whack a widget into my blog that lets me track my ranking and lets other people see it. Yet, when I thought about this a little bit, two things came to mind; I did not start blogging to make money (hence no thoughts of commercializing my blog) and I did start blogging to amuse myself.

It would be nice to be popular and have people drop by just because I write good stuff and people want to see what I am ranting and raving about now. But, the fact they are not dropping by means that the stuff I am writing is probably crap and not so interesting. This perhaps should be motivation to write better crap (although so far it has not been any motivation at all!).

The other way to go to make my blog ranking climb is to adopt a contentious position or to be racist, or bigoted, of just write plain unsustainable arguments into my postings. This seems to bring people out in droves. I am guilty of this slowing down at a car crash mentality as I am a regular poster at Indonesia Matters. Some, nah most, of the stuff posted there is outrageous in the most outrageous of senses but it can sometimes be a little addictive because you just do not know what kind of far right or far left extremist views will be posted. But, I guess that is what keeps everyone coming back for more. It must be said that there are some attempts to post rational and reasoned responses but they tend to be a minority rather than a majority...

Back on point though (and enough of a plug for Patung -- do not even know the bloke!). The question is should I be too worried about a dropping blog ranking to the point where I do something about increasing that ranking from the 400's to the 10 -99 range? Simple answer - Nah!

As I said if people want to read they will eventually find me and if they like what they read they will be back. Some of my kind readers have linked me to their sites and maybe it is time I tried to work out a more effective way of using RSS, technocrati, de-lici-ous (or whatever it is),and some of these other blog assistance tools! Yet, I am humoring myself and I am currently humored, so maybe later!

The inspiration, well not really inspiration, or at least what got me thinking about blog rankings was a post on Unspun's blog about a proposed meeting between the Indonesian Minister for Communication and Information with the top bloggers in Indonesia which got me to thinking about what makes a top blogger a top blogger!

Enjoy the weekend!

Hot-Housing Children

The term hot-housing children sounds like a practice destined to confine children into a life of prostitution. Yet, the term is not quite so sinister as that, at least in theory anyway!

Hot-housing children is the practice of isolating gifted kids with a view to expediting academic success at an early age. Most of us have no doubt read stories of kids deemed to be geniuses and admitted to some of the most prestigious institutes of learning in the world. The simple idea being that if you start them early then they will be productive early.

The case of Sufiah Yusof highlights just how badly this can go wrong. Sufiah was a child prodigy that seemingly had it all before her. Recognized for her academic and intellectual talents as a youngster and admitted to Oxford at just 13 years of age (picture borrowed from The Sydney Morning Herald).

The biggest problem I see, and I am no expert, is that if you are entering university at 10, 12, or 15 years old you are missing out the most fun years of primary and high school! So, you grow up to be a genius adult that has never had the nurturing fun years of childhood. Not being a psychologist seems irrelevant here because this kind of loss of childhood appears to be a recipe for disaster to me.

But back to the story the young genius Sufiah is now a 23 year old prostitute turning tricks for 130 quid an hour somewhere in Manchester (United Kingdom)! Maybe this is her choice and maybe it isn't but whatever the case it is still sad! It is a sad indictment of our community as a whole that we let a kid with so much potential be so poorly cared for and managed that she falls through the net and into a situation that has all the signs of turning into a case of "what could have been"...

Perhaps the answer is not universities for these child geniuses but perhaps some other specialized facility of advanced learning where their respective talents and interests can be developed amongst geniuses of the same age rather than in the broader university scene...maybe we need a genius to work this one out for us too!

The Actual Salute

I suppose I should post the still capture from the video of the offending salute...

It probably would not have made the grade in military training or military school, but whatever makes ya happy!

(photo stolen from here)

Saluting the Bush

Yes, my erstwhile readers another pornographically tinged post! Just kidding! It seems that Australia's Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has triggered a storm in a tea cup by apparently being caught red-handed saluting the President of the United States of America, a one George W. Bush.

This has fed all those that have been waiting for an opportunity to get on the bandwagon and trot out the "Australia takes its Deputy Sheriff role in the Asia Pacific seriously"...Some questions have gotta be asked of the Rudd-ster as to why he would let himself get caught out like this. However, if most Australians thought about this a little bit it is something some of them do instinctively anyway as a simple means of acknowledgement. It could be as uninspiring as pretending to dip the old Akubra in respect and then pointing towards the intended recipient of that respect.

This is one of those Clayton's news stories; news that's not really news at all! The Libs and the Greens have gotta be pretty hard up for things to say if they are going after this. If this is the best that Brendan Nelson has got then it is time that the Libs put Peter Costello in charge and made Tony Abbott his deputy, a couple of head kickers is just what the Libs need to turn around their flagging fortunes!

Even if it was a salute so what? Conduct unbecoming of an Australian PM? Evidence of Australia's subservience to the US? -- some people need to get out a little more and smell the flowers! This needs to be filed in the WGAF column! There are bigger problems in Australia than whether the PM has an arse about face understanding of candid camera now that he is PM. Yet, when you think about it this is the same bloke caught on parliament cam picking his ears and eating his ear wax!

It reminds me of this T-Shirt about bush and associated words as reflected in the picture above (stolen from here)!

Virtue Indonesian Style

The title of this entry might be a little misleading (but the photo isn't though is it?) as I really want to talk about chastity belts and the idea that a little padlock will do! I must confess the topic is inspired by a thread running over at Indonesia Matters (Patung I do not know you but you have way too much free time on your hands if you can find this stuff out! Keep it coming!)...but it is based on a story out of the mainstream media (Kompas)

Now, in most parts of Indonesia a good panti pijat (massage parlour) can get you a "full" body massage and if you are a seasoned connoisseur then perhaps you will know your way around to the "full service" massage joints. It seems though that the government has decided to crack down on these dens of sin and depravity by requiring the female masseuses' to padlock their gear including their panties in order to prevent men from taking advantage of the situation...perhaps some of you more familiar with these services might be able to add a little about the "happy ending" and whether this is a value add service that is offered rather than demanded!

Otherwise I will have to trot out the well worn ... "I heard from a 'friend'" explanation!

If you can, try and visualize all these massage parlour owners running down to the local hardware store and cleaning them out of padlocks, then running back to their establishments, and then once they get there trying to figure out how the bloody hell am I going to attach this so that the masseuse cannot get her gear off?

But better than a padlock is a real, fair dinkum, no questions asked, balls taking chastity belt. The technology might have been a little crude in the centuries past but as the above photo highlights, a good chastity belt can become a fashion item in its own right, particularly when it covers all the essential bits! Besides I also thought it was time to get a little risque with the pictures (hope you approve FriskoDude, you did say more pictures, right?)...

I am sure that vice is a problem in Jakarta but I would hope that before the government of Jakarta spends any more time on this or any resources on study tours both locally and overseas that they fix the potholes in the roads! Because while taking an ojek to work this morning my normally trustworthy and slow ojek hit a pothole and I think I jarred my spine, so I am going to have to go and get a 'healthy' massage to repair my aching back!

Simply, the failure to fix Jakarta's rapidly deteriorating roads ensures that these dens of sin and depravity are full with the victims of these woeful Jakarta roads...

Happy hunting for the perfect panti pijat...the padlocks are coming, the padlocks are coming!