Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Valentine's Day Reprise

Every year around this time, we hear the usual calls by Islamic authorities in Malaysia and Brunei, for Muslims not to celebrate Valentine's Day. One of the most ridiculous remarks I have heard this year is by Ramli Nuh, "Unmarried couples might come together and mingle with each other in unacceptable ways."

Huh? As if unmarried Muslim couples need to wait till Valentine's Day for them to come together and mingle with each other! As if promiscuity needs a specific day to give itself the green light!

St. Valentine may have been a Christian, but Valentine's Day, as it has evolved to what it is today is not a religious celebration. It is not a day that is celebrated by the Church. It has become, instead, an occasion to remember those you care about by sending them cards, flowers, chocolates, and for the romantic, a time to celebrate love. In fact, for a lot of businesses, it has become one of their most profitable days!

My kids couldn't wait to get to pre-school today because they were celebrating Valentine's Day with a party .... candy, chocolates, cup cakes, face painting, peanut butter sandwiches!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone.

Friday, February 09, 2007

Global Warming Hysterics

"I would like to say we're at a point where global warming is impossible to deny. Let's just say that global warming deniers are now on a par with Holocaust deniers, though one denies the past and the other denies the present and future."
Ellen Goodman



Ellen Goodman wrote that in her column with The Boston Globe. So I guess,by her definition, I am as bad as those people who deny that the Holocaust ever occured because I don't buy into the global warming hype.

All I know is that earth's temperature has gone up by less than 1 degree celcius in the last century. That, to me, is no cause for alarm. I don't buy into the hype that the warming is "most likely" caused by human activity. The temperature on Mars is said to be rising too, and there are no Martians there to cause any green house gas emissions!

The role of the sun in contributing to the rise in earth's temperature has almost been totally ignored. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Gottingen, Germany, in a research study, claim that the "sun has been at its strongest over the past 60 years and may now be affecting global temperatures".

So what if Earth's temperature is rising? Earth is in a constant state of flux - cooling and warming have been a constant in Earth's history. A few degrees warmer than it is today is not all bad. Thomas Gale Moore, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, in summarizing his paper, Warmer Days and Longer Lives, says that " the evidence supports overwhelmingly the proposition that, during warm periods, humans have prospered. They multiplied more rapidly; they lived longer; and they were healthier. If the IPCC is right and the globe does warm, history suggests that human health is likely to improve."

How about this article and this, to counter the global warming hysteria? A "mini ice age"? By all accounts, a mini ice age is more to be feared than global warming.


"Climate science is extraordinarily complex because it is dependent upon the gathering and interpretation of millions of data points. If the National Weather Service has trouble predicting tomorrow’s weather, how can anyone forecast a change in global climate a few years hence?" Ruth Curry


Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Thoughts on the Nobel Peace Prize

Tun Mahathir, former Malaysian Prime Minister and well known for his anti-semitic and anti-west rhetoric, received a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. So what, one might ask. Adolf Hitler was nominated. So were Stalin and Musolini. Mikail Gorbachev, and Yasser Arafat even won the prize!

If you look at the list of the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, many of them do not even deserve to win anything, let alone a Nobel Peace Prize. People who really made a difference, who should have recieved the prize were never even nominated! Mahatma Gandhi comes to mind. How about Pope John Paul II?

Al Gore, former Vice President of the USA, was also nominated for this year's prize. Nominated for "his wide-reaching efforts to draw the world's attention to the dangers of global warming". What a lot of crock!

Rush Limbaugh, my favorite talk show host, was also nominated for the 2007 peace prize. He was nominated because "everyday he gives voice to the values of democratic governance, individual opportunity and the just, equal application of the rule of law -- and it is fitting that the Nobel Committee recognize the power of these ideals to build a truly peaceful world for future generations." Now this nomination, I whole heartedly endorse! If the likes of Arafat and Gorbachev can win a peace prize, Limbaugh should win one too!

My point is, it is not hard to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. According to the rules of the nomination, people like "university chancellors; university professors of social science, history, philosophy, law and theology;leaders of peace research institutes and institutes of foreign affairs;" can submit names to be nominated.

Back to Tun M's nomination. If he ends up winning the prize, I can just hear the howls of "Malaysia Boleh"!

Friday, February 02, 2007

Catching Up on Stuff

I got myself a Bose SoundDock for my iPod. That was one of my belated Christmas gifts that I bought for myself! Heheh. While I was in Miri, my oldest brother lent me his portable hard drive where he stores his MP3s. Wow, he has quite a collection and since I have 30 Gg on my iPod, I have plenty of space! The Bose SoundDock helped me listen to my newly downloaded songs while I putter around the house. My brother also introduced to me a web site where I can download MP3s for free. Sheeeeessshhh!

I also bought myself a Remington Solutions Ionic Conditioning Setter, which is a set of hot curlers. I will never ever perm my hair again, and having the hot curlers is the next best thing. I like the curls that the hot curlers produce. Errr, seems like I paid $10 more for my set at Kohls! S*%!

While at Khols, I also bought a pair of sterling silver ear-rings. There was a buy one and get one free deal, so that was quite good. Usually I like to make my own ear-rings but I couldn't resist the price!

Before I left for Miri in October last year, I canceled my Netflix subscription. The good thing about Netflix is that if I decided to renew my subscription, my account would still be there waiting for me to come back. All the movies in my queue were still there! Heheh. But I decided to make a new list, and since I renewed my subscription I have watched Take the Lead, and Barnyard. I enjoyed both movies very much!

As to my quilting business, I ordered two pieces of canvases for the rollers on my machine. My quilting studio is too cold to work in right now, so I am waiting for the weather to warm up a little bit more before I am ready to do any amout of work in there.

I am slowly getting into the swing of things and getting into the groove of my normal routine. It is good to be back!