Rubénerd!

In the space of 48 hours, we lost two figures so pivotal in the post-Soviet world, or as Mr Havel referred to as "Post-Totalitarianism". The two men could not have been more different.

One worked in the Czech underground forming a resistance to Soviet influence, and left behind a peaceful, democratic, developed country with the highest living standards in the former Communist Bloc. He was an author, a playwright, a poet, a visionary, a jazz man, and a humanitarian.

The other man, was Kim Jong Il. Sadly, the recently deceased Christopher Hitchens would no doubt have had a brilliant line to describe Kim's passing. He traveled to North Korea, and often spoke at length of Kim's cult of personality. Here's hoping Korean can one day regain her peace.

Farewell Mr Havel. I'm downloading your Charter 77 to read on my Kindle as we speak.

UPDADE: Here is a transcript of Mark Colvin interviewing Christopher Hitchens about North Korea in 2010.

@WestWingReport: Pentagon is by far the #1 consumer of energy in U.S. The Air Force alone uses more oil than some countries. Renewable energy is top priority

@WestWingReport: Navy is also investing big in renewable energy. It has conducted test flights of F-18s powered by biofuels - & developing a "Green Fleet"

My question for the President: aren't you missing the point?

Brunei Darussalam is the second least corrupt nation in Asean after Singapore, seventh in Asia-Pacific and at 44th place globally with a score of 5.2, according to the 2011 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index in its report published on Thursday (Dec 1).
~ BruVoice.

It's been while since we've had a Singapore first and Brunei second story. It's hardly fair to compare them to the rest of ASEAN, given they're the only developed countries in the bloc. Still, I suppose it makes them feel good!

In other news, the image included is the Brunei Coat of Arms. Literally.

If you'll be travelling through Malaysia, what can you be expecting over the coming months for security theatre and whatnot?

(Screenshot is from my FreeBSD MacBook Pro when I was using it with the airport's WiFi. It was January 2007 and I was obsessed with the Haruhi Suzumiya anime, as I'm sure many of us were!)

So here's the problem

We start our flight on SpringWise, the blog for entrepreneural ideas. As George W. Bush said, its a shame the French don't have a word for those types of people

Travelers around the world are familiar with the delays caused by airport immigration checks, and Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) is no exception, with wait times of over 45 minutes long during peak periods.

The understatement of the Millennium, so much so I think Robbie Williams even sang a song about it. The few times I flew ValueAir and AirAsia when we lived in KL and I'd visit folks in Singapore, I had to use the terminal. Aside from almost missing a flight because it's nigh impossible to find the transit bus you need to take from KLIA, I remember one time sitting in that massive departure hall for an hour and a half.

So here's the solution

Anyway, how will you be solving this? Let's proceed to The Star, the English rag I used to read over there that managed to have a picture of Pak Lah on the front page of every single issue.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Immigration department will introduce on-board checks in planes to ease the passenger load at the counters at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang, especially during peak travel seasons.

On-board cheques? Where can I get some of these? :D

The on-board biometric checks claimed by the department to be the first of its kind in the world is one of its long term measures to improve operations at the LCCT.

Uh oh, we've experienced a sudden loss of cabin pressure and have to make an emergency landing.

I assume my biometric data will be kept on an ultra secure medium that could never leak out, right? Because that's the problem with biometrics, I can't change the password on my finger. Funny how often people forget that.

Will be keeping an eye on this. I'd very much like to avoid the low cost terminal there at all costs, but one can assume once the government has declared the trial a raging success they'll introduce it across all flights arriving and leaving the country. Selamat Datang ke Creepyness!

Now I understand why people are so disillusioned with our politicians here, they don't have an online store... with puns!

Cup of Joe -- Start your day right with a fresh Cup of Joe, featuring the Vice President's bright smile. Made in the USA.

Now that Australia is the 51st state of the United States, I'll be expecting my American Amazon account to become active any day now. I'm proud of this post!

The Obama

Firstly, after many aborted attempts to visit us in the land where things are upside down, where kangaroos are the primary form of transport, and where steep Alpine slopes take tourists down a breathtaking ski run to a Germanic cabin where hot chocolate is served, President Barack Obama visited Australia. To minimise the disruption for commuters, he eschewed (gesundheit) the more populated areas in favour of vising the the new regional Amercian capital of Australia in Darwin, and the former one in Canberra.

Speaking in the newly constructed Capitol building in Darwin where a large military base is being assembled, details of the scope of the new occupation force began to emerge. From SBS World News:

Referring to joint plans to base 250 US marines in the Top End next year, rising to 2500 in five years, he said Darwin would write the next chapter in the "proud history of our alliance".

Marines were chosen over other military personnel for the occupation force, to prevent waves of Australian refugees from fleeing on small boats to Indonesia.

The PRC

Confusingly, while the United States takes on the roll of administering Australia from the largely ineffective minority government led by Alan Jones, China remains the primary supplier of Australian economic aid which has helped former politicians including John Howard and Peter Costello to claim successes for their policies.

Speaking at a conference in Bali to escape the heat in the ACT, Julia Gillard assured the Chinese government that the new administrators weren't a threat to Chinese hegemony, and downplayed the words of the new President. From SBS World News:

"We have in Australia made an announcement with president Obama about the rotational deployment of marines into the Northern Territory for the purpose of exercising [because they're were getting fat], that having the US engaged in our region is a force for stability, that having those marines training alongside the ADF in Australia enables us to have a strengthened capacity to respond to regional contingencies including things like natural disasters.

While also taking a swipe at the Singapore government's treatment of Australia as a dumping ground for helicopters, Gillard took the opportunity to provide some much needed perspective.

[..] during the last Australian summer of flood and bushfires, Singapore offered use of helicopters to assist in relief operations. That was possible because Singapore has military helicopters on Australian territory for long-term training.

The Convenience

Meanwhile, back on Australian American soil, ZDNet Australia reported on how the annexation of Australia would have long term security benefits.

As part of US President Barack Obama's visit to Australia, a raft of new accords have been agreed upon to strengthen the national security of the two nations, [..]

Not "theoretically" strengthen, or "allegedly", but straight out strengthen. Certainty is critical in these matters.

[..] including a memorandum that will see US law enforcement agencies score access to the names, aliases, DNA and fingerprint information of suspected criminals and terrorists.

Following in the footsteps of draconian global copyright treaties that would see suspected file sharers have their internet revoked, in this scenario merely being a suspect without conviction would be enough to have your personal details sent to the United States.

While drastically securing everything because they say so, this would allow travelers who have never even been to the US to have their personal information transported there and stored. From a convenience perspective, its a win-win. I'm sure Bruce Schneier would wholeheartedly agree, if someone stuck a gun in his back, or something.

Conclusions

Now that the United States is administering Australia, I am looking foward to having their laws implemented here, which will facilitate me opening Amazon and Apple Store accounts without the messy overseas cards I'm currently using.

Surely Australia has reached a point where we can value relationships by markers such as respect, commitment and love. I have no doubt our laws will one day reflect this.

+1 Penny Wong. Kudos.

One need only replace the label "homosexual" with another such as "White" or "Slave" in arguments against gay marriage to understand just how abhorrent (and I'd argue unconstitutional) the idea of denying these people dignity and rights really are. History doesn't look favourably on those against equality.

(Comments are closed. From past experience these posts attract xenophobic hatred and ad hominum attacks, and I couldn't be bothered dealing with them).

So Gaddafi, the brutal dictator of Libya has been captured and/or has died, depending on which news you read. Of course, Western political leaders didn't care about the plight of his country's people for decades until Chinese oil companies threatened Western hegemony there. Suddenly, we had to start another war (that was only supposed to take days), take him out, and put boots on the ground.

An awful person is gone now, but I'm in no mood to be jovial. The lesson here isn't that the West will come to the aid of oppressed people, it's that we'll protect our own interests under the guise of humanitarianism, and without due process. It's disgusting. Hey, at least other Twitter folks can celebrate and pretend they helped with their retweets, hashtags, green avatars and Gaddafi jokes.

An uncharacteristically serious post here, but there you have it.

This post on the Australian government's plan to "streamline" piracy controls" would seem far more authoritative if I picked appropriate images to accompany it.

(Unnecessarily pointless photo of a 1979 car phone by Ben Franske. Get it? Media cartel? Media Car... tel? Media car... telephone? I thought that was funny).

Govt proposes "streamlined" piracy controls

Always on top of such matters, Renai LeMay has reported something that should send chills down every Australian who access the interwebs. You'll want to be sitting down for this, or at least resting on one of those arse cushions they mount on the side of the refurbished Tangaras. Mmm, squishy.

The Federal Government has proposed to modify federal regulations to make it easier for anti-piracy organisations to request details of alleged Internet pirates from ISPs, in a modified process which would make it easier for organisations such as Movie Rights Group and AFACT to pursue individuals allegedly illegally downloading content online.

There are three key parts to this.

The three key parts

I already said that.

It's been said a million times already, but imagine for a second that these media cartels (calling a spade a spade) spent as much time and effort on making it easier for consumers to legally purchase their content. As it stands now, while some people are cheapskates and would never pay for content, I'd argue most people "pirate" content for convenience and due to a lack of access.

Secondly, I'm pretty sure most so-called pirates don't look like that. If they did, they'd be raking in far too much money from cosplay competitions to perform such things. Most likely, they'd be getting other people to do it for them on their behalf, once they realise the DVD they legally purchased can't be played in the media player they legally purchased because of some draconian digital restrictions management.

Thirdly, I'm not a lawyer so I can't comment specifically on whether such moves are unconstitutional, but I find it incredibly offensive that being accused ("allegedly") of a crime is enough to to involve judges and the law. The Stasi of East Germany and The Party of 1984 are calling, they want their methods back.

Icelandic web hosting looks pretty sweet now

Of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Mmm, ice kachang. That reminds me, I'm hungry.

With the the draconian ACTA being taken seriously in several countries including Australia and Singapore (so much for my backup living plan!), we can only expect more of this nonsense in the future. A sobering thought, huh?

I was going to save this for tomorrow, but a series of tweets from the illustrious @talkingduck (private account) led me to finish this off and post it today. If you thought I was unfairly ragging on Victoria today, take a gander at this!

The political compass said I was a Liberal Libertarian

In what other field of work do you get benefits and perks even after you leave the organisation?

The news spreading around The Twitters this morning was that former New South Wales state premier Kristina Keneally had her post-leadership travel entitlements revoked by current premier Barry O'Farrell. These include the use of state cars (heaven forfend they take public transport like the rest of us!) and access to the series of catapults on the border that keeps those pesky Victorians from fining us. Presumably.

On the surface, I didn't have a problem with this. My "liberal" side (in the American sense) understands some government spending is necessary to compensate for market failures (economic terminology meaning services the private sector can't or won't provide), but my "libertarian" side loathes government spending that doesn't provide anything useful. Like... state government in a country with less people than many cities! Like this one:

Yes, I was able to work in another press image for the upcoming Guilty Crown anime I blogged about earlier today, in an post that has nothing to do with it whatsoever. Not only that, I did it while enduring an (albeit gradually improving) headache. Is that skill, or what!? Don't answer that.

But I digress

Shortly after posting my frustrations on Twitter, @joshgnosis pointed out to me part of the reason people are up in arms is that O'Farrell only penalised Keneally, not anyone else. While I agree this is dodgy, my point is why should anyone voted out of office still be entitled to our funds to use as they see fit?

What I found particularly egregious is the justification that state cars are used to ferry former politicians to charity events. While this may true, imagine if theses politicians donated the funds to maintain this fleet of state cars, and drove there themselves or took a taxi? The rest of us don't take what are essentially taxpayer funded limousines to such events, why should they?

I should contact the companies I worked for back in home and ask them when I can be expecting my return tickets to Singapore! I mean, I don't work for them anymore, but I'm entitled to them, right?

(Random photo of Sydney taken by... me! View on Flickr)