On a lighter note....

Here is something I just received via email^^

HUMOR FOR LEXOPHILES (LOVERS OF WORDS)

I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

Police were called to a day care where a 3-yr-old was resisting a rest.

Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.

The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.

The butcher backed up into the meat grinder & got a little behind in his work.

To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate.

The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium
at large.

A thief who stole a calendar got 12 months.

A thief fell & broke his leg in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.

When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A.

The dead batteries were given out free of charge.

A dentist & a manicurist fought tooth and nail.

A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

A will is a dead giveaway.

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

A backward poet writes inverse.

In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.

A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.

If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.

A guy fell into an upholstery machine. He's fully recovered.

A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France, resulting in Linoleum Blownapart.

You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

A calendar's days are numbered.

A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.

A boiled egg is hard to beat.

He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

When you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall.

When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.

Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

Enjoy your day :)

Are you a nerd?

On a lighter note, I just took an online test to check my nerdiness rating.
This is my score for space stuff.



Click on it to take it yourself, and you can also find the link to the actual nerd test. I refuse to reveal what I got on that one, because my family and girlfriend may disown me :)

I think of myself more as a geek, simply because I don't behave or look like a nerd...most of the time.

Desmond Tutu Calls for Release of Aung San Suu Kyi

I will reproduce here a recent announcement by Elder Desmond Tutu, concerning the illegal imprisonment of Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel laureate and rightful leader of the Burmese people:

May 25, 2008

(Cape Town, South Africa) Statement by Desmond Tutu, Chair of the Elders:

"On behalf of the Elders and people of conscience everywhere, I call for the immediate release of Burmese human rights advocate and fellow Elder Aung San Suu Kyi. This brave and beautiful woman is the world's only imprisoned Nobel Laureate. According to Burmese law, her detention should expire today, allowing her the freedom that she has sought for so many others. The people of Burma chose her as their national leader seventeen years ago. Yet their vote goes ignored and their voices unheard. The country's leadership has an opportunity to begin to right that wrong, to respond to the people's will and to abide by their country's laws."



"At the same time the Burmese junta should open their country to the aid that has been offered in the wake of a terrible cyclone that has claimed over 100,000 lives. This has been a time of tragedy for so many Burmese families. Let it be a time to celebrate the newfound freedom of this visionary leader who stands up for peace, justice and human dignity - and stands up for the Burmese people who have suffered for too long."

This is a powerful statement, by an increasingly influential group.


Happier times, 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner.

I would also call your attention to the summit on the abolition of cluster bombs currently taking place in Ireland. Apparently the Australian delegation is making trouble. See www.avaaaz.org to send an email to Kevin Rudd, and show your support for the destruction of these indiscriminate explosives. They look like toys to kids, who are regularly killed and maimed when they pick them up.

Ooh! Toys!


Look away...I dare you!

Your's
Jetsam

Update on the Hmong Refugees

In a new show of "Samak Logic", on the 24th May the cerebrally challenged Thai PM Samak Sundaravej authorised troop action on the Hmong refugees at the Ban Huay Nam Khao camp in Thailand. What do you do when you have a community of genuine refugees who would rather die than be returned to the country from which they fled? According to Samak, you fire tear gas and pepper spray at them to force them onto the buses.

"In reaction to the Thai troops now deployed to the Hmong refugee camp, the Hmong refugees have laid down on the road and are refusing to move, waiting instead for the buses or trucks to run them over so they can die in Thailand instead of returning to Laos," stated Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt, Southeast Asia Scholar. http://www.tragicmountains.org

On May 16, eight members of the U.S. Senate wrote a letter appealing to Prime Minister Samak and U.S. Secretary of State Rice to grant asylum to some 8,000 Hmong refugees and not force them back to Laos. What good this will do, I have no idea. In light of recent history, I would be inclined to say there is very little that could convince Samak that human-rights are worth fighting for when the issues are staring him in the face. Not only is he breaking bread with famed human rights violators such as Than Shwe (Burma's top piggy), he is cooking a scrumptious meal for them. If he wears an apron for much longer, I fear Samak will become yet another example of Thailand's disposable democracy.


"Hooooo! Is that bacon I smell?"

If you are interested in the plight of the Hmong, which really, everyone should be, then take a look at the following two videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnvTjs3-Ytc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mi68GYu64k&watch_response

Wenchuan Earthquake

What an absolute catastrophe...allow me to express my most heartfelt sympathies for the victims and their families on this day of mourning. Comfort each other, and join together to pay homage to those lives that, though only a few out of many, were just as important as any other.
Do not contemplate why the quake happened, but focus instead on how to rebuild what has been lost, both in your communities and in your hearts.

Just some information others may not know, this was the worst natural disaster China had experienced since the Tangshan quake of 1976 which killed an estimated 242,000 people.


Tangshan, after the quake

Pad Thai

It is my birthday today, and for dinner I will be going to a local Thai restaurant. With this in mind I would like to start sharing a passion of mine, cooking. I will be posting good recipes I find, techniques, food profiles, and whatever I can think of about cooking.

So today, I would like to introduce you to an interesting recipe for Pad Thai. Now there are a few ways to do this, and everyone seems to have their own style, but this is a rather posh recipe compared to your average Pad Thai. ENJOY! If you make it, let me know how you go. [disclaimer: this is not my recipe and I do not claim any ownership over it at all, it appeared on Food Safari (SBS television)]

INGREDIENTS

Sauce
100g tamarind in block form
300ml warm water
200g palm sugar
50g caster sugar
150ml Thai seasoning sauce

Other ingredients
Large green prawns, heads and shells removed (allow 2-3 per person)
10g dried shrimp
¼ red onion, sliced
40g hard tofu, sliced
40g preserved turnip
2 eggs
200g rice noodles, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
Garlic chives
Bean sprouts
Fried shallots
Roasted peanuts, chopped
Dried chilli
Lime wedges

DIRECTIONS

1. Soak the tamarind in warm water, kneading with your fingers to separate the pulp from the seeds. Squeeze out liquid, strain and pour into a frying pan or wok. Add palm sugar, caster sugar and seasoning sauce. Bring to the boil and boil until it has reduced and is syrupy.



2. Fry prawns until they curl and change colour. Add dried shrimp, red onion, tofu and preserved turnip. Push contents of pan to one side and add egg, breaking up just a little as it cooks.

3. Add drained noodles, 2 tablespoon of water, the tamarind sauce, garlic chives and a few bean sprouts, fried shallots, chopped peanuts and chilli.



4. Pile into a serving bowl and garnish with more fried shallots, bean sprouts, a wedge of lime, garlic chives and crushed peanuts.

Note: The amount of sauce added to the Pad Thai can be adjusted according to how strong a flavour you like. Usually this quantity of sauce is fine for 4 people. Any unused sauce can be kept in a clean jar in the refrigerator.

Make sure you squeeze the lime over it at the end to your taste, it makes all the difference guys...delicious!

Bloggers Unite For Human Rights: Be aware and stand together!

With the help of Blog Catalog and Amnesty International, bloggers worldwide are uniting today, may 15th 2008, to raise awareness of human rights issues.

Human rights are recognised under law as any basic right or freedom that all human beings are entitled to. They are set out clearly in the universal declaration of human rights.

For my part, I would like to bring your attention to an ethnic minority rarely featured in world media, or in active human rights campaigns. The Hmong of Laos. Their recent history has been one of brutal persecution and betrayal. Forgotten by the western powers they once fought for, they are in the devastating circumstance of not being welcome anywhere. For those former anti-communist groups still in Laos, there is no mercy. Men, women, children and the elderly, all are being gradually exterminated. For those in refugee camps in neighbouring nations, repatriation to a country that despises them is their fate. I implore you all to inform yourselves about these human rights violations that occur out of sight. If you are not already aware that this kind of persecution still exists in this part of the world, I guarantee that you will be shocked.

Be aware that although life is extremely difficult for the average person in countries like Burma, some ethnic minorities' daily lives are worse than your most frightening nightmares. To most of us, horrors like the Jewish Holocaust in WWII are in the past, yet for some they remain a daily reality. Both are extremely important, yet it is vital we do not focus only upon what is in the media at the time, or what is "fashionable".

There are various ways to take action against human-rights violations that you know of, including simply spreading the word, writing letters, donating to well-researched organisations as well as supporting the initiatives of these organisations by signing petitions or writing emails. I urge you to review my past human rights articles, especially concerning the elders and the human rights anniversary campaign (please consider signing the pledge if you have not already).

Do some research, discuss issues in your social circle, and make a difference TODAY!

Take care,

Jetsam.

Dude, where's my co-contribution?

Federal Labor Treasurer Wayne Swan

Those on the know would have recognised a thinly-veiled flaw in last night's federal budget. This being that the government's co-contribution scheme (where the government matches some of the cash you put into super voluntarily), from 01 July 08, treats salary sacrifice contributions as assessable income.

Why is this a problem? It will significantly affect the ability to bridge the retirement savings gap for many Australians and flies in the face of Labor’s supposed calls for an increase in the Superannuation Guarantee for exactly the opposite reason. SS will also be treated as income for many other government payments such as child-support and family assistance payments.

What does the government say? It claims that this change resolves an inconsistency in the treatment of ‘non-wage’ remuneration in the income tax and transfer system that allows individuals and families to access more government support payments than would be possible if their salary sacrificed contributions were paid as salary or wage income.

However, using salary sacrifice contributions to increase the ability to access the Government Co-Contribution greatly assists those in the accumulation phase earning less than the Government Co-contribution upper threshold of $58,980 to bridge their retirement savings gap by using both non-concessional and concessional contributions (salary sacrifice) to enhance net contributions to super. Thus this policy is a net loss for the so-called "battlers" that the budget is supposed to benefit.

This isn't to say that there are no positive points to this year's federal budget, but what would be the point in promoting those? The problem lies in the details.

Over and out.

Why the US slow period will not derail Chinese growth

Sorry America, the play isn't directed solely by you anymore.

I hope you have all been celebrating Beltane, and that you all honoured your mothers on Sunday. Tradition cops a lot of flack, but I think it's important and can have a good influence upon a person.

Anyway, back to today's post. In recent times whenever anything happened to the North American economy, the entire world held its breath. As the Earth's largest economy, this was a pretty understandable reaction. The recent NINJA loan crisis (No Income No Job or Assets) in the US, and the subsequent harsh slowing down of the economy, has had the same effect. People are scrambling everywhere like headless chooks looking under park benches for the end of the world.

I agree...it does, in my opinion, signal the end of the world..........as we know it. A world where the US economy could cause a worldwide recession with big hits to consumer confidence like those seen recently. A world where everyone else cowers in fear until it recovers.

You see, in the past, the USA was the largest consumer of goods in the world. Many countries largely relied on income from exports to this monster. These days though, the dynamic has changed slightly. How? Read on.

China has emerged as a gigantic consumer in its own right, as we have seen in their thirst for Australian resources (and those of other nations). In fact, China now accounts for 25-30% of world demand. In ten years, this figure doubled. It isn't gathering all these resources for simple production followed by export though, it is building vast, vast amounts of infrastructure to deal with domestic urbanisation. If a tier 1 city is Beijing, and a teir 3 Brisbane, China is tipped to go from 45 teir 1-3 cities in 2006, to 86 in 2010, and a massive projected 147 teir 1-3 cities in 2020. In population terms, we are talking urban populations increasing from 532 million in 2006, to 970 million in 2020. These are enormous numbers, and the consumption figures would be absolutely astronomical.

The moral is that China will start to exert more of an effect upon world economies, and external fluctuations in demand will affect the Chinese economy less. The parallel rise of India will also snip a few more puppet strings from the US economy.

As a rather interesting side note, the Middle-East currently has more infrastructure projects planned than both China and India...COMBINED. Surprised much? What has been the biggest criticism you have heard ad nauseum concerning Middle-Eastern economies?

"they're so dependent on oil, if the price drops, they're doomed."

Actually, not really. The Middle-East is not just one market. It is 13 markets spread out over a space that takes eight hours to fly over. And not all these places are driven by oil. In reality oil only accounts for 3% of Dubai's GDP. And it's going to be completely oil dry in the next two decades.

So the message is, don't stress, the US isn't the great global indicator for market performance that it once was, and will become less so in the years to come.

Dubai skyline at the moment...and the construction below. This kind of growth can also be seen in China and India currently.

Latha Buidhe Bealtuinn is here!

Latha Buidhe Bealtuinn ('the yellow day of Bealtain') is today, the first of May. This term Lá(th) Buidhe Bealtaine is also used in Irish and is translated as "Bright May Day".

Bealtaine (beltain <- Anglicised) is the Celtic name for the month of may, and commonly refers to the festival Lá Bealtaine (in Scotland) which was usually celebrated on the 15th of May while in Ireland Sean Bhealtain / "Old May" began about the night of the 11th of May. The lighting of bonfires on Oidhche Bhealtaine ("the eve of Bealtaine") on mountains and hills of ritual and political significance was one of the main activities of the festival. These apparently signified purification and transition.

The festival signifes the beginning of Summer, which means it feels a little odd celebrating it here in the Southern Hemisphere as it is moving into Winter...Nevermind, I am a purist, so I will surely be lighting a candle.

Take ye a care on Bealtane though, as the Otherworld be closer than any day other than Samhain (Halloween). Should ye feel a shiver down yer spine, take no heed for 'tis just ye lost kinsmen playin' the games of th' shade.

On the 29th of April, the Beltane Fire Festival is celebrated in Edinburgh, Scotland, where various acts of fire, fun, and mystical significance are performed. I would like to go one day; it seems like one of those experiences that would be great to be a part of, especially if you have Celtic ancestry.

Just for your info, this is celebrated as Walpurgis night in germanic tradition, and under many other names and through many different kinds of festivals and associated revelry throughout Europe. Beltane itself is purely a Gaelic Celt tradition.

So drink, dance, light a big fire and be merry. As Goldberry said in Lord of the Rings, "Heed no nightly noises! For nothing passes door and window here save moonlight and starlight and the wind off the hill-top. Good night!"

and good day!

To the people of China

Please stop all these anti-western, pro-nationalist demonstrations. You are only making things worse and are doing more damage to your country's image than pro-Tibetan protesters ever could. Understand that by demonstrating like this in our country, you are coming across as rude bullies and uninformed ones at that, and reinforcing racist stereotypes. Though some may lead you to believe otherwise, the "anti-Chinese" protests are not against you, or your country, but specifically the CCP. If you can't make the distinction, take a long, hard look at yourself.

If you harass foreign-owned businesses in China, are you any better than the Tibetans who did the same to Han Chinese-owned business in Tibet?

Food for thought.