1/28/2015
Sinkie – The Naked Man
Singaporeans have been increasing been stripped of their clothing and many are as good as walking around naked, or in the Emperor’s new clothe. For the poor or those needing govt subsidies or financial assistance, they are familiar with being stripped naked to a stranger who wanted to know everything ‘under’ their clothing before granting them the privilege of govt grants or subsidies. The Mean Testing in hospitals and similar schemes many ministries are infamous for asking very embarrassing and personal questions of the applicants. They would want you to strip to your underwear or turn out your pockets to make sure they are empty.
Mean Testing is meant only to the poor and desperados, so humiliating them is acceptable. We have something that makes Mean Testing looked very tame and friendly. The new powers given to the Medishield Life Scheme to put everyone under the microscope is like a futuristic nightmare comes true. There is nothing left that is called personal and private. Your body and private parts are not private anymore. Your money and your bank accounts are no longer private and out of bound to the govt.
The bill that is waiting to be passed allows the authority to look into your medical files, to review your medical conditions at will. The bills allow the authority to dip into your bank accounts, to take from your pay cheques, to imprison you for not paying a forced so called ‘National Medical Insurance Scheme’ to provide the people with a national health coverage. Who is providing to who? No, the people are legislated by law to provide themselves with a national health insurance scheme with their own money and cannot say No. And for the privilege of being a member of this compulsory scheme that would not declare its mission as Non Profit Making, you have authorized the authority to strip you naked if needed to, to prove that you deserve some mercy to be spare the jail for not paying the compulsory premium from cradle to the grave.
This would be a good theme to celebrate in SG50, The Naked Man. What used to belong to a Sinkie, his body and money, are no longer private and personal, accessible to the authority, to see and to touch and to take, perfectly legal when the bill is passed.
1984, George Orwell anyone?
1/27/2015
William Engdahl - Obama lying to the world about ISIS
Read the following by William Engdahl for a
little uncomfortable and unpleasant truth.
Highly recommended for suckers like Matilah and the unthinking bananas
to cleanse their brains of the rubbish being programmed in them.
http://rt.com/op-edge/224791-obama-isis-speech-syria/
‘Obama lying to the world about ISIS’
William Engdahl is an award-winning geopolitical analyst and strategic risk consultant whose internationally best-selling books have been translated into thirteen foreign languages.
published time: January 22, 2015 15:07
If President Obama was serious in his intention to destroy ISIS, he would cut the US funding for the terrorist group and get John McCain behind bars for his ugly role in the whole Middle East business, geopolitical analyst F. William Engdahl told RT.
RT: US President Obama's speech made no mention of the fact that US weapons have in the past ended up in the hands of Islamic State. If there's further support for so-called moderate rebels in Syria, how can he be sure it won't happen again?
William Engdahl: Well, he can’t because ISIS was actually trained in Iraq initially, the al-Qaeda in Iraq, when Petraeus was down there. And if he was really serious, John McCain has played a very ugly role in this whole Middle East business in Syria and also in Ukraine for that matter. If President Obama was serious about that he’d file charges against John McCain for criminal activity, get him behind bars, cut off the US funding for ISIS - the weapons, the training, this is a sophisticated operation. You don’t get a bunch of people, bunch of Bedouins running around the desert on camels who are doing some of these sophisticated things that ISIS has been credited with. So Obama is lying, excuse me for being blunt about it, but the President is lying to the world about ISIS.
RT: What measures is he trying to take to prevent this from happening again?
WE: Well I have yet to find any. I think as I wrote in a book, it’s about to be published soon, on the relation between US intelligence or Western intelligence, but especially the CIA and radical jihad around the world, whether it be the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, or organizations like al-Qaeda in Afghanistan in Chechnya and elsewhere. The US intelligence is up to their eye-balls in dirty business using radical jihad as a cover for regime change or destabilization.
RT: Obama showed support for what he called Ukrainian democracy. But Kiev has broken an international agreement by re-starting a military offensive on Donetsk. Why wasn't this mentioned?
WE: Well, because Obama and the US State Department has a one-sided agenda: they put a group of criminals of all regards, billionaires, thugs, neo-Nazis whatever name you want to give them, in a coup d’état, undemocratic, unconstitutional, illegal by norms of international law in February 2014 in order to provoke Putin’s Russia to make a mistake and militarily intervene and start a new Cold War. The military industry behind Washington is desperate to hold their grip on power worldwide. The elites that elect or finance presidential elections I should say in America are getting increasingly desperate. They see the world slipping out of their fingers.
“The new world order,” David Rockefeller used to talk about is becoming a new world disorder for them. I think this is the real agenda in Ukraine. Although, one thing I must say Obama said that Putin and Russia are isolated. I was in Russia at the beginning of the year and I didn’t see people look at all isolated and I haven’t seen any indication. Russia has made strategic agreements on energy with China since the US sanctions kicked in. They made strategic agreements with India, with Brazil. They are all over the globe building architecture of what I think could be a very positive new development to replace a collapsing dollar system that really needs to be brought under control for the good of Americans and for the good of the world.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
http://rt.com/op-edge/224791-obama-isis-speech-syria/
‘Obama lying to the world about ISIS’
William Engdahl is an award-winning geopolitical analyst and strategic risk consultant whose internationally best-selling books have been translated into thirteen foreign languages.
published time: January 22, 2015 15:07
If President Obama was serious in his intention to destroy ISIS, he would cut the US funding for the terrorist group and get John McCain behind bars for his ugly role in the whole Middle East business, geopolitical analyst F. William Engdahl told RT.
RT: US President Obama's speech made no mention of the fact that US weapons have in the past ended up in the hands of Islamic State. If there's further support for so-called moderate rebels in Syria, how can he be sure it won't happen again?
William Engdahl: Well, he can’t because ISIS was actually trained in Iraq initially, the al-Qaeda in Iraq, when Petraeus was down there. And if he was really serious, John McCain has played a very ugly role in this whole Middle East business in Syria and also in Ukraine for that matter. If President Obama was serious about that he’d file charges against John McCain for criminal activity, get him behind bars, cut off the US funding for ISIS - the weapons, the training, this is a sophisticated operation. You don’t get a bunch of people, bunch of Bedouins running around the desert on camels who are doing some of these sophisticated things that ISIS has been credited with. So Obama is lying, excuse me for being blunt about it, but the President is lying to the world about ISIS.
RT: What measures is he trying to take to prevent this from happening again?
WE: Well I have yet to find any. I think as I wrote in a book, it’s about to be published soon, on the relation between US intelligence or Western intelligence, but especially the CIA and radical jihad around the world, whether it be the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, or organizations like al-Qaeda in Afghanistan in Chechnya and elsewhere. The US intelligence is up to their eye-balls in dirty business using radical jihad as a cover for regime change or destabilization.
RT: Obama showed support for what he called Ukrainian democracy. But Kiev has broken an international agreement by re-starting a military offensive on Donetsk. Why wasn't this mentioned?
WE: Well, because Obama and the US State Department has a one-sided agenda: they put a group of criminals of all regards, billionaires, thugs, neo-Nazis whatever name you want to give them, in a coup d’état, undemocratic, unconstitutional, illegal by norms of international law in February 2014 in order to provoke Putin’s Russia to make a mistake and militarily intervene and start a new Cold War. The military industry behind Washington is desperate to hold their grip on power worldwide. The elites that elect or finance presidential elections I should say in America are getting increasingly desperate. They see the world slipping out of their fingers.
“The new world order,” David Rockefeller used to talk about is becoming a new world disorder for them. I think this is the real agenda in Ukraine. Although, one thing I must say Obama said that Putin and Russia are isolated. I was in Russia at the beginning of the year and I didn’t see people look at all isolated and I haven’t seen any indication. Russia has made strategic agreements on energy with China since the US sanctions kicked in. They made strategic agreements with India, with Brazil. They are all over the globe building architecture of what I think could be a very positive new development to replace a collapsing dollar system that really needs to be brought under control for the good of Americans and for the good of the world.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
When your friends are really your enemies
The suing of Roy Ngerng and the letter to Huffington Post were two
incidents that I could not believe that they happened that way. I know
that Hsien Loong and Chan Chun Sing would be very angry if I were to say
that they were politically unsound or stupid things to do. Both must
know that they are national leaders and would have to go to the people
for votes to endorse them in the next GE. Why would they do such darn
things that would cost them dearly in votes and putting themselves in the limelight
under public scrutiny?
In the case of suing Roy, it should not have happened in the first place. And when it did happen, there was a golden opportunity to unwind and step away from the fiasco. When the court found Roy guilty of defamation, Hsien Loong has won and his reputation was reinstated. And Roy also apologised. It would have done Hsien Loong so much good, gained credits and raised his stature as a national leader if he would to call Roy to the Istana for tea. He could even waive the damages or accept a token to make a point, and close the case.
Why did Hsien Loong insist on pursuing further and allowed the case to explode, and now it is heading straight into the gutters? How many wise men and women must have had their input in this case, discussed and shared their views. There must be opposing views with some asking Hsien Loong to let go and some egging him to push it to the limits. I think his ‘friends’ with inverted commas won the argument and Hsien Loong would now have to face the consequences.
What have Hsien Loong gained in this? The victory in the courts, even unbearable damages to be paid, would all be hollow as the price for this victory would probably cost Hsien Loong and the PAP a lot of votes. No one knows how bad this would be until the result of the GE is announced. This would be a hot topic in the GE or in private discussions. As the saying goes, you don’t need enemies if you have ‘friends’ who are leading you to the slaughter.
As for the letter to Huffington Post, writing to the Post for publishing articles by Dr Chee is simply amateurish without adding more adjectives. What did they think they could achieve? Huffington Post to stop publishing Dr Chee’s articles? Is there any reasonable man who believed this would be the outcome? Or would Huffington Post turn around and show the middle finger? It is just unbelieveable.
My guess, the ‘friends’, the ‘good friends’, must all be egging him to do it and making him look anything but funny. I am being very polite. Only ‘friends’ could get such an idea going with the ‘victim’ still believing that their advice was good and sound, and it was the right thing to do. What was the result? Who gained and who lost more?
And of course the text of the letter. The ‘friends’ must have all ‘kee chiu’ or showed thumbs up, that it was a brilliantly written letter. How could anyone believe that was a brilliant letter? I have stronger words and funny words to describe the letter but best not to put in print.
Beware of your ‘friends’, especially those with good intentions.
In the case of suing Roy, it should not have happened in the first place. And when it did happen, there was a golden opportunity to unwind and step away from the fiasco. When the court found Roy guilty of defamation, Hsien Loong has won and his reputation was reinstated. And Roy also apologised. It would have done Hsien Loong so much good, gained credits and raised his stature as a national leader if he would to call Roy to the Istana for tea. He could even waive the damages or accept a token to make a point, and close the case.
Why did Hsien Loong insist on pursuing further and allowed the case to explode, and now it is heading straight into the gutters? How many wise men and women must have had their input in this case, discussed and shared their views. There must be opposing views with some asking Hsien Loong to let go and some egging him to push it to the limits. I think his ‘friends’ with inverted commas won the argument and Hsien Loong would now have to face the consequences.
What have Hsien Loong gained in this? The victory in the courts, even unbearable damages to be paid, would all be hollow as the price for this victory would probably cost Hsien Loong and the PAP a lot of votes. No one knows how bad this would be until the result of the GE is announced. This would be a hot topic in the GE or in private discussions. As the saying goes, you don’t need enemies if you have ‘friends’ who are leading you to the slaughter.
As for the letter to Huffington Post, writing to the Post for publishing articles by Dr Chee is simply amateurish without adding more adjectives. What did they think they could achieve? Huffington Post to stop publishing Dr Chee’s articles? Is there any reasonable man who believed this would be the outcome? Or would Huffington Post turn around and show the middle finger? It is just unbelieveable.
My guess, the ‘friends’, the ‘good friends’, must all be egging him to do it and making him look anything but funny. I am being very polite. Only ‘friends’ could get such an idea going with the ‘victim’ still believing that their advice was good and sound, and it was the right thing to do. What was the result? Who gained and who lost more?
And of course the text of the letter. The ‘friends’ must have all ‘kee chiu’ or showed thumbs up, that it was a brilliantly written letter. How could anyone believe that was a brilliant letter? I have stronger words and funny words to describe the letter but best not to put in print.
Beware of your ‘friends’, especially those with good intentions.
Han Fook Kwang tantalising tales of dark secrets
Last Saturday Han Fook Kwang wrote a story of a small town called Omelas
and the dark secret in the basement. A poor child was locked in there,
living in abject misery. Everyone in the town knew of this shameful
secret. Some pretended that it was not there, some could not live with
the ugly truth and left town. No one in the town of Omelas talked about
the dark secret in the basement, but everyone was talking about it
without saying anything. The dark secret was no secret. It was common
knowledge. Who was there to tell?
Han Fook Kwang made it more direct by talking about Singapore and its dark secrets in the basement. He told, all three of them, but nothing nearer the truth. He said so much, in a whole article but said nothing. This is nothing different from the Gang of Four saga in China when the comrades would shout ‘Gang of Four’ but showed a high 5, all 5 fingers wide open.
Perhaps this is the closest that the dark secrets in the basement could be told. Perhaps this is a good way of acknowledging that there are dark secrets in the basement, better than denying their existence. Perhaps when asked, all the wise ones, rich ones, successful ones, and the losers, would say yes, yes, there is no dark secrets in our basement, but keep shaking their heads from left to right.
Singaporeans are so intelligent, from the top to the bottom, to skirt around the secrets in the basement and live life as normal as they could, and live life to the fullest or to the darnest, without spilling the beans. Some left and become quitters to be replaced by new quitters that would eventually come to know of the dark secrets, but be very Singaporeans, knowing and not knowing. Bipolar is a good sickness to have, just like dementia, and not knowing or talking about the dark secrets is a blessing and a formula for success and living well.
I too did not know that there are dark secrets until this story of Omelas. Is Omelas supposed to be a code for something that we are supposed to know? Does it stand for One Man, One Mentor, or Old Man’s everlasting something, something, something? Or should it be written backwards like Salemo? Can anyone break the code or write another book about The Omelas or Salemo Code?
Han Fook Kwang made it more direct by talking about Singapore and its dark secrets in the basement. He told, all three of them, but nothing nearer the truth. He said so much, in a whole article but said nothing. This is nothing different from the Gang of Four saga in China when the comrades would shout ‘Gang of Four’ but showed a high 5, all 5 fingers wide open.
Perhaps this is the closest that the dark secrets in the basement could be told. Perhaps this is a good way of acknowledging that there are dark secrets in the basement, better than denying their existence. Perhaps when asked, all the wise ones, rich ones, successful ones, and the losers, would say yes, yes, there is no dark secrets in our basement, but keep shaking their heads from left to right.
Singaporeans are so intelligent, from the top to the bottom, to skirt around the secrets in the basement and live life as normal as they could, and live life to the fullest or to the darnest, without spilling the beans. Some left and become quitters to be replaced by new quitters that would eventually come to know of the dark secrets, but be very Singaporeans, knowing and not knowing. Bipolar is a good sickness to have, just like dementia, and not knowing or talking about the dark secrets is a blessing and a formula for success and living well.
I too did not know that there are dark secrets until this story of Omelas. Is Omelas supposed to be a code for something that we are supposed to know? Does it stand for One Man, One Mentor, or Old Man’s everlasting something, something, something? Or should it be written backwards like Salemo? Can anyone break the code or write another book about The Omelas or Salemo Code?
1/26/2015
Finance industry – of ethics and trust
I once wrote to a CEO of a bank when he spoke about ethics and trust in
the industry. He didn’t like what I told him. He was embarrassed. But he
did put something right after my tea session with him.
Timothy Massad, Chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Ravi Menon, MD of MAS, spoke in the same seminar attended by the Who’s Who of the Singapore finance industry. The main points both spoke off are ethics and trust in the finance industry. The very same issues that the CEO I spoke to was lamenting about. I am feeling funny when people in a position to do things right and in their watches could be talking about the flaws of the system as if they are helpless about them. What are they going to do about it is my question. The problem in many cases is that they know even know why. When they know what is the cause or source of the problem, then half of the problems is already solved. What a great puzzle for someone saying he knew the problem but cannot solve it or did not know how to solve it or not doing anything about it.
These are what Ravi Menon said, ‘there are deeper issues of trust, ethics and culture in the financial industry that have to be confronted,…Finance is at risk of becoming more “de personalised”, as long term relationships with customers are replaced by transcient transactions with “counterparts”…departures from ethicalconduct are too easily tolerated as the norm….’ Menon said a lot more and concluded by saying ‘Reform of the financial industry will not be complete until this issue of trust and ethics is addressed,…Without sound ethics, there can be no trust. Without trust, there can be no confidence. And without confidence, there can be neither growth nor stability.’
Timothy Massad was smarter. He put the blame on the Asian countries for allowing the allowing the financial industry to sink to the bottom. It was not the Americans or the western govts’ fault. The Asians govts must build a strong regulatory framework for derivatives, must agree on a set of reforms to regulate derivatives. He totally forgot about the American quest for deregulations to allow the financial thugs to do as they pleased that led to the global meltdown. But regulations are a big farce when the rot is in the core, in the system. Derivatives are fraudulent financial instruments that are waiting to blow up in the faces of the regulators and the govts. The govts and regulators cannot allow people to simply write money out of nothing, and derivatives are just that, selling pieces of papers as ‘promissory notes’ or gambling chits. There is no point in having all the regulations when the thugs are allowed to write their own rules and how the games are to be played.
Look at the system of the stock markets and how HFT, algos and computers are allowed to operate in the system with unfair advantage over the innocent investors. Can they see anything wrong with them? Or are they turning a blind eye to the crooks and allowed them to do as they pleased, with no regulations but trying to throw the books at the innocent investors and small time speculators? Why no one is seeing the elephant in the class room? They are not duds or idiots for sure.
China is offering Shanghai Exchange as an alternative to the flawed and heavily manipulated American and western modelled stock markets. No HFT and algos to take advantage of the super computers to manipulate the system to rip off innocent investors. The Chinese regulators have been studying the American model and have seen all the faults and would not want to join the farce. The Western players are forcing HongKong to adopt the so called ‘international standards and flawed western model’ to allow them to manipulate the market at will, with no regulations or regulations to their advantage. China would not allow HKSE to go the NYSE or Singapore way.
What is going on? Does anyone know what is going on? Perhaps they knew but looking the other way, pretending that everything is fine. The truth is in the sorry state of the stock market, an industry that is dying. What further proof is needed? Waiting for mortis rigour?
What ethics and trust are they talking about? Everyone is clapping and saying the stock market is doing fine, doing very well, exceptionally well, as planned. Really? When are they going to remove the blinkers?
Timothy Massad, Chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Ravi Menon, MD of MAS, spoke in the same seminar attended by the Who’s Who of the Singapore finance industry. The main points both spoke off are ethics and trust in the finance industry. The very same issues that the CEO I spoke to was lamenting about. I am feeling funny when people in a position to do things right and in their watches could be talking about the flaws of the system as if they are helpless about them. What are they going to do about it is my question. The problem in many cases is that they know even know why. When they know what is the cause or source of the problem, then half of the problems is already solved. What a great puzzle for someone saying he knew the problem but cannot solve it or did not know how to solve it or not doing anything about it.
These are what Ravi Menon said, ‘there are deeper issues of trust, ethics and culture in the financial industry that have to be confronted,…Finance is at risk of becoming more “de personalised”, as long term relationships with customers are replaced by transcient transactions with “counterparts”…departures from ethicalconduct are too easily tolerated as the norm….’ Menon said a lot more and concluded by saying ‘Reform of the financial industry will not be complete until this issue of trust and ethics is addressed,…Without sound ethics, there can be no trust. Without trust, there can be no confidence. And without confidence, there can be neither growth nor stability.’
Timothy Massad was smarter. He put the blame on the Asian countries for allowing the allowing the financial industry to sink to the bottom. It was not the Americans or the western govts’ fault. The Asians govts must build a strong regulatory framework for derivatives, must agree on a set of reforms to regulate derivatives. He totally forgot about the American quest for deregulations to allow the financial thugs to do as they pleased that led to the global meltdown. But regulations are a big farce when the rot is in the core, in the system. Derivatives are fraudulent financial instruments that are waiting to blow up in the faces of the regulators and the govts. The govts and regulators cannot allow people to simply write money out of nothing, and derivatives are just that, selling pieces of papers as ‘promissory notes’ or gambling chits. There is no point in having all the regulations when the thugs are allowed to write their own rules and how the games are to be played.
Look at the system of the stock markets and how HFT, algos and computers are allowed to operate in the system with unfair advantage over the innocent investors. Can they see anything wrong with them? Or are they turning a blind eye to the crooks and allowed them to do as they pleased, with no regulations but trying to throw the books at the innocent investors and small time speculators? Why no one is seeing the elephant in the class room? They are not duds or idiots for sure.
China is offering Shanghai Exchange as an alternative to the flawed and heavily manipulated American and western modelled stock markets. No HFT and algos to take advantage of the super computers to manipulate the system to rip off innocent investors. The Chinese regulators have been studying the American model and have seen all the faults and would not want to join the farce. The Western players are forcing HongKong to adopt the so called ‘international standards and flawed western model’ to allow them to manipulate the market at will, with no regulations or regulations to their advantage. China would not allow HKSE to go the NYSE or Singapore way.
What is going on? Does anyone know what is going on? Perhaps they knew but looking the other way, pretending that everything is fine. The truth is in the sorry state of the stock market, an industry that is dying. What further proof is needed? Waiting for mortis rigour?
What ethics and trust are they talking about? Everyone is clapping and saying the stock market is doing fine, doing very well, exceptionally well, as planned. Really? When are they going to remove the blinkers?
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