Planet X caught on camera?

I  was trying to capture the super moon on the next day, 15 Nov, as the day earlier was too cloudy and no moon was seen in the Singapore sky. And one of the shots that I took came out like this, with a mysterious planet beside the moon. My first thought is that it must be due to some reflection of sort. And I still think it is some optical distortion. I would not want to believe that this is really another planet in the sky.

If this is indeed another planet, it appears to be in front of the moon as it was very dark and did caught a little light from the moon. But it is impossible for a planet to be between the moon and earth.

So, could this planet be very far away behind the moon and not reflecting much light from the sun.

The top image has been brightened quite a lot to be able to see this dark planet. The original pic below with a bright moon shows a very dark sky and the planet could hardly be seen. I only saw a faint image through the backlight of my camera screen.

I brighten up the pic through digital processing and the planet came out quite clearly with a part being hidden by the roof of a flat.

What is this? Planet X, Nibiru or another planet in our solar system, Venus, Mercury?

I am still puzzled. Perhaps it is just what it is, a reflection from some where.

There is also another lighted object below the moon, at about 5.30 position.

Why Trump has to say it in a video clip? No TPP

‘I am going to issue our notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country.’ Donald Trump

Trump released a video on 22 Nov, 2 months from his inauguration as the next President of the USA, to say the above. Why the urgency, why the need to make such a horrendous statement of intent that would make some world leaders very unhappy? This is not a statement in the passing, like a casual remark, like he was saying something and then said it as a passing remark. He made the video just to say this point. 

Can anyone read the anger and temper behind this statement? Who do you think he intended this statement to be heard?

One or two days after his election victory, Abe made a special trip to Washington to meet up with Trump and with one clear message, the TPP is very good and very good to the USA and the Americans. Trump must continue to support the TPP for the good of the American people.

A few days back in Peru, there were several leaders stressing how important and how good the TPP was for the American people again and was like telling Trump that he was stupid to turn away from this trade pact that many leaders had worked so hard for it.

There were pressures for Trump to abide by the wisdom of other leaders to go along with the goodness of the TPP. Trump is stupid if he goes against the wishes of other wise leaders. And these leaders expect Trump to be convinced by their wisdom and be turned around to support the TPP.

Trump must be furious. Who are these leaders to think they know what is good for the American people? Are they saying Donald Trump does not know what is good or bad for the American people? Are they saying Donald Trump is dumb? Trump would have nothing of it. I am Donald Trump, the self made billionaire, and I won the Presidential Election my way, and going to be the most powerful man in the world. Do I need to listen to nitwits to tell me what is good for me and the American people? Who the hell are these people to tell me, Donald Trump, what to do and me, Donald Trump must listen to them. To hell with them. Donald Trump will think for himself and will do what is right and good for the American people.

This is the background to Trump’s outburst and he just have to tell the nitwits to stop harassing him. Trump is the man, the thinking man and will do as he thinks fit. And to him, the TPP is a disaster for the USA! How can these nitwits tell him otherwise? They think Trump is stupid?

So he came out with the video to say it in no uncertain terms, unequivocally, that the TPP is shit, is dead. And doesn’t anyone miss the message and want to talk sense or nonsense to him that the TPP is good for the USA.

Anyone still not getting the message and still thinking and hoping Trump will turn around to his point of view? After saying what he has said about the TPP, Trump would look like a bigger fool if he goes back to the TPP in whatever forms. Donald Trump has spoken. Period.

Trump dumped Abe. Anyone who thinks he is smarter than Trump and want to talk him not to kill the TPP must prepare for a KO punch in his face from Trump.

Kishore’s change of heart

It has been a while since Kishore last expounded his ideas on the pages of the Straits Times and it is refreshing to hear him again. The doyen of the Lee Kuan Yew School has returned and speaking again after a heart problem put him out of action for a while. What I thought would be another enlightening essay turned out to be a bit of a letdown. Maybe he had a change of heart, or a heart change, or was it a bypass?  This is not the Kishore of the past. His article in the ST on 22 Nov titled ‘Asean still the critical catalyst for China’s future’ was like he was out of touch of sort.  The Asean of today is passé, still a bunch of young punks trying to grow up, no longer the neutral Asean that could talk in one voice and with common interest and agenda, but turning into a barking dog of superpowers, dabbling in big power politics like it was some great player in the world stage and wanting to punch above its weight.

The whole of Kishore’s article can be described as someone looking into a glass bowl but forgot to look back at himself, that it was all about the object forgetting the subject and the subjective bias of self and introspection. It is like someone blinded to his own deeds or misdeeds and blaming on the whole world.

He pointed rightly that China used to have very good relations with Asean, China was generous towards Asean and Asean reciprocated.  He quoted many initiatives of China that favoured Asean and its members’ interests. Then he put the blame on China for the failing relations with Asean. It was all China’s fault for the disunity in Asean vis a vis the South China Sea. In his displeasure over China, he forgot that there was a bigger devil behind all the troubles in the SCS, in what Asean was doing, scheming against China and challenging China. He forgot that Asean was already divided by the bigger devil to take on China with all the fake claims of a UN backed Tribunal in The Hague when it was anything but UN backed and anything but an international court whose rulings are binding, like international law, but a kangaroo court in all counts. This ruse is today confirmed when all the pretentious western media that used to sing in chorus that The Hague Tribunal was ‘UN backed’ have now dropped this pretence. No more would they unashamingly tagged the label ‘UN backed’ to The Hague Tribunal to mislead the readers and to discredit themselves. Yes, they have dropped the pretence that The Hague Tribunal was a UN backed international court whose rulings are legal and binding even when the counter party refused to participate.

Kishore was puzzled by China’s action since Asean is still to him a critical catalyst to China’s rise as if China still needs Asean for its rise.  While Asean is still struggling to grow up, China is now the new super power sharing the same table as the Americans. And China needs to recalculate it’s actions in the SCS to improve relations with Asean? In reality it is Asean that needs to recalculate its actions, its collusion with the devil to corner China and to want to push China out of the SCS.  Kishore even quoted Deng Xiaoping’s advice to China to ‘hide and bide’ and ‘to swallow bitter humiliation’ as the thing to do.  For saying these, he contradicted himself without knowing it.

China has risen, the Number Two superpower, the Number One trading power since 2014 according to him, unless he is thinking of China being the Number One superpower and the world hegemon or else China has not arrived. China does not need that and does not want to be the new hegemon. Being the Number Two superpower, China has bided its time and no long has to swallow bitter humiliation, not at the hands of little puny states. This is how out of touch Kishore has been after being away for a few months.

He admitted that ‘China is one of the more rational geopolitical actors today, unlike the US and Russia. China’s geopolitical actions are not commonly driven by emotional paroxysms.’ Exactly!  How would he expect China to continue to swallow bitter humiliations from little states fronting up for the USA and wanting to seize Chinese islands? No? This is what Kishore said in the beginning of his article though he claimed he was puzzled by China’s seemingly irrational or emotional reactions to the Asean states. ‘It was inevitable that China would eventually lose its patience and lash out against perceived maritime provocations by Japan and Asean.’ Was’nt this exactly what was going on in the SCS contention and The Hague Tribunal?  The kangaroo court rulings and the provocations by naval gunboats sailing into Chinese islands were not provocations serious enough for China to act and risked being driven out by little states climbing on the shoulders of the Americans?

And the big question, who is the culprit in the breakup of Asean, in the disunity in Asean? China? In the whole article it was all China’s fault, including the disunity in Asean. Not a word was mentioned about the devil that was behind the whole fiasco.  The Asean that China worked closely together, giving favours to, was in the past. The Asean today is a broken house full of conspiracies and conspirators. And it rightly deserved to be broken up as it is now. No, not true, Asean is the little innocent angel of the past, neutral, principled? Pass him the magnifying glass please.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Hsien Loong on collision course with Trump

Hsien Loong is pushing ahead with the ratification of the TPP and it was reported in the ST that the legislation will be amended to bring TPP into effect next year, with or without the USA, with or with lesser members in the pact.  Hsien Loong’s position is very clear and very principled. The TPP is the magic to save Singapore’s economy and the world. It is about globalization, about free trade, free flow of immigrants, three principles that his govt stood for and will fight for.

On the contrary, Trump is against the TPP and vowed to kill it if elected. He said it yesterday that he would kill it on his first day in office. Trump is also against globalization, against free trade, against free flow of immigrants. The opposing principles of Hsien Loong and Trump are intractable. Both are very strong men with very strong heads and would not bend or make U turns when their minds are set. These are the stuff strong leaders are made off. Even if they make mistakes, they would stick to them and persevere.

We are going to see a contest of ideas between two great leaders of our time in Hsien Loong versus Trump. It is nothing personal, just about ideas, policies and principles.  Hsien Loong finally has a huge battle to fight and this will be a testing time for Singapore, if it can really punch above its weight, to show the Americans, or at least Trump, that Singapore’s ideas of free trade, globalization and freedom of immigration are more superior than that of Trump.

Who would triumph in this contest would be decided by latest when either leadesrship ends and whether TPP is still alive, with the Americans in it or dead without the Americans in it. A draw would be when the TPP is alive without the Americans in it, with Trump unable to kill it but keeping the US out of it while Hsien Loong successfully carries the baby with the remaining TPP members in it. In a way this is a battle of leadership, who is the better leader to carry this baby and the rest of the members along. Singapore could rise as the new leader in the Asia Pacific region with Trump continuing with the isolation of the USA.

Just hope this will be just a contest of ideas and does not turn personal and ugly between Trump and Hsien Loong.  If so, Hsien Loong would be at the losing end as Trump would be quite free with his flowery language while a decent Hsien Loong with his Cambridge root of aristocracy unable to match him. It is possible for Trump to show Hsien Loong his middle finger for that is what Trump is all about. But it is unlikely for Hsien Loong to return the rude gesture. It is just unacceptable in squeaky clean and correct Singapore culture for its god like leaders to do such a darn thing.

Maybe we will see Singapore sending a team of its best super talents to Trump’s office to explain to him how good the TPP is for the Americans and change Trump’s thinking that it is a disaster for the Americans. How could such a good scheme like the TPP be seen as so bad by Trump and so good for the Americans by Hsien Loong? Maybe they are looking at different sides of a coin or there are too many secret clauses that are not disclosed and Trump is still in the dark, and looking like an ignorant one.

Watch how this TPP show get its full run and how it will end with one of the two contestants turning out as the hero and the other a duck. This is a great opportunity for Hsien Loong to prove that he is a worthy successor to the Oracle and for Singapore to prosper to SG100.

F1 in doubt, Singapore ungrateful

This is as much as one could make out from the comments of Bernie Ecclestone. Singapore is not thinking of continuing to fund the F1 race here the F1 boss is unhappy, claiming that Singapore was just an airport before F1 and F1 has put Singapore into the world map of a ‘happening city’.  To quote him, ‘Singapore was suddenly more than just an airport to fly to or from somewhere. Now they believe they have reached their goal and they do not want a Grand Prix anymore.’

Are these the words of an unhappy man? A James Walton from Deloitte Singapore has this to say, ‘To turn around and suggest Singapore is ungrateful, that’s a no negotiation tactic, that’s a jilted person. To me this tactic is burning bridges.’

Ecclestone admitted that Singapore has spent a lot of money on the F1 and benefitted from it. But Singapore has had enough of F1 and not willing to throw hardearned public money on such luxury. How many countries in the world have so much easy money to throw, to waste, for a bit of publicity, for image?  Obviously there are not many silly countries willing to throw away so much money and the F1 boss is worried.  This proves another point that I had earlier put forward, who needs who more?  If it is F1 that needs Singapore more, then it is F1 that is getting the better return than Singapore and should be paying for the right to host in this ‘airport’ city that no one knows.

I hope Singapore organizers wise up and charge F1 for the right to hold such an event here, in this ‘airport’ city that turned out to be the crown jewel of F1 tour instead of paying what they demanded.  It is time F1 knows the value of this ‘airport’ city and pay to get the privilege to run their toys on our roads and enjoy the quality of our hospitality and strategic environment and the security and convenience of this handsome city.

What do you think? Should Singapore continue to throw away hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money on such an intangible and wasteful indulgence or should Singapore demand to be paid for the right of F1 to hold its races here?

The above was written yesterday. Today Ecclestone has moderated his tone by saying, ‘F1’s stand is to hopefully continue in Singapore. Everybody is happy to be in Singapore and (we) don’t want to lose Singapore.’ Malaysia has also announced that it is not going to waste more money on F1. So, should our boys grow up and say we don’t need to play with expensive toys anymore and no need to throw away hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money to make F1 organisers happy and very rich? If it is their grandfathers’ money then by all means, spend all they want, but when it is OPM, better be more careful and prudent.