Thank God I didn’t see this until after my son’s infancy…

Say no more.  Click here to be disturbed.  Or perhaps to get baby shower ideas…
Achtung! und Cuidado!: You are hereby warned that some of the sidebar stories are not exactly work-safe.  It is a “cracked.com” link, for goodness sake!

Sorry for the lately syntax scrambled

Ugh, my last few posts have been a mess…apologies.  Even those million monkeys re-creating Shakespeare by banging away at keyboards are laughing at me.

Movie Tip — Hot Fuzz

After the downbeat — though ultimately hopeful — The Children of Men, I had planned to cleanse my palette with Cold Comfort Farm.  However, I ran out of time on the flight to Shanghai, so it was up to a British action comedy — Hot Fuzz — to do the trick.
Which it did quite nicely.  The [...]

Is Malaysia’s democracy slipping backwards?

After all the optimism about political “opening” in Malaysia earlier this year, it was sad to see the various articles on the latest charges against Anwar Ibrahim (WSJ editorial here, link to Washington Post “Anwar Ibrahim” federated search here).  A few comments:

It is striking that the government felt it could roll out charges essentially unchanged from [...]

India Observations: Newspapers here give value for money

Even the Times of India isn’t content to deliver simply national, international, sports, and business news.  It stretches to give you news you can really news — fresh updates on all your Bolly and Hollywood stars.
Real value for money here: it is like getting the Washington Post and National Enquirer on your doorstep every day.  [...]

“White nights” and mutants

While many know I’m a bit of a “sport,” my mutant status also accounts for my insomnia.  At least that’s what it appears according to this study highlighted in the New Scientist on-line (here).  From the opening:
Talk about an all-nighter. Flies with a single genetic mutation sleep 80% less than normal flies, and some get by [...]

Hmmm…no wonder my wife keeps taking me to Dolphin Quest

…and offering me herring when I wash the dishes.  
Gotta love the tag line ‘What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love and Marriage’… the story’s here and the video here.

India Observations: What’s here that’s missing from China

It smacks you in the face as soon as you turn on the TV, especially with the trust vote (aka, vote of confidence, oops, I meant “no confidence” vote) looming over the Singh government.  Which is exactly the gaping void in China: substantive political debate that would lead to a change in government.  Individual pols may [...]

China Observations — One Child, Migrants, Rebellion, and The Children of Men

If you saw my earlier post (here), you might not be surprised that The Children of Men colored some of my perceptions of China.  My take is that modern China’s progress has brought it some social and political ills that resemble those of James’s year 2021 England. 

The one-child generation and princelings and the Omegas — Here’s a Shanghai Daily one-child [...]

Air travel reading — The Children of Men

I had hoped to put on a Children of Men double-feature on the way to China — the P.D. James novel and the Cuarón film — but I could only find the novel in our local Barnes and Noble (and yes, I know how to order on-line, it was just procrastination).  The Children of Men may [...]