Wednesday 18 March 2009

Two Plastic Bags

Got Basic Material conference at Claridge's today. Am killing time at Debenham. Bad news all round. Something to cheer all of us up.

A little old lady was walking down the street dragging two large  plastic garbage bags behind her.  One of the bags was riped and every once in a while a $20 fell out onto the sidewalk. 

Noticing  this, a  policeman stopped her, and said, "Ma'am, there are $20 bills falling out of that bag".

"Oh really? Darn it!" said the little old lady. "I'd better go back and see if I can find  them. Thanks for telling me officer." 

"Well, now, not so fast," said the cop.  Where did you get all that money?  You didn't steal it, did you?"

"Oh, no, no", said the old lady. "You see, my back yard is right next  to the football stadium parking lot.  On game days, a lot of fans come and pee  through a knot hole in the fence, right into my flower garden.  It used to  really tick me off.  Kills the flowers, you know. Then I thought, 'why not  make the best of it?  So, now, on game days, I stand behind the fence by the knot hole, real quiet, with my hedge clippers. Every time some guy sticks his pecker through my fence, I surprise him, grab hold of it and say, 'O.K., buddy!  Give me $20, or off it comes.'

"Well, that seems only fair," said the cop, laughing. "OK. Good luck! Oh, by the way, what's in the other bag?"

"Well, you know", said the little old lady, "not everybody pays."

Tuesday 17 March 2009

ASB via m2u

 

Just a lil bit of promo from the ASNB ....as of today, u can deposit your excess cash into investment in ASB via maybank2u.

Just go under investment, and you'll see the icon "purchase of ASNB Unit Trust". But bear in mind, a small charge of RM0.50 applies. Also not to mention, kena provide TAC.


Boleh la Mr Dentease melabur. Duit nasi lemak surau Birmingham University tu banyak wooo! 

Mr Kenit in Amsterdam .. walau jauh beribu batu, tapi masih bumiputera lagi kan? He hee.

Friday 13 March 2009

Tazkirah Jumaat

Before you head for Friday the 13th prayer. A short tazkirah.

OPINION EUROPE: MARCH 8, 2009, 8:21 P.M. ET

Islam Needs to Prove It's a Religion of Peace

Muslims can start with a new Quranic scholarship that rejects radicalism.

The film "Fitna" by Dutch parliament member Geert Wilders has created an uproar around the world as it linked violence committed by Islamists to Islam.

Many commentators and politicians -- including the British government, which denied him entry to the country last month -- reflexively accused Mr. Wilders of inciting hatred. The question, however, is whether the blame is with Mr. Wilders, who simply exposed Islamic radicalism, or with those who promote and engage in this religious extremism. In other words, shall we fault Mr. Wilders for showing photos of the hanging of homosexuals, or shall we fault those who actually promote and practice this crime?

There is a certain schizophrenia among many Muslims who seem to believe that it is acceptable to teach hatred and violence in the name of their religion, while at the same time expecting the world to respect Islam as "a religion of peace, love and harmony."

Scholars in the most prestigious Islamic institutes and universities continue to teach things like Jews are "pigs and monkeys," that women and men must be stoned to death for adultery, or that Muslims must fight the world to spread their religion. Isn't, then, Mr. Wilders's criticism appropriate? Instead of blaming him, we must blame the leading Islamic scholars for having failed to produce an authoritative book on Islamic jurisprudence that is accepted in the Islamic world and unambiguously rejects these violent teachings.

While many religious texts preach violence, the interpretation, modern usage and implementation of these teachings make all the difference. For example, the stoning of women exists in both the Old Testament and in the Islamic tradition, or "Sunna" -- the recorded deeds and manners of the prophet Muhammad. The difference, though, is that leading Jewish scholars agreed to discontinue these practices centuries ago while Muslim scholars have yet to do so. Hence we do not see the stoning of women practiced or promoted in Israel, the "Jewish" state, but we see it practiced and promoted in Iran and Saudi Arabia, the "Islamic" states!

When the British government banned Geert Wilders from entering the country to present his film in the House of Lords, it made two egregious errors. The first was to suppress free speech, a canon of the civilized Western world. The second mistake was to blame the messenger -- punishing, so to speak, the witness who exposed the crime instead of punishing the criminal. Mr. Wilders did not produce the content of the violent Islamic message he showed in his film -- the Islamic world did that. Until the Islamic clerical establishment takes concrete steps to reject violence in the name of their religion, Mr. Wilders criticism is not only permissible as "controversial" free speech but justified.

So, Islamic scholars and clerics, it is up to you to produce a Shariah book that will be accepted in the Islamic world and that teaches that Jews are not pigs and monkeys, and that declaring war to spread Islam is unacceptable, and killing apostates is a crime. Such a book would prove that Islam is a religion of peace.

Mr. Hamid, a former member of an Islamist terrorist group, is an Islamic reformer and senior fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.

Wednesday 11 March 2009

Licensed at Last

Fuh! Finally! After 1 week of penantian yg mendebarkan. Especially with the passports with DVLA and knowing we need them by 3 April. Siap pergi Wimbledon lagi, konon nya nak buat premium checking (DVLA check pas tu tak yah hantar passport). Kutu tu stone je .. "tak boleh bang, passport kena hantar jugak. Pasal lesen HK tapi passport Mesia". Pegi Friday, 27th Feb tapi Mat tu kata "kitorang kumpul dulu, Isnin baru hantar". So aku budget 5 working days, ambik sunnah lesen Mazza. Lepas tu baru aku dibenarkan cemas. Tunggu jugak, kot2 ada any mamat DVLA nak call tanya soalan2 cepumas like "kau pass lesen ni kat mana?", "apasal passport kau tak de pun travel ke Hong Kong tapi lesen kau dated February?" etc.

Alhamdulillah. Aku yang cemas, Ann rilek je. Kitorang siap prepare story mory kot2 ada diorang call. Macam nak commit the perfect murder plak.

Nah .. ini dia lesen aku. Mata pandang ke lain, suit terpeleot coz amik gambar kat booth at Egham station (pelik tul, muka aku dah masuk dalam oval, mata dah dalam slot - pas tu keluar gambar rambut terkeluar frame atas .. so kena lah adjust agak2 sendiri). 3 kali shot allowed .. ini yg terbaik. Boh je lah.

Sekarang aku tak payah lagi nak budget kot2 ada polis lepak kat Runnymede roundabout ke, exit Heathrow ke M4 ke. Aku rasa bebas! Yiiihaaa!

Tuesday 10 March 2009

Magpies vs Red Devils

Sambung reporting live yg terbengkalai.

Went to Newcastle with Dell, upon invitation by Faez (thank you for letting us crash at yr place!)
Arrived around 1400+. Sempat pergi Royal Quay lagi. Masuk Mountain Life cari fleece coz temp was suppose to be around zero that night. Belasah satu black fleece (for women) sebab nampak cun sangat. Bila aku pakai tak de pun nampak cam bapok? OK je. Pas tu layan Nike Outlet .. lanyak a few £4.89 t-shirts. Just for the heck of it. Entah bila aku nak pakai pun tak tau.

1900 we were already at St James Park (thank you Ita for chauferring us). Rupanya ticket kitorang kira canggih juga. Siap masuk via Bar 1892 and dapat programme magazine lagi.

In front of Bar 1892

Musang berbulu ayam. Siap pakai baju Newcastle .. sebab duduk box diorang. Man U fans (away) nun jauh di belakang gol. Lepas tu bila Rooney score equalizer buat2 frust .. ha haa.

Warm up B4 da game

It snowed at 1700 so kena shovel penalty box.

Man U defending a corner

The day after - with Faez & Dell

Wednesday 4 March 2009

Reporting Live

Buat kerja gila hari ni. Dell & I drove up to Newcastle to watch the
Magpies vs the Red Devils. Game's gonna start in 8 minutes. More later.