Marina wrote a post about what happens to our post when we die. I was thinking about that after Reuben Kee - one of the dragonboat paddlers, passed away. It’s sad that it takes a live of a friend of a friend to make me start thinking about it, but I’d think that it’s good that at least people start thinking about it now.

I will probably write a blog will - and not just that; but probably include all my passwords and all and pass it to a closed one. Ya… that means exposing all my deep, deep, dark, dark, deep, dark secrets. Then again, I’m already dead - does it really matter? I don’t think I have a legacy to leave behind - nor do I think any scandals arising from my emails will be detrimental. After all, I’m already gone. Dust to art to dust returnst, was not spoken of the soul.

As to whether I’d want my blog to be maintained, I’m really not so sure. Perhaps I should start making automated backups and getting it sent to my email instead. At least whoever has access to my email will have access to my blog entries and comments. =)

Speaking of which, Alice and myself were toying with the idea of setting up a mini trust fund using money that I earn from adverts (after defraying cost of hosting and domain name renewals). Anyone who wishes to maintain the blog of someone who passed away may apply for it such that we will pay for the domain name (if any) and hosting. We are not sure yet, but the plan is in the making.

Of course, what do I do with the earnings now? Actually I have not withdrawn anything yet. I am just hopping that Ming and Josh and Paddy do not suddenly disappear one day or decide to suspend their business indefinitely. I’m trusting my earnings in their care and I hope that I’d be able to withdraw it should I ever need to.

Meanwhile, I am still drafting out my blog will. For all I know, there might just be an explosion next door now…

*boom*

It’s apparently the talk of the town - that Blog2u made a blunder this morning by exposing all our email addresses here! Oh well, I think it’s really an innocent mistake. Moreover… it’s so early in the morning! Heh heh… don’t tell me Paddy is ill-treating his people?

Then again, there’s nothing much I can do now that my email address had been exposed, although it’s quite fun to see what email address others use. Ok, I don’t think it’s funny at all, but like I said, what’s done is done and he apologised.

So what happens next? I could:

• change my email address
• make a lot of noise in my blog
• spam everyone else in the list with my time-sharing schemes and get rich quick ideas

Then again, with regards to my last idea… someone might actually be doing that. Well, at least if I start getting spam, I know who to blame. =)

It does seemed that a lot of people are making blunders nowadays:

• Nuffnang and their $1.00 surcharge (reminds me taxi)
• Advertlets and their hidden redirector that made me download malware and I’m spreading it all over the place (and I thought it was youtube!)
• Blog2u exposing all our email address (it’s spamming time!)

I guess if the PR is good and the mistake/blunder is genuine, I guess I can live and let live. I can’t be expecting a compensation pay-out like that of Mindef’s, can I?

Ed: actually, if there was not so much brouhaha about it, I might not even have noticed =P

To prevent Nic from saying that I am biased again, I thought it’s only fair for me to mention that the farmers who were previously hit by the dye from Tengah Air Base have received an undisclosed amount of compensation from Mindef.

The sum that was given out to them ranged from $10,000 to $20,000 - which apparently covers 80% of their loss. Apparently car owners who were affected were also compensated for any additional work that they had to do to get their cars cleaned.

Relatively good PR, agree? Or are there things that I don’t know?

SIX farmers received cash payouts last week after their crops, tainted by red dye 17 days ago from an F-16C jet at Tengah Air Base, had to be destroyed.

The farmers at the Lorong Semangka area in Sungei Tengah whom The Straits Times interviewed said they were ’satisfied’ with the compensation.

According to Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao, the amounts compensated ranged from $10,000 to $20,000 per farmer.

However, the farmers The Straits Times interviewed said they received about $25,000. The amount, they said, covered 80 per cent of their losses.

They explained that the amount compensated depended on factors such as the size of the plot and the types of produce.

One farmer said that the total losses incurred by all six vegetable farms were about $200,000.

The Defence Ministry declined to reveal the amount paid out.

The Straits Times understands that the compensation was based on the market value and weight of the vegetables destroyed.

Said farmer Tan Bock Tat, 40, who lost 1.3ha of crops: ‘We think this amount is enough. It is not in our place to say what is enough and what isn’t. Getting some compensation is good enough.’

The six vegetable farms were told to destroy 200 tonnes - about 10 lorry loads - of leafy vegetables after the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority found that the dye was not approved for use in food.

All the tainted vegetables were destroyed by last Tuesday. The farmers have since started to sow new seedlings.

Said Mr Wong Kok Fah, 45, a farmer with 30 years of experience: ‘At first, I was worried I had to wait a long time for the compensation. I was surprised it was so quick. I am just glad it is over now.’

It took 17 family members and farm hands four days to destroy the affected crops on his farm.

They started sowing new seeds last Wednesday, the day Mindef officers showed up at their farm with the compensation. Replanting takes a full week.

The compensation, he said, is being used to buy new seeds, cover operational costs and to tide over the month when there will be no income.

Vegetable prices are not expected to be affected as the produce destroyed comprised less than 1 per cent of Singapore’s vegetable consumption.

Apart from farms, some homes and cars were also affected.

Mindef said that since the incident, it had received 89 calls on its 24-

hour toll-free number (1800-760-8844). This provides callers with advice on how to get rid of the dye stains.

The ministry encourages those affected to ’send in receipts and claims’ because ‘all reasonable claims rising from this incident will be considered’.

Said Mr Jason Sia, 29, unemployed, who contacted the Defence Ministry to remove the stubborn dye stains on his car: ‘Considering my car is all right, it is okay. Just that the hassle of going through the whole process was a bit troublesome. But it is good I finally got my car re-polished, paid by Mindef.’

limjess@sph.com.sg

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 10th December 2007

Well, how often do you get a diarrhoea anyway? Not too often, right? Unless of course you had been eating Prima Deli cakes - although I really sympathise with the people who got poisoned, it really wasn’t any fault of theirs. Of course, then you might ask - who are those who get diarrhoea of their own fault anyway?

Well… how about people who take cockles? Nope, it’s not their fault, but I guess most people should know of the apparent high risk that comes with how unhygienic the origins of cockles can be… but that’s story for another day.

The United States saw at least 3 shootings (there may be more that are not reported) within 1 week - one involving a highly low esteem person who felt that he was a burden to everyone around him, while the latest 2 (both on 10th December 2007) happened at 2 different churches. The motives of the latter were not known, neither were any connections.

For the short duration that I was in New York some eons ago, police chase were as common the hello kitty craze - you get it now and then, and sometimes there were a whole bunch of them. I remembered that when I was staying a Brooklyn campus hostel, not only were shootings common, but robberies as well. Of course, this is the exception rather than the norm, but it was frequent enough to make me wonder where I should really go to if I should migrate to the States one day? Is the shootings a result of the relaxation of rules on arms ownership?

Well, seriously, I am not sure; but what I do feel is that it’d impractical to ban arms ownership altogether because they can at least trace who owns what, but should they ban it altogether, then:

1. they’d have a tough time finding out the origins of the arms
2. it’d be hard to convince everyone to give up their arms all at the same time - after all, who knows if someone else had them on their hit list

A lot of things can be done through regulation, instead of slapping a flat ban on it. In Singapore, the use of Morphine is regulated (and restricted to medical use - and it’s really good - the morphine, I mean), prostitution is regulated (as opposed to making it illegal outright - then we’d have a problem of tracing infections, from a pragmatic perspective), and gambling is regulated (although there are still underground ones). Not to mention that slapping a ban on everything will create an uproar eventually - although I don’t see anyone protesting strongly with the chewing gum ban, partly because everyone who wanted one will get it from our neighbour across the causeway.

Speaking of which, how about banning smoking altogether? When the rule was implemented to ban smoking at the bus stop, people literally stood outside the shelter to smoke. Damn. I need to get all their photographs one day and paste it all over the Net.

Anyway, back to the shootings. Of course the recent shootings could have been a one off thing - and there really isn’t anything to be alarmed about. Some people will just think that the deaths is just a statistic, but have you thought about what happens if it happened to be you? I’m not saying that anything should be done immediately with regards to arms ownership due to these recent incidents - after all, ownership was allowed for its own reasons (I need someone to fill me up on this) and I am in no position to question it.

However, with freedom comes a price. For Singaporeans who are still thinking the American dream - there are way more things that freedom can give - and some of these may not be expected. If you decide to move to somewhere, remember to always do your homework first. Just like what my biology lecturer told me: There’s a chance that something might happen, but if it happens to you, it’s always 100%.

DENVER (Colorado) - AT least four people were shot at a large Colorado evangelical church on Sunday - the second shooting in a day linked to a religious community in the state.

Local media said four, or possibly more, people were shot outside or inside the New Life Church in Colorado Springs on Sunday afternoon. The condition of those shot was not immediately known, but police said they had a suspect in custody.

In an earlier incident, two people were killed and two were injured shortly after midnight when a gunman entered a training centre for young missionaries in the Denver suburb of Arvada, about 110km away from Colorado Springs, police said.

It was not immediately known if the two shootings were connected. CNN reported that the description of the shooter was similar in both cases - a white male wearing a dark hat and dark jacket.

The New Life Church, which has about 14,000 members, was founded by pastor Ted Haggard, who resigned in disgrace in 2006 after admitting to sexually immoral conduct.

Colorado Springs TV station NewsChannel 13 said police scanner traffic indicated there were multiple victims at the New Life Church. It said many people were apparently hiding throughout the vast church building.

Police cordoned off the church and appeared to be still looking for the shooter.

Colorado Springs Police Lieutenant Fletcher Howard told CNN police had a suspect in custody, but that the motive for the shooting was not yet known. He said he could not confirm any fatalities from the shootings.

New Life Church associate pastor Rob Brendle said: ‘It’s been a dramatic day and we are participating with the police investigation right now but we are not at liberty to make a comment right now … a statement will be issued at 3.30pm mountain time (6.30am Singapore time).’

In Arvada, two youth missionary staff members were shot and killed by a young man who came to the door of the Youth With a Mission dormitory asking for a place to stay, the group said in a statement.

When he was told he could not be accommodated there, he pulled out a handgun and opened fire. Two other staffers, who were cleaning up after a Christmas party, were wounded before the gunman ran away.

The Mission is an international and interdenominational organisation that trains young people to work as missionaries.

‘Please pray for the families who are on their way to Denver for the critically injured young man undergoing surgery today for the staff and students who have been evacuated to another location for the apprehension of the gunman who fled the scene,’ Mission spokesman Paul Filidis said in a statement. — REUTERS

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 10th December 2007