WHO: Swine Flu at level 5/6

It is inevitable that it will be raised to level 6 soon.
It is fortunate that so far it has spread to developed nations that
have a lot of stock piles of Tamilflu and Relenza which are effective
against this flu.

There is no way of stopping this virus because it is air borne unlike
SARS. Fortunately it has a cure provided they are taken 48 hours after
the onset of the flu.

In Malaysia, doctors may not be aware of the significance of this
disease and I don't think we have a large stockpile of Tamilflu or
Relenza.

As shown by this article, at the last parapraph, it is the poorest
nations that will have lots of fatalities.

Just pray that it will mutate into less virulent variants.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2009/h1n1_20090429/en/index.html

Swine influenza

Ladies and gentlemen,

Based on assessment of all available information, and following
several expert consultations, I have decided to raise the current
level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 4 to phase 5.

Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously precisely because of their
capacity to spread rapidly to every country in the world.

Related links

Watch the video [wmv, 7min 13 sec]

Listen to the audio [mp3 57 Mb]

Swine influenza - full coverage

Current WHO phase of pandemic alert

International Health Regulations (IHR)

On the positive side, the world is better prepared for an influenza
pandemic than at any time in history.

Preparedness measures undertaken because of the threat from H5N1 avian
influenza were an investment, and we are now benefitting from this
investment.

For the first time in history, we can track the evolution of a
pandemic in real-time.

I thank countries who are making the results of their investigations
publicly available. This helps us understand the disease.

I am impressed by the work being done by affected countries as they
deal with the current outbreaks.

I also want to thank the governments of the USA and Canada for their
support to WHO, and to Mexico.

Let me remind you. New diseases are, by definition, poorly understood.
Influenza viruses are notorious for their rapid mutation and
unpredictable behaviour.

WHO and health authorities in affected countries will not have all the
answers immediately, but we will get them.

WHO will be tracking the pandemic at the epidemiological, clinical,
and virological levels.

The results of these ongoing assessments will be issued as public
health advice, and made publicly available.

All countries should immediately activate their pandemic preparedness
plans. Countries should remain on high alert for unusual outbreaks of
influenza-like illness and severe pneumonia.

At this stage, effective and essential measures include heightened
surveillance, early detection and treatment of cases, and infection
control in all health facilities.

This change to a higher phase of alert is a signal to governments, to
ministries of health and other ministries, to the pharmaceutical
industry and the business community that certain actions should now be
undertaken with increased urgency, and at an accelerated pace.

I have reached out to donor countries, to UNITAID, to the GAVI
Alliance, the World Bank and others to mobilize resources.

I have reached out to companies manufacturing antiviral drugs to
assess capacity and all options for ramping up production.

I have also reached out to influenza vaccine manufacturers that can
contribute to the production of a pandemic vaccine.

The biggest question, right now, is this: how severe will the pandemic
be, especially now at the start?

It is possible that the full clinical spectrum of this disease goes
from mild illness to severe disease. We need to continue to monitor
the evolution of the situation to get the specific information and
data we need to answer this question.

From past experience, we also know that influenza may cause mild
disease in affluent countries, but more severe disease, with higher
mortality, in developing countries.

No matter what the situation is, the international community should
treat this as a window of opportunity to ramp up preparedness and
response.

Above all, this is an opportunity for global solidarity as we look for
responses and solutions that benefit all countries, all of humanity.
After all, it really is all of humanity that is under threat during a
pandemic.

As I have said, we do not have all the answers right now, but we will
get them.

Thank you.

Swine Flu is not SARS

http://www.canada.com/lose+your+head+just+wash+your+hands/1545278/story.html

Read the above article.

The journalist appears to think that thi swine flu is similar to SARS.
It is far different.

SARS is transmitted by contact not through the air unless fluids touch
your exposed bodies such as eyes and lips.

swine flu is not spread by contact alone because its virus can spread
through the air. It is much more contagious compared to SARS but does
not appear to be as deadly but even at 1% fatality it is still too
high.

Fatalisties in UK appear to be small because patients were treated
with Tamilflu and Relenza immediately but these antiviral drugs are
not cheap and not free from acquired immunity by the flu virus.

Normal flu is also dangerous because it has a fatality of 0.1%. This
rate is due to the very young and old. in the case of swine flu in
Mexico, those who died were non-Tamilflu and Relenza treated young
adults, but these drugs will not stop its spread. It took between 2-7
days before severe symptoms appear but patients are already infectious
even at the earliest symptoms.

Even if the infectious rate is only 0.5%, it will still kill 100,000
per year in US alone. Even this normal flu is spread by pigs.

Isn't it time for us to stop eating pork once and for all. Listen to
the words of wisdom of Jesus and all the Jewish Prophets and Prophet
Muhamamd in abstaining from pork.

It is just too much to risk for such little pleasure.

Sony PS3 is a superb PC and Media Player

I just found out last week that PS3 is a complete PC and and even
better Media Player than my own IBM PC compatible PC, despite having
GPU cards up to the Nvidia 8600GT standard.

PS3 can be connected to an IBM PC Compatible USB keyboards and mice.
It can even connect to a Wifi router but also equipped with 1Gbit
Ethernet port. With an optical and HDMI connectors it can connect to a
HD displays and HiFi amplifiers that my own PC still lacks because I
need to buy espensive sound cards in order to do this.

My PC is equipped with 6 channel speakers but they are directly
connected to the sound card but most video content cannot utilise this
setup and I cannot connect it to a standard HiFi amplifiers.

PS3 vs IBM PC

At RM1550 for an 80Gbyte PS3 model, it is cheaper than a PC equipped
to this standard but much easier to use because almost everything is
built-in. What lacks is just the official documentation. However the
Internet is full of information about converting videos to the PS3
format except that there are also to much misleading and incomplete
content, some could be due to revision changes in the PS3 system
software.

CHEAP HDMI WORKS BETTER

The first hurdle that I had to overcome was in getting the right HDMI
cable. I order 2 cheap HDMI v1.3 from ebay for RM16 but it took more
than 2 weeks to arrive so I bought the cheapest but sturdiest HDMI
cable I could get from Kota Kinabalu.I settle for an RM65 from Wawasan
Eastcon cable because it has a good fabric layer and equipped with
noise suppressors. I could get the cheapest at RM38 at Karamusing
Eastcon but not gold plated, a few days ago I saw from Budget PC at
Karamunsing a better HDMI cable gold plated at RM35 making it the
cheapest in KK.

That RM65 HDMI cable only managed to display at 1080i but I noticed
that Blu-Ray Rambo appears clear enough to watch sweats at my Full 42"
HD 1080p xD TV from MBF Credit Card. At this size you must watch at
less than 2 meters in order to enjoy the 1080 quality.

PS3 vs Blu-ray Player

I watched at my brother's place a blu-ray movie played on a Pioneer
Blu-ray player displayed on a 46" HD Ready Samsung TV similar to my
own LCD TV which displays at 1360x768. The player managed to display
at 1080i but its quality is not as good as that shown on my Full HD xD
TV so I assume that its 1920x1080 display pixels allows it to show
brilliantly.

Waht is the difference in quality between 1080i and 1080p displayed on
a Full HD 1080p TV? The only difference is that in the refesh rate.
The 1080i displays at 25Hz whereas 1080p AT 50Hz. I can play Flight
Simulators at less than 20 frames per second with little loss in
smoothness.

EBAY vs AMAZON

PS3 is better than these blu-ray players not only in price but in
functionality. PS3 can utilise BD-live features which requires
internet access. Transformer blu-ray comes with 2 50Gbyte blu-ray
discs that I bought for RM80 including pos laju(express post). Its
colour is silver. I bought a pirated Baraka blu-ray, its colour is
bluish and it does not have the bonus videos for RM58 at Kota
Kinabalu. I heard from a visitor from KL that at Bangsar it costs RM48
but please take note that this BD-R only has a capacity of 25G
compared to the original high quality movie blu-rays that comes with
50G blu-ray printed discs.

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/reviews.php gives this information as
well as reviews and links to Amazon that gives prices of new and used
blu-ray movies as well as user-reviews which are useful for us.
Unfortunately for Amazon, it is much more expensive than ebay
suppliers although Amazon has a more complete offerings.

Amazon is actually cheaper than the auctions finalised in ebay but
Malaysia is not in the list of countries that Amazon other third-party
suppliers can ship to. These ebay auctioners must be so stupid as not
to notice the price differences but I suspect some are due to
manipulators by the sellers. I suspected this because similar items
were relisted and some feedback comments mentioned about not being
sent the items that had been auctioned for being too low in prices.

Malaysian ebay suppliers can offer good prices but only for some items
but unfortunately they require cash payment which is actually
forbidden by ebay. lelong site does not have competitive blu-ray
suppliers but should be better because it offers safetrade.

GETTING PS3 games

When I bought my PS3 I also bought one game that my son requested. In
fact this is one reason why I bought it at that place but it turned
out to be a mistake. I can get cheaper online and there are lots of
playable PS3 demo games from the OPM(Official Playstation Magazine)
blu-ray discs that come with it. I bought via action from UK issue 30
but this afternoon I bought this magazine for RM50 with the blu-ray
disc for a further 16 playable demo games. One of them is a multi-
player able demo Pro-Evolution Soccer 2009 that my sons were playing.

From ebay, I managed to get a used PS3 FIFA 08 for RM44 but not that
easy to get at this price for the other games. For movie I got blu-ray
Spiderman 3 for less than RM50 also, all inclusive of postage. Postage
takes up a huge portion of the cost. Spiderman 3 only costs US3.75 but
I am yet to see this disc. I heard from my brother that Malaysian
customs sometimes hold this discs for a long time but finally release
them also. Maybe they thought they cannot use them anyway. For my
brother's case he bought HD-DVD but even he does not have an HD-DVD
player.

GETTING Blu-ray Movies

I'm also waiting for 4 used blu-ray Planet Earth series discs that I
bought for US46. But my 3 50G blu-ray Rambo discs from KL arrived on
the same day for RM135 including shipping. Am still waiting for the opportunity to order used Matrix and Blade Runner at costs lower than Amazon third party suppliers.

PS2 to PS3 adapter

When I bought the PS3 I wanted to buy 2 PS3 joysticks at RM300 each
but it was out of stock. Fortunately I didn't buy because I found out
that PS2-PC usb PC controller adapter can be used for the PS3. Now I
just use my other 2 original PS2 controllers for additional players. I
used to have these copy PS2 and PS1 controllers but they all were
damaged quickly in just a few weeks but the original controllers still
survive to this day. One became faulty because I accidentally made it
wet when disassembling it. My sons told me that Guitar Hero cannot use R2 keys so it is not completely compatible.

IMPORTING videos and pictures TO PS3

Importing videos and pictures to PS3 is made confusing because of poor instructions by users and lack of it from PS3 manual. The most useful key to use here is the triangle key. It is the "options" key. It allows you to choose the directories to see, just like Windows explorer if you choose the "display all".

The correct directories for the USB drives are:

system update: /PS3/UPDATE/

video: /VIDEO/

http://www.dvd-video-converters.com/dvdvideoguide/guide-convert-video-and-dvd-to-ps3-full-hd-1080p.html

pictures: /PICTURE/

not /PHOTO/ as explained by some websites.

Types of files:

Pictures: http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/photo/filetypes.html

I tested JPEG processed by GIMP without any problem.

Video: http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/video/filetypes.html

divX/Xvid files with .avi extension

It appeared that normal video files can be played in PS3. The trick is to put them in the /VIDEO folder or use the triangle button to browse your USB directories.

PS3 with USB DRIVES

In the manual, it is mentioned that you should use Sony's Memory Stick but actually any USB card reader reading SD cards or USB thumb drive should be alright. It is better to format these drives with FAT32 instead of the default Windows XP NTFS file system. Not many opensource operating systems such as Linux can use NTFS.

LINUX FOR PS3

You can install Linux to PS3. The best at the moment is UBUNTU because of its support for all PS3 peripherals. With it you can use PS3 to write letters or draw diagrms. PS3 OS can print using HP , Canon and Epson printers via the USB ports but not networked printers. Linux PS3 may be able to support networked printer if support for Microsoft Network is installed.

VIDEO CONVERTERS

For video conversion with support for HD, I only managed to use Total Video Converter but it is limited.

http://www.redkawa.com/videoconverters/ps3video9/download/index.php appears to be the easiest for PS3 conversion but I cannot make it to work with Vista 64 Ultimate.

HD VIDEO DOWNLOADS

Most HD video downloads have the highest resoluiton of 1280x720(16:1), Imax Fighter Pilot. It cannot play with my Cornell CAV-DV103KC but worked perfectly with PS3. I can view sweats so it is not necessary to use 1080 resolution.

Non-HD video also plays slightly better than normal DVDs or PCs. Probably caused by the upscaling to PS3 1080p.

VGA CABLEs are not SIMILAR

I ordered a 3m VGA cable from e-cell UK in order to connect my PC's 8600GT display card one DVI and one VGA. I was impatient waiting for the cable to arrive so bought a cheaper 3m VGA cable at Kota Kinabalu. It worked with normal LCD PC monitor but not with my Samsung LA37S8 TV. When the e-cell VGA cable arrived, I didn't test it until yesterday. I was surprised that my cheapest 1.8m VGA cable that does not even have a noise suppressor, to work better than a thicker cable. Fortunately the e-cell VGA connector worked.

LCD TV as PC MONITOR

It allowed me to use my 37 in TV as a monitor with 1360x768 resolution. Samsung's infomation screen verifies this resolution but the image does not cover the whole screen. I tested the Imax Fighter Pilot using the PC and later with PS3. The PS3 is much simpler to use and has a better quality picture but not by much.

1080p QUALITY

I have yet to be fully convinced that 1080p quality is much better than 720p. Even the PS3 demo games work at 720p and based on what I read, not many games can work at 1080p. MGS4 improves its image quality slightly but does not improve game play significantly.

I watched Baraka at both 526i and 1080i and quality difference is remarkable but not sure about 720p. Reviewers at Amazon and Blu-ray.com appear to be able to notice major differences between 25Gbyte blu-ray movies vs 50Gbyte so it is just not possible for them to be mostly wrong.

EC has final jurisdiction towards any Election

What it means is that EC can render any representative as invalid at
any time without any cause at all.

Also the Speaker is no longer immune. It means that Gobind Singh can
challenge in court his suspension for a year by Pandikar.

Also it means that any word "immune" in any act is meaningless because
other bodies can challenge these words.

As to a so callled lawyer, Ranjit Singh were gullible to consider
today's decision as only refering to this particular case, it will
mean that all other cases are also unique and this has never happened
in any legal history anywhere in the world.

The decision of any court is a guide for other decisions, but this
decision is so preposterous that no other nation will be able to refer
to it. Soon, all decisions in the Malaysian court will just be rubbish
and only applicable for a case by case basis.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/lite/articles.php?id=22825
Malaysia
The end may be near for Pakatan Perak
By Edward Cheah

PUTRAJAYA, April 9 - The continuing bid by the Perak Pakatan Rakyat
(PR) to regain power in the state was hit by a near-fatal blow today
when the Federal Court ruled that the Election Commission and not the
state legislative speaker had the power to decide on vacancies in the
state assembly.

With this ruling, the three former PR state lawmakers who have become
Barisan Nasional (BN) friendly independents will be allowed to keep
their seats.

After hearing lengthy submissions by both legal teams, the judges
delivered a unanimous decision declaring that the Jelapang assemblyman
Hee Yit Foong, Behrang assemblyman Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi and Changkat
Jering assemblyman Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu, were allowed to keep their
positions as state assemblymen in accordance to the decision made by
the Election Commission.
The five-men bench consisted of President of the Court of Appeal Tan
Sri Alauddin Mohd Sheriff, Chief Judge of Malaya Justice Arifin
Zakaria, Federal Court Justices Nik Hashim Nik Ab Rahman, S. Augustine
Paul, and Court of Appeal Justice James Foong.

Lead counsel for the Election Commission Firoz Hussein Ahmad
Jamaluddin argued that the EC was an independent body given
jurisdiction by the State and Federal constitutions.

"Paragraph 6 under Section 12-3 says a casual vacancy is a vacancy
established by the EC," said Firoz Hussein.

However lead counsel for Speaker V. Sivakumar Tommy Thomas argued that
any proceedings of the State Assembly cannot be questioned in any
court, a law that also covers parliament.

"If that is not proceedings, then I don't know what is," argued Thomas
as he referred to Sivakumar's letter to the EC asking them to hold by-
elections after receiving resignation letters from both Mohd Radzi and
Mohd Osman.

During the hearing Justice James Foong however noted that by giving
the EC power to make such decisions would set a dangerous precedence
that could affect the Dewan Rakyat.

"If we allow one body to have supreme jurisdiction then we are getting
into trouble. I am talking about checks and balances. You will realise
that this will have far reaching consequences stretching to the Dewan
Rakyat," said Foong as he questioned the Attorney-General
Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail.

The five-men panel however reassured Sivakumar's counsel that the
decision will not have any prejudice in terms of the two other suits
that are currently being heard in the Kuala Lumpur High Court where
there are two suits filled against the Election Commission decision to
not hold by-elections.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insider counsel for Sivakumar, Ranjit Singh
asserted that the result of today's case only meant that the Election
Commission is the correct body to make the decision on such an issue
but the decision still can be challenged.

"Just because the Election Commission can make the decision, however.
that doesn't make it right. In any government decision, it is subject
to challenge in court," said Singh.

Real meaning of "Destruction of Israel"

An excellent article that I would like to preserve in my blog.

This is written by a Jew which clearly shows that many Jews are
Justice loving people who believe that the only way towards peace and
security is by enforcing justice to all.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/oren-bendor-who-are-the-real-terrorists-in-the-middle-east-409291.html
Oren Ben-Dor: Who are the real terrorists in the Middle East?

What exactly is being defended? Is it the citizens of Israel or the
nature of the Israeli state?

Wednesday, 26 July 2006

As its citizens are being killed, Israel is, yet again, inflicting
death and destruction on Lebanon. It tries to portray this horror as
necessary for its self-defence. Indeed, the casual observer might
regard the rocket attacks on Israeli cities such as Haifa and my own
home town, Nahariya, as justifying this claim.
Related articles

* Mark Steel: Here comes Tony, gazing adoringly at his masters
* Charities and religious leaders condemn Blair
* Robert Fisk: Israeli missiles had clearly pierced the very
centre of the red cross on the roof of each ambulance
* Four UN observers die in Israeli air strike as heavy fighting
continues in Lebanon
* Annan accuses Israel over attack on UN post

While states should defend their citizens, states which fail this duty
should be questioned and, if necessary, reconfigured. Israel is a
state which, instead of defending its citizens, puts all of them, Jews
as well as non-Jews, in danger.

What exactly is being defended by the violence in Gaza and Lebanon? Is
it the citizens of Israel or the nature of the Israeli state? I
suggest the latter. Israel's statehood is based on an unjust ideology
which causes indignity and suffering for those who are classified as
non-Jewish by either a religious or ethnic test. To hide this
primordial immorality, Israel fosters an image of victimhood.
Provoking violence, consciously or unconsciously, against which one
must defend oneself is a key feature of the victim-mentality. By
perpetuating such a tragic cycle, Israel is a terrorist state like no
other.

Many who wish to hide the immorality of the Israeli state do so by
restricting attention to the horrors of the post-1967 occupation and
talking about a two-state solution, since endorsing a Palestinian
state implicitly endorses the ideology behind a Jewish one.

The very creation of Israel required an act of terror. In 1948, most
of the non-Jewish indigenous people were ethnically cleansed from the
part of Palestine which became Israel. This action was carefully
planned. Without it, no state with a Jewish majority and character
would have been possible. Since 1948, the "Israeli Arabs", those
Palestinians who avoided expulsion, have suffered continuous
discrimination. Indeed, many have been internally displaced,
ostensibly for "security reasons", but really to acquire their lands
for Jews.

Surely Holocaust memory and Jewish longing for Eretz Israel would not
be sufficient to justify ethnic cleansing and ethnocracy? To avoid the
destabilisation that would result from ethical inquiry, the Israeli
state must hide the core problem, by nourishing a victim mentality
among Israeli Jews.

To sustain that mentality and to preserve an impression of victimhood
among outsiders, Israel must breed conditions for violence. Whenever
prospects of violence against it subside, Israel must do its utmost to
regenerate them: the myth that it is a peace-seeking victim which has
"no partner for peace" is a key panel in the screen with which Israel
hides its primordial and continuing immorality.

Israel's successful campaign to silence criticism of its initial and
continuing dispossession of the indigenous Palestinians leaves the
latter no option but to resort to violent resistance. In the wake of
electing Hamas - the only party which, in the eyes of Palestinians,
has not yet given up their cause - the Palestinian population of Gaza
and the West Bank were subjected to an Israeli campaign of starvation,
humiliation and violence.

The insincere "withdrawal" from Gaza, and the subsequent blockade,
ensured a chronicle of violence which, so far, includes Palestinian
firing of Kasem rockets, the capture of an Israeli soldier and the
Israeli near re-occupation of Gaza. What we witness is more hatred,
more violence from Palestinians, more humiliation and collective
punishments from Israelis - all useful reinforcement for the Israeli
victim mentality and for the sacred cow status of Israeli statehood.

The truth is that there never could have been a partition of Palestine
by ethically acceptable means. Israel was created through terror and
it needs terror to cover-up its core immorality. Whenever there is a
glimmer of stability, the state orders a targeted assassination, such
as that in Sidon which preceded the current Lebanon crisis, knowing
well that this brings not security but more violence. Israel's
unilateralism and the cycle of violence nourish one another.

Amidst the violence and despite the conventional discourse which hides
the root of this violence, actuality calls upon us to think. The more
we silence its voice, the more violently actuality is sure to speak.

In Hebrew, the word elem (a stunned silence resulting from oppression
or shock) is etymologically linked to the word almut (violence).
Silence about the immoral core of Israeli statehood makes us all
complicit in breeding the terrorism that threatens a catastrophe which
could tear the world apart.

okbendor@yahoo.com

The writer teaches the philosophy of law and political philosophy at
University of Southampton

Human rights violations must be investigated for Both sides

If IDF claimed that Palestinians had used Medical Personnel as cover,
let someone else prove it. Surely there are witnesses and IDF have
sophisticated equipment in order to gather evidences.

Giving excuses that just because there are incidences of Palestinians
using Ambulances as cover, all Ambulances are to be destroyed on sight
is against Human Rights and War Criminal laws.

Similarly for ordinary Palestinians. Just because some Palestinians
uses terror tactics to fight IDF, it means that all Palestians are
armed and dangerous, including old women and children and ALL MUST BE
EXECUTED on sight. Just by admitting this means that IDF has commited
a War Crime.

The only way to resolve this is by having a third and netural party to
investigate both incidences and both must be punished according to the
existing laws, including that of illegal occupations.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/04/200946114911670191.html

Israeli army faces fresh criticism
Among the offences listed by the PHR are Israel's attacks on medical
personnel and facilities [EPA]

Israel's army violated codes of ethics and international law during
the war in Gaza by attacking medics and refusing to allow the
treatment of wounded, a human-rights group says.

In a report published on Monday, the group Physicians for Human Rights
(PHR) calls for an independent body to investigate the military's
conduct during its 22-day war on Gaza, which ended on January 18.

The actions reflect a "demonisation of Palestinians [which] bears a
heavy price for Israeli society".

In its defence, the Israeli army said it had not yet concluded its
investigation, but that fighters from Gaza's ruling Hamas had fought
under the cover of ambulances and medical facilities.

'Indiscriminate attacks'

Among the offences listed by PHR are "attacks on medical personnel;
damage to medical facilities and indiscriminate attacks on civilians
not involved in the fighting".

The report further says: "Israel placed numerous obstacles in the
course of the operation that impeded emergency medical evacuation of
the sick and wounded and also caused families to be trapped for days
without food, water and medications.

In depth

Analysis and features from after the war

"The actions ... violate directives of international law which forbid
attacks on medical centres and medical teams during fighting" and
"blatantly violated codes of ethics."

The PHR report is the latest in a string of accusations relating to
the conduct of the Israeli army during the Gaza offensive.

Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, Israel's army chief of staff,
dismissed on Monday allegations that civilians were killed during the
assault, based on soldiers' testimonies published last week.

"I do not believe that IDF troops hurt Palestinian civilians in cold
blood," he said in a speech.

"We will wait the outcome of an investigation, but my impression is
that the IDF acted morally and if such cases did take place they were
isolated."

Family tragedy

During the offensive, Israeli fire killed 16 Palestinian medical
personnel and wounded 25 others while eight hospitals and 26 primary
care clinics were attacked, according to figures from the United
Nations and the PHR.

Among the specific incidents cited by the PHR report is that of a "Mr
Shurrab" whose two sons were shot by Israeli forces while they drove
towards the southern city of Khan Younis on January16.

"We have noticed a stark decline in IDF morals concerning the
Palestinian population of Gaza, which in reality amounts to a contempt
for Palestinian lives"

Dani Filc
Chairman,
Physicians for Human Rights, an Israel NGO
"One of the sons died immediately, the other bled to death for 12
hours," PHR said.

"All that time the Israeli soldiers were within a short distance from
the Shurrabs but did not provide any assistance despite the father's
repeated requests."

PHR condemned the Israeli army, which it said "flaunts its morality",
for "declining to help evacuate injured civilians and trapped
families, when soldiers acted in a trigger-happy manner as they opened
fire on ambulances, medical installations and medical personnel".

Dani Filc, PHR's chairman, said: "We have noticed a stark decline in
IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] morals concerning the Palestinian
population of Gaza, which in reality amounts to a contempt for
Palestinian lives.

"It is critical that the investigation of Operation Cast Lead is
completed by a neutral, external investigator without ties to the
IDF."

The Israeli army said it is investigating the claims in a "thorough"
manner. It insisted that soldiers were instructed to "act with the
utmost caution in order not to cause harm to medical vehicles and
medical facilities".

Hamas blamed

In a statement, the Israeli army blamed Hamas for putting health
personnel and medical facilities in harm's way.

"Throughout the fighting, Hamas methodically made use of medical
vehicles, facilities and uniforms in order to conceal and camouflage
terrorist activity, and in general used ambulances to carry terror
activists and weapons," it said.

"Hamas used ambulances to "rescue" terror activists from the
battlefield and used hospitals and medical facilities as hiding
places".

Such actions "greatly complicated the co-ordination of rescue and
medical evacuation", the army said.

"It must be emphasised that under international law, the protections
afforded to medical teams or "protected institutions" ... cease to
exist when these medical teams or institutions are not used for
humanitarian purposes rather for carrying out actions intended to harm
the state of Israel".

Good video of Malaysian Election

Nothing beats a video argument. They are much clearer.

http://sjsandteam.wordpress.com/2009/04/04/anwar-ibrahim-at-bt-selambau-03042009-video/

North Korea has lauched a Satellite: How about us?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6037889.ece

In fact the most ideal place to launch satellites is from Kalimantan
because it is at the equator.

Alas, I don't think it will ever happen but I would like Indonesia to
consider because they are not entirely a waste of money. Gaining
knowledge is never a waste of money even when it is just for fun. It
is those who love fun that are the most developed.

Malaysia has launched an astronaut but he is more of a space tourist
with little knowledge gained by Malaysians. Malaysians have proposed a
rocket launch site at Tawau but I don't think it is economical because
it is far from the equator. Even Ariane had to be towed expensively by
a ship to the equator for it to be launched.

The economic justifications for Satellite Launching expertise are:

i) for military purposed. Any military expenditure is a waste of money
after all but for Malaysia and Indonesia, internal security is far
more important than external security, i.e. suppressing its own people
are far more important than a defense against foreign invaders. It is
all too common in Muslim world.

ii) Space tourism. It is cheaper to engage in space tourism than
commercial satellite launch.

iii) Satellite launching.

For more details of why these are important, maybe you should read the
article in UK which shows that their men prefer video games to women.
It is certainly a contrast in Muslim nations where relation ship is
far more important than having fun with technology.

Farming and wheeling and dealing appear to be Malaysian and Indonesian
occupation because they will allow them to earn money but that money
is spent on having more women and parties instead of playing video
games.

Who will be more advanced? Malaysia or UK?

Playing video games may be a useless pastime but they are useful for
survival in this world. I spend more time playing video and other
games than having relationships and parties and yet I can earn much
more than farmers, fishermen, and petty businessmen. The reason is
that, in order to play these video games, you need to be well educated
i.e. you must be able to read and be up to date with the latest
technologies.

So better spend the money on technologies than on women. It applies
also to fishing. Buy fish finders and GPS in order to enjoy our
hobbies even more. Better still, get the Radio Amateur license in
order to enhance our technological expertise.

Don't spend the excess money on food or women because they are not
healthy. In fact, you can help the poor even more by giving them toys
and technologies than just food and shelter. One example was Anwar
giving the Acheh tsunami victims water makers instead of UMNO giving
of mineral water.

On major reasons why technological projects are not popular among
Malaysian politicians is that they can't get involved so cannot get
commissions. After all, these politicians were those who emphasise
face-to-face relationship compared to technological savviness but let
the voters show them the way.

Now, let us invest in rocket launchers and aviation technologies. It
will allow me to enjoy space tourism cheaply. It should be cheaper to
travel around the world from space than on the ground.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/a151610/many-british-men-prefer-gaming-to-sex.html

Many British men 'prefer gaming to sex'

Thursday, April 2 2009, 18:53 BST

By Andrew Laughlin
Many British men 'prefer gaming to sex'

Many British males would prefer to play video games rather than have a
passionate encounter with their partners, a new survey reveals.

According to a poll of 1,130 British men by comparison website PS3
Price Compare, 32% of respondents in a relationship would rather play
games than have sex with their partner.

This increased to 72% when the men were tempted with a "new game
release".

Reasons given for this included partners being "hard to please" and
also that a night of passion is "not as much fun" as gaming.

Mike Elsmore, developer of the website, said: "I, like many other men,
am an avid gamer, but even I find these results startling."

He added: "I'm not sure my partner would appreciate me ignoring her
for any old game. Now Resident Evil 5, that's a different matter!"

The survey also asked what the men would spend £50 on if it was given
to them - 41% were ready to invest in a new video game, while 19% said
clothes and only 3% would pay off household bills.