Movie Night

I and a friend will be hosting a movie night this Friday. Details as follow :

Name of Movie : Crash (2004)

Place : Harnwell (8th Floor movie lounge)

Time : 6.00 - 8.00 p.m.

Admission : Free (duh!)

Please attend and support my "racism" cause and also help me score some points for my writing seminar =)

ps : no refreshment would be provided but feel free to bring some for yourself and yours' truly =)

FLINOLA 2 - French Quarter and Bourbon Street

New Orleans is known to be a French-y town due to its French descendants

The pope was here

A street magician on Bourbon street

This is what happen when you don't have a map or GPS. Intrusion at its very worst. We went in even though the shop was closed!

Ventriloquist on the harbor. You have to look upwards instead of downwards to look at the ships in New Orleans.

Clowns with balloons on the street.

Just like France

The street names are french-y too

And the homes...

Street violonist

The making of...rectangular donuts !

Bourbon street. Buildings along this streets are bars and more bars...

Partying in a French-y house

Residential homes just outside the French Quarters

Trucks loading equipments to set up the place to shoot the show "the Librarian"

Josh's obsession with the hookah.

Hillary @ Penn

This is why rational Americans should vote for Clinton. Economic wise, she's the man for the job.

(Her entourage barricaded the whole 39th street this morning till afternoon. i wonder whether she's addressing global warming issues or not.......)



New York Times

March 25, 2008

Clinton Calls for $30 Billion for Home Mortgage Crisis

By PATRICK HEALY

PHILADELPHIA — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton returned to one of her major campaign themes Monday — the economic impact of the home mortgage crisis — and called on Congress to provide $30 billion to help states and communities lessen the number of foreclosures.

In a speech at the University of Pennsylvania, Mrs. Clinton proposed several other moves to deal with foreclosures, like tapping two former chairmen of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan and Paul A. Volcker, and former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, to lead a “high-level emergency working group” to recommend ways to restructure at-risk mortgages to help avert more foreclosures.

Her speech comes as the mortgage crisis continues to ripple across the economy, threatening the homes of millions of Americans and endangering some of the nation’s leading financial institutions that helped finance these now-troubled mortgages.

As much as she focused on ways to ease the mortgage crisis, Senator Clinton also dwelled on what she called “a crisis of confidence in our country,” and portrayed herself as the candidate best able to address the economic problems of middle-income and economically struggling families.

“We need a president who can restore our confidence,” she said. “We need a president who is ready on Day 1 to be commander in chief of our economy.”

For more than a year, both Mrs. Clinton and her rival, Senator Barack Obama, have been proposing ideas to prevent the widening of the mortgage foreclosure crisis through more active government intervention to aid at-risk homeowners. In returning to that theme Monday, almost four weeks before the Pennsylvania primary on April 22, she appeared to be trying to persuade voters that she would be a take-charge leader focused on results — in contrast to Mr. Obama, whom she has criticized as offering high-minded, eloquent speeches instead of policy ideas.

Although Senator Clinton is in a tough battle for the Democratic nomination with Mr. Obama, and her recent remarks have included sharp criticisms of him, she did not mention Mr. Obama Monday, — only implicitly contrasting herself with him by arguing that she was the better equipped candidate to manage the economy.

Even so, Mr. Obama’s campaign quickly issued a statement noting that he had urged the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department to hold a “homeownership preservation summit” — an idea, an Obama spokesman said, that was akin to Mrs. Clinton’s emergency working group.

“One key difference, however, is the diversity and representation that Obama called for — not just some of the same people who helped to create these problems or have a direct financial industry stake in the outcome,” said Bill Burton, the Obama spokesman, referring to Mr. Rubin and Mr. Greenspan, who some critics have said was responsible for overseeing the spread of lax lending standards that caused the subprime crisis.

Mrs. Clinton mixed several gloomy housing statistics with criticisms of President Bush, whom she characterized as a passive leader and belittled by asserting that, unlike him, she would be a president “working to prevent crises rather than just reacting too little too late.” Also in her plan, Mrs. Clinton endorsed federal legislation to expand the government’s ability to guarantee restructured mortgages, which she believes would lead more banks and other private entities to buy and resell mortgages.

And she said she would introduce legislation soon to provide mortgage servicers with protection from litigation when they modified mortgages; Mrs. Clinton asserted that some servicers stayed away from mortgage restructuring because they feared being sued by unhappy homeowners.

In his first public event since returning from a trip to the Middle East and Europe, Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, renewed his insistence on seeing the war in Iraq through until a victory was achieved, and said he had seen clear signs of progress there. “If we set a date for withdrawal,” as Senators Clinton and Obama have argued, “all will be lost and there will be chaos and genocide,” he predicted.

“Compared to where we were a year ago, we are succeeding in Iraq,” Mr. McCain said at a brief town hall meeting on Monday afternoon at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Chula Vista, Calif. Al Qaeda, he said, though not defeated, “is on the run,” but Democrats “have tried to raise the white flag of surrender time and time again.”

Larry Rohter contributed reporting from Chula Vista, Calif.

You might want to see her address the press this morning here	Clinton Speaks in Pennslyvania NBC Video Click to watch the video
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FLINOLA 1 - Bus Trip

The few snippets below are taken on a bus from New Orleans Airport to Camp Hope.Please excuse the reflections and blurriness in some of the pics =) (they were taken on a bus ride !)

Welcome to New Orleans, the Southern 'French' land below sea level. (literally speaking)

The city, where Donald Trump wants to build his mega-size tower

A typical road junction

The hardy oak trees that still stand strong after the flood. It is rumored that a few of these trees have been here for over 300 years !

One of the many mansions that house famous celebrities, authors, poets, actors and actresses.

The oldest road-based tram in the world. It was built in the era before horse-carriages were invented.

A church built many centuries ago that somehow mimicked the Fine Arts Library at Penn.

Another humongous mansion that is converted into luxury apartments.

If you watch the video posted in the previous post, this is the iron bridge that became the people's savior during the storm. The land here are a few meters below sea level. If you look closely, you'll see the levees on both side of the canal. When the Katrina hit NO, it broke the levees along the Mississippi river and flood the whole city for weeks.

Cows grazing in St. Bernard Parish

Since water needs to flow through the city, they even built canals next to people's home.

View from Camp Hope, the base camp for Americorps in NO.

Bunk beds in my room. It smelt like IKEA =p (prob because of the pine wood)

The few 8-legged bugs that went missing in the camp !

View from the entrance of Camp Hope. We got to use the army suburbans during our stint here.

Post-katrina in New Orleans

I'll upload a few pictures in parts later (when i'm free, of course!) from my spring-break FLINOLA program at Katrina-hit New Orleans.

Here's two video clips from the Habitat for Humanity and Americorp volunteers, whom i served with, at Camp Hope, St. Bernard Parish.

Just some thoughts....

Say x = 0.99999999999999.......

Thus, 10x = 9.9999999999999.....

If we deduct 9 from 10x, [ 10x - 9 = 0.9999999......]

which is equal to x

In short, 10x - 9 = x

AND [ x = 1 ]

but if you refer to the first premise, x is equal to 0.99999.....

Conclusion:

0.999999....... equals 1 (not approximate)

Amazing stuff huh?.....

I guess my brain is going crazy before midterms tomorrow.

Back from NOLA

I'm safely back from the super-duper scorching hot New Orleans....with my skin getting a redder and darker tone......

(ps : give me a few days to reply to the emails and messages in the past week)

Final Tally of the12th GE

A table summary for the 12th General Election. (source : http://www.spr.gov.my/)


KEDUDUKAN KERUSI DEWAN RAKYAT YANG DIMENANGI

NEGERI	JUMLAH KERUSI	BN		PAS		DAP		PKR		JUMLAH
		CLN	MTB	CLN	MTB	CLN	MTB	CLN	MTB
PERLIS	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
KEDAH	15	4	0	6	0	0	0	5	0	15
KELANTAN	14	2	0	9	0	0	0	3	0	14
TERENGGANU	8	7	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	8
PULAU PINANG	13	2	0	0	0	7	0	4	0	13
PERAK	24	13	0	2	0	6	0	3	0	24
PAHANG	14	12	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	14
SELANGOR	22	5	0	4	0	4	0	9	0	22
W.P. KUALA LUMPUR	11	1	0	1	0	5	0	4	0	11
W.P. PUTRAJAYA	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
NEGERI SEMBILAN	8	5	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	8
MELAKA	6	5	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	6
JOHOR	26	24	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	26
W.P. LABUAN	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
SABAH	25	20	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	23
SARAWAK	31	24	5	0	0	1	0	0	0	30
JUMLAH	222	129	8	23	0	28	0	31	0	219

CLN	- Calon Yang Menang
MTB	- Menang tanpa bertanding

KEDUDUKAN KERUSI DEWAN UNDANGAN NEGERI YANG DIMENANGI

NEGERI	JUMLAH KERUSI	BN		PAS		DAP		BEBAS		PKR		JUMLAH
		CLN	MTB	CLN	MTB	CLN	MTB	CLN	MTB	CLN	MTB
PERLIS	15	14	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	15
KEDAH	36	14	0	16	0	1	0	1	0	4	0	36
KELANTAN	45	6	0	37	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	45
TERENGGANU	32	24	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	32
PULAU PINANG	40	11	0	1	0	19	0	0	0	9	0	40
PERAK	59	28	0	6	0	18	0	0	0	7	0	59
PAHANG	42	37	0	2	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	42
SELANGOR	56	19	1	8	0	13	0	0	0	15	0	56
W.P. KUALA LUMPUR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
W.P. PUTRAJAYA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
NEGERI SEMBILAN	36	21	0	1	0	10	0	0	0	4	0	36
MELAKA	28	23	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	28
JOHOR	56	50	0	2	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	56
W.P. LABUAN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
SABAH	60	55	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	58
SARAWAK	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
JUMLAH	505	302	3	82	1	73	0	2	0	40	0	503

CLN	- Calon Yang Menang
MTB	- Menang tanpa bertanding

A fish-y story.

A few big fishes were fried while the others escaped scathed. Fishermen mercilessly massacred small fishes but a few managed to wriggle free. With the butchering done, are cooking oil and diesel going to be cheaper? Or will everything stay as it is? If the former holds true, will more fishes be fried in the cooking pan? Will more fishermen make use of the cheaper diesel to fish more and satisfy the people's hunger? Or will the masterminds drowned by their absurd expectations and promises? I wonder who'll have the last laugh come 2012.......

And the vote goes to......

Quotable pick-up lines from has-been, up-coming and to-be leaders

Bill Clinton



"Don't be under illusion that government policies does not make a difference. It does! But also, don't be [likely] in any illusion that you have to sit around to wait for the government to make a difference. You Don't!"


Hillary Clinton



"Voters face a critical question. Who is tested and ready to be commander in-chief on day 1? And who knows how to turn our economy around? Because we sure do need it!"


And the ultimate best...

"Hari kiamat nanti, segala-galanya hancur, tuan-tuan. Bumi hancur. Laut hancur. Langit hancur. BULAN pun hancur. Yang tinggal hanya DACING yang akan menimbang antara dosa dan pahala manusia!"

Fundamental Theorem for God's Existence - Descartes'

This will BLOW your mind.

René Descartes (March 31 1596 – February 11, 1650) was a prominent philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. Dubbed the "Founder of Modern Philosophy" and the "Father of Modern Mathematics," he absurdly tried to prove the existence of God through his writings in Meditation.

Descartes started his proof by classifying ideas and thoughts that was flowing in his mind to determine which of them are truth or false. Amongst them are images of objects, volitions, emotions and judgments. He then classifies his ideas by their origin. Some appear innate, while others appear adventitious and he must have invented the rest. He realized that his ideas ‘of what a thing is’, ‘what truth is’ and ‘what thought is’ seems to come from his own innate self. His Cartesian method of thoughts was used to discover the source of the ideas and rearrange them to form logical explanations. However, Descartes believed that his senses could not be trusted. He reasoned that human beings are inclined to believe in the reality of external material things due to their bodily senses, which ultimately dictates our flow of thoughts.

Descartes established a method, which he called, the Systematic doubt. He said that he has all the reasons to doubt, being in this sensible world, where there is a high probability that things in it might be unreliable. But it is more pertinent to note that he was actually looking for certainty through doubt, and eventually removing the doubt that he has established earlier.

Eventually, he reasoned to a conclusion, which gave birth to the famous quote "Cogito Ergo Sum"--I think; therefore, I am. He concluded on the fact that in order to doubt one must be a thinking thing, meaning that one must be thinking in order to doubt. A thinking thing must be a thing that exists. Thus, Descartes being a doubter established the fact that he is a thinking thing, and therefore, is an existing being.

Descartes further comprehend and claimed that a doubter is an imperfect being, explaining that an imperfect being could not have founded the idea of perfection. Perfection must be something that is intuitive and rooted from a being ‘thing’ that is perfect. A ‘perfect’ being must have all perfect properties, such as omni benevolence, omnipotence, and omniscience. Thus, Descartes believe that his idea of perfection must flow from that fact that,

1. The idea of perfection exists,

2. Something does not come from nothing,

3. We are imperfect beings, since we are doubters, so the idea of perfection cannot come from thinking by ourselves,

4. Thus, a perfect being must exist,

5. Therefore, God must be that being.
________________________________________________________________________
bottom line : God must exist

Things I need to know before tomorrow. (*gasp*)

People : Rafael Bombelli, Cardana-tartaglia, Ludovico Ferrari, Pierre de Fermat, Cardan, Gauss, Euclid.

Equations : Induction, reduction to absurd, regression to the mean, and too many others....

Jargons : correlation isn't causation, fundamental theorems, BIG Theore, confounding variables, simpson's paradox, genetics probability and words that my language can't decipher.

Thats the problem when you have 3 exams on a day and have only 24 hours to study.

(and i can't believe i'm still here writing this down)

I'm in need of spring break =)