Tom Waits - Singapore

via youtube.com

We sail tonight for Singapore,
We're all as mad as hatters here
I've fallen for a tawny Moor,
Took off to the land of Nod
Drank with all the Chinamen,
Walked the sewers of Paris
I danced along a colored wind,
Dangled from a rope of sand
You must say goodbye to me
We sail tonight for Singapore,
Don't fall asleep while you're ashore
Cross your heart and hope to die
When you hear the children cry
Let marrow bone and cleaver choose
While making feet for children shoes
Through the alley, back from hell,
When you hear that steeple bell
You must say goodbye to me
Wipe him down with gasoline
'til his arms are hard and mean
From now on boys this iron boat's your home
So heave away, boys
We sail tonight for Singapore,
Take your blankets from the floor
Wash your mouth out by the door,
The whole town's made of iron ore
Every witness turns to steam,
They all become Italian dreams
Fill your pockets up with earth,
Get yourself a dollar's worth
Away boys, away boys, heave away
The captain is a one-armed dwarf,
He's throwing dice along the wharf
In the land of the blind
The one-eyed man is king, so take this ring
We sail tonight for Singapore,
We're all as mad as hatters here
I've fallen for a tawny Moor,
Took off to the land of Nod
Drank with all the Chinamen,
Walked the sewers of Paris
I drank along a colored wind,
I dangled from a rope of sand
You must say goodbye to me
More lyrics: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/tom+waits/#share

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Air conditioning: Fossil fuels used for AC in the US is same as all power used in Africa

via independent.co.uk

Air conditioning guzzles 15 per cent of total American energy consumption, higher than any other country, using the same amount of fossil fuel as the whole of Africa employs for all its energy needs. Global air-conditioning demands cannot be quantified, but this summer's high temperatures have prompted a surge in air con sales in China, for example. While British air conditioning is less of a societal "must-have", according to the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), its use is set to swell here by 50 per cent over the next 20 years.
"Air conditioning's environmental damage is not limited to emissions of greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting chemicals," says writer Stan Cox, whose book Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World is generating a buzz in America. "Lavish deployment of indoor climate control may indeed make it possible for us to live anywhere on the planet, but is that wise?" Indeed, from the sun-scorched deserts of Dubai to the sands of Arizona (the "air conditioning capital of the world"), inappropriately designed and located construction requires yet more refrigeration. Artificial cooling links arms with global warming – the higher the temperatures, the more cooling we need – in a chilling positive-feedback hoedown.

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Lee Kwan Yew said that air conditioning was the single most important development that allowed Singapore to develop as it had. Having lived there I think I agree with him.

The black marketeers stealing Indonesia’s islands by the boat-load - Times Online

via timesonline.co.uk

For the people of Sebesi Island, who spend their lives next to the world’s biggest natural time bomb, it seemed to be an offer that they could not refuse.
A businessman from the Indonesian mainland landed one day with a remarkable proposal: to make safe their deadly neighbour, the notorious volcano island of Krakatoa, hulking in the sea a few miles across the water.
When Krakatoa exploded in 1883 36,000 people died and the dust thrown up by the eruption lowered temperatures and darkened skies across the globe.
So the fishermen welcomed the offer of trenches to channel the lava and reduce the danger of the next explosion. However, when the boats arrived and the work began, they realised with anger that the kindly businessman was not renovating Krakatoa. He was stealing it.
“There was a huge barge, the kind you use to carry coal, and it was pumping up the sand through pipes,” said Waiso, an environmental activist who investigated the activity. “This is a national park and a Unesco World Heritage Site and you’re not allowed to touch it. The local people rely on the fishing and the income from tourism, and here they were taking Krakatoa away.” And Krakatoa is just one case among thousands.
With more than 17,000 islands — from the jungly immensities of Borneo and Sumatra to unnamed rocks jutting out of the sea — you might think that Indonesia would not mind if a few of them went missing. But the South-East Asian nation is fighting a losing battle against black marketeers who are, literally, making off with its territory by the boat-load.

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RIP JB Jeyeratnum

Saddened by the passing of the tormentor of the PAP in Singapore and crusader for democracy in that most autocratic of countries, JB Jeyeratnum. Despite being hounded out of parliament numerous times using the favourite PAP tactic of fear, intimidation, libel and bankruptcy of those who dare to oppose, he fought for what he believed right to the end. Having cleared his bankruptcy, he had established a new political party and was seeking to reenter parliament.

Most Singaporeans are too scared to say anything or do anything for fear of retaliation. This is a country where the government really does control everything. JB Jeyeratnum showed that it was possible, despite many obstacles to do something.

"It would be terribly funny if it weren't tragic for me," he said in an interview at the time. "A lot of people tell me: 'Why do you carry on? It's hopeless in this place. Why do you sacrifice yourself, suffering all this pain?' Not that I suffer that much."

"Funnily enough, I enjoy the fight," he said. "It's true. And if I had to give it up, I wouldn't know what to do."

During my last few months in Singapore I saw him sitting quietly in a bar in Bugis just after being declared bankrupt and kicked out of parliament. I wanted to say something, but left him to his thoughts.

It takes a lot of inner and moral strength to take on an entrenched autocracy like that. Not unlike Morgan Tsangari in Zimbabwe.

He may not be featured much in the government controlled press or in history books, but his memory and what he stood for will be difficult to forget for most Singaporeans.

Watch out for the Coconuts

They would likely kill you if you hung around for long enough in Mildaren, South Australia.



When I lived in Singapore we used to go walking and cycling along East Coast Park and they had much shorter palms with Beware of Falling Coconuts Signs. That was not so unusual in safety conscious Singapore. I never heard of anyone being killed by an unfortunate gravity assisted coconut attack. Being hit by lightning was much more common.

Flying Castle Makes it to Sydney

After nearly bankrupting its manufacturer , with billions of dollars in overruns and after years of delay, the A380 finally made a commercial flight from Singapore to Sydney. People were paying up to $50,000 for a ticket. A regularly scheduled service starts this weekend. It reminded me that most of my flying days are over. Even the so called benefits don't outweigh cattle class, crap food and crying kids. And then there is jet lag.

Impressive engineering all the same to get that much weight into the air.

But can you walk at the same time?

Singapore has been identified as a major new market for this new product.

Singapore Investments in Australia Trump Australian Government's

With the purchase of Alinta, a huge energy conglomerate, by Singapore Power, the Government of Singapore will become the largest foreign investor in Australia. They will control more assets than the Australian Government with an investment portfolio of over $30 billion dollars, including Optus, controlled by Singapore Telecom.