Weekend Shock: Most Expensive City

Singapore tops again

Most Expensive City in the World

Shake Hands or Shaking Hands?

Putin shakes hand with Poroshenko

“The presidents of Russia and Ukraine sat down for talks Tuesday, meeting face-to-face for the first time since June on the fighting that has engulfed Ukraine’s separatist east. Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Petro Poroshenko were joined by the presidents of Belarus and Kazakhstan and three senior officials from the European Union in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. The meeting came as Ukraine said its forces had captured 10 Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine and the shelling spread to a new front in the far southeast. Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of supporting and arming the rebels, which Russia denies daily” (NBC News 26th August 2014).

To eat or Not to Eat?

Deformed fruit from Saitama

Ever since the earthquake cum tsunami incident that destroyed the nuclear plants at Fukushima, the effort to contain radioactive fallout is apparently futile. Official reports on the situation there are scanty. The Abe government has since November 2013, effectively placed a gag order to prohibit unauthorised reports of the calamity. Under these circumstances, speculation of the true nature of the nuclear disaster is rife. What is the impact of the aftermath and on the ongoing effort to mitigate radioactive contamination cannot be adequately assessed.

Leadership or Rulership?

Before the advent of modern weapons, when battles were fought with the sword and arrows, fighting largely requires body contact. The battle is led by the leader. In many instances, that would be the king himself or his top generals. It is the leader who must show courage and ability to lead the army from the front. His army follows him. A leader and ruler must be prepared to die for his people. Rarely will the leader be fighting and commanding his army from the rear. Who would follow him? A leader leads because he is recognised for his bravery and commitment to his army and people. A ruler is necessarily a leader warrior. Modern day leaders are of a different breed. With un-manned drone weapons, even trying to identify where is the army is may be problematic. Is it the drone army? Is it the operators of the drone? Without a real human army that is identifiable, ascertaining the leader of the “army” is also an issue.

War is Profitable

Spending on Defence

“If the US opposes an absolutely non-confrontational, reconciliatory text, there can be no doubts that Washington intends to have the armed confrontation in Ukraine continued. It could be seen only as an attempt to ‘undermine’ the humanitarian mission,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on 22nd August 2014. The military actions of USA in various parts of the world, particularly in the Middle East add veracity to the Russian statement. Why should the USA stop wars? Lobbyists pay top dollars to influence decisions of political decision makers who can become immensely rich by perpetuating war policies.  USA spends more money on its military war machinery than the combined top 8 military budget of the rest of the world.

The Phantom Menace

Chinese fighter aircraft SU27

BBC Reported on 22nd August 2014 that “A Chinese fighter came perilously close to a US military patrol plane over international waters east of China’s Hainan Island, the Pentagon has said. Spokesman John Kirby said that the US had protested to the Chinese military over the mid-air intercept, calling the fighter pilot’s actions ‘unsafe and unprofessional’ “.” Freebeacon added: “On three different occasions, the Chinese J-11 crossed directly under the U.S. aircraft with one pass having only 50 to 100 feet separation between the two aircraft,” the spokesman said. “The Chinese jet also passed the nose of the P-8 at 90 degrees with its belly toward the P-8 to show its weapons loadout,” he added. “In doing so, the pilot was unable to see the P-8, further increasing the potential for a collision,” Pool said. “The Chinese pilot then flew directly under and alongside the P-8 bringing their wingtips within 20 feet and then before he stabilized his fighter he conducted a roll over the P-8 passing within 45 feet.””

Weekend Shock: Gloomy Prophecy

Signs at the Singapore Garden by the Bay paint gloomy future

Intentional? Coincidence? Or Prophetic?

Cloudy Prophecy Signs for Singapore

More Time…..

http://www.biblestudy.org/maps/life-span-of-bible-patriarchs-before-after-the-flood.html

How long can a man live? The oldest man claimed to be alive today is a 111 year-old Japanese. On 19th August, Sakari Momoi received a certificate from Guinness World Records for being the oldest man alive today. Based on biblical records, the early patriarchs lived almost a thousand years. Longevity declined gradually to today’s lifespan of less than 100 years. This concurs closely with biblical pronunciation that man shall live “threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years” (Psalms 90:10).

Credibility Drought: Journalism in Crisis

Battle for Eyeballs

The mainstream media (MSM) propaganda machinery all over the world is going overtime during these chaotic moments, trying to play catch up with a torrent of news, rumours and reports flooding that are the social media. Events are happening faster than the managed MSM media can handle. Most MSM reports are vetted before they could be published. Compared with the lightning speed by which social media propagates, MSM news lagged behind like historical dinosaurs. The real challenge for the reader is to be able to navigate the deluge of information and mis-information in order to form a credible opinion of reported events. For some, this may be too tiring.  MSM news for now, has a slight advantage of being “more credible” only because they have had the near virtual monopoly of news in traditional channels of reporting. This is about to change.

Encounter with Demons

Do you believe in demons – malevolent spiritual beings that roam the world? Some do, some don’t and some are agnostic. Truth is a strange thing. It is not bothered by what you believe. A person’s belief has no bearing on truism. So what if demons do exist, regardless of your beliefs? If they do, then their impact,  if any, on humans is of paramount interest to us. We should be concerned. If you are agnostic, you should be equally concerned. Again, some will argue that even if they do exist, they are in a world of their own and there is no reason to be concerned. Maybe, there is a life after this insane world. Or maybe not, nothing exists after death – life is an illusion, a convoluted mess of something and nothingness (see obituary message below). There’s no absolute proof either case in a humanistic or scientific sense. Question is – can you know now before the curtain of life falls?

Obituary Message (Straits Times, 19th August 2014)