May 21 Judgement Day

First, it was December 21, 2012 and now, it seems that the end of the world just became soon as some evangelical Christians are claiming that a decoded Bible entry is saying that judgement day will be coming by May 21, 2011.
That’s less than two weeks from now and it has definitely stirred the concerns of many people. The date of doom is now being actively advertised in paid billboards and vans in several states.

According to several sources, the information regarding the significance of May 21 came from Family Radio, a Christian radio network owned by Harold Camping. Now 89 years old, he first wrongly predicted that Judgement Day would come last 1994.
When that didn’t happen, he reported that his Bible study was incomplete, thus the mistake.
Lastly, while the news did creat concerns, a significant number of people are not believing theprophecy.

May 21 2011

Harold Camping. That’s his name, folks. He’s supposedly a Jesus believer, but I just can’t remember Jesus calling anyone to predicting the day of judgement. Camping has long been the voice of Family Radio, a station based in Oakland, California. There are a lot of people who follow his teachings, and are scared and/or excited that an event known as “The Rapture,” is going to occur on May 21.
If you’re freaking out, stop! Seriously.
This Camping cat has been rapping about the rapture for decades.  In 1994 he said that the world was going to end. Now he says that he’s absolutely certain that May 21, 2011, will bring forth the rapture–which he also considers judgment day–due to the fact that it is exactly 7,000 years since Noah boarded the ark with family, animals and what I would imagine were tons and tons of goods. How he pinpointed May 21st? Your guess is as good as his…
So. What is this rapture? Well, there are a few schools of thought on this one. What Camping is suggesting is that all the righteous people who are here on earth are going to be swept away to their heavenly home, while others will be “left behind.”
Apparently being righteous requires that you buy into the fact that May 21st is what Camping says it is. This being the reason that so many of his followers are wigging out–trying to get their families to buy into his apocalyptic prediction. But no worries, if you’re left behind–according to Camping, the world won’t be consumed in fire until October 21, 2011.

I may have to call into Family Radio on May 24th, because I plan to enjoy my weekend, and may catch the St. Louis Cardinals in San Diego on Monday, May 23rd. So. The 24th is the earliest I’ll get around to it. Though I’ll definitely check out the website on the 22nd.

Casey Anthony Trial

Judge Belvin Perry has dismissed a group of at least a couple of dozen potential jurors because there was some kind of discussion of the case among them.
One juror apparently brought up the Casey Anthony case. The judge asked the group if the discussion went beyond the mention, and a number of the potential jurors said it did, so the group was dismissed.

LARGO — Just because you have kids at home and a business that needs you, don't expect to get out of going to Orlando for the six-to-eight week murder trial of Casey Anthony.
That's the message that came out of some of the juror interviews Tuesday, as a judge and lawyers continued jury selection in Pinellas County for the highly publicized murder trial.
Although most of the potential jurors have been excused from the inconvenience of the trial, attorneys are fighting to keep some people in the pool.
One man said he runs a hardware store with 34 employees and that a lot of the management and other work falls to him. "I was unloading trucks this morning before I came here." It's a family business, his father has suffered serious health problems, and the man said has a one-week business and pleasure trip to Panama coming up.
But defense attorney Cheney Mason called that an inconvenience, not a "hardship." The man is still in the jury pool.
Another man said he started a new job two weeks ago at "a huge pay cut" to be home, closer to his daughter with health problems. But his wife also cares for the girl. He's still in the jury pool.
Another man said he's on disability and couldn't afford to board his seven dogs. When Mason objected to excusing that man, Orange-Osceola Judge Belvin Perry jokingly asked if the dogs could stay at Mason's home. But for now, the man is still a possible juror.
However, others were quickly excused, such as the St. Petersburg College student who's a single mother with a 4-year-old, and the nurse who said he is in the fifth month of a six-month training program,
Twenty Pinellas County residents — 12 jurors and eight alternates — will travel to Orlando.
Media attention in Orlando prompted Perry to order that jurors come from outside Orange County.

Casey Anthony is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony. Caylee disappeared in 2008. Her remains were discovered months later about a quarter-mile from her home.

Cicadas

Swarms of 13-year cicada are covering swaths of the American south for the first time since 1998. Dwelling on the negative, some people are already griping over the bugs’ omnipresent “eerie” buzzing and discarded husks. They don’t know how lucky they are…
After 13 years of underground incubation, this unique cicada breed, called the Brood XIX, will soon attach itself to trees, cars and the occasional child from Arkansas to Virginia, playing their rhythmic percussion for the next five-weeks, at which point they’ll die.
Residents in Alabama and Georgia have already spotted them, and are registering complaints and concerns.
“We thought it was the nuclear power plant,” said one North Carolina woman, who also compared the cicada song to the noise of a UFO. Meanwhile, down in Tennessee, some people grimaced over the bugs’ “creepiness” and described them as a “nuisance.” But they shouldn’t be so quick to knock the cicada, because this bug is something special.
Cicadas, whose men compose varying pitched songs with the clicking of their exoskeletal tymbals, have long entranced the world’s cultures. The Chinese equate them with resurrection and rebirth, while the creature plays the “grasshopper” role in a French version of ‘The Grasshopper and the Ant.’ And mythological Greek mortal Tithonus, a lover of goddess Eros, becomes a cicada after Zeus grants him immortality, but not eternal youth.
These cultures aren’t alone in celebrating the cicada. North Carolina entomology professor Clyde Sorenson lauded this summer’s event as “really cool natural phenomenon” that only takes place “in eastern North America.” Nancy Hinkle, another etymology professor, also remarked, “This emergence is a great opportunity for an up-close view of this amazing phenomenon.”
And I have nothing but fond memories for the Ohio summers of 1987 and 1991, when the cicada Broods X and XIV made a boisterous appearance, delivering their soulful calls across the land. I approached the alien-esque insects with the wonder and curiosity found only in children.
Their call and response — one here, one there, video below — provided a fascinating relief from the rigmarole of my typical summers in the Ohio valley, and even today I can summon up faint wisps of that enchantment. It makes me wish I were in North Carolina or Georgia or elsewhere in the South, amongst the cicada call, which will no doubt become part of the backdrop for countless memories.

So those who are amidst the brood’s swarm, make a point of getting past some of the cicadas’ less alluring qualities — husks can be creepy — and appreciate the musical gifts this insect shares during its brief moment in the sun, because the cidadas are a six-legged reminder of that old life lesson: enjoy what you have now, because tomorrow it could be gone.
Here are some video of cicadas in aural action. First, the tone from the recent, 13-year outbreak in North Carolina.. Second, the one I remember, which I believe is more common among cicada in general.

Mississippi River

As the Mississippi River reaches its highest level in more than 70 years, threatening to inundate dozens of cities and towns, a hero has emerged: the region's $13 billion flood-control system.
Built after the devastating floods of the early 1900s, the levees and four large corridors designated as emergency flood outlets were deemed a necessity as Americans started to farm the fertile land that had been Mother Nature's flood buffer along the Mississippi.
Some 35 million acres of floodplains were eliminated as farms that feed Americans and the world moved in. The elimination of this natural release valve meant the potential for more catastrophic floods.
"This is history repeating itself," Andrew Falhund of the group American Rivers, told NBC News. "We've lost our floodplains and wetlands and people are at risk again. We can't let that happen."
The answer from government — federal and state — was not to uproot those farms, but to rely on an elaborate system to protect the four million people now living in the potential flood zone.
Managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, the system got started after a 1927 flood that killed hundreds.
The nation vowed to never again see Americans suffer in a flood of that kind, so following the disaster, Congress authorized the Army Corps of Engineers to build a 2,203-mile long levee system on the river.
The Corps now has an annual budget that hovers between $300-$400 million — some for maintenance and some to complete the system by 2030. It's about 95 percent built out, says Corps spokesman Bob Anderson.
The viability of that system was called into question after Hurricane Katrina, when when corps-built levees busted and water filled most of New Orleans, killing more than 1,600 people. But so far, the levees have been holding back the water.
"When you have a series of failures as you see with Katrina ... people are going to ask, 'What's happening?'" said Gerald Galloway, a University of Maryland civil engineer and former Army Corps officer. "The thing to do is to modernize and upgrade our infrastructure."
The nation's defense system against the Mississippi does not protect everyone: small towns and many farms get swamped every time a spillway is opened to protect more populated areas. That's likely to be the case soon along the Mississippi Delta, the flatlands that stretch about 200 miles from Memphis, Tenn., to Vicksburg, Miss.
And there's another hitch: the levees that keep the Mississippi River from flooding end up pushing water back up into tributaries, many of which aren't protected by the levee system. Towns there are pretty much on their own.
Still, for the major population areas along the lower half of the Mississippi, the system has done its job. Anderson says third-party estimates place the value of protected property over the years at $370 billion.
In addition to the thousands of miles of levees, here are the four key floodways, or spillways, as they are called:

• New Madrid Floodway. The Corps last week blew up a two-mile stretch of levee, diverting water that could have swamped the historic town of Cairo, Ill., and other communities by flooding 130,000 acres of Missouri farmland. It was only the second time the floodway was opened; the first was during the 1937 flood. Missouri had sued to block the opening this time, but lost in court.
• Bonnet Carre Spillway. In Louisiana, the Corps on Monday opened some of the spillway's gates, diverting some of the Mississippi into Lake Pontchartrain to ease pressure on New Orleans' levees. Built about 30 miles upriver from New Orleans in response to the 1927 flood, it was last opened in 2008. Monday marked the 10th time it has been opened. From the lake, the water flows east into the fertile fishing and oyster grounds of Lake Borgne and the Mississippi Sound, and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico.
• Morganza Spillway. The Corps has asked for permission to open some of the gates on this spillway, located 35 miles north of Baton Rouge, for the first time since 1973. Officials warned residents that even if it is opened, they can expect water 5 to 25 feet deep over parts of seven parishes. Some of Louisiana's most valuable farmland is expected to be inundated and towns like Houma and Morgan City would have to be evacuated. Already, communities are sandbagging as a precaution.
• West Atchafalaya Floodway. This last line of defense for New Orleans was built to take half of the Mississippi's highest flows and divert that to the Gulf. So far the Corps has not said it is considering opening this system.

In Memphis, Col. Vernie Reichling, the Army Corps commander for the region, declared victory there on Tuesday.
The protection around Tennessee's largest city is impressive: While the river crested at just under 48 feet on Tuesday, levees in the Memphis area are 58 feet high on average, and the floodwalls downtown are 54 feet.
"The levees are performing as designed I'm happy to report," he said on CBS's "The Early Show."
But Reichling noted the river isn't done yet. "I think we'll breathe a sigh of relief once this crest has passed and is in the Gulf of Mexico," he said.

Rick Santorum

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, who turns 53 today, is trending high in the Google-sphere, but not for the reasons he’d like.
Daily Show host Jon Stewart revived Santorum’s  so-called “Google problem” last night on his show, encouraging viewers to search ‘Rick Santorum’ and see what they find.
The top results are a less than flattering mix of links to web sites that associate his name with a sex act.
“Santorum might as well change his last name to lemon party,” joked Stewart.
The search results have been the fixation of gay rights advocates since 2003, when blogger Dan Savage mobilized online supporters to create a new definition for Santorum after he publicly compared gay sex to pedophilia and bestiality.
Using a network of cross links and by driving up “clicks,” the activists have succeeded in keeping their definition at the top of search returns.
“There's no better way to memorialize the Santorum scandal than by attaching his name to a sex act that would make his big, white teeth fall out of his big, empty head,” Savage said at the time.
Santorum, who has said he believes homosexuality will “undermine the fabric of our society,” has acknowledged the controversy but sought to downplay its significance.

“It’s one guy. You know who it is. The Internet allows for this type of vulgarity to circulate,” Santorum told Roll Call's Steve Peoples in February. “It’s unfortunate that we have someone who obviously has some issues. But he has an opportunity to speak.”
At the first Republican presidential debate in South Carolina last week, Santorum presented himself as the leading social conservative candidate, opposing same-sex marriage and abortion.
"A lot of people out here can check the boxes and say they have conservative positions, but I've led on life and marriage," he said. "I've got the arrows in my back from the mainstream media to prove it."

Maria Shriver

One of the most powerful, and unlikely, political pairings in America has fractured with the news that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have separated only weeks after he ended his term as governor ofCalifornia.
The Los Angeles Times, which first reported the split, said Shriver had moved out of the couple's Brentwood mansion after they had led almost entirely separate lives for several weeks. Since he stood down as governor, the former bodybuilder and actor has been trying to rekindle his career in entertainment, while Shriver has been pursuing her charity activities.
Their 25-year marriage brought together a couple that at face value was strikingly diverse. Schwarzenegger became a household name through a combination of chutzpah, charm and sheer muscle bulk that propelled him into stardom with the Terminator film trilogy. Shriver was always a more cerebral personality, using her innate strength as a member of the Kennedy dynasty – her mother Eunice Kennedy Shriver was the sister of John F Kennedy and her father Sargent Shriver made a failed bid for the vice presidency in 1972 – to build a more humble career as a TV news anchor. The political differences between them were underlined in 2008 when Schwarzenegger, a soft Republican, backed John McCain, while Shriver, true to her family roots, came out strongly in favour of Barack Obama.
But the fusion of Hollywood with the Kennedys was a potent cocktail, one that proved useful when Schwarzenegger ran for governor in 2003.
Without Shriver's backing, he might never have served two terms in the post, which is ironic as she had serious qualms about him taking up the post.
A week before the election, in which he stood against the sitting Democratic governor, Gray Davis, Schwarzenegger became embroiled in a sex scandal.
The Los Angeles Times reported that six women had come forward to accuse him of sexual harassment, alleging that he had fondled their breasts or buttocks and made lewd comments. On the day he was forced to apologise to "those people that I have offended", his wife appeared on stage next to him. Her intervention was seen as crucial in stabilising his campaign in its final days and securing his victory.
The factors behind their current separation are not known. All the couple would say in a statement was that "after a great deal of thought, reflection, discussion and prayer we came to this decision together". They said that they were remaining focused on parenting their four children.
Shriver alluded to difficulties in her life a few weeks ago, when she posted a video on YouTube in which she invited people to advise her on her future. "I'm in transition. It's so stressful to not know what you are doing next. How did you find your transition, personal, professional, emotional, spiritual, financial? How did you get through it?" she asked.
She also tweeted this week that looking at the iconic photograph of Obama in the Situation Room of the White House during the raid on Osama bin Laden, in which the president looks diminutive and scared, "got me thinking: is the model of masculinity changing in America?" It is hard not to interpret that as some reflection on her husband, a former Mr Universe.
Whatever happens to their marriage – there is no talk of divorce as yet – the pair are likely to continue on divergent paths. Schwarzenegger has plans for a new Terminator film and is making a comic book series and TV show of the character.

Shriver, meanwhile, is concentrating on her annual conference to forward women's power as an agent of global change.

Cicada

A big thank-you to the bee man! Hearsayer Audrey B. of Hart County had a lot to say about an encounter with a bunch of honeybees on Easter weekend. “They were hugging the side of a tree about 10 feet up and the swarm was about five inches thick!” Mrs. Aud allowed as how her fam didn’t know what to do about the bees but remembered having “bought a quart of honey at Morgan Hardware (in Lavonia, Ga.) and it was Mr. Walker’s Honey from Martin, Ga. We got the telephone number of Mr. Walker from the jar of honey. He came in his overalls and beard and said he has been keeping bees and making honey since he was a young boy. Mr. Walker climbed a ladder and gently swept the bees into one of his boxes. As long as the queen bee enters the box, they will all follow. Mr. Walker asked for a cup of coffee, waited a while and continued another sweeping of bees into the box … Our family learned so much that day and realized the miracle of pollination and new life. Thank you, Mr. Walker, for all your experience and knowledge!” And by the bee way, Mr. Walker’s first name is “Rollo” (pronounced “Rah-lo”) and if you are beset by a swarm of bees, by all means, call the bee man at (706) 599-1073.
News from 13-Year Cicada Central! “It’s like being in a sci-fi movie!” Hearsayer Cynthia of Abbeville opined on May 3. “I was outside with my dog, PJ, and the noise was like we were getting attacked. You could hear them crawling around. They were flying everywhere and hitting the house. It was really spooky!” Thanks, Cyn, and read this from Hearsayer Momagain45: “I live near the Ebenezer Fire Department, just off Highway 413. I noticed the buzzing sound Sunday (May 1). The buzzing never stops and seems to get louder during the day!” And from Hearsayer JRB1953: “They have been buzzing all day today (May 3) in the Craytonville area.” And from Hearsayer Mdale, who lives between Iva and Antreville, on Highway 184. “I came home to an irritating noise today (May 6). It sounded like a lot of emergency vehicles. I rode up the road and down the road but didn’t see anything and couldn’t tell where it was coming from.” Several hours later, Ms. M said, she discovered “these huge bugs on the play set. Lots of them — cicadas! I would never have predicted the sounds coming from such small creatures.” Well, all you fine Hearsayers who have been hearing cicadas, thank you for letting Hearsay know about the noise. Just wish they’d come to Hartwell so Hearsay could hear ‘em too!

Fried cicadas for supper? Now Hearsayer Martha, who lives in the Slabtown community near Anderson, tuned in with — believe it or not — a really fine fried cicada recipe! “I found an Indian cookbook at a yard sale,” Mrs. M mentioned. “This is one of the recipes: ‘LOCUST. Gather locust (cicada) at night, then pick up those out of shell, remove shell from others. Do not let sunshine on them or they will spoil. Wash and then fry in a small amount of grease. Eat hot or cold.’ ” Or maybe not at all?

Newt Gingrich

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich will announce on Wednesday that he will seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, a spokesman told CBS News.


Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler said Gingrich will announce the decision on Facebook and Twitter on Wednesday, and will sit down for an interview with conservative Fox News pundit Sean Hannity on Wednesday night. He plans to make his "first announcement speech" at the Georgia Republican Party convention on Friday.


This is actually the second time Gingrich has signaled he would enter the race, having suggested he would announce a run in March before backing away amid concerns about addressing financial and legal entanglements before filing with the Federal Election Commission.

The then-Georgia congressman became a household name when he led the Republican takeover of the House in 1994, though he would step down amid criticism four years later. In the years since he has cast himself as a thought leader in the Republican Party, and has recently been raising money and laying the groundwork for a presidential run.

Gingrich will enter a wide-open Republican field in which he is one of only five potential candidates who has polled in the double digits. The others are Donald Trump, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney; only Romney is seen as a sure entrant into the race.

Mississippi River

More residents were warned on Monday to get out of the way of the raging Mississippi River as it surged toward a near-record crest in its southern reaches, prompting authorities in Louisiana to divert some of the flood waters.

"This is the time to gather all important items and be ready to leave your property," Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell said, noting the river should crest later on Monday just inches short of a 1937 record.

There were nearly 400 people staying in Memphis shelters with much of the flooding occurring on Mud Island, a peninsula jutting into the river, and in developments on either end of the city. Backed-up tributaries of the mighty river threatened to engulf more homes.

Memphis, a city of 920,000, was depending on a network of levees and, if necessary, pumps to keep it dry, Mayor A.C. Wharton said.

The warnings contrasted with a carnival-like atmosphere that pervaded downtown Memphis as people gaped at the river, which had widened to three miles — six times its normal width — in one spot, while its flow speed had more than doubled to 12 miles per hour (19 km/hr).

The volume of water passing by in one second was enough to fill a large stadium, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Col. Vernie Reichling told reporters.

Downtown Memphis was safe atop a bluff and tourist draws such as Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion were far enough away.

An oil refinery in Memphis owned by Valero Energy Corp. remained in operation, a spokesman said.

"Graceland is safe. And we would charge Hell with water pistols to keep it that way," said Bob Nations, director of the Shelby County Office of Preparedness.

EXPENSIVE FLOOD

Damage costs will have to be determined later at some 3,000 affected properties, including schools and businesses, but Nations predicted "it's going to be an expensive one."

Scores of U.S. heartland rivers from the Dakotas to Ohio have flooded following a snowy winter and heavy spring rains, feeding the near-record crests on the Mississippi River.

The river threatened to overwhelm an intricate levee and spillway system erected since historic floods in 1927 and 1937, which killed hundreds.

All the levees along the river should hold up, though the river was rising faster than expected, said Army Corps spokesman Kavanaugh Breazeale.

Authorities on Monday opened the Bonnet Carre Spillway to divert some of the bulging river into Lake Pontchartrain North of New Orleans, some 640 miles downriver from Memphis.

"We are not going to open it up full bore immediately," the Army Corps' Victor Landry said.

Opening a separate spillway would force evacuations of people and livestock in the Atchafalaya River basin in south central Louisiana, he said.

Mississippi residents were bracing for potential record crests at Vicksburg on May 19 and at Natchez on May 21 and authorities said up to 5,000 people may have to leave.

More rain was forecast later this week in the region and it could take two weeks for the river to fall below flood stage.

If the rising waters were not bad enough, authorities warned that poisonous snakes, reptiles and rats may lurk in closets and beds, having sought shelter from the flood.

Casey Anthony Trial

Before the jury selection process began in Clearwater Monday morning, Judge Belvin Perry dealt yet another setback to Casey Anthony's lawyers.
Perry ruled air samples from Casey's car that expert witnesses say are consistent with human decomposition will be allowed as evidence during the trial.
The ruling fits in to the prosecution's plan to relatively new science that utilizes odor and atmospheric samples as evidence. The defense had characterized such evidence as "junk science."
Casey is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008.
Prosecutors believe the child's body was in the trunk of Casey's car at one point.
Last month, Perry allowed controversial chloroform evidence. An expert in the field of human decomposition said the amount of chloroform found in the trunk of Casey's car was 10,000 times more than he would expect to see.

Prior to that, Perry ruled that other critical evidence can be used at trial, including a stain the trunk of the car, a strand of hair also found in the trunk, cadaver dog reaction and residue found on duct tape placed across Caylee's mouth.
Some legal experts say the rulings mean rough going for the defense.

Tin Pei Ling

Tin Pei Ling

The People's Action Party (PAP) candidate for Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (GRC) Tin Pei Ling said she had not posted anything on her Facebook page on Cooling-off Day.

All candidates who are contesting in the General Election are not allowed to campaign on Cooling-off Day, a day before Polling Day.

Ms Tin said on Thursday May 5, her Facebook page carried a "clarification" on reports that a MacPherson resident had been refused help for her child's tuition fees.

The resident had asked for a refund.

The MacPherson Zone B Residents' Committee said the deposit of S$80 cannot be refunded.

But netizens circulated on Friday a screen capture that showed a comment posted on Ms Tin's Facebook.

The comment said: "OooOoooOooh so that's what REALLY happened? Wow. I think tears in Parliament is worse than ANYTHING ELSE!"

The comment was however removed within 20 minutes.

When contacted, Ms Tin told Channel NewsAsia she was alerted to the comment when some of her friends called her shortly after it was posted.

Ms Tin said she found out it was one of her administrators, Ms Denise He, who had mistakenly made the post.

"She wanted to post the comment in her personal capacity, and she was using her mobile phone. But she didn't realise that she had inadvertently posted as my profile rather than her own ... It was an honest mistake," Ms Tin said.

Ms Tin asked her administrator to remove the comment immediately.

She added that she had earlier given strict instructions to her team of administrators not to make any postings on Cooling-off Day.

Her administrators help her to upload photos of her walkabouts on her Facebook page.

George Yeo Facebook

The Singapore General Election ended. All was good, except for Ms. Tin Pei Ling who isn’t really popular among Singaporeans, or at least Facebook-ers in Singapore.
We spotted at least 5 Facebook pages ranging from 7,000 likes to 40,000 likes wanting her out of the parliament. The reasons vary.
A Facebook page titled “We want George Yeo in parliament and not Tin Pei Ling” has more than 26,000 likes. The reason is pretty obvious:
After this general election, we have truly seen how flawed the GRC system is, firstly unworthy candidates such as Tin Pei Ling were elected into parliament because they had the backing of a Stronger team and now because of a Strong opposition side, our beloved George Yeo was sadly ousted from parliament.
One Facebook page with 31,000 likes, feels that actions should be taken against Tin who broke the electoral law by posting on Facebook on Cooling-off Day. Tin, however, did explain that it was a “honest mistake” by one of her Facebook administrators. Another Facebook page states that Tin lacks the maturity and character to serve the nation with 13,000 people ‘liking’ the page asking Tin to resign from the parliament.
Somehow, the photo with Tin holding a Kate Spade branded box seems to be the favorite display picture for most of the Facebook pages petitioning against her. It would be interesting to see how Tin responds to this whole Facebook petition trouble.

Despite defeat, Ms. Nicole Seah’s Facebook page continues to gain in popularity. As she explained in a press conference, social media shouldn’t be looked upon as just a tool. Rather a politician should use social media to listen and engage with the citizens.
“Let us remember that social medial in itself is just a medium. So if you want to use it for the sake of using it, you wouldn’t get much result,” said Seah in a press conference.
“I think what people are looking for in a public figure is really the willingness to serve, the sincerity, most importantly the authenticity and the ability to listen to Singaporeans,” she added.

May 21

Herman Cain on Friday evening all but declared that he will formally enter the presidential race later this month.
"Save the date, May 21, Atlanta Olympic Centennial Park at high noon," Cain told conservative RedState blogger Erick Erickson on his Atlanta-based radio show. "We will be holding a major announcement event from me."

"All I'm going to say is this," Cain added, "Do you think I'm going to be making a big deal out of this to announce that I'm not going to run?"

The Atlanta businessman and radio host shared the stage with four of his likely rivals Thursday night at the first Republican presidential primary debate in South Carolina. He is now in Las Vegas for a tea party rally.
Cain is already scheduled to be in Iowa on May 20, where he'll speak to Council Bluffs Republicans.

Cain will also speak at the Faith and Freedom Coalition's conference in Washington D.C., in early June. The confab of cultural conservatives will feature a host of potential 2012 hopefuls, including Rick Santorum, Donald Trump and Michele Bachmann.

Autism

You have to believe in cosmic justice when you hear about the case of Mark Geier, the doctor whose license to practice was suspended recently after the Maryland Board of Physicians ruled that his bizarre treatment regimen "endangers autistic children and exploits their parents."
If, like me, you don't know much about autism, let me explain where the cosmic justice comes in: One form of the wide-ranging developmental disorder, on the high-functioning, high-verbal end of it, is Asperger's syndrome, which among other things is characterized by a tendency to obsess on a single subject.
Geier happened to become that subject for Kathleen Seidel.
"I'm the kind of person once my brain kicks in, I just go hog wild," says Seidel, a blogger who lives in New Hampshire. "For me, it's like putting together a big puzzle."
Seidel has a college-aged child who was diagnosed with Asperger's and says she shares some traits with those on the spectrum. With a master's in library science, she tends to meticulously research her obsessions and, after seeing references to Geier's work on some autism-related websites, started to investigate him about five years ago.
"I just went down the rabbit hole and I did not come back up for months," Seidel says.
Rabbit hole, indeed. This is no doubt true of other fraught subjects, but autism has become drawn into a particularly high-pitched, emotional battlefield, particularly on the subject of whethervaccines cause the disorder.
While the medical establishment has repeatedly rejected the vaccine-autism connection, it persists. Geier is one of the biggest names among those who have long argued that vaccines with the mercury-containing thimerosol cause autism. But he and his son, David, go even beyond this disputed link, and say thattestosterone "potentiates" (or makes more powerful) the toxicity of the mercury, and that people with autism have higher levels of thehormone.
Their solution: to inject children with autism with Lupron, a potent drug that reduces the body's production of testosterone. Yup, that's why Lupron is sometimes used on sex offenders — to chemically castrate them.
Seidel's investigation resulted in a 16-part takedown of the Geiers on her blog, neurodiversity.com, that was widely circulated and drew renewed attention this week when the news hit that Maryland suspended his medical license.
While Seidel didn't contact the physicians' board — she did write the Attorney General's Office, but I wasn't able to determine this week whether that led to anything — others did, as far back as 2006. As the board investigated, others filed complaints as well, parents of autistic kids and a physician who had referred one of his patients to Geier.
The 48-page order that the physicians' board issued to document its reasons for the suspension is quite simply heartbreaking.
Despite its dispassionate retelling of the specifics of the cases, you sense between the lines the utter desperation of parents seeking help for children who have a disease with no known cure. And ultimately, you have to be outraged at how, repeatedly, according to the findings, Geier diagnosed these kids with "precocious puberty" even though they didn't fit the established standards for that.
The diagnosis, of course, allowed him to prescribe Lupron, which is used on children who enter puberty prematurely.
It's hard to know how many children he and his son, who is not a doctor, have treated, but they have been outspoken in wanting to franchise their protocol. Alarmingly, the Geiers told The Chicago Tribune two years ago that they had injected 300 children and a few adults with Lupron and were testing 200 others for possible treatment. Geier is licensed to practice in 10 other states.
(Geier has not commented publicly since his license was suspended. "I'm not free to speak about it," he told me when I phoned this week, referring me to his attorney, who did not return a call to his office.)
For Seidel, the suspension of Geier's license — he has the right to an appeals process, starting with a hearing before the board on Wednesday — offers some vindication. She's tangled, at least through the media, with Geier and others who have dismissed her work, saying she's not a doctor.

No, she's simply the parent of an "Aspie." And indeed, even by phone, you see why interacting with them can be both engaging and somewhat tiring. Seidel speaks in whole paragraphs — footnotes even, if you can imagine that in an entirely verbal exchange — and calls back a couple of times to make what were already good points better.
"I'm grateful," she says of the Maryland board's action. "It's not just me out there saying this is awful. It's not just me, a blogger. The professionals have paid attention, a whole table-full of doctors putting their intellect to work."

YMCA

Collection points for the YMCA of Orange County reported healthy increases in donations Friday toward the organization's mission to help distribute hundreds of thousands of donated diapers, wipes and baby food and formula to homeless single mothers across the county.
YMCA child-care centers at locations such as Richard Henry Dana Exceptional Needs Facility in Dana Point and San Juan Elementary School in San Juan Capistrano have been among collection points countywide for more than a half-million donated items since the "Essentials for Young Lives" campaign began in 2008 to help HomeAid Orange County and the Children & Families Commission of Orange County. Last year, more than 273,000 infant-care products were collected from individuals and businesses, HomeAid said. This year's goal is to almost double that to 500,000 items.
On Friday at San Juan Elementary, YMCA child-care director Juana Anchiraico held up a large white cardboard box used for collections and said with a big smile that, thanks to more awareness, her center had collected twice as many items this year than last.
The YMCA collection drive began April 11 and ended Friday, but activities are continuing with a YMCA Service Learning Project for young people to research and create community-service projects. That effort began on Global Youth Service Day, April 15, and ends May 15.
"Homeless mothers and their young children are among Orange County's most vulnerable residents," according to Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, honorary chairwoman of the 2011 Essentials for Young Lives campaign. "Ensuring families in crisis have the proper nutrition and basic necessities for their infants and toddlers are community goals we all share."
Vicky Rego-Lipshitz, whose son attends the YMCA Child Care Center at R.H. Dana, remembered her difficulty in buying diapers and decided to do something to help others. Along with donations from 11 co-workers and her employer, TAG Collision Repair Center in San Marcos, she collected enough cash to buy 15 bags of baby supplies at Target, according to Patrick Phanthanusorn, YMCA child-care director at R.H. Dana.
Phanthanusorn said his center collected one bag of diapers last year but now will donate more than 100 baby-care items.

"I love working for the YMCA because of stories like this," Phanthanusorn said. "It's not about the organization, gaining fame or trying to feel good about yourself. It is truly about serving others, helping those in need and bringing others in to join the ride."

Pentagon

Pentagon

The Pentagon has released video footage of Osama bin Laden which was seized at the terror leader's hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan during last Sunday's raid.

As may be seen from this CNN version the Al Qaeda leader appears to be very aware of his public image.

Bin Laden is seen as he was near the end - grey-haired with greying beard - giving credence to the Pakistan army take on him i.e. that he was aging and trapped but, more importantly for the US, that he had access to what was going on around the world and able to intervene with deadly force if he elected to do so.

Trapped in his hideout bin Laden may have had limitations on his movements but his worth to al-Qeada - hence his image consciousness - was enormous.

Ken Dilanian of the Los Angeles Times reports : "These are the sorts of videos only Bin Laden would have possessed, because he was careful about his public image, a senior U.S. intelligence official told reporters.

"The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, repeated the assertion made by the U.S. in recent days that the materials seized at the compound where Bin Laden was killed show that he was actively involved in encouraging terrorism plots and communicating by courier with his colleagues."

The UK Guardian's Amy Fallon reports : "The material suggests he played a strong role in planning and directing attacks by al-Qaida and its associates in Yemen and Somalia, two senior US officials said.

"It also suggests that Bin Laden was much more involved in directing the terror group's personnel and operations over the past decade than some analysts had previously thought.

"However, the US would not confirm reports that the material gave clues about the whereabouts of al-Qaida deputy Ayman al-Zawahri."

This continued involvement in the planning of terrorism goes a long way towards justifying the decision by US President Barack Obama to close down his quarters.

The method of removal will continue to be debated for years to come - safe in the knowledge that, at least, his presence is not lurking in the background.

GE 2011

The writing has been on the wall for quite some time and it’s only the PAP leaders who don’t realize it until the very last moment before polling day. Singaporeans have tried ways and means to tell them about their predicament way back in 2007 only to be called names like ‘champion grumblers’ by the PAP.
Though it isn’t exactly a political tsunami, the more than 10 percent vote swing against the PAP nationwide is enough for concern to its leaders to start reflecting on the way they have governed the nation in the last five years. Many has dubbed this election as a watershed election which has ushered in a new political landscape for Singapore.
The Orchid Awakening for Singaporeans
Singaporeans are often described as politically apathetic creatures who are only obsessed with pursuing material comforts in life as epitomized by the five ‘Cs’. The PAP’s mismanagement of the economy in the last few years which has led to an uncontrolled influx of foreigner, sky-rocketing HDB flat prices and stagnant median income has finally awaken Singaporeans from their long slumber.
For the very first time, many have finally realized the fact that one can never enjoy full economic rights they should enjoy as citizens of Singapore if they do not have the political right in charting the course this nation is taking via the ballot box.
Singaporeans from all walks of life gathered at the opposition rallies across the island to listen to their innermost frustrations, anger and angst being crystallized and articulated clearly by the opposition candidates who are in tune with the sentiments on the ground.
The scenes at the rallies are magnificent, an embodiment of the “Singapore Spirit” which we have not seen for along time since the “Kallang Roar” in the 1980s and 1990s.
2. Hard truths for the PAP
The results have delivered a series of hard truths for the PAP to reflect upon. It needs to reflect not only on its flawed policies which have brought about so much public opposition and opprobrium, but the way it communicates with the citizens and conducts the election campaign.
Though the world has changed radically with the emergence of Facebook and Twitter after 2006, the PAP is still stuck in its old, inflexible archaic mode of thinking and reacting.
Harping on its fifty year ‘track record’, smearing the opposition, threatening the voters and daggling carrots in front of them no longer works for a young generation of voters who are more educated and astute.
As this election has shown, the usual PAP tactics have backfired dramatically and if it persists in talking down to Singaporeans instead of engaging them, its eventual downfall will not be too far away.
3. Coming of age of the Facebook generation
The new media has revolutionized elections all over the world. The political tsunami which hit Malaysia in 2008 is a sign of what is to come in Singapore which has a higher internet penetration rate.
Despite its absolute control of the mainstream media in Singapore, the PAP’s propaganda machinery proved to be no match for the social media which allows the opposition candidates with limited resources to reach out to large number of people in a short span of time and to counter the blatantly biased coverage in the mainstream media.
When The New Paper deputy editor Melvin Singh concocted an outright fictitious tale to smear SDP, he probably thought he would get away with it like in the past till the new media exposed his lies and put him to shame.
Tin Pei Ling’s ‘honest mistake’ in posting a comment on her Facebook on ‘Cooling off’ day would have been swept under the carpet had not alert netizens took a snapshot of it and socio-political sites with a large readership like Temasek Review blow it up that the mainstream media can no longer afford to ignore the matter.
In a sense, the new media has levelled the playing field and tilt it in favor of the opposition parties such as SDP which are more adept in utilizing it as communication tool to get its message across to the electorate than the PAP.
The people of Singapore has spoken on 7 May 2011: we do not want to see the PAP govern Singapore using the same style it has done for the past fifty years.
A one-party system may be needed in the initial years of Singapore’s independence, but definitely not now in this new era where the citizenry is much more educated, sophisticated and demanding. It’s time for the PAP to start some soul-searching and return to the basics by seeing itself as a political party and not the Singapore government.
It must stop riding on its past successes and use its powers of incumbency to serve its own partisan interests which will only rile more Singaporeans. In his last rally at Aljunied GRC, George Yeo that Singaporeans know that they ‘need’ the PAP inside their hearts.
This election has proven that Singaporeans no longer think they need the PAP and what they truly desire is a representative government which will serve and fight for their interests.
The Workers’ Party has emerged as the strongest opposition party in Singapore. Most of its candidates fared better than the other opposition candidates. For example, newcomer Yee Jenn Jong almost won Joo Chiat while Koh Choon Yong garnered a respectable 42 percent of the votes in Seng Kang West.

Based on its excellent performance so far, it does appear that the Workers’ Party has the potential to become a credible alternative to the PAP as Singapore takes another big step towards a two-party system of government.
With its capture of Aljunied GRC, more young qualified Singaporeans will flock to join the party and its ranks are likely to swell, putting it in the pole position to challenge the PAP in subsequent elections.

Tin Pei Ling

Political newcomer Nicole Seah from the National Solidarity Party (NSP) has lodged an official complaint against her opponent, People's Action Party (PAP) candidate, Tin Pei Ling, with the Elections Department this morning.
Shin Min Daily News reported that Miss Seah took issue with Miss Tin, whom she said had been distributing copies of a PAP booklet entitled "Burning Questions" to the residents of Tampines St. 41 Block 428 on Cooling Off Day. No campaigning is allowed on this day, and all election advertising that is not already lawfully displayed cannot be published either.
Miss Seah also took offense over a remark that was posted with Miss Tin's Facebook account on Cooling Off Day, in response to a video that showed Miss Seah crying after being told about a Macpherson female resident who could not get a refund of her son's $80 tuition fees.
Seah was seen crying in public twice over this incident when she was at a walkabout in Macpherson, and again when she recalled the encounter during a rally. The comment made on Miss Tin Facebook account was in response to the incident.

Tin had earlier said that it was an "honest mistake" made by her administrator, Denise He. She said that she did not post the comment personally, and that He had did it thinking that she was commenting from her own account instead of Tin's.
Another netizen named Tan Yu Xing has also lodged an official complaint to the Elections Department. The Department has said they would "look into the matter".

Chiam See Tong

Chiam See Tong

Secretary-General of the Singapore People's Party (SPP), Chiam See Tong, has said he wants to make Bishan-Toa Payoh "his kind of town".

Speaking at a rally on Thursday night, the former MP for Potong Pasir said he wants to bring the spirit of love and compassion from Potong Pasir to Bishan-Toa Payoh, where neighbours will help one another.

He pledged to run the constituency democratically, through engaging residents.

He said: "We shall encourage residents to be active in voicing what they want, and...not to be afraid to let the town council or the candidates they have elected...know that you are dissatisfied with their services, make sure they do their work. They are your servants, not your bosses."

Meanwhile, SPP's candidate for Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency (GRC), Benjamin Pwee, has called on residents to give a GRC referendum in this General Election.

He cited the example of People's Action Party (PAP) ministers who were Members of Parliament only because of walkovers, and asked if they really were the choice of voters.

Mr Pwee said: "I will like to call for a GRC referendum, for MPs on the PAP side who have walkovers all these years, and this is your chance to show them, if you could vote them all those years, would you have voted them in? This is your chance to have a GRC referendum to decide by vote if the PAP candidates are who we wanted before, now and into the future, because the SPP is here."

The SPP candidate for Potong Pasir, Lina Chiam, addressed the problems facing senior citizens.

She said many work long hours earning a low salary, and this is not the way they should be treated.

Mrs Chiam said: "These senior citizens have served our nation well. When they were young, many of us have parents who had very little education and yet through their hard working attitudes, they have provided food, roof, education for us.

"However, there are far too many old senior citizens who should enjoy their life during twilight years. Instead we find them working where? Food courts, McDonald's, fast food chains, as cleaners of all sorts."

Meanwhile, the candidate for Hong Kah North, Sin Kek Tong, spoke about salaries.

He suggested that the pay of political officer holders be revised down, while salaries of civil servants be given a boost.

He said: "Civil servants form the bulk of the working class in Singapore. So my proposal is to review and increase the timescale officer for all government civil servants, division 1, 2, 3, and 4, all inclusive, so that we close the gap. The government must lead by example.."