Selamat Hari Merdeka

Reflection > Celebration

Thieves in the Parliament

Let this be an allegory of what is happening to this country. If there are thieves in the Parliament, what more elsewhere?

The State, Power, Study, Others.

My friend asked me why anyone would want power and not relinquish it. Obviously he has not been or spoken with a politician. Anyone who has a certain amount of power eventually gets addicted to it. Relinquishing an addiction is not easy, of course.

I've been thumbing through Johnson's Wild Grass as light reading, and the stories in there are certainly thought provoking and tear jerking. How could the government - even in a so called progressive nation - be that bad?

If there's one thing we can deduce, it's that not everyone has a good nature. Or perhaps it's just that people are afraid, afraid of change. Afraid of losing something they've always had for a long, long time. I need to read more. There's no other way for me to find out; armchair reasoning can only get you so far, after all.

Currently working my way through a history of SEA. Made up of two volumes, but then the 1400s don't really interest me. But of course, history never bores me. =)

By the way, Swinburne's Existence of God is unintentionally hilarious; I had to reread each sentence thrice. But clearly its not quite layman level reading, so yes, I must grant that. Interesting nonetheless. My background in logic is unfortunately pitiful (I never got beyond an education in informal logic), which certainly doesn't help.

One and a half months to go before we climb Mount Kinabalu. I'm quite excited; although I'm sadly still trying to fine-tune my fitness plan. *Sigh* Give me self-discipline, but not yet!

Perspective.

These articles, one by the President of Russia and the other by Georgia are good examples of starkly different perspectives; with each one believing he is right. Worth reading.

Medvedev's opening:

On Tuesday Russia recognised the independence of the territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It was not a step taken lightly, or without full consideration of the consequences. But all possible outcomes had to be weighed against a sober understanding of the situation – the histories of the Abkhaz and Ossetian peoples, their freely expressed desire for independence, the tragic events of the past weeks and inter­national precedents for such a move.

Saakashvili's opening:

Any doubts about why Russia invaded Georgia have now been erased. By illegally  recog­nising the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s president, made clear that Moscow’s goal is to redraw the map of Europe using force.

This war was never about South Ossetia or Georgia. Moscow is using its invasion, prepared over years, to rebuild its empire, seize greater control of Europe’s energy supplies and punish those who believed democracy could flourish on its borders.

So. Who's right?

In Progress - Part One

• Overhaul blog layout.
• Draw up study curriculum for next 3 months - to clear backlogs of psychology and history (including the Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire, bleh) material.
• Pray.