*This was a scheduled post, and was written before 16 October 2015, hence the reason why it still sounds so upbeat. I've amended it a little only to reflect the current situation, but left almost all of it as initially drafted.*

I just realized, but 31 October 2015, marks the 10th Anniversary of my blog. 10 years!

What a long way I have come, since then.

I apparently started this blog on 31st October 2005, whilst I was in my first year of Law School / University.

(I know for a fact that I meddled with the date of the first post, so this blog's actual birthday is either before or after that date, but I can't remember the exact date - so let's all just forget bout that technicality here lol) 

The design of this blog is thanks to ccymie who kindly designed the current outline of the blog in 2007 according to my specifications, and I have not been inclined to change the design at all all this years. (Though if and when he has the time I may need some help with some html codes on the sidebar for outdated apps.)

The theme for the blog, being "Flow" where I chose water as the main premise, since water is ever changing, and conforms to whatever container you put it in; it can be gentle and it can be cruel; it's unpredictable. 

Which, is in line with this blog's main focus of being unable to see what the future will bring us i.e. I still stay by the theme of this blog that the 'future is unpredictable'; and that the 'fight to rise once again' is till ongoing as a daily battle. But that's a different story for maybe another day, and/or different audience.

While due to work commitments I had became less active over the years in posting anything at all.

Since I rather spend my spare time catching up on my sleep or other things than racking my brains thinking about posting anything. I've honestly also become more reserved about what I want to share online with people who know me, and what I would like to share with strangers, if any, do read what I write.

I also went through a lot career wise. My direct superior and senior left the team at the same time i.e. in April 2011, forcing a 3 man team into a 1 man team, with the same amount of workload, if not more. Hence the lack of posts from that duration on wards. I did write intermittently during that tough time, so maybe I will retrieve what I wrote and post them later. Those will be backdated though, I think..

And also due to some ex acquaintances, who for a lack of a better word were nosy, stalking, gossip mongers, I had for many years made this blog only available for private viewing - it's public again now, and if you don't like what I post then just don't read or follow this blog.

(I'm in a position now where I seriously don't give a damn about your opinions. It's not like you are losing anything financially or your quality of life by what I post here. So don't waste your time reading something you don't like. i.e. No one is forcing you to read my mindless and lengthy ramblings...)

I did skim through my posts from this past 10 years and all I can say is that, the me of the past 10 years, rambles a lot, curses a lot , procrastinates a lot (I probably still do all three a lot?), has a weird sense of humour(?), freaks out a lot close to exams, took a lot of random online quizzes, and again... Rambles a lot.. Ahh, those were the days... 

Amongst my favourite posts from the past that I found during my skimming - be wary of Manglish - I had this habit of not checking what I wrote for grammatical/spelling errors, and used SMS spellings all the time as well:
Poems I wrote: here, here, here, & here.
Me freaking out over my revenue law assignment
Mother's Day in May 2008
Me Freaking out before the CLP/Malaysian Bar Exam lol
Sister's Birthday Card in August 2008
Precious in his Younger Years in August 2008
My Singaporean Cousin, who is the first to classify my alien-ism as an Amoeba, lol

Anyway besides all the random ramblings, whining, complaints, weird posts.. etc..  (I actually read Shakespeare.. Such a nerd! lol) I apparently live a very uninteresting life, since all I do is work; I don't hold interests in things long enough usually (read: short attention span.. lol..), and I'm apathetic to almost everything that won't cause me or people/things/other living beings, I care about, any financial, physical or psychological harm. I guess overall, I am just not that attached to this world.

But I digress... Back to the topic at hand...

This Blog's 10th Anniversary!!

~~

Well, in this year of 2015, to be more precise 31 October 2015 (darn forgot those html codes to make the words blink =.='), 10 years has come to pass since this blog officially had it's humble beginnings...  

So.... After 10 years..... What's different? Besides the recent loss of Baby (which I will not address further here).

I've started a new chapter of my life, since as of 1 April 2015, for a duration of one year I was stationed in the land of the rising sun.  In a so-called secondment by my firm to work as an assistant professor in a certain university here.

After this stint i.e. in April 2016 I'll be going back home; don't get me wrong, while I love Japan, I don't love living here for the long term due to various reasons that I decline to mention in this post, or it will be never ending.

All I can say is that after Japan, I will need to seriously rethink my future, do I want to keep slaving away at my current law firm, or review other options? (Which are all probably in-house options.)

One thing I can say for sure is that in 2005 when I started law school, I knew I wanted to be a lawyer, and I never considered being a lecturer. So I didn't bother with a LL.M.  (that's the minimum educational requirement to be a lecturer - besides my bar school offered an LL.M from some Australian University that I've never heard of till this day). 

I did consider doing a masters, maybe a LL.M or MBA, since it seemed it might be better for the corporate world, if you hold a directorship or something, (your profile would look a little nicer in the prospectus lol) it could be advantageous, but I've met some lawyers who don't hold any masters at all, and they are doing fine... So I digress...

Anyway back to the topic at hand, now 10 years after the start of law school, I spent about 7 years of that being a corporate lawyer and now I'm an assistant professor at a Japanese University, in Japan obviously, and I must say, to be frank, I still cannot imagine myself in the teaching profession. 

I rather be out there as a lawyer or an in-house counsel. I honestly prefer drafting/reviewing contracts to preparing power points. Talking to clients than to students. You could say I've rediscovered my love for drafting here. 

Maybe I'm still considered young; maybe I like the corporate world better than the academic world; maybe I'm too used to what I have in the corporate world that moving to the academic world seems like something I can't get accustomed to; or maybe it's a case of who moved my cheese. 

The corporate world isn't all rainbows, chocolates, roses, puppies or sunshine either, the long hours I spend slaving away, dealing with crazy people etc. The toll on my health... Both physical and psychologically... But I think in my personal view that it's more challenging and interesting as compared to where I am now. 

Maybe I'm not being utilized to my full potential here at the university, so I feel this way, but I digress, that is a can of "what ifs" that I will probably never have the chance the open in this lifetime.  

Or maybe, if I ever do fall in love, get married and ever have kids, maybe.... Just maybe.... I will find what I have now more appealing....

So here's to another 10 years! To the future where I hope that this blog and/or I'm still around then, or that still remember about this blog and will post something. Cheers!

-サヤカ-

Stolen from our good friend, John Hall of the Hall empire hahaha




The legal translation to, I give you this orange... :p

-Oracl3-

This is the month where I've lost a lot of money....

No, no, not through gambling...... but through eating haha..

Have been going out a lot this month, (that would be fine, save for the places that I've been going were all so pricey.. sigh)

Anyway, had dinner with high school classmates on Thursday 121109, celebrated Cheese's Birthday on Saturday 141109, and 昨日はお母さんの誕生日です161109 (今日は実は九時午後ですはは), went out with University mate - QW with Ai kun on Sunday 151109.... badminton on Friday 131109 was a tad pricier now... =.=' went for movies.... watched 2012 on... Saturday after Cheese's Birthday as well...

Ermm... movie was so-so..... by the way, word of advice, watch with a not so intellectual mind and don't analyse too much.. either than that CGI suckers like me, should like it enough XD

Ahh, back to the outings.... sigh.... all so pricey.... am so broke.. sobs... please donate haha

hmm work wise... currently.. well..... self esteem is still a bit low, since I'm still facing a lot of things I don't know, especially with regard to the investments part.. ( still in the learning process - need to speed up!!!)..

guess it doesn't help that I am quite blur and slow..haha although I've some great and helpful teachers here :) A really big heartfelt thanks to them for sharing their knowledge with me, for correcting my mistakes and for putting up with my blur-ness (not to mention my retarded-ness haha though that's no secret I can be quite retarded :p) haha XD

All in all, it's still encouraging.. may be struggling to keep my head above the water, but its a good struggle.... if there's such thing as a good struggle... (life is a challenge??)

But yeah.. am working on it... (where art thou my beloved brain.. come back, come back to me... - ehem.. sorry.. being a bit Shakespearean dramatic here haha)

However, seriously, sitting on your butt the whole day and staring at the computer screen does take a toll on you... my butt feels so, so, so damn sore... so does my neck and shoulders from crouching over to read documents... my eyes... arghh... (having sensitive eyes is a pain.. literally..)

either than that... have been watching Fringe (stolen from my Master... haha) it's okay and all, quite addictive..... sometimes? but the best is Dr. Bishop, and his son Peter.. Dr. Bishop is so cute and funny haha.... I love his random obsession with food... (maybe it's cause I can connect with him on that level... only that level... I'm no mad scientist!! haha)

well that's all for the random rambling this round.. till then.. toodles....

much love
-Oracle-

Equality is in my opinion a Utopian concept. It does not truly exist, nor would, I doubt, it ever exist, at least not in my lifetime.

Discrimination is everywhere, present here and now, in force whether we realise it or not. Discrimination between the races, culture and sexes are among the few examples of the types of discrimination we face everyday. Thankfully the world is opening up and in this 21st century we are blessed with people who are willing to free themselves from the four corners of their boxes and venture out, and embrace new things, new ideologies, new culture.

Discrimination, I believe can be traced back way, way back even to the Stone Age. They may not exactly have any discrimination against race or culture back then, but it was obvious that there was discrimination of the sexes. Which is actually the main topic of this write up today. My knowledge of what I am about to write here, is knowledge I have gathered from talking to people, observing society and reading random materials over the course of the 20 odd years of my life. So please feel free to correct me on points, which you feel, are discrepant.

Back to the main topic, discrimination of the sexes.

When this planet was made, Men and Women were made as well, males and females were made so, that they cannot reproduce without the other, and would have likely died out if not for each other. (Although now with technology, I would actually boldly state that Women can reproduce without men, if you know about Dolly the sheep, you will roughly know where I am coming from, but that’s besides the current point.)

Therefore, since both are needed to reproduce wouldn’t one think that they ought to be equals? Unfortunately, no, Men are Women are made differently; Women are mysteriously made weaker, physically, compared to Men. A man can easily kill a woman with his bare hands whereas the opposite is not true for the woman. (but both are quite mentally competent if I may say so myself.)

Have you ever watched documentaries on animals like National Geographic? If you did, you would have noticed that the alpha male is the strongest in the pack, physically strongest I would add. Hence it could be possible to say that the discrimination of the sexes is an animal instinct. (Essential for the survival of the fittest, if not for such a thing, I think a lot of species would have died out) Men are generally stronger; a woman could exercise the same amount as a man and not get any muscles, whereas the man could easily get bulky. In order to reproduce, we can’t have a pregnant lady fighting a dinosaur and risking a miscarriage, and effectively failing in reproduction and resulting in the death of the species.

Hence it could be likely that the reason Women were not made that strong was because they don’t need that strength unlike Men. So the Men had to do the dirty and dangerous work. But again looking at animal instinct, (as humans have been said to be animals, but the most well evolved one) the physically strongest of the pack becomes the leader. Thus, I would say that it is the most plausible reason why the Women follow the Men.

If a Women refuses to follow it would be quite easy to put her in place by just hitting her (as some beings lower than the human race, nay, they cannot even deserve to be called humans, do even to this very day). Women would most likely lose in a physical fight (forget martial arts, the idea here is if the woman knows martial arts the man knows it as well. She would most likely still lose; it’s a battle of strength here).

Hence, it started the dominance of Men over Women. Imagine in the stone age, when a man saw a woman he liked, he would hit her on the head and drag her back to his cave by her hair!! To be his so-called “wife”. (As there was no such term then) What brutality, even a woman during the Stone Age had no right of choosing her own husband and is instead brutally kidnapped. What discrimination is this?!

This passed on into the centuries, where Women were taken as wombs, and were not educated, nor was the need seen. Being uneducated, Women were brought up to have conservative minds to listen to the Men and just be obedient. (like the case in Salt Lake City if I’m not wrong, some sort of religious sect) This was enforced with the introduction of religion with the formation of governments. (Which I felt was actually meant to control the economy, i.e. the taxation, rules and the beginning of law etc notice that all the religious leaders are all Men!!) And most likely the males all got arrogant, as this kind of act gives them the feeling of power, the feeling of power they have over Women, another human being. Thus, giving birth to ego and most likely the chauvinistic Men.

Women however suffered, brilliant minds were snuffed out, the Men continued to subdue Women and built a society for Men. (Look at history at the ancient civilisations, all ruled by Men, Women had no place in politics or ruling; Women were not even allowed on the Olympic grounds, what more to join in, and could only watch it from a far.)

But, thankfully, I guess the Men started to realise, that having an uneducated Women, as they progressed wasn’t very good. Some Men preferred intellectual Women, and it was better if Women could at least read. And thankfully, there were some fathers out there who felt that his daughter deserved an education (usually happens when they are denied sons and uses the daughters as substitutes, but some really do think that their daughters should have a right to education, thank goodness for fathers like that). Thank goodness for some of the Men who had the right mind to look at the other side of the coin, and decided that Women are not stupid, and ought to be educated as well.

Hence slowly, the females were being educated. But with education, some of them started to think on their own, and started asking for equality, something non-existent, unless in my opinion, the day comes where Men can carry a baby in their body, suffer through the pains of child birth and give birth to it. What they are actually looking for, I would personally say is better rights, less oppression, better access to knowledge, and overall a better life. Not a life hidden away in the shadows.

In those days they even had clubs especially for Men, where Women were not allowed to join or even work in. (That could probably well explain the male domination of most professions as Women were just expected to sit at home and mind the children.) Since Women weren’t educated until later. Women who dabbled in things we would call scientific, such as traditional herbs and healing medicines were called witches and burnt at the stake whereas the Men were revered as Scientists, the injustice of it all.

We are in some sense lucky that some Men had loved their wives, daughters, sisters or mothers enough, and revered them a higher standing and allowing them to inherit property. (Such as the ancient Egyptian empire, if I am not wrong, the mother of the King holds and honourable position) Thus in effect, raising the status of Women in society, and allowing it to evolve into what it is today.

There are Men out there who don’t view Women as sexual objects but as human beings like them, who should be given, whenever possible the equal opportunity as Men, and thank goodness for Men like that. Though now as more Women get educated, they are also learning to fight for their rights, as human beings, Women should not be treated like a slave, or a womb, just to give birth, or cook and clean for the family.

Unfortunately I’ve noticed that although society is changing, a number of Men still cannot except that Women are being independent, especially the urban Women, and most Men feel threatened by that. Threatened by the fact that they are no longer needed to put food on the table or as the protector of the family because the Women are capable of that. Thus they think independent Women are not cute, and buy brides from other countries. The Men’s chauvinistic character it would seem unfortunately did not recede with the change of position and status of the Women folk. We could also say that society does not really allow them to as well. (But it can be seen that the younger society is attempting to change.)

It is like a stereotype that we were born with, where boys were wrapped in a blue blanket and girls in pink. However, we can note and see that girls will wear blue and play with cars and trucks, but the same is usually not true for boys, though some of them may now wear soft pastel pink, but they frown against playing with dolls and see it as wrong. The society’s perception set in their minds since centuries ago, that these are Women things, Men will not do it. And the Women’s thinking that, she no longer wants to be oppressed and will break into the Men’s world and do what the Men can.

I think it is a fact, Men can never be Women and vice versa, what is left is to just respect each other. Women should respect the fact that Men are physically stronger and are meant to do certain kinds of work, which actually by fact, if the Women really wanted it, and with the help of technology she can do as well. (It’s like girls playing with cars but boys not playing with dolls.)

And Men should respect Women, understand that they are the weaker sex, but they definitely should not be oppressed and be given better or if possible equal rights/opportunities (such as equal opportunity for education). Society should be taught that girls are okay too (China should stop killing baby girls). We are not stupid or useless; we can inherit property as well. And we can actually carry on the surname as well (as in Japan where the son-in-law may be adopted into the family and carry the wife’s surname).

What I’ve noticed in society is that there is still a general lack of respect for Women, sure the highly educated/professionals respect, or at least try their best to respect each other no matter the sex, but when you get rapists and molesters, this are typical Stone Age Men who have failed to evolve, and still wish to empower Women, and who do not respect Women and most likely think they don’t have to be respected.

Society deserves a hard smack on the head, and taught to think with an open mind, it doesn’t matter if this discrimination has been so deeply embedded in culture, if there are people, Men and Women willing to fight for it, someday, we may be looking at a future where Women will have rights almost equivalent to the Men, where Women will get the respect their deserve; respect almost, or I hope actually equal to Men. It feels like a Utopian dream, but it could be possible with the right education, and with the right minds, and will to change societies.

Men on the other hand shouldn’t be thinking that because Women want equality that they should do everything themselves, like from what I’ve noticed in my scouting, for example in chopping wood, the boys will not help the girls saying they are strong enough. I don’t really think that is the point. As stated it is a fact, Women are the weaker sex, we don’t have as much physical strength, besides it is being courteous to help a friend, is it not? If your friend, regardless of sex were having difficulty chopping the wood, which you know you’re most likely capable of, would you not offer your help? (You should, it’s manners. So learn, society lacks manners, especially, sadly, in this country as posted before based on the little survey I did sometime back around last year.)

So yes, respect each other, and help each other, you chop the wood & I can help you sew, I don’t really see the problem with that as long as Women are not treated as objects but normal human beings like the Men. (We were after all made differently) I think that is in effect what Women are actually looking for, but couldn’t word properly. (Hence the word “equality”) So to the, Men please respect the Women, and to the Women, please respect the Men, and to both sexes, please continue to strive for better rights for Women. (We should not be locked at home, not allowed to leave the home unaccompanied, we should not feel fear walking out on the street alone, we should all be given equal education, we should have the right to choose our spouse, we do not need to hide. Society can free Women, and the first step has to be taken by us all)

Also this might seem quite feminist, but I think Men should just endure it when Women say it’s the Men’s fault for a certain number of things (such as society’s mentality and way of thinking), as we can all associate it to the discrimination of their fore fathers and fathers before that, i.e. the Men of old, it’s the least they could do for the centuries of oppression of Women, though they will argue that they aren’t like that. But it’s a fact that society was made like that, and it’s good that they realise that though, and are hopefully willing to change society, cause if they don’t aren’t they then the same as their forefathers and fathers before that?

To the Men, hey what’s wrong with wearing florescent pink and playing with dolls?

-Oracl3-

P/s: this discrimination of the sexes can actually be applied to the discrimination of races etc, one race thinks it’s more superior than the other, and well they have the numbers to enforce that thought by forming society, and there you have it. Discrimination, again I would say, education and teaching people to broaden their horizons will help to alleviate this problem somewhat. And people need to stop thinking they are so damned special when we are all humans, when we get cut, no matter the skin colour, our blood is all red. (But as I said it’s a Utopian concept or we wouldn’t be having any wars now would we?)

Geh, need to start studying for my ethics soon... =.=' Exam is next month!! less than 2 weeks?? die la.. sobs~

Lately, I've tried driving around my area...　バンザイ！！ point to note... ermm, must learn to avoid pot holes.. don't drive to fast, and miss my turning? (more like need to wear glasses when I drive haha)

Trying to catch up on my Japanese.. And I want to start my violin lessons, but don't have the time to enquire... And well, I think the priority now, is trying to pass that ethics exam =.=' So should be wasting my free time on the book instead.. sigh....

My list is still left hanging.. geh..　時さん！！私に帰って「かえって」下さい。はは，無理だろう？その事。。はあ〜 =.='

-Oracl3-

Sorry, for sighing so much....

Well the first week is over... so this is what I've to say..

Day one.. 3rd November 2008, Monday

First day of work.. had nothing to do... made friends with the other chambies & Paralegals....

Asked around for these forms (Borang 1-8 which is in Malay..which has already been complained about...) I had to fill in to be recognised by the BAR council that I'm a pupil/chambie. Spent the rest of the day filling out the forms...

Found out that my Master (Not that Master we have something called the master-pupil thing...) was the guy that interviewed me...

Day 2... 4thNovember 2008, Tuesday

Got permission to go to the Court complex at Jalan Duta to hand in my borang (it's Malay for form) 1 & 2 so am officially a chambie on 4th November!!

Got caught in a stupid massive downpour, the Masjid Jamek area was flooded.. and I had to wade through ankle deep water... sigh... Was quite tempted to just go home... and I think I should have.. But my stuff was still in the office.. So I went back to the office...


Day 3... 5th November 2008, Wednesday

Went to look for the lawyer that wanted to give me work the day before... It was research work... And I must say.. what we study in company law.. doesn't equip us for the corporate world.. It's a whole new world out there for this area of the law...

Spent the day, trying to figure out what the lawyer wanted.. and to get the answers for what she asked me to do....

Found it, but since I was told it wasn't that urgent.. Decided to take the next day to compile everything nicely for the lawyer the next day...

On another note.. Didn't really feel to good.. so overdosed a little on vitamin C..

Sister left back for Athens on this day I think...

Day 4... 6th November 2008, Thursday

The lawyer that assigned me the work had a meeting and wasn't in... Typed up and compiled what I think is what she wanted me to do... for the research.... and was just about to set out to look for someone to delegate work to me.. since my supervisor... i.e. the lawyer who gave me the work, and my master wasn't around... didn't know who to ask... but then another lawyer in the corporate department asked me to help her.. so okay...

Help with compiling and photocopying the stuff for due diligence (I've not much of an idea what it is either, so don't ask) Spent the whole day, arranging, photocopying....

The photocopier has a vendetta against me.. Kept acting up saying the paper was stuck, when there was no paper.. grr... I think I got Ozone poisoning..

I still didn't feel that well either... Maybe worse... but thought it was due to Ozone poisoning...

Day 5... 7th November 2008, Friday...

Officially do not feel well... Felt feverish.. coughing... sigh...

Still had the compiling and photocopying work to do... was busy, busy, busy...

Registered online for this BAR council thing.. found out... my university wasn't listed there... So had to call them up and email them.... etc.... had it settled.. got back to work..

Had a meeting/discussion about the ethics exam that we had to take... Was really feeling horrid already by then.. it was about 5pm then...

After the meeting.. another lawyer assigned me work for the coming week.. Quickly finished up the last of my compiling work.. and left for home at about 550pm....

All that's left would be to the print out the covers haha...

Sadly couldn't go for my much awaited badminton game, as am ill.. with a fever to boot.. sigh...
And that's all for the time being.. going to rest, as I've to go out with friends later.. sigh....

-Oracl3-

I got this through the email, and just thought to copy and paste it here. I took out the title.. because the title will be deemed racist, and maybe invoke racist sentiments which will threaten national security under the ISA... oops, I mean Sedition Act...

-Oracl3-

A small piece of History for our future Generation
------------------------------------------
Hitler's public relations manager, Goebbels, once said,
'If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth.'


Once again our government had to wipe out any references to a famous Melaka prince as being Hindu and belonging to the powerful Hindu empire Sri Vijaya . So all of a sudden our museums, school text-books etc. all refer to Parameswara as a Malay prince.


What race ruled or did not rule is besides the point. What is important is not butchering history to create your own truths. You cannot change your race even if you convert - Parameswara could have been responsible for Umno's proud heritage of 'Ketuanan Melayu'. If this is what it is based on, there is no 'Ketuanan Melayu'. The lineage of Melaka Sultans are Indians, not Malays. It is no secret that Parameswara was an Indian and a Hindu prince. It is clear from records that Parameswara never converted to Islam. He was an Indian Hindu who fled Palembang in Sumatra to eventually found Melaka circa 1400 AD. It was Sri Maharaja who converted himself and the court of Melaka to Islam, and as a result took on the name of Sultan Muhammad Shah sometime after 1435.


The most famous of Indian Hindu Kings were Rajaraja Chola and his son Rajendra Chola who invaded Southern Thailand, Kedah, Perak, Johor and Sumatra about 1000 AD. This is Raja-raja Chola - the Indian/Hindu kings and not Raja Chulan - a Malay king.
But what is really sad is that our children are taught as though Malaysian history suddenly began in 1400 with an Islamic Melaka. We are led to believe that the Indians and Chinese first arrived on the shores of Malaysia in about 1850 as desperate indentured labourers, farmers and miners. Nothing could be further from the truth.


The cultural influences of India in particular, and China, in South East Asia span over 2,000 years, starting perhaps with the arrival from India of the Brahmanical prince/scholar - Aji Saka in Java in AD78, through to Vietnam, Cambodia (Indo China), Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, Bali, Borneo, Brunei and beyond.


The findings at Bujang Valley speak of an ancient Indian/Hindu presence in Kedah. There were Chinese settlements in Pahang and Kelantan around the 13th -14th century and in 12th century in Singapore . The early Brunei Sultanate had a Chinese Queen. One need not ponder at length the implications of Angkor Wat and Borobudur or that 40%-50% of Bahasa Malaysia comprises Sanskrit/Tamil words. To illustrate, some of these words are:


bumi = boomi
putra = putran
raja = rajah
desa = thesam
syakti = sakthi
kolam = kulam
bahaya = abahya
jaya = jeya
maha = maha
aneka = aneha
nadi = naadi
kedai = kadai
mahligai = maaligai
mantra = manthrum
(This list can go on)


An extremely important archeological find that pointed to one of the greatest empires in history - the Raja Cholan empire that ruled from the Maldives through India , Sri Lanka and right down to South East Asia found deep in the jungles of Johor a few years ago and made headlines in the mainstream newspapers in 2005, suddenly disappeared from the news…..
The time has arrived for us to record our history as the facts tell us and not as we would like to wish it for. The truth will never hurt anyone. Lies, always will.
Living in a world of denial...

EDIT: Here's a forgotten picture taken with my mobile during the symposium...


So today was the second part of the law symposium..

Unlike yesterday, today's was much, much better.. at least it was more like a symposium. The floor was opened for about 15-20 minutes for questions at least.. and the people chairing weren't bad today.. They stuck to the time as best as possible.. but Malaysians are horrible...

Did I mention yesterday that so many mobiles went off during the duration of the symposium.. how rude.. At least today was better... And yesterday and today... people don't come back on time after the breaks... Malaysian's are really horrible...

The number of participants seemed to have dwindled.. and well I guess some UM students were traumatised yesterday and didn't return today... and the People who presented yesterday either left or went sight seeing.. So the place seemed sparse compared to yesterday... We didn't mingle much today... Oh, and we met another lecturer who teaches in APIT.. Nice guy.... and funny too haha...

Today's subject was also, much more interesting than yesterday, since they talked about international law and it's relation to environmental law, humanitarian law and human rights.. and at least I understood somewhat, what all the speakers were speaking. Save for one.. He's Malaysian.. and I understood him nice and well.. it was the contents of his speech that left me clueless...

Today's speakers, well their English was not bad, and maybe it was also because I wasn't as sleep deprived as yesterday... I had about maybe 5 hours plus sleep last night? well including the 30-40 minutes, where I fell asleep while listening to the news.. let's just round it up to 6 hours...

Gosh, I must have been so tired to have fallen asleep on the couch, while watching the news...

Anyway, as I was saying today's was much better, my only complaint was that, they had to break off for the Muslims to prays.. It's fine by me, I respect the fact that they had to pray...

But...

Question: What am I supposed to do around Hilton PJ for 2 hours??!!

It's not like I've room there where I can sleep or watch television. Neither do I have car to allow me to go gallivanting around till 3... They should have arranged this symposium on Wednesday and Thursday.. So at least we could end early, and don't waste 2 hours...

So I decided to skip the last talk about Dispute Resolution and Arbitration since I was already given a photocopy of their full study/ speech... and head on home... called my dad... who picked me and Xian Ai up, went to A&W to buy lunch.. and there we go.. now I'm home and here blogging...

Luckily I had good timing, as I caught my parents right after they finished lunch, if they had entered the golf course already then.. I wonder where was I going to camp? =.='

[Explanation to why I said I would have to camp: My dad has a habit of blocking the front door with the car when no one's home.. don't get me wrong... there isn't much to steal in my house.. maybe a few hundred Ringgit at most.. or some lousy outdated faulty electronics.. like the TV or radio...Or well, I guess the most valuable thing would be the 2 computers, which are by the way, actually already obsolete... But I like to think, that the dog is the most precious among all.. so yeah.. it was for precious haha]

-Oracl3-

Okay today is the first day of the International Law Symposium, organised by among others the University of Malaya.. in PJ Hilton.. it runs for two days, today and tomorrow i.e. 7th-8th August from 9-5pm...

What is it about..? Well basically it's an international conference about International law..

For someone who did not take International law in her LLB, and whom has forgotten her General Principles of Law [Studied in first year], Constitution and Administrative law [studied this in second year] and European Union Law [Studied in third year.] I was really lost... I don't know why, but I just sucked at those subjects.. maybe because it was dry... But I don't remember much about them... Well, okay I admit.. Only God knows how I passed these 3 papers....

Though some things said at the Conference seemed familiar... like Dicey's rule of Law.....

But well, honestly, if it wasn't for this other participant that I met, I would have been really, really lost, he was a Master's student, but is orginally an International Law lecturer in Sri Lanka, so he taught me the basics of International and Humanitarian Law.. I must profess it's interesting..

The whole conference would have been even more interesting if, and I don't really mean to insult.. but it would have been better, if I could understand the speakers better..

They had flew in speakers from Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, America, Singapore, India etc..

Among those that spoke today, some could be understood, some were incoherent, the microphone made their voices too soft to be heard sometimes, and it seemed to me that they were mumbling at times... [blame my ears or whatever.. but I really couldn't understand what they were saying... sigh...]

So every time they start their mumbling, I end up zoning out.. =.=' plunking back rudely back to earth only, when my brain realises it recognises that English is being spoken again.. sigh...

But to make up for it, I met a few nice people there whom are nice to chat with, there was this lecturer from Monash, who was really nice.. I seriously thought she was younger than she looked!! I was shocked when she told me she did her CLP in 1993.... and had 3 kids!! I thought she was about my sister's age!!

And that was that.. Being Malaysians... the event started late.. And I would say it was a good 30-40 minutes behind schedule, and as luck would have it.. Xian Ai's slipper broke, and it was raining, making it impossible for us to walk all the way to the LRT station, which was about 1km away... so we left early as her mom came to pick us up before the placed started to jam up with people leaving for home from work...

As I've been sleep deprived for the past 3-4 days.. it really took me a lot of effort not to fall asleep and force myself to concentrate and try to understand the speakers... which resulted in some mild irritation on my part.. but in the end.. I just grasped what I could, and almost all of them said the same things about adopting International law into their country.. it's quite basic...

I guess another thing was the way they presented their speeches.. merely sitting there and mumbling incoherently/ reading their prepared speech.... [There were some good ones though..] can put anyone to sleep, as was proven when I looked around the room from time to time, in a desperate attempt to keep awake....

The participants I must say, do not really do this conference justice, and the fact that they were behind schedule and could not allow questions from the floor due to time constraints really seems to defeat the purpose of this conference... on my opinion..

Almost half the people there were students from UM, then there were the speakers that made up.. maybe less than a quarter.. and the next majority were lecturers from all over.. and finally a handful of lawyers.... It felt a little wasted to me, especially when you've managed to get all these influential people such as the judge of the ICJ [International court of justice], President of the American law society etc...

Anyway, back to the topic at hand about their presentation... The Singapore representative wasn't bad, as he used visual aid, i.e. power point.. and I guess it was a bonus that I understood his English... =.=' the speaker from.... Hong Kong wasn't bad either.. and well there were a few others...

Overall, it was an experience, and I still have part 2 tomorrow.. but tomorrow's topic, I believe should be more interesting, as today was mostly about the implementation of International law.

But tomorrow it's going to be, Environmental law; & Terrorism and Humanitarian Law... sounds interesting? let's hope it's as it sounds.. And I think I'll go dig my ear or something now....

******

Oh, and I forgot haha.. the title is in regards to my mosquito net that covers my window.. I came home today, half asleep from the law symposium closed my curtain and took a shower..

After dinner and the news, when I came back upstairs and opened the curtain.. I noticed that it looked like a cat had been through it.. The first thing that went through my sleep deprived blur mind was.. Did the wind do this? because well, my dad told me that it rained heavily....

Then when my brain kicked in.. it told me it was a cat... problem is.. I have a dog, not a cat.. since when did I own this ferocious depraved imaginary cat?

So as my deprived, ravaged brain tried to solve the mystery.. or well... more like it couldn't be bothered to know what happened to it anymore.. My dad came and solved the mystery...

Guess who was the culprit? Not the wind, Not the imaginary cat... it was just the...

Washing machine....

Apparently of the 4 mosquito nets he placed in the machine.. only one came out unscathed.. and that one belonged in his room....

...What a violent shredding monster.... haha...

-Oracl3-

CURRENT EXAM STATUS: Completed!!!

• 1st Posted on 10th July 2008
• 1st Edit: 14th July 2008 - comment to paper added next to paper name
• 2nd Edit: 16th July 2008 - as above
• 3rd Edit: 18th July 2008 - as above
  
• 4th Edit: 21st July 2008 - as above
  
• 5th Edit: 23rd July 2008 - as above
  

Current Mood: Relieved...

Exam's Magical Mantra: ぜったいに大丈夫「ぜったいにだいじょうぶ/zettai ni daijyoubu」= Everything will be all right; and also, 頑張って「がんばって/Ganbatte」

Reading Progress: [Complete: 100%]
(Please note that the Reading progress doesn't indicate how prepared I am. It only indicates that I've finished reading the notes for the particular subjects... Whether I've managed to memorise that ton of crap, and am prepared for the test, is another issue all together!!)

22nd July 2008: Currently doing Evidence October 2007 Past Year Paper.. I feel so screwed..
The Aim? try to do past year papers for July and October 2007, if possible, try to do the mock paper as well... and memorise the answers.... Hope it works... Did I mention that I feel so screwed?

******

Note: This Post was prepared before the date of posting....
I foresaw that I won't have the leisure on the actual 10th of July 2008 to write about this * Actually written on 27th June 2008
The dreaded Exams are here breathing down my neck.. Ooh, the shivers it sends down my spine... Wish me luck! I'll be needing loads of it!!

Here's the timetable:

All exams are held in the University Malaya's Examination Centre and are between 9am-12.15pm

I will have to be at the hall before 830am for [the so called] important notices and instructions though...

Monday 14.07.08 Civil Procedure [Civil Procedure Code] * I don't know.. Hopefully I can pass this paper...I think, I'll pass..... Hopefully.....*

Wednesday 16.07.08 General Paper [Tort & Contract] *I think I'll be able to pass this one, keep your fingers crossed...*

Friday 18.07.08 Criminal Procedure [Criminal Procedure Code] *I think I'll be able to pass..... maybe... and woah, got cut by the notes, at the part where the pen rests on.. @_@ ouch... when writing during the exams...*

Monday 21.07.08 Professional Practise [2 parts: Part A: Ethics & Advocacy; Part B: Land, Bankruptcy & Probate] *Ermm, I think I can pass this one? spent the whole of the 20th of July panicking.... and, well.. I did my best.. it is 5 subjects in one....*

Wednesday 23.07.08 Evidence [Law on Evidence] *I think I'll pass this one :p Thanks to Xian Ai if I do :) I really spent the whole of the 22nd of July panicking, and with her help, I managed to make a really good set of notes to study for the exams, and the 3 questions that we did together the night before? They all came out for the exams :)*

That's the whole list. The whole [] thing is what subject it encompasses. All together it's 10 subjects compressed into 5 papers. [Misery....]

I have to answer 4 questions in 3 hours..
Yipee!! not to mention, for professional paper, it's 2 questions for Part A, 3 for Part B, and for Part B; YOU MUST DO a land question.. [5 questions in 3 hours!! Stupidly insane...] Talk about democracy.... sigh....

Note that examinees may only bring in the [Statutes]:

1. Evidence Act For Evidence Paper,
   
2. National, Land Code For Professional Practise Paper,
   
3. Criminal Procedure Code For Criminal Procedure Paper,
   
4. Rules of the High Court For Civil Procedure Paper,
   
5. Subordinate Court Rules For Civil Procedure Paper.

Statutes that you actually need? Well the 5 mentioned above, and also, the

1. Limitation Act,
   
2. The Probate and Administration Act,
   
3. The Court of Judicature Act,
   
4. The Distribution Act,
   
5. The Dangerous Drugs Act,
   
6. The Legal Profession Act,
7. Bankruptcy Act,
   
8. The Civil Law Act 1956,
   
9. Wills Act,
   
10. Public Authorities Protection Act
11. Contracts Act 1950 etc

Trust me, there are plenty more of statutes that you need.. Although for some of them, you might need to memorise only a statute or two, like s10 Arbitration Act..
That's only one... used where there is an arbitration clause in a contract, and as long as one person wants to seek arbitration, the courts have the power to stay action...

But for others like the Limitation Act, There's a lot to memorise..

• s6(1)- Limitation period of 6 years for contract and tort;
  
• s6(3)- 12 years to enforce a Judgement, if it's a judgement debt, interest can only be enforced within the 6 years of judgement
  
• s24- Limitation at disability, the 6 years only start to run, when the plaintiff ceases disablity ie when the child reaches age of majority ie age 18 or dies, whichever first, & for insane people, when mental disability ceases or if a special community is set up for him, whichever first...; ... etc.

So not only must you memorise case names, you have to spend your brain cells on statutes; it's sections and interpretation, as well, when in fact in practise you are going to refer to them anyway... [after using it for a few of your cases, then you would definitely memorise it.. therefore I personally think, that CLP should have actually have some practical courses to it, and not 100% exam based lectures]

Doesn't help that for e.g. section 7 Civil Law Act 1976 for bereavement claims, there are a whole lot of sub sections, and sub, sub sections, and sub, sub, sub sections to memorise... And that's only one, we still have section 8 and section 28A... etc. There's a ton to memorise for Contract too...

That's worse than degree level.. at LLB you answer 3 questions in 3 hours; Plus you can bring in whatever statute you need [no need to waste brain cells on anything but cases and principles..]; Plus although memory work is important, they emphasise on understanding, and application. So if you hate memorizing; or if your memory is a piece of crap... and I mean, really sucky... CLP is going to be a real tough one on you... [Like it is on me now.. and even then, apparently my selective memory is good...=.=' I'm getting a migraine from all this....]

With that said.. I think, I definitely prefer the LLB...

-Oracl3-

Title: kowaiisone purashososu: Pitiful Precious [note: ケンちゃん, pitiful is kowaii, or kowai.. confused for the time being]

short post... [by my standards]

Ccy left for Perak.. already, should be there by now.... well ganbatte Satoshi-kun, and I just found out 慧 can also be pronounced as satoshi.... 0_O' haha but that's a guy's name. [found out from the anime 図書館戦争/toshokan sensou/Library wars, but since it's a guy's name, it's still sayaka for me] who would have known our names are the same? haha.. Memang kawan baik haha...

On another note, back to the title.

Two days ago, my precious had a boil on his skin, the skin ailments he gets once in a while. Usually if he can lick it it will heal, but it happens that the wound was out of range. so it spread and grew worse, so today we finally decided to bring him to see the vet.

As it was a Saturday the government vet is closed and being so far away, we just brought him to the private vet near our place. cost us Rm120, the last time we went there with the same ailment, but being on his head, in contrast to his back now, it cost us Rm180 then.. I was surprised, I thought it would be more expensive now.

Little fellow had to have the fur near the infected area shaved, and got an injection..

Could you believe it? he Bit me? he BIT me!!!!

When taking the injection.. Well it wasn't a really serious bite or anything, guessed he did control himself. And after he bit me, he immediately stopped struggling.. but oh well.. not like I bled or anything...

Now he seems better, sleeping in his cage. He has a course of antibiotics to start tomorrow. He should get better now :)

And that's all.. Back to the books for me.. only 2 days left.. damn I'm screwed... Damn you CLP and the people who set it up!!! They should try to take this stupid exam that they set up!!

-Oracl3-

P/s: thanks Cheese for this MV 太陽の下 /Taiyou no Shita / Under the Sun

He gave it to me, when I said I was suffering from Exam Panic Attacks. A semangat? song? hehe. Thanks anyway. :)



I fell in love with this song.. can someone find the Mp3 for me?

Nishikido Ryo singing sangatsu kokonoka... He was an actor I was nuts about, due to his role in One Litre of Tears..



Remioromen singing the same song..



Remioromen Konayuki



K : Only Human



Except for under the sun/ Taiyou no shita. All the other songs were used in the Japanese Drama, One Litre of Tears...

"Life is about living, unfortunately, that living encompasses exams... and other unpleasant things in life... but without those, that's not living.." -Sayaka-

I desperately needed some inspiration... shared here.. by a Dr Randy Pausch, Diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, was treated, recovered, and is now suffering a relapse, and has been told by doctors that he has only months to live... Here is his final lecture... Touching...



Inspirational quote from the video?

"Don't complain, Work Harder!" -Dr Randy Pausch-

"Live your life the right way, when you live right, the dreams will come to you" -Dr Randy Pausch-

Life is about living... which unfortunately means.. I've to go through those darned exams haha...[and for the others.. well, there are plenty of other things we dread...]

but hey, how come my parents didn't let me paint my room the way I wanted to? haha... then again... they let me stick whatever I want in it now.. :p I'll take pictures and load them after exams, to show what I've stuck in my room :p

Also, today I've just received a birthday card from my brother who is in Australia... I guess he only remembered my birthday on the actual day, because the card was sent on the 19th of June itself haha... Among all the cards this year.. I'll have to say that I like his the most.. [Though the butterfly sticker he stuck on the envelope seems like only things girls would do haha..]

It looks like it was sort of handmade with those little 2D pictures you can stick on the card.. [you know like the "make your own card" set you get from craft shops..] messy, and a bit sloppy, but I liked it, simply because there's a Grand piano on the front haha.. it's so cute :p [sorry, call me prejudicial then, it's not everyday I get a card like that... haha]


and well he inserted an inspirational quote, just right when I needed inspiration...

"One thing is certain. That is that the power of belief, the power of thought, will move reality in the firection of what we believe and conceive of it. If you really believe you can do something, you can. That is a fact." -Daisaku Ikeda-

Things work out in mysterious ways right? Now all I've to do is believe in myself... sigh.. easier said than done...

Then again, today's hot weather had sapped my concentration to study.. sigh... but that's another matter.... i'm 60% done with civil procedure, and am starting on Criminal Procedure now....

For now, enjoy the video while I hit the books..

To everyone that needs it, and ESPECIALLY to myself:

頑張ってね，「がんばってね」
加由加由！[This is Chinese by the way, and the above is in Japanese, they all mean the same, Ganbatte/Fight/Don't give up]
待ったね。勉強します！！諦めないぞ！！ファイト！！

-Oracl3-

"It's amazing how exams can make anything & everything not related to studying as procrastination... no wonder we procrastinate more when exams are coming..." -Sayaka-

WARNING: RANT AHEAD

Title: しにたい！! しけんがだい,だい,だい,だいきらいよ！！ : I want to die!! I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY HATE EXAMS!!

Okay, you definitely know you've reached a whole new height when death seems more appealing than sitting for exams..

Can't help it.. I've been taking exams since I was 6? or was that 7? Whatever.. you would think that I'd gotten used to it, being forced to take exams for at least 15 years.... but enough is enough.. I seriously don't mind studying.. In fact.. believe it or not, I enjoy it sometimes, especially if the topic appeals to me.. but studying for exams??? I'd rather swallow rat poison!! [I guess I'm the type who can't handle stress? having lived a stress free life for most, or as some would claim, relatively for the whole of my 22 years..]

As we grow older, the standards for exams obviously gets harder...[& I still stay as lazy as ever, studying the day before the exams.. not paying attention in class, nor doing my tutorials/ homework... hence the contribution...] but you feel the stress more, because you don't want to waste your parents money if you had to resit or whatever... also... who in their right mind likes classes on their weekends???!! not to mention, the future of your working life rests in University/Qualifying Exams...[simply worded as, the stakes are higher as you grow older..]

Don't qualify = no professional job/wasting the money spent on your degree = no money = can't survive in urban area
[unless you want to be a farmer or something in the outskirts.. not intended to be insulting, by the way..]

Unless you want to plant sweet potatoes for food in your garden, to survive... if you even have one... And make sure your water usage is within 20 cubic metres, if you live in Selangor [cause that's how much the state government is giving free, or so they said..].. Also, you might want to save up on your candles, and the wax, add some salt [if you can afford it] to keep your candles burning longer, because you sure as hell won't be able to afford electricity... your feet will be your best friend if you ever need to go down to KL.... [what with the increased standard of living..]

But you know what? that's just plain stupid.. to die because of exams =.=' that's the heat talking [studies in Japan have shown that the hotter the weather, the more likely people are to commit suicide..]

You will forever be remembered as the Girl/Guy who succumbed to exam pressure and killed yourself... [okay, that doesn't even sound remotely amusing... it's sad... & sounds stupid... like you're some nerd whose life revolves around exams and books... again, not intended to insult...] it's not the end of the world... really, if you fail exams, you can always resit, admist the nagging from parents on money wasted and the disappointment of relatives... [Guess, the nagging is enough to drive you to suicide/insanity?] And well.. some rare employers don't bother much about how well you did as a student, as long as you perform on the job, because they know that some people just suck in taking exams... but that's your luck...

But for me? I've better things to live for... guess it's back to the darned books.. I really, REALLY hope, that I'll manage to finish studying all 10 subjects before 14th July 2008.. or I'm as good as screwed....

Why the sudden outburst you may ask? Well with only 3 weeks more till exams.. I've spent the whole day today studying, well almost the whole day.. and I've only done 7 chapters for one freaking subject!! to add salt to the wound... my memory power doesn't seem to be as powerful as before.. not to mention that I have 10 subjects for crying out loud... somebody pass me the arsenic like NOW please....!!

-Oracl3-

Dying..... symptoms of stress already showing.... my appetite has already been affected, and so has my sleep & my skin.... and yet my concentration is still so crap.. Where the hell has my memory power gone too???? GAAH!!

Sigh, why am I an idiot who never changes? Whom can only do last minute work? Why??!! Sigh...

[There's a reason why it's called a rant...]

EDITED: On 13th June 2008

Sorry Mel, but this seems like a really good idea..... to control myself...
If it works...

On my honour [do I even have any? Well, I guess I do have the Scouts honour... maybe haha] I hereby declare that I, Sayaka / Oracl3 / Cindy Cheong will TRY not to blog [or do online related things] so much till after my exams, which is at the end of July.. try.....

-[A sort of hard feat on my part.. since it's only classes and books now in my life.. I need an outlet.. but I'll try.... I mean, I have cut down on my politics & manga after all....
Any encouragement, in any form is highly appreciated.. if you wish to send me money, please inform me ;p though food is a preferred medium, but hey, if you give me money, i can just buy what I want to eat, and other things.. and you don't have to think what to get me... kills two birds with one stone keke ;p]-

-Exam kills-

~Exams are coming..~
~Oh yes, it's coming~
~It's less than a month away~
~With 10 subjects all together~
~And they aren't very fun either~
~When you're mislead into thinking~
~You have only but 5 papers...~
~It's all memory work~
~Oh yes, a 100% memory work~
~Time to kill my brain cells~
~And seriously get down to work~
~Stop the lazing~
~Stop the procrastinating~
~It's time to get serious~
~Or reap what you sow...~

-By Sayaka-

Some lame-o-thing, I randomly thought off.. A poem, lyrics? I don't know what it is... But assuming it's a death song..? I'll compose a tune for it? If I'm talented enough to do it, [& if I feel like it] after my exams that is.. haha.. and yes, title was taken from.. "Smoking kills"

Therefore DO NOT DISTURB [unless necessary], Privacy please.. i need peace and quiet to memorise 10 subjects.... -->

On the top we have the little brown thingie [kitten] i.e my law books/notes, and I'm at the bottom haha.. Oops! Bad analogy? :p The look of sheer terror on the chihuahua's face.. that's me alright..

Oh, before i go into attempted online hibernation mode...

[I think I'll still be online, to check my mail & download animes but not watch them till after exams... but I most probably won't be very available on my MSN, as my books will be seducing me, or at least attempting to seduce me.. like the kitten above... haha]

A little video taken from Mel's blog, with her permission, to show the pain that law students have to go through.. though the guy that made the video is only a LLB (degree) he hasn't met CLP yet, and he's most probably lucky not too... [Assuming from the slang he's American, and therefore he will face their BAR exams instead, i mean hey.. anything is easier than a 10% pass rate right?]



-Oracl3-

my SAM classmate sent me these emails.. so i thought that i would just post them here rather than forward... by the way, there are two mails here... i've no idea how to readjust the font.. so i'm just leaving it as it is.. i'm too lazy and do not have the leisure to retype everything...

New kind of Breast Cancer - DO NOT DELETE
Please forward to all of the women in your lives . Mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, friends, etc.
In November, a rare kind of breast cancer was found. A lady developed a rash on her breast, similar to that of young mothers who are nursing.
Because her mammogram had been clear, the doctor treated her with antibiotics for infections. After 2 rounds, it continued to get worse, so her doctor sent her for another mammogram. This time it showed a mass.
A biopsy found a fast growing malignancy. Chemo was started in order to shrink the growth; then a mastectomy was performed; then a full round of Chemo; then radiation. After about 9 months of intense treatment, she was given a clean bill of health.
She had one year of living each day to its fullest. Then the cancer returned to the liver area. She took 4 treatments and decided that she wanted quality of life, not the after effects of Chemo. She had 5 great months and she planned each detail of the final days. After a few days of needing morphine, she died. She left this message to be delivered to women everywhere:

Women, PLEASE be alert to anything that is not normal, and be persistent in getting help as so! on as possible.
Paget's Disease: This is a rare form of breast cancer, and is on the outside of the breast, on the nipple and aureole It appeared as a rash, which later became a lesion with a crusty outer edge. I would not have ever suspecte d it to be breast cancer but it was. My nipple never seemed any different to me, but the rash bothered me, so I went to the doctor for that. Sometimes, it itched and was sore, but other than that it didn't bother me. It was just ugly and a nuisance, and could not be cleared up with all the creams prescribed by my doctor and dermatologist for the dermatitis on my eyes just prior to this outbreak. They seemed a little concerned but did not warn me it could be cancerous.
Now, I suspect not many women out there know a lesion or rash on the nipple or aureole can be breastcancer. (Mine started out as a single red pimple on the aureole. One of the biggest problems with Paget's disease of the nipple is that the symptoms appear to be harmless. It is frequently thought to be a skin inflammation or infection, leading to unfortunate delays in detection and care.)

What are the symptoms?

1. A persistent redness, oozing, and crusting of your nipple causing it to itch and burn (As I stated, mine did not itch or burn much, and had no oozing I was aware of, but it did have a crust along the outer edge on one side.)

2. A sore on your nipple that will not heal. (Mine was on the aureole are a with a whitish thick looking area in center of nipple).

3. Usually only one nipple is effected. How is it diagnosed? Your doctor will do a physical exam and I should suggest having a mammogram of both breasts, done immediately. Even though the redness, oozing and crusting closely resemble dermatitis (inflammation of the skin), your doctor should suspect cancer if the sore is only on one breast. Your doctor should order a biopsy of your sore to confirm what is going on.

This message should be taken seriously and passed on to as many of your relatives and friends as possible; it could save someone's life.

My breast cancer has spread and metastasized to my bones after receiving mega doses of chemotherapy, 28 treatments of radiation and taking Tamaxofin. If this had been diagnosed as breast cancer in the beginning, perhaps it would not have spread...

TO ALL READERS:

This is sad as women are not aware of Paget's disease. If, by passing this around on the e-mail, we can make others aware of it and its potential danger, we are helping women everywhere.

Please, if you can, take a moment to forward this message to as many people as possible, especially to your family and friends. It only takes a moment, yet the results could save a life.

*****
A woman was working in a post office in California ..

One day she licked the envelopes and postage stamps instead of using a sponge. That very day the lady found a cut on her tongue. A week later, she noticed an abnormal swelling of her tongue. She went to the doctor, and they found nothing wrong. Her tongue was not sore or anything. A couple of days later, her tongue started to swell more, and it began to get really sore, so sore, that she could not eat. She went back to the hospital, and demanded something be done. The doctor took an x-ray of her tongue and noticed a lump. He prepared her for minor surgery. When the doctor cut her tongue open, a live cockroach crawled out!!!!

There were cockroach eggs on the seal of the envelope. The egg was able to hatch inside of her tongue, because of her saliva. It was warm and moist...

This is a true story reported on CNN

Andy Hume wrote:

Hey, I used to work in an envelope factory. You wouldn't believe the....things that float around in those gum applicator trays. I haven't licked an envelope for years!' I used to work for a print shop (32 years ago) and we were told NEVER to lick the envelopes. I never understood why until I had to go into storage and pull out 2500 envelopes that were already printed and saw several squads of cockroaches roaming around inside a couple of boxes with eggs everywhere. They eat the glue on the envelopes.

PLEASE PASS THIS ON, TO YOUR FRIENDS.. After reading this you will never lick another envelope or stamp again

-Oracl3-

Today's Yahoo homepage were featuring links to articles which i usually ignore.. because... ermm... well.. not much of an interest? and well, i already know those facts... i don't have the statistics.. but i know.. but when i saw those links.. i thought of a friend...

and well.. you never know... they might prove useful to me in the future... que sara sara

8 ways to Affair-proof your marriage
this marriage thing, may not apply to most of us yet.. but it will in the future.. heck.. even if you are still dating... some of them would be interesting... i guess??

Does a wandering eye mean a wandering heart
we all look? i think all is really strong.. there are a very rare few who don't... even if they do, they compare it to the other person to their loved one... but yeah.. this one is a good article for a certain friend... ;p

Do you expect too much from your relationship
i only scanned through.. doesn't seem to say much.. but you judge for yourself. my speed reading isn't as good as ccy, and i might have missed out on the important stuff...

5 secrets you should keep from your partner
again scanned through.... it's kind of true.... what not to tell... but i don't know.. if we really need to tell, then we need a level of 'nice/civil' honesty.. could be just me...

*****

on another note.. i'm plainly annoyed with some people on youtube, acting like they are the gods of the world... people online are plainly as rude as in the flesh...

i have a video of me drinking absinthe while i was in Prague last 2 Decembers (2006).. and i posted the video on youtube, because blogger is retarded, and i couldn't load the video here... so bla bla.. if you're an avid follower of my blog, i doubt that you would have missed the video...

the annoying thing.....

is the comments i keep getting from people, saying what i was doing was wrong bla bla.. the wrong way to drink absinthe.. you know.. i don't mind if you tell me, i'm wrong.. (which i wasn't by the way, there are two ways to drink absinthe, and i was introduced to the less popular way...)...

but they commented about it in a way, as if they are a smart ass know it all.. that's what's irritating.. well read the comments for yourself --> Let's Drink Absinthe

and yes, i think it's obvious from my latest comment that i don't care anymore.. they can talk all they want..i was trying to be polite/courteous/civil the whole time in trying to explain and promote Prague (though maybe some might take it the wrong way)... but those arrogant idiots are just what they are, arrogant idiots...

-Oracl3-

Something else I found in the folder... Hopes it provides some encouragement to others to speak their voice out, and also it gives us some insight as well, as it touches on racism, democracy, and government interests...

Well whatever it is, I just thought to share...

Against Discouragement
by Howard Zinn

In 1963, historian Howard Zinn was fired from Spelman College, where he was chair of the History Department, because of his civil rights activities. This year (2005), he was invited back to give the commencement address. Here is the text of that speech, given on May 15, 2005.

I am deeply honoured to be invited back to Spelman after 42 years. I would like to thank the faculty adn trustee who voted to invtie me, and especially your president, Dr. Beverly Tatum. And it is a special privilege to be here with Diahann Carroll and Virginia Davis Floyd.

But this is your day - the students graduating today. It's a happy day for yo and your families. I know you have your own hopes for the future, so it may be a little presumptuous for me to tell you what hopes I have for you, but they are exactly the same one that I have for my grandchildren.

My first hope is that you will not be too discouraged by the way the world looks at this moment. it is easy to be discouraged, because our nation is at war - still another war, war after war - and our government seems determined to expand its empire even if it costs the lives of tens of thousands of human beings. There is poverty in this country, and homelessness, and people without health care, and crowded classrooms, but our government, which has trillions of dollars to spend, is spending its wealth on war. There are a billion people in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East who need clean water and medicine to deal with malaria and tuberculosis and AIDS, but our government which has thousands of nuclear weapons, is experimenting with even more deadly nuclear weapons. Yes, it is easy to be discouraged by all that.

But let me tell you why, in spite of what I have just described, you must not be discouraged.

I want to remind you that, fifty years ago, racial segregation here in the South was entrenched as tightly as apartheid in South Africa. The national government, even with liberal presidents like Kennedy and Johnson in office, was looking the other way while black people were beaten and killed and died the opportunity to vote. So black people in the South decided that had to do something by themselves. They boycotted and sat in and picketed and demonstrated, and were beaten and jailed, and some were killed, but their cries for freedom were soon heard all over the nation and around the world, and the President and Congress finally did what they previously failed to do - enforce the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution. Many people had said: The South will never change. But it did change, IT changed because ordinary people organized and took risks and challenged the system and would not give up. That's when democracy came alive.

I want to remind you also that when the war in Vietnam was going on, and young Americans were dying and coming home paralysed, and our government was bombing the villages of Vietnam - bombing schools and hospitals and killing ordinary people in huge numbers - it looked hopeless to try to stop the war. But just as in the Southern movement, people began to protest and soon it caught on. IT was a national movement. Soldiers were coming back and denouncing the war, and young people were refusing to join the military, and the war had to end.

The lesson of that history is that you must not despair, that if you are right, and you persist, things will change. The government may try to deceive the people, and the newspapers and television may do the same, but the truth has a way of coming out. The truth has a power greater than a hundred lies. I know you have practical things to do - to get jobs and get married and have children. You may become prosperous and be considered a success in the way our society defines success, by wealth and standing and prestige. But that is not enough for a good life.

Remember Tolstoy's story, "The Death of Ivan Illych." A man on his deathbed reflects on his life, how he has done everything right, obeyed the rules, become a judge, married, had children, and is looked upon as a success. Yet, in his last hours, he wonders why he feels a failure. After becoming a famous novelist, Tolstoy himself had decided that this was not enough, that he must speak out against the treatment of the Russian peasants, that he must write against war and militarism.

My hope is that whatever you do to make a good life for yourself - whether you become a teacher, or social worker, or business person, opr lawyer, or poet, or scientist - you will devote part of your life to making this a better world for your children, for all children. My hope is that your generation will demand an end of war, that your generation will do something that has not yet been done in history and wipe out the national boundaries that separates us from other human beings on this earth.

Recently I saw a photo on the front page of the New York Times which I cannot get out of my mind. It showed ordinary Americans sitting chairs on the southern border of Arizona, facing Mexico. they were holding guns and tehy were looking for Mexicans who might be trying to cross the border into the United States. This was horrifying to me - the realization that in the 21st century fo what we call "civilization", we have carved up what we claim is one world into 200 artificially created entities we call "nations" and are ready to kill anyone who crosses a boundary.

Is not nationalism - that devotion to a flag, an anthem, a boundary, so fierce it leads to murder - one of the great evils of our time, along with racism, along with religious hared? These ways of thinking, cultivated, nurtured, indoctrinated from childhood on, have been useful to those in power, deadly for those out of power.

Here in the United States, we are brought up to believe that our nation is different from others, an exception in the world, uniquely moral; that we expand into other lands in order to bring civilization, liberty, democracy. But if you know some histroy you know that's not true. IF you know some history, you know we massacred Indians on this continent, invaded Mexico, sent armies into Cuba and the Philippines. We killed huge numbers of people, and we did not bring them democracy or liberty, We did not go into Vietnam to bring democracy; we did not invade Panama to stop the drug trade; we did not invade Afghanistan and Iraq to stop terrorism. Our aims were the aims of the other empires of world history - more profit for corporations, more power for the politicians.

The poets and artists among us seem to have a clearer understanding of the disease of nationalism. Perhaps the black poets especially are less enthralled with the virtues of American "liberty" and "democracy", their people having enjoyed so little of it. The great African - American poet Langston Hughes addressed his country as follows:

You really haven't been a virgin for so long.
It's ludicrous to keep up the pretext

You've slept with all the big powers
In military uniforms
And yuo've taken the sweet life
Of all the little brown fellows.

Being one fo the world's big vampires,
Why don't you come on out and say so
Like Japan, and England, and France,
And all the other nymphomaniacs of power

I am a veteran of the Second World War. That was considered a "good war", but I have come to the conclusion that war solves no fundamental problems and only leads to more wars. War poisons the minds of soldiers, leads them to kill and torture, and poisons the soul of the nation.

My hope is that your generation will demand that your children be brought up in a world without war. If we want a world in which the people of all countries are brothers and sisters, if the children all over the world are considered as our children, then war - in which children are always the greatest casualties - cannot be accepted as a way of solving problems.

I was on the faculty of Spelman College for 7 years, from 1956 to 1963. IT was a heart warming time, because the friends we made in those years have remained our friends all these years. My wife Roslyn and I and our two children lived on campus. sometimes when we went into town, white people would ask: How is it to be living in the black community? It was hard to explain. But we knew this - that down town Atlanta we felt as we were in alien territory, and when we came back to the Spelman campus, we felt that we were at home.

Those years at Spelman were the most exciting of my life, the most educational certainly. I learned more from my students than they learned from me. Those were the years of the great movement in the South against racial segregation, and I became involved in that in Atlanta, n Albany, Georgia, in Selma, Alabama, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Greenwood, and Itta Bena and Jackson. I learned something about democracy : that it does not come from the government, from on hight, it comes from people getting together and struggling for justice. I learned about race. I learned something that any intelligent person realizes at a certain point - that race is a manufactured thing, an artificial thing, and while ace does matter (as Cornell West has written), it only matters because certain people want it to matter, just as nationalism is something artificial,. I learned that what really matters is that all of us- of whatever so-called race and so-called nationality - are human beings and should cherish one another.

I was lucky to be at Spelman at a time when I could watch a marvellous transformation in my students, who were so polite, so quiet, and then suddenly they were leaving campus and going into town, and sitting in, and being arested, and then coming out of jail full of fire and rebellion. You can read all about that in Harry LEfever's book: Undaunted by the Fight. One day Marian Wright (Now Marian Wright Edelman), who was my student at Spelman, and was one of the first arrested in the Atlanta sit-ins, came to our house on campus to show us a petition she was about to put on the bulletin board of her dormitory. The heading on the petition epitomized the transformation taking place at Spelman College. Marian had written on top of the petition: "Young ladies who can picket, please sign below."

My hope is that you will not be content jsut to be successful in the way our society measures success; that you will not obey the rules, when the rules are unjust; that you will act out of the courage that i know is in you. There are wonderful people, black, and white, who are models. I don't mean African-Americans like Condoleezza Rice, or Colin Powell, or C;arent Thomas, who have become servants of the rich and powerful. I mean W.E.B. DuBois and Martyn Luther King and Malcom X and Marian Wright Edelman, And James Baldwin and Josephine Baker and good white fold, too, who defied the establishment to work for peace and justice.

Another of my students at Spelman, Alice Walker, who, like Marian, has remained out friend all these years, came from a tenant farmer's family in Eatonton, Georgia, and ebcame a famous writer. In one of her first published poems, she wrote:

It is true -
I've always loved
the daring ones
Like the black young man
Who tried to crash all barriers at once,

Wanted to swim at a white beach (In akabama) nude.

I am not suggesting you go that far, but you can help to break down barriers, of race certainly, but also of nationalism; that you do what you can - you don't have to do something heroic, just something, to join with millions of others who will just do something, because all of those something, at certain points of history, come together, and make the world better.

The marvellous African-American writer Zora Neale Hurston, who wouldn't do what white people wanted her to do, who wouldn't do what black people wanted her to do, who insisted on ebing herself, said that her mother advised her: Leap for the sun - you may not reach it, but at least you get off the ground.

By being here today, you are already standing on your toes, ready to leap. My hope for you is a good life

*Howard Zinn is the author with Anthony Arnove of the just published of a People's History of the United States (Seven Stories Press) and of the international best selling People's History of the Unites States

**
I think that this should be the last thing that I type out for stuff that came from my search and rescue mission.. the rest, are well, too long to type up I guess, and I have no interest to archive them, So I guess that is all..

I chose to type up this article, because it is related somewhat to our own country.. that race is artificial, nationalism is also artificial, it was created by the politicians to garner more power..
if not why else will they be playing this racist game for 50 years? and go on saying that (as reported on Malaysia today) united malays is like the nation being united... ? I was kind of shocked reading that... but i digress to comment, as i am already tired from typing up the speech, and also well, if i ever do my political related post, it will be related to that anyway....

Another thing is, this post is already long enough thanks to the speech... So that's all..it's already 1030pm.. and i don't know why i feel so tired today, so am signing off for now..

-Oracl3-