- Get your keg
stands and Irish car bombs in now, Brunei, because next year that sort of
behavior is going to be a big problem in your country. The oil-rich nation,
which has all of its power concentrated with the monarchy and does not hold elections, will enforce
sharia criminal law next year. The Islamic kingdom's sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah,
announced the decision on Tuesday. The news should be very exciting for
everyone in Brunei who is a fan of punishments that include stoning to death
for adultery and flogging for drinking alcohol. Bolkiah, one of the world's
wealthiest people, has presided over a shift to more conservative Islam and
anti-sedition laws in recent years. "It is because of our need that Allah
the Almighty, in all his generosity, has created laws for us, so that we can
utilise them to obtain justice," Bolkiah said. He also holds the post of
prime minister, so there is no going over his head to argue against the move.
Those looking for the sunny side of this mess can rest (not really) assured
that many crimes under the new code have a high burden of proof. Ultimately, sharia
court judges would have discretion over punishments, which could also include
amputations for theft. The process of implementing sharia law has been ongoing
in Brunei for several years. Previously, the sultan has said that sharia
criminal law should be established to work alongside the country's civil law
more prominently. In the small, yet rich kingdom, Islamic teachings are
enforced more sternly than Malaysia and Indonesia, the other majority Muslim
countries in Southeast Asia. The sale of alcohol is banned and evangelism by
other religions is strictly forbidden. However, these legal changes may not be
the best idea with Brunei’s oil reserves set to run out in about two decades
and the government working on a strategy to promote development in sectors such
as tourism, halal products and manufacturing. Brunei is clearly underestimating
foreigners’ love of booze……..
- Maybe it’s the bitterness of knowing that his team was
about to rank third in the first BCS standings of the year, perhaps it’s the
disappointment of not blowing out an inferior opponent…or maybe Oregon defensive
coordinator Nick Aliotti just has a perpetual red ass that keeps him angry and
chaffed all the time. Whatever the cause, Aliotti was bent after the Washington
State Cougars threw a record-breaking 89 passes Saturday night in the Ducks' 62-38
win. His rage boiled over because Cougars quarterback Connor Halliday set a
Football Bowl Subdivision record for pass attempts with 89 and was still
chucking the ball with his team down four scores late in the game. Aliotti
called it "low class" move by Washington State coach (and noted
pirate lover) Mike Leach. "I am kind of stunned he would keep his
quarterback and crew in there,'' Aliotti said. "They want stats, they got stats. But we got the most important
stat, and that's the 'W,' and we are happy about that.'' Factually, Aliotti is correct. Down 55-24 at the start of the
fourth quarter, Halliday made 28 more passes to break a 15-year-old FBS record set by Drew Brees with
Purdue -- by six attempts. A cynic might argue something insane like Washington
State trying to compete, playing the same way it always plays and doing what
any team should do in a game, but Aliotti was having none of it. "That's
total (B.S.) that he threw the ball at the end of the game like he did,''
Aliotti said, referring to Leach. "And you can print that and you can send it to him, and he can
comment, too. I think it's low class and it's (B.S.) to throw the ball when the game is completely
over against our kids that are basically our scout team.'' For the night, Halliday
completed 58 of 89 passes total for 557 yards and four touchdowns for
Washington State. The Cougars did not run the ball in the fourth quarter, but
again, a squad down 31 points typically does more throwing because, ya know,
it’s a quicker way to move the ball and score points………
- BlackBerry is still going downhill at a breakneck page, but at least the
former king of the cellphone world is still trying. The troubled tech company has
resumed the rollout of its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) apps for iOS and Android
devices one month after a badly botched launch attempt. That, however, is only
part of the story. Downloading the apps is possible, but users may need to wait
for the official green light to use them. Those who signed up for email
notifications about BBM in September will be able to start using the apps
immediately, according to BlackBerry executive Andrew Bocking, but everyone
else will be asked to submit their email address the first time they open the
apps and then wait for their spot in the activation queue to come up. An email
from BlackBerry will notify users when they have reached the front of the line
(which probably won't be that long because no one uses BBM anymore) and can
begin using the app on their device. It may be an odd way to roll out a new
product, but maybe it will work better than last’s month’s train wreck of a
release, when at least 1 million Android users downloaded an unreleased version
of BBM from file-sharing sites that "caused issues" with the official
client. After that debacle, BlackBerry withdrew both the Android and the iOS
versions of the client from app stores and began overhauling its systems to
prevent similar situations in the future. Four weeks later, BBM is trying again
and with the smartphone side of its business on life support, BlackBerry needs
this launch to go well. Last month, the company had to own up to $1 billion in unsold inventory of its
latest Z10 devices and fend off rumors that it was planning to spin off BBM as
a new subsidiary. Even BBM has struggled to win the fight against rivals as
WhatsApp, although launching BBM on iOS and Android should help a bit. Outside
of the loyal, hardcore BlackBerry user base, the company’s devices and apps
continue to be increasingly marginalized in the tech world and nothing on the
horizon seems destined to change that……..
- BART is back on track. A brief, yet nasty work stoppage
for Bay Area
Regional Transit workers came to an end early Tuesday when union and transit
officials announced a tentative deal. The agreement ended a four-day strike
that caused travel headaches for 400,000 commuters. Des Patten, president of the BART
professional chapter of Service Employees International Union, confirmed that
the deal includes wage increases and work rule changes that allow for
innovation and input from workers. It also addresses two primary concerns of
the striking workers, namely their safety and passenger safety. The agreement
represents a "new path in terms of our partnership with workers,"
BART general manager Grace Crunican said. "We compromised to get to this
place as did our union members." With a tentative deal in place, some trains
in the nation's fifth-largest commuter rail system returned to service at 6
a.m. Tuesday. Talks to terminate the stoppage resumed Monday and not a moment
too soon if the frustrations expressed by commuters over the weekend are any
indication. A federal mediator got involved in the talks late in the weekend
and was able to facilitate discussion between the two sides over rules
governing implementation of new technology and safety-related issues. By the
time face-to-face negotiations resumed about 2:30 p.m. Monday, the two sides
were much closer to a deal. While negotiations slogged onward, traffic in and
out of the city on he San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was backed up for miles.
The situation grew so desperate that the Metropolitan Transportation Commission
began offering $5 gift cards for Peet's Coffee and Tea to drivers willing to
pick up passengers at "casual carpool" locations near the bridge.
Stranded commuters used social media to solicit or offer rides to and from
downtown. Thankfully, everyone can now go back to ignoring one another on the
train every morning and evening…….
- Rashida Jones wants the Instagram flirts of Hollywood to kick things
down a notch with their scorching online selfies. With Kim Kardashian’s nonstop
attention whorish ways and her revealing Instagram selfie of last week, Jones –
solidly attractive in her own right – has reached her breaking point and took
to Twitter to plead for famous folks of all kinds to ramp down the
over-sexification of their social media accounts. "This week's celeb news
takeaway: she who comes closest to showing the actual inside of her (private
parts) is most popular," Jones wrote. "#stopactinglikewhores."
While no names were named and no Twitter handles were affixed to the message,
it was clearly aimed at pop creations such as Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Lady
Gaga and Britney Spears. Jones’ comments are nothing new and the likes of Annie
Lennox and Sinead O'Connor have both expressed similar sentiments of late.
Perhaps realizing that her remarks could be construed as a direct frontal
attack on some of the biggest names in Hollywood, Jones then backpedaled with
subsequent tweets suggesting that she was only looking out for impressionable
young women and girls and didn’t mean to attack any one person for how they
chose to depict themselves. "There is a whole generation of young women
watching," Jones later tweeted. "Sure, be SEXY but leave something to
the imagination. Let me clarify. I don't shame ANYone for anything they choose
to do with their lives or bodies…BUT I think we ALL need to take a look at what
we are accepting as 'the norm.'” Ever the comedian, she later tried to turn the
focus back to the lighter side with a tweet that read, "Also, calling on
all men to show me dat ass." Well played, R………
No comments:
Post a Comment