UK's Future Just Got Stuck in Nostalgia

Its been almost a week since the Brmain / Brexit referendum which threw water at whatever little gains the Malaysian ringgit was making against the dollar tanking at RM 4.15 to a dollar. Then the terrorist attacks in Istanbul came to make a bleak week bleaker. The only silver lining I could think of in the past week is that I didn't waste much time following the Trump circus show.

No doubt the referendum to favour Brexit was a surprise to many of us amateur and even professional political pundits, I just brushed it off–yeah, sure, Britain is going to leave EU in place of what? The little country that colonised close to half the planet is so afraid of EU immigrants? Anyway I think the results of the referendum should be deemed inconclusive. It makes no sense that the British PM would just cop-out when he could have just as easily argued that a 4% margin of difference on such an important matter is inconclusive especially since most of the youth decided to remain in EU. With retirees being the main demographic who support Brexit its highly likely that after two years of painstakingly extricating themselves out of the EU there will be more people who would rather be in the EU than out. It would be foolish of the UK government not to do another referendum especially now when reports are pouring in that many people who voted for Brexit say they felt cheated because they were fed with empty promises especially after the ensuing economic turmoil UK has brought on itself following the results of the referendum.

Unfortunately politics is no stranger to foolhardiness. From Bush Jr.'s Iraq war, Beijing's annexation of the Spratly's, Robert Mugabe's continuing premiership of Zimbabwe, Kim Jong Un's endorsement of Donald Trump to Malaysia's disappearing-billions-of dollars seemingly in plain sight the 21st century hasn't freed itself from bad leadership judgements despite being the age of information and people who are easily charmed by snake-oil salesmen.

It would be embarrassing for the UK to say the least to re-do the referendum but crossing fingers with the hope that everything will turn out well for all sides if Brexit is followed through is clearly worse. It takes a pragmatic leader to realise the UK needs the EU more than the other way around. The referendum has already weakened the UK economically with the value of the pound plunging and politically by sowing a chasm of discord between Britain, Scotland and Northern Ireland (The Scotts and Irish voted overwhelmingly to remain in EU while Britain and Wales chose to leave). If the next PM of UK pushes to remain in the EU he or she will herald a more United Kingdom with youth who are engaged with its future or if the PM decides to pursue Brexit a deeply divided nation will be stuck with a damper that just cannot get over the good old days. Time will tell.

Planets and Solar System–The Complete Manual

We live on a planet in the Solar System that has eight other planets, its an amazing fact when one ponders on the nature of the other planets. In studying the harsh conditions that would extinguish life as we know it on the other planets its easy to appreciate the miracle of life on Earth. This appreciation of the gifts of our planet is a feeling we should not ignore or take lightly because there simply is no replacement for Earth if we mess up our planet. The other planets of our Solar System are wonderments in their own regard and their variety in size, composition and conditions is a testament to nature's propensity for diversity. This is what the study of our Solar System means to me–that nature is diverse so too is our individual lives diverse. This diversity among all of us and the many forms of life that we share this planet with is a reflection of nature in us. We must choose to cherish and nurture this diversity otherwise nature will make our own survival perilous. We should not take lightly the extinction of species that have evolved on Earth over billions of years because life on Earth is a delicate balancing act of nature in which every micro-organism, plant and animal has a part to play. If a species goes extinct something or someone needs to do its work in propping up life on Earth. We can't live in the harsh chemical and physical conditions of Venus and on Mars we cannot walk around and breathe the air freely as we do here. We have our planet and thats all we have to pass on to following generations. Understand where we live in as big a context as you can take in and you will appreciate where we are and what we have.

Rains pummel France and Germany with floods as the effects of long gone El Nino 2016 continues

NASA Earth Observatory Image

The jet stream across the Atlantic was disturbed, causing spring precipitation that normally marches across Europe to queue up over France, Germany and Austria to release most of its moisture in those countries instead of all of Europe. Thus record spring floods in Paris closes the Louvre and creates historic scenes near the Eiffel tower as the Seine river broke its banks. El Nino 2016 is to blame for the disruption of the jet stream. In South China too scenes of heavy flooding caused by heavier than usual rainfall caused damage and grief. In Ethiopia the drought situation worsens as a health and hygiene crisis looms for 5.8 million people. 

In the wake of the tragic Orlando Fla. shootings, USA please don't forget Trump U.

After flooding the media with racial rubbish to distract people from the mendacity of Trump U. the opportunistic Donald has jumped on the sad events of the Orlando gun violence to clutter the media with his sensationalist positions on religious divide. The media has taken the bait–hook, line and sinker–and is following him down to his fetid pit of bigotry by repeating his past platitudes. Basically he is saying lets just ban Islam from the USA. Muslims whether they are citizens or immigrants are not welcome in the USA.

While the establishment, media and rational people are aghast at The Donald's proposals they cannot ignore the fanfare in the Trump camp with his followers thumping 'right-ons' and congratulating the omniscience of their supreme leader's gut.

I am no fan of Islam and I strongly believe that muslim terrorists still plague the world because most of their religious leaders either tacitly support them or they don't condemn the militant muslim struggle enough to delegitimise them.  Thats why even young liberally educated muslim youth can put aside all their general tolerance of having been brought up in a plural society and embrace a suicide mission with simple persuasion tactics of militant handlers. But what is the solution for the us non-muslims to be free of this problem?

On thing is for sure fighting bigotry with more bigotry is not going to solve anything, its only going to inflame the situation. If you press Trump for specifics of what he means by being 'smart or tough' he has no answers, but his language against Muslims is not unlike Hitler's against Jews. And when you start out with that language the solution will be to cordon the USA Muslim population into concentration camps and brand them in such a way that they are conspicuous in public. History has shown that such a condition fosters an ever escalating feeling of hate and insecurity in society's fabric.

I am sure that Trump is really clueless about the dangers of his proposal, actually I think he doesn't care. For Trump this tragedy is a godsend. He can use it to gloat about his stupid tough stand against muslim terrorists which is nothing but talk thus far and get a chance to throw around his bigotry laced platitudes for another round of distraction against the real threat to his US Presidency bid–the Trump U. scandal.

This article on Salon is one of the best I have read on Trump's strange campaign.

Trump 2016 turning to Trump-o-rama

Why in the world would Trump advise his spokespeople to back his racial tirade against the judge who ordered disclosure of Trump U.'s modus operandi? Trump is already on the defensive against claims that he is a racist so to attack the Hispanic judge on his ruling using of all things his racial ethnicity is digging a deeper hole against his campaign. It makes no sense unless The Donald thinks that the Trump U case is more important than his Presidential campaign.

Trump has said that he wants to startup his phoney university again after the lawsuit. He is very confident that he will win the case and his confidence is probably because the students of the U signed a document freeing the university against any liability. Trump U. was a legal scam. Its like those quick rich schemes that promise amazing returns in a month. All you have to do is give your money after signing a document which attests that you are voluntarily entering a risky investment in which there is a chance you could lose all your investment. Trump U's play book shows clearly that it was a scam to dupe its students to pay more and more to make the U profitable more than anything else.

If I was the judge it would be quite evident that Trump U is a scam but it would be hard to rule against Donald Trump with the leeway the enrolment documents gives Trump. However since Trump wants to be the President of the US the judge will have a moral obligation to let the public know that Trump is at least open to using scam tactics. In The Donald's calculations this would be a disaster for the Trump brand especially at this time when the spotlight is blazing on him. So Trump does what he is really good at–creating a distraction. So he brings up the judge's race and attacks and orders his surrogates to keep hammering on this point.  The goal is to get the media and everyone else to lose focus on Trump as the scam artist and instead focus on Trump as the racist. It must have been a hard decision to make for The Donald–which is worse Trump the scam artist or Trump the racist. The latter is bad for business and the previous bad for politics. Trump obviously chose his business over the US Presidency. After the frenzy over Trump's racist remarks subsides I hope the US media keeps up the pressure on exposing Trump U.'s play books.

My only hope is that Trump doesn't damage his campaign so much that the GOP cannot possibly in good conscience (as if they cannot already) endorse Trump as their presidential nominee. Trump has cooked his goose with his chances to become the US President. I just hope the GOP elites haven't figured that out that they've been had. After all I think we can put our faith in Trump's grandstanding and scamming abilities than anything else. 

Donald Trump endorsed by Kim Jong Un. Thats good.

Well only if you are like many of us who are NOT rooting for Trump 2016. What the endorsement does is it puts Trump in the same ilk as tyrannical dictators and fascist propagandist who are megalomaniacs more interested in their own personal ambition than caring for the people who supported them. 

Donald Trump must be having wet dreams of becoming like Kim Jong Un after what must be one of Trump's Presidential Campaign's most fortuitous moments in a week where it had to handle heavy broadsides brought on by unbiased accounting of the six million dollar donations he raised for the VA last year and the disclosure of Trump U.'s predatory play books. He must be wishing he could just off those scumbag reporters who made him a million dollars poorer by making him live up to his donation pledge and the "Mexican" judge who allowed Trump U.'s unscrupulous business strategies open for public viewing like how Kim Jong Un whacked off his detractors, even his own uncle, much to Trump's admiration. Then there was Hillary Clinton's take down of Trump's dumb foreign policy speech that was the missile to destroy any hopes of Trump making inroads with Bernie Sander's supporters.

At this point us foreigners are laughing at Donald Trump for getting an endorsement from the international nut-job Kim Jong Un. I don't know if Trump himself wished for the endorsement but he certainly prompted it with his unabashed admiration of Kim Jong Un's tyrannical tactics. So Trump is on the same step as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jon Un. This must be Trump's foreign ally fantasy–US, Russia and North Korea are going to create the new paradigm of world domination by closing up their countries, invading and colonising Africa and pursuing a path of conflict with Western Europe and US trade partners. What an idiot.

One thing I can say is that most of us in the international community are starting to breathe a sigh of relief as Trump continues to bungle his chances of gaining followers from Sanders camp. For one thing Sanders himself cannot stand the idea of Trump becoming the President and recently Trump declared he is going to roll back whatever progress Obama has made on committing the US to combat climate change. He even declared that he will not respect the accord Obama signed in Paris last year. Fighting climate change is one of the most important agenda among discerning younger voters–Trump's pronouncements on his pro-fossil fuel strategy for US future energy plan is not going to gain any new supporters of Bernie's to Trump. Trump must still be in his fantasy streak when he claimed that Bernie's supporters are coming to him. He must think that all he has to do to woo Bernie's supporters is simply to say Bernie supporters are coming to him. Its like his Cinco de Mayo message to US Hispanics–all he has to do to win with Latinos is to send a message over the net claiming he loves them. Thats it and thats all. Sinko el Trumpo!

Tom Ang's Photography Tutorials Are Passionate and Artful

Digital Photography Masterclass ($21.91) and The Complete Photographer ($18.61)are two photography tutorial books that are more than just instructive they are also works of art. Done with a deep passion for sharing the techniques and art of photography they easily double as coffee table books with their inspiring and artful photos. The Complete Photographer builds on Digital Photography Masterclass.

The Masterclass is about learning to be a photographer who can capture that picture that speaks a thousand words. Its divided into 4 chapters: mastering your camera, developing your skills, the digital darkroom and advancing your photography. 20 tutorials make up these chapters which explores and teaches about controlling the camera, your part in providing a perspective, how best to process a digital image and advise about the type of photography you may be interested in from travel photography to fine art photography. Every tutorial is splashed with stunning photos, a few of which are chosen for in-depth analysis based on the tutorial. Furthermore the tutorials on photography themes include interviews of renowned photographers of that theme and also analysis of student assignments.

The Complete Photographer is about what its like being a photographer and ties it with advanced tutorial on photography themes: Portrait, Landscape, Fashion and Nude, Wildlife and Nature, Sports, Documentary, Event and Milestone, Travel, Architecture, Fine Art. The tutorials of this book revolve around 20 world renowned photographers, two for each theme. The intro to the themes include interesting vignette of history on important people and images that helped shape the theme. The images chosen for analysis nothing less than superb and the analysis is written with a professional in mind.

Both books leave no expense spared in formatting and presentation which make them versatile. You can buy it to advance your photography skills or to inspire a budding photographer of their potential. It can be a coffee table book to simply flip the pages for a break from the ordinary or as a conversation starter. They also make great gifts for all these purposes.