UK debt in December reached the highest level since records began in 1993, according to figures released Tuesday. Britain’s Office for National Statistics said net public debt excluding the effects of any financial interventions now stands at 1 trillion pounds ($1.6 trillion), or about 64.2% of gross domestic product.
So yes, spending cuts are necessary and they illustrate the “scale of the fiscal challenge” facing the country. But in the uncaring hands of hard-boiled politicians, they are damaging public services and hurting the defenseless in British society. What the government has done and/or plan to do sound more like a scorched-earth policy – surely there are less painful methods to consider?
ProPublica.org posted a simple but powerful image of the US Congressional members' position on SOPA/PIPA today vs. yesterday:
Click on the image to ENLARGE.
As you will recall, SOPA and PIPA is collectively a misguided effort to halt online piracy. This legislation was funded after a $94-million series of donations by the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America which then lobbied Congress to push through the two bills. Success was almost assured until the vocal online community banded together to do battle against SOPA and PIPA. The Internet blackout was one such move - read my blog posting dated January 19, 2012.
You may be asking yourself, as I did, “What is wrong with stopping people from stealing movies and music from the hard-working people who produce and make them?” There is no issue with stopping piracy, but these two bills would not have done the job without potentially killing the entire Internet.
The language of SOPA and PIPA sought to shut down the source of alleged piracy at the DNS level and cut it off at the server level. The problem with this, though, is there was no due process in the procedure. The MPAA or RIAA could allege that your personal blog violates their intellectual properties, and have it shut down – just like that. No court, no trial, no lawyers... nothing.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, both bills failed in the House and Senate. As someone wrote “…the fight is far from over. As long as lobbyists are buying their legislation, and Congressmen are willing to front their bills, the fight will never be over. A free and open Internet is the biggest and best invention of the past 25 years.”
I agree. The Internet must be defended. It is important that we uphold free and direct communication on the Internet, so that we can continue to create, discuss, link and share. No one owns the Internet – let’s be clear on this!
A follow-up to Sunday's posting "White Ang Pows from Perkasa". Khoo Kay Peng’s blog Straight Talk today reveals that it is MCA Seputeh division committee member Collin Tiew (left), who had arranged for more than 50 (?) people to attend the Perkasa CNY open house. And in Khoo’s posting, Tiew had made two astonishing claims. First, “he was victimized after he was criticized for playing a part” in the Perkasa event! I believe he meant that he has been scapegoated. He may not be too happy at being singled out, that's why. Second, “he did not know Ibrahim Ali before the event”! This is a blatant lie because anybody who keeps up with current affairs will have known about this firebrand named Ibrahim Ali. “Anybody”, I am sure, would include MCA members since they are very much politically aware. 
