masterwordsmith-unplugged

In the light of recent developments in our country, I surfed quite a bit about the hottest topic today and harvested quite a bit of interesting information which I would like to share with you. Apparently, what we have on our shores is not something new....This post is something lighthearted and I have no intention of showing disrespect to YB Eli. My heart goes out to her and this is my way of defusing the situation by making us realize that the situation is terrible only because some people intended it to be so....
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SOMETHING SERIOUS, SOMETHING SATIRICAL

Could forcing politicians to do away with the clothes they stand up in usher in a new age of decency and honesty?

by Richard Smith, Guardian, U.K.

"For a top politician you can't continue in power when you are seen naked," wrote political analyst Ooi Kee Beng in China Daily in January. He was writing about the former health minister of Malaysia, Chua Soi Lek, who had to resign after featuring in two sex videos which were available on the internet. I don't want my politicians featuring in sex videos (although I don't especially mind if no deception is involved) but I'm strongly in favour of naked politicians. Indeed, I'd go as far as to suggest that all politicians give at least one naked press conference before they can be elected and that one session of prime minister's questions each year should be held with everybody in the room naked, including the policemen.

The besetting sins of politicians are pomposity, horribly overrating their own talent and importance, taking themselves too seriously, oversimplifying complex problems, patronising us and being slippery with the truth. Nakedness is an antidote to all of these. If Robert Mugabe had to stand naked before the people of Zimbabwe and justify his actions he'd be gone in seconds.

Some of the most miserable afternoons of my life were spent sitting in the finance and general purposes committee of the British Medical Association (BMA). The BMA is run by small-time politicians - arguably the worst kind - and the pomposity sucked the air from the room. People took positions based not on what made intellectual or even business sense but rather on accumulating credit for future debates or doing others down for the fun of it. "If only," I'd sit there thinking, "these people were naked then they wouldn't be able to keep this up. Reality would intrude. These middle-aged men with their ......For more click here.

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SOMETHING NASTY

Naked politics and naked politicians

The Government's subterfuges are flushing out whistleblowers, who understand about omission and commission

by Deborah Orr

David Blunkett threw a withering accusation yesterday at the press, or, at least at "some of the right-wing press smelling blood". It is, he accused, resorting to "naked politics". How could certain journalists have sunk so low? The filthy business of naked politics, as any fool knows, is best left to naked politicians. And Mr Blunkett's politics are presently looking horribly naked. In his eagerness to defend his Immigration minister, Beverley Hughes, against a drip-drip campaign of accusation, Mr Blunkett has employed the oldest, saddest trick in the naked politician's book.

He has insisted that the opposition and its supporters can't accuse the Government of any dodgy, underhand, corner-cutting practices in clearing immigration backlogs, because he can prove in turn that the opposition did the same sort of thing when it was in government.

For more, click here.
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SOMETHING REALLY FUNNY

Naked Politicians

I am sixty-nine. At some earlier age I would have snorted over being that age. But by the time you are sixty-nine you are (hopefully) past the stage in life where an Arabic number reminds you of a ......PLEASE READ THIS HILARIOUS ARTICLE!!! CLICK HERE


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SOMETHING RAUNCHY

Politician's naked ambition exposes a moral dilemma

Mark Forbes Herald Correspondent in Jakarta
December 5, 2006

Please click here for the article

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Have a good rest everyone!!! May tomorrow bring good news and fresh hope for all of us!!!

Dear readers,

Here's a riddle from my former colleague...A prize for the first person who can get the correct answer within 24 hours :-).

Please post your solution in the comment page. Thanks and have fun!!!

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A goldsmith has a consignment of 1000 pound of gold dust in 100 bags each weighing 10 pounds.

He has 10 employees (which we will numbered them as 1,2,3,...10). He asks each employee to take back 10 bags home and bring them back tomorrow.

One particular employee is a crook. He scooped out exactly one pound of gold dust from each of his ten bags (all his bags are 9 pounds each).

The employer has a very big weighing machine with the scale covered.

How can he use this weighing machine once ONLY (i.e. one reading from the scale) to catch the crook?

That is, once the cover is removed, you have to identify the crook from that reading on the scale.

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over."

I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead
"I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there.
When I finally walked into my daughter Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.

I told my daughter, "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and my grandchildren that I want to see right now. I don't want to drive another inch!"

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this weather all the time, mother."

"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.

"But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."

"Carolyn," I said sternly,

"It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

So we went! After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road
and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read,

"Daffodil Garden ---->"

We got out of the car, each of us took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path.
Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight.
It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes.


The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue.

There were five acres of flowers!

"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn.

"Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home."
Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory.

We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster.

"Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline.

The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read.

The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain."

The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision
of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop.

Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed
the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something
of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.

The principle her daffodil garden taught me is one of the greatest principles of celebration.

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time.

"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished
if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years?

Just think what I might have been able to achieve!" My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way.

"Start tomorrow," she said.

She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration nstead of a cause for regret is to only ask,

"How can I put this to use today?"

The Daffodil Principle.

Stop waiting.....

Until your car or home is paid off

Until you get a new car or home

Until your kids leave the house

Until you go back to school

Until you finish school

Until you clean the house

Until you organize the garage

Until you clean off your desk

Until you lose 10 lbs.

Until you gain 10 lbs.

Until you get married

Until you get a divorce

Until you have kids

Until the kids go to school

Until you retire

Until summer

Until spring

Until winter

Until fall

Until you die...

There is no better time than right now to be happy.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

So work like you don't need money.

Love like you've never been hurt,

and,

Dance like no one's watching.

If you want to brighten someone's day, pass this on to someone special (like I did to you!)

Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day!

Don't be afraid that your life will end,
be afraid that it will never begin.

- Author unknown-

Are you one those people that are almost always happy, no matter what is happening in your life? Frankly, I am not but I know a few people like that in my life and I am amazed at their natural ability to maintain a smile every day and to be in high spirits all the time. A friend of mine is like that, and I have to shake my head in amazement when something goes wrong and he just makes a joke as if it was nothing. That is definitely a great attitude!

Do you think that the ability to be happy is that a natural inborn thing? I think for some people it is, and really if you think about it we all have a “happiness set mark” at birth just like any DNA trademark. Some folks have brown hair, others blonde. Some are left-handed and others are weird. Personally, I believe happiness is within our power since actions we take and thoughts we control are obviously a huge part of that influence on happiness.

What that means is that we are born with a certain happiness set point but we don’t have to be satisfied with our life the way we are at birth. I feel that we can change our circumstances by changing our behavior. But what changes should we make that can make us happy? That is a question you will have to answer yourself, because everyone is different. Nevertheless, I really believe that is the hardest part for many people!

I know it’s insane, but many people seem to drift through life with no real “long-term” vision, which means they know what makes them happy for the moment, but not what will really fulfill their needs on a long-term basis. That, in my opinion, is the real definition of happiness. Once we figure out the really important things, we can then start making solid plans for obtaining those goals.

I always ask myself common questions such as:

* Do I really love what I am doing now?

* How about my career path?

* Do I see myself staying where I’m at for the next five years, ten years, even twenty years?

* Am I spiritually where I want to be? If not, how can I get there?

Aristotle said, “All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, and desire.” But how much control do we really have, and how much is inborn and thus difficult to change?

I believe that happiness, a state of mind, is really under our control! (In other words, don’t try to blame others if we are feeling grouchy). And of course we can’t be happy all the time either, in fact it’s probably not even a realistic goal to set. But I believe that if we work on a well-defined list of characteristics that most happy people seem to present, our chances of happiness are much higher. I have read that the happiest among us have these traits in common:

* enjoy what they do for a living
* have close relationships with family & friends
* have a certain amount of faith (spiritual element)
* describe themselves as optimists
* have at least a modicum of good health
* and last, but not least, have enough material things that they don’t worry about
food or shelter for themselves or their family

I hope this helps some people put in perspective what happiness means to them, and how much we really can do to change how we feel about it. Don’t wait, make your list today and get started for your happiness.

What makes us happy? OURSELVES!!!

My former colleague, who was Head of Mathematics at the international school where we used to teach, would like to solicit responses to the following 50 questions...He is the BEST Maths teacher that I know ...and teaches Maths innovatively with so much energy, passion and dedication!!

If you feel bored enough or would like some intellectual stimulation, please post your answers in the comment page...Thanks!

P.S. I feel quite illiterate because I could only answer less than ten questions and I don't even know if my answers are correct!!!! haha! Have fun! Have a nice day....
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How much do you know about your basic O'level Maths? try out these 50 questions and assess yourself!

Prepared by Mr. P. Tan

Theory Assessment Test for O’levels:

If you can answer these 50 correctly, then you have a sound knowledge of your O’level course. Answer each question fully.

1) Draw a chart to show the REAL Number System. Define each type of numbers in the chart accompanied by an example.

2) Define the following and give an example to illustrate it.
Highest Common Factor (HCF);
Lowest Common Multiple (LCM);
Palindromic Number;
Orders of Operation for working out an arithmetic problem.

3) In Set Theory, what is meant by:
A Universal set;
A complement of a set;
A subset;
Intersection and union of two given sets?

4) How many types of fractions are there? List it out and give an example for each type of fractions.

5) How many units are there in the Metric System of Measurements for Length? Write down all the units and show how each units differ from the next.

6) What is the equivalent unit for:
Cubic decimeters, (b) milliliters, (c) hectares?

7) What is the relationship between miles per hour (mph) and kilometer per hour (km/h)?

8) Define a JULIAN year and a LEAP year? How can we tell a certain year is a leap year?

9) Write down the equation of a straight line for each of the followings:
(a) General form, (b) gradient-intercept form, (c) intercept form.

10. How many types of angles are there altogether? List out ALL the angles accompanied by an example.

11. What is a four-sided figure called? How many types of figures fall under this category?
12. What is meant by rotational symmetry? State the number of rotational symmetry (if any) for each of the figures in question 11?

13. What is a polygon? What is meant by a regular and an irregular polygon? List all the names of the polygons up to 10 sides. How can we find the sum of all the interior angles of a polygon and how do we test for regularity?

14. How are percentages related to decimals, fractions and ratios? Illustrate your answer with a chart and an example.

15. What is a Matrix? When can we add or subtract two or more matrices together?

16. When can we multiply two matrices together?

17. Can we divide one matrix by another of the same order? Why?

18. What is a Singular matrix? Give an example. What is the significance of a singular matrix?

19. How many types of triangles are there? List out all the names of the triangles and illustrate each case with an example.

20. What is a locus? Give an example.

21. The quadratic function y = ax2 + bx + c where a, b, and c are constants. What are the significance of the coefficients a, b and c with respect to the function? Explain thoroughly with examples and illustrations.

22. The solution of the equation ax2 + bx + c = 0 can be obtained by the Formula:
x = (-b±√(b^2-4ac))/2a where a, b and c are constants.

What is the significance of the term: x = - b/2a ? (b) b2 – 4ac ?

Describe fully the implications attached to (b) with respect to the type of answers we expect to get as well as whether the equation can be factorized or not.

23. What is meant by inconsistent equations? Give an example.

24. In Probability, state the lowest and highest range of values it can have. What is the significance of the probability being zero, one or more than 1?

25. State Pythagoras’ theorem and illustrate it with an example. Why is this theorem so important? How can we use this theorem to show whether a triangle is right-angled, acute-angled or obtuse-angled triangle?

26. In Geometry, explain what is meant by:

a) Centroid, (b) orthocenter, (c) median, (d) similar triangles e) congruent triangles?

27. Given a triangle, how do we circumscribe or inscribe a circle?

28. In Statistics, what is meant by mean, mode and median of a set of a set of scores?

29. In Statistics, what is meant by putting a set of scores in Rank order?
column in your table?

33. What is an OGIVE graph? What is the importance of an Ogive curve?

34. What is the Interquartile range (IQR)? What is the significance of IQR?

35. When the Mean, Mode and Median coincide in a frequency distribution, what is the significance of this occurrence?

36. What is trigonometry? Explain.

37. When do we use the Sine and Cosine Rules? State the conditions for each of the rules.

38. In Transformations, what is the relationship between the enlargement factor and the resulting area obtained?

39. What is the relationship between speed, distance and time?

40. In each of the following graphs:
(a) distance vs time,

(b) speed vs time,

(c) acceleration vs time; state the quantity represented by the gradient and area in each graphs (if there is a relationship).

41. Which Mathematician’s equation is used to find out whether a figure is a Solid or not given the numbers of edges, faces and vertices? Write down the equation connecting these three quantities.

42. What is a Unicursal or Transversible network? Give an example.

43. What is the difference between a Relation and a Function?

What is the relationship between them. How do we test whether a given graph is a relation or a function? Give an example.

44. What is the difference between “x > 1” and “x 1”?

45. If set A is a subset of set B, write down in Set notation, the probability of selecting an element in set A with respect to set B.

46. What is meant by two events are independent and two events are mutually exclusive? Give an example.

47. Draw out the net for each of the following solids:

(a) cylinder,

(b) rectangular pyramid,
(c) cuboid,

(d) an equilateral prism.

48. Write down the formulae for the volume of each of the figures in Question 47.

49. What is a Hemi-sphere? Write down the formula for its surface area (solid) and its volume.

50. State the conditions for which two triangles are
(a) similar,

(b) congruent.

Illustrate each case with an example.



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*This post is dedicated to RPK who always said "NO" when he stood up for what he believes in. May God be with him today at his ISA trial, 9a.m.Putrajaya Federal Court. I cannot be there in person but am there in spirit, thoughts and soul.

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"No" is such a simple word....

It comprises only two letters. Yet saying "No" out loud is harder for most people than saying, "I'll be glad to..." (eleven letters)or "When do you need me to..." (seventeen letters)

Most of us said, "No!" quite well when we were two. After all, it's the joy of a two-year-old to say "No." The authority figures in our lives at the time, our parents, expect us to say "No". And it is because of "No" that the year is known as the Terrible Two's.

Sadly, many of us grow up to be people pleasers. The word "No" drops out of our vocabulary, and we substitute lots of ways to be agreeable and keep the other person happy. Saying "No" to the authority figures is not expected. And underneath it all we believe that saying "No" can cost us a lot in our adult life.

In my work, I have had to say 'No' in a few ways.

The unassertive "No" is accompanied by weak excuses and rationalizations. If you lack confidence when you say "No" you may think that you need to support your "No" with lots of reasons to convince the other person that you mean it.

You might even make up an excuse to support your "No." This can backfire if the lie is exposed and again, you will sound ineffective because you need to have an excuse to support your stand.

Then there is the aggressive "No" which is done with contempt. "Are you kidding? Me, give you an extension to the assignment deadline?"

Sometimes the aggressive "No" includes an attack on the person making the request. "You must be crazy. I couldn't take on a project that unimportant."

Let us not forget the assertive "No" which is simple and direct. "No, I won't be able to help with that." If you would like to offer an explanation, make it short and simple. "No, I won't be able to help with that. I've already made a commitment for Friday afternoon."

How can we make it easier to say an assertive "No"?

1. When someone makes a request, it is always OK to *ASK FOR TIME TO THINK IT OVER*. In thinking it over, remind yourself that the decision is entirely up to you.

2. Use your nonverbal assertiveness to underline the "No." Make sure that your voice is firm and direct. Look into the person's eyes as you say, "No." Shake your head "No," as you say, "No."

3. Remember that "No," is an honorable response. If you decide that "No," is the answer that you prefer to give, then it is authentic and honest for you to say, "No."

4. If you say, "Yes," when you want to say, "No," you will feel resentful throughout whatever you agreed to do. This costs you energy and discomfort and is not necessary if you just say, "No" when you need to.

5. If you are saying, "No," to someone whom you would help under different circumstances, use an empathic response to ease the rejection. For example, to your friend who needs you to keep her child while she goes to the doctor, you might say, "No, Susie, I can't keep Billie for you. I know it must be hard for you to find someone at that time of day, but I have already made lunch plans and I won't be able to help you.

6. Start your sentence with the word, "No." It's easier to keep the commitment to say, "No," if it's the first word out of your mouth.

We can say "No" in a few ways:

to the clerk who wants to write your phone number down
when you return something to the store;
to the telemarketer who disturbs your dinner;
to the perfume demonstrator at the department store;
to your friend's pets when they jump on you;
to the secretary who answers the phone and asks if you mind if she puts
you on hold.
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Make it a project to say, "No," to something every day.

When you do, notice it and give yourself credit for practicing saying
such an important two letter word.

Then you would have begun to be a real and honest person who speaks from your heart.

Yes? No?

What sayest thou?

It has been a long dreary day every since I read the article this morning...and I have not had the heart to blog as usual. There is so much I feel and yet, for once, I do not know how to say it. Perhaps this short inspirational story says it all....

A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon. On the day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the moth for several hours as the moth struggled to force the body through that little hole.

The moth seemed to be stuck and appeared to have stopped making progress. It seemed as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. The man, in his kindness, decided to help the moth; so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The moth then emerged easily. But its body was swollen and small, its wings wrinkled and shriveled. The man continued to watch the moth because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to and able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the little moth spent the rest of its life crawling around with a small, swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly. The man in his kindness and haste did not understand that the struggle required for the moth to get through the tiny opening was necessary to force fluid from the body of the moth into its wings so that it would be ready for flight upon achieving its freedom from the cocoon. Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of a struggle, he deprived the moth of health.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go through our life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Give every opportunity a chance, leave no room for regrets, and don't forget the power in the struggle.