The Good News

From BBC: Daily caffeine 'protects brain':

Coffee may cut the risk of dementia by blocking the damage cholesterol can inflict on the body, research suggests.

The drink has already been linked to a lower risk of Alzheimer's Disease, and a study by a US team for the Journal of Neuroinflammation may explain why.

A vital barrier between the brain and the main blood supply of rabbits fed a fat-rich diet was protected in those given a caffeine supplement.

I like when the news turns my bad habits into good habits.

From The Star: Selangor government probes multi-million ringgit cheating cases:

SHAH ALAM: The Selangor Government has opened investigations into allegations of massive land cheating cases said to run into hundreds of millions of ringgit in
the state.

Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim will personally go through records of all land transactions “tainted” by allegations of fraud.

He will discuss the matter during a special meeting with all nine district officers in
the state today.

“We will look at all the records of cases where there have been complaints to ascertain if proper procedures were followed,” he said in an interview with The Star.

The opposition wasn't necessarily a mistake on our part.

And just cause I wanted the topic to be optimistic, here's the bad news. From The Star: Proposal to prosecute non-Muslims for khalwat:

KUALA LUMPUR: A seminar on Syariah Law review wants non-Muslims found committing khalwat (close proximity) with Muslims to also be held liable.

This was among the proposals made at the two-day seminar organised by the Islamic Institute of Understanding Malaysia (Ikim) and the Syariah Judiciary Department Malaysia.

Syariah Court of Appeal Judge Datuk Mohd Asri Abdullah said the seminar had proposed that non-Muslims committing khalwat with Muslims should also be sentenced accordingly, but in the civil courts.

“We don’t have the jurisdiction to sentence non-Muslims committing khalwat with Muslims,” he told reporters after closing the seminar on behalf of department director-general Datuk Ibrahim Lembut at Ikim here today.

“The Muslims can be sentenced in Syariah courts, and the non-Muslim partners can probably be sentenced in the civil courts, to be fair to both parties.”

Time to move? Yes, probably.

Scandal rocks Formula 1

Found this gem on BBC Sport: Defiant Mosley vows to fight on:

Max Mosley has pledged to carry on as president of the FIA, motorsport's governing body, despite allegations about his private life.

The News of the World carried a report on Sunday claiming Mosley had taken part in a "Nazi-style orgy in a torture dungeon".

The Briton had been advised not to travel to this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix, with Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone saying the Bahraini royal family "would not like" his attendance in the Emirate.

No, seriously. I know, right?

According to Voice of Tasmania: Max Mosley claims Nazi sex scandal plot:

Mosley, a lawyer and former candidate for the Conservative party, was pictured in a British Sunday newspaper allegedly participating in an orgy with prostitutes dressed as Nazi guards.

I don't know if it's because I watched the whole season of Dirt in 2.5 days, but this is such an awesome scandal. So I obviously had to go looking for these alleged photos. Unlike Lucy Spiller, however, I don't have the skills. Google Images returns a promising thumbnail, but the page doesn't load. The rest of the world is probably trying to access the same page. Oh well. Will continue trying. I will bring you this story if it kills me (or gets me fired).

Why I don't trust men

From NST: Woman at mercy of man with sex tapes of her:

KUALA LUMPUR: She was so in love with a married man that for seven years, she allowed him to film videos of her having sex with men he had hired.

In December last year, the 32-year-old information technology consultant finally ended her affair with the 40-year-old contractor.

However, the man is now threatening to harm her family and release the videos unless she returns to him.

"The woman, who only wanted to be known as Hui, said she was contemplating suicide. I convinced her not to resort to such measures," said Chong yesterday. He said Hui met the man in 2001 and they bought a condominium unit in Ampang.

She alleged that between 2003 and 2006, her lover brought six men home and asked her to have sex with them in front of a video camera.

Hui agreed to her lover's requests as she loved him very much and was willing to do anything for him. She claimed she had slept more than once with some of the six men and at the end of each "session", her lover would pay the men.

In late 2005, the man's wife found out about his extramarital affair and confronted Hui.

Despite being warned by the woman, Hui continued her relationship with the man until December last year.

Women never learn from the mistakes of others.

In the news today

God I missed this. Reading the hard copy of the newspaper at home and exclaiming to myself in disbelief just isn't as fun. I'm sure Khir Toyo agrees with me. Nothing like announcing your blog to the news to get hits.

Let us begin.

From The Star: Sexy lingerie now also for the dead:

PENANG: Dressing up in sexy undergarments is not only for the living. Paper paraphernalia burnt for the dead now include lingerie.

Matching cardboard-made brassieres and panties in various colours and designs are selling like hot cakes at Choon Ban Heong in Magazine Road here.

The colourful bras, ranging from simple plain colour ones to sexy leopard prints, are also carefully lined with colourful trimmings and decorated with tiny paper butterflies.

Tay said the underwear sets, selling at RM4 each, received a good response from her clients.

Seriously? I don't think sexy lingerie is what I want in the underworld.

We will resume normal transmission

It's been a long time. I shouldn't have left you without a dope beat to step to.

Okay, I'll stop quoting lyrics. No, not really. Anyway, as you may or may not have guessed, I haven't had internet access at work. However, with the genius and cunning that can only be found in management trainees, I have managed to sneak my way onto the internet. Thank god. I've been dying.

It's been really tough on me, getting through the election period without being able to blog. All those articles, all the sheer stupidity gone uncommented. I don't know how I did it, but I did.

Just to update you on my life (because you don't answer your phone or call back):

1. I'm moving out w.e.f. 15th April 2008. My new housemates will be my 2 sisters. Will we survive? Will we scratch each others eyes out? Will we find peace and contentment? What will our parents say when we tell them? Stay tuned to find out.
2. I'm missing out on the Great Philippines Trip of May 2008.
3. I need to dive. Seriously.
4. This department is pretty fun. I dressed up as a pirate on the second day for a campaign launch. I actually have real responsibilities. People here are fun. Nope, not confirming in this one.
5. The past three weeks have been some of the toughest on me emotionally and physically. But I'm out on the other side now.

Yeah, that's about it. Not much has happened this past month.