Earthquake in Singapore.

Yesterday, as I sat before my computer, in the early evening, at home, something odd began to happen. My chair began to rock back and forth. Now, being quite a heavy man, I blamed, at once, the structural integrity of the chair and stood up, fearing that it was about to collapse beneath me.

I looked at the chair, as I stood, and it seemed OK. So I sat again, and again I felt it rock back and forth. It was then that I conceived the idea that, perhaps, the rocking was not due to my weight, but to the world itself: an earthquake was in progress.

To back up my belief, there was a knocking sound filling the building, which reminded me of the sound a waste chute in an earlier house had made during an earthquake: a rhythmic throbbing.

Today, I read in the newspapers that quite a big earthquake had struck Indonesia...7.6 on the Richter scale, which is really quite huge. This leads me to wonder: how safe is Singapore from earthquakes? Surely, if I could clearly feel this one, in Singapore, there must be a level of earthquake which would lead to damage in Singapore, even if it were centred on Indonesia? What if a much bigger earthquake struck nearby Indonesia...would buildings in Singapore then begin to fall?

I wonder this because Singaporeans are so used to being safe. Have the buildings here, been designed to withstand earthquakes? I did worry, yesterday, at all the shaking done to my home...could such shaking do any harm?

I ask these questions but I know we will not get any really solid answers. The authorities will always say: "It could not happen here"...until it does happen and then they will say: "We could not have known...".

It would be good to have information on what level of earthquake, at what distance from us, would cause harm in Singapore. Does anyone have that information? If so, please comment below.

My sympathies go out to those who may have been hurt, or killed, and their families, in Indonesia. At present, there is no substantial information about casualties. I wish people well, there.

Could Ris have got any lower?

The whole Ris Low episode leads me to wonder about to what degree it is possible to conduct a life built on lies. It also leads me to wonder why anyone would want to.



Ris Low, for instance, told all Singapore's national newspapers, when news of her credit card fraud broke, that ERM World Marketing, the organization behind Miss Singapore World, KNEW about her credit card fraud conviction. She said that she had told them. She further said that they had informed her that they would let her continue in the pageant as long as the news of it, did not leak out.


Well, we have recently learnt that ERM World Marketing did NOT know of her conviction. They were only told by Ris Low AFTER NEWS OF IT BROKE. So, there are two lies exposed above. A third lie is that Ris Low said, in the past, that she was aware of all of the clauses regarding criminality but didn't mention her crime because she thought that her sentence, 24 months of supervised probation, did not count as a conviction. Now, she is saying that she didn't know about the clauses, because she didn't read the contract in detail - because the other pageants had no such clauses. Since these two statements contradict each other, one of them is a lie.



There is, it seems, no end to the lies of this young girl. Indeed, it is beginning to seem as if her youth is her only recommendation, (if recommendation it can be...) She is also amazingly insensitive to the seriousness of her own crime dismissing it, as "not so big". So, the fact that she had over 60 charges of credit card fraud levied against her, doesn't seem to have awakened any sense of what is right or wrong in her. She still thinks of her crimes as nothing.



This, I think is key to her personality. Credit card fraud is "not so big"...it is nothing serious. Thus, the threshold for what she thinks is wrong is above this. Thus, any crime or wrongdoing somewhere ABOVE credit card fraud, will be dismissed as nothing. Thus, issuing a stream of lies in public to the newspapers about each and every issue will be considered as "nothing" to her. It is, after all, much less serious than credit card fraud, which is also "nothing" in her eyes.



She has recently defended her demonstrably risible English, by claiming that she received "A1" in her English O levels and Communication O levels, in Singapore. Now, if this is true, then these exams are worthless, when issued by the Singaporean system - because she clearly cannot use English remotely well. Yet, I don't think that the Singaporean education system is at risk here. It is much more likely that Ris Low is lying again. People with perfect English scores generally make better English sentences than ones that include non-existent words such as "Boomz".



In the case of Ris Low, whenever any of her public statements has been examined, it has been discovered to have been a lie. This is now a consistent pattern. She has also, for instance, laid claim to a defense of "I have bipolar disorder". Interestingly, this "diagnosis", I have read, was only "made" AFTER she was in need of an excuse. Her lawyer advised her to get a medical check up to see if there was any excuse she could give for her actions. Hey presto, out pops an immediate diagnosis of "bipolar disorder". Now, the course of events that led to this diagnosis hardly encourages us to believe in it - but even if she has bipolar disorder, this is not really an excuse. Bipolar disorder gives you severe mood swings, it does not automatically turn you into a congenital liar and fraudster. Indeed, her use of "bipolar disorder" as an excuse, is an insult to all those who actually have bipolar disorder, because people might begin to doubt their integrity and moral worth, when there is, in fact, no reason to do so.

What we have learnt, so far, of Ris Low, is that close examination of her statements tends to reveal them to be lies. I would like, therefore, an independent opinion on her "bipolar disorder". It would also be interesting to see if her school will back up the A1 grades claimed in English and Communications. Somehow, however, I don't think that will happen.

So far, the public reaction to Ris Low's crimes and lies, does not seem to have dissuaded Ris Low from continuing to lie. I can only hope though, that the whole situation will sober her up, with regards to the importance of integrity and truth. If not, I cannot imagine what harm she will bring to those around her - and herself - should she continue to live a life of persistent dishonesty.

Ris Low: it is time to stop the lies, and start the confessions. It is time, basically, to stop running from the truth of yourself with excuses like: "I was young, I didn't think"...and start seeing yourself for what you are - and make an effort to reform. It is no excuse to claim youth as a reason for dishonesty and lack of integrity. Most young people are honest in most parts of the world. Why should Ris Low be any exception?

One good thing, though, that all of this has done, is make it harder for Ris Low to get away with any future crimes or lies. People just won't believe her. Perhaps, then, she will reform, not through her own efforts, but perforce, through the reactions of others. That will be a good thing. Perhaps, one day, she will be even thankful for the reformative pressure that will be brought to bear on her. That is, she might be so when she is old enough to have acquired some wisdom...say, not nineteen, but ninety.

We will wait and see.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals.If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

How to live longer...now.

If you would like to live longer, or would like someone you love to live longer, please vote for an anti-aging research project here:



http://www.facebook.com/l/65f50;3banana.com/m/0JQ/-kDPA_iEv7i



All you have to do is log in to the website and write a comment on the page linked to above. You can log in with the site, or with your google account. It only takes 30 seconds - but it could give you many extra years.



At present the SENS anti-aging research programme is in second place. It is about 54 votes behind the leaders. The leading project is for a very localized social support programme in Los Angeles. It will not affect many people. The SENS programme will affect everyone on Earth. So please vote for SENS, now.


Today is the LAST day of voting. So just go to the site, and write a comment - and get all your friends and relatives to do the same. Why not post it on your facebook, blogs and other social network sites? It costs you nothing...but the prize money will go to anti-aging research and the publicity attendant on winning will help the cause of helping everyone live a healthier, longer life.



So please go to:



http://www.facebook.com/l/65f50;3banana.com/m/0JQ/-kDPA_iEv7i



and get commenting!


Thanks so much.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals.If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

MacArthur Fellows "Genius Grants" 2009

Every year, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation gives out between 20 and 40, $500,000 US dollar awards to creative people. The purpose of the awards is to support these proven creative individuals, in their work, so that they can better focus upon it, without so many worries regarding funding. It is, I think, one of the best premises for a foundation and one most likely to lead to the betterment of the world.



This year's awards have been announced. The recipients are, as usual, from a very wide range of backgrounds and pursuits. The only thing they have in common, is their creative drive. The list is taken from Wikipedia but has its ultimate source as the MacArthur Foundation itself.



The recipients are:
Lynsey Addario, photojournalist; Maneesh Agrawala, computer vision technologist; Timothy Barrett, papermaker; Mark Bradford, mixed media artist; Edwidge Danticat, novelist; Rackstraw Downes, painter; Esther Duflo, economist; Deborah Eisenberg, short story writer; Lin He, molecular biologist; Peter Huybers, climate scientist; James Longley, filmmaker;

L. Mahadevan, applied mathematician; Heather McHugh, poet; Jerry Mitchell, investigative reporter; Rebecca Onie, health services innovator; Richard Prum, ornithologist; John A. Rogers, applied physicist; Elyn Saks, mental health lawyer; Jill Seaman, infectious disease physician
Beth Shapiro, evolutionary biologist; Daniel Sigman, biogeochemist; Mary Tinetti, geriatric physician; Camille Utterback, digital artist; Theodore Zoli, bridge engineer.



They shall each receive $500,000 US dollars, in quarterly instalments, over a five year period. This will enable many of them to do projects they wouldn't otherwise have been able to do.



There is only one limitation of these awards. The recipients must be citizens or residents of the USA. This is a pity, because there are creative people all over the world and they, too, need support to enable their work to happen. However, I understand that an American foundation would wish to focus on Americans.



There is a solution to this. Why don't other foundations around the world - and other billionaires with a view to establishing a foundation - establish a similar award, preferably one that would not be geographically limited? It seems to me that there could be no better one to help ensure a richer, deeper, more diverse future for Mankind, than to support the work of its creative individuals. I have seen piecemeal support of talented people from other foundations - but nothing of this magnitude - $500,000 - nor of this consistency - a goodly number of awards every year. I think it would be good if the MacArthur Foundation were to act as a template for similar awards around the world. The lives of all of us would be thereby enriched, as creative people are freed to focus on their work.



In my eyes, the MacArthur Fellowships are more important to the future of Mankind, than the Nobel Prizes. This is because the MacArthur Fellowships are EARLY interventions in a career to support that career while the recipients are still young enough to produce great creative work, subsequent to receiving the award. The Nobel Prizes on the other hand, are so carefully considered, and take so long to be awarded, after the work done, that the careers of its recipients are usually in their twilight years - or at an end - by the time the Prize is awarded. Therefore, Nobel Prizes have little effect on the work done by the recipients in their lifetime. The MacArthur Fellowships, on the other hand, can directly provoke a much more productive life than would otherwise have been - because the recipient is free not to have to work for a living, but can, instead, focus entirely on creative production.



So, were a billionaire or a nation to establish a new Prize for genius, it should be modelled on the MacArthur Foundation - and NOT on the Nobel Foundation. Please don't understand this comment. The Nobel Prize is very important in conferring recognition on a lifetime's work - but it is less important than the MacArthur Fellowship in facilitating such work. Both kinds of prize have their role. It is just that, in my opinion, the MacArthur Fellowship model is more directly productive. Interestingly, however, the Nobel Prize is much more prestigious. This is probably a function of rarity, since there are more MacArthur Fellowships each year than Nobel Prizes. It is also a function of the kind of award it is. The Nobel Prize Winners are the best of the best of their kind, in their field, proven by decades of evaluation. The MacArthur Fellows are those with proven creativity - and PROMISE of more to come. Of course, what has not yet happened - the future work of MacArthur Fellows - cannot be judged or assessed - and so the merit of the prize seems less certain. It is impossible to point to the work and say "This justifies the prize". With the Nobel Prize, there is no doubt of the work, at all - for it has all been done.



Thus, the MacArthur Fellowship is a braver prize than the Nobel. It is one that is making a punt on future work, of people shown to have done good past work. It is vote of confidence in their potential. It is also recognition of that promise.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals.If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)