Year End Close Calls

Copenhagen Accord = Kyoto Protocol 2.0?

Sad to say, the recent Copenhagen Accord is no different from the Kyoto Protocol made 13 years ago, which entered into effect 5 years ago, designed to solve the same problem of global warming which will result in climate change. This has yet to be solved thanks to humanity's selfish behaviour which will only end up destroying themselves ultimately. Well, maybe robots might take over!

The Protocol ends in 2012, where the new Accord is designed to take over, but whether this will affect any change remains to be seen, as Kyoto was a failure with the biggest source of global warming being the United States and this same country refused to be part of the Protocol:

Hopefully now with Obama @ the helm and this time US is a part of the new Accord, come 2012 when the Protocol expires, the new Accord with US involved will make our world for the better.

Dead End Job

Based on a real life experience... bus operator appeared to be pissed off after he stopped at a bus stop and no one enters. It only be described as the D'oh experience.

Explosive Words

Check it out... some fella in power finally got the guts to spill some truth.
More interesting read are the people comments \ more comments.

Now only they acknowledge?

Here are some facts, here are the fall outs.

Take a Good Look

Sometimes it seems we really need to ask ourselves what have we gotten the world into. Nothing is what it seems, logic being defied, laws and order being blatantly disregarded by the very people who made them. It can only be cleared that we are far from"civilized".

For those who really want to know the (some what obvious) answer to the strip... read this and this.

How do they rate the score anyway?

Read the comic, nuff said.
And according to a certain minister, crime index is going up because Police is becoming more effective.

Malaysian Circus Association

To those of you who are not Malaysian or have no idea what the strip is all about here is the run down: A large political party in Malaysia recently has a dispute between its chairman and its deputy.

To cut a long story short; chairman fires deputy, deputy fights back. They held an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to let the party delegates decide their fate because... this is suppose to be a democratic party, so to speak.

Turns out shockingly if they accept the voting result both of them will be out of power, however that pales in comparison as on the next day both men shook hands on uneasy truce, called it a day and turned their backs on the EGM result.

All the promises and talks they mentioned about "their fate on the hands of delegates", "uphold the party ruling", "in the party's best interest" before the voting all gone with the wind.

So much for democracy.

Beyonce, Moral, Parliament

On the news of Beyonce’s concert postponed, one thing link to another but in the grand scheme of things one can't help but look at it with a sarcastic stance...

Bolehland Reality Check

Boleh ah? As mentioned on local news Aussie investors fret about crime and,,,

Global Warming Meets Globalised Weapon

The figures may be plastic but the news is real. Part of Africa now is having the worst drought in more than a decade. Coincidence with global warming? May be not.

These Days' News aint for the Faint Hearted

Flood in Manila, Tsunami in Samoa Islands

In just a short span of time we had massive flash flood in Manila and tsunami in the Samoa Islands. This comic is in response of the plight of the people who get caught in the nature's tantrum which might be direct result of man made global warming.

As if times are not hard enough these days even struggling individuals who did all the wise things to stay afloat can get whacked anytime by simply staying at home to drive them further down in the game of life.

The Wednesday schedule this week was delayed for both big news happening and the author simply too tired. Any how if you have not noticed BrickLife publishing is subjected to "If life does not screw up" condition. :D

As seen on our sister blogs

The Malaysian F1 Team

For those who don't know, read more about the 1Malaysia F1 Team here. But, we're sure by now you've heard enough of it if you're a Malaysian :) Whether your situation is like the above, we believe many Malaysians can relate to it ;)

Coulda have made 100 without 2 packs a day

Yeap check it out... 92-year-old wins $1.9 million tobacco judgment over wife’s death.

Author note:
This week's strip was late. 2 days straight and 4 hrs sleep per day taken its toll.

The Ever Creeping Raise

Up 200%! A RapidKL bus ride which last time cost RM2 for a day pass can go up to RM3 per trip; So back and forth what was once costing RM2 can be now RM6. And what do the extra payment get for the users? Same overworked driver who now must work more on asking where people are going when they board the ride, argue with commuters about exact change policy (Fare cost Rm1.90... what you only have RM2? Too bad no 10 cent return). Pray you take the bus enough to justify the monthly pass.

Other conventional bus ride typically increased in fare for about 100% on long distances. By paying more and getting the same stuff one cant help but feel less optimistic about the future.

But then of course all this would not been an issue if a typical employee has his/her salary jack up 200% from time to time would it?

Easier Said Then Done

Ever notice when things on the ground are going completely opposite to what the Leaders in a country is saying and as reported on main stream media? Yeah in this days and age of internet information access if the leader of a country still could not really grasp the concept of people will know if you tell a blatant lie it is very disturbing indeed.

Only 3 possible explanation exist for such a behavior :
1. The Leader is obtuse, or really out of sync with reality
2. The Leader has his own agenda
3. The Leader has no real control over the situation

None of these explanation can give any comfort to the masses of citizen who are bearing the ever increasing burden of day to day living expenses.

That is a lot of Money for defamation

Based on the local saga Ong sues Tiong for RM500 million.
No matter how one look at it, that seems like a ridiculous amount to ask for.

Paradox talk

Starting from next month onwards bus and taxi fare are up in Malaysia. Depending on destination prices are up from 25-50%. In a torrent of price hikes from electricity to tolls it can be easily forgotten just 10 years ago some of these standard service used to cost half of the present rate -- not counting the impending price hike.

In other words, in a decade the price of a bus ticket went up almost 300% while the standard salary baseline stay almost stagnant with like 10-20% increment. In the meantime though, the public can be assured by the government officials "the new increment will not burden them" again and again.

Work Faster - There's More Work!

Based on a real story.

Now how are you supposed to motivate any worker with more work, when the job in question is almost a dead-end. This is something beyond us.

Maybe that's why some of us might never make it to become a boss in the future.

You Own the Car, or the Car Owns You?

There was this chart which was published in a local paper portraying the causes of Malaysian bankruptcies. A staggering more then 50% was attributed to failure to pay car loan installments - that says something about the local situation.

Inadequate public transport systems coupled with very expensive cars forced a lot people to purchase cars which were out of their means. Now that the recession has hit, all hell broke loose.

Old Age cover ups in New Age

Not pointing finger to any one in particular ... but if you happen to keep a tab on the news around the world one can notice certain governing regime seemed keen to run the old cover ups operation in the new age of internet -- that is like trying to keep your feet dry in raising flood water. Well, god bless the internet.

Like classroom fight... except for the nuclear warheads

Get a load of this, a casual glance of the wordings like "unruly children", "school girl" and "funny lady" might indicate some sort of cheesy spat between high school students or celebrities; a closer inspection will reveal it to be might more serious.

Our canine force are genetical identical

Check out the news on Cloned sniffer dogs begin duties.
Science fiction meets reality? The news quoted "Only about 30% of naturally-born sniffer dogs make the grade, but South Korean scientists say that could rise to 90% using the cloning method.". Well gee, even if it really works this will definitely raise many disturbing questions in time to come.

Banking Self Mutilation

As mind boggling as it sounds it is reported a Bank Sues itself due to either erm, stupidity or technical reasons. It then proceed to hire 2 different law firms to sue and defend itself to avoid "comflict of interest". Bank split personality at its best? We can't help but feels something is seriously wrong about the case.

Shine or Rain make little difference

A salute to the workers world wide.

He said sorry, well yeah but...

In conjunction with the news of Madoff sentenced to 150 years. The irony is that after all the money lost he will further lingers in the jail at the expense of people's money -- since the jail are run by government and funded by people's tax.

The Moonwalker

Michael Jackson: 1958-2009
Genius, Legend, Enigma, The King of Pop. Revolutionized the Music Industry and left a legacy of amazing songs.

Lego fan Ciamoslaw Ciamek captures Michael doing the moonwalk in “Smooth Criminal” as a tribute to the late Legend.

Live feed : Brothers Brick

The Moon Walker fell... and a large part of awesome 80s dies with him

Unless you are living under a rock for the past 20 years chances are you know who is Michael Jackson, The King of Pop. To a lot of people who grew up in the 80s he was a huge icon in the seemingly better days of the 1980s... when grim news does not always reach your door, the world seemed fine and Megatron was still transforming into a gun.

The legend's demise seems to in a way signifies the last ditch of 80s like days are long gone for good... as we are now stuck in an age when grim news travel at lightning speed across the global, environmental concern is a huge issue and Megatron now transforms into a god-knows-what-it-is alien space craft.

Wait a second... say that again?

As the events unfold themselves and things got worse by the days this statement from the said authority concerned hit the news front. Let us just hope talks like this does not inspire any other similar regime world wide...

Tehran - The World is watching

Flicker user Nolnet's take on the current event the caught the world's attention
Live feed : Brothers Brick

Hazy Situation

For those of you wondering what's going on here, it's a dead giveaway if you've been reading BrickTech as well, especially the We Didn't Plan This post. Ironically, the hazy images taken from the faithful 3-year old digital camera is a mirror reminder of our 2009 Malaysian haze seasonal problem, which is becoming more and more of an annual event Malaysians dread.

Hopefully we can get a new camera soon, but the bet is on that the haze will still linger around long after things have cleared off here.

Coming up next on BrickTech, we'll show you how even computers are smart enough to know it's hazy out there - and even tell you the real heat feeling.

Big ride with babes, for real

Our young friend smiled at the prospect of an exciting life ahead of him... little did he know what lies in wait for him in future. It is of little doubt most of us yearn for a good living but life seldom goes the way we want it, in the mean time we should all rely more on concrete actions.

Price tag of $300 million and in use for 1 year, the warranty still valid?

Part of the roof of the RM300mil costing Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Gong collapsed yesterday just a year after it was opened.

Most will agree there are much better ways to spend RM300mil, heck, even just by handing them out might prove to benefit the country more. Good thing the say it is still under warranty but we will see.

News on Star

Always at Stake

A meteor, another ice age, an outbreak, the press of a button... anyone who watch enough discovery channel will realise it didn't take much to potentially wipe us so call dominant species from the surface of the planet.

On the flip side we could be colonizing Mars in the next couple of hundred years if the dice rolls are good. Either way it is quite a waste to live a boring life in times like this.

Hungry Dogs and tall grasses kept me from performing my parliamentary duties

In conjunction with the latest British drama.

Recently in UK "shit hit the ceiling fan" after a newspaper obtained copies of all the receipts for MPs expenses and published them. It basically showed how the system has been milked, with MPs claiming that expenditure everything from bath plugs and lawn mowers, silk cushions and television sets, potted plants and dog food. The most outrages of the practice seems being abusing the second home programme... basically buying a house with tax payer money and incentives and selling it at higher price, rinse and repeat. :)

These expenses was supposedly "wholly and necessarily incurred for the purpose of performing their parliamentary duties." The House speaker has just resigned in the light of this.

At their mercy

Some say it is because of the increase of demand, others says it is market speculation price and then there are the ones who blame increase cost of operation. Whatever they say if you are an average joe it is almost for certain you have no say over it.

It is the year 2009, and the world is plagued by... pirates?

If you were a kid going up in the 80s the year 2009 would sound like a time when flying cars would become very common -- at least that was what the cartoon and science fiction comic told us. When the real 2009 hit, not only we don't see any common flying car, yet, but the world is plagued by seafaring pirates? As they hijack ships and demand wealth and booty in the age of satellites and cell phone!

Reality is indeed stranger than fiction.

P.S. Went to see "Wolverine" tonight, quite an entertaining show, but resulted in posting this late ^^;

Your Daily Apocalypse Fix

Bad economy with no light at the end of tunnel, the swine flu outbreak and increasing worsening environmental issues. It seems to most average joes the prospect for better life as for now, near future and future are all under siege at the moment.

May you live in interesting time. :D

Have you counted the number of dreams realised?

Life of course always move forward, but unless you are one of those aspiring champion from young chances are you had one of those silly "dreams" before. A quick back peek at the time of wonders will sometimes reveal the amazing progress we made in life and the incredible long road ahead.

What if your lifestyle ain't stylish at all?

Realistically Speaking,,,

Plot credit: tswern of brickbastion :)

Earth Hour 2009 - Switched Off Your Lights?

So Earth Hour 2009 came and passed. Whether it really made a difference or was simply a publicity stunt, the thing is, all across the globe many people did switch off their lights on that hour. Tenaga Nasional Malaysia recorded a power dip of 550MegaWatts. If the whole country could save 0.5GigaWatts of power in just 1 hour - imagine what it could do much, much more...

AIG Bonus Outrage

Unless you are living under a rock... by which case you won't be reading this you would have known about the case of AIG bonuses outrage already. If people can run a company to the ground and get paid of Bonuses in millions... ever wonder how much were they getting when times were good?

Money in the Air - Literally!

Billions and billions of Government aid poured into the market. Yet the average Joe won't even feel a thing. But we've all been down that road before, haven't we? :)

Death Note?

In a very short span of time, 2 very shocking shooting sprees made it to headlines across the globe. We're referring to the German teen killer who did a 'Columbine' (or shall we say VT - Virginia Tech?) in his homeland. What started out as a thing in the USA is now spreading to Europe. Is this a trend of things to come based on what Jack's Observer mentions? With the economic gloom will tempers run higher?

After all the discussions that will rage from this outcome, cries will be heard and fingers will be pointed all over, but for those who were caught in the crosshairs unfortunately, it is already too late.

Protecting youth from online violence?

Open any major news site and you are bound to see some news which can't pass PG13 rating, making them some of the most violent non fiction sites ever.