Luck Of The Draw

You cannot help but feel sorry for the people who are victims of the recent US Green Card fiasco. 

In yet another example of a 'computer error' 22,000 people around the world were mistakenly informed last month that they had won the immigration lottery.

50,000 people a year get a chance to win permanent residence in the U.S. and a ticket to the American Dream when they enter the Green Card lottery

The technical glitch means that the lottery will be re-run according to the State Department.  The computer had made a 'unilteral decision' to select 90% of the winners from the first two days of the application window instead of the full 30-day registration period.

Take the example of poor Mr Kuate from Africa who sold off some of his family land to pay for his application fees and medical examination on the basis that he had been accepted, or another man who rushed out and proposed to his girl friend on the basis that they would be able to start a new life together in the USA.

There hasn't been a satisfactory explanation as to why the computer developed its glitch; perhaps human error with the programming was to blame?

Or maybe there is a more bizarre reason such as recent changes to the US power grid which apparently can make your clocks run 20 minutes fast.

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A Forgone Conclusion?

Image by World Economic Forum via FlickrJust how "independent" can an independent candidate be?

I was not surprised to see one of the leading PAP stalwarts shedding their party affiliations to run for President.

A former deputy PM of Singapore, Dr Tony Tan, has until recently been part of a small group responsible investing Singapore's reserves through the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC).

As well as holding on to the purse strings he has also headed the agency controlling Singapore's media - MediaCorp.  Clearly a very influential and faithful servant of government and one would have to think he remains so.

In an earlier article I mentioned the belief that an overtly PAP endorsed candidate would find such support a 'poison chalice'.  So it is not surprising that Dr Tan is trying to project his candicacy as truly independent, and I do not forsee him having any problems securing his Certificate of Eligibility.

Prior to the recent GE he would not doubt have been the candidate that received the government endorsement for the Presidential post, should he have wished it.

The MediaCorp coverage of his candicacy announcment is also to be expected, although it is notable that his opponents have achieved considerably less column centimetres thus far.



Now that such a PAP heavyweight (make that 'ex-PAP heavyweight') has thrown his hat into the ring I don't fancy the chances of the other candidates in the race, although I would like to think that they too will have no problems in getting their Certificates of Eligibility.

Dr Tan has stated that he was not approached by the government to run and it was entirely his own decision to do so.  The voters of Singapore will now need to make their own decision.

Changi Compost

It may be difficult to envisage compost heaps at a future Changi airport but the notion is not as far fetched as some make think.

No content with wrapping their sushi in nori, the Japanese are now working on plans with Europeans to use the green stuff to save more 'green stuff' - money.

According to those who follow developments in aviation, a seaweed-powered space-liner will be able to fly from London to Tokyo in two-and-a-half hours, at a cruising altitude of 20 miles and generating no significant pollution.  The time frame is by 2050.

The Zehst - or "Zero emission hypersonic transportation" pictured left will fly twice as fast and twice as high as Concorde if all goes to plan. The technology remains largely secret as one might expect with such a radical development but the two large blue tanks in the illustration suggest a bio-gas component.

I am not sure that this is so reassuring, given that the current gas tanks of the on board toilets always seem to fail or block on a long flight.

Meanwhile in a small apartment in Tanjong Pagar a Singaporean enthusiast is tackling history at the opposite end of the time continuum.

Calvin Chu collects fossils and has an abiding passion for dinosaurs.  According to the media article, Calvin also has a degree of secrecy around his pet project:

"Just like actual dinosaur remains, the study in Chu’s apartment where the fossils are kept is not easily found. It is hidden behind three large bookcases, and revealed only by pulling out the middle one, which acts like a door to the study"

Hopefully the 2014 opening of the new Natural History Museum at NUS will allow him to indulge in his passion more openly.

And, as most of the 335 kinds of dinosaurs ate plants its a sure fire bet that at least some were partial to seaweed. Given the gas that apparently produces maybe global warming isn't such a recent phenomenon after all.

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