just trying to get by without stepping on anything

My favorite podcast at the moment is ‘You Look Nice Today: A Journal of Emotional Hygiene’. It’s sort of a cross between Black Adder, Monty Python and This Week in Tech. Check it out. Anyone else find it funny?

Have no idea what the Jakarta MRT is? Neither did I until I discovered the official website. Check it out. It has video!

If the Islamic wallahs have issues with Facebook then perhaps they should, instead of debating guidelines on how the Faithful should use Facebook, debate instead on how they can use Facebook in such a way that it engages and is relevant to anyone of the Faith.

Unspun suggests ways for the nation’s imams to remain relevant in Indonesia’s dynamic society.

The law does not regulate private affairs. We also do not want to interfere with the private rights
of individuals, who can have access to pornography as long as their activities do not cause enmity that would lead to SARA conflicts

It’s nice to see such fine sensibilities still exist in the government’s ranks. These words are from Sukemi, a Information and Communications Ministry ‘expert staff member’, in response to the latest nonsensical edict from Nahdlatul Ulama.

Megawati’s 2001- 2004 presidency succeeded in stabilizing the post-crisis economy by astutely appointing the right man for the job. Boediono was her finance minister (and is now Yudhoyono’s vice presidential hopeful).

I had no idea that Boediono was MegaWatties’ Finance Minister. Did SBY have a 6th unsaid criteria for his Veep, flipping the bird at the Monarch?

Without (foreign) credit… how exactly are this country going to pay for its crumbling infrastructure?

The ‘neo-liberalism’ label is being bandied about like it’s the new ‘facist’. I don’t know what a neo-liberal is, but it doesn’t sound too bad; neo = new, liberal = (duh). Calling Boediono a “new liberal” doesn’t seem too much of an insult.

But what about “xenophobic protectionist socialist”? The “socialist” label alone should be enough to raise the hackles of the odd historically aware Indonesian. Wasn’t it the communists (socialists) who murdered the National Heros 40 years ago? Is MegaPro okay with that label? How do they about the implications of adopting the trademark of a Japanese corporation as their brand?

Treespotter has a great critique of the monarchy’s economic platform, summed up in one word: “meh”. I love it!

The Jakarta administration reported that about 181 mental illness patients, who live in four shelters across the capital, died in the last six months for diarrhea and malnutrition.

This is outrageous. A military plane crashes and there’s an enquiry. 181 people die in 6 months because of neglect, and nothing? Where is Bowo?!

We decided Facebook is haram when it is used for certain things such as flirting and gossiping between males and females, especially for those who are already married as it may lead to affairs

At least it will be if these idiot clerics carry on like they are right now. Odds are that 99.99% of Muslim Indonesian Facebook users will ignore the latest ridiculous edict banning Facebook. Why is this a problem? This kind of rubbish damages the clerics’ credibility. You’d think they would’ve learned this lesson from the Catholics.