Jubilation!: 2006

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Debate of the Year (2006)

Marvel Civil War

I admit it, unlike Defensedefumer, I think reading comics is a waste of time. Howver, Marvel Comics's "Civil War" Brings up very interesting ideas.

The story begins with the death of the New Warriors, an amateur superhero group and 800 civilians, due to a mishap. This results in public pressure for superheroes to register. This move is supported by Iron Man (Tony Stark), who believes that superheroes should be controlled and monitored. The anti-registration movement is led by Captain America, who insists that superheroes should be above such politics.

When registration is finally made law, the heroes are forced to combat each other. This brings up the following interesting ideas.

1) When is extremism justified?
2) Can disobeying the law ever be patriotic?
3) How far should be obey the government?

One thing's for sure, if you break the law, prepare for punishment.

the 198

Breakthrough Teachnology (2006)

Wii

This gaming console promises to revolutionises video gaming. With motion sensing controllers, downloadable classics, and free internet access, this has the potential to entice even the non-gamers.

November Foxtrot

Worst Place to Celebate Christmas (2006)

Somalia

This country was invaded on 21 December 2006 by Ethopia. One would think only rich or powerful nations invade....... Somalia's capital fell on the 28th December

Natasha Romanov

Friday, December 29, 2006

Book of the year (2006)

Da Vinci Code

In spite of its inaccuracies, it managed to stir up huge heat among churches and pop from mystery lovers.

Nurlisa

Most Disgraceful Act (2006)

Zidane Headbutts Metarazzi in World Cup Final

I don't care what the opponent says, you can't hit him. What a bad example set by France's top player.

CDI

Crime of the Year (2006)

Abu Bakshir Walks Free

What's worse than a murder of an honest Russian? A suspected terror leader walking free. A mockery of the Indonesian law.

Ben Tan

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Worst International News (2006)

U.S and British Airports Beefed up security

Darn! More Airport trouble....

Natasha Romanov

Best International News (2006)

Nothing.... no news is good news....

Natasha Roamov

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Worst Local News (2006)

Government to help poor by increasing GST to 7%

Says it all......

Ben Tan

Best Local News (2006)

Smoking limited to a few public areas

Finally, it happened!

Ben Tan

Monday, December 25, 2006

BEST AND WORST ver 2006

The next few days, we will be covering the best and worst news that happened over this year...

Friday, December 22, 2006

New Avengers #25 Review (Arts)

I usually hate spin-offs. They tend to be lame, cashing in on a character's popularity (X-23, Joey) or sexuality (Elektra).

Now Marvel Civil War is a big and interesting read. However, there are also several spinoffs to this event. Most of them are just dumb and superfical.... although this issue is different.

This issue deals with Tony Stark (Ironman) being held hostage by a former employeee. More importantly, it gives new and humane insights to new S.H.I.E.L.D Director Maria Hill. Without spoiling too much, the last few lines of Maria's revelations deserve your Singapore $6.

Overall: 80/100

Nurlisa

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Night At The Museum Review (Entertainment)

I'll be honest, the only reason why I watched this movie was because of Ben Stiller. However, this movie hstands on its own as an enjoyable, feel-good family movie.

Despite several plot holes, you weren't be upset. You'll instead laugh at Owen Wilson's gimmicks and Robbie Williams's advices. Although some of the jokes are very American, most of them are just brainlessly funny.

Overall: 71/100

Torch;d

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Drop soccer? Focus on Sailing? (Sports)

Singapore's soccer team is famous for one thing-- LOSING! Once upon a time, we envisioned ourselves in World Cup in 2010. Numerous defeats by Thailand, Malaysia and other neighbours made that a fleeting dream. On the other hand, sailing has been winning. At the recent Doha Asian Games, sailing accounted for 5 out of our 8 gold medals and 10 out of our 27 medals. Should we focus more on sailing, promoting it to world-class standard? Should we stop pumping cash into our aimless soccer?

My stand is this: Hell, no! With all due respect to sailors, no one really watches sailing. While it's great winning and medals and all, it will never, EVER be as engaging or entertaining as soccer. I rather watch scripted wrestling than sailing! How do people actually WATCH sailing? Whereas I agree more money should be put into sailing, we should not decrese funding for soccer. Think about it? Are you happier if we obtained 20 medals at sports we don't give a @#$! about? Or if we win a single bronze at the Asian Games for a game evryone watches? I know my stand. What's your alternative?

Ben Tan

Litvinenko's Final Fight (International)

I was initially against writing about this. However, after being informed that Ben Tan would write it in place of me, I changed my mind.

This is, of course, one of the darkest revelations concerning my country. It proves to show how dangerous my country, even after the fall of the Soviet Union. No one in the intelligence community really gets to retire.

Alexander Litvinenko, former FSB agent, was poisoned radioactively on November 1, and died on November 23 2006. His final statement accused Russian President Putin of murdering him. Afterall, he was one of Putin's fiercest critic in the past. In fact, one needed access to a nuclear reactor to obtain polonium, the substance the ex-spy was killed by.

Although there is doubt whether Putin was the mastermind or even involved in the killing, one thing remains clear. Don't piss people off. It could be the last thing you do.

Natasha Romanov

Monday, December 18, 2006

Magnetic Therapy: Does it work? (Health)

Recently, my friend W turned saleman tried to sell me his products. What did he try to sell me? Cushions with magnets implanted in them, and magnetic bracelets. W claims the use of magnets can improve blood circulation and cure ailments, such as asthma. He even cited the use of MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) as proof to its effectiveness.

What a load of rubbish! Yes, there is iron in blood, but it is in ionic form. Irons ions do not exhibit ferromagnetic properties. In fact, there is no hard evidence to prove its effectivenss. Check wikipedia! Oh, and MRI is a complete different animal, using vibrations rather than poles to obtain imaging!

Dr Storm

Time declares you as Person of the Year (International)

Guess what! You are the Peron of the Year for 2006! Congratulations! What do you get? Nothing. If you buy this issue, you will be able to see yourself in the cover. Wow! Isn't that amazing?

According to Time's managing editor Richard Stengel, he picked us because "If you choose an individual, you have to justify how that person affected millions of people, but if you choose millions of people, you don't have to justify it to anyone."

What a nice way of saying "I'm lazy to read what my reporters have to say about their picks". At least Defensedefumer listens to what I have to say. For the foreseeable future, that is.

I hate Time magazine. Despite setting itself out to be an international news magazine, its views tend to be very Americanized. For instance, when an American soldier got killed during the 2003 Iraq War, they labelled him as the first causalty of war. The fact that hundreds of Iraqi soldiers and civilians died beforehand was conviently ignored.

Natasha Romanov

Man Utd crashes 0-1 at West Ham (Sports)

A 75th minute strike by Nigel Reo-Coker, the West Ham captain was enough to sink Manchester. This was a perfect start for new manager Alan Curbishly. Good-old fashioned defending and fine goal-keeping by Robert Green kept Manchester at bay.

It was ironic that before the match, Manchester was saying how boring Chelsea is, and how much pressure was on Chelsea. However, Chelsea cam back a goal down twice to beat Everton 3-2 earlier. Looks like the pressure's on Man Utd now!

Don't get me wrong; I'm not anti-Manchester or pro-Chelsea. I really don't want to see Chelsea win again, because it proves that money can buy success. This really irks me. On the other hand, Manchester irritates with with their pride and overconfidence. I hope some other team wins, but that's not being realistic.

CDI

Chinese River Dolphin Declared Extinct (International)

I, Ben Tan, am honoured to be the first to have his report published on The Alternative. I have been asked to do a report on the extinction of Chinese River Dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer).

As of 13 December 2006, this mammal has been declared "functionally extinct". For the 99% of you who don't understand what that means, it means that there is too little of that spieces to play a significant role in the ecosystem.

Due to pollution, overfishing and loss of habitat of the Yangtze River, the numbers of the animal dropped from 6,000 in the 1950s to 7 in 1998.

I know what you all are thing; who gives a hoot! Even though this is the first mammal to be declared extinct in decades, nobody cares. In fact, this wasn't even published in The Straits Times as a major article. I mean, it is EXTINCTION! Nothing could be worse to a commmunity than that. Kudos to the apathetic!

Ben Tan.

THE ALTERNATIVE

This is something new that my friends and I are trying out.... As of today I will be changing this from a caption site to a "newspaper" site with my friends.... Without further ado, I shall introduce the staff of the alternative.....

Head editor: Defensedefumer (me)
Probably the most "sane" person working for The Alternative, Defensedefumer reads and publishes all the articles. He usually allows his writers great freedom but still has certain restrictions for the pieces. Oh, in case you were wondering, the staff uses psuedonyms for thier work. So it will be difficult to pin us down, haha.

Ben Tan (Local and international news)
Opinionated, outspoken, tactless and energetic, Ben Tan gets on everyone's nerves (including his peers) very easily. Maybe it is so due to two years of underachievement at SRJC (Serangoon Junior College).

Natasha Romanov (International news)
Our only Russian correspondant, Natasha tends to have a pessimistic view on life. She equates this to "Russian Irony". It is interesting to note that she only started learning English 6 years ago.

Nurlisa (Art and local news)
Seven years ago, Nurlisa thought art was a watse of time. Her opinion hasn't changed much since. Our only Malay contributor hopes to be a famous "unknown" author some day.

November Foxtrot (Technological news)
Our American friend knows next to nothing about computers. He claims 128kb is bigger than 64gb. Go figure.

Torch'd (Entertainment news)
A former actor himself, Torch'd believes he has more talent than Paris Hilton. He has yet to prove it.

CDI (Sports news)
Not even a former sportsman himself, CDI thinks he knows everything by watching TV.

Dr. Storm (Health news)
Not a real doctor herself, Dr. Storm brings reliable information concerning health care. She reads up on medicine on her free time. A true blue nerd, she is very cynical about alternative medicine. The irony!

The 198 (Philosophy)
I'll be honest. I don't know much about The 198. I place him/her on the team as he/she contributes interesting insights.