And the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Winner goes to... (International News).

Barack Obama. Wait... What?

No offense to the President of the United States, but I honestly feel that if he has not done enough to get the award. I mean, he did improve international relations and attempt to denuclearised USA.

But he has yet do something hardcore yet. Feed the hungry, bring peace to the Middle East or stop war, then he deserves it.

Ben Tan

The Alternative: Wait, what?

Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal (Sports)

I have not watched football, or soccer as I prefer to call it, in ages. When I did, I was impressed by the level of performance, the intensity of the match and the agression by the two sides.

On the 29th of August, Manchester United faced off with their rivals Arsenal at Old Trafford. Despite attacking furiously at the start, it was Arsenal who drew first blood. Arshavin's thunderbolt strike hit the back of the net in the 40th minute, although United goalkeeper Ben Foster managed to get a touch on it. From then on Arsenal got the better of the match till Arsenal goalkeeper Alumia tripped Rooney in the box, and Rooney converted the penalty to make it 1-1 in the 59th minute.

Arsenal then attempted to take the lead, but 6mintues later Diaby scored an own goal, beating Rooney to the ball, making it 2-1. Diaby came close to equalising for his side a few mintutes later, and Nani and Berbatov almost extended Manchester's lead.

Towards the end of the match, van Persie scored for Arsenal, but his goal was ruled offside. Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager threw a tantrum and got sent off. He unprofessionally refused to go to the tunnel, and only complied after the referee's insistence.

The match ended a few seconds later, with cheers from the united fans.

November Foxtrot

The Alternative: Keeping it cool

A discussion on evolution and intelligent design (Science and Technology)

Recently, the article on 12 September 2007 titled "The Flaws of Carbon Dating" has attracted a lot of pro and anti-evolutionary arguments. To help us clarify the controversey is, we invited our editor (defensedefumer), who is currently studying biology at university level to explain. Our interviewer is ex-actor Torch;D, whose knowledge of science is second-hand and sketchy.

Note: The transcript has been edited to for this blog (because we use pseudonyms).

Torch;D: Hello boss!

defensedefumer: Hello, Torch;D! It's great to see you once again.

(Some light-hearted chit-chatter)

Torch;D: Ok boss, I got a job to do, and I have a few questions about evolution and intelligent design. What is evolution? Keep it simple for the ex-actor here.

defensedefumer: There are many definitations, but the simplest and yet accurate one would be the change of the genetic material of one population of organisms to from one generation to the next generation.

Torch;D: What is intelligent design then?

defensedefumer: Well, admittedly there has not really been clear definitation to my knowledge yet, but a safe bet would be that certain features of the universe and biological systems are best explained by an intelligent cause.

Torch;D: There does not seem to be a conflict; they both seem pretty ok to me.

defensedefumer: I know, it sounds peaceful right? But intelligent design insists that natural selection, a mechanism of evolution cannot produce complex biologoical systems like the eye, or the bacterial motor, known as flagellum.

Torch;D: I know this sounds elementary, but what is natural selection?

defensedefumer: To simpify it, it is the process in which heritable traits make incresases the survivalibility of organisms to reach reproductive age to be more common over generations.

Torch;D: The survival of the fittest?

defensedefumer: More accurately, the survival of the fit enough. As long as a heritable genetic trait that enables a organism to survive long enough to reproduce, it's natural selection.

Torch;D: What is the mechanism for intelligent desgin, then?

defensedefumer (pauses for a moment to think): Irreducible complexity. To put it simply, if something is too complex to be evolved, it must have been abruptly 'designed' there.

Torch;D: I don't see a problem with that.

defensedefumer: The problem is that it is not science! Science seeks naturalistic explainations for naturalistic events. It's an argument from ignorance-- I can't see how something is done, therefore God must have did it. That's bad science.

Torch;D: But you are Christian, aren't you?

defensedefumer: Yes, I am. But evolution is not atheisitc-- like any science, it is areligion! It does not care if you believe in a God or not. It just seeks naturalistic causes. God is supernatural, and outside science.

Torch;D: Isn't evolution just a theory?

defensefumer: The word "theory" is very different in scientific language from English-- it represents a higher understanding of the facts availible. So, yes it is a theory in a way that it best explains the facts we have, and also a fact as accepted by mainstream scientists. Don't get me wrong, I believe in an intelligent designer, but that's not what intelligent design is.

Torch;D: Isn't evolution unobservable?

defensdefumer: It is. There's nylon-digesting bacteria, human chromosome 2 and the fossil evidence.

Torch;D: So I see. Thanks for your time.

defensedefumer: A pleasure! I have some books to recommend if you're interested. "Finding Darwin's God" and "Monkey Girl" are good books to start!

(End of transcript)

Torch;D

The Alternative: Reporting theories and facts.

North Korea releases two journalists (International News)

On the 5th of August 2009, North Korea released two American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling back to the United States, after former president Bill Clinton paid a visit to the country.

I wonder what Bill Clinton said or offered to Kim Jong-Il. Afterall, he did what his wife failed to do. Perhaps it is just simply the act of making an ex-president come over.

Natasha Romanov

The Alternative: Skeptical or suspicious?

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Review (Entertainment News)

To treat it seriously is to miss the point. I think I said it before, and I'll write it again-- G.I. Joe is a great film. Thin on plot, fantastic on action and excellant on effects, it does not disappoint. Just do not try to wonder why any government would give the Joes high-technology equipment and not their own soldiers. Or why normal soldiers' grenades cannot hurt the forces of Cobra, but the Joes using the same grenades can.

I really like the appearance of Brendan Fraser and Arnold Vosloo. I was kind of hoping of a few 'Mummy' references, but I guess it was too much to ask.

Well, the one thing I learnt was-- some people are too pretty to be bad.

Overall: 73/100

Nurlisa

The Alternative: It's good to be cool.

Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince Review (Entertainment)

Let me get straight to the point-- this film is the worst Harry Potter film ever. Don't get me wrong. It isn't bad, nor terrible. It was just decent. Decent acting, decent special effects (wayyyyy too little magic) and a confusing storyline (especially for those who did not read the book).

Nevertheless, there were some good points, such as the Quidditch match and Daniel Radcliffe's acting.

Overall: 65/100

Torch;D

The Alternative: Reviews and views

Temasek Holdings won't have a Goodyear afterall (Local News)

Guess what ladies and gentlemen? Temasek Holdings's new CEO, who is esentially the same as the old one, Ho Ching has reclaimed her role at the company. Charles 'Chip' Goodyear, her inital appointed replacement has resigned, after citing "differences in strategy" as a reason.

Maybe they should redefined the word "stepped down" as "took unpaid leave" as I was informed that Ho Ching had "stepped down" as CEO a few months ago.

The Alternative: Calling a spade a spade

Ben Tan

Christian Couple found guilty (Local News)

A Christian man (Ong Kian Cheong), and his wife (Dorothy Chan Hien Leng) were found guilty of distributing seditious materials to Muslims, on 29 May, and will be setenced on 4 June.

The material contains material from Jack Chick, a fundamentalist Christian, and is well-known for anti-Catholic, anti-evolution, anti-Islam and anti-Mormon publications. Hence the couple was charged as they were stirring religious tensions.

What a marred name Christianity has in Singapore-- first AWARE, then this. What needs to come next?

Ben Tan

The Alternative: Watching and Waiting

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review (Entertainment news)

Did the highly anticipated Wolverine movie meet expectations?

Well, in my opinion, no. It felt that the movie was a whole rush of scenes, without being able to spend significant time on anyone to develope a sense of meaning or purpose. Other than Wolverine, few characters are developed. Even I, a shallow person, felt cheated about the background to Wolverine. I also felt he had something more deeper than him.

However, it was a decent film throughout. Real praise goes to the starting few scenes of the film, and to the fight scene between Weapon XI and Wolverine with Sabretooth

63/100

Torch;D

The Alternative: We expect more.

N is for Nuclear North Korea (International News)

If you were skeptical about North Korea's nuclear abilities, be skeptical no more: they detonated one underground on 25th May 2009. Tremours were felt in the neighbouring countries China, Japan and South korea.

Although not as powerful as the atomic bombs of 1945, they are one step closer to destabilisng the region.

Oh man, I can tell you what's going to happen. Like the nuclear test of 2006, the international community will condemn the test, and then blaently discuss and wait for the next bomb to go off. Then talks will resume again.

Natasha Romanov

The Alternative: Is there an end?

A discussion on homosexuality (Philosophy)

Here is a transcript (not the full) between a discussion on homosexuality between our resident atheist, Ben Tan and our editor, defensedefumer who is Christian on the views of homosexuality, some time ago in March. (Sorry being a non-professional blog, we tend to be rather late with documents). I, the 198, was the mediator.

the 198: Hello boss! Glad you could join us!

defensedefumer: It's a pleasure to be here.

Ben Tan: Great to see you!

the 198: Let's get straight to the point-- what are your views on homosexuality? Ben, you first.

Ben Tan: It's a lifestyle choice-- people should be allowed to do whatever they want, whenever they want as long as they do not hurt anybody. And I see no wrong in homosexuality.

defensedefumer: I want to be honest about this. I think homosexuality is a sin. No more than lying, stealing or adultery is a sin though.

the 198: Why do you see it as wrong?

defensedefumer: Because the Bible tells me so! Well, it is because it is my firm belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman as stated in Genesis 2:24. Even Paul affirmed it in Romans 1.

Ben Tan: So homosexuals are sinners and deserve to be in hell?

defensedefumer: No more than I myself deserve to be in hell. That's why Jesus had to die for everyone. And Jesus himself was critical of the sin, rather than the sinner. A proper church should welcome the homosexual but not accept the act of homosexuality.

Ben Tan: Ok, fine, I don't want to debate with you for the issue of morality in the Bible. It's another issue for another time.

the 198: It's pretty clear that Ben derives his morality from his philosophy while you get yours from the Bible. Next question-- isn't the view that homosexuality is bad outdated?

Ben Tan: Yes it has. One thing good about atheism is that we have our moral values updated with the times, and we don't adhere to anything but ourselves.

defensedefumer: My stand is that moral values don't change with time. If something is wrong then, why should it be right now?

Ben Tan: Wasn't your Bible written more than 1000 years ago? Homosexuality was offensive then, and it was taboo in society. Now we see that people are becoming more liberal, and we should drop such obselete views.

defensedefumer: Actually, homosexuality was quite common among the pagan worshippers in Rome at that time. However, Paul's call was to be counter-cultural then, and I strongly believe that our call is to be counter-cultural now.

the 198: So in a weird way, the more things change, the more they stay the same?

(All laugh)

the 198: I personally am quite surprised how friendly you two are to each other.

Ben Tan: defensedefumer is one of the few I can trust to be straight with me, and the reverse is true. I respect his views, no matter how wrong they are.

defensedefumer: I respect his, no matter how right I am.

(All laugh)

the 198: Ok, last question. Do you think homosexuality is biological or psychological?

Ben Tan : I think it involves a bit of everything, as do most things in life, such as height, which involves both genes and the environment. As such, it is unfair to blame someone who was born with a certain personality. It's like blaming a Chinese for having small eyes!

defensedefumer: I feel that you're jumping the gun. From what I have read, most reports that indicate that homosexuality is due to genetics is ususally politically-motivated. I feel that most cases are psychological. Even if it is genetic, no one said following Jesus would be easy. Because Christians are saved by grace, we are compelled to take up of our cross and follow Him as mentioned in Matthew 16.

the 198: So it involves some level of sacrifice?

defensedefumer: In a way yes. But we don't make sacrifices to get to God. We recognise that we are sinners, and Christ died for us while we were yet sinners to reconcile God with man. And therefore, after experiencing true grace, we willingly follow Him, no matter the cost.

In addition, I think that Ben was 'jumping the gun' because he equated homosexuality and racism together. One is a lifestyle choice, while the other cannot be changed at all.

Ben Tan: You know, I was quite surprised to not hear you talk about the negative effects of homosexuality, such as the soceital breakdown, destruction of families and the increased spread of HIV.

defensedefumer: Well, my knowledge of these issues is admittedly poor.

Ben Tan: And yet you agreed to this discussion.

defensedefumer: I meant to say that the societal detriments are controversial, while the spread of STDs (sexually-transmitted diseases) is well-documented. But I do have have numbers to throw at you. Even if somehow homosexuality is beneficial, I will take God at His word. His word is not something one can selectively pick and choose.

Ben Tan: Unlike atheists, whose thought processes are adaptable.

the 198: Thanks for airing those points fairly and frankly. But that's all the time we have!

Ben Tan: Your welcome.

defensedefumer: Thanks dude. Hope to meet up soon!

the 198

The Alternative: Promoting airing of honest, thoughtful opinions

Miss USA 2009 controversy (International News)

The representaion of California, Ms Carrie Prejean was on her way to win the Miss USA crown, when she was asked this question, by well-known gay, Perez Hilton :

"Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?"

She replied:

"Well I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one way or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. You know what, in my country, in my family, I do believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anybody out there. But that’s how I was raised and I believe that it should be between a man and a woman."

I applaud her reply. In the aftermath of Proposition 8 in California, she stood up, made her reply sraight and to the point, and stuck to her beliefs.

Let me get this straight-- I don't agree with her reply, yet I admire her willingness to be true to herself and not come up with some politically correct answer.

I am very disapppointed that some people criticised her view to be honest, and failed to realised where she was coming from.

Ben Tan

The Alternative: Promoting open, honest discussions.