Only slacker ID thieves target the poor

ID fraudsters target well-off aged 26-45:

High-earning professionals aged 26-45 who own their own home are most at risk of falling victim to identity fraud, according to a survey published today.

The credit information firm Experian identified company directors, well-off couples and families in their thirties and forties, and young people in rented accommodation as key groups at risk. People earning more than £50,000 are almost three times more likely than average to become a victim, while directors of companies employing more than 50 people are five and a half times more at risk.

I thought it would’ve been pretty freakin’ obvious that you’re more likely to be targeted by ID thieves if you have money / assets / credit to be abused. You’d have to be a pretty fucking stupid criminal to go after personal details of people who either have bad or no credit histories.

Pretty interesting, though, that certain residential areas seemed to be far more likely to fall prey — their disposable income isn’t getting spent on crosscut shredders or something.

When you put it like that…

We could see things as isolated incidents, but when they’re put together in this video, it’s pretty scary.

It’s clear that things aren’t quite as bad as they used to be, but everyone knows (and no one says) that what political freedoms there are have not been allowed for the meaningful participation of the people, but for the international image of Singapore as a society that is just free enough to be politically acceptable to deal with.

I do feel a bit ashamed of my armchair activism. I have to consider that I may return to Singapore to find a job, and my mother wants to continue peacefully living there. If we go back to Singapore, Neil will probably apply for permanent residency. If I tap into that well of political activism and actually get involved in anything with a media profile, those three things will go down the toilet.

How in the hell can (enough) people be motivated to the point of coming out in force to protest or demonstrate against laws or policies that they deem unjust? It’s been amply demonstrated that there is no hesitation on the part of the government (and its senior staff / politicians) to come down on individuals who they feel can be made examples of (see the AcidFlask case).

IMHO, that is the dilemma most politically-aware Singaporeans face. We have so much to lose if we speak up in dissent. The real irony is the majority of political activists who have been — and continue to be — arrested and / or sued for defamation are the very Singaporeans who would lay down their lives to defend the country (for they are the true patriots), while the passive majority who complain in private but daren’t speak up will flee the moment a better opportunity beckons.

This weekend I…

  • watched Have I Got News For You (always legendary) and Jonathon Ross
  • went to Body Pump
  • stuck a frozen pizza in the oven for lunch
  • did some chores while Neil DIY’d (we now have shelves in the store room! Hand-made by Neil!)
  • cooked dinner all by myself (chicken with shallots, garlic, and chillies — I was told it was good, which means I’ll never ever be able to repeat it)
  • met my cousin and his family for lunch
  • watched Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (verdict: fun, but the special effects at the end kind of made it less thrilling — maybe we were too far away from the screen to be dazzled, but then I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark on the telly and I was overcome with excitement at the end when they melted)
  • did the weekly shop at Asda

What are “racial feelings”, exactly?

Singapore arrests man for racist blog:

The 24 year-old was arrested late on Tuesday for posting material on his blog “which may wound the racial feelings of another person”, police said in a statement.

“Racial feelings of another person” reads to me like he offended someone’s racist feelings. The standard of English is falling, everywhere I look.

(I like being playful with the English language, but a poor command of English in public communications is just, well, bad form.)

Believe what I believe, or else

Dispatches: In God’s Name has just finished its airing on Channel 4, and holy holy fuck are these people completely mental. The filmmaker, David Modell, has written two editorials in the Independent and Telegraph.

A couple of interesting points:

  • A magistrate needed to check with a lawyer to see if his resignation over his own religious beliefs gave him a legal leg to stand on in an employment tribunal (wow, I wouldn’t have wanted to appear before him given his apparent familiarity with the law).
  • Anti-abortion activists said nothing about promoting sensible and practical sex education to minimise the need for abortion.
  • Christian fundamentalists say we can’t tolerate Islam because it’s intolerant (and they say Americans are the ones with no sense of irony).
  • Most unfortunately, the freak who needs to see the word ‘Jesus’ taped to the ceiling above his head to prevent bad thoughts when he wakes up in the morning is getting married, which means he might breed.

Why do people always feel the need to meddle in other people’s personal lives? *sigh*

Getting better with age… not

Hundreds watch New Kids comeback:

Some fans had been waiting for 48 hours so they were able to get the best view of the group – brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood and McIntyre – on stage.

Ya know, I would’ve thought that most of us fans (yes, this I must admit*) would have got over the tack that is NKOTB by now. I wonder about this new single — I’ll probably listen to it over the Internet and giggle. I somehow doubt they can match or surpass the songwriting greatness of Gary Barlow.

Ah — found it on YouTube. They do know they’re not teenagers any more, right? The quality of that track should only appeal to tweens who can’t know any better. It’s pathetic.

* I wonder if my sister’s pal Gwen will admit to it — she had a full-length, 1:1 scale portrait of Jordan Knight painted and managed to blag her way in to see them when they performed in Singapore in 1992. I just went to the concert with my mates.

This weekend I…

  • watched Jonathon Ross
  • went to Body Pump (and was encouraged to also give Body Attack a go)
  • hung out with my cousin and his family (wow, that baby can talk — her favourite thing to say is, “I don’t know?!”)
  • had a few drinks with Kirstie (it was her birthday)
  • did the six-kilometre walk around the loch in Strathclyde Park in aid of St. Andrew’s Hospice
  • did the weekly shop in Asda (in Hamilton this time)
  • watched old episodes of Cold Case

I don’t know about you, but I can eat loads

A question for you domestic gods and goddesses (who also work full-time jobs) out there:

How the fuck do you find the time?

I get up at 6am and am usually not home till well after 7pm. Then we need to make dinner, our packed lunches for the following day, wash the dishes, and I have a shower. I try to start heading to bed at 10pm on school nights. There is important television that needs to be watched (I’ve gotta get mindless gratification somehow). As a result, we end up eating out more than we planned. And I never get enough sleep.

I am completely aware of the OAMC method (Once A Month Cooking), but our freezer isn’t big enough to hold that amount of food (even if it’s Once A Week Cooking) — Neil and I get to use one shelf in our two-shelf freezer, as Neil’s sister loves her ready meals and ice lollies. Our shelf currently contains two pizzas (in case of emergency), paus, and a small pack of yong tau foo.

These may sound like absolutely imbecilic follow-up questions, but I feel the need to restate the fact that I have no natural talent nor interest in cooking. I only want to eat good food that isn’t likely to cause heart failure or high blood pressure in the immediate future and I get tired of eating the same food all the time.

How far can we go in prepping our dinners so all we need to do when we come home is bung them under the grill or throw them into the saucepan / wok?

By that I mean we shouldn’t even have to think about any further prep beyond maybe cooking rice or pasta. Plus we like chicken and beef. And fish. I like the lamb but the Neil doesn’t.

Can you store pre-chopped herbs (garlic, ginger, onion, mostly) and vegetables (green leafies) and will they last a week in the fridge?

I’m currently assuming all I need to do to protect chopped onions and garlic from going off too soon is to soak them in oil, but then since I know nothing about cooking I’m probably wrong. Would clingfilm work for the others?

I’m obsessed with these wee containers that promise not to leak smells from Ikea and I’d love a reason to buy them.

Are there any good alternatives to tomato-based pasta sauces, besides garlic and olive oil, that don’t go off too quickly?

As a general rule, I hate hot tomatoes, and cream seems to go off really quickly. To keep using olive oil and garlic will wear thin. Not that we’ve started yet, but I anticipate the boredom.

What really is the best way to freeze seafood?

The raw prawns in Asda are in a ‘protective ice glaze’, does that mean we just need to make sure our seafood is damp? WTF?

(The title of this post comes from my favourite line in a book — well, manuscript — I’m reading right now.)

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