5/6     Boy I love my country Singapore.  I remember US used to bitch
        and whine about Singapore's Internal Security Act which allows
        detention without trial.  Now, US is doing exactly the same,
        following our lead.  I also remember US used to bitch and whine
        about Singapore restricting the circulation of commie-liberul
        rags like feer, etc., now US did pretty much the same with al
        jazeera.  I also remember the various negative articles about
        Singapore being too authoritarian.  Now liberul rags like NYT
        are praising Singapore for its authoritarian measures for
        controlling SARS.  Singapore has been saying all along that
        detention without trial is necessary against commie and islamic
        terrorists, and successfully broken up al queda cell in Singapore.
        For that, now US is signing free trade agreement with Singapore
        like a good pussy cat.  Boy, it still feels good to remember
        Singapore caning buttocks of American naughty boy who defaced
        several of Singapore's precious cars some years ago.  Soon,
        US would be following Singapore's lead in banning the sale of
        chewing gum.   Singapore, land of the free, and a beacon for
        democracies all over the world:
        http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/06/international/asia/06CND-TRADE.html
        \_ something to keep in mind is that in this country we enjoy far
           greater freedoms than mandated by the constitution and various
           amendments.  even the bare basic document without all the stuff the
           supreme court invented in the last 30 years still grants more rights
           and protections than you'd have in most of the world.
        \_ Many Chinese think Singaporian Authortarian is the model for
           modern China.  Though I just don't see how Singapore model
           could scale up 10 million times.
        \_ While I agree with your general assesment that Singapore
           is far to authoritarian and we ought not develop our gov.
           in that way, the kid who got caned deserved it. Why the
           hell did he have to go around spray painting other peoples
           cars?
           \_ short answer: because he's a flaming idiot.
           \_It was a school graduation prank, and the spray paint
             wasn't even permanent. If the same laws applied to the U.S.
             Steve Jobs would've been hung and quartered because he was
             part of the Buck Fry's club and he used to pull stuff like
             this. The kid should've just been fined and do community
             service. On a tangent, the comparison is apt. It reminds me
             of the game A Mind Forever Voyaging (if anyone is old enough
             to remember infocom games)
                \_ sometimes you do a prank and get busted for it and pay the
                   price.  in this case, the dumbshit lost some skin off his
                   ass and not even that much because of US pressure because
                   too many idiots here don't raise their kids right.
                \_ That's what you don't understand.  Poor Singaporeans
                   make half as much as Americans, but your typical Honda
                   Accord plus a car ownership license costs about US$100000
                   there.  When you spray paint an uptight Singaporean's
                   car, you might as well have violated his wife.
             \_ I see someone spray painting my car and they are lucky if
                all they get is a caning. Remember that guy who shot the
                kid who destroyed his Halloween decorations and then said
                "What are you gonna do about it?". That's justice. --dim
                \_ now you know why his login name is "dim"
                   \_ actually this is one of the very rare times I find myself
                      in 100% agreement with dim.  Is there a URL for the
                      holloween shooting?  I'd love to read that one.
             \_ 1. So what if it was a grad prank? He could have just
                   as easily done something else that did not violate
                   private property rights. (MIT and CalTech students
                   seem to be able to pull of interesting grad pranks
                   that don't violate the private property rights of
                   random people)
                   \_ You obviously don't know much about CalTech. -ausman
                        \_ I haven't seen anything on par with
                           spray painting random cars.
                           \_ ausman went to CalTech.
                           \_ While I was there, it was routine to do things
                              like brick up the entrance to someone's dorm room,
                              steal The City of Pasadena's Christmas decorations
                              and scatter them around campus, break into the
                              Rose Bowl and hack into the sign control system,
                              etc. Maybe things are tamer these days.
                2. The paint wasn't permanent? Maybe I should run
                   over to your car right after you had it washed
                   and dump a load of cow dung on it and glue some
                   free Dimitry flyers to it. After all glue and
                   dung aren't permanent.
                   \_No, it wasn't permanent. You obviously don't know
                   anything about paint. They were using a non-bond type
                   paint on top of a bonded surface. In fact, the people who
                   owned the cars didn't say it was a big deal because it
                   just washed off. Get your facts straight before bulleting
                   nonsense.
                        \_ I don't care what shit you put on my car.  I don't
                           car that it washed off.  I shouldn't have to spend
                           1 second of my life cleaning up your shit.  I'd
                           cane your ass if you touched my car with anything.
                           Hey is it ok if I deflate your bike tires?  It isn't
                           permanent!
                3. So what about Steve Jobs? If he broke the law he
                   should have been punished.
                   \_Apparently you have no concept about civil disobedience.
                   Let me guess, you're the kind of dweebie idiot who
                   doesn't J-Walk or has ever copied software illegally.
                   Get real and get bent.
                     \_ How is painting someone's car an act of civil anything?
                        You're a nutter.
                4. Community service and fines don't teach people that
                   what they did was wrong. They just teach people that
                   you can do what you like so long as you can fork over
                   a few $s and some time cleaning up roads.
                   \_ So you believe only in physical punishment for all crimes
                      or you don't believe in any?  Should we cane people who
                      violet basic traffic laws?
                   \_Getting a $200 traffic ticket surely hurts. I don't know
                   about you, but I'd rather take the caning than part with
                   my hard earned cash.
                   \_ And corporal punishment teaches them more?
                      \_ It isn't about corporal vs. non-corporal punishment.
                         The idea is that the punishment should be severe
                         enough that it is a deterent to further crime yet not
                         out of proportion to the crime, such as a $1,000,000
                         fine for spitting on a side walk.
                      \_ "We'll be careful." "You'll be dead."
                Its people like you who don't understand what
                responsible social behavior is who are ruining
                this country.
                \_ BS.  It's overreactions both ways (the 'off with his
                   head!' crowd AND the "he's only a lad, he really can't
                   help it" crowd) that's ruining this country.  Grow
                   some common sense and a sense of scale.
                   \_ love the boingo reference.
                      \_ actually that was oingo boingo making a pointed
                         commentary on the sorts of people who say those
                         sorts of things.  Off with yer head!
        \_ Good point, we're screwed.
        \_ Since you love so much about your country over our good pussy cat
           one, why did you come here?