Cartoon.

Love by the Bridge.

I love how the grandson seems to mean nothing more to the grandmother than as an investment of "superior bird's nest soup," and how — because of his divergent perception of beauty — he is automatically presumed a victim of imperialization by the "wicked West".

Stem cell research in Singapore.

Singapore, conservative on most social issues - including a ban on most types of chewing gum - is emerging as a hotbed of stem cell research, thanks to liberal laws in that field and equally liberal government financing..

The Bible as justification.

In defense of Biblical marriage.

Are Bible translators truly free of bias?

Extensions and Amputations.

The Medium is the Message.

Gay Sheep (and Gay Penguins).

The effeminate sheep & other problems with Darwinian sexual selection.

The Love That Dare Not Squeak Its Name.

On objective reporting.

“Currently, [Singapore has] a staunch pro-government media, to which the authorities seem to do little or no wrong, and a much smaller — but more vocal and passionate — online voice, which generally criticises whatever the government does — good or bad.

“Neither can contribute very much to nation-building because what each says is often dismissed as too one-sided and motivated.”

"Bank Campaigning for Self-Criticism"

The World Bank defends right to BE criticized.

There will be much smugness about how Singapore is snubbed by the World Bank's belief in "effective inclusion of the voices of civil society". But let me propose something less starry-eyed: that the World Bank, like many other hegemonic organizations, include dissent only as a strategy of silencing it.

Go read Bakhtin.

By allowing demonstrations, even campaigning for them, the World Bank may no longer be criticized for not listening to "the voices of the civil society". Yet, if such criticism were effective (which is really the goal, not just the opportunity to "be heard") then why, after so many years, there is still the need for the (same) criticism?