On the 8 Spot

Lets say the inner geek was inspired and almost to tears!!

Rumors swept through the mathematics community that a great advance had been made by a researcher no one seemed to know — someone whose talents had been so overlooked after he earned his doctorate in 1992 that he had found it difficult to get an academic job, working for several years as an accountant and even in a Subway sandwich shop.

“Basically, no one knows him,” said Andrew Granville, a number theorist at the Université de Montréal. “Now, suddenly, he has proved one of the great results in the history of number theory.”

Mathematicians at Harvard University hastily arranged for Zhang to present his work to a packed audience there on May 13. As details of his work have emerged, it has become clear that Zhang achieved his result not via a radically new approach to the problem, but by applying existing methods with great perseverance.

“The big experts in the field had already tried to make this approach work,” Granville said. “He’s not a known expert, but he succeeded where all the experts had failed.”

via Unknown Mathematician Proves Elusive Property of Prime Numbers | Wired Science | Wired.com.

Place holder for my post on development of makati and the promise of Binay

I have to be honest I loved The Office of old,although I began watching it at the middle of the third season through the promptings of Ernie I fell in love with it almost immediately.

At work will continue later

The fail boat that is the Philippine Electorate has once again reared its ugly head and cast its vote for nancy binay. Fail!!!!

I backed the Veronica Mars Kickstarter because I loved the series. I forgot to blog about it because I was super busy during those times.

I connected with the movie and super loved the soundtrack of Garden State.

Please support Zach Braffs Wish I Was Here Kickstarter. I’m sure it means another amazing movie soundtrack album.

The link to the KickStarter is here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/1869987317

Probably can pull something like this with a great recorder.

Taxi drivers have a varied story.

Google is teaching us a good lesson here.

Don’t trust free.

Free is cheap.

Free is untrustworthy

Free is pain.

Of course the free we must not trust is the free that we or the people we trust do not control.

I donate to wikipedia.

-Why do I always find the hard to fix bugs either when about to leave or about to sleep. The irrational and self centered part of my psyche would love to believe that cosmic forces are conspiring against me getting enough sleep. hehe. Good Morning World. I still haven’t slept.

According to the Manila Accord signed on July 31, 1963 and registered in the United Nations as document No. 8029, then Malayan deputy prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein (late father of the present Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak) met up with foreign minister Dr Subandrio of Indonesia, and vice-president Emmanuel Pelaez of the Philippines in Manila for five days from June 7 to 11, 1963, to discuss about the status of Sabah.

Consequently, it was agreed in writing by former Malayan prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman together with president Soekarno of Indonesia and president Diosdado Macapagal of the Philippines in paragraph 12 thereof:

“The Philippines made it clear that its position on the inclusion of North Borneo in the Federation of Malaysia is subject to the final outcome of the Philippines’ claim to North Borneo. The ministers took note of the Philippines’ claim and the right of the Philippines to continue to pursue it in accordance with international law and the principle of the pacific settlement of disputes. They agreed that the inclusion of North Borneo in the Federation of Malaysia would not prejudice either the claim or any right thereunder. Moreover, in the context of their close association, the three countries agreed to exert their best endeavours to bring the claim to a just and expeditious solution by peaceful means, such as negotiation, conciliation, arbitration, or judicial settlement as well as other peaceful means of the parties’ own choice, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and the Bandung Declaration.”

Subsequently on Aug 5, 1963 in a joint statement released to international media, the same also agreed in writing under paragraph 8 thereof:

“In accordance with paragraph 12 of the Manila Accord, the three Heads of Government decided to request the British Government to agree to seek a just and expeditious solution to the dispute between the British Government and the Philippines Government concerning Sabah (North Borneo) by means of negotiation, conciliation and arbitration, judicial settlement, or other peaceful means of the parties’ own choice in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations. The three Heads of Government take cognizance of the position regarding the Philippines claim to Sabah (North Borneo) after the establishment of the Federation of Malaysia as provided under paragraph 12 of the Manila Accord, that is, that the inclusion of Sabah (North Borneo) in the Federation of Malaysia does not prejudice either the claim or any right thereunder.”

It was undoubtedly stated from the above provisions of the Manila Accord and joint statement that:

the inclusion of Sabah into the formation of Malaysia is subject to the Philippines claim; and

the Philippines’ claim on Sabah must be settled in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) run by the United Nations.

Therefore, until such time when the ICJ has decided, Malaysia does not have absolute ownership of Sabah.

Yesterday, Najib made the following statement at a press conference in Lahad Datu: “The question of Sabah within Malaysia should not be disputed by anyone. Let not anyone underestimate Malaysia’s commitment to have Sabah within Malaysia forever. No one can dispute this, from within and outside the country. We will uphold the principle and fact of Sabah within Malaysia absolutely”.

Now, with the involvement of the two late former prime ministers of Malaysia – Tunku Abdul Rahman and Abdul Razak Hussein – in the Manila Accord and joint statement which contained straightforward and unambiguous stipulations, the question that begged to be answered now is: why did Najib lie to the whole nation without even blinking his eyes?

By refusing to honour the Manila Accord and backtracking on the joint statement, has Najib not figuratively slapped the Philippines and Indonesia which were signatories to the historic documents?

Internationally, is Najib not telling the whole world, especially foreign investors, that what Malaysia agrees and signs at any time may not be fulfilled or respected at Malaysia’s whims and fancies?

How are Malaysians going to face anyone overseas when our own prime minister has made us the butt of jokes and the laughing stock of the world?

Effectively, he has also slapped each and every Malaysian who has an ounce of dignity.

The writer is a former Sabah tour operator; loves food and speed; and blogs at http://legalandprudent.blogspot.com giving no quarters. The opinion and interpretation heretofore contained are exclusively his alone.

via Did Najib lie to the nation? | Free Malaysia Today.

fun fact: Population of SABAH 3 Million
Filipinos in SABAH 800k
Foreigners in SABAH 1.7 million

The Sulu Sultanate people should have focused on highlighting the humanitarian aspects of the Filipinos plight in sabah. In their simplistic quest to get a higher rent and their inadequacy in taking the moral high ground they have all but lost their cause.

If the sultanate chose to protect and demand rights for the 800k Filipinos in Sabah who have been lived in a state of uncertainty for decades.

If the sultanate only went beyond themselves and called for support from the international community in brokering a settlement that would not create 800,000 nation-less  people who have known no home except Sabah.

If they used social media to shine a light on the indignities suffered by people whose illegal status creates a halo of distrust, fear, insurity and even enmity towards the forces of a government who do not recognize them and a government that cannot take care of them.

And yet for us to be called better men or even good people we must not be silent on the plight of people who believe hunger awaits them in the country we proudly call out own. To accept this judgement on the land we have chosen as our home and still fight for recognition for our lost countrymen is the only moral thing we can do.

MANILA: The majority, if not all, of the 800,000 Filipinos based in Sabah may be sent back to the Philippines on the premise that they had acquired their Malaysian citizenship illegally over the past 20 years under a controversial systematic granting of citizenship to foreigners dubbed Project IC (identity cards).

Project IC, which is blamed on former Malaysian prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad, was said to be among the factors that led followers of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III to “invade” Sabah in February. Most of the Filipinos who benefited from the project in the past are Tausugs from the nearby islands of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

from : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/03/11/800000-filipinos-may-be-sent-home/