l| a time to be silent and a time to speak |l

Darn...

Another sad tale of accidental killing by US soldiers at Baghdad. Cameraman's camera was mistaken to be a rocket-propelled granade launcher (RPG) and was shot dead by soldiers, in broad daylight. Mr Dana was the 17th journalist to die in Iraq, with two others missing. SIGH.


Flash Mob

Heard something interesting over the radio today. Flash mob = a group of people who gather to do an act (usually ridiculous stuff) and disperse quickly thereafter. Apparently this wave (started by somebody named Bill, i think) is sweeping across Singapore now, and the DJ reported of a group of people in Singapore who arranged a gathering via net/emails. They met only to chorus "O-ley oley oley~~" while running up and down some escalators in town; dispersing after a couple of minutes. Sounds like fun.

As suggested by 'Bill', "There seems to be something inherently political about an inexplicable mob," he said. "People feel like there's nothing but order everywhere -- even crowds these days are forecast and managed -- and so they love to be a part of just one thing that nobody was expecting. ... prove people can still form ad hoc communities and make things happen that are beyond the reach of the gigantic, corrupt corporate and governmental powers that seem to dominate so much of modern life. But maybe I'm reading too much into it."