Inane both ways.

I went shopping and bought

C.S. Lewis: The boy who chronicled Narnia, a biography by Michael White.
50 facts that should change world by Jessica Williams

There were about thirty books from Military History and Warfare I wanted to ravage, twenty others from Non-fiction I needed to inhale, and about ten more under Current Affairs I’d pawn my clothes for but I could only afford two. The misery.

My sister Joyce said “Yer che why can’t you just spend your extra money on clothes like other normal people? And even if you don’t on clothes you spend it on books? That’s just damn weird la.”

Well because my mother still buys my clothes. And my dad is damn picky with books that he allows me to read. He’s still upset that I bought Karl Marx’s Selected Writings myself after he had said no and hid it under my bed.

It’s alarming. It really is.

There are 44 million child laborers in India.
Four years ago when I started keeping up with the UN International Labor (ILO), they seemed to be doing a pretty good job but hell, boycotting Nike and other brands for half a decade isn’t enough. Maybe I should start making my own clothes. But then I’d still have to worry about where the fabric came from, if a child working in a dangerous environment with bleeding fingers was a victim of this freaking cloth.

Ten languages die out every year.
That is insane! Mel and I were just working on an assignment on globalization and yes cultural identities die out as a side-effect of the gradual evolution of our species and yes universal communication has its benefits but ten languages a year… That’s a steep price to pay. I love the fact that I can speak Hokkien. For those who can speak it, you know what I mean, Hokkien can be si beh funny when used appropriately.

There are at least 300,000 prisoners or conscience in the world.
Now this just pisses me off. Declaring your beliefs and practicing your religion is subversive? And for that you go to prison? Cowardly governments. A strong and confident government may not like its critics, but it should be able to withstand a healthy public debate. The right to be who you are and express what you feel is one of the most fundamental of human existence, how can that right be revoked?

There are 300,000 child soldiers fighting in conflicts around the world.
WHAT THE FUCK? What kind of unscrupulous and downright SICK government/army would recruit children? They are forced into too, sometimes forced to kill their own families in order for them to emerge “stronger”. In some cases, the children are told to murder and cook the flesh of their victims and then eat them. I couldn’t stop crying while reading this report. I must do something.

Nearly 26 million people voted in the 2001 British General election. More than 32 million votes were cast in the first season of Pop Idol.
Oh my. THE SHAME.

I think I should stop now, or I’m gonna work myself into a heart attack.