Virus hunting

There is this annoying hypothetical virus living in my computer right now. It just messed up my accounts and reset my desktop. It is also taking up to one hour just to boot up and shut down, so I've decided not to boot up in Windows until I get this problem fixed.

I've been using xubuntu as my rescue cd and evacuating all the data in the hard-drive. Then, they go to my macbook, which has norton antivirus and some spy/ad-ware sweeper to get rid of any virus in the way.

This situation is just plain strange. I can't find any virus and I've tried Norton, NOD32, AVG and Kaspersky.

So does the virus exists? Either way, I am going to have to delete everything and start over. 

Snakes, cops, scouts and Airsoft

Yesterday, I decided to do some solo hump (not sexual intercourse - it's the Marines' word for "hiking", or walking up steep slopes) at around 16:30. Except for the air quality, everything was perfect. The view wasn't too bad, I could still look down and see a bunch of apartment blocks. I wasn't really that tired and it wasn't too dark yet.(I could still see the path in front)

Up the hill, I passed a bunch of scouts which look like they haven't been moving for a long time. They were being taught how to use a compass and map and all this bearing stuff. BORING....

When I reached a map-stop, I saw these posters warning people about "Scrub Typhus", this evil disease spread by mites in heavy vegetation. Laughing at the typing error, I moved on. (It actually exists)

Getting up to the most beautiful part of my walk, I saw a "Danger - Road Closed" sign in front of a big bushy scrub. Perfect.

I decided to get into the bush and walk the shortcut, which would save me 10 minutes of stupid stair-walking and get my feet back on natural soil. The path is quite steep and very bushy - something that you would expect in an AYP trip gone bad. On the slope side, you can actually see the reservoir far below. Loved it.

On the final stretch, I am back on a proper path. THis one is actually a horse-riding track. The smell of horse sweat is strong in the air and hoof marks are all over the place. I walked slowly, enjoying the smell that would have driven many people to trespass into the HKU dormitory area to avoid (the Riding School is just nearby). It was getting dark now, and every minute is closer to sunset. 

Suddenly, I saw this silver streak slither out of a bush about 4 meters away and towards me. It took me a split second to realize it was a snake. Surprised and freaked out, I quickly backed off, all the while trying to pull out my BB gun. I fired 3 shots. 2 smacked straight into its body, knocking it off track. But it kept moving, this time knowing where I was. 

Knowing that you have to get the head to control it, I took a precious second to take aim at its scary face. It bounced back and I fired at least 3 more shots at it. It bounced back some more and seemed to be disoriented and stopped going in my direction. Thinking I could actually finish it off with the rest of my pellets, I decided to play lethal this time. I put an empty pen ink tube down the barrel. It was going so fast that in the dark, I couldn't see it flying. The metal tip went straight into the snake and I saw something spurt out. I backed off, half expecting it to lunge at me, because it was still moving. I shot many more times to be sure. I think I cracked some bones or teeth, because I heard it crack, as the BB bounced off. The tongue didn't stick out anymore. 

Then, I thought it would be really interesting to feel snake skin. I lunged for the head and squeezed it very hard. Even though I dared pick it up, I didn't have the guts to stare down its open mouth.

I doubt it was dead, because when I threw it off the path and into the trees, it still seemed to be moving. I did see blood, however.

Then, I heard footsteps. This part of the path is not walked by many hikers, so I wandered who they were. The footsteps were coming from the path ahead of me and they sounded like boots. The chink of some gear was quite loud. I think there were two of them But I couldn't see them.

Then, two policemen in camouflage uniforms and "boonie covers" (those rimmed soft hats) came up the path. Instinctually, I looked at their holsters. It didn't look like the standard black revolvers - It looked like some Glock 17 pistol. They weren't the usual street cop who walked leisurely or like those ones that looked obese and unfit. These guys looked very lean and tough. They had their sleeves rolled up and were carrying patrol packs loaded with a whole bunch of black pockets. Not good.

I think they heard the loud bang of my airsoft pistol go off. They scanned me while I tried hard to look normal and pretended to look at "the view", when there was no view but trees. One of them made eye contact, which I promptly returned for a split second. He looked away before I did and I knew I had passed their test of being normal. I was also expecting a "ID please" scenario, but that never happened. Maybe I didn't look like a guy who would shoot snakes.

Almost immediately after the badass police were out of sight, I started thinking what would it be like of I looked suspicious and they actually started doing that search thing. I wonder what those police would have thought of the puny airsoft "firearm". Or the rest of my "defensive" weaponry. Would I be placed under arrest at gunpoint or would they just laugh at it and leave? I'm also wandering what they could actually charge me with if all that went loose.

But I walked down the hill, unscathed and back to civilization and comfort. But not for Sid the snake.

More Marines sent to Afghanistan...

More than 2300 US Marines have arrived in Afghanistan to reinforce the NATO forces there, to help stabilize the country in response to a Annual Spring Offensive by the Taliban.

It would be interesting to see whether the Marines can actually stabilize the situation there. Currently, most of the US forces over there are mostly special operations qualified personnel like Army Rangers and SEALs. And there's a reason why they are that way.

- The mountainous regions call for very specialized warfare tactics, especially to deal with the many uncertainties in such operations. The regular army soldier and their equipment would not survive very long there.

- The ways in which troops are sent into the fight and extracted are unconventional. They often involve the use of helicopters and parachute jumps. The army infantry are not capable at this.

- Often, fights break out of nowhere and troops are often surrounded and outnumbered, because the enemy knows the terrain very well. Are Marines capable of this?

I tend to see this as a test of the way Marines fight and whether their training is actually enough to handle such situations.

More to come...

Breaking News: Congress House has gone rampant! Only one survivor.

Dr. Ron Paul is the only one who voted against the "Friendly Tibet Bill", 413 - 1.

The bill says that China needs to stop cracking down on Tibet and release Tibetan prisoner arrested during riots.

Why he did this is still under speculation. I tend to think that it is because of his non-interventionist and constitutional beliefs, and that the bill will simply be useless in doing anything, other than to show how arrogant the US government is to thinks that it can do as it pleases to China. 

On a similar case concerning the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, the House came up with a similar bill, expressing concern on Russian involvement in the murder. When he was asked to speak about this on the House floor, he states that

- there is no evidence to show Russian government involvement.

- it is arrogant for the US to pass judgement on crimes committed overseas.

- Don't kid yourselves. The real purpose of the bill is to attack the Russian government.

- There is no benefit to the US to pass such provocative resolutions about any other country.

Could this be the same about Tibet.

This is consistent with the rest of his voting record, when it comes to criticizing other countries for their internal policies. However, it did come to the surprise of many people, who immediately began saying that he was ridiculous and insane for doing so and that he voted against Human Rights and freedom. Some go further to say that he is a hypocrite.

This vote, and many others have shown that he is probably the only Congressman to actually vote according to what he believes and thinks. I would like to see his reasons for voting against this bill.