Saturday, May 28, 2011

Why I Stayed - A Profundity



Here is why I stayed — John Rahman

May 28, 2011

MAY 28 — I shall start with a story of hope.

Two, actually.

I had an ex-colleague who runs a car wash business in one of the most ulu places in Peninsular Malaysia. It’s a simple business, so simple that his wife just sits under a tree all day long collecting money and supervising some school kids they employ to do the dirty work. He keeps his day job while earning a cool RM7,000 side income every month.

In my skyscraper of an office now, an old makcik pushes around a shopping cart (probably nicked while the guards at the nearby hypermarket weren’t looking!) filled to the brim with knick-knacks, kacang, muruku and stuff. She comes by once a week and without fail, my colleagues and I will stock up on junk food to munch on while working. Based on sales on our floor alone — okay, maybe we are gluttons! — but we estimate she profits around RM50 per floor, and with well over 50 floors in the building, she must earn at least RM2,000 a week (tax free!).

We can complain about spiralling cost of living, but these are ordinary people taking full advantage of the abundance of opportunities in Malaysia to earn a living. This is the land of opportunity. If an illegal immigrant can come here and earn a living, justly or not, there is no reason why a person like me, born and bred in this environment, with ample knowledge of how things work — for better or for worse — cannot make it big.

I shall say this, whether or not people choose to leave the country is entirely up to them. Everybody has their own dreams and ambitions, and if migrating overseas takes you closer to those dreams, so be it. But do not give excuses to justify you leaving. You don’t need an excuse, certainly not a bad one, to pursue your life-long goals.

You do not need to blame the crummy education system — it is crummy, but it is an education system we all grew up with and I would like to think that a lot of us turned out fine.

You can’t blame racism or glass ceilings because everyone honest enough to admit will tell you that glass ceilings exist EVERYWHERE. The current debate over the “tradition” of Europeans as the de facto head of the IMF should tell you more than you need to know about glass ceilings.

All those crummy reasons don’t hold up because while Malaysians are busy flocking to Singapore, Singaporeans are busy flocking elsewhere too. That is where the whole argument falls apart. Do we see some green pasture across the straits that the Singaporeans don’t see? And do the Indonesians see something green about KL that we don’t?

My friends, this is the age of globalisation. Borders between countries are blurring. This is not like the time where miners came to Malaya from China with the sole purpose of better economic prospects. Today, there are Malaysians working in Sudan, Dutchmen working in Nigeria, Americans working in Siberia. Do you think these people are where they are because of some misguided notion that these places are better than their homeland? No, people work where they work and people build a home where they do because this is where life takes them.

When addressing his own country’s emigrant issue, Rajiv Ghandi once said: “A brain drain is better than a brain in the drain.” That we, as Malaysians, are deemed capable enough to be able to work anywhere in the world is a clear indication of our talents. And whether the people migrating will choose to admit it or not, these are talents nourished by the foundations we built for ourselves while growing up on the streets of KL, Ipoh and JB.

I can go on and on about how I want to change this country, how I want to make a difference. That is all true, but that is also secondary. People can claim that they are leaving because of better prospects, a more comfortable life. That is probably true as well, but still a secondary issue.Read more.


(Drove from KK to Sandakan yesterday and Sandakan to Lahad Datu today.My last trip on these roads was 3 years ago and I cursed every mile of the way how we had been had.Today, the road conditions have degenerated so badly your car could be your very coffin.Maybe, the PM,CM and all the ministers should board 1BUS and see how wonderful their trip would be on Sabah's hellish roads, just waiting to maim or kill you.

Not only the Federal Minister of Health should resign, the Minister of Works should also resign.Sabah, by rights should have dual-carriageways linking East and West and North and South.

On my way to Tabin Wildlife Reserve.Will have lots of photos, probably too busy, no politics, no posting, just enjoy God's gifts to mankind, nature and tranquility of the jungle - Hantu Laut)


Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib: The First Muslim Leader to Declare Suicide Bombing Contrary to Islam

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib: The First Muslim Leader to Declare Suicide Bombing Contrary to Islam

Najib Razak, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, gave a speech at Oxford last week that should have grabbed the eye of every policymaker, every columnist, and every pundit concerned with the clash between the West and radical Islam. It was not a recitation of hoary platitudes; it was a unique and wonderful thing, the first time a Muslim leader did not merely hedge and equivocate about “Islam means peace,” or “Islam does not abide terror,” or any of the other dozens of things Muslim leaders all too often say in front of Western audiences, only to attempt to appease their populations at home with the usual train of death-to-Israel, death-to-America, glory-in-martyrdom talk in a language American reporters can’t follow.

It was a great speech, precisely because it got down into specifics.

Read more.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Myth Busting:Are Malaysian Elections Rigged?

Hantu Laut

PAS, promised 100,000 strong show of force for its Bersih rally expected to be held on July 9 in Kuala Lumpur.

What do they want?

According to APANAMA here they want fair and free elections.

This political meandering to fool the people that our elections are not fair nor free is one big lie and has become a myth.

It coming from PAS is more difficult to understand because they claimed they are guided by Islamic teachings and they knew fully well what they claimed is not true and a big lie to hoodwink the people and to gain unfair advantage in the elections yet these holies of holies are prepared to discard the Islamic principles and joined hands with what they used to call the infidels for political gains.They are infidels if they joined with UMNO but are not if with PAS.

Only if you are a matter-of-factly a stupid person would you believe in such absolute rubbish and believe in all the other lies perpetuated by Pakatan Rakyat to demonise the government purely to rouse the people up and spread ill-will against the government just to gain the extra mile.

Sadly, Malaysian is not a thinking society and like the cows would rather use their herd instinct than rationalise with logical and plausible reasoning whether what they were told are true or not.

Should they believe in people like Anwar Ibrahim,Azmin Ali,Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh,Hadi Awang and the whole lot of the political chain gang which had only one mission....... by hook or by crook.......... to topple the BN government.

Have the Malaysian elections been truly rigged by the BN?

Let's open the history book and see for ourselves whether these bunch of liars are telling the truth.Everything stated here are on records and can be checked for accuracy.

If there were blatant cheating and our elections were rigged how come:

1.The first period of PAS rule in Kelantan lasted 18 years (1959-1978).

2.After losing Kelantan to BN for 12 years PAS regained the state in 1990.

3.Pas has won Kelantan in every consecutive general elections in 1990,1995,1999,2004 and 2008.

4. Pas won in Trengganu twice (1959-1962 and 1999-2004)

Other very pertinent and material cases that burst the myth that our elections have always been rigged are shown below.

1.In 1969 DAP won 13 MP seat and 31 State Assembly seats and Gerakan in the opposition then also made major gains.The victory march by DAP culminated into the deadly May 13 race riot.

2.The lost of federally backed Berjaya in Sabah in 1985 to newly-born PBS. The Mahathir's sink and swim with Harris Salleh misadventure that left Berjaya with an embarrassing 6 out of 48 seats and PBS won the day with simple majority and played out USNO of its promise to form a coalition.The once powerful and feared Harris lost his seat to an unknown giant-killer.They could have rigged the elections to keep themselves in power. Even the irascible and powerful Harris didn't have the guts to do it and he could if he wants to.

3.In 1999, the BN suffered the lowest win (with exception of the Alliance 1969 lowest performance) with PAS taking 27 parliamentary seats, DAP 10 and PKR 5 in a loose alliance called Barisan Alternatif.PBS in Sabah won 3 seats.Did Mahathir rigged the elections to reduce his majority in Parliament?

4.In 2004 while PAS and PKR suffered major setback DAP collected 12 parliamentary seats.

5.In the 2006 Sarawak State Elections DAP showed its best showing collected 6 out of 12 seats it contested.

6.The biggest setback suffered by the ruling BN was 2008, a fairly strong earthquake that almost toppled the BN government.The oppositions coalition under Pakatan Rakyat made major gains, capturing 5 states and denied the BN of its two-thirds majority and subsequently won most of the by-elections.BN could have rigged the elections to give them the two-thirds majority that they have always enjoyed. Did they?

7.In 2008 Anwar Ibrahim stood in the Permatang Pauh by-election, won handsomely and returned to Parliament as leader of the oppositions.If what the opposition claimed is true why the government did not rig the by-election of its most feared and hated man?

8.In the recent Sarawak State Elections DAP captured 12 seats and PKR 3 seats giving the opposition coalition 15 seats in the Sarawak State Assembly.

Do I need to go on to convince you what the oppositions claimed is a myth and pack of lies?

I really don't know why am I doing this for free.It should be the BN inglorious bastards who should be out there talking to the people instead of sitting in their comfort zone and counting their takings for the day.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Najib vs. Anwar: Epic Battle

Monday, 23 May 2011

Image
Such good friends
Wikileaks cables detail a struggle Najib has won so far


Hidden in thousands of pages of US diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and made available to Asia Sentinel, is a years-long battle for Malaysian political primacy between Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

It is a battle that Najib appears to have won, at least for now, having been named prime minister while an embattled Anwar remains in the dock, fighting charges that he sodomized an aide.

The cables, more than 900,000 words long and covering 15 years from 1993 to 2008, depict an Anwar who from the start saw Najib as a danger to him personally. He was in frequent touch with US Embassy officials, warning constantly that Najib was the perpetrator of a long series of corrupt acts in the procurement of defense equipment and that he was a danger to the exercise of democracy.

Equally, the cables depict an American legation determined to avoid becoming ensnared in Malaysian politics by taking sides. Christopher LaFleur, US ambassador from 2004 to 2007, wrote in a July 31, 2007 cable to US Army Gen. George W. Casey that “Malaysia is important to us because it is an economically successful, stable, predominantly Muslim country that, over the longer term, may be able to support us more strongly in places like the Middle East… The overall tone in Malaysian-American relations has improved considerably since Abdullah Badawi became Prime Minister in late-2003, and we seek to translate this into substantive improvements. Bilateral relations eroded under Abdullah's vituperative predecessor Dr Mahathir Mohamad, but Abdullah brought with him a friendlier style and an interest in projecting a more moderate image, both for himself and for his country. “

The embassy, however, watched closely as Anwar forged an unwieldy opposition coalition from the Islamist Parti Islam se-Malaysia, the Chinese Democratic Action Party and Anwar’s own Parti Keadilan Rakyat, made up largely of urban Malays.

From the time Anwar was released from prison after a 1999 trial on what were widely seen to be bogus charges of corruption and sexual deviancy, the cables show a United Malays National Organisation paralyzed by inaction and led by an ineffective Abdullah Badawi while opposition forces raise enthusiastic crowds of tens of thousands of cheering spectators demanding political reform.

The need for Anwar’s crucial leadership of the awkward coalition is underscored by a Feb. 23, 2007 cable signed by LaFleur. “PAS valued Anwar as the ‘bridge’ between the non-Malays especially the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and PAS, and as a name-brand figure able to attract voters,” La Fleur wrote.

PAS elders, he wrote, found it impossible to communicate with the DAP and other non-Malay parties. He quotes Azizan Abdul Razak of PAS saying that PAS and DAP were “like chickens and ducks, feeding at the same trough, but unable to talk to one another.” Anwar was seen as the only one who could blunt the “ruling National Front juggernaut.”

Anwar, LaFleur wrote on July 17, 2007, was concentrating his attacks on then Deputy Prime Minister Najib as a way to “open up fissures in UMNO middle ranks that will give him other opportunities.”

As pressure continued on the ruling coalition, Anwar led enthusiastic rallies all over the country, culminating in the March 2008 national elections that ended the Barisan Nasional’s 50-year two-thirds hold on parliament. The cables in general seem to indicate a sense of growing panic and paralysis on the part of Barisan leaders, particularly in UMNO, and a desire to drive Abdullah Badawi from the premiership to make way for Najib. Anwar compounded the fears by displaying an eight-minute videotape of a prominent lawyer, VK Lingam, apparently telling a Supreme Court judge to fix key appointments in the government’s favor, thus spurring a royal inquiry into judicial corruption.

According to Ambassador James Keith, who succeeded LaFleur in July 2007, UMNO leaders worried “about Anwar's drawing power on the streets. That Anwar and other opposition leaders proceeded successfully in the face of PM Abdullah's personal warnings should bolster the opposition's resolve and embolden them to plan further events.“

After Anwar returned to politics by taking back his Penang parliamentary seat in a by-election, it was only a matter of time before UMNO replaced a faltering Abdullah Badawi with Najib. As Mahathir goaded Najib to act in April 2007, Anwar was telling the diplomats that his opposition coalition “had a ‘realistic’ opportunity to topple PM Abdullah's government by bringing over 30 or more BN MPs for a no-confidence vote in Parliament,” Keith wrote.

All of that was brought to a halt on June 30, 2008,when former aide Mohamed Saiful Bukhary Azlan, charged that he had been sodomized by Anwar, a case that goes on to this day. The charges brought the opposition’s momentum to a halt.

On July 23, 2008, apparently aware that this second sodomy arrest was being viewed skeptically by the international community, Malaysian Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar assembled a flock of foreign diplomats to give them the government’s view.

According to a cable on that date signed by Keith, Syed Hamid dismissed claims of conspiracy, defended the police handling of the case and emphasized that Anwar was “being treated fairly.”

“The Government of Malaysia is becoming aware of the negative impact the Anwar case has had on its international reputation and is acting to change the negative foreign perceptions,” the cable read.

“Today's briefing was an attempt by the GOM to influence the diplomatic community, counter Anwar's own messaging the day before, and work against critical international media attention.”

Balanced or Biased ? Am Just Being Petty.

Hantu Laut

I must confess I use Malaysian Insider as my saucepan much more than any other source of local news not because of its balanced reporting but more for its left wing incline and frequent updating.

Read the article below, balanced or biased ?

Penang gives RM25,000 to landslide victims

GEORGE TOWN, May 22 – Penang will give RM25,000 to the 25 victims of the Hulu Langat landslide yesterday which claimed 16 lives.

Nine others survived the landslide at the Rumah Anak-anak Yatim dan Anak-anak Hidayah Madrasah Al-Taqwa at Batu 14, Hulu Langat in Selangor.

“Although it is not a lot, it is moral support for the families of those who died and survived so that they can persevere through this tragedy,” Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said in a statement.

The Selangor government has also given RM1,000 to each of the families of the victims and is looking to offer them other help.

The federal government will give RM10,000 to each of the families of the victims.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is also cutting short his United States visit to meet the victims this Tuesday.

See! Who got the headline?

The one who gave the most didn't get the limelight.


The MSM or the Internet's news portal. Aren't they all the same?


Am I just being petty?

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Anwar Looking Down At The Poor Orang Kampong

Hantu Laut

There were 1000 strong poor kampong folks in Cheras Baru who listened to Anwar's bullshit about subsidies for the poor and Najib bowing to rich towkays.

If the kampong people believe him I don't blame them because they don't know any better but Anwar is certainly a liar and a bigot because he looks down on the poor kampong folks and think they are stupid and can be easily fooled.

Somebody in the crowd should have asked Anwar when he was Finance Minister did he give huge projects and businesses to any poor folk in Cheras Baru or in any other kampong or he gave it to the same kind of people who can do the job properly, help stimulate the economy, generate more jobs for the people and pay more taxes into the government coffers.

Ask him how many people are under his employment as compared to people like Ananda,Bukary,Vincent Tan,Francis Yeo and thousands of other entrepreneurs and businessmen that have contributed to the economy and well being of this country.Ask him how much has he contributed in term of taxes, foreign exchange gains and other economic contributions that have helped put money in our pockets and helped the government to develop the country giving us a better live.

“They give subsidies to poor people and call it opium but when they give it to the rich it is okay although they are the real opium addicts,” he said in response to Najib likening petrol subsidies to opium.

At lease Najib is honest and prepared to bite the bullet and stake his job to take unpopular decision to save the nation from bankruptcy. The present economic situation would bankrupt the nation if the government continue giving out too much subsidies.

Would he like to turn this country into an agrarian nation like what Pol Pot and the Khmer Rogue did in Cambodia many years ago, killed all the intellectuals, the doctors, lawyers, teacher, businessmen and anyone using glasses deemed to be pests and parasites.

Anwar argued that the subsidies could be maintained if the “dictatorial” BN clamped down on corruption.

Yes, agree, but what is the quantum between the two?

Wasn't he charged for corruption too and the sentence still stands.

Without the rich no country can survive economically.They are the economic engines that create sustainable economic output and create employment for the people.

You can listen to Anwar at your own perils.

Kick out BN, Anwar tells the poor here.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

"Divide and Rule" - Dividing The Malays

Hantu Laut

Divide et impera or in the sciences of politics and sociology "divide and rule" or "divide and conquer" if literally translated from Latin.

From Caesar,Napolean,Louis XI, the Habsburgs to colonial Europe, divide and rule have always been the maxim for maintaining a hold on to power or breaking up larger concentration of power into smaller chunks that individually would be less powerful and less effective.

Machiavelli in his book the "Art of War" denotes the same application in military strategy.Infiltrate your enemies and divide the forces by sowing the seeds of mistrust among the ranks and file and the generals.

Colonial Europe imperialist territorial expansion gave them global network of colonies, of peoples subjugation and of divide and rule that have allowed the colonisers to exploit the natural resources and the inhabitants of the colonies to the fullest.

For centuries European colonies straddled the globe with territories changing hands among the European powers either through wars, gunboat diplomacy or treaties.The European were masters and enslavers of poor and undeveloped subordinated territories.

The "sun never sets on the British Empire" it was said at its pinnacle . At its height it was the largest empire in history and for over a century, the foremost global power.It held sway a quarter of the world's population and almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area.It ruled not only the land but all of the world's great oceans as well.That was the British Empire at its greatest, the epitome of divide and rule policy.Today, the empire is gone, the endgame of divide and rule.

The birth of the Federation of Malaya from British Malaya and the eventual formation of Malaysia was no less the same process.

Sabah and Sarawak could have been given independence on its own and many Sabahans and Sarawakians think on hindsight that would be the ideal situation, but as much as I do not wish to agree with the British, it seemed inevitable that we have not much choice but to participate in the formation of a bigger nation to counter the threat of Indonesia's expansionist policy then.Due to its weakening economic power and poor military forces the Philippines which has a claim over Sabah was not seen as a threat, it was Sukarno and Indonesia that the British was worried about.

Divide and rule policy inherited from the British had made this racially diverse nation into a very ethnically divided country and existential policies that failed to bring to fruit a national identity.

The Malays remained Malays, the Chinese remained Chinese, the Indians remained Indians. The Chinese speak Chinese and some looked upon China as the motherland and 20% of the population couldn't speak the national language properly. The Indians speaks the Indian language ( mostly Tamil) and some still looked upon Indian as the motherland and sent their sons to India to marry Indian brides chosen by the parents.

The races still eye each other with suspicion and whatever discomfort they may have with each other had been under the lid for decades but has now surfaced threatening to tear the country to shred if no action is taken to stop the racist mudslingers.

On the economic front the picture is even more dreary.

Tokenism! Rampant in both Chinese controlled companies and government controlled corporations.The Chinese would not employ Malays in critical positions as they do not trust them and perceived them too slow and less competent.It became even worse in family run companies where all critical positions would be wholly Chinese and the lowest rank the preserve of the other races.

Malay run GLCs practised the same discriminatory behaviour, staffing almost the entire organisation with Malays.

The civil service, the military and the police force are almost entirely Malays.The same way the Malays are being treated in Singapore by the Chinese, critical positions are not for those whose allegiance are still questionable.The Chinese and Indians have come to accept that they would never be top brass in any of these vital organisations.Most stayed away.

The Malays, the leading political force had cleverly retained the British divide and rule policy and held sway political control for over half a century until the unexpected political tsunami in March 2008 which jolted the Malay political powerhouse.UMNO never dreamt they would be rejected so badly by fellow Malays.They were still in Lala Land till the morning after.

Breaking up and dividing the Chinese and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak into small and inert political parties gave the Malays perfect political control over the other races under the BN concept, probably, the biggest amalgamation of political parties any where in the democratic world, the brainchild of former Prime Minister the late Tun Razak Hussein.A good concept if there were fair play.

There are no less than six active Chinese based parties in the country, DAP,MCA and Gerakan in the Peninsula, SAPP, LDP in Sabah and SUPP in Sarawak.

Sabah and Sarawak also enjoyed a democratic split of the indigenous people.In Sabah, there are at least three active KDM (Kadazan Dusun Murut) based political parties, PBS, UPKO and PBRS and Sarawak has three, SPDP, PRS and SNAP.

To try register a new Malay based party or revive a defunct Malay party is almost impossible.Various attempts to revive USNO in Sabah was rejected by the Register of Societies without giving valid reasons whatsoever. USNO, still has, among the adult Malay/Muslim population in Sabah, nostalgic reminiscent of days yonder when Sabahans had full control of the state.

Since its inception Malaysia has only two active Malay political parties, UMNO and PAS.Both are competing for Malay anchorage but UMNO has the lateral influence while PAS is confined to areas where the zeal for Islam is greater.

UMNO, the doyen of Malay politics has seen its influence eroding among the Malay population and has to share the Malays votes not only with PAS but with PKR, a multi-racial party headed by Anwar Ibrahim, one of the factors responsible for dividing the Malays.

In the March 2008 General Elections some very disillusioned Malays even voted for DAP candidates to show their anger and frustrations with UMNO leaders seen as high muckety muck and corrupt.

Corruptions and ostentatious display of ill-acquired wealth by UMNO leaders,families and cronies had been the rallying call for the diminution of UMNO political influence.The other big factor for splitting of the Malay votes was Anwar Ibrahim who is seen as a victim of UMNO conspiracy.

Anwar could be immoral as can be but Malaysians are bought that he is innocent even if proven guilty.Majority of French people thought of the same of Dominique Strauss-Kahn who now looked more and more guilty of the alleged crime.

Who divide the Malays?

The answer is simple, the Malays themselves but much of the blame would squarely fall on the shoulders of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed, former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and UMNO.

The division of the Malays started with the sacking and imprisonment of Anwar Ibrahim seen as trumped-up charges by many Malaysians.Very few Malaysians believe Anwar was guilty of the crimes brought against him.It was seen as Mahathir's heavy handedness in getting rid of Anwar to keep himself in power.If Anwar had been sacked without his incarceration the story would have been different.

UMNO, itself, is a big factor in dividing the Malays.The legacy of political largesse and massive corruptions in the government have made the ordinary Malays lose their appetite for UMNO.The cornucopia of wealth has become the monopoly of UMNO and the lapdogs. Even the middle class Malays, beneficiries of the NEP were embattled with such idea of breach of trust.

March 8, 2008 was a wake up call for the Chinese and Indians.Both have come to realise the unrealised political power they have. How, with a little help from the Malays they could change the political landscape.

While Sabah and Sarawak were still in their slumbers the West Malaysians woke up to a new day.A day very few expect the BN to have lost its mojo and a new dawn of change appeared on the horizon.The gradual erosion of Malay dominant.

Racial polarisation has risen alarmingly of late and the 13th General Elections would see greater polarisation.

DAP would become a very dominant player in Malaysian politics after the 13th GE.Most, if not all Chinese seats would go to the DAP.All other Chinese based parties would be decimated.

DAP, which is trying to woo Malay members and voters by recruiting and engaging prominent Malay personalities failed to excite the Malays.The Malays,
other than Tungku Aziz, Zairil Khir Johari and few others, would always consider DAP a Chinese party.

The Malays, unless they consolidate before the general elections, would be divided between UMNO, PAS and PKR.

BN may still win but it could well be UMNO,Sabah and Sarawak.

"Divide and Rule" one that would come back to haunt you.



Friday, May 20, 2011

Sex,Lies,Arrogance:Why Powerful Men Behave So Badly?

When her husband Dominique Strauss-Kahn was preparing to run for President of France five years ago, Anne Sinclair told a Paris newspaper that she was "rather proud" of his reputation as a ladies' man, a chaud lapin (hot rabbit) nicknamed the Great Seducer.

"It's important," she said, "for a man in politics to be able to seduce."

Maybe it was pride that inspired French politicians and International Monetary Fund officials to look the other way as the rumors about "DSK" piled up, from the young journalist who says Strauss-Kahn tried to rip off her clothes when she went to interview him, to the female lawmaker who describes being groped and pawed and vowed never to be in a room alone with him again, to the economist who argued in a letter to IMF investigators that "I fear that this man has a problem that, perhaps, made him unfit to lead an institution where women work under his command." Maybe it was the moral laziness and social coziness that impel elites to protect their own. Maybe it was a belief that he alone could save the global economy. Maybe nothing short of jail is disqualifying for certain men in certain circles. (See pictures of Dominique Strauss-Kahn.)

But in any event, the arrest of Strauss-Kahn in New York City for allegedly trying to rape a hotel maid has ignited a fierce debate over sex, law, power and privilege. And it is only just beginning. The night of Strauss-Kahn's arraignment, former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted that the reason his wife Maria Shriver walked out earlier this year was the discovery that he had fathered a child more than a decade ago with a former member of the household staff. The two cases are far apart: only one man was hauled off to jail. But both suggest an abuse of power and a betrayal of trust. And both involve men whose long-standing reputations for behaving badly toward women did not derail their rise to power. Which raises the question: How can it be, in this ostensibly enlightened age, when men and women live and work as peers and are schooled regularly in what conduct is acceptable and what is actionable, that anyone with so little judgment, so little honor, could rise to such heights?

Crime and Culture Wars
Let's note first that Strauss-Kahn is innocent until proved guilty and, second, that if he is guilty, he is not a player — he's a predator. This was not just a French version of an American classic, the Family Values Virtuecrat, who preaches by day and trysts by night. Nor was Strauss-Kahn a fallen star like Tiger Woods or Charlie Sheen or one of the libidinous lawmakers and Luv Guvs whose confessions can be as infuriating as their sins. Strauss-Kahn was not accused of seducing his close friend's wife, like former Senator John Ensign, or patronizing prostitutes while prosecuting prostitution rings, like former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, or lying about an affair while impeaching a President for lying about an affair, like Newt Gingrich. On the spectrum that starts at randy, runs through creepy and ends in handcuffs, where DSK belonged became a matter of global dispute even before it became a matter for a grand jury. (See pictures of the career of Arnold Schwarzenegger.)

This is what the alleged victim told the police: On May 14, at the Sofitel in midtown Manhattan, the maid, a 32-year-old African immigrant, entered the $3,000-a-night suite around midday to clean, thinking it was empty. When she went into a bedroom, Strauss-Kahn emerged naked from the bathroom; when she apologized and tried to leave, according to a police spokesperson, he chased her down, grabbed her and locked the door. He tried to assault her in the bedroom before dragging her to the bathroom and making her perform oral sex. She eventually fled the suite; hotel staff called the police, who caught up with him sitting in his first-class seat on the Air France flight from JFK to Paris — where he could have been safe from extradition.

See more international news in Global Spin

With his arrest, a transatlantic culture war broke out. Strauss-Kahn was the world's wallet, a shrewd and nimble financier who had rescued the IMF from irrelevance in time to save the European economy. He was the favorite to defeat Nicolas Sarkozy for the French presidency next year. He had friends everywhere who called him far too brilliant to do anything so tawdry, as though being smart and being decent were the same thing. Newspapers in Paris couldn't decide on the headline. "Shock. Political Bomb. Thunderclap," blared the left-leaning paper Libération. The New York Daily News went with "Le Perv." The French, who forbid photographing a suspect in handcuffs on the grounds that it violates the presumption of innocence, were aghast at what followed: "Death by media," one former Socialist minister called it. "If you don't want to do the perp walk, don't do the crime," New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg fired back, which only confirmed the French objection.

Strauss-Kahn was charged with offenses including criminal sex acts, unlawful imprisonment and attempted rape, for which he could face up to 25 years. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment; his lawyers suggested that whatever might have occurred was consensual. His wife had wired $1 million for bail, they said — but concluding that a man pulled off a flight constituted a flight risk, the judge denied it. (See seven women who chose to stand by their men.)

And so he sat in a cell at Rikers Island, a short flight but a long fall from his $4 million Georgetown home and the life he had come to lead. He was on suicide watch; the victim and her teenage daughter were moved to a safe house to protect them from the cameras — but that did not stop the French press from publishing her name and background or the New York Post from reporting that she was a widow who lives in a Bronx apartment set aside for adults with HIV, a claim her lawyer called "outrageous."


Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2072527,00.html#ixzz1Mseqrnlv

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Sabah Copycats - Circus In Town








Hantu Laut

The circus is in town.The clowns had a field day entertaining the Daily Express to a round of slapsticks and horse shits.

The front page headline screamed "Anti-Musa, anti Shafie group"

"What a waste of premium space for a group of unheard of political stragglers" said the news vendor whom I get my daily from.

We are against Musa Aman and Shafie Apdal's leadership but we support the federal leadership and we want a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to discuss this issue.

Leading these "Save Sabah" bunch of court jesters was out of the wood work Movement for Change Sabah chief, Abdul Razak Salam, the son of Datu Abdul Salam, brother of the late Tun Mustapha Harun, the controversial and most colourful chief minister Sabah ever had. Two Grumman executive jets and one customised Boeing 707 for his personal use.His playgrounds, the casinos of Beirut and London.

Gun-toting Salam was no less controversial when he pointed his gun and threatened the receivers who came to foreclose his Dashrun Hotel in Kuala Lumpur during the Mustapha's era.The receivers had no choice but to back off and lodged a police report but no charge was ever brought against Salam.

“We hope to change the system of cronyism that is prevalent in our political system. We will not be accepting funds from anybody who wishes to control us" said another MoCS joker.

Obviously, they must be loaded with money, not needing any financial help from anyone.

“We want to change the mentality of fear and intimidation that the government uses to turn its people to be subservient to them.”

Sabah has changed government 4 times since the formation of Malaysia which shows we are not easily intimidated or live in fear of the government except in the early days of USNO where political dissent assumed as terrorists would end up in Kepayan (Sabah version of Guantanamo Bay those days)

These are the very same people who joined Yong Teck Lee in the Batu Sapi by-election in October 2010 and promised him heaven and hell to deliver the bumiputra or rather the migrant's votes to him.

Yong lost his balls and the Batu Sapi debacle would make life harder for him in the next general elections.He would be fighting an uphill battle against DAP for the Chinese seats in Sabah.

Musa is a state leader and chief minister and Shafie is a national leader and a federal minister and both are members of UMNO supreme council.

Musa may not be the best of the bests but he knows best the business of development.Shafie is shrewd but not yet proven other than being very close to Najib and given a huge coffer for rural development.Money, would definitely buy favours, at least in Sabah, it does.

MoC Sarawak candidate Salleh Jaffarudin got skunked in the Sarawak elections and these Sabah copycats were already counting their eggs and given VIP treatment and front page headline from the papers that know Sabah best.

Story here.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Wikileaks,Pak Lah, Najib And The Altantuya Murder

Tuesday, 17 May 2011

Asia Sentinel


Cables show the US embassy in KL feared "prosecutorial misconduct" during the sensational 2009 trial
.

The US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur closely followed the trial of the accused killers of Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu and frequently discussed whether current Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was involved in the killing, according to diplomatic cables supplied to Asia Sentinel by the WikiLeaks website.

The diplomats, like much of the public, also speculated that the trial was being deliberately delayed and feared what one cable calls "prosecutorial misconduct" that was being politically manipulated. The embassy officials based their concerns on sources within the prosecution, government and the political opposition.

The cables also draw attention to an intriguing allegation that then Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi may have attempted to use the proceedings to implicate Najib, a claim that was quickly hushed up in the Malaysian press.

Altantuya was murdered in October 2006 by two of Najib's bodyguards, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, 30 and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, 35. who stood trial and were pronounced guilty in April 2009. Abdul Razak Baginda, one of Najib's best friends and Altantuya's lover, was accused of participating in the murder but was freed without having to put on a defense.

The murder has been tied closely to the US$1 billion acquisition of French submarines by the Malaysian ministry of defense, which Najib headed as defense minister during the acquisitions. Altantuya reportedly acted as a translator on the transaction, which netted Razak Baginda's company a €114 million "commission" on the purchase. Reportedly she had been offered US$500,000 for her part in translating. After she was jilted, she vainly demanded payment. A letter she had written was made public after her death saying she regretted attempting to "blackmail" Razak Baginda.

French lawyers are investigating whether some of the €114 million was kicked back to French or Malaysian politicians. Despite the scandal, the US government has not publicly backed away from Najib. In April 2010, Najib visited the White House and was praised by President Barack Obama for the parliament's passage of an act allowing Malaysian authorities to take action against individuals and entities engaged in proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The cables are replete with accounts of a long series of meetings with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who repeatedly told the Americans that Najib was connected to corrupt practices in the acquisition of the submarines as well as the purchase of Sukhoi Su-MCM-30 Flanker fighter jets from Russia. Anwar also called attention to Najib's connection to the Altantuya case.

A Jan. 24, 2007 cable, marked "secret," wrote that "Perceived irregularities on the part of prosecutors and the court, and the alleged destruction of some evidence, suggested to many that the case was subject to strong political pressure intended to protect Najib."

In a Feb. 1, 2008 cable, the embassy's Political Section Chief, Mark D. Clark, wrote that a deputy prosecutor had told him "there was almost no chance of winning guilty verdicts in the on-going trial of defendants Razak Baginda, a close advisor to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, and two police officers. She described the trial as interminably long." (That, of course, turned out to be wrong. Sirul and Azilah were ultimately convicted and have appealed their sentence)

Clark called the trial a "a prosecutorial embarrassment from its inception, leading many to speculate that the ineptitude was by design. On the eve of the trial,Malaysia's Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail dropped his lead prosecutors and replaced them with less experienced attorneys. Similarly, a lead counsel for one of the defendants abruptly resigned before the trial 'because of (political) attempts to interfere with a defense he had proposed, in particular to protect an unnamed third party.'"

The protracted nature of the case, Clark continued, led "at least one regional newspaper to speculate that 'the case is being deliberately delayed to drive it from public view. Malaysia's daily newspapers rarely mention the case's latest developments, and it is unprecedented in Malaysian judicial history that a murder trial could drag on for seven months and still not give the defense an opportunity to present its case. Such an environment has led many to conclude that the case was too politically sensitive to yield a verdict before the anticipated general elections."

A January 2007 cable called attention to Razak Baginda's affidavit confirming that he sought the help of Musa Safri, later identified by reporters as Najib's aide-de-camp, in ridding him of the jilted woman, and in other cables pointed out that Musa had never been called for questioning.

In another cable, dated May 16, 2007, Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, a deputy home affairs minister in former Prime Minister Ahmad Abdullah Badawi's cabinet told US Embassy officials that he was "certain that government prosecutors would limit their trial activities to the murder itself and the three defendants; prosecutors would not follow up on allegations of related corruption or other suspects."

In a Jan. 27, 2007 cable, marked "Secret," embassy officials wrote that "In December we heard from one of (Anwar's) lawyers that Razak Baginda's wife was in contact with Anwar and Wan Azizah, suggesting one possible source for Anwar's information."

Razak Baginda's wife, during one of his first appearances in court, screamed that her husband "doesn't want to be prime minister." That was taken by observers as a reference to the fact that Najib reportedly had been having an affair with Altantuya but passed her on to Razak Baginda because it would be unseemly to have a mistress when he succeeded Abdullah Badawi as premier. Najib has offered to swear on the Koran that he had never met the woman.

However, in July 2008, P Balasubramaniam, a former policeman and private detective who had been hired by Razak Baginda to protect him from Altantuya, filed a sworn statement saying he had been told by the accused man that Najib not only knew the murdered woman but had an affair with her and introduced her to him, passing her on because he did not want the onus of having a mistress in the event that he would become prime minister.

In a telephone interview on May 9, Anwar, however, told Asia Sentinel that Razak Baginda's wife was not the source of his knowledge of Najib's connection and that instead he had been told of the connection by Setev Shaariibuu, Altantuya's father, who said he had wished to present evidence of Najib's involvement, but was not allowed to do so. Multiple attempts to contact Setev by Asia Sentinel have been unsuccessful.

Almost immediately after he made the statement, Balasubramaniam was picked up and driven to a police station, where he was forced to withdraw the statement and write a new one saying Razak Baginda had told him nothing of the sort. Balasubramaniam fled Malaysia for India. He later said Najib's brother, Nizam, and wife, Rosmah Mansor, had met with him and that he was offered RM5 million (US$1.48 million) to forget his statement connecting Najib to Altantuya. Balasubramaniam displayed a flock of checks drawn on the account of an associate of Najib's wife. The former private detective has made a a series of statements from outside the country about Najib's involvement.

A February 2008 cable from Political Section Chief Clark gives a hint that Abdullah Badawi himself may have been trying to get rid of Najib by forcing Razak Baginda to implicate him in the murder.

"In the latest turn of the ongoing Altantuya murder trial (reftels), accused political insider Abdul Razak Baginda, who has remained calm and composed through most of the proceedings, unleashed an emotional tirade shortly after the February 20 noon recess on the trial's 90th day," Clark wrote. "Referring to the Prime Minister by his nick-name 'Pak Lah,' Razak reportedly exclaimed: 'You can die, Pak Lah! (in Malaysian - Matilah kau, Pak Lah!) I'm innocent!' according to unpublished journalist accounts. Read more.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The Commonality Of Anwar And Strauss-Kahn

Hantu Laut

Dominique Strauss-Kahn may be innocent or guilty as sin. Tales of the powerful and privileged appetite for sexual indiscretions.His case has in every aspect in commonality with Anwar's. It is about sexual indiscretion, lies, arrogance and abuse of power. Though, there is one huge difference between him and Anwar, he readily submits himself to body examination for DNA.

Anwar refused to give DNA sample and made mockery of the judge, the witnesses, the prosecution and the justice system and turned a criminal case into the longest political circus and with it political mileage to his and the opposition advantage.

Since a law compelling suspect to give DNA sample was non existence at that time, he got away with it.He should have, if he is truly innocence, voluntarily given a specimen of his DNA, which would have made life easier for him, the court, the defence and prosecution and would have shorten the case thereby saving court's time and tax payer's money. The police had to used stealthy method to get specimen of his DNA, which has now been found to match those found in the complainant's anus.

The judge has concluded a prima facie case and called for Anwar's defence. He accused the judge of "prejudging his guilt" even before he entered his defence.

To Anwar everything is a political dish for public consumption, the law is of no consequence.

There are many similarities in the two cases.

Many deemed Anwar innocent and victim of a frame up and political persecution. Many Malaysians are still spellbound that he is completely innocent and can do no wrong.

In the case of Kahn the allegation of sexual molestation and attempted rape shocked the French nation and many do not believe he is capable if such heinous behaviour and speculation of possible fixing of his wagon is in the air.Like Anwar's, his wife also stood by his innocence in spite of his wily reputation as the "great seducer" and history of infidelities.

They are classic examples of stand by your man no matter what.Wives from heaven or wayang kulit? Sometimes, power and money can turn a blind eye.

The great synonymity of the two cases are........... though Kahn has not officially confirmed it but seen as the best contender for the top job, both men are gunning for the chief executive positions of their respective country.

Both, might not get to their destinations, because of their own undoing.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Sex, lies and the reckless choices of the powerful

Hantu Laut

Don't ever think such people are infallible. They can be as monstrous as the low-life.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sex and power are no strangers. History is littered with tales of the powerful and privileged felled by sex scandals.

But make no mistake. If IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is found guilty as charged of attempting to rape a hotel maid in New York City, he would be in a league virtually of his own.

Few have been accused of a violent crime like Strauss-Kahn. The world financier and French presidential hopeful was charged on Sunday with criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment and attempted rape in New York City after a hotel maid said she was assaulted.

"Politics and power and sexual harassment certainly have a long history," said Michele Swers, associate professor of government at Georgetown University. "This being an attempted criminal rape is, I think, of an order of a different magnitude."

There is no shortage of powerful leaders who fell from grace for affairs, prostitutes and groping. Sexual indiscretions have weakened governments and buried political careers on both sides of the Atlantic, today and in ages past.

Among the most famous is the Profumo scandal in 1963 in which a British war secretary was forced to resign because he had an affair with a prostitute linked to a Russian spy.

The Strauss-Kahn case raises some of the same questions that surface in any scandal where politics and sex intersect. Did the accused abuse power to engage in high-risk behavior, and did power make him feel invincible, above the law?

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, ex-New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and 2012 presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich are just a few of the powerful who have faced that kind of scrutiny, although none had to answer to charges of violent crime.

"Power is an aphrodisiac, as is well known, and we know as well that power in one sense is often presumed to be power in another sense," said James Walston, professor of Italian politics at the American University of Rome.

"So a person who is head of the IMF might think he can get away with anything. Certainly Berlusconi appears to think that way."

Berlusconi, 74, a towering figure of Italy's center right, is facing four concurrent trials for corruption, tax fraud and, most sensationally, sex with an underage prostitute and then using his office to cover it up. The sex charge followed years of rumors of his sexual misbehavior.

Strauss-Kahn is no stranger to these questions. In 2008, he was investigated by the IMF over possible abuse of power over a brief affair with an economist at the Fund who was his subordinate. The affair was consensual and he was cleared, but he apologized publicly for "a serious error of judgment.

France, like Italy, traditionally is quite tolerant of extra-marital affairs, unlike the United States. The out-of-wedlock daughter of former President Francois Mitterand attended his funeral. This time though, French politicians and the public were shocked. The charges "struck like a thunderbolt," in the words of the leader of the Socialist Party to which Strauss-Kahn belonged.

Strauss-Kahn, 62, is due to appear in court later on Sunday and his wife, a successful French media personality, has said she has "no doubt his innocence will be re-established."

'EGOTISM, NARCISSISM'

It is rare for a politician to go to jail for a sex crime. Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav was sentenced in March to seven years in prison for rape when he was a Cabinet minister in the late 1990s. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it showed "no person is above the law."

One pattern psychologists detect in top politicians is a readiness to engage in an extreme amount of risk-taking, said Frank Farley, a psychologist at Temple University in Philadelphia, In the Strauss-Kahn case, if true, Farley said a crime would be "exceptionally risky."

"Risk-taking is one of the essential ingredients in highly successful or leading public figures and politicians," said Farley. "Strauss-Kahn (case) fits that bill."

Clinton also fits the profile. He came from modest means, faced many ups and downs in his political path to the presidency, only to risk all when he had an affair with intern Monica Lewinsky in the White House.

Adulation awarded to high-fliers can also contribute.

"You have people who are committed supporters around you and they don't want to see anything bad happen to you in terms of career, so there will always be people who are willing to then cover it up," said Swers.

John Edwards, a U.S. Democratic presidential candidate in 2004 and 2008, squandered his promising career by having an affair with a woman on his campaign, while his wife battled cancer. Elizabeth Edwards has since died.

Edwards blamed his meteoric rise in presidential politics and the fawning that came with it.

All that "fed a self-focus, an egotism, a narcissism that leads you to believe that you can do whatever you want. You're invincible. And there will be no consequences," Edwards told ABC News in 2008. He later admitted he had fathered the woman's child.Read more.

Also read:

Sexual Perversion:Wolf In Sheep Clothing

Sexual Perversion:Wolf In Sheep Clothing

Hantu Laut

From Henry VIII, Berlusconi, Anwar Ibrahim (not confirmed, the truth is out there) and now the Managing Director of IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

These wolves in sheep clothing, they just can't keep their willie nicely tucked in their pants.

NEW YORK – Dominique Strauss-Kahn's reputation with women earned him the nickname "the great seducer," and not even an affair with a subordinate could knock the International Monetary Fund leader off a political path pointed in the direction of the French presidency. All that changed with charges that he sexually assaulted a maid in his hotel room, a case that generated shock and revulsion, especially in his home country.

Police said the maid picked Strauss-Kahn out of a lineup. Unless the charges are quickly dropped, they could destroy his chances in a presidential race that is just starting to heat up.

The IMF, which plays a key role in efforts to control the European debt crisis, named an acting leader and said it remains "fully functioning and operational" despite Saturday's arrest.

Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, told The Associated Press that his client will plead not guilty. He and another lawyer went in and out of the Harlem police precinct where Strauss-Kahn was being held early Sunday afternoon, and declined to answer reporters' questions until the arraignment, which was expected later Sunday.

"He denies all the charges against him," Brafman said. "And that's all I can really say right now."

Brafman is one of the city's most high-profile defense attorneys. His clients have included mobsters and such celebrities as Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and ex-New York Giants star Plaxico Burress.

Strauss-Kahn, 62, was arrested less than four hours after the alleged assault, plucked from first class on a Paris-bound Air France flight that was just about to leave the gate at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The white-haired, well-dressed, thrice-married father of four was alone when he checked into the luxury Sofitel hotel, not far from Manhattan's Times Square, on Friday afternoon, police said. It wasn't clear why he was in New York. The IMF is based in Washington, and he had been due in Germany on Sunday to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The 32-year-old maid told authorities that when she entered his spacious, $3,000-a-night suite early Saturday afternoon, she thought it was unoccupied. Instead, Strauss-Kahn emerged from the bathroom naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, where he sexually assaulted her, New York Police Department spokesman Paul J. Browne said.

The woman told police she fought him off, but then he dragged her into the bathroom, where he forced her to perform oral sex on him and tried to remove her underwear. The woman was able to break free again, escaped the room and told hotel staff what had happened, authorities said.

Strauss-Kahn was gone by the time detectives arrived moments later. He left his cellphone behind. "It looked like he got out of there in a hurry," Browne said.

The NYPD discovered he was at JFK and contacted officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport. Port Authority officers arrested him.

The maid was taken by police to a hospital and was treated for minor injuries. Stacy Royal, a spokeswoman for Sofitel, said the hotel's staff was cooperating in the investigation and that the maid "has been a satisfactory employee of the hotel for the past three years."

Strauss-Kahn was arrested on charges of a criminal sex act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment. Authorities were looking for any forensic evidence and DNA.

His wife, Anne Sinclair, defended him in a statement to French news agency AFP.

"I do not believe for one second the accusations brought against my husband. I have no doubt his innocence will be established," said Sinclair, a New York-born journalist who hosted a popular weekly news broadcast in France in the 1980s. Read more.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Malaysia's Age Of Immorality

Hantu Laut
Malaysian politics are getting wild and woolly. From the occult to the wayang kulit and the melodrama, our politicians would do anything to steal the limelight including slaying their own shadows.

First, it was Anwar's driver who found his master's car tempered with.He says someone out there is trying to murder his boss.A day or two later Anwar's daughter Nurul Izzah received through SMS, a death threat and a warning that her daughter would be kidnapped if she continues to support her father.

“These threats clearly show that Anwar Ibrahim’s efforts in the ‘Reformasi’ movement for democratisation, an independent judiciary, and criticism of the Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) government have made some leaders who are corrupt and greedy feel uneasy,” the party’s youth wing said.Story here.

With Malaysian politics so much in the gutter it is becoming so much harder to tell the truth from the political shenanigans.

Christianity will be the official religion and we would have a Christian prime minister soon.......says 2 bloggers without a shred of evidence to show and as guttered as it was one main stream media jumped on the band wagon.........Utusan Malaysia carried the story with impoverished impromptu.

The story of a Christian coup in the making may not be true and smell of a rat but it has certainly upset the big applecart.The Christians led by the opposition wanted Utusan's blood.The chorus for a dead sentence has not ebbed.The hangman not sure what to do.The truth is out there.

I have also expressed my disgust at such irresponsible action of the bloggers and Utusan to publish such utter nonsense but thing are not getting any better if everyone including Muslim/Christian leaders take a combative attitude to the issue.

Here, a Catholic bishop lambasted the Prime Minister for what he said Christian leaders has become "sheep being led to their slaughter" refering to the meeting of Christian leaders with Najib, who has become the shepherd or rather the wolf in sheep clothing leading the Christian flock to the slaughter house.Very strong word indeed.

Obviously, he wasn't happy with the outcome of the meeting or not happy for not being invited to the meeting.

The government should put a full stop to all religious bickering from both sides before we join Egypt and started a conflict that benefits no one.

Egypt has removed the iron-fist, dictatorial and corrupt Hosni Mubarak and the country is slowly but surely sliding into the raging river of chaos.

I am not sure whether my mind is playing tricks with my eyes or my eyes are too blurred to spot the difference. I am sure many politicians from the opposition's camp must have seen this video too, which my myopic eyes found a spitting image of a very popular opposition leader and yet the leaders in Pakatan continue to live in a state of denial. I can't blame the wife for her blurry eyes, being a women of great virtue, she found it her duty to defend her not so great husband.

Suddenly, berzina or illicit sex if you may, unless someone can produce 4 witnesses of impeccable character to prove the wrongdoing, the act seemed quite all right with certain people including some ulamas, priests, bishops, monks and what have you.

Never mind the stark naked video that bares it all, it's innocent until proven guilty or simply a fake, a CGI.Hollywood paid millions to do it. Malaysians so much smarter, did it for a song.Even I can do it in Photoshop, but for still photograph only, take Anwar's head and put on Raja Petra's body.

See the photo below.Even Raja Petra can do it, putting himself among the bevy of beauties.










But for video, I understand, not so easy, unless you can do another Hollywood's stunt....get a double or a-look-alike, but just make sure no closeup, because no matter how close the resemblance is, people can tell the difference.

Such immoral behaviour is only considered criminal in Islam but that would require 4 reliable witnesses.

From secular point of view such act is not criminal.

So, don't be a fool, it's quite safe to screw around but if you are a Muslim take caution don't let the "snoop police" get wind of what you are up to.If caught, you are "dead meat" and you have 4 reliable witnesses and dangerously armed with a video camera, which they say they need to show evidence of your wrongdoing in the sharia court.The next thing you know you have become a famous pornstar in a home made smut on YouTube and the sharia court accepts the video as evidence.

However, according to some ulamaks in PAS, the purportedly Anwar's sex video cannot be accepted in sharia court, they still need the 4 witnesses.

Unless you are participating in a "tiger show" would you call 4 people to watch your sexual prowess with a lass probably a quarter your age?

Malaysia memang Boleh !

Thursday, May 12, 2011

2012 ? Aligning Of The Planets On The Ecliptic Path Beginning Today

Good thing President Obama released his long-form birth certificate. Now we can all go back to worrying about an even greater threat than the possibility that the President is a Kenyan double agent: the much buzzed-about reports that the world is going to end in 2012.

It was the Mayans — or maybe the Romans or the Greeks or the Sumerians — who called the shot this time, evidently on a day Nostradamus phoned in sick. Apparently, a rogue planet named Nibiru (which frankly sounds more like a new Honda than a new world) is headed our way, with a cosmic crack-up set for next year. No matter who's behind the current prediction, there are enough people ready to spread and believe in this kind of end-of-the-world hooey that you have to wonder if the earth isn't starting to take things personally. (PHOTOS: an illustrated history of the planet Earth.)

Regrettably, the Nibiru yarn got a boost in recent days with the very real announcement that an alignment of several of the very real planets will be taking place this month, offering a fleeting treat for stargazers willing to get up before sunrise and take a look. Even this genuine cosmic phenomenon, however, may be a bit less than it appears.

Beginning today and lasting for a few weeks, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Mars will be visible in the early morning sky, aligned roughly along the ecliptic — or the path the sun travels throughout the day. Uranus and Neptune, much fainter but there all the same, should be visible through binoculars. What gives the end-of-the-worlders shivers is that just such a configuration is supposed to occur on Dec. 21, 2012, and contribute in some unspecified way to the demolition of the planet. But what makes that especially nonsensical — apart from the fact that it's, you know, nonsense — is that astronomers say no remotely similar alignment will occur next year.

"Nothing bad will happen to the earth in 2012," NASA explains patiently — if wearily — on its website. "Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012." (See pictures of Earth from space.)

What's more, even this month's apparent planetary lineup is as much illusion as fact. In the same way a group of people scattered randomly across the room can appear to be aligned depending on your angle of sight, so too can planets that seem tidily arranged from one point of view turn out to be nothing of the kind when you look at them another way. The same question of perspective is true for our familiar constellations. View Orion from Earth, and he's a hunter; view him from the other side of the galaxy, and he's a frog or a tree or just a jumble of stars.


Read more:

Why Singapore's Election Didn't Live Up to the Hype

The campaign leading to Singapore's May 7 general election had the trappings of a larger political drama. Before the thronged gates of a suburban sports stadium, where a rally for the opposition Workers' Party (WP) was under way one hot night, vendors hurriedly pressed ice cream sandwiches into the hands of the thousands pouring inside. Encircling the lighted stadium were high-rise public-housing blocks, from whose open windows and crowded outdoor passageways hundreds more were listening to the boisterous speeches. Across Singapore, the pages of Facebook crackled with jubilation about the prospect of more political opposition. The mood was one of incipient and sweeping change.

A few days later, on election day, the ruling People's Action Party's (PAP) share of the popular vote did in fact drop to a historic low of 60.1% It was a disquieting number for the PAP, which has swept every general election in Singapore since 1959, winning the past five with an average 66.1% share of the popular vote. Yet this election appeared to have caught the PAP off guard. Frustrated by Singapore's rising cost of living, many lower-income voters criticized the ruling party for pushing economic growth at all costs, claiming this had led to higher prices of basic necessities like food and housing. Voters were unhappy too with the island's increasingly congested roads, buses and subway carriages, clogged at least partly, they felt, by a rapid influx of immigrants into Singapore, in particular between 2004 and '08. Add to this a recent loosening of electioneering laws in Singapore, allowing political messages and videos to circulate on the Internet, and conditions appeared ripe for the opposition. Indeed, one of the PAP's main rivals, the WP, won an unprecedented six parliamentary seats. (See pictures of technology in Singapore.)

In doing so, the WP rose to the PAP's long-standing challenge to the opposition to field high-caliber candidates capable of governing Singapore. One of the WP's winning candidates, Chen Show Mao, is a Stanford-educated lawyer who works for white-shoe New York City legal firm Davis Polk & Wardwell in Beijing, where he has advised on some of China's largest share offerings. Chen was part of a slate of WP candidates who unseated Singapore's Foreign Minister. "This is a watershed general election," declared Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a predawn press conference after the ballots were counted. WP chief Low Thia Khiang similarly called the election "a political landmark in modern Singapore." His party's wins, Low said, were a sign that voters wanted "a more responsive, inclusive, transparent and accountable government."

Even so, by the time all the votes were counted, the drama promised by the campaign's enthusiastic crowds had fizzled. Despite the dip in their share of the popular vote, the PAP retained 81 out of 87 parliamentary seats. And though Singaporeans had elected six opposition members to Parliament to check the power of the ruling party, and the opposition's modest inroads on May 7 may one day pave the way to bigger wins, anyone outside Singapore would regard the election result as a handsome victory for the government.

In the end, therefore, the status quo was quietly affirmed. Economists, political scientists and no doubt Singapore's political parties themselves will offer their own varied theories as to why. To me, though, part of the explanation lies in the Canadian new-wave group Men Without Hats' 1982 hit single "Safety Dance," a slightly melancholy pop song that enjoys a ghostly afterlife on Singapore's radio airwaves and in its riverside pubs. Like the brave new world the song beckons at ("We can go where we want to/ A place where they will never find") but finally hesitates to enter, "Safety Dance" seems to capture Singapore's tentative attitude toward political change.

The caution may stem from the power of government in Singapore, a power that dives deeply into the lives of ordinary citizens. The government, for instance, usually both builds and helps maintain the single most valuable asset of Singaporeans: their home. Some 85% of Singaporeans live in sprawling ocher-colored apartment blocks that have been built by the state's Housing Development Board, or HDB, which a PAP government created in 1960. Surrounded by food stalls, clinics, community clubs, and tied to public transport systems like the island's subway or bus grid, public housing in Singapore has risen so much in value that their lofty prices now worry first-time buyers. The question that must haunt every HDB homeowner is, Will another party protect the value of my home as well as the PAP has done?

Education is another area in which government influence is pervasive. With a few notable exceptions, all Singaporean children residing in the country must attend local public schools, and the government often has its eye on students from elite high schools like Raffles Institution or Anglo-Chinese Junior College (whose students are screened for admission by exam results). At graduation, many star students are awarded state scholarships to study at top universities overseas. If they return home, a sizable number of these are lured into the civil service, and some civil servants, in turn, are eventually nudged into politics, usually under the PAP banner. It is a process that creams off the top academic achievers for the state, often leaving Singapore's private sector starved of leadership and innovation. Yet it is also one of the reasons the country's bureaucracy works so well, and why the country's best and brightest may feel tethered to the status quo.


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