Hantu Laut
Money! The root of all evil ? It is also the root of all misfortunes.From Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky to Bernard Madoff, they all have the same weakness......GREED FOR MONEY and lots of it.
The man who should take the biggest blame for the biggest financial meltdown in history would have to be Alan Greenspan.The progenitor of the preponderance of deregulation.His deregulation of the financial system has brought mountains of credit mismanagement never seen before in the financial world.It will be a long and arduous journey to recover from these messy affairs.More dirt are coming out. More and more bankers and financiers have turned crooked trying to save their crumpling business empire.Some are just latent crooks that manifested over time.
The latest addition to the 'rogues gallery' is a Texan financial cowboy with the title of 'Sir', knighted by the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, a dot so small on the world map you could hardly find it. With tons of money he probably paid for the knighthood.He practically bought half of Antigua and most of its politicians.This larger than life figure had donated substantially to sports and politicians including campaign funds for McCain and Obama.
Meet Sir Allen Stanford, big spender,financier, billionaire, con artist and fraudster. Here is his story.
Here are his sins:
Here are his victims:
The irony is everyone of them are philanthropists.So the next time you see a rich man donating to charity he may be donating other people's money.
Are there anymore safe investments left in this world?
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
New York Post's Racist Cartoon:Obama The Chimp Got Shot
Look at the cartoon above.Read what one of the white cops says.Isn't the author of the stimulus package the President? Isn't chimpanzee mostly black in colour? Isn't the President's name Barack Obama and is black? Don't you think it's racism?
The Editor-in-Chief at the post had the cheek to say "the cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event, to wit the shooting of a violent chimpanzee in Connecticut. It broadly mocks Washington's efforts to revive the economy..."
"This most certainly was not its intent; to those who were offended by the image, we apologize," the paper said in an editorial on its website headlined "That Cartoon", which quickly became the site's most-viewed story.
That's a lot of crap, Mr Editor White Trash! You have made known your intention, you bloody racist!
Read the story here.
Friday, February 20, 2009
A Nation Of Inept Lawyers
Hantu Laut
'Law' is a system of rules. Most of us know that.There are many types of law.Let us not get into details. The sheer enormity of the number of laws in existence would put many simpleton like you and me in a state of quandary.That's why we need lawyers to interpret the law or rather the rule of law.That's why you need the services of a lawyer when you are in trouble with the law.They are the experts with the know-how to defend and protect your interests in criminal or civil cases brought against you.
Different lawyers interpret the law differently.That's why you have good lawyers and bad lawyers.Than you have what the Malays called the 'lawyer buruk', people like me who are not trained in law but self-trained in making my own interpretations for the kicks of it.Than at the bottom of the pile you have the trained and seemingly learned 'lawyer buruk' who went to law school and came back none the better and none the wiser. This group would fall into the 'half-past-six' category.
Many of you would have probably heard of Lord Acton, the British historian and politician and one of his famous quotes "Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely".
The corruptions of power were not only confined to the highest office but exists almost every where in this country, including little flies in many government departments, who become little napoleons with that little power that they may have.Than you have those with unlimited power like the Speaker of the Perak Legislative Assembly who sacked the menteri besar appointed by the Sultan.
Can the speaker use his arbitrary power to suspend those assemblymen for such long period.Is his vast arbitrary power the result of a badly written rules or was it tailored for the British system which we inherited in essence but not in spirit.
The Perak political crisis has attracted multitude of the learned, the half-baked and the buruks, making different interpretations of the law. It has raised more questions than answers.It has created more confusion than revelation of the mechanics of the law.
It is just amazing how diverse and contradictory the legal fraternity can get with their interpretations. Below are some of the comments made by people you would expect to know the subject well. These are professionals. Read them and see whether you came out better informed or more fucked in the head.
1.The Perak Crisis: Two options for Barisan Nasional, say lawyers
2. Suspension of MB, Exco can't be legally challenged: Bar Council
3.Perak speaker erred,
4.The Perak Crisis: Action is treason, says Zahid
5.Bar: Go back to the people
6.Perak Speaker has suspension powers, says legal expert
As Lee Kuan Yew, himself a lawyer, said in one of his New Year's messages many years ago when he was still prime minister that the very bright and intelligent ones go for medicine, engineering and architecture while the not so bright would probably go for law.
Was he trying to be modest or was there truth in his message?
'Law' is a system of rules. Most of us know that.There are many types of law.Let us not get into details. The sheer enormity of the number of laws in existence would put many simpleton like you and me in a state of quandary.That's why we need lawyers to interpret the law or rather the rule of law.That's why you need the services of a lawyer when you are in trouble with the law.They are the experts with the know-how to defend and protect your interests in criminal or civil cases brought against you.
Different lawyers interpret the law differently.That's why you have good lawyers and bad lawyers.Than you have what the Malays called the 'lawyer buruk', people like me who are not trained in law but self-trained in making my own interpretations for the kicks of it.Than at the bottom of the pile you have the trained and seemingly learned 'lawyer buruk' who went to law school and came back none the better and none the wiser. This group would fall into the 'half-past-six' category.
Many of you would have probably heard of Lord Acton, the British historian and politician and one of his famous quotes "Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely".
The corruptions of power were not only confined to the highest office but exists almost every where in this country, including little flies in many government departments, who become little napoleons with that little power that they may have.Than you have those with unlimited power like the Speaker of the Perak Legislative Assembly who sacked the menteri besar appointed by the Sultan.
Can the speaker use his arbitrary power to suspend those assemblymen for such long period.Is his vast arbitrary power the result of a badly written rules or was it tailored for the British system which we inherited in essence but not in spirit.
The Perak political crisis has attracted multitude of the learned, the half-baked and the buruks, making different interpretations of the law. It has raised more questions than answers.It has created more confusion than revelation of the mechanics of the law.
It is just amazing how diverse and contradictory the legal fraternity can get with their interpretations. Below are some of the comments made by people you would expect to know the subject well. These are professionals. Read them and see whether you came out better informed or more fucked in the head.
1.The Perak Crisis: Two options for Barisan Nasional, say lawyers
2. Suspension of MB, Exco can't be legally challenged: Bar Council
3.Perak speaker erred,
4.The Perak Crisis: Action is treason, says Zahid
5.Bar: Go back to the people
6.Perak Speaker has suspension powers, says legal expert
As Lee Kuan Yew, himself a lawyer, said in one of his New Year's messages many years ago when he was still prime minister that the very bright and intelligent ones go for medicine, engineering and architecture while the not so bright would probably go for law.
Was he trying to be modest or was there truth in his message?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Speaker More Powerful Than Sultan ?
Hantu Laut
Lack of experience and ignorance of rules and procedures is making life more and more difficult for Pakatan. Whether it is ignorance, arrogance or defiance, it has thrown the state of Perak into serious constitutional crisis.
Perak's Speaker of the Assembly V.Sivakumar abusing the rules and procedures of the assembly to keep Pakatan in power is shocking and unprecedented. His attempt through malfeasance to overthrow a government constitutionally appointed by the Sultan is making mockery of the Sultan's constitutional powers.
The job of a speaker is to ensure members of the house abide by the standing orders and sits as chairman of the 'committe of privileges'. It is not his job to take sides. He must be seen to be fair, impartial and without bias. He is speaker of the house representing all the members, not just Pakatan.If he can't carry on his duties fairly and without malice than he should tender his resignation.
The Speaker V.Sivakumar is now the most powerful man in Perak, more powerful than the Sultan of Perak.He can appoint and sack Menteri Besar and government. His impertinence is a slap in the Sultan's face.As Speaker of the assembly he must be seen to be fair, impartial, show no bias and must ensure the proceedings of the house are in accordance with rules and procedures of the assembly and that of the State and Federal Constitution.
This show of disrespect for the Sultan is a threat to the constitutional monarch and making mockery of the State and Federal Constitutions. Amazingly, some legal minds think the Speaker has the right to suspend those assemblymen to keep an illegal government in power.You can read the great minds here. Making general assumptions without quoting the relevant autority. This learned law professor may have forgotten that the whole Pakatan government had fallen when the Sultan deemed that Menteri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin had lost the confidence of the majority members of the assembly and refused to dissolve the assembly.A new government and new menteri besar had been installed that the Sultan in his judgement deemed to command the majority support of the members of the house.
What the Speaker should have done is to ask for the assembly to be convened and to be attended by all assemblymen. Pakatan can, if they so wish, try to pass a vote of no confidence at the new menteri besar. A simple majority would suffice.
Under such situation few things can happen. The BN ignore the suspension and continue governing the state (not optimal choice), the Sultan dissolves the assembly and call for fresh elections (possible but unlikely), BN take the case to court or as last resort the Federal government can request the Agong, if he is satisfied such emergency exists, to impose emergency rule in Perak.
Or if the BN is confident of majority support of the members they should call for the assembly to be convened and remove Sivakumar as speaker.
Lack of experience and ignorance of rules and procedures is making life more and more difficult for Pakatan. Whether it is ignorance, arrogance or defiance, it has thrown the state of Perak into serious constitutional crisis.
Perak's Speaker of the Assembly V.Sivakumar abusing the rules and procedures of the assembly to keep Pakatan in power is shocking and unprecedented. His attempt through malfeasance to overthrow a government constitutionally appointed by the Sultan is making mockery of the Sultan's constitutional powers.
The job of a speaker is to ensure members of the house abide by the standing orders and sits as chairman of the 'committe of privileges'. It is not his job to take sides. He must be seen to be fair, impartial and without bias. He is speaker of the house representing all the members, not just Pakatan.If he can't carry on his duties fairly and without malice than he should tender his resignation.
The Speaker V.Sivakumar is now the most powerful man in Perak, more powerful than the Sultan of Perak.He can appoint and sack Menteri Besar and government. His impertinence is a slap in the Sultan's face.As Speaker of the assembly he must be seen to be fair, impartial, show no bias and must ensure the proceedings of the house are in accordance with rules and procedures of the assembly and that of the State and Federal Constitution.
This show of disrespect for the Sultan is a threat to the constitutional monarch and making mockery of the State and Federal Constitutions. Amazingly, some legal minds think the Speaker has the right to suspend those assemblymen to keep an illegal government in power.You can read the great minds here. Making general assumptions without quoting the relevant autority. This learned law professor may have forgotten that the whole Pakatan government had fallen when the Sultan deemed that Menteri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin had lost the confidence of the majority members of the assembly and refused to dissolve the assembly.A new government and new menteri besar had been installed that the Sultan in his judgement deemed to command the majority support of the members of the house.
What the Speaker should have done is to ask for the assembly to be convened and to be attended by all assemblymen. Pakatan can, if they so wish, try to pass a vote of no confidence at the new menteri besar. A simple majority would suffice.
Under such situation few things can happen. The BN ignore the suspension and continue governing the state (not optimal choice), the Sultan dissolves the assembly and call for fresh elections (possible but unlikely), BN take the case to court or as last resort the Federal government can request the Agong, if he is satisfied such emergency exists, to impose emergency rule in Perak.
Or if the BN is confident of majority support of the members they should call for the assembly to be convened and remove Sivakumar as speaker.
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