Thursday, December 13, 2007

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, FOLKS!

McBeach Party in China.

What happens when businessmen and politicians opt for Quantity over Quality.


DON'T BE FOOLED BY STATISTICS. MORE ISN'T ALWAYS "BETTER"!

The next few days are going to be busy for me so this a stopgap blogpost. I know there's a lot of idiocy running amok in this country - indeed, all over the planet but what else is new? Right now I won't add to the confusion and heat by shooting my mouth off in anger at the primitive way the Barisan Nazional is reacting to severe criticisms of its abysmal track record (remember, baboons calling each other monkeys is what primate politics is all about).

Friends in the know tell me they detect the evil influence of a fella named Kuranga Jaruddin (better known as KJ) in the recent jackboot antics of the "Polis Raja Di Malaysia" (to quote a wag) - and I wouldn't be surprised if that turns out to be the truth, after watching him in action during an Al Jazeera panel discussion. I saw in his eyes the same sort of demented ambition and megalomania that must have driven a young Austrian artist wannabe to a diabolical destiny as Der Führer.

Stay cool, folks. These are times of dramatic and radical transformations. Nobody knows for sure how the changes will take place and what form they will take. All that we can be sure of is that it will look nothing like Business-As-Usual - and we have few antecedents by which to measure the effects and impacts of the Quantum Jump in consciousness. This much, we know:

EVOLUTION OCCURS THROUGH EXPANDED CONSCIOUSNESS.

Saturday, December 8, 2007

PEARL HARBOR: THE GREAT DECEPTION



To better understand why events such as September 11, 2001 are allowed to happen, one can look all the way back to December 1941. On the evening of December 5, 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the president of the United States, received a message intercepted by the U.S. Navy. Sent from Tokyo to the Japanese embassy in Washington, the message was encrypted in the top-level Japanese "purple code." But that was no problem. The Americans had cracked the code long before that. It was imperative that the president see the message right away because it revealed that the Japanese, under the heavy pressure of Western economic sanctions, were terminating relations with the United States. Roosevelt read the thirteen-part transmission, looked up and announced, "This means war." He then did a very strange thing for a president in his situation: NOTHING.

On December 6, 1941, at a Cabinet meeting, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox said, "Well, you know Mr. President, we know where the Japanese fleet is." "Yes, I know" said FDR. " I think we ought to tell everybody just how ticklish this situation is. We have information... Well, you tell them what it is, Frank", said FDR. Knox became very excited and said, "Well, we have very secret information that the Japanese fleet is out at sea. Our information is..." and then a scowling FDR cut him off.

The very next day, Pearl Harbor was attacked.


The Japanese declaration of war never reached the people who needed to hear it the most, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, commander in chief of the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the unit's commanding general, Walter Short. Pearl Harbor, it was common military knowledge, was where the Japanese would strike. If they struck. At dawn the next morning a Japanese squadron bombed Pearl Harbor and the surprise attack was just that, a complete surprise to Kimmel and Short and the 2,575 American servicemen who died. It was not a surprise to FDR, Generals George C. Marshall, Leonard T. Gerow, Admirals Harold R. Stark and Richmond Kelly Turner. They were the military's top brass in Washington and the only officers authorized to forward such sensitive intelligence to outlying commanders. But the decoded war declaration did not reach Kimmel and Short until after the attack was well underway off in the Pacific.


Internal army and navy inquiries in 1944 held Stark and Marshall derelict of duty for keeping the Hawaiian commanders in the dark. But the military buried those findings. As far as the public knew, the final truth was uncovered by the Roberts Commission, headed by Justice Owen Roberts of the Supreme Court, and convened eleven days after the attack. Like the Warren commission headed by a Supreme Court justice on a different topic more than twenty years later, the Roberts Commission appeared to have identified its culprits in advance and gerrymandered its inquiries to make the suspects appear guilty. The scapegoats were Kimmel and Short, who were both publicly crucified, forced to retire, and denied the open hearings they desired. One of the Roberts Commission panelists, Admiral William Standley, would call Roberts's performance "crooked as a snake."

There were eight investigations of Pearl Harbor altogether. The most spectacular was a joint House-Senate probe that reiterated the Roberts Commission findings. At those hearings, Marshall and Stark testified, incredibly, that they could not remember where they were the night the war declaration came in. But a close friend of Frank Knox, the secretary of the Navy, later revealed that Knox, Stark, and Marshall spent most of that night in the White House with Roosevelt, awaiting the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the chance for America to join World War II.


WHAT WAS REALLY BEHIND WWII?

A widespread cover-up ensued. A few days after Pearl Harbor, reports historian John Toland, Marshall told his top officers, "Gentlemen, this goes to the grave with us." General Short once considered Marshall his friend, only to learn that the chief of staff was the agent of his frame-up. Short once remarked that he pitied his former pal because Marshall was the only general who wouldn't be able to write an autobiography. There were multiple warnings of the Pearl Harbor attack concealed from the commanders at Pearl Harbor. The Winds Code was perhaps the most shocking. That was an earlier transmission, in a fake weather report broadcast on a Japanese short-wave station. It was "east wind, rain." The Americans already knew that this was the Japanese code for war with the United States. The response of top U.S. military officials? To deny that the "winds" message existed and to attempt to destroy all records of its reception. But it did exist. And it was received.

Completely apart from the cloak and dagger of cryptography, the Australian intelligence service, three days before the attack, spotted the Japanese fleet of aircraft carriers heading for Hawaii. A warning went to Washington where the spin by Roosevelt was that it was a politically motivated rumor circulated by Republicans. A British double agent, Dusko Popov, who siphoned information from Germany, learned of the Japanese intentions and desperately tried to warn Washington, to no avail. And there were others.

Why would Roosevelt and the nation's top military commanders sacrifice the U.S. Pacific Fleet, not to mention thousands of servicemen - an act of treason? They had concluded long before Pearl Harbor that they wanted a war against the Axis powers. The attack at Pearl Harbor would surely trick the American public into accepting a war they would have otherwise rejected. Roosevelt believed that provoking Japan into an attack on Hawaii was the only way that he could overcome the powerful America First non interventionist movement led by aviation hero Charles Lindbergh. These anti-war views were shared by 80 percent of the American public from 1940 to 1941.

A small group of men, revered and held to be most honorable by millions, had convinced themselves that it was necessary to act dishonorably, commit treason, allow thousands of American's to be killed, and incite a war that Japan had tried to avoid.

Why did Roosevelt want to enter into World War II? Was it to defeat the tyranny of Hitler? Stalin, who was our partner during the war, was more vicious, sadistic, and tyrannical than Hitler. Was it to stop the aggression of the Japanese? Before the war, this country did everything it could to give Japan no choice and to goad them into waging war.

Besides the fact that the trillion-dollar International War Machine NEEDS events like Pearl Harbor, AND September 11, 2001, to stay in business, and justify its existence, you must realize that Roosevelt was a 33rd degree Mason. That is the highest level one can attain in the Masonic order. One of objectives of the Luciferic Masonic Order is to establish a One World government, with the hidden elite in charge.

After World War I these people tried, and failed, to start a One World government organization, The League of Nations. Realizing they would need another world war to finally create such an organization, they manipulated world events, created World War II, and created the United Nations, another tool for the final phase of One World government, with these hidden elite pulling the strings.

Roosevelt was just one in a long line of American leaders who have been 33rd degree Masons, from many of our founding fathers, to more recent examples, such as George Bush, Bob Dole, Jessie Jackson, and many more. The Great Seal of the United States includes the classic Brotherhood (Prison Warden) symbols which go back to ancient Egypt and beyond, including the pyramid and All-Seeing Eye. Above and below this symbol are two Latin phrases, Annuit Coeptis and Novus Ordo Seclorum. These translate as: "Announcing the birth of A New Order of Ages." In other words, announcing the creation of the New World Order. Today, this part of the seal can be found on every US one dollar bill, and of course, this is appropriate, given that the Hidden Elite controls the American AND world economy.

The decision to put the satanic Pyramid/New World Order symbol on the dollar was made by the 33rd degree Freemason, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1935, with the full support and encouragement of his vice president, Henry Wallace, another 33rd degree Mason. Even the Statue of Liberty was given to American Freemasons by the French Grand Orient (Illuminati) Masonic Order. Recently released government documents concerning the “surprise” Pearl Harbor raid compel us to accept the fact of FDR and American top government foreknowledge of the Pearl Harbor attack.

On October 30, 2000, President Clinton signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act. Amidst its omnibus provisions, the Act reversed the findings of the eight previous Pearl Harbor investigations and found that both Kimmel and Short were denied crucial military intelligence that tracked the Japanese forces toward Hawaii, intelligence that was obtained by the Roosevelt Administration in the weeks before the attack. Neither ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, or Fox News carried a word. This all reveals the lengths that the American government, and their mouthpieces in corporate media, will go to deceive the American public, and to keep vital information from the people. That's against everything America was supposed to stand for.

It is through mass media mind control, ignorance and deception, that we allow these incomprehensibly greedy, satanic and corrupt people and organizations to continue to start unnecesary wars, control our lives, and manipulate the world's destiny.

Article courtesy of North Star Zone
Pearl Harbor photographs courtesy of Mike Buck Studios

Monday, November 26, 2007

PUBLIC SERVANTS SERVE THE PUBLIC!

Photo courtesy of hidupku

Press Statement For Immediate Release

ALLOW FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY

The Centre for Public Policy Studies regrets the police prohibition of and use of violence on a number of recent gatherings in Kuala Lumpur.

Two weeks ago on the 10th November 2007, BERSIH, a coalition of non-Governmental organisations and political parties, organised a march to submit a memorandum calling for measures to ensure free and fair elections in the country.

More recently, on Sunday the 25th November 2007, Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) organised a rally to submit a memorandum calling for equal treatment of Indians, highlighting their socio-economic marginalisation in the country.

The Government has responded by saying that demonstrations are unnecessary, that memorandums should be handed in personally, and that any concerns can be brought up in forums through a consultative approach.

However, such forums, panels and meetings have been conducted on numerous occasions to little avail. These articulations are compiled into reports and submitted to various committees, but it is precisely inaction and non-response from the Government that has fuelled frustrations amongst those groups who have not received equal treatment.

Article 10 of the Federal Constitution guarantees that every citizen has the right to assemble peaceably. This is affirmed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The BERSIH and HINDRAF rallies were peaceful gatherings and should not be misconstrued as otherwise.

1. The CPPS calls on the Government to recognise the rights of civil society to freedom of assembly. The right to freely assemble peacefully is one of the hallmarks of a democratic society. If we want to consider ourselves a true democracy, then the police should stop immediately its highhanded excessive use of force at dispersing peaceful crowds, including the use of tear gas and unrelenting water cannons at peaceful demonstrations and rallies.

We need to urgently review the policy and processes regarding the provision of permits for peaceful assembly as guaranteed in our Federal Constitution. If the police had given permits to assemble and march peacefully, subject, of course, to reasonable and agreed-upon terms, the unnecessary disruption and subsequent chaos would have been avoided.

2. The CPPS also urges the Government to examine the root causes of the deep sense of grievance and frustration that underlie these rallies and demonstrations . The issues being raised by civil society organisations recently are valid and should be urgently considered. The views and opinions of this large cross-section of society cannot be swept under the carpet. These expressions of frustration and anger arise from a significant proportion of the Malaysian public. These must be factored into policy-making processes, and not ignored.

3. At the same time, it would be useful for the Government to meet the leaders of these rallies and find out more about their grievances, taking action to resolve outstanding problems that have adversely affected sections of the Malaysian society. New approaches are urgently needed to ensure greater national unity, peace, stability and progress.

Tan Sri Dato' (Dr.) Ramon V. Navaratnam
Chairman,
Centre for Public Policy Studies
26th November 2007
Kuala Lumpur

For more information, please contact Ms. Tricia Yeoh or call 03-20932820.


Batu Caves, early hours of 25 November 2007. Photos from IndianOnline.com

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Impeachment: If not now, when?


Lawmakers need to stand up for the Constitution and support impeachment

By LINDA BOYD
GUEST COLUMNIST
seattlepi.com

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. - Article II, Section 4

On Nov. 6, Rep. Dennis Kucinich introduced articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney on the floor of the House of Representatives. For one shining moment the will of the majority of Americans and the promise of this nation's founders were truly represented.

The detailed charges were solemnly read from the House podium and televised on C-Span. House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer made a motion to table the bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lobbied hard for votes to table.

In a stunning turnaround, House Republicans changed strategy and voted decisively to prevent tabling the impeachment resolution.

Pelosi was defied by 85 Democratic members who voted against tabling the impeachment resolution. This includes John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and six committee members. The resolution was quickly voted back to the Judiciary Committee, where it is not resting quietly.

Judiciary Committee member Bob Wexler wrote, "The American people are served well with a legitimate and thorough impeachment inquiry. I will urge the Judiciary Committee to schedule impeachment hearings immediately and not let this issue languish as it has over the last six months. Only through hearings can we begin to correct the abuses of Dick Cheney and the Bush administration."

Impeachment is squarely on the table, and momentum is building. A year ago, almost no elected official breathed the word impeachment. Now impeachment has hit the House floor, and our electeds have gone on record. Millions of Americans are demanding an end to executive abuse of power.

After six years of state of emergency, the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, continual war and occupations, our Constitution is deeply in crisis. Americans are in danger of losing our system of government and civil rights if they do not roll back the Bush administration's assault on the rule of law.

Allowing Cheney and George W. Bush to finish their terms without being impeached means future presidents are free to copy their lawless behavior. Of course many important issues deserve the attention of Congress. But the Constitution is the foundation of our democracy, not just an issue. Without the Constitution, we have nothing.

Polls show that 74 percent of Democrats and the majority of American adults support impeaching Cheney. "Never in our history have the high crimes and misdemeanors been so flagrant, and the people of our country know it," writes local author Richard Behan.

Kucinich has targeted Cheney first, but investigations will implicate the president as well. For the first time in the history of the Gallup Poll, 50 percent of respondents say they "strongly disapprove" of the president. Richard Nixon had reached the previous high, 48 percent, just before an impeachment inquiry was launched in 1974. With these numbers, why aren't Bush and Cheney gone already?

The vice president is accused of:

# purposely manipulating intelligence to fabricate a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in order to justify an attack on Iraq;

# deceiving Congress about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida;

# threatening aggression against the Republic of Iran, absent any real threat to the United States.

These violations of the Constitution and international treaty are just the tip of the iceberg. More articles of impeachment can be added at any time, and ample evidence to convict is on the public record. Representatives need to introduce articles regarding:

# illegal war, in violation of both international treaty and the Constitution;

# widespread domestic wiretapping in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a felony. Bush already has admitted to this;

# condoning torture in violation of federal laws and international treaties;

# rescinding habeas corpus, the cornerstone of Western law since the Magna Carta;

# obstruction of justice regarding U.S. attorney firings;

# subversion of the Constitution, abuse of signing statements and rescinding habeas corpus.

It's astounding that our representatives to Congress carry on with business as usual knowing that Americans lack habeas corpus and a working code of law. I want my representative, Dave Reichert, to block the doors of the House until habeas is restored as a basic human right in this nation!

In light of Bush's steady drumbeat for war with Iran, Kucinich said he will consider an impeachment resolution against him.

"Impeachment may well be the only remedy which remains to stop a war of aggression against Iran," he says.

"The most conservative principle of the Founding Fathers was distrust of unchecked power. Centuries of experience substantiated that absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Constitution embraced a separation of powers to keep the legislative, executive and judicial branches in equilibrium," Bruce Fein, a constitutional lawyer and associate deputy attorney general in the Reagan administration, said in the October 2006 edition of Washington Monthly.

If Congress were serious about oversight, there already would be dozens of bills and resolutions calling for impeachment of Bush and Cheney. The "Unitary Executive Theory" violates the principle of balance of power in the Constitution. The president cites this "unitary" power in hundreds of signing statements that say he can ignore laws passed by Congress.

The First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments are all now subject to the caprice of government officials. The Military Commissions Act allows U.S. citizens to be detained without due process if they are declared enemy combatants. Without our permission, this country has become an exporter of torture.

Congress has failed to provide oversight and exercise its authority to rein in a criminal administration. Only swift action on impeachment can redeem it now. The people have done the heavy work of bringing impeachment forward. Representatives need only ask if the allegations are serious enough to warrant investigations.

George Bush and Dick Cheney promote an imperial presidency. They assert that the executive is the most powerful branch of government, undermining the judiciary and Congress in violation of the Constitution's bedrock principle of shared power among three co-equal branches. This subverts the very nature of our system of government.

"This is an attempt by the president to have the final word on his own constitutional powers, which eliminates the checks and balances that keep the country a democracy. ... That's a big problem because that's essentially a dictatorship," Fein said.

Washington For Impeachment and Citizens to Impeach Bush and Cheney are working to inform the public, collect signatures to petitions, provide forums, and lobby representatives. Washington was the second state to sponsor a bill for impeachment in the state Legislature.

Washington State Democratic organizations have passed resolutions in 11 Democratic legislative districts, five counties and the Washington State Democratic Central Committee. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, has received impeachment resolutions from almost every legislative district within his congressional district. When will he represent the will of his constituents and honor his oath to protect the Constitution?

The national movement to impeach is a non-partisan effort to restore the Constitution and the rule of law. People across the political spectrum can unite to preserve the Constitution and civil liberties given to us by the founders. Impeachment is the peaceful, orderly, constitutionally prescribed way to rid ourselves of a lawless administration.

The issue is not about removing Bush and Cheney as much as it is about preserving the Constitution and redeeming the office of the executive. The Constitution is the contract of governance between the people and the government. What happens when major portions of the contract are violated?

Congress has failed to call the president and vice president to account, so citizens must turn up the heat. Members of Congress who fail to demand investigations are covering for criminals. Every elected official has sworn an oath to "support and protect the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic." Anything less than impeachment and a full repudiation of the Bush administration's crimes and violations of the law is a dereliction of duty and a betrayal of the public trust.

If we want our democracy back, we need to roll up our sleeves and get to work to clean out the House.


Linda Boyd is director of Washington For Impeachment, www.washingtonforimpeachment.org. Citizens to Impeach Bush and Cheney, in Olympia: www.citizensimpeach.org

Thursday, November 22, 2007

E8, XML, PHP, SEO, RDF and My Friend Wheel


70 million blogs were tabulated in July 2005 and I hear that 120,000 baby blogs are born into the blogosphere each day.

It seems the explosive growth of the weblog phenomenon worldwide - especially amongst the younger set of internet users - may be due to two factors: (1) the newer blog templates accommodate multimedia encodings which allow bloggers to post not just rich text but also audiostreaming and embedded videos; (2) blogs are interactive and encourage instant feedback by way of comments.

And, of course, advances in software programming have made functions like RSS (Really Simple Syndication) a routine part of the browsing experience. When I began blogging in December 2006 I surfed smack into a wall of acronyms incomprehensible to anybody who isn't a professional nerd: esoteric terms like RDF (Resource Description Framework), XML (Extensible Markup Language), SEO (Search Engine Optimization), PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor - NOT Pothead Pixie and don't ask me why it isn't called HPP!). For someone who hasn't begun Podcasting and who doesn't even own an iPod, all of this was somewhat daunting. Slowly, I began to understand the value of getting my blog listed on Technorati and having an account with del.icio.us.


Two-dimensional E8 image courtesy of Peter McMullen and John Stembridge


However, what's truly amazing about these new developments in the web-dweller's world is the exponentially increasing interconnectivity that is beginning to resemble the latest mathematical model of the fabric of reality, proposed by a 39-year-old Californian physicist named Garrett Lisi who also happens to be a surfer - not just of virtual reality but also of some very wet waves. This stunning mathematical model has been dubbed E8 and I don't pretend to understand it one bit, except perhaps on the intuitive level - and I must admit to being drawn to it mainly because it's so aesthetically gratifying! Here's a beautiful video showing how Lisi's "Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything" looks when the E8 is rotated through eight dimensions:




Yesterday I spent a few minutes on Facebook generating a Friend Wheel, which graphically represents how each friend is connected to another and ultimately to me. The sheer beauty of the Friend Wheel makes me happy to be connected to at least 300 people on Facebook alone. There are hosts of other friends and acquaintances who are unlikely to squander their time on Facebook, but if I add them to the mix, my Friend Wheel will ultimately resemble the E8! Mind-boggling, ain't it? Rainbow Fractals forever!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

George Harrison ~ While My Guitar Gently Weeps



A classic number from George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh 1971 (with Eric Clapton on lead guitar and Ringo Starr on drums). The gems you find on YouTube!

WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS
(words & music by George Harrison)

I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at the floor and I see it need sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps

I don't know why nobody told you
how to unfold your love
I don't know how someone controlled you
they bought and sold you

I look at the world and I notice it's turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps

I don't know how you were diverted
no one alerted you
I don't know how you were inverted
you were perverted too

I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at you all
Still my guitar gently weeps



From the Wikipedia entry on George Harrison:

George Harrison, MBE (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an influential English rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, author and sitarist best known as the lead guitarist of The Beatles. Following the band's demise, Harrison had a successful career as a solo artist and later as part of the Traveling Wilburys super group where he was known as both Nelson Wilbury and Spike Wilbury.* He was also a film producer, with his production company Handmade Films, involving people as diverse as Madonna and the members of Monty Python. From an initial exposure whilst a member of the Beatles, he maintained a high public profile regarding his religious and spiritual life.

Here's something else that's pretty incredible: Jake Shimabukuro plays "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on a ukulele!


*In 1969 Harrison wrote a song called Badge with Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Pete Brown which subsequently appeared on a Cream album. He was credited as L'Angelo Misterioso, probably to avoid contractual complications.

Project 337 in Salt Lake City, Utah



This is a community art project that opened in May 2007 at 337 South 400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah. An old building slated for demolition was converted into an ephemeral art gallery consisting of 42 rooms. From an initial collective of artists numbering 94 the total ultimately grew to 144 - and they spanned the entire spectrum from street punk graffitists to veterans in their seventies. The results were staggeringly stimulating, as you can see from the photos at 337project.org.


What a glorious way to nourish and celebrate the artistic soul of a huge impersonal city. This is the sort of thing that can happen only in a city with a funky, enlightened mayor. Bravo, Rocky - more power to you!

Mayor Rocky Anderson enthusiastically endorses Project 337.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

An American Mayor Makes A Courageous Stand

We in Malaysia have much to learn from Mayor Rocky Anderson of Salt Lake City, Utah, about moral courage and reclaiming our country from criminal misrule...

ADDRESS BY MAYOR ROSS C. “ROCKY” ANDERSON
October 27, 2007
Salt Lake City, Utah



Today, as we come together once again in this great city, we raise our voices in unison to say to President Bush, to Vice President Cheney, to other members of the Bush Administration (past and present), to a majority of Congress, including Utah’s entire congressional delegation, and to much of the mainstream media: “You have failed us miserably and we won’t take it any more.”

“While we had every reason to expect far more of you, you have been pompous, greedy, cruel, and incompetent as you have led this great nation to a moral, military, and national security abyss.”

“You have breached trust with the American people in the most egregious ways. You have utterly failed in the performance of your jobs. You have undermined our Constitution, permitted the violation of the most fundamental treaty obligations, and betrayed the rule of law.”

“You have engaged in, or permitted, heinous human rights abuses of the sort never before countenanced in our nation’s history as a matter of official policy. You have sent American men and women to kill and be killed on the basis of lies, on the basis of shifting justifications, without competent leadership, and without even a coherent plan for this monumental blunder.”

“We are here to tell you: We won’t take it any more!”

“You have acted in direct contravention of values that we, as Americans who love our country, hold dear. You have deceived us in the most cynical, outrageous ways. You have undermined, or allowed the undermining of, our constitutional system of checks and balances among the three presumed co-equal branches of government. You have helped lead our nation to the brink of fascism, of a dictatorship contemptuous of our nation’s treaty obligations, federal statutory law, our Constitution, and the rule of law.”

“Because of you, and because of your jingoistic false ‘patriotism,’ our world is far more dangerous, our nation is far more despised, and the threat of terrorism is far greater than ever before.

It has been absolutely astounding how you have committed the most horrendous acts, causing such needless tragedy in the lives of millions of people, yet you wear your so-called religion on your sleeves, asserting your God-is-on-my-side nonsense – when what you have done flies in the face of any religious or humanitarian tradition. Your hypocrisy is mind-boggling – and disgraceful. What part of “Thou shalt not kill” do you not understand? What part of the “Golden rule” do you not understand? What part of “be honest,” “be responsible,” and “be accountable” don’t you understand? What part of “Blessed are the peacekeepers” do you not understand?

Because of you, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, many thousands of people have suffered horrendous lifetime injuries, and millions have been run off from their homes. For the sake of our nation, for the sake of our children, and for the sake of our brothers and sisters around the world, we are morally compelled to say, as loudly as we can, ‘We won’t take it any more!’”

“As United States agents kidnap, disappear, and torture human beings around the world, you justify, you deceive, and you cover up. We find what you have done to men, women and children, and to the good name and reputation of the United States, so appalling, so unconscionable, and so outrageous as to compel us to call upon you to step aside and allow other men and women who are competent, true to our nation’s values, and with high moral principles to stand in your places – for the good of our nation, for the good of our children, and for the good of our world.”

In the case of the President and Vice President, this means impeachment and removal from office, without any further delay from a complacent, complicit Congress, the Democratic majority of which cares more about political gain in 2008 than it does about the vindication of our Constitution, the rule of law, and democratic accountability.

It means the election of people as President and Vice President who, unlike most of the presidential candidates from both major parties, have not aided and abetted in the perpetration of the illegal, tragic, devastating invasion and occupation of Iraq. And it means the election of people as President and Vice President who will commit to return our nation to the moral and strategic imperative of refraining from torturing human beings.

In the case of the majority of Congress, it means electing people who are diligent enough to learn the facts, including reading available National Intelligence Estimates, before voting to go to war. It means electing to Congress men and women who will jealously guard Congress’s sole prerogative to declare war. It means electing to Congress men and women who will not submit like vapid lap dogs to presidential requests for blank checks to engage in so-called preemptive wars, for legislation permitting warrantless wiretapping of communications involving US citizens, and for dangerous, irresponsible, saber-rattling legislation like the recent Kyl-Lieberman amendment.

We must avoid the trap of focusing the blame solely upon President Bush and Vice-President Cheney. This is not just about a few people who have wronged our country – and the world. They were enabled by members of both parties in Congress, they were enabled by the pathetic mainstream news media, and, ultimately, they have been enabled by the American people – 40% of whom are so ill-informed they still think Iraq was behind the 9/11 attacks – a people who know and care more about baseball statistics and which drunken starlets are wearing underwear than they know and care about the atrocities being committed every single day in our name by a government for which we need to take responsibility.

As loyal Americans, without regard to political partisanship - as veterans, as teachers, as religious leaders, as working men and women, as students, as professionals, as businesspeople, as public servants, as retirees, as people of all ages, races, ethnic origins, sexual orientations, and faiths - we are here to say to the Bush administration, to the majority of Congress, and to the mainstream media: “You have violated your solemn responsibilities. You have undermined our democracy, spat upon our Constitution, and engaged in outrageous, despicable acts. You have brought our nation to a point of immorality, inhumanity, and illegality of immense, tragic, unprecedented proportions.”

“But we will live up to our responsibilities as citizens, as brothers and sisters of those who have suffered as a result of the imperial bullying of the United States government, and as moral actors who must take a stand: And we will, and must, mean it when we say ‘We won’t take it any more.’”

If we want principled, courageous elected officials, we need to be principled, courageous, and tenacious ourselves. History has demonstrated that our elected officials are not the leaders – the leadership has to come from us. If we don’t insist, if we don’t persist, then we are not living up to our responsibilities as citizens in a democracy – and our responsibilities as moral human beings. If we remain silent, we signal to Congress and the Bush administration – and to candidates running for office – and to the world – that we support the status quo. Silence is complicity. Only by standing up for what’s right and never letting down can we say we are doing our part.

Our government, on the basis of a campaign we now know was entirely fraudulent, attacked and militarily occupied a nation that posed no danger to the United States. Our government, acting in our name, has caused immense, unjustified death and destruction. It all started five years ago, yet where have we, the American people, been? At this point, we are responsible. We get together once in a while at demonstrations and complain about Bush and Cheney, about Congress, and about the pathetic news media. We point fingers and yell a lot. Then most people politely go away until another demonstration a few months later.

How many people can honestly say they have spent as much time learning about and opposing the outrages of the Bush administration as they have spent watching sports or mindless television programs during the past five years? Escapist, time-sapping sports and insipid entertainment have indeed become the opiate of the masses. Why is this country so sound asleep? Why do we abide what is happening to our nation, to our Constitution, to the cause of peace and international law and order? Why are we not doing all in our power to put an end to this madness?

We should be in the streets regularly and students should be raising hell on our campuses. We should be making it clear in every way possible that apologies or convoluted, disingenuous explanations just don’t cut it when presidential candidates and so many others voted to authorize George Bush and his neo-con buddies to send American men and women to attack and occupy Iraq.

Let’s awaken, and wake up the country by committing here and now to do all each of us can to take our nation back. Let them hear us across the country, as we ask others to join us: “We won’t take it any more!”

I implore you: Draw a line. Figure out exactly where your own moral breaking point is. How much will you put up with before you say “No more” and mean it? I have drawn my line as a matter of simple personal morality: I cannot, and will not, support any candidate who has voted to fund the atrocities in Iraq. I cannot, and will not, support any candidate who will not commit to remove all US troops, as soon as possible, from Iraq. I cannot, and will not, support any candidate who has supported legislation that takes us one step closer to attacking Iran. I cannot, and will not, support any candidate who has not fought to stop the kidnapping, disappearances, and torture being carried on in our name.

If we expect our nation’s elected officials to take us seriously, let us send a powerful message they cannot misunderstand. Let them know we really do have our moral breaking point. Let them know we have drawn a bright line. Let them know they cannot take our support for granted – that, regardless of their party and regardless of other political considerations, they will not have our support if they cannot provide, and have not provided, principled leadership.

The people of this nation may have been far too quiet for five years, but let us pledge that we won’t let it go on one more day – that we will do all we can to put an end to the illegalities, the moral degradation, and the disintegration of our nation’s reputation in the world.

Let us be unified in drawing the line – in declaring that we do have a moral breaking point. Let us insist, together, in supporting our troops and in gratitude for the freedoms for which our veterans gave so much, that we bring our troops home from Iraq, that we return our government to a constitutional democracy, and that we commit to honoring the fundamental principles of human rights.

In defense of our country, in defense of our Constitution, in defense of our shared values as Americans – and as moral human beings – we declare today that we will fight in every way possible to stop the insanity, stop the continued military occupation of Iraq, and stop the moral depravity reflected by the kidnapping, disappearing, and torture of people around the world.

MAYOR ROCKY ANDERSON'S COMPELLING CASE FOR THE IMPEACHMENT OF BUSH & CHENEY:

Part 1



Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5

Friday, November 16, 2007

GLOBAL HARMONY ~ The Video



Eleven students of the Global Indian International School (GIIS) in Kuala Lumpur embark on a community theatre project supervised by Cinzia Ciaramicoli and Shanthini Venugopal of the Jumping JellyBeans (a leading children's theatre company). They performed three street interventions over three Saturdays in August 2007 and brought cheer to many while gaining immeasurable self-confidence. GLOBAL HARMONY is an experience these students will never forget!

Featuring music by Anael, Angelique Kidjo, Bahramji*, Dubdealers*, Nickodemus*, and Orientation*. Shot on a Panasonic DVC32 and edited on iMovie by Antares.

Release date: 11.11.07
Playing Time: 35:32

_____
*Available on Blue Flame Records

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Buy Your Own Crowd Control Gear!

Getting too popular for comfort? Fans becoming a bloody nuisance? Tired of getting mobbed by autograph hunters every time you step out? Well, that's the price of success. The next time you make a public appearance, be prepared...

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THIS WEEK'S SPECIAL: PORTABLE LPG FLAME-THROWER

This will teach all those queers who laugh at you behind your back and call you a moron!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

A Different Kind of Music Video...



Just viewed this homemade music video called A Tribute to BERSIH People's Gathering on YouTube. Lots of other video clips from the Yellow Wave that swept across KL in the wake of a heavy downpour on the momentous afternoon of November 10th, when an estimated 40,000 Malaysians refused to stay home and watch TV. Instead they flooded the heart of KL with their passion for electoral and judicial reform.

The "Royal" Malaysian Police - what irony, since they were hardly showing loyalty to the rulers by attempting to forcibly thwart the people's collective will! - who have spent hundreds of millions of taxpayers' hard-earned cash on crowd-control equipment, were only able to prevent protesters from assembling peacefully at Merdeka Square and the National Mosque.

Photo courtesy of Nat Tan's blog.

However, they were powerless to stop 30,000 or more others from marching to the Palace, where the Agong's private secretary graciously received the petition signed by citizen groups and opposition parties beseeching the Yang di Pertuan Agong to intervene and rescue the ship of state, now in danger of sinking owing to abysmal piloting by Barisan Nazional, the incumbent political party which has been in power since 1957.

Though I generally avoid taking politics too seriously, there are crossroads in a nation's destiny when the opportunity for positive change presents itself. Failure to seize the day and reclaim our democratic aspirations will put us in the same situation as the poor residents of New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck. Why did so many die and why is New Orleans real estate being bought up by giant corporations now that the low-income black population has been literally flushed out? Why? Because some folks are way too greedy, that's why. And they don't seem to know when to stop pigging out at the natural resources trough. Here's another homemade ad for the 10 November BERSIH event found on YouTube:



Don't you just love digital tech and broadband... and young people with ideas and ideals? I salute all those who resist tyranny with courage, intelligence, and compassion.

OKAY... TIME TO GO, BN!

BERSIH event makes top news on Al Jazeera! Not a good ad for BN's attitude towards dissent...

Friday, November 9, 2007

U2 & MARY J. BLIGE ~ "ONE"

HERE'S A GOOD SONG TO COMMEMORATE THE 18TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FALL OF THE WALL IN BERLIN (9 NOVEMBER 1989):



U2 are truly a class act - arguably the best rock group in the last two decades. Bono has a powerful and theatrical voice and would make an excellent plantary statesman with his intense charisma and eloquence. The Edge is certainly well-named, always enigmatic and stylish, and his musical instincts are sharp. As for Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr - they're the best bassist and drummer combination any rock group could hope to find. Recently I saw U2's Zoo TV concert in Sydney on DVD and was blown away by the sheer spectacle and panache that went into this explosive and impeccably staged show.

Mary J Blige is simply HOT HOT HOT (and I can't imagine anybody refusing to duet with her ;-).

[My favorite amazon goddess Zora Gabrovsek sent me this video via Facebook and I decided immediately to blog it - so I can share it with other U2 appreciators, and also so I can watch it over and over again!]

Monday, November 5, 2007

You've Blown It, Pak Blah

November 5th - Guy Fawkes Day - has taken on a fresh meaning with the wide popularity of the 2006 movie V for Vendetta. All the more so when 100,000 people are expected to assemble at Dataran Merdeka in the heart of Kuala Lumpur five days from now, on November 10th 2007, to demand electoral and judicial reforms.

A petition will be delivered to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (chief representative of all the monarchs) requesting royal intervention in the current impasse between the Malaysian government and the people on a multitude of critical issues - in particular the rotten state of the Judiciary which has been sliding down the slippery slope of ignominy since 1988, when former prime minister Dr Mahathir sacked the Lord President, Salleh Abbas - along with several senior judges - for refusing to kowtow to the Executive.

I'm not generally a political animal - but it's inevitable that when things are truly rotten in the state of public affairs, you'll get more than a whiff of the unbearable stench. This is one such occasion when I, as a private citizen of this country, am prompted to make a public stand - or forever hold my peace. The way I have chosen to do so is by speaking my mind to our prime minister in the fervent hope that he will take sober stock of the situation and come to his senses before our beloved nation is thrown into further disharmony and disrepute - thereby disintegrating our dreams of genuine peace, prosperity and a fair deal for all.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER ABDULLAH AHMAD BADAWI

Dear Pak Blah (I'm sorry if this sounds disrespectful but that moniker has gained popular usage amongst your detractors because it expresses so precisely and wittily your greatest weakness):

Four years ago when you took over the helm from Dr M, there was an audible sigh of relief. Truth be told we had grown terribly weary of seeing the Old Man's scowling face every day on the front pages of our newspapers, and hearing his snarling, metallic voice on the radio. Five years of seeing the ISA being misused to imprison all those demanding Reformasi and Justice for Anwar Ibrahim - and witnessing the Polis Di Raja Malaysia (Royal Malaysian Police) being turned into a lawless pack of Rottweilers under IGP Rahim Noor serving only their political masters. Families were split down the middle between Mahathir loyalists who had benefited from his political patronage and young reformists impatient for a change of management.

When you became PM it was more a change in management style than in the management itself. Umno still called the shots on almost every aspect of official policy. However, it was refreshing to see a smiling face and to hear a firm but gentle voice promising us a major overhaul of the government machinery. For the first couple of years, your public image of accessibility and reasonability was carefully cultivated.

The new PM listens to other views and makes important decisions by consensus - that was the official spin. Indeed, you won my admiration by saying favorable things about NGOs and citizen action groups. You even invited dissident groups to work with the government of the day rather than against it. People across the board had had enough of street action, water cannons, mace and police truncheons. Everybody really just wanted things to return to normal - after all, we all have personal lives we want to get on with. Nobody likes conflict, least of all Malaysians ("Cornflakes okay but we dowan conflicts," says the typical Malaysian raised on a diet of silly American sitcoms.)

We were secretly pleased that you decided to scrap a few mega projects mooted during Dr M's tenure. Who wants their grandchildren to be born in debt? Your late wife Endon Mahmood won our hearts with her passionate interest in nurturing the arts and the entire nation mourned when she succumbed to breast cancer in October 2005. At that point, Pak Blah, you had the nation's support and sympathy. Even when you took to spouting platitudes and saying the most banal things at public events, we overlooked it as a minor shortcoming. At least you managed to sound generally benign and avuncular.

Indeed, many of us simply shrugged when word reached our ears about the unseemly ambition and greed of your son-in-law KJ (that young hooligan with an Oxbridge accent). He couldn't be all bad, we consoled ourselves. A young man dabbling in Umno politics, making hay while the sun shines, perhaps. Once he's made his first billion he'll cool down. And with a little more maturity he might turn out to be an asset; after all he's well educated and seems like a bright young man.

Even when Dr M got restless and started railing against your administration, you had our sympathy for the most part. The Old Man misses the limelight, we laughed. Right up to that point, Pak Blah, you still had my respect - especially when you maintained an elegant silence rather than lash out publicly at your truculent accuser. You even humbled yourself to meet him at his residence in an attempt to work things out. That was laudable.

So what went wrong after that? For me the most appalling indication of serious disorder beyond the usual issues of cronyism, corruption and incompetence was the vicious murder of the Mongolian woman. Around that time a few Malaysian bloggers began publishing some ugly facts pertaining to defence ministry kickbacks of unbelievable magnitude. Five hundred million ringgit in commissions paid out to Abdul Razak Baginda, the man arrested on suspicion of abetting the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu? A close friend and business associate of defence minister Najib Razak who also happens to be your deputy?

Two policemen implicated in the brutal killing who turn out to be the minister's personal bodyguards? The Mongolian woman's body blown to bits with C4 explosives unavailable to anyone outside the defence ministry? We expected a solemn announcement from you: "I have instructed my deputy to take a temporary leave of absence while police investigations are underway. I urge the public to refrain from jumping to hasty conclusions. We take a grim view of this matter and will ensure that justice runs its course regardless of where it may lead. The dignity, honor and integrity of the Malaysian government are at stake."

No such announcement came. Instead we were subjected to the grotesque spectacle of a bumbling and obviously flustered Attorney-General doing everything he could to sabotage the murder trial - including switch prosecutors 24 hours before the start of the trial, thereby causing a 2-week postponement. When it surfaced in court that somebody had ordered the deletion of immigration records pertaining to the entry of the murdered woman and her cousin into Malaysia, we expected a full probe ordered by the head of immigration (who is answerable to the Home Minister, namely you, Pak Blah) into how such an outrageous crime could have been committed. And when the murdered woman's cousin testified in court that she was once shown a photograph of Altantuya Shaariibuu dining in France with two Razaks, nobody stood up and asked who had possession of the incriminating photo. Indeed, the court could easily have subpoenaed the photograph as evidence that the defence minister had told a bare-faced lie when he denied knowing the Mongolian beauty. After all, she was reported to have served as translator for the defence ministry consultant during negotiations in 2005 for the purchase of French submarines, when the defence minister himself would also have been in France.

It doesn't require a Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot to connect a few dots in this sordid case. In failing to act decisively and impartially to get to the bottom of it all, the entire Malaysian government is in danger of being an accomplice to a capital crime - or at least to an excruciatingly clumsy and stupid cover-up. While it is true that the governments of other, more developed countries like the US, the UK, and Israel may well be guilty of criminal and murderous behavior, that does not exempt us from culpability.

Apart from the negative karma accruing from the Altantuya case, you have blown it in many other ways - too many to enumerate here but, off the top of my head, here are a few glaring instances of arrogance compounded by stupidity:


In May 2004 a coalition of civil society groups called Article 11 was formed to restore the supremacy of the Federal Constitution and the rule of law in ensuring multi-ethnic harmony and justice for all, regardless of race or religion. When fanatical thugs disrupted a public forum hosted by Article 11 in Penang, you declared a ban on future forums instead of making a firm stand on this important issue and charging the thugs with disorderly conduct. In so doing you worsened an already bad situation and widened the growing rift between those who love freedom and those who fear loss of special privileges. Subsequently, when the Federal Court passed the buck on the Lina Joy case, you failed to intervene on behalf of simple justice. Your lameness was, in effect, an endorsement of fanaticism and fascism in matters pertaining to Islam.

During your watch a Royal Commission for Police Reform submitted a report which recommended, among other things, the establishment of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission. You lacked the verve and will to immediately implement the Royal Commission's recommendations - and so the Malaysian Police Force continues to be abhorred and held in contempt as corrupt, inefficient, and politically compromised.

We have been subjected to the embarrassment of seeing three high-ranking public servants in key positions face accusations of corruption within a matter of weeks: the Inspector-General of Police was accused of being on the payroll of Chinese criminal syndicates; the deputy minister of Internal Security was accused of accepting a RM5.5 million bribe to facilitate the release of criminal kingpins from police custody; and the Director-General of the Anti-Corruption Agency was himself accused of major corruption by his own deputy. All three were cleared and investigations closed with unholy haste by the Attorney-General, whose own integrity is hardly above question, since he was promoted to his present position for the key role he played in putting Anwar Ibrahim in jail.

Meanwhile, scandal upon scandal has surfaced (mainly via political blogs) with regard to multi-billion ringgit fiascos like the Port Klang Free Zone project and the PSC-Naval Dockyard patrol boat scam. The recent Auditor-General's report on gross misappropriation of public funds by a multitude of government departments raised a few eyebrows beyond face level and caused 25 million heads to shake in disgust. Yet public outcry was muted - if only because everybody is too fatigued by the endless stream of bad news to dwell on the subject. In any case there is no avenue by which the public can express its feelings except through the Internet. And this has led your Umno yesmen to launch a futile assault against bloggers. All very pathetic, Pak Blah.

And if all this wasn't enough to tarnish your administration beyond all hope of redemption, there is the dangling question of the infamous V.K. Lingam video on YouTube. There for all to witness is some candid footage showing a crooked lawyer fix the appointment of crooked judges in cahoots with a bunch of crooked businessmen and crooked politicians. The implications are grave indeed. Assuming the authenticity of the evidence - and there is absolutely no reason why anyone would bother faking such an obscene episode - almost every major court case involving prominent business and political figures would have to be reassessed and many sitting judges would have to be sacked and charged with gross impropriety. This could ultimately result in 95% of Umno leaders being incarcerated for various crimes. Now that would indeed be a very great shame - but one many of us are prepared to bear because we love our country enough to wish it a glorious rather than inglorious future.

Pak Blah, we cannot allow the unreformed descendants of pirates to mismanage Malaysia. Perhaps they can't help themselves, being genetically prone to pillage, rape, and plunder. Nevertheless, anyone caught with his hand in the till must be rapped sharply on the knuckles and summarily dismissed (it would be a further waste of public funds to send them to prison where they have to be fed for any number of years). I do not insist that these betrayers of public trust be flayed alive or flogged in public. Indeed I have long unsubscribed from a belief in punishment. However, I do insist that you take what I say to you to heart. If you have it in you to redeem yourself and restore public confidence in your managerial competence, you will take immediate action to CLEAN UP - NOT COVER UP!

I feel the malaise has progressed beyond the stage where medication is enough. Painful as it will be, only amputation can save our potentially great country from moral and financial catastrophe.

My dear Pak Blah, you only have a few weeks (at most a few months) in which to make up your mind: Face the problems like a man and initiate a massive overhaul of the government machinery as you promised - or resign. But before you do, please instruct your deputy to voluntarily turn himself (or his wife) in for a bit of questioning.


And by the way: I received an email a few days ago with a Turkish news report about your new yacht. Please tell me this isn't true. Because, if it is, I shall have to pry into your private affairs and ask you point blank how you could possibly afford such a luxury on your civil servant's salary. And if you admit that the boat is being paid for with public funds, then we would have to conclude that you are really no different than the rest of your buccaneer cronies in Umno.

English translation of a report in Hurriyet, a Turkish newspaper:
Malaysian Prime Minister here to see his boat
17 Dec 2006

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmed Badawi arrived in Bodrum yesterday to see his boat which he ordered four months ago. Badawi arrived in Bodrum at 1.30 am in a private jet belonging to Malaysia Airlines.

The head official of Milas, Bahattin Atci, and Malaysian businessman Ananda Krishnan, (reputedly the sixth richest man in Asia), were on hand to welcome Badawi. Kamil Sezgun, who is the director of Kobra Yachting and Tourism Co Ltd, was also present.

Badawi and his friend Krishnan went to Gokova for a spot of fishing on a luxury motor yacht belonging to Kremala Holding, specially brought over here from Malta. The luxury yacht "Obsessions" is 40 meters long, made in the Netherlands, and the captain of the yacht is Cavit Kabak. The yacht was anchored in Milta Marina.

Badawi said he loves Bodrum and the south Aegean and the Mediterranean very much. It is a great pleasure for him to be here fishing and relaxing from his duties.

The boat is made of Akaju, Maun, Sipo and Brimanya woods imported from South Africa. It is expected to be completed in 16 months. Some 60 people are involved in the construction of the boat. The boat will be delivered 12 months from now. The capacity of the boat is up to 14 people and its length is 44 meters. The boat will cost 8 million US dollars.