Saturday, November 29, 2008
A Musical Interlude Amidst The Explosions
"A Hiding Place for the Moon" - an original song by Antoine Dufour on his CD Existence available at http://www.candyrat.com, Amazon, and iTunes.
Antoine Dufour (born in L'Épiphanie, Quebec) is a French-Canadian acoustic guitarist currently signed to CandyRat Records. Dufour started playing guitar at the age of fifteen. He went on to study at the CEGEP in Joliette, where he listened to the music of Leo Kottke, Don Ross, and Michael Hedges at the behest of his teacher. Since then, he has gone on to place second at the 2005 Canadian Guitar Festival's Fingerstyle Guitar Championship and first place in the 2006 competition. He also placed third at the 2006 International Finger Style Guitar Championship in Winfield, Kansas.
Dufour has released three solo albums to date: Naissance, Development, and Existence.
[Discovered this consummate guitarist-composer through pure serendipity!]
Friday, November 28, 2008
WAY TO GO, RPK! :-)
Malaysiakini.tv, 28 Nov 2008
"We're going to give them a hard time, and we're going to send them packing. They have absolutely no case against me. You follow this case, and you watch how we demolish them piece by piece and strip them naked." - Raja Petra Kamarudin
"The only way to deal with the spineless and corrupt is to confront them without hesitation or fear!" - Om B. Udsman
"We're going to give them a hard time, and we're going to send them packing. They have absolutely no case against me. You follow this case, and you watch how we demolish them piece by piece and strip them naked." - Raja Petra Kamarudin
"The only way to deal with the spineless and corrupt is to confront them without hesitation or fear!" - Om B. Udsman
Labels:
defamation trial,
Malaysiakini,
Raja Petra Kamarudin,
RPK
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
RPK has the last word on FATWAHS!

Raja Petra Kamarudin | FATWAHS GALORE
In time, these great Islamic empires became so corrupt that they eventually disappeared from the face of this earth. What we see in the Middle East today is the residual of the once great Islamic empire from the Golden Age of Islam.

I suppose I can’t run away from my ‘duty’ of also whacking the issue seeing that I have been ‘officially’ labelled as an insulter of Islam. People just expect me to put my foot in my mouth on any issue involving Islam. Anyway, here goes.
I have no problems with the Fatwah Council or religious bodies coming out with fatwahs. It is not like anyone would follow them anyway. It is just an exercise in hot air as far as I am concerned. I mean, take the many ‘fatwahs’ already passed by God and cemented in the Quran for eternity. Do Muslims really take heed over what has been forbidden by God?

Sheikh Imran said that, according to the Prophet Muhammad, there are 80 levels of usury, bribery being just one of them. And the sin of the lowest level of all, said Sheikh Imran, tantamount to the sin of sexual intercourse with your own parent.
Can you imagine yourself having sex with your father or mother? Well, the sin of the lowest level usury is the same as the sin of sex with your own father and mother. And bribery is not the lowest level yet. So the sin of bribery certainly ranks higher than the sin of sex with your own mother or father.
Is there a fatwah on bribery? Do you even need a fatwah from the Fatwah Council or any religious body when God has already issued His ‘fatwah’? A man-made fatwah would be unnecessary and redundant. A fatwah can never make bribery more haram than it already is. And that is probably why no one sees the need for coming out with another fatwah.

Look at Umno. Even Tun Dr Mahathir laments about corruption in Umno. They call it ‘money politics,’ of course, but this is just corruption by another name. And are not all Umno members Muslims (except for maybe some from Sabah)? Umno is actually very concerned about the matter and can’t quite figure out what to do. Even the most corrupted Umno leaders are concerned about it. When the crooks worry about the spiralling crime rate then rest assured the problem is very serious indeed.


Muslims are fond of talking about the ‘Golden Age of Islam.’ Yes, at one time, Islam was a great empire. But it no longer is. And why is that? In time, these great Islamic empires became so corrupt that they eventually disappeared from the face of this earth. What we see in the Middle East today is the residual of the once great Islamic empire from the Golden Age of Islam.
And that is why the 'fatwah' from God, as related by the Prophet, says that bribery is one of the 80 levels of riba’ and the sin of the lowest level of riba’ tantamount to the sin of sex with your own parent. And this is more disastrous than yoga, lipstick or high heels.

Armain Carlier, my one-time business contact from Schlumberger, related a story about how he went to Iran many years after the Iranian Revolution. He was there to visit their partner and to see how their joint-venture factory was getting along. It had been years since anyone from Schlumberger had visited Iran and they did not know even if the business was still in operation.
He was surprised when their Iranian partner handed him a cheque for the profits they had made over all those years. He thought the factory no longer existed, let alone was still making a profit. And he never expected Schlumberger’s Iranian partner to be so honest as to hand Schlumberger’s share of the profits over to him.
Carlier was so impressed and said that Islam must be a great religion if its people can be so honest. Yes, that is the example of an un-corrupt Muslim, which impressed even a non-Muslim like Carlier. And this should be the target of the Fatwah Council and religious bodies, to indoctrinate Muslims into becoming honest and un-corrupt.

And this fatwah fiasco has raised another problem. It has set the Rulers and religious authorities on a collision course. Will we now see a turf war between the Rulers and the religious authorities?

Tuesday, November 25, 2008
THOU SHALT NOT YOGA? Whaddafatwa...... is this the Umno Inquisition?
Walksi just posted a side-splitting brain-gratifying analysis of the national fatwa epidemic. I suggest you read it at his blog, myAsylum.
Having viewed this classic Monty Python skit Walksi posted, I just had to treat myself to a few more - and do you the favor of providing a YouTube link where you can spend a very flatulent afternoon revisiting some unforgettable moments in Advanced Pythonology.
And just for good measure, I feel it's high time Malaysia had its own Ministry of Silly Walks...
Labels:
fatwa,
Monty Python,
MyAsylum,
National Fatwa Council,
Umno Inquisition,
Walski,
yoga
Monday, November 24, 2008
Thank you, Hindraf, for Makkal Sakthi!











LET'S MAKE IT HAPPEN!
[Images collected from various sources. 14 April Freedom Rally pics courtesy of TV Smith]
THE SAD SAGA OF RAJESWARI MURUGIAH: view this powerful short documentary on a Malaysian citizen who was wrongfully detained for 11 months because she lost her identity card and couldn't recall the number. From Malaysiakini.tv, 24 Nov 2008
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