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I believe I should take up sensitive topics whenever possible. I hate hypocrites especially the ones in our very own society. Yes - I am talking about lesbians and gays. Here we are - poised at the crossroads of the country's future, our defacto leader in the PKR has been accused of sodomizing another man recently, again! I guess this form of sodomy exists within the cultures of lesbians and gays. Obviously, the leader has been arrested and underwent serious "checks" on his body. That was happening the last 24 hours. I seriously feel that something has gone wrong. Very very wrong.
On page 10 of the Star, guess what..we see this article. Aiyo...apa ni..here the incumbent government arrests a defacto leader who presumbly loves to sodomize men....and yet on one hand, we have a minister who wants to provide welfare aid to gays...hmmmmmmm...what is this country becoming to?

My contention - stick to the grounds. Look into the laws that govern the land. So what if the leader loves men? I guess I am insinuating about the leader but look at the current govt's stand to help gays. Come on lar - make up your bloody mind! Is this a ying and yang experience ? NOT!
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RM2 billion terminal - but not enough funds for public transport (Image from penangsentral.com.my) So we are going to have a montrous RM2 billion terminal in Butterworth that is supposed to be the gateway to Penang. This project is supposed to be located on a 12.8ha site “at the existing Butterworth train, bus and ferry terminal and [...]

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Well...well, what do you know UMNO branches (and later Divisions) may not be just following 'orders' from the PM, DPM or their High Council when it comes to choosing the future leaders of UMNO..

Bernama - Saturday, July 19

PEKAN, July 18 (Bernama) -- The Kampung Ubai Umno branch in the Pekan division last night passed a motion proposing Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for the post of president in the party election in December. meeting which ended late last night and attended by 42 of the 123 branch members.

The Kampung Ubai branch was the first branch to meet in Pahang and also the first to nominate Najib, who is the Pekan Umno division head and Member of Parliament, to contest the post of Umno president...." - Yahoo Malaysia News, 19/7/2008 - KAMPUNG UBAI BRANCH NOMINATES NAJIB FOR UMNO PRESIDENTCY

If this is indicative of other up-coming UMNO branch and division meetings, then after almost 20 years without elections for the top 2 positions in UMNO, we will be having elections in 2008....and the members themselves shall be choosing their President and their Deputy President. There will be no handing over of the reign by "King" Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to his chosen successor...

Democracy not "feudalistic" practices - that is what members of UMNO seem to want for UMNO 2008 and onwards -- but we shall see, if this be the case in the coming weeks and months...

Disappointing was it when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Najib Razak and the Supreme Council did not do the needful to remove that draconian requirement of such a large number of Division Nominations before one can contest for the top post/s in UMNO (something that came into being during the reign of Mahathir after 1987..)...

I had expected the PM to have spear-headed a move to remove these obstacles to a greater democracy within UMNO, where the right of choosing leaders will really revert back to the hands of members...

But then over the years Malaysians have come to know this man Abdullah for what he is - a person of of talk but little (or no) action.

And even, when he does act... it actually brings about greater sufferings to the masses, as what happened in the recent increasing of fuel prices...

Interesting also that this happens in a branch within the division that Najib Razak belongs - Could this be indicative that Najib has no real intention of waiting 2 years but maybe wants to try for the Presidency now in 2008...

Some may say that what happened to Anwar, Raja Petra, etc just before the advent of UMNO branch elections ... was a flexing of muscles by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reminding people (UMNO members especially) of who is the BOSS-man, and who should be again nominated to be the BOSS-man. Was it so? If yes, then it obviously seem to have not worked with the KAMPUNG UBAI UMNO BRANCH. They clearly do not want Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to be the leader of UMNO anymore - and it was unanimous...
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KUALA LUMPUR: The recent arrest of several top-ranking Immigration Department officials for alleged corruption has opened a can of worms.
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by Azly Rahman No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death [...]
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'I don't think we need to be too nationalistic in supporting Proton without taking into consideration what the business is all about.'
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'The Secret is out', screamed a Screenshots headline on June 22. It received furrowed brows from the readers.

Actually, it was a teaser after I received a review copy of the latest LG smart phone, KF750 code-named Secret. It's the third model in the LG Black Label series after the Chocolate and Shine, which were runaway successes in the high-end mobile phone segment, remarkably in the immensely competitive European market.

The horrifying secret I heard from the grapevine was that Mr TY Ko, CEO and Managing Director of LG Electronics (M) Sdn Bhd, had one day drawn up a fork, in front of his colleagues, to scratch the glass screen of the phone just to test the believability of the marketing messages -- Scratch-proof tempered glass built on a carbon fibre body.

The Secret stood the test, somewhat and somehow.

After almost one month of using the review copy, which was given to me during the CommunicAsia 2008 in Singapore, there's somewhat more secrets to unveil about this 3rd Black Label from LG.

The Asian Launch of LG Secret... by Jae Bae (L2), LG Executive Vice President for Overseas Sales & Marketing Division, and Boh H. Choi (L3), head of LG Mobile Asia, Middle East & Africa (AMEA) Business Team at CommunicAsia 2008

First and foremost, it's a four-band HSDPA phone that comes with the hallmark of LG Viewty -- that slim 5-megapixel camera -- plus the auto-rotating display that iPhone once boasted of.

However, LG Secret has an added function called the Touch Media which gives refreshing UI (User Interface) experience to mobile games, music, photos, documents (stripped down Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and FM radios. Expect LG to give more of this Touch Media in its new launches.

The other outstanding feature is the Auto Luminance Contro, Itl adjusts the screen’s lighting according to ambient brightness to ensure screen clarity at all times. It also saves battery power besides being less straining on the eyes.

Meantime, go over to the special LG Secret website to find out why this smart phone really packed a deal of awe and wow with a pricetag of SRP RM1,999,00.

Win an LG Secret!

Now, you too can win a copy of LG Secret if you care to reveal your own secret to the world, and put it in taste and very much in your own creative style.

Expose your secret -- anything from your wildest experience, most embarrassing moments, concealed admiration for someone, to the best kept mother of all secrets -- and send an 'I HAVE A LG SECRET' email to ihavealgsecret@gmail.com today.

Do it in a 'Style That Lasts'. The best entry may win a brand new LG Secret!

COMING UP... I have been reviewing a copy of consumer-grade LCD TV, the LG30 series while I am still awaiting for a complementing set of the LG Home Theatre System for a full appraisal of user experience. More to tell soon.

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The military has created a wall of silence around its frequent resort to barbaric practices, including torture, and goes out of its way to avoid legal scrutiny. Five photographs together break a silence. The first is of a former Gurkha regimental ...
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There is no oil shortage, not yet at least. That doesn't mean we're not quickly sliding towards Peak Oil. We probably are, but that has nothing to do with today's gas prices. The reason oil has skyrocketed to nearly $140 per barrel is because of speculation; rampant, "unregulated" speculation. The peak oil doom-sayers are simply confusing the issue. This is not about shortages or scarcity; it's about gaming the system to fatten the bottom line. The whole scam is being executed by the same carpetbagging scoundrels who engineered the subprime fiasco; the investment bankers. The Wall Street Goliaths are using the futures market to recapitalize their flagging balance sheets after sustaining massive losses in the mortgage-backed securities boondoggle. That's the whole thing in a nutshell. Now they're on to their next swindle; distorting the futures market with humongous leveraged bets on food and oil.

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First up, proud salutations to the courageous 'Raytheon 9', six of whom were recently acquitted of criminal damage charges following their occupation of Raytheon offices in Derry.

The action by the nine Derry Anti War Coalition members had taken place on 9 August 2006 while Israel was bombarding Lebanon with Raytheon-produced bombs, among them the infamous Bunker-Buster. Over 1000 Lebanese civilians were killed - while the countryside remains littered with deadly cluster bombs. Raytheon also list in their catalogue of death Cruise, Patriot, Sidewinder and Tomahawk missiles. The Derry activists succeeded in damaging much of the computer software and other Raytheon property, serving to highlight the company's own criminal activity. What we might call constructive destruction of destructive constructions.

Following the judgement, one of the 9, veteran writer Eamon McCann, made this admirable statement:

"The outcome of this case has profound implications.

The jury has accepted that we were reasonable in our belief that: the Israel Defence Forces were guilty of war crimes in Lebanon in the summer of 2006; that the Raytheon company, including its facility in Derry, was aiding and abetting the commission of these crimes; and that the action we took was intended to have, and did have, the effect of hampering or delaying the commission of war crimes.

We have been vindicated.

We reject entirely and with contempt the statement by Raytheon this evening suggesting that the result of the trial gives them concern about the safety of their employees. This is an abject attempt to divert attention from the significance of the outcome. Not a shed of evidence was produced that we presented the slightest danger to Raytheon workers. The charge of affray was thrown out by the court without waiting to hear defence evidence.

Our target has always been Raytheon as a corporate entity and its shareholders and directors who profit from misery and death.

There is now no hiding place for those who have said that they support the presence of Raytheon in Derry on the basis that the company is not involved in Derry in arms-related production. We have established that not only is the Derry plant involved in arms-related production, it is also, through its integration into Raytheon as a whole, involved in war crimes.

We call on all elected representatives in Derry, and on the citizens of Derry, to say now in unequivocal terms that the war criminal Raytheon is not welcome in our city.

We call on the office of the Attorney General and the Crown Prosecution Service, in light of this verdict, to institute an investigation into the activities of Raytheon at its various plants across the UK, with a view to determining whether Raytheon is, as we say it is, a criminal enterprise.

We believe that one day the world will look back on the arms trade as we look back today on the slave trade, and wonder how it came about that such evil could abound in respectable society. If we have advanced by a mere moment the day when the arms trade is put beyond the law, what we have done will have been worthwhile.

We took the action we did in the immediate aftermath of the slaughter of innocents in Qana on July 30th 2006. The people of Qana are our neighbours. Their children are the children of our neighbours. We trashed Raytheon to help protect our neighbours. The court has found that that was not a crime. This what the Raytheon case has been about.

We have not denied or apologised for what we did at the Raytheon plant in the summer of 2006. All of us believe that it was the best thing we ever did in our lives."

The trial, moved from Derry to Belfast, and subject to a gagging order preventing media coverage of Raytheon's dealings in the province, illustrates the deep sensitivities felt by the British state when the profits and interests of arms companies are threatened.

The decision of a people's jury against Raytheon is also a reminder to pliant politicians that procurers of WMD are not always welcome in one's locale - even if they are providing those 'much-needed jobs'. For those endorsing Raytheon at Glenrothes, Scotland, and other UK locations, take note: this is not just about economic livelihoods, it's about the economy of death and the taking of others' actual lives.

Ruling the waves - and the skies

On which note, by what stretch of the caring imagination should we condone the ongoing spending of vast sums on military hardware? The Ministry of Defence has just signed contracts for two new aircraft carriers worth £4 billion. The proposed HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, so we're told by captains of industry and unions, alike, are great news for the economy and local communities.

Defence Secretary, Des Browne, said:

“This is a historic day for everyone in defense. The two aircraft carriers will provide our forces with the world-class capabilities they will need over the coming decades. They will support peace-keeping and conflict prevention, as well as our strategic operational priorities. Today’s contract signing seals the future for thousands of jobs, and ensures that we will have a Royal Navy fit for the 21st century.”

But, what motivations really apply here? Forward defence thinking and the national economy in support of a peaceful world? Or backward power and cravings of imperial grandeur? Still burdened by delusions of the latter, Britain is really a war economy state driven by corporate interests and the need to make the world a more, not less, warmongering place.

There's also the more 'mundane' question of how these pieces of high-tech flotsam help prevent a lone Al Qaeda operative leaving a bomb on a train.

It's a sobering thought when we stop to ponder what exists behind the respectable facade and language of the 'defence economy'. This is a war regime dedicated to protecting and enabling its arms masters around the globe. It's why Gordon Brown takes his eager turn in the prime ministerial arms tour to Saudi Arabia. It's why the Ministry of Defence is a revolving door to BaE and other elite arms corporations. It's why my MP, and New Labour clone, Tom Harris, blanked all efforts to explain and oppose the safe passage of US-Israeli bombs for Lebanon through Prestwick and other UK airports.

The UK was recently 'elevated' to the highest position in world arms-sales ranking following the signing of a £10 billion deal to supply the Saudis with a new 'kill' (my collective noun) of Eurofighter/Typhoon jets and other military equipment. Without a hint of irony:

"The Ministry of Defence says the terms of the contract - called Salam, Arabic for peace - and the total expenditure involved are confidential."

Meanwhile, back in ethical blighty, £76 billion will be released from the New Labour Treasury over the next 30 years to replace Trident and maintain its successor - all in breach of the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Alert to the 'menace'

All this while Gordon Brown, Des Browne and their war crimes syndicate ratchet-up the 'gathering menace' of Iran's 'nuclear ambitions'.

In sympathetic tones, the BBC have been eagerly repeating US 'concerns' about Tehran's "provocative" missile-testing exercise.

The BBC's own 'defence system' usually involves the claim that it's simply engaged in 'impartial' reporting of such 'worries', whereas, it's selective filtering and delineation of such stories forms a vital and offensive part of the propaganda armoury.

Likewise with 'studious' diplomatic editors across the liberal press, such as the Sunday Herald's Trevor Royle, who, for good measure, offers this gushing account of Israel's 'understandable' rationale for bombing the people of Iran:

“There is one other scenario no-one should ignore. The Israelis could act unilaterally, or at least with covert US support. They certainly have the motive. Not only has president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made unpleasant noises about removing Israel from the map, but a nuclear-armed Iran would be a very real threat to regional stability. During its 60 years of existence, the state of Israel has always obeyed the realistic military rule that it attacks if it feels threatened - just ask Egypt, Syria or Jordan - and there is no shortage of hawks to ram home that message. When former chief of staff Shaul Mofaz said an attack on Iran is "inevitable" he meant just what he said.”

Beyond the usual "from the map" distortion, Royle is positively flowing in his admirations for Israel, a commentary, we're encouraged to believe, to be 'balanced' by 'sober' reading of the 'military realities'. His, like the BBC's, is a voice typical of the 'sensible liberal' 'new world order' in which Britain, the US and Israel still have imperial prerogatives in 'responding' to the 'provocations' of dark-hued Others.

Britain's war regime

Thankfully, we still have voices of sane humanity like John Pilger and Mark Curtis to dig-deep into Britain's real murderous activities. In a ready-reminder of its ongoing crimes around the world, Pilger writes this week about the true, dark nature of Britain's military brutalities:

"A wall of silence has always surrounded the British military, its arcane rituals, rites and practices and, above all, its contempt for the law and natural justice in its various imperial pursuits...An even more imposing wall of silence ensures that the British public remains largely unaware of the industrial killing of civilians in Britain's modern colonial wars. In his landmark work Unpeople: Britain's Secret Human Rights Abuses, the historian Mark Curtis uses three main categories: direct responsibility, indirect responsibility and active inaction. "The overall figure [since 1945] is between 8.6 and 13.5 million," Curtis writes. "Of these, Britain bears direct responsibility for between four million and six million deaths. This figure is, if anything, likely to be an underestimate. Not all British interventions have been included, because of lack of data." Since his study was published, the Iraq death toll has reached, by reliable measure, a million men, women and children."

Across the globe, the pretence of 'ethical intervention' and concern for human rights is underwritten by the real business of warmongering:

"The militarising of how the British state perceives and treats other societies is vividly demonstrated in Africa, where ten out of 14 of the most impoverished and conflict-ridden countries are seduced into buying British arms and military equipment with "soft loans". Like the British royal family, the British Prime Minister simply follows the money. Having ritually condemned a despot in Zimbabwe for "human rights abuses" - in truth, for no longer serving as the west's business agent - and having obeyed the latest US dictum on Iran and Iraq, Brown set off recently for Saudi Arabia, exporter of Wahhabi fundamentalism and wheeler of fabulous arms deals."

With complementary intent, notes Pilger:

"the Brown government is spending £11bn of taxpayers' money on a huge, privatised military academy in Wales, which will train foreign soldiers and mercenaries recruited to the bogus "war on terror". With arms companies such as Raytheon profiting, this will become Britain's "School of the Americas", a centre for counter-insurgency (terrorist) training and the design of future colonial adventures. It has had almost no publicity."

Britain's playing of the modern Great Game in Afghanistan is treated, similarly, as some kind of benign and honourable sacrifice:

"The shabby, destructive colonial war in Afghanistan is now reported almost entirely through the British army, with squaddies always doing their Kipling best, and with the Afghan resistance routinely dismissed as "outsiders" and "invaders"."

Pilger's indictment and Curtis's investigations of Britain's war regime would, in a rational and compassionate society, be the subject of shameful reflection and progressive policy debate. Instead, we're regaled, courtesy of an obedient media, by a culture of respectable militarism, serving to maintain the noble charade of Britain's enlightened interventionism around the world.

Here's to more humanitarian 'invasions' and caring interventions against Raytheon and the offices of Britain's other corporate arms despots.

John
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