Archive Life On Planet Earth

moving announcement

2009-12-10T08:09:00.000+08:00

Dr. Death - Thailand

2009-12-03T16:23:00.000+08:00

Scientist Dr Porntip Rojansunan (playfully called Dr. Porn,in Malaysia, she is handling Teoh Beng Huat's autopsy) is waging a one-woman war against Thailand's notoriously corrupt and trigger-happy police. With her spiky dyed hair and funky clothes, Dr Porntip doesn't look like a normal Thai scientist. And she certainly doesn't act like one. Her stand against police corruption has led to her being feted as a people's champion and mobbed wherever she goes. Porntip estimates that police lie or tamper with the evidence in 60% of the cases. She is now being sued by the police for concluding that a suspect who died in custody was tortured to death. "I was quite upset at first but now I think 'never mind. I'll fight them.'" She is also campaigning to set up an independent forensic science centre that will not be controlled by the police. It seems like it will take more than a visit to court to silence this staunch police critic.

Pakatan sets up ‘anti-GST’ task force

2009-12-02T20:12:00.001+08:00

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid | KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 -09 | malaysianinsider

— Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is reinforcing its populist stance against the government’s move to introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) with the setting up of an anti-GST task force today.

PKR elections director Saifuddin Nasution, PAS research director Dr Dzuklefly Ahmad and DAP head economist Tony Pua will head the task force (pic & seated).

The government plans to table the GST Bill in Parliament this month and the debate is expected to begin in the March sitting next year. The GST will be implemented 18 months later.

Speaking at a press conference held to introduce the task force at Parliament lobby, Pua reiterated that the GST implementation must coincide with income increase.

Currently, only 1.8 million workers, or a mere 6.8 per cent of the population, pay income tax. He again repeated his argument that the GST is another way for the government to refill its drained coffers.

Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah did say that the new GST will raise approximately RM1 billion in revenue for the government per annum.

Despite this, PR lawmakers believe that the imposition of the GST will hit the poor the hardest as they will have to spend more for basic goods and services.

GST - details

Damaging brain drain from Malaysia. Two-fold increase in Malaysians giving up citizenship

2009-12-02T00:06:00.003+08:00

By Lee Wei Lian | kUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 | malaysianinsider

– The number of Malaysians who surrendered their citizenship has almost doubled in this year, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Senator A. Kohilan Pillay, who revealed today that about 3,800 Malaysians have given up their citizenships to date compared to 2,000 last year.

This figure, however, is much smaller than the 304,358 Malaysians who were reported to have migrated from March 2008 to August 2009.

Kohilan clarified that the number of “Malaysians who migrated” consists of those who are working abroad and registered with the respective Malaysian embassies.

There was nevertheless a sharp rise in the number of Malaysians who registered themselves as having moved abroad with 210,000 of them doing so from January to August this year compared with 94,000 from March to December 2008.

He also said that between 45 to 55 per cent, or roughly half, of the Malaysians working abroad are professionals.

The volume of Malaysian talent moving abroad is a potentially damaging brain drain and a matter of concern as the country is attempting to remake itself into a developed high-income nation.

The most common reasons given for migration were better education, brighter career or business prospects and marriage.

Kohilan also pointed out that the government is taking some steps to attract talent to the country, including making it easier for foreigners with desired expertise to obtain permanent residence.

Kohilan, who is from Gerakan, also criticised the Penang state government currently under Pakatan Rakyat, saying that they should stop using the shortage of engineers an excuse for the recent loss of an RM10 billion electronic factory investment and should instead find ways to overcome it.

“Penang should not blame others if there is no investment,” Kohilan told The Malaysian Insider. “What professionals would want to stay there if there is only push factors? There must also be pull factors. They must think wisely and make sure the state also has pull factors.”

Kohilan said that there was no breakdown by race for Malaysians who have moved abroad but some migration agents have noticed a rise in applications from Malays to migrate over the past few years.

Robert Chelliah, who runs a migration consultancy in Petaling Jaya says that he has seen a noticeable increase in interest among Malays to move to Australia.

“These are educated Malays and they feel frustrated with the system of governance and they have a global frame of reference to make comparisons,” he said.

“Generally, the push factor from Malaysia has been on the rise ... people feel pushed away from the country. They feel alienated and they feel that their prospects are limited by factors that they have no control over,” he added.

According to Kohilan, Australia had the most number of Malaysians registered with the Malaysian embassy with 274,000 and the US second with 31,000 and Taiwan third with 14,000.

He added that there were about 50,000 Malaysian students now studying abroad.

The Red Indians - Quest for a homeland.

2009-11-28T18:48:00.000+08:00

Native American actor and activist Russell Means on American Indian rights and quest for a homeland.

Cowboys Vs Red Indians - in this 21 century.

2009-11-26T15:17:00.000+08:00

'Penans will die if jungle is destroyed'

"There are no more trees in my village. They have been logged away. Now they want to plant palm oil trees in this area."

Penan village leader Unga Paren is on a mission. He wants his people to be able to continue living peacefully in their environment as they have been doing for thousands of years.

He wants all form of harassments and pressures to uproot them from the villages by the logging companies and politicians - at most times working in tandem - to stop.

Guilty of wrecking the planet

2009-11-25T22:30:00.000+08:00

World leaders won’t stop climate change – so join the protests on Saturday 5 December

World leaders are sitting idly by while the planet burns. Those heads of government who can be bothered to attend are due to gather for climate change talks in Copenhagen next month.

It will be their last chance to agree a new climate treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol before it expires in 2012.

But they have already admitted that they will fail. Even the “targets” they want to propose are so low that they will not be enough to stop climate change.

The big news this week was that the US is thinking of taking a target to the talks – supposedly a step forward from its former position of refusing to agree to be bound by any figure.

But the target is sure to be dire. It is unlikely to be more than a 20 percent cut in carbon emissions by 2020 compared to 2005 levels – and it could be even lower. In a situation where cuts of at least 80 percent are needed by 2030, this falls well short.

Barack Obama has still not decided whether saving the planet is important enough for him to attend the talks. Gordon Brown says that a “timetable” of yet more talks would be “a result”.

But what’s the point of talking if all it achieves is more talks?

We can’t rely on these people to do anything about climate change. They are the ones who are backing up a system that is wrecking the planet, while it is the poorest people across the globe who suffer the consequences. It is up to us to stop them.

Penan''s Battle

2009-11-23T21:43:00.000+08:00

The Penans are waging a battle on two fronts simultaneously. On one hand, they are trying to protect their jungle from being destroyed by loggers while on the other they are trying their best to get the authorities to provide them with the most basic necessities in life.

Indian workers exploited for 2010 Commonwealth Games

2009-11-22T14:10:00.001+08:00

India has less than a year before the start of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.It is the biggest international sports event the country has hosted in two decades.But as pressure mounts to complete venues on time, there is growing criticism over the treatment of workers.Many are saying they lack even basic facilities.They are crammed in plastic tents and entire families are forced to live there without sanitary facilities.

Indonesia's Team 8, recommendation to the President.

2009-11-20T15:41:00.000+08:00

A corruption fact finding team, known as team 8 has recommended Indonesia's President to overhaul the country's major law enforcement bodies.

101 East - The spread of sharia

2009-11-20T07:44:00.000+08:00

Does Islamic law have a place in modern, pluralist Indonesia? A discussion on Acheh experience, Serambi Mekah of Indonesia.

Trafigura Corruption fears over Ivory Coast toxic waste victims' £30m Trafigura payout

2009-11-20T05:12:00.000+08:00

guardian.co.uk

A pot of £30m compensation due to be paid to thousands of African victims of toxic waste may end up being stolen thanks to the Ivory Coast regime's corruption, their lawyers said today.

The money was handed over by oil traders Trafigura in an out-of-court settlement in London and deposited in a bank in the west African state's capital, Abidjan, ready to be shared out in cash to each of the 30,000 victims. But the entire sum has been frozen in a sudden move backed by the local state prosecutor, according to Martyn Day, the senior partner at Leigh Day, the London lawyers who won the landmark settlement.

What You Didn't Know About The War

2009-11-19T09:22:00.000+08:00

This video is mandatory viewing to all supporters of the war(s).

Eradicating world hunger

2009-11-18T13:42:00.000+08:00

A UN summit is trying to find a way to help the world's hungry to help themselves.

Democracy gone wrong.

2009-11-17T08:44:00.000+08:00

The recent history of Ethiopia.

What is alJazeera preparing for & for whom?

2009-11-16T15:20:00.000+08:00

Saudi Arabia is continuing to attack a Shia rebel stronghold in northern Yemen by air, while Saudi troops and Houthi rebels have been engaged in bloody clashes for more than a week.

At least two Saudi soldiers have been killed in the latest fighting, and the conflict is further raising tensions in the region, with Iran warning Saudi Arabia not to interfere in Yemen's internal affairs.

Ali Larijani, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, said on Sunday: "The intervention of Saudi government in Yemen and repeated bombardment of unprotected Yemeni Muslims by Tornado and F-15 fighters is astounding.

"How has his Excellency, the servant of the two honourable shrines, allowed Muslims' blood be split in Yemen by means of its military devices? The news proves that the US government has been the accomplice and assistance in such suppressive measures."

The Iranian parliament also called on the Organisation of the Islamic Conference to intervene to stop the killing of Yemeni Muslims.

Hashem Ahelbarra reports from Sana'a, the Yemeni capital, where he's been gauging the fallout from this ongoing battle.

The Capitalist Conspiracy .

2009-11-15T08:59:00.000+08:00

1 year ago | Edward Griffin

- The Capitalist Conspiracy: An Inside view of International Banking Written and narrated by G. Edward Griffin (1960's) An old film, made sometime in the 60's.

This is an adaptation of a documentary filmstrip tracing the history of a small group of people who control the money systems of the world. It shows how this group is protected by governments and how its wealth is derived by creating money out of nothing.

We see how this group wields power through government, foundations, education, and the mass media. It has aided such regimes as Russia and China, not because it is pro-Communist, but because a visible enemy and the threat of war have been useful in persuading the masses to embrace the group's ultimate goal: a world government which they expect to control from behind the scenes.

They are now working to replace fear of nuclear war with fear of global pollution as the motivation for world government. It is clear that the plan revealed in this program continues to unfold. Monopoly is not an outgrowth of capitalism.

Monopolists lobby for laws that give them advantages in the market place. Monopoloy is not based on free-enterprise competition, but the escape from it. It is not the product of capitalism but the bedfellow of socialism. Watch video in the side bar..

Russia honours Mr Kalashnikov

2009-11-13T02:18:00.000+08:00

The weapon of choice for soldiers and rebels alike, the Kalashnikov assault rifle went into mass production six decades ago.

Today, more than 100 million AK47s have been sold worldwide. Its huge success is due to its simplicity and ease of maintenance, all thanks to its Russian inventor - Mikhail Kalashnikov.

Now the man who invented it is celebrating his 90th brithday. Al Jazeera correspondent Neave Barker visited Kalashnikov's home town of Izhevsk to meet the man and the significance and consequences of his invention.

The fall of the Berlin Wall - Anniversary

2009-11-09T21:07:00.000+08:00

In one of the most historic moments of the 20th century, ending the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall sent tremors throughout eastern Europe.

with the 20th anniversary just days away, Al Jazeera's David Frost sat down with the two world leaders who made it happen - Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader, and George H W Bush, the former US president.

Kenya accused of training Mogadishu fighters.

2009-11-08T08:26:00.001+08:00

Lured by promises of a better future, thousands of young Africans from nations neighbouring Somalia are being recruited into the conflict in the capital, Mogadishu.

Al Jazeera has spoken to families in Northern Kenya who say their men and children are being taken off to train in secret camps, and that the Kenyan government is involved.

Mohammed Adow reports from Nairobi.

"Children of War"

2009-11-08T07:28:00.001+08:00

American filmmaker Bryan Single explores the rehabilitation process of former child soldiers in northern Ugandan in his new movie "Children of War." The film premiered recently (Tuesday/November 3) in Washington. Mariama Diallo reports.

A practicing Muslim Major runs amok in US military camp.

2009-11-07T06:47:00.000+08:00

An Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a practicing Muslim psychiatrist suspected of opening fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood.. read more >>

STRATFOR security expert Fred Burton describes the complex process of investigating a shooting spree that killed 12 people and injured scores more at Fort Hood, Texas.

After 20 Years of Filmmaking on US Injustices, Michael Moore Goes to the Source in “Capitalism: A Love Story”

2009-11-03T02:03:00.001+08:00

The truth emerges

2009-10-30T02:54:00.003+08:00

By ANDREW SIA | Sunday October 25, 2009 | staronline

A former minister shares eyebrow-rising inside stories from his long political career.

UNLESS the name on the cover is Mahathir or Badawi, ministerial memoirs wouldn’t usually be greeted with bated breath.

But the book by Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat that was released on Oct 12 has been causing quite a stir.

He was, after all, the person who controlled for more than a decade what the Malaysian public saw and heard on Government TV and radio channels as Information Minister from 1987 to 1999.

Now, aged 71 and suffering from diabetes and cancer, Tok Mat, as he is known, freely admits that his job was really as a Propaganda Minister.

In his political memoirs (photo), Umno: Akhir Sebuah Impian (Umno: The End of a Dream), he explains how his ministry’s campaigns, such as Setia (Loyalty), were actually a response to the Team A versus Team B split in Umno in 1987.

“I had to bring Malay loyalty back to Umno. And I had to raise a presumption that anybody who supported (Team B led by Tengku Razaleigh then) was not loyal. I went all out in this psychological warfare,” he writes.

“The Malays were numb to political arguments ... I needed something that penetrated the heart. I needed a song.”

So he wrote one himself: the famous Setia song with its supposedly patriotic lyrics (“Demi negara yang tercinta”, or “For our beloved country”, goes the first line) that was broadcast for years especially via the Government’s RTM (Radio Televisyen Malaysia) stations.

Tok Mat admits in his book that he first used Information Ministry staff in 1977 on a “mission” to topple the PAS State Government of Kelantan.

He reveals that later, in 1995, during the Sabah state elections, he sent 500 ministry staff members to “campaign for Umno” against PBS (Parti Bersatu Sabah, which was controlling the state government then).

“The officers went to the ground,” he explains in fluent English at a recent interview.

“They rented rooms in villages, they slept and ate like the locals, they gathered information and persuaded the people. This silent propaganda works very well.”

Since government machinery is supposed to be neutral, I ask Tok Mat if he considers what he did an abuse of power.

He replies: “You could say I abused radio and TV, but it was a privilege I had. I could not depend on TV3, (The New) Straits Times, Berita Harian or Utusan Malaysia because they were then controlled by Anwar Ibrahim’s boys. I had no choice but to use RTM.

“I was asked to bring PBS down. I shut the media off, there were no reports. People didn’t know what the Sabah Government was doing, so it looked like they were doing nothing. It was a very dirty tactic,” he now admits.

Tok Mat (photo) had his secondary school education at Johor Baru’s English College before doing a Bachelor of Arts at Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta.

He tells me that he learnt the basics of propaganda when he was a script writer for Filem Negara (the National Film Board) in

the mid 1960s. “There was no TV then, so that was the Government’s only (way to generate) propaganda,” he recalls.

He honed his innate musical ability there and picked up film editing skills too. He later went on to personally devise the melody and lyrics of various songs, including Setia, Syukur and Sejahtera Malaysia, that were used for his “nation-building” campaigns.

Tok Mat has always had a fondness for oldies by Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby, and once even made it to the quarter finals of Radio Singapore’s talentime singing contest in the 1950s.

“Tan Sri can sing and he can play the piano by ear,” chips in his wife, Puan Sri Salbiah A. Hamid, who is also at the interview. “And he can write. I still keep all his love letters from when we met as teenagers,” she smiles.

With these skills, Tok Mat became the chief loyalist and cheerleader for then Prime Minister Datuk Seri (now Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whose political rivals included Musa Hitam, Tengku Razaleigh and, later, Anwar.

He claims that most Umno people were hedging their bets then: “Everybody was half leg here, half leg there, very few were working (100%) for Dr Mahathir. I was totally devoted to him.”

But then again, he has a chapter in his book that declares I Am Not a Yes Man. In it, he cites how the developers of the Second Link to Singapore, who were Dr Mahathir’s “friends”, were trying to acquire the land of villagers in his constituency at 80 sen per sq ft (psf) so they could resell it at RM17.80 psf! He claims that he spoke up despite Dr Mahathir’s anger with him, and helped the villagers secure a better deal.

When the Setia campaign was not sufficient to bring back Malay support to Umno, Tok Mat says his ministry then launched the Semarak campaign in 1988, during which Dr Mahathir had massive “meet the people” sessions.

“I told the police chief,” says Tok Mat, “I don’t want to see any police uniforms around Mahathir, because that looks like we live in a police state. Instead, I gave the policemen Setia T-shirts to wear, so it looked like he was surrounded by the public.”

Tok Mat’s promotion of Dr Mahathir – who certainly had his critics, even in those days – indirectly made him “the most hated man in Malaysia”, he says.

In his book, he even acknowledges that people called him the “barking dog of the government”: “When the people hated Dr Mahathir, I became the face of the Government for them to hurl abuse at,” he writes.

But he took all this as a sign of “success” because it meant that he had managed to “penetrate people’s minds” to provoke anger: “In the art of propaganda, touching a nerve is very important,” he explains.

Tok Mat claims that a sign of Setia’s success was that he has personally heard even non-Malays singing the song. As for the Semarak campaign, he says the crowds at Dr M’s meet-the-people sessions ranged from 30,000 up to 100,000.

Were civil servants “pressured” into attending such events?

“No,” he asserts, “nor did we provide transport or give out free T-shirts.”

His “propaganda” might have been successful, but the Government still hired a PR and advertising firm during his tenure to advise on winning popular support. Now in hindsight, he is critical of the move.

“I think I was more effective because I understand the culture better. I had 1,000 officers working on the ground giving me feedback. Even Pak Lah (former PM Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) used these foreigners. But what results did these PR people get?”

Tok Mat’s detractors say one of his career missteps took place in May 1999 when many Malays were angry at Umno over the Anwar Ibrahim saga.

Tok Mat alienated non-Malay voters (who were to play a crucial role in returning Barisan Nasional to power in the general elections later that year) with his infamous remark that Anwar’s wife, Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, was “unfit” for leadership as she had been “educated in Singapore” and had “darah cap naga” (dragon brand blood), an euphemism for Chinese blood or lineage.

“No, it wasn’t a mistake,” says Tok Mat now. “Because Anwar wanted Azizah to become Prime Minister. By the way, I am also cap naga. My mother is a Chinese (who was adopted by Malays). So I can talk. I can scold the Chinese and the Malays because I am one of them.”

Whether by coincidence or not, Tok Mat was relieved of his minister’s post in May 1999 too. However, he writes that this was because “forked tongues” whispered to Dr Mahathir that he was a secret Anwar supporter.

“What I can’t forget is the way Dr Mahathir dropped me without any hati budi (grace and gratitude),” he writes in the chapter entitled Habis Madu Sepah Dibuang (When the Sweetness is Finished, the Tasteless Part is Thrown Away).

Since then, he has become more critical of his former political master. For instance: “We know that Dr Mahathir blamed Pak Lah in all aspects even though the initial problems were caused by he himself. This is the ‘expertise’ of Dr Mahathir,” writes Tok Mat sardonically.

Despite his rather caustic tone, Tok Mat says to me, “It may sound like it lah ... but I don’t hate Dr Mahathir. I’m not angry with him. I still consider him a great leader of the country.”

In fact, he leaps to Dr Mahathir’s defence when I ask him about other controversial episodes when Dr M was PM.

However, he adds that money politics really became a “cancer” within Umno during Dr Mahathir’s era.

“In the old days, the corruption was smaller. If an Umno branch leader did not get a taxi permit, he would dissolve his branch. Now many Umno leaders are busy looking for big projects. That’s the success of the NEP (New Economic Policy),” he laughs.

More seriously, his book concludes, “Umno has jeopardised its image with power grabbing, money politics, bribery and excessive racism by certain leaders.... Umno must reform or I fear the End of the Dream (for the party) will really happen.”

American healthcare - Sicko

2009-10-27T11:04:00.002+08:00

Muslims gather at Capitol Hill, condemn prejudice

2009-09-26T11:15:00.002+08:00

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:26:56 GMT | PressTV

Thousands of Muslim men and women have gathered outside Capitol Hill to hold a prayer meeting and demonstrate against prejudice against Islam.

On Friday, the crowd prayed on lawns outside the building in an event organized by the Dar-ul-Islam Elisabeth mosque, in northeastern New Jersey.

"In addition to being a historic event I think it's just a matter of all the Muslims coming together in one location to perform what is our obligation for the Friday prayer," said one of the participants Lonnie Shabazz.

"The message was clear. I think the message basically was to let the American public know that all the stigmas that are attached to Muslims are not true." On their website, the organizers, who had been hoping to attract some 5,000 people, said that they wanted "to manifest Islam's majestic spiritual principals as revealed by Allah to our beloved Prophet."

Obama Chairs UN Summit on Disarmament.

2009-09-26T10:45:00.001+08:00

Climate Week New York Sept 2009/

2009-09-23T14:14:00.000+08:00

America's New Frontline - Diplomats or Warriors? - Part 1

2009-09-21T15:08:00.001+08:00

CUBA

2009-09-12T15:01:00.000+08:00

The per capita income of Cuba is below USD300.Meaning, theoretically, every Cuban earns barely USD 25/ per month.

Yet Cuba has the best medicare service in the world(every Cuban gets free medical and dental treatment, including for surgery, hospital stay-ins, childbirth, outpatient treatment, pharmaceuticals) and one of the best educational systems in the world(less than 0.3% Cubans are illiterate!) aith free education from nursery school to PHD level.

Vision 2020…not bloody likely!

2009-09-12T14:50:00.001+08:00

By Hussein Hamid

Mahathir unveiled the Vision of 2020 plan for Malaysia in 1991. Malaysia was to become an industrialized nation and be considered a high-income economy. Najib refined (that is double speak to mean ‘no can do lah’) that vision: “It is clear that our Vision 2020 objective has to be refined to remain viable,” Najib said.. “Being richer alone does not define a developed nation. There are important social and quality-of-life measurements that must be factored in when considering our objectives and successes.” Malaysia needs to “redefine and recalibrate” how and when it will achieve Vision 2020, Najib told reporters after the speech. That doesn’t necessarily mean a change in the timeline, he said.

I would have agreed with him in principal had he not put in the “that does not necessarily mean a change in the timeline” proviso. I am no economist but let us just use common sense to look at realities.

Let us look at the differences between salaries earned, the cost of a vehicle and a house between 1973 and 2009.

	YEAR		increase
	1973	2 009	increase
1.3 liter Japanese Car	7,000	60,000	8.5
Double Story House	45,000	300,000	6.6
Engineer Salary	1,000	2,000	2

It is the same story when you compare salaries of shop assistants, office staff, factory workers and a whole range of other workers and professional. I have used these 3 items a house, a car and salary earned as a measurement of the country’s performance for the past 35 years to gauge our standard of living. There is little difference in salary between 1973 and 2009 – and yet our purchasing power is vastly different. While the starting income for a newly graduated Engineer between 1973 to 2009 has only doubled – the cost of a car has increase 8.6 times and that of a house 6.6 times.

Fast forward to today.

Ask the kids working at McDonald how much they were being paid per hour? RM3.00 per hour x 8 hours = RM24 per day. Working 25 days a month means they get RM600 per month.

In Australia my daughter works part-time during her University days at Gloria Jeans Coffee. She is paid Aud$14.00 per hour x 8 hours a day =Aud$112 a day x 25 days = Aud$2,800 per month.
(@ RM2.92 per = One Aud Dollar x Aud$2800 = RM8176 per month).

My daughter earns 13.6 times more that the girl at McDonalds in Malaysia.

Our Government lays claim to the fact that Malaysia will be a developed country 2020? A high income country? Let us look further.

2005 Financial Times Figures

GNP per Capita in US Dollars.

USA	US35,400
United Kingdom	US$25,510
Singapore	US$20,690
Australia	US$19,530
Malaysia	US$3,540

The above figures are the 2005 Financial Times figures for GNP per Capita in US Dollars – a measurement of developed country by income measurements.

Malaysia’s GNP per Capita US$3540. Malaysia a developed country by 2020? Not likely. This is a really sad story and a worrying trend is it not?

The Ringgit is sliding further and further under Barisan Nasional. To compound the effect of inflation, the Ringgit has depreciated greatly against ALL major currencies. The real income of most Malaysians has moved backwards. This is why many Malaysians suffer under the petrol hike. The root of the problem is that our real incomes have shrunk in the face of inflation and a depreciated currency. Malaysians have not been spoiled by subsidy but are unable to move out of the time lock of stagnated and depreciated incomes. If you compare the per capita incomes of Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea they are a few multiples of ours although at independence all these countries were on the same economic level as Malaysia .

What has gone wrong? Were we not once the rising star of East Asia? A country rich in natural resources with the most promising potential?

What happened?

Massive Corruption for one! Plundering of our precious resources, wastage of funds for huge non-economic projects, anti-public interest deals with politically-linked companies and passing-of-the-buck to the man in the street. I repeat – passing of the buck to the man on the streets!

Four decades of a mismanaged NEP where education, economic and employment policies defined by race without the necessary checks and balances ensured that meritocracy took a back seat.

Our university standard has declined and today our best and brightest youths emigrate to escape the racial inequality and instead now contribute to the economies of foreign lands.

The reputation of our judiciary which was once held in high esteem worldwide has sunk so low that foreign investors now insist on arbitration in Singapore in case of any dispute.

We also have a slew of oppressive laws such as the ISA, OSA, University and University Colleges Act and Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) which all stifle free speech and are designed to keep the ruling parties in power.

We have become less attractive to foreign investors and now lag behind our neighbors in Asean for foreign direct investment. Even some corporations who have established themselves here are moving out. All the economic and social malaise cannot help but affect the value of our currency. The strength of a country’s currency is after all, a reflection of its fundamentals. Furthermore, Bank Negara has a policy of a weak Ringgit to help exporters – never mind the burden on the common folk. The government is pro-corporation, not pro-Rakyat.

While the poor and middle-class are squeezed, an elite group gets breathtakingly rich. We have the distinction of having the worse income disparity in Asean. A re-distribution of wealth is under way from the poor and middle-class to a select group of politically-connected elite. The end result of this re-distribution will be a small group of super-rich while the majority are pushed into poverty and the middle-class shrinks. This is what happens when the rich gets richer and the poor get poorer.

There is much that is wrong with Malaysia. The responsibility for pulling the country backwards can be laid squarely at the door of the ruling regime – Barisan Nasional. It is BN’s mis-governance, racial
politics and culture of patronage and greed which has seen the country regress economically and socially. We seem to be sliding down a slippery slope, further down with each passing year of BN’s rule. Another five years of BN rule and we’ll be at Indonesia ’s standard under Suharto. Another 10 years and we’ll be touching the African standard.. What a way to greet 2020. Is there any hope for Malaysia?

Faced with the reality that BN will never change, many Malaysians desperate for change turn their eyes to Pakatan Rakyat.

Pakatan Rakyat has promised to treat all races fairly, to plug wastage, fight corruption, reform the judiciary and make Malaysia more competitive. But some have questioned whether we can trust Anwar Ibrahim and his loose coalition of disparate parties. The question is not whether we can trust the opposition but whether we can afford not to in view of our state of affairs.

Siputeh: Keputusan SPR Dibidas

2009-09-03T08:08:00.000+08:00

US : Health care wars

2009-08-31T15:30:00.002+08:00

Perutusan Kemerdekaan 52 Tahun Malaysia oleh Presiden PAS.

2009-08-31T15:00:00.001+08:00

31 August 2009

UN official demands torture accountability.

2009-07-02T23:00:00.001+08:00

02 July 2009 - Ratner: Navi Pillay, UN human rights advocate says senior officials must be held accountable.

US remains silent over McKinney arrest by Israel.

2009-07-01T23:30:00.001+08:00

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 | PressTV

McKinney has served as a Democrat in the US House of Representatives from 1993–2003 and 2005–2007.

Nearly a day after the detention of former US lawmaker Cynthia McKinney by Israeli forces, Washington has yet to make a reaction.

Israeli Navy detained former US congresswoman and Nobel Prize laureate Cynthia McKinney and twenty other human rights activists on board a relief boat outside Israel's territorial waters on Tuesday as they were heading to Gaza on a humanitarian mission.

Tel Aviv claims the boat was trying to break Israel's two-year siege on Gaza. Ms McKinney -- the 2008 Green Party nominee for President of the United States-- has accused Tel Aviv of violating the international law by seizing an aid vessel in international waters.

"This is an outrageous violation of international law against us. Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip," McKinney said in a statement. "We are asking the international community to demand our release so we can continue our journey," she added. "My wife and I are very concerned about her safety," Cynthia's father told Press TV in a phone call.

Bill McKinney said that the US government should support Cynthia's message and added, "Her major concern is human." Green Party leaders have called on the White House and the US State Department to intervene and demand the immediate release of all the activists.

On Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned of dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, saying 1.5 million Palestinians living in the coastal sliver are 'trapped in despair' because of the continuing Israeli blockade on the territory.

Since June 2007, when Israel imposed a blockade on the territory, no raw material has entered Gaza, stalling any attempt to rebuild the strip. According to the humanitarian agency report, seriously ill patients were not receiving the treatment they needed and thousands of Gazans whose homes were destroyed during Israel's three-week Christmas war were still without shelter.

Inside Story - Collateral damage?

2009-07-01T10:00:00.001+08:00

30 June 2009 - Human rights watch group says Israeli spy drones killed Palestinian civilians during Gaza war.

Russia, Poland and U.S. Strategy - STRATFOR Insights

2009-07-01T09:06:00.002+08:00

28 June 2009 - In the latest installment of the STRATFOR Insights video series, CEO George Friedman analyzes the upcoming meeting on July 6 between Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama from a geopolitical perspective.

Likely topics on the agenda include Iran, Afghanistan, U.S. ballistic missile defense installations in Poland and Russia's overall sphere of influence.

Democratic deficit: parliament and democracy.

2009-06-25T01:56:00.001+08:00

Posted: 6.19pm Tuesday 26 May 2009 | © Socialist Worker

As the crisis surrounding MPs’ expenses exposes the level of blatant fraud in Britain’s parliamentary system Simon Basketter looks at why capitalist democracy fails us

Britain’s famous parliament building overlooks the Thames, its gothic permanence supposedly representing the timelessness of the “mother of all parliaments”.

But it is a fake, just like the democracy it symbolises. It was built in the mid-19th century as a symbol of the British Empire and capitalism.

The eruption of a political crisis over MPs’ expenses has shone a light on the facade of British democracy, and the murky dealings of those who are supposed to represent us.

Parliament has been an instrument of the ruling class throughout its existence.

New Labour came to power in 1997 saying that it wanted to democratise Britain. Tony Blair promised the 1999 Labour Party conference that he would fight “the forces of conservatism, the cynics, the elites, the establishment”.

Ten years on from Blair’s pledge, the British ruling class is still almost exclusively white, male, over 50 and from a wealthy background.

The House of Lords is more dependant than ever on patronage, and the Commons has been revealed as corrupt.

New Labour has marked a new stage in the centralisation of government.

It is supine in its subservience to corporate power. The growth of privatisation and unelected quangos in the last 12 years have served to reduce democratic control.

Even New Labour’s celebrated Freedom of Information Act was more concerned to conceal than reveal. It was a leak to a newspaper that revealed the MPs’ expenses scandal not the act itself – which they had fought hard to exclude themselves from.

The ruling class’s hold on “democratic institutions” remains. Many MPs and members of the House of Lords have been to public schools, where pupils are taught to rule.

In the 1950s the establishment joked that a sign should hang outside the elite Eton school reading, “Cabinet makers to Her Majesty the Queen.”

Recently we have seen a slight move away from public school and Oxbridge cabinet members. However, a boom in private schools under Labour means we can look forward to a future generation of politicians and bosses who have never been near a comprehensive school.

And if Tory leader David Cameron wins the next general election he will become the 19th, of 52, prime ministers to have attended Eton.

Even the nature of Labour MPs has been altered over the last few years. The party’s rush to embrace free market economics means it has lost many of the links it once had with the working class.

For decades it sent people from working class backgrounds to parliament. While many of them did little for ordinary people, and others did more harm than good, there was an idea that they were there to represent workers.

But now Labour, as Peter Mandelson infamously put it, is “intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich”. Its policies and the people who implement them reflect this.

Very few New Labour MPs come from working class backgrounds, with many coming from the middle class professions.

Labour was founded on the belief that capitalism cannot be replaced with a better system. It believed that there could be improvements and reforms when the system can afford it.

This view affected the party’s trajectory, policies and its representatives.

When capitalism cannot afford any changes, Labour acts for the system rather than the workers it is supposed to represent.

Multinational firms

Capitalism is built on competition. The rush for profits piles pressure on each company to gain an advantage by developing strong relations with the state while cutting out its rivals.

Historically these interests have used the political system to fight for dominance. The state has been used to repress any movement that has challenged our rulers’ power.

When a crisis hits, British institutions have appeared to embrace drastic reforms, while remaining basically unchanged. They are a facade behind which the real rulers can pursue their objectives.

In reality, the handful of people who control the big corporations and financial institutions take all the major decisions about investment and jobs. They have only one interest – profits.

Because this drive impacts on the lives of millions of people, who capitalists try to make work longer and harder to maintain their wealth, it creates conflict.

The state, including parliament, claims to stand above these conflicts and to mediate between different groups in the interests of society as a whole.

But ultimately they always come down on the side of the class that shapes society through its economic decision-making.

Partly this is because the judges, the police chiefs, the military top brass and the secret service chiefs all come from the same background as the people who run the top firms.

They are allowed to share some of the wealth of the system and they all maintain close connections. These people represent the core of the state machine. They will stop at nothing to preserve their power.

Where does parliament fit into this? Parliament does not control these

unelected officials, who often pursue their own anti-democratic agendas and have a big effect on government.

In the past representatives of the ruling class used to go to London to argue among themselves, and with the monarch.

Politicians were the members of the classes they represented. As other classes developed their own interests, they too engaged in politics.

During the 19th century, politics became the sphere of the professional politician rather than the factory or the landowner.

Even the great democratic surge of the 19th and early 20th century was contained by channelling it into the structures of the system.

The state is the instrument by which the wealthy rule. But it is not necessary for its members to be present at all the meetings.

Wealthy individuals and corporations no longer need direct representatives in parliament or government to safeguard their interests. There are still a few rich men in parliament, and some old money persists – such as moat-owning Douglas Hogg.

But most of the time the rich and multinational firms can rely on lobbyists and pressure groups to push their cases for reduced taxation, regulation or increased attacks on the poor.

This process has seen an enthusiastic acceleration under Labour, which has embraced neoliberalism.

In recent years big business has attempted to make the government the direct servant of its immediate needs. We can see this most starkly when companies get into trouble and then demand that the government bails them out.

But it is also there in the background with corporations asserting their control over the state. Thousands of private sector lobbyists swarm around Westminster jostling for access and influence.

History shows us that parties that people elect to shift power away from the minority to the majority invariably end up administering the system that they had hoped to change.

There is another reason why parliamentary institutions do not allow change.

We elect our MPs once every four of five years, with no control over them between elections and with no means of holding them to account.

Workers vote as atomised constituents, allowing them to be influenced by the propaganda of the corporate media and the state. Our power lies in our collective strength in the workplace, where we can resist the diktats of the bosses.

Under capitalism, real power is concentrated beyond our reach – at the heart of the state and the corporations.

After over 100 years of Labour politicians sitting at the ruling class’s administrative trough and failing to change the system in workers’ interests, its time we looked elsewhere to get real democracy.

Lebanon elections - negotiations will start now.

2009-06-09T12:15:00.000+08:00

June 08, 2009 - Jeffrey Feltman, acting assistant secretary at the US state department and a former US ambassador to Lebanon, spoke to Al Jazeera's Maryam Nemazee on the parliamentary elections in Lebanon and what they mean both for the nation and the region.

Shell in court over alleged Nigeria crimes.

2009-06-03T18:27:00.001+08:00

June 02, 2009 - Royal Dutch Shell is to go on trial in a US court over alleged crimes against humanity and exploitation of the oil-rich Niger Delta more than 10 years ago.

The Dutch oil giant is accused of sponsoring a terror campaign by Nigerian security forces that led to the death of activist and author Ken Saro-Wiwa along with eight others in 1995.

Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey reports.

Underlying the economic crisis is a human rights time bomb

2009-05-30T05:05:00.001+08:00

2008 saw a global economic crisis. Stock markets crashed, banks went under and countries are hovering on the edge of bankruptcy – with governments rallying to find the billions needed for bailouts.

Amnesty International believes they may be missing the point…

“This is not just an economic crisis; it’s fundamentally a human rights crisis. We are sitting on a powder keg of injustice, inequality and insecurity. This is a time bomb of social, political and economic problems.” – Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International

Gerakan’s call on Chin Peng return slammed

2009-05-22T23:40:00.001+08:00

Chin Peng & Mat Amin

KUALA LUMPUR, May 22,2009 – Bernama

The Ex-Policemen’s Association of Malaysia (PBPM) has protested against a call for former communist leader Chin Peng to be allowed to return to Malaysia.

PBPM acting president Ku Mohamad Khalid Tuan Ibrahim said the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) had waged a reign of terror against the country during the Emergency where scores of policemen were slain.

The suggestion made by Penang Gerakan chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan is uncalled for, said Ku Mohamad.

Dr Teng Hock Nan has called on the government to re-look at Chin Peng’s case and allow the CPM chairman to return to the country on humanitarian grounds as he was no longer a security threat.

“Many people were also killed. The country was in upheaval during the communist insurgency,” said Ku Mohamad Khalid, adding that Dr Teng should study the implication of his suggestion.

Umno Youth information chief Datuk Reezal Merican said the movement was against any move to make a hero out of a person who had committed crimes on the people and country.

“The crimes inflicted on the people cannot be neutralised merely for sentimental values under whatever circumstances,” he said.

He urged all quarters to refrain from extremist views which could raise the anger of certain groups.

Aung San Suu Kyi

2009-05-14T20:40:00.000+08:00

14 May 2009 - Interview: Myanmar journalist Aung Zaw

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is facing the prospect of years in prison after being charged with breaching the conditions of her house arrest.

Al Jazeera spoke to exiled Myanmar journalist Aung Zaw about the reasons for the charges.

US a Republic or Empire?

2009-05-14T20:00:00.002+08:00

May 14, 2009 - Bruce Fein: Former Reagan official says Americans must choose between a Republic or an Empire.

Another mega-thief walks free in the US

2009-05-14T06:48:00.003+08:00

Marc S. Dreier, center, with Michael Strahan and William Shatner at a party in 2007

Tue, 12 May 2009 - While the US criminal justice system is notoriously punitive and heavy-handed when it comes to crimes of theft and trespass, its collective heart melts when it comes up against a mega-criminal. Witness the ability of self-confessed fraud, thief, and confidence trickster Marc S. Dreier, who pled guilty on Monday in a New York court to selling $400 million worth of fake promissory notes and running an illegal Ponzi scheme, yet managed to walk free from the courthouse.

This echoes another US court's compassion toward Mr. Bernard Madoff, who was allowed bail, despite being charged with the biggest fraud in the history of mankind, near $50 billion, and who, while under 'house arrest' in his mansion apartment in New York, was busy dispensing his private possessions to relatives to avoid being forced to provide even meager restitution to his countless creditors.

Not so lucky was Mr. Jerry Williams, 27, who in 1995 was sentenced to 25 years to life for stealing a slice of pizza. Admittedly, it could have been his third offense, which put him at the wrong end of California's "three strikes" law, but in all likelihood, all that Mr. Williams ever stole in his life would not amount to Harvard Law School graduate Marc Dreier's gasoline costs for his Aston Martin and Mercedes.

Welcome to the US of A.

Why Sedition Act is the new ISA

2009-05-09T20:21:00.001+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 2009 | malaysianinsider — By Syed Jaymal Zahiid and Melissa Loovi

The recent spate of arrests made under the Sedition Act has led opposition leaders and lawyers to unanimously conclude that the government might have found a better tool than the Internal Security Act (ISA) to quell dissent.

The continued use of the ISA, condemned locally and internationally, does not appear to be politically tenable. This week, a number of activists and opposition party leaders were detained under the Sedition Act.

Many Barisan Nasional (BN) component party leaders have also joined their Pakatan Rakyat (PR) counterparts in calling for the government to abolish the British-inherited law. Umno is the only party that believes that the unpopular law should be maintained.

The Sedition Act is, however, perceived to be less oppressive than the ISA but yet drafted in such a way that it gives the government absolute power to make arrests on its political enemies.

According to section 4 (1) of the Sedition Act, a person is considered to have committed an offence under this law if he or she attempts to do, or make any preparation to do, or conspires with any person to do, any act which has or would, if done, have a seditious tendency.

It further read that any person is found to have committed an offence under this law if he or she utters any seditious words, prints, publishes, sells, offers for sale, distributes, or reproduces any seditious publications or imports any seditious publications.

Yet in all of this, there is no real and clear definitive guideline as to what constitutes sedition.

Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo, who is also a lawyer, said such a vague law lends the authorities indefinite power to silence the opposition.

“A conviction can be so easily secured under the Sedition Act because it is under the discretion of the judge (to conclude what is seditious or not),” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Malik Imtiaz, a prominent human rights lawyer, also said that due to the vague definition, the Sedition Act can be easily used by the BN government on its enemies.

“Where do you draw the line between responsible expression and unethical ones (if the law does not provide such guidelines) so the police are left with the power to draw its own conclusion,” he said.

Centre for Public Policy Studies, or ASLI, chairman Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam told The Malaysian Insider that with the Sedition Act, the government would stand to gain more if it were to make arrests under the Sedition Act instead of the ISA.

"With the Sedition Act, one can stand for an open trial and the government would be seen as conducting a proper exercise of the rule of law.

"But with the ISA, its provision for detention without trial is a violation of one's fundamental rights and a vital aspect of a democracy and the people would perceive this as oppressive," he said.

Navaratnam added that it was wrong for the government to clamp down on opposition leaders and rights activists in recent days as it had encroached their democratic rights to freedom of expression.

Looking back at the history of the Sedition Act, prominent academician Farish A. Noor said it was rather ironic that the British-inherited law is being used against the opposition.

"I think members of the public should remember that the Sedition Act was created by the British colonialists and it was used to silence nationalist opposition who were freedom fighters fighting for the country's independence.

"So it's ironic that the current leaders that came from the same background are actually using the Sedition Act to silence their opposition," he said.

Deadly Mexico Swine Flu Sparks worldwide pandemic.

2009-04-27T04:15:00.001+08:00

April 26, 2009 - A deadly strain of swine flu has sparked concerns of a worldwide pandemic after suspected cases have been reported in the United States, Mexico, New Zealand and Israel.

More than 80 people have died from flu-related pneumonia in Mexico - where the virus originated.

Over 1,300 people are now thought to have contracted the virulent H1N1 swine influenza after it mutated into a form that spreads from human to human.

The disease has already spread to the United States, where 11 cases have been confirmed in Texas, California and Kansas.

A group of school children from New York is also undergoing tests, where a further eight are suspected to have contracted the virus, health officials said.

Another group of 10 school children in New Zealand have tested positive for influenza after returning from Mexico, which the health minister there has said is "likely" to be the H1N1 strain.

A 26-year-old Israeli man has also been admitted to hospital after returning from a trip to Mexico with flu-like symptoms.

The UK is on alert after the global health watchdog warned countries to look out for unusual flu cases, especially among passengers returning from affected areas.

Yesterday a British Airways cabin crew member was taken to hospital with flu-like symptoms after returning from Mexico City.

But a spokesman for Northwick Park Hospital in London said tests confirmed he did not have the deadly strain.

World Health Organisation director-general Margaret Chan said the outbreak constituted a "public health emergency of international concern".

It means nations will be expected to step up reporting and surveillance of the contagious respiratory disease, which she said had "pandemic potential".

Mexico's health minister Jose Angel Cordova said all schools have been shut in Mexico City, the surrounding area and the central state of San Luis Potosi until May 6.

The UK Health Protection Agency called the outbreak unusual and called for further investigation and vigilance among all countries involved.

The Agency said those with flu-like symptoms who have recently returned from the affected areas should stay at home to limit contact with others and seek medical advice from a local health professional or NHS Direct.

But an HPA spokesman added: "No cases of swine flu have been identified in the UK or anywhere in Europe."

"The HPA and the NHS have systems in place, which will alert public health authorities of any unusual strain circulating in the UK."

Britons are not currently being advised to avoid travelling to affected areas of Mexico and the US.

The H1N1 strain of swine flu is usually only seen in pigs - but in humans can cause serious symptoms including fever and fatigue.

Rubber-growing nations cut exports to prop up prices

2009-04-26T14:52:00.000+08:00

BANGKOK, April 26 – malaysianinsider – Bernama

Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s top three natural rubber producers, have agreed to reduce exports by 48,000 tonnes per month in the second quarter of the year to prop up falling prices of the product.

Yium Tavarolit, chief secretary of the International Rubber Consortium (IRCo), said the proposal needed ratification by the International Tripartite Rubber Corporation (ITRC) which was scheduled to meet here on May 14 and 15.

Last December, IRCo agreed to cut 915,000 tonnes of rubber from the market in 2009, some 270,000 tonnes of it in the first quarter.

Yium said the 144,000 tonnes to be cut in the second quarter could be increased or reduced depending on the market movement.

“We will monitor the market on a weekly and monthly basis. If the prices go up, we might reduce the quantum, but if they drop, we might increase it,” he said, adding that the agreement to cut 48,000 tonnes per month was made by the Bangkok-based IRCo during its board of directors and shareholders meetings here Friday.

Yium said the current price for technically specified rubber 20 (TSR20) was US$1,500, which was much lower than that for the same period in 2008.

China, the world’s biggest rubber buyer, imported a total of 376,386 tonnes in the three first three months of 2009, down 23 per cent year-on-year.

The benchmark ribbed smoked sheets RSS3 currently is around US$1.70 per kg, compared to a high of US$3.25 per kg last July, the highest in 56 years.

The IRCo consists of the three countries – Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand – which produce 70 per cent of the global production of rubber and which exported 5.9 million tonnes in 2008.

Yium said IRCo was confident that the new measures to reduce exports would push up the rubber prices, or at least bring them to an acceptable figure to both smallholders and other industry players.

The lower prices were due to a lack of demand, he said and cited the current global economic crisis, low oil prices and reduction in car production in Thailand as the reasons for the drop.

In October 2008, the three nations agreed to implement several measures under the Supply Management Scheme (SMS) to counter the prevalent fall in natural rubber prices.

The measures included acceleration of replanting, with the total annual area to be replanted in the three countries in 2009 having increased from 112,000 hectares to 169,000 hectares, which would reduce natural rubber production by around 215,000 tonnes.

Taliban pull back after raising nuclear fears

2009-04-26T03:03:00.000+08:00

April 24, 2009 - Pakistan said Friday that Taliban militants have completely withdrawn from the Buner district outside Pakistan's capital, which they seized control of earlier this week raising international concerns.

The reported withdrawal -- which was disputed by a human rights group monitoring the area -- comes after a Taliban land grab sounded alarms worldwide about the possibility of terrorists taking control of the country.

Syed Mohammed Javed, commissioner of the Malakand Division which includes Buner, said the Taliban withdrew without any conditions. He said they had violated a peace agreement signed two months ago.

Earlier in the day, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told CNN that the militants would pull back from the district.

Pakistani Express TV showed live footage of armed and masked Taliban militants in Buner, loading pick-up trucks and driving away.

But Amnesty International's regional chief said people in the area were reporting a different scenario.

"What we're hearing from people in Buner ... is that the Taliban that have moved out are the non-local ones," Sam Zarifi, Amnesty's Asia Pacific director, told CNN. "So the local branch of the Taliban are still in place in Buner."

The human rights agency issued a report on Friday raising concerns about Taliban rule in Buner, which it says includes a ban on music and mandatory beards for all men.

Another concern is the swath of destruction to Buner's civilian infrastructure. Zarifi said schools, courts and medical facilities have been shut down under the Taliban's control. *

Zarifi said he thinks the test for Pakistan's government is not a military defeat over the Taliban, but "whether the schools will once again open, whether the health units will once again operate (in Buner)."

Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that nuclear-armed Pakistan was in danger of falling into terrorist hands.

Before the Taliban's apparent withdrawal Friday, a local Pakistani official expressed doubt about whether the militants would leave, as they pledged to local elders on Thursday.

"Nobody can trust them," Sardar Hussain Babik, the provincial education minister, said by phone from Buner.

The Taliban have broken promises before and probably would do so again, he said.

Sufi Muhammed, an Islamist fundamentalist leader who has been negotiating on behalf of the Taliban, was overseeing the withdrawal, police said.

Taliban militants surged into Buner this week. Takeover of the district brought the Taliban closer to the capital than they had been since they started the insurgency.

Militants subsequently locked up courthouses, seized court documents, and battled Pakistani troops who were sent to protect residents.

The militants said they took control of the district to ensure that Islamic law, or sharia, was properly imposed. The Pakistani government called the land grab a breach of a recent peace agreement.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani told the national assembly Friday that the military could stop the Taliban and that the country's nuclear weapons were safe.

"If anybody challenges the writ of the government, then we will react," Gilani said. "Yesterday, I heard that [the Taliban] had reached Buner and close to Islamabad. Do we not have any courage? Does this parliament not have moral courage to stop them? The defense of the country is in strong hands. Our nuclear program is in safe hands."

Swine flu hits Mexico

2009-04-25T17:21:00.000+08:00

April 24, 2009 | MEXICO CITY -- A unique strain of swine flu is the suspected killer of dozens of people in Mexico in an outbreak that has spurred concerns of a global epidemic.

The new virus -- which combines genetic material from pigs, birds and humans in a way researchers have not seen before -- also sickened at least eight people in Texas and California, though there have been no deaths in the U.S.

"We are very, very concerned," World Health Organization spokesman Thomas Abraham said. "We have what appears to be a novel virus and it has spread from human to human. . . . It's 'all hands on deck' at the moment."

Mexico's Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordoba said 68 people have died of flu and the new swine flu strain had been confirmed in 20 of those deaths. At least 1,004 people nationwide were sick from the suspected flu, he said.

Residents of the capital donned surgical masks, and authorities ordered a sweeping shutdown of public gathering places. President Felipe Calderon met with his Cabinet yesterday to coordinate Mexico's response.

The WHO was convening an expert panel to consider whether to raise the pandemic alert level or issue travel advisories.

It might already be too late to contain the outbreak, a prominent U.S. pandemic flu expert said late yesterday.

There are probably cases incubating around the world already, said Dr. Michael Osterholm at the University of Minnesota.

In Mexico City, "literally hundreds and thousands of travelers come in and out every day," Osterholm said. "You'd have to believe there's been more unrecognized transmission that's occurred."

At Mexico City's international airport, passengers were questioned to try to prevent anyone with flu symptoms from boarding airplanes.

There is no vaccine that specifically protects against swine flu, and it was unclear how much protection current human flu vaccines might offer. A "seed stock" genetically matched to the new swine flu virus has been created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, said Dr. Richard Besser, the agency's acting director. If the government decides vaccine production is necessary, manufacturers would need that stock to get started.

Epidemiologists are particularly concerned because the only fatalities so far were in young people and adults.

The geographical spread of the outbreaks also concerned the WHO -- while 13 of the 20 deaths were in Mexico City, the rest were spread across Mexico.

The CDC says two flu drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, seem effective against the new strain. Roche, the maker of Tamiflu, said the company is prepared to immediately deploy a stockpile of the drug if requested.

Closing schools across Mexico's capital of 20 million kept 6.1 million students home, as well as thousands of university students. All state and city-run cultural activities were suspended, including libraries, state-run theaters, and at least 14 museums.

U.S. health officials said the outbreak is not yet a reason for alarm in the United States. The five people sickened in California and three in Texas have all recovered.

The most notorious flu pandemic is thought to have killed at least 40 million people worldwide in 1918-19. Two other, less deadly flu pandemics struck in 1957 and 1968.

Brief Swine Flu Update

2009-04-25T14:00:00.000+08:00

Fri Apr 24, 2009 - by DemFromCT

CDC and WHO are closely following a large outbreak of swine flu in central Mexico and a much smaller cohort in the US (no data on anywhere else at this time.) You'll be hearing about it on the news (but, of course, readers of Daily Kos are well familiar with the topic.)

There are 6 documented cases of swine H1N1 in the San Diego area and Imperial County, and 2 in the San Antonio area, all relatively mild (one case was hospitalized, but not primarily for flu.) Seasonal H1N1 is an antigenically distinct virus which means that rapid flu tests cannot tell them apart (CDC will be issuing guidance to clinicians on this), and the current vaccine may not be protective. Tamiflu works, as does Relenza. while there are likely more cases in the US, there are no large scale outbreaks. Mexico is having a larger problem, but details are sketchy and will likely remain so.

This is a unique set of circumstances that's concerning enough for CDC and WHO to ramp up their surveillance, and collect data and investigate the outbreak. It is not a pandemic alert, and guidance on that topic has not changed, but this is an "evolving situation", and the story and guidance could change. It's at the very least become a news story. It could easily fizzle out in a few days, but until it does, it bears watching (and not necessarily on the front page here.)

Mexican officials, scrambling to control a swine flu outbreak that has killed at least 16 people and possibly dozens more in recent weeks, shuttered schools from kindergarten to university for millions of young people in and around the capital on Friday and urged people with flu symptoms to stay home from work.

"We’re dealing with a new flu virus that constitutes a respiratory epidemic that so far is controllable," Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova told reporters late Thursday, after huddling with President Felipe Calderón and other top officials. He said the virus had mutated from pigs and had at some point been transmitted to humans.

We've been following it at Flu Wiki forum, we will continue to do so there. As circumstances warrant, we'll update you here. In the meantime, definitive guidance can be found at CDC's web site, and for those who wish to explore more, we recommend pandemicflu.gov, your state public health web site, Flu Wiki and Get Pandemic Ready, two sites with basic flu info.- courtesy Daily Kos

Divorce by text message - hitting Saudi

2009-04-25T06:00:00.000+08:00

April 24, 2009 - A Saudi man has divorced his wife by text message, a newspaper.

The man was in Iraq when he sent the message informing her she was no longer his spouse. He followed up with a telephone call to two of his relatives, the daily Arab News reported.

A court in the Red Sea city of Jeddah finalized the split -- the first known divorce in Saudi Arabia by text message -- after summoning the two relatives to check they had received word of the husband's intention, the paper said.

Saudi Arabia practices a strict form of Islamic Sharia law, and clerics preside over Sharia courts as judges. Under the law a man can divorce his wife by saying "I divorce you" three times.

The Saudi man was in Iraq to participate in "what he described as 'jihad,'" according to the Arab News. Many Saudis have gone to fight with al Qaeda militants against the Iraqi government and U.S. forces.

US-Mexico relations

2009-04-15T15:15:00.001+08:00

April 14, 2009 - Riz Khan speaks to Denise Dresser, a Mexican analyst and writer, about prospects for peace and stability in Mexico, Obama's visit to Mexico, and evolving US-Mexico relations.

Pepe Escobar: There will be class war and blood

2009-04-15T14:32:00.000+08:00

April 14, 2009 - Welcome to the new New World Order Pt 2

Londoners demand Justice Now!

2009-04-15T07:00:00.001+08:00

Justice for Ian Tomlinson - Memorial March

Assemble 11.30am, Saturday 11 April
Bethnal Green Police Station, 12 Victoria Park Square
off Roman Road, 2 minutes from Bethnal Green tube
March to Bank

Called by G20 Meltdown, who ask people to wear black and bring flowers to lay where Ian Tomlinson died.

Campaign launch meeting

8:00pm, Wednesday 15 April
Exmouth Arms, 1 Starcross Street, London, NW1 2HR
Nearest tube/station: Euston

Thai protest leaders surrender to police

2009-04-14T17:28:00.002+08:00

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:27:46 GMT | PressTV

The Red Shirt protesters support Thaksin, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006

Four Thai anti-government protest leaders have surrendered themselves to the government after ending a three-week siege of the Government House.

The leaders loyal to ousted Premier Thaksin Shinawatra were taken to police headquarters in the capital Bangkok on late Tuesday.

Earlier, the national police chief had said protest organizers would be prosecuted for violating the state of emergency.

The group had been charged with inciting a public disturbance and illegal assembly.

Police say the Thai court has also issued an arrest warrant for Thaksin as well.

The government has extended holidays until the end of the week, saying it is in the interest of public safety and needed to restore public facilities.

Thaksin' supporters have also decided to call off protests after being surrounded by hundreds of troops.

The troops were seen firing their guns into the air and into the crowds to quell unrest in the capital, while angry demonstrators threw homemade firebombs in retaliation.

At least two people were killed and about 120 people, including police officers were injured during the anti-government rallies.

Protest leader Jakrapap Penkair said the retreat is "an honorable decision to save lives", but vowed that the movement would continue.

Thaksin's supporters have called for snap elections, arguing the current government is “illegitimate”.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has snubbed calls to give into their demands and refused to dissolve his four-month-old government to hold elections.

"We are confident that we are in control of the situation," Vejjajiva said on Monday night.

Thaksin has said: "The situation in Thailand is of very brutal suppression."

Thailand has been in turmoil since Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup.

Earlier in 2008, the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), occupied the government compound for months and forced the previous pro-Thaksin government out of office.

British-born Vejjajiva, 43, came to power after a court charged the former pro-Thaksin party with fraud and threw Thaksin's brother-in-law out of the premiership.

Vejjajiva was named prime minister in December after the collapse of the pro-Thaksin administration.

What Thailand's 'red shirts' want

2009-04-14T15:38:00.001+08:00

April 13, 2009 - The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted Thai prime minister, is leading the ongoing anti-government protests in Bangkok.

Sean Boonpracong, the group's international spokesman, tells Al Jazeera what the 'red shirts' protesters want.

The war against unions

2009-04-14T08:24:00.001+08:00

April 13, 2009 - Elaine Bernard: Legal system in the US is major obstacle to worker organization

Tindakan Zalim Polis Keatas Adi Anwar

2009-04-12T13:06:00.002+08:00

April 11, 2009 - Belumpun reda kes A Kugan yang dibelasah hingga mati dalam lokap polis USJ awal tahun ini, satu lagi kes menggemparkan rakyat mengenai tindakan zalim yang dipercayai dilakukan oleh pihak polis di Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah Klang.

Kali ini, Adi Anwar Mansor dibelasah dan dipercayai diberi minum pelarut hingga menyebabkan dia koma dan dimasukkan ke unit rawatan rapi Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, Klang 8 April lalu.

After the G20: America, Obama, the world

2009-04-11T13:00:00.000+08:00

Godfrey Hodgson - Opendemocracy - April 6, 2009

A smooth London summit and European tour allow the global problems Barack Obama faces to be seen in their true scale, says Godfrey Hodgson.

It is too soon to say whether the Group of Twenty summit in London on 2 April 2009 has brought closer the world economic crisis closer to an end. The effect of the unimaginably vast sums of money (or at least figures) that were declared available to lubricate a blocked credit system will be an early sign. No one knows too whether the plan of United States treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, to clear up the vast toxic assets remaining in the system will work. The potential for further damage is ever-present.

There is more clarity about the statement by Gordon Brown that the G20 meeting was the beginning of a "new world order" of progressive cooperation. The British prime minister is at least halfway right. This is indeed the start of a new world in international relations, and it is time to look closely at its architecture.

The two-step illusion

What happened in London was in one sense a great step towards a new realism: that is, replacing a G7/G8 that reflects the economic realities of at best the 1970s (if not of Bretton Woods) with a G20 that can claim to represent four-fifths of the world's gross global product and well over half its population. Even more, this creates a process that almost inevitably entails further moves towards greater "representativity".

It is long overdue. The process of rethinking the distribution of power in leading international institutions is a belated acknowledgment of the changing global balance. China is at its heart. The Beijing leadership wants its country's "peaceful rise" - including a decade and more of 10% annual growth - to be recognised and rewarded. If the Chinese are to make a major contribution to the greatly increased capital of the International Monetary Fund, for example, it will be hard to resist their claim for more than 4% of the IMF's voting rights.

A key question is whether the process of change will be gradual or sudden. It has become modish in some diplomatic and journalistic circles to speak of a G2 - the United States and China - as a future steering-committee within the G20. This is unrealistic, as well as undesirable. After all, the American economy is now slightly smaller than that of the European Union, and it has long lost the dominance of the immediate post-1945 era. Moreover, China's own economy is now in aggregate roughly the size of Germany's - but the disparity in populations means that it delivers an average income per head around 10% of most western European countries.

In any case, the relationship between China and the United States is very different from a traditional great-power competition, in a way that limits the potential to forge a "duumvirate". It is neither a traditional commercial rivalry nor a military contest, but a novel and in some ways very strange relationship: China is creditor, investor, supplier of cheap consumer goods, ideological and diplomatic competitor. Chinese economic growth has been heavily dependent on exports to the United States (and even more to the European Union).

In addition, neither power has any territorial claims or ambitions of a traditional kind on the other; though in Africa and perhaps elsewhere China aspires to a sphere of influence that challenges American hegemony. China cannot yet remotely threaten American military dominance, though there are signs that the Chinese government is intent on building up its military (including naval) capacity.

There may come a time when the world is divided between Chinese and American alliances, and strategic changes in world politics do tend to come faster than anyone expects. But for the foreseeable future, China will not be a superpower in the way that the United States has been since the implosion of the Soviet Union.

An end to "number one"?

But if the "multipolar world" - long discussed in academic seminars and journals of international relations - is now becoming a reality, what will be the effect on the world's networks of influence?

The United States is in a class of its own in military power. But other countries and groups of countries - China, India, the European Union, Russia, perhaps some alignments of the Islamic world - are able to resist or divert American power in various ways, or are in a position to help Washington achieve some goals it cannot achieve alone.

The United States now needs help in international affairs. It cannot save its own environment without cooperation. It cannot rescue its own economy without help from Europe and China. It is no longer self-sufficient in energy. Its irresistibly great military power is not in practice much use.

The signs are that President Obama understands this, at least on one level. He has sent clear signals that he wants to leave behind the unwise arrogance of the George W Bush administration and its more intransigent figures - Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, John Bolton; and to seek more cooperative relationships.

But there is a catch. Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union the preferred model of the world in the United States - among conservatives and liberals, among politicians and military officers, journalists, policy-makers and a clear majority of citizens - has not been a G7/G8 one or a G20-type one; it is most unlikely to be a G2 one. It has been a G1 model.

Most Americans in these two decades came proudly to embrace the image of their country as the lone superpower. Barack Obama speaks of a new, more tactful and more subtle style of leadership. But he is still an "American exceptionalist". He still takes his country's leadership in the world for granted - even if his speeches during his European tour (in London, at the Nato summit, in Prague, and in Turkey) have been artful in their restraint and appeals to cooperation. The American people too expect him to be what American journalists have long called the president of their country: the "leader of the free world".

This is not an elected title - or if it is, it is a title awarded by an electorate amounting to less than 5% of the world's population. Yet until recently it did represent a reality, one acknowledged by many and perhaps most of the world's other leaders. When Madeleine Albright called her country the "indispensable nation", she was not boasting. She was expressing a perception that was widely, indeed almost universally accepted.

It was not just that no other nation had the strength to compete for leadership with the United States. No other nation then wanted the burdens of leadership. Now this too may - may - have begun to change. Perhaps Americans, while happy to be number one, are now longer willing (even if they are able, which is a big "if" in the middle of an economic recession) to carry the burden of leadership.

A new narrative

In 1999 I wrote an article in which I spoke of the "grand narrative" of what the historian Eric Hobsbawm called the "short 20th century". The breakdown of the uneasy diplomatic equilibrium of the 19th century in 1914 had led to world war and economic catastrophe. That in turn led to fascism, to another world war, to genocide and to the division of the world between an American and a communist power-bloc. That led to the cold war, and in the end to the collapse of European communism.

I connected the end of that grand narrative to "the death of news". Because the citizens of the United States and western Europe were no longer frightened of war, they had turned away from the affairs of the rest of the world and concerned themselves with their own preoccupations and fears: of poverty, failure, loneliness, ill health and death. War, they imagined, was something that happened in "faraway places of which we know little".

It is interesting to ask whether the attacks on Washington and New York in September 2001 would have happened if news organisations in America and western Europe had not sharply cut back their coverage of international affairs. However that may be, the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, the crisis in Pakistan and the stalemate in Palestine, and now the economic disaster resulting from the crimes and follies of "Anglo-Saxon capitalism", have the public's full attention.

They sound like the ominous overture to a new and potentially dangerous world in which the United States still sees itself as G1, but may be less able and less willing to carry the responsibilities of a world leadership that is more heavy and difficult than ever.

Can Washington, given its apparently unshakable attachment to Israel's interests, solve the problem of Palestine? Can it repair (or "reset") breach with that testy and ambitious rival, Russia? Can it save Pakistan for democracy? Bring Iran into the comity of nations? Feed Africa? Halt climate change? Rebuild Wall Street or Detroit?

No American president has started with more personal ability or more sheer goodwill, from around the world, than Barack Obama. But a successful tour of Europe has if anything highlighted the scale of the tasks he faces, and the problems he may have in bringing the American people along with him in the effort.

A new narrative is unfolding. A lot depends on whether the world is nearer the end (1991), middle (1945) or beginning (1914) of the "short 20th century". The plot is still open.

Bolivia's opposition resists Morales' mandate

2009-04-11T05:41:00.001+08:00

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:40:39 GMT | PressTV

President Evo Morales

While President Evo Morales is on hunger strike, Bolivia's opposition in the Senate refuses to pass a measure allowing the president a second term.

"They must think they can wear me out," Morales told reporters, recalling that in 2004, one year before he was elected president, he went 'more than 18 days' without food after he was expelled from Congress.

Twenty-four hours into his fast on Friday, Morales again vowed to refuse taking nourishment until the electoral measure passed the Senate.

Morales' ruling government controls the presidency and holds a firm grip on congress's lower house, but opposition lawmakers retain control of the senate.

The test of wills has already forced Morales to cancel a scheduled visit to Cuba, and he said that more than 1,000 people from scores of organizations across the country were backing his move, launching into hunger strikes of their own.

The Coca grower's union of Chapare said on Friday that 'it was ready to send protesters marching on La Paz to press senators to pass the electoral measure.'

The electoral bill, mandated in the new constitution approved in January, would set a December 6 date for a national poll.

The controversial quota allows, among other things, for Morales -- South America's first indigenous head of state -- to run for reelection for another five-year term.

Political turmoil continues in Thailand

2009-04-09T09:37:00.000+08:00

The current anti-government protests in Thailand are the latest development after years of political instability.

Al Jazeera's Azhar Sukri looks back at the turmoil of the last three years.

Zinn on class in America

2009-04-08T11:44:00.002+08:00

April 08, 2009 - Howard Zinn: In the United States we are brought up to think there's only one class

Fujimori found guilty

2009-04-08T09:11:00.001+08:00

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:34:21 GMT

Fujimori has maintained innocence.

A Peru court declares guilty ex-President Alberto Fujimori on human rights charges including murder and kidnapping during his tenure in 1990s.

Following 15-month of trial Fujimori, 70, was found guilty of murder, bodily harm and two cases of kidnapping.

"The charges have been proved beyond all reasonable doubt," chief judge Cesar San Martin said. "Thus the verdict is a conviction," he said, according to AFP.

Rejecting the charges Fujimori said he had never created a paramilitary death squad rather he had been a wartime president fighting to protect his people. "The Peru that I inherited was a disaster. It was a Peru that had to be rescued," he said in his closing statements.

But the Judge noted that it was clear Fujimori authorized the creation of the death squad that killed dozens of people.

"This court declares that the four charges against him have been proven beyond all reasonable doubt," San Martin said.

Rights groups welcomed the outcome.

"Fujimori is finally being held to account for some of his crimes," Maria McFarland, a researcher for the US-based Human Rights Watch who was present in the courtroom, said in a statement.

The Peruvian court has shown the world that even former heads of state cannot expect to get away with serious crimes," she said.

He is the first democratically elected former president to be tried for rights violations in his own country.

The judges are expected later in the day to announce Fujimori's sentence, which could reach up to 30 years in prison.

US communities print own money over tight cash

2009-04-07T17:00:00.001+08:00

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:25:14 GMT | PressTV

'Detroit Cheers,' the local money in Detroit

Some US communities have started printing their own currency in order to ease the economic pain inflicted by low cash flow across the country.

People in low-income American communities have formed networks in order to create, buy and sell local currencies that are partially below the US Dollar in value but strong enough to help them buy goods at their neighborhood stores.

The 1930's Great Depression, the largest economic contraction to hit America in history, prompted the idea of generating new local currencies like 'Ithaca Hours' in New York, 'Plenty' in North Carolina, 'Berk Shares' in Massachusetts and 'Detroit Cheers', amongst 75 other types of local money mushrooming across the States.

Economists say that cash-strapped people have, through tough financial times, come up with their own solutions for ailing economies via injecting local money into their markets in an attempt to put more food in their family basket.

"The world is just now reeling from economic chaos; in Detroit, that's how we always roll," a Detroit Cheers user commented.

US communities and local governments printed a special currency known as the 'Scrip' during the Great Depression to keep trades afloat.

"We're a wiped-out small town in America," USA Today quoted a Plenty user in North Carolina as saying. "This will strengthen the local economy... The nice thing about the Plenty is that it can't leave here."

Americans are allowed to print their own local money provided that it does not look like federal banknotes, nor should it be used as legal tender.

The United States was hit by its second hardest economic recession in 2007, which has so far caused the country to shed more than two million jobs and a budget deficit almost topping two trillion dollars in a matter of less than two years.

Kugan’s post mortem files seized from UMMC

2009-04-06T23:00:00.000+08:00

PETALING JAYA, April 6 — malaysianinsider - By Neville Spykerman

All files, pictures and samples in relation to A. Kugan, who died in custody, were seized by police from a hospital which had carried out a second post mortem on Jan 25.

A search warrant was issued to the University Malaya Medical Centre here before policemen took away the items.

Kugan was arrested on suspicion of car theft on Jan 15 but died at the police lockup five days later.

Federal Criminal Investigation Director Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin told The Malaysian Insider police were instructed to make the seizures by the Attorney-General and the move was part of ongoing investigations into the case.

Lawyer N Surendren, who is representing Kugan’s family, said he was shocked with the latest development adding police had been at UMMC the whole morning.

“I have been informed in writing by the hospital because Kugan’s family had sought the second post mortem which was carried out there.”

Meanwhile Surendren also slammed the findings of an independent committee formed by the Health Ministry today which concluded he died due to water in the lungs or acute pulmonary edema, inflammation of heart muscles or acute myocarditis which was compounded by blunt force.

Surendren said the committee has effectively found a third cause of death which is inflammation of the heart, which was never found by either pathologist who carried out the first and second post mortem.

The first post mortem carried out at the Serdang Hospital by Dr Karim Tajuddin on Jan 21 stated Kugan’s casue of death as “acute pulmonary edema” or fluid in the lungs.

A second post mortem was carried out by Dr Prashant N. Samberkar and he found Kugan died from a condition known as rhabdomyolysis, which is the rapid break-down of skeletal muscle tissue which will lead to kidney failure.

Other discrepancies, peviously reported were V-shaped marks which were described as abrasions in the Serdang Hospital report but burn wounds with a heated object in the second report.

The first report only found 22 external injuries on his body while the second found 40 such injuries.

The second post-mortem revealed congested blood vessels in Kugan’s brain haemorrhage in his neck muscles, heart and spleen, and contradicts the Serdang Hospital report which found these organs were normal.

The Serdang Hospital report says other organs in Kugan’s body were examined and were normal but the second findings showed that the organs were intact and not even removed for dissection, before the second post-mortem was conducted.

Surendren said the committee had “second guessed” the findings of the two doctors without the benefit of carrying out a post mortem and labelled the committee a whitewash.

He said unlike an on going inquiry by the Malaysian Medical Council into the case, the government independent inquiry had not called in family members or himself to give evidence or observe proceedings.

Earlier at a press conference in Putrajaya, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican disclosed the findings of the committee which was formed to investigate the discrepancies in the two post mortems. An eight page report was released to the press.

The 10-men committee unanimously agreed there was no evidence to show that the deceased had been ‘branded’ or been given repeated application of heat with an instrument or object as reported in the second post mortem.

In their opinion the injuries were the result of repeated trauma by a blunt and flexible object, like a rubber hose.

The committee found that all injuries on Kugan were insufficient to directly cause death and the discrepancies in the two reports were due to the absence of communication between the two pathologists, the misinterpretation of post mortem changes and some of the injuries by the second pathologist.

They concluded the discrepancy was not because of any foul reporting, misleading of information and there was no intention to hide information.

Dr Ismail said the differences in the number of external injuries found on Kugan, was because of different methodology used by the doctors. Dr Karim had tabulated 22 external injuries because he had grouped them by regions while Dr Prashant had listed some individually and some in groups, on the body.

He said the findings will be handed to the Attorney-General’s Chambers tomorrow.

Malaysia: Human rights agenda for new government

2009-04-04T08:08:00.002+08:00

PUBLIC STATEMENT
AI Index: ASA 28/002/2009

2 April 2009

Malaysia: Human rights agenda for new government

As Najib Tun Razak prepares to take over as Prime Minister of Malaysia, Amnesty International said that the new administration faces major human rights challenges that need to be addressed.

The organization is calling on the new Prime Minister to initiate urgent reforms to the justice system in five key areas, as follows.

Arbitrary arrest and detention

The government must reform or repeal laws providing for arbitrary arrest and detention without trial, including the Internal Security Act (ISA).

As part of this reform, the government should release five supporters of the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) who have been detained for over a year under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for organizing a demonstration highlighting the marginalization of ethnic Indians.

Freedom of expression

The new government should prioritize the removal of restrictions on freedom of expression affecting bloggers, opposition politicians and human rights activists.

There was a nationwide swoop on bloggers in March when eight bloggers were charged with posting critical comments against the Sultan of Perak. They were charged under the Communication and Media Act and released on bail. The charges against them should be dropped.

The death penalty

The death penalty is imposed for a number of offences in Malaysia. Drug trafficking, murder and unauthorized firearms possession carry a mandatory death sentence. The government does not publish statistics on executions.

A moratorium on the death penalty should be announced, with a view towards abolishing it. The government should also lift the veil of secrecy around the death penalty by publicizing all information about its current application.

Torture, ill-treatment and deaths in police custody

Torture and other ill-treatment at the hands of the police continue to be reported in Malaysia.

The family and lawyers of robbery suspect Kugan Ananthan, 22, who died in police custody that month, saw extensive marks of physical abuse covering his body. The investigations into the death have not progressed since the findings of the second autopsy report were submitted to the Attorney General's Office. Amnesty calls on the government to initiate an impartial, effective, independent, and prompt investigation into Kugan's death. Moreover, the government should establish an independent and impartial police oversight body to hear complaints about the police.

Migrant and refugee rights

Migrant workers, refugees and asylum seekers are at risk of deportation after harsh treatment in detention camps. Malaysia does not recognise their rights under international law, and even individuals recognised as refugees by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees are being arrested by untrained volunteers from the Peoples Volunteer Corps (RELA). Amnesty International urges the government to ratify the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol and the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

DON'T TAKE US FOR FOOLS!....ALTHOUGH SOME OF US CAN BE FOOLED.

2009-04-04T05:00:00.001+08:00

Driving back from two afternoon ceremah's in Bukit Gantang, I get an sms that the new PM is magnanimously releasing 13 from Kem Kamunting.

Collecting my thoughts, I told myself that if Najib does not release Mat Shah Mohd Satray amongst the 13, this PM is a capital sham....thinking that he can fool us. I immediately rang Laila (photo), Mat Shah's wife. Even before I could question her she said, "Uncle Zorro, Mat Shah is not on the list." I do not wish to publish our conversation except to say that as expected this was a shallow attempt at damage control. If the PM was a man of stature, he would not treat us as fools, thinking that we will be so impressed that we will burn incense to his image! I know that there will be some out there who will burn this incense to his honor.[more]

Najib frees ISA detainees, lifts paper suspension

2009-04-03T22:44:00.000+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — malaysianinsider | By Lee Wei Lian

New prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak tonight freed 13 ISA detainees and lifted the suspension of two opposition papers — Harakah and Suara Keadilan.

He also told Malaysians in his maiden address that the Barisan Nasional will comprehensively review the Internal Security Act.

“These decisions are timely as we move to enhance the confidence of our citizens in those entrusted with maintaining peace, law and order, while recognizing the need to remain vigilant of the very real security threats we continue to face as a young nation,” Najib said.

Najib had come into office under intense speculation that he would be more authoritarian than his predecessor and would crack down on the democratic space in the country.

In response, the then deputy prime minister appealed at the close of the Umno general assembly last Saturday to be judged by his actions.

His first announcements as prime minister tonight have defied earlier expectations. It may even take the wind out of several opposition sails as the abolishment or comprehensive review of the ISA is one of the main thrusts of the opposition and the suspension of the two party newspapers was also one of their main grouses against the government.

Najib had promised a lot of reforms but only in the days ahead will the nation get to see the full extent of changes under the son of Malaysia’s second prime minister.

But for tonight, his speech hit the right notes, as he stressed that nobody in the country, regardless of ethnic background, should feel marginalised or left behind.

“We must draw on talented people across our nation, regardless of their position or background, to re-energize a passion for public service. We must sow the seeds of goodwill and understanding in every corner of this land, so that we continue to harvest the fruits of progress and prosperity for all Malaysians,” he said.

He also said he will be seeking to engage people from around the country in formulating the priorities of the government. The nation’s youth, who have long felt disaffected by the veterans in the government, were given a special mention.

Najib, who takes office in the midst of one of the worst economic slowdowns the world has seen, promised to work hard to steer the country through the current crisis.

The new prime minister did take one swipe at the opposition: “We must reach out to the many who may have been disaffected and left confused by political games, deceit and showmanship,” he said.

But overall, the tone of the speech was hopeful as he stressed that he will work hard to realise the full potential of the country and committed himself to meet the needs, aspirations and concerns of all Malaysians.

He ended on a high note as he invited Malaysians to join him in renewing the country and build a “One Malaysia. People First. Performance Now.”

“Let us begin this great journey together.”

In a separate telephone interview with RTM, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said that Hindraf leaders, V.S. Ganapathy Rao and R. Kengadhedharan were among the 13 ISA detainees that would be released.

Others detainees to be released included Jemaah Islamiah members and foreigners.

Hamid said that the foreigners will be deported.

> See full text of Najib’s maiden speech as prime minister

01 April 2009 - AlJazeeraEnglish MOBILE BULLETIN 2

2009-04-02T07:00:00.000+08:00

The latest news from Al Jazeera.

While the differences between the big G20 players were quietly discussed behind closed doors, out on the streets of London there was real anger.Thousands crowded into London's financial centre to make their protests heard.

Hamish MacDonald was there.Follow Al Jazeera's G20 coverage on twitter @ajeg20

According to Israel's new right wing foreign minister, he declared that the US sponsored Annapolis agreement with the Palestinians is not binding to israel for the Knesset had not endorsed it.

01 April 2009 - AlJazeeraEnglish MOBILE BULLETIN

2009-04-01T17:58:00.001+08:00

The latest news from Al Jazeera.

G20 - Make or Break?

2009-04-01T03:00:00.000+08:00

March 31, 2009 - Engdahl: The question in the EU is - will they go down with the dollar system or find their own way?

Israel soldiers tear gas al-Khalil demo

2009-03-30T16:00:00.000+08:00

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 23:50:46 GMT

Israeli soldiers use tear gas and shock grenades to disperse demonstrators protesting against Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said soldiers dispersed the Palestinian and Israeli protesters in al-Khalil's (Hebron) Old City on Saturday after they disturbed public order in an area under Israeli control.

A video footage from the scene showed Israeli soldiers pushing demonstrators, including Israeli Arab lawmaker Mohammad Barakeh. A number of foreign peace activists were also present at the protest, Reuters reported.

Israeli and Palestinian demonstrators said the protest was part of several events aimed at marking Land Day, the annual commemoration of protests in 1976 against Israel's occupation of Arab-owned land in al-Jaleel (Galilee).

The demonstrators were also demanding that Palestinians be allowed to use a road in the old town of al-Khalil after they were denied access by the Israeli military for what it called 'security reasons'.

Some 600 illegal settlers live under Israeli military protection in the heart of the West Bank city of al-Khalil that is inhabited by 180,000 Palestinians.

Mumbai-like Lahore attacks kill 20

2009-03-30T12:05:00.000+08:00

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 04:05:25 GMT

Pakistani elite forces are engaging gunmen, who took control of the police training center.

An attack on a police training school near the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore has left around 20 people killed and more than 50 others wounded.

The incident took place early on Monday when gunmen in police uniform broke into Manawan police training school outside Lahore and attacked recruits with hand grenades and random gunfire, Press TV correspondent reported, adding 20 people have so far lost their lives in the attack.

Following the incident, Pakistan's elite squad was called to the scene and the area was cordoned off by the police.

Chief Capital Police Officer (CCPO) Haji Habib-ur-Rahman said 10 to 12 attackers were still inside the school building and shooting was continuing.

Meanwhile, reports suggest dozens of people in the premises have been taken hostage by the assailants and the toll from the attack is on the rise.

On March 3, gunmen carried out another major assault on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, leaving eight Pakistanis dead and seven players and a coach injured.

The attack in the second largest Pakistani city is reminiscent of Mumbai's ordeal last November, where 165 people died in a 60-hour siege of the Indian financial capital.

Critics blame the surge in terror attacks on the US policy in the region and its insistence on military measures in the crisis-hit country.

In 2001, US-led coalition forces invaded Afghanistan in the aftermath of the September 9 attack on International Trade Center in New York city in a bid to oust the Taliban extremist rule in the country.

Terrorist activities and violence, however, has spread to neighboring Pakistan, where US forces keep bombarding tribal regions near the borders, allegedly providing safe havens for militants.

Cambodia's Duch back on trial

2009-03-30T08:49:00.000+08:00

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 07:48:45 GMT | PressTV

Former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav

Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal has resumed its trial of the Khmer Rouge's prison chief to bring justice for the regime's crimes.

Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, appeared in court on Monday to hear charges that include crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva conventions during the Khmer rule between 1975 and 1979.

The former math teacher was also in court to hear charges that he oversaw the deaths of up to 15,000 people at Tuol Sleng, the main prison center for the communist regime.

"Today, in the name of the Cambodian people and the United Nations, the trial chamber... declares open the hearing related to Duch," chief judge Nil Nonn told the court.

Last month, Duch's lawyers said that he would use the court to publicly ask forgiveness for his role in the regime during a few days of preliminary proceedings.

The 66-year-old Duch is one of five former Khmer Rouge leader facing trials for their roles in the deaths of up to 2 million people through execution, overwork and starvation.

He faces a maximum term of life in prison by the tribunal, which cannot impose the death penalty.

The first stage of the trial began in February and the current hearing has been scheduled to run for at least the next 40 days.

Erdogan's AKP leads Turkey's local polls

2009-03-30T05:08:00.001+08:00

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:08:10 GMT | PressTV

Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the polls

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party is leading local elections as poll counting is still going on.

With 50 percent of the Sunday votes counted so far, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) ranked first, garnering almost 40 percent of the ballots, AFP reported.

The Republican People's Party (CHP) is following AKP with 20.2 percent and the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) is in third place with 16.7 votes.

The election is to choose about 93,000 local representatives in the country's 81 provinces.

Some 48 million people were eligible in Sunday's elections, which turned violent, leaving at least six people dead and nearly 100 others wounded in five different provinces.

Recent polls have predicted that the AKP would keep the control of the capital Ankara and the important city of Istanbul.

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been in power since 2002.

Erdogan's party secured more than 41 percent in the last local polls in 2004 and followed it up with a 46.6 percent win in Turkey's parliament elections in 2007.

Noam Chomsky: Is Capitalism Making Life Better?

2009-03-29T22:21:00.000+08:00

A simple Chomsky interview.

Is the current material prospects of capitalism justification for its brutal methodology. Chomsky talk about Russia, Cuba, Fascist Germany and slavery America..

Americans press Israel for justice

2009-03-24T13:23:00.001+08:00

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 05:23:14 GMT | PressTV

Nancy Anderson reacts to the ongoing tragedy her family suffers while talking about her son Tristan during a press conference in Jerusalem (al-Quds) on March 23, 2009.

The parents of injured American peace activist Tristan Anderson demand that Tel Aviv assume "full responsibility" for shooting their son.

Israeli policeman shot 38-year-old Tristan in the head with a high velocity tear gas canister earlier this month during a regular demonstration against the West Bank segregation wall.

When complete, the wall will further push the 60-year-old Israeli landgrabbing campaign by dividing Palestinians in Nilin from 400 acres of their farmland.

Since last July, Israeli forces have killed four Palestinians in similar demonstrations in the village of Nilin where Tristan was shot, according to Guardian.

Tristan, who is in a very critical condition and in a medically induced coma at the Israeli hospital Tel Hashomer, has lost the sight in his right eye and doctors had to remove portions of his frontal lobe.

After undergoing three operations, whether he will survive or not remains a mystery.

Activists who witnessed the shooting say the canister -- with a range of 400 meters -- was shot directly at Tristan from a distance of 60 meters and at a time that the crowd had begun to disperse.

Tristan and his immediate companions, according to the peace activists, were far from the segregation wall and were neither throwing stones nor posing any threat to Israeli forces.

"We are horrified and overwhelmed," Tristan's mother Nancy said Monday. "To shoot peaceful demonstrators is really horrifying to us. What we want to ask is that the Israeli government publicly take full responsibility for the shooting of our son."

Nancy, who flew to Israel from their home near Sacramento in California along with her husband Michael to be at his bedside, said no Israeli official even bothered to contact the couple.

Tristan had also been involved in peace demonstrations in Iraq in 2003, El Salvador and Guatemala and also partook in the 2000 demonstrations in Prague against the World Bank and IMF.

Tristan receives treatment after Israeli forces shot him in the head using a teargas canister while protesting against the segregation wall. He has since lost the sight in his right eye and doctors had to remove portions of his frontal lobe.

"Tristan has always been interested in how societies that go through conflict are able to resolve their issues," explained his father. "He came to understand for himself what the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was about."

Michael also took Tel Aviv to task for its aggressive policies and moral decay.

"It is ironic that the country in which he was shot is a democracy where it is supposed to be a duty for everyone to follow their conscience. We want to know the truth of what happened and we want justice for our son," he said.

"We want to know what happened and we want justice for our son."

Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard who is representing the Anderson family has revealed that an official complaint demanding an independent inquiry into the incident has been made.

According to Sfard, human rights researchers have evidence that proves the demonstrations to have been peaceful and that at the time of the shooting the border police and the segregation wall were under no threat.

"The policemen involved, both the guy who shot and the officers who gave orders, must take the full might of criminal justice," he said.

Israel has offered no sympathy for the Anderson family and suggests the situation to have been Tristan's fault for participating in the demonstrations.

A Palestinian farmer and his children are forced to pass a gate in an Israeli segregation wall to reach their land in the Jayus village. The wall has been placed strategically to cut Palestinians from their land and block their freedom of movement.

"Israel regrets that the Israeli and foreign nationals cooperate with violent rioters against the building of the security fence, whose purpose is saving the lives of Israeli citizens," an Israeli statement says.

"As such, any Israeli, Palestinian, or foreign national who illegally participates in a violent demonstration takes upon himself the risk of personal harm during the dispersal of these disturbances."

Nearly 120 criminal investigations sought against members of Israeli security forces since the beginning of the Intifada have led only to one conviction -- against an Arab-Israeli soldier who shot British peace activist Tom Hurndall dead in Gaza.

Russia orders major S-400 deployment

2009-03-20T20:33:00.000+08:00

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:33:01 GMT

Army trucks moving
S-400 batteries

The Russian army has doubled the deployment of its hi-tech anti-ballistic S-400 missiles in the face of its growing concerns of air attacks.

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov recently announced that Moscow had authorized a new military division to employ 32 S-400 interceptor missiles capable of hitting low-cruising stealth aircrafts and intermediate-range ballistic missiles to ward off possible attacks.

The S-400, alias SA-21 Growler, enjoys versatile firing facets and can destroy targets flying low at a speed exceeding 2.5 Mach or just over 3,000 km per hour -- a feature lacked by modern US Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Russia hopes to keep its advanced interceptor rockets in service until 2025.

The news comes as the US army has negotiated a new contract with the aerospace and defense corporation, Boeing, to develop state-of-the-art aerial protection systems for the country.

The program will make an "effort to coordinate and fuse multiple types of sensor data in a secure environment for Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) and space situational awareness concept exploration," UPI quoted Boeing's Thursday statement.

The S-400 is twice more efficient than the US MIM-104 Patriot that can only intercept and annihilate subsonic missiles within a 200 km range.

Hearing into dubious autopsy report starts in Kuala Lumpur

2009-03-20T16:10:00.001+08:00

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:37:00
Mahi Ramakrishnan, Press TV, Kuala Lumpur

UK police admit brutality against Muslim suspect

2009-03-20T16:00:00.000+08:00

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:39:30
Roshan Muhammed Salih, Press TV, London

UK police sued over "gross brutality"

2009-03-20T15:24:00.001+08:00

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 23:26:47
Roshan Muhammed Salih, Press TV, Birmingham

China to flex naval muscles in disputed seas

2009-03-20T00:45:00.000+08:00

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:45:17 GMT | PressTV

The US has released this picture, claiming Chinese vessels were harassing its surveillance ships, the USNS Impeccable.

China has decided to step up naval patrols in the waters of the South China Sea, following a confrontation with a US naval ship.

Fisheries department director Wu Zhuang said the motive behind the decision is that illegal fishing has increased and "unfounded territorial claims" have been raised in seas China sees as its own, state media reported Thursday.

"Faced with a growing amount of illegal fishing and other countries' unfounded territorial claims... it has become necessary to step up the fishery administration's patrols to protect China's rights and interests," the China Daily quoted the official as saying.

China sent a fisheries patrol ship to the South China Sea last week and said it could deploy other similar vessels.

The patrol operations come after a fresh claim on the chain of islands by the Philippines and a confrontation with a US navy ship patrolling the waters. Beijing has criticized both incidents as illegal.

In early March, the Pentagon said five Chinese ships harassed and maneuvered dangerously close to the unarmed USNS Impeccable as the ocean surveillance vessel was some 75 miles south of the Chinese island of Hainan.

The US claimed the incident took place in international waters after several days of increasingly aggressive acts by Chinese ships in the region.

On March 13, the US Navy dispatched a guided-missile destroyer to the China Sea after the tense naval standoff between two countries.

The arrival of the destroyer underscored a determination in Washington to continue with the surveillance mission in spite of Beijing's assertion that the operation amounts to an illegal military activity.

Chinese sources have said that the concerned US navy vessel had been consistently conducting illegal surveying in China's special economic zone.

Many have viewed China's stepped up patrols as a move to flex its increasing military muscles against the US -- which is critical of Beijing over a number of issues that include Tibet and human rights allegations.

Unemployment among black Americans hits quarter-century high

2009-03-19T18:59:00.000+08:00

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 02:56:47
Colin Campbell, Press TV, Washington

The President Elect of Salvador.

2009-03-19T12:39:00.001+08:00

March 18, 2009 - Journalist leads former guerrilla army to first presidential victory in history of Salvadoran left.

Opposition Leader Takes Power in Madagascar

2009-03-18T23:00:00.001+08:00

18/03/2009 | AlmanarTV

Madagascar's youthful opposition leader Andry Rajoelina sought to consolidate his grip on power on Wednesday after the military named him president in a move that flouted the Indian Ocean island's constitution.

President Marc Ravalomanana resigned on Tuesday, but analysts said he had effectively been given no option after the security forces backed his foe, who has led weeks of anti-government strikes and protests.

The nation's worst unrest in years killed at least 135 people, devastated a $390 million-a-year tourism sector and worried multinationals in its mining and oil industries. The outcome was a slap in the face for the African Union (AU), which has censured recent violent transfers of power that damage the continent's reputation with investors.

Ravalomanana's whereabouts were unclear, while Rajoelina supporters planned a big party in the city's May 13 square. They had accused Ravalomanana of losing touch with the majority of the population who eke out a living on less than $2 a day.

Rajoelina says his priority will be to address social needs in Madagascar, which lies off Africa's east coast and won independence from France in 1960.

The AU had demanded the constitution be respected "scrupulously." But the fact the army refused to take over on Tuesday, as Ravalomanana had requested, means the AU may not brand the events a coup which would have meant suspension.

After recent coups in Mauritania and Guinea as well as the killing of Guinea-Bissau's leader, Ravalomanana's fall raises doubts over the durability of democracies elsewhere in Africa.

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, who is chairman of the SADC regional trade bloc, denounced the change of power -- underlining the diplomatic difficulties Rajoelina may face.

Mindset of Hindu Kush and adjacent peak-dwellers

2009-03-18T11:16:00.000+08:00

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 09:44:12 GMT

The casket-like shape of the historical Hindu Kush is shown on a map.

By Mahmood Pervez Alam

The ebullient youth in the rural stretches and outskirts of urban areas in Afghanistan as well as the tribal belt in the North-Western Frontier Province in Pakistan and even in parts of Balochistan share a common hate-radiating slogan: "Foreign troops get out of our land; we do not want you here."

The inadmissibility of Western uniforms is so staunchly asserted that not only promises but also the introduction of development plans to uplift their traditional patterns of existence and their living conditions are either flatly rejected or dismissively spurned. Traveling on foot long distances seems to be a natural part of everyday life and a necessary assertive adjunct of the robust male ethos.

Roads are suspiciously judged as paved arteries that facilitate foreign traffic. Bound by a common ancestral language and dialects, the geographic boundaries imposed by the now defunct colonial masters do not very well fit into the tall attitude of that rough and tough culture.

The British, who were in the habit of ruling with roaring guns, were forced to respond more positively to their roar for independence. Whether they controlled the areas as they wanted or willed, they willingly endorsed the independence of Afghanistan in 1919.

Encouraged by their victory in World War I in 1918, the British dispatched two divisions to establish their suzerainty in Afghanistan. Sporting rickety tanks and trucks and other impressive weaponry of that time, they proudly pushed their way into the heartland of Afghanistan. When everything seemed accomplished, the massive shroud that time had woven and history had unfolded from time to time closed in upon them from the peaks.

Every brave soldier was unrelentingly gunned or gutted; 39,999 of the two divisions, except a surgeon, who after being duly incapacitated was neatly tied to a steed and directed back to the area he had driven from to recount the harrowing tale of the proud British army. Only his picture survives the onslaught.

Born with a rugged peak-mentality, efforts to change the socio-cultural and psycho-political framework that history has diligently brewed are deeply resented. Any attempt to change the traditional status-quo is considered an attempt to emasculate their male ethos. The male ego that hovers high, considers such democratic endeavors as a deliberate satanic attempt to undermine the uninterrupted supremacy of the patriarchal dynasty.

"War is to man as maternity is to woman" is the order of the day, and any endeavor to change what centuries have deeply delved in their psyche is considered a deliberate attempt to violate what time itself has legislated. Whirlwinds of modernity that claim to enfranchise women are viewed as rude efforts to imbue the minds of females with dangerous, rebellious, revolutionary tendencies.

The women have to remain obedient to the dictates of the male mentality. Men eat first is the law that time itself seems to have made. In many places, women themselves seem to be content, and if not so, are forced to remain content by a known authority in the air vouchsafed by custom and tradition. Among these people, it is an accepted norm that women can be changed the way shoes are.

He-manship is apparent in the guns they prize. The worth of a man is determined by the gun he carries or owns. Since birth, gun-culture prints on the mind of children the bearing it can have on their social personality. Gun is the symbol of their manhood, freedom and history. The word freedom-fighter reverberates this deep-rooted belief. Gun is not a weapon of defense but a telling reminder of the dominant aggressive male instinct. Boys grow with this elemental pattern of thought into men with this unobtrusive ethos of culture.

Freedom, a gift of history and time, has been guarded by all kinds of weapon ranging from stone, steel and guns. They have their own ordinance factories producing a homemade brand of weapons. The quality of high-tech military hardware produced in the West is countered by strengthening prejudice and even fortifying hatred. The willful male ego readily absorbs the aggressiveness native to this attitude.

Semiotically, their deep interest in pointed projectiles is embedded in their ferocious masculinity. A monkey is shown in paintings, darting from one peak to another and in the middle of the way without having a solid rock to spring back from changes its mind, and instead of falling down in the gaping ravine below, is able to move back to the place it started from. This feat of extraordinary strength is made possible by a habitual intake of a glutinous black substance that oozes out the mountain peaks. Men become super male studs if they make use of that magical product obtained from the stubborn mountain peaks.

A strange lizard found in the mountains is often sported in the alleys. It gives out an oily substance from its mouth when it is swung from its tail and then dashed to the ground. The magical oil that comes out of the dead creature is fabled to have special potency and is an inalienable part of the male superiority and prowess sustaining culture.

Knives are loved as they depict the fundamental roughness of the frontier brag. The murderous knife that tells tales of cold-blooded brutality is whetted by their unrelenting inborn thirst for revenge. Bitter blood feuds keep vendettas alive for centuries.

Akin to this culture is what existed in the frontier America about a hundred and fifty years ago. The murderous knife of Jim Bowie and gunslingers like Jack Slade are naked references of the rough cruelty and lawlessness that reigned supreme in America at that time.

Smothering life out of a sleeping victim by crushing his head with a big boulder is considered an act of just retribution. The ferocity behind their trigger-happy, gunaholic and knife-thrusting implacable pride is their geographically sustained male ego. The Hindu Kush mountains, which means killer of Hindus, also assert their murderous authority.

The casket-shaped depiction of the historical coffin on the map shows that legions that love to flirt with history dig their own graves when they dare challenge the evil ferocity of the saw-shaped peaks that resemble the jaws of sharks.

History stands witness to the defeat of invincible empires that tried to crush the ego that thrives within the peaks. The Bermuda Triangle is just an imaginary place not shown on any official map but the Hindu Kush is a living monster that has baited superpowers to their death. About twenty years ago, the ex-Soviet Union died after being bitten by the monsters living in the peaks.

The British lost most of their Empire after thirty years of their snobbish thrust into Afghanistan at the end of World War I.

The concept and the definition of freedom as envisaged by the West is the main reason of the widening split between their way of thinking and that of Western countries. According to the peak-dwellers, Western countries try to pull wool over their eyes by talking big of their freedom. To them, the Western culture is sick, and it stinks.

According to them, the West has exploited both the human and the natural resources and has thus caused the destruction of morals and detriment of nature. Gay marriages officially recognized between same sexes both religiously and socially are a shameless violation of the laws of nature.

A man giving birth to a child may be considered a great scientific achievement by some techies but a loathsome opprobrium and insult to the time-venerated concept of woman and especially that of motherhood. The melting ices and the economic-environmental crisis are all due to selfish abuse of human and natural resources.

Freedom when applied to women means liberty to do what they desire. The rough easygoing tomboy mentality in girls is seen as an end of the coy revered beloved for whom chivalry demands a treatment par excellence. The evolvement of a male-militaristic mentality in women is debunked outright as a downright violation of the great values associated with the idealistic concept of womanhood.

The exposure of young girls to unbridled freedom through the courtesy of satellite dishes stiffens male attitude. It is not surprising to see the Taliban purging the Swat Valley of Western cultural influence, and the Pakistani government tacitly accepting and even approving their demands.

Flogging of individuals seems cruel but it is definitely less baneful than the systematic mass encroachment on their ideals of existence leashed out by the propaganda machine on their traditional values and the willful bombardment of civilians by foreign forces. If a lash that punishes an individual for the crime committed is considered barbaric, then what word can be used to describe the slaying of human life on a much greater scale in the name of democracy and the introduction of cheap, ignominious, debasing, immoral rubbish in the name of freedom, which they themselves do not approve of?

The mindset of the peak-dwellers counterbalances the idealistic with the militaristic, the propagandistic with the dogmatic, freedom with thralldom and unleashed democracy with absolute theocracy. The West and especially the new administration in the White House will do well to look at the peaks of the Hindu Kush and gaping the caverns below many times before escalating the conflict with death.

Civilians at risk in Sri Lanka, UNICEF says

2009-03-18T04:24:00.002+08:00

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 03:23:54 GMT | PressTV

Children in war-torn Sri Lanka

The UN children's agency UNICEF and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have warned of the terrible humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka.

"Children and their families caught in the conflict zone are at risk of dying from disease and malnutrition," said UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman in a statement Tuesday.

The ICRC in Colombo said that civilians in rebel-held territory endured daily attacks and an increased danger of epidemics.

"The area is affected by shelling every day, and the cramped conditions and the lack of water and proper sanitation are putting people at risk," the ICRC Colombo office said in a statement.

About 70,000 civilians are trapped in Sri Lanka's northeast along with around 500 Tamil Tiger fighters, according to the Sri Lankan government.

However, the UN said that the number could be around 200,000.

Tamil Tiger rebels have been surrounded by the Sri Lankan military in a small patch of jungle.

Another leftist wins in Latin America

2009-03-16T22:34:00.001+08:00

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 07:26:12 GMT

Mauricio Funes is a
former TV journalist

El Salvador's left-wing party candidate Mauricio Funes has won the presidential election to end the ruling of right-wing after two decades.

Right-wing candidate Rodrigo Avila conceded defeat late Sunday.

Funes from the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) won 51.3% of the vote.

"My party, the FMLN, has shown to the whole world it is ready for a new government," Funes was quoted as saying by Reuters in a victory speech.

Avila of the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), which has ruled El Salvador since 1989, trailed with 48.7% support.

It was a historic victory after a bitter campaign that split the small Central American nation, where memories of the 1980-92 civil war that killed 75,000 people are still strong.

The victory boosts a growing group of left-wingers in Latin America, led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

It is also a defeat for Washington after spending billions of dollars in supporting a string of right-wing governments in the fight against the FMLN during the civil war, although Funes insists he will look for good relations with the US.

CIA report: Israel will fall in 20 years

2009-03-14T04:05:00.003+08:00

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:44:41 GMT | PressTV

International lawyer Franklin Lamb

A study conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has cast doubt over Israel's survival beyond the next 20 years.

The CIA report predicts "an inexorable movement away from a two-state to a one-state solution, as the most viable model based on democratic principles of full equality that sheds the looming specter of colonial Apartheid while allowing for the return of the 1947/1948 and 1967 refugees. The latter being the precondition for sustainable peace in the region."

The study, which has been made available only to a certain number of individuals, further forecasts the return of all Palestinian refugees to the occupied territories, and the exodus of two million Israeli - who would move to the US in the next fifteen years.

"There is over 500,000 Israelis with American passports and more than 300,000 living in the area of just California," International lawyer Franklin Lamb said in an interview with Press TV on Friday, adding that those who do not have American or western passport, have already applied for them.

"So I think the handwriting at least among the public in Israel is on the wall...[which] suggests history will reject the colonial enterprise sooner or later," Lamb stressed.

He said CIA, in its report, alludes to the unexpectedly quick fall of the apartheid government in South Africa and recalls the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, suggesting the end to the dream of an 'Israeli land' would happen 'way sooner' than later.

The study further predicts the return of over one and a half million Israelis to Russia and other parts of Europe, and denotes a decline in Israeli births whereas a rise in the Palestinian population.

Lamb said given the Israeli conduct toward the Palestinians and the Gaza strip in particular, the American public -- which has been voicing its protest against Tel Aviv's measures in the last 25 years -- may 'not take it anymore'.

Some members of the US Senate Intelligence Committee have been informed of the report.

Olmert pronounces Greater Israel dead

2009-03-14T03:40:00.002+08:00

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says the idea of "Greater Israel"-- the main motto of the Zionist founders of the Israeli regime-- is dead.

"'Greater Israel' is finished. There is no such thing as that anymore. Whoever talks in those terms is only deluding himself," the prime minister admitted at a cabinet meeting.

"It doesn't help Israel. The international community has changed its perspective ahead of the possibility of Israel becoming a bi-national state," he said.

" I believed that the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean was all ours since in every place there that is excavated, there is evidence of Jewish History. But finally, after a lot of suffering and misgivings, I came to the conclusion that we need to share the land with whom we are residing if we don't want to become a bi-national state," Olmert said.

The premier also warned that the clock is "not ticking in Israel's favor."

The remarks came as the Israeli regime faces one of its worst political crises in its history. While Olmert is likely to be indicted over his corruption cases, the ruling Kadima Party is grappling with a power struggle.

The 33-day war against Lebanon during which Hezbollah managed to prevent the regime from achieving its goals, also dealt a serious blow to Israel.

revisited : excerpt Sun, 14 Sep 2008 19:36:07 GMT | PressTV

Tsvangirai: Fatal car crash genuine

2009-03-11T22:32:00.001+08:00

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:30:29 GMT | PressTV

File photo of Morgan (L)
and Susan Tsvangirai

Zimbabwe's premier says that the car crash which killed his wife has been an accident after reportedly hinting that it had been planned.

"There is a one in a thousand chance that there was foul play,” said Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday almost dismissing that the incident had been premeditated, African Press Agency reported.

The fatal accident took place on Friday on the highway from the capital, Harare to Masvingo where Tsvangirai and his wife, Susan, were traveling in a three-car convoy. A Semi reportedly veered off its lane hitting their middle vehicle and causing it to roll over several times.

The prime minister sustained non-threatening injuries, but lost his wife and driver.

Later, Tsvangirai told officials from his party the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) that the lorry had deliberately moved into their lane, LeadershipNigeria website reported.

"If there had been a police escort maybe what happened Friday could not have happened," said the MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti speaking at a Friday press conference.

"(The) Police escort would have warned oncoming vehicles of a VIP arriving. I think authorities must understand the omission."

"We hope that this omission will be rectified, that the prime minister must be given the protection that ought to be accorded to a prime minister."

Yesterday, the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) in South Africa also expressed doubts.

"(We are) deeply suspicious as to the cause of the crash coming less than a month after Mr. Tsvangirai was sworn in as prime minister and with Mr. Tsvangirai having been a victim of multiple political assassination attempts," said the party in a statement.

Tsvangirai's row with President Robert Mugabe has been implicated in the case. The two have just set aside their differences after last year's presidential election which saw Mugabe controversially extending his 20-year-old rule over Zimbabwe.

MDC also argues that the ruling regime has done without many of his supporters in a 'systematic terror campaign'.

Guantanamo detainees admit to orchestrating 9/11

2009-03-10T17:56:00.000+08:00

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:49:40 GMT | PressTV

The world-changing attacks of 9/11 on the World Trade Center in New York killed some 3000 American civilians.

Five detainees at Guantanamo Bay charged with plotting the 9/11 attacks have accepted responsibility for the deaths of nearly 3,000 people.

Five men held in the notorious US prison camp have filed a document admitting that they belonged to a consultative assembly responsible for planning the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

According to the New York Times, the five detainees, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who has described himself as the mastermind of the attacks, have "expressed pride at their accomplishment".

An unnamed government official, who had access to the document, told a reporter that the inmates believed the American government's accusations had brought no shame on them.

"To us," read the document, "they are not accusations. To us they are a badge of honor, which we carry with honor."

The military judge presiding over the case, Col. Stephen R. Henley of the Army, said the strategic aim of filing the document is not clear and the men have sought no specific legal action.

President Barack Obama issued an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp on his first day in office. He, however, added that the order would take a considerable amount of time to be operational.

As a result of the presidential command, all the military proceedings at Guantanamo have been halted and the case of the five men is on hiatus until the government decides on how to proceed.

Dalai Lama: Tibetans suffer 'hell on earth'

2009-03-10T17:38:00.008+08:00

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:38:12 GMT | PressTV

Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama has accused China of having caused "untold suffering and destruction" to the Himalayan region since the March 1959 revolt.

"These thrust Tibetans into such depths of suffering and hardship that they literally experienced hell on earth," the Tibetan spiritual leader said Tuesday on the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising.

In a speech broadcast via the Internet to exiles and supporters worldwide, the 73-year-old Dalai Lama said justice "will prevail" for Tibet.

Buddhist monks led peaceful protests in Lhasa in 2008 on the anniversary of the Tibetan protest 50 years ago, but the demonstration transformed into a wide-scale anti-China insurrection.

Tibetan exiles say more than 200 people were killed last year by Chinese security forces.

Beijing says the Tibetan spiritual leader seeks independence for Tibet, while the Dalai Lama maintains he only wants more autonomy within China.

"From time immemorial, the Tibetan and Chinese peoples have been neighbors," the Dalai Lama said from the main Buddhist temple in Dharamsala, the north Indian town where the Tibetan government-in-exile is based.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman has reacted to the Dalai Lama's comments, describing them as "lies".

"I will not respond to the Dalai Lama's lies," Ma Zhaoxu told reporters.

"The Dalai Lama clique is confusing right and wrong. They are spreading rumors. The democratic reforms (under Chinese rule) are the widest and most profound reforms in Tibetan history," Ma said.

China reacts to 'illegal' US navy operations

2009-03-10T16:48:00.013+08:00

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 07:48:11 GMT | PressTV

China responds to US claims that its ship was harassed, accusing Washington of illegally surveying off its southern island of Hainan.

The Chinese embassy in Washington issued a statement on Monday in response to Pentagon claims that one of its ocean surveillance ships was shadowed aggressively in international waters.

"The US navy vessel concerned has been in China's special economic zone conducting illegal surveying activities," the website of Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television quoted Beijing as saying in the statement on Tuesday.

"China cannot accept these baseless accusations. China demands that the United States halt all illegal surveying activities," reads the statement.

According to the Pentagon, five Chinese vessels maneuvered dangerously close to a US Navy ship in the South China Sea -- about 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Hainan Island -- on Sunday, approaching within 25 feet (8 meters) of the unarmed surveillance ship.

China says it has repeatedly used diplomatic means to demand that the US side halt its activities in the Chinese special economic zone -- where Beijing authorities have also sent vessels to carry out law enforcement activities.

The Chinese embassy also rejected the US claim that it had been operating in the high seas, adding that the Chinese government would issue a formal statement about the incident.

Republican Congress member Mark Kirk said "It's surprising in that the Chinese challenged a United States ship just two and a half weeks before the Obama/Hu Jintao summit" scheduled to be held in London in April.

Kirk recalled a similar challenge against former president George W. Bush just two months after he took office in January 2001 and urged a forceful response from the Obama administration.

He suggested that Washington once again send its surveillance ship USS Impeccable to the region escorted by a destroyer to send a clear message that it cannot be bullied in international waters.

US-China Working Group in the US House of Representatives will formally condemn the confrontation in a "strongly worded letter" to Chinese President Hu Jintao, Kirk continued.