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Dr. Death - Thailand

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

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

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.

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

Cowboys Vs Red Indians - in this 21 century.

'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

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.

(c)  socialistworker

Penan''s Battle

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Eradicating world hunger

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

Democracy gone wrong.

The recent history of Ethiopia.

What is alJazeera preparing for & for whom?

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 .

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

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

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.

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.