So finally the Ayodhya Mandir/Babri Masjid or Liberhan commission report as it is popularly called, is out in the open and its contents “leaked”…(yeah right).
Rab ek hai,sab mazhab ek hain (God is one, all religions are one)
Mazhab ki ek zabaan hoti hai, aman ki(All religions speak one language, language of unity) Anekta me Ekta (Unity in Diversity) and yet our socio-political blood suckers try to divide man,his religion and his God.
Hindu,Muslim,Sikh, Isaai, apas me sab Bhai Bhai (Hindu Muslim,Sikh and Christians are all brothers) is what we are taught in school and by the time we are able enough to understand the reality of life, each of us are forced into religious segragation…Tu Muslim,main Hindu(You are a Muslim and I am a Hindu).
Every person is judged on the basis of his/her religion or caste, when in reality these people we call “Politicians” belong to the most lowest and demeaning religion/caste – the religion of hypocricy,corruption,lies, a.k.a. Politics.
Lord Raam was an avatar of Lord Vishnu, the preserver of earth and humanity, but on December 6, 1992, when the land, disputed to be Lord Raam’s birthplace saw demolition of another holy shrine(The Babri Mosque) in the name of Hindutva, Humanity died that very day and every level minded person who questioned this barbaric act and its need, breathed these two words with a sad and low voice – Hey Raam!

My country isn’t the best.

You have to work hard

to get a pair of pants.

You have to leave your

home and go it alone.

If you get sick or lose your job

no one will give a damn unless

it is an election year.

If you ask for help you’ll get

a bag of canned goods and told

to get a job.

Lots of people want to come here

and live the American dream.

Lots of people who live here

wish they knew what it was.

The military goes out and does things

that most of us never learn about

Until thirty years later or when

someone finds the bodies in the mass grave.

You don’t even want to know

what we’ve done in the name of freedom

and progress.  It’d make your stomach turn

All over the world there are jokes about

us only caring about money.

Its true.  We care about money.

Without it we are homeless

landless creeps starving and driven

to madness and we are incarcerated.

Without a job or some money

we can’t get our cancer treated

or sleep in peace. In my country

citizens kill hobos they catch

sleeping outside.

People all over think we

have it so good but really only

the wealthy and blood thirsty have

it real good here.  Its not for everyone

but it is better to be here than somewhere

that has something that our leaders

want because they’ll bomb your village

or rape your innocence.  They’ll kill

and then say it was an accident of one ours

They’ll tell us you are evil.

Then they will tell

us they’ll give us money if

we do our part for their war of more

and do the worst to you and your evil

And some of us do.

We are tricked by greed

We want a better life

We want to be heroes

We want money

We want to kill the wicked

We see war and death and blood

as a necessary foul.

Its how we feed our babies

My country is not the best

unless you are comfortable

working in the morally grey

*diambil dari blog saya di geeks*

Ada dua berita sore ini yang menarik. Menlu Hassan Wirajuda dalam acara peresmian Program Duta Belia 2008 di hadapan para Duta Belia 2008 mengatakan, ” Menjadi manusia yang unggul bukanlah pilihan, namun kewajiban bagi kalian.” Uh hebat ya kalimat pembangkit semangatnya.

Sedang berita kedua adalah tentang kampanye mendukung ibu menyusui yang diselenggarakan di Jayapura. Di situ dijelaskan bahwa Inisiasi Menyusui Dini (IMD) dapat mengurangi resiko kematian pada bayi yang baru lahir. IMD akan menyelamatkan sekurangnya 30.000 bayi Indonesia. Dua berita itu jadi saling berkait. Yang satu kewajiban menjadi manusia unggul, yang satunya bagaimana menjadi manusia unggul.

Walaupun ASI itu baik, tapi ternyata di Indonesia hanya 40% bayi yang mendapat ASI Eksklusif selama 6 bulan. Ibu-ibu yang habis masa cutinya mungkin hanya bisa memberi ASI eksklusif 3 bulan saja. Padahal pasti ibu-ibu bekerja ini masih ingin memberikan yang terbaik buat bayinya. Cuma karena tuntutan pekerjaan, bayi akhirnya mengalah minum susu formula selama ibu di kantor.

Sebelum melangkah lebih lanjut, saya yakin sekali 99% dari pengakses geeks adalah bapak-bapak. Mangkanya, saya mau agar para bapak-bapak ini sadar bahwa keberhasilan ASI eksklusif ini juga sangat bergantung dari para bapak. Untuk anaknya sendiri, bapak-bapak bisa membantu memberi semangat kepada istri masing-masing. Bisa juga membantu menepuk-nepuk pundak bayi setelah menyusui agar bayi bisa bersendawa. Pijitin dong istrinya, karena menyusui itu capek banget. Pokoknya istrinya di-servis deh. Jangan malah lirik-lirik yang lain. Nah, kalau suaminya bertindak menyenangkan begini, istri akan senang, makannya tambah banyak, ASI nya tambah lancar, dan bayinya dapat gizi yang maksimal.

Untuk lingkungan, terutama di kantor, bagus banget kalau bapak-bapak bisa mengusulkan adanya ruangan maternity di kantor buat ibu-ibu yang masih masa menyusui, bagusnya dilengkapi dengan kulkas. Di sana ibu-ibu nyaman bisa memerah susu pada saat istirahat, sehingga bisa diberikan buat bayinya pada saat ibunya bekerja.

Sekarang ini banyak ibu-ibu bekerja yang memerah susunya di toilet ! Ya karena tempat yang paling aman cuma toilet. Sedang kita tahu toilet itu sarangnya kuman. Ironis, kan. Kalau di kantor punya ruangan sendiri ya nggak masalah bisa lebih privat. Atau para sekretaris yang bisa nebeng ruang bos nya kalau bos nya lagi ngga ada. Selebihnya paling ke toilet.Hal ini membuat ibu-ibu nggak merasa nyaman, yang berakibat ASI nya keluar tidak lancar.

Lihat deh kalau punya persediaan susu seperti ini. Ini ASI semua ,lho. Cuma dari seorang ibu saja ! Ibu ini bekerja juga,malah sering dapat tugas sampai malam dan mobile ke clientnya hampir tiap hari.  Botol ASI bukan bagian depannya saja, tapi sampai ke pojok-pojoknya refrigerator isinya ASI semua.  Ngga perlu beli susu formula yang mahal. ASI ini kalau di refrigerator akan awet dalam waktu 3 bulan, jadi jangan takut cepat rusak. Kalau mau diminumkan ke bayi tinggal di normalkan suhunya sampai cair, lalu rendam air panas biar hangat.

Kebetulan si ibu ini adalah adik saya yang kerja di kantor yang mendukung program ASI eksklusif. Bravo, ya Rini ! Saya kasih penghargaan sebesar-besarnya kepada Indosat, tempat Rini bekerja.

Nah, bapak-bapak yang ada di geeks, coba deh pengaruhi manajemen kantor masing-masing untuk bisa mendukung program ASI Eksklusif.

Kita sebagai orang tua pasti ingin memberikan yang terbaik buat anak kita. Apakah nanti mereka menjadi anak-anak yang unggul atau biasa-biasa saja, setidaknya orang tua sudah berusaha semaksimal mungkin,memberikan yang terbaik buat mereka.

You are sitting in your living room, minding you own business, reading a news paper, while you wife is busy cooking food and your kids are playing in the next room.
Suddenly some one enters your house slaps you on the face, hits you wife and kids for no reason, what will you do?
In most cases you too will react and hit that guy back.But had it been for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, we would’ve been expected to invite the guy to hit once more on the other side of the face without even asking the fault.Non-violence is not the answer to anything.Humming the tune of Non-Violence or Ahimsa is disgrace to sacrifices made by martyrs like Rani Lakshmi Bai, Tantya Tope, Bhagat Singh, etc.
This country can no longer be called Hindustan or the place of Hindus because unfortunately, Hindus are the most oppressed people than other communities.This is the only country the world which turned a significantly major community into a minority to support other communities who have done nothing for the progress of the nation.
Signatures that divided a nation still has its reprecussions, people are still being killed.The fire which was lighted more than 60 years ago has still not died down and it will not die down till the people of this country raise thier voices against every injustice being done to them.Be it Political Party A, B or C no one is good enough to lead this nation.
Our country has been robbed time and again by rulers from different countries or of other races. We are still being robbed today by these political parties day after day.
Ask your self, do you really deserve to live in this nation, which will soon come to the verge of more partitions and bloodshed?

http://www.dukhsukh.com/2008/10/nathuram-godse%E2%80%99s-speech-at-trialhis-principle-of-peace-was-bogus-gopal-godse/

India has for long been suffering from a problem, no it is not a disease, but something which can be dangerous in the long run.I ask why, why do we Indians have to do stuff the easy way out, why are we so lazy to set things right once and for all.Why do we have to wait until someone points out, look at the garbage on the road or look its a man urinating openly or look at that car which just jumped a red light.

India is gearing for the Commonwealth Games 2010, but had it not been for the games would we have ever got good stadiums, would we have ever got better looking city, cleaner roads and greener parks…the answer is a plain and simple NO.

Just like an ostrich which after burying its head in the sand thinks, no one can see it, we too have a habit of closing our eyes for everything which is ugly around us, be it politics, be it social problems, be it lack of civic ameneties, be it poor infrastructure (for which my friends we pay taxes for)and we imagine we are not a part of it and henceforth we have this “CHALTA HAI YAAR” Attitude.

If the Municipal Corporation Sweeper near your house does not pick the garbage from outside your house, its your kids who can fall sick,if the potholes outside are not taken care off, its your parents who can get hurt falling in it.Why does it not matter to YOU is beyond me, my friend, open your eyes, War of Independence is not just a chapter or an incident in our history books and it was surely not fought for educated people like us to just go with the flow and not raising our voices against unjust practices.

WAKE UP BEFORE ITS TOO LATE!

Religion, I reiterate holds very little meaning to me but this does not prevent me from respecting another person’s right of worship. What irks me are some believers who in all their hubris and fervor, attempt to marginalize and label people who do not share their faith.

I encourage my two kids to seek their own path when it comes to spiritual development and to explore various belief systems, including mainstream religion. They are cautioned not to judge although sometimes this is easier said than done. Nevertheless, JJ goes for Christian cell meetings (I think more for social rather than redemption reasons) some Fridays and according to him, is still looking. Krystyn is in her own New Age world.

Both of them attended government schools their entire primary and secondary school years in the 90s till this decade and were exposed to the full force of government sponsored racial polarization; it was a Malay (therefore, Muslim) versus a non-Malay situation.

They both have close friends of various faiths including Malay Muslims and growing up in the Malaysia of these two decades, it suffices to say, my kids do not comment on Islam. Their years in government schools have conditioned them to just “zip it” in the face of over-zealous Muslim teachers and fellow students. I suspect it is not so much because of Islam per se but more about them being non-Muslim which compounds the differentiation imposed under the NEP between bumiputra and non-bumiputra.

It is also not because they know very much about Islam but it suffices to say the impression they have precludes any possibility of them ever choosing to convert. They probably feel they would only be Muslim if born into the faith and I dare say they would even avoid marrying a Muslim to avoid conversion or having their kids being born in a Muslim family.

That is sad because I think my kids do not have totally the right impression and as a parent, I am party to the blame. Having been born in 1959 and though still young then, I know Malaysia in the breezy 60s was a far cry from the religiosity of the succeeding decades. I know of many successful inter-marriages and have many good Malay friends. Yet I have seen my Muslim Malay friends change over the years just as I have seen the Malay Muslim change during that time.

But if Islam has been around for more than 1300 years and the Malays perhaps even longer, then what is it that really changed? Perhaps it is the Malays’ impression of Islam that has changed. This is evident in the siege mentality that creates the proclivity to “defend” Islam at the slightest turn. This paranoia-induced defensiveness in turn resulted in the insularity that shuts out all others to the point that many Muslim Malays feel that non-Muslims have no right to even talk about Islam.

This was perfect for the divide-and-rule concept of race-based politics and the BN encouraged it by allowing our children to be drawn apart by race and religion; their unity message lip-service against the reality of blatant racists actions is sickening. Everything done by the government in the name of Islam was deemed positive and this eventually allowed opportunities for certain Islamic fundamentalists and zealots in government Islamic affairs departments (e.g. JAIS, JAKIM, etc.) to “hijack” moderate Islam and impose their brand on the masses.

Now it appears the Islamists are testing the strength of Najib on matters of religion by their recent treatment of the moderate former Mufti of Perlis, Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin. But the fact that there are now open differing opinions amongst the Islamic intelligentsia about the ongoing tussle is refreshing and hopeful. Will moderation triumph over extremism?

How the government reacts will decide whether the country needs to merely pose or becomes a true model “moderate” Muslim country. Will moderate politicians continue to cower in silence for fear of being labelled as anti-God, anti-Islam and anti-syariah, or will the masses be blinded by opportunistic ones who shamelessly and dangerously fly the flag of Islam to advance their short-term political agenda? Will it ultimately be Malaysian civil society that has to show courageous civic leadership where political leadership has failed us?

Divide and rule race-based politics has turned on itself and evolved into creeping class-based politics that ultimately divided even the Malays! The excesses of the elitist coterie; the UMNOputras and their multi-racial BN cronies have alienated the urban Malay voters. How else to explain that after GE12 there was an increase in the total number of Malay Parliamentarians but many were in the Opposition. There was no erosion of Malay representation in Parliament! Malay politics now faces a political war for the Malay rural heartland which is the traditional UMNO stronghold.

However, on the Islamic front there is a war raging for the Malay hearts. With PAS trying to curb extremism and stand by its PR partners, it is not too late for Najib to win bouquets by coming out with a bold declaration what moderate Islam he envisages his 1Malaysia to advocate.

I hope my Malay (Muslim) brethren will decide well for ALL Malaysians in this epic moment of this nation’s history. It is no longer just about political wars but a war for the nation’s soul.

This article by Zainah Anwar in yesterday’s The Star is a must read.

Whither moderation?

SHARING THE NATION by ZAINAH ANWAR

The arrest of a progressive ulama has plunged many Malay sians into further despair that this country is hurtling towards an implosion but it may prove a blessing in disguise.

What else needs to happen before our political leaders on both sides of the divide find the will and courage to walk the talk of seeing a plural, diverse Malaysia as a source of strength and not a threat?

That a former mufti who holds progressive views and challenges the conservative religious authorities could be arrested and treated as if he was Noordin Mat Top just shows how far those pushing for an Islamic state and syariah supremacy are willing to go to ensure that their rigid and intolerant understanding of Islam prevails.

That this arrest and attacks on Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin led by the Malaysian Asso ciation of Syariah Lawyers (PGSM) and its Islamist allies, including Muslim Youth Move ment of Malaysia (Abim) and Jemaah Islah Malaysia (JIM), should take place now is clearly a concerted effort to test the strength of the new Prime Minister on matters of religion.

Similarly, these Islamists have also relaunched another round of attacks against Sisters in Islam by reportedly lodging over 50 police reports against the group and holding public forums, this time led by the extremist Hizbur Tahrir, a global Islamist group intent on reviving the Islamic Caliphate.

Speaking his mind: Dr Asri, a former mufti, was accused of illegally delivering a religious talk in Selangor.

Little known in Malaysia, but banned or investigated in other countries, the Malaysian branch of Hizbur Tahrir has become more public in its activities, with banners in various neighbourhoods and announcements of events in mosques after Friday prayers.

For years now, the Islamic state ideologues have been pushing the boundaries of the forbidden in Malaysia. They have been relentless in their attacks on those working on women’s rights and fundamental liberties as guaranteed by the Federal Constitution and in pushing for the expansion of syariah jurisdiction in Malaysia.

They include areas such as freedom of religion, the right of the non-converting wife and children when a husband converts to Islam, moral policing, book banning, seizure of Bibles written in Bahasa Malaysia, fatwa on kongsi raya, yoga, pluralism, liberalism, to the sprouting of Islamist NGOs under all manner of names signing all kinds of petitions against fundamental liberties.

From matters such as making police reports against progressive groups and individuals, to holding rallies and seminars with inflammatory titles such as “Islam Di Hina”, “Umat Islam diCabar”, “Bahaya Murtad”, “Bahaya Islam Liberal”, the Govern ment and the opposition have largely failed to support the moderate social forces of Malay sian society.

While moderate politicians cower in silence in fear of being labelled as anti-God, anti-Islam and anti-syariah, or opportunistic ones shamelessly and dangerously fly the flag of Islam to advance their short-term political agenda, it is Malaysian civil society that has shown courageous civic leadership where political leadership has failed us.

Now that a religious leader from within the establishment has become the target of these intolerant Islamist forces inside and outside government, will the political leadership finally show the courage needed to act?

What kind of Islam does the Prime Minister envi sage in his 1Malaysia? Certainly not the Islam of the Selangor State Religious Depart ment (JAIS) and the PGSM who accused Dr Asri of all manner of dastardly insults to Islam as they perceive it.

While the arrest of Dr Asri plunged many Malaysians into further despair that this country is hurtling towards an implosion, I think it is actually a blessing in disguise.

It is obvious that both the JAIS and the PGSM and their Islamist allies have made a tactical error, underestimating the popular support that Dr Asri and his ideas enjoy in this country.

It is time for the silent majority of moderate Muslims in Malaysia to speak out. Certain ly Dr Asri’s supporters at the Mahkamah Syariah Gombak on Monday stood up to be counted.

While Dr Asri talked of “hidden hands” behind his arrest, neither the federal government nor the Selangor state government claims responsibility for this display of state power against a former mufti.

What could be the motive when a state religious authority combined with federal law and order forces display heavy-handed powers to arrest an Islamic scholar for his progressive ideas that challenge the authoritaria­nism of Islam in Malaysia? Who called the shots? Who really is in control?

For me, this debacle is once again evidence of the unenforceability of the invasive powers of the Syariah Criminal Offence laws of this country. In this instance, the provision that makes it an offence for anyone to teach Islam without certification (tauliah) from the state religious authorities.

When is someone teaching Islam and when is he not? Who has the authority to decide on that? What are the criteria that constitute teaching of Islam? On what basis are some certified to teach Islam, some are not, some are prosecuted while many more others can freely preach hatred, racial ill-will, and miso gyny in the name of Islam?

Just listen to the ceramahs amplified over loudspeakers for all in the neighbourhood to hear, even when you don’t want to.

Then there is the larger issue of whether this specific provision restricting freedom of speech is against Islamic principles that uphold diversity and differences in Islam and against constitutional guarantees of fundamental liberties.

Yet again, the enforcement of this ill-advised, badly drafted syariah law with its wide range of “sins” turned into crimes against the state and restrictions over the exercise of fundamental freedoms has led to public outrage.

There is an obvious disconnect between public opinion and societal values on what constitutes fair and just in Islam, and the intolerant, punitive, misogynistic Islam of those who conveniently use God’s authority to justify despotism in the name of Islam.

As more foreign scholars and journalists come to Malaysia to study this supposedly model “moderate” Muslim country, they go away surprised at the range of laws, mechanisms and structures in the name of Islam that control and restrict Muslim rights and freedoms.

They are shocked that a modern country like Malaysia could have unprecedented laws that make it a crime if one disobeys a fatwa, that turn moral obligations before God into legal obligations before the state, that turn sins into crimes, that confuse what is haram (forbidden), wajib (obligatory), sunat (recommended), harus (permissible) and makruh(discouraged) in its laws.

That Dr Asri could be accused of being a Wahhabi, at the same time a liberal, a progressive, a radical, is just one measure of that confusion and ignorance in Malaysia.

It is not possible to be liberal or progressive and Wahhabi at the same time. If at all, those who signed the memorandum written by the PGSM are the Wahhabi followers.

The puritanical Wahhabi movement which spread throughout the Muslim world over the past few decades, fuelled by Saudi petro-dollars, negates the diversity and complexity of the Muslim juristic heritage.

Dr Asri’s position on issues such as freedom of religion, differences of opinion in Islam, the imperative for reform, his criticisms of the delays and bias against women in the syariah courts, of khalwat laws and invasion of privacy, book banning and fatwa against yoga and kongsi raya have put him on the wrong side of the conservatives who dominate the religious bureaucracy and the Islamic state ideologues and their supremacist thinking.

Dr Asri is no Wahhabi. And it is obvious who the Wahhabis in the Malaysian political scene are.

The Egyptian legal scholar, Khaled Abou El-Fadl, wrote that while submission to God is at the core of the Islamic creed, this does not mean blind submission to those who claim to represent God’s law.

For too long in this country, those who claim to speak in God’s name have cowed too many into silent submission and perpetual ignorance. For too long, our political leaders have not shown the courage or the will to fully deal with the threat posed by these religious zealots within government and their own parties.

What is desperately needed now is leadership, courage, and vision to stand up for what is right for Malaysia – that there is no place in a country like ours for an Islam that is punitive, cruel, misogynistic, and intolerant.

More than any other country in the world, Malaysia with its historical embrace of all races and religions, its celebration of diversity and pluralism, its gentler and kinder Islam, plus its economic success story and its political stability should be better placed to lead the Muslim world into a modern and prosperous age in the midst of extremism, calamities and despair that beset the ummah.

It is a tragedy that this government has poured hundreds of millions into numerous religious institutions supposedly to enable Malaysia to take the lead as a model moderate Muslim country – only to find its Islamic agenda hijacked by the very ideology that has contributed to the decay of other Muslim countries, where Muslims killing other Muslims for their belief and political affiliation have become the norm.

God forbid that is the future of Malaysia.

As all the political leaders seem to agree that the country is at a turning point, that their party members must change and face difficult realities of a changing and diverse electorate, of a globalised competitive world that waits for no man, of the rise of China and India, can they also please embrace the reality that an Islam of kindness and compassion, of diversity and differences, of equality and justice constitute what it means to be Muslim in the 21st century?

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Ex-mufti: Conspiracy not political, but religious

Former Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin has claimed that a ‘conspiracy’ authored by religious authorities might have led to his arrest on Sunday night.

In an interview with Malaysiakini today, the 38-year-old Islamic scholar dismissed the possibility that there were political elements involved.

Asri said that his vocal and critical views against some religious authorities could have ruffled feathers, resulting in him being targeted.

He was also mystified by the large number of police personnel and officials from the Selangor Islamic Department (Jais) who were deployed to arrest him.

“It does not make any sense that there were more than 10 police personnel and 30 Jais officers during my arrest. It looks as if they were arresting a terrorist!” he lamented.

“And at the court the next morning, there was still nothing, no charges, or investigation,” he added.

Asri was arrested after delivering a religious discourse at a bungalow in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, on the grounds that he had no authorisation to do so.

Among others who had attended the talk were Ampang PKR MP Zuraida Kamaruddin and Hulu Kelang state assemblyperson Saari Sungib.

His arrest drew flak from various quarters, including Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

It was speculated that his detention could have been related to his proposed appointment as the new president of the Islamic Da’wah Foundation of Malaysia.

His appointment was opposed by the Syarie Lawyers Association of Malaysia (PGSM) on the grounds that he had insulted certain Islamic scholars.

The association had also sent a memorandum, backed by the 13 Muslim non-governmental organisations, to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on this matter.

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Blogger Rapera has this to add:

Can Islamic issues be discussed without the permission of the religious authorities?

Dr Mohd Asri’s recent debacle with Jais has raised very pertinent questions for the Nation as a whole. Initially reports seem to suggest that his dramatic arrest (there were almost 30 police personnel and Jais officers) concerns him delivering a lecture on Islam without a “tauliah”. For all practical purposes, a “tauliah” will denote permission from the relevant religious authorities to lecture on “matters Islamic”. This need for permission from religious authorities before someone can speak on Islamic matters raises serious issues.

Peace!

Asri arrested? Religious prosecution or persecution? Religion of politics or politics of religion?

What ever it is I am sure we will be hearing more about/from my favorite former mufti, Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin.

I suspect the government had to give him a post after he returned from Wales. After about a year doing research on Islam, Asri was appointed by the government as the head of Yayasan Dakwah Islam Malaysia (Yadim).

He is also being courted by PAS and is said to be considering the proposition. My personal view is that he should remain non-partisan and continue to comment on Islamic issues without fear or favor. Yet, he would make a good new face for PAS. On looks alone, he would be better than the current face of PAS, the (in)famous neanderthal:

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Former Perlis Mufti Detained
November 02, 2009 01:28 AM

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 (Bernama) — Former Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin was arrested while giving a religious talk at a house in Taman Sri Ukay, Hulu Klang, early Monday.

According to witnesses, Asri was arrested at 12.10am by police and the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) officers and was then taken to the Hulu Klang police station.

The talk was attended by about 100 people, including Ampang member of parliament Zuraida Kamaruddin and Hulu Klang assemblyman Saari Sungib.

Ampang district police chief ACP Abdul Jalil Hassan when contacted said police were only assisting JAIS in the operation and that he did not have details on the matter.– BERNAMA

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Former mufti battles Syarie Lawyers Association
Malaysiakini
Nov 1, 09 2:19pm

Former Perlis mufti, Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, today gave a week to the Syarie Lawyers Association of Malaysia (PGSM) to provide proof that he had insulted renowned ‘ulama’ (learned men) among them being Imam Nawawi, Imam Bukhari and Imam Ghazali.

Asri said he wanted to see for himself the writings and words that he was purportedly said to have used to insult these ‘ulama’.”

I do not want to quarrel, I just want to see the proof that shows that I insulted these imams,” he told a news conference at his home in Kuala Lumpur.

On Oct 12, PGSM had sent a memorandum to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin to withdraw Asri’s appointment as the head of the Yayasan Dakwah Islam Malaysia (Yadim) on various charges of insulting ulama.

He said he only read of the allegations through the PGSM blog this morning and was frustrated with what was said. – Bernama

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Ex-Perlis mufti challenges PGSM to prove ‘ulama insult’
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — Former Perlis mufti, Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, today gave a week to the Syarie Lawyers Association of Malaysia (PGSM) to provide proof that he had insulted renowned “ulama” (learned men) among them being Imam Nawawi, Imam Bukhari and Imam Ghazali.

Dr Asri said he wanted to see for himself the writings and words that he was purportedly said to have used to insult these “ulama”.

“I do not want to quarrel, I just want to see the proof that shows that I insulted these imams,” he told a news conference at his home here.

On Oct 12, PGSM had sent a memorandum to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin to withdraw Dr Asri’s appointment as the head of the Yayasan Dakwah Islam Malaysia (Yadim) on various charges of insulting ulama.

He said he only read of the allegations through the PGSM blog this morning and was frustrated with what was said. — Bernama

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Maverick ex-Perlis mufti to join PAS?
By Syed Jaymal Zahiid Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 — The visit by PAS religious scholar council chief, Datuk Harun Taib, to the house of Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin recently has sparked rumours about the possibility of the former Perlis mufti joining the Islamist party soon.

A blog had also published a photo of Harun’s visit to Asri’s house in Penang, claiming that the PAS leader was there to invite the latter to join PAS.

Asri today confirmed the visit and invitation to join the Islamist party.

“I would take it as an invitation but I have not made up my mind,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

His participation in PAS would boost the image of the Islamist party, which has been rocked by infighting between the progressive and conservative camps.

Asri, known for his “forward thinking” and independence from the status quo, may well be a vote-puller especially among the more moderate Malay and the non-Malay electorates.
But the decision to join PAS may not sit well with certain quarters, which allegedly includes former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

An online news portal reported yesterday that Asri, purported to have a close relationship with Dr Mahathir, had met with him and asked for his opinion on the invitation.

The report further said that Dr Mahathir had objected to the idea and pleaded with Asri to remain nonpartisan.

Asri when asked about the meet only said that he “maintains good relations with all parties” and refused to comment further on the matter.

IF THIS DOES NOT WAKE UP THE AUTHORITIES, GOD KNOWS…WHAT WILL?

Afghanistan is one of the poorest nations in the world; at the same time it is the biggest producer of opium. The greatest post-conflict problem faced by Afghanistan is the dramatic and alarming growth of poppy cultivation, especially after the fall of Taliban. After the fall of Taliban, the country went into complete chaos and for the first two years of the newly formed temporary government, lead by Hamid Karzai, was only focusing on the security of the country. The government didn’t pay much attention to issues like education, roads, and especially the drug trafficking. This boom in the drug trafficking made the poppy cultivation an important part of the country’s economy. Today, about 40 per cent of the country’s economy is dependent upon the poppy cultivation. There is a decent explanation for why the drug trafficking is becoming an important part of the country’s revenue? The country is mostly dry and cultivation has become almost impossible in some parts of Afghanistan except, poppy cultivation. In the south of Afghanistan, poppy can be cultivated twice a year and it requires very little water compare to growing potatoes, apples, apricots, or other fruits which can only be grown once a year. Now in such a situation the government cannot do much to stop the poppy cultivation because there is no substitute for poppy cultivation that the government can come up with. The NATO forces and the Afghan National Army (ANA) are going after the small farmers; in this process the only person that is hurt is the farmer. The drug trafficker is not harmed because there are other farmers who will supply opium. Poppy cultivation has become the main source of income for a lot people in the south of Afghanistan, removing this income means starving thousands of families.

The drug traffickers in Afghanistan are very strong people; some are part of Karzai’s administration, some are part of the new parliament, some are part of ANA, and some are influential political people in south of Afghanistan. South of Afghanistan is majority Pashtun populated, which makes them drug lords of the country. Pashtuns of the southern Afghanistan play a very important role in drug trafficking. They control the local politics and some are part of the security in the south, which makes it very easy for them to transport and cultivate poppy.

Helmand, south of Kandahar, is the capital of opium cultivation in Afghanistan. The majority population is again Pashtuns in this province and one of the most dangerous places in Afghanistan. The annual revenue of the country that comes from poppy cultivation is about $2.8 billion dollars. The funds by the international community have gone up to fight the drug trafficking; it hasn’t help any bit except the poppy cultivation has grown more. Drug trafficking is most of the time directly designated to Pashtuns of the south or sometimes to all Pashtuns, especially inside the parliament, and it turns into family disputes.

The Taliban’s regime played a key role in the increase in drug trafficking. The only and main source of income for the Taliban government was through poppy cultivation. In the beginning of their regime, the Taliban were very relaxed because almost all of them were involved in drug trafficking. But later they banned growing poppies after the pressure from the United Nations, United States and some European countries. The drug trafficking was banned for the common man of Afghanistan but the government never stopped growing poppies because it was their only source of income. This way the Taliban government actually benefited from this decision. They made their income by taxing poppy growers in different parts of Afghanistan. “This is a windfall for anti-government forces, further evidence of the dangerous link between opium and insurgency,” said Mr. Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime .

Can we blame a man who has spent six in Sungai Buluh and I forget how many years in Kamunting as a political prisoner, for not wanting to risk that nightmare again? No, we should not because none of us in our right minds will relish what Saudara Anwar Anak Ibrahim endured. His own frantic and embarrassing scramble for refuge in the Turkish embassy when the Saiful’s buggering story first broke may indicate the fragility of his resolve and perhaps the extent of his guilt or innocence however one opines.

Yet, here is a man on whose shoulders rest the hopes of so many Malaysians (as evidenced by GE12 on 8th March 2008) who yearn for a better Malaysia; where as Malaysians we can work together as one people for the People (Ketuanan Rakyat). Can we really trust him to have overcome his personal fears and conquered his demons for us to continue to depend on him as THE icon? Or are we placing too much hopes on a mere mortal? We practically have only one roll of the dice around about 2013, and should we continue to bet on Anwar? Can we trust him not to sell us out; if he has not already done so?

The usual “who else do we have?” reason is beginning to wear thin and increasingly not able to hold water when we look more closely at the man’s performance (or rather non-performance) since GE12. At best he has been indecisive and at worse he has seemed impotent. Granted he did bring PAS, DAP and PKR together but now he seems to put himself on a pedestal above the numerous highly public disagreements between the three. Is it because he said, “semua anak dia” that he is posturing as a doting father who spares the rod? Well, he has come out looking wishy washy more than anything else.

I have wondered whether behind the scenes Pakatan Rakyat is gearing up and consolidating to face further challenges to the foothold it gained in GE12 and for GE13, whether it is about to spring a counter-thrust of visionary proportions to what UMNO (forget BN) is doing to show it has begun its process of change for the better. PR has 4 States yet so far ordinary people in those states are yet to see pertinent change compared to the previous BN government. It appears those states had a change of government for the sake of change. The PR governments still suffer from opposition camp mentality and are still harping on past BN misdeeds instead of making waves with ground breaking changes. Lim Guan Eng is perhaps the only one walking the pre-GE12 talk to a certain extent.

Well I do not expect the mainstream media to report accurately on PR achievements but certainly if there was anything exciting we would see it in the alternative net media. Instead we see dissension and squabbles which was earlier attributed to testimony that democracy is thriving in PR. We could accept that earlier but a trend is developing and we look to Saudara Anwar Anak Ibrahim for leadership and answers. It appears Saudara Anwar is better at politicking and not as adept at governing. Yet, what he has allowed to brew over in Sabah about who should head Sabah PKR is not comforting. In hindsight, big bullfrogs from Sabah were supposed to be leaping over to PR on 16th September last year but if Anwar cannot even keep his own Sabah team in line what was he bull crapping about last year at Kelana Stadium?

The “new” Anwar was touted as a visionary but that image too is dimming! He is well adviced to remember the rakyat voted for PR in GE12 because they wanted change for the better and in subsequent by-elections they voted PR because they just did not want BN. Bagan Pinang is the wake up call because the rakyat is fed up that Saudara Anwar Anak Ibrahim does not appear to know how to be a good father.

For now, I will wait for the other anak Ibrahim, Zaid’s Common Policy Framework (CPF) which PR will use to drive its long-promised agenda for change and reform. If Zaid can still views Anwar as a viable leader then I suppose we can give the latter a bit more time at least until the CPF. However, if the CPF turns out to be a limp dick because it is too lofty for the political class, then Saudara Anwar Anak Ibrahim may indeed be of more useful to the drive for reform by being in jail; accused of being an asshole bandit. A martyr is always a good rallying focus!

The likes of another anak Ibrahim i.e. Haris are also probably waiting to see if PR will collectively re-endorse Ketuanan Rakyat ideals through the CPF. Judging from his latest blogpost he is obviously already disillusioned.

Personally my ambivalent views on Saudara Anwar Anak Ibrahim remains ambivalent. See:

http://nocturnal-mind.blogspot.com/2009/09/bmi-third-force.html

http://nocturnal-mind.blogspot.com/2009/08/unfamiliar-familiar-umno-voice.html

http://nocturnal-mind.blogspot.com/2009/02/saudara-anwar-bin-ibrahimcukup-lah.html

http://nocturnal-mind.blogspot.com/2009/02/cracks-so-soon-what-else-is-new.html

http://nocturnal-mind.blogspot.com/2009/02/stand-up-if-you-hate-frencherr-froggies.html

http://nocturnal-mind.blogspot.com/2009/01/obama-answers-mahathir-yeahyou-wish.html

http://nocturnal-mind.blogspot.com/2008/11/saudara-anwar-bin-ibrahimapa-lu-mau.html

http://nocturnal-mind.blogspot.com/2008/10/saudara-anwar-bin-ibrahim-ii.html

http://nocturnal-mind.blogspot.com/2008/08/saudara-anwar-ibrahim.html

http://nocturnal-mind.blogspot.com/2008/07/hear-hear.html

We must all be bored with this term EGM (Emergency General Meeting) by now. The MCA had theirs two weeks ago and before that the word had been bandied around as if it was the panacea for all MCA ills.

But when Najib brokered a so-called “peace pact” between OTK and CSL, that EGM is consigned to the annals of MCA history as what many now term the “MCA EGM Fiasco”.

Since both sides lost in the EGM, OTK should have quit and CSL should have called it quits! However, they now decide to “kiss and make up” and it makes a mockery of the EGM. Two wrongs do not make one right. In any case, with the political irrelevance of MCA today, whatever happens in MCA is but a storm in the teacup. Who the fcuk cares who leads MCA anyway?

Now, the other EGM that is of total relevance to the country and all Malaysians is the EGM that PAS Spiritual Leader, Dato’ Nik Aziz is insisting on convening. The results of this EGM will reverberate. This will decide whether we will be on course to becoming a Turkey or an Iran. It could also seal the fate of Barisan Nasional.

The Malaysian Insider has this insightful article:

Nik Aziz crafts an ultimatum for PAS

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 — Even in a season where reform has become the most hackneyed word in the politician’s lexicon, Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat’s gambit in calling for an extraordinary general meeting for PAS has perhaps gone the furthest in defining the Malaysian political spectrum.

By proposing an EGM the PAS spiritual leader is effectively calling for fresh polls to weed out “problematic leaders”, his euphemism for the conservative spine of the party whom he feels are not totally committed to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition.

Ultimately, he is pushing for PAS to be clear once-and-for-all about its agenda and where it stands.

In doing so, the Kelantan Mentri Besar is pushing forward a proposal which is more substantive than the festival of rhetoric at the recent Umno general assembly.

Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak spoke of inclusiveness. Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin urged the Malays to end their siege mentality.

But neither leader’s speeches are likely to change what their party’s rank and file think about the concept of Ketuanan Melayu, or Malay Supremacy, or even money politics, the party’s euphemism for vote-buying.

It will not be plain sailing though for Nik Aziz in his campaign for an EGM.

Party leaders have been cautious in their response to the proposal.

They have pointed out that it would be up to the Majlis Syura Ulama or the Religious Scholars Consultative Council to decide whether it is necessary to hold a special muktamar.

The party’s powerful Syura council is led by Nik Aziz(picture) and most members of the central committee are also part of the council.

It is clear from ground reports that there is tension between the young progressive elements and the conservative school.

Despite some voices of disapproval, Nik Aziz said yesterday he remained firm about the party having an EGM which insiders see as a way of deposing PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang for leaders warmer towards a full-fledged opposition pact.

Abdul Hadi and his conservative allies triumphed in the last party polls over the so-called “Erdogan” faction, which is more partial to the PR coalition.

Nik Aziz’s call for an EGM is seen as a last ditch all-out attempt to bring PAS closer to the pact rather than a more detached relationship with its allies PKR and DAP.

His protege Datuk Husam Musa lost his bid to take the deputy presidency from incumbent Nasharuddin Mat Isa, who with senior leader Datuk Mustafa Ali, is seen as representing the conservative spine in PAS.

Nik Aziz however favours Husam and his faction known as “Erdogan”, named after the Turkish PM who took his Islamist party to success in Turkey and is seen as close to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

While PAS has championed its “PAS for All” slogan, conservative elements still talk about banning beer sales and other punitive laws. Nik Aziz has blasted these leaders and has asked why Hadi has not stamped out such talk and quashed efforts to get closer to Umno.

Nik Aziz is virulently opposed to any form of cooperation with Umno as the Islamist party was part of Barisan Nasional formed in 1974 but quit later due to a clash of wills that led to PAS losing Kelantan in 1978.

His EGM gambit will have wide ranging implications on PR and the growth of the two-coalition system.

I am a Yeop from Perak staying in Puchong now. Gobind Singh Deo is my MP in Puchong and I am glad that he still remains barred from the Dewan Rakyat.

I am glad because the High Court ruled that legislative proceedings cannot be challenged in court and what it actually means is that the constitution was supreme and that it cannot question proceedings of the Dewan Rakyat. This upholds the generally accepted principle of Separation of Powers. It is essential for democracy.

As a Perakian I was disgusted by what mere frogs could do to upset the apple cart. The Perak debacle still persists because a Federal Court ruling in April said it was allowed to inquire into legislative proceedings but yerterday’s High Court decision contradicts this.

Okay, the High Court is lower than the Federal Court but I do not think Mr Karpal Singh will be in a hurry to tell his son to appeal yesterday’s decision. Even if Gobind did “lose” in High Court. The Rakyat won!

Personally I would not want to be on the wrong side of these “Countrymen”. They see from too many sides! Yesterday’s court decision was a “tails you lose, heads I win” scenario that only they can think of! Devious!

I see this as being akin to what Dr Porntip Rojanasunan’s testimony at the TBH Inquest indirectly did; it shows out the deep rooted culture in public service organizations that has made public servants forget they serve the public and not their political masters.

Please read for yourself:

Court differs from Perak decision as Gobind remains barred
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 — Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo(picture) remains barred from the Dewan Rakyat after the High Court ruled today that legislative proceedings cannot be challenged in court, in a decision which appears to go against an earlier Federal Court ruling.

The decision by the High Court today relies on a generally accepted principle of Separation of Powers but contradicts a Federal Court ruling in April which said it was allowed to inquire into legislative proceedings.

The Court ruled today that the constitution was supreme and that it cannot question proceedings of the Dewan Rakyat.

But in April, the Federal Court panel of Augustine Paul, Alauddin Mohd Sheriff, Arifin Zakaria, Nik Hashim Nik Ab. Rahman, and Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin was willing to depart from this precedent, which gives respect to the doctrine of separation of powers in a case between ousted Perak Speaker V Sivakumar and Barisan Nasional assemblymen in Perak.

In that case the Federal Court ruled Sivakumar did not have the power to suspend Datuk Zambry Abd Kadir, the mentri besar, and six BN executive council members from attending the state assembly.

The ruling cleared the way for the seven men to attend the state assembly and head off attempts to mount a no-confidence vote against the Perak BN government.

With that decision the Federal Court appeared to have punctured the hallowed doctrine of separation of powers upheld by court decisions on five previous occasions.

In the previous decisions, the court had followed provisions in the constitution which says the courts cannot interfere in proceedings of the legislative assembly.

In the case of Gobind today, the High Court appeared to be returning to that doctrine.

In his decision earlier, Judicial Commissioner Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof took pains to point out that Gobind’s case was different from the Perak case because nobody was questioning the “validity” of the committee that suspended Gobind, unlike the committee chaired by Sivakumar.

He also noted that there were clear provisions in law for the Dewan Rakyat committee to decide if Gobind’s act was an offence that could be categorised as “contempt of the house”.

For those reasons, he said, the court was not reviewing Gobind’s 12-month suspension.

But the novice judge also pointed out that the courts exist to provide “check-and-balances” to the arbitrary decisions made in Parliament, which were not backed up by clear provisions in law.

Mohamad Ariff ruled that the first-term MP cannot take part in the lower house proceedings until March 18 next year, but is entitled to his monthly salary and other monetary benefits as clearly stated in Article 64 of the Federal Constitution.

He noted that under the law, Gobind could only be fined a maximum of RM1,000 for breaking the rules in Parliament, and be arrested if he does not pay the fine.

The judicial commissioner also ruled that an interest rate at eight per cent a year to be added to Gobind’s pay and be backdated to March, when Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia passed the motion to suspend the fiery man for contempt.

Gobind’s lawyer and father, Karpal Singh, said it was a fair ruling and they would not be appealing.

“It’s a fair decision. The judge has done a lot of work.

“While what Gobind had said was tantamount to contempt, they had no right to take away benefits,” the veteran lawyer said.

Karpal, who is also DAP chairman highlighted that today’s decision held “far reaching consequences” for Parliament Speakers from now on.

“A landmark decision has been reached where the decisions of Parliament are now subject to judicial review.

“Parliament must be careful of decisions it adopts. It can’t do as it likes anymore,” he told reporters outside the courtroom.

“This judgment shows that the Speaker’s decision can be questioned in a court of law,” he added.

Karpal, who is also Bukit Gelugor MP, joked that Pandikar and Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, as minister in charge of parliamentary affairs, should get a copy of the written judgment when it is completed.

“Parliament is not absolute,” he stressed, and ended: “it goes against what they believed all along.”

Gobind, who is also a lawyer, said that he was satisfied with the ruling, but moaned about not being able to take part in the upcoming Budget 2010 debate.

“The suit was filed as a matter of principle,” he said.

“I was hoping to get back to Parliament, but at the same time I am relieved that the judge did say that I am still the MP for Puchong,” he added.

The main reason why (so it was said) there was objection within UMNO ranks to the selection of Tan Sri Isa as candidate for Bagan Pinang was that the victory which was in the bag, risked being tainted by the putrid smell of corruption. UMNO did no need to field Isa to win this seat…any decent candidate would have done the job.

Regardless of what PAS (PR) may have hoped, lets not be mistaken that the real fight was over the margin of loss that PAS would suffer. How did PAS hope to narrow the loss? It was hoping the Chinese and Indians are just as stupid as some of the PAS leaders. This time around PAS was shown the middle finger and that is what sitting on past March 8th laurels gets PAS. A middle finger that is just nice for the hole in the PAS logo.

If truth be told, speaking as a Chinese even I would have voted for UMNO if I was registered to vote in Bagan Pinang. Why not!?! Negeri Sembilan is a BN state and BN needed to win and retain this constituency as a showcase for GE13. The constituents of Bagan Pinang will benefit with UMNO compared to allowing it to fall to PAS (PR). This was almost the case in Manik Urai and the skin of the teeth 65 vote margin PAS victory would easily have been a reverse routing if Manik Urai is located anywhere else except Kelantan.

Yup! The Indians and the Chinese of Bagan Pinang did well to vote for UMNO and they did so with a clear conscience even if there were gifts galore! Why? Here’s why…(from Malaysians Unplugged Blog and Hakim Joe in Malaysia Today)

Bagan Pinang By-Election: Chinese and Indian Voters Returned to UMNO/BN. Selangor PAS’s Hassan Ali’s Role in PAS’s Disastrous Result
Monday, October 12, 2009

The Fall-Out on Neighbouring Negeri Sembilan PAS from Selangor PAS’s Hassan Ali’s PRO-UMNO Publicity Antics on:

• Beer Banning,
• Attacking fellow Exco DAP Ronnie Liu and
• His “Ketuanan Melayu” Support of the DOs against the Selangor Govt.

UMNO /BN Victory Came from Chinese and Indian Voters

Excerpts:
Read here for more

A landslide win for Mohd. Isa could only signify a few pertinent things. Bagan Pinang is a small township:

• It has three army camps and eight army outfits within its boundaries.
• It has registered voter base of 13,664 voters (14,192 in 2008) made up from 62.3% Malays, 20.7% Indians, 11% Chinese and 6% Others.
• Postal votes account for 33.7% of the total votes.
• The turnout according to the Election Commission is 81.65%.

The Election Result:

1. Mohd. Isa collected 8,013 votes (71.8 %). Of which, 3,521 came from postal votes (ie 31.6 %). To be fair, the postal votes were real killers. To win 85.4% of the postal votes or 31.6% of the total votes finished off whatever high hopes Pakatan dreamt of. Even if there were zero postal votes or if the votes were tied, Isa would nevertheless have had an easy romp home.
2. Zulkefly Mohamad Omar’s 2,578 votes. (28.2 %) He got only 601 from postal votes

The CHINESE and INDIANS Overwhelmingly Voted for Isa Samad

Look at the percentages. The figures do not lie.

The Malay vote only accounted for 62.3% but Mohd. Isa won by 71.8%. Hypothetically, if 80% of the Malays voted for Isa, that would mean that only 50% of the 71.8% is accounted for.

Where did the other 21.8% come from?

The answer is easy. It came from the Indian and Chinese voters.

The total of both the Indian and Chinese voters is 31.8%.

This means that more than two-thirds (68.6%) of Chinese and Indians voted for Mohd. Isa.

The swing back to BN is 14.2% (from 2008).

Implications for Pakatan Rakyat

Pakatan had better start doing something about it cos they need to win over such rural voters, and not just rely on the urban voters.

Relying on the non-Malay voters in Bagan Pinang was evidently disastrous.

In 2008, about 80% of the Indians and 65% of the Chinese voted opposition. (These figures are obtained from political analyst Dr Wan Abdul Rahman Wan Abdul Latiff.) That is approximately 74.8% non-Malays voting for the opposition. Now it has dropped to 31.4%.

What exactly happened here? Can the actions of one PAS Commissioner (in Selangor) be so damning on another PAS Commissioner (in Negeri Sembilan)?

Why are these state seats so important when the formation of the federal government is decided by parliamentary seats?

The answer is this – can Pakatan guarantee parliamentary victory during the next elections?

If the answer is in the negative, then it is these state governments that Pakatan must attempt to secure and subsequently be utilized as a home base to propagate the Opposition ideology and to inhibit the BN propaganda.

So, what does this BN victory means? It damn well means a lot of things but mostly,it means that :

1. Pakatan can no longer contend to split the Malay vote and allow the non-Malay vote to be the deciding factor.
2. The NON -Malay votes are not entirely swinging to the Opposition.
3. Rural voters are still voting for BN.
4. Time for Pakatan to start selecting their potential candidates now and permit them the time to start campaigning in their selected constituencies.
5. Pakatan needs to be more prominent in the rural constituencies.
6. Public spats between the three parties and party back stabbing are having a definite negative effect on the voters.

If Pakatan does nothing, the next election is as good as lost.

2013 is another 3 years plus of BN rule and Najib will be utilising this time to consolidate his position.

If Pakatan does not make any progress between now and then, it will be 2018 before anything can be done and who knows whether Malaysia will still be solvent then.

The Grim Reaper aside, what’s up next? Will it be N46 Pelabuhan Klang?

An average Nigerian is a frustrated person. This frustration has grown deep, having strong roots and given birth to equally strong stems and branches. Which has led to a lot of social unrest like the militants in the Niger Delta region, the Boko Haram group, the recent kidnappings, armed robbery, scam and a lot of other hideous activities.
This does not mean all average Nigerians are criminals. Indeed! far from it. People react to situations differently. While few react via crime the majority react through being higgledy-piggedly, being impatient, distrustful and generally lacking social values and responsiblity.
It is time for change! Change, which has to start from the top.
Nigeria is a blessed country. There are hardly ever any enviromental hazards like storms or hurricane. Instead, we are cursed with inefficient, bad leadership and excess natural resources, which has made us a chronic patient of the Dutch disease.
A popular American statesman once said “If there be war, let it be in my time, so that my children and grandchildren may live in peace.”
It is on this backdrop that I define the word activist. An activist can be defined as a person, who campaigns for political and social change.
The Nigerian problem is not a battle for one, it is a battle for a hundred and forty million people.
Now is the time, campaign for change, it begins with you

Less than an year to go for Commonwealth Games 2010 and we are way short of the “World Class City” status. It’s the same story today as it was about 2 years or maybe even 10 years back, same broken roads, same potholes, same tobacco stained spit marks on the walls, children throwing wrappers on the road, women disposing garbage openly and people urinating openly in public.

Some times I feel are we really the same country that fought for our independence with amazing vigor, for which we are praised around the globe. Did Bhagat Singh, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Tantya Tope, Chandrashekhar Azad, etc, lay their lives for the country just for us to spit on the walls, did the Mahatma went on hunger strike just so that we can pay bribes to corrupt officials who in reality are public servants, did Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru dream of a nation where Goonda Raj is more effective than Democracy?

I don’t think so!

If you have a small bit of patriotism and love for OUR COUNTRY, stop the next guy you see urinating openly, stop the next man to spit on the floor or walls, stop you kids from throwing empty wrappers on the roads, stop your friends from paying or taking bribes, stop your wives from throwing garbage out of the house in open, most of all motivate your self to make these changes.

Internal change is required to instigate external change.So – YOU BE THE CHANGE

GE13 is supposed to take place not later than 2013. Suppose we have a new government after that. Whether it will be a government that can take this country to greater heights based on promises being made now, is left to be seen and for history to judge later.

Personally, I am still apprehensive but for a start, I would settle for indications that election promises will be kept.

One such indication would be to start giving the rakyat answers to major questions that are not possible to know now. Will questions we are asking now (and until 2013) be answered by a new regime based on declassification of information and new investigations? Or will we be taken for a ride on the merry-go-round? I do not mean launch a witch-hunt but will we get this indication from a new government as part of sincere efforts to cast in stone government policy of new transparency and accountability?

The major questions to which we seek answers relate to the squandered billions and the truth behind the seeming bias of investigators and the judiciary in numerous high profile cases (there are just too many to mention).

I hope we will not be in the same position as the US rakyat today…still asking old questions! Last year Barack Obama rode into the US presidential office on a tide of change and continued demand for change by the people of the US of A. The hopes of the whole nation rested on his narrow shoulders and obviously as far as Obama’s ability as President, it is still too early to call.

However, it seems Obama’s charm and the lustre of his new presidency is starting to wear off (ref. Malaysian Insider report here). Also disconcerting and perhaps of great concern is that the American people are beginning to expect less from him. This You Tube shows Charlie Sheen’s questions to Obama regarding possible conspiracies in 9/11 and following that, is a FICTIONAL transcript of an interview which has yet to take place where Obama is portrayed as vague and condescending. I nicked them (i.e. without permission) off Antares. We all better hope.

Charlie Sheen: 20 (?) minutes with Obama

A Despatch from Charlie Sheen:

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with our 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama, while he was out promoting his health care reform initiative. I requested 30 minutes given the scope and detail of my inquiry; they said I could have 20. Twenty minutes, 1200 seconds, not a lot of time to question the President about one of the most important events in our nation’s history. The following is a transcript of our remarkable discussion…

Charlie Sheen – Good afternoon Mr. President, thank you so much for taking time out of your demanding schedule.

President Barack Obama – My pleasure, the content of your request seemed like something I should carve out a few minutes for.

CS – I should point out that I voted for you, as your promises of hope and change, transparency and accountability, as well as putting government back into the hands of the American people, struck an emotional chord in me that I hadn’t felt in quite some time, perhaps ever.

PBO – And I appreciate that Charlie. Big fan of the show, by the way.

CS – Sir, I can’t imagine when you might find the time to actually watch my show given the measure of what you inherited.

PBO – I have it Tivo’d on Air Force One. Nice break from the traveling press corps. (He glances at his watch) not to be abrupt or to rush you, but you have 19 minutes left.

CS – I’ll take that as an invitation to cut to the chase.

PBO – I’m all ears. Or so I’ve been told.

CS – Sir, in the very near future we will be experiencing our first 9/11 anniversary with you as Commander in Chief.

PBO – Yes. A very solemn day for our Nation. A day of reflection and yet a day of historical consciousness as well.

CS – Very much so sir, very much so indeed… Now; In researching your position regarding the events of 9/11 and the subsequent investigation that followed, am I correct to understand that you fully support and endorse the findings of the commission report otherwise known as the ‘official story’?

PBO – Do I have any reason not to? Given that most of us are presumably in touch with similar evidence.

CS – I really wish that were the case, sir. Are you aware, Mr. President, of the recent stunning revelations that sixty percent of the 9/11 commissioners have publicly stated that the government agreed not to tell the truth about 9/11 and that the Pentagon was engaged in deliberate deception about their response to the attack?

PBO – I am aware of certain “in fighting” during the course of their very thorough and tireless investigative process.

CS – Mr. President, it’s hard to label this type of friction as “in fighting” or make the irresponsible leap to “thorough,” when the evidence I insist you examine regarding 6 of the 10 members are statements of fact.

(At this point one of Obama’s senior aides approaches the President and whispers into his ear. Obama glances quickly at his watch and nods as the aide resumes his post at the doorway, directly behind me.)

PBO – No disrespect Mr. Sheen, but I have to ask; what is it that you seem to be implying with the initial direction of this discussion?

CS – I am not implying anything Mr. President. I am here to present the facts and see what you plan to do with them.

PBO – Let me guess; your ‘facts,’ allegedly supporting these claims are in the folders you brought with you?

CS – Good guess Mr. President.

(I hand the first folder of documents to the President)

CS – Again sir, these are not my opinions or assumptions, this is all a matter of public record, reported through mainstream media, painstakingly fact checked and verified.

(the President glances into the folder I handed him)

CS – You’ll notice sir on page one of the dossier dated August of ‘06 from the Washington Post, the statements of John Farmer, senior council to the 9/11 commission, his quote stating, “I was shocked how different the truth was from the way it was described.”

PBO – (as he glances down at the report, almost inaudible) …. um hmm….

CS – He goes on to further state “The [NORAD Air Defense] tapes told a radically different story from what had been told to us and the public for two years….”

(the President continues to view the documents)

CS – On pages two and three, sir, are the statements, as well, from commission co-chairmen Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, commissioners Bob Kerrey, Timothy Roemer and John Lehman, as well as the statements of commissioner Max Cleland, an ex-Senator from Georgia , who resigned, stating:“It is a national scandal. This investigation is now compromised. One of these days we will have to get the full story because the 9/11 issue is so important to America. But this White House wants to cover it up.”

He also described President Bush’s desire to delay the process as not to damage the ‘04 re-election bid. They suspected deception to the point where they considered referring the matter to the Justice Department for criminal investigation. Mr. President, this information alone is unequivocally grounds for a new investigation!

PBO – Mistakes were clearly made but we as a people and as a country need to move forward. It is obviously in our best interest as a democratic society to focus our efforts and our resources on the future of this great nation and our ability to protect the American people and our allies from this type of terrorism in the coming years.

CS – Sir, how can we focus on the future when THE COMMISSION ITSELF is on record stating that they still do not know the truth??

PBO – Even if what you state, might in some capacity, begin to approach an open discussion or balanced debate, I can’t speak for, or about the decisions certain commission members made during an extremely difficult period. Perhaps you should be interviewing them instead of me. Wait, don’t tell me; I was easier to track down than they were?

CS – Not exactly sir, but let’s be honest. You’re the President of the United States, the leader of the free world, the buck stops with you. 9/11 has been the pretext for the systematic dismantling of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Your administration is reading from the same playbook that the Bush administration foisted on America through documented secrecy and deception.

PBO – Mr. Sheen, I’m having a difficult time sitting here and listening to you draw distorted parallels between the Bush/Cheney regime and mine.

CS – Mr. President the parallels are not distorted just because you say they are. Let’s stick to the facts. You promised to abolish the Patriot Act and then voted to re-authorize it. You pledged to end warrantless wire tapping against the American people and now energetically defend it. You decried the practice of rendition and now continue it. You promised over and over again on the campaign trail, that you would end the practice of indefinite detention and instead, you have expanded it to permanent detention of “detainees” without trial. This far exceeds the outrages of the former administration. Call me crazy Mr. President, but is this not your record?

PBO – Mr. Sheen, my staff and I authorized this interview based on your request to discuss 9/11 and deliver some additional information you’re convinced I’d not previously reviewed. Call me crazy, But it appears as though you’ve blindly wandered off topic.

CS – Sir, the examples I just illustrated are a direct result of 9/11.

PBO – And I’m telling you that we must move forward, we must endure through these dangerous and politically challenging years ahead.

CS – Mr. President, we cannot move forward with a bottomless warren of unanswered questions surrounding that day and its aftermath.

PBO – I read the official report. Every word, every page. Perhaps you should do the same.

CS – I have sir, and so have thousands of family members of the victims, and guess what; they have the same questions I do and probably a lot more. I didn’t lose a loved one on that horrific day Mr. President and neither did you. But since then I, along with millions of other Americans lost something we held true and dear for most of our lives in this great country of ours; we lost our hope.

PBO – And I’d like to believe that I am here to restore that hope. To restore confidence in your leaders, in the system that the voting public chose through a peaceful transfer of power.

(An odd moment of silence between us. Precious time ticking away).

CS – Mr. President, are you aware of the number of days it took to begin the investigation into JFK’s assassination?

PBO – If memory serves I believe it was two weeks.

CS – Close. Seventeen days to be exact. Are you aware sir, how long it took to begin the investigation into Pearl Harbor?

PBO – I would say again about….two weeks.

CS – Close again sir, eleven days to be exact. Are you aware Mr. President how long it took to begin the investigation into 9/11?

PBO – I know it must have seemed like a very long time for all the grieving families.

CS – It was a very long time Mr. President – four hundred and forty days. Roughly 14 months. Does it bother you Mr. President that it only took FIVE HOURS for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld after the initial attack to recommend and endorse a full scale offensive against Iraq?

PBO – I am not aware of any such purported claim.

CS – I have the proof Mr. President, along with scores of documents and facts I’d like you to take a look at. Here.

(I hand him another file – much thicker than the first)

PBO – I see you came prepared Charlie.

CS – No other way to show up Mr. President. When in doubt over prepare I always say.

PBO – Now you sound like the First Lady.CS – That’s quite a compliment sir.PBO – As you wish. Please continue.

CS – Sir, I’d like to direct your attention to the stack of documents in the folder I just handed you. The first in from the top is entitled “ Operation Northwoods“, a declassified Pentagon plan to stage terror attacks on US soil, to be blamed on Cuba as a pretext for war.

PBO – And I’d like to direct your attention to the fact that the principle draftsman of this improbable blueprint was quickly denied a second term as Joint Chiefs chairman and sent packing to a European NATO garrison. Thank God his otherworldly ambitions never saw the light of day.

CS – I wouldn’t be so certain about that Mr. President.

PBO – I could easily say the same to you Charlie.

(the President checks his watch)

CS – The next document reads “Declassified staged provocations.” Now, Honestly Mr. President I wish I was making this stuff up. I’m certain you are familiar with the USS Maine Incident, the sinking of the Lusitania, which we all now know brought us into WW1, and of course the most famous, the Gulf of Tonkin incident.

PBO – Of course I am familiar with these historical events and I’m aware that there’s a measure of controversy surrounding them. But to be quite frank with you, this is all ancient history.

CS – Mr. President, it has been often said; “Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.” And I concede to you sir, these events are the past.

PBO – A vastly different world young man, shouldering a radically disparate state of universal affairs.

CS – No argument sir, I’m merely inviting you to acknowledge some credibility to the pattern or the theme. Case in point; the next document in your folder. It was published by the think-tank, Project For a New American Century and it’s entitled “ Rebuilding Americas Defenses“, and was written by Dick Cheney and Jeb Bush. To quote from the document sir –

(the President interrupts)

PBO – “Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor.”

CS – Touche, sir. Your thoughts on this statement Mr. President?

PBO – I would call this a blatant case of misjudgment fueled by an unfortunate milieu of assumption. For some, the uninformed denial of coincidence.

CS – Interesting angle sir. Nevertheless, Vice President Cheney didn’t stop there. In early 2008, Pulitzer prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh and MSNBC, both reported that Cheney had proposed to the Pentagon an outrageous plan to have the U.S. Navy create fake Iranian patrol boats, to be manned by Navy Seals, who would then stage an attack on US destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz. This event was to be blamed on Iran and used as a pretext for war. Does any of this information worry you Mr. President? Should we just ignore it, until these realities can be dismissed years from now by our children, as ancient history as well?

PBO – Of course this information worries me, yet it’s not nearly as worrisome as you sitting here today suspiciously implying that 9/11 was somehow allowed to happen or even orchestrated from the inside.

CS – Mr. President I am not suspiciously implying anything. I am merely exposing the documents and asking the questions that nobody in power will even look at or acknowledge. And as I stated earlier, I voted for you, I believed in your message of hope and change. Mr. President I have come to you specifically hoping for a change. A change in the perception that our government has not yet made itself open and accountable to the people. These are your words Mr. President not mine. The lives of thousands were brutally cut short and those left behind to suffer their infinite pain are with me today Mr. President. They are with me in spirit and flesh, and the message we carry will not be silenced anymore by media fueled mantras insisting how they are supposed to feel. Deciding for them, for 8 long years, what can be thought, what can be said, what can be asked.

PBO – And I appreciate your passion, I appreciate your conviction. In spite of your concerns, in spite of what your data might or might not reveal, what you and the families must understand and accept is that we are doing everything we can to protect you.

CS – Mr. President , I realize we’re very short on time, so please allow me to run down a list of bullet points that might illuminate some reasons why we don’t embrace the warm hug of Federal protection.

PBO – We’ve come this far. Fire away.

CS – Please keep in mind Mr. President everything I’m about to say is documented as fact and part of the public record. The information you are holding in your hands chronicles and verifies each and every point.

PBO – You have five minutes left. The floor is yours. Brief me.

CS – Thank you Mr. President. Okay, first; On the FBI’s most wanted list Osama Bin Laden is not charged with the crimes of 911. When I called the FBI to ask them why this was the case, they replied: “There’s not enough evidence to link Bin Laden to the crime scene,” I later discovered he had never even been indicted by the D.O.J.

CS – Number 2; FBI translator Sibel Edmonds, was dismissed and gagged by the D.O.J. after she revealed that the government had foreknowledge of plans to attack American cities using planes as bombs as early as April 2001. In July of ‘09, Mrs. Edmonds broke the Federal gag order and went public to reveal that Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda and the Taliban were all working for and with the C.I.A. up until the day of 9/11.

CS – Number 3; The following is a quote from Mayor Giuliani during an interview on 9/11 with Peter Jennings for ABC News. “I went down to the scene and we set up headquarters at 75 Barkley Street, which was right there with the Police Commissioner, the Fire Commissioner, the Head of Emergency Management, and we were operating out of there when we were told that the World Trade Center was going to collapse. And it did collapse before we could actually get out of the building, so we were trapped in the building for 10, 15 minutes, and finally found an exit and got out, walked north, and took a lot of people with us.”

WHO TOLD HIM THIS??? To this day, the answer to this question remains unanswered, completely ignored and emphatically DENIED by Mayor Giuliani on several public occasions.

CS – Number 4; In April 2004, USA Today reported, “In the two years before the Sept. 11 attacks, the North American Aerospace Defense Command conducted exercises simulating what the White House says was unimaginable at the time: hijacked airliners used as weapons to crash into targets and cause mass casualties.” One of the targets was the World Trade Center.

CS – Number 5; On September 12th 2007, CNN’s ‘Anderson Cooper 360′, reported that the mysterious “white plane” spotted and videotaped by multiple media outlets, flying in restricted airspace over the White House shortly before 10am on the morning of 9/11, was in fact the Air Force’s E-4B, a specially modified Boeing 747 with a communications pod behind the cockpit; otherwise known as “The Doomsday Plane”.

Though fully aware of the event, the 9/11 Commission did not deem the appearance of the military plane to be of any interest and did not include it in the final 9/11 Commission report.

CS – Number 6; Three F-16s assigned to Andrews Air Force Base, ten miles from Washington, DC, are conducting training exercises in North Carolina 207 miles away as the first plane crashes into the WTC. Even at significantly less than their top speed of 1500 mph, they could still have defended the skies over Washington well before 9am, more than 37 minutes before Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon, however, they did not return until after 9:55am.

Andrews AFB had no armed fighters on alert and ready to take off on the morning of 9/11.

CS – Number 7; WTC Building 7. Watch the video of its collapse.

CS – Number 8; Flight 93 is fourth plane to crash on 9/11 at 10:03am. V.P. Cheney only gives shoot down order at 10:10-10:20am and this is not communicated to NORAD until 28 minutes after Flight 93 has crashed.

Fueling further suspicion on this front is the fact that three months before the attacks of 9/11, Dick Cheney usurped control of NORAD, and therefore he, and no one else on planet Earth, had the power to call for military sorties on the hijacked airliners on 9/11. He did not exercise that power. Three months after 9/11, he relinquished command of NORAD and returned it to military operation.

CS – Number 9; Scores of main stream news outlets reported that the F.B.I. conducted an investigation of at least FIVE of the 9/11 hijackers being trained at U.S. military flight schools. Those investigations are now sealed and need to be declassified.

CS – Number 10; In 2004, New York firefighters Mike Bellone and Nicholas DeMasi went public to say they had found the black boxes at the World Trade Center, but were told to keep their mouths shut by FBI agents. Nicholas DeMasi said that he escorted federal agents on an all-terrain vehicle in October 2001 and helped them locate the devices, a story backed up by rescue volunteer Mike Bellone.

As the Philadelphia Daily News reported at the time, “Their story raises the question of whether there was a some type of cover-up at Ground Zero.”

CS – Number 11 – Hundreds of eye witnesses including first responders, fire captains, news reporters, and police, all described multiple explosions in both towers before and during the collapse.

CS – Number 12; An astounding video uncovered from the archives shows BBC News correspondent Jane Standley reporting on the collapse of WTC Building 7 over twenty minutes before it fell at 5:20pm on the afternoon of 9/11. Tapes from earlier BBC broadcasts show news anchors discussing the collapse of WTC 7 a full 26 minutes in advance. The BBC at first claimed that their tapes from 9/11 had been “lost” before admitting that they made the “error” of reporting the collapse of WTC 7 before it happened without adequately explaining how they could have obtained advance knowledge of the event.

In addition, over an hour before the collapse of WTC 7, at 4:10pm, CNN’s Aaron Brown reported that the building “has either collapsed, or is collapsing.”

CS – Number 13; Solicitor General Ted Olson’s claim that his wife Barbara Olsen called him twice from Flight 77, describing hijackers with box cutters, was a central plank of the official 9/11 story.

However, the credibility of the story was completely undermined after Olsen kept changing his story about whether his wife used her cell phone or the airplane phone. The technology to enable cell phone calls from high-altitude airline flights was not created until 2004. American Airlines confirmed that Flight 77 was a Boeing 757 and that this plane did not have airplane phones on board.According to the FBI, Barbara Olsen attempted to call her husband only once and the call failed to connect, therefore Olsen must have been lying when he claimed he had spoken to his wife from Flight 77.

CS – Number 14; The size of a Boeing 757 is approximately 125ft in width and yet images of the impact zone at the Pentagon supposedly caused by the crash merely show a hole no more than 16ft in diameter. The engines of the 757 would have punctured a hole bigger than this, never mind the whole plane. Images before the partial collapse of the impact zone show little real impact damage and a sparse debris field completely inconsistent with the crash of a large jetliner, especially when contrasted with other images showing airplane crashes into buildings.

CS – Number 15; What is the meaning behind the following quote attributed to Dick Cheney which came to light during the 9/11 Commission hearings? The passage is taken from testimony given by then Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta.

During the time that the airplane was coming in to the Pentagon, there was a young man who would come in and say to the Vice President, “The plane is 50 miles out.” “The plane is 30 miles out.” And when it got down to “the plane is 10 miles out,” the young man also said to the Vice President, “Do the orders still stand?” And the Vice President turned and whipped his neck around and said, “Of course the orders still stand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?”

As the plane was not shot down, in addition to the fact that armed fighter jets were nowhere near the plane and the Pentagon defensive system was not activated, are we to take it that the orders were to let the plane find its target?

CS – Number 16; In May 2003, the Miami Herald reported how the Bush administration was refusing to release a 900-page congressional report on 9/11 because it wanted to “avoid enshrining embarrassing details in the report,” particularly regarding pre-9/11 warnings as well as the fact that the hijackers were trained at U.S. flight schools.

CS – Number 17; Top Pentagon officials cancelled their scheduled flights for September 11th on September 10th. San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, following a security warning, cancelled a flight into New York that was scheduled for the morning of 9/11.

CS – Number 18; The technology to enable cell phone calls from high-altitude airline flights was not created until 2004, and even by that point it was only in the trial phase. Calls from cell phones which formed an integral part of the official government version of events were technologically impossible at the time.

CS – Number 19: On April 29, 2004, President Bush and V.P. Cheney would only meet with the commission under specific clandestine conditions. They insisted on testifying together and not under oath. They also demanded that their testimony be treated as a matter of “state secret.” To date, nothing they spoke of that day exists in the public domain.

CS – And finally Mr. President – Number 20; A few days after the attack, several newspapers as well as the FBI reported that a paper passport had been found in the ruins of the WTC. In August 2004, CNN reported that 9/11 hijacker Ziad Jarrah’s visa was found in the remains of Flight 93 which went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

At least a third of the WTC victim’s bodies were vaporized and many of the victims of the Pentagon incident were burned beyond recognition. And yet visas and paper passports which identify the perpetrators and back up the official version of events miraculously survive explosions and fires that we are told melted steel buildings.

(The Senior aide appears again beside the President whispering in his ear. He then quickly moves off).

PBO – Well Charlie I can’t say this hasn’t been interesting. As I said earlier you’ve showed up today focused and organized. Regardless how I feel about the material you’ve presented, I must commend your dedication and zeal. However, our time here is up.

(the President rises from his chair , I do the same).

CS – Mr. President! One more second!

(The President starts towards the door – I follow him quickly step for step).

CS – Mr. President, I implore you based on the evidence you now possess, to use your Executive Power. Prove to us all Sir, that you do, in fact, care. Create a truly comprehensive and open Congressional investigation of 9/11 and its aftermath. The families deserve the truth, the American people and the rest of the free world deserve the truth. Mr. President -

(He pauses. We shake hands).

CS – Make sure you’re on the right side of history.

(The President breaks the handshake).

PBO – I am on the right side of history. Thank you Charlie, my staff and I will be in touch.

(I watch as he strides gracefully out of the room, the truth I provided him held firmly by his side; in the hand of providence.)

————————————————————————————————————————

A comprehensive bibliography containing all of the evidence presented above can be viewed at http://www.prisonplanet.com/20_minutes_bibliography.html

Author’s Note: What you have just read didn’t actually happen… yet.

This is an open letter to the President requesting a new investigation.

Charlie Sheen
9 August 2009

Watch these two videos from BBC Radio 4. Ignore what the two Malay youths are saying exactly but observe the delivery. One is more articulate in English than the other and I assume both are equally conversant in Bahasa Malaysia. As an employer, I already know who I will hire.

BBC RADIO 4 VIDEO: RACE RELATIONS IN MALAYSIA – A MALAY VIEW

BBC RADIO 4 VIDEO: RACE RELATIONS IN MALAYSIA – AN ISLAMIC VIEW

Whether a person is good or bad is a relative perception, depending on who is on the receiving end. The law aside, if I were to kill you because I perceive that you are about to harm me or my family, I am “bad” in the eyes of your loved ones. However, my loved ones would likely feel I have done “good”. This of course applies vice versa.

In this sense, I have always felt that self-justification can be a dangerous thing. As sentient beings our strong sense of self-preservation is “hard coded” into our genes and I think that in order to be happy we need to achieve some form of mental and emotional equilibrium whether consciously or sub-consciously.

Consequently, we are continually trying to reconcile ourselves to ourselves for our acts or omissions after having to make hard choices that may have resulted in dubious moral implications. Our sense of self-preservation dictates that the mental and/or emotional equilibrium of being able to “live with ourselves” after the fact is achieved through our inborn self-justification mechanism. We can more often than not self-justify the “bad” and the “good” that we do.

If we are somehow not able to do that then in extreme cases we pay the price with our very lives. No wonder suicides are so common and in this sense, paradoxical because our strong sense of self-preservation has told us that in order to live with ourselves we have to die! How often have we heard that so and so committed suicide because he couldn’t live with himself anymore.

Look around us; if we were to distill all the man-made ills of the world into just one basic cause, I would not be surprised if it all boils down to the word, self-justification. Consider the wars that have been or are being fought, the global destruction of our environment, the social injustices in societies, the religious divides; the list is endless. Look closer to home and it becomes even clearer and ominous.

By all considerations, our country should not be struggling with itself whether socially or economically. Malaysians should be One and 1Malaysia should not have been necessary. Historically, our past colonial masters left us with adequate infrastructure, a good education system, an effective civil service, a viable resource/agriculture based economy and a Constitution in which the equitable rights of the multi-races are ensconced.

Ours is still a small population relative to the country’s vast natural resources and geographical size. The potential for economic growth has not diminished yet we seem unable to achieve optimum progress because as a people, the potential of Malaysians to be a truly productive, progressive and sophisticated society is waning. We are told the British unjustly divided and ruled us in a multi-ethnic society but why are we still today divided as a people 52 years after achieving independence? We obviously have not embraced our diversity but instead are obsessed with our differences.

Many questions need answering and one of which is why are there still dire calls such as this latest by Tunku Razaleigh Hamzah to inoculate the body politic against “ethnicized politics”? Are we on our way towards being a failed nation? How did we justifiably put ourselves in this corner? Did we fall for that oldest and most common “we are only human” self-justification?

Perhaps it is “ethnicized religion” rather than “ethnicized politics” that really divides us as a people? Must we be a nation of one religion before we can be One nation? I don’t think so and Najib’s 1Malaysia says not too. In the Malaysia of 1Malaysia, we must ALL learn to agree to disagree; even (especially?) on religious matters.

Maybe we can learn from our Tun Mahathir, arguably Malaysia’s Number One justifier (self or otherwise) who shows the way. Che Det says lots in his latest blogpost entitled “Hukum Islam“. He was probably alluding to his spat with Tok Guru Nik Aziz more than a month ago about infidels and passports to heaven but he illustrated by quoting my favorite authority on Islam, the former mufti of Perlis, Dr Mohd Asri bin Zainul Abidin who wrote about justification in his own blog. Perhaps Che Det was also refering to the likes of Dr Hasan Ali and Zulkifly Nordin who would be well advised to take things in perspective. In any case please read:

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Mahathir says Nik Aziz sinful for infidel remark

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 — Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today it was sinful of PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat to have labelled fellow Malay Muslims as infidels because the whole world recognises Malays as Muslims.

“The whole world, I believe, recognises Malays as Muslims. This is one race which has race associated with religion. An individual is not Malay if he or she is not a Muslim,” he told reporters after launching an exhibition at the National Art Gallery, here.

Mahathir said: “If we accuse a Muslim of being an infidel, the accuser himself becomes the infidel.”

He was commenting on a recent statement by Nik Aziz, who is Kelantan mentri besar, that the Islamic teachings of Umno would not enable the party’s supporters to go to heaven.

Mahathir said Malays should strive to raise their values and capability to compete with the other people of the world instead of remaining complacent by thinking that Malays, as Hang Tuah said, would not become extinct in this world.

“Going by what Hang Tuah said, if we think that we will not become extinct, we do not have to strive at all. In the end, we will deteriorate and become the slaves of others. “If we do not strive, what type of Malay will not become extinct?” he asked. — Bernama

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HUKUM ALLAH
By Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on October 2, 2009 12:12 PM

1. Apabila sesuatu dilakukan dengan nama Islam, ramai yang cepat berkata ia adalah hukum Allah yang perlu kita lakukan. Kita jarang bertanya samada sesuatu itu benar-benar hukum Allah.
2. Saya tertarik dengan rencana bekas mufti Perlis (baca disini) berkenaan dengan kononnya Islam melarang gosok gigi di bulan puasa. Kononnya mulut yang bau busuk kerana berpuasa sebenarnya harum seperti bau kasturi. Ini diulangi berkali-kali dalam televisyen.
3. Benarkah pendapat ini adalah hukum Allah?
4. Sebenarnya hukum ini tidak terdapat dalam Al-Quran. Mungkin ada hadith yang menyarankan bahawa ini adalah ajaran Islam (yang diwajibkan). Tetapi kita tahu banyak hadith yang diterima oleh sesetengah daripada orang Islam adalah lemah atau bukan hadith yang sebenarnya.
5. Sebab itu kita dapati banyak perbezaan daripada segi kepercayaan dan amalan oleh orang Islam di negara-negara Islam. Ada negara Islam di mana purdah atau hijab diwajibkan walaupun oleh perempuan yang sudah tua. Al-Quran tidak mewajibkan wanita tutup muka dan tangan. Bolehkah kita kata amalan pakaian purdah ini adalah hukum Allah?
6. Larangan bagi wanita bersekolah untuk menuntut ilmu juga tidak terdapat dalam Al-Quran atau hadith sahih.
7. Membunuh wanita kerana memalukan keluarga juga tidak ada. Tetapi di beberapa buah negara Islam dilapor berkenaan dengan wanita dibunuh oleh bapa atau abangnya kerana perbuatan tertentu. Islamkah ini? Hukum Allah kah ini?
8. Dalam melaksanakan hukum Islam, Al-Quran menyebut tentang hukuman yang setimpal. Demikian mata dibalas dengan mata, telinga dengan telinga dan seterusnya jiwa dengan jiwa. Dalam pada itu Al-Quran menyebut sesiapa yang melepaskan hak membalasnya, maka itu menjadi penebus dosanya.
9. Sesungguhnya Allah s.w.t. menyukai orang yang bertimbangrasa dalam mengena atau melaksana hukum. Yang diutamakan dalam Al-Quran ialah apabila menghukum, hukumlah dengan adil. Terdapat 43 ayat yang menyebut tentang pentingnya hukuman yang adil. Beberapa ayat lagi menegah perbuatan yang zalim.
10. Seperti yang kita semua maklum, alim ulama memahami dan membuat tafsiran berpandu kepada isi kandungan Al-Quran dan hadith dan kitab tulisan ulama silam. Oleh kerana alim ulama bukan rasul kefahaman dan tafsiran mereka tidaklah selalunya sama antara satu dengan yang lain. Demikianlah kelainan antara pendapat dan kefahaman mereka sehingga berlaku perpecahan dan permusuhan dikalangan orang Islam dan rusuhan serta bunuh-membunuh antara mereka.
11. Soalnya apakah mungkin semua alim ulama benar-benar berpegang kepada hukum Allah apabila memberi pendapat atau membuat fatwa? Jika ya, kenapakah ajaran mereka tidak sama dan begitu bertentangan antara sesama mereka?
12. Atau apakah ada diantara mereka yang secara sengaja atau tidak sengaja, telah membuat tafsiran yang salah berkenaan apa yang dikatakan hukum-hukum Allah. Kerap ternampak mereka seolah-olah tidak puas hati dengan kesederhanaan dan kelonggaran yang terdapat dalam Islam.
13. Oleh kerana ada kemungkinan salah tafsiran berlaku janganlah kita terlalu cepat berkata bahawa hukum yang ditentukan oleh alim ulama adalah hukum Allah dan dengan itu kita tidak boleh mempersoalkannya dan kita akan berdosa jika kita abaikannya.
14. Oleh itu sebelum menghukum atau menjalankan hukuman tidak bolehkah kita bertanya dahulu adilkah hukuman yang dikenakan? Dan benarkah hukuman yang dikenakan adalah hukum Allah?
15. Kita juga harus diberitahu dari mana puncanya hukuman yang dijatuhkan, sebelum kita terima hukuman berkenaan adalah hukum Allah.
16. Dan janganlah kita lupa bahawa Allah suka kepada mereka yang bertimbangrasa dan tidak keterlaluan dalam melaksanakan hukum.
17. Juga harus kita jaga kebaikan nama Islam dan tidak melakukan sesuatu yang akan mencemarkannya.
18. Kita disuruh berdakwah dan mengembangkan agama Islam. Kita sendiri berbahagia kerana menganut agama Islam disebabkan pedagang Islam dari negara Arab dan India telah menunjuk kebaikan dan keadilan dalam Islam. Jika kita melakukan sesuatu yang sebenarnya bukan dari ajaran Islam dan ini menyebabkan orang lain menjauhkan diri dari Islam, apakah kita mematuhi tugas berdakwah yang diwajibkan keatas kita semua?

Wallahua’alam.

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Islam: Antara Nas Dan Pendapat Tokoh
Disiarkan pada Sep 06, 2009 dalam kategori Politik oleh: Dr. Mohd Asri bin Zainul Abidin

Memberi pendapat yang berbeza dengan al-Quran dan al-Sunnah adalah satu kesalahan bagi seorang muslim. Namun memberikan pendapat yang berbeza dengan tokoh agama atau ulama tertentu, bukan semestinya satu kesalahan. Selagi mana pendapat atau pandangan seseorang tokoh agama itu sekadar pandangannya, maka orang lain boleh berbeza dengannya.

Jika pun dia mengemukakan nas atau dalil tertentu, tapi dalil atau nas tersebut masih boleh diberikan berbagai tafsiran yang lain, apatah lagi jika di sana ada pandangan ilmuwan lain yang berpaksikan penghujahan yang kuat, maka pandangan seorang tokoh agama bukan semestinya diterima sebagai ‘itulah kehendak Islam’.

Hal ini penting untuk difahami oleh orang awam, agar mereka dapat membezakan antara pandangan tokoh agama dan agama itu sendiri. Agama berpaksikan al-Quran dan al-Sunnah. Mana-mana pihak yang berpegang kepada al-Quran dan al-Sunnah maka itulah Islam. Namun di sana bukan sedikit juga nas-nas agama samada al-Quran atau al-Sunnah yang boleh diberikan atau terdedah kepada lebih daripada satu tafsiran atau andaian.

Mungkin juga apa yang dikatakan oleh tokoh agama sebagai pandangan agama itu, hanya satu tafsirannya sahaja, bukan nas yang jelas. Dalam perkara hukum atau selainnya yang tiada nas yang jelas, pastinya di sana akan ada lebih daripada satu pendapat, bahkan mungkin puluhan pendapat yang berbeza di kalangan sarjana. Maka, orang awam boleh memilih pendapat yang diyakininya lebih mendekati maksud nas dengan kadar yang difahaminya.

Maka sebab itu, setiap individu muslim yang mampu berfikir membaca dan meneliti, apatah lagi pada zaman teknologi ini hendaklah ketika bertanya pendapat tokoh ilmu agar meminta alasan bagi pendapat mereka. Campakkan ke dinding sikap sesetengah pihak yang cuba menjadikan agama ini eksklusif untuk diri mereka sahaja dengan membuat arahan yang ‘memandir’ otak umat Islam dengan menyatakan ‘dengar dan taat sahaja apa yang saya beritahu, sebab saya tokoh agama, awak orang biasa’. Rangkapan jahiliah yang seperti ini bukan budaya ilmu dalam Islam.

Makruh Gosok Gigi

Di bulan Ramadan ini mungkin kita terdengar pandangan ustaz yang menyatakan makruh menggosok gigi atau berkumur semasa atau selepas tergelincir matahari ketika berpuasa. Jika kita tanya mereka: ‘apakah nas dalam masalah ini?’. Sebahagian mereka mungkin menjawab: ‘dah ulama cakap macam tu, atau kitab cakap macam itu, terima sahajalah’. Ini tentulah satu jawapan yang boleh dianggap ‘pandir’ dan dangkal sekali.

Islam bukan agama taklid buta, menelan apa yang orang cakap tanpa perlu tahu dalilnya. Mungkin yang lebih berpengetahuan akan menjawab: “ada hadis Nabi s.a.w menyebut:

“Bau busuk mulut orang yang berpuasa itu lebih harum di sisi Allah daripada haruman kasturi” (Riwayat al-Bukhari dan Muslim).

Ya, memang ada tokoh-tokoh ilmuwan silam pun yang memberikan pendapat sebegini. Tetapi hadis ini jika kita lihat tidak pula menyatakan seseorang yang berpuasa tidak dibenarkan atau digalakkan menggosok gigi. Pendapat yang memakruhkan menggosok gigi –samada menggunakan ubat gigi atau tidak- hanyalah andaian atau kesimpulan yang dibuat daripada hadis ini, bukan ada nas sahih yang jelas melarang hal ini.

Hadis ini tidak pula menyatakan bahawa Allah suka supaya bau busuk itu dikekal sepanjang hari. Ada pun hadis-hadis lain yang seakan menggalakkan orang yang berpuasa mengekalkan bau kerana kering mulut orang berpuasa itu cahaya pada Hari Kiamat adalah daif atau lemah sanadnya. Ini boleh dilihat dalam ulasan al-Imam al-Mubarakfuri (meninggal 1353H) dalam Tuhfah al-Ahwazi mengenai bersugi bagi orang berpuasa.

Dalam konteks kehidupan harian, apakah patut kita membiarkan mulut kita sentiasa busuk sepanjang Bulan Ramadan sehingga mengganggu rakan sepejabat atau sekerja yang mungkin di kalangan mereka ada yang tidak faham Islam dan akan mentohmah agama ini?! Pada saya, andaian yang memakruh bersugi atau membersihkan mulut ketika berpuasa tidak boleh mengatasi galakan bersugi yang Nabi s.a.w sabda:

“Jika tidak kerana bimbangkan membebankan umatku nescaya akan aku perintahkan mereka bersugi setiap kali waktu solat” (Riwayat al-Bukhari dan Muslim).

Hadis ini tidak mengecualikan Bulan Ramadan, dan tentu sekali antara waktu solat itu adalah solat Zohor dan Asar ketika berpuasa.

Tidak Lojik

Nabi s.a.w dalam hadis menyebut ciri-ciri imam solat:

“Hendaklah yang menjadi imam bagi sesuatu kaum (jamaah) itu sesiapa yang paling baik dalam kalangan mereka bacaan kitab Allah (bacaan al-Qurannya). Jika mereka itu sama dalam bacaan, maka (pilih) yang paling mengetahui sunnah. Jika mereka itu sama, maka (pilih) yang paling awal hijrahnya. Jika mereka itu sama, maka (pilih) yang paling banyak usianya” (Riwayat Muslim).

Inilah ciri-ciri imam. Jika semua mereka masih sama, maka bererti kesemuanya yang sama itu layak. Namun sesetengah ulama seperti al-Imam Hasan bin ‘Ammar al-Syurunbulali (meninggal 1069H) menyebut dalam kitabnya Maraqiy al-Falah menambah ciri-ciri lain yang tidak disebut oleh hadis, antaranya; “yang paling cantik isterinya, yang paling banyak hartanya, yang paling besar kepalanya, juga yang paling kecil kemaluannya.”(lihat: ms 143).

Pada andaian mereka, ini membantu kusyuk. Orang yang isterinya cantik kurang ingat wanita lain, maka lebih khusyuk. Demikian yang kemaluannya kecil kurang syahwat maka lebih khusyuk. Persoalannya, adakah andaian ini benar?! Atau mungkin sebaliknya berlaku. Kemudian, siapa pula yang hendak menjadi hakim kecantikan isteri para imam ini?! Lebih daripada itu, bagaimana pula hendak mengukur kemaluan mereka?!. Andaian atau tambahan yang dibuat ini, walaupun oleh seorang ulama yang terkenal tidak dapat kita terima. Ia bukan nas al-Quran atau hadis yang terpaksa kita telan bulat-bulat.

Demikian dalam sesetengah kitab fekah Mazhab al-Syafi’i menyebut tentang bab mandi wajib dengan membuat berbagai-bagai andaian yang pelik seperti

“jika zakar terbelah dua, dimasukkan satunya ke dalam kemaluan isteri pertama, dan yang satu lagi ke dalam isteri kedua, maka wajib mandi ke atas suami, tidak wajib ke atas kedua isterinya. Jika dimasukkan satunya ke dalam kemaluan seorang isteri, sementara satu lagi ke dalam dubur isteri berkenaan, maka wajib mandi keduanya (lihat: Hawasyi al-Syarwani, 1/260).

Dalam Hasyiah al-Bajuri ditambah jika seseorang masuk (keseluruhan tubuh) ke dalam faraj perempuan, maka keduanya wajib mandi..”. Cuba bayangkan, andaian dan huraian yang sebegini agak ganjil. Mungkinkah hal-hal seperti ini berlaku? Atau, kita katakan, di samping kita menghormati sumbangan dan ketokohan ulama-ulama ini, namun perbahasan atau andaian sebegini melebihi batasan keperluan. Saya sebut hal ini kerana saya terdengar ada tokoh agama keluar dalam media menyatakan apa sahaja yang telah ulama dahulu tulis kita terima sahaja. Katanya, ‘tidak perlulah kita ‘memandai-mandai’ untuk memberikan pendapat yang berbeza dengan orang yang lebih alim daripada kita’.

Taklid yang seperti inilah yang menyebabkan ilmu umat Islam tidak berkembang. Pandangan tokoh akhirnya dianggap setaraf dengan nas al-Quran dan Sunnah. Bahkan lebih daripada itu, apabila mereka memberi pandangan yang agak ‘berlebihan’ tetap dipaksa umat menelannya. Kita menghormati tokoh, namun pendapat mereka bukan wahyu yang tidak boleh dikritik atau dibincangkan.

Biasanya, golongan agama yang cuba mengujudkan mentaliti ‘ustaz atau tok guru tak boleh dipersoalkan’hanyalah untuk menjaga status keselesaan mereka. Kita memberikan pandangan yang berbeza dengan tokoh-tokoh agama tertentu, bukan bererti kita disuruh biadap atau tidak menghormati mereka.

Memberikan pandangan dan mempersoalkan sesuatu kenyataan dengan sopan dan bertujuan mencari kebenaran adalah keperluan dunia ilmu dan sesuatu yang dituntut dalam agama. Hal ini penting untuk difahami. Bukan semua pendapat tokoh agama itu mewakili kehendak Allah dan rasulNya.

Sebagai muslim, kita berhak bertanya dan mencari yang lebih tepat sesuai dengan akal yang Allah kurniakan kepada kita. Kita hormati tokoh, tapi dalam masa yang sama kita tidak akan menggadaikan kebenaran. Kita patut bezakan antara nas Allah dan rasulNya, dengan pandangan tokoh yang mungkin betul, mungkin salah, mungkin patut disemak semula, mungkin juga melepasi batasan keperluan dan kemunasabah untuk umat.

Disebabkan tidak memahami hal inilah, umat Islam pening kepala dengan pandangan tokoh-tokoh agama hari ini yang bermacam-macam. Jika ulama itu berniaga, mungkin dipengaruhi urusan bisnes, yang politik mungkin dipengaruhi urusan politiknya. Begitulah seterusnya. Jalan keluar, kita menyemak alasan dan hujah setiap mereka dan bertanya: adakah ini daripada Allah dan rasulNya, atau tuan ‘rasa-rasa’ sahaja?!

In recent times, the word scam has become synonymous with Nigerians.
Some years ago, foreigners perception of the country was different. The country was referred to as a ‘footballing nation’ (country with talented footballers like Brazil). That was mostly due to the beautiful performances of our football teams in major competitions like USA94, Atlanta96 and other competitions. But today ironically, our football has deteriorated (as seen from our recent world cup qualifiers) and our national image has become different.
Ask any nonnational what they think of the country and they would tell you its the home of online scam. (As seen from the recent sony Playstation3 advert).
This perception is very wrong as I can tell you that not all Nigerians or Nigerian youths perform this iniquitous act. “Yahoo yahoo boys” as they are fondly called are the few spoilt eggs in the basket that have made all the other good eggs in the basket be called spoilt.
The easy money is attractive but it comes at very heavy cost; our national image.
Considering this cost, you would wonder why these fraudsters continue to commit these crimes. Could it be because they have no conscience or national pride, or has they claim; the fault of the government for not providing jobs and some even say it is retribution to the white man for all the years of subjugation, slavery and colonisation. This makes one wonder if the brains and thought processes of these people are just myopic or they are just trying to block out the truth.
I guess, if one day soon, these fraudsters grow a conscience and stop their disgraceful act maybe our football can pick up again….. not that they are directly related but you have to agree it does make a good story.