Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Starbucks in Gitmo?

The anti-Guantanamo campaign is alive everywhere else, it seems. According to this British blogger here, the one in Birmingham was protesting a Starbucks outlet at the camp where hundreds of Muslim men, including two Malaysians, are being held for suspected terrorist activities.

List? What list? I love the latte at Starbucks (though I prefer the one at Austin Chase); Starbucks always reminds me of the Schindler's list that the Son-in-Law promised to issue, when Lebanon was news and bravado new. Gitmo also reminds me about priorities, how the Father-in-Law had no time to raise the issue of the two Malaysians during a meeting with Bush "given their intense discussions on efforts to achieve peace and understanding in the world".

14 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:42 pm

    Hangat-hangat tahi ayam (hot hot chicken shit)...

    Khairy is well-known to issue claims, like coming out with the list. You'd think that if he was so gung-ho about the lis of Jewish groups operating in Malaysia he'd step on it.

    I can cliam many things too, if in the end I do not have to be held responsible ofr actually proving my claim, with UMNOPutras screaming blue murder louder than the call of the muezzin to prayer...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous3:20 pm

    Dear Rocky,

    Sorry, this is OT and not meant to be posted as a comment for this blog. But I just want to draw your attention to Susan Loone's interesting blog abt Altantuya's murder in her blog entry yesterday.

    Here's the link: http://sloone.wordpress.com/

    In case it doesn't work, here is the entry c&p:

    I am not buying newspaper reports on Altantuya’s mysterious murder case November 20, 2006

    Updated.

    My ante is up. Too many confusing news reports. Contradictory facts. Sentences left hanging in mid-air. Conspiracies. Quotable quotes.

    The Mongolian woman’s murder is a full-blown mystery!

    Even Mongolian activists whom I talked to recently had this to say: this is not a simple story of a love gone sour, a woman scorned. This is what THEY want us to believe.

    After talking to many, the conclusion is she must be involved in some shady deal, a deal gone VERY bad. Because you dont blow up a woman with explosives because she wants money from you.

    They even said it could be an act to frame somebody, done by people who got a lot to lose by seeing Altantuya Shariibuu alive.

    People are blown up into pieces with the hope that no one knows that you are gone, when you have something, that could threaten the whole structure, the status quo.

    Though the papers tried to paint her as a frivolous “model, beauty, etc”, this woman speaks Russian, French, English and Chinese. A translator. She owns a travel agency? And is educated.

    There were rumours which said she tried to extort money from Abdul Razak Baginda, the well-connected political analyst who was charged with abetting her murder with two other cops.

    Was it extortion or money owed to her? If she knew Baginda so well and had an affair with him, why did she need private eyes to track him down? Baginda is quite a well-known figure in Malaysia.

    He is not a simple, ordinary Romeo, who was silly enough not to cover his tracks after beguiling a young, impressionale beauty.

    According to news reports, he was involved in deals with a top politician or was it politicians? Did the relationship between the two, or he and them, go awry?

    Did she come with information worth a lot of money, reputation and political positions? Only then the accusation of extortion would hold water.

    Otherwise, we really do not know.

    Also it seems naive to think that she comes to ask for money for her son, from a man who isnt connected to her child. And it was said she was pregnant, but actually she wasnt. Also the affair is said to have ended two years ago. Something’s wrong with the timing.

    The police officers’ background are really where to start looking for clues, and the C4 explosives used to blow up this most unfortunate woman, this foreigner. You can’t buy C4 explosives off the rack in Seven-Eleven, can you? I don’t think you can even buy them online.

    Police also managed to find Altantuya’s remains very quickly. How? It was supposed to be done in a place and in a manner so that people shouldn’t find out easily. But quite the contrary.

    In reality, it was done in a way that it could be found out - the abduction infront of the accused’s house, eye-witnesses, Atlantuya’s sms message to her sister, C4 explosives, special task force police officers as the kidnappers, remains strewn all over the jungle…

    It doesn’t gel. It’s too easy and sloppy, this gruesome murder. And why would a top political analyst do such a sloppy job only to get caught? But was it also purposely done so it could be found out in a jiffy?

    Yet until today, none of the news paper reports can satisfy my curiosity. Not even after The Star had invested in a reporter doing “investigate reporting” from the exotic land Mongolia.

    But I would give Eddie Chua the benefit of doubt. He could have more compelling stories to tell, but perhaps with the self-censorship policies by all newspapers (something even admitted by PM Abdullah Badawi), he would have to restrain from writing those stories, and only manage to file sob-stories about her failed marriages and what not.

    And how about the woman police officer who was involved in Atlantuya’s abduction infront of the accused’s house? She was not charged together with the other two. Did she escape because she provided the information?

    Also the Mongolian envoy had a lot of information regarding the couple - about their love nests, money-jewelleries changing hands or rather bank accounts - to holiday itinerary. Some information are provided by the family of the woman but other info about the love-birds must have been progressively collected. But for what reason?

    Seem some quarters were prepared for this?

    I also heard that the accused did not have much access to his lawyers? How come? This is not fair. And yet, the lawyers maintain he is innocent. Strange.

    A friend is really worried for his safety in prison. Remember Anwar Ibrahim was reportedly almost poisoned to death. Can Baginda be as strong as Anwar if the charges were really trumped up against him?

    Of course, as Baginda is being taken away, the outburst by his wife “He is not out to become the prime minister. Why are they doing this to him?” (NST, 17 November 2006) is the key message to what this entire drama is about, some people think.

    Does this mean if he is out to become the prime minister, this charge would fit him?

    What a price to pay to become prime minister!

    Pak Lah, perhaps it is high time you say something about this?

    ReplyDelete
  3. 22/11: How they lied to Parliament
    Category: General Posted by: Raja Petra

    MALAYSIA TODAY SPECIAL REPORT

    Raja Petra Kamarudin

    This is an extract of the Parliament session of 15 November 2006:

    Tuan Salahuddin bin Ayub [Kubang Kerian]: Penjelasan.

    Tuan Pengerusi [Datuk Dr. Yusof bin Yacob]: Ya, Kubang Kerian Yang Berhormat.

    Dato’ Zainal Abidin bin Osman: Sila.

    Tuan Salahuddin bin Ayub [Kubang Kerian]: Terima kasih Tuan Pengerusi, saya tertarik tadi dengan jawapan Timbalan Menteri bahawa komitmen Yang Amat Berhormat Perdana Menteri untuk membasmi kemiskinan ini khususnya di kawasan luar bandar. Dengan saya memetik ucapan Yang Amat Berhormat Perdana Menteri semasa memberikan taklimat kepada perwakilan UMNO baru-baru ini bahawa beliau telah memperuntukkan sebanyak 600 juta lagi untuk projek pembangunan luar Bandar. Kita ucap terima kasih di atas komitmen ini tetapi yang meragukan saya adalah apabila kenyataan itu menyatakan bahawa ianya akan diagihkan kepada UMNO Bahagian dan mengikut laporan seorang Ketua Bahagian UMNO yang tidak mahu namanya disiarkan bahawa setiap UMNO Bahagian akan mendapat 3 juta ringgit tetapi saya ingin penjelasan di sini adakah duit ini peruntukan-peruntukan kerajaan ataupun duit daripada poket UMNO sendiri, 600 juta ini minta penjelasan kerana disebut inilah projek untuk pembangunan luar bandar, terima kasih.

    Dato’ Zainal Abidin bin Osman: Terima kasih Yang Berhormat kerana membawa soalan ini. Kementerian belum lagi dimaklum tentang 600 juta yang ingin dikemukakan kepada projek-projek luar bandar tetapi menerusi apa yang kita lihat daripada media akhbar, 600 juta ini adalah diberi oleh duit kerajaan Barisan Nasional dan bukan duit UMNO dan akan dibagikan kepada ICU melalui SDO, dan tidak ada faktor yang disebut di sini tentang ketua-ketua bahagian mengikut apa yang difahamkan oleh Kementerian Kemajuan Luar Bandar dan Wilayah secara rasmi.

    Now look at this letter from the Deputy Minister of Works:

    TMKRM/0033/20
    13 November 2006

    Ketua Pengarah Kerja Raya
    Ibu Pejabat JKR
    Tingkat 5, Blok F
    Kompleks Kerja Raya
    Jalan Sultan Salahuddin
    50582 Kuala Lumpur
    u/p: YBhg. Dato’ Ir. Mohamad Razali Othman

    YBhg. Dato’

    Perlaksanaan Projek Kecil Kawasan Parlimen di Semenanjung Malaysia dan Sabah

    Dengan segala hormatnya saya ingin menarik perhatian YBhg. Dato’ di atas pemgumuman YAB Perdana Menteri pada 13 November 2006 di Putra World Trade Centre.

    2. Untuk makluman YBhg. Dato’, YAB Perdana Menteri telah mengumumkan pelaksanaan projek-projek kecil di Semenanjung dan Sabah dengan nilai keseluruhan RM600 juta (Ringgit Malaysia Enam Ratus juta). Pecahan kecil untuk setiap kawasan Parlimen adalah sebanyak RM3 juta (Ringgit Malaysia Tiga juta) dan projek ini perlu dilaksanakan dalam tempoh 2 bulan.

    3. Sehubungan itu, saya memohon kerjasama YBhg. Dato’ untuk mengambil tindakan proaktif bagi melaksanakan arahan YAB. Perdana Menteri melalui JKR Daerah dengan mengarahkan seluruh Jurutera Daerah mengadakan perbincangan dengan pemimpin tempatan bagi menentuan kerja dan lain-lain.

    4. Segala kerjasama dan tindakan segera YBhg. Dato’ atas perkara ini diucapkan ribuan terima kasih.


    Sekian,

    Yang ikhlas,

    (signed by: DATO’ Ir. MOHD ZIN MOHAMED)

    s.k.

    1. YAB. Dato’ Seri Abdullah Hj Ahmad Badawi
    Perdana Menteri Malaysia

    2. YB. Dato’ Seri Samy Vellu
    Menteri Kerja Raya

    3. YB. Senator Tan Sri Dato’ Nor Mohamed bin Yakcop
    Menteri Kewangan II

    Note the salient points in the letter above:

    1) The letter is dated 13 November 2006, TWO days before the Parliament session of 15 November 2006.
    2) The letter is dated 13 November 2006, the SAME DAY that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the matter at the Umno pre-council meeting in the Umno headquarters. In fact, the letter was prepared BEFORE Abdullah made the announcement that same day.
    3) The letter is signed by the Deputy Minister of Works and copied to the Prime Minister, Minister of Works and the Finance of Minister II (meaning the Deputy Minister of Works has overridden those above him -- but could have done so only if someone ABOVE the Minister of Works and Minister of Finance II gave him that authority to do so).
    4) The amount to be implemented is RM600 million as announced by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on 13 November 2006.
    5) The implementation must be completed within two months (meaning the RM600 million must be utilised by the end of this year or so).
    6) Sarawak is NOT included in this scheme because Sarawak does not have an Umno presence.
    7) The RM600 million is only for Umno and will be managed by the Umno division leaders.
    8) RM3 million will be allocated to each of the Umno divisions (less Sarawak which does not have any Umno divisions).
    9) The letter confirmed the RM600 million on 13 November 2006 but two days later, on 15 November 2006, Parliament was told: Kementerian belum lagi dimaklum tentang 600 juta yang ingin dikemukakan kepada projek-projek luar Bandar.
    10) And it is government money but for Umno’s use as what Parliament was told: 600 juta ini adalah diberi oleh duit kerajaan Barisan Nasional dan bukan duit UMNO.

    Now, also note what Malaysia Today reported in Constitutional Crisis in Umno on 13 November 2006 and Ali Baba and the 40 thieves on 15 November 2006. On 13 November 2006, the eve of the Umno General Assembly last week, Umno’s President, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, called all the 191 Umno division leaders and committee members for a pre-council meeting and informed them that he will be giving RM3 million to each division. The money is supposed to be for ‘rural development’. However, the money will be entrusted to the division heads and those committee members who would like to taste a share of the money will have to ‘pandai-pandai bodek ketua bahagian’.

    Salahuddin bin Ayub, the PAS Member of Parliament for Kubang Kerian, then raised this matter in Parliament on 15 November 2006 and the official reply he got from the government is that the money will be managed by the government and not by the Umno division heads.

    This is of course a blatant lie and Parliament has been misinformed. The money will not -- I repeat, will not -- be managed by the government but will be managed by the Umno division heads. The government lied to Parliament and I just do not know what the implication of this is.

    The reason they lied to Parliament is simple. The RM600 million is government funds but it is going to be channelled to Umno for party purposes. This is of course illegal. But they needed to do this for another simple reason. They need to buy off the division heads plus the committee members -- who are all delegates to the recent Umno General Assembly -- to ensure that none of them raise any embarrassing questions or blast the Supreme Council for the recent controversy involving the 28 September 2006 Umno Supreme Council meeting.

    According to an assessment done by the Umno headquarters, about 60% of the delegates support Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and there were plans by some of them to raise hell at the recently concluded General Assembly. Most by then had become aware of the 28 September 2006 Supreme Council meeting that expunged three pages of incriminating evidence from the Minutes of the previous meeting. In that particular (previous) meeting, the Supreme Council had discussed the matter of Mahathir contesting the post of delegate to the general assembly and they did not want him to win. The Kedah Menteri Besar plus the Kubang Pasu division head -- who was not a Supreme Council member but nevertheless still attended the meeting -- were instructed to ensure that Mahathir loses.

    And they did. On the eve of the Kubang Pasu division meeting they summoned the more than 450 delegates for a gathering and each was given an envelope containing RM200 with instructions who to vote for. Invariably, Mahathir’s name was not on the list of whom to vote for. In this meeting were also the watchdogs of Umno, member of the Disciplinary Board, whose job it is to ensure that no such underhanded tactics perpetuate in Umno. Instead of being the party police, they were instead the perpetrators who went on stage one-by-one to slam Mahathir and explain why the delegates should not vote for the ex-party president. Sending a thief to catch a thief is one thing, sending the party police to commit the crime is unique to the world but not to Malaysia where a new controversy has just erupted involving the elite SWAT force and its implication in murder.

    As they say, when you lie, then you need to tell another lie to cover the first lie. The Chinese say this is like digging a hole to get the earth to cover another hole. In the end the second hole just gets bigger. I suppose the Americans would in turn say: when you are in a hole, stop digging.

    As they also say, everything comes in threes. In Umno’s case it came in fours. And the Chinese say that four means die. The first offence they committed was to discuss sabotaging Mahathir at the Umno Supreme Council. The second offence was expunging all records of the discussion from the Minutes of the meeting. The third was calling the more than 450 delegates for a meeting and paying them RM200 each to not vote for Mahathir. And finally, the fourth crime and the killer blow, was to pay each division RM3 million of our money (duit kerajaan Barisan Nasional as what they told Parliament) to keep them quiet and to buy their silence and make sure that no one brings this matter up at the General Assembly.

    How much can Malaysians tolerate? How much can Umno members tolerate? Isn’t there any sense of outrage? Doesn’t anyone feel like a fool for being manipulated in such a manner? I suppose if murder is tolerated then a ‘small matter’ such as stealing RM600 million of our money, bribing Umno members, rigging the elections, lying to Parliament, and other such ‘triviality’ would not raise many eyebrows in Malaysia. As the Malays would say, “perkara biasa saja”. This proves one thing I suppose, Melayu sudah hilang di dunia, because true Malays of days past would never tolerate such things. They would draw their keris to oppose such kemungkaran. But today they draw their keris to defend it.


    THIS IS TRULY EARTH SHATTERING!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous4:17 pm

    Saudara Rocky,

    Was it true that our mission in India was "instructed" to discourage the Indian Authority from awarding the Saint (Mother) Theressa Award to Tun Dr Mahathir?

    KJ will not issue the list. He cannot. He and his brother-in-law Khamal are compromised. I think the CIA has something to cow them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous4:19 pm

    Bukan tak ada masa bro, tapi dia lupa. Melayu mudah lupa...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous5:26 pm

    Bro,
    won't you post something about the BM issue put forward by Rais? I think its total crap. I see they are already fining or summonsing those whose signboards use bad BM.
    At the recent UMNO perhimpunan, the language used by the delegates was pasar BM. why no action?
    Simply put, you have a party who is supposed to fight for the ke daulatan Melayu but keep using the English acronym UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) instead of the registered Pekembar...why lah? and every government office as this big Q sign for quality service...hellooo...in BM quality is spelled Kualiti with a K (like Khairy, Konek, Klentik etc etc). So I think Rais, one politician that I used to respect is running out of platforms to ride.
    As someone who survive by writing in both English and BM, I stand by the belief that language is dynamic and ever evolving. The language is not yet complete and keeps reinventing itself. BM is an amalgamation of so many other ancient languages - Sanskrit, Jawa, Thai, Portugese, English and what have you - so to sudden say everyone MUST use proper BM, it's ridiculous because there's no proper BM. DBP's BM is sastera BM and is not bahasa pengantar which is what everyone is used to.

    cucuparit

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous5:52 pm

    Where is the Schindler's List?

    Tengah masak kat Tingkat 4 kut.

    Typical Cakap Tak Serupa Bikin.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous6:49 pm

    UndurLah should resign as OIC chairman. Half the world are condemning the USA on torture of Muslim prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. All Islam countries, from Indonesia to Emirates, condemn Bush. Britian and Australia are biggest protestors. Malaysia, OIC boss, has said and done NIHIL to put on the pressure! Thank you Lah.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous6:54 pm

    UndurLah should resign as OIC chairman. Half the world are condemning the USA on torture of Muslim prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. All Islam countries, from Indonesia to Emirates, condemn Bush. Britian and Australia are biggest protestors. Malaysia, OIC boss, has said and done NIHIL to put on the pressure! Thank you Lah.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous10:38 pm

    Bro Rocky

    The Son-In-Law is nothing without the Father-In-Law. Prior to October 2003, one never heard about this small boy, who still wet in the ears!! Father-In-Law came into popwer, suddenly he was catapulted into the limelight. So it does pay to marry powerful people's daughter.

    How do you expect the Son-In-Law to produce the Schindler List conatining list of companies connected to the Jews, when he was so involved PArkway, a US based compnay, buying over Pantai Hospital. Parklway is a jewish control company.

    That's why until now, the 43th floor boys and SOn-In-Law are not able to produce the Schindler List as promised. The SOn-In-Law thought that we, Malaysians, are stupid and easily forgotten. Just wait for the General ELections and his Father-In-Law will be jobless and the Son-In-Law will have to abscond from Malaysia.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous10:45 pm

    Bro Rocky

    Razak Baginda's wife had said that he was not fighting to become the Prime Minister. Why she chose the term Prime Minister and not others??????

    This speaks volumes. Under the present political system, who can be Prime Minister??? Of course NAJIB RAZAK, next in line.

    Anyway, I am as confused as other Malaysians. so is the PM, who is confused all the times. That's why the country is in such a sorry statte!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. thanks for the link! Your blog is very popular. Do watch my films youtube.com/malungtvnews

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous5:47 pm

    "This speaks volumes. Under the present political system, who can be Prime Minister??? Of course NAJIB RAZAK, next in line."

    Isn't there a certain someone who wants to become Prime Minister before he reaches 40?

    The same someone who loses his own top-notch consultant in an oh-so-freaky accident?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous10:57 am

    Anonymous (5:47 PM) said...

    Isn't there a certain someone who wants to become Prime Minister before he reaches 40?

    ====================

    You mean the uncrowned prince & SIL?

    Nothing is for certain, if the SIL cares to learn from the history of Umno.

    Former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was the undisputed successor of TDM.

    He was Tun's blue-eyed boy, a charismatic leader, charming, and good speaker...you can say he has what it takes to be the No.1 man in the party.

    He seemed unchallenged. But as you know that is all history.

    So, the SIL better dont be cock sure he is gonna be the PM by the age of 40.

    Kita boleh merancang, tetapi Allah SWT yang menentukan.

    ReplyDelete

The case of the missing trees in Taman Tun Dr Ismail

  TTDI, 29 Nov: They are cutting the trees again in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, once one of the greenest housing estates in KL.  Well, it probably ...