When AAB Is Pushed Into A Corner. He'll Pull Off His Trump Card

Spin Doctoring - Blaming AAB

Following the defeat at KT-election, numerous people within the BN quarters have started pointing fingers at Abdullah Badawi for being the weak person and selecting Wan Farid Salleh as candidate for the seat in KT. Many including those in Mahathir's camp find Wan Farid as the mere proxy of AAB given his connections to his family and his associate Patrick Lim.

Yesterday, Hadi Awang has asked Abdullah Badawi to change his mind and remain on as the PM. Many concur that he should stay on including RPK because not only he is the lesser of the two evils, but at least you have a captain to helm through during the economical downturn now rather than jumping ship at the first sign of trouble.

However, those in camp Najib thinks otherwise and now MSMs are ordered to do a spin on AAB. A spin on AAB, which is to say that the whole Kuala Terengganu mess is on Abdullah Badawi and not Najib. The MSMs are asked to deflect every accusation off Najib and hurl it instead to Abdullah Badawi. At this time, they are very keen to make sure that Abdullah Badawi sticks to his transition plan and have Najib come in by April 1 2009.

For instance, take a look at the Malaysian Insider piece that says KT loss is not a reflection of his leadership. In truth, it is to say that people do not want him to become PM. The phrase reflection is indirectly showing and pointing the finger at Abdullah Badawi.

The Trump Card

When an animal is pushed back to the wall, it will do anything to get out that means fighting very hard and savage. This is the effect that is seen coming at Abdullah Badawi by camp Najib.

However, Abdullah Badawi may have his trump card ready to be unleashed anytime in this span of two months.

Currently in Shah Alam, the High Court is still listening to the testimony of Azilah. Yesterday, Azilah revealed to the court that Musa Safri, Najib's ADC had asked Azilah to help his friend Razak Baginda (political analyst under Najib). The statement shows that Balasubramaniam's original declaration, not the revised one is indeed correct and it seems that the pieces revealed are coming in bit by bit.

This is to say that Azilah was correct all along. Today, on Malaysiakini, he has constantly insisted that whatever he said was never a lie. "We had no motive to kill Altantuya".

And then the final card could come in, from Abdullah Badawi: military intelligence. Initially bluffed by him, it really existed all along. It actually reveals the person who ordered the hit on Altantuya Shariibuu on the night of 19 October 2006. If Najib has constantly quoted that he doesn't know Altantuya, what about her alias as Minah? Other quarters had said that Najib introduced her to Razak Baginda.

Najib was indeed dragged into the mess and held by the balls from maybe AAB or someother people. They knew who killed Altantuya, even without referring to military intelligence.

Many people have expressed that they would rather see AAB continue on as PM. But not on Najib. Now that AAB is pushed to a corner with no way out, his camp could be fighting back savagely and the report is the finishing move. And it could happen in two months, with Najib would not survive after that.

Saiful Swearing: Salah But 'Halal' In Islam Hadhari

Swearing on the Quran actually doesn't exist, but if Saiful do that, then it is UMNO orchestrated, since the man beside Saiful is an UMNO member himself.

I might not know anything of the Quran at all but I remembered a part from Raja Petra's post that said: when Prophet's fourth wife was accused of adultery, the prophet summoned the followers and asked that four eyewitnesses show up to proof that the wife committed adultery. None showed up and because of these false accusations, the accusers were given 40 lashes as punishment.

Yesterday night, I saw the news at NTV7 and I watched the responses of the UMNO supporters. Most of them said that Anwar should swear by the Quran. But from that, as Mr. Mahathir said "Melayu mudah lupa", they should remember well of the Quran. Those who were born in the 40s to the 60s should have the knowledge of the Quran...though you are not expected to remember everything from the start of the book to the finish.

If Anwar knows Sun Tzu or other stories of Ashoka, then he should know the Quran well. And he knows it. He recalls passages during his lectures occasionally. Looking back at the video, UMNO supporters, naturally as a Malay but forgotten lessons from the Quran?

True, there was no such thing as swearing by the Quran. If it happens, then I must presume that this thing exists in Islam Hadhari. True, it confuses many people and that's why some states refuse to accept I.H especially in Selangor.The Bible forbids of anyone tampering what was written and such thing above is one example, but not directly of going against what is written in the Bible / Quran. Is Islam Hadhari going in that direction?

Are You Looking Closely At This Liwat Thing?

Are you looking closely? - Alfred Borden, The Prestige

After some time, people are totally convinced, including the world that Anwar can never do that sodomy thing at Saiful. The reasoning is simply because of his age - and the injuries that he suffered at the hands of the gangster called Rahim Noor. No way he can force this thing on Saiful.

There was something that prompted me to look closer at the picture between the lawyer and the man believed to be an 'uncle' of Saiful. But from far, I thought it was a woman or a transversitite, given of his appearance. And I also had second thoughts of that person as a homosexual.

It was shocking to find that Saiful was indeed sodomized but...the twist (in the latest revelation) is that the person who did it - was the man in the picture! This was part of the act to show people convincingly that Saiful was indeed really in pain of sodomy. As said, people wanted to be awed and to be fooled, but the first act of magic called The Turn was not shown there. Only the final act - the Prestige was shown instead.

The proof? When the doctors first examine Saiful's ass, the real truth is that the semen specimen inside there is not Anwar but the so called 'transverstite' relative of Saiful. How did Saiful meet Najib? The answer was there...Rosmah and her trade partner.

Now that you're looking closer than ever, does sound of attempt of political assassination of Anwar?

And You're Saying About Oil?

Earlier on New Year, Najib was saying that the nation will go bankrupt if the opposition takes charge of the government that is willing to lower the prices (headed by the opposition).

You see, the government has used the $4.4 billion of subsidies saved in 2006 - resulted in increase of 30 cents per liter just to bail out the Port Klang Free Zone project, all because of Ling and Chan. With that, there was no extra development of facilities for the people in 2007 or almost. Tax payer money got wasted away. And they have owed most petroleum companies in Malaysia of the total subsidy to be paid for. That is why BHP and Exxon Mobil are slowly selling their stake in Malaysia to other fuel companies because of insufficient operation funds due to unclaimed money. Also, some other fuel companies are finding it hard to trade here or dig oil because of the extensive red tape in registration.

Because of the subsidy money emptied out, they will want to increase it after Chinese New Year and after general elections. With Malaysiakini reporting that the MCA elections put on hold until probably April, we can suggest that election is coming on March 15 2008. Then it is after that event where they will say petrol goes up....!

And before the opposition makes the response to that statement, we are hit by cooking oil shortage - that resulted in rationing. That, of course was due to the panic buying due of rumors of oil increase on new year and coming Chinese New Year. It means the government could be scoring an own goal behind their yard. Now you call others of mismanaging money whereas the government is mismanaging?

Image by Mob

Sometimes, if the oil prices are increased here, it presents a high chance for future price deflation. Matthias Chang has theorized that:

Many products are made from petroleum. So when petroleum price goes up, so would products derived there from as the costs in making these products have increased.

In time to come, as more and more people have less money to spend (same amount of wages, but lower purchasing power) they will buy less goods and services. Sellers faced with decreasing demand, will lower the prices (sales, bargains etc.) to attract buyers. This is already happening massively in USA in the last Christmas spree.

With increasing foreclosures, rising bankruptcies, credit card debts / defaults, more and more people will not be able to buy things. The “consumer boom” will collapse. In this final scenario, prices will generally collapse also. Businesses will close down, as there will be no demand for their products.

THIS IS PRICE DEFLATION.

My friend Eric did mention something of canceling out the effects from petrol increase. From that, I also stumbled upon an interesting piece of read that was sent by my dad to me. It describes tips - some scientific - yet useful from a petroleum insider working in San Jose, California. The four most potential tips that can be used to minimize or cancel effects from petrol increase when refueling your car are:

1. Fill up your car or truck in the morning when the temperature is still cool. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground; and the colder the ground, the denser the gasoline. When it gets warmer gasoline expands, so if you're filling up in the afternoon or in the evening, what should be a gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and temperature of the fuel (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products) are significant. Every truckload that we load is temperature-compensated so that the indicated gallonage is actually the amount pumped. A one-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for businesses, but service stations don't have temperature compensation at their pumps.

2. If a tanker truck is filling the station's tank at the time you
want to buy gas, do not fill up; most likely dirt and sludge in the tank is being stirred up when gas is being delivered, and you might be transferring that dirt from the bottom of their tank into your car's tank.

3. Fill up when your gas tank is half-full (or half-empty), because the more gas you have in your tank the less air there is and gasoline evaporates rapidly, especially when it's warm. (Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating 'roof' membrane to act as a barrier between the gas and the atmosphere, thereby minimizing evaporation.)

4. If you look at the trigger you'll see that it has three delivery settings: slow, medium and high. When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to the high setting.You should be pumping at the slow setting, thereby minimizing vapors created while you are pumping. Hoses at the pump are corrugated; the corrugations act as a return path for vapor recovery from gas that already has been metered. If you are pumping at the high setting, the agitated gasoline contains more vapor, which is being sucked back into the underground tank, so you're getting less gas for your money.

Also, do you remember that Citibank is aggressively promoting the 5% rebate credit card with Shell? I was contemplating of switching my existing card to that one but I was warned not to do so. According to smartconsumerbanking.com, the condition mechanism of the card will kill you before you can claim your rebate. Read here (this also applies to other cards like the UOB 4% rebate one):

Again, our friend Mr. Chang, I have to admit that he is no Sarah Connor but sometimes having their pleas and warnings fell to deaf ears could be the start of punishment for our ignorance. If Sarah's warnings of nuclear apocalypse on August 29 1997 rings true after an apocalypse perhaps we might consider Mr. Chang's rantings well. But this time better if before the disaster strikes. Where is Malaysia's safety net if an economic meltdown happens later on?

Chua's Cryptic Clues

Continuing from Two Cents for The Doc:

I met a friend of mine last Thursday for lunch and he brought up an interesting subject in regards to our sex scandal ex-Minister Chua Soi Lek. Every newspaper in the whole country showed the picture of Chua with the title of Chua Resigns at its cover page.

My assumption of why Chua quit was because of the threat of a blackmail by somebody over this matter being a political ploy to make CCTV cameras requiring Approved Permits if the video leaks out later than now. This was the possibility that was sent by another friend of mine on that Thursday morning. But, after the talk at lunch, it was not as what it seems.

On New Year, when he admitted that he was the man inside the DVD video, he did say something at the last line of the article. If you recall the article by The Star, the last paragraph was:

On who was behind the video clip, Dr Chua said: “Who did it and why is obvious but it is not important now.”

Read the last quote carefully, in your lips. The word 'obvious' was mentioned by Dr. Chua himself and this gives the meaning that he knew someone set him up, an MCA Blackhand or something. There has been accusations among the MCA that there is a blackhand inside, but I do not believe that the blackhand is inside there but from the outside instead. With that, Dr. Chua has dropped the breadcrumbs or some cryptic messages that anybody can pick up and follow, if they understand the clues by hard.

Well, after much of the discussion, we can at least pick up some clues that gives a hint of who might be the blackhand. For my clue accounts, we can go that long, but after discussing a matter with Nuraina or Kak Ena, I will put the trail one step short. But then, another account of the blackhand surfaced in Big Pete's article here, which suggests that the Ong brothers wanted to throw him out because of a statement by Chua that pissed OKT.

Of course, the rise in Chua's politics is somewhat very impressive given the titles and positions in MCA that he gained the moment he joined MCA. He was popular from top to the grassroots level. But then, as here said, Chua was too straight forward and he meets the woman on the DVD at the same hotel, same room at the same time at different dates. He could have waited for a Royal Commission to produce its results and then quit. But now, with no Royal Commission, there is no collection of papers that document the video and those witness testimony.

For my account, it doesn't take quite a long time to figure out various coincidences and situations to figure out who is likely to set Chua up. It can be figured given his location and the current possibility of a General Election. After some time discussing that matter, I was enlightened by various coincidences and scenarios mentioned.

Coincidences, Current Situations, Clues:

1. Chua Soi Lek's constituency is called Labis. Labis is a sub-section of Batu Pahat besides Yong Peng. And Batu Pahat is famous for having gold there. Labis has a gold mine there. It struck to me that I saw a shop in Old Town Ipoh that says Batu Pahat Goldsmith that I realized that Batu Pahat was full of gold. And there is an implication that there are opportunists waiting to take him out in order to exploit the riches there for themselves.

2. Labis is a piece of area that could be expanded and included as part of the IDR (Iskandar Development Region). If you invest in land and property there, you would get a high amount of interest and returns the next time the land value inflates by say 12% in the next 3 years or so. However, with Chua as MP there, you could find opposition from the man himself or those supporting him there. If you are a Big Brother crony, with Chua out, and invest there, you could enjoy the returns later on and only you, no one else.

3. The woman could have been paid by someone else without the attention of Chua. At the end of each session she would report to Mr. X and then Mr. X makes the next move. How she met Mr. X could been through a function that she, Chua and Mr. X met.

4. Did you see today's articles? 'Election Fever Gets Hotter' This means that election is sooner than expected and it is likely that the election is on 15 March 2008. And given that the election is impending, every BN election candidate, state or federal level will have their backgrounds scrutinized.

5. Remember that the nation is still rocked by the Altantuya murder case that is still in the hearing there. And when cases like Nurin's murder or other things hit the newsstands, every one of us will tend to turn our eye away from that case. The murder case still remains the highest priority right now, not even the Lingamtape thing or PKFZ scandal. This thing was a ploy, designed to take our eyes out from the real attention above.

Note:

I did say that I will stop one step short here. But the breadcrumbs are laid out by Chua clearly and it is possible to follow the breadcrumbs and predict the black hand.

References:
1. Chua Faces Second Conspiracy of Silence
2. Malaysiakini - Minister's Fall: Who's 'Black Hand' Was It?

Two Cents for The Doc

It's just two days into 2008, and the government had its first hiccup.

I should have guessed it earlier on New Year's Eve of the identity of the minister mentioned in the sex video. Hint: Johor. It's the Malaysian style of Nixon episode going on here.


A very interesting fact that I was told sometime ago is that Dr. Chua was used to be my friend's ex-neighbor in Batu Pahat - he had run a clinic there as a G.P before going into politics - My friend lived in Batu Pahat until the age of 18 in 1994 before moving to Petaling Jaya. Dr. Chua has three children, and his only daughter his younger sister's best friend.

Okay, it's enough of involving my friend, but it's like giving a POV opinion. I really notice that, because of his medical background, he has been very proactive in running the ministry compared to his predecessor Dr. Chua Jui Meng, initiated various health campaigns to ensure proper health watch over all citizens. Here's one example: He proposed of labeling and banning fast food ads for kids because the content of fast food can be bad for children. Too much body fats, calories, encouraging bad eating habits and so on. More hospitals are built and variety of things.

The one thing that I kept noticing on my side is that in the total of 20 minutes of ads no less than 5 ads from the Ministry of Health appears in a one-hour show prime-time on the RTM channels. I had the count last Friday when I watched a local TV show. Correct, correct, correct.

Sure, you know that he was the one offering a helping hand for the Namewee saga to help them facing the UMNO music.

I have to agree that there are people out there to bump him off from the politics game - someone who hopes that he doesn't contest in the next elections. But sometimes, playing dirty would be a way to, shall I say, get the attention of attention-seekers if your lamenting via official channels were totally ignored. A politics game is always one of the double-edge sword games that a person has to play. I think it was better to do it by himself to quit all posts rather than getting the black and white statement from the High Council (see Malaysiakini).

Admitting to the sex scandal and resigning from that can be a painful but a honorable thing. The first thing is that it sets a standards of what a good leader should be rather than hiding in cowardice. Secondly, it tells people and those who wish to be in politics to hold a very big responsibility.

Perhaps it will be a good long break for Dr. Chua.

References:

1. Full biography of the man

I'll Play Taffer at You!

So, it seems that Abdullah Badawi is somewhat gone up to fever pitch with a wavering threat against those who would be coming down for tomorrow's rally at Merdeka Square.

They say that the police is mounting roadblocks monitoring cars coming from Rawang, Seremban, and even the Karak Highway. They are threatening to stop and question any car coming to Kuala Lumpur. But I was in town, and I don't see any police trying to stop me and my car while on the way. I wonder if that's actually and empty threat and intimidation by the police?

The way the police acts has clearly violated Article 10 of the Consitituition which every citizen in Malaysia is entitled to. But then, don't they know that the king, the Agong is involved in this situation being at the end of the march? Have they all forgotten the second principle of Rukunegara? Kesetiaan Kepada Raja dan Negara?

The reason why the rally will be conducted is not because they want to, but they had to, forced to. It is like being put into the last resort. Clearly they have said that they had appealed to the government to do so but they were ignored, turned away by Abdullah Badawi and his cronies. If everything has been denied, while you are a worker, what else can you do except to hold a rally and report to the king that the government has failed to do what they should do to the people? I've already said many times that the police has long in brutality but short on foresight. The actions today indicate that they are cannon fodders for UMNO and they are not independent as what we perceive of them.

At the assembly today, Abdullah went fever pitch and gone CAPITAL LETTERS on some occasions, according to the Sun. The immortal phrase line in the article? "I will not be challenged!" The English saying, "Be careful what you wish for" seems appropriate for him as he might think himself being on the omnipotent position means there is no fall. Someday, he will. Picture this: will he for an unknown occasion he ended up like the fall of Tsar Nicholas II?

The reply, based on quotes in the Malaysiakini article and the Sun clearly gives the clear impression and implies that:

• 1. Abdullah Badawi has failed to fulfill his promise despite having many chances in his duty as PM as dictated in the 2004 General Election Manifesto. Corruption and crime rate still remains high and racial tensions still remain at high.
• 2. Abdullah Badawi is afraid to come out and face the truth of the current state of social affairs in Malaysia and prepared to correct his mistakes. Instead he cowers behind and gets the cannon fodder to do his work of suppressing the people. I wonder whether if this contradicts with one of the statements, the rally is against the law and the people.
  
• 3. Abdullah Badawi is not what it seems of people looking at him as Mr. Clean.
• 4. Abdullah Badawi is unwilling to face the problems that a leader expects in his power base.
• 5. Abdullah Badawi is running out of leadership ideas after all have been expended on expensive lavish projects. The ECER is one of the last bullets in his arsenal.

..and many mistakes that I can't seem to recall.

Simply put that Abdullah Badawi has made too many mistakes that cannot be tolerated anymore by country-loving citizens, those real patriots, not the ultra-nationalists. Mistakes that should have been corrected at first sign of danger but instead was ignored totally. Instead of admitting your mistake, he blamed the opposition as part of the tactic to overthrow or sway people confidence towards them. It is the one step backwards mentality of certain leaders in the country that the people had no confidence of. Someday, arrogance can be punished.

The real problem in the country's progress lies in certain policies deemed as third-world mentality rules by those who have achieved high level of awareness and those well educated to understand the rules in the current context. Many leaders have failed to see this in long term. So, if they can remove some things that are meant to fix those in the old days, the better it will be in long term.

No matter what is the outcome of the rally tomorrow, Abdullah Badawi will still end up in the losing situation. If everyone is aware of how brutal the police and you all in the government act at the end of tomorrow, expect to see many condemnations by international observers, thousands of court cases and perhaps the government will have to spend a lot of money to compensate the victims of potential brutality. He will end up like another Than Shwe, by attempting to suppress what people are entitled to.

If things go worst, they will end up paying tax payer's money back to the people in long term as damages and compensation because they start first beating people. They had guns and all those batons, gas grenades, while those who come for the rally had nothing at all. So if the government tries do the violent thing, people will have to disobey, using the Civil Disobedience principle. If this thing reaches international media from Al-Jazeera, CNN, and BBC via someone unknown, then we are likely to see our faces in the whole wide world and Malaysia will become a laughing stock because of the government.

There is little time left for Abdullah Badawi to correct his mistakes, and he has to do it now, starting with election reforms and the judicial crisis. If he decides to call election while this has not been solved, you might seeing a repeat of the 1999 elections, thankfully it's not going to be in this year, but somewhere in March. But the results is likely to follow the 1999 results.

If the police think that they are somewhat having a distinct advantage because of their equipment, you better be prepared to be sued in court and prepared to have all the money out to compensate the people if you are found responsible for the brutality. You can call me a taffer for such believes, but I am not partisan of any side. This is a two-sided view story.


For me? Well, I'll be having an appointment somewhere else, but in spirit, I'll bring a blackjack and some moss arrows. I'll hit them and the City Watch behind to set the truth free for everyone!

The Truth As A Ploy?

The Bolehland government still continues to deny things although there are some things out there that is indeed the truth as if wants to keep things under a carpet and hush hoping that nobody will notice.

The first thing is the judiciary crisis right now. Former Lord President and Perak Sultan Azlan Shah has today admitted that the current crisis has triggered erosion of public confidence in the system. This indeed concurs with Tun Suffian's statement that if given the current situation, he will not go to a trial even though there is a strong conviction that a person is innocent. It is merely because the trial has been rigged according to political pressure.

Unfortunately, this admission was shot down by de facto Law Minister Nazri Aziz himself, with the line from the news: We are looking from the summit of a mountain but they are looking from their eye point of view. Hahaha....you are still blind. You better quit. That's strike two.

On the other hand, yes, as what Malaysiakini reported, the probe by the 3 man panel has been completed, but frankly, nobody feels that they will accept the report because of the constraints that are placed on the panel including witness security, something that fell short.

Secondly, I still cannot understand whether if the ACA is playing games with Anwar Ibrahim over the handing over of the Lingam tape. Anwar personally waited for the three men to come and collect it only to receive a call that the meet got cancelled. The next day, ACA said that Anwar did hand over the video as demanded. Is Ahmad Said Hamdan playing a game of chicken with Anwar? There is a report by Jeffrey Kitingan that Hamdan is paid money by Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman over hush hush with the state police head in title reward, which means that it is likely a game of chicken. The ACA is looking at the wrong end of the investigation, which is looking for exposers rather than the guilty one. Fool. How will the public co-operate over this matter?

Let's recall the recent arrests of the officers, ASP Hong, DSP Bahrain, Inspector Nordin Ahmad, etc.. All three of them worked under CCID headed by Ramli Yusuff. What they have uncovered is the shocking truth that involves the higher echelons and those who walked the corridors of power. They have figured out the puzzle and instead they are charged by false statements by witnesses, victims of a something they intend to expose. To them they are being told of the message: if you squeal about the high and mighty, you will pay. Those responsible are desperate to cover the truth, which is why I've mentioned that Ramli Yusuff is in deep trouble over this frame-up. Truth as a ploy by opposition? Not for me.

Is everything that is the truth all the time points to the opposition? Not all of them. Some are discovered by truth, some are spoken out by those who cannot tolerate injustices anymore. And yet, the opposition is constantly accused for saying that. When will ZAM learn of knowing the right person who says that? The media is playing spin-doctors, meaning certain words will present the wrong identity and sending the wrong message to the people. Now at least I understand why the Star never uses V.K Lingam instead using "prominent lawyer". Mainly to avoid a repeat of the October 29 1987 thing, post Ops-Lalang.

They can't hide the truth sooner or later. They are now facing public anger over the possible prospect of price hikes and this together with the current problems that they are facing mean that the election will have to be put on hold until middle next year at least. By that time, they might not be able to stop Anwar from competing, if he gets the chance unless they figure out various dirty tricks in their sleeves.

Is Anwar Ibrahim Behind The 8-Ball?

Former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has only until tomorrow to hand over the complete 14 minute video that features the whistle-blowers of the Lingamtape to the ACA men. Despite clear cut assurance earlier from the month stating the edited 8-minute footage is deemed authentic by forensic experts brought in for authentication purposes, the ACA still believes that the copy is not convincing enough to say that the guy in the video is VK Lingam and the person he is talking to is Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz.

Now who the hell actually says that the edited video is insufficient? ACA Director Ahmad Said Hamdan? Special officer Chua Lay Choo? Or even Sazali Salbi, the chief men who visited Anwar yesterday? Let's rule Sazali out for he was acting on orders from the above. Above, who would that be?

As of just now, at 4.45 p.m, as according to a Malaysiakini article, Anwar has declared that he will not give that copy to the guys. A posting at his blog has requested people to show up at his office tomorrow morning at 10.30 a.m. to show protest and solidarity at the ACA men. The thing is that he is threatened of arrest under Section 22 of the ACA act 1997.

So now, Anwar is actually behind the 8-ball. There is a dilemma right now. The reasoning for refusing to hand over the video is simplified to a few factors:

1. The assurance of protection of whistle-blowers of the Lingam tape by Nazri and the government is insufficient. Currently, there is no Witness Protection Act gazetted in the Constituition.
2. The panel assigned to investigate the video is not trustworthy because Haidar Mohd. Noor is directly involved in the Salleh Abas sacking in 1988.
3. There is a chance where the AG and the ACA and the ISM might dismiss the case immediately after viewing the footage, deeming it a forge. Then they might destroy the footage.

On the other hand, if Anwar doesn't hand it, he is risking a 2-year jail term and possibly being barred for another 5 years from politics. If he hands it though, he can contest in elections should there is a possibility that the election might possibly be postponed to say June 2008. This is taken to account to the fact that the at that time, the buzz and reaction of people from the price hikes would take about six months before it dies down.

I want to point the third point significantly mentioned just now.

That is what the ACA is likely to do behind our backs, without our attention. If that doesn't seem to be convincing, remember what happened to the three police offers who were charged for falsifying the reports / statements / framing the IGP. To some who knows about this, the ACA cannot be trusted right now because of that. Inspector Nordin Ahmad is the example of a victim of retribution by certain people who were angered by the fact that he figured the connection between higher authorities and the underworld.

Image by Mob's Crib

The catch line for them now is that if you squeal at the high and mighty, you will pay for it.

The Sun today reports another two more officers were charged for false statements. In truth, it is the other way round, sending the wrong message to the people, the public, and the readers. As you might be aware of, one of the two officers charged, ASP Hong is also involved together with Nordin in compiling information, testimonials and proofs that the top men including deputy ISM Joe Baharom and IGP Musa Hassan were paid by the underworld. An obviously, the businessman that is mentioned is the kingpin of Johor, running rackets and others known by some as the "Tengku".

The reason above is that the ACA turned the information of the profilers over to the higher authorities and the parties involve, which involves the people arrested. To keep a hush and sweep under the carpet, the turned the charges around them.

Now many people know that the independent panel and the ACA cannot be trusted right now, which is why the BAR and certain NGOs are pushing for a Royal Commission. Indirectly, this shows that the people are losing confidence of the Abdullah Badawi administration. At this time, it is unlikely there will be a snap election given of this situation.

Rigging of Trials

Someone said that the recent Nurin's murder that was sensationally highlighted on newspapers are actually distracting the people's attention from the judiciary scandal that is now a hit in Malaysia.

Maybe it's because of the media's knowledge that the people love crime and horror stories.

If you are reading a newspaper online, which local news will you read first?

First priority is the headline and then following with crime news. I knew it because I am one of them too!

But the funny thing is that the lawyer V.K Lingam who was named as the prime suspect of the scandal along with our current Chief Justice is called Shockalingam - named after our Anniyan victim Chockalingam.

Remember Anniyan's line - Chocka 65 for me! ?

Never have I heard before a scandal that could be as great as the 1988 sacking of Salleh Abas.

But on the other hand, El Balachi Nazi has denied that Shockalingam is talking to the CJ but on the other hand is pressing the Child Act 2001 against Nurin's parents for negligence.

Everyone says that this El Balachi Nazri the Nazi (see Mob's poster) is an asshole from what he says. If an opposition tells of a dissent of a people, he imposes the shut up and listen thing on everyone.

How ironic is that mentality of a de facto Law Minister. AAB was saying 'no need commission of inquiry'. Seems like that he's turning the thing away as if there is nothing involving him.

Najib was saying of waiting for the authentication of the video.

If the government decides to act against the video, that means there is likely a dissatisfaction growing more and more bigger than before.

Strangely though, on the day where the article was out, the Chinese and the English dailies were able to tell the story but stopped at one point of naming the actual persons involve. They used plural nouns. But the Malay papers and Bernama absolutely imposed a blackout of the thing until they relented. Not Utusan Malaysia.

So, is ZAM saying that this is authoritative source? Cut the bullshit.

The Merdeka Thoughts

Yes, indeed Malaysia has reached 50 years of independence. Surely 50 years tends to show how wiser and more intelligent a nation should be to the eyes of the world. Being 50 means being like a middle-age woman or something.

But there is something amiss behind that I feel not comfortable of celebrating.

You see, being 50 means that you must show wisdom, foremost, and then intelligence. But then the mentality of the nation is still one step backwards from what I feel it should be as of now. The mentality should no longer cling to the past and then we are also facing a problem of discontent among the community.

Here's a problem with mentality with a few cases of point: Yesterday, there was supposed to be fireworks at KLCC, not just Merdeka Square alone. Everybody there was disappointed. Why? Is it the last minute decision by the police or is it the intervention of high-ranking officials?

If the MCA is willing to speak on behalf of Wee Ming Chee to make an apology or to help him make a statement to the nation, why are most people, especially the Malays are against it and wanted to mentally beat that guy to death? Whereas the facts are clear: there is something gone wrong with Malaysia right now?

Is the truth a lie or is it hurts?

I have to concur with the opinion of many observers who find that despite reaching 50, Malaysia is still having the trouble particularly with the tension arising from religious issues. Many, even the self-aware Malays pointed out that the root cause of tensions lies within the elite people of the UMNO. The NEP, an affirmative economic policy whose sole aim is to help them bridge the gap of shared wealth against the minorities goes awry already.

I'm not really talking about the policy, but the main spillover from this is that it discriminates the others. People want to go to university but find themselves unable to join because of the quota imposed. Businesses require this 30 percent thing, and whatever crap that is imposed to make things difficult.

No wonder we're still behind. We're yet to reach number 1.

It's the wrong mentality that results in the inappropriate way to administer people. You got the resources and the numbers but still you can't get the result if you do it wrong way! People are getting sick being pushed aside. Are they trying to reenact pre-Martin Luther King era again here?

Thierry Rommel was trying to give an advice on how to improve Malaysia's economy and relation to the world but instead was told to shut up particularly from a big group of ultra-nationalists. But there's a question hidden there. Have they seriously thought of the implications before speaking their words? Have they considered what happens if they do not raise that thing for that small reason? That demonstrates mob mentality which to those with high intellectual deem them as low-life or those who think shallow. What they say implies to "tone" down invitations of foreign investment here. IDR is just not the right way to pull investors in. Some say IDR is merely giving an additional portion to Singapore - which i just wish it better not be.

On that night I heard AAB shouting Merdeka seven times as the Tunku did, but then I felt that that's not how it should be done. AAB has only fulfilled 25 percent of the overall mission. But he still has yet to finish the other 75 percent - 1/4 of it is CORRUPTION.

I went walking around Merdeka Square observing a big bunch of people. Out of 100 people, I noticed 75 percent are those Malays. But it became shocking to me that most that I've noticed are punks, lazy bums, who sorrow themselves in cigarette and had no purpose in live. The appearance of those people can give me subtle hints of what they really are. Also, it implies that these guys come in motorcycles and are probably street menaces that go wildly around at midnight until late morning.

There are things or powers that are to help them but even though it's there, the wrong mentality and laziness by the majority of the 60 percent population will not bode well to the country's progress. In fact, we might not be able to reach our vision 2020 with that kind of attitude. As what Hartmann says in Full Metal Jacket, those guys are the worst lifeforms on earth, pukes and maggots - and they tend to discriminate the innocent, poor and the minority 40 percent with that kind of ridiculous and mixing religious policies into the constitution?

That's not how the country should be run! The thing of mixing religion into this is indeed tensing things further! There are even some fanatical clerics telling Malays not to go to their friend's festival or something. What reason is that? No? Does that mean that my friend Daim cannot meet me to watch a movie together? Can't go for dinner together? What the hell is this thing?

Who is that idiot that says that? According to RPK, that kind of thing is totally wrong against the ACTUAL religion teachings. Maybe they've got it wrong already. If everything that someone makes and there is a mob-style reaction to what they've did...blah...blah...this no good...that no good...that against our style....

Those idiots will have better to think again - the next time people use Civil Disobedience because of them being pushed too far and too hard against the wall, it will be too late for them to realize that they've make a fatal mistake that will be quite hard to put back or irreversible.

Do you want Malaysia to be plunged into an irredeemable abyss as India does before?

Were It Not For Blogs...Part 2

Continuing from yesterday's entry, Were It Not For Blogs...Part 1.

Scenario 2:

Screenshots blogger Jeff Ooi posted a 14-part series of the SMS Scam - and lambasted the MCMC - the Multimedia Commission for its failure to act against the repeated offenders, one company namely was a content provider company called Macrokiosk Limited.

On May 30, Screenshots posted a report that a woman under the herring of Jonathan Wong was spammed by Macrokiosk about 210 times in the period of 17 days. The NCCC was aware of the case as reported by Screenshots.

The chronology of the SMS scam is here:

However the newspapers only pick up the cue about two weeks later.

Under the pressure of complaints by consumers, Macrokiosk acted after receiving the complaint. On June 12, they started refunding to clients who were charged without consent.

Goh said customers – whether prepaid or post-paid users – were refunded after the short codes were suspended.

According to statistics given by Goh, 448 customers were affected and the refunds to them amounted to RM1,103.20.

“However, the total loss in potential revenue for us amounted to slightly over RM1mil due to the suspensions,” he added.

Goh said this proved that there was no reason why the company, which had interests in 10 countries, would want to scam customers.

He said the suspensions of three short codes 33380, 36116 and 36226 had already been lifted by MCMC while the fourth, 32400, would be lifted soon.

He also said that in all three instances, SMS continued to be sent to customers, although they had asked for it to stop, because of technical glitches.

Goh added that the company processed more than one million SMS a day and as with any industry, there were bound to be glitches or bugs.

The total amount they had to refund was about $1000. However, they were hit heard with a $1 million loss due to the suspension slapped by the MCMC

Everything Increase - WHAT 4?

This seems to be a domino reaction. It began with manufacturers who had to bear more of the costs. As such, prices for F&B - food and beverage has been increased by approximately 20 cents everywhere. In the coffee shop in front of my house, the price for a cold Milo O has been increased to $1.90 compared to $1.70 previously.

Because of the facts above, retailers had to adjust the price of consumer items with of course justification. In a recent article, Dutch Lady Malaysia chief, Mr. Cees Ruygrok mentioned the following:

“The raw material prices have increased drastically. Unfortunately, we have not been able to increase prices by 15 per cent. We have increased our prices by 3 per cent,” managing director Cees HM Ruygrok told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday after a prize presentation ceremony of its “Dutch Lady Bersedia Untuk Menang Contest”.

“Dutch Lady has not been able to recoup the price increase. We have to grow our way out of it,” Ruygrok said, adding that the company’s collective agreement is up for renewal, which will also add to the increase in overhead costs.

Reason: raw materials including palm oil and petrol.

Source: click here

Items affected by the increase: sardines, Milo, Nescafe, condensed and evaporated milk, garlic, onion. Also, the price of standard flour - used for bread and our favorite Chinese Dim Sum has been increased by 15 cents - manufacturers wanted increase by 50 cents.

Expect our bakery items and even dough-base items to be increasing in the coming weeks.

Solution?

Very Simple! Increase The Value of RINGGIT VS DOLLAR.

The current value of the ringgit has improved tremendously since last year. Following the removal of the ringgit peg against the dollar, the value has increased by 4.2 percent since last year. As of today it is at 3.73 percent.

Not good enough. The current value is at 3.40:1 as of today. It is best that if the ringgit reaches it's mid-line in order to achieve the equilibrium. As before the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, the value of the ringgit is at 2.50:1. Since the peg value is at 3.80:1 before July 2005, therefore, the equilibrium rate is at 3.15:1. In the mid-term, having it at 3.15:1 could reduce the import costs for all items that Malaysia imports including raw materials, electronics and etc..which gives importers and exporters a win-win situation.

The fact that the ringgit's strength does not affect the government is good news but the question is that how soon can it reach the equilibrium. The sooner it achieves the rate, the better - and it affects everything. We don't have to pay that much to get something.

It is said that the momentum of the ringgit going higher against the Dollar is depending on the condition of the stock market and the amount of funds going in. Of course there is bank intervention and then technical corrections (profit takings) as a breather. But to encourage more, the government should cut the tax rate, either lowering the corporate tax to 22 percent or merging the government and service tax (15 percent) into a GST 5%. After all, we are trying to get more foreign investors coming aren't we?

Sack Wolfowitz!

Reuters has reported that the BOD of World Bank is deliberating on the position of former Pentagon #2 Paul Wolfowitz as the president of the Bank. The reports are clear that Wolfowitz had broken the rules to secure the personal interests which involves raising the salary of a partner of his.

In this saga, the US has been begging the G7 to provide support to save Wolfowitz from the sack. But the fact that Wolfowitz was responsible together with Rumsfeld in instrumenting the Iraq invasion in 2003 means that it is definitely part of the hegemony plan -as Chomsky says - part of the US' quest for world domination. Imagine if the numbers of people on behalf of the US leading an international organization diminish, what will happen to them? PING!

Training Day - The Inspiration Behind The Iraq Invasion

Two days ago, I stumbled upon the published screenplay of Training Day by writer David Ayer (SWAT, Dark Blue). The draft is the shooting draft which includes deleted scenes excised from the final cut including the alternate ending of the film. You can check the shooting draft of the film here.

Before we go on, let me go through briefly the premise of film:

Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) is a rookie cop who is out to make a cut as a detective in LAPD's Narcotics Division. On this training day, he was assigned to be the understudy of veteran head Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington), whose methods of law enforcement are being under question. Harris methods has landed Hoyt into various problems including being framed for a murder, being a central character of a corruption scandal within the LAPD. Soon, he began to witness the dark, corrupt side of Harris which he must try to solve various twists and turns to solve a puzzle.

Much of the premise was written based on the 1998 Rampart Scandal involving disgraced office Rafael Perez. Hence, Washington based his character on Perez himself. If you look at some of the scenes of both cops beating up and arresting gang members only to have Alonzo letting them go and under his thumb, you can see this was how it culminates to Perez's testimonial of the Rampart Scandal. People in Los Angeles began to call the 70 groups of CRASH - Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums - the worst gang compared to the LA street gangs themselves. Following the scandal, CRASH was disbanded by then L.A.P.D head Bernard Parks.

It was only then I later found out that much of the metaphors of the script written by Ayer served as parallels that the White House would use in its official stance behind the decision to invade Iraq in 2003. Here is a summary of the metaphors written by Mark Kelly, a PhD candidate of philosophy of The University of Sydney :

1. Film: Jake Hoyt is a naive rookie who aspires to reach success and assumes that his methods and his contributions will help to make the community safe. On the training day, he helps Alonzo to patrol the streets of L.A from narcotics. On certain occasions, he played into the hands of Alonzo in his naivety.
Real Life: America's current aim is to spread its intention of peace using its own forthrightness, spreading its own doctrine and subversion to the entire world. During the 80s, America had come to work and helped Iraq to stop the Iranian Islamic Fundamentalism. But secretly, America had allowed Saddam to invade Kuwait and started the Gulf War.

2. Film: Alonzo is king of his neighborhood, but he was hated in secret by everyone.
Real Life: Saddam Hussein is president of Iraq but every Iraqis hated him in secret.

3. Film: Hoyt was nearly killed by Smiley (Cliff Curtis) and his gang in the bathroom but his forthrightness through saving Smiley's cousin who was gang-raped earlier of the day spared him and earned Smiley's gratitude. That allowed him to go out and hunt down Alonzo later.
Real Life: America was nearly destroyed by the 9/11 attacks, but the right-wing American government had a moral fortitude of going to Iraq and eliminating Saddam fearing that it has WMDs. In the end, the government was accused of lying to the people by fabricating the fact that Iraq has WMDs.

4. Film: Nobody helped Alonzo during the final stand-off. Not even his own children or the neighborhood. Even the gangs did not do what he said. Hoyt had earned his respect of the neighborhood.
Real Life: When the Iraqis learned that the U.S military was in Baghdad to remove Saddam Hussein from power, they just let them pass through without hindrance. Even the Republican Guard does that too since Saddam never respected them for what they did.

5. Film: Jake shot Alonzo at the last minute (seeing that he was to get shot too) on the thigh and left them to the people, including the Russian gangsters to deal with Alonzo - only after he settles some things including his evidence. From what he learned about Alonzo owing money to the Russians and the forbidden rule of killing a fellow officer, he delayed and left Alonzo to his grim fate.
Real Life: Though capital punishment is objected by Britain and Australia, the Americans left it to the Iraqis to decide justice on Saddam.

The legacy of CRASH and the 1992 L.A riots was still a painful scar of the past for Los Angeles. There was a rift corruption among the D.A's office, the LAPD. Take the "Three Wise Men" in the film, each represents the upper levels of corruption. The three helped Alonzo to solve his problem by cashing out on Roger (Scott Glenn) and fabricated the fact that Roger is a drug dealer. As the result of that, the naive Jake was setup as the man who killed Roger in cold blood in front of witnesses and Alonzo the perpetrator. Even Garth Ennis modeled the crooked cop and the police Tom Price (as in The Slavers) from Bernard Parks.

Maybe I might get out of point, but reading the script again and noticing the parallels made me realized that the similarities that the Bush Administration is using to manipulate the people to invade Iraq. And the 3 Wise Men subplot also serves as the corruption in White House and currently the scandal of Alberto Gonzales and his men.