ARTICLE 1
‘I can’t abide this’: Judge blasts sentencing rules as he jails pair who crippled woman in high speed car crash for just 18 months – By Emily Allen PUBLISHED: 12:32 GMT, 9 August 2012 | UPDATED: 15:32 GMT, 9 August 2012
Jason Young and Tyrell O’Donnell stole a car and fled police in a 100mph chase across two counties
They smashed into Jackie Stretton’s car, breaking her back and leaving her fighting for her life
Judge Rodger Hayward-Smith is bound by strict sentencing guidelines laid down by the government
He told court: ‘It is awful. I am stuck with it because of what the law says and I can’t abide it’
Frustration: Judge Hawyard-Smith stunned Chelmsford Crown Court, Essex, when he said the pair deserved much longer behind bars
A judge has launched a stinging attack on the justice system after he was powerless to hand longer sentences to two men who left a young woman crippled in an horrific car crash as they fled from police.
Judge Rodger Hayward-Smith QC, had to sentence prolific offenders Jason Young, 21, and Tyrell O’Donnell, 20, to less than 18 months after they stole a car and fled police in a 100mph chase across two counties, which ended when their Fiat Stilo smashed into Jackie Stretton’s car leaving her severely injured.
Judge Hawyard-Smith, who is bound by strict sentencing guidelines laid down by the government, handed the maximum possible sentences of two years each for aggravated vehicle taking but both terms were automatically reduced by a third due to the men’s guilty pleas.
However, he stunned Chelmsford Crown Court, Essex when he said the pair deserved much longer behind bars.
He said: ‘You will get out of prison and will get your life back but Jackie Stretton will never get over this, physically or mentally.
‘It is absurd – if I just pass sentence and allow credit for your guilty pleas, because I have to – it will not be enough.
‘It is awful. I am stuck with it because of what the law says, and I can’t abide it.
‘Jackie Stretton has suffered a very great deal and both defendants are in their twenties with appalling previous records.
‘You deserve, both of you, to go to prison for a very long time and I greatly regret that I am restricted in what sentence I can give you because of what Parliament has decided.
‘You say you are sorry and I hope that you are because the sentence I have passed is nothing like enough.’
Jail: Jason Young, 21, left, and Tyrell O’Donnell, 20, right, were sentenced to less than 18 months after they stole a car and fled police in a 100mph chase across two counties then crashed into Jackie Stretton’s car
Crash scene: The reckless high-speed chase ended when the pair lost control of the Fiat Stilo and smashed into Jackie Stretton’s VW Beetle leaving her severely injured and clinging to life
Miss Stretton, 25, of Maldon, Essex, suffered ‘appalling injuries’ as she broke her back and suffered bleeding to her brain in the crash and was left clinging to life in hospital.
Her kneecap was also broken and she was airlifted to Queen’s Hospital, Romford, and placed in a drug-induced coma.
Injured: Jackie Stretton suffered ‘appalling injuries’ as she broke her back and suffered bleeding to her brain in the crash
She had completed charity marathons and coast-to-coast adventure races, but will never make a full recovery from the injuries she suffered in the crash in April and she now walks with the aid of a back brace.
Young and O’Donnell, both from Devon, were both sentenced after they admitted charges of aggravated vehicle taking.
The court heard that O’Donnell was arrested at the scene but Young fled and did not turn himself in to police until five days later.
Law graduate Miss Stretton looked on in tears as the two men were sentenced – 18 months for the driver of the stolen car O’Donnell, and 16 months for his passenger Young.
The pair – who both have a long string of motoring offences – were banned from the roads for five years.
Miss Stretton is no longer able to drive, so had to catch the bus from her home to be at court to witness the men who ruined her life being sentenced.
She said: ‘I just feel so relieved that it is over but my life has changed and I won’t get that back.
‘I have been told that I may need my kneecap replaced when I reach 50 and I won’t ever get compensated for that.
‘I love my sports but I have not been able to compete and it has also affected my relationships with people because I have changed since it happened.’
Miss Stretton welcomed the men’s ban from the roads.
She added: ‘I am really happy that they have been disqualified from driving for five years – that is the bit that is hopefully going to make a difference.
‘They have so many previous driving offences – their records went on for pages.’
Richard Stevens, prosecuting, had told the court the men had stolen the Fiat from a caravan park in Suffolk at 5.30am on April 5.
Chelmsford Crown Court
Court: Miss Stretton told Chelmsford Crown Court, pictured, that she is no longer able to drive, so caught the bus from her home to be at court to witness the men who ruined her life being sentenced
The pair headed towards London at incredibly fast speeds – often over 100mph – and at one stage going 80mph in a 30mph residential area.
The car was seen cutting between lanes on the A12 as police followed them.
They finally lost control on a right-hand bend causing a massive crash involving Miss Stretton’s car, a police car and a Porsche on the A414 at Danbury.
[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]
Sentence Jason Young and Tyrell O’Donnell to 18 months (times 3 to simulate 24 hours in prison) in a care home for traffic injuries instead. Jailing costs money to the taxpayers and enriches the ‘Prison-BuildingContractor-Supplier Complex’ while unpaid work with injury victims (under the watchful eye and instruction of some chain gang overseers nurses or such, could teach empathy instead, with minimal food allowances and no lodging expenses (Jason and Tyrell can sleep at their homes as usual to save money). Bad judgment! Meaningless, does not address the prisoner’s angst/pathos and costly to the taxpayer!
ARTICLE 2
School caretaker, 51, who drilled holes above a shower cubicle to spy on naked girls is jailed for six months – by Emma Reynolds – PUBLISHED: 10:36 GMT, 7 August 2012 | UPDATED: 10:53 GMT, 7 August 2012
Guilty: Nigel French was today sentenced to six months in jail for drilling a peephole in the floor above a girls’ shower room
A school caretaker who drilled holes above a changing room to spy on naked girls showering was jailed for six months today.
Nigel French, 51, secretly watched the girls through a peephole after their swimming lessons at a South Wales secondary school.
The married father of two, who claimed he was looking for bats in the upstairs storage room, was found guilty of attempted voyeurism.
French was caught when the deputy headmaster spotted his feet poking out from under a stack of gym mats.
A ceiling tile had been moved to give a ‘better view’ into the cubicle.
Merthyr Crown Court heard French, a caretaker at the school for 21 years, was often seen hanging around the viewing gallery next to the pool.
An investigation discovered eight more holes over the boys’ changing rooms, which had previous years been for the girls.
Prosecutor Suzanne Thomas said: ‘It was likely the holes above the boys changing room were done some years ago.’
French claimed he was lying on the mats waiting for a class to finish before cleaning the pool Pen y Dre High School in Merthyr Tydfil.
In police interview he said: ‘My only offence could be skiving. I went up to the viewing gallery and I laid down facing forward, looking at the side of the pool, waiting for the lesson to finish.
‘I wasn’t spying on pupils in the pool because that would be wrong.’
Mother and father jailed for beating their daughter, 17, for ‘bringing shame on the family’ by having a black boyfriend
The caretaker at first claimed he was looking for bats above the changing rooms.
Three bats had been found dead in the swimming pool area over the past three years.
None had ever been found in the viewing gallery, however, and there was no evidence of bats nesting in the school.
Pen y Dre
Breach of trust: The married father of two and former Scout leader had worked at Pen y Dre High School (pictured) for 21 years
French, of Merthyr Tydfil, will have to register as a sex offender for seven years.
The former Scout leader and regular churchgoer was banned from ever working with children.
Judge Richard Twomlow said: ‘There were girls in the changing room and, although it is not clear whether you saw anybody, that was your intention.
‘The only way you were able to see into the cubicle was because a ceiling tile had been removed.
‘As the caretaker, you inspected that changing room every day and the only conclusion I can make is that it was you, in all likelihood, who removed the ceiling tile.
‘Whoever drilled those holes, this was a very serious breach of trust.
‘No girl who went into that changing room will know whether they were spied on or not. You have demonstrated no remorse.’
Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
Sorry but this is not enough – he violated the privacy of lots of vulnerable underage girls in an educational setting and this is all he gets? This does not send out a strong enough message. They guy will prob only serve 2 or 3 months and in seven years it will be as if he’d never done anything. He abused a position of trust and he left all those girls wondering whether he was perving over them. He needs a proper hefty sentence which is heavier because of his repeated denial. Yet the sentencing guidelines state that a non-custodial order is all that is required for this offence – so in that context 6 months is prob all the judge could give. Now how is that right? This type of offence could be a precursor to more serious offences and it should therefore be a point of intervention.It basically says spying on naked underage girls is okay. Yet if he made an image then 2 years min in jail. ie spy on them live because the penalty is lower – now is that right?
– TC, Notts, 07/8/2012 15:04
Sick sick man. Just can’t trust your kids around anyone these days!
– just me…, Melbourne, Australia, 07/8/2012 14:35
PERVERT should never be allowed near children again. They should make sur he never has another opportunity and everyone should remeber his face.
– Bird, US, 07/8/2012 14:33
And yet a man who grew some cannabis for his own use in his own home was given 5 years! Who, out of the two, poses the greatest threat to the general public? This old pervert should have been jailed for a lot longer, he has probably been looking at the girls changing for years, if my daughter had attended that school I would be going absolutely crazy with anger.
– HippyChic2, Here and there, mainly here, 07/8/2012 13:55
Should have got longer!!!
– nigem8t, Australia, 07/8/2012 13:51
6 months?!!!
– jane, Darlington, 07/8/2012 13:48
Another sad individual
– Mrs Woody, York, 07/8/2012 13:27
And we keep these people for society for what reason?
– Robert M, Cambridgeshire, 07/8/2012 12:56
All paedophiles should be sentenced to the Death Penalty!!!!!
– Laura, London, 07/8/2012 12:56
scum i hope he rots
– Penzz, Coventry, 07/8/2012 12:56
[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]
See this link :
The cost to the prison system should according to another article be 20K sterling for 6 months. A caretaker would barely earn the same for 2 years. Which taxpayers want to pay for this? Well those who hate England and want free meal and lodging, do you know how to destroy England now? Peep at some pasty skinned barely matured teens, leave some kiddie porn on a laptop to be intentionally discovered, smash some property in front of the police, hit someone hated and make sure a record or report is made, and England will be backrupt and all the courts clogged up with backlogged cases in no time. At 40K a year, only 1 million offences by ‘hoodlums’ are needed to do another 40 billlion sterling in damage or if we are talking 10 year prison sentence offences 400 billion sterling and collateral insurance damages of 1.2 trillion (assuming damage is 60K sterling worth).
So who’s up to teaching England’s legislators and MPs a lesson, or making a statement loud and clear to the taxpayers on who not to vote? No amount of industry sector earnings can counter the damage system in place to enrich the ‘Prison Supplier-Contractor Complex’. Some of us don’t like destroying the lives of others but since this is what has been given by society, heres returning the favour! Chavs and hoodies, ready to start the ‘War of Independence in England’? Start with the prison system . . . then target the Education-Debt-Financiar Complex (those who are locked out of the jobs market for your politics or what not, teach them what 1 single person can do that will cause 10 free educations for that single free education they refused to GIVE or make tertiary education free with to intentionally indebt young people into debt slavery . . . lets make this square whole!
Disclaimer : This was written with much sarcasm and applies to those who have been sabotaged by society or intentionally bled by unreasonable policies, laws or fines, the ability to differentiate or create reality I leave to the readers . . .
ARTICLE 3
Naked ambition: Diners pay $500 to eat sushi off NUDE MODELS at Florida restaurant – by Daily Mail Reporter – PUBLISHED: 22:27 GMT, 6 August 2012 | UPDATED: 12:08 GMT, 7 August 2012
Nakie nakie . . .
Who needs plates when you have a naked model to eat off?
One controversial Miami restaurant is saving on washing up by giving diners the chance to eat sushi directly off the bare bodies of good looking men and women – but you have to pay a whopping $500 for the privilege.
Customers can order up to six feet of sushi and sashimi at the Catalina Hotel & Beach Club’s Kung Fu Kitchen and Sushi – enough to feed 15 hungry diners – and the Japanese cuisine comes strategically placed along the length of the model’s body.
Controversial: One Miami restaurant is giving diners the chance to eat sushi directly off the bare bodies of models, pictured
‘You basically get to dine off a naked human body,’ the restaurant’s owner, Nathan Lieberman, told Local 10 News. ‘It’s mostly for groups, parties, bachelor parties, bachelorette parties, birthday parties.
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‘You call in advance or pop in and hopefully we have someone that wants to take their clothes off and lie on a table.’
Diners use their chopsticks to eat directly off the ‘human platter’. They can nibble nori rolls off nipples if they choose, in the controversial deal that is being offered until September 30, during Miami’s restaurant month.
Staff: The restaurant’s waiters volunteered to take their clothes off for extra cash
Hygiene: Eating food directly off models was banned in China
The sushi joint has had three naked sushi parties so far, ABC reported.
And Lieberman hasn’t even had to fork out for real models.
‘I have a very good-looking staff,’ he told the TV station. ‘They said, ‘We want the money, and we like to be naked.”
When a bachelorette party requested a male model, they used one of their sushi chefs, ‘a real stud,’ Lieberman said.
The practice of serving food off naked bodies was banned in China in 2005.
Limited time: Catalina Hotel & Beach Club’s Kung Fu Kitchen and Sushi restaurant in Miami, pictured, is offering the special deal until September 30
Great idea?: The bizarre culinary experience was the brainchild of restaurant owner Nathan Lieberman, pictured
But Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation hasn’t got a problem with it as long as the restaurant is being hygienic.
‘Generally speaking, as long as the restaurant is adhering to FDA rules regarding no bare skin contact, it should be in compliance,’ spokesman Sandi Poreda told ABC.
Lieberman said the models are scrubbed ‘like surgeons’ before being decorated.
They have leaves and lettuce covering their private parts and their nipples are covered in plastic – as well as wasabi.
Will that be a C, D, E, or F cup model with your meal? Look up ‘Wakame Sake’ . . . How about ‘Sake Waterboarding’ for tips?
[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]
The outlet looks quite drab . . . $500? This laziest of jobs is only worth minimum wage multiplied by the number of people eating. Twice as much minimum with a (i) drunk (ii) stoned (take your choice of organic and lead time for the effects to kick in) or (iii) popper/viagra ‘prepped’ model as well instead. At the end of every work shift, most of us would still think they are getting paid for doing nothing. Beauty is the key here (no turning of stomach’s chance), though this niche based (novelty, adult themed, stag or hen parties etc.) on aesthetics is probably best a second job or third job. Perhaps a cosplay element with lingerie or some fetish wear as well? Will give new meaning to the accolade ‘dish’ a new spin. Don’t even get into ‘Guro’, No Chianti and Fava with Liver at this outlet . . .
ARTICLE 4
That’s strange exercise gear: Madonna shows off toned thighs in tiny dress and leather boots as she opens new gymnasium – by J J Anisiobi – PUBLISHED: 20:35 GMT, 6 August 2012 | UPDATED: 22:17 GMT, 6 August 2012
As a fitness fanatic it is no surprise that Madonna has decided to open up a gymnasium but, she chose some bizarre clothes for the event.
The Like A Prayer singer took time out of her busy world tour schedule to open a Hard Candy fitness club in Moscow, Russia, today.
She may be fighting fit and in peak condition but the 53-year-old was in serious danger of dressing younger than a woman her age should.
She works out! Madonna opted for a strange choice of clothing to officially open her Hard Candy Fitness gym in Moscow, Russia, today
Madonna showed off her toned thighs in a very short black dress that featured lace chest and arms which also revealed her bra.
She accessorised the outfit with a pair of knee-high leather boots, fingerless gloves and some netted stockings.
She said: ‘Exercise is a really big part of my life, everybody knows that. I work out, I’ve been working out all my life dancing, training for my shows.
‘My live shows are extremely physical and if I don’t stay in shape I can’t do them.
‘Rather than going to gyms and complaining about what I don’t like about them I just decided to create my own and that way I can design the perfect gym.’
Witness the fitness: Although she is in great shape the outfit choice was a little revealing for a lady of her age
With her legion of loyal fans waiting outside for her she treated them to a short time of her presence as she waved to them all from the front of the gym.
The fitness club is sized at 3,500 square metres and is walking distance from the Red Square and Kremlin.
It actually opened its doors in December last year and has a contemporary design which features a group fitness studio with dance floor, swimming pool, spa and boxing ring.
Good afternoon: With her legion of loyal fans waiting outside for her she treated them to a short time of her presence
It also features an anti-gravity yoga studio which was something that Madonna was reportedly strongly behind.
The often outspoken artist also weighed in on the three feminist rockers who are currently jailed for performing a protest song against Vladimir Putin.
Speaking about the members of Pussy Riot, she said: ‘Obviously I believe in freedom of speech and I’m against censorship, so I hope that the judge is lenient with them and that they are freed soon.’
Madonna hopes members of Pussy Riot, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Aliokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich will be released soon
[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]
Run for election change some laws and GTFO of congress yer over-rich smart plutocrat muso. A gym?!? Ok this is better than conical bras or a failed school project in Malawi, but at this level of wealth 0.5 Billion therabouts (twice as rich as Romney), Maddie should be going for the Presidency or at least setting up an airline with private airfields in every major city (perhaps internationally) to allow her fans to circumvent the TSA. Slacker! Don’t ‘hope’, LEAD by example.
ARTICLE 5
‘If you ever go to Paris, fly. Don’t take the tunnel’: Joan Rivers’ sick ‘advice’ for Duchess Kate prompts Princess Diana fan fury – by Leon Watson – PUBLISHED: 13:31 GMT, 6 August 2012 | UPDATED: 14:03 GMT, 6 August 2012
Joan Rivers has sparked a royal row with a sick joke about Princess Diana on U.S. television.
The comedienne advised the Duchess of Cambridge, the wife of Diana’s son Prince William: ‘If you ever want to go to Paris, fly don’t take the tunnel.’
Brits Cat Deeley, 35, and Kelly Osbourne, 27, who were guests in the studio, recoiled in shock while even the production crew gasped.
Comedian Joan Rivers has sparked a royal storm after making a jibe about Princess Diana’s death
Her spoof advice for royal Kate is a reference to how Diana died after a high-speed car chase in a tunnel in Paris in 1997.
British viewer Andrew Henry, who saw the Fashion Police Show, told the Daily Star: ‘It was tasteless to Kate and especially vicious to her husband Wills.
‘There are plenty of other subjects to make fun about in a show about fashion. But that was one step too far. Cruel, vicious and disgusting.
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‘Diana was also an icon across the globe. Her charity work was revered and her death was tragic.’
Joan, 79, made the joke during a special British episode of her prime time show.
Despite her comments, Joan is good friends with Diana’s ex-husband Prince Charles and his current wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
She said recently: ‘I stayed at the Ritz – as usual – when I went to Prince Charles’s wedding to Camilla.
‘I met him through a friend at a charity event and just adored him from the start. I adore Camilla too.
‘Humour was the connection from the beginning. I don’t pretend to be on the short list, though, if you know what I’m saying.
‘I probably see them twice a year.’
[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]
Faux genteel mob mindedness here? Unless wrongly reading Joan, the reverse sarcasm thrown at William and Kate taken so literally shows how stupid Di’s fans are. Joan is taking a quiet shot (at who can’t really say from here the tone of voice, Joan’s mood etc. would determine) on Di’s behalf if anything. Joan’s with Di yer stupidos! Tell moi if this was read wrongly!
ARTICLE 6
US wrong on China: Keating – PUBLISHED: 06 Aug 2012 14:31:00 | UPDATED: 07 Aug 2012 00:01:15 – Greg Earl (Asia-Pacific editor)
Paul Keating urged Australia and the US to recognise the legitimacy of China as a great power in his speech on Monday. Photo: Louie Douvis
Former prime minister Paul Keating has broken with the Rudd-Gillard governments’ close alignment with the US to criticise President Barack Obama’s approach to the relationship with China.
In a speech at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Mr Keating warned that history showed the US could not expect to win another war on the Asian mainland and should focus more on strategic co-operation with China.
“I have long held the view that the future of Asian stability cannot be cast by a non-Asian power – especially by the application of US military force,” he said.
He strongly rejected the idea that Australia had no choice but to back US rivalry against a rising China, and declared the US and Australia needed to recognise the legitimacy of the current Chinese government and its prerogatives as a great power.
The speech underlines divisions within both sides of federal politics about how to manage growing tensions between the US and China, particularly as business interests place more weight on relations with fast-growing China over Australia’s traditional security alliance with the US.
It follows the Coalition’s efforts to paper over differences about how to manage investment by Chinese state-owned companies which has seen the National Farmers Federation at odds with some rural backbenchers.
Mr Keating spoke at the launch of The China Choice, a book by strategic analyst Hugh White, which says that the US should share power with China and relinquish its leadership role in Asia to avoid conflict with China.
Mr Keating strongly endorsed Professor White’s argument, which has been criticised by other analysts for undermining the value of Australia’s long-standing US alliance and caving into pressure from non-democratic China.
Mr Keating would not comment on his apparent difference with the pro-US tilt pursued by prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.
The speech is likely to further undermine the persistent efforts by the current government to position itself as the inheritor of the Hawke-Keating mantle on foreign relations.
“When we Australians were running around North Asia in the early 1990s setting up APEC [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation] and the APEC Leaders’ Meeting, we were doing it not to become foreign policy busybodies – we were doing it because we saw it all coming,” Mr Keating said in what appeared to be an implied criticism of his successors and the US.
“Why it took the United States until 2011 to make the so-called ‘pivot’ back to Asia; to acknowledge the centrality of Asia in the new strategic settings, is a matter of wonderment.”
He said the globalisation of countries had run ahead of the globalisation of strategy and the US had missed its chance to help shape a new world order around the rise of major developing countries and now faced a long hard slog to adjust.
Mr Keating underlined his different approach to the current government with his sharp criticism of President Obama’s speech to federal Parliament last November in which he reinforced the new US pivot to Asia with the rotation of marines through Darwin for training.
“Even President Obama told us during his visit to our Parliament, that ‘prosperity without freedom is just another form of poverty’,” he said. “That remark placed a heavy discount on the success of the Chinese Communist Party in dragging its community from abject poverty.
“The seemingly perpetual invocation of this human rights mantra attributes no moral value to the scale and quality of the Chinese achievement,” Mr Keating said, in a contrast to the way Mr Rudd’s relationship with the Chinese leadership appeared to wane after he criticised China’s human rights record.
He said Australians should reject the argument that they had no choice over future conflict between the US and China and push both countries towards a more co-operative structure.
“From Australia’s position, a choice is what we do not need – and in a co-operative structure, there would be less need to make one,” he said.
“This is why there is every reason to try to face America up to its changed economic and strategic circumstances, rather than traffic in the pretence that the rise of a state potentially larger than itself will have little strategic consequence for either it or for us.
“I have long held the view that the future of Asian stability cannot be cast by a non-Asian power – especially by the application of US military force.”
He said the American failure in the Vietnam, Korean, Afghanistan and Iraq wars showed the US could not win a war on mainland Asia and should not adopt a policy which could lead to military confrontation with China.
As the China-US rivalry starts to play out within both sides of federal politics, Foreign Minister Bob Carr appears to be emphasising broader links to China after the difficulties during the Rudd government.
Former opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull has led a push in the opposition to accommodate a rising China.
The Australian Financial Review
[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]
Vietnam war took 30 years WITHOUT the Middle East mess in the backgound, and US still lost. So if China actually makes the Vietnamese (which beat the USA in effect) feel nervous (currently Vietnam and China are too economically linked so no likelihood of war), how can US want to take on China WHILE the Middle East mess is not yet finished? Is USA ready for a 300 year fight with ’10 times the size of Vietnam’ China even as the Middle East Mess could take 30 years more to resolve?
USA is stuck in the Middle East for another 30 years at least unless they develop satellite mind control or do ‘something dramatic’, short of carpet bombing everything with non-nuke options in the Middle East. Does USA really need to control the whole world? Don’t forget this is JUST China, Russia is the chess Queen that has not made a move with perhaps North Korea, which is certainly no pawn . . . Keating is making sense here. And the next move will be who gets control of Syria (a pawn possibly out of necessity), NOT how to take out China when even Vietnam would still probably be too much for USA today if USA wanted to conquer Vietnam a second time!
mini-ARTICLE 6.5
Convocation robe a British legacy, must be scrapped: Kalam
Former President of India A P J Abdul Kalam, while delivering the convocation address of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University on Friday, described the convocation robe a British relic.
Earlier this year, Environment minister Jairam Ramesh had refused to wear the convocation robe during a ceremony and had called it a part of British relic. Later in the year, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar had refused to put on the convocation gown at another ceremony.
Though Kalam did not do a Jairam or a Sarkar, and wore the robe during the ceremony, he suggested the convocation robe should be done away with.
“The gown should go. It is British gown. We must have a simple Indian dress instead — an Angavastram or a Lucknow dress, maybe, which is lighter and suitable for all seasons,” said Kalam.
Introducing the concept of Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) to the students, Kalam encouraged the students of the university to start the project. “ This will provide a hands-on experience to the students in taking up societal missions,” said Kalam.
Before this, Chancellor of the university, Professor U R Rao declared the convocation open. A total of 31 Ph D scholars and 373 post graduate students were given their respective degree certificates at the convocation held for 2007-09 and 2008-10 batches.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/convocation-robe-a-british-legacy-must-be-s/694765/
[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]
Truly pride of culture here. Now think ‘Sunday Best’ and ‘Formal Wear’ and get those Indian equivalents into society as well. Suggest that all ‘big shot’ Indians begin the trend to lead the way in reculturisation of India . . .
mini-ARTICLE 7
Indian minister calls convocation robes ‘medieval, barbaric’ – Sat, 03 Apr 2010 15:15
NEW DELHI: A minister, known for his radical views, stoked up another controversy at a graduation ceremony today, when he chucked away his convocation robes which he described as “medieval and barbaric”.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, chief guest at the Indian Institute of Forest Management Seventh convocation, stunned guests and students, when he removed the colourful flowing maroon robes draped on him, while at the rostrum to deliver his speech.
“I still have not been able to figure out after 60 years of independence why we stick to these barbaric colonial relics.
“Why cannot we have a convocation in simple dress, instead of coming dressed up as medieval vicars and popes. This practice started in 13th century Oxford,” he said, evoking applause from the students.
Further ridiculing the colonial practice, Ramesh, who was at the centre of a controversy over the genetically-modifed brinjal debate in India recently, suggested that students come in normal dress for convocation ceremonies.
“You can come to a convocation in shirt and trousers. Why the robes, and the hat which is worn, only to be thrown in the air, at the end of the ceremony?” he was quoted as saying, by the Times of India.
The 55-year-old Congress minister eventually delivered his speech at the ceremony, in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, wearing the popular Indian “kurta”, his trademark attire.
– Bernama
[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]
Lets have India revive a Constitutional Monarchy with representative powers made up of a Ruler’s Collective of extant Maharajas. Then have the media tabloids focus on Indian culture and Indian society or Indian religion, instead of what the white monarchs are doing.
mini-ARTICLE 7.5
Manik Sarkar again refuses to don convocation robe – IANS India Private LimitedBy Indo Asian News Service | IANS India Private Limited – Thu, Jan 12, 2012 2:01 PM MYT
Agartala, Jan 12 (IANS) Throwing protocol to the winds for the second time, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar Thursday refused to wear the regulation gown at the Tripura University convocation.
‘The chief minister refused to put on the convocation gown. We can’t force him to wear it,’ a university official told reporters.
Sarkar, along with Vice President Hamid Ansari, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Tripura Governor D.Y. Patil, Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, university chancellor Amiya Kumar Bagchi, vice chancellor Arunoday Saha, and other dignitaries took part in the ceremonial academic procession before the 9th convocation of the Tripura central university.
While Sarkar sported a kurta-pajama all the others wore the convocation gown.
Sarkar, 63, who has been the chief minister of Tripura since 1998, refused to comment on the issue.
In September 2010 also, the Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member turned down the university’s request to wear the regulation robe during its 8th convocation.
In April 2010, union minister Jairam Ramesh, while attending the convocation of the Indian Institute of Forest Management in Bhopal had also refused to wear the convocation gown.
‘I still have not been able to figure out after more than six decades of India’s independence that why we stick to these barbaric colonial relics,’ Ramesh had said.
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A Chief Minister to be proud of, unlike other parallels in oppressed/fundo countries who shamelessly pretend that apartheid does not exist and instead ask for 750K funerals before on the back of tax payer monies BEFORE ending apartheid first (not that asking for funeral funds is even thinkable . . . ). The UN and Islam do not accept apartheid! Would CM Malik communicate this to the unthinking idiots with equally high posts here in Malaysia?
mini-ARTICLE 8
Abandoned Motor City is turning into a dump – literally – Published: 03 August, 2012, 08:37
A stuffed animal on the ground at the Packard Automotive Plant a former car manufacturing factory in Detroit, Michigan (AFP Photo / Getty Images)
With hundreds of thousands having fled Detroit in the last decade alone, the city is turning into a deserted dumping ground for murder victims. And with its budget choked, the Motor City has had to cut back on its police force to boot.
A report published Thursday by the Associated Press tells of two bodies decomposing in an empty Detroit lot littered with tires and furniture. The teenage boys had been stripped to their underwear, shot, and then left to rot on one of the city’s many abandoned, formerly residential blocks.
They were only the latest in a string of murder victims whose remains lay for days before being discovered. Detroit has become a kind of agglomeration of rural patches contained inside an urban area, where what were once neighborhoods have turned into overgrown fields.
Outsiders – and police – are unlikely to visit the inner wasteland of what some Americans now call the Murder City.
The situation is a result of nearly fifty years of decay, after white residents started making their way to the suburbs in the 1950s. And after a vicious race riot in 1967, their mass relocation picked up in earnest.
Over the next two decades, the city’s black middle class followed, and blocks – sometimes neighborhoods – of empty houses and overgrown lawns are all that remain today.
Tens of thousands of the city’s homes have been falling apart over the years – some collapsing, while others have been demolished.
And now, the deserted parts of town are quickly turning into dumping grounds for bodies – at a rate of about one corpse found every month for the last year. And those are only counting the victims authorities know of.
Seventy-four-year-old Ella Dunn lives about a hundred meters from where 17-year-old Jacob Kudla and 18-year-old Jourdan Bobbish’s bodies were found by a passerby on July 27; they had disappeared in Detroit five days earlier.
Dunn’s is the closest inhabited house from the scene of the crime, as she’s watched nearly all her neighbors leave over the last 24 years.
Today, the neighborhood is used mostly for dumping trash – and whatever else those passing through need to get rid of. A toilet, various furniture items, and several boats can be seen in a nearby parking lot.
“They drive down and push stuff out,” Dunn told AP.
Earlier in July, two decapitated bodies were pulled out of the Detroit River and a canal nearby. City officials say they were shot and dismembered in suburban Allen Park, then brought to a deserted park in Detroit and dropped in the water.
In December, the corpses of two women were found in a car left near an abandoned house. A week later, the charred remains of two other women were discovered in the trunk of another car. Police say all of them were murdered elsewhere, then brought to Detroit for disposal.
In search of solutions – and funding
Right now, there isn’t much the city can do about it. Detroit lacks the money to level its staggering 30,000-plus abandoned houses, and has had to cut the police force’s pay in recent years.
Mayor Dave Bing is pushing a proposal that would use federal dollars to demolish as many of the houses as possible, with the State of Michigan pitching in as well.
And with law enforcement scrambling to keep track of crime, Bing has some unexpected help.
“The city has an annual tradition of burning homes on October 30th in an event called Devil’s Night. The city is so desperate that it can’t keep up with all the arsons,” Nathan Manire, a New York-based artist from Detroit, told RT.
In another possibility, the local government could buy up properties in mostly-deserted neighborhoods, leveling whole blocks in hopes of renewal sometime down the road. But, Dunn says, “I couldn’t move if I wanted to. They don’t want to give you any money for your house.” Dunn’s is one of only three occupied houses in her entire neighborhood.
Bing will need the government’s help if his plan is to succeed. With about 250,000 people having left Detroit since 2000, a city built for 2 million now houses a little more than 700,000 people. One of the results of that is that tax revenue is down, and everyone in town is feeling the effects.
General Motors, one of the largest corporations headquartered in the city, made about $1 billion in revenue between January and March of this year – but due to its former bankrupt status, chances are it won’t have to pay taxes for years to come.
Crime is always one step ahead
And the city clearly needs a more serious police presence – which it also can’t afford. Officers recently took a 10 per cent reduction in pay.
When officer John Garner joined the Detroit Police Department in 1999, he was only responsible for a 3.6-square-mile area, and would see another officer roughly three times over the course of any given hour. Today, he covers 22 square miles, and bumps into a colleague “maybe once every two hours,” he said.
Garner added, “if we know this, the criminals know this.”
And as cops spend their time trying to keep track of all the major offenses, residents take yet another hit.
Manire said that inner Detroit’s young people “have few options other than to turn to drugs or crime, and many set up shop on abandoned blocks and sell drugs on the corner.” And since the city’s police are spread so thin, he added, “there’s little they can do.”
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Get Kim Schmitz to set up Chaank Heavy Industries in Detriot and build the Cainborg from Robocop 2 (Irvin Kershner 1990) or Death Machine (Stephen Norrington 1994). Will most certainly bring back the work lines (just like OCP Corp’s Chairman said) and for sure lots of Drug Lords or FreeMasons would want immortality as cyborg mecha (or at least soldiers, one can imagine the indentured soldiers paying off 10 lifetimes worth as killer-borgs with brains stuck in those machines) and kickstart the ‘Braincase’ industry . . .
See response to Article 17
ARTICLE 9
US troops ‘kept dogs in the same beds as their prostitutes’
US troops who caused scandal by sleeping with prostitutes ahead of a visit to Colombia by President Barack Obama also allowed sniffer dogs to sleep in hotel beds and defecate on the premises.
US Secret Service to receive ethics training after Colombia prostitution scandal
US Secret Service and military personnel allegedly took as many as 21 women back to their hotel, ahead of Obama’s trip to Cartagena Photo: AFP/GETTY
7:00AM BST 04 Aug 2012
A partially redacted report into April’s incident released Friday by the Pentagon revealed little that was not already known about how 12 soldiers, airmen, marines and sailors had taken prostitutes to their hotel rooms.
The team was in place as part of the security detail for Mr Obama’s visit to the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, and their behaviour came to light after nine civilian US Secret Service officers were caught for the same offence.
The report concluded that, while servicemen had breached US military law by consorting with sex workers and in some cases by committing adultery, and had shown bad discipline by drinking, they had not endangered national security.
According to the report, the Cartagena hotel where they were staying, El Caribe, allowed guests to entertain overnight guests – “commonly a prostitute” – and that no Colombian laws appeared to have been broken.
But investigators did receive complaints from local witnesses about the general behavior of the US personnel, including that the dozen suspects had kept “overnight guests” in their rooms after 6am in breach of hotel rules.
“Explosive detection dog handlers were allowing their animals to sleep in hotel beds, soil the linens and urinate and defecate in inappropriate locations on the hotel grounds, leaving the waste,” the report added.
“Unidentified hotel guests, thought to be American, were bothering and propositioning college-age female greeters working at El Caribe with the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” it noted.
April’s scandal was embarrassing to the Obama administration and led to allegations that the servicemen and agents might have compromised national security or the President’s safety by consorting with Colombian women.
The report, however, concluded there was no evidence that the women had ties to criminal drug-smuggling groups or terrorist movements, nor were they victims of human trafficking networks.
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The report concluded that, while servicemen had breached US military law by consorting with sex workers and in some cases by committing adultery
This military law does not make sense. Maybe for department heads and officers but not the rank and file. At most all rank and file who are married could be also be disallowed, but this draconian application could have impact on their performance ESPECIALLY if they are not getting along well with spouses back home. Adultery of course has social implications and could destroy familial relations, spoil visiting military repute, so soldiers/sailors should be required to make sure or otherwise stick to prostitutes only.
ARTICLE 10
Policy flaws make low-income housing unpopular – Updated: 2012-08-04 10:38 – ( Xinhua)
ZHENGZHOU – At a time when China’s housing prices are beyond the reach of most prospective homeowners, low-income housing has not received the warm welcome authorities expected..
The audit office of Henan province recently said that over half of the low-rent houses in the province’s six cities remain empty.
The six cities have built 16,000 low-rent housing units, 8,215 of which are empty, or 51.3 percent of the total.
The provincial capital of Zhengzhou began receiving applications for 1,551 public rental housing units last December but has received only 362 applications, according to the local government.
In recent years, central and local governments have been investing in low-income housing to satisfy the needs of low-income families.
The government has vowed to build 36 million affordable housing units during the 2011-2015 period. In 2011, it started construction on 10 million units.
However, supplies of low-income housing seem to have surpassed demand in many places around the country, including the provinces of Guangdong, Hubei and Hebei.
Henan government officials said the unpopularity of low-income housing can be attributed to a lack of supporting facilities and their remote locations.
The Zhujiangrongjing residential area is one of the most unpopular low-income housing complexes in Zhengzhou. The houses are located on the outskirts of the city and residents have to rely on primary schools and clinics in two nearby villages, since there is little transportation linking the residential area with downtown Zhengzhou.
In the Shangdonghuayuan residential area, another low-income housing complex in Zhengzhou, residents said there is only one bus line near the residential area, adding that the neighborhood is noisy and dirty due to the close proximity of construction sites.
Experts said some local governments chose to build the low-income housing in remote areas and sell more appealing locations to real estate developers to boost fiscal revenues.
Zhao Jinjing, vice president of a real estate business association in Henan, said low-income housing built by property developers has been more popular than that built by the government, as the developers build housing according to market needs.
“Therefore, the government should consider marketizing the low-income housing project and adopting some preferential policies, such as reducing taxes, to encourage developers to build more low-income houses,” Zhao said.
The provincial audit office of Henan said there are flaws in the distribution of low-income housing, as some people fabricate credentials in order to qualify for buying or renting the properties.
Experts said the government should make greater efforts to assess local residents’ incomes and current housing conditions before building and distributing low-income housing.
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The poor condition of public housing should be 3 units JOINED to be worth the current price. Also a single unit could be used for free and not cost anything, for China to be truly humane and socialist. Everyone deserves a home in China, for better conditions though they should be required to work towards that. China has enough wealth to give these ‘worst’ units to those who do not have homes, at least for free. Wealth distribution is socialist in nature and rubbish apartments are not worthwhile investments in many ways.
ARTICLE 11
Putin asks for court to show leniency in Pussy Riot trial – by the CNN Wire Staff – August 3, 2012 — Updated 1240 GMT (2040 HKT)
Putin asks that band members not be judged “too harshly” for political performance
The band members went on trial this week on hooliganism charges
“Mother Mary please drive Putin away,” the band screamed inside Christ Savior Cathedral
(CNN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is asking a court to show leniency for three members of the punk rock band Pussy Riot, who are on trial in Moscow on hooliganism charges.
The Pussy Riot members went on trial Monday, charged after performing a song criticizing Putin in one of Moscow’s grandest cathedrals, Russia’s state news agency reported. The charge carries a potential seven-year sentence.
“Mother Mary please drive Putin away,” the women screamed, their faces covered in neon masks, inside Christ Savior Cathedral in February.
Husband of jailed Pussy Riot band member Female punk band mocks Putin, is jailed
Political crackdown in Russia
While Putin criticized their performance, he said Thursday, “Still, I do not think they should be judged too harshly for that,” RIA Novosti reported. He added that he hoped the court makes “the right decision.”
Pussy Riot specializes in sudden, often illegal public performances, including one in Moscow’s Red Square.
The punk prayer was inspired by the women’s anger about the relationship between the Russian government and the Orthodox Church, according to the band’s manager, who is married to one of the suspects.
The Orthodox Church Pope, Patriarch Kyril has been widely reported as saying Putin’s years in power have been a miracle from God.
The band’s behavior in one of Russia’s most sacred cathedrals has outraged many of the country’s faithful.
“This is a disgusting thing to do,” one woman told CNN.
“They should go to jail,” said another. “A year or two. Let them think about their behavior.”
But even some of those who were offended believe the women should not be in jail.
“If necessary, God will punish them,” one man said. “It must be not be cruel punishment.”
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“Mother Mary please drive Putin away,” the band screamed inside Christ Savior Cathedral does not carry weight in the Duma. Just ignore, no need to even censor. And ‘Mary’ being so ‘motherly and virtuous’ to give birth to a Jesus should talk to Lady Liberty about 2 term limits but nothing else. Pussy Riot makes Russia fun and democratic, youth spirit if anything to blunt that image of icy terrains, fur hat clad soldiers and peasants huddled in ‘X’mas card like log hovels’ with their vodka and livestock . . . . Maybe these girls should get into politics eventually . . . or set up a Church similar structure to perform naked every night . . .
Nice one Putin . . . thats right! Leave the Judiciary much less the President of Russia or Orthodox Pope (there are 3.5 Popes at the moment btw – Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox, with a 4th ‘Pope’ the Anglican Head Church also the King of England, USA has no Protestant ‘Pope’ . . . (gosh Prince Phillip, didn’t have to defer to ‘Marm’ so much that England would have no King . . . ) . . . out of this! Russia fights super-power nations NOT sensational naked FEMALE punk bands! Even if they had sex in the Church, a ban from all Churches would already be enough!
Name a nudist colony, a nudist zone or nudist stage club after Pussy Riot if Russia wants to show how Human Rights aware or ‘sex positive’ Russia is! Now lets pay attention to what ‘the Western’ and ‘Muslim’ Fronts are up to instead, enough time and media coverage on this sot of nonsense already . . . if 1 million Russians attended a nude concert, the stout of faith would not even bat an eyelid, this Church ‘slip through’ was not even worth covering, a few well fed (double or triple chinned???) nuns could just drag the Pussy Riot girls (some are even married! UGH!!! No offense to MILF-hunters . . . barf . . . lol ) out for an old fashioned spanking and that would have been the end of this farce, not involve Judges and Presidents and Popes (all the King’s men), not even 1st page media (maybe page 3?) . . . just ridiculous and out of proportion shows petty mindedness and brittleness of faith, of Russian society which is supposed to stoic enough to fight bears and want to crush the USA and the whole concept of Capitalism and socialise the plutocracy into wealth distribution . . . how could a little punk band like that frighten super-power Russia so much?
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/03/world/europe/russia-pussy-riot-trial/index.html
ARTICLE 12
State Duma factions unite in move to ban state officials from owning foreign property – Published: 02 August, 2012, 14:53
Russian MPs have proposed a ban on civil servants owning property abroad, including securities and bank deposits. The move is backed by the four main Duma factions: United Russia, Fair Russia, Communists and Liberal Democrats.
The bill draft states that all federal and municipal officials (including the President, Prime Minister and members of parliament) and their spouses and children cannot open accounts in overseas banks, or own foreign real estate and securities.
The MPs suggest that violating this regulation should be held criminally responsible and punished with a three-year ban from holding public office, and between 5 and 10 million rubles ($150,000 – $300,000) in fines or up to five years in prison.
An initial draft of the bill also orders civil servants to disclose ownership of foreign property, and sell it off within six months. The law would apply to inherited property and even to individuals leaving state service, effective up to three years post-resignation for both ex-officials and their families.
There are exceptions in the bill for those who need foreign property and bank accounts for work, medical treatment or academic studies.
The authors of the bill explained their initiative by appealing to moral principles: “We suggest that everyone starts with himself – a man must put both his feet here and must demonstrate that it is wrong to keep money in foreign banks, it is wrong to buy securities from foreign companies. This is not moral,” deputy head of the Lower House Constitutional Legislation Committee Vyacheslav Lysakov told business daily Kommersant.
The initiative came a week after two parliamentary factions – United Russia and Fair Russia – submitted a joint proposal that would require state officials to report foreign property on a special website.
One of the authors of the bill, deputy chairman of the Lower House Sergey Zheleznyak, suggested that such a move would be fairer, since a total ban could infringe on basic civil rights. Forcing the hasty sale of foreign property during the current economic crisis could also lead to substantial monetary loss.
Other deputies who opposed the bill say it will only lead to increased secrecy, not transparency.
The parliamentary initiative came when at least two top state officials were criticized for owning foreign assets. The head of the Russia’s top federal law enforcement agency – the Investigative Committee – was criticized by opposition blogger Aleksey Navalny and United Russia MP Aleksandr Khinshteyn for once owning a stake in a Czech law firm.A top opposition figure – Fair Russia MP Gennadiy Gudkov – was accused by the Investigative Committee of owning several companies in Bulgaria.
Russian law forbids state officials from entrepreneurship while on their posts, but does not limit their property rights.
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Russian law forbids state officials from entrepreneurship while on their posts (NICE! ), but does not limit their property rights (not so nice . . . perhaps a property number limit based on necessity? The last thing the people need is a civil servant with a 3rd or 10th or more property to ‘hide asset with’ . . . ). As Putin once said, the law makers could ‘GET SERIOUS!’ This looks flawed as hell.
This ban on foreign property though, is a ‘Russian’ style development that the world could learn from. This way a plutocracy will not form within the bureaucracy. Karl Marx would approve. Russia in turn could learn about term limits . . . though Putin’s 3rd term is VERY Russian, but not the good type . . . a spy chief could do no less! Pulling the strings from the background would make Putin that much more fearsome, but being at the forefront diminishes the ‘fear factor’. One cannot glory hog and be a ‘Man in the Shadows’ or ‘Shadow Power Player’ as well at the same time (unless Putin is not the main man and someone pulls Putin’s strings instead . . . sweet . . . ). See below :
Commentator Comments :
On first reading, it sounded like a farce. On second thought, maybe its well and good if Russia wishes to dclare it criminal for Duma members to have assets in their name overseas. On third thought, it may be good intention but impossible to implement. There are too many loopholes to avoid this. One could use a company as a separate entity to own such assets; Even family members’ name with total Power of Attorney to the Duma member can achieve the same. Or money laundered from illicit or corrupt dealings back to Russia. The possibilities are many now that Russia has joined the WTO. Expect unholy partnerships and alliance between businessmen and politicians. The assets will find its way into the politician’s permanent usage or name or possession. No Duma bill will prevent . That is why I say some arguments or bills can descend into absurdity and removed from reality. Good try anyway if sincere. – Retired-auditor (Good Intentions & Reality (unregistered) August 03, 2012, 08:17)
ARTICLE 13
Clinging to hope – NO HOLDS BARRED – Friday, 10 August 2012 Super Admin Raja Petra Kamarudin
Well, so be it. If it has to be Pakatan Rakyat then let it be Pakatan Rakyat. But it is we the voters who will be deciding which it is going to be. So why can’t we the voters demand what type of government we want? Our votes decide the government so that gives us the right to dictate the type of government that we want. And the type of government has to be a different and better government.
I have lost quite a number of friends and family to cancer over the last 60 years or so. Of late, many more seem to have left this world. Maybe this is because I am coming to 62 so at that age you tend to lose more people you know — which helps remind us that our time is coming up as well so we can consider ourselves as also standing in queue.
Anyway, what I find common to those who suffer from cancer is that most, if not all, do not give up hope. Even if the doctor has diagnosed the cancer as terminal they still harbour the hope that they can beat it somehow. I suppose that is the characteristic of humankind. We never lose hope even when logic tell us there is no longer any hope.
If we hear that a certain herb has been known to help cure the disease, even in cases where the doctor has said otherwise, and there are incidences where people have survived the cancer after taking that herb, much to the surprise of the doctor, we will surely try that herb and hope that the doctor is wrong and that the herb actually does work.
If we hear that a certain holy man in India has helped cure the disease, even in cases where the doctor said there is no chance of survival, and we are told that many people who went to meet the holy man managed to beat the disease, we will certainly make that trip to India in the hope that we are going to be amongst that group that beat the odds.
I have known friends who have travelled to so many places all over the world to seek miracle cures, mainly through spiritual help or ‘faith healing’, in spite of the medical prognosis that says there is no possibility of any cure. Of course, there are stories abound about how people have managed to prove the doctors wrong and that miracle cures or faith healing does work.
Unfortunately, not a single one of my friends managed to beat the odds. In the end they all died, as what the doctors said was going to happen. The miracle cures or faith healing did not work, in spite of the many stories that we hear about how they sometimes work.
I suppose no one likes to be told that they are going to die and that nothing can be done about it. Who likes to go home and just sit around or lie in bed with excruciating pain and count the days till you leave this world? To be told you have two months to live, or at the most six months but not longer than that, is so depressing. It is better that you psyche yourself into believing that there is still some hope you can cheat death by taking some sort of herb or by travelling to India, China, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, etc., to meet a ‘holy man’ who has been known to help cure people whom the doctors said cannot be cured.
It is bad enough you know you are going to die. But to accept the hopelessness of your situation and go without a fight makes the inevitable worse. It is less depressing to believe you have hope and work on that hope by seeking a solution. Who knows, the rumours might be true and the doctors might be wrong and you might be able to find that cure that the doctors said does not exist.
Never take hope away from anyone, especially from someone who is about to die, even if you know it is all false hope. When they excitedly tell you they are going to make a trip to India or China to meet a certain holy man who is said to have helped people beat the odds and managed to prove the doctors wrong, smile and encourage them and tell them that life and death is God’s will and if God wills it then they are going to live and not die in two months or six months or whatever it is that the doctor told them. It is most cruel to tell them, “This is all bullshit and you are going to die in the next few months so just accept that fact and don’t waste time with all this nonsense of miracle cures or faith healing.”
Religion is more or less about hope as well. We all know we are going to die. That is inevitable and unavoidable. The only question is when, how and where. It could be soon or it could be some years into the future. But the day we got born means we are certainly going to die. The only way to avoid death is not to be born. If we are not born then we can cheat death, so to speak.
But we still need hope. We know we have no hope of avoiding death. But we would like to know that death is not final. If death is final then what good is it to be born? Are we born just so that we can die? Isn’t life then totally useless? Why be born just so that we can die? What a total waste of time?
And the hope we harbour would be that death is not final but merely the beginning of a better life, a life after death. We leave this cruel world to go to a better world. What we will enjoy after we leave this world is far better than what we can ever experience in this world. Hence death should actually be rejoiced rather than mourned.
Now, if you tell someone that this is all bullshit, and that once you die it is the end of everything, that person will get very upset with you. He or she does not like to be told that death is final and that there is no better life after death. How can they accept that there is only one life, this life, and no second life, and that once you leave this world you leave forever and do not enter into another world or enjoy a permanent life after death?
This is, again, all about hope. We need to believe that there is still hope even when we die. To be told that there is no longer any hope once we die and that death is final and the end of everything and not the beginning of a second and better life is something most people cannot accept. It makes the entire concept of life totally useless. It makes the acceptance of death very difficult.
Hence if you tell someone that religion is nonsense and that what religion tells you is equally nonsense you will be met with vicious opposition. This is because you are denying these people hope. You are removing the only hope that they have. They know they have no hope of not dying. So they need to replace the hopelessness of their situation with another hope. And that hope is, while you cannot cheat death, death is not final and that life after death is greater than life on this earth.
The same applies to life in Malaysia. We have suffered life in Malaysia under the same government for 55 years. We would like to believe that this is not a hopeless situation. We would like to believe that there is still some hope. And so we hope that the government will change and that the next government will be a better government than the one we currently have.
Then someone comes along and says that this is all bullshit. This person says that there is no hope of changing the government or even if you can change the government life is still going to be the same and there is not going to be any change as you hope there would. You will get angry. And you will get angry because this person is taking away the only hope you have of seeing a better life.
Try telling a person suffering from cancer that the doctor is right and that this so-called holy man in India or China cannot help you live beyond two months and see the reaction. Try telling a person that the Bible or Qur’an is bullshit and that you are eventually going to die and once you die that is final and not the beginning of a new/better life and see the reaction. Try telling someone that all politicians are the same and never mind which government comes to power you are still going to see the same sorry state of affairs and see the reaction.
And this is why many people react the way they do when we point out the shortcomings and weaknesses of the opposition. They are harbouring the hope that a change of government would mean a better life. So when we tell them otherwise we are taking away this hope. They need hope, so they resent it when we take away this hope by telling them there is no hope.
Hope and reality work opposite to one another. The reality is: we are going to die of cancer within the next two months. The hope is: a holy man in a foreign land can help us cheat death. The reality is: once we die that is final and the end of everything. The hope is: death is not final but just the beginning of better things to come. The reality is: many countries change governments but life does not really improve much and sometimes even becomes worse. The hope is: once we kick out Barisan Nasional then Malaysia is going to become paradise on earth.
When I contradict your belief system and tell you to look at reality I am removing all this hope. I know this sounds cruel and denying you hope is just like telling you that you are going to die of cancer in two months — so save your money and don’t bother to fly all over the world to meet holy men — or like telling you that there is no afterlife for you to go to once you die because death is final.
If the doctor tells you that you are suffering from terminal cancer and are going to die in two months time I will not tell you that the doctor is right and that you should not try miracle cures or faith healing. That would be cruel. If you believe that there is a better afterlife where you will be going to once you die I am not going to tell you that this is religious bullshit because you need to believe this to be able to accept death.
In both these situations you need hope because hope is the only thing you have. So I will not take away this hope from you.
But in the issue of changing the government, now that is not a hopeless situation like terminal cancer or death. There is still hope that a change of government can result in a better life. But we need a better government to be able to see a better life. So I will barrage you and the politicians from both sides of the political divide that a change of government per se will not result in a better life. It must be the correct type of government.
I know it is not easy to accept reality. How many people can accept being told that they are going to die in two months time so just accept it and stop all this faith healing nonsense? How many people can accept being told that there is no such thing as an afterlife and once you die you are gone forever so live this only one life that you have while you still have it? And how many people can accept being told that a change of government will not automatically result in a better life unless we get the right type of government?
But someone has to do this job even though the person doing it is going to get cursed. As I said, I will not shatter your hope of beating cancer or of going to a better life after death, but I will certainly shatter your hope that a better life can be achieved through a change of government.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying we should not change the government. Many of you will interpret this as me saying just that. Yes, change the government by all means. Just make sure we get the right type of government so that our objective of a better life can be met.
In this case, you might say, we only have two choices, Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat. So it is either Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat. And if it is not Barisan Nasional then it has to be Pakatan Rakyat.
Well, so be it. If it has to be Pakatan Rakyat then let it be Pakatan Rakyat. But it is we the voters who will be deciding which it is going to be. So why can’t we the voters demand what type of government we want? Our votes decide the government so that gives us the right to dictate the type of government that we want. And the type of government has to be a different and better government.
Why is it so difficult for some of you to understand this very simple thing? And do I really need to write four pages to put this point across to you?
Yes, in the end this is all about hope. But there is a difference between false hope and hope tempered with reality. I am not selling false hope. I am selling hope tempered with reality. Hence from time to time we need to embark upon a reality check to get us back on track.
[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]
Again with the hegelian dialectic. Who says 3rd Force cannot be better than the above 2 coalitions? And don’t confuse state and religion much like politics and health. All of the issues are UNRELATED. Much like RPK tries to inculpate via allegory an inability to separate issues, the very same ability to separate issues can be used to keep one’s health better. When one thinks with the collective one gets the ailments of the collective. When one thinks as an individual, one will only get what one deserves. Collective hive mindedness is convenient but results in all kinds of incompatibilities in the astral and ethereal and this is the very cause of illness. Want to heal up to oneself? Stop parasiting the ideas of the original and be oneself – this is not easy and a luxury but do try or lose individuality.
The more individual one is, the better and healthier because everyone is different and one cannot be another without paying a price somehow. Also individuality is a mark of strength in this day of compromised and homogenised individuality. Pick your meme and stay with that. Faux-Hindu? Faux-Sheik? Greaser? Punk? Suit? Techie? Nerd? Nut? Gravitate to that which is most comfortable, the meme will do the rest WITH LOGIC the overreaching ‘law’. Generally one must learn to think and not follow blindly. Is the law as of now good? Is the MP amending bad laws? Is the MP overreaching 2 term limits to become a cult of personality? Does any democratic person not understand that nepotism destroy democracy? Does any Muslim who is fair minded think dhimmitude of other faiths help? Should hudud even be applied against democratic principles? Does anyone have the right to deny Nudist colonies if activities are in enclosed zones? Organics psychedelic bars? So mind our own business and make sure your lawmakers ensure living as one prefers in assigned spaces appropriate is possible, not drug, not poison and not manipulate into oblivion, and not sequester wealth, not sequester land, or not sequester political power, the country and the world belongs to everyone, so stop bothering who is LGBT or not of what faith or wants to do whatever . . . go against these cardinal rules and suffer the political or even revolutionary consequences. Therein lies one’s right over everyone else.
As for . . . The only way to avoid death is not to be born. . . . – that which one believes will occur to as far as one’s Will has been cultivated. Bubye Monotheists, and good riddance! The rest will doubtless also be treated to what they believe . . .
ARTICLE 14
Frog hunting season – THE CORRIDORS OF POWER – Wednesday, 08 August 2012 Super Admin Raja Petra Kamarudin
But not all the potential frogs crossed over in the end. Many did not, basically because they were asking for too much money to cross over. After I broke the story that Hee Yit Fong of Jelapang was paid RM25 million to cross over — the money paid by gambling tycoon Vincent Tan — all the others started demanding that same amount and were no longer prepared to accept less than a million, like what was paid to Badrul Hisham Abdullah of Port Kelang.
“Rafizi to replace Gwo-Burne?” said The Malay Mail, which you can read below. The Malay Mail then goes into a long two-page story about the issue. Actually, it is a very short and simple story. And I certainly support what PKR is trying to do, which is basically frog hunting. PKR is getting rid of the potential frogs.
If you can remember, three years ago, just before Perak fell back in 2009, I revealed that Umno is talking to a few potential frogs, in particular but not confined to those in PKR. Of course, at that time, what I said was pooh-poohed. Over time, though, we began to see the crossovers happen, one-by-one.
But not all the potential frogs crossed over in the end. Many did not, basically because they were asking for too much money to cross over. After I broke the story that Hee Yit Fong of Jelapang was paid RM25 million to cross over — the money paid by gambling tycoon Vincent Tan — all the others started demanding that same amount and were no longer prepared to accept less than a million, like what was paid to Badrul Hisham Abdullah of Port Kelang.
Okay, let us not talk about those who did eventually cross over. We have talked about them enough and you know who these people are — the ‘independent’ and BN-friendly wakil rakyat that includes Hee Yit Fong, Nasarudin Hashim, Jamaluddin Mohd. Radzi, Mohd Osman Jailu, Wee Choo Keong, Zahrain Mohamed Hashim, Ibrahim Ali, Hasan Ali, Zulkilfi Nordin, Badrul Hisham Abdullah, Keshvinder Singh, Fairuz Khairuddin, etc.
Let us instead talk about those who were supposed to have crossed over but eventually did not because Umno refused to pay them what they wanted. And the list of potential frogs that did not eventually cross over because Umno could not meet their price were:
Loh Gwo-Burne (Kelana Jaya)
S. Manikavasagam (Kapar)
Aziz Kadir (Ketereh)
Azan Ismail (Indera Kota)
Lim Soo Nee (Kulim)
Mat Suhaimi Shafiei (Sri Muda)
Amirudin Shari (Batu Caves)
Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid (Kuala Langat)
Rashid Din (Merbok)
Johari Abdul (Sungai Petani)
So, yes, many of these people, plus more, are quietly going to be dumped. Barisan Nasional does not want them because they are demanding too much and neither will Pakatan Rakyat field them in the next general election.
And that is the real reason why Loh Gwo-Burne is being replaced and not as The Malay Mail reported below.
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Rafizi to replace Gwo-Burne?
(The Malay Mail) – Will PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli contest in the Kelana Jaya parliamentary seat? Although he is tipped to contest in the Pandan parliamentary seat, some representatives of the Selangor government are lobbying for him to stand in Kelana Jaya.
Speculation is rife that Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo-Burne has a slim chance of retaining his seat.
According to one leader, Loh was not popular among the residents as he was “inactive” as an MP.
One community leader said he would rather not vote in the election if Loh defended his seat. “The problem is, we don’t see him at all. And he has done nothing so far,” said the resident.
“It is unfortunate because he was given a chance to do something but he has wasted it.”
Professional photographer Nazeerul Haqeem, 24, also said Loh’s presence was lacking in the constituency. “I think (Seri Setia assemblyman) Nik Nazmi (Nik Ahmad) is more of a people person. He has buka puasa events and dinners with residents,” Nazeerul said.
PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said, however, that Rafizi was already working on building his repertoire in Pandan, a seat firmly held by former MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat for two terms now. “At the moment, Rafizi is working hard in Pandan,” she said.
Asked if Rafizi had a better chance of winning in Kelana Jaya, Nurul Izzah said his recent prosecution under the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 for disclosing banking details on the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) scandal may serve to boost his reputation among the voters in Pandan.
“So (Datuk Seri) Ong Tee Keat should be less than confident in retaining his seat,” she said.
Nurul Izzah said the party would decide on the seat allocations “when it is ready”.
Loh was amused when told of the attempts to field Rafizi. “I spoke to Rafizi and he seems to be focused on Pandan,” he said.
However, he admitted that there was much to be done in the constituency, especially with regards to urban poverty, and said he would defend his seat.
“People from the poor areas like Desa Mentari are asking us to stay and help them,” Loh said. “Slums in areas like Glenmarie need a lot of attention.”
He said other major issues such as traffic problems and crime rates were also important but these matters fell under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
“I am not saying the federal government is not doing enough but such matters need at least five to 10 years to be resolved,” he said.
“The public transport system needs to be restructured, car ownership needs to be reduced, and crime rates need the attention of the police force.
“For me, I feel that tackling urban poverty is crucial because it will also stem the increase of crime.”
Meanwhile, Rafizi said although he had to wait for the party’s leadership to decide on the fielding of candidates, he was already preparing to contest in Pandan.
“I think the party’s approach right now is to field national candidates against strong Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates,” he said.
“I really appreciate the calls for me to contest in Kelana Jaya but comparing Kelana Jaya with Pandan, Pandan is the more difficult seat to win for Pakatan Rakyat (PR), so that is why I have to go to Pandan,” he said with a laugh.
Loh was among eight elected representatives from the Pakatan Rakyat allegedly offered a total of RM160 million to leave and become independent representatives. He made this claim at the Selangor state assembly on July 12.
The urban, mostly affluent Kelana Jaya constituency has 95,647 voters, comprising 41 per cent Chinese, 39 per cent Malays and 18 per cent Indians.
The Pandan constituency has 78,128 voters, comprising 47 per cent Chinese, 45 per cent Malays and six per cent Indians.
Loh’s only claim to fame before 2008 was recording a conversation involving lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam allegedly interfering in the appointment of judges.
[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]
Thats just money, the pleasure of outing the corrupting MP or Minister and denying the MP or Minister power is much better. Also if all the MP’s ratify bills that license many gambling outlets instead of a single monopoly and creating an overgrown corruptor, these problems would not be here today. Most of us probably were not born even when the rubbish mindset or law/constitution that is government was put into place, and most of us need to put an end to this sort of citizen interaction and legislation and law writing, including term limitless MPs who collude or MPs trying to get there merely for power. Takes discipline to identify which MP is worth voting, those that do not respond to an intelligent question or a book full of CLEAN POLITICS to appreciate the local intelligensia with, are UNVOTABLE. But really there are virtually no role models excepting those who walk their own path sufficiently to think clearly and critically enough to initiate 3rd force movements. How about replicating this instead?
ARTICLE 15
Gov’t and party are different: ex-CID chief – Friday, 10 August 2012 08:45
Former Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department chief Fauzi Shaari has laughed off a proposal by prime minister Najib Razak for police to take oath of allegiance to the government. “The police must know how to differentiate between government and party. In voting, it is their right to choose the better party,” he said.
Fauzi, who recently joined PAS, described the call as unnecessary, and said if police treated their job as a religious obligation, they would put in their best efforts in their work.
At a buka puasa event, Najib again invoked his now infamous catchphrase “You help me, I help you” by calling the police to take an oath of loyalty.
“If the government helps PDRM (Malaysia Royal Police Force), then PDRM will help the government and the country. We help each other to bring the country towards a safer, harmonious and excellent future,” Najib was quoted as saying.
The remark drew strong reaction from northern-based Malay empowerment group TERAS who said it was Najib’s hidden instruction to the police to vote for BN.
“So, the oath is not so much about PDRM promising to be loyal to the government but a plea to all top officers to ensure that the votes from lower officers will go to BN,” said TERAS chairman Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid.
PAS Youth information chief Riduan Mohd Nor said Najib’s latest move signified the BN government’s fear of the increasing support for Pakatan Rakyat amid a slew of announcements of former top civil servants joining PAS.
“It has made a big impact to UMNO-BN for the 13th general election,” he added.
-Harakahdaily
[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]
That is why the military and police, EVEN civil service, should not be allowed to vote and remain neutral or not even be part of the voting numbers equation. See how the police and army have separate from the Rakyat, taxpayer dollar paid for quarters? That is the trade off and sacrifice the police and army OWE the ordinary Rakyat which does not have the access or benefits or the authority they have. Simply to prevent vested interest.
Imagine if more and more citizens became police and voted for the government AND asked the government to give them more and more goodies out of taxpayer monies? What would happen to the Rakyat? If taken to extreme progression and expression, leads to a police state (Singapore or perhaps WW2 Nazi Germany) and/or a military (Junta) state. That is why ex-Pakistan President Musharaff LEFT the Military, that is also why Musharaff MUST NOT be President, that is why Putin’s 3rd term is not healthy (so far not in a violent manner given the treatment of the ‘Pussy Riot’ issue (perhaps contrived?) by Putin), but who knows what goes on behind the Iron Curtain which is impossible to say exists in some part even though Soviet Union has disbanded.
Meanwhile am with PAS Youth information chief Riduan Mohd Nor on this. PAS once again surpasses on ethics issues (how about slamming PR’s non-PAS top leadership for failing to keep 90% of campaign promises . . . ), BUT STILL Hudud is unjustifible! PAS would be a role model world wide if not an Islamist party. who knows 3rd Force might be able to do the same after all . . . in this case the police faction with this attituide is ‘Ethically Corrupt’ and begins to sound dangerous.
The regular taxpayers and citizens must never want to deprive the uniformed groups of jobs, at the same time they must understand that governments that are into things like Ops Lallang, or false flagging marches and riots that NEVER address apartheid or extreme religion, can very well be complicit in ‘seeding’ criminality via the ‘Prison-BuildingContractor-Prison-Supplier Complex’. The prison could well be a place where persons intentionally goaded into the odd criminal act or few, are introduced and indoctrinated by ‘insiders’ so that they can be released to commit petty crime that justifies MORE police who intentionally will be induced to secure ever larger blocs of votes with ‘Police Families’ being an Oligarchy and eventually democracy destroying Feudalism again.
Politics cannot mix with enforcement either or a non-meritocratic Gestapo will form, in the military’s case, a Junta. We might see 10th generation being given automatic promotions instead of by sheer merit, and favouritism and nepotism etc. will again ruin another pillar of government . . . I believe even the police internally know and do not want this, or those with a sense of ethics or morality would certainly not as well, and would prefer to stay above politics than frightening the Rakyat (this article’s information is mildly chilling against Najib’s ethics) with assent to this sort of ‘bloc vote’ mindset. PDRM should understand that if more police or benefits are needed, this should not be politically motivated. As so many active in the ‘scene’ police and criminals are from opposite sides of the same coin, and this sort of politics harms the pride of the institution of law enforcement no end.
Ethical Governance – Potential Democracy Destroying Post Holders if Unlimited or Nepotistic, and Potentially Dangerous Groups To Watch Out For . . .
ARTICLE 15.5
When a friend of my friend is my friend – NO HOLDS BARRED – Saturday, 18 August 2012
That was not how things were 50 years ago back in the 1960s. Back then we had a bond. And that bond was worth more than everything in this world. But we have now lost that. And we blame the government for the current sorry state of affairs. But we fail to see that honour and ethics have nothing to do with the government. It is what is inside us. And if we do not have it inside us then we can change the government every year for the next ten years and we will still not have it inside us.
[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]
UMNO is as UMNO does? What **suffocating** and presumptuous language. Heres your establishment pawn Rakyat . . . ethos and pathos, also contrived cleverness in superficial linguistic acrobatics (IKIM does this occasionally) can only take an argument so far, BUT without *LOGOS*, no amount of charisma or twisting and turning can subvert those who work to keep the truth in the clear so the Rakyat can vote properly.
1) But we fail to see that honour and ethics have nothing to do with the government.
This normalizes dishonour and unethical behaviour.
2) It is what is inside us.
Heres RPK trying to remake the whole world in the Islamist mould AGAIN.
3) And if we do not have it inside us . . .
NO. Honourable and ethical law writing is needed. This ‘it inside us’ b.s. is Islamo-speak IMHO. Tricky aren’t them Muslims?
4) . . . then we can change the government every year for the next ten years and we will still not have it inside us.
Governement being changed every year is a moot point and strawman argument intended to distract.
REALLY RPK, you can dance circles around only so many people, disappointing attempt to subvert again! Do rebut otherwise, but an reader can corroborate the amount of nonsense previously posted and we only have an empty shell probably working for emptier shells and the wrong side . . .
Original and full post can be read here at risk of subversion . . .
http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/no-holds-barred/51164-when-a-friend-of-my-friend-is-my-friend
malaysiandemocracy 