TUNKU ABDUL AZIZ: Cut the theatrics, Anwar, and let Malaysians get on with their livesBy : Tunku Abdul Aziz
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IT seems to me that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is suffering from paranoid delusions. His preoccupation with what he sees as political conspiracy against him is doing his reputation and credibility, such as it is, enormous damage.
To compound the growing cynicism about his version of events, he has not, to date, been able to produce any verifiable evidence to support his contention.As far as I am concerned, and for all practical purposes, his claim of victimisation at the evil hands of the authorities is just so much political posturing, and has to be viewed, sadly, as a ploy to gain sympathy for his cause and confuse the gullible in our midst.And there are many who see a conspirator in every nook and corner, in much the same way that Americans, at the height of McCarthyism, looked under the bed before retiring for the night, half expecting to find a communist lurking there.While Anwar expects the highest standards of proof in others, he is somehow both careless and cavalier about his own. He has made the preposterous accusation that the charge of sodomy brought against him by his former aide is part of a diabolically clever plot to stop his prime ministerial ambitions dead in their tracks.
That, too, must remain a matter for conjecture unless it can be proved otherwise. Many Malaysians await Anwar's irrefutable evidence with bated breath.Does he not realise that many people can, and will, draw their own conclusions about the real reason behind his persistent refusal to give his blood for the purpose of a DNA test? Let us get that over and done with so that the police can make a quick determination as to whether or not he had been maliciously accused of something he is innocent of.Readers will no doubt recall that when he was in custody 10 years ago, he accused the authorities of administering arsenic to poison him. All very dramatic, and the world was understandably aghast and shocked by that revelation.Independent tests done in Australia, however, proved negative. Anwar showed absolutely no remorse about his having blackened his country's good name and reputation.On the premise that there is one law for all, no one should reasonably expect normal police criminal investigation procedures to be set aside or compromised on the spurious ground of a lack of trust in the police. What is the evidence for this?Anwar, for all his political savvy, now runs the risk of being likened to "the boy who cried wolf" -- once too often.He should submit himself voluntarily to the DNA test, and if need be, under an independent expert observer group if this would help.The police have been more accommodating in his case than I have seen in some others. And if he is innocent of the charge against him, there is "nothing to fear, but fear itself".Conspiracy or no, even Anwar must know that the devil is in the detail: how does he propose to seize power except by resorting to unprincipled political machinations and manipulations?He has to show that he has not totally abandoned his moral and ethical principles and this is the only way that he will ever recover the moral and intellectual high ground that he once occupied.The moral support of right thinking people everywhere that he could at one time take for granted is beginning to wear thin.What has happened to the mass exodus to his camp of ethically deficient political malcontents from The Land Below The Wind, across the South China Sea, that he predicted with an almost messianic zeal and prophetic certainty to help him topple the government and transform the nation?He has done our Sabah politicians grave injury to their reputation. They have proved that they stand by certain personal values and standards of ethical behaviour.I cannot imagine anything baser and more grotesque than attempting to corrupt and seduce perfectly decent and honourable parliamentarians to betray the trust of the voters who had put them there in the first place to represent them in their constituencies.What kind of message is Anwar sending to the people of this country, and in particular to the young people now beginning to take an interest in political issues?Dislodge the government by all means, if this is your purpose in life, but there is a time and place as provided under our electoral process. The place is the ballot box, and the time is the 13th general election.This is all part of our democratic system and what business have any of us to bring about a change of administration outside of the legal electoral framework?I am well aware of the opposition song-and-dance about what they claim to be a defective electoral system before every election. But this constant refrain about the unfairness of it all is muted, now that the same defective process that they used to vent their spleen on with demonic vehemence has catapulted them into power in five states.I suppose even they must now admit that it has not been that bad, after all, for those who were not expected to pick more than a few crumbs off the floor.Anwar has made great play of his having to remove his clothes for his medical examination and implied that he was being singled out for special treatment.I am assured by my doctor friends that it is normal procedure for certain types of examination. Many of us have been through this and we were none the worse for wear.In my own case, on my visit to Israel two years ago, I was asked very politely to remove all my clothes by airport security.More than at any time in my entire life, faced with the prospect of having to bare all, and not even paid for it in front of total strangers, I remembered my mother, thinking how right she had been to remind my brother and I always to wear clean underpants!Like Anwar, I did not like the strip act one little bit, but unlike him, I did not kick up a fuss and neither did I call a press conference to denounce this "barbaric" practice against a senior United Nations official which was what I was at the time.If I had been gripped by paranoia, I suppose I would have seen the whole exercise as being specially devised to humiliate me, a Muslim.It was a security requirement and I respected their right to do everything possible in the interests of their country's security.Anwar should desist from involving the international community in what is essentially a simple case. He somehow feels that the United States, the European Union and Japan should fight a proxy war against his country to shield him from the due process of law of his country.I do not claim, naturally, to speak for other Malaysians, but there are people I know personally who are beginning to suspect his motives. It is poetic justice.We must all take responsibility for our actions, and if we feel that we have been defamed or otherwise unfairly accused, we should place ourselves in the hands and at the mercy of the courts.Anwar should submit himself to the country's criminal justice system like the rest of his fellow Malaysians and lead by example.He is, after all, according to his supporters, a prime minister-in-waiting. I hope they are not holding their breath.We are all getting a little sick and tired of the "Anwar factor" that is turning out to be an absolutely unnecessary distraction at a time when we need to get on with our lives.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
The rights
Taken from thedriller.blogspot.com
The Strength of the Malays, PAS co-operating with UMNO & of Biotech competition in the south
Had an intellectual chat with a senior OP whom I highly respect.
When I was 17, he was actually the first person lecturing my peers and I about the history of the Malacca sultanate, the special rights of the Malays and that we should not be ashamed of having that constitutional provision.
He also instilled a sense of nationalism in our head and continuously reminded us that we have the responsibility to the nation to serve to lead.
Fast forward to 11 years later, I still see the same spirit in him when talking about the present political landscape. We both agreed that the provision in Article 153 of the Constitution has been opened to abuse by people driven by greed and lust of power.
He agreed that race-based politics was by design not intention, that the colonial masters had established the system in such a way that the basis of politics is racial background. I personally think that we would see this trend diminish in the urban areas.
On the sensitivities among the non-Malays about Article 153, he argued that the non-Malays should not feel threatened as long as the policy is administered well. The Malays should be the ones protecting not only their interests but also ensuring that the entitlement for others is not compromised (with power comes great responsibility).
Malays who have been offered scholarships and have completed their studies must fulfill their contractual obligations. Those who were offered loans and defaulted should be punished severely for abusing the privilege. Same goes with leaders who flaunt openly with their wealth and mansions. The decline of moral in leaders and the Malaysian citizens is apparent.
The respect of law and order has also diminished extensively. Mat rempits should be taken off the streets and forced to conduct community service or be sent to jail for rehab or labor work (this would reduce the need for foreign workers by 5% in the construction industry).We also talked about our alma mater and the merits of relocation.
He did convince me that relocation made some sense. First of all, the buildings that we have were not meant to last long. The walls of the dormitories are made of asbestos and the whole structure is slowly falling apart.
The relocation would enable us to build something more resilient and relevant to current times. This should be a permanent feature and we must ensure that the construction is solid to avoid another relocation in 50 years.
It should reflect the greatness of RMC but not too much that it pampers the boys too much. I'm just worried about the close proximity of the power lines. The old buildings should remain in the hands of RMC, not NDU. Allocation should also be put aside for the International Baccalaureate program. MCKK and TKC are the other 2 schools intending to implement the same system within the next few years.
On the poor participation among the young ones to give back, he agreed that youths are typically highly-driven and energetic. They should focus their energies and ideas into actions and also listen to wise old men for advice. Other news:
PAS cannot be taken lightly. With 83 seats compared to DAP's 73 and PKR's 40, it is the actual backbone of PR with 2 states under its belt. Why is it consulting with UMNO? Another crack in the coalition? Even Selangor PAS youths are giving the subtle hints.
Meanwhile, is Malaysia Biotech Corp ready to take on Singapore? "One ground-breaking proposal is to let promising biotech firms list even if they do not have a financial track record. The move could make Singapore the first stop for such firms in Asia". That is a very bold and competitive move. How will we counter this and continue to attract investors?
On food price increase: Even religious ceremonies were not spared.
The Strength of the Malays, PAS co-operating with UMNO & of Biotech competition in the south
Had an intellectual chat with a senior OP whom I highly respect.
When I was 17, he was actually the first person lecturing my peers and I about the history of the Malacca sultanate, the special rights of the Malays and that we should not be ashamed of having that constitutional provision.
He also instilled a sense of nationalism in our head and continuously reminded us that we have the responsibility to the nation to serve to lead.
Fast forward to 11 years later, I still see the same spirit in him when talking about the present political landscape. We both agreed that the provision in Article 153 of the Constitution has been opened to abuse by people driven by greed and lust of power.
He agreed that race-based politics was by design not intention, that the colonial masters had established the system in such a way that the basis of politics is racial background. I personally think that we would see this trend diminish in the urban areas.
On the sensitivities among the non-Malays about Article 153, he argued that the non-Malays should not feel threatened as long as the policy is administered well. The Malays should be the ones protecting not only their interests but also ensuring that the entitlement for others is not compromised (with power comes great responsibility).
Malays who have been offered scholarships and have completed their studies must fulfill their contractual obligations. Those who were offered loans and defaulted should be punished severely for abusing the privilege. Same goes with leaders who flaunt openly with their wealth and mansions. The decline of moral in leaders and the Malaysian citizens is apparent.
The respect of law and order has also diminished extensively. Mat rempits should be taken off the streets and forced to conduct community service or be sent to jail for rehab or labor work (this would reduce the need for foreign workers by 5% in the construction industry).We also talked about our alma mater and the merits of relocation.
He did convince me that relocation made some sense. First of all, the buildings that we have were not meant to last long. The walls of the dormitories are made of asbestos and the whole structure is slowly falling apart.
The relocation would enable us to build something more resilient and relevant to current times. This should be a permanent feature and we must ensure that the construction is solid to avoid another relocation in 50 years.
It should reflect the greatness of RMC but not too much that it pampers the boys too much. I'm just worried about the close proximity of the power lines. The old buildings should remain in the hands of RMC, not NDU. Allocation should also be put aside for the International Baccalaureate program. MCKK and TKC are the other 2 schools intending to implement the same system within the next few years.
On the poor participation among the young ones to give back, he agreed that youths are typically highly-driven and energetic. They should focus their energies and ideas into actions and also listen to wise old men for advice. Other news:
PAS cannot be taken lightly. With 83 seats compared to DAP's 73 and PKR's 40, it is the actual backbone of PR with 2 states under its belt. Why is it consulting with UMNO? Another crack in the coalition? Even Selangor PAS youths are giving the subtle hints.
Meanwhile, is Malaysia Biotech Corp ready to take on Singapore? "One ground-breaking proposal is to let promising biotech firms list even if they do not have a financial track record. The move could make Singapore the first stop for such firms in Asia". That is a very bold and competitive move. How will we counter this and continue to attract investors?
On food price increase: Even religious ceremonies were not spared.
VP race
VP race the one to watch
INSIGHT
By JOCELINE TAN
A record total of 15 people are interested in the three Umno vice-president posts. It will be an urgent race because among them will be someone fit to be the next deputy prime minister.
ARE you going for it?” Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar has been asked that question so often that friends have told him that he might as well say, “Yes.”
The question concerns the contest for the Umno vice-presidency and Syed Hamid is aware that his standard reply of “I have not decided,” is making him sound like an old CD.
“I don't have the heart to make a commitment yet because the party is still faced with so many complex issues. As I've told some people, what is the point of winning the battle and losing the war? We need to return the party to good health,” said Syed Hamid.
If and when Syed Hamid decides to jump into the ring, he will find it rather crowded.
To date, there are a total of 14 people who have indicated that they are “offering themselves” (the politically correct phrase for contesting) for the post.
There are three slots for the vice-presidency and would-be candidates need the endorsement of at least 10% of the 191 Umno divisions or 19 nominations. This will happen when the divisions meet beginning October. Hence, the process of offering oneself is actually a way of telling the Umno members to “please nominate me”.
The contest has taken on a new urgency now that both the Umno president and deputy president have committed to a handover of power in 2010. If things go according to plan, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will succeed Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Umno president and Prime Minister by the middle of 2010.
There will be a vacancy then for deputy prime minister, which, by tradition, has always been filled by one of the vice-presidents.
Given that, the contest for the Umno vice-presidency in December will also be about choosing the next deputy prime minister.
“Succession was not an issue at the last party election, so delegates felt free to vote for candidates whom they liked and whom they thought were nice guys. Real leadership qualities were not the main consideration. This time they will be choosing leaders who can step into the deputy prime minister's post,” said Batu Kawan Umno chief Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad.
This means that delegates would have to consider candidates with the ability to lead Umno in a changed political landscape. He would not only have to be someone who understands domestic politics and issues but also global challenges.
In the 2004 Umno elections, the two “nice guys” who did well were Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Mohd Ali Rustam and then Federal Territory Minister Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad who was subsequently disqualified over money politics issues. They were not seen as deputy prime minister material yet they came in ahead of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in the 2004 race for vice-president.
Likeable faces
Mohd Ali and Mohd Isa did well because they were likeable, generous and accessible. Muhyiddin, now International Trade and Industry Minister, was stunned to come in third.
Not everyone named (see list) is likely to qualify as a candidate because it is not easy to secure 19 nominations. At least half of those on the list are likely to drop out along the way.
But it is a rather high-powered list that includes eight ministers and four Mentris Besar/Chief Ministers. Their ages range from a relatively youthful 46-year-old (Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein) to a seasoned 66-year-old (Datuk Seri Rais Yatim).
Should Syed Hamid join the race, he would be, at 64, the second-most mature candidate after Rais.
But as the Home Minister was quick to add: “There should be a good mix of the youth and the experienced among the VPs.”
At the same time, said supreme council member Datuk Dr Latiff Ahmad, a young face in the line-up will help the leadership narrow the generation gap with young Malays out there.
“Politicians are also like consumer products. We have to stay relevant and up to date,” said Dr Latiff.
Senior and veteran names dominate the list of vice-president hopefuls but the indications are that the younger and newer faces are likely to have an easier time than the older and more established names.
Even at this early stage, first-time hopeful and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is said to be ahead while incumbent Mohd Ali is leading among the senior faces.
Their campaign machinery is said to have started.
The irony is that prior to the announcement of the transition plan, many divisions had been prepared to nominate Muhyiddin for the deputy president post.
But everything has changed and Muhyiddin is now left in the lurch.
He can either fight for a fourth term as vice-president or he can take a massive risk and move up the scale to challenge the president or the deputy president.
He has been the only top gun who was openly critical of the 2010 transition.
The Umno leadership ought to know by now that while Umno members do not reject the transition plan, they are not exactly thrilled about it. They respect Abdullah for committing to an exit plan and they are relieved that there is now a specific date but they do not like the extended time frame.
Muhyiddin may have been critical for his own ambitious reasons but his views on the transition certainly reflect those of a large number of people in the party.
He was tight-lipped when he returned from an official trip to Japan on Friday night, telling reporters that he had no further comment on the matter.
Experienced voice
Still, he is not exactly a gone case. He is recognised as an experienced and independent voice in Umno especially in the last few months. He may also find support among those who were upset that the leadership transition had been decided by two men behind closed doors and who may now want a vice-president who dares to speak out and provide a check and balance.
But the vice-president race is very complex and rarely objective. The best and most able do not always win and those who want it have to really campaign, spend money and turn on the charm.
Muhyiddin is not short of energy or money and he can be charming in his own way. But this time around he will find himself fighting candidates who are not only younger but who are hungrier and more ambitious for the post.
The race has begun and it will be a race to watch.
INSIGHT
By JOCELINE TAN
A record total of 15 people are interested in the three Umno vice-president posts. It will be an urgent race because among them will be someone fit to be the next deputy prime minister.
ARE you going for it?” Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar has been asked that question so often that friends have told him that he might as well say, “Yes.”
The question concerns the contest for the Umno vice-presidency and Syed Hamid is aware that his standard reply of “I have not decided,” is making him sound like an old CD.
“I don't have the heart to make a commitment yet because the party is still faced with so many complex issues. As I've told some people, what is the point of winning the battle and losing the war? We need to return the party to good health,” said Syed Hamid.
If and when Syed Hamid decides to jump into the ring, he will find it rather crowded.
To date, there are a total of 14 people who have indicated that they are “offering themselves” (the politically correct phrase for contesting) for the post.
There are three slots for the vice-presidency and would-be candidates need the endorsement of at least 10% of the 191 Umno divisions or 19 nominations. This will happen when the divisions meet beginning October. Hence, the process of offering oneself is actually a way of telling the Umno members to “please nominate me”.
The contest has taken on a new urgency now that both the Umno president and deputy president have committed to a handover of power in 2010. If things go according to plan, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will succeed Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Umno president and Prime Minister by the middle of 2010.
There will be a vacancy then for deputy prime minister, which, by tradition, has always been filled by one of the vice-presidents.
Given that, the contest for the Umno vice-presidency in December will also be about choosing the next deputy prime minister.
“Succession was not an issue at the last party election, so delegates felt free to vote for candidates whom they liked and whom they thought were nice guys. Real leadership qualities were not the main consideration. This time they will be choosing leaders who can step into the deputy prime minister's post,” said Batu Kawan Umno chief Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad.
This means that delegates would have to consider candidates with the ability to lead Umno in a changed political landscape. He would not only have to be someone who understands domestic politics and issues but also global challenges.
In the 2004 Umno elections, the two “nice guys” who did well were Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Mohd Ali Rustam and then Federal Territory Minister Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad who was subsequently disqualified over money politics issues. They were not seen as deputy prime minister material yet they came in ahead of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in the 2004 race for vice-president.
Likeable faces
Mohd Ali and Mohd Isa did well because they were likeable, generous and accessible. Muhyiddin, now International Trade and Industry Minister, was stunned to come in third.
Not everyone named (see list) is likely to qualify as a candidate because it is not easy to secure 19 nominations. At least half of those on the list are likely to drop out along the way.
But it is a rather high-powered list that includes eight ministers and four Mentris Besar/Chief Ministers. Their ages range from a relatively youthful 46-year-old (Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein) to a seasoned 66-year-old (Datuk Seri Rais Yatim).
Should Syed Hamid join the race, he would be, at 64, the second-most mature candidate after Rais.
But as the Home Minister was quick to add: “There should be a good mix of the youth and the experienced among the VPs.”
At the same time, said supreme council member Datuk Dr Latiff Ahmad, a young face in the line-up will help the leadership narrow the generation gap with young Malays out there.
“Politicians are also like consumer products. We have to stay relevant and up to date,” said Dr Latiff.
Senior and veteran names dominate the list of vice-president hopefuls but the indications are that the younger and newer faces are likely to have an easier time than the older and more established names.
Even at this early stage, first-time hopeful and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is said to be ahead while incumbent Mohd Ali is leading among the senior faces.
Their campaign machinery is said to have started.
The irony is that prior to the announcement of the transition plan, many divisions had been prepared to nominate Muhyiddin for the deputy president post.
But everything has changed and Muhyiddin is now left in the lurch.
He can either fight for a fourth term as vice-president or he can take a massive risk and move up the scale to challenge the president or the deputy president.
He has been the only top gun who was openly critical of the 2010 transition.
The Umno leadership ought to know by now that while Umno members do not reject the transition plan, they are not exactly thrilled about it. They respect Abdullah for committing to an exit plan and they are relieved that there is now a specific date but they do not like the extended time frame.
Muhyiddin may have been critical for his own ambitious reasons but his views on the transition certainly reflect those of a large number of people in the party.
He was tight-lipped when he returned from an official trip to Japan on Friday night, telling reporters that he had no further comment on the matter.
Experienced voice
Still, he is not exactly a gone case. He is recognised as an experienced and independent voice in Umno especially in the last few months. He may also find support among those who were upset that the leadership transition had been decided by two men behind closed doors and who may now want a vice-president who dares to speak out and provide a check and balance.
But the vice-president race is very complex and rarely objective. The best and most able do not always win and those who want it have to really campaign, spend money and turn on the charm.
Muhyiddin is not short of energy or money and he can be charming in his own way. But this time around he will find himself fighting candidates who are not only younger but who are hungrier and more ambitious for the post.
The race has begun and it will be a race to watch.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Zubir for Petronas?
Sime Darby head honcho Datuk Seri Zubir Murshid is being earmarked to succeed Tan Sri Hassan Merican as the Petronas supremo. Zubir is closely linked with SIL.
Cutting costs
Negri MB Mohd Hasan cuts costs
By SARBAN SINGH
SEREMBAN: No more buying official cars cheap and no more allowances for elected representatives for the upkeep of service centres.
These are among the cost-cutting measures to be implemented by Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
»If we were to buy new Perdanas, it would cost us more than RM1mil. The money should instead be given to the needy« DATUK SERI MOHAMAD HASAN
“Previously, we used to give them the cars for a nominal sum, like RM5,000, when they retired or were dropped. This, we feel, is no longer inappropriate,” he said after chairing the state exco meeting at Wisma Negri here yesterday.
Mohamad expressed the hope that the former committee chairmen would not be disheartened by the move.
“I hope they understand because we will save a lot of money by not having to buy new cars,” he said.
Nine of 10 committee chairmen from the previous administration either did not contest in the March 8 general election or were dropped.
Only Senaling assemblyman Datuk Ismail Lasim was retained.
Asked how long the current fleet of Proton Perdanas would be used, Mohamad said the cars would be changed when the need arose.
“The present fleet is only four years old. If we were to buy 10 new Perdanas, it would cost us more than RM1mil. The money should instead be given to the needy,” he said.
Mohamad said all 36 assemblymen would also no longer be given the RM1,500 monthly allowance to run their service centres.
He said that since the assemblymen had volunteered to serve the rakyat, they should be able to pay for these centres from their other allowances.
“We will be able to save RM648,000 by doing this. The other allowances will remain unchanged,” he said.
Mohamad also expressed unhappiness with some assemblymen who did not open service centres but pocketed the money for their personal use.
He said that when he became Mentri Besar in 2004, he raised the allowance from RM700 to RM1,500 so that the assemblymen could use the money to serve the people better.
“But some chose not to do so. I hope they will still run their service centres with the remuneration they receive as wakil rakyat,” he said.
Mohamad said the exco, at yesterday’s meeting, also decided that an officer from the Welfare Department must be appointed in every state constituency.
He said this was necessary as the poor were not getting financial aid although the Government had allocated plenty of funds for the purpose.
Mohamad said there was an urgent need to overhaul the state administration at the lower level to ensure the people benefited.
Citing an example, he said one penghulu should serve 20 village health, security and safety committees.
“When this is done, the penghulu will be able to raise issues with the district officer or his assistant. We cannot expect the district officer to go to every village as he has many other duties,” he said.
Mohamad said that for the first time, local councillors would also be required to look after constituencies under the Opposition.
“Since we now have 20 councillors, we want at least one or two to be made in charge of every constituency. We must show the rakyat that their welfare is looked after,” he added.
By SARBAN SINGH
SEREMBAN: No more buying official cars cheap and no more allowances for elected representatives for the upkeep of service centres.
These are among the cost-cutting measures to be implemented by Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
»If we were to buy new Perdanas, it would cost us more than RM1mil. The money should instead be given to the needy« DATUK SERI MOHAMAD HASAN
“Previously, we used to give them the cars for a nominal sum, like RM5,000, when they retired or were dropped. This, we feel, is no longer inappropriate,” he said after chairing the state exco meeting at Wisma Negri here yesterday.
Mohamad expressed the hope that the former committee chairmen would not be disheartened by the move.
“I hope they understand because we will save a lot of money by not having to buy new cars,” he said.
Nine of 10 committee chairmen from the previous administration either did not contest in the March 8 general election or were dropped.
Only Senaling assemblyman Datuk Ismail Lasim was retained.
Asked how long the current fleet of Proton Perdanas would be used, Mohamad said the cars would be changed when the need arose.
“The present fleet is only four years old. If we were to buy 10 new Perdanas, it would cost us more than RM1mil. The money should instead be given to the needy,” he said.
Mohamad said all 36 assemblymen would also no longer be given the RM1,500 monthly allowance to run their service centres.
He said that since the assemblymen had volunteered to serve the rakyat, they should be able to pay for these centres from their other allowances.
“We will be able to save RM648,000 by doing this. The other allowances will remain unchanged,” he said.
Mohamad also expressed unhappiness with some assemblymen who did not open service centres but pocketed the money for their personal use.
He said that when he became Mentri Besar in 2004, he raised the allowance from RM700 to RM1,500 so that the assemblymen could use the money to serve the people better.
“But some chose not to do so. I hope they will still run their service centres with the remuneration they receive as wakil rakyat,” he said.
Mohamad said the exco, at yesterday’s meeting, also decided that an officer from the Welfare Department must be appointed in every state constituency.
He said this was necessary as the poor were not getting financial aid although the Government had allocated plenty of funds for the purpose.
Mohamad said there was an urgent need to overhaul the state administration at the lower level to ensure the people benefited.
Citing an example, he said one penghulu should serve 20 village health, security and safety committees.
“When this is done, the penghulu will be able to raise issues with the district officer or his assistant. We cannot expect the district officer to go to every village as he has many other duties,” he said.
Mohamad said that for the first time, local councillors would also be required to look after constituencies under the Opposition.
“Since we now have 20 councillors, we want at least one or two to be made in charge of every constituency. We must show the rakyat that their welfare is looked after,” he added.
Greatest story ever told
The Greatest Story Ever Sold (by Frank Rich)
Spin Doctors
A columnist accuses the Bush administration of replacing facts with public relations gambits.
Reviewed by David GreenbergSunday, September 24, 2006; Page BW04
THE GREATEST STORY EVER SOLD
The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina
By Frank Rich
Penguin Press. 341 pp. $25.95
Throughout George W. Bush's presidency, no columnist has been more perceptive than Frank Rich of the New York Times. A longtime film and drama critic, Rich, for the past decade, has used his insights into performance and stagecraft to explain a political culture increasingly dominated by simulation and spectacle.
Exploring the news each week through the lens of pop culture -- the film "United 93" or the TV show "24," for example -- Rich teases out implications that escape straight-news pundits. The technique allows him to illuminate not only the submerged political currents of mass entertainment but also the theatricality of Washington politics today.
Now Rich has written The Greatest Story Ever Sold , a gripping, witty and devastating indictment of President Bush's reliance on public relations to market his Iraq and counterterrorism policies. Future historians will turn to other works -- by James Bamford, Thomas E. Ricks, James Risen, Ron Suskind and Bob Woodward -- to understand White House and Pentagon decision-making after 9/11. But Rich's overview will be indispensable for grasping how Americans experienced the events of these years.
For those who have largely opposed Bush's policies, reading Rich's book summons up familiar feelings of outrage and helplessness. Those readers who have tipped from being Bush supporters to critics may gain some wisdom into why they were originally led astray. And even die-hard Bushies may appreciate this volume as a shrewd study in the history of political PR -- if, that is, they can get past Rich's wry, withering tone.
As in his columns, Rich uses cultural touchstones such as Philip Roth's novel The Plot Against America and the movie "Chicago" to help us see how populist demagoguery works or how a huckster can con a press pack. But the book's core is a survey of the White House spins and shams since 9/11, including then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice's "mushroom cloud" scare tactics, Colin Powell's Adlai Stevenson impersonation at the United Nations and, of course, Bush's May 2003 "Mission Accomplished" declaration on the flight deck. Rich deftly arranges these and other public moments alongside cases of secret government propaganda -- the payola to working journalists, the fake "video news releases" slipped into local TV news shows -- to construct a persuasive picture of an administration bent on creating "our own reality," as one Bush aide famously put it.
Rich does let a few people off the hook. He's too easy on Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who, while fashioning himself as the second coming of Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox, has abetted the president's anti-press campaign by jailing one reporter for not playing ball and threatening others.
In my view, Rich lays too much blame for the free hand that Bush has enjoyed at the door of the Fourth Estate. Rich doesn't go as far as some other recent books that lambaste reporters as lapdogs, but he laments that "there was only sporadic digging into the war-ennobled administration by mainstream journalists" and that TV news "barely raised any questions at all."
Obviously, individual outlets, including the New York Times for which Rich writes, erred badly in overplaying claims about the menace Saddam Hussein posed. Some Washington correspondents went native, identifying too closely with insider sources. The tabloid tenor of most broadcast news -- about which Rich has written brilliantly -- fanned Americans' crudest urges.
But Rich's well-researched narrative testifies to the dogged, independent-minded reporting that -- despite this oppressive climate -- revealed official mistakes, lies and violations of law. In recounting the long trail of administration deceptions and blunders, Rich credits the reporters at The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal who discovered them. He cites scoops from outlets as diverse as Roll Call, the National Journal, the Smoking Gun, Vanity Fair and the New Yorker. Even the generally abysmal TV news shows did some worthy investigation, he tells us: CBS News exposed the abuses at Abu Ghraib, and anchors such as Diane Sawyer, Tom Brokaw and Ted Koppel grilled Bush and other evasive heavies at key moments.
What The Greatest Story Ever Sold illustrates is that most Americans did not back the Iraq invasion because they were credulous, though many were, or even because the administration was dishonest, though it was -- reprehensibly so. In the end, notwithstanding the hype, the truth wasn't all that hard to see; even Bush's misleading claims that Saddam Hussein was about to acquire nukes were debunked on the front pages, as Rich points out, before the invasion began. Yet most citizens, despite access to evidence, chose to follow the president anyway. Rich doesn't get into why they did so, but I think the reasons boil down to a widespread popular desire to exorcise post-9/11 feelings of shame and vulnerability with the nationalistic pride achieved through the exercise of military might.
Many people who might have supported the Iraq war under different circumstances remained intractably opposed because they believed Bush hadn't proven that Baghdad was making nuclear weapons or working with al-Qaeda. They held this view because, among other reasons, in the months and years after 9/11, they were reading the smart, critical and blessedly spin-proof writings of Frank Rich. ·
David Greenberg is a professor of history and media studies at Rutgers University and the author of "Nixon's Shadow: The History of an Image" and the forthcoming "Calvin Coolidge."
Spin Doctors
A columnist accuses the Bush administration of replacing facts with public relations gambits.
Reviewed by David GreenbergSunday, September 24, 2006; Page BW04
THE GREATEST STORY EVER SOLD
The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina
By Frank Rich
Penguin Press. 341 pp. $25.95
Throughout George W. Bush's presidency, no columnist has been more perceptive than Frank Rich of the New York Times. A longtime film and drama critic, Rich, for the past decade, has used his insights into performance and stagecraft to explain a political culture increasingly dominated by simulation and spectacle.
Exploring the news each week through the lens of pop culture -- the film "United 93" or the TV show "24," for example -- Rich teases out implications that escape straight-news pundits. The technique allows him to illuminate not only the submerged political currents of mass entertainment but also the theatricality of Washington politics today.
Now Rich has written The Greatest Story Ever Sold , a gripping, witty and devastating indictment of President Bush's reliance on public relations to market his Iraq and counterterrorism policies. Future historians will turn to other works -- by James Bamford, Thomas E. Ricks, James Risen, Ron Suskind and Bob Woodward -- to understand White House and Pentagon decision-making after 9/11. But Rich's overview will be indispensable for grasping how Americans experienced the events of these years.
For those who have largely opposed Bush's policies, reading Rich's book summons up familiar feelings of outrage and helplessness. Those readers who have tipped from being Bush supporters to critics may gain some wisdom into why they were originally led astray. And even die-hard Bushies may appreciate this volume as a shrewd study in the history of political PR -- if, that is, they can get past Rich's wry, withering tone.
As in his columns, Rich uses cultural touchstones such as Philip Roth's novel The Plot Against America and the movie "Chicago" to help us see how populist demagoguery works or how a huckster can con a press pack. But the book's core is a survey of the White House spins and shams since 9/11, including then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice's "mushroom cloud" scare tactics, Colin Powell's Adlai Stevenson impersonation at the United Nations and, of course, Bush's May 2003 "Mission Accomplished" declaration on the flight deck. Rich deftly arranges these and other public moments alongside cases of secret government propaganda -- the payola to working journalists, the fake "video news releases" slipped into local TV news shows -- to construct a persuasive picture of an administration bent on creating "our own reality," as one Bush aide famously put it.
Rich does let a few people off the hook. He's too easy on Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who, while fashioning himself as the second coming of Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox, has abetted the president's anti-press campaign by jailing one reporter for not playing ball and threatening others.
In my view, Rich lays too much blame for the free hand that Bush has enjoyed at the door of the Fourth Estate. Rich doesn't go as far as some other recent books that lambaste reporters as lapdogs, but he laments that "there was only sporadic digging into the war-ennobled administration by mainstream journalists" and that TV news "barely raised any questions at all."
Obviously, individual outlets, including the New York Times for which Rich writes, erred badly in overplaying claims about the menace Saddam Hussein posed. Some Washington correspondents went native, identifying too closely with insider sources. The tabloid tenor of most broadcast news -- about which Rich has written brilliantly -- fanned Americans' crudest urges.
But Rich's well-researched narrative testifies to the dogged, independent-minded reporting that -- despite this oppressive climate -- revealed official mistakes, lies and violations of law. In recounting the long trail of administration deceptions and blunders, Rich credits the reporters at The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal who discovered them. He cites scoops from outlets as diverse as Roll Call, the National Journal, the Smoking Gun, Vanity Fair and the New Yorker. Even the generally abysmal TV news shows did some worthy investigation, he tells us: CBS News exposed the abuses at Abu Ghraib, and anchors such as Diane Sawyer, Tom Brokaw and Ted Koppel grilled Bush and other evasive heavies at key moments.
What The Greatest Story Ever Sold illustrates is that most Americans did not back the Iraq invasion because they were credulous, though many were, or even because the administration was dishonest, though it was -- reprehensibly so. In the end, notwithstanding the hype, the truth wasn't all that hard to see; even Bush's misleading claims that Saddam Hussein was about to acquire nukes were debunked on the front pages, as Rich points out, before the invasion began. Yet most citizens, despite access to evidence, chose to follow the president anyway. Rich doesn't get into why they did so, but I think the reasons boil down to a widespread popular desire to exorcise post-9/11 feelings of shame and vulnerability with the nationalistic pride achieved through the exercise of military might.
Many people who might have supported the Iraq war under different circumstances remained intractably opposed because they believed Bush hadn't proven that Baghdad was making nuclear weapons or working with al-Qaeda. They held this view because, among other reasons, in the months and years after 9/11, they were reading the smart, critical and blessedly spin-proof writings of Frank Rich. ·
David Greenberg is a professor of history and media studies at Rutgers University and the author of "Nixon's Shadow: The History of an Image" and the forthcoming "Calvin Coolidge."
Thursday, July 3, 2008
The conspiracy theory behind the Anwar saga
Seven Conspiracy Theories of the Anwar Sodomy Allegations, according to scottthong.wordpress.com.
Interesting read!
The recent sodomy accusations against Anwar Ibrahim have given rise to plentiful conjecture, analysis, and plain old blind guesses and rumour-mongering.
This nation-shaking controversy has dominated local media (including Malaysiakini, lol) and blog coverage since it first erupted. What really happened? Who is behind it? Who stands to gain most from it? Who will triumph in the end?
But there is one word that is on everybody’s lips: CONSPIRACY.
This controversy is simply too complicated, and the timing too right, to be a simple and straightforward case. This must be the work of a sinister komplot! We must dig deeper to find out the truth behind this deep conspiracy! Or so they say…
Thus I present seven of these wild, totally unfounded, baseless and unproven - yet annoyingly popular - conspiracy theories that are popping up around the blogs and kopitiam discussions.
DISCLAIMER: I myself am not part of the conspiracy. Really. Don’t ISA me.
1) A certain political rival of Anwar is behind it
This is probably the most popular theory among concerned Netizens. It says that a certain Prominent Politician, who is currently embroiled in his own controversy involving accusations linking his wife to a murdered foreign national, concocted the Anwar Sodomy Plot in order to shift the media spotlight away from himself.
Young Saiful Bukhari, familiar to Prominent Politician’s own aides, was groomed for this mission. He conveniently volunteered to help out in Anwar’s campaign just when extra hands were needed. When the time was ripe, he released his allegations from within the very midst of Anwar’s team.
Being a mole sent by Prominent Politician, it is little wonder that telling photographs linking Saiful Bukhari to various members of Prominent Politician’s team have been uncovered.
Add to that the report that Saiful actually met Prominent Politician, in Prominent Politician’s house, allegedly to ask for help regarding the sodomy case.
After all, this theory says, the best case scenario for Prominent Politician would be for Anwar to be shamed or arrested out of the running to be Malaysia’s Prime Minister, thus opening the way for himself to take the reigns of power unchallenged.
2) Anwar himself is behind it
The Prominent Politician from Theory #1 responded to such allegations by publicly revealing his team’s own theory - that Anwar had long planned this whole show in order to gain the public’s sympathy as the wrongfully persecuted underdog.
To wit, this theory says that Anwar carefully selected Saiful Bukhari and sent him to mix in among the rival politicians, gaining their trust and taking lots of photographs with them - including an aide to Prominent Politician himself.
Then, just when the foreign national controversy was already stirring up the mud, Anwar played his hidden joker. Of all the accusations of wrongdoing that could be made, the sodomy allegation was chosen - an allegation that had already been overturned by the courts once, and brought to mind the black eye and massive support for Reformasi. No safer and more emotionally stirring choice of accusation could made.
This theory makes out Saiful Bukhari’s police report, PKR’s indignation at the allegations, and Anwar’s taking refuge in the Turkish Embassy for fear of his life to be just one big sandiwara - nothing more than a political drama meant to fool the naive and gullible public.
Add to that Anwar’s latest moves of finally lodging a police report over his 1998 arrest and abuse (video of press conference here and then brings in a statutory declaration that Prominent Politician was involved with the murder of a Mongolian beauty (which Prominent Politician dismisses as a distraction from the sodomy case)… Right at this timing…
It’s all too coincidental.
3) Both of them are behind it!?
Perhaps the strangest theory is that both Prominent Politician and Anwar are using the same ploy simultaneously! This theory says that since both sides have something to gain from this hoo-hah, both sides may be behind it.
The theory continues that although it is unknown who got to him first, Saiful Bukhari was independently approached by both parties to carry out their secret plans. The young aide reaped a double windfall by accepting both offers and the accompanying pay-offs without the other side’s knowledge. Now all he has to do is keep on his toes and keep both sides in the dark about the other’s plot.
A conspiracy theory worthy of Hollywood, to the point where you almost expect Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt to burst through the windows and carry out the assassination of the double agent!
4) Saiful Bukhari is acting alone
A much more reasonable conjecture than Theory #3, and for that same reason, no one seems to be very eager to adopt it - despite the glaring and condemning fact of his univarse-destroying traffic summons!!! Traffic summons I say!!!
This theory simply says that Saiful Bukhari is in it alone and for himself. He made up this whole thing in order to gain fame or a large payoff. All the unfounded theories about this side or that forging a conspiracy are the work of overly active imaginations. You media and blogger types should be ashamed of yourselves.
Yawn… Let’s move on before we lose our readership.
5) One of their close aides is behind it
Other than Prominent Politician and Anwar, the other people who stand to gain from this convoluted controversy are their respective aides and right hand men.
This theory says that since the controversy has adverse effects on both politicians, therefore neither of them is actually behind it. Instead, one of their aides is making a grab for power by tarnishing his boss’s public image and playing the bigshots against each other.
By blending this theory with Theory #3, you get a plot within a plot where the aides from both sides are aiming to take their bosses down, working together in order to climb the steps of their respective ladders of power.
6) An even bigger player is behind it
Apart from those next in line to be Prime Minister In The Running, there is another figure who stands to personally (if not politically) gain from the removal of both Prominent Politician and Anwar. A figure whose influence runs deep and connections reach far. A figure whose very name conjures forth dark and fearful visions of the police knocking on your door at 3 a.m..
This figure is displeased with the direction the country has been heading since he released his grip on power, and foresees only ruin if Prominent Politician or Anwar takes the reins.
He has repeatedly and publicly expressed his personal dislike for the former as well as his role in the previous round of sodomy accusations against the latter, and even his condescension towards the boss of one of them.
Rumours have it that he may even be positioning his own carefully-groomed protégé to skilfully snatch the helm of leadership in place of any of the three.
To that end, this theory says that the fallout from continuous media circus surrounding Prominent Politician and Anwar will keep them busily distracted and hobble their campaigns to win public and political support.
And if they permanently destroy their reputations in their paranoid accusations and bickering… Well, so much the better. The puppet master suffers not dissent.
7) The most shocking conspiracy of all - it really happened
Man, I’m not even gonna go there, so unpopular is this theory. I mean, it’s… It’s… BORING! So by definition, it cannot possibly be true.
Interesting read!
The recent sodomy accusations against Anwar Ibrahim have given rise to plentiful conjecture, analysis, and plain old blind guesses and rumour-mongering.
This nation-shaking controversy has dominated local media (including Malaysiakini, lol) and blog coverage since it first erupted. What really happened? Who is behind it? Who stands to gain most from it? Who will triumph in the end?
But there is one word that is on everybody’s lips: CONSPIRACY.
This controversy is simply too complicated, and the timing too right, to be a simple and straightforward case. This must be the work of a sinister komplot! We must dig deeper to find out the truth behind this deep conspiracy! Or so they say…
Thus I present seven of these wild, totally unfounded, baseless and unproven - yet annoyingly popular - conspiracy theories that are popping up around the blogs and kopitiam discussions.
DISCLAIMER: I myself am not part of the conspiracy. Really. Don’t ISA me.
1) A certain political rival of Anwar is behind it
This is probably the most popular theory among concerned Netizens. It says that a certain Prominent Politician, who is currently embroiled in his own controversy involving accusations linking his wife to a murdered foreign national, concocted the Anwar Sodomy Plot in order to shift the media spotlight away from himself.
Young Saiful Bukhari, familiar to Prominent Politician’s own aides, was groomed for this mission. He conveniently volunteered to help out in Anwar’s campaign just when extra hands were needed. When the time was ripe, he released his allegations from within the very midst of Anwar’s team.
Being a mole sent by Prominent Politician, it is little wonder that telling photographs linking Saiful Bukhari to various members of Prominent Politician’s team have been uncovered.
Add to that the report that Saiful actually met Prominent Politician, in Prominent Politician’s house, allegedly to ask for help regarding the sodomy case.
After all, this theory says, the best case scenario for Prominent Politician would be for Anwar to be shamed or arrested out of the running to be Malaysia’s Prime Minister, thus opening the way for himself to take the reigns of power unchallenged.
2) Anwar himself is behind it
The Prominent Politician from Theory #1 responded to such allegations by publicly revealing his team’s own theory - that Anwar had long planned this whole show in order to gain the public’s sympathy as the wrongfully persecuted underdog.
To wit, this theory says that Anwar carefully selected Saiful Bukhari and sent him to mix in among the rival politicians, gaining their trust and taking lots of photographs with them - including an aide to Prominent Politician himself.
Then, just when the foreign national controversy was already stirring up the mud, Anwar played his hidden joker. Of all the accusations of wrongdoing that could be made, the sodomy allegation was chosen - an allegation that had already been overturned by the courts once, and brought to mind the black eye and massive support for Reformasi. No safer and more emotionally stirring choice of accusation could made.
This theory makes out Saiful Bukhari’s police report, PKR’s indignation at the allegations, and Anwar’s taking refuge in the Turkish Embassy for fear of his life to be just one big sandiwara - nothing more than a political drama meant to fool the naive and gullible public.
Add to that Anwar’s latest moves of finally lodging a police report over his 1998 arrest and abuse (video of press conference here and then brings in a statutory declaration that Prominent Politician was involved with the murder of a Mongolian beauty (which Prominent Politician dismisses as a distraction from the sodomy case)… Right at this timing…
It’s all too coincidental.
3) Both of them are behind it!?
Perhaps the strangest theory is that both Prominent Politician and Anwar are using the same ploy simultaneously! This theory says that since both sides have something to gain from this hoo-hah, both sides may be behind it.
The theory continues that although it is unknown who got to him first, Saiful Bukhari was independently approached by both parties to carry out their secret plans. The young aide reaped a double windfall by accepting both offers and the accompanying pay-offs without the other side’s knowledge. Now all he has to do is keep on his toes and keep both sides in the dark about the other’s plot.
A conspiracy theory worthy of Hollywood, to the point where you almost expect Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt to burst through the windows and carry out the assassination of the double agent!
4) Saiful Bukhari is acting alone
A much more reasonable conjecture than Theory #3, and for that same reason, no one seems to be very eager to adopt it - despite the glaring and condemning fact of his univarse-destroying traffic summons!!! Traffic summons I say!!!
This theory simply says that Saiful Bukhari is in it alone and for himself. He made up this whole thing in order to gain fame or a large payoff. All the unfounded theories about this side or that forging a conspiracy are the work of overly active imaginations. You media and blogger types should be ashamed of yourselves.
Yawn… Let’s move on before we lose our readership.
5) One of their close aides is behind it
Other than Prominent Politician and Anwar, the other people who stand to gain from this convoluted controversy are their respective aides and right hand men.
This theory says that since the controversy has adverse effects on both politicians, therefore neither of them is actually behind it. Instead, one of their aides is making a grab for power by tarnishing his boss’s public image and playing the bigshots against each other.
By blending this theory with Theory #3, you get a plot within a plot where the aides from both sides are aiming to take their bosses down, working together in order to climb the steps of their respective ladders of power.
6) An even bigger player is behind it
Apart from those next in line to be Prime Minister In The Running, there is another figure who stands to personally (if not politically) gain from the removal of both Prominent Politician and Anwar. A figure whose influence runs deep and connections reach far. A figure whose very name conjures forth dark and fearful visions of the police knocking on your door at 3 a.m..
This figure is displeased with the direction the country has been heading since he released his grip on power, and foresees only ruin if Prominent Politician or Anwar takes the reins.
He has repeatedly and publicly expressed his personal dislike for the former as well as his role in the previous round of sodomy accusations against the latter, and even his condescension towards the boss of one of them.
Rumours have it that he may even be positioning his own carefully-groomed protégé to skilfully snatch the helm of leadership in place of any of the three.
To that end, this theory says that the fallout from continuous media circus surrounding Prominent Politician and Anwar will keep them busily distracted and hobble their campaigns to win public and political support.
And if they permanently destroy their reputations in their paranoid accusations and bickering… Well, so much the better. The puppet master suffers not dissent.
7) The most shocking conspiracy of all - it really happened
Man, I’m not even gonna go there, so unpopular is this theory. I mean, it’s… It’s… BORING! So by definition, it cannot possibly be true.
Snoopy the Goon
Snoopy the Goon talks about conspiracy
Professor Arnd Krüger and his pet conspiracy
#fullpost {display:none;}
Choose an event in the past. The event should be famous enough for any news related to it to reverberate far and wide. The event should be remote enough to make checking the "news" difficult to impossible. Now start manufacturing the news. And voila:
Professor Arnd Krüger claims Israeli athletes murdered in 1972 knew their lives were in danger because of 'Olympic village's poor security,' but decided to stay, sacrifice themselves for Israel's interests.This method of getting famous is becoming a routine act for some historians, it seems. Especially when their prospects of getting famous are quite low, like in case of Professor Arnd Krüger, whose area of expertise is "sport history; sport management; sport media; training theory; coaching science; track & field". Hard to become a TV star upon issuing a monograph on a revolutionary jockstrap for a baseball player.So what does one do? Revises a bit of history, not necessarily related to his field of expertise, but one that allows him to claim some personal knowledge. Hitherto undisclosed for some reason.
In a recent lecture, Prof. Arnd Krüger of the University of Göttingen, who covered the Munich Olympics as a journalist and claimed to have known some of the murdered Israeli athletes, compared the decision made by the sportsmen to stay in the Olympic village despite the known threat to their safety to the decision made by the Jews to stay in Hebron during the 1929 Palestine riots. Yes. Letting themselves get killed in order to promote their far-reaching interests is a well known Jooish trick, from times immemorial. Like luring all these Babylonians, Greeks, Romans and Germans to kill the Jooz to promote... whatever. Good theory.Of course, the learned professor is now backpedaling.
Speaking to Yedioth Ahronoth on Saturday, Krüger denied ever saying he believed the Israeli mission to the Munich Olympics knew that it would be targeted, but added that "one has to assume that the sportsmen who stayed in the village knew it had poor security.But the bird has already escaped, and professor is feverishly covering his arse:
I'm not a racist or an anti-Semite, I'm just trying to understand what really happened.Yep. Thirty six years of trying to understand and this is what we have: a wannabe celebrity crawling to fame over people's graves. With the "what really happened" battle cry of freaks and morons all over the world.And you know what? I really believe he is neither a racist nor an anti-Semite.Just dreck.
Professor Arnd Krüger and his pet conspiracy
#fullpost {display:none;}
Choose an event in the past. The event should be famous enough for any news related to it to reverberate far and wide. The event should be remote enough to make checking the "news" difficult to impossible. Now start manufacturing the news. And voila:
Professor Arnd Krüger claims Israeli athletes murdered in 1972 knew their lives were in danger because of 'Olympic village's poor security,' but decided to stay, sacrifice themselves for Israel's interests.This method of getting famous is becoming a routine act for some historians, it seems. Especially when their prospects of getting famous are quite low, like in case of Professor Arnd Krüger, whose area of expertise is "sport history; sport management; sport media; training theory; coaching science; track & field". Hard to become a TV star upon issuing a monograph on a revolutionary jockstrap for a baseball player.So what does one do? Revises a bit of history, not necessarily related to his field of expertise, but one that allows him to claim some personal knowledge. Hitherto undisclosed for some reason.
In a recent lecture, Prof. Arnd Krüger of the University of Göttingen, who covered the Munich Olympics as a journalist and claimed to have known some of the murdered Israeli athletes, compared the decision made by the sportsmen to stay in the Olympic village despite the known threat to their safety to the decision made by the Jews to stay in Hebron during the 1929 Palestine riots. Yes. Letting themselves get killed in order to promote their far-reaching interests is a well known Jooish trick, from times immemorial. Like luring all these Babylonians, Greeks, Romans and Germans to kill the Jooz to promote... whatever. Good theory.Of course, the learned professor is now backpedaling.
Speaking to Yedioth Ahronoth on Saturday, Krüger denied ever saying he believed the Israeli mission to the Munich Olympics knew that it would be targeted, but added that "one has to assume that the sportsmen who stayed in the village knew it had poor security.But the bird has already escaped, and professor is feverishly covering his arse:
I'm not a racist or an anti-Semite, I'm just trying to understand what really happened.Yep. Thirty six years of trying to understand and this is what we have: a wannabe celebrity crawling to fame over people's graves. With the "what really happened" battle cry of freaks and morons all over the world.And you know what? I really believe he is neither a racist nor an anti-Semite.Just dreck.
Diabolique
Advocatus Diaboli...shall we play the role of the devil's advocate?
Who do you prefer to lead Malaysia?
Anwar Ibrahim, Najib Razak or Muhyiddin Yassin?
None of the above?
Definitely not Pak Lah...
What about SIL, in 15 years' time?
Who do you prefer to lead Malaysia?
Anwar Ibrahim, Najib Razak or Muhyiddin Yassin?
None of the above?
Definitely not Pak Lah...
What about SIL, in 15 years' time?
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