Ingrid Betancourt, former Colombian presidential candidate, has been rescued from the FARC. Yay!
]]>The text of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's letter to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club in San Francisco:
Dear Friends,
Thank you for the opportunity to welcome everyone to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club's Pride Breakfast and to congratulate you on continuing a legacy of success, stretching back thirty-six years. As one of the oldest and most influential LGBT organizations in the country, you have continually rallied to support Democratic candidates and causes, and have fought tirelessly to secure equal rights and opportunities for LGBT Americans in California and throughout the country.
As the Democratic nominee for President, I am proud to join with and support the LGBT community in an effort to set our nation on a course that recognizes LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. That is why I support extending fully equal rights and benefits to same sex couples under both state and federal law. That is why I support repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, and the passage of laws to protect LGBT Americans from hate crimes and employment discrimination. And that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states.
For too long. issues of LGBT rights have been exploited by those seeking to divide us. It's time to move beyond polarization and live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. This is no less than a core issue about who we are as Democrats and as Americans.
Finally, I want to congratulate all of you who have shown your love for each other by getting married these last few weeks. My thanks again to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club for allowing me to be a part of today's celebration. I look forward to working with you in the coming months and years, and I wish you all continued success.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
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Will this actually win him more votes, or lose him conservative states like Utah and Pennsylvania?
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Ingrid Betancourt, former Colombian presidential candidate, has been rescued from the FARC. Yay!
]]>Someone's fabricating another story about Anwar Ibrahim sodomizing an aide. True or false (most definite false), is anal sex the way to go to bring down the defacto leader of the Malaysian Opposition?
You guys tried it once, bringing a mattress into court. Do you really think you can pull this off again?
All this is is a scare tactic placed by the government to discredit a politician who may be the future Prime Minister of Malaysia should he succeed in convincing politicians in Sabah and Sarawak to switch sides this coming September 16th.
So whoever is fabricating this tale, I hope the police charge them with false information and lock them up.
And why is Anwar in the Turkish embassy?! Dude, call the police and make a statement. You've nothing to hide.
Don't think this IGP's going to punch your eye out....
]]>I think a lot of things, I honestly do, and some of the things I think up are extremely brilliant.
For example, why didn't the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) put up a campaign to collect more donations with a screening of Jack Black's latest flick, "Kung Fu Panda"?
Also, is there a campaign by the WWF to gather the newspaper agencies to print on recycled paper? Is that already being done in Malaysia?
I've always thought that to fix the world one should start within himself, followed by their society, followed by their nation before going all the way forward to an international cause.
That would have been a good show for the environment, wouldn't it?
Same goes for Amnesty International. For the movie "Rendition", or even "Road To Guantanamo" or, heck, the new "Harold and Kumar" flick, why not sponsor those or open booths or something?
Greenpeace would go well with "The Happening", wouldn't it?
While it may seem absurd to use these venues to promote a serious cause, you may never know who you get interested in pursuing them with good intentions.
]]>I guess when someone close to you needs help, you do whatever you can to spread the message.
As in the Straits Times today....
KUALA LUMPUR: She used to be active in sports but now, even a walk in the park will cause her unbearable pain
Syafawati Abdul Hamid, 25, is suffering from cartilage degeneration in her right knee and requires another RM11,800 for cartilage culture and implantation surgery.
The operation, which costs RM23,800, will require a sample of her cartilage tissue to be flown to Korea where it will be cultured.
The cultured cartilage tissue will be sent back to Malaysia after three weeks and the surgery will be done by local specialists at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia.
The Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Information Technology graduate found out about her medical problem in May 2007.
Syafawati received RM12,000 medical insurance from her company, Edaran Komputer Sdn Bhd, where she worked as a programmer.
However, her monthly RM2,000 salary was inadequate to pay for the balance.
Her family could not afford to pay for her surgery because her father, who is a government servant, has to fend for her four younger siblings who are still studying.
Syafawati is expected to continue her Masters in Information Studies this July in UiTM Shah Alam.
Cheques for donations should be made payable to the New Straits Times Press Bhd, with Syafawati's full name written on the reverse, and addressed to: The Cashier, Finance Department/Charity Unit, The News Straits Times Press Bhd, Balai Berita, 31 Jalan Riong, 59100 Kuala Lumpur.
Will give you some cash, Syafa. Just wondering why you didn't tell us all first.
An interesting piece of news on the war on terror.
Apparently the US Army made a huge mistake by bombing fellow allies the Pakistanis, killing 11 of them.
It's a crazy war when you can simply bomb you allies.
Or does America no longer consider them allies because they're negotiating peace with the Afghan militants?
PESHAWAR, Pakistan
(AFP) - Pakistan's military condemned a "cowardly" US air strike that
killed 11 Pakistani troops near the Afghan border on Wednesday, saying
it could jeopardise cooperation in the "war on terror".
The attack on a checkpost in Pakistan's volatile tribal zone was the first of its kind since Islamabad joined Western efforts against the hardline Taliban movement in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
It heightened tensions between Pakistan and the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, which recently warned that the new government's decision to hold peace talks with militants could increase cross-border infiltration.
A Pakistani army spokesman "condemned this completely unprovoked and cowardly act" and blamed the coalition for the "aerial attack" that destroyed a paramilitary post in the Mohmand tribal region, a statement said.
It confirmed that 11 soldiers were killed including an officer. "The incident had hit at the very basis of cooperation and sacrifice with which Pakistani soldiers are supporting the coalition in the war against terror," it quoted the spokesman as saying. Pakistan had lodged a strong protest with the coalition, it said.
Heavily armed local tribesmen brandishing rocket launchers and Kalashnikov rifles gathered near the checkpost in the mountainous Gora Prai area to show their support after the attack, residents said.
The US-led coalition in Afghanistan referred queries to the US embassy in Islamabad, which in turn said that the Pentagon was dealing with the matter. The Afghan military made no immediate comment.
Pakistani security officials said the deaths came after Afghan troops crossed the porous frontier and tried to occupy the strategic Pakistani post in the troubled tribal belt, which borders eastern Afghanistan.
The post was in an area that has long been disputed between the two countries. Pakistani troops repulsed the Afghan soldiers and the coalition then bombed the area.
Coalition aircraft also killed around 15 Taliban militants about a kilometre (half a mile) away, the officials said. A spokesman for Pakistani Taliban militants, Maulvi Omar, said eight "mujahideen (holy warriors)" were killed in an air strike by coalition helicopters.
He also said the rebels had shot down a coalition helicopter and captured seven Afghan soldiers when they were returning from "attacking" the post. There was no confirmation of either claim.
Pakistan has protested over a series of missile strikes attributed to US-led forces in Afghanistan in recent months, including one in the tribal region of Bajaur in May that killed more than a dozen people.
Several Pakistani soldiers have also been killed by stray shells but it appears to be the first time that any have been killed by a targeted air strike by US forces.
Disputes over the 2,500-kilometre (1,500-mile) frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan, both key allies in the US-led "war on terror," have flared up several times in recent years. Pakistan's new government, which ousted allies of President Pervez Musharraf in elections in February, has entered peace talks with pro-Taliban militants in the tribal belt, causing concerns among its Western allies.
The attack came two days after a US think tank said in a report that members of Pakistan's intelligence services and its paramilitaries were supporting Taliban insurgents. The study by the RAND corporation, funded by the US Department of Defence, said that if Taliban bases in Pakistan were not eliminated, the forces supporting the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai "will face crippling long-term consequences in their effort to stabilise and rebuild Afghanistan."
Pakistan's military denounced the claims in a statement as "yet
another smear campaign maligning Pakistan armed forces and creating
differences as well as misunderstanding amongst the coalition
partners."
Is there a conspiracy by our government, through the Ministry of Transport and all departments linked to it, to simply kill off Malaysians by allowing bus accidents to happen?
Perhaps try to take out dozens at one time, once every week?
Was it not last week that a bus crashed on it's way up Genting, and the passengers told us that the driver was speeding?
And the government's excuse to not foreseeing this incident? Well, the driver of that bus only had one speeding ticket.
And now, another bus, a Transnasional bus crashes in Lipis on the way to Kota Bharu from KL.
Cause of crash? The bus was speeding on a slippery road.
Why was the bus speeding?
Well, it departed the bus depot 6 hours late because it broke down. Perhaps that was the cause of it.
Either that, or perhaps the driver and co-driver were high and tried drifting with a bus load of passengers after watching an episode of KL Drift.
Permit me to raise the question; If a bus breaks down for six hours, how the hell does it get past continuing to drive off from Wisma Putra?
Are there no inspectors from anywhere checking the station for buses that appear to be malfunctioning before departure?
Just what actions are being taken by those in power to curb the number of accidents for this ailing public transportation entity?
Obviously, judging by the increasing number of accidents, whatever measures being taken are lacking, not working, and perhaps causing more accidents.
Anyways, congratulations to JPJ, Puspakom, the traffic police branch of Lipis, and finally but most responsible of all, the Ministry of Transport. Perhaps we should fill a sink with blood for you all to wash your hands with after you eat breakfast whilst reading the morning paper.
Yet another job well done in murdering our citizens with your routine apathy and indifference.
]]>In their most ridiculously trivial movement by far, the DAP central executive committee has asked their Johor assemblymen not to wear songkok's (or peci if you're Indonesian) at the opening of the State assembly.
Interesting.
Just what kind of statement is the DAP making with this move? More interestingly, who came up with the idea of not wearing a songkok?
Was it the same individual who continues to undermine the Malay Sultanates?
If wearing the songkok is a fashion crime, I've definitely haven't heard of it yet from E! News Entertainment on Astro.
What is this move about? Is the anti-Malay sentiment coming from the top of the Rocket's hierarchy finally showing?
If so, it's definitely appalling because the songkok, is not just a piece of Malay headgear. It's a piece of Malaysian headgear, regardless of race.
How can I say such a thing? Well, have you ever seen a Malay chastise the mamaks at the nasi kandar shops for wearing songkoks?
Truth be told, I would have thought that they would put more focus on the investigation of the recent flooding of Johor.
If they insist on not wearing the songkok and get barred from the assembly hall, how would their voters feel?
Personally, I think it's all down to the dress code for the assembly hall. If it mentions that the headgear is part of the dress, then wear it. It's not an insult to your religious views, non-Malays, but it will be an insult to the Sultan who is the guest of honor at the event.
Even if he did kill his caddy in his earlier years.
Sigh....
PM, if you raise oil prices, did you honestly think the people were going to sit back and just take it in stride?
Of course they're not. Of course there are going to be protests. These are individuals who think it's unfair that they are being charged a higher price for petrol in a country that willfully sells it out to other nations instead of promising a steady and affordable supply to it's people.
You go about comparing the oil prices to that of India, Bangladesh, Singapore and Thailand, and even Indonesia. Yet, you refuse to acknowledge and accept the reaction of what an increase in petrol prices did in these countries.
They were burning effigies of the Prime Minister in Delhi.
Should you not just be grateful that people are only hurling slogans, and raising pickets in our cities?
In Venice, and some parts of Spain, their fishermen have refused to go out and fish. You should be thankful that's not happening here!
In Taiwan, the fishermen from the coast came into town and protested.
What is all this idiotic nonsense about "hoping that people will not protest"?
If you bite the chili, you feel the hotness. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the PM's office.
Will you please, for once, just grow a spine and a pair of ears, and face the music!
I think about a year back, I was telling off everyone at Jeff Ooi's blog about how Nicol David should be awarded a title for recognition of service in her field.
And now, she has a title from the King himself.
In your face, Jeff Ooi and all of you who were against it!
Congratulations to Nicol, and good luck in your future endeavors.