'MCA go home' vs 'Where was DAP 13 years ago?' at Jonker Walk
What?! Gan qualified his being there as a survey, not to protest? Let alone to lead the protest? Did Mr. Gan Tian Loo realize that the MCA protest carries more weight than DAP protest many times
over. The state government, being UMNO-led government, considers the DAP as the opposition working hand-in-hand with PAS and PKR to oust UMNO from power, rescinding the directive on the request
from DAP leaders will make the party even more popular. I thought, at first, here come the MCA, finally to do what it's supposed to do. Then the expected happened. He got cold feet. The
reporter who covered the protest reported Gan was suddenly cautious . He was like ..."I'm here to lend my support to..the .. no, wait! I am not here to support the traders - but just to do a quick
survey! But I am glad to be standing here with the protesters but reporters, please put it down in black and white I am not, I repeat, am not here as part of the protest. This is the reason the MCA
was shunned, I mean has been shunned by the Chinese. They do not represent the Chinese anymore. They cannot get things done anymore unlike in the old days. Gan admitted his meeting with the chief
minister was fruitless, but would keep trying. Keep trying for what? He should stop embarrassing the MCA and reducing its credibility further by continuing to beg despite being rebuffed earlier.
Again, this proved that the Malaysian Chinese Association has really completely lost its usefulness. If a small matter like Jonker Walk closure was beyond its power then, that 's it.
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By David Lang
The following stories may fire your imagination, pique your interest. Some say 1MDB is Malaysia's Sovereign Wealth fund; to others they asked what wealth fund when its total capitalization is just One million ringgit? But, then again, if you think you can look down on the pet idea of the Malaysian prime minister, think again. His idea has the potential of turning the now world famous - or shall we say, infamous - 1Malaysia Development Berhad into a giant corporation you can ever imagine - even bigger than Bill Gate's Microsoft! At least, it could be, if the original course is stayed. It was supposed to inspire Malaysians to think big besides advance growth, according to its slogans screaming out of giant bill boards throughout the country. 'Backed' by the finance ministry who owns it - which means money will never be the problem - it can only succeed. But..it didn't. It failed! That's why it may have piqued many people's curiosity. How can a company flush with cash and can borrow any amount (billions) anytime could fail? Well, this may be in line with your thinking. People have seen since its inception - I mean after its name was changed in 1999 from Trengganu Investment Authority (TIA) to the present - it hasn't done any business! I have used present tense deliberately. It hasn't done any business yet. I mean if you are in business you need to make profit or find ways to make profit. Or close shop. Oh, I had heard about their filings of tax returns and hiring of a couple of internationally known auditors to sign off on their balance sheets; but these concerned only the company's borrowings and interests to be paid. Two massive bonds were issued to the tune of $7 billions. To buy up power plants. Again I want to say if you are in business to make money even investing in independent Power Plants, it should be done with the view to making a profit. The decision may be long term or short term, it doesn't matter, it has to make money, or no deal. May be they have done the right thing. Maybe luck was not on their side. Still, the amount is staggering. I didn't know having or managing so much money can be a problem! But many - especially the Malays - have not given up hope yet. Yes, may be the durians are just ripening; may be they need time and may fall soon!
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Malaysia's Vision 2020
By:David Lang
Malaysia is supposed to be on its way to becoming a developed nation, by the year 2020. Will she make it (in less than five years -tick-tuck, tick-tuck)? There is no doubt the year 2020 is coming whether the country is ready or not, and if that will be the only requirement then Malaysia will attain that developed nation status on schedule. There is a question, though, Will Malaysia, or Malaysians, for that matter, be ready for that status as far as their affluence, quality of life's concern? Currently Malaysia's GNI per capita stood at US$10060. According to the World Bank high income economies are those with GNI per capita of US$12,745. And until Malaysians earn much more to be there, the developed nation status may not be achieved even by the year 2020. The futility of declaring a country a high income country when it's not, achieves nothing. May be even counter-productive; it lulls the country into false sense of success and premature celebration. Don't forget China reportedly overtook Japan as the world's second largest economy, but in actual fact China's citizens' ca pita income is a fraction of the incomes of the Japanese who earn $37,000. Chinese incomes range from $13,000. China's gross domestic product, taken as a whole, may beat Japan's, but in term of quality of life, and GNI per capita income, the criteria for a developed nation status, China still has a lot of catching up to do. That's why China still qualifies as recipient of Japan's economic aid meant for developing countries. Comparing with the Chinese per capita domestic product, Malaysia is even worse off. Unless the government bucks up and rushes to create more wealth for its citizens, the Vision 2020 dream may remain just that ..a dream.
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How To Repair Your Own Refrigerator And Save A Bundle
when I received a call the other day (night) from a Miss Lee complaining about her fridge not working (she noticed the temperature inside the fridge was warm comparable to room temperature), I asked her to check if the fridge's power switch was at on or off?
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Jul 15, 2011
Unbridled quest for power and wealth often leads to nowhere but back to square one, if lucky, or, worse, ruin
History is replete with examples of greed and of the follies in the pursuit of same. And history has always been fair to all players. If you screw up, you get burned.
Murdoch could have acquired a few newspapers or tabloids and stop right there. If all he wants is to fulfill his boyhood dream of being a journalist, or chief of journalists, or to provide news to the world what is wrong with owning just a few newspapers or periodicals? Even if he wants to cut corners by acquiring a top news organization, like the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times, is fine, by all means -- but that's it.
It increasingly looks like this is not the case. It increasingly looks like he lives only to acquire wealth and the power that comes from it, at all costs. Journalism to him is just a vehicle -- a familiar vehicle -- towards those ends; it has nothing to do with love of journalism that many people have thought of when Rupert Murdoch is mentioned.
He is insane with this desire to outdo his rivals and dominate them all. He has stopped at nothing to make sure he realizes his dream (of being recognized as the head of the greatest news empire of all?).
He is as smart as he is ruthless.
And when it comes to dealing with people who could disturb his plan, people like the Chinese leaders he chooses to be non-confrontational. For example, when a story of Chris Patten, the last long serving governor of Hong Kong (effectively the story of the long British rule of its last colony) was supposed to be published, he didn't want to risk angering the Chinese for many reasons and so shot down the idea.
Murdoch thought (wrongly) by treading carefully, he can avoid pitfalls; but he forgot one thing: News Corp is not a one-man show thing.
The more people he hires the more his company grows, but..also the more chances for things to go wrong, terribly wrong.
His employees are just ordinary human beings. They have their own feelings about how things should be run; dreams to realize or desires to sabotage or take revenge.
When the phone-hacking scandal erupted, people thought Murdoch went to far already; but did he?
This is an example of how you can own all but not control all. Day to day operations are left to the editors or chief editors to do as they please -- and, who knows, they may be pleased to see News of The World, for example, fold up, for a reason, or even want to pursue their personal agendas. The phone-hacking scandals didn't happen by accident or was an isolated incident.
It could be just the tip of the iceberg.
Murdoch can't possibly remember how many toes he has stepped on; these people may now be waiting to have their revenge; some may be at work right now conspiring to bring him or News Corps down; his rivals will come up with speculations or even outright accusations that Murdoch has done this or that, to do him in, and then the regulating agencies or authorities swooped in.
For Murdoch, the closure of the News of the World and the scandals and all could turn out to be just a temporary setback.
For News Corporation's sakes, let us hope that will be the case.
But if he keeps doing it (targets rival news organizations for takeover), he will surely end up stepping on too many toes for his own good.
Jul 14, 2011
A monk like no other
Once upon a time sometime ago, there came a monk who intrigued and aroused the passion of hundreds of housewives of a village at the foothill of Green Lane.
It was not known how the monk -- a Siamese monk -- came to the place. Someone (a housewife, perhaps) must have invited him there. It is common for Chinese people, especially housewives, to seek blessings from and to offer alms to Thai Buddhist monks.
These monks will sprinkle holy water on the devotees who in turn will offer foods and money to the monks.
The monk on whom this story is hung was no different; he blessed people, and that was probably how or why he came to the village.
But that was not what we are interested in; we are interested in what he was said to possess -- or shall we say endowed with -- and what he was said to be capable of performing certain feats with it.
Whenever the monk -- whom I shall call Phra AhCharn Sang, his real name -- turned up (usually at our next door neighbor's house), a hive of activity followed.
The news about this special holy man spread fast, mostly through words of mouth. Soon a of horde of devotees descended on the house.
Although I was aware of the going-on next door, it was my sister-in-law who was herself a devotee who filled me with the lurid amazing details about the Thai holy monk.
No, Phra Sang, how he was also called, was not popular because he possessed magical power to cure your illness by just touching you, like Jesus Christ; or give you winning ToTo numbers; but for owning an extraordinary penis, and what he could do with it!
According to my sister-in-law, this monk, or shall we say this monk's private part -- which they referred to as cerut (cigar in English) -- was able to hold two whole young coconuts simultaneously!
According to my sister-in-law, the super penis was discovered by chance.
As we all know, monks always sit -- whatever the place -- a level higher than lay people. They would sit cross-legged like the Buddha statue; and as we all know nobody can sit like that forever (except the Buddha), they have to uncross their legs sometimes, to release tension or let the blood flow.
So, one day, when this monk uncrossed his, it happened! He unwittingly exposed his manhood to the congregated ladies in front. Although it was only momentarily, it was enough for them to grasp what they saw; gasped, became silent, and then burst into laughter! Soon the monk himself saw the funny side of it and started laughing too.
He apologized for unwittingly exposing his private parts to them, blaming on his yellow robes (malfunction).
But the surprised turned curious ladies, with their inhibitions thrown to the wind, told the monk "Don't worry; we have seen this thing before -- except...!..er..not like this!" "We know it was an accident, but even if it was not we don't mind. On the contrary ...it would...be great.." "You mean you want to see it again? The priest asked sheepishly, feeling a little not himself. There was a moment of silence while the housewives whispered into each others' ear. "Yes! Yes! Yes! We want to see more, please!" They replied in unison.
And without further ado, the monk lifted his robes up to his shoulder, to expose what could be one of the biggest and longest cigars in the world.
My sister-in-law did not say what transpired after that (whether the audience or any member of the audience was invited to check out the monstrous penis). But she did fill me with another story about another "ceremony" which the priest performed to perfection.
He asked his audience to bring him a young coconut of any size so that he could show them how rigid his penis was.
But instead of doing as she was told, one of the housewives brought two very large green coconuts!
"Two coconuts! Are you crazy? I asked you to bring me one coconut but you brought two, and very large ones at that," he pointed to the two fruits, instantly realizing he should not have played games with these ladies. "How am I going to hang those two monstrous coconuts on a penis? One of them could be too heavy already," added the somewhat worried monk.
But the housewives ignored the Phra Ahcharn Sang's protest or reasoning. They couldn't be stopped now. They wanted to see the two coconuts hung on the monk's phallus so much that they were prepared to do it manually themselves if necessary.
However, the presence of these ladies, especially the young and beautiful one (who happened to be my own girlfriend), so near and ogling his rock-hard cigar, helped make his task somewhat easier.
He was on fire!
He was beyond caring. He didn't care if they put three coconuts on his giant penis.
Although my sister-in-law didn't fill me in with the juicy details of what might have transpired between the monk and the aroused 30-something ladies, she told about what transpired between my girlfriend and the priest.
Apparently he was hitting on her when he told her he could cleanse her inside-out -- to make her free of evil spirits and make her even more beautiful he said, but..she must meet him at a Burmese Temple in Burmah Lane, where he was staying.
I was beside myself with anger and worry when I heard she actually planned to go and meet him.
I don't know what made her want to do it; was it his penis or his promise to cleanse her with lime water and chanting? Most Chinese did (still do) believe in Buddhist monks bathing them with holy lime water.
However, in the end, I put my foot down and, thanks to the Buddha, it worked!
Jul 11, 2011
What I wrote on Newsvine discussion today
Folks,
Relax. Don't worry too much; the 'straying pilots' were not there to inflict any harm on your 'deserving' president, not yet any way.
Those bewildering fliers were just doing some initial due diligence. Due diligence for what? you ask.
Due diligence can be for any purpose. If, say, Citibank wants to set up a local branch, it needs to evaluate if it will be viable.
But these guys being intercepted by NORAD fighter jets were obviously not in financial business. Therefore, they could...
Reply#25 - Monday Jul 11, 2011Arab spring that wasn't
Ironic, isn't it? That now Obama had to tighten, instead of easing, sanctions imposed on Syria purportedly to penalize it for exporting or supporting international terrorism.
The irony was just when the overture by the administration to Syria was to create a wedge in the Iran-Syria relationship started to show some, albeit minor result (President Bashar Al-Assad, while not a friend of Israel, had seen fit to show restrain, if not goodwill, in the relationship between the two country, even after Israel bombed its budding nuclear bomb-making plant and by extension, its nuclear ambition, to smithereens), this had to happen.
Syria which wisely decided not to burn the bridges with the West, was now forced into a corner. To partly join Iran and partly to stay independent would be ideal, and had so far served its interests well, but may not be sustainable now.
With protesters motivated by the ease with which their counterparts in Tunisia and Egypt had earlier disposed of their long time dictators, agitating against him relentlessly, President Bashar Assad needed to emulate his late father to decisively crush the uprising once and for all, or else...
And now that more and more people dared to call for his downfall (a thing unheard of before), more than ever, he'd need Iran's help, Hezbollah's help, and Hamas' help, beside his own army's, to survive. Even Israeli leaders opined that the only way Bashar was going to survive was not through giving concessions (no protesters having won concessions and smelling of victory could ever be satisfied), but through decisive suppression.
So far that is the path that he's going to take.
He's lucky in that he's not viewed by President Obama or his European clique as weak or what Obama ubiquitously described as"doable." No western leaders in their right mind would even think of going to war with Syria. If, in the unlikely event, this happened, President Bashar would win handsdown against the now ranging uprising by his opponents, simply because the Syrian people will come to view him as Syrian hero fighting against foreigners who are non-believers.
If hostilities with Syria breaks out, Damacus has many options to bloody the nose of the West; they could call on Hezbollah and Hamas to create problems for Israel.
With unrestrained weapons and arms supplies through Egypt now, Hamas could really cause trouble for the Jews, who would then assign blame squarely on the Obama administration and NATO for their lack of judgement.
If they consider the actions of Hezbollah or even Hamas as threatening the security of Israel or its people, the Jewish state could ask the Israeli Defense Forces to launch an invasion to reoccupy Gaza and Southern Lebanon to take the fight to its enemies' turfs rather than having to endure shelling from Hezbollah or Hamas. And this time Israel could not be blamed if it resumes its assassination of Arab leaders, including Hassan Nasrallah, like it used to do in the past.
Israel now is much bigger and stronger in technology to do anything it deems fit.
The whole of the Middle East could explode and be engulfed in flame if the Iranians join in the fight against NATO. Hundreds of French Rafale, British Harrier and American F-15s fighters will be shot down with loss of lives and pilots captured. Ripples of anger will explode in America, Canada, England and France.
This set of western leaders will not reelected. The new government that replace theirs will make sure they are investigated and held accountable for their wrong-doing (just like what is happening to former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philipines now).
And President Bashar looked good to continue to helm Syria like his father.
Although Bashar and his counterparts in Tunisia and Egypt and Libya and to a lesser extent, Bahrain and Oman, were victims of contagion effect of pro-democracy and universal human rights awakening started by the then newly elected president of the United States, Barrack Hussein Obama, during his famous Cairo speech, they survived because of the defiance by Col. Qaddafi and his army against the combined might of 10 European countries and Canada and the US.
This was only a tiny country they labelled as weak and "doable" and yet they failed to defeat it, what more Syria with a strong and experienced army and modern weapons and planes.
President Bashar needs only to defeat the demonstrators to earn himself an undisputd presidency that he could pass on to his son.
The opposition -- who bank on the West to eventually fight alongside them against President Bashar -- would soon lose the momentum when they realize the West would not do more than symbolic gestures such as imposing sanctions; occasional forays by their ambassadors to instigate the Syrian people towards violence, and soundbite of encouragement from afar to coninue to protest.
The Obama doctrine for the Middle East, or the Arab spring, is on its way to die and will be buried in Syria.
Although they hadn't been in constant consultations, and some may be even not on speaking term, these autocrats had something in common. They had Obama to curse for their predicament.
Any leader whose followers are prone to shout out Allah u Akbar! Allah u Akbar was not and will never be Obama's cup of tea ("doable").If you're not with the Muslim Brotherhood, expect trouble from President Obama. Col. Qaddafi's mistake was to openly condemn Islamic fighters sponsored by AlQaeda or Muslim Brotherhood for helping the Benghazi rebels to fight him. It was all Obama needed to hear.
No, Obama was dithering at the beginning of the uprising in Libya not because he'd any sympathy for Qaddafi, but because he's not sure whom he's taking on. He may be accused of being a weak president, that doesn't mean he's totally helpless. As commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the world's only superpower, what's more, with the unique capabilities he often said, he could defeat anyone -- except the Muslim Brotherhood.
Whether or not President Obama intervenes in Syria will be his decision alone. If he decides to stop dithering and acts to prevent the premature death of his pet doctrine to promote democracy, he however wades into unknown water.
There's no doubt President Bashar Al-Assad intended to stay in power and would do anything to achieve that. As proven against Israeli army in Lebanon, Syrian army will not be a push-over. And it has leverage over and loyalty of Hezbollah to count on, among others. If President Obama could be henpecked by Susan Rice, Samantha Powers and Hillary Clinton again into action in Syria, the American people will likely wake up to another Afghanistan; only for this one Iran will not clandestinely fight America through sabotage like in Iraq, but fight Uncle Sam eyeballs to eyeballs.
The stakes are high. If Syria (I mean the Bashar government) goes down, so does Iran's influence in the Middle East. Lebanon could be next, followed by Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah.
This will be just wishful thinking; Iran was and is a proud nation, it has never been stronger, even with one million deaths during the war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq, it was never vanquished. Whatever Saddam threw at them -- mustard gas or other chemical weapons -- Iran stood firm, and it, in the end, prevailed.
The Syrian quagmire, if it ever becomes that, for America it could be its undoing. The billions that would have to be spent, the thousands of men and women in uniforms who'll have to meet an early death, will bring this nation to its knees and its great economy ruined like never before. The end of the American dream, if you will.
That's another wishful thinking. President Obama can be persuaded by many people, including even women who call him boss, to do many things he would normally not do, but for them to try to advise or push him to do anything that in any way jeopardizes his reelection to another four-year term, would be futile.
The increasing clamor for action in Syria, coupled with genuine argument that if in Libya, why not in Syria, could be quite persuasive, "tempting, but No! Someone please call Alejandro instead. I have fund raising to do, campaign forays to plan, and John McCain and Kerry to meet to thank them for their unflinching support, especially the former for his forays into Libya on my behalf. Well done, Senator John McCain, well done."
What a wishful thinking!
Another piece from my discussion on Newsvine today
the Chief,
Don't be too paranoid; the idiot pilots (is that what we call them) meant no harm to our president. Not yet.
They were just having some fun flying, if you know what I mean; and perhaps to peer a little bit, spy a little bit, and may be make few passes to have second look. Just to be sure. All in a day's work right? And perhaps armed with a camera, too, right? All in the name of fun. Or was it?
Only a few days ago Secretary of State Hillary Clinton poked fun at Col. Qaddafi's threats to hit back at President Obama and his European clique, including Canadian Lt. General Charles Bouchard, and their families for what he termed unprovoked bombing of his tents and his people.
While these intrusions of Camp David airspace didn't obviously point to a copy-cat of the World Trade Center bombers, I won't be surprised if it was Qaddafi's people doing their initial due diligence.
Qaddafi can be forgiven if he's seeking Obama's hide instead of Obama seeking his.
Sometimes I wonder what took him so long, even to issue threats.
But if he thinks by refraining from attacking the West --and thereby not burning the bridge to patching up later -- he's hoping for a change of heart by his nemesis, he's utterly wrong. These western leaders are beyond rehabilitation; they are numb to feel anything. They don't know what they are doing. Killing thousands of people means nothing to them, until..
Until they are at the receiving ends of the same level of violence that they callously inflicted on others, they kid themselves they are doing the world a favor.
I hope they don't waste a minute of their lives, and enjoy them to the full, for in the next world what awaits them are not pretty.
They may control the international court of justice or world court and the rubber-stamp United Nation to allow them to even get away with murder; but in the next world they would know they had done wrong.
However, innocent civilians in the US as well as in Europe and Canada have nothing to fear. If any, I am sure Qaddafi will attack only NATO leaders and their families.
He had said so. !#23.2 - Monday Jul 11, 2011 8:53 PM PDT
My contribution to the discussion on the third plane near Camp David on Newsvine today
President Obama has brought disrespect to the office of president of the United States.
Please tell me, anyone, what excuse he had to mount that wanton attack on a country or someone who meant no harm to us?
Oh, I know you all want to argue that Col. Qaddafi ordered his troops to open fire on his people, or that the UN authorized President Obama to do "everything necessary" to protect civilians.
Common..you all could do better than that. Everyone knows (knew) the United Nation was made to authorize...read Susan Rice.
Even the Arab Leaque, without whose blessing no action against Qaddafi would ever take place, could not withstand the arm-twisting by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
In no uncertain term she delivered Obama's message that the US would never initiate any action unless and until the Arab League requested so.
But after barely 48 hours later, the Arabs realized they had been tricked (they protested the UN security council resolution only allowed a no-fly zone to ONLY protect civilians -- not toppling of Qaddafi) and they didn't mince their words.
Even Turkey was uncomfortable with what they called mission creep. But Obama was adamant the bombing must go on; he asked his capable secretary of state to make a short work of the Arab League, again, while he took care of Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. All were eating out of Obama's hand in no time. After a hiatus of two days, President Obama issued this statement on the matter: "I want to inform everyone concerned that the problems of objections from Turkey and the Arab League have been overcome."
Clinton even went on to lie about more and more Arab states agreed to join in enforcing the no-fly zone, for which she thanked in advance, but none except Qatar turned up.<./p>
So much for overwhelming Arab support.
In short everything can be manufactured or faked or forced, if necessary. They never had it so good, if you will.
Even President George W. Bush who was accused of lying about Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, would never attack another country or its leader just because a bunch of we-too demonstrators asked him to, or to repay debt to other NATO countries for their sacrifices in Afghanistan with which they had no quarrel.
Hillary Clinton even admitted the US had no quarrel with Libya or Qaddafi but...
The British and, especially the French, had issues with Qaddafi alright.
Before he announced he would sell more oil to China and switch from using French banks to other banks, he was much liked, if not loved, by the Europeans. They, including Hillary Clinton and President Obama, had only good words for Qaddafi. When in Rome he was even allowed much freedom to do as he pleased. He even refused to stay in Hotels or Government Guest Houses, but built and stayed in his own signature tents, where he received Italian girls and enticed them to embrace Islam.
The former prime minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad was wise in saying: "In this world, especially in politics, there are no permanent friends or enemies."
For President Obama, what a waste! For the record, Col. Qaddafi not only never threatened to harm the American people (even though he was said to be responsible for ordering the downing of Pan-Am Flight 103, which he had agreed to compensate the victims' families and did) he never said bad about America. On the contrary, he cooperated with the US to fight AlQaeda.
Therefore, it was very likely that if he really withdrew his money from French banks he would park in his billions in US banks. President Obama himself knew about Qaddafi's account in the US. He mentioned three hundreds million US dollars, which was a lot of money, which he rushed to seize. You don't need to be rocket-scientist to figure out what Qaddafi would do if something happened, or if nothing happened, to his US300m. To say the least, if President Obama didn't recklessly intervened in Libya siding with a few hundreds people -- who were known to be former veterans back from Afghanistan and Iraq where they fought against US soldiers -- the billions that Qaddafi may bring to park in the US could bring quite a bit of benefit to the American economy.
Oh, I agree that President Obama had dithered before "reluctantly" agreeing to attack Libya due to popular demand.
Yes, that's what President Obama wanted us to believe -- he didn't rush into Libya but was forced by the like of John McCain and Senator John Kerry. It was just like snake oil selling all the way.For your information, Obama 'overcame' John McCain during the presidential election and during the Egyptian uprising.
Then McCain didn't waver in his support of President Hosni Mubarak (whom he fondly referred to as America's friend). Realizing imminent danger to his Arab Spring plans, President Obama went to work on John McCain (like his life depended on it. As I mentioned earlier, President Obama is, has always been, notoriously good at 'overcoming' problems.
He and McCain decided to bury the hatchet rather unexpectedly. I couldn't put a finger on what actually transpired between the two men; but it's enough to transform Senator John McCain, a former Vietnam veteran, who's fit to be president, into a man eating out of Obama's hand.
As everyone knows, Obama rewarded McCain by sending him to do as he was told in eastern Libya.
Again, I would like to quote former prime minister of Malaysia, a world statesman in his own right: "There are no permanent friends or enemies in this world."
Whether McCain and Obama still remain steadfast friends or not, I have no idea. But one thing I am quite sure, though, Obama doesn't need John McCain no more.
Jul 10, 2011
Qaddafi's threat to hit back at NATO a joke?
It has been a week now since Col. Qaddafi unexpectedly came out to curse and issue threats against NATO for what he called unjustified and unrestrained bombing against him and his people.
He promised President Barrack Obama, Prime Minister David Cameron, President Nicholas Sarkozy as well as Lt. General Charles Bouchard, that they and their families meet with same fate.
"You're cruel to us; and you showed no mercy," he said in a recording heard by thousands. "You will never win over us, we will prevail."It was not clear how he's going to mount the attack in Europe (or America, Canada), or whether he had the means or the men or women who would have to be suicide bombers.
But judging by the statement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, calling the Col.to stop issuing his (empty) threats, there were few, if any, people who took him seriously.
Clinton even labeled him a man "down on his knees, what can he do," she derided.
I don't think we should belittle a man like that; we don't know what's capable of.
We should understand that people in Muslim countries are prone to violence. If Qaddafi could convince them that western powers had no justification, which they didn't, in mounting such attacks against Muslims, and that they would go to heaven if they killed those arrogant western leaders and their families in retaliation to avenge their Muslim brothers and sister' deaths, I am afraid there will be many men and women who will offer themselves to be martyred.
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