MAGICK RIVER

The Return of Mr K-PAX

2010-01-06T22:06:00.002+08:00

Pic by Belle @ 9:49PM, 6 January 2010

What the 21 December Solstice means

2009-12-21T01:13:00.014+08:00

Ever since I relocated to Magick River, I've been observing the Solstices and Equinoxes. The ancients used these cardinal positions of the Sun as a marker of seasonal changes. When humans lived according to these celestial signifiers they were naturally and rhythmically connected to the earth and were constantly appreciative of the life-giving energy of our Sun. This is why Solar Temples were found in all antediluvian cultures and the myth of the Returning Sun God is still deeply embedded in the human psyche - even in Christianity, which plagiarized the entombment, resurrection, and ascension of the Sun God from Solar God rituals dating back from time immemorial. These were the magical ceremonies of an agragrian community who knew the miraculous properties of seeds. The seed is a highly compressed package of genetics containing survival-enhancing permutations. Bury the seed in the ground and it appears dead but a few months later - lo and behold, it resurrects itself into a seedling and wastes no time ascending to the heavens

In today's consumer reality where almost all the food we eat is produced by agro-giants using slave labor in less developed countries and then processed and packaged for the hypermarkets, it's virtually impossible to feel any sense of wonder at how it's possible that nature can give birth to such a prolific variety of edible plants and animals. "Eat! Eat!" that's what nature seems to be saying, like any Mama who loves spending all the day in the kitchen, cooking up more goodies for her kids.

Anyway, a few days ago my SkyView Astrologer friend Katharina Bless sent me a link to a fascinating report that absolutely blew my mind. Apparently a group of astronomers have cautiously arrived at the conclusion that our Solar System was not originally a member of the Milky Way galaxy. It was, in fact, a small part of the Sagittarius Dwarf galaxy which slowly got drawn into the stronger magnetic field of the Milky Way.

A new infra red digital survey of the entire sky was made in 2003. Teams from the universities of Virginia and Massachusetts used a supercomputer to sort through half a billion stars to create a NEW STAR MAP showing our Solar System (yellow circle) to be at the exact nexus crossroads where two galaxies are actually joining. [David Law/University of Virginia]

This would indicate that stellar constellations are not static - bits and pieces end up joining other star families... or get munched up like in some Pacman game. I leave you to ponder the significance this discovery.

AHAU 13 ~ by Jonathan Star

Gone to the Unseen

At last you have departed and gone to the Unseen.
What marvelous route did you take from this world?

Beating your wings and feathers,
you broke free from this cage.
Rising up to the sky
you attained the world of the soul.
You were a prized falcon trapped by an Old Woman.
Then you heard the drummer's call
and flew beyond space and time.

As a lovesick nightingale, you flew among the owls.
Then came the scent of the rosegarden
and you flew off to meet the Rose.

The wine of this fleeting world
caused your head to ache.
Finally you joined the tavern of Eternity.
Like an arrow, you sped from the bow
and went straight for the bull's eye of bliss.

This phantom world gave you false signs
But you turned from the illusion
and journeyed to the land of truth.

You are now the Sun -
what need have you for a crown?
You have vanished from this world -
what need have you to tie your robe?

I've heard that you can barely see your soul.
But why look at all? -
yours is now the Soul of Souls!

O heart, what a wonderful bird you are.
Seeking divine heights,
Flapping your wings,
you smashed the pointed spears of your enemy.

The flowers flee from Autumn, but not you -
You are the fearless rose
that grows amidst the freezing wind.

Pouring down like the rain of heaven
you fell upon the rooftop of this world.
Then you ran in every direction
and escaped through the drain spout . . .

Now the words are over
and the pain they bring is gone.
Now you have gone to rest
in the arms of the Beloved.

"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved" ~ posted by Jonathan Star
New York, 1997

MAY THE SOLSTICE BRING NEW BEGINNINGS FOR ALL OF US!

A tribute to Rosli Dahlan's warrior spirit

2009-12-19T10:15:00.006+08:00

Who is Rosli Dahlan and why am I taking my hat off to him? It's a complicated story but an inspiring one. Read it all at Din Merican's blog.

This story made me DELIRIOUS with outrage

2009-12-17T23:00:00.015+08:00

Already running a temperature but coming across this item (out of many thoroughly sickening reports on the stinking moral putrefaction of the Last Days of The Umnoputrid Empire), I just had to clone it here - even though I am officially on sick leave. I have no words to describe how I feel right now. Once again, thank you, Malaysiakini. I wonder if this story has made it to the Sun, the Star, NST or Utusan Malicious... Special thanks also to the tireless crusaders for justice - Surendran and Arutchelvam. The present darkness that hangs like an ominous thunderhead over Putrajaya would be far denser and even more hopeless without brave and honorable men like you to embody the light of decency and honor...

Man cleared of charges, but is beaten nevertheless

Darwish Zainal
December 17, 2009
4:58pm

A man detained on suspicion of sexual harassment was tortured and beaten despite the Police being aware that a false report was lodged against him.

S Isaikumar, 28, lodged a report at the Seremban police headquarters. He was accompanied by his lawyer N Surendran.

Surendran said that Isaikumar (right) was arrested on Dec 6, 2009 and remanded for nine days based on a police report lodged against him for sexual harassment.

The following day, on Dec 7, Isaikumar was told by the investigating police officer that the charges made against him were based on a false report.

Nevertheless, the police only released Isaikumar (right) on Dec 14, during which time Isaikumar alleged he was assaulted and subject to humiliation by the police.

"Isaikumar was slapped, abused and beaten with PVC pipes by a group of police officers," said Surendran.

He claimed that at one stage a female police officer sat on Isaikumar's chest and inserted a shoe she was wearing into his mouth.

The police, he alleged, also took photos of Isaikumar in the nude, including photos of his genitals.

Surendran further claimed that his client was denied medical treatment despite running a fever.

Though the lockup where he was detained held seven prisoners, Isaikumar alleged they were given only three packets of food to be shared among them.

'He was innocent'

Chief investigating officer, Inspector Ahmad Sobri Amir Salim, cleared Isaikumar of any wrongdoing in a letter on Dec 14, on the day of his release.

"Despite his innocence, Isaikumar went through an unnecessary and unwarranted nine days of remand, coupled with abuse by police officers," said Surendran.

The lawyer said the case should be investigated by Bukit Aman because he felt the Seremban police would not conduct a fair inquiry.

Surendran called on inspector-general of police Musa Hassan to 'clean up his own house' as there have been many cases and reports of police brutality.

Meanwhile Parti Sosialis Malaysia secretary, S Arutchelvam, demanded Bukit Aman form a special team to investigate this latest report of police brutality.

Arutchelvam said that if there was no action within two weeks, PSM would take up the case with Bukit Aman.

He said the case clearly showed a "lack of police professionalism" where police were "victimising" an innocent citizen.

Isaikumar, Surendran and Arutchelvam were among a group who attempted to enter the IPK premises but were denied entry.

There was also an attempt to meet with the deputy chief police officer of Negri Sembilan, but an officer denied them permission.

Instead, the group was advised to lodge a report at the nearby Seremban town police station.

Among the political leaders present were Senawang state assemblyperson P Gunasekaran, Temiang assemblyperson Ng Chin Tsai, Negeri Sembilan PKR deputy chairman S Haridass and state PKR Youth deputy chief Norazizi Aziz.

WHAT SAY YOU, KERISHAMMUDDIN? Your boys and gals in blue need to keep in shape for bigger and more fascist scenarios to come, right? I've said it till I have no more breath. If you don't have the gonads to clean up the PDRM, just fuck off, Bozo.

WARNING to all my friends and relatives: If I catch any of you saying we should give "1Malaysia" and Najib Razak a chance - or, even worse claiming "political neutrality"... well, I'm very sorry, but I'll just have to write you off as a HUMAN BEING... until this Moral & Psychic War has been won. These are times when being "neutral" is akin to being "neutered."

Put yourself in RPK's shoes, simply for exposing these govermin in high office, they now have his estranged son Azman in police detention. I'm told they have beaten him so relentlessly and severely, trying to make him sign a false statement (yeah, shades of TBH) the young man is close to losing his sanity.

This blog on sick leave...

2009-12-16T22:26:00.003+08:00

The political impasse has become almost terminal. Every day I get attacked by the deadly B1N1 virus whenever I read the news portals. I don't have any more energy left to even list some of the more lethal no-win scenarios being played out in this benighted nation where nobody respects or trusts the Chief of Police or the Attorney-General - what more the Crime Minister!

Things have been going rapidly DOWNHILL since 3 April 2009. No need to tell you why!

Why are you dragging your feet, MACC?

2009-12-14T12:33:00.007+08:00

Bala speaking with his lawyer Americk Sidhu sometime in October 2009

MACC STUMPED AND DOES NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO

Raja Petra Kamarudin

On 3 December 2009, Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, the Parti Keadilan Rakyat Youth Leader, lodged a report at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya asking them to investigate private investigator P. Balasubramaniam’s latest revelation implicating Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s family in covering up the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu. In response to this report, the MACC asked Shamsul to help locate Bala and to make him available for questioning.

On 4 December 2009, Bala’s lawyer, Americk Sidhu, sent Abdul Rahman Bachok, the investigating officer from the MACC, an e-mail informing him that he is prepared to assist the MACC in securing Bala's attendance at any interview the MACC would like to have with him, but under certain conditions.

On 8 December 2009, lawyer Americk received a phone call from Abdul Rahman Bachok on his mobile phone enquiring whether it was really him who sent that e-mail on 4 December 2009. Americk confirmed that he did and reiterated the contents of the e-mail and suggested that Abdul Rahman respond to it immediately.

However, there was no response from Abdul Rahman, so on 10 December 2009 Americk sent him another email confirming their telephone conversation of 8 December 2009 plus reiterating what he had said in his first e-mail and, again, requested an immediate response.

Until today there is still no response from Abdul Rahman or the MACC and it appears like they are stumped and do not know what to do. To respond would mean that the MACC would have to meet Bala and take his statement, which is clearly something they would not like to do.

The MACC was hoping that Shamsul would not be able to contact Bala and this would mean they could conveniently close the file and declare that they can’t proceed any further since Bala can’t be contacted. But now, since Bala’s lawyer Americk has already communicated with them and has offered to arrange a meeting so that they can take Bala’s statement, they are not able to close the file and stamp it NFA (no further action).

But what do they do? They can’t close the file on the excuse that Bala can’t be contacted since his lawyer has already got in touch with the MACC. Yet they do not dare meet Bala to take his statement as this will not augur well for the Prime Minister. So now they are running around like headless chickens and are praying hard that the matter will die a natural death and Malaysians will soon enough forget about the whole matter.

But the matter will not go away. The MACC has no choice but to respond to Americk’s e-mails. It is just that they are still deciding on how to respond without hurting the future of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t - either way the MACC is damned. And this would mean the damnation of their boss the Prime Minister as well.

Ooo, I just love the way this is turning out.

Appendix

E-MAIL DATED 4 DECEMBER 2009

Dear En. Abdul Rahman,

Re: Report lodged by Shamsul Iskandar Mohd. Akin in relation to the recent disclosure by Balasubramaniam

With reference to the above matter, I wish to inform you that I am counsel representing Mr. Balasubramaniam a/l Perumal. I have been made to understand that you are desirous of interviewing Mr. Balasubramaniam in connection with the report lodged with your commission by En. Shamsul Iskandar Mohd. Akin on the 3rd December 2009.

In this respect I have been instructed to inform you that Mr. Balasubramaniam is prepared to assist you in your investigations and is further prepared to be interviewed by your goodself, with conditions as follows:

1. That the interview be conducted in either Singapore or London.

2. That the time and date of the interview be mutually agreed upon to suit all parties involved.

3. That all necessary air fares be borne by the MACC including those of counsel involved.

4. That all hotel expenses, subsistence, transportation and meals in respect of my client, myself and other counsel necessarily present, be borne by the MACC.

5. That any statement recorded from my client be in the English language and a copy thereof be given to my client.

6. That audio visual recordings of this interview be made by ourselves.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause you but we are sure you are appreciative of the fact that our client is understandably concerned about his safety and welfare if this interview were to be conducted in Malaysia and will not entertain any assurances given by your goodselves or any other party in consideration of doing so.

Please could you respond to me at this email address to enable me to contact my client for instructions in respect of any proposals you may have. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Americk Sidhu

E-MAIL DATED 10 DECEMBER 2009

Dear En. Abdul Rahman,

Further to my email of the 4 December 2009, and to the subsequent telephone conversation between us on the 8 December 2009, I would be most obliged to receive a response to my offer of assistance in arranging an interview with my client Mr. P. Balasubramaniam.

As you obviously have my mobile number, please feel free to contact me at any time to make the necessary arrangements.

Yours sincerely,

Americk Sidhu

"DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY." ~ Meher Baba

2009-12-14T01:52:00.006+08:00

Just felt like spending a bit of time with Bobby McFerrin - one musician I truly admire - who shot to international stardom in 1988 with his smash hit inspired by Meher Baba's not-so-famous and almost impossible-to-follow advice to all: "Don't Worry Be Happy."

DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY

Meet Taylor McFerrin ~ Bobby's human beatbox son

I have nothing to say either... (burp)

2009-12-12T22:26:00.020+08:00

Not everybody is subscribed to Malaysiakini. This hot story happens to be an exclusive, and I feel it should be accessible to as wide an audience as possible. So I'm cloning it here with sincere apologies, congratulations, and gratitude to Malaysiakini for blazing new trails in investigative reporting.

Bala's inconvenient and unexpected reappearance (at least on YouTube) puts Najib and Rosmah is a very tight spot. No matter how they respond - or don't - too many incriminating details have emerged from Bala's videotaped interview with three veteran lawyers to brush away with practised nonchalance.

Najib's arrogant and peremptory dismissal of a reporter's request that he comment on Bala's latest allegations reveals a man confronted with a gigantic NO EXIT sign. Najib can no longer stonewall his way out of the nightmarish mess he has made of his alleged non-involvement with Altantuya Shaariibuu - and her macabre murder between 19 and 20 October 2006. His younger brother Nazim has been publicly accused of criminal intimidation, a jailable offence; and the hidden hands behind Bala's abrupt disappearance have also been exposed. If Bala is lying he must be brought to book for defamation and libel. If he's telling the truth, then Najib Razak and Rosmah Mansor should relocate from Putrajaya to Sungai Buloh prison, along with quite a few others involved in the massive cover-up...

Nazim Razak: I've nothing to say

Hafiz Yatim & Salhan K Ahmad
Dec 11, 2009
6:59pm

After a series of unsuccessful attempts to get in touch with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's brother over the allegations raised by private investigator P Balasubramaniam, Malaysiakini had a little dose of luck this afternoon.

Our journalists bumped into Nazim (in white shirt) at Masjid Negara in Kuala Lumpur, where he had gone to attend the Friday prayers.

The architect was visiting the grave of his father, second prime minister Abdul Razak, when approached.

Just like his elder brother who dismissed the serious allegations with two words - 'frivolous statements' - a startled-looking Nazim also offered a curt response.

When asked to comment on Balasubramaniam's allegation that he had met the second youngest of the five Razak brothers at a shopping mall in Petaling Jaya, Nazim replied with a stern "I have nothing to say" before walking away.

Malaysiakini had two weeks ago sent a list of questions to Nazim's office but did not receive any response. Repeated attempts to call him and visit his office also proved futile.

'Threatened and offered RM5 million'

In video interviews that surfaced last month, the private investigator, who has since fled the country with his family, also claimed that Nazim had threatened him and then offered him RM5 million to retract his statutory declaration pertaining to slain Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

According to Balasubramaniam, the duo met on the night before the private investigator inked his second statutory declaration which cleared Najib of having close ties with the murdered woman.

He also claimed that carpet merchant Deepak Jaikishan and Nazim's wife, a former television personality, were present during the brief meeting at The Curve in Mutiara Damansara.

In his first statutory declaration unveiled less than 24 hours earlier during a press conference with Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, Balasubramaniam sent shockwaves through the nation when he claimed that Najib had sexual liaisons with the deceased former model.

Najib has repeatedly stressed that he has no connections with Altantuya or her death.

On the carpet merchant's trail

Yesterday, Malaysiakini went on a mission to track down the elusive Deepak, who is described as a dashing lad and said to be close to Rosmah.

During a visit to his office in Jalan Chan Sow Lin 6 in Sungai Besi, an employee who identified herself as 'Miss Wong' said that her boss was not in and told the journalist to leave.

The latter was then escorted out of the building.

Following this, Malaysiakini went to Deepak's carpet shop along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and managed to meet the businessman's mother, who introduced herself as 'Mrs Jai.'

After explaining to 'Mrs Jai' the reason behind the visit, the woman proceeded to make several telephone calls.

In a guarded tone, she then told Malaysiakini that both her sons Deepak and Dinesh - who was also implicated by Balasubramaniam - were not in the country.

She also refused to divulge her sons' mobile phone numbers.

Apart from this, 'Mrs Jai' said she also does not know if Deepak or Dinesh share close ties with Rosmah.

"I have never met her," she said when asked if the prime minister's wife had visited their shop.

END CORPORATE GREED NOW!!!

2009-12-12T02:10:00.011+08:00

Clowns and anti-capitalists: Copenhagen’s other meet

COPENHAGEN, Dec 11 — While negotiators with furrowed brows and dark suits work painfully toward a global climate deal at Copenhagen’s Bella Center, a different kind of summit is underway in a sports center downtown.

In the DGI-Byen complex, a panel of economists argue for no-growth economies, fresh-faced students blog furiously and dreadlocked women work in interpreter booths. A clown wanders past.

Demonstrators attend a protest march in central Copenhagen, as the city hosts the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009, which lasts until December 18. — Reuters pic

Welcome to Klimaforum, the alternative summit organized by 30 Danish non-governmental organizations and student groups to complement and challenge the official talks.

“We want to influence the process at the Bella Center but we are also building a global civil society movement on climate change,” said organizer Kristine Holten-Andersen. “We are succeeding on that.”

The speaker line-up boasts the darlings of the anti-capitalist movement, including Vandana Shiva, George Monbiot and Naomi Klein (left), and will attract about 10,000 people from 92 countries over two weeks, she said.

While tensions rise at the official talks, the atmosphere at Klimaforum is optimistic.

“Go out and fight for Utopia!” cries one speaker, former Danish politician Niels I Meyer, in a talk on why people should work fewer hours to cut consumption and drive down emissions.

Chief Bolivian government negotiator, Angelica Navarro, was treated to a round of applause when she said yesterday that the root cause of climate change was capitalism.

“I am very glad to hear you because this is so hard to say in the Bella Center,” she said.

“I think what’s going on in this room is the most important thing that’s going on in Copenhagen,” Naomi Klein, author of seminal anti-consumerism text No Logo, said on Thursday.

Christiane Oros, a German environmental engineer attending Klimaforum this week, said she was inspired by the alternative summit: “It’s motivating for me and makes me want to look for what I can do afterwards in my life.” — Reuters

On 9 December 2009 a powerful vortex opened above Norway, baffling astronomers who have never witnessed any aerial phenomenon like this...

On 12 December 2009, not only will millions around the planet be holding vigils to show world leaders that we are absolutely serious about demanding "a real deal" on global climate issues and a commitment to put a stop to ecocidal activities, there will also be countless others doing special ceremonies and meditations to anchor a massive infusion of spiritual force from the Galactic Center, which will dramatically accelerate a mass awakening on all levels of consciousness.

I am inviting anyone who so desires, to spend the day at Magick River which is located within the radius of a transformational portal or planetary chakra. Bring a picnic lunch and be prepared to frolic in a magnificent wild river!

9 December 2009 ~ Tromso, Norway.

LONG LIVE THE PENAN!

2009-12-11T00:28:00.013+08:00

Penan sue Malaysian authorities over logging, plantations

MIRI, SARAWAK, 10 Dec 2009 - Five indigenous Penan communities of the East Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo are suing the Sarawak state government and three licensees of timber and planted-forest concessions at the High Court of Sarawak and Sabah.

The new land rights' litigation affects forestry operations by the three Malaysian timber conglomerates of Samling, Interhill and Timberplus in concessions issued to Damai Cove Resorts, Samling Plywood, Samling Reforestation and Timberplus.

View of Long Item in the Baram region

The Penan are demanding land titles for an area of 80,000 hectares, the nullification of the four unlawfully issued timber and planted-forest licences and also compensation for damage done by the logging companies in the course of their past operations. In particular, the Penan are asking the court to issue a mandatory injunction against the licensees, plus their contractors and subcontractors, for the removal of all structures, equipment and machinery from the plaintiffs' native customary rights land.

CLICK ON MAP TO ENLARGE

In support of their case, the Penan plaintiffs have provided ample proof of the fact that they and their ancestors have been using their claimed rainforests since time immemorial. The formerly nomadic Penan hunted and gathered food from the rainforest and lived on sago (uvut) in the area until the 1950s, when they decided to settle at their present village locations. The Penan have a history of barter trade in jungle products, such as nyateng (resin for producing fire), kapon (latex from kapon trees) and handicraft items, with traders who have been coming to their villages since the early twentieth century.

Sarawak government's conduct "oppressive, arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional"

The Penan plaintiffs state that, for over ten years, various logging operators have wrongfully trespassed onto their ancestral land with bulldozers, excavators, shovels, trucks and lorries and have destroyed a substantial area of their forest, fruit trees, crops and cultural heritage, such as graves and historical sites. They object to the Sarawak government's issue of timber and planted-forest licences, which the plaintiffs consider to be "oppressive, arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional".

In September 2009, a Malaysian government report confirmed allegations by the Penan of the middle Baram region that a number of indigenous girls and women had been sexually abused and raped by logging company employees. An independent review of logging operations in the region commissioned by the French Accor group had uncovered numerous offences committed by Interhill against the Sarawak forestry legislation.

The litigation is divided over two court cases that have been filed by ten Penan leaders of Ba Abang, Long Item, Long Kawi, Long Lilim and Long Pakan in Sarawak's Middle Baram region.

[Pada Jutang, headman of Long Pakan (L) and Panai Irang, headman of Ba Abang]

Both cases are based on detailed community maps and oral history documentation that have been compiled with the assistance of the Bruno Manser Fund. The cases are being handled by the renowned law office of Messrs. Baru Bian in Kuching. Baru Bian has recently been appointed the Sarawak leader of the People's Justice Party, PKR.

For more info, maps and high resolution photographs, please contact: Bruno Manser Fund
Socinstrasse 37,
4051 Basel
Switzerland

Email: info@bmf.ch
Tel. +41 61 261 94 74

A special plug for my favorite Swami

2009-12-10T18:40:00.008+08:00

December 3, 2009

THE TRANSFORMATIONAL POWER OF LAUGHTER ~ SERIOUSLY!

By Steve Bhaerman @ Swami Beyondananda

Why comedy in these serious times? It's simple... there's definitely something funny going on!" - Swami Beyondananda

Considering the increasingly serious condition our society and planet seem to be in, and given the persistent failure of just about every one of society's institutions, focusing on comedy might seem counterintuitive.

Or, it might turn out to be just what the doctor (or for that matter, the paradox) ordered. Let's take, for example, the sad truth that the Obama Administration has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Democratic Party misleadership (like the Republican misleadership) has betrayed the commonwealth in favor of the uncommonly wealthy.

The Evolutionary Up-Wising is Up to Us!

We can do what is expected of us - fall into cynicism, apathy or denial, and numb ourselves with reality TV because it's easier to face than reality. Or, we can use this as an opportunity to go cold turkey on "hopium addiction," and recognize that neither freedom nor functionality can be bestowed from above, but comes from cultivating two evolutionary practices: awareness and community.

The implications of what new edge science has been telling us - that we are not victims of a vengeful God or a random universe, but conscious co-creators of our reality - are both awesome and intimidating. As Bruce Lipton and I point out in Spontaneous Evolution, we stand on the threshold of the greatest adventure in recorded history, conscious evolution.

In order to take advantage of this evolutionary opportunity, we humans will need to cultivate the two great gifts that have been bestowed on our species: love and imagination.

Laughter - and the awakening that comes in the wake of laughter - will help us magnify and cultivate both of those precious tools.

I have written the Wake Up Laughing e-book - and purposely made it available to be proliferated widely as a digital download - because I believe the distinctions uncovered in my two decades as a cosmic comic (and a lifetime of humor appreciation) can help us gain the courage, the perspective, the love and the creativity we will need to navigate this extraordinary passage.

And the perspective of humor (the "aha" that comes with the "ha ha") will help us process and put into practice the understandings Bruce and I write about in Spontaneous Evolution.

Give the Gift of Laughter ...

So ... if you wish to help move forward the "evolutionary up-wising" where we overgrow our current system from the grassroots up, one simple and highly-enjoyable step is to read the freely-available book introduction here.

And order your copy (or copies for a dozen friends and cohorts) here.

We have purposely extended the one-third off $10 price through Friday, December 18th to make it easier for you to give the gift of enlightening laughter -- and enlighten up your friends as well through our Buddysattva program.

Remember, the laugh you save may be your own!

... and Give the Gift of Encouragement

You can also help move the evolutionary up-wising forward this Holiday season by giving the gift of encouragement. For a truly heartening story based on modern science and ancient wisdom, consider giving Spontaneous Evolution to friends, family and "co-hearts" on your list.

The reviews are coming in, and tend to echo what biologist and author Elisabet Sahtouris has written: "Spontaneous Evolution is a wonderfully exciting, enlightening and heartening ride! Read it and know exactly where we stand and how we can thrive."

You will also note that 19 of the 21 reviews Spontaneous Evolution has received on Amazon are five-star reviews!

You can support our own "global local" bookstore, Source Books by buying your copy of the Spontaneous Evolution book here.

And support the Swami and I directly by ordering the Sounds True Spontaneous Evolution 5 CD set here.

Already read the book? Add your reviews to Amazon.com, or send them here.

Want to learn more? Hear Bruce and I on the air in December!

[Left: Bruce Lipton & Steve Bhaerman]

CHEAP SHOTS

2009-12-10T14:47:00.009+08:00

Cheers! Now, will the Pahang syariah court haul up Mr Pink Lips for consuming alcohol in public whilst on official duty, fine him RM5,000 plus six strokes of the rotan? Or is that just oolong tea? (Pic courtesy of The Malaysian Insider)

MOB RULE: The 'cow-head' protesters demonstrating outside the Shah Alam courts...

Headless cow gang from Umno portraying DAP leaders as The Yellow Peril or Mooists.

Way to go... kick their faces in... show them your utter contempt, boys!

Now step on their faces... harder! Oops, forgot to step on dog doo first...

Hahaha... pee on Lim Guan Eng... fart on his father's face... do it!

Altogether now, hold up your finger and bleat: "1Malaysia!" (Cowhead Dungu pics by Minaq Jinggo)

They joined a group of men outside the Sessions Court here and displayed a banner of the heads of DAP leaders Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng and Nga Kor Ming on the bodies of cattle in front of press photographers.

They were also seen stepping on the banners before shouting against those who were trying to fool the Malays. (Jangan bodohkan orang Melayu!)

The group told reporters that they would be lodging a police report later today against the DAP for questioning Malay rights.

[Read the rest here.]

SO WHO'S MORE 'KURANG AJAR' ~ THESE DUMBOS FROM UMNO OR NAMEWEE?

THEY SAY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG...

2009-12-10T01:20:00.009+08:00

This 21-year-old would rather be alive than "good."

Malaysian Yong Vui Kong was only 19 when he was arrested in Singapore in June 2007 and charged with trafficking 47gm of heroin. He was sentenced in January 2009 under the Misuse of Drugs Act which carries a mandatory death sentence for anyone caught trafficking more than 15gm of heroin, 30gm of cocaine or 500gm of cannabis. Yong's lawyer Ravi Madasamy has urged a moratorium on the mandatory death penalty in Singapore until the outcome of his appeal is decided.

From the Online Citizen...

By Koh Yi Na

SINGAPORE, Wednesday, 9 December 2009 - In a surprise decision, the Court of Appeal has granted [Sabah-born] Yong Vui Kong, who faces execution for a drug trafficking conviction, an opportunity to have his appeal heard.

Following an hour-long hearing on Tuesday morning, the judges nullified his previous withdrawal of appeal and accepted Yong’s application for an extension of time. This would allow him to file an appeal against his conviction and death sentence.

Yong’s lawyer, Ravi Madasamy, had initially been pessimistic about securing the extension of time, given the nature of previous decisions and his own experience with capital cases. While he knew “the present judiciary is forward-looking,” he did not know how the Court would react to his arguments.

Therefore when the judge ruled in favour of hearing the appeal, he was pleasantly surprised, describing it as a “fantastic outcome.”

No date has been set for the appeal hearing, but it could be as early as next month, according to Mr Ravi. He has been informed by the registrar to go to court this Friday to set a date for it.

His execution is stayed pending the outcome of this appeal.

[Read the full story here and here.]

World Day Against The Death Penalty (Singapore)

Watch the entire forum on YouTube!

My personal view on the absurdity (not to mention the inhumanity) of trying to fight "the drug menace" by hanging traffickers:

Heroin is a psychic painkiller derived from morphine, a physical painkiller that gained popular use during the First World War for acute battle injuries. Every heroin addict I have met actually suffers from severe emotional trauma and feel they have to take something to numb their psychic pain.

Those of us strong enough to soldier on without painkillers can consider ourselves fortunate, but we don’t have to become unfeeling and soulless about our less robust friends.

Alas, almost every form of therapy for addictive personalities (whether the drug be heroin, alcohol, crystal amphetamine or cocaine) has turned out unpredictable with at least 50% of regressions. This leads me to conclude that, ultimately, addictive personalities become a burden on their families and communities only when the substance to which they are addicted becomes exorbitantly priced.

In effect, the more illegal the substance, the higher its street value. Having researched the subject for years I’ve drawn the inevitable conclusion that criminalizing any kind of drug is actually a racket – a game being played by very powerful crime syndicates working in cahoots with law enforcement agencies.

Sometimes I suspect governments deliberately allow a certain percentage of their youth to become addicted, so they won’t turn to political activism and topple an unjust system.

One can never be too cynical about big business, big government and big crime – because only too often it’s the same cast of control freaks switching roles. For example, it’s becoming clear that the most efficient drug smuggling operations on earth are being carried out by the CIA who work in tandem with the Mafia. The money is often laundered through innocuous fronts like the Vatican Bank and used to finance black ops to keep certain political dynasties in power.

It’s a very complicated subject but I’d like more people to start giving what I say some serious thought. Google the subject if you wish but be warned that your worldview will never again be the same!

In conclusion, I advocate the decriminalization of all drugs. No punishment, no crime. No official ban, no big profits, no thrill of rebellion against paternal authority from consuming illicit substances. Within a few years, no drug problem.

Those already hooked will be able to maintain their habits without turning to crime – and anytime they wish to quit they can be offered emotional therapy to heal their wounded souls. Every life has value.

Namewee: Malaysia's Own Eminem

2009-12-09T04:03:00.002+08:00

Namewee, if it were up to me, I would inaugurate a new kind of award to acknowledge your creative brilliance and warrior spirit.

When genuine talent, intelligence and initiative are discovered among our youngsters, we ought to heartily applaud and reward these cultural innovators.

Instead, we make utter fools of ourselves by getting uptight and angry, thereby missing the significance of witnessing a new star being born out of controversy.

The music is superfunky, Namewee. Superslick editing and powerful graphics too. Congratulations!

Devdutt Pattanaik ~ The Myths That Mystify

2009-12-08T15:49:00.005+08:00

Click on screen to view video

This is an excellent lecture. Never heard of this guy Devdutt Pattanaik, but he's very lucid and passionate. Mythology is a topic close to my own heart. Thank you, Miriam Hayman, for sending me the link.

FRIVOLOUS? You gotta be kidding, Jibby!

2009-12-07T15:27:00.011+08:00

When questioned by reporters about private investigator Balasubramaniam’s latest revelations implicating the family of Prime Minister Najib Razak in the Altantuya murder scandal, Najib snapped, “I will not entertain any frivolous statement!” and asked reporters to move on to the next question...

Who is frivolous: PI Bala or PM Najib?

By Kim Quek
Monday, 7 December 2009

This curt reply to crassly cut reporters off from asking further questions sounds to me more like a reflex in panic, rather than a responsible answer from the prime minister of a supposedly democratic country. For it was a totally inappropriate reply to Bala’s serious accusation, made in circumstances that commanded respect and credibility.

What can be more serious than accusing Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor and his brother Nazim of having used the “carrot and stick” maneuver to force Bala to retract his first affidavit which implicated Najib in the murder scandal?

And what can be more respectable than having his revelations made in an interview conducted and witnessed by three senior lawyers of the country?

Bala alleged that Rosmah’s close associate, Deepak Jaikishan, offered him RM5 million; and Nazim Razak threatened to harm his family unless he followed Deepak’s instructions. This happened on the day he disclosed his first affidavit on 4th July 2008. Fearing for the safety of his family, Bala retracted under coercion the allegations linking Najib to Altantuya in a second affidavit the next day, and disappeared immediately with his family - until his recent interview which was captured on video and recorded in transcripts. These were first published in Malaysia Today and later relayed by other websites including Malaysiakini and YouTube.

In the interview, Bala described how he was forced into retraction, and how he and his family embarked on their fugitive journey to India under the overall direction of Deepak. That journey was a rather convoluted and lengthy voyage that saw them passing through or staying for various durations in Singapore, Bangkok, Kathmandu, Delhi, Madras, and eventually Chennai.

Bala exuded confidence with his detailed description of occurrences supported by factual details that pinpoint the relevant players, locations, times, dates, durations, hotels, monetary figures, cheques, bank accounts, etc.

Against these formidable allegations, all we have from the alleged culprits is deafening silence, despite the news being circulated in the Internet for more than two weeks. Until, of course, when Najib dismissed these as “frivolous” and not worthy of his response, during a press conference after an UMNO supreme council meeting on December 4th. This effectively means that Bala has cooked up a pack of damned lies, according to Najib.

So, one of them must have lied. Was it Bala, or was it Najib?

Image courtesy of Justice

FACTS FAVOR BALA

A cursory glance at the facts and circumstances surrounding the latest controversy would enable one to readily conclude that Bala has the upper hand, for the simple reason that Bala’s accusation is buttressed by precise facts and details that can be easily debunked if false, while Najib and his group have chosen to remain silent in spite of the serious nature of the accusation.

If Bala’s statement is false - and with the immense power and resources at the disposal of the Prime Minister - there is no possible reason for Najib not to have instantly ordered an investigation, and bring Bala to face the consequences for having so openly and repeatedly defamed the Prime Minister and his family.

If Najib could have Raja Petra Kamarudin - webmaster of Malaysia Today - charged with criminal defamation for the publication of an article in his website that said Rosmah was present at the crime scene, why can’t he do the same with Bala?

In fact, Bala’s case is even more serious, as he has signed two contradictory affidavits – a clear offence of false declaration – besides accusing the Prime Minister and his family of involvement in murder.

And why should the Prime Minister, his family, and the various law-enforcement agencies be so kind and forgiving to Bala as to leave him untouched, while the nation suffers the humiliation of its Prime Minister being openly defamed and ridiculed?

FROM ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE

Viewing the case from another angle – Bala’s perspective, it appears even more compelling that Bala was not likely to have lied.

Why should a family man like Bala falsely accuse the Prime Minister of involvement in the most heinous of crimes, knowing its serious consequences as an ex-police officer? What possible gain could he get, keeping in mind that he couldn’t have extorted any money, since the allegation is untrue?

Even if it is true that Bala had falsely accused Najib, that he had repented and retracted his allegations in a second affidavit, and run away to another country to escape retribution, there is no conceivable reason for him to make a come-back to invent another pack of lies, thereby exposing himself for the second time to the risk of serious punishment. Unless, of course, he is a lunatic, which is clearly not the case.

GROUNDS OF SUSPICION ABOUND

Evidence of justice being aborted to protect Najib is found in the numerous irregularities that have occurred before and during the trial of the Altantuya murder.

Why was Najib not investigated since the first two accused, who were his bodyguards and took orders from him, had no apparent motive on their own to commit the murder, and the third accused was his confidant?

Why were the judge, prosecutors and even a defence lawyer abruptly replaced without credible reasons shortly before the trial?

Why was the motive for murder never raised during the trial?

Why did prosecutors and defence lawyer join forces to prevent critical evidence being pursued in court such as a certain photograph showing Altantuya and Najib taking meals together and the mysterious erasure of immigration entry records of Altantuya and her Mongolian companions?

Why was Bala’s affidavit barred from the court without credible reasons?

Since the third accused, who was charged for instigating the murder, was released without his defence being called, then who had ordered the killing?

It is clear that unless these troubling questions are dealt with satisfactorily, there is no way Najib can clear himself of suspicions that have surrounded him, least of all by waving away inquisitive questions by a curt reply like what he did in the said press conference.

In fact, such conduct only betrays his weaknesses. For it is plain commonsense that if Najib is on the side of truth, he would have welcomed reporters to ask questions – instead of crudely shutting them up – so that he has a chance to exonerate himself. And he would also have taken action against Bala ages ago, instead of inaction for so long – perhaps with the hope of the scandal fizzling out in due course?

The latest Bala revelations have constituted a solemn challenge to the integrity and legitimacy of Najib’s premiership, for which he must now solemnly account to the nation.

And the only way to do that without dishonoring his oath of office is to commission a truly independent panel to uncover the truth and account to the nation.

If Najib is a responsible Prime Minister, he should have felt duty bound under his oath of allegiance to the country to clear his name through a proper inquiry by an independent and reputable panel, now that the perception of his involvement has been so entrenched and pervasive - nationally as well as internationally.

Image courtesy of Counterpointer

RECOLONIZING THE NATIVES

2009-12-06T14:32:00.028+08:00

I UNDERSTAND the colonial mind extremely well. That's because the memory of having been a series of megalomaniacal empire-builders remains vividly imprinted in my deep psyche and prompts me to do everything in my power to warn the present generation against the insidious dangers of attempting to impose a rigid control grid over forces beyond our comprehension.

Perhaps this explains my visceral rejection of all forms of bureaucratic arrogance and misguided efforts to "civilize and domesticate" the natural world. Much as I love my sister, daughter #1, son-in-law, granddaughters, and all my beautiful nieces, nephews, cousins and grandnieces in Singapore - I'm always loath to visit the so-called Merlion City with all its infamous restrictions (no smoking in public places except where specially designated; and, in the old days, no longhaired men which necessitated my buying a shorthair wig just to gain entry).

Last month I had a close encounter with bureaucratic heavyhandedness which left a slightly sour taste in my mouth. It all arose over the hoo-ha a local businessman raised about the illegal road upgrading project in Pertak Village. This guy happens to be a member of PPP (People's Progressive Party) and a close friend of Dato' T. Murugiah (left), deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department who oversees the Public Complaints Bureau.

I was surprised to receive a phonecall from T. Murugiah's personal assistant, a very pleasant lady named Shamini Bhaskaran, asking me for some background to the situation. So I wrote her a long email detailing the scenario and, before I knew what was happening, was informed that Dato' T. Murugiah was planning a visit to Pertak Village to see for himself what was going on. But before he could do so, he required a formal complaint to be lodged with his department, so I accepted the role - since Murugiah's businessman friend was unwilling to expose himself to the risk of losing the support of local bureaucrats who largely remain loyal to the Barisan Nasional.

On 15 September I had been visited by three Special Branch officers who informed me they were investigating a police report lodged against me by one Rapi Bata Abdullah - an Orang Asli Muslim convert and Umno member who had written a letter to Kuala Kubu Bharu state assemblyman Wong Koon Mun (right) requesting that the old logging trail through the Pertak forest reserve be asphalted.

To legitimize his request, Rapi had persuaded Bidar Chik, Batin of Pertak, to sign the letter. According to the SB officers, Rapi Bata had accused me of "obstructing" his road upgrading project (and thereby opposing "development" for the marginalized Orang Asli). He also alleged I was an agent of Western environmentalists and was harboring "Mat Salleh" activists - that's right, who are all jealous of Malaysia's success (yup, Mahathir has certainly left his indelible mamark... oops, I mean, mark on an entire generation of civil servants)!

This was followed by a visit from several high-ranking officers from the Selangor JHEOA (Orang Asli Affairs Department) who gently reproached me for bypassing them and going straight to the Public Complaints Bureau. I told them to their face that if it were up to me I would shut down their department without hesitation. Of course, I'd ensure that the people who worked in JHEOA would either be reassigned to other departments - or be given a generous payout so they could start their own businesses or acquire some useful skills.

Murugiah is crowned King of PPP in a party coup staged in May 2009

Dato' T. Murugiah's visit, originally scheduled for 30 October, was postponed for a week (his p.a. called up at the last minute and apologized on behalf of her boss, saying he was under the weather). My cellphone began ringing non-stop on the morning of 6 November. Reporters from the national news agency Bernama and Utusan Malaysia (Umno's much-maligned mouthpiece, famous for its acute ethnocentric halitosis) called up asking directions to Pertak Village.

It was amusing to see the media circus surrounding Dato' T. Murugiah's official visit. YB Wong Koon Mun was there accompanied by a cadre of MCA flunkeys in their North Korea-style paramilitary uniforms, along with reporters from Sin Chew Jit Poh and possibly Nanyang Siang Pau too. The New Straits Times was represented by a friendly but understandably jaded hack, while NTV7 sent a mobile unit and a very gung-ho crew to cover Murugiah's historic visit.

Even the district police chief, ASP Norel, was present with a platoon of senior officers (including the delectable Inspector Yusnita Samsudin who had "interviewed" me at the KKB police station at 11pm the night before, having sent a vanload of bullies-in-blue to summon me to her office).

When I was given the chance to speak, I voiced my indignation at the rude behavior of the policemen who had arrived at my residence at 10:30pm, demanding that I go down to the station to record a statement - and threatening me with arrest if I didn't comply.

They had clearly exceeded their authority in so doing, since I had commited no offence - and the urgency of the matter was entirely due to their dragging their feet on this case till the very last minute. They could have telephoned me anytime over the course of six or seven weeks, politely requesting that I come to the station at my own convenience to tell my side of the story.

In response, ASP Norel (or was it DSP?) could only brag that the police in their zeal to perform their duties do not observe office hours. Such a smug and pompous old-school cop, he certainly would look the part better with a 19th-century-style handlebar mustache.

All in all, I estimate a total of 90 people were involved in this public relations exercise which was essentially an attempt to justify the RM200,000 roadworks through a forest reserve - and demonstrate how caring and generous the Barisan Nasional government was towards rural voters like the Temuan of Pertak Village.

My original complaint focused on the possibility of hanky-panky involving the misuse of public funds. YB Wong Koon Mun is, after all, a contractor and entrepreneur with fingers in many pies; and his Umno cronies have never been known to be overly concerned about how the Orang Asli are faring (indeed, the only thing that interests them is whether there are any logging concessions or resort projects they can apply for). Furthermore, Wong had instructed his contractor to start digging without obtaining the necessary permits from the District Office and Forestry Department.

When the Selangor state government learnt about this, a stop-work order had been issued through district councillor Chua Yee Ling - but, as to be expected, that only delayed MCA Wong for 3 or 4 days - the time it took for him to erect an official signboard announcing the road upgrading project.

This was clear proof that the Pakatan Rakyat state government is being undermined every step of the way by deadwood bureaucrats who haven't yet understood that Barisan Nasional wasn't appointed by Allah to forever misrule the country and enrich itself at public expense. It's a very serious issue that must be addressed. But how? Only a complete change of government at the federal level will resolve the problem.

Nevertheless, if an expensive "infrastructural upgrade" could be conjured out of thin air, these Barisan Nasional types become suddenly very anxious to help their indigenous brethren assimilate into the modern world (never mind lah that most of them remain stubbornly heathen) And, of course, what better emblems of modernity than asphalted roads (complete with speedbumps), cellphone towers, and - serunai fanfare plus a brief burst of kompang, please - STREETLIGHTS! Yes, the very things one requires to live comfortably at the edge of a forest.

MCA Wong described my protest as Greenpeace-inspired activism. Thanks for the compliment, Wong!

Rapi Bata Abdullah was the featured guest star of the day - a showcase Orang Asli with all the correct-correct-correct attitudes. First he had become a Muslim (at least in name); next he had joined Umno and seen the light. He understood all about commissions and cost overruns and how to instigate environmentally ruinous projects. Above all, he was loyal to the Barisan Nasional government and was aware that "militant tree-huggers" like me are the Enemies of Progress (as measured in strictly material terms).

In his desire to be seen as "progressive" Rapi had unwittingly turned himself into the Orang Asli version of an Uncle Tom. For a few official favors (and some quick bucks by way of payoffs) he had severed his own ancestral connections to the sacredness and inviolability of the land and was proud to be paraded before the crony media as an Orang Asli ready to embrace "modern values" - as represented by physical trappings such as asphalted roads, piped water, electricity, satellite TV, mobile phones, streetlights, neatly-mown lawns - and endless bills to pay.

The way the mid-level bureaucrats fawned and fussed over the visiting deputy minister, one would have imagined him to be at least a royal emissary, if not a king.

A century ago, T. Murugiah would probably have arrived on elephant back, with a full panoply of ceremonial guards and a bugle brigade. He would have been carried in a gilded palanquin to inspect the roadworks whilst being fed exotic tidbits by native girls bedecked with multicolored hibiscuses in their perfumed hair.

This is precisely what's wrong with the Barisan Nasional misgovernment. They're too enamored of pomp and circumstance. They love a splendid display of extravagance (city streets festooned with flashing lights and giant ketupats every Hari Raya) and, of course, the demonstrations of almighty grandeur and worldly power the Sultans have made their royal trademark.

(courtesy of SabriZain.org)

Can I blame the Brits for this, I wonder? After all, it was they who handpicked the most corruptible and compliant amongst the contending Malay chiefs to be crowned as Sultans (an honorific conveniently borrowed from the Turks). It was in their own interests to cultivate a narcissistic, self-serving species of native leader who would be so aloof and detached from their own subjects they would pose few problems for the colonial masters, who would then supplant the Sultans as the real government of the land.

When the Brits created a Malay political class to take over the lower echelons of bureaucracy, they taught them how to keep the hoi polloi at arm's length and present an unassailable façade of divinely ordained authority. Indeed, if you observe how Barisan Nasional ministers like to be fêted and fawned over wherever they go, you will certainly conclude that they all believe that being voted into public office gives them the divine right to be treated like pseudo-royalty. Hence, they view it as their religious duty to squirrel away massive amounts of non-declarable lucre in some offshore account whilst keeping just enough to set themselves up in palatial style.

And now, some 50 years after the Brits have returned to their swiftly shrinking, once-great imperial home, their political heirs, the Umno fat-cat bureaucrats, are faithfully maintaining the colonial legacy by recolonizing the original natives of this fair and bountiful land.

If the Orang Asli Affairs Department is allowed to continue existing, it wouldn't surprise me to find a future generation of Orang Asli behaving as corruptly, myopically, and arrogantly as their Malay mentors. By then they would willingly have exchanged their Orang Asli status for the dubious privilege of being lumped together with the Sumatran, Javanese and Bugis descendants of brigands, pirates and refugees from tribal wars.

As for Dato' T. Murugiah himself, I found him fairly intelligent and suave, oozing with effortless charm and self-confidence - but, alas, too typically a Barisan Nasional politician to be taken seriously as a human being. A few weeks after his visit to Pertak Village, I read in the news (online, of course) that Murugiah was in the process of being thrown out of the PPP. Should that happen, he would become a partyless deputy minister, and therefore vulnerable to vicious attacks from his cannibalistic colleagues in the increasingly irrelevant, insufferably arrogant and irredeemably corrupt Barisan Nasional.

Indeed, Murugiah might even lose his cabinet seat. Well, if that does occur, his p.a. has my phone number. I'd be happy to offer him some counseling on how to regain his human core and child-like spontaneity - and charge him ten times my usual fee.

An Orangutan's Best Friend

2009-12-06T09:38:00.010+08:00

Suryia and Roscoe live at the T.I.G.E.R.S sanctuary in Myrtle Beach , South Carolina.

The orangutan was in the rescue center and was not doing well. This old hound wandered in truly emaciated and the orangutan took to him the moment the dog arrived.

He stayed with the hound night and day until he was well and during the process found a reason to live.

They are now inseparable.

[Images forwarded by Hari Ho]

Oil palm cultivation has brought in a vast amount of revenue to Malaysia - but most of it ends up in the hands of a privileged few. The rapid proliferation of oil palm plantations in the last 30 years has resulted in disastrous deforestation.

As a monoculture, oil palm cannot be considered an eco-friendly cash crop. Artificial fertilizers, weedkillers and insecticides used in oil palm estates have poisoned the land and made it infertile. Many indigenous cultures have been displaced and endangered because of oil palm greed. In Kalimantan and various other parts of Indonesia, Malaysian oil palm interests have caused huge tracts of rainforest to be cleared for oil palm cultivation.

Open burning to clear the felled forests has caused atmospheric pollution throughout the region - and there is no political will to stop the problem because many top government officials in both Indonesia and Malaysia have vested interests in the palm oil industry. In Sarawak, logging companies work in cahoots with oil palm cultivators to rape not only the precious rainforest, but also gentle indigenous tribes like the Penan.

Palm oil products may actually be quite good in terms of nutrition - but oil palm cultivation on such a colossal scale is definitely deleterious to our long-term environmental well-being and must be stopped.

Oil palm-based biofuel more harmful than fossil fuels: Researcher
Tue, December 8, 2009

PALEMBANG: The programme to develop palm oil as a non-polluting biofuel is a “myth” to justify expansion of oil palm plantations in Indonesia, a researcher from Sriwijaya University Julian Junaidi said.

“The burning of palm oil-based biofuel might not generate enviromment-damaging gas, and the process of turning palm oil into biofuel was much more harmful than the use of fossil fuels,” Indonesia’s Antara news agency reported, citing Julian as saying.

Speaking at a dissussion on biofuel organized by the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) here Monday, he said the burning of one tonne of premium gasoline would cause 3.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide (C02) to escape into the atmosphere. However, the process of turning one tonne of palm oil into biofuel would produce 33 tonnes of CO2.

These facts showed that the use of palm-oil-based biofuel would contribute enormously to global warming, he said.

“Tragically, most of the activity to turn palm oil into biofuel is taking place in developing countries, where the oil palm plantations are located,” Julian said.

Apart from damaging the environment, he said, the programme to develop biofuel from palm oil was also causing land disputes in the community.

“The drive to expand oil palm plantations has already led to hundreds of land disputes because the expansion was done not on no- man’s land but on people’s farm land,” he said.

“Oil palm is not a renewable energy source. The price people have to pay for palm oil-based biofuel is too high. Millions of hectares of forests are being cut down for a crop that eventually only contributes to ecological disasters,” he said.

Meanwhile, Anwar Sadat, director of Walhi’s South Sumatra chapter, said the programme to develop biofuel from palm oil had induced the large-scale expansion of oil palm plantations.

The oil palm growing frenzy to produce palm oil not only for households but also as biofuel for industry and transportation had led to degradation of people’s forests and protected forests in South Sumatra’s low lands.

“The oil palm planting drive has also increased the frequency of social conflicts in the province.

According to Sawit Watch (an NGO), in 2003, oil palm plantation-related land disputes happened 140 times but the number rose almost four-fold to 513 in 2007,” he said. — BERNAMA

Camel or rope, still can't squeeze through!

2009-12-04T01:16:00.025+08:00

"And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." ~ Matthew 19:24

This well-known quote from the New Testament attributed to the apostle Matthew has been the subject of endless debate over the centuries. Some scholars say that the Master Yeshua (called "Jesus" by modern-day Christians) wasn't referring to a camel but to a rope. One bible study site I stumbled upon while researching this subject has this to say:

Jesus and all the Jews spoke a language called Aramaic, and the word gamla meant either a camel or a large rope, just as we have words which are spelled the same, but have different meanings. And some of the earlier translators or copyists must have taken the wrong meaning here. For no one would ever talk about a camel going through a needle's eye. But every Jewish house had several large ropes, that were used to tie bundles on the backs of men and animals.

Even in Greek the camel-rope confusion persists. The Greek word for "thick rope" is kamilos; and "camel" is kamelos. But in wasting so much breath arguing about whether the Master meant "rope" or "camel" many theologians have completely missed the point.

And the point is the Eye of the Needle. Graphically, you can visualize it as a very narrow aperture that the thread absolutely has to squeeze through if you want to do any sewing with it.

I prefer to use "more scientific" terminology by calling it the Frequency Scanner. What, you may ask, is a "frequency scanner"? The secular definition is what radio buffs would be familiar with and it has to do with identifying the source of radio transmissions by means of a vast database of terrestrial radiowave frequencies.

As I'm not a radio buff I generally go with the "spiritual" definition wherein the Frequency Scanner is what measures an individual's auric purity and molecular integrity. All of us are born with hardwired frequency scanners which we may not necessarily be aware of. Those who unconsciously use their frequency scanners to suss other people might call it "intuition" or "instinct" or "following their gut feelings."

The Eye of the Needle, therefore, is a powerful metaphor for the perfectly natural process of self-selection whereby each soul determines its own onward evolution - or otherwise. Each of us must gather all the different threads of our genetic memories and converge them into a single point, in order to penetrate the most modest of apertures - the vulva of a vestal virgin, who represents the call of the Mother of all Goddesses, to return to our divine origins in her cosmic womb and be reborn anew.

I view the soul's pilgrimage through the fields of density and complexity as the method by which the Atman (Divine Self) gathers experiential data and then rearranges it to generate coherent patterns, which often take the forms of sacred geometry. If you imagine each life as a colored thread warping and woofing through the tapestry of eternity, it's almost inevitable that you will eventually begin to perceive the grand mandala of Life Itself and experience a glorious eureka moment.

Was the Master Yeshua a closet socialist? Why such a pronounced prejudice against rich folks? When he is quoted as saying there's no way a rich man can gain entry into "the kingdom of God" - does he mean this literally? Or was it just a bad hair day for Jesus that yielded this particular injunction?

My sons-in-law are fairly rich guys. And I consider them both decent and goodhearted souls. The only essential difference between us is that both are almost entirely focused on building their businesses and ensuring their families enjoy the very best that life can offer - while I'm almost entirely focused on freeing myself from any form of busyness.

Having spent more than 50 years researching what some may call the esoteric realm, I consider myself fairly well informed about the funky stuff that goes on within the Inner Planes. However, when it comes to subjects like sports or the stock market, my understanding of these worldly matters borders on the imbecilic.

So, from my personal perspective, what the Master Yeshua actually meant by his provocative statement was simply this: those who get overly caught up in external reality will find it a lot harder to attune to their own inner voice. If all one ever hears is the loud chattering of the marketplace, sportscasters and airheaded radio DJs, it's quite unlikely that one will ever acquire the necessary neural acumen to break free of the artificial holographic matrix wherein our anthropocentric games of buy-and-sell and win-or-lose are being played out.

No matter how much money you may have stashed away in some offshore account, you will still end up shitting your pants when you wake up one morning to discover that Wall Street no longer exists. The Jewish brokers made off with all your cash while you were fast asleep. What those silly scammers intend to do with all their worthless currency notes not even God knows.

They could use their $50 bills for rolling tobacco, just to remind themselves that they were once loyal subjects of Rex Mundi. Or they could pile up all the currency notes and make the most extravagant bonfire in history. Or wipe their bottoms with $10 bills just to prove they are no longer obsessed with "the bottom line."

In any case, you can rest assured that money distilled from the blood, sweat and tears of countless generations of semi-conscious and mentally enslaved humans will not be accepted as legal - or illegal - tender in the kingdom of God (I prefer to use the term "heaven").

All the fang-and-claw scenarios of dog-eat-dog politicians... the feeding frenzy of cocaine-crazed remisiers... the hustle and push of insurance and snake oil salesmen... the wheelers and the dealers... prime movers and shakers... the cigar-chomping moguls and ghoulish martini-swilling financiers behind the glitter and glamor of Hollywood, Bollywood and Follywood... I'm not letting them into heaven, no way!

Not unless they clear their emotional garbage and get their auric fields clear and fragrant.

God's love is both unconditional and conditional.

(If you happen to be a fan of Richard Dawkins and don't believe in God, that's fine. I don't need you to believe in me to be whatever and whoever I am, because the only God I accept as authentic is the one I see in the mirror, and in every pair of eyes looking back at me. In any case, God is actually an atheist, like Professor Dawkins.)

"Unconditional" - in the sense that even the ones who end up in a hell of their own making are still cherished and valued as souls and will always be offered another opportunity to clean up their acts and get out of their ruts.

"Conditional" - in the sense that if you misunderstand what Mastery is all about and go about enslaving and exploiting a whole lot of other lifeforms - human and non-human - because you erroneously believe that's what Masters do, then you've pretty much flunked this evolutionary semester.

Or if you vehemently deny that you've just shit your pants - when everyone else in the room is holding their noses and glaring at you and pointing to that gooey brown liquid oozing from your trouser leg and onto the plush carpet - well, then I suppose we shall just have to label you another "Hisham" or "Najib" and frogmarch you to the sanitization facility where, after a thorough cleansing, you'll be given all the emotional therapy you need to qualify for rebirth as a protozoon.

And it won't cost you a penny, don't worry.

Carl Jung was fond of recounting an old ecclesiastical joke that goes like this:

Student: There were men in the olden days who saw the face of God. Why don't they see it any more?

Rabbi: Because nowadays no one can stoop so low.

DEAN JOHNS ON "KILLER KLEPTOIDS"

2009-12-03T17:17:00.013+08:00

For the benefit of those who can't afford or are too kedekut to subscribe to Malaysiakini, I'm reproducing this ribtickling and heartbreaking piece by one of my all-time favorite political columnists...

Dean Johns | Malaysiakini
December 2, 2009
1:38pm

Trying to make sense of the political scenario in Malaysia is always a surreal experience. But at times it all seems so far-fetched and flat-out fantastic that I think I must have lost the plot.

Or else that I've actually been asleep all this time, trapped in some bizarre nightmare based on replays of all those hair-raising old Hollywood horror movies I used to frighten myself silly by sitting through.

At times like these I get desperate for some kind of reality check. So you can imagine how grateful I feel to the likes of Barry Wain, with his new biography of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, for reassuring me that the doctor isn't some scary childhood movie memory or figment of my fevered imagination, but is actually, if incredibly, the former long-time prime minister of Malaysia.

And that the Frankenstein monster the doctor created isn't just some filmic fable, but a real-life political machine that's still rampaging around the country wreaking havoc wherever it goes and indulging its insatiable appetite by devouring whatever it can get its hands on.

If you'd believe Barry Wain, and why wouldn't you, as long as he works for neither the Malaysian nor Singapore mainstream press, the BN machine has swallowed RM100 billion of Malaysians' money in the past 25 of its 52 years in power.

And according to Time magazine, economist Daniel Lian of Morgan Stanley Singapore estimates it's consumed about three times the amount estimated by Wain, or US$100 billion.

Here, in case you missed them, are a few highlights of this saga of monumental theft, fraud and embezzlement:

* Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) swindle: US$1 billion
* Bank Negara foreign-exchange fiasco: RM20 billion
* Extra BMF bailouts: US$600 million
* Perwaja Steel bankruptcy: US$ 800 million
* Maminco tin market manipulation: US$500 million
* Bank Islam non-performing loans scam: RM2.2 billion
* Highway concessionaire bailouts: RM38.5 billion
* Mirzan Mahathir's MISC rescue: RM600 million
* Port Klang Free Zone scandal: RM12 billion

If that's not enough plundered billions to make you bilious, don't worry. It's just the tip of the iceberg. Or should I make that 'heistberg'? Whatever, it's a considerable quantity of loot for a government to steal from its citizens.

Heart-breaking human cost

How the Malaysian people have tolerated being robbed on such an epic scale for so long I can't begin to guess. Why so many millions of them never stopped voting for the doctor or his successors, or never chased any of them, King Kong-like, up to the top of the Twin Towers to his downfall and doom is a total mystery.

Unless, of course, that like me they've been assuming that the whole thing was so unbelievable that it must be just a movie, and gone on scoffing their popcorn and kuaci as though the horror would eventually end and they could safely return from this harsh reel world to an altogether happier real one.

Or maybe they were thinking that, as long it was only money the monster was after, they'd be safe if they let it have its fill, and that with luck they might score their share of any small change that happened to slip through its fingers.

What they failed to realise, however, is that the BN money-chomping monster's been in league all along with those other fixtures of this long-running Malaysian fright-flick, the werewolves of the police and MACC, the body-snatchers of the internal security ministry, the vampires of commerce, contracting and the civil service, and the droids of the mainstream media.

With a monster cast this creepy to contend with, it's no wonder so many otherwise potentially sentient citizens have been turned into such political and ethical zombies.

With the watchdogs of the law at their throats, thousands of blood-suckers with their fangs in their necks and hundreds of make-believe journalists busy blinding their eyes, deafening their ears and dumbing their minds, some people are bound to get somewhat confused.

Which brings us to the fact that the tragedy is not so much the amount of money, land and other public property that BN and its minions have stolen and continue to steal but the heart-breaking human cost of it all.

The financial toll taken by the police, MACC and judiciary in corruption is chicken-feed compared with the priceless protections and trust that they've stolen from the people, not to mention the countless lives they've stolen from 'suspects' in staged 'shootouts' and 'questioning' in custody.

Revenge of the voters

The billions looted and squandered by the government and its cronies are nothing compared with the human rights, educations, opportunities, hopes, dreams and futures they've stolen from Malaysians born on the 'wrong' side of the screen that the ideologues of BN have erected between the races and religions on which to play their wayang kulit of 1Malaysia.

And now, having skinned the Malaysians alive in every conceivable fashion from financial to spiritual, they've had the hide to introduce a goods and services tax, thus adding even more to the swag of oil and tax revenues that BN has traditionally siphoned-off from behind the impenetrable screen of the official secrets act.

They're also, I see, still paying Najib Abdul Razak's airfare and considerable expenses to go around the world robbing Malaysia of even more of its Mahathir-ravaged international reputation with remarks like his recent one in New York that "Malaysia's message of reforms and transformation must be told to foreign investors."

Who does he think he's kidding about Malaysia as long as it's still business as usual for him and his gang of BN bandits? Doesn't he realise that embassies and high commissions report the truth back to their home governments?

And that trade commissioners and reputable global financial media keep investors informed of the larcenies of national governments like Malaysia's?

Sometimes I think Najib's recited his script so often he's started to almost believe it himself.

I certainly hope so. Because the more over-confident that he and his coalition cronies become that their Attack of the Killer Kleptoids production is set to run permanently, the more shocked they'll be by its inevitable sequel, Revenge of the Voters from Hell.

Well done, Anwar! Najib, balik kampung!

2009-12-02T00:29:00.010+08:00

I found out from my friend-in-exile a short while ago that Anwar Ibrahim has been listed by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the "Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2009."

Not too sure if that's really such a tremendous honor, since Anwar has to share the stage with a few dubious characters like Ben Bernanke (Chairman of the übercriminal Federal Reserve), Dick Cheney and Henry Kissinger (the man who approved the use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, an atrocious act that resulted in the leukemia deaths of at least 500,000 non-combatants and exposed 4.2 million Vietnamese to dioxin poisoning).

Nevertheless, Anwar is the only Malaysian on the list - along with other prominent Asian freedom-fighters like Amartya Sen and Aung San Suu Kyi - and that in itself deserves a hearty congratulation or two.

After all, I doubt Anwar had to pay RM20 million to some Jewish PR agency to upgrade his public image and make him look good in the eyes of the world.

Here's what Foreign Policy has to say about Anwar:

Anwar Ibrahim
for challenging the Muslim world to embrace democracy.

Opposition leader | People's Justice Party | Malaysia

Two decades ago, it would have been impossible to imagine Anwar pulling together rural Malays, ethnic Indians and Chinese, and Islamists into a coherent political bloc. Back then, Anwar was deputy prime minister in a de facto single-party state that espoused preferential treatment for ethnic Malays. It was a policy that Anwar had pushed from his days as a youth leader right up until 1997, when he denounced his patron, then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, for corruption. He would spend the next six years in solitary confinement on trumped-up charges for that political betrayal. And he would leave jail in 2004 with a bold message for change in a country now at the forefront of the struggle for democracy in the Muslim world. Today, Anwar's political career is blossoming, despite a new, politically motivated indictment. Abroad, he has become an outspoken advocate of religious tolerance.

He sat down with Foreign Policy to talk about his big ideas:

On Muslim countries and the West: You can't just erase a period of imperialism and colonialism. You can't erase the fault lines, the bad policies, the failed policies, the war in Iraq, and support for dictators. That to me is the reality. But what is the problem? When you … apportion the blame only to the West or the United States. They want to deflect from the issue of repression, endemic corruption, and destruction of the institutions of governance.

On his time in prison: I spent a lot of time reading. I decided to focus on the great works and the classics. Friends from around the world were sending books, but it takes months for [the prison] to vet them. There came a book on the Green Revolution at that time. The officer said, "Anything revolution -- out!" even though it was about agriculture. But the books kept coming. The officers were not even graduates, and [the books] were in English. They would say, "Anwar, out of 10 books, can you send back one?" So I would select something I had already read or something I was not interested in and say, "We should reject this."

On politics: Of course, you simplify the arguments [for politics], but the central thesis remains constant. People say, "Anwar, you are opportunistic. How can you talk about Islam and the Quran here, and then you talk about Shakespeare and quote Jefferson or Edmund Burke?" I say, it depends on the audience. You can't talk about Edmund Burke in some remote village in Afghanistan. Then you go to Kuala Lumpur and you quote T.S. Eliot. If I quote the Quran all the time to a group of lawyers, [they will think] I am a mullah from somewhere!

Enema of the People: a double dose of RPK

2009-12-01T00:03:00.006+08:00

[NOTE: I just got back from a rare visit to Melaka where a 3-day Art & Performance Festival has just been concluded, featuring a friendly and vibrant troupe of artists, mostly Melbourne-based, brought in by dancer-choreographer Tony Yap, an illustrious prodigal son of Melaka who went to Australia in 1976 to further his studies - and ended up becoming a dance sifu to a brilliant new generation of dancers. More about this piquant but inadequately publicized event when I've caught my breath. Meanwhile, thank heaven for the engagingly lucid and outspoken RPK, who can always be counted on for some political edification - and who happens to be my favorite prescription for a badly constipated body politic.]

Congratulations and Thanks, Malaysiakini!

2009-11-28T14:58:00.004+08:00

We couldn't have made it this far without you!

Malaysiakini ~ a true Malaysian success story

Shooting ourselves in the foot

2009-11-28T01:33:00.007+08:00

Biro Tatanegara (or the National Indoctrination Bureau) was established in 1974 during Tun Razak's tenure. But it took around ten years to evolve into the sinister operation that has been getting a load of negative publicity in recent days.

The fact that BTN is an adjunct of the Prime Minister's Department makes it a convenient mechanism for the systematic dissemination of the official doctrine throughout the rank and file of the civil and diplomatic services. BTN also ensures that the academic bureaucracy adheres to Umno's official doctrine of Ketuanan Melayu and loyalty to the government.

Some who have been processed through the BTN experience and survived with their minds intact and independent report that the BTN's agenda is insidiously racist and deliberately divisive. Unthinking conformity is what the Biro Tatanegara is really all about.

The desire to imprint the rulers' ideology on all subjects is a hallmark of every patriarchal society. After all, the words "pattern" and "paternal" share the same etymology, namely, issuing from the Pater or Father.

And isn't it true that every Father wants his children to be, above all, obedient? The Old Testament - specifically, Genesis - portrays disobedience as the Original Sin.

Fast-forward to the Digital Era where being at the cutting edge requires thinking out of the box, an adventurous and innovative spirit, and a willingness to break the rules.

Where do our BTN graduates stand in the 21st century world of instant communications and nanotech? You can invest billions in an artificial city called Cyberjaya - but, unless you import all the talent, you're not going to find many innovators emerging from local institutes of learning.

In the first place, genuflecting before your social superiors is hardly conducive to nurturing creative genius. Don't forget Tuan is a contraction of Tuhan - and a culture that compels an individual to submit to God will always extend that compulsion to submitting before God's representatives on Earth, namely the Monarchs.

Talented and inspired brainiacs like Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple Computers), Larry Page and Sergey Brin (founders of Google), and Mark Zuckerberg (originator of Facebook) aren't the type who can handle too much protocol - unless you're referring to computer protocols.

Indeed, a distinguishing feature of cybernetic wizards is their disdain for red-tape and formality. Imagine the fun the pioneers of IT had naming everything from scratch. How did they come up with "mouse" for the device with which you navigate the screen? Or a name like Yahoo! for an all-purpose portal?

Let's say you're the Sultan of Selangor and you're accustomed to being addressed formally as Duli Yang Maha Mulia Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Al-Haj.

So what happens when the Sultan becomes IT savvy and buys himself a Macbook? He's going to be using email and you can't possibly have such an unwieldy name in your email address. He could shorten it to sultan_idris@istana-selangor.my or perhaps even idris@istana-selangor.my - and in so doing he would be dispensing with cumbersome formality. In all probability, he would write in normal language when sending emails to his buddies, instead of adhering to traditional court language. Indeed, if he were to try his hand at internet chat, he'd probably want to conceal his royal status with a funky nick like "nicerichboy" or "hrh1."

This is what happens when human consciousness shifts from analog to digital mode. Traditionalists may scorn the way kids today have murdered language by coming up with SMS terms like :-) or LOL or 2moro or CU. But you have to admit there's a certain appeal in adopting newfangled computer symbols like @ or signing off with an ASCII heart, thus: <3 - and, as these new memes spread like some species of computer virus, the near-lightspeed movement of binary codes and pixels across the planet's fiber-optic highways swiftly creates a far more egalitarian social template than any theory of human evolution could ever have predicted.

That's why I always ROTFLMAO whenever I hear potato-headed politicians like the education and communications ministers urging Malaysians to be "more innovative" and to prepare themselves for the rapid shift to "a knowledge-based economy." You guys wouldn't recognize a creative genius even if one snuck up and poked you playfully in the butt.

I bet you didn't realize a lot of creative geniuses look just like that troublemaker Namewee @ Wee Meng Chee whose citizenship you once wanted to revoke because he "insulted" the national anthem (as though a song could possibly be offended by some 23-year-old rapper doing an off-the-wall cover version of it).

Well, if that's what you really want, you're really gonna regret it when you finally get it, Messrs Muhyiddin and Rais. Do you know why? Because no creative genius will give a fuck how much you paid for your silk ties nor will they be too impressed by all the guff that issues from your political mouths.

Keep the population dumb and conformist with your goddam BTN, if you wish to enjoy your VVIP status and your ridiculous robber baron perks. But don't you dare lament the fact that Malaysia has been left way behind every other country.

Up till now you've had it good siphoning off our collective wealth with all the natural resources the land has produced - and things got even sexier when oil was found off our coast. However, some say the oil reserves will be depleted within a few years - and then how are you going to maintain your extravagant lifestyle? Revert to piracy and slave-trading?

Wrong place, wrong time, wrong job?

2009-11-27T13:43:00.005+08:00

Former Special Branch officer turned private investigator Balasubramaniam a/l Perumal was hired by Abdul Razak Baginda (special consultant to the Malaysian Ministry of Defence and a close friend of Najib Razak) to keep an eye on "that Mongolian Woman" Altantuya Shaariibuu who arrived in Kuala Lumpur the first week of October 2006 to meet Baginda and demand that he pay her USD500,000 for her role in the 2005 Scorpene submarine deal. Bala saw Altantuya being abducted from Razak Baginda's residence around 7:30PM on 19 October 2006 by three people, two of whom were personal bodyguards of Najib Razak. She was never again seen alive.