DON'T BE FOOLED (1)

Assalamualaikum w.r.t.

Came across this article in the http://www.islamonline.net, written by Muhammad Gamal Arafa titled "Neocons in Their Democratic Dress : Members of the New Obama Administration". The author is a political analyst and his main argument is no matter who resides in the White House (incidentally that has been the focus of late) the policies are going to be the same but with a different flair. I reproduce the article wholly below for your consumption.

"Obama's government is like a collection of Clintonists," is a remark becoming familiar now after the main features of the President-elect — and very soon President — Barack Obama's administration has become clear. The team that includes most of its ministers and officials who served in the administration of former President Bill Clinton, is headed by Clinton's wife Hillary Clinton.

However, what the Americans did not say — and is important to the Arab region — is that those named by Obama are not only "Clintonists", but also belonging to the hawkish conservative "Democrats", like the neoconservatives in the Republican Party. The main danger that is feared they may pose is that many Arab and Muslim dossiers are expected to be transformed at their hands into bloody ones.

It is not true that only the Republicans do represent the conservative, fundamentalist, and extremist wing in the United States of America. Yet, a general current called "the fundamentalist conservative current" has emerged in the US since September 11th, 2001. This current includes both Republicans and Democrats.

This new current inside the Democratic Party — called the "New Democrats" or the "Neoconservative Democrats" — has the same ideas held by the neocons within the Republican Party and is linked to the hawks of this party. Indeed, it follows the same policies as to the hostile attitude toward the Arabs and Muslims and the bias to Tel Aviv. The neocon Democrats adopt "a progressive strategy for defeating Jihadism and defending freedom," as mentioned in the title of a book authored by the chairman of the Progressive Policy Foundation, one of the conservative, Democratic thinking centers. Some, such as Peter Beinart, the editor of the New Republic newspaper, call for the return to the cold war principles laid down by President Truman, with the aim of expanding the war on terror.
This new Obama team is largely composed of the prominent figures of the conservative hawks who support the war in Iraq and the shift toward escalation in Afghanistan and Pakistan and igniting the already burning region between India and Pakistan following Mumbai bombings.

It is noted as well that Obama has named some figures known for their extreme support for war against some Arab and Muslim countries, notably Sudan. This has raised doubts regarding the change of which Obama spoke about, and that he may prove to be nothing but a copy of Bush and his administration; the only thing that will undergo change is raising the "the Republican Party" sign.

Kesihatan ekonomi

Catitan di bawah ini bagus untuk jadi renungan. Para pemimpin kita menidakkan kesan kejatuhan ekonomi amerika ke atas keadaan ekonomi negara kita. Alasan  yang diberikan bahawa asas ekonomi kita adalah kukuh. Aku tidak mahir untuk menganalisa samada asas-asas ekonomi adalah seperti yang diuar-uarkan. Namun yang pasti dari pengalaman lepas, apa yang berlaku di amerika (mereka adalah pengimpot barangan malaysia) tidak akan memberi kesan segera kepada malaysia tetapi dalam tempoh masa yang terdekat. Bacalah pandangan penganalisis ini seperti yang aku paparkan dalam keadaan asalnya. Rakan dan taulan perlu prihatin terhadap situasi yang bakal melanda. Shipping Rates Hit Rock Bottom - I Hope You Understand What This Means

By Matthias Chang

Thursday, 15 January 2009 22:51

Global Trade Has Collapsed Totally   Shipping Companies Like MISC and Major Ports Will Be In Deep Shits   Revising My Previous Forecast On Growth   It Will Be Negative in 2009 For Malaysia   In a recent Strategy Forum which I conducted, I shared a very simple method of gathering “intelligence on our export trade” with the delegates.   I told them that all I need to do is to observe the ships departing from the ports. I look at the load waterline (L.W.L. - the waterline at which the ship will float when loaded to its designed draft). This will indicate whether a ship is fully laden with cargo. This is simple common sense.   In the past few weeks, many ships were not fully laden. This means that we are not shipping out that many exports – Q.E.D! The authorities can fudge the figures, but the load water-line cannot lie.   Today, if you go to Singapore, ships are all over the port and idling for want of cargo.   It has now been reported that shipping rates for containers hit zero. Holy smoke, the shit has really hit the ceiling fan! This has never happened before. This means that demand for industrial goods have slumped big time. World trade has collapsed. Exporting economies in Asia have been hit hard by the fall in demand in US and Europe.   Last year, I reported and drew your attention that the Baltic Dry Index which measures freight rates for bulk commodities such as iron ore, grains etc. crashed – dropping a whopping 96 per cent.   Some idiots in Malaysia have been trumpeting for over a year that Asia’s economies have de-coupled from the Western economies. This is bullshit!   A big chunk of our exports goes to USA and Europe. Now that these markets have collapsed, it is only time that we will face a major downturn that will be deep and long which I estimate will commence by end of the first quarter 2009.   Had Malaysia took pre-emptive measures in 2006 and early 2007, we could have mitigated our exposure. But Badawi was “sleeping” and his stupid 4th Floor boys were too concerned in plundering the economy for themselves, and to quote one of them, “it is our turn.”   Now is too late.   Even RM73 Billion may not be enough to bailout those corporate entities considered too big to be allowed to fail.   It is time to start PRAYING!

REMEMBER

Aduh.... betapa banyak nikmat yang Allah beri pada diri ini. Selalu aku merungut dan mengeluh tetapi terlupa ada yang tidak punya. Nabi s.a.w. dilaporkan telah bersabda, 'Untuk perkara dunia, lihatlah mereka yang lebih rendah dari kamu, untuk perkara akhirat, lihatlah mereka yang lebih tinggi dari kamu'. Gamadar ni dah acapkali aku tengok, tapi tak rugi tengok lagi dan lagi supaya hati yang keras dapat jadi sedikit lembut. Aku cilok gambar ni dari http://futurefastforward.com, harap tauke tu tak marah.

Heart Touching

Administrator

Friday, 16 January 2009 00:04

If you think you are unhappy, look at them   If you think your salary is low, how about her? When you feel like giving up, think of this man If you think you suffer in life, do you suffer as much as he does? If you complain about your transport system, how about them? If your society is unfair to you, how about her? Enjoy life how it is and as it comes Things are worse for others and it is a lot better for us.   There are many things in your life that will catch your eye but only a few will catch your heart....pursue those...

Aku seorang muslim, seorang melayu yang tinggal di Semenanjung Tanah Melayu.

Saudara Baha Zain menulis dalam blognya (http://bahazain.blogspot.com/) yang aku paparkan di bawah ini:

Dalam teks yang sama ada beberapa gambar orang Melayu. Swettenham memuji rupa wajah dan pakaian perempuan-perempuan Melayu yang memang sungguh ayu dan menarik dalam dua keping gambar.Ada dua gambar lain yang elok juga kita baca keterangannya bagi menyelami persepsi dan pendapat pegawai British ini terhadap orang kita pada zaman dahulu.

Gambar pertama : seorang lelaki Melayu berkopiah ketayap dan berkaki ayam menarik tenggala (bajak) , dan seorang perempuan berkain, dan bertudung kepala menyorong dari belakang. Keterangan atau caption gambar berkata begini:

"MELAYU MALAS BERSUSAH PAYAH MEMBAJAK TANAH"

Alat yang digunakan oleh orang Melayu untuk pertanian sangatlah kuno; sebuah tenggala biasanya dibuat daripada cabang pokok dengan mata tenggalanya berbentuk kasar. Waktu lama yang memenatkan digunakan oleh buruh tani ini bagi mengerjakan tanah kepunyaannya, kerana mereka sangat tak suka berkerja tekun, dan kemalasan serta tabiat suka berseronok membuat mereka lebih suka berhutang daripada mencari wang.

Gambar kedua menunjukkan sepasang lelaki memakai kain, sepatu dan berketayap sedang menari, dan tiga orang lain bertinggung sedang asyik menonton.Keterangan gambar berbunyi begini:

"TARIAN MELAYU DENGAN GERAKAN PENUH BERGAYA"

Bagi orang asing tarian ini memang membosankan--ulangan gerak geri yang itu itu juga; tetapi orang Melayu meminati apa yang dilakukan oleh penari mereka, dan sorakan penonton disambut dengan suara pekikan pujian daripada pemukul gendang yang memukul dengan sekuat-kuatnya gendang yang kosong.

Nampaknya Swettenham merumuskan bahawa bangsa Melayu ini memang baik hati dengan orang, bersopan, hormat, mesra, dan bergaya , tetapi boleh pula tanpa diduga mengamuk sampai membunuh. Melayu juga katanya: malas, tak suka bekerja kuat, leka berseronok dan suka berhutang daripada bekerja tekun mencari wang.

Barangkali kalau orang Melayu rajin dan tekun bekerja tentu hasil negeri bertambah berlipat ganda dan Inggeris akan memuji kerana boleh menjadikan Melayu hamba abdinya untuk mengaut lebih banyak wang untuk dihantar ke London sebagaimana dia ceduk daripada bijih timah dan getah yang dikerjakan oleh bangsa Cina dan India yang dianggapnya kuli. Tapi takkanlah bangsa Melayu macam itu juga sampai hari ini kerana sekarang sudah merdeka daripada penjajah Inggeris. Terserahlah apa yang anda fikirkan. (Bersambung)

Manusia melayu memang terkenal dengan sifat sopan santunnya terutama terhadap orang asing. Sikap tolak ansurnya tiada tolok banding, yalah orang tolak, manusia melayu akan beransur. Namun setiap tubuh yang berakal mempunyai maruah dan had tolak ansur. Jika pegangan agamanya diperbodoh-bodohkan, jika keturunannya diperlekehkan, jika tanah negerinya diinjak-injak, pepatah melayu berbunyi 'biar putih tulang, jangan putih mata', 'berpantang maut sebelum ajal', 'alang-alang menyeluk pekasam, biar sampai ke pangkal lengan'.
Renungkan.