text:
Residents review Milwaukee Avenue proposals

Opponents of a city proposal that may include reducing traffic lanes to improve safety on sections of Milwaukee Avenue appeared to outnumber supporters at a packed open house that was held on July 2 at the Copernicus Center Annex, 5214 W. Lawrence Ave.

More than 200 people attended the event, which featured engineers from the city Department of Transportation who presented three options for the "Complete Streets" safety improvement plan. The department was seeking community reaction to the plans, and officials answered questions, which at times led to heated exchanges between residents and Alderman John Arena (45th), who supports the project.

The proposed project would affect Milwaukee between Lawrence Avenue and Elston Avenue, but fewer changes are expected between Lawrence and the Kennedy Expressway, where traffic is more congested due to the relatively narrow roadway.

One option calls for all existing lanes of traffic to remain north of the expressway and the existing bike lanes on Milwaukee to be made wider. The current bike lanes measure 5 1/2 feet wide and are located to the left of the parking lane, which the department refers to as outside the parking lane.

Under a second option a lane of traffic would be eliminated in each direction but the bike lanes would be positioned to the outside of parked cars.

The third option option would eliminate 20 percent of street parking and one lane of traffic in each direction, and barriers, such as concrete waiting areas for bus riders, would be used to protect bike lanes that would be located along the curb.

All three options include high-visibility crosswalks, pedestrian refuge islands and curb extensions, which shorten the distance of crosswalks. In addition, traffic signal improvements would be made in an effort to improve the flow of traffic, including places where lanes of traffic would be removed.

"There’s a lot of people that are coming up to me that don’t want to grandstand and just want to say ‘thank you,’" Arena said at the meeting. "I’ve actually had more than I thought that came up to me and said ‘I like option C,’ which is not what I thought I would hear, but I do have a lot of people saying that."

Arena has not endorsed any of the options.

Arena said that one purpose of the project is to reduce speeding. He said that many motorists drive 45 miles per hour on Milwaukee and that more than 900 accidents have occurred in the area since 2008.

"If we can calm speed, then we can get more people involved in the roadway," Arena said. "Pedestrians are shoppers, and if any business is not thinking about how to make their shoppers comfortable walking into their business, then I don’t think they are doing themselves a service."

At the meeting the Gladstone Park Chamber of Commerce gave CDOT officials a petition containing about 4,000 signatures that opposes the Milwaukee Avenue "road diet."

The petition states, "While we fully support the improvement of Milwaukee Ave. from Lawrence Ave. to Elston Ave., we do not support the idea of a ‘road diet’ that would reduce Milwaukee Ave. to one lane of traffic in either direction to make room for a protected bike lane and eliminate parking along the curb."

Chamber board member John Garrido said that there are other ways to slow traffic without reducing Milwaukee to two lanes. Garrido and chamber president David Wians made the presentation during the meeting.

"These petition were signed by 90 percent of the local residents, business owners and stakeholders in the area," Wians said. "These contain signatures and addresses and are legitimate. Five to ten percent are not from the area."

"This is not like the business community is trying to freak everybody out and that their businesses will be hurt," Wians said. "I want to thank the people of this community who are smart enough to figure this out themselves, and that’s why we’ve had such an outpouring of petitions."

Arena said that he does not see the logic in the chamber’s "grandstanding."

"I don’t know what their agenda is," Arena said. "It doesn’t seem like a good business decision for a chamber of commerce to walk into something like this and especially stand next to a political candidate and turn it into a show because he wants to have credibility."

Arena was referring to Garrido, who is running for alderman in the 45th Ward. Garrido lost to Arena by 30 votes in the last election.

Arena said that the purpose of the meeting was to get reaction from the community to make an educated decision regarding the proposed options. He said that the transportation department has done research on the street and that the goal of the project is not to create congestion but to improve safety. Arena said that department officials will examine the petition to see if "there is any validity to it."

"We don’t have a choice yet, and we need to see what the community wants," project consultant John Wirtz said. "I think most people don’t like the idea of removing travel lanes from the road, but we’ll need to look at the comments and see what people say."

"Safety is the goal of the project and speeding is a big part of reducing safety," Wirtz said. "Right now 75 percent of the cars on the road are speeding."

"People are under the impression that this is creating bike lanes and leaving less room for cars, but the majority of people who will benefit from this are pedestrians," Jim Merrell of the Active Transportation Alliance said after the meeting. "I think that the people who attended the meeting were under the impression that there was a definite plan in place and that lanes are being reduced."

"At the end of the day, the purpose of the project is to increase the safety on that roadway by reducing speed," Merrell said. "I think because the road is so wide in certain parts, people tend to speed. I found it interesting to learn that so many accidents, more than 900 occurred within the past few years."

Merrell said that the alliance, which works to make bicycling, walking and public transit safe, supports the "Complete Streets" project and that the transportation department has found that the project would not cause congestion and people would not lose time because of synchronized traffic lights.

Those who attended the meeting were not allowed to make public comments, but many were willing to speak to reporters. Some residents and business owners spoke against the proposals and questioned the format of the meeting.

"There’s no one here to walk me through it," one resident said. "They just have these stills addressing only minor issues of it. They don’t realize that it’s just not going to be about bike safety; who is going to be against bike safety?

"Bicyclists ride seven months out of the year. This is going to affect traffic and congestion of the neighborhood 365 days out of the year."

"I thought this was going to be a town hall meeting, but it’s not," another resident said. "It’s a quick sales job to try to market something that they’ve already approved without consent of the residents of the neighborhood.

"If they wanted to do this in a democratic manner, they would have put a referendum on a ballot and let us decide whether we want it. It’s going to stifle the businesses on Milwaukee Avenue."

"The important thing to note here is that there is no plan yet and that there are three options on the table,"

A resident said that reducing Milwaukee to one lane in each direction would create bottlenecks that would cause cars to speed down side streets to make up for lost time.

"You’re going to have all this traffic that will back up," the resident said. "You’re going to have problems in the winter. Who is going to plow the bike lanes? Who will plow the streets?"

"I’ve talked to many people here and not one person had a good thing to say about narrowing the streets," a business owner said. "I have nothing against bike lanes, so this is not about that. Why don’t they just leave everything alone, repave it, remark it, visible marks where you can cross and where you can park."

Near the end of the event after most of those who attended the meeting had left, a group of about 15 residents spoke with Arena about the proposal.

"You’re saying we’re wrong and you’re right," one resident shouted. Another said that the alderman is not listening to the voice of the community. Arena replied that it takes more than 15 people to make up a community.

"The representative body at (a previoius meeting held at Saint Tarcissus School) wasn’t good enough for you either, so tonight you decided, let’s not have a discussion, let’s not have the public have their view when I’ve got a full room shoulder to shoulder," a resident said. "I’m not going to ask them what they think, I’m going to wait until three quarters of them leave."

"I’m saying you just smugly counted how many people are standing here, but you did not give any of the people standing here when it was shoulder to shoulder the opportunity to raise their hands and say anything in public with everybody here," the resident said.

Arena said that the meeting provided the opportunity for residents to voice their opinions by filling out a form that was available at the meeting.

The final meeting on the proposal will be held later this summer.


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  1. I have completely missed that you had your baby! Many many congratulations to you!! I hope she's behaving nicely, letting you sleep and shower, and that you get lots of snuggles!! !
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Names Searched Right Now:
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  1. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Cair Paravel :)
    I love Sweet Caroline, too. Erm, I like the idea of Annie, for Safety Suit's song, Annie, but not all the words would be terribly fitting for a little girl... I can't really think of anything else, but I'm sure some of the Beetles's songs might provide some inspiration...
    twenty-something namenerd & aspiring novelist

    Isabelle Aurora Grace + Caleb Elias Joseph + Arianne Eleanor Daisy + Everett Joshua Charles + Olivia Wren Camille
    Grant Frédéric Conrad + Violet Emilia Mary + Casper Nathaniel Eden + Grace Odilia Lily + Samuel Gaspard John

    I've recently started a new story--feel free to come along with me for the journey!
    Chapter 1 is up! And an author's note! (Alas, don't get too excited.)

  2. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Hi! I think having a song is lovely. Re you questions about Cecelia - I think you'll be fine! It's a lovely name and a great song. My name is Clementine and my Mum always sang 'oh my darlin' to me and just changed the more depressing lyrics to happier ones! So just alter the specific lyrics that you're uncomfortable with.

    I'm sure these are repeats but anyway:
    Penny (penny lane)
    Lucy (lucy in the sky with diamonds)
    Evie (evie let your hair hang down)

  3. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    I've recently been in love with Mathilda, Clementine, and Susannah. I think they'd make a great subset and all three names are mentioned in children's songs. Not sure if that would make them cuter or more cheesy for siblings!!

  4. #17
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    I only have a few...

    (If you click the ●, you can listen to the song on YouTube. Some of these may not meet your criteria, but there are names in songs. You can also change a couple of the lyrics around to make it your own.)

    Amaryllis : Shinedown
    Ava Maria : Several Artist (The link is from Celine Dion)
    Halcyon : Ellie Goulding
    Joy : Ellie Goulding
    Angel : Jennifer Hudson
    Clarity : John Mayer
    Grace Kelly : Mika
    Virginia Moon Norah Jones feat. Foo Fighters
    Loretta Norah Jones Feat Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
    Rosie's Lullaby Norah Jones
    Mona Lisa Nat King Cole
    Ramblin' Rose Nat King Cole
    Proud Mary Tina Turner
    Oh (Happy) Day Several Artist (The link is from Sister Act 2 cast.)

    Last edited by natural; June 10th, 2013 at 08:24 AM. Reason: Forgot a link.

  5. #19
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    the only four i haven't seen mentioned are
    Jenny- Walk The Moon
    Anna Sun- Walk The Moon
    Rio- Duran Duran
    Vienna- Billy Joel

    Vienna is a personal favorite, i think it would be a lovely LOVELY song to be connected to as a child! I've looked this up on google in the past, almost every known name has a song. i would search some of your favorites and see what there is, if you really like the song then go for it! It should work unless your favorites are really weird.
    Right Now I would name them...
    ∆ Ellis Apollo • Vesper Aurelia ∆

    ∆ Casper Aloysius • Reverie Antonia ∆

    Guilty Pleasures ...

    Sailor . Waverly . Ever . Harlow . Elliot . Jasper . Lirit . Muse . Egypt . Ireland . Primrose . Calypso . Rowan

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Richelle Huntley in the US

  1. #76,998,663 Richelle Hummelgard
  2. #76,998,664 Richelle Humphreys
  3. #76,998,665 Richelle Huna
  4. #76,998,666 Richelle Huninghale
  5. #76,998,667 Richelle Huntley
  6. #76,998,668 Richelle Hurdelbrink
  7. #76,998,669 Richelle Hurry
  8. #76,998,670 Richelle Hurtado
  9. #76,998,671 Richelle Husband
person in the U.S. has this name View Richelle Huntley on Whitepages Raquote 8eaf5625ec32ed20c5da940ab047b4716c67167dcd9a0f5bb5d4f458b009bf3b

Meaning & Origins

Modern feminine form of Richard, derived from the first syllable of that name + -elle, feminine diminutive suffix of French origin. It may also have been influenced by Rachelle and Rochelle.
2,212th in the U.S.
English: habitational name from a place in Gloucestershire, so named from Old English hunta ‘hunter’ (perhaps a byname (see Hunt) + lēah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’).
2,700th in the U.S.

Nicknames & variations

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    Biswajit Ray is a Phd student in the school of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue university, West Lafayette, Indiana. He works with Prof. Muhammad Ashraf Alam in the area of polymer based solar cell. Before joining Purdue he did Masters from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India in 2008 and Bachelors in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Trichy, India in 2006., a resource for nanoscience and nanotechnology, is supported by the National Science Foundation and other funding agencies. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.


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  1. Near-field radiation transport between two planes

    28 Aug 2012 | Tools | Contributor(s): Majid alDosari, Greg Walker

    Calculates the radiation exchange between two parallel half-spaces, a resource for nanoscience and nanotechnology, is supported by the National Science Foundation and other funding agencies. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.


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Vanderbilt turns up the defense, wins long-awaited SEC title

Commodores don't allow a field goal in final eight minutes of 61-54 victory over Kentucky More

Commissioner’s Report: 'Bama will feast at SEC's table

The real holiday meal for SEC football fans comes this weekend in Atlanta as Florida and Alabama slug it out to determine which team will represent the league in the BCS Championship Game. More
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Trip to Europe a chance for Vanderbilt hoops to find its identity

Kevin Stallings' team has to sort out new roles, get to know one another following recent player departures More

Despite departures, Stallings sees 'plenty to work with' at Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt basketball coach remains upbeat about team's prospects, secure about his position More

Vanderbilt's Kedren Johnson suspended from school, team

Last season's leading scorer says he violated 'the good conduct expected of all Vanderbilt students'   More

Vanderbilt basketball loses player to pro league in Europe

Kevin Bright was the Commodores' best 3-point shooter as a freshman but decided to return to Germany More

Ex-Belmont, Vandy hoopsters impress in first NBA Summer League championship

Ian Clark named game MVP as Lance Goulbourne grabs a team-high nine rebounds for Golden State Warriors More

Jamie Duncan shows one mistake does not necessarily ruin things

Former Vanderbilt linebacker among seven named to the university's 2013 Hall of Fame class More

Vanderbilt resurrects mid-state men's basketball rivalry

Commodores last played this opponent to open the 2007-08 season, last lost back in 1939 More

Venerable Memorial Gymnasium to welcome back some memorable performers

Vanderbilt's inaugural men's basketball alumni game will include multiple events with no admission fee More

Vanderbilt's health issues with big men extend into offseason

Two incoming freshmen were supposed to add post depth, but one already is out with a serious injury More

Vanderbilt hoops adds proven recruiting coordinator

Yanni Hufnagel helped land the talent that made Harvard a story in the 2013 NCAA tournament More
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November 18, 2007

Arizona-Sonora Desert Region MapGuide

NGMaps has produced a series of Geotourism MapGuides in association with the NGS Center for Sustainable Destinations.

The Arizona-Sonora map is available from the State of Arizona web site as a PDF, interactive map, and while supplies last, a printed version.

The map highlights the natural, historic, and cultural features unique to this region.

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Steve Thompson said...

The Crown of the Continent ecosystem surrounds Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park in Montana, Alberta and British Columbia. National Geographic joined with the provinces, state, federal land management agencies, the National Parks Conservation Association and more than a dozen other partners to produce a community-driven geotourism MapGuide in March 2008. Go to the partnership's interactive web site,, to order a free copy.


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ISLAMABAD - The Pakistani Taliban have announced an ‘armed struggle’ against an indigenous tribe and Ismaili Muslims in the picturesque northern Chitral Valley, calling on Sunnis to support their cause in a video.
The valley was once dominated by moderate Ismailis and is also home to the Kalash, a polytheistic people who claim descent from Alexander the Great and who have maintained separate cultural traditions to the predominantly Muslim country.
But migration in recent decades has meant that Sunnis are now the majority in the area, while the Kalash way of life has come under threat by the Taliban, who have also carried out a number of attacks against security forces in the area.
The Taliban’s 50-minute long video released on February 2 on their media wing’s website opens with a scenic view of the mountainous valley that is popular among domestic tourists and famed for its annual polo festival. The narrator warns the Kalash, who are thought to number only 3,500, to convert to Islam or face death.
“By the grace of Allah, an increasing number of people from the Kalash tribe are embracing Islam and we want to make it clear to the Kalash tribe that they will be eliminated along with their protectors, the Western agents if they don’t embrace Islam,” he says.
The video also accuses international NGOs of creating an “Israel” like state in Chitral by attempting to protect the Kalash culture and take people away from Islam, and vows to foil their plans.
A charitable organisation headed by the Aga Khan, the Ismailis’ spiritual leader and a globally renowned philanthropist, is singled out for condemnation. “The Aga Khan Foundation is running 16 schools and 16 colleges and hostels where young men and women are given free education and brainwashed to keep them away from Islam,” the narrator says.
He adds that the foundation’s schools and hospitals, which are free for members of the public, are espionage tools in the hands of foreign powers.
The Kalash are also warned to stop producing wine, which they make from apples, mulberries and grapes. “Western NGOs are promoting Kalash wine and we warn all those individuals and hotels selling it, they should stop production and selling of wine otherwise they will be sent to hell by the will of God.”
Online adds: Despite ongoing peace process, Taliban yet consider Pakistan army as its frontline enemy. “Our war is not restricted to Kayani or Pasha. Our frontline enemy is the Pakistan Army and its main characters. So if we get an opportunity to target, we will attack,” TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told Newsweek.
“We have carried out big attacks everywhere, from the tribal areas to Karachi. Our most effective activities have been in Punjab and Sindh. Whether it is GHQ or Kamra or PNS Mehran or foreigners in the Northern Areas, we have influence all over the country. If the talks fail and an operation is launched, we will have no regrets about what happens next,” TTP’s vocal person said in the interview.
On a query as to how does TTP views the killings of polio vaccinators, the spokesman said “No comment. But I will say that the Taliban have never accepted responsibility for these attacks. You cannot ignore the conspiracies being hatched in the disguise of polio vaccinations.”


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The Iceman Cometh

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A “hot LZ” refers to a hot landing zone, where incoming choppers have to watch out for unfriendly fire. But lately, it seems it also means pretty much wherever the U.S. wages war: the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have been fought in exceedingly warm nations, where summertime temperatures routinely top 100 degrees.

That led to tens of thousands of shrink-wrapped pallets of bottled water being air-lifted into remote forward operating bases, where potable water didn’t exist.

But what good is such water if it’s…hot?

That’s why the Army is exploring what it calls “organic” ice-making machines for those FOBs. Ice can be used to cool water and foodstuffs, not to mention humans.

The Army’s Natick Soldier Systems Center “is interested in understanding the currently available capabilities that could enhance the bagged ice need sustainability of remote operating bases engaged in combat operations,” the service says in a new solicitation seeking more information on the feasibility of such gear.

It all goes back to being, frankly, where you are not wanted, as the solicitation makes clear:

The remote locations of base camps create significant challenges for logistics support of combat operations, in particular bagged ice production. These base camps are heavily dependent on large, long-distance truck convoys whose cargo is dominated by water and bulk fuel. Convoy routes through unsecured areas are frequently hazardous, and transport is always expensive. PM FSS [Project Manager Force Sustainment Systems] is in the process of initiating dramatic steps toward rapidly improving the logistics support required to establish and operate base camps. Information received from this RFI may be used to help identify technical solutions suitable for rapidly enhancing ice making capability at base camp operations.

The Army wants refrigeration gear that can produce 3,600 pounds – nearly two tons – of ice per day. That should be enough to support 900 troops. “The current concepts of use for these Ice Making Systems will be for extended periods of time are to replace convoy provided ice supply in operational theaters when deployments,” the Army says, in its unique contractly style. “Primary functional uses of these systems will be as ice production systems to automatically produce the ice and deliver in sealed bag.”

Here’s some of what the Army is looking for:

1. Ice Making Systems to produce 3,600 lbs Threshold / 7,200 lbs Objective of cubed, tube or nugget ice and bag ice in 10lb to 20lb sealed bags and store 1,200lbs at one time within system.

2. Provide a system capable of operating in operational environments up to 130 deg F.

3. Each Ice Making System shall have an ease of access for operational use with minimal operator input for the automated ice production capability.

4. Ice Making Systems capable of producing ice with inlet water temperatures ranges from 40F to 90F.

5. Systems able to accept commercial power or from a standard military generator set.

6. These systems must be able to withstand the durability and structural load demands of military systems to include extreme environmental conditions and rough handling.

7. These systems must be FDA, NSF and UL compliant/approved.

8. Ideally these ice making systems shall have the following:

a. Ability to interface with existing base camps infrastructure.

b. Collapsible to minimize transportation cube, allowing for assembly, disassembly, and re-assembly multiple times, with a minimum 10 years useful life.

c. In the International Standards Organization (ISO) transportation mode the Ice System shall meet the requirements for the following: all modes of transport, (marine, highway, rail, and fixed and rotary wing aircraft), stacking requirements of marine modes and dimensional requirements. Ideal transportation size (cube) and weight would allow commercial aircraft to be used to transport assets.

d. Capable of withstanding rough handling and inclement weather conditions (including snow loading) encountered in all transportation and storage modes. The system must be able to withstand storage temperatures of minus sixty (60) degrees Fahrenheit (F) to plus one hundred forty (140) degrees F.

e. Capable of being handled by local material handling equipment (MHE) as well as container handling equipment.

f. External surfaces will be corrosion resistant and be capable of decontamination by standard military procedures.

g. Able to be erected on semi-prepared surfaces (cleared and basically level) and self-leveling is desired. Ice System may be placed on foot pads, concrete blocks, footers, beams/rails, head wall or its pedestals.

Frankly, all this could be avoided if the U.S. would limit itself to invading only nations with pre-existing 7-Elevens.

The Army is encouraging potential suppliers to respond promptly. “Information received may ultimately result in requests for equipment manufacturers to demonstrate their ice production capabilities at no cost or risk to the Government as early as May 2013,” it says.

Apparently, Iran can get pretty hot, too.

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You can betcha that those 7-11's would be operated by Indians. One never knows, though. The town I live in has a 7-11 that's only open 9 to 5. The town's so small that it only has one road, and it's one way so everybody left town and couldn't get back. Small? The only heavy industry in town is a 200-pound Avon lady. I did get my son an entry job in the petroleum business in the next town over, though. He's a night clerk at the AM/PM.

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Monday, September 17, 2012

THE MASK IS OFF: Insincere Najib resorts to RACISM in Malaysia Day speech

THE MASK IS OFF: Insincere Najib resorts to RACISM in Malaysia Day speech (Malaysia-Chronicle) Bernama reported that the Prime Minister said that “the 13th general election is not an ordinary election. Instead, it will determine the survival of the Malays.”

He used the threat of “the survival of the Malays” to threaten Malays into supporting Barisan Nasional. The Umno president said “Malays should realise that as the backbone of the Barisan Nasional (BN), Umno would be able to continue the struggle of the Malays and Islam.”

The above statements proved that Dato’ Seri Najib Razak failed as a Prime Minister for all Malaysians, especially as the nation celebrates the 49th anniversary of Malaysia Day today.

Najib as racist as Muhyiddin

At the start of Dato’ Seri Najib’s premiership, he has made the “1Malaysia” slogan the cornerstone of his entire administration, which he defined as “every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first, and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second and where the principles of 1Malaysia are woven into the economic, political and social fabric of society” in the Government Transformation Programme (GTP).

However his exhortation to the Malays proved that the Prime Minister is more than willing to play the racial card to protect BN’s hold on power. He has shown that he speaks not as the Prime Minister for all Malaysians, but an instigator of continued racial division in the country.

Dato’ Seri Najib’s speech also exposed the fact that like his Deputy, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, they see themselves as “Malays first”, and not “Malaysians First” as defined in the GTP. Tan Sri Muhyiddin had said in 2009 “How can I say I’m Malaysian first and Malay second? All the Malays will shun me and say that it is not proper.”

As we celebrate both our independence from our colonial masters on 31st August and formation of Malaysia on 16th September, a Prime Minister for all Malaysians should be extolling the virtues of a united nation regardless of race, religion, class or geography. However, what we have is a Prime Minister who tells the Malay community that they are being attacked and threatened by the other races in the country.

It is hence not a surprise that Dato’ Seri Najib never reprimanded Tan Sri Muhyiddin’s public declaration that he is “Malay first” despite the clear contradiction to the 1Malaysia definition in the GTP. It is not a surprise because they both see themselves as “Malay first” and not Malaysian First.

1Malaysia not sincere at all

This also shows that Najib’s “1Malaysia” is pretty on the outside, but empty on the inside. The whole “1Malaysia” campaign is to present a false picture of Malaysian First, with no sincere leadership or intent build a truly Malaysian First country.

The Prime Minister’s position blots our 49th anniversary celebration of Malaysia Day and it raises the question as to why, after 49 years of nationhood, we are unable to elect a Prime Minister who puts the interest of all Malaysians, above that of a person’s race.

We can only hope that the Malay community will not be so easily threatened by Dato’ Seri Najib and will, together with all other Malaysians, pick a government that will be fair to all its citizens regardless of race, religion, class and geography in the next general election.

Happy Malaysia Day!

Tony Pua is the DAP MP for PJ Utara

Egypt woman sexually assaulted, then murdered

Egyptian women face violence daily on the country’s streets. Photo by Sallie Pisch

CAIRO: A 20-year-old Egyptian woman was murdered earlier this month after being sexually assaulted, the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) reported.

According to their statement on the incident in Upper Egypt’s Assuit, the young woman had been walking on a main street with a friend when a man began grabbing her body.

She then turned around and spit in his face and reportedly verbally lashed back, saying “I will get my rights back. I will get my rights back against your will.”

The ECWR said that after she said the words, the man pushed her to the ground, kicking her before shooting her multiple times.

She died in a matter of minutes, the report said.

“This is [a] terrible crime [that] happened within the increase of sexual harassment which is considered a cancer that should be treated as soon as possible,” ECWR said in their statement condemning the murder.

The women’s rights organization has called for the arrest and prosecution of the man for the murder of the young woman.

It comes as sexual violence toward women continues to plague Egypt, with reports of increased violence and harassment being reported by women across the country.

The ECWR is hoping that a draft law they sent to President Mohamed Morsi late in August will be the forerunner for a draft law that will criminalize sexual harassment on Egypt’s streets.

The same draft had been sent to government officials in recent years, but the ECWR said that they have received no response from any official on the matter.

Earlier this month, the head of the National Council of Women (NCW) Mervat Tallawy said that Egyptian women are harassed, on average, “7 times every 200 meters.”

Her comments came as the issue of Egypt’s sexual harassment epidemic continued to make international headlines.

June this year saw some of the worst attacks against women, with both foreigners and Egyptians reporting that they had been sexually assaulted in the square take place following the disbanding of Parliament.

“I was walking in the square and was hoping to be part of the calls for the SCAF to leave power when a man behind me grabbed by butt and started saying disgusting things to me,” one woman told

“He asked if I was a slut and then swore at me when I yelled at him,” she added.

Others also reported being harassed on social media networks, highlighting the growing concern facing women in the country.

Earlier in the month, an anti-sexual harassment demonstration organized by over 20 Egyptian women’s groups in protest against the recent escalation of assaults in Cairo’s Tahrir Square was attacked about an hour and half after it began by unknown troublemakers.

The participants reported being attacked by a mob of “thugs” who attempted to throw rocks and glass at them, but the clash was over quickly as volunteers securing the protest intervened to stop it.

This was not the first time a women’s rights march was attacked in Tahrir Square.

Last March, and on International Women’s Day, a march of tens of women was attacked by a cynical mob of men who did not like women protesting for more rights.

Several female protesters were injured and one woman had to have 8 stitches in her head. Almost all of them were groped and sexually assaulted in the attack.

A 2008 study by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) found that well over two-thirds of Egyptian women are sexually harassed daily in the country.

The participants held signs that read “It is my right to protest safely,” “Groping your sister is shameful for the square” and “Be a man and protect her instead of harassing her.”

“We are fed up,” protester Mai Abdel Hafez, 24, told

“We came to deliver a message that it is our right to protest and we will not avoid the square in fear of harassment,” she said right before the attack took place.

But with the Eid holiday just passed, women find it difficult to forget the beginning of holidays in Egypt, or “fear season,” when dozens of young men and boys grobed and mobbed women outside a downtown Cairo theater.

That event, in 2006, highlighted the issue of sexual harassment and sexual violence against women in the country, spurring campaigns and online debate. However, much of that debate and anger over the treatment of women seems to be silenced after a day or two, with many returning to what they call “more important issues.”

The issue of sexual harassment and violence has left many Egyptian women remaining at home during the holiday season this year.

And on the first morning of Eid el-Fitr, groups of young men were seen by antagonizing women on downtown Cairo’s Qasr el-Aini street, where they were getting in the face of female passersby.

“They just yelled horrible things at us and asked us for sex,” said one of the women. “This is what Egypt has become for us, especially during holidays.”

Middle East protests: meet the hardline 'tele-Islamist' who brought anti-Islam film to Muslim world's attention

The violent protests over a new film insulting Islam has highlighted two conflicting new visions emerging in the post-Arab Spring world
Egyptian television presenter Sheikh Khaled Abdullah
Mr Abdullah’s show broadcast clips from The Innocence of Muslims last weekend, calling for the film-makers to be executed Photo: TED NIETER

His inflammatory chat show on satellite television has long prided itself on baiting liberals, Christians and Jews, but last week saw Sheikh Khalid Abdullah stage the broadcasting controversy of a lifetime.

The rabble-rousing Egyptian tele-Islamist knew he had found a ratings-grabber when he found an obscure, badly-made film on the internet called the Innocence of Muslims.

It had actually been online since July, but nobody had paid attention to its crude libels against the Prophet Mohammed until Mr Abdullah's show broadcast clips from it last weekend, calling for the film-makers to be executed.

Within hours the hardline Salafi Islamists who watch his programme, and who have been growing in strength since last year's revolution, were demonstrating in Cairo's Tahrir Square and outside the US embassy, which they stormed on Tuesday, burning the US flag.

Thus came the spark to a week of violent protests against the film, leading to the killing of the US ambassador to Libya on Tuesday evening and assaults on Western embassies across the Middle East, leaving at least nine dead and hundreds injured.

Also taking a battering are hopes that the democratic processes unleashed by the Arab Spring might mean that violent, anti-Western feeling was becoming a thing of the past.

"I don't have a bad conscience about it, I did not call for violence," Mr Abdullah told The Sunday Telegraph yesterday in an interview at his home in a middle-class Cairo suburb. "It's not like I made this film. I only transmitted the news. It is funny that people in the West imagine that showing only two and a half minutes of the film on my channel was responsible for this whole crisis."

Mr Abdullah, 47, whose "New Egypt" talk show started last year, exemplifies the way the Arab Spring movement of the past 18 months has unleashed two vocal and diametrically opposed forces within the Muslim world.

One is that of the "Facebook Generation" who initially led the protests in the likes of Tahrir Square, who are generally liberal, educated and secular.

The other is that of conservative, voraciously anti-Western Islamists who were likewise viciously suppressed by dictators like Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, and who are also now exercising their freedom of speech.

Despite Salafis officially advocating an Amish-like disdain for the trappings of modern life, they are as well-versed in the power of digital media as any other Arab Spring protesters. And just like the Facebookers, they are adept at getting their supporters onto the streets - as the mayhem of the past week has shown.

Yesterday protests over the film continued, with clashes outside US diplomatic presences not just in the Middle East but right round the globe. In the Australian city of Sydney, police were pelted with rocks and bottles by several hundred protesters carrying placards saying: "Behead all those who insult the Prophet,".

In Pakistan, crowds burned US flags in the street, and in some 50 countries worldwide, US embassies were on high alert.

In Cairo, police arrested some 220 people in an overnight crackdown on protesters outside the US embassy, many of whom had vowed to remain until President Mohamed Mursi, an Islamist and Egypt's first freely elected leader, took a fimer line against the Americans.

"The clashes will continue until President Mursi takes a strong position," said protester Ahmed Abdel Gawad, 31. "They aren't for something specific, we are trying to be at the embassy to tell the whole world we are here."

Yesterday Pope Benedict XVI, on a three-day visit to Lebanon, pleaded for Muslims and Christians to live in harmony. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama tried to soothe US anger at the killing of US ambassador Chris Stevens by saying that the Libyan mob who stormed the Benghazi consulate on Tuesday were not the same as the crowds who gratefully cheered the West for helping oust Colonel Gaddafi.

"I know the images on our televisions are disturbing," Mr Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address. "But let us never forget that for every angry mob, there are millions who yearn for the freedom, and dignity, and hope that our flag represents."

As President Obama broadcast his address, residents of Benghazi reported hearing US drones flying over the skies of the city, raising expectations that Washington may launch military strikes against camps run by Ansar al-Sharia, the Salafi militia widely blamed for the embassy attack.

The Libyan authorities arrested a further 12 suspects yesterday, on top of four taken into custody the day before, but the ability of its fledgling post-Gaddafi government to deal with such threats has already been cast into doubt by the incident itself.

Not only did Libyan security forces fail to protect the embassy staff during the assault on Tuesday, they are also under criticism for not disarming Ansar al-Sharia in the first place, despite it being suspected of other attacks on foreign embassy staff and the desecration of holy shrines and British war cemeteries.

Like many other Libyan militias that sprung up during last year's anti-Gaddafi revolution, it still operates openly in Benghazi, driving around in convoys of trucks mounted with machine guns.

"The new Libyan govt has not tried to take their weapons off them because if you do that with one brigade, then all the other brigades fear they will do the same thing," said Shamsiddin Ben Ali, a former member of Libya's transitional national council who knew Mr Stevens personally.

"It is a shame because the Salafists have only minimal support here in Libya, and they could easily be disarmed by any well-trained brigade. They are completely misguided, with an ideology that is completely alien to Libyans - they want to stop women driving or wearing make up, and for men and women to be educated separately.

Benghazi has been improving greatly in the past year, with very little trouble other than from these kind of extremists. The sooner they are arrested the better."

Mr Obama thinks likewise. In a Rose Garden statement the morning after the attack, he vowed that those responsible would be brought to justice, despite the difficulty of identifying specific perpetrators in what was a night-time mob assault.

No American president can allow a US ambassor to die in such circumstances without being seen to respond in tough fashion - especially just two months before an election.

But that also plays into the militants' hands. The US warships now off Libya's coast, the drones in the sky above, and the despatching of a team of 50 US marines on the ground can all be used to create the impression of US military interference in Muslim lands once more.

That is something the White House had hoped would soon be almost finished with the wind-down of troops from Afghanistan.

Last night, grim further details emerged of Mr Stevens final hours, during which he appears to have got separated from his bodyguards and taken refuge in a secure room in the diplomatic compound, protected by a locked iron gate and wooden door.

What should have been a protective citidel then became a death-trap, with Mr Stevens apparently unable to escape the smoke that then engulfed the room. He was found later, asphyxiated, by a group - possibly looters - who broke into the room through a window, the New York Times reported.

US officials are also said to be investigating reports that on the day of the embassy assault, militants from Ansar al-Sharia were in discussions with members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the Saharan franchise of the global terror movement.

Until now, it has not really made its presence known in Libya. "The way AQIM has been discussing this strongly suggests they were involved in the plotting," one former US official told the Wall Street Journal.

Mr Abdullah, the Egyptian broadcaster, lays the blame for the violence on Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the California-based Egyptian Coptic Christian who apparently made the film, and who is now under US police protection at his suburban home in Los Angeles for fear of reprisals.

A convicted bank fraudster, Mr Nakoula was driven to a nearby sheriff's station yesterday on suspicion of violating the terms of his parole, wearing a scarf, hat and sunglasses to hide his identity.

Whether he will ever be able to show his face in public again is another matter, as is the question of whether further attacks may take place. Yesterday, the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Somali-based al-Shabaab movement both urged Muslims to carry out attacks on both foreign embassies and on targets in the West.

"The unprovoked attacks against Prophet Mohammed are not initiated by media houses and movie makers, but are clear instructions by Western governments," said a Shabaab spokesman in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

Rather more conciliatory was Abdullahi Sheikh Osman, a respected spiritual leader in the city, who came to talk at a demonstration against the film. ""The man who made the nasty film is the al-Qaeda of Christians," he said. "If Muslims make havoc, then they are rewarding the crazy man."

Additional reporting by Richard Spencer in Cairo and Ruth Sherlock in Beirut

Sabah Umno loses two more leaders to PKR

Dr Ibrahim Menudin, the present chairman of Sabah government-owned Suria Capital is set to be PKR's candidate for Labuan.

TUARAN : Sabah Umno has lost two more of its founding leaders to rival PKR when corporate figure Dr Ibrahim Menudin and former federal deputy minister Yahya Lampong ditched it for the opposition.

Menudin was Sabah Umno’s former treasurer and presently chairman of Sabah government-owned Suria Capital, an investment arm of the state. He is set to resign from his lucrative post.

Both were present at the Pakatan Rakyat’s function to commemorate the 49th anniversary of Malaysia’s formation in 1963, at a restaurant in Tuaran near here Saturday evening.

Pakatan Rakyat supremo and PKR advisor Anwar Ibrahim announced the formal reception of the duo at the function attended by at least 3,000 people last night.

“Tan Sri Ibrahim loses about RM60,000 or RM70,000 (monthly perks) for joining PKR but that he does it for the people,” Anwar said amid applause from the audience who kept their spirit high despite intermittent downpours at the function which culminated into fireworks show at 12am midnight.

Ibrahim had earlier made his decision known in a Labuan function attended by Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, who was also present at last night’s event. He is now poised to become Pakatan’s candidate in Labuan.

In fact Pakatan came in full force for the Malaysia’s 49th anniversary. Among those who attended were PAS president Hadi Awang, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng who is also Penang Chief Minister, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, DAP secretary-general Mustaffa Ali, Husam Musa, Tian Chua, William Leong, Zuraida Kamarudin and others.

Organising chairman Lajim Ukin in his welcoming speech said Malaysia has come of age and it is time a new government led by Pakatan treats Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners to Peninsular Malaysia in the federation.

“BN will not treat us as equal partners but Pakatan has pledged to restore our rights and therefore we must support for change for the better of not only Sabah and Sarawak but for the whole nation,” he said.

‘Not a loss for Umno, BN’

Also making short speech was Wilfred Bumburing, the former Upko’s number two, who had handed over the Tuaran parliamentary seat to Pakatan.

Both Lajim and Bumburing are still partyless and are heading their respective movements of change, hoping to use one of the Pakatan party symbols at the coming general election.

Speculations had been on for quite sometime for Ibrahim to join PKR, and it is said that more from Umno will follow suit at a purposefully staggered announcements for impact reason.

Among those regularly mentioned to ditch Umno for Pakatan are former chief minister Osu Sukam, Kalabakan MP Ghapur Salleh, Kinabatangan MP Mokhtar Radin, Silam MP Salleh Kalbi, Pantai Manis assemblyman Abdul Rahim Ismail, and Bongawan assemblyman Karim Bujang.

Meanwhile, the principal political secretary to Musa, Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan when contacted, brushed off the notion that those ditching would have impact on Umno’s or BN’s chance in the coming general election.

“Let them…they have been friends with Anwar since 1991 and they wanted to be election candidates, maybe they have no chance (to be fielded) in BN,” he said when asked about Ibrahim and Yahya.

‘Pakatan will make Sabah, S’wak equal’

DAP sec-gen Lim says he is convinced that Sabah can become the richest state in the country if the oil royalty is increased from 5% to 20%.

KOTA KINABALU: Pakatan Rakyat has promised to reinstate Sabah and Sarawak’s original position as equal partners in the Federation of Malaysia, if it comes to power.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng made the pledge during a visit to the state to attend a Pakatan Rakyat organised Malaysia Day celebration today in Tuaran, about 40 minutes drive from here.

Lim who is also the Penang Chief Minister said that to ensure that Sabah and Sarawak benefit being equal partners in the Federation, the new government would specifically focus on addressing the imbalance in oil revenue, infrastructure development, water and electricity supply and land reform as well as the issue of illegal immigrants in the state.

On the oil royalty that the state currently receives from the government-owned oil firm Petronas for pumping out the commodity, he said it would be raised from 5% to 20%.

He said this was imperative so that the two states could build up their infrastructure, improve education facilities and combat the high level of poverty.

Lim said he was convinced that Sabah could become the richest state in the country if the oil royalty is increased from 5% to 20%.

“The disgraceful state of infrastructures in Sabah and Sarawak must be improved and this includes the airports and ports in Sabah and Sarawak.

“To be an equal partner in the Federation of Malaysia, you must have consistent and regular supply of water and electricity and also internet connectivity via free wifi in public places.

“As for the illegal immigrants issue, we shall ensure that with the inquiry conducted by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants, action will be taken against those who are responsible and how to stop and resolve this problem,” he said.

Pakatan is also targeting a land policy.

“Land must be given to the people, not to political leaders. CM, excos, MPs, state assemblymen, and even district councillors are not qualified to apply for state lands. If they want to apply, then they must resign and become ordinary citizens, then only they can apply. Only ordinary people are qualified to apply,” he said.

Following the Penang way

A Pakatan government, he said, would also ensure that the original status of land would not be diminished on conversion, as happens now in Sabah and Sarawak where the land lease has been slashed from 999 years to 99 years. The opposition also promises land leases will be automatically renewed and premiums slashed by 90%.

“I dare to say all this (is possible) because they are being implemented in Penang now, ever since the Pakatan government took over the helm from Barisan Nasional,” he said.

Lim also said that by reinstating Sabah and Sarawak’s position as an equal partners in the federation, all government positions in the state, whether federal or state, would be held by locals.

“It doesn’t matter what race they are, as long as they are Sabahans. Or else everything will be decided by somebody from (the) peninsula who may not know or understand the unique culture and situation of Sabah.

“Sabahans are now at the crossroads. They can either choose to remain the poorest state in Malaysia or to become the richest state in Malaysia.

“I believe the people of Sabah can do better with a Pakatan Rakyat government,” he said.

Negeri Umno exco in gun shot scandal

A DAP leader claims that a state exco member had discharged his weapon last Thursday. The police are investigating the matter.

SEREMBAN: A Negeri Sembilan state exco member is under police investigation for allegedly firing his pistol at his home in Seremban on Thursday night.

It could not be ascertained if anyone was injured as a result of his action but FMT learnt that the Umno politician fired his weapon following a personal problem involving a close relative.

The matter was revealed to the media today (Sunday) by DAP’s MP for Rasah Anthony Loke who questioned the delay of police action against the Umno exco man.

“I got to know that the exco member fired a shot at his home. The police took swift action when Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s bodyguard aimed his gun at individuals who provoked by trying to stop the latter’s car in Jasin last week.

“I urge the police to thoroughly investigate if the Negeri Sembilan incident really happened and take immediate action against the state exco,” said Loke who is also the DAP national youth chief.

When contacted Seremban district police chief OCPD ACP Saiful Azly Kamarudin said the matter was under investigation.

FMT also learnt that the state exco and another person had lodged separate police reports over the incident.

Anti-Islam film was directed by former Hollywood soft-core porn filmmaker Alan Roberts: report

Alan Roberts, the man who directed an anti-Islam film that sparked protests in 20 Muslim countries is the same person best known for making a string of low-budget, softcore porn movies in the 1970s and 1980s like ‘The Sexpert’ and a ‘Happy Hooker’ trilogy, Gawker reports.

(New York Daily News) - The man who directed an anti-Islam film that sparked protests in 20 Muslim countries is the same person best known for making a string of low-budget, softcore porn movies in the 1970s and 1980s, Gawker reports.

Casting notices for the inflammatory film, originally called “Desert Warrior," listed Alan Roberts as the director. According to IMDB, Santa Monica, Calif.-based Alan Roberts, 65, had directed films with titles like "The Happy Hooker Goes to Hollywood,” and “The Sexpert.”

Gawker said it had spoken to cast, crewmembers and friends to confirm the same Roberts behind “Young Lady Chatterley” was in fact the director of the anti-Islam movie renamed “Innocence of Muslims.”

"I am sure it was the same Alan Roberts, as I remember him speaking about this project," colleage and filmmaker David A. Prior told Gawker.

Roberts was brought on to direct the film by producer “Sam Bacile,” apparently an alias used by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, a southern California resident and convicted felon.

Nakoula, a self-described Coptic Christian, is believed to be the key figure behind the 14-minute, amateurish movie that mocks the Prophet Mohammad. The film’s trailor was translated into Arabic and spurred a wave of furious anti-Western protests, leading to the death of four Americans in Libya, among them U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Actors in the movie have since said they were duped about the film’s plot and claim that many of their lines were over-dubbed.

It was still unclear how Roberts came to direct the film or if he knew “Bacile” prior to shooting the movie outside of Los Angeles in 2011.

Gawker reached a “business associate” who said Roberts had turned off his phone after the protests erupted.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Roberts might also be an alias for “a 65-year-old man named Robert Alan Brownell of Canyon Lake in Riverside County.”

The most scariest letter to Najib Tun Razak

Dear PM Najib,

If you want to win big in this coming 13th General Election, all you have to do is give assurance to the Rakyat (people) that you will “gempar” them by taking on the following essentials:

1. Issue a warrant of arrest to your good friend Abdul Razak Baginda. Charge him in court for abetting in the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu – yes again. The rakyat really suspect he is guilty of abetting the murder as he was the main player and benefited the most in the Scorpene acquisition. Actually, some of the rakyat even suspect you and your wife, Rosmah Mansor, but one step at a time. Whatever it is, this action against Baginda might clear a little of the scandal off you, and decrease the negativity from your credibility in the murder.

2. Arrest Samy Vellu immediately for the MAIKA, MIED and Telekom share scandal and charge him in court. The Indians will come back in droves to support you, regardless of Hindraf. You will gain the confidence of the Indians voters when you march into GE-13.

3. Fast forward the PKFZ scandal in courts to find Ling Leong Sik guilty and send him to jail immediately. This will make the Chinese sit up and watch while the Malays will be really proud of you and reward you when they vote.

4. Send Khir Toyo to jail for corruption and sack him from UMNO. He was appointed by Mahathir Mohamad as the Menteri Besar and this doesn’t augur well for the ex-PM’s credibility. By taking this action you might even win Selangor without working too hard, as you have claimed to be on the ‘verge’ of doing so. A win will tremendously boost your image because you are the Barisan Nasional Leader for Selangor.

5. Sack Shahrizat Jalil immediately from all posts in UMNO and freeze all assets of the NFC as well as the privately-owned firms of her family that are connected to NFC until every cent is accounted for. This might vindicate you from the Kazakhstan condo scandal that is brewing and about to erupt. It will also sky-rocket your ratings within UMNO and with the rakyat and give the Opposition a heart attack!

6. Come clean on your wife’s spending as well as show evidence of the return of the US$24 million diamond ring back to New York. Also, you must be brave and make it a point to put your wife on a leash always. If need be, you must not be scared to put a muzzle on her mouth area.

You have to show the rakyat that you are above her in all matters concerning your office as well as declare to the rakyat that the First Lady of Malaysia is actually the Seri Paduka Baginda Raja Permaisuri Agong, the King’s wife. Your wife is just the Prime Minister’s wife.

You know something Mr Prime Minister. If you actually do this, the women’s vote will all be yours. This will help you tremendously to win with the two-thirds majority that we know you and Umno have given up on. Why? Sorry to say this but your wife is the most hated person after Mahathir in Malaysia.

7. Apologize publicly for the Perak coup de et-ad and admit it was a grave mistake. This will help to you to retain Perak again. Also, while you are at it, give a tight slap on the face to Hee Yit Foong which will please all the Chinese in Perak. They may vote for you after that.

8. Fulfill all of BERSIH 2.0′s 8 electoral reforms without prejudice. Show the people you are sincere in electoral reform and you do not need to cheat to win.

9. This is a real challenge. Arrest Mahathir Mohamed for all the corruption he was involved in his 22 years of rule. The power is now in your hands. Can you do it? If yes, then you win hands down, regardless Pakatan Rakyat and their hugely talented team. You will get the entire backing of the rakyat and a mandate that will be hard to beat by any other UMNO chief for decades to come.

10. And finally, get rid of PERKASA. Stay clear away from Hassan Ali and JATI. And most of all, declare you are ‘Malaysian First and Malay Second’ – not like that Muhyiddin Yassin who tried to be ‘funny’ and bully the non-Malays but look where he is now. So, uphold a fair 1 MALAYSIA for all races in Malaysia.

The People’s Champion

If you can really implement all these suggestions you will be “The People’s Champion”. And you can ride on for another TWO terms on this euphoria alone. But the chances are, you will not be able fulfill ANY of these suggestions. So you will have to resign yourself to the idea that you will lose control of both UMNO and Barisan Nasional. -onlyatmalaysia

MIC Confident Indian Voters Will Help BN Achieve Victory

JOHOR BAHARU, Sept 16 (Bernama) -- The MIC believes Indian voters will help Barisan Nasional (BN) win more seats in the coming 13th general election (GE), said party vice-president Datuk M. Saravanan.

He said the Indian community was generally more confident with the approach and changes made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, including in opposition-led states.

"The Indians are touched by the various approaches brought by Najib," he told reporters after launching a literature programme organised by the Johor Tamil Literature Association here Sunday.

Saravanan, who is also federal territories and urban wellbeing deputy minister, expressed confidence that party candidates were capable of winning state seats in Johor.

Overdose Of Politics Impede Development In Certain States - Najib

BINTULU, Sept 16 (Bernama) -- Certain states are lagging behind other states as they are not working in tandem with the federal government, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

The prime minister said the leaders of these states placed politics uppermost in their minds rather than the prosperity of the people.

He said good working relationship and understanding with the federal government were the hallmark of Sabah and Sarawak's significant progress since gaining independence through the establishment of Malaysia 49 years ago.

The decision made by leaders of yesteryears in both states to join 11 other states in the Malay Peninsular to form Malaysia on Sept 16, 1963 became the foundation today's success, he said at the Malaysia Day celebration at the old Bintulu airport site here Sunday night.

"I think none of the people of Sarawak and Sabah today will say they have made a big mistake by joining Malaysia," he said.

Najib said since the successful establishment of Malaysia, the people of the three regions had fought together to defend the country's sovereignty.

"There were people from Peninsular Malaysia who had shed blood to defend Sabah and Sarawak and not least the people from Sabah and Sarawak who died in defending Peninsular Malaysia," he said.

He said the nation's leaders in the early stages of independence had successfully kept their promises to ensure that Malaysia would persevere and remain sovereign, followed by post-independence leaders who fulfilled their promises to bring development to every nook and corner of the country.

"As for today's leaders, our promise is that by the dawn of 2020, Malaysia will be declared a developed nation," he said.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said the state was unable to achieve independence on its own in 1960s due to the political and security situation in the region then.

Taib said the plan on the formation of Malaysia was conveyed to him by the late Tunku Abdul Rahman (first prime minister), who did not want the people of Sabah and Sarawak to continue to be under the clutches of the colonial government.

"We also wanted progress as we do not want to continue to be left behind, and it was only by joining Malaysia we can change the fate of our people," he said.


text:
April 3, 2009 10:19 PM

The Decision

So everyone here at Cal is pretty much submerged in piles of study materials for the second round of midterms. While we're stressing about exams and papers, high school seniors are probably stressing about which college to go to. Here are some things to take into consideration:

1. Remember that it is your choice
Wherever you choose to go, you're basically going to be there for 4 years. You're going to be away from your family, most of your friends, and the comforts of home. That said, choose somewhere you want to go. While your parents may have your best interests in mind, you don't want to be totally unhappy attending a college that you were forced to go to.

2. Check out the programs
I'm pretty sure most high school seniors have already checked out the programs each college has to offer. If you want to be a science major, attend to a college that has a strong science department, not one that's known for law.

3. The campus
While academics may outweigh the importance of the campus, I personally think that you really need to have some kind of initial attraction to your future college campus. One of the reasons I chose Berkeley was because I loved how there were so many trees on campus.

4. Don't be intimidated by reputations
I had a few friends who opted to go for UCLA over Berkeley because they were afraid of how competitive Berkeley is. Even if the courses are tough, there are so many resources available to help you: professors' office hours, graduate student instructor (GSIs), study groups, etc.

5. Major
I'm pretty sure most people checked out the majors before selecting which colleges to apply to. I think it would be helpful to check out the requirements of the majors, too. This will give you a general sense of how your college semesters will pan out. Some majors have more flexibility with upper division electives, while other majors have a very strict set curriculum.

6. Area
Do you like the region where the college is? Would you mind plowing through snow to get to an 8 am class? How far are you going to be from home?

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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

How Much do I Tip my Massage Therapist?

This is a question that plagues many first time massage goers and even some who have been receiving regular massage.  In my own experience as a massage therapist I am asked this question at least 3 times a week. So to save yourself from asking the dreaded question the next time you receive a massage, see below for some helpful hints...

Although it is not mandatory to tip your massage therapist you must consider the following:
1)  If your massage therapist works for a company, such as Massage Envy, Massage Green, etc...be aware that they are paid only a small portion of what the massage actually costs.  Massage Therapists who work for companies such as these are usually there for one reason and one reason only; the steady clientele base.  Like a food service worker they rely on the tips from their clients.
2)  If your massage therapist is self employed, keep in mind that they are responsible for purchasing all of their own products needed to give a proper massage, such as oils and lotions, table linens and towels, laundry costs, rent, and even music.  At the same time they must price their services to be in the same range as other massage businesses in the area for competitive purposes (which more than likely does not cover the cost of their supplies).
3)  Massage Therapists are in the customer service industry.  They are providing a service to the public.
4)  If your Massage Therapist has done a good job with the massage it is a kind gesture to show your appreciation by leaving them a little something extra.

As I said earlier it is not mandatory to tip.  If you do decide to leave a tip however, the proper percentage to tip is about 20% of the price of the massage.  For example, if you receive an hour massage that costs $65 the proper percentage to tip would be between $12-$15, a bit more if they exceeded your expectations or a bit less if they did not.

I hope that this answers some of your questions regarding massage tipping etiquette.

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To cease a motion.
You stop moving motherfucker you dropped your wallet.
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A reply to a comment or story thats hard to believe or funny.
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Ashly you need to S.T.O.P.!!!
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To cease doing an activity.
James and Brenda stopped dating because James slept with her sister.
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2) A place of interest during travel.
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12 Awesomely Inspiring John Lennon Quotes

September 22, 2011 | 7 Comments » | Topics: Quotes

john lennon

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

“Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.”

“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.”

“I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?”

“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.”

“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.”

“If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace.”

“There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be…”

“If someone thinks that peace and love are just a cliche that must have been left behind in the 60s, that’s a problem. Peace and love are eternal.”

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”

“I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It’s just that the translations have gone wrong.”

“War is over … If you want it.”

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7 Responses to “12 Awesomely Inspiring John Lennon Quotes”

  1. SusieQ5422 Says:
    November 22nd, 2011 at 2:15 pm

    John will live on until world’s end – and then some.

  2. Mena Says:
    December 6th, 2011 at 4:19 pm

    John Lennon ES el músico más talentoso, dulce y adorable de todos los tiempos.
    Como si esto fuera poco, sigue siendo uno de los humanistas más influyentes para las nuevas generaciones.

    You taught me how to follow the sun!!!

    Thank you Johnny!!!!!!!

  3. Anonymous Says:
    December 8th, 2011 at 7:50 pm

    31 years today.
    Geez, I wish I was alive during his time.

  4. Main Says:
    December 11th, 2011 at 12:09 pm

    yo diria que FUE uno de los músicos mas talentosos mas dulce y adorable de todos los tiempos xD

  5. DoctorZin Says:
    December 14th, 2011 at 11:45 pm

    My favorite Lennon quote of all time . . .

    “Where do people get off saying the Beatles should give $200,000,000 to South America? You know, America has poured billions into places like that. It doesn’t mean a damn thing. After they’ve eaten that meal, then what? It lasts for only a day. After the $200,000,000 is gone, then what? It goes round and round in circles. You can pour money in forever. After Peru, then Harlem, then Britain. There is no one concert. We would have to dedicate the rest of our lives to one world concert tour, and I’m not ready for it. Not in this lifetime, anyway. ”

    John, being so right about “benefit concerts” and foreign “aid” in the 1980 Playboy interview

  6. Aspenrick Says:
    December 17th, 2011 at 7:47 pm

    Oh, LENNON. I thought it was LENIN

  7. Tia Says:
    February 18th, 2013 at 5:33 pm

    God..he was too true. Some of the things this guy said and done! Defintely having a John Lennon quote for a tattoo.

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Web Of Art

I have to show this off, because a) they’re cool and b) the artist’s name is close to mine, although, as far as I know, we’re not related. Michael Anthony Simon, a Chicago native now based in Korea, according to the description first posted last April at Beautiful Decay but now making the rounds on the Net, does this: “First, he locates and captures a particularly industrious breed of spider in the surrounding areas, and then (with a bit of guidance) allows them to do what spiders do best – build webs. Once completed, he returns the spiders to where he found them, and begins coating the webs in countless layers of misted lacquer.” Which results in these:

And here you thought spiderwebs were just things to be cleaned out of the corners of your apartment.

(By the way, over the months, somehow his first and middle name got transposed. I think Michael Anthony Simon is the correct order)

HT: Beautiful Decay, Neatorama


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by Moni Basu

(CNN) — What is Black? Race. Culture. Consciousness. History. Heritage.

A shade darker than brown? The opposite of White?

Who is Black? In America, being Black has meant having African ancestry.

But not everyone fits neatly into a prototypical model of “Blackness.”

Scholar Yaba Blay explores the nuances of racial identity and the influences of skin color in a project called (1)ne Drop, named after a rule in the United States that once mandated that any person with “one drop of Negro blood” was Black. Based on assumptions of White purity, it reflects a history of slavery and Jim Crow segregation.

In its colloquial definition, the rule meant that a person with a Black relative from five generations ago was also considered Black.

One drop was codified in the 1920 Census and became pervasive as courts ruled on it as a principle of law. It was not deemed unconstitutional until 1967.

Blay, a dark-skinned daughter of Ghanian immigrants, had always been able to clearly communicate her racial identity. But she was intrigued by those whose identity was not always apparent. Her project focuses on a diverse group of people — many of whom are mixed race – who claim Blackness as their identity.

That identity is expanding in America every day. Blay’s intent was to spark dialogue and see the idea of being Black through a whole new lens.

“What’s interesting is that for so long, the need to define Blackness has originated from people who were not themselves Black, and their need to define it stemmed from their need to control it,” says Blay.

Blackness, she says, isn’t so easily defined by words. What is Blackness for one person may not necessarily be that for another.

“And that’s fine,” Blay says. “Personally, my Blackness is reflective of my ancestry, my culture and my inheritance.”

“Black,” in reference to people and identity, she says, is worthy of capitalization. Otherwise, black is just another color in the box of crayons.

CNN interviewed some of the people who participated in Blay’s project to find out how they view themselves. What follows are their insights into race and identity.

Black and White

California author Kathleen Cross, 50, remembers taking a public bus ride with her father when she was 8. Her father was noticeably uncomfortable that Black kids in the back were acting rowdy. He muttered under his breath: “Making us look bad.”

She understood her father was ashamed of those Black kids, that he fancied himself not one of them.

“My father was escaping Blackness,” she says. “He didn’t like for me to have dark-skinned friends. He never said it. But I know.”

She asked him once if she had ancestors from Africa. He got quiet. Then, he said: “Maybe, Northern Africa.”

“He wasn’t proud of being Black,” she says.

Cross’ Black father and her white mother never married. Fair-skinned, blue-eyed Cross was raised in a diverse community.

Later, she found herself in situations where she felt shunned by Black people. Even light-skinned Black people thought she was White.

“Those who relate to the term ‘Black’ as a descriptor of color are unlikely to accept me as Black,” she says. “If they relate to the term ‘Black’ as a descriptor of culture, history and ancestry, they have no difficulty seeing me as Black.”

At one time in her life, she wished she were darker – she might have even swallowed a pill to give her instant pigment if there were such a thing. She even wrote about being “trapped in the body of a White woman.” She didn’t want to “represent the oppressor.”

She no longer thinks that way.

She doesn’t like to check the multiracial box. “It erases everything,” she says.

She doesn’t like biracial, either. Or mixed. It’s not her identity.

“There’s only one race,” she says, “and that’s the human race.”

“I am a descendant of a stolen African and Irish and English immigrants. That makes me Black – and White – in America.

Blackness and culture?

Biany Perez, 31, loves Michael Jackson but she doesn’t know the Jackson Five. She didn’t know that “Good Times” was a television show about a Black family struggling to survive in south Chicago. Nor was she able to pick up certain colloquialisms in the English spoken by the Black kids in the Bronx, where she grew up the daughter of Dominican parents.

Some people questioned Perez’s Blackness because she didn’t fit into their definition of Black.

She spoke only Spanish at home. She watched Telemundo and listened to Puerto Rican boy band Menudo.

She wasn’t Black enough because she was Latina and not Latina enough because she was Black.

“The way I look shakes the image of Latina,” says Perez, a program manager at a nonprofit in Philadelphia. “As I started getting older, I felt more comfortable in my skin.”

Now, she calls herself Afro-Domincan.

“I think Black is a broader definition I also embrace,” she says. “Black is more than just saying that I am an African in America. It’s political.

“It’s about me connecting myself to my ancestors.”

For Perez, Black is about empowerment.

Creole identity is a complicated thing in Louisiana, says Kristina Robinson, 29, of New Orleans.

It’s an ethnicity, a cultural designation for people descended from colonial settlers in Louisiana, mainly of French and Latin lineage.

The term Creole was claimed by the French and Spanish settlers in colonial times but it also referred to Africans and people who were a mixture of races. Those mixed-race descendants became a unique racial group and sometimes even included Native American heritage.

But in popular representation, Robinson says Creole has come to be defined as skin color.

She doesn’t want to deny the rich Creole history but she doesn’t identify as such if it means moving away from her blackness.

Black people think that her embrace of Creole means a rejection of being Black.

Race equals identity, or not?

Race is a social construct; identity is personal.

That’s how James Bartlett, 31, views it.

“I’m Black, I’m biracial,” he says of his Black father and Irish mother, who met and married in Louisville, Kentucky, just a few years after a 1967 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that made anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional.

He was raised in an all-Black neighborhood; his mother was the only white person on the block.

“I interchanged between saying I am biracial and I am black,” he says. “The culture I live in is Black. I felt Black because Black people considered me Black. That was because of the one drop rule.”

But later, when he went to Ghana, the locals thought he was from Lebanon. Kids called him “Oburoni,” the word for a White man.

Bartlett felt as though he were being told he was not who he really was even before he could interact with them, as though they were taking away his Black identity.

“It put me on the complete opposite side of the coin,” Bartlett says. “The first reaction was to put me in a box.”

In America, people thought of him as a lot of things but not usually straight-up White.

“It’s difficult for me to separate race and identity,” says Bartlett, the newly named executive director of the Museum of Contemporary Diasporan African Arts in Brooklyn.

He is Black, he says, because he didn’t grow up with White privilege. What is that? The freedom, he replies, to not have to address race.

“I definitely didn’t grow up with that,” he says.

Being White in America is also knowing that people who look like you are always representing your interests in institutions of power.

“That is the essence of White privilege,” he says. “Regardless of changing (demographic) percentages and numbers, racial representation is going to remain out of balance for quite some time.”

In some ways, Bartlett says, he has been more attuned to race as a light-skinned Black man than he would have been had he been darker.

Bartlett feels White people in America are threatened by the tide of color across the nation and that it will give rise to an us against them” mentality.

“I think Blackness will change, too,” he says. “The biggest change in the near future will be the end of Blackness as a diametric opposite to Whiteness.”

“I never wanted to distance myself from my Black ancestors,” says the creative writing graduate student at Dillard University.

“They are the ones who claim me.”

In her light skin, Robinson understands the insidious ways of colorism, a system in which light skin is valued more than dark skin.

“Colorism is a major problem within the Creole community and the Black community,” she says. “It’s underdiscussed. It’s perplexing and vexing how to work out this idea. I can see how the one drop rule is why we have so much colorism in our society.

“One drop is a lie,” she says. “Black plus White doesn’t equal Black or it doesn’t equal White. It equals Black plus White.”

She calls herself Black. But other people think she is from India or the Middle East, especially in her academic work environment, where she does not have Black colleagues.

“The assumption is I am not Black,” she says.

Ultimately, she believes environment plays a big role in identity.

Few people, she says, think that of her sister. One reason may be that her sister has more of a button nose. But another reason is that she works in a field with more Black people, whereas Robinson finds herself in academic settings where she is the sole Black woman.

Robinson acknowledges her lighter skin gives her privilege in a color-conscious society.

“But in those situations where you have to identify yourself and you choose to identify yourself as White – there’s a big denial going on there.

“I do think it’s troublesome when someone who is of mixed race chooses to deny that part of them that was oppressed,” she says.

Here and abroad

Charles Benjamin Cloud, 63, remembers a time when he was angry at all White people. That was in the time of the White water fountain and the Black water fountain.

“They had their side of town; we had ours,” he says of his childhood in New Bern, North Carolina.

As the son of a Cherokee man and a part-Cherokee, part-Black woman, Cloud could have passed for something other than Black.

“If I had decided to tell everyone I was Puerto Rican or Mexican, people probably wouldn’t have known a difference,” he says.

But he didn’t.

“I never wanted to identify as White,” he says.

“Blackness is a state of mind more so than a physical experience. But back then, physical appearance was much more of a Black identity than it is now.”

Cloud joined the Air Force and traveled the world. His light, ruddy complexion threw people off. The Turks thought he was Turkish; the Iranians thought he was from Iran. He even passed for Greek.

But back home, he chose not just to be American. He was Black.

Losing color

What happens when you lose your color as is Sembene McFarland, a 35-year-old emergency room nurse in Newark, New Jersey?

She has a condition known as vitiligo and is losing the pigmentation of her skin. The disorder affects people of all races but is most prominent in those with darker complexions.

McFarland describes herself as “garden-variety Black” but once her vitiligo became noticeable, she found herself the target of outlandish comments.

When McFarland was working at a cash register job at a Barnes and Noble, a customer told her, “If you got rid of the rest of the color, you would be a really pretty Asian girl.”

“Thank you very much,” McFarland told the woman. “Have a nice day.”

Now, she can’t relay the story without laughing out loud.

Others have wondered: Were you White first or Black first?

“That blew my mind,” she says.

Her skin condition shows how people think of being Black so literally, she says.

“When I think Black, I don’t think a particular shade,” she says.

McFarland was 16 when she first learned she had vitiligo. It was tough. At that young age, no one wants to stand out.

Later she laughed. In high school in Mississippi, her classmates always joked she wanted to be White. She spoke like a White person. Some people said she sat like a White person – all proper.

Now here she was, turning White.

In the end, McFarland says, it’s not about Black or White. It’s all the shades of gray that make people uncomfortable.

Unique but certain

Brandon Stanford’s parents met in school in New Jersey. His mom’s Irish family rejected her for dating a Bblack man.

They’ve been married 37 years.

In that time, a lot has changed about being a child of an interracial marriage. For one, the man who occupies the White House is the son of a Kenyan man and a White American woman. Many Americans think being mixed is “cool.”

Stanford, 29, has his own take.

“I wouldn’t say that being mixed race is either cool or not cool,” he says.

“I’d say it’s a reality that one can choose to embrace by seeing the beauty of a world where the possibilities of transcending the limitations of race and racism exists if one is able to recognize the oneness of humanity. Is this not what our democracy is supposed to represent?”

Stanford, a graduate student in African-American studies at Philadelphia’s Temple University, has had his identity questioned by both Whites and Blacks. That makes being mixed race difficult for some.

Some times White people speak about Black people in front of Stanford, assuming he is White. He lets them go on for a while and then says: “By the way, I am one of them.”

“I have a unique position in the world based upon what my complexion is,” Stanford says. “I always have an opportunity to unsettle people’s minds.”

But Stanford has never wavered on his identity.

“My complexion is not Black, yet I am Black,” he says.

Stanford doesn’t deny his Irish ancestry. The Irish, he points out, were thought of as inferior by the English. They, too, faced discrimination in the United States. Black people were often called the “dark Irish,” he says.

But the Irish in America distanced themselves from the anti-slavery movement in the interest of joining the White mainstream, Stanford says. That’s where his connection to the Irish stops.

“I identify myself as African-American because of the history of the culture,” he says.

The past in the present

Black unequivocally.

That’s how Kaneesha Parsard, 23, grew up. She was the daughter of parents who immigrated to the United States from Jamaica in the 1980s.

She didn’t understand what her father’s ancestry – her grandfather was Indian – had to do with her.

“I took the one drop rule pretty seriously,” says Parsard, a graduate student in African-American studies at Yale University.

Parsard’s father was born in British-ruled Jamaica. He was raised with Indian people but identified as Black because, she says, of how exclusionary Indian communities can be in Jamaica.

She began to think about her own identity when roti and chicken curry appeared at the Thanksgiving table.

“What I have come to realize is that … people’s history is intertwined, that being mixed race is not at odds with being Black,” she says.

“When we think about blackness, it’s usually along a Black-White context,” she says. “But there are many histories, interesting histories of resistance.”

For Parsard, Blackness stems from a moment in time in 1492, with the discovery of a new land and a history of brutality that followed.

Appearance is a primary factor for many Americans in determining race and identity. For Parsard and others in Yaba Blay’s project, it’s not.

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