'
WHEN TYRANNY BECOMES LAW,
REBELLION BECOMES DUTY!
Cowardice asks the question - is it safe?
Expediency asks the question - is it politic?
Vanity asks the question - is it popular?
But conscience asks the question - is it right?
And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Tyranny
.
"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." — James Madison (Federalist Papers)
"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." — James Madison (Federalist Papers)
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Sunday, July 19, 2009
First they came...
.
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
Then they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
I did not protest;
I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out for me
"First they came…" is a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
Then they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
I did not protest;
I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out for me
"First they came…" is a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.
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Saturday, July 18, 2009
Mysterious death at MACC
歐陽捍華 Ean Yong’s political secretary dead at MACC HQ
Look closely at the photos from the scene of 赵明福 Teoh Beng Hock's death.
Some of Oni's observation:
Look closely at the photos from the scene of 赵明福 Teoh Beng Hock's death.
Some of Oni's observation:
- Left shoe sits up neatly about 8 feet from the head right within the border. Appears to be clean and properly laced-up.
- Right shoe looks beaten-up. Surface of the sole shows sign of heavy scraping.
- Slash wound on the right wrist. Bleeding seems fresh (color relatively red and bright). Right fist is clenched. Not wearing a wrist watch.
- Pants ripped at the buttock revealing underwear. Some fabric in the torn area appears to be missing from the trousers. No sign of wallet, mobile phone or keys in the back and left pockets.
- Underwear appears to be torn in the middle.
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Friday, May 15, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Real estate market recovery...
... has some way to go.
Here's what's real and what's not.
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Here's what's real and what's not.
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Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Your Personal Stimulus Package
.
Need help in managing your finance? Have trouble making car payments?...
No problem! Here's how many Americans revive their financial situation. All you need is a plan and a match.
--------------------------------------
Signs of Stress, Fraud on Roadside
Thursday, March 26, 2009
More Vehicles Burned, Ditched in Apparent Schemes by Owners to Get Insurance Payout
Police detective Mark Menzie drove 55 miles into the desert Sunday to inspect the charred remains of a formerly silver Ford Expedition.
Later, he sat in a kitchen on the city's south side where a 19-year-old man confessed to torching his girlfriend's Chrysler PT Cruiser
At noon Monday, Mr. Menzie was picking through the smashed windshield of a 2008 Land Rover in a desert canyon. His police radio crackled as he worked; another car was spotted burning southwest of the city.
Years of no-money-down car loans followed by sinking home values and rising unemployment has made many people desperate over car payments they can no longer afford. For some, the answer is to ditch the car, report it stolen and collect the insurance money to pay it off without hurting their credit.
Authorities report a growing number of cars dumped in the Great Lakes, burned along remote New Jersey roadsides and driven into canals in California. The phenomenon is acute in Las Vegas, where sharp declines in tourism and construction have left thousands of workers unemployed and broke.
Mr. Menzie, a burly 38-year-old detective wearing jeans, dusty work boots and a two-day stubble, toted up a day's work. Four cars burned or wrecked in 24 hours: "Insurance fraud," he concluded. "Lots of desperate people out there."
As a member of the Las Vegas department's auto-theft unit, Mr. Menzie is on the front lines of a phenomenon that police departments and insurance companies worry could be burning out of control.
"The economy is stretching people to the breaking point and some of them are willing to risk criminal conviction," said James Quiggle, a spokesman for the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, an industry-backed group. "They look at this as their own personal stimulus package."... (continue reading here)
Need help in managing your finance? Have trouble making car payments?...
No problem! Here's how many Americans revive their financial situation. All you need is a plan and a match.
--------------------------------------
Signs of Stress, Fraud on Roadside
Thursday, March 26, 2009
More Vehicles Burned, Ditched in Apparent Schemes by Owners to Get Insurance Payout
Police detective Mark Menzie drove 55 miles into the desert Sunday to inspect the charred remains of a formerly silver Ford Expedition.
Later, he sat in a kitchen on the city's south side where a 19-year-old man confessed to torching his girlfriend's Chrysler PT Cruiser
At noon Monday, Mr. Menzie was picking through the smashed windshield of a 2008 Land Rover in a desert canyon. His police radio crackled as he worked; another car was spotted burning southwest of the city.
Years of no-money-down car loans followed by sinking home values and rising unemployment has made many people desperate over car payments they can no longer afford. For some, the answer is to ditch the car, report it stolen and collect the insurance money to pay it off without hurting their credit.
Authorities report a growing number of cars dumped in the Great Lakes, burned along remote New Jersey roadsides and driven into canals in California. The phenomenon is acute in Las Vegas, where sharp declines in tourism and construction have left thousands of workers unemployed and broke.
Mr. Menzie, a burly 38-year-old detective wearing jeans, dusty work boots and a two-day stubble, toted up a day's work. Four cars burned or wrecked in 24 hours: "Insurance fraud," he concluded. "Lots of desperate people out there."
As a member of the Las Vegas department's auto-theft unit, Mr. Menzie is on the front lines of a phenomenon that police departments and insurance companies worry could be burning out of control.
"The economy is stretching people to the breaking point and some of them are willing to risk criminal conviction," said James Quiggle, a spokesman for the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, an industry-backed group. "They look at this as their own personal stimulus package."... (continue reading here)
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Monday, March 30, 2009
The Worst is Over!
.
New Home Sale Up 4.7%. No bullshit?
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New Home Sale Up 4.7%. No bullshit?
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Thursday, March 12, 2009
not so mini Mini-Budget
.
March 11, 2009
Scepticism to M'sia stimulus
KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA'S massive US$16.2 billion (S$25 billion) stimulus package met with scepticism on Wednesday, as analysts questioned if it will avert recession and how cleanly it will be implemented.
Deputy premier Najib Razak announced the package on Tuesday, saying the much bigger than anticipated spending plan would 'contribute towards mitigating the impact of the global contraction on the domestic economy'.
But despite the measure, and a US$1.9 billion stimulus package announced last year, he said the economy could still contract by up to 1.0 per cent in 2009, dumping the earlier forecast of 3.5 per cent growth.
Standard Chartered said despite the size of the plan, 'its ability to keep 2009 growth in positive territory remains in question' and that the deficit, which will jump to 7.6 per cent this year, could threaten credit ratings.
ING was unimpressed by the big-spending initiative, saying it expected the economy to contract by 2.2 per cent this year, and that the government's political woes raised the risk of inappropriate spending.
'The political situation makes us think a lot of the spending will be politically-directed,' it said.
The spending plan is an important test for Mr Najib, who is due to be appointed premier at the end of the month and inherits the task of clawing back support for the ruling coalition after a battering in elections last year.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who was finance minister before being ejected from the coalition in 1998, said there was a grave risk of 'leakage' as the huge amount of funds was disbursed.
'As far as the package is concerned, there is no sign of reforms,' he said.
'Our fundamentals are cracking, we are facing a major crisis. Will Najib stop the practices of awarding contracts to cronies through direct negotiation?'
Analysts at Citibank also said the market would be disappointed with the package after 'the hype created over the past few weeks'. 'Execution is the key, and it is still too early to quantify and build in the benefits,' it said. -- AFP
(The Straits Times)
March 11, 2009
Scepticism to M'sia stimulus
KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA'S massive US$16.2 billion (S$25 billion) stimulus package met with scepticism on Wednesday, as analysts questioned if it will avert recession and how cleanly it will be implemented.
Deputy premier Najib Razak announced the package on Tuesday, saying the much bigger than anticipated spending plan would 'contribute towards mitigating the impact of the global contraction on the domestic economy'.
But despite the measure, and a US$1.9 billion stimulus package announced last year, he said the economy could still contract by up to 1.0 per cent in 2009, dumping the earlier forecast of 3.5 per cent growth.
Standard Chartered said despite the size of the plan, 'its ability to keep 2009 growth in positive territory remains in question' and that the deficit, which will jump to 7.6 per cent this year, could threaten credit ratings.
ING was unimpressed by the big-spending initiative, saying it expected the economy to contract by 2.2 per cent this year, and that the government's political woes raised the risk of inappropriate spending.
'The political situation makes us think a lot of the spending will be politically-directed,' it said.
The spending plan is an important test for Mr Najib, who is due to be appointed premier at the end of the month and inherits the task of clawing back support for the ruling coalition after a battering in elections last year.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who was finance minister before being ejected from the coalition in 1998, said there was a grave risk of 'leakage' as the huge amount of funds was disbursed.
'As far as the package is concerned, there is no sign of reforms,' he said.
'Our fundamentals are cracking, we are facing a major crisis. Will Najib stop the practices of awarding contracts to cronies through direct negotiation?'
Analysts at Citibank also said the market would be disappointed with the package after 'the hype created over the past few weeks'. 'Execution is the key, and it is still too early to quantify and build in the benefits,' it said. -- AFP
(The Straits Times)
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