The future is here. What if… we can have our communication devices, especially a web-connected computer with us at all times, WITHOUT a portable computer, but a WEARABLE computer with interacts with our gestures and expressions.

Best of all, this technology is gonna be put out as an open-source tech; so it’s available free for you and me to redevelop and use!

read more here: here

1MALAYSIA – BEYOND THE HYPE
by Kua Kia Soong, Director of SUARAM, 20 October 2009

The defensive stance of Najib at the recent UMNO general assembly was not lost on most observers. He started off by saying, “We are not racist…” Since the launch of “1Malaysia”, the prime minister has asked for suggestions on how we can attain this elusive objective – what I call Malaysia’s “Year Zero” target.

Towards Year Zero

I often say that we in Malaysia have not even reached “Year Zero” for real nation building to begin. We have to first reach Year Zero when race-based political parties no longer exist in this fair land of ours before we can develop as a nation. Successive Barisan Nasional governments have dreamed up one caper after another to justify their racialist rule and the latest “1Malaysia” is yet another hollow hype.

Everyone can see that the race-based political parties in the Barisan Nasional are the biggest anachronism in a country that claims to aspire to be “1Malaysia”. Where else in the enlightened world community do you find political parties that discriminate against other “races” such as we find in UMNO, MCA and MIC? The floundering of these race-based parties since March 8th 2008 is an indication that the hour of their extinction is nigh…

Can a Chinese Malaysian join UMNO? No! Can a Malay Malaysian join MCA? No! Can a non-Indian join MIC? No! Is this not racial discrimination?

But can a Malay Malaysian enroll in a Chinese-language school? Yes! Can a Chinese Malaysian enroll in a Tamil school? Yes! And there are more than 60,000 non-Chinese in Chinese primary schools of Malaysia today. The Chinese primary school at Fraser’s Hill is almost all Indian! There is no racial discrimination in these schools.

Do you remember the UMNO Minister of Higher Education who told the UMNO general assembly a few years back that as long as he was the minister, he would not allow a single Non-Bumiputra to be admitted to UiTM? That’s blatant racial discrimination in 21st century Malaysia. Has this policy changed at UiTM with 1Malaysia?

Ratify the Convention against Racial Discrimination (CERD)

A simple test of whether or not the latest “1Malaysia” slogan is just another BN caper is for the Government to ratify the International Convention against all forms of Racial Discrimination. For a country that has chaired the UN Human Rights Commission and now espouses a “1Malaysia” slogan, there should be no problem for the government to take this first step on the path to non-racial redemption.

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a bit late, but I’ve just found this in my spam folder! thanks fahmi!

TOP 10 MYTHS PASAL MERDEKA
by Fahmi Reza

31 Ogos datang lagi! Masa aku buat research untuk filem ’10 Tahun Sebelum Merdeka’ & ‘Revolusi ‘48′ aku jumpa banyak fakta menarik pasal sejarah perjuangan kemerdekaan negara kita. Jadi today sempena hari merdeka, aku nak kongsi my top ten favourite myths pasal kemerdekaan 31 Ogos 1957 yang masih banyak bikin kita confuse!

#10. Lagu “Tanggal 31” dicipta oleh Sudirman

Sudirman only covered lagu Ahmad C.B. from the 60’s & changed one line from the lyrics. Kalau tak percaya, listen to this!

#9. Kita ada “Social Contract” masa merdeka

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Merdeka dari mereka
oleh Adib Zalkapli | stolen from themalaysianinsider.com

OGOS 31 — Hari Merdeka tahun ini agak mengejutkan buat saya, kerana saya dipanggil bacul!

Tiba-tiba saya rasa terperangkap dan terpaksa mengikut kelompok-kelompok tertentu.

Dalam minggu-minggu menjelang 31 Ogos tahun ini banyak sekali kita terdengar seruan-seruan supaya orang Melayu “membuat sesuatu” terhadap masyarakat minoriti dalam negara ini yang semakin “melampau.”

Antara yang membuat seruan ini adalah orang yang duduk dalam lembaga-lembaga pengarah beberapa syarikat-syarikat berkaitan kerajaan, yang tiba-tiba menggunakan ungkapan “kita orang Melayu” dan berpesan kepada saya supaya “jangan bacul.”

Tiba-tiba sahaja, rupa-rupanya saya mempunyai pertalian dengan orang-orang ini.

Baru-baru ini juga saya diberi amaran oleh sekumpulan anak muda yang mendakwa mewakili semua orang Melayu, bahawa saya akan terpinggir di negeri Selangor.

Katanya, arak akan berleluasa.

Babi juga akan dijual merata-rata.

Dan saya sekali lagi diberitahu sebagai orang Melayu, saya perlu bangkit bersama-sama.

Terperanjat lagi saya, kerana mereka ini beria-ia hendak mengajak saya menjadi sebahagian daripada mereka.

Saya agak segan untuk ikut mereka, kerana melihat ramai dari mereka yang perut buncit tetapi memakai kemeja putih!

Saya percaya orang yang mempunyai masalah berat badan seharusnya memakai pakaian gelap supaya bentuk badan kelihatan menarik. Itulah yang saya belajar mengenai ilusi optik di sekolah dulu.

Dan ramai juga yang memakai cincin dengan batu sebesar ibu jari. Saya rasa tidak “cool” untuk ikut kumpulan bercincin besar ini.

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In the aftermath of Saturday’s Abolish ISA rally there’s a concerted effort by the mainstream media (read, “BN-controlled” newspapers & TV stations) to ridicule our collective intelligence by treating us, the public, with reports, articles, “analysis” & endless threats as if we are gullible morons they’ve groomed us to be with their non-existent “education-system”.

Well, we are NOT DUMB! And if you think we gonna be like all of you thick-headed, lard-arse-licking, corrupted, racist bastards; you got another thing coming boss!

Why do Malaysians march?
by Yeo Yang Poh - stolen from The Sun’s Comments & Analysis page here

WHY march, when the government has said that it will review the Internal Security Act? Why march, when there are other very cosy ways of giving your views and feedback?

One would understand if these were questions posed by nine-year-olds. But they are not. They are questions posed by the prime minister of this nation we call our home. Answer we must. So, why?

Because thousands who died while in detention cannot march or speak any more. That is why others have to do it for them.

Because persons in the corridors of power, persons who have amassed tremendous wealth and live in mansions, and persons who are in the position to right wrongs but won’t, continue to rule our nation with suffocating might. And they certainly would not march. They would prevent others from marching.

Because the have-nots, the sidelined, the oppressed, the discriminated and the persecuted have no effective line to the powerful.

Because the nice ways have been tried ad nauseam for decades, but have fallen on deaf ears.

Because none of the major recommendations of Suhakam (including on peaceful assembly), or of the commissions of inquiry, has been implemented. Because the proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) is not in sight, while corruption and insecurity live in every neighbourhood; and (despite reasoned views expressed ever so nicely in opposition) Rela (people’s volunteer corps) is being brought in to make matters even worse.

The proponents in “Su Qiu” (remember them?) were not marchers. In fact it is hard to find nicer ways than “su qiu”, because the term means “present and request” or “inform and request”. In terms of putting forward a view or a request, it is the height of politeness. Yet they were labelled “extremists” – they who did not march.

And now you ask, why march?

Because you gave non-marchers a false name! You called them the “silent majority”, who by virtue of their silence (so you proudly argued with twisted logic) were supporters of government policies since they were not vocal in raising objections. You claimed to be protecting the interest of the “silent majority”. Now some of them do not want to be silent anymore, and you are asking why?

Yes, because double standards and hypocrisy cannot be covered up or explained away forever; and incompetence cannot be indefinitely propped up by depleting resources.

Because cronyism can only take care of a few people, and the rest will eventually wake up to realise the repeated lies that things were done in certain ways purportedly “for their benefit”.

Because the race card, cleverly played for such a long time, is beginning to be seen for what it really is – a despicable tool to divide the rakyat for easier political manipulation.

Because it does not take much to figure out that there is no good reason why Malaysia, a country with abundant human resources and rich natural resources, does not have a standard of living many times higher than that of Singapore, an island state with no natural resources and that has to import human resources from Malaysia and elsewhere.

Because, in general, countries that do not persecute marchers are prosperous or are improving from their previous state of affairs, and those that do are declining.

Because Gandhi marched, Mandela marched, Martin Luther King marched, and Tunku Abdul Rahman marched.

Because more and more people realise that peaceful assemblies are no threat at all to the security of the nation, although they are a threat to the security of tenure of the ruling elite.

Because politicians do not mean it when they say with a straight face or a smile that they are the servants and that the people are the masters. No servant would treat his master with tear gas, batons and handcuffs.

Because if the marchers in history had been stopped in their tracks, places like India, Malaysia and many others would still be colonies today, apartheid would still be thriving in South Africa, Nelson Mandela would still be scribbling on the walls of Cell 5, and Obama would probably be a slave somewhere in Mississippi plotting to make his next midnight dash for the river.

And because liberty, freedom and dignity are not free vouchers posted out to each household.

They do not come to those who just sit and wait. They have to be fought for, and gained.

And if you still want to ask: why march; I can go on and on until the last tree is felled. But I shall obviously not.

I will end with the following lines from one of the songs sung in the 1960s by civil rights marchers in the US, without whom Obama would not be able to even sit with the whites in a bus, let alone reside in the White House:

“It isn’t nice to block the doorway
It isn’t nice to go to jail
There are nicer ways to do it
But the nice ways have all failed
It isn’t nice; it isn’t nice
You’ve told us once, you’ve told us twice
But if that’s freedom’s price
We don’t mind …”

Yeo Yang Poh is a former Bar Council president.

An interesting look at what’s happening in Hong Kong now in terms of “indie” rock – made by Will McCallum (Hong Kong University)

I saw this at a eyeteeth, a blog i follow.

PITY THE NATION
by Lawrence Ferlinghetti (inspired by Khalil Gibran’s poem of the same title)

Pity the nation whose people are sheep,
and whose shepherds mislead them.

My country, tears of thee, sweet land of liberty.

Pity the Nation – after Khalil Gibran.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti 2007

Penswastaan ialah satu dasar ekonomi yang dianjur oleh kaum pemodal kapitalis pada tahun 80′an dahulu. Ini adalah dasar ekonomi yang mula-mula dianjurkan oleh Ronald Reagan dan Margaret Thatcher. Ini adalah dasar ekonomi kapitalis fahaman kanan yang ekstrim.

Sebelum dasar penswataan di perkenalkan banyak negara dalam dunia ini masih memiliki harta-harta dan syarikat-syarikat awam. Banyak syarikat-syarikat yang berjaya ini dimiliki dan dikendalikan oleh kerajaan. Syarikat awam ertinya syarikat yang dimiliki oleh orang ramai.

Kaum pemodal meleleh air lior apabila melihat syarikat air, syarikat api, pejabat pos, syarikat talipon, syarikat kapal terbang, sekolah, hospital dan seribu satu macam syarikat yang dimiliki oleh rakyat. Kaum pemodal tidak dapat menahan nafsu duitan mereka untuk merompak syarikat-syarikat ini.

Syarikat-syarikat milik kerajaan bermula dengan cita-cita untuk memberi khidmat kepada orang ramai. Syarikat-syarikat in diusahakan bukan atas dasar mencari untung maksima. Dalam masa yang sama syarikat-syarikat ini juga berjalan dengan pengendalian yang baik dan profesional. Untung bukan slogan syarikat-syarikat ini. Rugi juga bukan moto syarikat ini.

Khidmat untuk orang ramai ialah shahadah untuk semua syarikat-syarikat milik kerajaan. Syarikat-syarikat ini berimankan – khidmat terbaik untuk kesejahteraan ramai. Syarikat milik orang ramai didirikan untuk memberi khidmat kepada orang ramai.

Tiba-tiba Mahathir Muhamad melancar skim cepat kaya pada tahun 80an. Syarikat-syarikat Tenaga Nasional, Telekom Malaysia, MAS, Pembeklan Air, Pejabat Pos, Hospital, Taman Negara, Jalan Raya, Balai Raya, Dewan Orang Ramai, Rumah Rehat – semua ini adalah contoh-contoh syarikat dan harta orang yang ditelah diagih-agihkan oleh Mahathir Muhamad kepada kaum kerabat dan kroni-kroninya.

Inilah skim cepat kaya Mahathir Muhamad yang dijadikan dasar gerombolan United Malays National Organisation. Di tahun-tahun itu, ketika Mahathir ditahta, kita ada mendengar berita Mamat Basikal Buruk jadi towkay gedung-gedung perniagaan. Kita mendengar Mat Driber Lori jadi pemilik empangan terbesar. Kita mendengar Mat Sekolah Tak Tamat menjadi tuan punya syarikat penerbangan. Kita mendengar cerita Mat Tak Pandai Cakap Inggeris menjadi pemilik loji air.

Semua harta-harta dan syarikat yang dimiliki orang ramai telah diambil alih untuk di jadikan milik pribadi. Semuanya dirompak untuk diagihkan kepada kroni. Cara rompakan ini cukup senang: Para kroni mengajukan cadangan-cadangan dengan kertas kerja kepada badan Unit Perancangan Ekonomi – EPU. Bunyinya cukup lunak tetapi hakikatnya amat berlainan. Badan perancangan ini juga dirasuah untuk meluluskan rompakan ini. Para birokrat di badan Perancangan ini juga mendapat habuan untuk meluluskan rompakan ini. Mereka bersubahat untuk sama-sama merompak.

Hasilnya di zaman Mahathir Muhamad banyak lanun dan perompak menjadi kaya raya.

read more: here

Those who haven’t got this forwarded to your mailbox yet, be prepared to “bebolit lidah” reading it. Nope, I don’t know who wrote it nor where it came from. Maybe from Jemapoh or somewhere sewaktu dengannya. Anyway, here it is, enjoy!!

kepado pak lah… PM paling sey sayang… I lap u

sey janji ngan pak lah yg sey akan ubah tebiat sey dari makan ikan kombung yg dah merah menyalo mato’eh & pocah bedorai porut ikan tu pado ikan koring yor…

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Clip 1 0f 2: Globalization (& The Metaphysics of Control)

Bunny explains to Mimi how to establish and maintain control over others via this (kind of) new thing called globalization. Is globalization the new colonialism?

Clip 2 of 2: Defending Globalization

This time Bunny reveals a secret about how to get First World citizens on the Globalization bandwagon while keeping those pesky Third Worlders in their place.

pinkyshow.org

Today somebody told me that he doesn’t like cats. Why? “Because they like to smell each other’s arse.”

As if we don’t.

Talk about inter-species hatred and if you’re in the “alam maya” loop, you would not miss this screaming headlines:

ANTI-EMO RIOTS BREAK OUT ACROSS MEXICO!

This piece of news has been zooming around in cybespace for a few days now and I bet myspace is full of it. Anyway, apparently “emo” kids in Mexico City have been constantly under threats of violence and that culminated with “several hundred people went on an emo-beating rampage” in the town of Querétaro, north of the city!

Well, I’ve heard of anti-emo heckling but this is wayyy out of line! Go and read it here: Anti-Emo Riots!

oh, there’s this comment on the page, it’s priceless:

“thats what you get for destroying rock and roll. you assholes.”

oh, the irony!

and this:

“Kids playing dress up..And thinking its important. LABELS ARE FOR FOOD.”

The first generation of participants in the great American hardcore punk battered econovan would like you to believe that scene died in 1986, but we all know better. However it was the year Black Flag called it quits – all of a sudden, observed simply with a genial phone conversation between Greg Ginn and Henry Rollins – and we know we’ve lost an amazing band who shaped that world.

The clip above features Henry and Greg, with two faceless band members, going at it as per usual, taking no prisoners. I saw this recently and wondered if it was ever recorded for posterity. It will be the last time Mr. Ginn twisted his bad-ass fingers on Annihilated This Week and spreading greasy muck over Louie Louie, and it will be a treasure.

Sure enough, the entire show was recorded and available on the bootleg trading circuits for years. On top of that miracle, the sound captured is way better than that video clip above. To those interested, my old friends at BigO magazine in Singapore are hosting the files and ready to donate you their bandwidth.

Note: It’s not as crucial as the Police Story – Live EP or the 1981 Last Show with Dez bootlegs but if you were still sticking to the Flag despite the fact that they slowed and and grooved slothfully with Loose Nut and Slip It In, this will be something you would need to hug dearly.

Go here: bigozine2.com, and while you are at it, do download that rare Peter Tosh Demos and The Stooges live 2003 show.

Black Flag for newbies

As you may have known malaysiakini.com is FREE to read and browse through for one week from March 4th to 10th, so do go there for more worthwhile news and insights.

Here’s one letter featured there today which I believe many of you “fence-sitters”, conscious-objectors and “vote-dodgers” need to read. It may appear as if the writer has too much faith in the Malaysian-style “democratic process” but since the opposition parties are NOT gonna boycott the circus, it’s up all of us to support the fight. Read on…

“Most of you have been complaining non-stop about the ruling government and it’s screwed up policies and yet when it comes to polling day, you still vote BN back in. It’s time to walk the talk. Vote the opposition in even if you do not like them for the sake of diluting the power of the douches in the government.”

Douches, morons and one-dimensional M’sians
O-Wern Low | Mar 6, 08 4:32pm | malaysiakini.com

Howdy fellow Malaysians! It is now just a few days before the much awaited 12th general election and by now, I’m sure many of you would have made up your mind on who to vote for. If you have, then you are not my target audience. My target audiences here are:

• The fence sitters who have not made up their mind; and
• The non-Muslims that continue to be adamant against voting for PAS despite the fact that they have removed the Islamic state agenda from their manifesto; and
• Those that feel that the opposition is not credible enough to lead the country and thus want to vote for BN or abstain from voting

If you fall into one of these categories, then take a few minutes of your time to hear me out. No, I am not going to convince you and give you direct reasons for voting opposition because I am sure you have heard these reasons countless of times from your peers or from the Internet. I am going to explain to you the ‘douche and moron’ theory which many of you seem to be unconsciously abide by. Now, a douche, in American terms can be simply translated to mean an idiot. A moron means just that.

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Pak La, La, La by Comedy Court:

Malaysia needs a strong Opposition
by Michael Backman
The Age (Australia) – February 27, 2008

SHOULD Malaysians bother to vote? The corollary of this question is: does the Malaysian Government deserve to be re-elected? The answer to the second question is no.

In the past few years, the Malaysian Government has presided over an extraordinary number of scandals that are appalling by any standards: the trade minister’s allocation of car import permits to friends, relatives and supporters; the billion-dollar fraud at the Port Klang Free Trade Zone; the outrageous and much-flaunted wealth of ruling party politician Zakaria Md Deros; the claims that a High Court judge allowed the lawyer representing a rich businessman to write for him his judgement in a defamation lawsuit; an immensely rich chief minister in Sarawak state who is allowed to rule as if it were his; and so on.

The Malaysian Government richly deserves to pay for all of this at the ballot box.

So the next question is: should the Malaysian Opposition be elected to office? Again, the answer is no.

The Opposition is a shambolic assortment of the disaffected rather than a competent, alternative government. In no way is it ready to govern.

All these questions are pertinent because Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has called elections for March 8.

read more: here