English Not Welcome

Not in the continent, anyway. If in France, it is best to say something in French, like 'Bon Jour', before ordering your coffee. You may actually get some service.

The same applies if you're in Italy or Spain, it seems. But say something in French in a Madrid cafe, and you will get prompt service, and a 'Merci, Monsieur' as you leave. The French are viewed as cultured, the English as barbarians. English food is considered bland, French food a delight. As far as the food is concerned, it is indisputably true. And not even the English are immune to this French cultural imperialism, despite all their jokes about the French.

The roots of this linguistic discrimination is hard to pin down. The French have quarreled too often with the English perhaps, and so will not tolerate their language. And the Spanish may yet mourn their armada.

But if you're planning to stroll down the Champs Elysee, now filled with American stores, or walk down the shady sidewalks of the Paseo De La Castellano on your way to the Prado, you may want to pick up a smattering of French first.


Note :
Americans are more tolerated, they are such generous tippers.

Saving Pakistan

Eight hundred yards from the house where Mr.Osama was shot, stands Pakistan's version of West Point. This is in Abbottabad, which teems with serving and retired army personnel, security checks and ID checks for residents. It is impossible to believe that the Pakistanis did not know.

But what possible motive could Pakistan's Intelligence Agency, the ISI, have to shelter Mr.Osama? The answer may be partly a very earthly one, money. As long as Mr.Osama was free, the US would continue to spend freely to find him and to fight terrorism. Much of that funding would find it's way to Pakistan.

He had become a feared symbol in the United States; killing him every American President's, and for that matter, most Americans, fantasy. For the Pakistani Army, he may have been a cash cow. If so, they had to keep him alive, and they had to keep him hidden. Where better, than in the ultra-safe city of Abbotabad. Meanwhile, keep feeding the Americans red herrings, and have them searching Afghan caves. Of course, there was the danger that he would keep ordering up bombings and killings all over the world. But perhaps, they just sipped their teas, shook their heads, and dismissed it as the nature of the beast.

The Americans, despite their success in eliminating Mr.Osama, look terribly foolish now, for having generously funded Pakistan. They will not be easily mollified or appeased. And they are in possesion of information that they collected at Mr.Osama's hideout.

It would be best for Pakistan and it's army now, to move away from those they may have supported in the past, for whatever reasons. Terrorism is a doubled-edged sword, as likely to hurt it's wielders as it's targets. And terrorists, are not amenable to being managed. Cross them, and they will surely turn on their backers, whoever they may be.

The complicated game that Pakistan's army and the ISI seem to play, of attempting to play off the US against China, the US against Terrorism, India against China, and of seeking to control Afghanistan through queit support of the Taliban, may be wholly unnecessary. It is also fraught with contradictions, which results in contradictory policies, and general confusion.

Pakistan is not a safe place for anybody to visit now, and if the authorities don't institute radical changes, there is never going to be a Visit Pakistan Year. It is a pity, because it is a beautiful country and is blessed with the stunning Pakistani Himalayas, rarely visited now by climbers, trekkers or tourists.

Pakistan will also have to be safe, before it can save it's economy. It's people are intelligent and industrious, but unemployed and made desperate by poverty. Foreign investment in the economy is hard to come by, and will be even harder now. A few more years in this seemingly insolvable imbroglio, and Pakistan will surely become, like Somalia already has, a failed state.

Pakistan is worried constantly by it's giant neighbour India, but they will have to let this unhealthy obsession go, if they are to progress. They are the same people, after all, and speak the same languages. There is a Punjab in India and there is a Punjab in Pakistan. In both cases, it is populated by Punjabis. They are separated only by religion. Pakistan has the 2nd largest Muslim population in the world, and India is 3rd, with 160 million Muslims. But India progresses and is on it's way to becoming an economic superpower, while Pakistan, sadly, regresses. It may be time now, to look past old quarrels. Money spent on guns, could be spent on infrastructure and development.

The army will have to renounce politics in any form, and stay away from business. It must occupy itself with defense, and extending it's fiat over what are now lawless regions, and only that. Politicians and their parties will have to become mature and more responsible, but this cannot happen if the army keeps toppling them. Corruption will have to be totally eradicated, and for this they will have to look to Hong Kong for example. For economic policies, they will have to look to Singapore, or Malaysia, or even, sometimes, to India.

But it is not challenges of policies that Pakistan really faces, it is the challenge of changing deeply-ingrained mindsets. And it is the challenge of leaving behind a siege mentality that is no longer relevant.

When Mr.Jinnah fought for an independent Pakistan, he cannot have imagined the chaos that it is descended into now. Nor would he have envisioned it becoming a failed state.

If Pakistan is to be saved, it is now.

Looking Into The Abyss, In Abbotabad

The White House has admitted that Mr.Osama bin Laden was unarmed when he was shot dead. His wife, who rushed at the SEAL team, was shot in the calf.

Why not capture Mr.Osama and put him on trial? Apparently, he had made a 'threatening' move. Against armed to the teeth members of SEAL Team Six with their legendary training? Was Mr.Osama a master of karate? Even then that elite squad would have easily contained him. And, if they needed to shoot him, why not in the leg, or the arm? Why deliver a precise kill shot to the head?

Clearly, it was a kill mission. By doing this, the US loses the moral high ground. The greater danger in their battle with terrorism was not that they would lose, but that they would lose their humanity, and become, like their enemy, unhesitating killers. Nietzsche understood humanity well, when he said "When you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you". No matter how great an individual's crime, he must be tried, and given the opportunity to defend or incriminate himself as he sees fit. To shoot an unarmed man in the head is not an act of bravery, it is one of extreme hatred or worse.

It is unfortunate that Mr.Obama and Mrs.Clinton would choose to sit and watch this live. It is worse that only Mr.Obama could have given this order. He may win the US elections on the strength of this action, but he has diminished himself, and he has diminished the office of the President of the United States. He will no longer be able to stand tall and speak on questions of justice, or human rights or morality or preach to the world on such topics. On what should be his day of triumph, he has blundered, and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Americans will find it harder to feel good, and may even be aghast, about this event now, because a sense of fair play is ingrained into them. Even in the old West, you could shoot a man dead, but that man must have a gun in his hand. Otherwise, it is murder.

This shot in the head and the hasty dumping of Mr.Osama's body in the ocean, instead of his capture and trial, will not help the US and the world in their fight against terrorism. Thanks to Mr.Obama's poor judgement, Mr.Osama bin Laden finds victory in death. He will now become the stuff of ballads and legend. His wife, Amal Ahmed Abdul Fatah, who was shot in the calf is destined, inevitably, to become an iconic heroine. The Muslim world is already disturbed by the nature of Mr.Osama's burial, and the circumstances of his death will now add fuel to the fire. It is pointless to warn would-be jihadists that "we will get you, no matter how long it takes", when they are only looking for opportunities to blow themselves up. It is not death the US should be dealing out, it is justice. And justice cannot be said to have been done without a trial, a prosecution and a defence.

We are proved wrong in the support we felt for Mr.Obama during his presidential campaign against Mr.McCain. We do not believe Mr.McCain would shoot unarmed men in the head. Like many Americans, though continents away, we had wanted to see this fairy tale of a black man becoming the President, come true. And so his youth and inexperience were excused.

But when that red phone rang, like Mrs.Clinton predicted, he proved himself unequal, and unready, to the task.

Luca Brasi Sleeps With The Fishes?

We do not know if the US has got around to sending a dead fish wrapped in Mr.Osama's jacket to Mr.Ayman. But we are not at all sure about the identity of this executed individual. So far, the only proof we have is say-so evidence. Mr.Obama says so, Mrs.Clinton says so and so do all their officials, in chorus. But we live in a place where the government routinely lies, so we are sceptics, and expect proper proof.

No news service seems to have seen fit to demand more proof before publishing this news. Not CNN, not the BBC, not even Al-Jazeera. All journalistic rules were forgotten in their rush to get this news out. There were no sceptics. CNN, in fact, was behaving practically like a propaganda channel. Doubters were denounced as 'conspiracy theorists'.

Not a single picture or video has been released. Even if such a photo or video were to be released, how do we really know it's him? It could be a double. Having doubles is a common enough practice.

DNA evidence might prove it, and it has been announced that there has been a match. But doesn't it take 2 weeks to do proper DNA testing?  Even if there was a match how do we know it was not one of Mr.Osama's siblings; any one of them would provide the same match. Mr.Osama's father, after all, had 54 children from several different wives.

And why would Mr.Obama make an announcement before the conclusion of the DNA test? Clearly there was political benefit to Mr.Obama in making this announcement quickly. The impact would not have been the same if it was all over twitter and facebook for days. Mr.Obama's approval ratings had slipped to Jimmy Carter levels with presidential elections looming. Libya is a stalemate. The economy is still a mess. Clearly, Mr.Obama needed a win, and he appeared to have got it, in remarkably timely fashion.

The only real proof was the body. It could heve been examined by non-partisan experts and proper tests conducted according to procedures. It could have been identified by his relatives. Yet the US government chose to quickly dump it into the ocean.

It is all terribly fishy, we're afraid.

How About Some Proof?

It's all over the news that Mr.Osama bin Laden has been killed by US Forces. It's been reported on CNN, BBC, Al-Jazeera and every newspaper you can think of. Significantly missing is any proof that he is indeed dead. Everybody has decided to take Mr.Obama's word for it. This is hardly objective journalism!

We do not doubt that helicopters flew into Abbootabad. Or that some kind of firefight took place there. But we do need to see the evidence that it was indeed Mr.Osama who was killed. So far we are told that imaging techniques were used to identify him. Surely this is insufficient!

We are also informed that the body has been disposed of at sea! No explanation has been given for this strange burial. He was said to have been killed deep inland. Why adopt this Tony Soprano-like method to get rid of his body? Should it not have been returned to his family? It is all becoming, as Alice would say, curiouser and curiouser.

We certainly hope this is all cleared up soon. Or we will be left wondering whether it was indeed he, and if so, has he really been killed or is he in some dungeon wearing an iron mask.

News : All Malaysian Alternative News Sites Down

Malaysiakini has been unavailable since 11am, downed by denial-of-service attacks. You may still access them here at http://malaysiakinicom.wordpress.com/ and at http://www.facebook.com/MalaysiaKini .

Malaysiakini reports that it is in the process of trying to bring up a new set of servers.

We are also unable to access  Free Malaysia Today or Malaysia Chronicle.

Sarawak Report has been under attack for days. They are now on the run, moving from site to site, as the spybots track them down.

Hacking into sites and d-o-s attacks are illegal, we advise those who are behind these co-ordinated attacks.

It is ever more clear, that the Malaysian Opposition is heading for victory in Sarawak's elections.

Malaysians may expect yet more dirty deeds, before this week is over.

Yong Vui Kong, Fall Guy

Vui Kong was caught carrying 1.5 ounces of heroin into Singapore. He has been found guilty by Singapore's Courts, and sentenced to death. He was 18 years old at the time, a child. A child, who, in his 18 years of life, had known nothing but abject poverty.

Is that how heroin is smuggled into countries now, one ounce at a time? The answer is that it is not. It is smuggled in kilograms, or tens of kilograms, if not more. It is, however, a common ruse of drug smugglers to send in several shipments at the same time. They will then tip off the authorities, about the courier of some paltry ounce or two; and while the authorities focus on those, slip the bigger shipments through. The courier who was the fall guy, was always meant to get caught. So we believe, was the case with Yong Vui Kong.

But Vui Kong was not just the fall guy for the drug smugglers. He is now a fall guy, for Singapore's government. Their use of the death penalty to deter drug smugglers, does not work. But they continue with their policies, all the same.  An execution every once in a while, serves to remind the public, that they are tough on crime, even if it achieves little else. The death penalty, they must know by now, is a simplistic, ineffective solution that cannot solve the complex issues of crime and it's causes.

It would be cruel injustice indeed, if Vui Kong were to be sent to the gallows, simply because the Singapore Cabinet, has no idea on how to stop drug smuggling. Are children to be hung now, for 1.5 ounces of heroin, the worth of which cannot be more that S$4,000. Is the value of human life, so low, in Singapore? Can they create a life for S$4,000? Can they create one, for any sum?

Singapore's Cabinet, by refusing Vui Kong clemency, is simply sacrificing him at the altar of convenience, to a god grown grim, by the nature of their offerings.

Release The Dogs

Four dogs were sentenced to death in Penang today. Two of them were not guilty of anything. The other two are accused of mauling an Irish tourist to death.

We do not know what caused the two dogs to attack Maurice Sullivan. They were trained to guard against wild boars and phythons, in Joseph Teoh's organic farm. Dogs do not generally attack unless provoked, or they view something or someone as a threat. If they could talk, they would tell you what caused them to act as they did. But they cannot, they are dumb creatures.

We know Maurice Sullivan liked the dogs, and had played with them before. We do not think he would want them to be killed in his name.

They have been handed over to Penang's Veterinary Department. We ask them to consider rehabilitating the two dogs, rather than simply killing them.

As for the two dogs who were not involved in the attack, they should be released immediately. There is no justification for holding them, and it would be outrageous injustice and cruelty to kill them, for something they have not done.

The dog's owner, Joseph Teoh, has been fined and is willing and wants to take his dogs back. He visits them everyday and he feeds them. Return him his dogs.

One life has been lost. There is no need to snuff out four more.

Psy-Wars, German Admirals, Non-Existent Orgies and The Barisan Nasional

Sexual Psy-Ops have been around for a while now. Allied as well as Axis Nations practised it, justifying the pornographic nature of their libellious broadcasts and literature as a neccessary tool of war. In Malaysia, however, it appears no war is needed for the BN to indulge in it. They do it for mere political survival. Or, perhaps, they feel they are in a war; in which case; they are warring on their own countrymen.

Sir Stafford Cripps, a member of the British War Cabinet, was outraged by some of the excesses of the British sexual psy-war on the Germans, and wrote to Anthony Eden, the Foreign Secretary, that he would rather lose the war than win it by such odious methods. The letter has only recently been declassified under the British Freedom of Information Act. The propaganda that offended him so, was about a German Admiral, who was accused, in excruciating detail, of engaging in sexual romps with sailors and women all at the same time. It was, of course, entirely untrue, and concocted under the supervision of Sefton Delmer, who was heading the British 'black' propaganda effort.

Delmer's written justifications for his actions included the following :

"The pornographic element in these broadcasts was introduced deliberately, not for the sake of pornography in itself, but in order to attract listeners and gain their attention for the main objects of the station, viz. the undermining of confidence in the regime".

"We are of course not trying to win Germans to our side by this method; we are trying to turn Germans against Germans"

"No secret, subversive organisation can operate successfully if its operations are to be limited to what the moral standards of our country would require"

Delmer was defended by his superior, Reginald Leeper, who said that this was a war with the "gloves off".

This then, 70 years later, is what Pakatan faces in it's political battle with the BN. A war with the gloves off. And the BN little cares, that they are following Delmer's dictums, in their own nation, by turning Malaysian against Malaysian, using sexual psy-war. They have been doing it for quite a while, using racial issues, and are merely adding another element. Going one step further than Mr.Delmer, they also attempted to use their trashy little video, to win some PKR MPs to their side. Their attempt failed, and their clumsy agents were exposed.

All their efforts are focused on one man, Mr.Anwar Ibrahim. Break Mr.Anwar, they are convinced, and they will break Pakatan.

And they are quite willing to use tools of war, in peacetime. Instead of against an enemy nation, they use it against their own citizens. They are quite willing as well, to overlook all moral standards. There are no upright men like Sir Stafford Cripps, in the BN, to put their foot down. While the police, in the form of that selectively speedy investigator, Mr.Ismail Omar, engages in half-truths, to support the BN's black efforts.

The BN is decadent now, and immoral, and willing to go to any lengths, to cling on to power. Their faltering leader, Mr.Najib, attempts, with much monies paid to PR firms, to create a false image of wholesomeness for himself. It is a difficult task indeed, when his feet, are so squarely planted, in the gutter.

Regimes like that now run by the BN, if history is any indicator, must surely fall.

In Malaysia, An Entire Political Party, The DAP, That Supports Animal Abuse

In early March this year, a video made the rounds in Malaysia showing an individual kicking, beating and stomping several kittens to death. When the helpless, terrified kittens tried to hide in a drain, she used an umbrella to poke them to death. When the kitten's mother rushed to their rescue, she beat it away using her umbrella as a weapon. This is the link to the video Kitten torture and killing . It still haunts us.

The video made it's way to Facebook, and the individual was revealed to be a Chow Xiao Wei who resided in the Malaysian state of Selangor. She was soon subject to a barrage of criticism, and some threats, on the social media. Malaysia has laws that deal with such miscreants, though sadly, the maximum punishment is a 6 month jail term. This is never handed out, such criminals are usually let of with a USD 60 fine if they are at all brought to court.

What made this incident far worse and threatens even more the safety of helpless animals in Malaysia, is that a Malaysian political party, the DAP, decided to get involved on the side of the animal abuser. On March 6th, two DAP state representatives, Ean Yong and Teo Nie Ching, orchestrated a press conference to support and protect Chow Xiao Wei. Animal welfare activists and other compassionate citizens who gathered, outraged, outside the venue of this press conference, were at first not allowed inside. When they were finally allowed in, they were quickly stopped from asking questions by the DAP.

In a nation where poaching is rampant, cruel, ill-run and ill-monitored zoos are everywhere, and animal abuse is a daily but rarely exposed reality, the actions of a political party in supporting such abuse is a serious blow to animal welfare in Malaysia. One of the DAP representatives, Ean Yong, is reported, incredibly, to have said "It's just a cat".

Animal rights activists who later attempted to submit a memorandum to the DAP were met by deliberately closed doors and switched off front lights at the DAP's headquarters. A few days later, the activists went to Parliament and met with some of the DAP's elected MPs. They were entertained with scoffs and rudeness.

Not a single DAP leader or politician, has apologised or shown the least remorse for their actions. The DAP cares not for the welfare of animals. Animals, they reason perhaps, do not vote. Yet they try to pretend to be, a party that champions humane values!

Chow Xiao Wei, meanwhile, has not been brought to justice, and if were up to the DAP, never will be.

Eman Remains A Prisoner

Mr.Gaddafi, we thought Libyan State TV announced, is a drunken demented whore who is not at all like his sister. We were surprised! While the rest of it made sense, why on earth would Mr.Gaddafi be expected to be like his sister?

But we were mistaken. Libya's State TV had not suddenly decided to expose Mr.Gaddafi, they were instead engaged in attempting to assasinate Eman Al-Obeidi's character.

To our knowledge, Eman is a lawyer, and Wikipedia seems to think so too.

The Libyan authorities claim to have 'freed' her. We cannot say we believe them. If Eman was free, she would not be silent. Wherever she is, she is a prisoner of the state and we believe her family too is now threatened with danger.

She is or was held at the Libyan National Intelligence headquarters. What has National Intelligence got to do with a case of abduction and rape? The Washington Post, meanwhile, has reported that Eman's mother, Aisha Ahmed, was contacted and asked to convince Eman to "change her story" in return for "anything she wanted". Eman refused.

The Free Eman facebook page, has been 'liked' by UN Women, Nicole Kidman, Oprah, Queen Rania and Michelle Obama among others. Protests have been held calling for her to be freed all over the world. Though poor Eman, languishing in captivity, can have no way of knowing what a powerful symbol she has become.

Eman must be freed, and she must be freed now. She should be allowed the freedom to leave the country and she must be allowed the right to speak to the free press.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iman_al-Obeidi

Free Eman!

Eman Al-Obeidi is a Libyan woman who burst into a hotel in Tripoli filled with members of the international media. She recounted a harrowing tale of arrest, beatings and gang-rape by 15 members of Gaddafi's forces over a period of 2 days. Her crime was having a Benghazi address.

She was grabbed, threatened with a knife, had a tablecloth thrown over her head and was manhandled by Gaddafi's thugs into a white car which quickly sped away. Members of the international media who tried to free her were punched, slammed against the ground and their cameras smashed beyond recognition. We have seen a video by the Associated Press, which captured the incident. It is on YouTube, along with others.

This incident happened yesterday, March 26th, 2011. We do not know if Eman is alive and we do not know how long she will remain alive. Nor do we know, if still still alive, what tortures she is undergoing right now, even as you read.

We know it is pointless to appeal to that buffoon and cruel madman, Muammar Gaddafi, to immediately release Eman Al-Obeidi. But we call on India, on China and on Russia to ensure she is safe and she is freed. We know you have the means to free her. You have stood by and done nothing to help the beleaguered people of Libya and you harmed their cause by declining to support the no-fly zone. See what you have been party to, by supporting Gaddafi! If Eman Al-Obeidi is harmed, dead or 'dissapears', you are complicit.

Eman has already earned a place in Wikipedia and there is a facebook page calling for her to be freed, but she remains a prisoner, in the dark dungeons of a demented despot.


http://www.facebook.com/pages/Free-Iman-Al-Obeidi/204101406285342

"It's just a cat!" says DAP's Heartless Ean Yong

Ean Yong and Teo Nie Ching of the DAP have tried to white-wash the most obscene of crimes. Horrible tortures and killings commited against helpless little animals. The kittens were brutally, cruelly stomped to death by Chow Xiao Wei. Her act was caught on video or she would not have been speaking at this press conference, shamelessly pretending to be sorry.

The intent of these DAP reps was clearly to try to get this monster off the hook. Otherwise they would have sent her to the authorities and allowed the law to take it's course. They instead tried  to turn the perpetrator into the victim.They do not at all care about the horror, pain and terror that the kittens suffered in their last moments of life. Ean Yong went so far as to tell an ouraged caller(who will testify to it) that "It's just a cat".

Neither Ean Yong nor Teo Nie Ching are fit to be a part of DAP or any party espousing Universal Justice. They do not understand the meaning of compassion or humane values. They are no different from the BN that they criticise.

We call on DAP and its leader, Mr.Lim Kit Siang, to sack these despicable, uncaring representatives from his party. For if he does not, and we visit his blog where he calls for humane values often enough, he must be deemed hypocritical.

We call on Selangor's Pakatan Rakyat government and the Menteri Besar to immediately drop the callous Ean Yong from the State Exco. He is not fit to hold such high office, or any office at all.

And most certainly, neither of them should be on any Pakatan party's list of candidates for the next General Election.

UN Security Council Ignores The Owl!

We are shocked. The UN Security Council has chosen to ignore our advice to them on Libya.
( http://theowlcritic.blogspot.com/2011/02/stopping-massacre-in-tripoli.html)

They have done exactly what we cautioned them against; issued yet another meaningless condemnation. Which Mr.Gaddafi will dismiss with a contemptous wave of his silly Green Book.
And carry on killing. We know, because 20 minutes ago heavy gunfire was reported in Tripoli.

We admit to being a rather obscure blog with a somewhat minute readership. So, perhaps we will have to excuse them for dismissing us. But many others, including the former ambassadors of Libya, have suggested almost the same measures that we had. It remains, we believe, the only way to stop the madness.

Whatever is the use of the United Nations?
And of what good is their miserable Security Council?
They deny security to those who need it most desperately.
The Security Council, it seems, will never act. It is a helpless, dysfunctional Council.
They will always be vetoing each other, resulting in never-ending inaction.

Dissapointing too, is Mr. Obama's silence. We really had expected more from him than just a bunch of nice speeches. But he speaks not of Libya.
While Mrs.Clinton will not even mention Mr.Gaddafi's name.
Mr.Cameron meanwhile is touring Egypt. When he should be saving Libya.
The Italian Foreign Minister solemnly pronounces that 1,000 people have been killed. Yet does precisely nothing about it.

While Libyans live in fear in those areas that the raving Mr.Gaddafi still controls.

And fall to the remorseless bullets of his henious henchmen.

Stopping The Massacre In Tripoli

The UN Security Council meets today to discuss the madness in Tripoli. We hope they will not stop with some feeble condemnation or the other. As they too often do.

At least the following must be done :

No-Fly Zones
All  available reports clearly state that aircraft are being used to deadly effect, in one way or the other, against the civilian populace.
No-fly zones must immediately be declared over Libya. Passenger jets can continue. But none of Gaddafi's military aircraft or helicopters can be allowed to fly over Libya.

Unmanned Drones
The no-fly zones will not stop those military or mercenary units still loyal to Gaddafi from continuing their slaughter of Libyans on the ground.
Therefore, drones must fly over Tripoli. And we know how effective they are.
The threat of these drones alone may help to stop the on-ground massacre.
But if not, they will have to be activated.
And act against the remorseless killers.

War Crimes Tribunal
Should be set up right now. Whatever happens today or in the future, what has happened in the past few days must be investigated and those responsible indicted. They must be captured and tried.

No doubt there are other actions that can be taken.

We would like to note that the United Kingdom and the United States have a special moral responsibility to stop the violence in Libya. For they were involved in the supply of arms to a known, ruthless oppressor. And he has not hesitated to use those arms against his people.

The circumstances are desperate.

The United Nations must act decisively.

And act now.


Update : We have watched Mr.Gaddafi's rambling, out-of-touch, self-promoting lunatic speech. As he waved his silly green book about.
He has threatened to cleanse Libya house by house. He has said he will show no mercy. It is even more critical now for the international community to act swiftly.
-The Owl, 22nd February, 7:40 pm Libyan Time.

Where In The World Is Muammar Gaddafi?

We really are concerned about the poor fellow. We may have to report him missing.
Unless he's hiding in a cupboard and sulking, because he's lost control of most of Libya.

According to his Ambassador to China (who has resigned), he is in Venezuala.
Whatever could he be doing there?
Appearing in VTV's 'Yet Another Obnoxious Chat with Hugo' ?
No, that would be too much like talking to himself.

Could it be, that he is in London?
Buying yet another consignment of sniper rifles from the business-friendly British?
That he could then use with devastating effect on hapless, unarmed protesters.
No, they just halted arms sales to Libya.
After they had sold him everything he needed.

Is he in Washington?
They did, after all, outfit his brutal 2nd Brigade for him.
No, they're busy self-righteuosly blaming the British for selling him arms.

Detained by the Secret Police?
Don't think so.

Flying round and round in a plane while his country burns?
Nope, George W. Bush already did that.

Visiting his good friend, Silvio Berlusconi?
Possible.

In Chad, hiring more mercenaries?
Possible. He'll certainly be needing them.

In Saudi Arabia?
Where all good tyrants go to retire.
It worked for Idi Amin.
Tunisia's Ben-Ali is holed up there as well, claiming to be sick, now that Tunisia wants to extradite him.
We'll have to give it a possible.

Well, we can't figure it out. We give up.

But wherever he is, he really should have taken his idiot son with him.

He's only making things worse.

And In The Darkness Hang Them

Yong Vui Kong received a reprieve from the Court last month. He will not be hung, yet.

It is therefore not too late for him to be shown clemency.

Drug trials in Singapore have been tainted before. Once by a key prosecution witness who turned out to be a wrongdoer. And here by a presumptive Law Minister.

On 9th May 2010,  Mr. K. Shanmugam had this to say " Yong Vui Kong is young..."(a hopeful start)..."But if we let him go, what is the signal we are sending". Gasp! The Law Minister prejudges (almost instructs) the Courts. A week before it decides.
Even worse, he reveals a bloodthirsty rationale. He will see this man hung to 'send a signal'. An Incan Priest in a business suit.

Vui Kong had to start working at the age of 11. He was raised by a single mother. She earned a living washing dishes by the roadside for S$80 a month. The family lived in stark poverty, hunger and deprivation. At 16 he went to Kuala Lumpur to earn a living as a kitchen helper.

At 16, Mr. Shanmugam was at the Raffles Institution. No kitchen help, he. He would go on to NUS and earn a degree in Law. But no education at all, it would seem, in humane values, or the sanctity of life. He wishes to send men to the gallows to send 'signals'.

Vui Kong was uneducated, illeterate, poor and young, he was easy prey to be manipulated.

Spared and rehabilited, he would serve as well an example of the dangers of drugs.