Charlie Sheen: 20 minutes with Obama

A Despatch from Charlie Sheen:

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with our 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama, while he was out promoting his health care reform initiative. I requested 30 minutes given the scope and detail of my inquiry; they said I could have 20. Twenty minutes, 1200 seconds, not a lot of time to question the President about one of the most important events in our nation’s history. The following is a transcript of our remarkable discussion...


Charlie Sheen – Good afternoon Mr. President, thank you so much for taking time out of your demanding schedule.

President Barack Obama – My pleasure, the content of your request seemed like something I should carve out a few minutes for.

CS – I should point out that I voted for you, as your promises of hope and change, transparency and accountability, as well as putting government back into the hands of the American people, struck an emotional chord in me that I hadn’t felt in quite some time, perhaps ever.

PBO – And I appreciate that Charlie. Big fan of the show, by the way.

CS – Sir, I can’t imagine when you might find the time to actually watch my show given the measure of what you inherited.

PBO – I have it Tivo’d on Air Force One. Nice break from the traveling press corps. (He glances at his watch) not to be abrupt or to rush you, but you have 19 minutes left.

CS – I’ll take that as an invitation to cut to the chase.

PBO – I’m all ears. Or so I’ve been told.

CS – Sir, in the very near future we will be experiencing our first 9/11 anniversary with you as Commander in Chief.

PBO – Yes. A very solemn day for our Nation. A day of reflection and yet a day of historical consciousness as well.

CS – Very much so sir, very much so indeed... Now; In researching your position regarding the events of 9/11 and the subsequent investigation that followed, am I correct to understand that you fully support and endorse the findings of the commission report otherwise known as the ‘official story’?

PBO – Do I have any reason not to? Given that most of us are presumably in touch with similar evidence.

CS – I really wish that were the case, sir. Are you aware, Mr. President, of the recent stunning revelations that sixty percent of the 9/11 commissioners have publicly stated that the government agreed not to tell the truth about 9/11 and that the Pentagon was engaged in deliberate deception about their response to the attack?

PBO – I am aware of certain “in fighting” during the course of their very thorough and tireless investigative process.

CS – Mr. President, it’s hard to label this type of friction as “in fighting” or make the irresponsible leap to “thorough,” when the evidence I insist you examine regarding 6 of the 10 members are statements of fact.

(At this point one of Obama’s senior aides approaches the President and whispers into his ear. Obama glances quickly at his watch and nods as the aide resumes his post at the doorway, directly behind me.)

PBO – No disrespect Mr. Sheen, but I have to ask; what is it that you seem to be implying with the initial direction of this discussion?

CS – I am not implying anything Mr. President. I am here to present the facts and see what you plan to do with them.

PBO – Let me guess; your ‘facts,’ allegedly supporting these claims are in the folders you brought with you?

CS – Good guess Mr. President.

(I hand the first folder of documents to the President)

CS – Again sir, these are not my opinions or assumptions, this is all a matter of public record, reported through mainstream media, painstakingly fact checked and verified.

(the President glances into the folder I handed him)

CS – You’ll notice sir on page one of the dossier dated August of ‘06 from the Washington Post, the statements of John Farmer, senior council to the 9/11 commission, his quote stating, “I was shocked how different the truth was from the way it was described.”

PBO – (as he glances down at the report, almost inaudible) …. um hmm….

CS – He goes on to further state “The [NORAD Air Defense] tapes told a radically different story from what had been told to us and the public for two years….”

(the President continues to view the documents)

CS – On pages two and three, sir, are the statements, as well, from commission co-chairmen Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, commissioners Bob Kerrey, Timothy Roemer and John Lehman, as well as the statements of commissioner Max Cleland, an ex-Senator from Georgia , who resigned, stating:

“It is a national scandal. This investigation is now compromised. One of these days we will have to get the full story because the 9/11 issue is so important to America. But this White House wants to cover it up.”

He also described President Bush’s desire to delay the process as not to damage the ‘04 re-election bid. They suspected deception to the point where they considered referring the matter to the Justice Department for criminal investigation. Mr. President, this information alone is unequivocally grounds for a new investigation!

PBO – Mistakes were clearly made but we as a people and as a country need to move forward. It is obviously in our best interest as a democratic society to focus our efforts and our resources on the future of this great nation and our ability to protect the American people and our allies from this type of terrorism in the coming years.

CS – Sir, how can we focus on the future when THE COMMISSION ITSELF is on record stating that they still do not know the truth??

PBO – Even if what you state, might in some capacity, begin to approach an open discussion or balanced debate, I can’t speak for, or about the decisions certain commission members made during an extremely difficult period. Perhaps you should be interviewing them instead of me. Wait, don’t tell me; I was easier to track down than they were?

CS – Not exactly sir, but let’s be honest. You’re the President of the United States, the leader of the free world, the buck stops with you. 9/11 has been the pretext for the systematic dismantling of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Your administration is reading from the same playbook that the Bush administration foisted on America through documented secrecy and deception.

PBO – Mr. Sheen, I’m having a difficult time sitting here and listening to you draw distorted parallels between the Bush/Cheney regime and mine.

CS – Mr. President the parallels are not distorted just because you say they are. Let’s stick to the facts. You promised to abolish the Patriot Act and then voted to re-authorize it. You pledged to end warrantless wire tapping against the American people and now energetically defend it. You decried the practice of rendition and now continue it. You promised over and over again on the campaign trail, that you would end the practice of indefinite detention and instead, you have expanded it to permanent detention of “detainees” without trial. This far exceeds the outrages of the former administration. Call me crazy Mr. President, but is this not your record?

PBO – Mr. Sheen, my staff and I authorized this interview based on your request to discuss 9/11 and deliver some additional information you’re convinced I’d not previously reviewed. Call me crazy, But it appears as though you’ve blindly wandered off topic.

CS – Sir, the examples I just illustrated are a direct result of 9/11.


PBO – And I’m telling you that we must move forward, we must endure through these dangerous and politically challenging years ahead.

CS – Mr. President, we cannot move forward with a bottomless warren of unanswered questions surrounding that day and its aftermath.

PBO – I read the official report. Every word, every page. Perhaps you should do the same.

CS – I have sir, and so have thousands of family members of the victims, and guess what; they have the same questions I do and probably a lot more. I didn’t lose a loved one on that horrific day Mr. President and neither did you. But since then I, along with millions of other Americans lost something we held true and dear for most of our lives in this great country of ours; we lost our hope.

PBO – And I’d like to believe that I am here to restore that hope. To restore confidence in your leaders, in the system that the voting public chose through a peaceful transfer of power.

(An odd moment of silence between us. Precious time ticking away).

CS – Mr. President, are you aware of the number of days it took to begin the investigation into JFK’s assassination?

PBO – If memory serves I believe it was two weeks.

CS – Close. Seventeen days to be exact. Are you aware sir, how long it took to begin the investigation into Pearl Harbor?

PBO – I would say again about….two weeks.

CS – Close again sir, eleven days to be exact. Are you aware Mr. President how long it took to begin the investigation into 9/11?

PBO – I know it must have seemed like a very long time for all the grieving families.

CS – It was a very long time Mr. President – four hundred and forty days. Roughly 14 months. Does it bother you Mr. President that it only took FIVE HOURS for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld after the initial attack to recommend and endorse a full scale offensive against Iraq?

PBO – I am not aware of any such purported claim.

CS – I have the proof Mr. President, along with scores of documents and facts I’d like you to take a look at. Here.

(I hand him another file – much thicker than the first)

PBO – I see you came prepared Charlie.

CS – No other way to show up Mr. President. When in doubt over prepare I always say.

PBO – Now you sound like the First Lady.

CS – That’s quite a compliment sir.

PBO – As you wish. Please continue.


CS – Sir, I’d like to direct your attention to the stack of documents in the folder I just handed you. The first in from the top is entitled “ Operation Northwoods“, a declassified Pentagon plan to stage terror attacks on US soil, to be blamed on Cuba as a pretext for war.

PBO – And I’d like to direct your attention to the fact that the principle draftsman of this improbable blueprint was quickly denied a second term as Joint Chiefs chairman and sent packing to a European NATO garrison. Thank God his otherworldly ambitions never saw the light of day.

CS – I wouldn’t be so certain about that Mr. President.

PBO – I could easily say the same to you Charlie.

(the President checks his watch)

CS – The next document reads “Declassified staged provocations.” Now, Honestly Mr. President I wish I was making this stuff up. I’m certain you are familiar with the USS Maine Incident, the sinking of the Lusitania, which we all now know brought us into WW1, and of course the most famous, the Gulf of Tonkin incident.

PBO – Of course I am familiar with these historical events and I’m aware that there’s a measure of controversy surrounding them. But to be quite frank with you, this is all ancient history.

CS – Mr. President, it has been often said; “Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.” And I concede to you sir, these events are the past.

PBO – A vastly different world young man, shouldering a radically disparate state of universal affairs.

CS – No argument sir, I’m merely inviting you to acknowledge some credibility to the pattern or the theme. Case in point; the next document in your folder. It was published by the think-tank, Project For a New American Century and it’s entitled “ Rebuilding Americas Defenses“, and was written by Dick Cheney and Jeb Bush. To quote from the document sir – (the President interrupts)

PBO – “Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor.”

CS – Touche, sir. Your thoughts on this statement Mr. President?

PBO – I would call this a blatant case of misjudgment fueled by an unfortunate milieu of assumption. For some, the uninformed denial of coincidence.

CS – Interesting angle sir. Nevertheless, Vice President Cheney didn’t stop there. In early 2008, Pulitzer prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh and MSNBC, both reported that Cheney had proposed to the Pentagon an outrageous plan to have the U.S. Navy create fake Iranian patrol boats, to be manned by Navy Seals, who would then stage an attack on US destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz. This event was to be blamed on Iran and used as a pretext for war. Does any of this information worry you Mr. President? Should we just ignore it, until these realities can be dismissed years from now by our children, as ancient history as well?

PBO – Of course this information worries me, yet it’s not nearly as worrisome as you sitting here today suspiciously implying that 9/11 was somehow allowed to happen or even orchestrated from the inside.

CS – Mr. President I am not suspiciously implying anything. I am merely exposing the documents and asking the questions that nobody in power will even look at or acknowledge. And as I stated earlier, I voted for you, I believed in your message of hope and change. Mr. President I have come to you specifically hoping for a change. A change in the perception that our government has not yet made itself open and accountable to the people. These are your words Mr. President not mine. The lives of thousands were brutally cut short and those left behind to suffer their infinite pain are with me today Mr. President. They are with me in spirit and flesh, and the message we carry will not be silenced anymore by media fueled mantras insisting how they are supposed to feel. Deciding for them, for 8 long years, what can be thought, what can be said, what can be asked.

PBO – And I appreciate your passion, I appreciate your conviction. In spite of your concerns, in spite of what your data might or might not reveal, what you and the families must understand and accept is that we are doing everything we can to protect you.

CS – Mr. President , I realize we're very short on time, so please allow me to run down a list of bullet points that might illuminate some reasons why we don’t embrace the warm hug of Federal protection.

PBO – We’ve come this far. Fire away.

CS – Please keep in mind Mr. President everything I’m about to say is documented as fact and part of the public record. The information you are holding in your hands chronicles and verifies each and every point.

PBO – You have five minutes left. The floor is yours. Brief me.

CS – Thank you Mr. President. Okay, first; On the FBI’s most wanted list Osama Bin Laden is not charged with the crimes of 911. When I called the FBI to ask them why this was the case, they replied: “There’s not enough evidence to link Bin Laden to the crime scene,” I later discovered he had never even been indicted by the D.O.J.

CS – Number 2; FBI translator Sibel Edmonds, was dismissed and gagged by the D.O.J. after she revealed that the government had foreknowledge of plans to attack American cities using planes as bombs as early as April 2001. In July of ‘09, Mrs. Edmonds broke the Federal gag order and went public to reveal that Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda and the Taliban were all working for and with the C.I.A. up until the day of 9/11.

CS – Number 3; The following is a quote from Mayor Giuliani during an interview on 9/11 with Peter Jennings for ABC News. “I went down to the scene and we set up headquarters at 75 Barkley Street, which was right there with the Police Commissioner, the Fire Commissioner, the Head of Emergency Management, and we were operating out of there when we were told that the World Trade Center was going to collapse. And it did collapse before we could actually get out of the building, so we were trapped in the building for 10, 15 minutes, and finally found an exit and got out, walked north, and took a lot of people with us.”

WHO TOLD HIM THIS??? To this day, the answer to this question remains unanswered, completely ignored and emphatically DENIED by Mayor Giuliani on several public occasions.

CS – Number 4; In April 2004, USA Today reported, “In the two years before the Sept. 11 attacks, the North American Aerospace Defense Command conducted exercises simulating what the White House says was unimaginable at the time: hijacked airliners used as weapons to crash into targets and cause mass casualties.” One of the targets was the World Trade Center.

CS – Number 5; On September 12th 2007, CNN’s ‘Anderson Cooper 360′, reported that the mysterious “white plane” spotted and videotaped by multiple media outlets, flying in restricted airspace over the White House shortly before 10am on the morning of 9/11, was in fact the Air Force’s E-4B, a specially modified Boeing 747 with a communications pod behind the cockpit; otherwise known as “The Doomsday Plane”.

Though fully aware of the event, the 9/11 Commission did not deem the appearance of the military plane to be of any interest and did not include it in the final 9/11 Commission report.

CS – Number 6; Three F-16s assigned to Andrews Air Force Base, ten miles from Washington, DC, are conducting training exercises in North Carolina 207 miles away as the first plane crashes into the WTC. Even at significantly less than their top speed of 1500 mph, they could still have defended the skies over Washington well before 9am, more than 37 minutes before Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon, however, they did not return until after 9:55am.

Andrews AFB had no armed fighters on alert and ready to take off on the morning of 9/11.

CS – Number 7; WTC Building 7. Watch the video of its collapse.

CS – Number 8; Flight 93 is fourth plane to crash on 9/11 at 10:03am. V.P. Cheney only gives shoot down order at 10:10-10:20am and this is not communicated to NORAD until 28 minutes after Flight 93 has crashed.

Fueling further suspicion on this front is the fact that three months before the attacks of 9/11, Dick Cheney usurped control of NORAD, and therefore he, and no one else on planet Earth, had the power to call for military sorties on the hijacked airliners on 9/11. He did not exercise that power. Three months after 9/11, he relinquished command of NORAD and returned it to military operation.

CS – Number 9; Scores of main stream news outlets reported that the F.B.I. conducted an investigation of at least FIVE of the 9/11 hijackers being trained at U.S. military flight schools. Those investigations are now sealed and need to be declassified.

CS – Number 10; In 2004, New York firefighters Mike Bellone and Nicholas DeMasi went public to say they had found the black boxes at the World Trade Center, but were told to keep their mouths shut by FBI agents. Nicholas DeMasi said that he escorted federal agents on an all-terrain vehicle in October 2001 and helped them locate the devices, a story backed up by rescue volunteer Mike Bellone.

As the Philadelphia Daily News reported at the time, “Their story raises the question of whether there was a some type of cover-up at Ground Zero.”

CS – Number 11 – Hundreds of eye witnesses including first responders, fire captains, news reporters, and police, all described multiple explosions in both towers before and during the collapse.

CS – Number 12; An astounding video uncovered from the archives shows BBC News correspondent Jane Standley reporting on the collapse of WTC Building 7 over twenty minutes before it fell at 5:20pm on the afternoon of 9/11. Tapes from earlier BBC broadcasts show news anchors discussing the collapse of WTC 7 a full 26 minutes in advance. The BBC at first claimed that their tapes from 9/11 had been “lost” before admitting that they made the “error” of reporting the collapse of WTC 7 before it happened without adequately explaining how they could have obtained advance knowledge of the event.

In addition, over an hour before the collapse of WTC 7, at 4:10pm, CNN’s Aaron Brown reported that the building “has either collapsed, or is collapsing.”

CS – Number 13; Solicitor General Ted Olson’s claim that his wife Barbara Olsen called him twice from Flight 77, describing hijackers with box cutters, was a central plank of the official 9/11 story.

However, the credibility of the story was completely undermined after Olsen kept changing his story about whether his wife used her cell phone or the airplane phone. The technology to enable cell phone calls from high-altitude airline flights was not created until 2004. American Airlines confirmed that Flight 77 was a Boeing 757 and that this plane did not have airplane phones on board.

According to the FBI, Barbara Olsen attempted to call her husband only once and the call failed to connect, therefore Olsen must have been lying when he claimed he had spoken to his wife from Flight 77.


CS – Number 14; The size of a Boeing 757 is approximately 125ft in width and yet images of the impact zone at the Pentagon supposedly caused by the crash merely show a hole no more than 16ft in diameter. The engines of the 757 would have punctured a hole bigger than this, never mind the whole plane. Images before the partial collapse of the impact zone show little real impact damage and a sparse debris field completely inconsistent with the crash of a large jetliner, especially when contrasted with other images showing airplane crashes into buildings.

CS – Number 15; What is the meaning behind the following quote attributed to Dick Cheney which came to light during the 9/11 Commission hearings? The passage is taken from testimony given by then Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta.

During the time that the airplane was coming in to the Pentagon, there was a young man who would come in and say to the Vice President, “The plane is 50 miles out.” “The plane is 30 miles out.” And when it got down to “the plane is 10 miles out,” the young man also said to the Vice President, “Do the orders still stand?” And the Vice President turned and whipped his neck around and said, “Of course the orders still stand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?”


As the plane was not shot down, in addition to the fact that armed fighter jets were nowhere near the plane and the Pentagon defensive system was not activated, are we to take it that the orders were to let the plane find its target?

CS – Number 16; In May 2003, the Miami Herald reported how the Bush administration was refusing to release a 900-page congressional report on 9/11 because it wanted to “avoid enshrining embarrassing details in the report,” particularly regarding pre-9/11 warnings as well as the fact that the hijackers were trained at U.S. flight schools.

CS – Number 17; Top Pentagon officials cancelled their scheduled flights for September 11th on September 10th. San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, following a security warning, cancelled a flight into New York that was scheduled for the morning of 9/11.

CS – Number 18; The technology to enable cell phone calls from high-altitude airline flights was not created until 2004, and even by that point it was only in the trial phase. Calls from cell phones which formed an integral part of the official government version of events were technologically impossible at the time.

CS – Number 19: On April 29, 2004, President Bush and V.P. Cheney would only meet with the commission under specific clandestine conditions. They insisted on testifying together and not under oath. They also demanded that their testimony be treated as a matter of “state secret.” To date, nothing they spoke of that day exists in the public domain.

CS – And finally Mr. President – Number 20; A few days after the attack, several newspapers as well as the FBI reported that a paper passport had been found in the ruins of the WTC. In August 2004, CNN reported that 9/11 hijacker Ziad Jarrah’s visa was found in the remains of Flight 93 which went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

At least a third of the WTC victim’s bodies were vaporized and many of the victims of the Pentagon incident were burned beyond recognition. And yet visas and paper passports which identify the perpetrators and back up the official version of events miraculously survive explosions and fires that we are told melted steel buildings.

(The Senior aide appears again beside the President whispering in his ear. He then quickly moves off).

PBO – Well Charlie I can’t say this hasn’t been interesting. As I said earlier you’ve showed up today focused and organized. Regardless how I feel about the material you’ve presented, I must commend your dedication and zeal. However, our time here is up.

(the President rises from his chair , I do the same).

CS – Mr. President! One more second!

(The President starts towards the door – I follow him quickly step for step).

CS – Mr. President, I implore you based on the evidence you now possess, to use your Executive Power. Prove to us all Sir, that you do, in fact, care. Create a truly comprehensive and open Congressional investigation of 9/11 and its aftermath. The families deserve the truth, the American people and the rest of the free world deserve the truth. Mr. President -

(He pauses. We shake hands).

CS – Make sure you’re on the right side of history.

(The President breaks the handshake).

PBO – I am on the right side of history. Thank you Charlie, my staff and I will be in touch.

(I watch as he strides gracefully out of the room, the truth I provided him held firmly by his side; in the hand of providence.)

————————————————————————————————————————
A comprehensive bibliography containing all of the evidence presented above can be viewed at http://www.prisonplanet.com/20_minutes_bibliography.html

Author’s Note: What you have just read didn’t actually happen… yet.

This is an open letter to the President requesting a new investigation.

Charlie Sheen
9 August 2009

Uploaded 10 September 2009

BRINGING DOWN THE 9/11 HOUSE OF LIES ~ by Steve Bhaerman

RPK on the elaborate Altantuya cover-up

In 17 days it would have been 3 years since Altantuya Shaaribuu was abducted by Najib and Rosmah's bodyguards in front of Abdul Razak Baginda's residence. She was subsequently murdered in the most vicious manner imaginable and her body blown to a million pieces with military-grade C4 explosives.

Has the nation already forgotten? Can we possibly forget? Not as long as RPK lives!

Long live RPK!

Bagan Pinang: Two Datuks & One Tan Sri

Extracted from Steadyaku47:

Isa Abdul Samad is not sorry for his involvement in money politics – he is just sorry that he was caught.

Nobody is going to catch Isa giving away money in Bagan Pinang. But the money is there for the taking. And they have so much to give away that they need three guys to do it… and here is the thing. Isa and UMNO are not keen to throw money around themselves... no no no… they have got these three guys to do it for them. And not only that - they are not using Malays this time around.

And do not say that UMNO are not smart… sorry the word is ‘devious’. Do not think that UMNO is not devious. Isa/UMNO will be not using Malays. They will also not be using their own money (well, our money actually but that is a technicality – possession is nine-tenths of ownership)…. and UMNO and Isa want to physically keep as far away as they can from the actual giving of money.

They have managed to get three Chinese ‘volunteers’ to do it for them.

They have got three Chinese towkays - one a Tan Sri and two Datuks who have all benefitted from Isa’s era as MB of Negri Sembilan - to volunteer to help them in Bagan Pinang. As Najib and Isa have told these three - it is pay back time. They have made their money from business opportunities given to them by Barisan. Now it is time to donate towards Isa’s cause.

I know who the three are and I will name them:

Tan Sri Dr Gan Kong Seng

PK Resources Bhd (PLC)

Development of Nilai township (on the left is his brother Gan Kong Hiok)

Dato' Chua Tiong Moon

Era Baru Sdn Bhd

Property Development/Investment Holding Company (doing business in Negri Sembilan)

Dato' Yap Kat Boon

Different companies for different projects in Negri Sembilan (mostly JVs with Isa's proxies)

Even if we cannot stop these three towkays from giving away their money for UMNO, for Isa – if enough people know about this, at the least it will make them uncomfortable. It might shame them into doing it under the table. Let us show that we have the numbers to make a difference. Will you all do this for me, for our cause in Bagan Pinang and for all of us? Please do it NOW!

[Read the full story here.]

Road to Nowhere leads to Ecological Ruin

If the "road upgrading" was genuinely for the benefit of the Orang Asli, why make it wide enough for tour buses and lorries? Most of the villagers access their durian orchards on motorbike. Wouldn't the simplest, most cost effective solution be to present them with a small lorry?

The Selangor State government issued contractor Tan a stop-work order via the Ulu Selangor District Council on September 9th - and he did stop work for several days. But, as I expected, work soon recommenced on the instruction of Wong Koon Mun, the MCA state assemblyman for Kuala Kubu Bharu. Wong's story was that the Batin of Kg Pertak, Bidar Chik, had approached him to upgrade the access road to the Orang Asli's durian orchards and rubber plantations.

I've known Batin Bidar Chik (right) for nearly 18 years and I can't imagine him doing such a thing. First of all, Bidar isn't really all that concerned about "improving the lot" of his anak buah (community) ; he's only interested in two things, alcohol and money. And secondly, Bidar Chik is a wily old fox and he gave up on the authorities a long time ago. His cynicism is perfectly justified as I have never once in the 18 years I've resided in the area observed the Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli (Orang Asli Affairs Department) do anything positive for the community. They are only interested in two things: making a bit of money on the side from facilitating logging concessions, and converting as many Orang Asli as possible to Islam. In short, I seriously doubt that Bidar Chik would have had the initiative to approach Wong Koon Mun and ask that the road be upgraded. I'm told that Wong Koon Mun is trying to persuade Bidar Chik to appear at a press conference and claim that the road upgrading initiative was his idea. Contractor Tan has already handed Bidar a generous angpow (red packet stuffed with cash).

MCA Wong (pictured left) is apparently feeling a bit pressured. Various influential people have been calling the District Officer and asking about the illegal roadworks going on in Kg Pertak. No permit was applied for and no signboard was put up before the heavy equipment moved in. I am reliably informed - by the Special Branch, no less - that the person who lodged a police report against me was in fact Rapi - an Orang Asli from Kg Tun Abdul Razak (near Kuala Kubu Bharu). Rapi accuses me of conspiring with "foreigners" to block "development" for the Orang Asli. That's right, I'm channeling Bruno Manser - and that's a very serious crime in post-Mahathir Malaysia!

In fact, it was Rapi who first announced, about six months ago or more, that plans were afoot to widen the old logging trail that runs parallel to the Luit River. Rapi happens to be an Umno member and has been known to serve as middleman for many questionable schemes involving Orang Asli land. Rapi doesn't live in Kg Pertak. So why should he be so enthusiastic about "upgrading" the access road to the durian orchards? In any case, Wong Koon Mun's claim that Batin Bidar Chik of Kg Pertak requested his help to facilitate the roadworks must be taken with a very large pinch of salt.

Truth is, word has trickled to my ears that MCA Wong has been eyeing the area for some years. A local resident informed me that Wong had once attempted, unsuccessfully, to alienate several acres of forest reserve for himself. I haven't met Wong Koon Mun and have had no opportunity to ask him to his face if this rumor is indeed true - and even if I did, I'm quite sure he would vehemently deny it. After all, he's a Barisan Nasional stalwart - and everybody with even half a functioning brain cell knows that nobody joins the MCA except to enrich themselves at the public's expense. They are most definitely NOT in the MCA "to serve the Chinese community" - what more the Orang Asli!

Last week the entire village was abuzz with the maddening din of bushcutters. Some sort of massive gotong-royong (community project) had been initiated by the Orang Asli Affairs Department. It culminated with the erection of a bamboo arch near the village entrance. I asked my sister-in-law what the hubbub was in aid of, and she shyly told me that Najib was planning to visit Kg Pertak on October 14th.

What? The crime minister himself? What could possibly inspire him to make an official visit to my neck of the woods? Could he be a secret follower of my blog - and this "official visit" was merely an excuse to catch a glimpse of his hero?

I subsequently learnt that the bamboo arch wasn't intended to welcome Najib to Kg Pertak, after all. Some other bigwig - possibly Noh Omar, entrepreneur and cooperative development minister - was scheduled to make a grand tour of Ulu Selangor and ensure that the Orang Asli continue to vote BN.*

Whoever shows up, it's bad news for Mother Nature, especially if they're from Umno.

(Pertak pics courtesy of Ecowarriorz)

NEWSFLASH! NO SHOW FROM BN!
At 11:30AM, Friday, 2 October, Wong Koon Mun had planned a press conference in Kg Pertak to establish that the Orang Asli are in favor of the road upgrade (of course they are, since most people would like a smoother ride, but most people don't live in a densely forested catchment area!) The press would be present, and also T. Murugiah, minister in the PM's department in charge of the Public Complaints Bureau.

It is now 1:30PM. Reporters from Nanyang Siang Pau and The Star did show up, along with a group of concerned citizens who cherish the beauty of this area. District councillor Chua Yee Ling also made an appearance to brief the journalists. She said that the stand of the Selangor state government remains very clear and simple: no matter who initiated and funded the roadworks, they must abide by council regulations and ensure that the standard procedures are adhered to. Unfortunately, T. Murugiah canceled out at the last minute and Wong Koon Mun decided to stay put in his KKB office. The Star is now interviewing Batin Bidar Chik. The saga continues with no definite resolution...

ROAD TO NOWHERE ~ UPDATE

*As it turns out the bigwig in whose honor the bamboo arch was erected was not all that big - it was only Mohd Sani Mistam, director-general of the Orang Asli Affairs Department (JHEOA), who came to launch a 2-day "Rancangan Mesra Minda" which generated a kampong fun-fair atmosphere and a hideous amount of noise and rubbish in Kg Pertak.

One more reason why Malaysia Today is under severe attack!

Since Malaysia Today published leaked cabinet memos on 17 September revealing that the finance ministry had sought the BN government's approval and endorsement of the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone scam, knowing full well it was exposing future generations of Malaysians to colossal debt, the popular news portal founded by RPK has been under massive attack by paid hackers. On Sunday, 27 September, RPK released yet another explosive document that only served to provoke intensified attacks against MT. I managed to save the text and one image from MT before the site became inaccesssible. The least I can do in the face of such dirty tactics is to reproduce RPK's post for those who have yet to read it...

Another case under the OSA for the IGP to NFA

Two army officers were in the home of the then Deputy Prime Minister for about eight hours during the time Altantuya was supposed to have been murdered. Why they were there during those eight hours and who these two army officers are has not been revealed...

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The Malaysian government says Altantuya Shaariibuu was murdered between 10.00pm on October 19th and 1.00am on October 20th, 2006. That was the charge against Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar and that was what they were pronounced guilty of.

At 10.01pm on 19th October 2006, two unnamed army officers went to Najib Tun Razak’s house, according to log entry 6494 in the police guard book. (see scanned images of log 1a and log 2a below). These same two unnamed army officers left Najib’s house at 6.05am on 20th October 2006, according to log entry 6498 (see images of log 1b and log 2b below).

The purpose of the visit was never clarified.

This means these two army officers were in the home of the then Deputy Prime Minister for about eight hours during the time Altantuya was supposed to have been murdered. Why they were there during those eight hours and who these two army officers are has not been revealed.

From 10.01pm the night Altantuya was murdered until 6.05am the following morning, two army officers visited the Deputy Prime Minister and/or his wife. This is certainly a most odd time to visit a Deputy Prime Minister and/or his wife in their home. And what does one do for eight hours in someone’s home during the time most people would be fast sleep?

According to Fauzi, a driver, Rosmah Mansor left the official residence of the Deputy Prime Minister in Putrajaya at 6.48am on 19th October 2006 using car registration number WLQ 11 to return to her private home in Taman Duta. The car odometer reading was 86,197. That same evening, Rosmah attended a function near the Tabung Haji building in Jalan Tun Razak in Kuala Lumpur

She did not return home until 11.20pm later that night, according to Fauzi.

The next day, 20th October 2006, Rosmah left her official residence in Putrajaya at 6.32am using the same car bearing registration number WLQ 11 to, again, return to Taman Duta. She also ran a few errands and did not return to Putrajaya until 1.01am the following morning.

The odometer reading was 86,315.

On the third day, Rosmah repeated the itinerary. She left Putrajaya at 6.40am to return to her Taman Duta home and to run some errands and did not go back to Putrajaya until 9.34pm that night. The odometer reading was 86,550.

Over three days, Rosmah travelled more than 350 kilometres to shuttle from Putrajajaya to Taman Duta, plus to some other places in between, according to the records.

I suggest the IGP investigate how these 'officials secrets' managed to leak out and whether the Official Secrets Act (OSA) has been breached. Or maybe the IGP would rather bury the whole issue and file it under No Further Action (NFA) to save the Prime Minister and his wife from having to answer some very embarrassing questions.

Hmm... I wonder who these two unnamed army officers are and whether they were really at the Deputy Prime Minister's house those entire eight hours or whether they sneaked out and in again without any 'official record'.

Ooh, I just love the OSA that protects the wrongdoer and instead sends the whistleblower to jail.

Log 1a

Log 2a

Log 1b

Log 2b

To enlarge click on images

Mongolia unimpressed by Najib's "1Malaysia"

Living in the shadow of Najib’s 1 Malaysia

Tunku Aziz | Malaysian Insider | 26 Sept 2009

SEPT 26 — I was in Seoul last Monday to participate in the World Forum for Democratisation in Asia (Third Biennial Conference) on “Sustaining Democratisation in Asia: Challenges of Economic and Social Justice” with some 200 delegates from Asia and the United States.

The conference brought together people from diverse backgrounds and of all ages, to seek ways of strengthening, and arresting the rapidly declining state of democracy in their countries. These men and women, all with impeccable credentials as human rights advocates, shared many of the same democratic values that have inspired human beings through the ages, all over the world, to make great personal sacrifices against humanly impossible odds in the name of justice and freedom from the tyranny of state-sanctioned human rights abuses, such as we are subjected to in Malaysia regularly.

I spoke on the panel on “Citizen Participation and Political Accountability.” In the audience were participants from Indonesia, the US, India, Cambodia, Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia and Mongolia, among others.


I thought I was doing well, having made some rather important points on the need for citizens to take charge of their own destiny as freedom was far too important to be left to the tender mercies of politicians, many of whom were charlatans at best and untrustworthy to boot. I mentioned as an example how citizens’ active participation in the March 2008 general election in my country had succeeded in changing, albeit ever so slightly, the 50-year corrupt political landscape, a feat that was nothing short of miraculous given the corrupt and repressive environment against which they were fighting to change.

I must confess that I was somewhat surprised that interest in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s “baggage” had extended beyond the shores of Malaysia. Blame the borderless cyber technology for this unwelcome attention. Before I could finish my final remark, I was stopped dead in my tracks by the personable Yale- and Princeton-educated Ms. Oyungerel Tsedevdamba, advisor to the President of Mongolia. She wanted to know, in the nicest possible way, why Malaysian citizens had voted for a person of Najib’s known reputation to assume the highest political office, and, she continued, was it true that in the Altantuya Shaariibuu trial, the Malaysian judiciary was acting improperly to protect Najib?

We do not, of course, have direct prime ministerial elections in Malaysia. I explained that the prime minister was elected by his party; Umno. It says more about the integrity of the party than perhaps the person it elected to high office. Now, I am not unused to being asked all kinds of questions in my years of public speaking, both at home and abroad, but this, about the murder trial of Altantuya threw me off balance.

Ms Tsedevdamba was putting the proverbial cat among the pigeons. It caused a real flutter in my dovecot, no pun intended. My character and integrity would be put under close scrutiny, effectively on trial, and as in any trial, telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth would, I thought, be the best policy.

I am fiercely patriotic, proud of our many achievements in a number of important areas, but like many of you I often hang my head in utter shame and humiliation when I see the cynical manipulation of democratic principles by a government that seems to have lost its moral capital by developing an unethical and immoral political behaviour into a fine art form. To them who govern this country, the end would seem to justify the means.


In this respect, it is useful to remind ourselves what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when he was Prime Minister, used to proclaim, without a tinge of embarrassment, that we were a democracy because we held regular elections. It was not important to the emasculator (or perhaps constrictor is a more appropriate word in his case) of human rights that they might not always have been free and fair. What Dr Mahathir and his Umno friends have never appreciated, or deliberately failed to acknowledge, is the fact that democracy is not just about elections. It is what happens between elections that really is the point at issue...

[Read the full story here.]

Tunku Aziz, one of the prime movers in setting up Transparency International Malaysia, in happier times was regarded by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi as "one man (who) was able to harness his personal passion and deep commitment to the values of ethics and integrity, give it a larger purpose and meaning, and turn it into a force to transform society for the better." Why then was he left out of the MACC Advisory Group? He is regarded as being too outspoken for comfort and, therefore, difficult to handle.

Death of a former Mentri Besar

[From Malaysia Today...]

Ex-Pahang MB Abdul Rahim Abu Bakar dies

KUALA LUMPUR (25 Sept 2009) -- Former Pahang Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Rahim Abu Bakar died at his home in Jalan U Thant here at 7.10pm yesterday, believed to be due to a heart attack. He was 66. Abdul Rahim leaves a wife and four children — Roslina, 37, Rosnita, Mohd Rizal, 32, and Rosazreen, 25 and four grandchildren.

Abdul Rahim was born on February 7, 1943, in Beserah, Kuantan and started his political career as the state assemblyman for Beserah after winning the seat in the 1978 general election. An economics graduate from Universiti Malaya, he was Pahang Menteri Besar from July 19, 1978 to November 7, 1981. — Reuters

RPK's rousing tribute to Rahim Bakar


Rahim Bakar was a most outspoken individual and the Pahang rakyat loved him. He would blast away, even in public, and there were no ‘sacred cows’ as far as he was concerned. In fact, whenever there were palace spies around, Rahim Bakar would purposely raise his voice so that they could hear what he says. Then he would sit back with an amused look on his face to see the spies scurry away to report to the Pahang Sultan what Rahim Bakar just said.

The best way and no other way to describe the relationship between the Menteri Besar and the Palace was that they were in a state of war. Rahim Bakar whacked the Sultan to kingdom come and he did not care a damn what the repercussions would be.

At that time, the Prime Minister was Tun Hussein Onn, a jewel and no-nonsense of a man. He was brought up in the British tradition and acquired his discipline in the British army. Hussein Onn would not tolerate any shit and in spite of his Johor Palace links he would keep the Royal Family on a tight leash and would offer them no slack.

It was always an unwritten rule that the nine Malaysian rulers would be allowed certain ‘excesses’. For states like Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Perak, and so on, these excesses would include large tracts of timber concessions. States like Negeri Sembilan, which did not have too much timber land left, the ‘concessions’ would be in the form of pig farm licences. Why do you think they call that state Negeri Sembilan Darul Khinzir?

The Sultans would be given a certain timber ‘quota’ every year, which they are expected to use wisely. Most Sultans would have Chinese partners to work the timber concessions and for Pahang it was the infamous ‘Tengku’ Wong ...

[Read the full story here.]

Dr Rafick speaks out on the rakyat's behalf

SULTAN OF THE PEOPLE?

by Dr Rafick
25/09/09

I received a call last night from a retired Army General of the Royal Malay Regiment raising his concern after watching some shocking news coming from the Sultan of Pahang which was shown on TV. His phone call led me to browse through the online Mainstream Media (MSM) and the online alternative media. It was abuzz with the news that the Sultan of Pahang had called upon the people to continue to support the BN government while officiating the opening of a bridge in Pahang.

I was equally shocked to hear what was uttered by HRH Sultan. In my mind, HRH has overstepped his professional, Royal and legal boundaries. His act of crossing these boundaries worries me as it might lead to bigger things in this country especially after the action of the Sultan of Perak and the King (Sultan of Terengganu) in handling the Perak and Terengganu constitutional crises respectively.

The law is very clear on the role of a Sultan. His role includes the appointment of MB’s as well as the religious head of the state. He is to remain neutral for the sake of the Rakyat. They used to be completely immune from prosecution until Tun Mahathir changed the laws. He has to be non-partisan and must make an effort to ensure that he remains neutral in all aspects of governance. When the Sultan makes a statement supporting a particular political party, it creates ill feeling among the Rakyat.

[Read the rest of Dr Rafick's clearheaded essay here.]

Dr Rafick, you're a wise old owl and I appreciate your guts in pointing out where the Sultan of Pahang has overstepped the bounds of royal decorum in urging people to vote Barasan Najis. Will he be appearing in ads next for airlines, casinos, and resorts? The Sultan of Perak stopped short of publicly endorsing Najib and Umno - but his refusal to dissolve the Perak state assembly in accordance with the request of the rightful mentri besar, Nizar Jamaluddin, certainly speaks volumes.

RPK, the ISA, and solitary confinement

RPK talks about the first ISA detention and his treatment under police detention and in solitary confinement. Continuing the series of interviews with Raja Petra Kamarudin - founder of Malaysia Today, thorn in the side of Najib's evil regime, and freedom fighter in exile.

Brought to you by C4productionhouse.

A forest is not an oil palm plantation!

To view animation click HERE!

Defend life - International Day Against Tree Monocultures, 21 September 2009

A community service message from the World Rainforest Movement. To embed this animated presentation on your blog, go here!

Zaid Ibrahim on Human Rights

"There are many who see the promotion of human rights as a threat to order and security and inconsistent with stability and public order. Others see it as detracting from more pressing economic issues which, they argue, should take precedence. Some have argued that because we have different cultural values, the concept needs to be modified and that it is necessary for us to be very selective of the kind of human rights we can have. But let us be clear.

Human rights do not challenge social stability and development. On the contrary, [human rights] promote these ideals by recognising the value and importance of each and every individual in society. What human rights do challenge, by definition, is authoritarianism."

Zaid Ibrahim and Tok Guru Nik Aziz exchange books as Anwar Ibrahim looks on with pleasure.

"Human rights are not and have never been a luxury wish list; they are not about promoting the rights of the individual without regard to the rights of the community. They are not about promoting selfish individualism as some would have us believe. They are about treating people with respect, with due regard to the due process of the law. If we have no capacity to respect the dignity and the rights of one individual, then be assured that we will also have no capacity to respect the dignity and the rights of many."

~ Zaid Ibrahim (keynote speech delivered on International Human Rights Day, 11 December 2008)

Zaid in animated conversation with human rights advocate Tian Chua.

Zaid Ibrahim on the Rule of Law

"The Rule of Law has no meaning if judges, especially apex court judges, are not prepared to enter the fray in the struggle for the preservation of human rights and the fundamental liberties.

Supreme Court judges in other jurisdictions have done so time and again. Though it is far less difficult to accommodate the will of the government, that must be resisted at all costs, particularly where justice so demands. Only then can we say that Malaysia is grounded on the Rule of Law.

To all our judges I say discard your political leanings and philosophy. Stick to justice in accordance with the law. As Lord Denning reminded us: Justice is inside all of us, not a product of intellect but of the spirit. Your oath is to the Constitution; shield yourself behind it. Without your conviction, democracy is but a concept."

~ Zaid Ibrahim (from a speech delivered at the LawAsia Conference, 30 October 2008)


"LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO VOTE UMNO!" ~ Hussein Abdul Hamid

Let Them Eat Ketupat! Selamat Hari Raya!

Originally posted on 10 January 2009, I'm reposting this mainly because it opens with a nice picture of ketupats...

Life will never again be the same after March 8th, 2008. Not for any of the political parties whose fortunes have seen unprecedented reversals, nor for the quiet-living, tax-paying citizen. And certainly not for those of us who contribute to the nation by writing, reporting, performing on stage, or conjuring images in our studios.

What's so different about life after the political tsunami?

Obviously, the status quo is no longer static. Change is in the air and what seemed like an immovable object (the Umno/BN regime) has now encountered an irresistible force (the rapidly rising tide of an awakened and empowered rakyat).


In the aftermath of the March 8th tsunami, the "immovable" object was seen to have been swept half-a-mile downstream and turned upside down with its backside exposed for all to see and snigger at. Like the "unsinkable" Titanic that ignominiously sank, the "immovable" Umno/BN not only has undeniably been moved, it's in imminent danger of being forcibly removed altogether.

For more than half a century UMNO and its chief concubines MCA and MIC represented the vested interests of the propertied classes: the Malay aristocracy, the upper echelons of well-heeled Malayans and, of course, the foreign industrialists. It was a distinctly rightwing administration whose greatest fear and worst enemy was the bogus bogeyman called Communism. It tolerated a limited amount of pinkness in the form of strictly regulated trade unions and a feeble though stoical socialist party which for years featured the head of an ox against an industrial cog as its symbol (thereby defining itself as the political voice of no-longer-mute beasts of burden).

After the 13 May 1969 coup d'etat which saw the first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman deposed by a military-style National Operations Council led by Abdul Razak bin Haji Hussein, the electoral map was redrawn to ensure that there wasn't the remotest possibility of any opposition party becoming so strong it could serve as a viable alternative to what was now ill-advisedly called Barisan Nasional or the National Front (which immediately brings to mind the British Neo-Nazi Party of the same name).


So it was pretty much business-as-usual for BN for more than three decades. As happened in the United States, business began to merge with politics until the demarcation between public and private interests became invisible. Entrepreneurs and bureaucrats hopped into bed together and gleefully screwed the comatose public for all it was worth.


Mahathir's 22-year reign as prime minister saw the rise of Rupert Murdoch wannabes like Robert Kuok, Ananda Krishnan, Vincent Tan, Yeoh Tiong Lay, Lim Goh Tong and Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary. These card-carrying capitalists were empire-builders driven by their unstoppable ambition to be listed in Forbes Top 100. It's impossible not to tip one's hat in recognition of their vision, perseverance and sheer stamina. Yet they could never have amassed their vast fortunes without becoming intimate buddies with whosoever held the reins of political power.

And, of course, hobnobbing with power has unwholesome ramifications. More often than not. it's well-nigh impossible to draw a line between fair and foul practice. An old Greek saying cynically advises:

If you want to sleep well, make friends with your wife.
If you want to get fat, make friends with your mother-in-law.
If you want to get rich, make friends with the chief of police.


Nor could these go-getters have become billionaires by being overly sensitive to environmental and social issues. Many successful entrepreneurs find it advantageous to their public image to be seen as philanthropists - and many subscribe to "corporate social responsibility" programs whereby a tiny portion of their unimaginable profits is plowed back to the community in various ways.

A giant property consortium turned a verdant valley once populated by an Orang Asli community into a commercial-industrial wasteland. In exchange for their ancestral land each Orang Asli family was given a double-story link house plus a shophouse for them to rent out. A couple dozen kids were offered scholarships to study modern construction methods.

It all made for good PR, no doubt: spending RM335,000 of public funds on a special ceremony officiated by the PM to which all the Orang Asli headmen were invited and treated to one night's stay in a 3-star hotel, with a pair of leather shoes and a smart jacket thrown in. Nevertheless, what the developer had really done was erase the culture and memory of this Orang Asli community. Severed from their emotional links to the land, indigenous people soon cease to exist as such and become assimilated with the dominant culture.

Making a pile of money from ecocide and ethnocide is hardly laudable. I call these ill-gotten gains - like getting rich from turning youngsters into drug addicts and prostitutes. What if you're not directly involved with such unsavory activities - but happen to serve some big-shot wheeler-dealer as, let's say, his legal advisor or advertising and PR consultant? Does that make the money you earn any cleaner?

Looking at it from the strictly professional viewpoint, should a tailor refuse to make a suit for an underworld kingpin with blood on his hands? Should a dentist turn away a sex maniac minister who has been known to commit statutory rape? Not if the dentist happens to be a rapacious former chief minister, I suppose...

It would be practically impossible to do business if value judgments had to be applied to every situation. What if you happen to be chief legal advisor to Umno and have just been roped in to oversee a particularly shady operation? Or if you were a PR consultant whose professional services have been recruited to reverse the negative spin on the DPM's public image?

Supposing you were married to a high-powered banker and your hubby was invited to dinner at the finance minister's residence. Would you dress up in all your finery and make small talk with a woman everybody believes is capable of cold-blooded murder?

These are very real dilemmas plaguing a few of my former friends. I say "former" because a couple of them recently dropped me from their guest list as a result of my trenchant political views. It saddens me, to be sure, that in these times of tumultuous sea and sky changes, friends and even families are being split down the middle by polarized political affiliations.

I can imagine a similar situation playing out in America shortly after Bush ordered the bombing of Baghdad. What if you were at a family Christmas dinner and one of your brothers-in-law just happened to be a senior executive at Raytheon Enterprises - one of the top-earning defense contractors in America - and he thought extremely highly of Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice? Would you, for the sake of diplomacy, stick to remarks about the weather and concentrate on the food?

Popular legend has it that Marie Antoinette, when informed that the peasants were rioting, wanted to know what it was all about. One of her attendants informed her that it was because the poor could no longer afford to buy bread. "Then let them eat cake!" Marie allegedly responded.*

I can already picture a similar scenario developing in Malaysia as the effects of the financial meltdown and widespread joblessness begin to be felt. As always it's the working class with low cash reserves that feels the pinch first. We're not far from the day half a million hungry poor will be on the streets demanding an increase in their weekly rice ration. And some Toh Puan daintily ensconced in a 24-million-ringgit mansion will turn to her maidservant and huff, "So let them eat ketupat!"
_______

*I plead artistic licence with this well-worn and totally spurious anecdote. Marie Antoinette was much maligned in France simply because she happened to be Austrian. In truth she never actually made such a crass remark. My apologies to the memory of this hapless Hapsburg princess who suffered much and was grievously misunderstood.