Malaysia's 7th prime minister (updated)

[This was originally posted 12 November 2009. Much has changed since then and I have added fresh commentary in green. However, one thing hasn't changed: I remain convinced that Anwar Ibrahim deserves our wholehearted support and that he is still Malaysia's best hope at this point. I believe that Anwar is the only leader that can drive the final nail into the coffin of Mahathirism - the cynical, twisted, materialistic ideology that got the nation bogged down in the deep shit of devious divisiveness.]


Like millions of other Malaysians I was looking forward gleefully to witnessing a Pakatan Rakyat government installed in Putrajaya after 16 September 2008 - with Anwar Ibrahim as our sixth prime minister.

Sixth... or seventh... it doesn't matter. I remain convinced that Anwar has the necessary experience to steer the nation clear of some treacherous reefs looming ahead.

Some of my friends say they would rather see Zaid Ibrahim (right) as PM. I'm a great admirer of Zaid Ibrahim and have no problem seeing him become prime minister one of these days.

[Well, this no longer holds true. Zaid Ibrahim has, by his own actions, disqualified himself from consideration as a trustworthy leader. He has revealed himself as egotistical, petty-minded and vindictive. Worst of all, he now enjoys the tacit support of BN and many believe he was an Umno mole all along.]

For that matter, Nizar Jamaluddin has also been described as prime minister material - but before he stands a chance of being appointed to the nation's highest office, his political party will have to shed some of the theological deadwood it is currently burdened with.

[It was reported yesterday that Hadi Awang bumped into Najib on the Sarawak campaign trail and hugged him warmly. That not only gives me the creeps, but I worry about PAS leaders like Hadi Awang, Nashrudin Mat Isa and Hasan Ali who seem unable to resist Umno's horny pheromones.]

In any case, so long as Anwar Ibrahim is in good health and willing to take on the responsibility, I would still prefer that the PM's job go to him. Not only does he have 16 years' experience under his belt as part of the Umno/BN regime under Mahathir, but he has also been initiated into the shadow side of power. Anwar has an intimate understanding of how precarious and illusory worldly power and status can be, having been at the receiving end of Mahathir's gross abuse of power back in 1998.

I'm convinced that anyone who has survived such a nightmarish ordeal would have learned to cherish the true meaning of freedom and justice.

Nurul Izzah Anwar, a member of parliament at 28

Apart from Anwar's phenomenal charisma as an orator and political reformer, he is supported by the magnificent Wan Azizah whose compassion, dignity and strength stand her in excellent stead as a prime minister's wife the entire nation can wholeheartedly love and respect. Not only that, their beautiful daughter Nurul Izzah has proven her mettle as an articulate, intelligent and plucky leader and has all the qualities necessary to someday become Malaysia's first female PM. (Not that I'm in favor of political dynasties - but being born into a political family does provide a strong foundation for handling the stresses and strains of leadership.)

More than a year after Anwar's abortive 916 plan to take over the reins of government, the political situation is totally bogged down in sinister intrigue while outrageous shenanigans continue to be perpetrated with impunity by the Umno/BN regime under Mr Pink Lips (right) - the crime minister appointed by 190 Umno division chiefs - and endorsed by the Malay rulers and the Bumoid Kakistocracy aka the Corporate Umnoputra.

A few of my moneyed friends have expressed their reservations about having Anwar Ibrahim as PM. Some parrot Mahathir and Daim Zainuddin's heavy hints about Anwar's cozy ties with key agents of the New World Order cabal and their Zionist banker connections. They're wary of the fact that Anwar is respected by well-known Neocons like Paul Wolfovitz and has access to a global network of influential names in academia and the mass media. Unlike Najib, Anwar Ibrahim doesn't have to pay millions to some Jewish PR agency to have the international media paint a rosy image of him as a leader.

Umno apologists just don't get it. These so-called Zionist plutocrats - men like George Soros (left), the Rothschilds, and the Rockefellers - admire intelligence and statesmanship and, of course, they are constantly trying to recruit new blood into their ranks. If they have indeed been courting Anwar, it simply means they believe Anwar is well worth luring into their inner circles - just as they at one time invited the likes of Lee Kuan Yew and Mahathir Mohamad to participate in closed-doors Bilderberg conferences. In the geopolitical arena one has to acknowledge that power has been jealously guarded for countless centuries by a secretive elite via interlocking fraternities like the Freemasons, Knights of Malta, and the Rotarians. The heads of these fraternities are members of even more exclusive and secretive mystical orders with names like the Priory of Sion, Opus Dei, the Bavarian Illuminati, and Ordo Templi Orientis.

Their deadly grip on power appears indomitable and absolute. But that's merely an illusion. Truth is, the cracks have become huge enough for new reality options to hatch from within these occult power centers.

David Mayer de Rothschild (born 25 August 1978), adventurer & environmentalist

As always their own descendants - the children and grandchildren of Evelyn Rothschild and David Rockefeller, for example, will break the family mold and mutate in ways unforeseen. Like a tower struck by lightning, the entire edifice of hereditary power and wealth will quickly crumble as the New World Order manifests as something its original planners would never in a million years have imagined possible.

[In any case, linking Anwar with the Zionist-Illuminati Cabal no longer makes sense in view of Najib and Rosmah's expensive affair with the Zionist-owned public relations firm, APCO Worldwide, which is being paid hundreds of millions to repair Najib Razak's severely tainted public image and puff up his international standing. APCO's specialty appears to be keeping tinpot despots in power.]

As a brilliant and charming deputy prime minister cum finance minister, Anwar had apparently attracted the attention of these global powerbrokers. Perhaps he had been emboldened by their tacit support to make his power play against the recalcitrant Mahathir in mid-1997 - which triggered a vindictive and violent reaction from both Daim Zainuddin (above, right) and Mahathir who represented the vested interests of the Umnoputra elite that had burgeoned during Mahathir's 22-year premiership.

Those who had grown fat in the mid-1980s and early 1990s from Mahathir's largesse were naturally incensed by what they perceived as Anwar Ibrahim's impatience and impertinence. He had to be forcefully put down as an example to other would-be upstarts within the ranks of Umno. This explains the ferocity and sheer viciousness of their attack against Anwar in 1998. [And why they decided to dust off the sodomy script and whack him again with it in June 2008... and when that plot laughably fizzled out, they fished out that dubious "Datuk T" sex video.]

Reformasi 1998, Indonesia, brought down Suharto

It was nothing less than a political crucifixion. Just as two thousand years ago the entrenched Jewish priesthood and the obese merchants in Palestine were terrified of the master Yeshua's populist message of reform and renewal - the feudal power establishment in Malaysia was severely rattled by the close proximity of the same groundswell of massive rebellion that swept Suharto and his dynasty from power right next door in Indonesia.

Reformasi 1998, Malaysia: Anwar calls for Mahathir's resignation

The Umno old guard isn't quite dead yet. Mahathir still growls as he paces and prowls in growing frustration, watching Umno warlords repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot and dig themselves deeper and deeper into their own graves. Quietly monitoring the political shifts since 8 March 2008 from his invisible vantage point, former finance minister Daim Zainuddin makes hardly a sound - but he has been busy behind the scenes, doing whatever he can and must to thwart Anwar's ambitions to become PM.

As for the Malay rulers, they have been compromised - particularly since the mid-1980s - by their immersion in entrepreneurial pursuits - an unhealthy trend that escalated following Mahathir's usurpation of their traditional authority. Few of them have any head for business, so they are largely dependent on a shadowy cadre of Umnoputra tycoons and the fly-by-night financial adventurers who serve as their advisors and proxies.

This is certainly an untenable and unwholesome situation. The royal houses must decide very soon whether to throw their lot in with the collapsing Umnoputra house of cards - or to discreetly extricate themselves from further involvement in the sordid world of business - a realm where their royal stature is susceptible to being irreversibly tarnished and brought into severe disrepute. They cannot carry on dabbling in business, getting entangled in constant conflicts of interest or risking legal action when their enterprises go bust - and yet expect the public to shut up and keep paying their royal allowances.

I was telling some friends recently that the political atmosphere during the Mahathir Era was horribly stifling, especially after 1986 when his power faced serious challenges. But, strangely, things feel even worse today - not necessarily because Najib is crueler and more ruthless than his cynical puppetmaster - but simply because the Internet can now reveal the full extent of Umno/BN's criminal mismanagement, complete with charts and tables and long lists of figures.


Thanks to the emergence in Cyberspace of loose cannon maverick royals like Raja Petra Kamarudin - whose access to "official secrets" and whose ability to expose and destroy the rogue regime we call Umno/BN (along with all who stubbornly cling to their ill-gotten gains and their obscene privileges) should never be underestimated - those of us who genuinely love this country still have many strategic options apart from migrating.


As RPK has so admirably shown by positioning himself out of harm's way and continuing to fire salvo after salvo at the fortress of the Wicked Queen, it's futile trying to scare bloggers into silence. You can haul up and question a few - but at what cost to your expensively tailored international image? And for every Malaysian-based blogger who gets intimidated into silence, a hundred outspoken bloggers based abroad will emerge to carry on the information war.

[RPK launched the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement as a "Third Force" when he realized that Anwar Ibrahim had his own way of doing things that didn't always coincide with RPK's strong opinions. These two men are extremely charismatic but very different in temperament. Anwar is a natural-born fiery orator, diplomat and political strategist; while RPK enjoys the role of flamboyant revolutionary and gunslinging political Paladin, six-shooters blazing from both holsters. RPK has never run for political office and remains fiercely independent in his championing of justice. However, what troubles me is that RPK maintains an affable, hand-kissing relationship with Dr Mahathir and recently met with Sanusi Junid, who was sent to the UK as Dr M's emissary to persuade RPK to disassociate himself from Anwar Ibrahim. RM10 million was dangled as a carrot. RPK says he turned it down, even though he was momentarily tempted.]

One of the perks of amassing a vast fortune is to be admired and applauded wherever you go. However, if your reputation sinks to the level of infamous rogues like Robert Mugabe, Augusto Pinochet, Ferdinand Marcos, Slobodan Milošević, General Than Shwe, Kim Jong-Il, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney... you'd probably be wishing you could have been half as talented as Michael Jackson instead... or twice as dead.

When will BN stop raping Sarawak?

This was posted 28 January 2009. On the eve of the Sarawak elections, I dedicate this reposting to the beautiful, free peoples of Sarawak. To the victory of the people!More landslide losses for UMNO ahead? (Pic courtesy of Michael Chick)

LOGGING OPERATIONS CAUSE DEADLY LANDSLIDES

Tony Thien | Jan 28, 09 11:11am

The landslide in Upper Limbang in northern Sarawak that caused the death of three people and injured seven others is a direct consequence of destructive logging practices, according a Swiss-based NGO, Bruno Manser Fund (BMF).

The landslide is the third in just over a week in Sarawak. On January 16, a landslide killed two workers at a petrol station near the city of Miri in northern Sarawak.

Last Wednesday, a landslide severed a section of the Pan-Borneo trunk road near Bintulu, causing hundreds of vehicles to be stranded for hours.

The most recent incident involving three people killed and seven others injured occurred at a timber camp in the Upper Limbang region of Sarawak, BMF said in a statement to Malaysiakini today.

It quoted Bernama as saying the dead were identified as two Filipinos and a Malaysian who worked for a local timber company.

“Research by the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) has shown that the landslide took place near Long Sebayang on the upper reaches of the Limbang river,” BMF said.


Logging in the area, which is claimed by the local Penan and Kelabit communities, has been controversial since the mid-1980s when locals set up a number of blockades on logging roads to prevent the timber companies from encroaching into their rainforests, it added.

The Bruno Manser Fund said logging interests in the area used to be closely linked to James Wong, Sarawak's former minister of the environment.


It added: “Logging operations near Long Sebayang are currently being carried out by Lee Ling Timber, a company with its headquarters in Limbang.”

Further upriver, a second company, Samling, extracts timber on a large scale. Both companies have plans to convert large natural forest areas into tree plantations, which is likely to cause further environmental destruction.

[Images courtesy of Bruno Manser Fonds, Malaysiakini & Michael Chick]

BRUNO MANSER: Tribute to an Ecowarrior

UFO REPORTS NOW APPEARING ON MEDIA

[Suggested by Olivia de Haulleville]

The reign of nuclear power is over!

Japan Raises Nuclear Alert at Troubled Plant to Highest Level, Equal to Chernobyl (April 11, 2011)

TOKYO - Japan's nuclear regulators raised the severity level of the crisis at a stricken nuclear plant Tuesday to rank it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, citing the amount of radiation released in the accident.

The regulators said the rating was being raised from 5 to 7 - the highest level on aninternational scale overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency. However, there was no sign of any significant change at the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. The new ranking signifies a "major accident" with "wider consequences" than the previous level, according to the Vienna-based IAEA.

"We have upgraded the severity level to 7 as the impact of radiation leaks has been widespread from the air, vegetables, tap water and the ocean," said Minoru Oogoda of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. NISA officials said one of the factors behind the decision was that the cumulative amount of radioactive particles released into the atmosphere since the incident had reached levels that apply to a Level 7 incident.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the plant, is still estimating the total amount of radioactive material that might be released by the accident, said company spokesman Junichi Matsumoto. He acknowledged the amount of radioactivity released might even exceed the amount emitted by Chernobyl.

Aftershocks on Monday briefly cut power to backup pumps, halting the injection of cooling water for about 50 minutes before power was restored. A month after the disaster, more than 145,000 people are still living in shelters, and the government on Monday added five communities to a list of places people should leave to avoid long-term radiation exposure.

A 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius has already been cleared around the plant. The disaster is believed to have killed more than 25,000 people, but many of those bodies were swept out to sea and more than half of those feared dead are still listed as missing.



"The reign of nuclear power [on Earth] is over. In the hands of third density minds it always has been dangerous and it has no place whatsoever in higher densities. But it is not our prerogative to shut down your facilities or prevent construction of new ones, it is yours, and only your collective demand for that could make it happen. Replacement energy sources already are there, they've just been suppressed because they aren't money-makers like nuclear and fossil fuels are. You will see those "hidden" technologies starting to emerge, again by your forcefulness." ~ Star Commander Hatonn of the Confederation of Planets

Why No Nukes? The Real Cost of U.S. Nuclear Power
By Michael Grunwald - Mar. 25, 2011 - TIME.com

The chaos at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant — explosions, fires, ruptures — has not shaken the bipartisan support in partisan Washington for the U.S.'s so-called nuclear renaissance. Republicans have dismissed Japan's crisis as a once-in-a-lifetime fluke. President Obama has defended atomic energy as a carbon-free source of power, resisting calls to halt the renaissance and freeze construction of the U.S.'s first new reactors in over three decades.

But there is no renaissance.

Even before the earthquake-tsunami one-two punch, the endlessly hyped U.S. nuclear revival was stumbling, pummeled by skyrocketing costs, stagnant demand and skittish investors, not to mention the defeat of restrictions on carbon that could have mitigated nuclear energy's economic insanity. Obama has offered unprecedented aid to an industry that already enjoyed cradle-to-grave subsidies, and the antispending GOP has clamored for even more largesse. But Wall Street hates nukes as much as K Street loves them, which is why there's no new reactor construction to freeze. Once hailed as "too cheap to meter," nuclear fission turns out to be an outlandishly expensive method of generating juice for our Xboxes.

Since 2008, proposed reactors have been quietly scrapped or suspended in at least nine states — not by safety concerns or hippie sit-ins but by financial realities. Other projects have been delayed as cost estimates have tripled toward $10 billion a reactor, and ratings agencies have downgraded utilities with atomic ambitions. Nuclear Energy Institute vice president Richard Myers notes that the "unrealistic" renaissance hype has come from the industry's friends, not the industry itself. "Even before this happened, short-term market conditions were bleak," he tells TIME.

Around the world, governments (led by China, with Russia a distant second) are financing 65 new reactors through more explicit nuclear socialism. But private capital still considers atomic energy radioactive, gravitating instead toward natural gas and renewables, whose costs are dropping fast. Nuclear power is expanding only in places where taxpayers and ratepayers can be compelled to foot the bill.

In fact, the economic and safety problems associated with nuclear energy are not unrelated. Trying to avoid flukes like Fukushima Daiichi is remarkably costly. And trying to avoid those costs can lead to flukes.

The False Dawn

In 1972 a federal safety regulator, worried that GE's Mark 1 reactors would fail in an emergency, urged a ban on containment designs that used "pressure suppression." His boss was sympathetic but wrote in a memo that "reversal of this hallowed policy, particularly at this time, could well be the end of nuclear power" and "would generally create more turmoil than I can stand thinking about." Four decades after this bureaucratic pressure suppression, Fukushima Daiichi's Mark 1 reactors seem to have failed as predicted. And while newer reactors don't have those problems, 23 Mark 1 reactors still operate in the U.S., including a Vermont plant that was relicensed for 20 more years the day before the disaster in Japan.

When Karl Marx, who would have appreciated nuclear economics, wrote that history unfolds first as tragedy, then as farce, he got U.S. nuclear history backward. America's initial experiment was a cartoonish disaster, with construction timelines doubling and costs increasing as much as 1,000% even before the Three Mile Island meltdown. In the 1980s, the industry required bailouts before bailouts were cool. But the U.S. industry has matured and learned from its mistakes. It still runs the world's largest nuclear portfolio, and it hasn't had a serious accident since 1979. Meanwhile, global-warming fears have positioned nuclear power as a proven alternative to fossil fuels that works even when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing, producing 20% of our electricity and 0% of our emissions. No-nukes outrage has burned out, with a recent poll registering 71% support.

The result has been an extraordinary political coalition. Right-wingers who don't accept climate science and didn't even want the word french in their fries now wax lyrical about French reactors that reduce French emissions. Left-wingers who used to bemoan the industry's radioactive waste and corporate welfare now embrace it as an earth saver. So Congress has approved lucrative subsidies for construction, production, waste disposal, liability insurance and just about every other nuclear cost. It also approved "risk insurance" to compensate utilities for regulatory delays, even as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has worked closely with the industry to streamline its licensing process. And nuke-friendly states have required ratepayers to front the costs of any new construction — even if the reactors are never turned on.

Nevertheless, investors refuse to bet on nukes. The steady increases in electricity demand that were supposed to justify new reactors have been wiped out by the global recession, and energy-efficiency advances could keep demand flat. Natural gas prices have plummeted, Congress appears unlikely to put a price on carbon, and the U.S. still lacks a plan for nuclear waste. It also turns out that building safe places to smash atoms is hard, especially after such a long hiatus. The U.S. has lost most of its nuclear manufacturing capacity; it would have to import Japanese steel forgings and other massive components, while training a new generation of nuclear workers. And though industry lobbyists have persuaded the NRC to ease onerous regulations governing everything from fire safety to cooling systems, it's still incredibly tough to get a reactor built.

New nukes would still make sense if they were truly needed to save the planet. But as a Brattle Group paper noted last month, additional reactors "cannot be expected to contribute significantly to U.S. carbon emission reduction goals prior to 2030." By contrast, investments in more-efficient buildings and factories can reduce demand now, at a tenth the cost of new nuclear supply. Replacing carbon-belching coal with cleaner gas, emissions-free wind and even utility-scale solar will also be cheaper and faster than new nukes. It's true that major infusions of intermittent wind and solar power would stress the grid, but that's a reason to upgrade the grid, not to waste time and money on reactors.

Anyway, there aren't many utilities that can carry a nuclear project on their balance sheets, which is why Obama's Energy Department, a year after awarding its first $8 billion loan guarantee in Georgia, is still sitting on an additional $10 billion. A Maryland project evaporated before closing, and a Texas project fell apart when costs spiraled and a local utility withdrew. The deal was supposed to be salvaged with financing from a foreign utility, but that now seems unlikely.

The utility was Tokyo Electric.

Another Perfect Storm

Pundits keep saying the mess in Japan will change the debate in the U.S., but the BP and Massey disasters didn't change the debates over oil drilling and coal mining. And the nuclear debate seems particularly impervious to facts. Obama wants to triple funding for the already undersubscribed loan guarantees, but Republicans still accuse him of insufficient nuclear fervor. So don't expect the U.S. to copy German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who just shut down seven aging plants. GOP Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma has already rejected the idea of "a nuclear problem," suggesting that "once in 300 years, a disaster occurs." That's true if you don't count Chernobyl and you're sure nothing will happen for the next 250 years.

The industry's defenders may ignore Fukushima Daiichi, but the industry will not. It's serious about public safety, and meltdowns are bad for business; no company wants to lose a $10 billion reactor overnight. But additional safety measures cost money: in 2003 industry lobbyists beat back an NRC committee's recommendation for new backup-power rules that were designed to prevent the hydrogen explosions that are now all over the news.

It may sound unrealistic to require plants to withstand a vicious earthquake and a 25-ft. tsunami, but nobody's forcing utilities to generate power with uranium. One lesson of the past decade, in finance as well as nature, is that perfect storms do happen. When nukes are involved, the fallout can be literal, not just political.

The incalculable cost of nuclear power (3 April 2011)

If the costs and benefits of nuclear power are so attractive, where are the investors? At least with wind and solar power, it is possible to see the cost curve dropping to the break-even point in the near future. Nuclear power, by contrast, may never be able to convince investors to put their money down without government guarantees.The prospect of cost overruns, waste disposal and extended shutdowns are daunting enough. But mostly, it is the potential cost of catastrophic failure that scares away investors. Large-scale disasters, however rare, are colossally expensive, as well as dangerous. The first estimate of entombing the Fukushima plant is $12bn. And this doesn't include the other liabilities that could force the Japanese government to nationalise the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco).Several years ago, I heard Jeff Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, say that commercial nuclear power won't be developed in the US without federal liability or financing guarantees. The risks, however remote, are so expensive that investors don't want to take them on, no matter what the return. [From The Guardian UK]

Have a Sphongly weekend, folks!

Shpongle is a downtempo/ambient psychedelic trance (or psybient) project from the United Kingdom. The core members are Simon Posford (aka Hallucinogen) and Raja Ram (one third of The Infinity Project), but they often collaborate with other artists. Their sound has sampled Eastern ethnic instruments and Western contemporary synthesizer-based psychedelic music. Posford is responsible for the synth and studio work while Raja Ram contributes with flute arrangements. The project was formed in 1996 after the pair viewed a solar eclipse in India. The two went into the studio and attempted to duplicate the experience in sonic form, and the result was a 20-minute track, "...And the Day Turned to Night," which was featured on Shpongle's first album Are You Shpongled? and the Twisted label compilation Eclipse - A Journey Of Permanence & Impermanence.

Shpongle is not a dictionary-recognized word; in an interview taking place in Russia, Raja Ram stated that Shpongle is an umbrella term for feeling positive and euphoric emotions.

Shpongle's first track, "Vapour Rumours", was released on TIP Records' Infinite Excursions compilation in 1996. Their debut album, Are You Shpongled?, was released 1998 on Twisted Records. Their latest album, Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland, was released on 28 November 2009.

[Source: Wikipedia; suggested by Paik Yin]

Rio Tinto = RDA = Killers of the Sacred Tree

Jabiluka's sacred power 'must never be disturbed'

Mirarr elder Yvonne Margarula says her people are ‘‘deeply saddened’’ uranium from their land has been exported to Japanese nuclear power companies. Photo: Glenn Campbell

Lindsay Murdoch | The Age
April 7, 2011

IN THE Dreaming of the Mirarr people of Kakadu, a sacred, dangerous power called the Djang is unleashed when disturbed on their land.

Senior traditional leader Yvonne Margarula says her late father Toby Gangale warned the Australian government in the late 1970s the Djang ''might kill all over the world'' if disturbed at Ranger, a uranium mine that was built in Kakadu National Park despite opposition from traditional owners.

''No one listened,'' she said.


Now Ms Margarula says her people are ''deeply saddened'' that uranium from their land at Ranger has been exported over more than 30 years to Japanese nuclear power companies, including one operating the stricken Fukushima plant.

The Mirarr have declared they want the multibillion-dollar Jabiluka uranium deposit on their land to remain undeveloped and be incorporated into the world heritage-listed Kakadu National Park.

Ms Margarula and 30 other adults and about 40 children in her clan could be among Australia's richest people if they allowed Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) to develop Jabiluka, which was halted in 1998 after an eight-month blockade by 5,000 protesters.

The 72-square-kilometre mineral lease site containing 141,640 tonnes of uranium is one of the world's largest known undeveloped uranium deposits.


ERA, which is 68 per cent owned by Rio Tinto, is eager to mine the high-grade deposit worth $18.5 billion at current spot prices.

In a rare interview in Jabiru, a town near the Ranger mine and Jabiluka deposit, Ms Margarula told The Age she never wants to see Jabiluka disturbed.

''I am really happy about [the prospect of] it becoming part of the national park so my nephews and nieces can look after the country and I will never again see big clouds of smoke and dust on the other side of the hill while the rocks, the escarpments are destroyed,'' she said.

In a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week, Ms Margarula said it was ''with great sadness'' the Mirarr learned of the suffering of the Japanese people following the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear emergency.

''I am writing to you to convey our solidarity and support with all those people across the world who see in the events at Fukushima a dire warning of the risks posed by the nuclear industry,'' Ms Margarula wrote.

''This is an industry that we have never supported in the past and that we want no part of into the future,'' she wrote.

''We are all diminished by the awful events now unfolding at Fukushima … I urge you to consider our viewpoint in your deliberations with governments in relation to the Fukushima emergency and the nuclear industry in general.''


Ms Margarula, a shy, softly spoken elder, told The Age her people had decided they wanted the federal government to support the incorporation of Jabiluka into Kakadu as it has for another uranium mining area at Koongarra, near the world famous Nourlangie Rock.

Jeffery Lee, the sole member of the Djok clan and traditional custodian of the land, offered Koongarra to the government, shunning the chance to become a billionaire, saying he is happy to work there as a park ranger.

[Forwarded by Hari Ho]

"Why did you turn your back on SUCCESS?"

A few years ago an internet movie called The Secret got lots of people buzzing about "the Law of Attraction." It spawned a slew of seminars, workshops and spin-off merchandise. Among these was Bob Proctor's "Science of Getting Rich" program. Somebody who must love me a lot decided to purchase the package on my behalf and lure me into the adrenaline-charged world of supersalesmanship.

To me it was just another multilevel marketing scheme (or scam, depending on your timing and innate talent as a hustler). I decided to give it a go, and even created a blog to promote the Science of Getting Rich - but, alas, my enthusiasm didn't last more than six months. This final blogpost was published on my now-abandoned "Secret Science" blog on 7 October 2007. It stands as a permanent testimony of my lifelong unbelief in "all that glitters"...

This is it, folks. Here's where I get off!


Much as I appreciate M's efforts to initiate me into his high-flying world of supercharged entrepreneurship and his dream of unbounded success, I realize - having attended Bob Proctor's launch of the SGR program in Malaysia - it's not my scene. I look around at the people who are drawn to these events and seminars - and, although I can sense the good intentions in all of them, I can't help seeing them as a flock of seagulls, constantly thinking about fish... fish... and more fish.

So I've been seriously contemplating deleting this blog. But perhaps there are a few items in here some of you may find useful, so I've decided to keep it online. However, this is my final blogpost. I won't be updating Secret Science from now on.

Let's just say I've checked out Bob Proctor's Science of Getting Rich program and it's not something I can feel passionate about. No doubt it's an impressively packaged portable seminar, and some people have put an incredible amount of effort into getting it in the market.

The study materials are extremely well designed and of high quality - and it certainly does a good job promoting the Law of Attraction as a way of life. However, for the techniques taught to really work, one has religiously apply the principles.

That's the rub. I'm not a religious person and am, in fact, averse to religions.

I've spent the greater part of my life deprogramming myself from all belief systems. Why would I now choose to install another belief system - no matter what it calls itself - even if it promises me everything a human being could possibly desire in life?

I enjoy producing things: music, books, DVDs, great meals, whatever. But when it comes time to marketing myself and my products, I find it tedious in the extreme. Some people are just natural-born hustlers. Take M for instance: within three weeks of signing up for the SGR program he sold enough units - just by sending out a bunch of emails - to recoup whatever he paid plus at least an additional $10,000 in pure profits.

M the self-made multi-millionaire is surrounded by high-flyers like himself who wouldn't hesitate to fork out $2,000 - just to bring a smile to his face! And that's because the majority of his friends are inclined to spend a lot more than $2,000 on a weekend of fun - whether flying to Costa Rica for a tan or Phuket for a massage.

I believe in live and let live. It's purely an aesthetic choice that I'm attracted to what's natural rather than what's artificial. For example, I value getting a warm greeting from a stranger because he or she likes my aura; I'd sense it immediately if they smiled at me only because they can see I'm a big spender.

I've never traveled first-class in my entire life. First of all, I've never worked for a big corporation long enough for them to send me on a business trip; and I've always believed in living frugally. Even with a billion bucks in my bank account, I'd hesitate paying $10 for a cup of coffee in a branded location when I know I can get an even better cup of coffee 200 yards down the street for $1.

My daughter just returned from a vacation at an exclusive beach resort in the Philippines where she paid $15 for a glass of orange juice. Deep down in my heart, I know that this sort of lifestyle is out of whack with the natural universe. It leaves too large an ecological footprint and perpetuates a socioeconomic hierarchy wherein rank is acquired through financial status. I've seen how extremely rich people spoil their kids who can't help growing up as brats. Some remain brats their entire life - just look at Dubya.

Some of my friends tell me they have a plan: they'll work themselves to the bone for 10 years and make a huge pile. Then they can be free to master their own destinies and help everybody around them, set up charitable foundations, and so on. Hate to say this, folks, but that's a total fantasy ungrounded in reality.

The energy system is a closed loop. The more you pile on your plate the less remains on the table for those who haven't arrived for dinner. You believe in infinite abundance, you tell yourself; more food will soon be delivered from the kitchen, so there's plenty where that came from. Well, this may be true - but only up to a point.

The overfed are often undernourished in other areas of their being. Those who are out there grabbing as much money as they can while they can usually don't have enough time to sit down and engage in intelligent conversation. And when they're on vacation they just want to put their feet up, order a champagne bucket, and admire the view - they don't want to discuss heavy topics (like how come the IAEC has never been allowed to inspect Israel's nuclear arsenal or who orchestrated the 9/11 false flag operation and subsequent cover-up).

Lack is the shadow side of greed. So Bono and Sting with all their money can afford to play philanthropists and world-saviors, establishing foundations to preserve the rainforests or feed the war orphans. Bill Gates can pump millions into subsidizing the pharmaceutical companies so Africans can afford AIDS medication. There are days when I think this sort of lifestyle would really suit me. Hell, I'd love to be David Bowie for two or three months!

However, just about every problem you see around you is the result of human egotism, greed, and insensitivity. Empires are built by individuals consumed with megalomaniac visions and endowed with monomaniacal determination bordering on religious fervor. Such individuals may be admirable in their own way - but few are known for their wisdom. Becoming enlightened and living consciously doesn't require that you be a member of the Billionaires Club. Indeed, it gets harder and harder to feel empathy when you're too well padded and insulated from raw reality.

This is why I'm not over-the-moon about the phenomenal success of Rhonda Byrne's movie, The Secret, and the growing popularity of her book. The message, simply put, is just too glossy.

Anyway, I've rambled on enough. I just wanted to conclude this blog with a final message - but to go any deeper into the subject would require a 50,000-word essay. Even if I did write that essay, the ones who really ought to read it probably never will, simply because my name isn't Deepak Chopra. But, as they say at McDonald's, "Have a nice eternity!"

Water Crystal Magick: healing our emotional body through water consciousness

I received the announcement below from several friends but didn't note the date. Well, it's already past the stipulated time but being conscious of water and how it relates to our emotional body is always a good practice...

"Let's send our thoughts of love and gratitude to all water in the nuclear plants in Fukushima..."

Day and Time:

March 31st, 2011 (Thursday)
12:00 noon in each time zone

Please say the following phrase:

"The water of Fukushima Nuclear Plant, we are sorry to make you suffer. Please forgive us. We thank you, and we love you."

Please say it aloud or in your mind. Repeat it three times as you put your hands together in a prayer position. Please offer your sincere prayer.

Thank you very much from my heart.

With love and gratitude,
Masaru Emoto
Messenger of Water
AHO, Grandmother Whitedeer

Being conscious of WATER is particularly helpful in the process of our emotional healing. While some places are experiencing severe drought, others are getting flooded. Clearly, the earth's emotional body is out of balance - because the majority of humans are suffering from an emotional plague which blocks them from authentic feeling.

WATER is an important key to the mystery of life itself. Don't take it for granted! And, remember, your own body is at least 72% water!

A damn good reason to boot Najis & BN out!

Nuclear power, apart from nuclear war, is the greatest medical threat posed to life on this planet. In fact, 95% of the total nuclear waste in the United States has been generated by nuclear power plants.


Nuclear waste will last for 500,000 years, and there is no safe means to prevent these radioactive elements from entering and concentrating in the food chain. These elements, which are tasteless, odorless and invisible, are highly carcinogenic and mutagenic. Over time, they will induce epidemics of cancer and leukemia. This is particularly true for children, who are 10 to 20 times more radiosensitive than adults, and are therefore much more susceptible to cancer.


The nuclear waste will also induce epidemics of genetic diseases and congenital abnormalities in humans (as well as in animals and plants) for the rest of time. This is rather like a process of random compulsory genetic engineering.

~ From an interview with Dr Helen Caldicott, author of The New Nuclear Danger

Najib Razak's cabinet consists of arrogant assholes who strut around in expensive suits and get chauffeured around in sleek autos. With nothing but money and power and unwholesome sex on their puny minds, they are the worst qualified to call themselves leaders - and yet these ignorant, contemptible twits are allowed to make multi-billion-ringgit decisions that will determine your future and that of your descendants.

Are you going to shrug and say: "Aiyah, what to do? The world is like that lah. Just shut up and think about where your next meal is coming from..."? Or do you get off your butt, register to vote, and boot these incorrigible criminals out of power?

Anwar the Unstoppable...

... because he personifies the people's intensifying desire to see an end to criminal misrule under the incurable Dr M, the ruthless Daim Zainuddin, and their vile legacy of arrogant, cynical, corrupt cronyism and despotism!





Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's 7th prime minister, is destined to usher in a new era of democracy in Malaysia, with fresh faces, new blood and renewed dedication. More power to Pakatan Rakyat!





[First posted 29 March 2011]

Farewell, Valum Votan, Arcturian Emissary!

José Argüelles aka Valum Votan, Arcturian Emissary & Earth Wizard
(24 January 1939 - 23 March 2011)

According to the Foundation for the Law of Time, Arcturian Emissary Valum Votan (José Argüelles) "departed this Planet on Solar Moon 17 (March 23 2011), Red Spectral Moon, at 6:10 a.m. (the exact same time he was born in 1939 in the Red Spectral Moon year)."

"After a short illness, he slipped away in complete peace. We are asking for those who loved him to hold a synchronized vigil and/or ceremony on his behalf at noon (Pacific Standard Time) on Solar Moon 19, Kin 91. Send him your prayers, light and blessings to continue his spirit journey - and also visualize the rainbow bridge and the Return of Light."

We are saddened to report his passing, but his influence and his message lives on through his teachings. Though this galactic guide is no longer with us on the material plane, his presence will continue to guide us through the turning of the cycle and leaves us with one final message: "EVERYTHING IS PERFECT!!! Love everyone. Hate no one. God bless everyone."

Planet Art Network

Argüelles co-founded the Planet Art Network (PAN) with Lloydine in 1983 as an autonomous, meta-political, worldwide peace organization engaging in art and spirituality. Active in over 90 countries, PAN upholds the Nicholas Roerich Peace Pact and Banner of Peace, symbolizing "Peace Through Culture".

The Planet Art Network operates as a network of self-organized collectives, centralized by a shared focus of promoting the worldwide adoption of Argüelles' Dreamspell 13-Moon/28 day Calendar. The network upholds the slogan "Time is Art", suggesting that time is a vehicle for our creative experience, instead of the familiar saying "Time is Money".

On 6 August 1996 I wrote José Argüelles a letter c/o Barbara Hand Clow of Bear & Co, publisher of his paradigm-shifting books:

Dear Uncle Joe,

There seems to be a 7-year lag in operation here. I only got round to reading The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology in 1994 - and Surfers of the Zuvuya only came my way a few months ago. I made an attempt to phone you but the number given at the back of Mayan Factor was obviously only good before August 1987.

I just re-read Surfers - and felt compelled to send you some material very much inspired by your amazing work. I hope you receive it in due course and that it will give you a friendly ego massage.

You have my wholehearted admiration and applause for coming up with concepts like Harmonic Convergence, Campaign for the Earth and Planet Art Network. Absolutely spot on! Precisely what I've been working on since my own awakening in 1969.

May we soon meet on the Zuvuya, so I can personally give you the Mayan salute. Even better, if you ever find yourself drifting in this bioregional direction, fax or phone or write me at Magick River - and enjoy special hospitality from the Ceremonial Guardian himself.

From the bottom of the One Heart (thank you, Solara) - Galactic Greetings from an Earth-based Antarean.

Om'ta ku oyasin and Evam maya e ma ho!

[Thanks, Mel, for alerting me to Jose's departure. He was indisputably one of the greatest visionaries of all time.]

FURTHER RESEARCH

Foundation for the Law of Time

Earth Wizards & Surfers of the Zuvuya

The Mayan Zuvuya Calendar

Empathy transcends tragedy in Japan

[This is from an email forwarded by Monika Wyss... thanks, Monika!]

Last night when I was walking home (since all traffic had stopped), I saw an old lady at a bakery shop. It was totally past their closing time, but she was giving out free bread. Even at times like this, people were trying to find what they can do and it made my heart warm.

In the supermarket, items had fallen off the shelves and people were picking up and putting things back neatly, and then quietly standing in line to buy food. Instead of creating panic and buying as much as needed, they bought as little as they needed. I was proud to be a Japanese.

While I was trudging home for four hours, I saw a lady holding a sign that said, "Please use our toilet." They were opening their house for people to go to the restroom. I felt tears welling up.

At Disneyland they were giving out candies. High school girls were taking so many. I was dismayed. But then the next minute, they ran over to the children in an evacuation center and handed it to them. That was a sweet gesture.

My co-worker wanted to help somehow, even if it was just one person. So he wrote a sign: "If you're okay with motor cycle, I will drive you to your house." He stood in the cold with that sign. And then I saw him take one gentleman home, all the way to Tokorozawa! I was so moved. I felt like I wanted to help others too.

A high school boy was saved because he climbed up the roof of a department store during the flood. The flood came so suddenly. He saw people below him, trying to frantically climb up the roof and being taken by the flood. All he could do was keep filming them so their loved ones could later identify them. He still hasn't been able to reach his own parents but he says, "Its nobody's fault. There is no one to blame. We have to stay strong."

There is a shortage of gas now and many gasoline stations are either closed or have very long lines. I was worried, since I was behind 15 cars. Finally, when it was my turn, the man at the pump smiled and said, "Because of the situation, we are only giving $30 worth gas per each person. Is that all right?"

"Of course its all right. I'm just glad that we are able to share," I said. His smile gave me so much relief.

I saw a little boy talking to a public transit employee, saying, "Thank you so much for trying hard to run the train last night." It brought tears to the employee's eyes, and to mine.

A foreign friend told me that she was shocked to see a long queue form neatly behind one public phone. Everyone waited so patiently to use the phone even though everyone must have been so eager to call their families.

The traffic was horrible! Only one car could move forward at the green light. But everyone was driving so calmly. During the 10-hour drive (which would only take 30 minutes normally) the only hooting I heard was a horn of thank you. It was a fearful time -- but then again a time of warmth and it made me love Japan more.

When I was waiting at the platform, so tired and exhausted, a homeless person came to us and gave us a cardboard to sit on. Even though we usually ignore them in our daily life, they were ready to serve us.

Suntory (a fruit juice company) is giving out free drinks, phone companies are creating more wi-fi spots, 1,000,000 packets of noodles were distributed by a food company, and everyone is trying to help the best way they can. We, too, have to stand up and do our best.

Whenever there is a blackout, people are working hard to fix it. Whenever the water stops, there are people working to fix that too. And when there is problem with nuclear energy, there are people trying to fix that too. It doesn't just fix itself. While we are waiting to regain the heat in the cold temperature or have running water, there are people risking their lives to fix it for us.


An old woman on a train said: "Blackouts are no problem for me. I am used to saving electricity and turning off lights. At least, this time we don't have bombs flying over our heads. I'm willing to happy to shut off my electricity!" Everyone around nodded their agreement.

When I grow older, I am going to tell my children and grandchildren: "When your grandma was young, there was a big earthquake in Japan which brought the world to one. And everyone worked so hard to help support each other and everyone was shining."

To be able to tell that story, I'm going to work hard in rebuilding my life.

In Korea, a Japanese man took a cab ride and when it was time to pay, the driver refused and said: "You are Japanese, yes?" Yes. "When you go back to Japan, please donate the fee." Beyond nationality or politics, we are all the same.

I saw a man at the evacuation center crying when people brought food to him. It was the first time in 3 days that the food had been delivered to their center. But his next words surprised me. "I am very grateful that we are provided with food. But, but, the city next to us they are not receiving any food at all. Please go to that center as well."


An old man at the evacuation shelter said, "What's going to happen now?" Then a pink-cheeked school boy sitting next to him said, "Don't worry! When we grow up, we promise to do things much better." While saying this, he was rubbing the old man's back. And when I was listening to that conversation, I felt hope. There is a bright future, on the other side of this crisis.

[Uplifting! After reading this, how can I whine about both my computers crashing? I even managed to post this, although the computer had to be rebooted three times.]

Scandalous images guaranteed to destroy the Opposition once and for all!

That's right, folks, those vile characters who lead Pakatan Rakyat have been caught picking their noses, farting in public, taking a crap, pissing their pants, and even wanking on Sundays and public holidays. Now that you have seen how scandalous Opposition leaders can be, you are left with no choice but to continue voting Barisan Najis forever, wakakakaka!

TISS OFF, "DATUK P"!