Where are these huge logs coming from?

 Environment  2 Responses »
Jan 132009
 
Where are these huge logs coming from?

A lorry laden with logs heading east near the exit to Kota Bharu: Where are all these logs coming from – and where are they heading? Greetings from a dingy hotel in Kota Bharu, en route to Kuala Terengganu! Had some tongkat ali coffee(!) this afternoon and then drove for almost six hours non-stop from Penang to the East Coast, accompanied by a friend. We left Penang at about 3.00pm and arrived in the midst of a steady monsoon rain in Kota Bharu just after 9.00pm. It was a fascinating, cool drive along the East-West Highway from Gerik; magnificent views of rolling valleys and forest-clad hills. Along the way, we noticed signboards cautioning us to look out for cows, deer and even elephants. After Belum, thicks clouds hugged the hills and blanketed the highway, the dense fog forcing motorists to switch on their headlights in the early evening, and even [Read more]

Standoff: Soldiers vs Peace activist

 Civil society, Israel and Palestine, Militarism  16 Responses »
Jan 122009
 

This is from a Korean TV show The woman in the video is Huwaida Arraf, born in Detroit, Michigan, of the International Solidarity Movement. Married to Adam Shapiro, also of the ISM, whom she met while both were working at the Jerusalem centre of Seeds of Peace, an organisation seeking to foster dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian youth. Huwaida is Christian, daughter of an Israeli Arab father and a Palestinian mother.

Terengganu poverty reduction: Did Pas do better?

 Accountability, Development issues, Energy resources, M'sian politics, Poverty  22 Responses »
Jan 122009
 

Okay, folks, I will be off to Kuala Terengganu tomorrow with a friend to check out the by-election scene.  All the hotels are likely to be full, so I will take a tent along and just rough it out. It will be a homecoming of sorts, as I lived in Kuala Terengganu for two years, going to Standard One and Two at the Sultan Sulaiman Primary School. I must check out  our old house there to see if it is still standing…. In the meantime, this was was taken from a posting by Pelanuk on the Berita Malaysia email list. Did the Pas administration in Terengganu, without the benefit of oil royalties, actually do better than Umno in reducing poverty in the state? > Staronline today reports Terengganu MB Ahmad Said as saying that “claims > that the Terengganu Government is rich but its people are poor are all > [Read more]

Gaza “a big concentration camp”, says Vatican cardinal

 Christianity, Economy, Human rights, Israel and Palestine, Militarism  23 Responses »
Jan 112009
 

Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Vatican’s Council for Justice and Peace, has issued the Vatican’s toughest criticism of Israel, calling Gaza a “big concentration camp”. “Defenceless populations are always the ones who pay. Look at the conditions in Gaza: more and more, it resembles a big concentration camp,” Martino, whose informal title is Vatican “justice minister”, was quoted as saying in a Reuters report. “For decades, human dignity has been trampled in the Gaza Strip; hatred and homicidal fundamentalism find fodder in social and economic injustice,” he said in another interview. Meanwhile, the Latin (Catholic) Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Fouad Twal, quoting from the 18th Conference of the Council of Oriental Catholic Patriarchs, criticised the siege of Gaza in his Christmas Day message: Together with all the Catholic Patriarchs of the Middle East “we turn to our faithful and to all the citizens of the Holy Land, living in [Read more]

Police order PJ Abolish ISA vigil participants to disperse

 Civil society, Human rights  16 Responses »
Jan 112009
 

Police ordered the participants of an Abolish ISA vigil at the Civic Centre in PJ to disperse minutes after the event had started. The vigil began at around 8.15pm but about five minutes later the OCPD of PJ ordered the participants to disperse. “The authorities care a lot for the safety of the rakyat,” reports Rakyat@work, tongue in cheek. “They sent more than two police personnel for every vigil participant.” Blog reader Adeline reports: We came late to the vigil and saw only FRU and police personnel rather than ‘vigilers’. Met some ‘vigilers’ at the adjacent car park and was informed the gathering had dispersed. The main road leading to the MBPJ building was blocked off as we approached. There were at least four Black Marias parked at the main road shoulder. Pure police intimidation. Feel so incomplete without my Sunday Mesra Raykat. We must meet more often! Adds delCapo: [Read more]

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