Blogs are of course increasingly catching on and being used in previously unheard of ways. Government authorities too have taken to blogs as a medium of communication. Blogs do make a more reader friendly alternative to staid press releases. Yet, this particular blog written by an official of the Obama administration seems exceptional, given its context.
THE PURITANISM OF UMNOISM IS INTRIGUING THE STUPDITY OF NAJIB IS SEXUALLY STIMULATING
I shall take you to bed and have my way with you.
I will make you ache, shake, sweat until you moan and groan.
I will make you beg for mercy, beg for me to stop.
I will exhaust you to the point that you will be relieved when I’m finished with you.
And, when I am finished, you will be weak for days.
All my love,
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today accused Datuk Seri Najib Razak of having a “personal vendetta” against PKR’s Rafizi Ramli for exposing the scandals in his administration, saying today’s move to arrest and charge the young leader was to silence him.
The Opposition Leader said he was certain Rafizi’s charges were because of the latter’s pursuit of exposes involving the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp), which is run by the family of former minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, and the George Kent consortium, which just won the lucrative Ampang LRT extension deal.
Rafizi has repeatedly accused Najib of allegedly interfering in the tender bid and granting the multimillion contract to George Kent, which he claimed was controlled by a “close associate” of the prime minister and which also scored one of the lowest points in the technical and commercial evaluation for the project.
“By exposing continuously these scandals for months, Rafizi has built powerful enemies and now they are using what is at their disposal.
“This is Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal vendetta being played out by the various government agencies,” Anwar said in a statement here.
The Permatang Pauh MP added that the move to charge Rafizi in court today was merely a smokescreen to frighten off Malaysians trying to unearth the truth behind the awarding of contracts involving Barisan Nasional (BN) leader.
“I commend Rafizi and the courage he has shown, and to his family I ask them to bear through these hard times and remember that social justice will prevail in the end,” he said.
Rafizi, who is PKR’s strategy director and the man at the forefront of the famous National Feedlot Centre (NFC) exposes, was charged today with violating the Banking and Financial Institutions Act (BAFIA) in exposing confidential banking details related of NFCorp.
By exposing continuously these scandals for months, Rafizi has built powerful enemies and now they are using what is at their disposal. — Anwar Ibrahim
The firm, owned by Shahrizat’s family members, runs the federal government’s cattle farming project that has been at the centre of a RM250 million scandal.
The charge proffered under Section 97(1) of the BAFIA stated that Rafizi had disclosed four customer account profiles detailing the balance summary for the NFCorp, the National Meat and Livestock Sdn Bhd, Agroscience and Industries Sdn Bhd and NFCorp chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh Ismail, to two individuals identified as Yusuf Abdul Alim and Erle Martin Carvalho.
Under Section 103(1)(a) of the same law, he could be fined a maximum of RM3 million and jailed up to three years if found guilty, which could seriously hobble Rafizi’s chance of standing as a candidate in the 13th general elections that must be held by April next year when the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s mandate expires.
The NFCorp and the cattle farming scandal hit the headlines last year when the Auditor-General reported that it had missed its production targets.
Shahrizat, who was a minister when the project was awarded to her family in 2006, relinquished her Cabinet post in early April over the allegations against her family.
On March 12, her husband, Mohamad Salleh, pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court to two counts of criminal breach of trust involving RM49.7 million with regards to the purchase of two condominium units.
He also pleaded not guilty to two other charges under the Companies Act
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today received a courtesy call from US Attorney-General Eric Holder at his office in Perdana Putra Building, here.
Holder and his delegation, who are here on a three-day visit, were accompanied by Special Envoy to the United States, Datuk Seri Jamaluddin Jarjis and Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail.
Also present were Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on Internal Relations, Datuk Mohammad Kamal Yan Yahaya, Special Officer to the Prime Minister and Deputy Director, Policy and Research Division, Prime Minister’s Office Datuk Mazri Muhammad.
The meeting between Najib and the US delegation lasted about half an hour.
Earlier, Holder and Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Assistance in the Field of Transnational Crime.
Attorney-General Gani Patail: Law of UMNO’s Jungle
Who appointed this beast to the nation’s most powerful legal position?
In 1998 when Mahathir Mohamad decided to punish finance minister Anwar Ibrahim for openly defying him, he turned the justice system into a weapon. Abdul Gani Patail was then Commissioner of Law Revision in the Attorney-General’s Chambers. He was hand-picked by his boss, Mohtar Abdullah, to lead the prosecution against Anwar. Why? Because Gani Patail was an ambitious fellow, prepared to do anything to rise in his career. Nothing was too low for Gani Patail. Use blackmail and threats to extract false testimonies from witnesses? No problem. Fabricate evidence against the accused? Easy-peasy
Anwar was subjected to a mock trial presided over by the loathsome Augustine Paul and sentenced to a total of 15 years’ imprisonment. Mohtar Abdullah was subsequently elevated to Federal Court Judge but suffered a stroke within months of his appointment, and thereafter lay in a coma for more than a year before he died. The pious whispered that it was God’s punishment for Mohtar’s gross abuse of power. Shortly after that Gani Patail was appointed AG as a reward for carrying out Mahathir’s evil agenda. He has since maintained the same self-serving crooked tradition as his former boss.
Abdul Gani Patail will not be missed when he’s gone and his misdeeds will never be forgotten.
Ghosts do not die. That is the power of a phantom. You can bury of the cases to
..when Pakatan Rakyat takes over Putrajaya at GE13.related article http://lawmattersjournalmalaysia.blogspot.com/2012/07/just-vote-out-present-government.html
Not one word of sadness about the death of the girl. Not one word of sympathy to her family. What really happened to her appears to be of no concern to you ARB although you knew her well.
All you are concerned about is trumpeting your “victory” and also with “repaying” the favour done for you by Najib We , the Rakyat , will support the fight against corruption through any means possible and necessary!!! Let us have the Bank acct no: to contribute to ....! These pariahs will surely feel the wrath of the rakyat through the ballot votes come next GE !related articlehttp://themalaybusinesstribune.blogspot.com/2012/07/smoking-guns-najib-field-of.html PM disguised as our woman minister is covering up for the sacked woman minister involved in the scandal exposed by Rafizi. Only in Malaysia janji ditepati. You will reap what you sow.
All you are concerned about is trumpeting your “victory” and also with “repaying” the favour done for you by Najib We , the Rakyat , will support the fight against corruption through any means possible and necessary!!! Let us have the Bank acct no: to contribute to ....! These pariahs will surely feel the wrath of the rakyat through the ballot votes come next GE !related articlehttp://themalaybusinesstribune.blogspot.com/2012/07/smoking-guns-najib-field-of.html PM disguised as our woman minister is covering up for the sacked woman minister involved in the scandal exposed by Rafizi. Only in Malaysia janji ditepati. You will reap what you sow.
Rafizi, in war, the first line of defend is offend. At the rate of ‘expose’ BN is fully preoccupied in fighting rear battles going into GE13. Keep it up. Don’t just stop at asking George Kent to disclose if they have been awarded a LOI for the project. Ask the chairman Tan Kay Hock if he also plays golf and drinks alcohol with Najib, and whether that is the primary reason why George Kent is back in the running despite failing the technical evaluation of the project. Rafizi is very confident of his facts unlike CTY. Infact the damage to Najib and UMNO’s reputation is so bad in this LRT case that MACC and PDRM had to scramble to Najib’s defence. And what an irony that the MACC and the PDRM is protecting the culprit and harassing the whistle blower. Rafizi should continue this weekly exposé to the end.
Azhar, please deny the following 1. that the committee decided to award the LRT project to Balfour in Jan 2012 2.that GeorgeKent was declared not-qualified by the consultants 3. That GeorgeKent’s tender deposit was refunded to them 4. that Najib unilaterally reversed the decision of the committee to award the LRT project to Balfour and decided instead to award the project to George Kent. Azhar Ghazali seems to be making a pathetic attempt to fool the public and cover Najib’s wrongdoing by beating around the bush
Is Najib the right candidate? head of the small elite that’s leading Umno
..Shooting the messenger has always been the norm for the BN- UMNO regime, which clearly proves that they support corruption of the highest order! Only cure left is to kick them all out !!! Rafizi, stay strong ! The rakyat is behind you all the way WE SHALL MARCH TO PUTRA JAYA AFTER GE13 AND send BN corruptors to Jail cannot believe what they did to Rafizi.related articlehttp://themalaybusinesstribune.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-election-of-indias-next-president.html
They arrested an innocent man but let the big crooks go of the hook for blatant corruption, and even murders. What a sickening government ran by BN and UMNO.What happened to the protection of Whistleblower? Is this how Najib going to fight corruption through its transformation programme?must get rid of all crooks.time to change the govt otherwise our future generation will curse us for not throwing the dirty govt out.they already siphon off billions of ringgit..do we still want them around"
I read Gulliver’s Travels at school. Given that the book is full of dwarfs and giants, and smart horses that can talk, it is a pleasant tale. A joy to read. After all these years, I don’t remember the exact details in the book. But there are a few particular paragraphs that draw my attention from time to time. This invariably happens when I hear about law, lawyers and courts. Let me quote Jonathan Swift from the book:
“There was a society of men among us, bred up from their youth in the art of proving, by words multiplied for the purpose, that white is black, and black is white, according as they are paid. For example, if my neighbour has a mind to my cow, he has a lawyer to prove that he ought to have my cow from me… It is likewise to be observed, that this society has a peculiar cant and jargon of their own, that no other mortal can understand, and wherein all their laws are written, which they take special care to multiply; whereby they have wholly confounded the very essence of truth and falsehood, of right and wrong”
But what does Jonathan Swift, an 18th century writer, have to do with Samsung vs Apple, a trial between two digital giants of the 21st century? Well, Swift was talking about the law and commonsense, something that I feel is on trial in a California court.
If you do not follow the tech industry regularly, you may not be aware that amother-of-all patent trials is unfolding in a court in San Francisco. The case is between Samsung and Apple and both are asserting several patents against each other. There are too many elements to the case to be explained here but in a nutshell, here is a summary. Apple filed a case against Samsung last year, claiming that many of the Korean company’s products are a rip-off of Apple’s products. It termed these products copycats and asserted several patents against the Korean company’s phones and tablets. In turn, Samsung hit back, saying that Apple’s products infringe many patents that it holds.
While the law will take its own course, as an outsider and someone who is not versed in law, I feel that many claims and counterclaims in this case are plain ridiculous. I will highlight just one. From Apple, because it started the whole shenanigans.
Apple is asserting that it holds the patent on the shape of iPhone and that Samsung’s products infringe it. Here is the patent no D593087.
Teresa Stanek Rea, deputy director of the US patent and trademark office (USPTO), had just emerged from a Congressional hearing where she had indulged in India-bashing. See this video clip of her testimony on June 27 before the House judiciary subcommittee on intellectual property, competition and the internet. The provocation for the attack was a breakthrough made by India in March when it had issued its first ever "compulsory licence", a patent waiver, to make a cancer drug more accessible. Reflecting the anger of the MNC lobby, Rea told the subcommittee that India's decision did not conform to "international standards" of intellectual property rights.This was the politically loaded context in which Rea's blog appeared five days later, on July 2, on the USPTO website. While it is innocuously headlined, "USPTO on the Hill: Supporting US innovators in global markets", Rea's blog marks a major climb down from her Congressional testimony. For, she used her blog to "clarify" that India had only exercised its legal option when it had licensed Hyderabad-based Natco to manufacture a generic version of Bayer's patented cancer drug called Nexavar.
The blog does not indicate though whether this policy rethink was due to a change of heart on the part of the Obama administration or it was simply bowing to the pressure of international civil society groups. Referring to the questions put to her in the Congressional hearing, Rea said that she wanted to "take this opportunity to clarify my responses relative to … compulsory licensing under TRIPS" (trade related aspects of intellectual property rights).
From India's point of view, Rea's blog is a tacit admission of the distinction between the rights conferred by TRIPS and conflicting national interests. More importantly, the blog serves as an acknowledgement that India's patent waiver was by no means a violation of global norms, even if it conflicted with American interests. Rea wrote: "Although compulsory licensing can be permissible under the TRIPS agreement, we encourage our trading partners to consider ways to address their public health challenges while maintaining intellectual property rights systems that promote investment, research and innovation." After setting out American priorities, Rea conceded, however indirectly, that all that could be said against India was that it had not done her country's bidding. "The broad interpretation of Indian law in a recent decision by the Controller General of Patents of India regarding compulsory licensing of patents, in my view, may undermine those goals."
Rea's blog was thus a far cry from her Congressional testimony, which had portrayed India as a wrongdoer. In fact, while alleging that the compulsory licence granted by controller general P H Kurien "didn't meet international standards and was not due to national crisis". Rea had displayed no qualms about questioning the integrity of a quasi judicial process in India. For, with a touch of exaggeration, her testimony said that the compulsory licence had been "granted by commissioner Kurien on the very last day of his leaving office." In reality, after giving a three-day hearing to both sides, Kurien announced his decision three days prior to his retirement. It was just that the detailed order containing his reasons had been uploaded on the net minutes before his exit on March 12.
Whatever the reasons for the retraction of her testimony through her blog, the controversy has had the unintended consequence of highlighting the irony that US itself was in the forefront of exploiting the TRIPS provision for compulsory licence. There are more than a few instances of the American executive as well as judiciary waiving patents, on various grounds, including of course their right to protect their national interest. Uncle Sam could not admit to hypocrisy in objecting to India doing the same in its national interest. Rea's blog appearing in a government website provided the way out. More power to blogs!
Rea's blog was thus a far cry from her Congressional testimony, which had portrayed India as a wrongdoer. In fact, while alleging that the compulsory licence granted by controller general P H Kurien "didn't meet international standards and was not due to national crisis". Rea had displayed no qualms about questioning the integrity of a quasi judicial process in India. For, with a touch of exaggeration, her testimony said that the compulsory licence had been "granted by commissioner Kurien on the very last day of his leaving office." In reality, after giving a three-day hearing to both sides, Kurien announced his decision three days prior to his retirement. It was just that the detailed order containing his reasons had been uploaded on the net minutes before his exit on March 12.
Whatever the reasons for the retraction of her testimony through her blog, the controversy has had the unintended consequence of highlighting the irony that US itself was in the forefront of exploiting the TRIPS provision for compulsory licence. There are more than a few instances of the American executive as well as judiciary waiving patents, on various grounds, including of course their right to protect their national interest. Uncle Sam could not admit to hypocrisy in objecting to India doing the same in its national interest. Rea's blog appearing in a government website provided the way out. More power to blogs!
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