I know everyone’s got their minds on the bailout and the effects it’ll have on the Presidential race, but I wanted to draw some attention to a particularly bad event across the world and how it resonates with us here.
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OK, now that I’ve got your attention…
I started my off-and-on series of posts about Malaysian politics with a look at how the blogosphere was influential in shattering the decades-old power lock of the ruling Barisan National Coalition, and it’s fitting that I end it with a look at how badly the ruling party has reacted to this shift:
Malaysia’s leading political blog was being blocked yesterday in Read the rest of this entry »
what was seen as a crackdown on internet websites credited with
contributing to government losses in this year’s general election. The
move came as former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim was being sworn
in as the new opposition leader following a by-election victory this
week that returned him to parliament for the first time in a decade…The
Malaysia Today website was blocked by state-owned Telekom Malaysia, the
country’s leading internet service provider, on the orders of the
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, which said comments
posted on it were “insensitive, bordering on incitement”.
The Canadian faux-punkette has become the latest Western pop star to face trouble in the Asian country as she was uninvited from performing a planned Kuala Lumpur gig. The Muslim-majority country’s Arts, Culture and Heritage Ministry canceled the show today amid growing protests and claims the singer was, quite simply, “too sexy.”
Seriously? Miss “Complicated” is suddenly on the same sex plateau with Nicole Scherzinger and Gwen Stefani? Dayumn, girlfriend must be growing up.
Of course, the stated reason is that the concert would tarnish Malaysia’s upcoming independence celebration by exposing the youth to prurience. It’s a reminder that what we in the West consider harmless bubblegum confectionery is akin to the Scarlet Letter in countries controlled by strict interpretations of Islam.
Of course, it could also be a sign of a larger crackdown on dissenting views of all stripes in the country, from Catholics to feminists to bloggers:
“Taken together there is a growing climate of fear and intolerance,” said Yap Swee Seng, executive director of Suaram, a leading human rights organization. “Tolerance for dissent and freedom of media is narrowing. What little media freedom existed is now under severe threat,” he said. Lawyers and civil rights activists say that this string of events points to an official assault on media freedom, freedom of expression, and religious freedoms. They fear the recent oppression signals the beginning of the end of a more liberal atmosphere ushered in after the 2004 general election, which saw Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi win a huge mandate on a pro-reform ticket.
Given that the incumbent government is resorting to passing a mass DNA-testing law in order to intimidate opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on charges of sodomy, I’d say the honeymoon is long since over. Or to quote Avril herself:
You’re so full of shit
I can’t stand the way you act
I just can’t comprehend
I don’t think that you can handle it
I’m way over, over it
Indeed.
The popular Malaysian blogger has been ordered to reveal his sources for allegations he made in the Anwar Ibrahim sodomy scandal:
Shafee said the court also ordered Raja Petra, who writes for his No Holds Barred column, to remove the contentious postings and to refrain from publishing similar allegations. Raja Petra is already facing charges of sedition and criminal defamation over an article and a sworn statement he made alleging links between the country’s deputy prime minister and a murdered Mongolian woman. But Raja Petra said on Thursday he will not reveal his sources and denied knowing the identity of people who post comments on his blog. “Of course, I won’t. I never reveal my sources,” he said.
If you think this can’t happen in America, it most certainly can. Remember, there is no federal shield law for journalists, and even if there was, many have argued that bloggers shouldn’t be included.
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The news that Iraq is enjoying a record budget surplus while the US creaks under the weight of record deficits is fueling calls for Iraq to use those costs to pay for its own rebuilding efforts, a politically posthumous vindication of Iraq war architect Paul Wolfowitz’s belief that the war could be fought “on the cheap,” and Iraq could pay for the country that we (that’s us, America) wrecked with its own money. It’s all bullshit, of course–a way to justify abrogating responsibility for the damage we’ve caused.
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Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim will be formally charged with sodomy tomorrow, police said, almost a decade after a similar accusation sent him to prison for six years. Anwar, 60, whose earlier conviction was quashed in 2004, today denied the latest charge and said he’ll fight the accusation as he bids to return as a lawmaker and replace the ruling coalition.
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The news that Obama and McCain are in a virtual dead heat is the cause of much consternation among my friends in the political blogosphere today, for good reason. Obama is the better candidate, he’s running the better campaign, he’s got more money by far–so why is he still struggling when he should be putting the boots to McCranky and be done with it?
Nate Silver from the LA Times has a decent explanation for why this is, but the core question remains: Why is McCain still exploiting his reputation as a moderate, when he’s clearly anything but?
I found what I think is the answer in Malaysia, of all places, and that country’s struggle between its political establishment and an oppositional force organized and propagated on the Internet.
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